VA BACKLOG IN PERSPECTIVE.

I have received numerous queries over that last several months as the news of the vA backlog increasingly dominates the airwaves. I googled backlog and a number of sites pop up including my ruminations on this one. Jim Strickland’s VA Watchdog also has an informative article that goes into it in depth.

What I fail to see in all of them is a true retrospective of how bad it was from 1989 and the inception of the VJRA. I am limited in what information I can excavate but feel my own is as good an example as any.

I filed for my back and tinnitus claims July 1989. All was well and fine and a denial promptly popped up in the mail in October with no C&P for my back. I filed for a RO hearing and that occurred in July of 1990. A new denial was mailed in October of that year. I filed with new and material evidence and received a SSOC in February of 1991. I immediately file my Form 1-9 and my BVA decision was announced on March 5th, 1992.

Focusing entirely on the time from the initial filing to first denial was approximately 100 days which is remarkable unless you consider how a major insurance company might have handled it.

The next foray in March of 1994 for the big apple (HCV and PCT) was a bit more prolonged. Eight months and seven days (247 days) later on November 7th, 1994 I received my denial. I had no C&P and vA did nothing but view my evidence and ignore it as nearly as I can tell. I filed the NOD with new and material evidence on December 7th, 1994 and the SOC arrived on January 5th, 1995. A promised new decision base on the N&M evidence never materialized and hasn’t to this day.

My last filing in February 2007 to clean up this mess was granted in stages. The tinnitus was granted rapidly (120 days) because they had done the decision in 1995 but neglected to send it to me. The hepatitis claim was granted July 1, 2008. That was a whopping sixteen months and seven days.  When they accomplished the tinnitus claim they dropped the hepatitis and PCT claims which were ostensibly being developed. I discovered this on October 17th, 2007. When they finished the hep claim in July 2008, they promptly dropped the PCT claim. I discovered this on September 29th, 2008. Amazingly, they had a decision (and a win) in my hands on October 3rd, 2008 thanks to Sen. “Sneakers” Murray, the head of the Senate VA committee. In summary 120 days, 492 days, and 554 days respectively for tinnitus, HCV and PCT.

Mind you, this was in 2007-2008. Things are infinitely worse in terms of the number of claims filed. To assume that vA can magically turn this around in the space of the the next two years and arrive at decisions in 125 days with a negligible error rate is the height of hypocrisy. I wish them all the luck in the world but I honestly believe the Humpty Dumpty project had a higher success probability that what the vA is promising.

The burning question on everyone’s (Veterans and some congressmen) lips is what will happen when Uncle Eric is off in his continuing prognostications? Undersecretary Allison Hickey swears up and down that this will all be an unpleasant memory soon. Congressman Filner feels otherwise and was willing to put his money where his mouth is. Can it be done? Can vA reinvent the wheel and come up with a streamlined system that actually does what they promise? We certainly hope so. Some Veterans’ sites advocate we all settle down and allow this to happen. I would point out that it took us twenty three years to go from a ninety day denial (1989)to a 554 day win in 2008.

What probably concerns most of us is the creative math vA so frequently employs in claims remuneration to show us it (the backlog)really isn’t nearly as bad as is painted. I would say that when 60 percent  is added to 80 percent and vA determines  that equals 92 percent, we need a new math teacher.  vA continues to maintain that most claims are resolved in less than 240 days. Helloooooooo?  With the claims process becoming mired ever-deeper in new filings, we can resort to prayer and little else to speed up the process.

Our Mentor, who art in 810 Vermont Ave. NW

Hallowed be thy Administration

Give us this year our filed claims

at the VARO or in DC.

Lead us not into Backlogs but deliver us from delays

for Thee hath the BVA, the M-21 and the ROs

Forever and Ever

Amen

Posted in VA BACKLOG | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

FREE LUGGAGE FROM vA

In an exciting development for homeless Vets, I discovered these in my travels at the recent jobs expo vA put on in Tacoma last week. Feast your eyes on this!

That’s right. Be the envy of your friends under the bridge with this ruggedly handsome luggage that will stand the test of time. Fits into any social circle and is timeless so it won’t go out of style. Notice the faux green snakeskin motif that is all the rage in Compton now. All these are equipped with the patented “ezi-grip” handles as seen on TV.

The smaller white tote is perfect for a carry on bag and fits comfortably above you on the bridge girder. The smallest white plastic bag is ideal for those gadabout neighborhood forays to the WINCO® trash dumpster for dinner and is washable and won’t stain-even with the most obstinate fruit stains.

How much would you expect to pay for all this? $2.00? $2.50? Well, as a special for Vets only, this is available for free. And if you order it now it will be sent to you in this durable, matching sea chest.

Imagine how impressed your friends will be when they see you roll up with the shopping cart sporting this ensemble. This and other exciting gifts from vA are yours for the asking View them all online at the library on the homelessvet@va.gov site. Click on the Chicago 60609 luggage line offer (from the Spiegle catalogue).

vA wants you to be stylin’ in the hood and what better way to show off your pride of ownership?  Yes, you’ll sleep better knowing if you get rousted that you have all your worldly possessions safely ensconced and ready to grab when you have to beat feet. You served your country and now its time you earned your reward.

You’ve done your stint at Being All You Can Be.  Now America and the vA want to salute you with this small token of their appreciation. If you have no permanent address, simply take a bus to the vARO and ask for the Homeless Coordinator. He or she will be happy to outfit you with these items and many, many more. Free claim forms for those pesky IED/PTSD problems  are available too. Mention the special “Hickeygram” promo code and get a free analog communications tool (ball point pen) absolutely free. vA wants you to live as independently as possible and this is right down your back alley.

P.S. Some of you may see this as being in poor taste but it sums up what I feel is the way vA treats us and the homeless Veterans. I apologize in advance if I have touched a raw nerve. For entertainment purposes only. Does not necessarily reflect the views of management. No dogs or cats were harmed in the shooting of this commercial. Edited for content to fit into the time slot.

Posted in HOMELESS VETERANS, Humor | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

How to find VA’s errors in your claim?

Recently, I published an article explaining that more than 76% of BVA decisions are in error, based on Bart Stichman’s Testimony to Congress.  Regional Office Decisions would actually be worse than that, because, remember, to get your claim to the BVA, it has to go through the RO and often the ” experienced decision maker”, the DRO first.

The question is, how do we find these errors, so that we can successfully appeal?

Well, yes, you can take your claim to your VSO, but how many of them have gotten this training  on how to detect errors in your claim?

If your VSO is unaware of these recent cases and this training to spot VA errors, then maybe you should ask him, “Why not”?

Posted in Guest authors, Tips and Tricks, vARO Decisions, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

WARM, FUZZY vA GOODWILL

Member Kel sent this in to me this morning. I read a small blurb about it in the fishwrap yesterday morning but ignored it as more bloviating on vA’s part in an effort to take our consciousness off their myriad shortcomings vis a vis the backlog. After reading the whole article in its entirety, I was awestruck by the condescension of the participants to this dog and pony show.

First let me say that I am heartened by any effort to help homeless people and more so where it involves Veterans. Please don’t take this for a diatribe about all things vA. What disturbs me is the cavalier attitude of the article and what this bike ride is supposed to accomplish:

 The funds raised by the trek will go towards purchasing “home starter kits” for Veterans that include dishes, bathroom necessities, cleaning supplies, air mattresses and passes for public transportation so that the Veterans can travel to medical appointments and job interviews.

Stay with me on this but where are these homeless Veterans expected to park all these amenities if they are homeless? This seems to be putting the proverbial cart before the horse. Absent purloined shopping carts from Kroeger’s, they are going to have a hard time packing it up in suitcases and toting it to job interviews. Sometimes the most well-intentioned acts have less than perfect outcomes.  Remember the Mars spacecraft whose altimeter was set for meters but the computer was programmed in feet? SPLAT!

When fashioning cures for homelessness, the focus needs to be on hard, concrete solutions to the root cause and a path back to normalcy. High-flying panaceas like bike rides and Meet and Greets at the Wall are fine for a photo op. They could better save the planet, curb global warming, conserve gas, and husband their resources by staying in Huntington and have cookie bake sales with a side helping of car washes. It’s called being pro-active.

Now for the subject of Dog and Pony shows (with no disrespect intended for my dogs and pony).

>Riders aging (sic) from their late 30s to early 70s departed Saturday at 7:45 a.m. from the starting line of the West Virginia 5k in Huntington where Huntington RO Homeless Program Coordinator LeeAnn Bills addressed a crowd of approximately 1,000 people. At a stop on their first day, riders attended a ceremony hosted by the office West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin. (D&P Shows #1 & #2)

>The Ride will end on Thursday at the Vietnam Memorial on the National Mall. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and Janice Jacobs, Department of Veterans Affairs Deputy Undersecretary for Disability Assistance, plan to meet the cyclists at the finish line of their 85-mile final day ride. (#3)

>The riders will also meet with West Virginia Congressman Nick Rahall the following day.  “No veteran should be without a roof over their head. In this nation of plenty, where we sleep at night comforted by the sense of safety our Armed Forces provide, homelessness among veterans is a travesty,” said Congressman Rahall, who is a senior member of the House Military Veterans Caucus.(#4)

> A strong (vA) employee contingent also saw the riders off on their ride on Saturday.  (#5)

Talk about a full dance card. And perhaps that’s part of the problem. If these vA employees devoted this time as a donation at work to some of the more intractable claims from homeless Vets seeking benefits, perhaps those individuals wouldn’t be homeless. Idle conjecture on my part, granted.

My point is simple. Americans are more than willing to open their wallets to these endeavours. They may be poor themselves but they are legendary givers. What we have here is a situation where some altruistic individuals have a desire to help others but are caught up in the spirit of the moment. Bike rides are fun so let’s combine a four day jaunt to DC with a homeless theme. Gee, did they invite any homeless folks to ride with them to symbolize hope? Negatory, pilgrims.

The VA Employees Association held two catered lunches this spring and raised over $500 for fuel for the support vehicle which is carrying food, changes of clothes and other supplies as (sic) for the cyclists.

I’m going out on a limb here but I’m betting the vA contingent of cyclists will not be sleeping under the stars on this foray. If fact, I’d go so far as to say they’ll be tucked in at a Motel 6® with air conditioning to keep them fresh and rested for the rigors of the days ahead.  I won’t be rude and ask who’s paying for the rooms. I suspect it will come from the fund solicited to help the ones they are cycling for. You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

I commend Mr. Hill and the vA Employees Association for their desire to help homeless Vets. I only feel that his (and their) efforts could be better spent on pastimes closer to home. As most homeless folks have no TV, they will miss out on the primetime coverage that West Virginia newsies will devote to the arrival and glad handing at the Wall. Money spent on motels, food and gasoline to and fro could be better spent on actual housing for  Vets and their assimilation into normal society. I realize that might not capture the imaginations of the “News and film at six!” crowd or have the same cachet as a vA dispatch about how much concern they feel.

vA has developed a public relations program the likes of which rival the best Madison Ave. ad agency. They are becoming the past master of the sound bite. All well and fine. While this garners a lot of headline space, it is empty of the one ingredient sorely needed to accomplish what it is aimed at. Actions speak louder than words. But actions have to be shaped to the circumstances. Hence, collecting money and assembling home starter kits for the homeless is pointless. That is what Goodwill stores are for. Remember the $600 Air Force toilet seats for C-5 cargo aircraft? The sixty dollar screwdriver that looked and felt like the $2.49 offering at Tru-Value®? The parallel is obvious.

Habitat for Humanity, while a dog and pony show in its own right, is an example of  Hillary Clinton’s admonition that it takes a village. Nevertheless, results ensue even if it takes that many. A sixpack of cyclists riding their $2000.00 custom bikes to DC followed by two Ford Excursions full of Gatorade and clean clothes and jerseys bearing military logos is cheap and degrades the men and women it is purported to assist. Imagine Bill Gates and Warren Buffet inviting the Koch brothers and half of Hollywood to a big 30 course dinner with a surf and turf theme- all in the name of helping the homeless Vets. I’m sure some serious money could be amassed but they wouldn’t invite any of the great unwashed who selflessly served to ensure their right to lobster.

Enjoy your freedom today and remember who brought it to you. If you see a homeless person, Vet or not, perhaps the meaningful thing to do would be to give them a small down payment on a future or a meal. Let’s worry about the home starter kits for Vets a little further down the road after their claims are adjudicated and their financial picture is a little more settled.

And that’s my Dog and Pony show for today… courtesy of Molly and Dude.

P.S. No offense but the author of the vA article, Richard Allen Smith, described as a “Web Communications Specialist” should read his own copy before pushing print. “Aging” used in any context means the riders are aging as they cycle to DC. Let’s hope arthritis doesn’t set in en route! Perhaps he meant to say “ranging in age from…” Gosh. I wonder if I could get a job as a WCS, too? Do you get to sign all your correspondence with a WCS afterward? All these queshuns.

Posted in All about Veterans, HOMELESS VETERANS | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

76.4% of BVA decisions are wrong (and not in the Veterans favor, either!)

Nope.  I did not make this up.  This is Bart Stichman’s testimony to Congress who said it.  For those of you who dont know Bart Stichman,  he is the Executive Director of the NVLSP, and the author of much of the Veterans Benefit Manual.     (VBM)   You could look far and wide and you are unlikely to find anyone more knowledgeable of VA law than Mr. Stichman.   This VBM is not to be confused with the vA’s Dick and Jane book on Veterans Benefits.    Bart is the author of “the good VBM” not the Dick and Jane benefit manual published by the VA.

Here is the quote from Bart’s testimony to congress:

For more than a decade, the Court’s annual report card of the BVA’s performance has been remarkably consistent.  The 14 annual report cards issued over the last 14 years yields the following startling fact: of the 23,173 Board decisions that the Court individually assessed over that period (that is, from FY 1995 to FY 2008), the Court set aside a whopping 76.4% of them (that is, 17,698 individual Board decisions).  In each of these 17,698 cases, the Court set aside the Board decision and either remanded the claim to the Board for further proceedings or ordered the Board to award the benefits it had previously denied.  In the overwhelming majority of these 17,698 cases, the Court took this action because it concluded that the Board decision contained one or more specific legal errors that prejudiced the rights of the VA claimant to a proper decision.”   End of Bart Stichman quote

I note these 76% wrong decisions are NOT in the Veterans favor, because Veterans are highly unlikely to appeal a fully favorable decision!

The question that begs to be answered here is that if 76 percent of BVA decisions are wrong, what percent of RO decisions are wrong?    Would the number not be even higher than 76%, reminding you that Board Decisions have already been decided by the RO, and, in many cases.  also by a DRO who is supposed to be an experienced decision maker.

Huh?  Do you realize many of these “wrong decisions” that go to the BVA went through a DRO and a “regular” decision maker first?  So 3 wrongs make a right, right?  Wrong.

After the (wrong decision) was made by the rater, it is repeated by the DRO, and repeated again by the BVA.  Finally, at the CAVC level the error is “noticed”…and fixed, right?  Nope.  Its on to the hamster wheel, of course!

Again quoting Stichman:

“There are at least three aspects of the BVA’s and CAVC’s decision-making process that contribute to the Hamster Wheel phenomenon: (1) the high error rate that exists in BVA decision-making, which delays the decision-making process by requiring disabled veterans to appeal to the CAVC to correct these errors, which, in turn, leads to further VA proceedings on remand; (2) the policy adopted by the CAVC in 2001 in Best v. Principi, 15 Vet.App. 18, 19-20 (2001) and Mahl v. Principi, 15 Vet.App. 37 (2001); and (3) the CAVC’s reluctance to reverse erroneous findings of fact made by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals”   end of Stichman quote.

And the last question?  Since this testimony to Congress was in 2009, why hasn’t congress fixed the broken hamster wheel?

Nod’s note:

Joseph, as usual, has discovered a horrible consequence of vA jurisprudence. By not  making a decision on all the errors and just vacating with a remand to cure all the deficiencies, the Court allows the BVA to run each error through a new decision cycle like washing a shirt again and again. Result? A twenty year adjudication before we win. Ugly and unnecessary. The Court is asinine in this respect.

Posted in BvA Decisions, CAVC/COVA Decision, Guest authors, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

ULUZ@VA.GOV

In an exciting development, vA today proudly unveiled their latest addition to Ebenefits. When accessing the site, you can now click on their link in the upper right hand corner and find out in advance what your decision will be on your claim. This exciting addition is described in detail by Undersecretary Allison Hickey in her latest Hickeygram as she affectionately calls them.

By clicking on uluz@va.gov, you can instantly ascertain all the denial verbiage they will be using against you. This will give you added time to formulate your defense when you file your NOD. It is hoped that vA will be able to have this up and running within 125 days. Undersecretary Hickey points out that the denials will be 98 percent correct no later than 2015. The roll out date was tentatively set for 1996 but anonymous sources tell us this timetable has been pushed forward numerous times due to the backlog.

vA strives for accuracy in all their denials and this tool is just one of many that were put forward by stakeholders at sit down, Meet and Greets across the country when trying to come up with a better, fairer denial process. VSOs from all the major organizations are excited about the new streamlined denial process. It is rumored this will definitely help their golf handicaps.

Veterans service officer Thomas Twoface of the Veterans Of Foreign Debacles (VFD) had this to say in prepared remarks:

” We are very excited about this new tool. vA for years has vacillated back and forth when making decisions on service connection. This will simplify the process for Veterans and take the uncertainty of a win or loss off the table. Veterans need to know as soon as possible what their chances of winning are to make important financial considerations such as bankruptcy or homelessness. This is just one more valuable resource in the process of reducing the interminable wait for a decision up or down. Hickey is showing her leadership in this important area and her prior experiences in the military stand her in good stead. We at VFD consider this to be an important milestone on the road to speedier denials. We support vA wholeheartedly in their implementation of uluz and look forward to helping ever-increasing numbers of Vets get what is coming to them.”

Some Veterans present at the press conference saw this as a lose-lose proposition but Mr. Twoface argues to the contrary that indeed it’s a win-win for all concerned. We’ll keep you posted.

Posted in Humor | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

HCV FROM EMG NEEDLES

My apologies to member Squidley for not getting this up on the board sooner. It is an important risk that was never before presented to us by him and one that bears examination.

As we all know, vA will have us believe that medical personnel stuck us with all manner of needles, jetguns, and other subcutaneous incursions with nary a risk one. On the other hand, were a Veteran to use his own syringe and needle to illegally inject drugs, it somehow became the focus of the etiology for his HCV to the exclusion of any other risk.

When doing a risk assessment, any engineering firm would look at all risks as to why a bridge fell down. They wouldn’t narrowly focus on whether the bridge workers were drinking beer on the job at lunchtime. In the same vein (no pun intended), the vA is taking a stand against Squidley over percutaneous piercing ( acupuncture, pierced ears, nipples, etc). No, Squidley is not one of those who has pierced everything that can be punctured. He was injured aboard ship off Japan and taken ashore in Yokosuka for an EMG test or two. Here we are thirty years later and Squidude has the bug-bad I might add.

EMG (Electromyocariogram) tests using reusable, ostensibly sterilized needles to test for muscle or nerve disorders and injuries involve this percutaneous piercing. The needles are inserted in various afflicted parts of the body and a small current is sent in to stimulate the nerves and measure the results. This is Squid’s contention. If the gentleman or lady who was tested before him with those reusable needles had HCV, the odds of him picking this up go through the roof, statistically speaking. That would be the way I see it anyway.

Squid sent me a lovely dissertation on the subject of EMG and after careful perusal, I find an interesting note. The article, published in the prestigious Seminars in Neurology, Volume 23, Number 3, dated 2003 says this on page 338:

“Platinum single fiber electrodes are sterilized by gas or autoclave employing the same methods used for surgical instruments. In addition, special precautions, including the use of disposable NCS electrodes, are taken with patients known to be infected with agents such as Hepatitis, B virus, Hepatitis C virus, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and human immunodeficiency virus”.

Now, stay with me here. Travel back in the mental DeLorean time machine and think about the early eighties. The autoclave was the only sterilization procedure in use then. EMG needles were reused until they were dull. According to the vA, HCV can be transmitted by needles. Hepatitis C virus, Genotype 2a was indigenous almost exclusively to the Japanese Archipelago and Okinawa in the early eighties. An IMO would only be able to conclude based on this, that it is at least as likely as not that if Squidley had an EMG done at a civilian hospital in Tokyo (Hell, even in Yokosuka for that matter), the odds of contracting HCV are excellent.

Now, based on the Court’s Layno holding in 1995, the Squidster can opine on all manner of subjects dear to his heart in his lay testimony. One of the things he is qualified to discuss is where he was geographically when he had this test. If everyone around you is speaking Japanese, you can generally assume that is where you are. If they were sticking EMG needles into you, you would notice because it hurts. Monsieur Squid might notice this too. If he were wearing one of those fancy Seiko® Day/Date chronographs on his wrist, he might even have ascertained the year it occurred. In addition, he had these same tests done when he returned to the States at the famous Balboa NAS Hospital in San Diego before his discharge. Another opportunity for infection in a new art little understood.

With the modern inception (after 1992) of what we consider the modicum of sterile procedures, disposable needles for EMGs are the norm as we can see in cases of nefarious germs. Any medical professional who could come down on the side of less likely than more likely that an infection could occur via this path prior to the aforementioned 1992 epiphany is in denial mode. Squidley is about to see if justice is truly blind or if the vA is going to blow soap bubbles and swear he got it from an unclean toilet seat. There is also the untested theory of immaculate conception which I had not considered before this morning . What the hey? The Virgin Mary claimed it. Why can’t the vA?

Here’s the PDF on the subject. I hope this helps someone because, although Squidley is the first, I doubt he will be the last.

EMG_Smith_2003

Posted in Medical News, Nexus Information | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

SAVE THE PLANET–STOP THE WANTON DESTRUCTION OF VEGETATION

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

POLAR WARMING

Member Bob sends us the unbearable piece of humor.

Posted in Humor | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

ONCE UPON A TIME

In the Beginning there was nothing.

Eventually something developed…

Once upon a time long, long ago in the land of Nod, there evolved a warrior class like no other. Mind you, this was centuries before Adam and Eve started playing house over in the Eden Acres subdivision. They became known by their leader’s name of Weeber. People came from miles around to watch the magic boys and pay obeisance . In turn, the Weeber  felt obliged to protect them and gave them sanctuary in time of need. Wandering hordes were all the rage back then. The Weeber had much higher morals and gradually other warlike tribes began to emulate them. They developed a camaraderie like none other seen in its time and a system of rank that genuinely reflected their abilities-unlike later armies. Colonol, Major, and indeed General, were titles earned with scars and true grit. Men wore these titles proudly and rightfully so. They were giants among men. The strongest from neighboring tribes sought membership in this army.  The concept of REMFs and girlymen would not develop for several thousand more years.

In the off years between wars, the Weeber would engage in reenactments of prior, famous  military engagements for entertainment and to bring in some beer and smokes money. They became so good at this that they were often hired as extras for big Bollywood plays over in New Dehli which was the entertainment capital of the known world back then.  In fact,  New Dehli still is but more for Asian chick flicks now. This is where the term “A cast of thousands ” is thought to have originated.

Weebers were known to go out and hunt large animals with low-calibre weapons such as spears, bows and arrows in order to give their prey a fair chance. This created a lot of injured Weebers too, I don’t mind telling you. Their barbecues were all the rage and the subject of endless talk  for their lavishness. Some of their affairs were known to last for a week or more or until the meat went rotten.

About this time, an adjacent agrarian tribe in a neighboring land became wise beyond their years in the production of all things vegetable. God saw this and blessed them with the Miracle of Fermentation. And He saw that it was good. Due to their great wisdom, they became known to all as the Whyser Tribe. Being a rather simple folk, they called each other Bud. As in “Hey Bud. How they hanging (referring to each others’ grapes drying into raisins)”? The Whyser clan grew exponentially after God’s introduction of the Magic Yeast. It seems there was much affection between the opposite sexes. The Whyser became more diluted by marriage in later centuries but their fermenting prowess has been handed down to the likes of the Coors Tribe and the later immigrants called the Pabst. Many of the Orthodox Whyser settled in what is now the city of Milwaukee. They still tout themselves to this day as being the finest. Orthodox Whyser adhere to the practice of only using a kiss of the hops.

Eventually the Whyser formed a compact of peace and brotherly love forever with the Weeber. They realized they had much in common and began bringing some of their vegetables and fermented products to the barbecues. This was the beginning of Toga parties, tailhook conventions and many an unwanted or unexpected pregnancy. The Magic Yeast had the added effect of greatly increasing the Weebers’ numbers too. God saw this was good. He’d already told them to go forth and multiply and Lordy boy were they complying.

As  small hamlets became more interlaced, the small nation-states evolved and a patriotic fervor would develop with the urge to preserve a way of life. This required leaders with clear heads, not Weebers who were considered too uncouth, emotional and party animals.  The Weeber were called ever more frequently on a case by case basis to defend this lifestyle against outside forces who would rend it asunder. They charged on a per-battle basis for the most part and were scrupulously honest. Eventually a compact was arrived at between these nation states and the Weeber. Thus evolved the modern concept of a paid, standing Army. This gradual move away from mercenaries to a professional army became the model for all  eventually.

As Weeber personnel grew old, rotated out from injuries or retired, they were cared for by their loyal brethren. As their numbers grew, a compact with society developed and they were able to negotiate for these older and injured Weeber. They came to be called Veterans which is a very old Weeber term for “he who has borne the battle”.  Since they never amounted to much more than 8 % of the population and were prone to die rather young from their injuries, they got a pretty good shake. Not great, mind you, but enough to live a good life by.

The Weeber pronunciation gradually changed over centuries into Wayber and in the late eighteenth century evolved into the modern day Weber. In fact, a company that handed down the concept of barbecues for many centuries named their product after these fierce warriors. But I digress. That is a story for another day.

Over succeeding centuries many a nation state rose to prominence on the backs of its military. As they grew larger, almost all became lazy and started padding the payroll with their own relatives. This put an added strain on the relationship between them and the Weeber. Lots of social expenditures always do. Because they tended to short sheet the Weeber Veterans with an ever-smaller cut of the vegetables, meat and fermented adult beverages, said Veterans gradually became homeless and unable to fend for themselves. Their fellow brethren gradually forsook them because they were having their own battles trying to get better quality swords that held their edge and didn’t rust.  Since all weapons were now supplied by the leaders of the nation states, there was much animosity afoot about shoddy workmanship and serviceable weapons being in short supply.

As for the Veterans, things would gradually come to a head. Every time, in a bid to appease the Veterans and keep in the good graces of the Weeber warrior class, the governments, as they came to be known, would renew lavish promises to care for them. Promises were made and gifts were exchanged. Solemn vows were incanted and 125-day incense was burned 98% of the time. Nevertheless the social spending for all the lazy city folk would eventually erode the treasury and the Veterans would once again  find themselves holding the smelly end of the punji stick.. Much like the later treaties with the American Indians, the governments reneged on their promises. Many of these Nation states then fell due to the anger engendered by their actions. The Weeber would rise up and hold coup parties with the  civilian bozos as the guests of honor for a Texas-style necktie party. The Whyser were always enlisted for these enterprises and the barbecues would begin again sans the do-nothing cityfolk.

History tends to repeat itself as if no one reads about it. Fast forward to 1776 and a disaffected immigrant Weeber and Whyser populace who were mad as hell and not inclined to take it anymore.

Our Fourth of July celebration is a remembrance of this propensity of humans everywhere to rise up and throw off the yoke of oppression and taxation. Once again, 1776 bred the need for a new class of Weeber made up of a melting pot of many different tribes.  This was the beginning of our modern day military and of the inception of its marriage with its Veterans-and America.. We still celebrate with barbecues on devices called Weber® in their honor.

In fact, if you survey the civilian populace closely, you will see this desire to emulate the military (and the original Weeber) in some of their endeavours. Witness the advent of Colonel Sanders chicken, major corporations and general contractors to name a few. The list is endless.  Did you ever wonder about the meaning of  “Weebers wobble but they don’t fall down”? It’s a reference to the indomitable spirit of Weebers. Again, I digress.

On this auspicious occasion, the 236th anniversary of the  birth of America, I would like to wish all of you a happy and safe Fourth of July. Thank you past and present Veterans and Weebers for the fact I am speaking English and am entrusted with the right to keep and bear arms. Amen. Gentlemen, start your Weebers®.

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