VA TRAVEL PAY–IF IT AIN’T BROKE, FIX IT.

Posted on July 13, 2014 by asknod

oig-sealVA has been hounded by untold stories of theft, diversion, cronyism, pharmacy thefts of drugs the old Bureau of Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) folks used to call “hard-core narcotics” and on and on. You really don’t need to look further than the monthly VAOIG Rap sheet for what happened in the VA neighborhood. It’s like your local Police Blotter on steroids.

After the long winter of discontent over all the Vets and the VA employees in the Travel Offices being in cahoots, the OIG recommended some improvements in how the largesse was distributed. Keep in mind, somebody in DC had to dream this one up, too. The last time they did this, our mileage computed by Mapquest was replaced by a new program (Google Maps) that bends the known universe. I’m sure there’s some kickback there but have no proof. My reimbursement for travel dropped from $27.05 to $22.19. With the new addition of this form, it just went down to $16.41. Some day we’ll eventually have to pay them to travel to the VAMC if this keeps up.

At any rate, I had to pester them for the form as they had none in the box in hopes we can’t file. The booth bitch gave me exactly one copy. I suggested she give me more to restock the reservoir. Her response was “Absolutely not”. Unscrupulous Vets were taking numerous copies with them and left none for others. A further suggestion to put a note on the box instructing them to go see her was met with “If they want their money, they’ll figure it out.”

To avoid that consequence, I hereby offer the new one in .PDF. Simply print a copy and off you go. Mail it in and demand an additional 48¢ back for the postage.

VA form 10-3542 travel pay

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

PTSD AND FIREWORKS

Posted on July 10, 2014 by asknod

imagesI was contacted numerous times during the leadup to July 4th by some who suffer PTSD and asked-almost begged- to write an article about the negative effects of loud explosions on those with PTSD. The folks who wished me to write were concerned about this and felt they needed to voice their angst.

After studying the issue from several angles, I came to the conclusion that this was a non-issue. Even more so, it begets a new problem wholly unheard of. America is a boisterous nation. We are a microcosm of many faiths, beliefs and morals. One thing that unites us is our love of our hard-won freedom from England. Celebrating it is as natural as breathing. Asking Americans to tone it down or eliminate the noise and ardor in order to accommodate a select few who suffer PTSD is just not going to happen.

10500388_711431908904298_5518047107280378598_nA spate of signs have begun appearing in front of homes of Veterans who suffer post traumatic stress around this time of year. How this plays out is not entirely clear. Are the neighborhood residents in the vicinity of the Veteran expected to curtail or forego festivities in order to assuage the affected few? How do we assimilate this new minority and still retain our identity as July 4th revelers?

I see a parallel with animals who suffer this problem. They are a well-know casualty every year and getting more media exposure. The accepted practice is to medicate them with Ace Promazine and throw them in the bedroom. ACE Promazine, for the uninitiated, is PCP. If you are my age, I’m sure you may remember smoking some of it. It’s like looking through binoculars backwards and driving anything-even a child’s tricycle-is ill-advised assuming you could find it. Medicating Vets to this extreme degree is not the answer.

Allow me to draw from my experiences. When I came home in 1972, it didn’t take anything more than a car backfiring to send me into a ditch head first. This was a wise precaution in my former assignment as it could just as easily have been an M-26 or a B-40. Your mind is a conditioned, reflexive muscle that simply responds to stimuli. Much like Dr. Pavlov’s famous dogs, it can be “taught” to drool at the ring of a bell. Likewise, it can be conditioned to perform survival precepts to live another day. In all instances, it is the learned, reflexive action that is the catalyst.

In the context of our discussion today, any conditioned reflex can be “unlearned”. I know. I’ve done it. I suffered that very same reflex and soiled many a good pair of trousers in a frenzied attempt to crawl under cars or take cover after a loud explosion. This gradually tapered off and no longer poses a problem. It’s not to say that the sound doesn’t affect me. It’s more along the lines of how I react. No more is the fight or flight gene aroused. My brain assimilates the noise, classifies it as threat or entertainment based on a long list of where, when, how many etc. If it sounds like an AK on full auto, my senses are attuned in an entirely different manner than if it occurs at 2200 hrs as the festivities ramp up at dark.

10152021_10152940278720830_5448332561515869500_nA small number of Americans-far smaller than you would assume- suffer the deleterious effects I mention.  Warfare hones the survival instinct and it takes decades to “unlearn”. While I hate to say this, a larger number than you would think aspire to be PTSD sufferers for the sympathy it engenders. I find it sad that anyone would feel so unloved or unwanted such that they would sink to narcissistic self-indulgence to garner this attention. In this day and age of selfies and Facepage, it is becoming all the rage to be seen and heard. Being a victim-especially a Veteran- is guaranteed to elicit oodles of sympathy. For proof, I offer the plethora of Stolen Valor types beginning to parade around malls. The cacophony of voices vying to be heard also increases daily. So, too, does the demand for recognition of all manner of new afflictions demanding results or some form of medical intervention.

One thing I still suffer from-and may for the rest of my life- is the sound of a chopper going over. A Huey has a signature sound like no other but few realize the whole generation of Bell choppers of that era had that signature or one extremely similar. Many are still used today and have an ugly habit of transiting over my house fairly regularly. Which begs the question- should I contact the local military authorities and ask them politely to be more considerate and courteous? Perhaps they could reroute their flight path in such a way as to inconvenience me less. The futility of that argument is plain on its face. I’d be laughed out of the FAA building and rightfully so.

One can see the problem brewing in the cauldron. This is America. We are free to move about the country and make noise doing so within reason. We are free to utilize airspace overhead and to be boisterous on one or two days a year in celebration of our Independence. In short, this is our America-not one or two individuals’ America in the neighborhood whose druthers must be accommodated.

My particular part of Washington state is very rural, conservative and for the most part, still allows us to fire guns and ignite fireworks of any calibre. The only one with PTSD hereabouts is me. I have learned to curb the urge to flee. I have gone so far as to indulge myself in immersion therapy by firing my guns on the Fourth as well. I ignite unsafe and insanely loud fireworks purchased at the Indian reservations where they have the biggest and best. I have discovered it is the best therapy invented since Pavlov’s bell-ringing to induce drooling. No, just kidding. Cupcake says I only drool while sleeping.

There are two schools of thought in America and unfortunately it appears the politically correct one where “Can’t we all just get along?” is increasingly colliding with “You must curb your zeal for the good of the many.” From my standpoint, it sounds much more like “the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many”.

Millions of us have returned from wars with bent brains. At no time has anyone ever suggested that we curb our zest in celebrating the Fourth- or New Year’s Day- for that matter. It borders on un-American behaviour to even contemplate a subdued celebration. How do you “be courteous with fireworks”? I’m all for sparklers and my grandkids love them but they are merely part and parcel of a bigger demonstration of my pride in being an American. Illuminate me. How do we be courteous with fireworks? Knock up the impacted party and inform them you are preparing a reenactment of the siege of Fallujah? Politely put up signs in your own front yard announcing “World War III begins promptly at 2145 hours. Hearing conservation program temporarily suspended”?

Accommodating combat Veterans should not be so difficult. I have found that if I am part of the celebration or, indeed the precipitating party, it ameliorates the effects of the sounds. I also find that the noise is far less stressful if I know it’s going to happen and when. I cannot control the airspace above my house nor can I induce the FAA to alter the flight path of rotary wing aircraft. In that, I am sad. It has a far more insidious effect than an explosion. It’s the condensed essence of too many friends making their last flight. It’s the sound of finality-taps played out by rotors on the air. It is a constant reminder of Search and Rescue played out again and again for four decades with no ending in sight. I have learned to balance that, too. When it occurs, I remember all the good times I shared with those friends. DEROS parties, the thrill of victory when the AirAm H-34 got our pilot and GIB out minutes before the Pathet Lao descended on them and even the excitement some felt when they were cured of the clap and back in action again.

Yes, I can commiserate with Veterans who have issues. I ask you to let the dead bury the dead and to go on living. I counsel all of you  who lived in the shadow of the Blade to look up when you hear that sound. Look up and embrace it when you feel that lump in your throat. Go outside and embrace those loud booms on the Fourth regardless of what your brain is telling you. The sooner you do, the sooner you’ll be healed. Don’t wallow in self-pity and ask everyone to conform to your wishes and desires. This is America- that amazing amalgam of “Yes we can”. No single one of us is more equal than any other. None should have to forego the blessings of freedom in order to make their neighbor less uncomfortable.

For those of you who have returned more recently from Afstan, I offer the assurance that it gets better over time. The hurt recedes like the tide. It doesn’t go away but it becomes more remote and less painful to remember each time. Never forget those friends but do not let them consume your every waking moment and dictate your emotions for life. Next year, in 2015, go out and find the loudest and the best pyrotechnics you can purchase and revel in the freedom the Founding Fathers accorded you. If your state forbids the practice, then come to Washington on vacation and do it here. As of Tuesday, you can do it stoned out of your mind on marijuana. Now there’s a match made in Heaven. Pot and Pyrotechnics. ETOH is optional. Our state’s new logo should be Proud to Be Unsafe and Insane.

A warm thank you to Jeff in Florida for the following. I think it sums it up. Too bad they don’t allow machine guns in our state. Just Pot. Only in America, Ladies and Gentlemen Vets. Only in America can you have this dichotomy.

2014-07-10 10.30.21

Posted in From the footlocker, Gulf War Issues, PTSD, Vietnam Disease Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

FACEPLACE INDEPENDENCE

Posted on July 5, 2014 by asknod

539845_582328321778338_288615878_nA collection of the finest FB has to offer this week. Humor is the hors d’oeuvre of the Gods. Without it we are doomed to a society dominated by pessimists.  

 

 

 

10334370_727076587330399_1435048709791441179_n1901386_716486111723603_3203617480314844023_n10501646_756897307700750_7321962324619925912_n10522756_10152477358645700_3732631875178636390_n10518967_10154336054645010_449781258180400764_nVA Scandal

 

1939481_10153077828152366_368461292431537514_n

That’s all, folks. Thanks for sending them in.

 

Posted in FACE HUMOR, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

INVASION OF THE RASPBERRY SNATCHERS

Posted on July 4, 2014 by asknod

2014-07-04 15.57.28It’s a great title for a movie but I can’t get anyone over to pick them. You have no idea of the number of raspberries harmed in the production of this 10 lb. pile. Time to call the egg lady. I get a months supply of eggs out of it. These are for a 4th of July party. Cupcake insisted they all had to be large and “Martha Stewart” perfect.

2014-07-04 15.57.48Another trick I would be remiss in not sharing. If you want to keep the zucchini down to a dull roar and avoid vegetable overdose, pick it when it’s 4 inches long. It makes for killer stir fries. If one gets away from you and turns into a baseball bat, you donate it to the neighbors. Go ahead. Be a zucchini snob.

Happy 4th of July. This probably also marks the first day of the draft in 1776. I expect there were no “high” numbers back then.

Posted in Food for the soul, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

READER INPUT

Posted on July 4, 2014 by asknod

Controversial-team-names---Cleveland-Indians-logo-jpgThis just in from Bruce Almighty, our Resident ILP specialist in Georgia.

Here is an email sent​ by Larry McGrorty to Clarence Page, of the Chicago​ ​Tribune, after an article Page published concerning a name change for the Washington Redskins.

Dear Mr. Page,

I always love your articles and I generally agree with them. I would suggest, as in an email I received, they change the name of the Washington ​Redskins to the “Foreskins” to better represent their ​community, paying tribute to the dickheads in Congress.
Here are some other ​politically correct corrections to consider: I agree with our Native American population. I am highly insulted by the racially charged name of the Washington ​Redskins. One might argue that to name a professional football team after Native Americans would exalt them as fine warriors, but nay, nay. We must be careful not to offend, and in the spirit of political correctness and courtesy, we must move forward.

​ ​Let’s ditch the Kansas City Chiefs, the Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians.

If your shorts are in a wad because of the reference the name Redskins makes to skin color, then we need to get rid of the Cleveland Browns. The Carolina Panthers obviously were named to keep the memory of militant Blacks from the 60’s alive. Gone. It’s offensive to us white folk.

The New York Yankees offend the Southern population. Do you see a team named for the Confederacy? No! There is no room for any reference to that.​

I am also offended by the blatant references to the Catholic religion among our sports team names. Totally inappropriate to have the New Orleans Saints, the Los Angels or the San Diego Padres.

Then there are the team names that glorify criminals who raped and pillaged. We are talking about the horrible Oakland Raiders, the Minnesota Vikings, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Pittsburgh Pirates!

Now, let us address those teams that clearly send the wrong message to our children.

​ ​The San Diego Chargers promote irresponsible fighting or even poor spending habits. Wrong message to our children.

The New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants promote obesity, a growing childhood epidemic. Wrong message to our children.

The Cincinnati Reds promote downers/barbiturates. Wrong message to our children.

The Milwaukee Brewers—well that goes without saying. Wrong message to our children.

So, there you go. We need to support any legislation that comes out to rectify this travesty, because the government will likely become involved with this issue, as they should. Just the kind of thing the do-nothing congress loves.

My wife and I are die hard Oregon State fans, and with all of this in mind, it might also make some sense to change the name of the Oregon State women’s athletic teams to something other than “The Beavers.”

Keep those cards and letters coming.

Larry McGrorty

Posted in Food for thought, Humor | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

eBENEFITS–SO SIMPLE A CAVEMAN CAN DO IT

Posted on July 4, 2014 by asknod

geico-caveman-relaxing1-300x200Remember USB Allison “in Wonderland” Hickey’s famous rejoinder to Congress back in 2013? Paraphrased, it could be summed up thusly: “As simple as filing taxes online and a way to whittle down the claims backlog“. Whew, doggies.  Considering the claims backlog just hit two million and 2015 is right around the corner, they may have to refurbish that statement. More importantly, with our last fearless leader down the tubes, are the assurances of 98% accuracy and a 125-day guaranteed turnaround still “operational”?

Lawbob Squarepants just sent me this link with some rather disheartening news for all you e-filers. Keep in mind I warned everyone that the only system remotely capable of being trusted was the CAVC’s e-filing system. Seems I may have been on to something. For any of you who might have done so, you may wish to check the status of your e-filing to prevent loss of the filing date.

longestIn lieu of all the failings we have seen of late, this should come as no surprise. Maybe it’s
Allison’s way of ridding the VBA of thousands of claims “accidentally” a la Louis Lerner’s IRS emails which evaporated were lost to a computer crash. Nothing would surprise us anymore at Asknod. Unlike the mass-hysteria media, we tend to expect the VA to lose, shred, destroy, feign memory loss or just ignore 38 CFR in their dogged pursuit of denials. Likewise, 140,000 misplaced VA scheduling mishaps, with more growing by the day is to be taken as par for the course. Remember back in April/May when that number was 30,000 and the VAOIG was confident all the Lost Boys of Neverhappenedland had been accounted for?

Hundreds of thousands of claims is a short ton of Veterans. One might think that someone would choke, blink or blow coffee through their noses up at 810 Vermin Ave. NW in the Central Office at the mere thought of this travesty. In this day and age of no bonuses and the impending Night of the Long Knives, quite the opposite is ensuing.

Lutz said if vets try to submit electronically hundreds of documents, such as PDFs of medical records, “that volume of documents makes electronic submission very difficult, and we always recommend that they work with a Veterans Service Organization, as the VSOs have the expertise to ensure that the right information is gathered and submitted.”

(This is the first we’ve heard that “multiple submissions of .PDFs etc conflusticate the VBMS wundercomputer”.  And why is it that a Service Officer is going to have any more luck than you uploading docs into VBMS? )

Well, duh. No doubt they’d like to see this in the able hands of fellow collaborators like VSOs. Vets, in VA’s convoluted mind, simply should not be allowed to do this without a minder. The fact is that Vets are the primary cause of the backlog in the tortured grey matter of Miz Allison. The very same VSOs she is advocating to intercede are the ones encouraging separating Vets of  the post-2001 Iraqistan to file for everything that ever occurred to them medically-both before and during service. Thus we are greeted by 65-item, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink claims that take years to investigate and further constipate the system.

How about this little “glitch”? Remember now, we are encouraged to use VSOs as they have the ability to view our claims in “real time” and fix the VA’s inevitable screwups promptly:

VSOs have little visibility into the claims filed to date through the eBenefits portal because of design problems with the information technology system set up, the Stakeholder Enterprise Portal. That portal only allows for broad searches for claims at the state and the VBA regional office level, and limits any search to 1,000 claims. If the search results in more than 1,000 records, SEP returns a message that the system is not available, rather than the search went over the 1,000 file limit.

Ruh-oh, Rorge. This new glorified VBMS can’t even see BVA appeals awaiting transmittal to DC (i.e. those awaiting a Form 8 and certification)? This reminds me of the old, original Pong game with two paddles by Atari. VA is marketing it as an Xbox product akin to Grand Theft Auto 5 yet there’s no sound and the video quality is 1930s Mighty Mouse black and white. It imparts a completely new meaning to the “BM” in VBMS. Perhaps a rebranding to VBSM? You Vets also realize, I hope, that this means your service officer can see little more than you can on ebenefits. In addition, I called the 800 Dial a prayer line several weeks ago and asked  why two claims, filed separately on successive months have the same date of filing. Answer? “Well, sir, the ebenefits portal doesn’t give me that information but I can file a query for you.” Yep. Guess who can’t even view the VACOLS computer now?

We are coming into a rough, uncharted course where every effort will be made soon to downplay the VA’s VHA and VBA shortcomings. Shinseki’s abrupt departure will be pointed to as the monkey wrench as will the dearth of doctors. Inadequate funding will be dragged out again in spite of Congress’ perennial willingness to write a check for any amount VA says it needs. VA is flush with apologists. I’m sure they take up a whole floor at 810 Vermin Ave. NW and enjoy corner window offices as a reward for their loyal service.

safe_imageAnd now we have Vets dying in hospitals waiting for an ambulance to cart them 500 yards to an emergency room. Perhaps it is time we employed Vets to do this. There is no 911 on a battlefield. When you get clobbered by ordnance, your buddies don’t all gather ’round singing Kumbaya and hold your hand saying “Relax. We called for a dustoff. They’ll be here in 30 minutes depending on hostile fire. Try breathing more slowly so you don’t bleed out.” You get proactive or you lose them. What set of rules, dreamed up by VHA, would permit everyone to sit around and wait 30 minutes for a meat wagon when they could throw him on a stretcher and have him in capable hands in less than five? This is what we are up against. The media has no idea of the depth of perfidy we have suffered for aeons and which continues to infest this system. Only at a VAMC could a Vet die waiting to be seen due to personnel following the book. I rest my case.

Happy 4th of July, campers.

 

Posted in VA BACKLOG, VA Health Care, VA Medical Mysteries Explained, vA news, VAMC Scheduling Coverup, VAOIG Watchdogs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

VASEC–PLEASE ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF

Posted on July 3, 2014 by asknod

RicI have refrained from writing about the shakeup at 810 Vermin Ave. NW in hopes of reading them bones more closely. Sure enough, the rats are jumping ship with the sage premonition that the USS Veterans Affairs is in mortal peril and slowly subsiding beneath the waves. Gone is that second spring after the 1988 Congressional Kristallnacht that baldly snatched power from them. Senator Alan Cranston’s prophetic phrase echoes once again on the pavement of Vermont Ave. NW and the REMFs are finally facing the music. They’ve never been in the spotlight. They were promised anonymity. Please, sir. May I have another bonus falls on deaf, uncaring ears. 

Ronald McDonald has been tapped for this job based on little more than the typical lifer mentality of doggedly pursuing one job until you’re the last man standing-ergo the CEO. It troubles me he only held his Proctor and Gamble  King of the Mountain perch for four years. I find that telling in a tough setting of cutbacks and product revamping. A valuable CEO would be wooed to hang around for as long as the pay and the options continued to roll in.

I'm a man of wealth and taste.

Didn’t they read my resume? I’m a man of wealth and taste.

Does anyone find it incongruous that the new Hamburglar is a conservative right leaning guy who donated to Romney and Boehner’s campaigns? Doesn’t this smell like a setup, and, if failure occurs, it’s preordained who gets the ax? We don’t have to look much further than the scapegoat who just got clobbered for trusting his underlings. Regardless of Ric’s political leanings, he was ordered to fall on his sword. Without delving into dirty language, a certain high up political figure (elected) asked for his resignation privately and then let him grovel personally and publicly. I don’t know that I could do that. Under the circumstances, I’d take the bitchslap in public and go back to the office and start writing pink slips.

Field-of-Dreams-Timothy-BusfieldThis has been a long time in coming. We welcome the dawn of exposure and the glaring media lights and microphones. It’s like Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) of Field of Dreams finally getting through to his brother-in-law Mark and bringing his attention to all the baseball players. This is the watershed moment… and we get Ronald McDonald. Are you kidding me? Did anyone ask Tammy Duckworth what her schedule was? There are many choices available and many viable candidates. To limit this to corporate has-beens is self-limiting. Ruling out true former military leaders simply artificially constricts the pool of eligibility. Such is politics. The FNG is always the whipping boy.

Choosing a good old boy Republican is smart politics. You get guaranteed affirmation in the Senate with no hassle. This is simply a stopgap measure until you bail out in two years so you really could give a rat’s ass what happens. Think about it? What else could go wrong that hasn’t already? This is why I find politics messy and unforgiving. Poor Mr. McDonald will end up a footnote on the ash heap of history having accomplished nothing in his two years other than to get up to speed in time to put absolutely zero reforms in place before a new administration is inaugurated. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. And much like Groundhog Day (the movie), we’re compelled to do it again and again with no hope they’ll ever get it right.

download

Sympathy for the Devil

I write this, as I do most all my articles, from the perspective of a Veteran. I find it more than occupies my time. It is a worthwhile cause and someone needs to make sure no one gets left behind. We are golden right now simply because we’re an injured party. Anything this administration can do to make the VA scandal go away or ameliorate it’s corrosive effects on the media is fair game. We must hold their feet to the fire. Don’t allow this story to subside. Don’t permit it to become yesterday’s news supplanted by the next earthquake in Chile.

If we do end up with the clown, we’ll have a subdued six month hiatus for realignment, rebranding, renewing, reviewing and little else. Eventually this story will fall to Page 15 and below the fold. The problems are so entrenched that a spring housecleaning simply isn’t going to remove the infestation and inbred culture that has permeated this Agency since 1920. Each and every VA Secretary in the past has sworn to change the way VA does business, They promised faster, newer, and more. They offered redder reds and whiter whites. All these promises have not even dried on the paper and we’re getting ready to be fed a new line.

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again

Posted in Complaints Department, VAMC Scheduling Coverup | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

ILP REPORT– SUMMER 2014

Posted on June 29, 2014 by asknod
begin 62914

Liberty Apples

While this may appear to be a “food for the soul” post, it is far more. Like a date stamp on the milk carton, like the newspaper held up on a FB page to identify the day categorically, so too does this post date and time stamp the article as to where and when it occurred. Likewise, the vegetables/fruit cannot be imported for a Hollywood theatrical “hot stage”effect. Remember? We’re poor. 

As most know, I’ve been probing the depths of the VA’s VR&E underbelly for some weakness. In my quest for my greenhouse, I must document that I’ve done this for over twelve months, that I am physically and mentally capable of it and that it is necessary and vital to my activities of daily living and my pursuit of Independence in my everyday life and (it’s a long list).  We’ve found many flaws but they remain intransigent like our VA medical Defender of the Faith Sharon Helman. She keeps insisting no one was harmed in the filming of this VA Scheduling brouhaha in Phoenix. Does she live in Washington or Colorado? Is she allowed to be legally medicated on that shit?

 

Evidence Is King

2014-06-29 13.54.50 plums

Italian Plums

The idea here is to create even more evidence like this for our new electronic age. I must confess. I’ve been reading CAVC Opinions and Memorandums for a long time and am seeing more and more websites cited as references or supportive of the claim such that they often become an integral part of the evidence admissible to the BVA. Remember, all you Vet campers and scouts- Be prepared! That’s right. Boldly go into the new electronic cloud and cache your evidence right there at your fingertips-dated and stamped- common mail box law accomplished. Enter the address into the claims file and point to it with pride. Once you enter it in,  be it via a simple Standard Form 8.5X11 or 21-4138 by snail mail w/ CM3R, electronically “attach” it to a ebenefits file in your name as having been “submitted” (least preferred method) or hand deliver it to your smiley friends in person at the local RO, it becomes evidence. They date stamp it in front of you and voila- constructive possession begins. Incontrovertible evidence. Bedrock evidence. And, as they say, a picture is often worth a thousand words.

2014-06-29 13.55.34 red pears

Red pears

When you’ve fought these guys to a draw and the BVA punts to the CAVC, all this is going to be pure gold. You always want, by the totality of the evidence, to overwhelm them with the evidence that supports your hypothesis, the known facts, and the Presumption of Regularity. Roger that. The Presumption of validity can be yours for the taking, too. It’s presumed that these pictures you posted on June 29th, 2014 are actual pictures you took the same day unless VA can rebut the presumption. Once it becomes accepted fact (a finding in legal terms), then the weight assigned to it comes into play.

Benefit of the Doubt Dance

2014-06-29 13.56.00 peaches

Peaches

Weight assigned to evidence is pro or con. If it is extraneous, it is discarded or set aside presuming it may be probative if other evidence brings it into play later. After all the evidence is weighed, the scales are assessed. The Court has said often the the presumption of a thumb on the scale in the Vet’s favor is always paramount in these matters. VA didn’t get the email.

2014-06-29 14.02.15 Stardust Radio ornamental eggplant

Rick Townsend of Stardust Radio-ornamental Eggplant

To circumvent this requirement, they can claim they didn’t have all the evidence, the evidence they did have was unsupportive or that the Vet’s credibility is questionable. It’s all immaterial. You build the record on the assumption that you will be talking to someone truly educated eventually who has normal powers of inductive and deductive thinking and can cogently describe the difference between the two concepts.

2014-06-29 14.02.26 2nd beets

2nd beets starts

We are boldly entering a new electronic kingdom of evidence where the winners in this can whip out the documents anywhere on a tablet. No more of “Oh, shit. I left that document at home and there’s no Wi-Fi here to make a GO TO ASSIST CUSTOMER Connection to access my files. Now what?” Hell, at the BVA Hearing, you have all this set up and whip out the tablet and say “Here’s my WordPress Blog. Asknod.org. Go to Blogs by subject and click on ILP. There you will see Xtyseven posts on the history of my claim including the 8 1/2 X 11 inch glossy photographs of my orchard and garden since 2011.” You can place all you medical on there with SSNs blacked out because hey- you’ve also filed them with the c-file and the presumption of possession-that if they are anything VA, then VA has them constructively in their possession attaches! You want presumptions in your favor. Presumptions win claims if they are yours.

2014-06-29 14.03.58 carrots

The carrot bin

VA may fight me to a 4th and long punt to the CAVC on my greenhouse. We look forward to this. It will create valuable precedence in the ILP field and may be instrumental in dismembering this VR&E cabal. It is becoming a game of Caluza. Initially, we just had to file to get the tractor. Then one day, someone said no avocational stuff. Then it became a means test of “necessary and vital”. You see the analogy? Caluza/Shedden/Hickson are about the three necessities needed to prevail on a VA claim. Like a secret handshake, they were jealously guarded until the CAVC let the cat out of the bag and named them out loud in 1994. VA neglected to advertize this necessity until Congress corrected the oversight with the VCAA. Suddenly VA was obligated to attach a Miranda Warning to the claims packet . It innocuously says “What do we need?”

2014-06-29 14.05.39cukes

First cuke

The Independent Living Program is taking a page from the M21 and introducing formative changes without any Congressional Oversight. That’s a Bozo No-No. The Congressional Presumption of What It All Means is that Congress wrote it and it is presumed they meant what they said. No mission creep. This latest change order magically appeared the day before my birthday (April Fools). You think there was any ulterior motive there? Nah. Just kidding. No conspiracy.

Creating Your “CLOUD”

2014-06-29 14.09.42kneehigh selfie

Knee Selfie showing corn is enjoying global warming before the 4th of July

Anyone can have a WordPress blog page. It’s free. Who cares if no one visits it? It has an internet address. It’s like Dropbox and everyone on the planet can look inside and see whazzup.  Faceplace is not where you want this. Ditto for Utube. This is the perfect new vehicle to be a repository for your claim with certain documents discreetly redacted that still offer an easy bread crumb trail to follow. It will become a painful suppository for VA later on. It’s not like they can say “Well, we sent a 21-4142 to St. Anthony’s Hospital but they never responded.” You can say “Refer to page 3415 on the Record of Appeal (ROA) and you will see where the Veteran informed the VA not only of the location, but indeed provided them a copy available electronically to download twenty four hours a day for months before the denial. The documents clearly show a date stamp of XX/XX/XXXX proving constructive possession. Therefore the Presumption of Regularity assumes that the documents were available to the rater in an electronic VBMS file or on paper in the Veteran’s old C-file on the date of the decision.”

Amber waves of grain

Amber waves of grain

This is what produces reversals at the CAVC. The totality of the evidence must be so overwhelming that any sane man would be hard pressed to construe it in any fashion other than in favor of the Vet. Remember my admonition in my book. You want a steep, impervious slope that VA cannot find a hand or toehold on. Think Teflon. Think Wesson Oil party. Hell, I don’t care what you think but concentrate on having every T crossed and every I dotted. You are not allowed to submit new evidence on appeal to the CAVC so you want to get it excruciatingly correct before you leave 810 Vermin Ave. NW and set sail for the Big House up on Indiana Ave. NW.

And now, a word from our sponsor.

2014-06-29 14.11.30Pesto

Pesto patch

2014-06-29 14.12.53kohlrabi

Purple Kohlrabi

2014-06-29 14.14.34Alaska Fancy

Alaska Fancy-84 day wonder

2014-06-29 14.36.01Raspberry 1

Raspberry infestation

Oh yes. Remember my comment about the “grapes resembling mosquito gonads about two months ago. Nevermind. I’m an accidental gardener. Those apparently were flowers. The grapes will issue forth some day. I’ll report back. I’ve never done point in grape country.

2014-06-29 14.22.17grapes

mosquito gonads

 

 

 

 

Posted in Food for the soul, Independent Living Program, Nexus Information | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

BVA–THE LOUISVILLE TWO STEP

Posted on June 28, 2014 by asknod

downloadThe Louisville Two-step: Step One: Get VSO and sign POA over. Step two: Step into street in front of VA Examiner and get prepared to be mowed down. This is so predictable. Johnny Rebel here could have been in high cotton and down at the Dodge dealership years ago but his desire to “save a short ton of money” by not giving it to a filthy attorney has now cost him dearly. Mr. Rebel put all his chips on the Kentucky Dept. of Veterans Affairs and an attorney wannabe. He got what I cannot count on a Cray Computer- 100% of 0%. What the hey? It happened to me with the DAV. Don’t feel pregnant and alone.

The worst part about all this is that it was avoidable. More so, it was more predictable than knee-high corn by the 4th of July in a good year. Here we are in 2014 and the 46 VSOs continue to march us to slaughter ten-abreast and eyes right. So many trust them so implicitly and their admonition  “Why use an attorney? They’ll just take all your money. Dude, we’re free!” falls on money-conscious ears. We aren’t rich and anyone in the know who advocates to save us samoles is a voice of knowledge to be heeded. Or not.

The first problem all of you should remember when you begin your claim and appeal is to couch your desires in generic, nonspecific terms. Whereas here, Johnny Rebel’s gomer Service Officer donned Stethoscope and White Jacket and got right down to the ICD-9 code on Johnny. So much so, in fact,  that he has boxed himself in artificially like Clemons v. Shinseki . This is unnecessary for any number of reasons. Secondary diseases to primary service connected ones are somewhat birds of a feather, first of all. VA is well-acquainted with the fact that an inordinate number of us Heppers come down with DM2, cryoglobulinemia, Porphyria and what I could describe as Peripheral Neuropathy (loosely). Thyroid problems are endemic and they know all this. Mr. Clemons had to make the trip up to the Big House because he conflated mental problems as an all-inclusive batch of diseases with an ugly outcome. Who cares what you call it? If you are not an MD let it ride.

VA is fond(as is the BVA VLJ) of “recharacterizing” your claimed contentions. When they do this, they get to construe what they think it is you are trying so desperately to vocalize. When your own VSO decides to construe it, or worse, simply lets the VLJ have his way and choose it, you’re going to see the gravy train headed the opposite way from Dollar Drive.

Let’s recharacterize Johnny Rebel’s requests as they should have been phrased way back in the fall of 2003 when he filed this. Veterans note that was eleven years ago. That’s Backlog with a capital B. First, his SO’s and the VLJ’s “characterizations of what he filed for:

THE ISSUES

1. Entitlement to service connection for a disorder characterized by chronic fatigue as secondary to hepatitis C.

2. Entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities as secondary to hepatitis C.

3. Entitlement to service connection for migraine headaches as secondary to hepatitis C.

4. Entitlement to service connection for hypertension as secondary to hepatitis C.

5. Entitlement to service connection for a cervical spine disability (claimed as cervical radiculitis) as secondary to hepatitis C.

6. Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability as secondary to hepatitis C.

7. Entitlement to service connection for a herniated disc of the lower back (also claimed as lumbago) as secondary to hepatitis C.

Now, let’s tune this up. We all know we have some radical problem associated with this bug that provokes all this and more. Some have ascribed it to any number of disease processes and have had success on a wide and varied level. The one constant in all these wins, be they at the RO, the BVA or the Court, is the path of Clemons. You are not a doctor and to opine like one simply gives the VA ammunition to shoot down the disease you identify. Mrs. Espiritu learned that the hard way in 1992. Mr. Layno followed in her path in 94. Nothing has changed in the interim. You still follow the Yellow Brick Road paved by Mr. Caluza, Mr. Hickson and Mr. Shedden. Here’s what I’d be writing:

1) Entitlement to fibromyalgia and/or rheumatoid arthritis not otherwise specified, secondary to service connected HCV.

2) Entitlement to headache syndrome, not otherwise specified, secondary to service connected HCV.

I’d leave it at that because, quite frankly, that’s all you’re going to take away from this. Nowhere has it ever been linked that cervical and lumbar problems are HCV-related. You’d just be shooting holes in the dark. I’d have myself tested up, down and sideways for high iron/hematocrit issues, ANA for autoimmune disorders and my IgG levels. I’d be looking at tests for RH factor to identify an exacerbated rheumatoid issue. VHA is not a self-starter on this. If you aren’t over 60% SC, you may have a hard time talking a VA PCP into running all those blood labs. You may, and probably should be doing this in a civilian setting to get the best independent results, too. As you can see from this decision, the labs that are all point to happy,happy,happy.

Now for the bait and switch:

The examiner also stated that there is a lack of sufficient clinical evidence to establish a current diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome. The examiner noted that there is no evidence showing the Veteran has been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. [That’s because Mr. Kentucky Vet helper guy never told him about nexus letters] The examiner determined that the etiology of the Veteran’s symptom of fatigue is unclear, and further noted there is no evidence of chronic, active hepatitis; acute active hepatitis; or any sequelae of liver disease with resulting fatigue, myalgia, or arthralgias. Review of the Veteran’s lab work revealed normal electrolytes and thyroid function was also normal.

Okay, what wasn’t said? The conversation keeps coming back to what the Veteran has claimed for a disease. Each denial substitutes the same exact answer for a denial predicate. “He says he has this but all the blood labs, MRIs, Cat Scans, urinalyses, etc.) say everything’s hunky dory. What is missing is any critical pursuit of what IS wrong. This is a straw man argument that can be eviscerated in short order. Where are the tests for RH factor or AI? Where is a concerted effort made to point out the issues/problems Johnny Vet is vocalizing are endemic to thousands of other similarly situated Vets with HCV- be it resolved, in remision or worse-healed via Interferon bug juice. VA has reams of handouts that explain some of the very same symptoms he complains of being part and parcel of the HCV syndrome. Aches, pains, and a passel of other bugs travel in the circus and not a word of discussion. VA is required to consider all etiologies of a disease -both direct and presumptive- and to investigate them.

Where is the effort made to find out what is wrong with Mr. Vet rather than an effort to prove that everything he claims is unsubstantiated? There are two schools of medicine at work here. One is the objective, Hippocratic method guided by an oath and the other is the Allstate/Nationwide model arguing the absence of corroboration. My favorite defense of this one is an old Derwinski case. Check this out:

Wilson_90-673

images (1)Nowhere is it written that you must have continuity of treatment. The only specific item is discussed in 38 CFR §3.303(b) that there be continuity of symptoms. Since the Walker decision eviscerated §3.303(b) for all but the §3.309 diseases, it behooves us to have continuity of symptomatology from the day of the event or injury in service. A bread crumb trail is sufficient sprinkled with a few medical records but the paramount item is as Roseanna Roseannadana said- “It always goes to show it’s something!” You can point to the injury or event, then produce credible evidence including letters from wives, coworkers, kids, the mailman and the UPS guy that it’s exactly as you say.

Here, Johnny Rebel comes up short. He needs a doctor to state the obvious. Johnny has HCV-or did have. Even though his symptomatology of HCV infection may be in remission, this does not ameliorate the other secondaries once they manifest themselves nor does it absolve the VA of just remuneration. My friend and fellow Vet Mark has DM2. Whether it’s a present from Santa, HCV or two trips around the Interferon race track is immaterial. He did not have it before he came down with the disease. He is currently going through Sovaldi treatment. If he gains SVR (or remission), the chances of his DM2 going into remission are slim and none. The damage has been done. He should be service connected because VA’s own studies point to this as a prime cause of DM2. Here, there is no argument where there clearly should be.  At asknod, we call this Whack-a-mole justice. You file it, we deny it. VA is employing the one-way street philosophy that is adversarial.

Yep. You got your ass kicked Dude-but everyone at KY Vets was behind you 86 proof-er-percent.

Yep. You got your ass kicked Dude-but everyone at KY Vets was behind you 86 proof-er-percent.

Filing a claim and sitting in the back seat just cost Mr. Vet eleven years of wasted time. He does have until July 20th, 2014 to file his Notice of Appeal at the CAVC and would be a fool not to. This is the last roundup on his claim and absent a remand to add the needed medical linkage, in the form of new and material evidence, all his hard work is going to go down the drain. Judging by statistics alone. Mr. Kentucky SO is going to meet with him and have a beer summit. He’ll talk about how they fought the good fight and the pricks just screwed him. There won’t even be a mention of the CAVC and a Notice of Appeal. I guarantee it. I seriously doubt they know (or care) the path exists.

Posted in BvA HCV decisions, HCV Risks (documented) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

BVA–IN SEARCH OF NEGATIVE EVIDENCE

Posted on June 28, 2014 by asknod

downloadThis is a great decision with enormous parameters. It illustrates many things that are judicially useful. To begin with, it is a jetgun-based claim and, as such, is of immense interest to the Veteran population who served between 1962 and 1998. It is more than that, though. It is primer for VA claimants’ rainmakers to look at to see the pitfalls of the VA claims process. Here, the VA set out to deny Johnny Vet using a contracted VA-hired psychiatrist as the gunman. Without being too verbose, allow me to say it backfired. Read on.

From the Fort Fumble VARO 

In Denver, Colorado

As we know, you can ascertain many things from a BVA decision. Let’s analyze some of them here. Johnbo is from Denver or at least he filed there. He filed sometime in 2005 and lost initially in December of that year. He only served from May 24, 1976 to June 18th, 1976-a mere twenty four days. I suspect this may be part of his problem. VA is loathe to grant SC for claimants who are barely out of the Ping stage of their basic training. To be short sheeted, he must have had ‘issues’ which are strangely absent.

Johnboy fought this through to 2012 where he was finally granted a videoconference BVA Board Hearing with our perennial Acting Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) A.C. Mackenzie, a staff attorney at the BVA who appears to have been in training for their big banana position for over nine years. He’s been there since 2005 and occasionally sits in as an acting VLJ. As such, he strives to get these decisions anally correct even if it causes friction with his boss, Laura “SS” Eskinazi.

One thing VA is prohibited from doing is purposefully going afield and looking up nasty, negative evidence that can be used to denigrate your good name, eviscerate your credibility and utilized to deny you. It could be the Johnster has (or had) a nasty habit of ingesting illicit drugs. Regardless, if you set out to prove this, you (the VA) must be without sin. You are limited to evidence accumulated legitimately at, say, the VAMC from existing records. If Johnny got diarrhea of the mouth at one time or another and admitted to clinicians that he single-handedly tried to consume Burma’s entire 1985 production of their most famous export (opium), that would certainly be admissible in an ex parte proceeding. If he went further and illuminated all that this became a life calling as early as 18, all well and fine. It would not be permissible to fetch an old 1998 Psychiatrist’s report that stated he had this nasty habit since 18 and entered service with it if-a big if- it had been fenced off as being an illegitimate fishing expedition. Many of you are naive and do not subscribe to the idea of VA as an adversary. It is one of the most oft-employed tactics used in your denials. All too frequently, it is subtle like impugning your credibility. Sometimes it manifests as outright lies and accusations to buttress the denial. If you have not yet encountered it, you will some day.

Even before HIPPA rules became the law of the land, it was unfashionable to be sharing a patient’s information behind his back without his permission. Fortunately for Johnny, he had an excellent rapport with his ex-wife attorney. She, in turn, went to bat all the way up to the Fed. Circus and squelched a nasty report from “Doctor G.” effectively forbidding its use as negative evidence in the claim.

Prior to this, a VA examiner with the vapors who hadn’t been adequately briefed on VA’s policy on jetgun claims, had inadvertently concurred with him that his HCV was indubitably due to jetguns. This creates a bow wave in front of your claim and causes all manner of confusion. Said VA examiner had to be taken aside and given “the briefing” and a new addendum had to be added to the record “correcting” the old nexus assessment. Oddly, virtually all VA-requested addendums come back  against Veterans. Johnny’s was no different.

Note also that the initial denial was in December 2006. Further note that they played ping pong with him all the way to 2009 and accused him of being a drug dealer.

Following a review of the claims file, to include a February 2009 pain management note by Dr. R with comment on issue with drug abuse resulting in financial gain…

 

In 2012, they finally gave him a real C&P exam. This is where he obtained the first (and only) positive nexus. It is also what provoked the Board to start rummaging around in his files for something-anything- to destroy the recent, positive nexus. Being ruthless, it wasn’t long before they began resorting to illegally garnering medical information on which to predicate the denial.

Johnbo’s ex-wife stepped in and pointed out this was illegal in the lower forty eight states which caused the evidence to be redacted. That, quite simply, is how he won. The default setting in these cases is unique. Evidence is what ultimately must decide a claim. If you remove the negative facts obtained illegitimately, you are left with little to convict with. Witness O.J. Simpson’s gloves. He might have been guilty too but you have to arrive there with legitimately acquired evidence- not hearsay and innuendo.

Make no mistake about it. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. I strongly suspect that based on the Johnmeister’s short sojourn of twenty four days in boot camp that some negative evidence was uncovered preventing him from ‘Being all he could be’. Perhaps he had ‘negative life events’ that precluded serving. Who knows? This evidence was never presented from his SMRs so it’s a moot point. VA obviously thought they had this in the bag based on Dr. G’s damning recital and any further development was superfluous. It’s fairly obvious he and the ex went to great lengths judicially to have Doctor G.’s breach of medical records decorum quashed and expunged from the record. That may be what ensued during the claims hiatus from 2006 to 2012.

In May 2013, the Veteran submitted additional evidence in support of his claim, to include a statement from SMB an August 2006 federal court order that sealed the October 1998 report of psychological evaluation authored by Dr. G with notation of history of opioid drug abuse dating since the Veteran was 18. SMB is the Veteran’s ex-wife and private attorney who represented him in past VA and non VA matters. Of relevance in this case is that she represented the Veteran during federal and civil litigation against Dr. G. The federal litigation pertained to whether Dr. G violated the Veteran’s privacy when he disseminated his October 1998 report of psychiatric evaluation to the Veteran’s treatment providers and agencies from which he was seeking assistance without authorization of the Veteran and Dr. G’s claimed immunity as a government contractor. The civil litigation against Dr. G pertained to alleged defamatory and libelous statements and conclusions made by Dr. G in his October 1998 report, to include allegedly false statements and conclusions pertaining to the Veteran’s alleged history of opioid abuse since age 18. The accompanying August 2006 federal court order sealed all records referring to, derived from, or pertaining to Dr. G’s October 1998 report of psychological evaluation and prohibited dissemination of it.

chieu hoiOn its face, this appears to be using a machine gun to kill a mouse. Getting a Federal Court order to seal records in a VA claim is overkill unless you stand to make a short ton of money. In retrospect, I’m glad to see this even if JohnnyVet is a raging junkie. The VA has no business developing negative evidence, or worse, introducing it when it has been sealed. It just illustrates the belief (mine) that VA will stop at nothing to deny claims. They are renowned for their judicial antics and when called to task, shrug their shoulders and Chieu Hoi.  A week later, they begin anew where they left off as if the teaching moment never transpired.

Add this to your list of tips and tricks to review after a denial. Criminal Background Investigations (CBIs) can be had for a song and a dance. You can subscribe to an agency who performs these for as little as $10.00 a year. VA probably gets a fleet rate with 57 VAROs. Considering VA denies 85% of our claims, it can be assumed they assiduously pursue the most difficult with any means necessary to obtain the desired end.

And lastly, the “what if”? When faced with this brand of tarring and feathering, I am the type who would squander time and energy developing a case against a VA examiner. What would prevent Veterans from hiring a private eye to collect negative info on a VA employee? Why not do a CBI on one? If you uncovered a domestic violence offense in their records, could that not be said to impair impartiality?

downloadOh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive. – Sir Walter Scott (Marmion, 1808)

Posted in BvA HCV decisions, Tips and Tricks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment