Seniors, veterans and troops, games and empty words to GOP House Members

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 27, 2023

"This is what gets us in the game" is what North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong had to say about the House Debt Ceiling budget they just passed with 217 Republicans approving of it.

“This is what gets us in the game,” said Rep. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota. “This is the first conversation. The next conversation is what comes next and we know that and this is part of negotiation. We know we don’t control all three. We don’t control the White House and the Senate but this gets us where we need to start.” (CNN)

According to his website Veterans, military and seniors are not even worth mentioning on his priorities but abortion tops the to-do list for him.

The fact that the debt was the result of what has already been spent. You may have heard that no matter how appalling the Democrats found the GOP priorities, like tax cuts for the rich, they passed a clean bill to raise the Debt Ceiling. The GOP has decided to treat it like a game. They want to make all the rules the rest of the country has to live with, or they are willing to crash the country.

Can this be the worst example of their depravity? It is not just the view this is all some sort of game. It is in the details of what all this includes.

In short, Speaker McCarthy’s plan to raise the debt ceiling would cut the VA’s budget by 22% next fiscal year, Young said. That would force the Veterans Health Administration to eliminate 81,000 jobs, meaning that veterans would be unable to make appointments for wellness visits, cancer screenings, mental health services, substance abuse disorder treatment, and other healthcare services, according to Young. These cuts would translate into 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits.

The VA would face major budget cuts under the GOP’s debt ceiling plan (Task and Purpose) The VA has also issued a statement saying that cutting the department’s budget by 22% would limit the VA’s ability to provide telehealth services by reducing funding for the necessary information technology and support.

Speaker McCarthy’s proposal to raise the debt ceiling would also force the Veterans Benefits Administration to cut its staff by more than 6,000 people, and that would worsen the wait time for benefits by adding an estimated 134,000 claims to the disability claims backlog, the VA’s statement says.

These cuts to the Veterans Benefits Administration would come at a time when the VA is already seeing an increase in disability claims filed due to the passage of the PACT Act, which expands healthcare to veterans suffering from cancer and other ailments as a result of being exposed to toxic substances from burn pits and other sources along with Vietnam Veterans who are sick because they were exposed to Agent Orange, said Carrie Farmer, of the RAND Corporation.

Social Security and Medicare had been targeted along with everything else in this "game" but have been spared.

Discretionary spending includes things like weapons programs, servicemember pay, grants for schools that serve large shares of low-income students, rental assistance to house millions of poor and disabled, and money to fund research on cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It’s the spending that Congress approves through appropriations bills.

The House GOP bill doesn’t affect spending on Social Security and Medicare. Such spending, referred to as mandatory, accounts for about two-thirds of all federal spending. (AP)

Can you imagine any politician proud of the fact they wanted to cut them? They were! Just as they are proud of cutting the military spending for the sake of the troops right after they heard the troops with families cannot afford to pay rent!

"We have to use a moment like that to do things that the administration wouldn't otherwise do, the Democrats don't support," Banks said. He said spending caps, balanced budgets and cutting wasteful discretionary spending have to be on the table. (CBS News)

This is from Rep. Jim Banks during a sub-committee meeting and what he had to say when the cameras were focused on him, yet, he voted for the cuts!

You have reduced your end strength requests below the 2023 authorized numbers. So, you must ask yourselves why, and I ask what are you doing about it. What are you doing to ensure that you have the required end strength to fulfill this mission -- the mission requirements around the world, let alone issues like service members' food insecurity, identified by you to affect 25 percent of the force.

That is unacceptable. So, what are you doing about it? So, today we want to focus on what concrete actions are you taking to address all the problems that you face, whether it's recruiting, pay and benefits, food security, retaining talent, family issues, or the elimination of unnecessary bureaucracy. And we don't want more of the same.

Back to Kelly Armstrong and what he said when veterans were paying attention to what he said, his words are nothing but a bunch of words with no deeds to prove he values them!

Armstrong Presents Vietnam Veteran with Long Overdue Military Awards (Press Release)
November 10, 2021

Wahpeton, N.D. – Today, Congressman Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) presented Vietnam Veteran Al Collins of Wahpeton with nine military awards he earned while serving in the U.S. Navy. Collins was honorably discharged in 1971, but he did not receive the awards due to him until 50 years later.

"As a nation, we owe an immense amount of gratitude to the men and women who have served in our armed forces," said Congressman Armstrong. "Al Collins is an American hero who enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 19 and was deployed to fight in the Vietnam War. I am honored to finally present these awards to him that he earned more than 50 years ago while defending the freedoms and liberties we enjoy in the United States."

"I was surprised to hear that I would receive these awards. It feels really good, and I am honored to receive this recognition. I appreciate Congressman Armstrong and North Dakota Veterans Affairs helping me finally receive them," said Vietnam Veteran Al Collins.

"North Dakota is lucky to be home to great veterans like Alfred Collins. It is humbling to know the great sacrifices he has made for his country although it is unfortunate they have gone unrecognized for so long it is great that his family is able to share this moment with him. Thank you to Mary Vetter and Congressman Armstrong for all their efforts to make this happen," said ND Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Lonnie Wangen.

14,000 male soldiers experience some type of unwanted sexual contact per year

Female Commander Investigated over Alleged Sexual Assaults of Male Subordinates, Pattern of Harassment

Military.com
By Steve Beynon
25 Apr 2023

Male victims account for only 10% of sexual assault cases in the military, according to 2021 data from the Department of Defense. That data estimates roughly 14,000 male soldiers experience some type of unwanted sexual contact per year, though male cases of sexual assault and harassment are likely underreported due to societal stigma.

Lt. Col. Meghann Sullivan takes the 5th Battalion, 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade guidon at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, June 28, 2021. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Joseph Knoch)

A top officer in the Army's 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade has been investigated following allegations of multiple sexual assaults and a pattern of sexual harassment, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation. It is unclear whether the investigation is ongoing, but it comes while another is underway into allegations of toxic leadership by the brigade's commander.

Col. Meghann Sullivan, commander of the 5th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 5th SFAB, faces allegations of assaulting at least two subordinate men and harassing several others, with some of those incidents allegedly tied to alcohol abuse, according to one of the two sources. At least one of those alleged assaults involved forceful kissing and another grabbing a man below the belt without his consent.
read more here

Salem Witch Trials, apparently, some people learned nothing from history!

Wounded Times

Kathie Costos

April 24, 2023

We may have thought the religious battle ended with the Salem Witch Trials but apparently, some people learned nothing from history!

Ex-Marine calls for action after GOP rep grills VA official on 'faith-based' PTSD partnerships

Van Orden said Campbell's response suggested the department is not actively working with "wildly successful" programs "because they are faith-based – which according to you guys are 'non-evidence-based'."

That is a bunch of bull! For 40 years I've seen it all and if you go to the National Center For PTSD, which, by the way, addresses PTSD for all Americans, you'll see clearly how they provide a Clergy Tool so that veterans can make their own choices as to their personal faith. The evidence is clear that when the mind-body and spiritual needs are addressed, based on their own beliefs, there is greater healing. To fund or push one faith-based group over another would go against the First Amendment.

The First Amendment

This is what people get wrong all the time. Everyone wants the ability to make their own choices and have their rights protected. The problem comes when some want their rights protected by removing the rights of others. The Founding Fathers understood human nature enough they saw a time coming when some people would want to control others using the government to do it. Considering that the Salem Witchcraft Trials were the basis for this Amendment, they wanted to make sure it never happened again.

The Salem Witch Trials

Many people in Puritanical Salem Massachusetts died because they were different, and the Puritans were afraid they could not control them easily.

Many people in Puritanical Salem did not conform to the societal beliefs and ended up losing their lives as a result. There were many rules and if citizens did not follow all of those rules, they were cast out. The religion of the Puritans was very strict and “the Puritan community rewarded conformity-you were expected to fit in and do what everybody else did” (Mills 15). The Puritans desire for conformity was so strong that they wanted to get rid of anyone that was different. The trials were an excuse for the people of Salem to expunge of all those people who were different. Witches were thought to be able to harm people and therefore were feared greatly. The Puritans feared the Devil and God equally and “they believed the Devil was real, and had the intent to influence and harm."

Today we see people just like the Puritans. They seek to control others and when they are met with people standing up for their own rights, they claim that their religious freedom is being taken away from them. WOW! This is why so many people have lost faith in the government's ability and willingness to stand up for all of our rights.

Their beliefs are their own and should remain that way but they cannot see that power ends with them so that everyone else retains the same right.

Spending all these years helping people on a spiritual basis, no matter what they personally believed, with mutual respect, worked wonders! They saw their own power to reach out to God or whatever Higher Power they believed in directly and to see whatever caused their PTSD was not sent by God as some sort of punishment. It got them to understand the difference between stupid things they heard, such as "God only give us what we can handle," meaning they were told God did it to them. It was more beneficial for them to hear, "God is there to get them through it," so they know they are not fighting the survivor battle alone. It was not up to me to try to convert them to accept what I believed but to empower them to decide on their own to explore faith through a spiritual lens.

Scriptures support this and are there to be found. If those seeking to control others spent more time reading them and less time trying to corrupt the God-given gift of free will, they would be filled instead of emptying their own souls. He did not seek to control anyone, so why is it they think they can? What we see today, just as in Salem, is not a matter of faith but a matter of control.

What makes all this worse is when reporters fail to understand this. No matter what the topic is on social issues, they lump Christians together. The fact is there are many Christian houses of worship with different viewpoints. There are many different faiths in this country and they are left out of the discussion. While the claim this is a Christian nation is a valid one, the truth is the majority do believe in Jesus but do not agree on everything. This is why there are "Estimations show there are more than 200 Christian denominations in the U.S. and a staggering 45,000 globally, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity."

When most people hear something about Christianity being attacked, and God taken out of schools, they get upset no matter which denomination they belong to. Yet, when they think past the word and remember why they chose their affiliation, they acknowledge there are many different faiths in this country. When they hear a term such as "pro-life" used to defend the desire to control what others do in their own lives, they condemn them. Yet when they think past what their church deems right and wrong, acknowledging other religious groups do not hold the same view or need to be in control, they become repulsed enough to stand up for everyone needing to make the decision and condemn the attackers.

When we allow one group to take control over all others, we go against the God we claim to believe in and the foundation of the country we claim to love!

The Scribe Of Salem: viewpoint regarding spirituality is this book’s best asset

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 21, 2023

"As they talk about how all their lives seem to have taken a dark turn, a name was brought up - Mandy. A savior, angel, or witch."

The Scribe Of Salem by Kathie Costos

Some were witnessing the miracles Jesus and His disciples delivered believing they were miracles, yet others believed it was sorcery. After all, how does one explain the ability of other humans to accomplish such things right before their eyes? In our time, many believe miracles stopped happening. The truth is, miracles and miracle workers are all around us every day.

The Scribe Of Salem, as well as The Visionary Of Salem and 13th Minister Of Salem, hold my prayers for you. Far too many survivors of traumatic events walked away from them physically, but could not from the memories of them. The miracle workers we encountered after surviving were the ones that came to help us reach a place where our wounds were taken care of and we felt safe again. Since most traumatic events had a basis in evil acts, the miracle workers proved to us that their goodness conjured the fuel for our healing.  I know because I survived over 10 events and it all came with me. I remember the strangers coming to help me for my sake and they set their own lives aside to help. 

I also remember some people, with no understanding of what came with surviving, saying things to me that made it worse. They tried to comfort me by saying, "God never gives us more than we can handle," as if the event was by His Hand. How on earth would something like that help me if I thought God did it to me? How could I pray for help from Him, if He condemned me and sent me the pain I needed to heal?

The day I turned away from churches is the day I began to be closer to God. I didn't need a building to do it for me. I had a place in my home where I could pray directly to My Father, the way Jesus said I should. I didn't need a group of other flawed humans to decide what message in the Bible I would hear. I was able to discover what the churches never taught as I held the Book in my hands.

That is the difference between being a religious person and a spiritual one. Some religious people are also spiritual. That's not something I have a problem with, since I was the same until I discovered the closer I pulled to the church, the further away I felt from God. That is also why these books are not welcomed by most Christian readers.

This is a new review from Readers' Favorite.

Reviewed by: Risah Salazar
Review Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Risah Salazar for Readers’ Favorite

The Scribe of Salem: Ministers of the Mystery by Kathie Costos finds Christopher “Chris” Papadopoulos trying to nurse a broken heart at The Bishop Hotel bar. He is a complete mess of a man whose marriage and career ended badly. His war veteran comrades appear unexpectedly, one after the other at the bar. As they talk about how all their lives seem to have taken a dark turn, a name was brought up - Mandy. A savior, angel, or witch. No one could pinpoint what she is, but one thing is for sure: she heals. You do not find her - she finds you. Next, he meets a couple - Alex and Mary - who, like Mandy it seems, would also turn his life around for the better. Revelation after revelation makes Chris confused but this huge puzzle eventually leads him to rebuild his faith.

Kathie Costos adopts a conversational tone in The Scribe of Salem. The smooth flow of the story helps with the world-building and characterization. The progressive viewpoint regarding spirituality is this book’s best asset. The text reiterates that being religious is different from being spiritual and that the latter is usually preferable. Costos makes a compelling argument through this narrative that can be appreciated by people from all walks of life. Readers who believe in something will strengthen their faith as they read on, while non-believers will surely discover something interesting, no matter how small.

Let's be honest. We live in a time when far too many people only claim to be Christian. They do not display the qualities Jesus preached about and lived them. They spew contempt, hatred, judgment, and rage fueled by a perverse belief that they are the only ones with moral high ground. We've seen it all before. It was what happened in Salem when "Christians" decided that lying, hating and torture were worthy means to end their enemies.

No one was safe during the witch trials because everyone could find themselves accused of witchcraft. They were tortured. Many confessed to end the torture. Those who refused were put to death. Nineteen by hanging and one by crushing. Contrary to popular belief, none of them were burnt in America. However, some of those found guilty of witchcraft were burnt in Scotland, England, and many others in far greater numbers. The basis for all of it was it worked.

Being evil is easier than trying to live the life that Jesus emulated. It is easier to hate than it is to love. Easier to judge than it is to help. Easier to blame those in need, than it is to help fill the needs they have. I often wonder how anyone claiming to be Christian forgets about what being one requires of them.

Too many settle for showing up at a church, getting water poured on their heads as infants, and then having nothing else to do to deserve the price Jesus paid on the Cross. It is up to them to believe what they want in this country, yet far too many want the authority to control what others choose for themselves. On the flip side, I've also known people filled with love and compassion spiritually while they still attended church services. While we want the ability to choose for ourselves what we believe, the church people should be able to do the same, but not have the power to force others to live by what they believe.

Over the years, far too many years, most of the people I helped spiritually heal #PTSD said they believed in God and Jesus but wanted nothing to do with a building called "church" nor tolerate the manmade rules within the walls. When they discovered they could, and should, go to God directly on their own, they felt empowered and loved. Isn't that what we all want? Isn't that what we all need? To know that we are loved by God when He knows everything there is to know about us and still loves us, is a far greater gift than they ever expected. They are the people whom I wrote the Minsters Of The Mystery series for. There is so much beauty and power within the scriptures of the Bible, but they never heard them in a church.

While there are many parts of the books including scriptures, they are there to support the premises of the promises we all need to know. God does not send evil into your life as a test. Evil sent them. God is there to help you get through what evil is done to you.

God is not flesh but is Spirit and has made us in His image, so if you are judged by what you look like, those judging you do not understand the difference.

God did not seek to control anyone, so He gave us all free will to decide for ourselves. We must remember we have no control over what others do. We can only control what we do.

God forgives and we should too. Not for the sake of those that harmed us, but for our own sake. It is a weight we do not need to carry. For every moment we spend thinking about what was done to us, we cannot spend on what can fill us up with love, joy, and happiness.

In the end, I hope, that readers can see past the noise of the world to the purpose of their lives.

Six year old girl and parents shot because guns have more protection?

UPDATE
Police arrest man who allegedly shot 6-year-old when basketball rolled into yard.
read more here

Neighbor: Girl, 6, and parents shot, wounded over stray ball

AP
April 20, 2023

GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man shot and wounded a 6-year-old girl and her parents after children went to retrieve a basketball that had rolled into his yard, according to neighbors and the girl’s family — another in a string of recent shootings sparked by seemingly trivial circumstances.

Gaston County Police Chief Stephen Zill said at a news conference Wednesday that his department and the U.S. Marshals Service’s Regional Fugitive Task Force were conducting a broad search for 24-year-old Robert Louis Singletary, who fled after the Tuesday night shootings near Gastonia, a city of roughly 80,000 people west of Charlotte.

It is the latest in a string of recent U.S. shootings that occurred for apparently trivial reasons, including the wounding of a Black teenage honors student in Missouri who went to the wrong address to pick up his younger brothers, the killing of a woman who was in a car that pulled into the wrong upstate New York driveway, and the wounding of two Texas cheerleaders after one apparently mistakenly got into a car that she thought was her own.
read more here

What did all the lawmakers think would happen when they put a gun into the hands of anyone that wanted one?

Any clue what we're allowing to happen to another generation of kids discovering their lives are of lesser value once they are born to the folks that make the laws everyone else has to live by...and apparently, die by? Every parent needs to get educated on what Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is so they can get their kids, and themselves, help to heal early on. Go here to National Center for PTSD and begin to learn before you need to.