This complies completely with OSHA requirements for crossing a road. It fails the brain fart test, however. How and why trains stay on tracks must have never entered into the minutiae of the decision when faced with this dilemma. “Cross road? Protect hose. Roger that, over.” It really begs for a train to pop the balloon. Sent to us by LawBob Squarepants.
It’s also myopic proof of how government (read VA) approaches any conundrum and their “one-size-fits-all” mentality.
So far so good!
Happy mouth!
My spouse decided to give the VA Delta Standard plan a try because he didn’t think he needed much work done this year. The monthly premium for our region is $9.73 per month. So far he’s had xrays, an exam and cleaning (free) and had two cavities filled. This is a very basic plan and only pays 50% of the fillings’ costs. We paid $68.20 and $77.20 for 2 fillings. He’ll get one more free cleaning/oral exam in 6 months. The 2014 premiums will total $116.76. We estimate paying $262.16 for dental care for the entire year including the annual premium. Without this plan we would have paid about $700.00 out-of-pocket for the year so we’re saving some cash. One thing that really surprised me was how fast Delta paid the claims. The dentist was paid within two-weeks after providing the service! Delta has a website where you can see the dates but not other details. I think that getting the two yearly oral exams (including cancer screening) is probably the most important health benefit from having dental insurance. This basic plan is affordable enough to “gift” it to a veteran as well. Dental care practices were horrible in the 50s and 60s but it’s pretty good now even for phobics. Anyone with a history of HCV will likely have had some problems with their mouths/teeth so this is something to consider. Here’s the link: VA Dental Insurance Program. Have any tips to share? Ed. note: HCV and Interferon treatment are known to cause all manner of dental dilemmas so this is good news for many to look into. Thanks for the heads up. This is also a classic example of how Vets learn to navigate the VA labyrinth.
An interesting poster from member Tombo of the magnificent Marines. I’m not too het up on politics as most know but I reprint this as it is your forum-not exclusively mine. While I may agree with the sentiments, I am horrified that it implies we must acquiesce to the tenets of socialism. And who, pray tell, is the designated arbiter in charge of slicing the pie into correct portions?
This was on the front page of my fishwrap this morning. I don’t normally discuss the pros or cons of pot as a medicine. I think adults can come to their own conclusions on the subject with one simple test. What is evident is that those with no medical training or PTSD are at the forefront of a misguided movement saying there is no medical proof that it is beneficial. Some even go so far as to insinuate that it may actually be harmful and increase or magnify the effects of major mental disorders like PTSD.
Let’s perform the logic test. Feel free to utilize inductive or deductive thought processes for this exercise. Have you ever heard of anyone armoring up and going out to hunt humans after a few bong hits? It’s far more likely they’ll make a frontal assault on the refer after the reefer. I don’t much remember those years after I came home from two tours in SEA. Without getting too specific, perhaps I was ahead of the curve on this by 42 years. I don’t advocate for or against the use. I live in one of the two states where it is now legal and no social approbation will attach to my comments. The VA can go piss up a rope. I’m twenty years protected now.
I took several years of Latin in preparation for even more years of French. It was a cakewalk as my mom spoke French better than English. While studying Latin, we also ended up with a heavy dose of Roman History and the comings and goings of Julius Caesar. I’m sure some of you are familiar with the Rubicon River and it’s significance. Quite simply, the resemblance of the Rubicon to the front gate of Fort Hood is phenomenal.
The bridge over what’s left of the Rubicon river.
Every Roman General when returning to Rome was required to encamp his army outside the city and proceed unarmed to greet the Senate. Some scholars point to this as the beginnings of the Dog and Pony show. Under no circumstances was he to bear arms or his army across the Rubicon River. The Government, on the other hand, was allowed to keep a SEAL Team of sorts called the Praetorian Guard that was the police force and the sole military authority inside the beltway. It was felt that any show of military force by a general could be construed as a potential coup d’etat. Politicians are mousy types and they relish their power. It just wouldn’t do to have some brash, swashbuckling O-8 show up with his wrecking crew.
In the nineties, President Clinton, in a misguided show of attempting to control guns, opted to disarm military troops upon their return to the continental United States (CONUS) from overseas deployment. Imagine that. Troops trained in the art of warfare with cutting-edge M-240 Squad Automatic Weapons were summarily relieved of their ammo and shooting irons upon their return and the same were locked up to prevent bloodshed. M-4s with grenade launchers were now verboten in the barracks. Idle hands were suddenly the devil’s workshop. And much like the Rome of old, only the Praetorian civilian (rentacop) police were now armed with 9 mil popguns. This was the perfect petri dish to examine how real, true gun control could finally become a teaching moment. With no guns, perfect harmony could exist. Folks could disagree but they would be relegated to harsh words, fisticuffs or rocks. Decades from now, progressive politicians could look back with pride and say “See? We told you so. Not only that, we showed you how to do it by restricting possession”. Military bases are hardly a microcosm of society yet many politicians seems to think differently.
However, four times in the last five years, we have had a breakdown in the system and now it is in vogue to show up at Headquarters with a perceived complaint and settle it with a 12 gauge or a .45 ACP. This creates a big problem for the poohbahs in charge. What do you do? Paint even larger signs at the front gate re-reminding everyone that it is still unlawful to bring tools of mass destruction on base? What is the punishment? Double-double secret restriction a la Dean Wormer? The crazy folks aren’t getting the email. What in Sam Hill’s the repair order?
Well, let’s look back on history. Before Slick William instituted his new pogrom, we had zero instances of troops going berserk in large numbers on base. I respectfully submit that the mayhem they indulge in off base has always been a liability but one takes the good with the evil. Actually, there were few reported instances of even a single soldier/airman/sailor going off the reservation and returning with his bow and arrows. Crime on base seemed relegated to spousal abuse and DUIs. Soldier-on-soldier violence was pretty much a knock down, drag out fight behind the barracks or the NCO club. Plenty of guns and ammo and nary a mishap of the Remington or Colt kind. Had anyone so desired, they could retrieve their assigned assault rifle and take out a company or two-or not. The reason was because there were enough deterrents in the form of thousands of others similarly situated with the exact same capability. We used to call this a Mexican standoff before we had to quit the racial profiling gig.
Once again, our elected whizbangs are looking over the reports and saying “Where did we go wrong? How could we have prevented this?” The short answer is you can’t. Chaos theory does not account for this phenomenon in progressive military circles. The gentleman who recently disobeyed the regulations regarding armament on base was not entirely swayed or intimidated by the consequences of what might transpire if he arrived armed. No base security is so airtight as to prevent a crazy soldier who has sworn an oath to defend the US of A from smuggling a weapon in for some “I’ll show you” justice. I don’t know if the politicians are just incredibly dense or whether they understand that the cops at the front gate are tasked with keeping crazy, armed sand ranchers out-not our troops.
Boiled down to its essence, there simply is no defense against crazy. Witness suicide bombers or blue-on-green shootings over in Iraqistan. I fail to discern a difference. There is no mental litmus test to weed these unstable folks out just as there is no way to prevent one of them from arriving with a .223 chip on his shoulder. The proven repair order in any free fire zone of my youth was to arm everyone to the teeth and allow them carte blanche when anything (or anyone) goes south.
After the debacle at Fort Hood in 2009, I was almost sure they would review their myopic policy and rescind it. I was mistaken. Hence we now have a new military pastime akin to a video game. How many guys can I take out now that I’m down to one life?
Trust is something you earn. Trusting someone with a WMD like a grenade is a dicey proposition yet we manage to inculcate this ethic in hundreds of thousands of troops every year without the misfires we are coming to see more frequently now. The very act of collecting the weapons upon return to CONUS is an act of immense distrust on the part of our government. The term bitch slap rolls off my thesaurus tongue Whether they genuinely fear a concerted effort to overthrow the government as Rome did or whether it is an inherent distrust of the individual soldier and his proclivity to go berserk, the decision still communicates one thing- “We don’t trust you.”
We have recently seen the VA innocently trying to harvest information about guns in the homes of PTSD-afflicted Vets and a planned stampede to confiscate them. The similarity here is once again striking. That same distrust that surrounds those of us who have been taught the art of war recently or in decades past grows daily. Each new shooting at a military installation becomes a confirmation of why the policy was instituted and why it should be expanded on. Which brings the pot to a boil. Just how can you make it any more distasteful and undesirable to become socially maladroit with a gun? A lifetime at Ft. Leavenworth making little ones out of big ones with a Big Chicken Dinner at the end just doesn’t seem to have the desired effect. Either the military isn’t communicating or they are not reaching the target audience (no pun intended).
In the sixties, as we armored up and prepared for war, my daddy observed that there were two distinct types of men. This was way before women were allowed to strap on body armor so don’t paint me as sexist. He summed it up thusly. There are those who run to the sound of gunfire and those who run away. The former are almost invariably military or formerly so. The latter are those who are not and harbor no desire to ever investigate the subject. The former are committed to making a difference or to alter an unjust outcome. They are trained and trusted to make life and death decisions. Their bona fides are never in question. The latter are girliemen and lack testicles.
How then to extrapolate that these defenders of democracy potentially pose a danger once they separate or retire? Similarly, why would anyone who chose to enlist or serve America in years past somehow now automatically have the taint of untrustworthiness or the cachet of cuckoo about them?
Political correctness may yet hit a new high. We shall see. Executive privilege is on the rise. I eagerly look forward to a smorgasbord of Burma Shave signs as you approach military installations in the near future that successively reiterate a tale of woe to any who would even contemplate entering armed. Well, boy howdy. That would sure clear the air and end all this foolishness, huh? Well, yes- except we’ve tried that method and it still has a few holes in it (pun intended). The alternative of returning to the Neanderthal arming of everyone 24/7 seems so uncivilized-or does it?
That will be my one and only venture into political incorrectness this month. I apologise.
Animal Farm anyone? From my good friend and member Emma (Emo, Twinny) and a host of other monikers.
I apologize for my absence. I have been birthdaying, April Fooling, and repotting over one hundred-odd tomato plants. In addition, I have been selling them to benefit our local, non-aligned Veterans Services Organization- KPVeterans– or Key Peninsula Vets as we are known. Apparently, in 2003 the ‘progressives’ had a parting of the ways with some of the original founders and the outcome was that the VFW arm of the organization moved into the metropolis of Gig Harbor along with their affiliation to the National Organization.
This is all well and fine with me as I have no love for the Big Six or any of their 40 other offshoots. If they ever decide to teach VA law to their service representatives, my opinion might change. Until then, I’m as happy as a boll weevil buried in a big chunk of cotton. Helping Veterans is my passion. Keeping the contributions local is paramount. This is, after all, where the disadvantaged Vets are. I know some feel the hierarchy in DC are liquor-deprived and suffer financially from paltry, six-figure salaries but I just can’t see how a homeless Vet in Key Center, Washington is somehow subservient to the interests of the bigwigs of the National Organization. We’ve lost sight of our objectives when we groupthink like this. We know better than to succumb to the boilerplate “Send us the $ and we’ll take care of it. No need to bother yourself with the minutiae of donations distribution”.
My April Fooling will have to wait until I get the movie Mark made. I’ll have my daughter put it up on utube so we can see it live. Here’s a taste of our shenanigans on the First of April-that oh so Holy of Holy days for pranks…
the asknod krewe at the local Starbucks
Moving right along, here was the tomato round up for Vets…
My most recent correspondence with the VA about my Independence in Everyday Living Program (ILP) reveals that the dog ate the homework. You have to hand it to them. They tried diligently to bury the request by sending it back to DC to be included in my claim for the 1994 CAVC appeal. The BVA Judge dutifully noted it’s presence in my folder and properly remanded it back to Seattle where it belonged in November 2012 but it sat in DC for a year with the appeal. Seems these folks need to go back to adjudication skool. After several recent promises to contact me about the status of my claim (grant?), I received assurances on March 11th that the decision was just two short weeks away. And then my counselor’s close family members began falling like flies. I take that to mean that VA only has one VR&E Officer assigned to Vocational Rehab in Seattle or that everyone was on Spring Break in Florida. My pet theory was that they had reservations about staying at sea level after the Chile earthquake/potential tsunami and opted to move the Seattle RO (or at least the VR&E folks) inland a safe distance to Fort Harrison, Montana’s RO. Regardless, they at least had the decency to lie adroitly.
Put your cursor on the above and left click on it. I don’t expect you to buy a magnifying glass or a jeweler’s loupe. So here is the quandary. Do I send a note of condolence to the Voc Rehab dude? If so, which one? All these queshuns and no answers.
And lastly, no, I still do not have the magic drug Sovaldi. VA has informed me that if I mind my Ps and Qs, that by May of next year I may be eligible for it. You have to go through the triage game first. They demand a butt tractor (colonoscopy) to see what’s up as well as a endoscopy from the other end to see why I have spider angiomas on my chest. Geez, you reckon it has anything to do with Stage 4 cirrhosis/portal gastropathy? Medicare and the new “affordable” Care Act have informed me that I must pay $3,000.00 a month copay for the drug. I hit the donut hole rather sooner than most and the third, forth and fifth month will require a $9,000.00 copay. Welcome to Obamacare, folks. For most, the cost of medicine will go down. For all the rest, there’s Mastercard.
Without playing the political card, I found these (cheap) on Amazon. For the uninitiated, they are campaign posters for the ACA. They also can be used a bathroom tissue or sanitary wipes. Obamacare. Boldly going nowhere at lightspeed.
Tomorrow marks twenty years since I filed for my Hepatitis C, my Agent Orange disease and an increase for my tinnitus to a compensable level. That was March 31st, 1994. I actually signed and handed it to my Tacoma AmVets representative on the 26th but it took several days to make it into the VA system. It seems like several lifetimes ago. Many of you have asked me the significance of a twenty year suspense date and some of the others VA has. Let’s look at them.
First, to put it aside, I wish to thank my AmVets rep for what he did. We never completed the claim past my November 1994 denial other than to file a NOD on December 7th, 1994. VA then dropped it until I refiled. There the claim sat in limbo for 13 years until I augered in from the inevitable effects of HCV and Interferon in 2007.
As many of you know, the Veterans Administration tired of doing battle with me after nineteen years and ten-odd months and threw in a very large towel. I assure you that I was in no way entitled to the 100% Permanent and Total rating handed down by the Appeals Management Center in December 2013 that was effective on the date of my filing in 1994. At best, I hoped to make a case under the old Diagnostic Code 7345 for 30% but was willing to settle for 20%. Likewise, I assumed I could hope for 40% for the Porphyria Cutanea Tarda due to the need for monthly phlebotomies. Combined with a 10% rating for tinnitus would have given me a VA math-adjusted 60% rating.
My surprise was thus complete when VA poohbahs granted my claim for such a munificent amount. My rainmaker was close to a heart attack and, having been a VA attorney at one time, immediately suspected a ruse or well-camouflaged punji pit. Apparently we were both wrong. As of tomorrow night at the stroke of midnight my rating is inviolate. Having attained it legally without fraud, it can never be altered, lowered or diminished in any way.
Here is 38 CFR § 3.951(b)
VAspeak differs from DickandJanespeak as we know but the only action phrase in there is “based on fraud”. Assuming you don’t cheat to get there, VA is obligated to honor their commitment. Interestingly enough, I have read BVA decisions where the VA has come back to revisit ratings of Veterans on TDIU as they approach the twenty year mark in hopes of reducing the rating. This happens more than most would believe. Nonadversarial, in the lexicon of VA, is a subjective definition and known to require an individual assessment based on each Veteran’s circumstances. And much like VA nexus letters, they all oddly come down in VA’s favor. What most generally happens is a put-up job on a C&P exam at nineteen years and some change. Let’s say your back is screwed up royally and you’re getting 60% on it. You somehow never got to TDIU and here you are on the verge of the magic twenty when suddenly you C&P doctor’s assessment reveals that Immaculate regeneration has occurred and forward flexion has increased to the point of rating you at 40%. Bingo. Most appeal and defeat this blatant attempt at screwing you but the litigation will drag out to the inevitable BVA appeal and the hope that you give up.
I have had Veterans’ spouses confuse the twenty year suspense date with 38 CFR § 3.957 which concerns Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). It also covers the eventuality that the VA may come back and rule that your dead husband (the Vet) obtained his rating via fraud or VA inadvertently granted more than they should have. If you have had it in effect for over ten years, then you are protected absent any fraud.
VA-approved six foot model for temporary storage with rollaway wheels
The law has another wrinkle that is important for potential widows. Some have gone out and purchased chest freezers with the idea that they should tuck their dead spouse in for a few years in order to reach the magic decade suspense date. This is unnecessary. If your former spouse is rated for Ischemic Heart Disease and should suddenly pass from it, you will still get your DIC. Any Vet who passes away from his diseases or injuries prior to the magic ten year date still conveys DIC to his (or her) spouse. Beware 38 CFR § 3.312 concerning cause of death and especially contributory causes. VA has been known to hang us on that codicil. Get a good autopsy from a kindred soul if there is any controversy. And for goodness’ sake, double bag them to protect against freezer burn.
You will see the reference to 38 CFR § 3.105(d) in many of these suspense date regulations. This is the CUE or Clear and Unmistakable Error regulation. It is applicable only where “an act of commission or omission” has occurred. That’s VAspeak for fraud. If you file for HCV and are granted it, and VA discovers a UCMJ record of violations which clearly show willful misconduct, you get ejected from this party. The only redeeming facet of § 3.105(d) is that it sets the same high bar for the CUE on the VA. They almost always win until you reach the Court of Veterans Appeals because, well hey, the BVA belongs to the VA Secretary. He writes the paychecks and gets what he wants regardless of whether it’s legitimate. The Court jerks the leash when they get there and forces them to perform the “manifestly change the outcome” test added in with the Russell decision in 1992. VA can’t get it through their thick skulls that the high bar of CUE they expect of us goes for them in spades as well. We see this same look of disbelief again and again year in and year out. At some point, one would think they’d “get” it.
38 CFR § 3.22 also sets some rules which are, for the most part, fairly easy to meet for DIC. It concerns itself with suspense dates of less that 10 years predicated on Permanent and Total (P&T) ratings. VA awards you a P&T rating when it is apparent that your disease or injury is not expected to improve but, to the contrary, expected to increase in severity. This is usually awarded two years or more after a finding of 100% schedular rating or a finding of TDIU which grants the equivalent of a 100% rating for compensation purposes. It may or may not require an additional C&P exam. I find a good letter from your doctor to the effect that you are not in the competition for the Boston Marathon nor will you ever be again is adequate where diseases are concerned. I’ve never dealt with PTSD or other injuries.
As you approach the twenty year mark, always be alert to the fact that VA is a vindictive and ornery taskmaster. Any perceived flaw or potential for reduction is their forte. Considering the immensity of the backlog, how they find time to reinventory our claims is amazing. What is more so is that this investigation almost always involves ones that are on the verge of gaining twenty year protection. Forewarned is forearmed.
From our illustrious members Paul and Leigh, awaiting their turn at the wheels of justice, comes this too-cool-for-school app. Always wondered what was up there at 33,000 leaving the contrails over your house? Wonder no more folks. We now have the definitive radar detector complete with transponder decoding. If Malaysian Flight 370 had been going over and hadn’t turned off his Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) beacon, you’d get an ident. code of MAL370 with further info on type of A/C, heading, and airspeed. Shoot, it probably even gives the tail number.
Now, relax. There’s no such thing as chemtrails since we shut down Operation Ranch Hand in Vietnam back in 71. That’s not to say we got rid of Agent Orange. It’s just that the military doesn’t fly around doing it anymore. I can’t speak for all the Big Agricultural outfits but I’ve been around the AF for 40 years. You can’t have a viable tanker for refueling when it’s hauling rice killer around.
Funny thing is you’d expect an AF type to find this app. Paul’s a Marine. He probably wanted to go AF but the recruiter talked him into the Semper Fi thing.
Member Shawn of Michigan legal fame sends us this prized perp walk…
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
