And we wonder why vA is up poop creek without a rowing device. Read this one and try to keep a straight face. I advocate for a simple study to determine whether HCV can be transmitted via a jetgun and vA complains it would be
a) pointless
b) too expensive
c) no benefit would accrue to the Vet, and
d) they have far more important things to squander studies that require funding
This is most definitely at the top of my list. Mind you, I feel any research is valuable in this area but $10 million for a study of three hundred Vets? Really? Let’s play calculator fun and add that up. $33,333.00 per vet? One must realize that is slightly less than what you get a year based on 100% plus Cupcake ($$34,588.00). Again, really?
In the interest of playing numerology, the recent figures vAOIG came up with vis a vis the Human Resources playcation in Orlando: at $34,588.00 per head, 221 Veterans at 100% could have been accommodated for a year.
What would $10 million buy? Obviously a sh*t ton of Omega 3 milkshakes. What does Omega 3 consist of? Colloidal gold dust? More importantly, are they hiring $250,000 a year researchers to accomplish this? Whatever happened to”Hire the Vet. Your best bet.” Surely we could train some lab techs formerly employed by the military to do the lion’s share of this. Perhaps this needs a little more time on the drawing board.
The miracle is that any monies actually matriculate down to actual, physically disabled Vets. I hate to make comparisons, but in an ideal world, this would pencil out much like donating to a church fund that helped disadvantaged children in Guatemala. You would hope to see the majority of the funding spent on the children. Without digging too deeply into this, I smell 60% going to overhead and 30% to Vets. The unmentioned 10% is, of course, allocated for human resources conferences in warm locales during inclement DC weather. But I digress…
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 
I’ll take the om-3 eggs and find a way to cook them. At 3.50 a dozen a disabled Vet can’t afford very many of those on food stamps….infact a disabled Vet who isn’t being compensated enough to live on can’t afford the food that is good for us. Some VA nurse said I gained 10 pounds and gave me a diet and an exercise leaflet. I can’t exercise or even walk very far for that matter. Food stamps buys oatmeal and a little sugar. Cheap hotdogs and give away buns fill the belly and hot oatmeal warms the bones when it is 50 degrees in the “room”. Ya get a “free trip” to the food pantry for a few items every 3 months….one should live so long. People don’t understand what it is like to be waiting on your claim for 3 years while starving and freezing along with the pain from our disabilities to add to the suffering. I think the vA has long passed the SSA with their indifference.
Beware of those bringing “studies” to veterans who are still healthy. I fell for one back in 1995 when my HCV was discovered at a VAMC. Here are my IFN results today:
1 Brain Fog
2 Depression
3 Personality Disorders
4 PCT
5 Cirrhosis
6 RA
7 Cancer
8 Loss of Thyroid
These are just a few of the goodies I got for being a test dummy at the VAMC in my area!
BUT WAIT… There’s more…
More dramas at the RO regarding my SC claims were also included at no charge! My C&P nexus was “ALTERED” to deny my claim. My VSO representative didn’t object to this rubber stamp. I also got to write endless letters to my elected officials who did less than nothing.
All this and a bag of chips for 11 years of my life for volunteering for a study at my lovable VAMC. Give me that damn shake or I’ll go postal… I’d rather teach flies how to eat shit than believe the VA wants to help me………..
Shakes for 300 veterans. How nice. But do these lucky 300 have enough money to survive on? A decent secure place to live? A kitchen to cook up some cage-free Omega 3 eggs for breakfast? (Not under a bridge.) Meaningful mental health care and medication? A job–volunteer or paid according to abilities and interests? An intact family?
This is ridiculous.