VA Alt-Facts

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Laura

facts

Franks sends this image in since we all have to deal with alt-facts daily.   Here are a few things that came to my mind looking at the picture.  For Conway, an Alternative Fact is something President Trump believes; Yalie Bill Clinton, explained, under oath, his concept of alt-facts brilliantly to the Grand Jury, “It all depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is”; for VA, a favorite alt-fact is its non-adversarial process of helping veterans get all the benefits they deserve.  Alt-facts rule the world.

The BVA judges like Veteran Law Judge, John J. Crowley have alt-facts mastered. This 12/23/15 decision (Cr. #1553614/DAV/Seattle & Anchorage) is a good example.

Crowley: “INTRODUCTION The Veteran had active service in the United States Navy from January 1971 to May 1972.”

Crowley:  “FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s hepatitis C was not shown in service or for many years thereafter and is not shown to be related to service.”

STOP:  HCV wasn’t identified until 1989 (Link) but that real fact doesn’t stop Judge Crowley, writing 27 years later, to insist in his alt-fact world, that HCV could and should have been written into this 1971-1972 service records.

An air gun-hep denier, Crowley prefers the examiners opinion that post-service chronic alcoholism was causal, as was nasal cocaine use, in the veterans acquisition of HCV. But he throws in “willful misconduct” just in case our vet drank or snorted in service!

“Although the Veteran asserts that his current hepatitis C is related to service, as a layperson, with no demonstrated expertise concerning the etiology of hepatitis C, his assertions concerning such etiology may not be afforded more than minimal probative value.”

Never mind that Judge Crowley also has “no demonstrated expertise concerning the etiology of hepatitis.”  Or that a VA examiner thinks alcoholism causes HCV.

Well, this denial is a complete mess to a normal reader, but an Alt-Fact masterpiece for those who create them.

Posted in Food for the soul, Food for thought, General Messages, Guest authors, Humor, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

WHO’D YOU VOTE FOR?

Posted on January 28, 2017 by asknod

img_0220This is what happens when you truthfully answer who you voted for. And it wasn’t the one who won the popular vote, either. Politically incorrect speech is still a new concept to Snowflakes so you may want to take a more considered approach and just flash a delightful, knowing smile in lieu of some sarcastic snappy answer. 

Naw. Just kidding. My horse Kona whacked me in the face with his head Wednesday morning because I wouldn’t give him any more cookies. Cupcake showed up home and was horrified for a moment wondering who had  sucker punched me. I didn’t know I had it because it wasn’t there when I brushed my teeth that morning. It’s a daisy. Maybe this would be a good time to file for PTSD and use the picture as evidence I can’t control my temper.

Of note, too, is this is the first shiner I’ve ever received where no alcohol was involved and it wasn’t over a woman.

Here’ the 1465 Lb. disgruntled voter that bushwhacked me:

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Posted in Humor, KP Veterans | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

DONBO-WHEREFORE ART THOU, DONBO?

Posted on January 24, 2017 by asknod

seal_of_the_president_of_the_united_states-svgHere we are on the dawn of Day 4 in the New World and Veterans everywhere are growing anxious. Six months ago, Presidential hopeful Trump announced a special place on the White House switch board for a real operator to answer calls in real time. In addition, our new illustrious leader-to-be went on to say that if the problem could not be resolved in short order, or if there was no one with the requisite intelligence at VA to fix it, that he, The Donald, would see to it personally. 

Now granted, Roberto Shulkin has not yet been graced with a confirmation hearing before Congress. Apparently, some on the other side of the aisle feel each and every Agency head has to be inspected, detected and face their wrath now that they are in the minority. This is why I so dislike politics-sore losers. Unfortunately, we, as Veterans, are the pawns in this game. It’s time for Congressfolks to put America and its interests to the forefront of any personal squabbles or discussion and squelch our own misgivings for the betterment of Veterans benefits both medical and compensatory. We’re unwilling to go another decade or two while they try to “iron out” the complexities. Both sides are at fault so there is no distinct political miscreant.

Here’s the Vet Tube of it all. If it’s true, we’re in high cotton. This would be better than having Secretary Bob’s number. July 11th, 2016 at my favorite surfing spot on the east coast- a few miles from the AFEES in Hampton where I began my military career.

Donald Trump vows to ‘pick up the phone’ on VA …

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Either this is going to a showdown at the OK corral or a Dog and Pony Show for the ages. I hope they publish the telephone number soon. We’re waxing down our surfboards. We won’t wait ’til June. What’s the phone number, Don?

P.S. The good news from the DC deep throat is that our incipient VASEC in waiting “gets it”. We won’t have to spend a year studying the fustercluck and proposing insane ways to fire the dead wood if he’s already abreast of the problems. I wonder how the VSO crowd is going to respond when they discover they no longer have the ear of the inner council or any influence on the levers of power as in centuries past.

P.P.S. And a word from the Secretary of Defense Jimbo Mattis:

 

Gen. Mattis’ Inauguration gifts to Daesh.

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Posted in Food for thought, KP Veterans, Medical News, non-va care, VA Conspiracies, vA news, VA Secretaries, VARO Misfeasance, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

PILOT TRUISMS, LAWS AND RULES

Posted on January 23, 2017 by asknod
wr-f2

Lt. Col. G.M. Graham- May 1945

East Coast sends me this intriguing summary of the World According to Daedalus-he, of course, being the first Pilot. I run across much about fighter pilots as my father was a good one. His whole life revolved around thrust to weight ratios and how long something could stay airborne without flaming out. Pilots tend to test boundaries. I think being steeped in that thinking is, for the most part, what pushes me to exceed good taste when dealing with VA. Enjoy this.

OLD PILOTS

Pilots are people who drive airplanes for other people who can’t fly.

Passengers are people who say they fly, but really just ride.

Fighter Pilots are steely eyed weapons systems managers who kill bad people and break things. However, they can also be very charming and personable. The average fighter pilot, despite sometimes having a swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring.  (However, these feelings usually don’t involve anyone else.)

Flying is a hard way to earn an easy living.

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the airplane; the pessimist, the parachute.

Death is just nature’s way of telling you the aircraft’s limitations have been exceeded.

As a pilot, only two bad things can happen to you (and one of them will):

a. One day you will walk out to the aircraft, knowing it is your last flight.
b. One day you will walk out to the aircraft, not knowing it is your last flight.

Rules and Laws

There are rules and there are laws:
The rules are made by men who think that they know how to fly your airplane better than you.
The laws (of physics) were ordained by God.
You can, and sometimes should, suspend the rules, but you can never suspend the laws.

About Rules:
a. The rules are a good place to hide if you don’t have a better idea and the talent to execute it.
b. If you deviate from a rule, it must be a flawless performance (e.g., if you fly under a bridge, you mustn’t hit the bridge.)

Good Advice

Before each flight, make sure that your bladder is empty and your fuel tanks are full.

He who demands everything that his aircraft can give him is a pilot; he who demands one iota more is a fool.

There are certain aircraft sounds that can only be heard at night and over the ocean. Most of them are scary.

The aircraft’s structural limits are only there in case there is another flight being contemplated using that particular aircraft. If subsequent flights do not appear likely, there are no limits. 

“If the Wright brothers were alive today, Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs.” (President, DELTA Airlines.)

In the Alaskan bush, I’d rather have a two-hour bladder and three hours of gas than vice versa.

An old pilot is one who can remember when flying was dangerous and sex was safe.

Airlines have really changed … now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant.

I’ve flown in both pilot seats. Can someone tell me why the other one is always occupied by an idiot?

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You have to make up your mind about growing up and becoming a pilot. You can’t do both. 

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

BROWNWATER NAVY HUMOR

Posted on January 22, 2017 by asknod

vvaI received this from a non-VFW kind of Vietnam Vet. I share it in its entirety because- well- sometimes you just have to own your quirks in these fraternal constructs. It seems the reputation of Veterans Service Organizations and their free-thinking Post Members’ proclivity for all things alcohol precedes them-and us by association. I had thought the VVA would become our new saviors in the post-Vietnam era but they quickly morphed into the identical twin of their fellow VSOs. 

As most know, the VFW sort of pissed on my parade in 1973 when they told me I wasn’t eligible to join because I’d “never served in a war”.  I’m sorry. I can’t forget that. There’s a wall in DC with 58,307 names on it. They died somewhere and a few happened to be pretty good friends of mine. VFW can never look me straight in the face and say “Well, that phrase is no longer operable, son. The good news is now you’re eligible.”

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Which is why I present this Veterans humor. I just wanted to clear the air that I’m laughing at you, VFW-not with you.  No offense. Mutuo Te Absolvo and all that. We’re all 65-75 now or thereabouts. I apologize in advance.

 

PROPER ETIQUETTE 

WHEN YOU’RE IN A VFW BAR

It was ten o’clock at night. I was standing at the bar at the VFW two years ago minding my own business. I’d just joined that day and this was my first visit to their bar. A woman with an exceedingly large body mass index came up behind me, grabbed my behind  painfully hard and said, “You’re kinda cute. You gotta phone number?”

I said, “Yeah, you gotta pen?”

She said, “Yeah, I got a pen”.

I said, ” Good. You better get back in it lickety-spit before the farmer discovers you missing.”

Cost me 6 stitches…but what the hey? It was a VFW bar. They didn’t even 86 her for it.

  _________________

I was talking to a young woman with coke-bottle lenses for glasses back at the VFW bar again last month.

She squinted real hard and said, “If you lost a few pounds, got a decent shave and had your hair cut and styled, you’d look all right. Did anybody ever tell you that?”

I said, “ Honey, if I did all that, I wouldn’t be wasting my time getting advice from you. I’d be talking to those two blond identical twins over there instead of you.”

Cost me a fat lip, but…what the hey. It was a VFW Bar. These folks love to party.

___________

I was telling a woman at the VFW bar last week about my psychic ability to guess exactly what day and year a woman was born on by doing no more than feeling her breasts.

“Really?” she said, ” Weeeeeeeeeeell… okay. Go on then… try. I gotta see this one.”

After about a minute of being fondled,  she began to lose patience and said, “Come on now. What day was I born?”

I said, “Yesterday.”

Cost me a quick kick in the nuts, but… it was a VFW bar. I just figured these folks were a little slow.

_________________

I went to our VFW last night. My new buddies convinced me it was the custom for the new guy to buy the drinks for a year. Hours later, as I was stumbling out, I saw a mega-BIG woman dancing on a table. We’re talking Sumo grade, dude.  Okay. You want to know how big she was? She was so big it felt like she had her own gravitational field you could feel tugging at you-like a Black Hole pulling you in. She could eclipse the sun. Seriously. She must be in the Guinness Book.

I analyzed it for a moment and said truthfully, “Good legs.”

The girl giggled and said, “Do you really think so?”

I looked up at her and said, “Definitely! Most tables would have collapsed under the load by now.”

I guess I’d had more to drink than I thought I had. I honestly didn’t see the bottle coming. Cost me 6 more stitches, but that’s what you get in a VFW bar. Next week I’m trying out the Buddy System. I have some new friends there who feel sorry for me.

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Posted in Humor, KP Veterans, Vietnam War history, VSOs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CAVC– RIVERA-OYOLA V McDONALD–3 CARD MONTE

Posted on January 20, 2017 by asknod

downloadIt’s always fun to have old, seasoned former CAVC Judges come back to help out with the backlog. Considering President Trump is going to be tasked with filling three slots currently vacant at the Court, we hope he gives the legal beagles over at the NVLSP or NOVA a gander. There’s a wealth of talent there you won’t find on Wall Street or Harvard Law school. Saint Meg is living proof what a good education in VA law can do for Vetkind.

Here’s the BVA denial: bva-oyola

And the CAVC Reversal oyola-reversal

Luis Rivera-Oyola has been engaged in the old Badminton game with VA since he got out in 1993. He did about fifteen years before he separated. Then he did 23 more on VA claims. He filed for a hearing loss and ulcers a month after discharge but slipped up for a few months and then filed for his back/neck problems in Sept. 1994. VA forgot about him and he complained again in 1998. They sent him out for their antique VA x ray machine which couldn’t see retained metal fragments if they were 30 millimeters across. As we all know, only the most sensitive machines can show arthritis which is a newer phenomenon in radiology. Typical VA. X ray everything but what the C&P asks for… or the obverse-don’t x ray anything and put the idiotic Alfred E. Newman expression on your face and ask “What? We were supposed to x ray him back in 93? Why?”

In March 1998, Mr. Rivera-Oyola underwent the first VA joint examination of record, nearly four years after the regional office directed an”at-once” examination to evaluate his degenerative joint disease. This examination, however, was focused on Mr. Rivera-Oyola’s shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles, and did not evaluate his spine. The examiner noted that x-rays taken earlier in the month revealed “minimal” degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine. (Otoya)

The VA is doing the fake out here. You’re so engrossed in watching the Monte dealer whiz those cards around and about that you fail to notice the most salient evidence of record. The Luismeister was complaining about this at his C&P a month after discharge during that glorious one-year presumptive period.  VA is pointedly ignoring this to turn it into a disease that suddenly manifested in 1998 when it was diagnosed. Then they present the ultimate bitchslap. It’s your fault. You didn’t provide x rays in 1993, Luis. And danged if we didn’t forget too. We can’t go back now and do the  x rays so tough luck.

Although service connection may be presumed for degenerative joint disease if this condition is manifested to a compensable degree within a certain period after military discharge, service connection on this basis cannot be favorably considered since x-ray evidence of degenerative arthritis warranting a compensable disability rating is not shown within one year following discharge from active military service.

Hershel Gober ran a good one by the Fed Circus called Maxson v. Gober and got some rotten precedence on the books for decades. On the half shell, it was summed up as “if you’re old and get a bad back then it’s cumulative and we all get bad backs eventually. You can’t blame it exclusively on your military service unless it’s documented in the STRs.”

There are numerous exceptions to this but VA clings to the basic tenet and tries to use it as the universal VA legal denial band aid. A few examples of where it blows up in their faces is Hepatitis C law. As the disease is cryptogenic and only identified and diagnosed 30 or so years after contraction, you can’t drag Maxson out and say the Hep was brand new and reached cirrhosis in 6 years. Trust me. VA has tried it and won at the appellate level many times on this, too. If you don’t appeal, they win.

Luis’ saving grace is that he had this  DJD written down in that golden presumptive time of less than one year after service. But also note the proclivity of VA C&P doctors to under-report, inspect everything BUT the affected part or disremember to take some really good x rays as the VASRD suggests in 38 CFR §4.41 and 4.42 (1945-1964).

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Judge Hagel .

VA’s downfall was remanding Luis to death and purposefully giving him C&P after C&P for no good reason when the object of the C&P was being ignored all along with his contemporaneous c-file diagnosis of this two months after he got out. Insisting you’ve perused the records when there simply is no evidence of this looks stupid- especially when Hagel and his clerks are looking right at it. A Record Before the Agency (RBA) cuts both ways. The CAVC uses the “reasonable minds can agree” technique. VA prefers the 20,000 foot flyover test.

This is the same type of CUE that Butch Long is currently undergoing. VA’s take is “We see the diagnosis but there’s no proof of the diagnosis. It’s just a doctor’s ruminations with no identification of the epicenter. We can’t pay for that nebulous a diagnosis- and certainly not without probative x rays- in 93. Tough luck, Luis.

Judge Hagel seems to have toned down and mellowed as a Judge in his old age. He slammed this with a reversal and remand to Make It So, Numbah One down at the BVA. Veterans Law Judge Keith W. Allen will be tasked with the do over and a mea culpa of his stupidity. Even Hagel must see the futility in trying to speak English to the dolts down at the RO level. It’s like attempting to converse with amoebas.  Let Allen explain it in pidgin English.

download9This is something I run across more and more frequently. You file for X and VA recharacterizes it as Y. They give you 0% for Y and never touch the underlying claim for X behind door #3 where Monty’s Cookie Jar is. Luis’ problem is similar inasmuch as he keeps trying to get to DJD of the spine and VA pointedly looked everywhere futilely- at least until Maxson could kick in. By now, it’s 23 years old but the best industrial shredder in Puerto Rico’s Regional Office still missed the 1993 C&P finding.

Jill Mitchell-Thein Esq.

Congratulations, Luis. You’re pretty close to being a brand new millionaire. Spend it wisely. CUE is rare- and very costly when finally resolved. Even a tsunami of remands can’t put these fires out. PVA must have handed this one off to Jill Mitchel-Thein Esq. or Luis was smart enough to call her for representation. The Paralyzed Vets of America POA sure wasn’t catching any air.  Face it. If you have 23 years wrapped up in fighting with an unblemished run of losses, it’s time to seek real legal help. Congratulations, Jill. You won the CAVC senior Judge Lotto sweepstakes.

So, if any of you are looking for some red hot legal talent, here’s Jill’s website.

http://www.lawguru.com/answers/atty_profile/view_attorney_profile/holly522

jill

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Posted in CAVC Knowledge, Earlier Effective dates, Informal Claims, KP Veterans, Lawyering Up, Tips and Tricks, VA Attorneys, VA Medical Mysteries Explained, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

BROKEN SNOWFLAKES DAY CARE FOR VETS

Posted on January 18, 2017 by asknod

635646931319099161-veterans-administration-logoAs most know by now, PEOTUS Trump has anointed David Shulkin to the post. Shulkin is McDonald’s #2 in charge of Medical or VHA as they acronymize it. This is the equal rank of the Undersecretary for Benefits over at the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). Call me Bob is like the Big Cheese supervising a doctor and a lawyer and they’re both boneheads. Well, better said the gomers who work for them are not the mental giants who walk among us. If they were, they wouldn’t be in the news.

downloadFool’s names and fool’s faces who frequently appear in public VA places get the Sharon Helman “AVIS®” Award. To be obscure is the name of this game. As mommy admonished us when we were young, ” You should only be in the newspapers three times-birth, marriage and death.”

Veterans everywhere I turn are lamenting this new VASEC development much like cattle ready to stampede- but unsure where to go.  Why is Trump hiring out from under the existing VASEC? Shulkin is not a Vet but he comes from a family of Vets. I’m sure that counts for something like ” Yeah, and I watched Full Metal Jacket too, dude so I know where you’re comin’ from.” Hey, we could do worse, right? The halls of 810 Vermont Ave. could be redolent with the aroma of Palin’s patchouli oil. McDonald had a phone number. Will Mr. Shulkin? Will Trump have that hotline to the White House just for Vets we heard about on the campaign trail? All these queshuns and we’re knee deep in depression over what might happen and what this morning’s chicken entrails app portended. Seven years bad luck on Facebook and a low sodium diet. Bummer. What’s an enterprising VA Agent to do?

Snow Flake Havens®

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4-man bunker comes with coloring books/crayons

That’s why I’m considering opening a franchise of Snowflake Havens®.  You can get into this for peanuts- less than $500 K. Everything’s on-line at Office Depot and delivered right to your door. Thousands of Vets need a place to go to hide and hug a woobie. For a measly $89.99 upgrade, they  provide a Bob McDonald’s Happy Meal daily delivered by a dead ringer for Colonel Sanders who will personally dine in one of their cozy two-person Sharing Tents™ for the catered lunch date.  Liquor is not included but Vets can run a tab at the well drinks bar on site. They have selfie sticks for rent. Relax.

Crayons, Sharpies, oils, water colors-even magic markers all on large easels to hold those future paintings and treasures while you transfer your anger into them- it’s all there. Snow flake Havens®, as part of the franchise offer,  also offers excellent deals on previously owned ambulances to ensure safe quick transport from work meltdown to the Emergency entrances of Snowflake Trauma Havens. They’ll have six beds in ICU and four for intense mental denial just waiting for you at the regional trauma centers. This increases billable Medicare hours astronomically.

snowflake-ambulance

Hire your own certified Advanced Registered Practical Nurse (ARNP) on site to maximize profits. They can legally administer soothing narcotics and mood altering Diazapam to quell even the most obstreperous Veteran. I penciled it out and it’s a goldmine. VAMCs will begin referrals to you on the VA Choice Program but refuse to pay for a year. Even with that negative this generates $38,500 a month per Vet profit with a full house of 10 Vets -even with high crayon theft.

snowflake

This could all go to hell in a minute if Shulkin actually turns the USS Vermont Avenue violently around and avoids going up on the rocks just before Promised Shoals. If he does, Snow flake Havens are going to be ghost towns.

Let these  folks greet you and make you feel right at home Here’s one of the staff members demonstrating how comforting it can feel to be near Snowflake Haven’s  “Fort Fireplace.”

 

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Posted in Humor, KP Veterans, medical injections, Medical News, Medicare for VETS, non-va care, PTSD, Veterans Law, Vietnam Disease Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

LZ CORK–CLEAR AND UNMISTAKABLE ERROR

Posted on January 15, 2017 by asknod
USS Mayflower

Arrival of the USS Mayflower  20 Dec. 2016

It’s one thing to recite 38 CFR to me and tell me what some arcane VA manual said about how to rate _____________ and under what circumstances and how the regulation has percolated down to us in the ensuing forty six years. It’s an entirely different thing to presume the USS Mayflower docked and tied up to my front porch yesterday morning.

For years, I blithely accepted everything VA told me because they were the government. They weren’t permitted to lie or deceive or misconstrue what I was trying to say. Just as the day I discovered Santa, the Tooth Faery and a lot of other childish constructs were just that- fabrications made up of whole cloth- so too did it finally dawn on me that these folks are cheating…

A big thank you goes out to  Benjamin Krause over at Disabledveterans.org for finding and publishing the old 1964 VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD). Up until now, I searched through haystacks to find versions of old ratings and what they gave in percentages. When the VA maestros tried this song and dance avec la Moonwalk, it was too much to swallow. Of course, the deeper I dug, the more lenient the regulations were -especially for combat trauma. Remember, they modernized and modified these at the end of World War II to incorporate all the newer ways man has devised to maim his fellow man short of death. By Vietnam, nothing major had changed. In fact, PTSD was right there in Diagnostic Code 9411 in pretty much the same lingua franca as 2016. The definition as an acronym is the only major change.

Here’s a copy if you need one: 1964-vasrd-ratings

A short preface: Mr. Long has had his NOD divided into two parts and the CUE decision separated from the rest of his claims. This is after presentation of 38 CFR §3.156(c)(i),(1),(3)-wasting money to make it appear work is being done.

In the following denial of Clear and Unmistakable Error, Mr. Long contended he should have been rated in 1970 for certain injuries he complained of. He filed for perforated eardrums in 1970 and VA only gave him loss of the hearing ice cream cone without any ice cream (0%). Same for his shell fragment wounds. He filed for wounds and they gave him a rating for scars-0%.  Bait and switch.

va-cue-letter-denial-12-20-2016redact

pinocchio_4In the NOD answer, you will find how to utterly demolish this ” four Pinocchio”  type of rater’s logic and leave their argument in pieces on the floor. The tragedy is they are too stupid to understand it. Relax. You only get one opportunity to shovel all the evidence into the hopper (c-file). When it comes time for someone with a modicum of intelligence (VLJ) who is familiar with 38 CFR rather than the M 21 Fantasy Ratings Game booklet, you win. If the VLJ is dense or anti-Vet, you’ll prevail at the CAVC. It’s like a Claymore. Eventually someone’s going to trip on the wire. CUE is always won when those in charge of denying it are finally shown the error. They’ll only see it when they believe it and not a moment sooner.

Another point I always stress is to carefully read every word of a denial. There lies the path to a win. VA gets diarrhea of the mouth and says too much. Here they try to paraphrase CFR and do not even attempt to print it for everyone’s edification.

Butch’s claim is just too expensive to negotiate. It’s going to be over six figures and no one local wants that on their resume when they’re up for that GS-13 step 6 rating to senior DRO in charge of  the Special Ops lane. Worse, that’s where it is now due to the declaration of Homelessness. VA’s Congressional Interests liaison has told Congressman Kilmer’s VA Intermediary that this is a)non negotiable; b) no new N&M Evidence submitted; c) don’t understand what 3.156(c) has to do with it and d) perhaps Butch needs a fiduciary. They have suggested he quit smoking and get rid of the 15-year-old dogs so he’ll qualify for low income housing from the city of Tacoma (waiting list-3 years). VA is a veritable fountain of bright ideas. If you want to rent a house for a reasonable price in the NW, you may have to move out to the boondocks. The price is unbelievable and the terms are often a two-year lease. Take it or leave it. If you don’t, there will still be a bidding war for it. As for buying homes hereabouts, it’s even worse. Cupcake says people are buying without even looking at it- and from out of state to boot. With Cash no less. You can’t even get an appt. with the realtor to view it if you mention you’re using a VA or FHA loan.

Congressman Kilmer’s  crew has now informed the VA that Derek pinned his PH and CIB on him last year and he’s not going to stop until they fix what they screwed up in 1970. Remember, CBS loves good stories about poor Vets getting hosed  for medals or VA screwups and KIRO is just a hop, skip and an Uber up the street and over a few blocks to 3rd and Broad St. Hey, if they refuse to negotiate according to Hoyle, Kilmer has the Nuclear Option and feels strongly enough about this one to throw the first (V)A bomb of his career.

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So, VA Attorneys and agents and all you wanna be VA CUE aficionados, here’s a beautiful outline for rolling these dolts on old informal claims. An added bonus is the ridiculous assertion about only being able to rate painful scars en bloc in 1970. I’ll send in an addendum for that to be considered at the DRO hearing.  Be sure to look up Diagnostic code 7804 (1970) where it clearly allows exceeding the rating for amputation for any given extremity- read the plural “scars” as in “painful scars“. Mr. Rater is correct that they have rewritten 4.118  DC 7800-7805 since 1970- but most assuredly not in a more Veteran-friendly manner. In fact, Part 4, over the ensuing 46 years,has experienced quite a bit of revisionist history.

38 CFR§4.118 Schedule of ratings- Skin Diagnostic Code 7804 Scars, superficial, tender and painful on objective demonstration (1970)——————————–  10%

Note: The 10% rating will be assigned, when the requirements are met, even though the location may be on the tip of a finger or toe, and the rating may exceed the amputation value for the limited involvement.

But not according to Seattle’s CUEmesiters…

Here’s the 21-0958 redacted. Mr. Long has given me written permission to use his ratings fiasco as a teaching moment. This is not a drill. It’s eighteen pages of horribly redundant logic pounded in repeatedly with a  1970 CFR hammer. VA loves to use this technique and restate the obvious about 3 times in a denial or SOC. Here, we merely provide sauce for the goose to simmer in.

cue-nod-complete-filed-1-13-17-redacted

This is better than an ambush on a dead end trail in a horseshoe valley. Informal claims my ass. Suck on your 1970 version of §4.42, bubba. We may have to go to DC but the evidence will be tightly packed in before departure.

Capture

 

Posted in 1154(b) combat presumptions, C-Files and RBAs, Congressional Influence, CUE, Inferred claims, Informal Claims, KP Veterans, VA Agents, VA Medical Mysteries Explained | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Leaking or FOIA Requests?

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Laura

Frank sends us links to a series of quality ProPublica articles, published with The Virginian-Pilot, about the on-going scourge of Agent Orange.

A webpage titled Reliving Agent Orange (Link), links to numerous articles about Agent Orange and their lawsuit (12/16/16) ProPublica, Inc. v United States Department of Veterans Affairs  (Link). Charles Ornstein is the Senior Reporter on this project.  Scroll down to the exhibits to see Mr. Orstein’s FOIA requests (leadership emails!); and VA’s continually changing statements that he will have to wait, and wait, and wait for at least 18 months.

This group is not interested in “fake news” from what I can gather.  They take fact checking seriously.

VA employees who like veterans, and their jobs, don’t have a safe place to raise issues that concern them within the agency. ProPublica might be a reasonable option for VA insiders, whose conscience is nagging them, to dialogue with. (Link):

spy

Image: strip generator.com. All rights reserved

 How To Leak To ProPublica

We are a team of investigative journalists devoted to exposing abuse of power. If you’ve got evidence showing powerful people doing the wrong thing, here’s how to let us know while protecting your identity.

They have some digital methods;  I like the low tech method best:

U.S. postal mail without a return address is one of the most secure ways to communicate — authorities would need a warrant to intercept and open it in transit.

Don’t use your company or agency mail room to send something to us. Mail your package or envelope from an unfamiliar sidewalk box instead of going to a post office. You can mail us paper materials or digital files on, for example, a thumb drive.

But copying and leaking documents is potentially risky.  It seems far more prudent to obtain desired information using FOIA Requests.  ProPublica is firm and clear about what they want to read:  communications (any format) between an AO skeptic VA hires (no bid contracts) to produce studies and leaders like Hickey, Shinseki, Shulman, McDonald and other big wigs. VA is firm about not complying with the laws time terms.

A lot less edgy, is their survey for Vietnam veterans as they look into AO’s ongoing generational health effects (Link).

Posted in Agent Orange, AO, Complaints Department, Food for thought, General Messages, Guest authors, research, Uncategorized, vA news | Tagged , | 2 Comments

WHERE HAVE ALL THE VA AGENTS GONE?

Posted on January 14, 2017 by asknod

countImagine Mary Kaye® or Nike™ Shoes offering you a dealership in a State or locality with absolutely little or no competition for nothing? Not a penny out of pocket. All you had to do was be semi-smart enough to pass a test on morals with a long multiple choice list of ‘what if”s looking for quasi-legal support from a set of regulations. Sounds like a building code book of regulations and knowing how to build a house correctly. That’s how I approach these things.

Add to the above equation that it costs absolutely nothing out of pocket to do this as virtually everything you need to know is on the internet. No textbooks required to purchase. You don’t have to go to college for 4 years and then law school for 3 more for the Juris Doctorate. You get to cut line educationally if you can pass this test and are treated as an equal. Pretty cool beans, huh? Did I mention it’s free?

I have just described the requirements to become a VA Agent-aka a nonattorney practitioner in legal DickandJanespeak. You get to go online and look at your client’s c-file instead of waiting a year or two for it on a Check 1: [  ] CD     [  ] paper. You are given the VA Regional Office Director’s telephone number as well as four to nine support staff at the VA to take your call or return it (complete with email address). You call up and ask who’s in charge of _____________ and they give you the number of the person. In other words, the real world. None of this 1-800-827 Dial-a-prayer shuck-and-jive and a 50 minute hold or a promise of a return call on the very next Thursday ending in an even year at 0900. No 1-800- Iha-vePTSD calls to the HELPline and getting an answering service after 1800 Hrs.

Now, cowpokes. How many VA Armchair Generals do you think who offer waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much advice on Yuku’s VBN (Peggy’s Pink Site) that wouldn’t jump in with both feet and sign up before they stiffened the rules or started charging admission? How many you figure would be in any given state with a shingle hanging a block or so within a rural VARO?VAMC? A short ton, right? This is low-hanging fruit free for the picking and you don’t have that $225,000 student loan eating a hole in your financial future until you die. This morning I was asked how many thousands there were of us who have found this little loophole and squirmed through. The results are interesting and far from what I expected to see.

CaptureI belong to NOVA so I figure we reproduce like rabbits. Apparently, only attorneys do. I was prepared for a large concentration in the states with the highest aggregate populations of people including Veterans. Wrong again. Okay, a high number in areas with a large Veteran population uniformly dispersed at the very least in every state and US possession including former ones like Manila and the Canal Zone. Saigon? Udon Thani? Wiesbaden? (Yes-one). Here’s the list. What I guess I found disconcerting was there is no rep. for Alaska where I think a good independent agent could cut a swath and a reputation as the only honest Agent near the Arctic Circle.

Alaska –0                             North Carolina–17

Alabama–3                              North Dakota–1

Arkansas–8                             Nebraska–7

Arizona–9                               New Hampshire–2

California–23                         New Jersey–9

Colorado–3                             New Mexico–1

Connecticut–8                        Nevada–4

Canal Zone–0                    New York–6

DC–3                                        Ohio–10

Europe –1                               Oklahoma–4

Florida –47                             Oregon–1

Georgia–20                             Pennsylvania–13

Guam–0                               Philippines–2

Hawaii–0                            Puerto Rico–0  

Iowa–1                                    Quebec–0

Idaho–0                              Rhode Island–5

Illinois–10                             South Carolina–5

Indiana–7                              South Dakota–0    

Kansas–8                               Tennessee–7

Kentucky–4                           Texas–23

Louisiana–6                          Utah–7

Massachusetts–9                 Virginia–8

Maryland–5                          Virgin Islands–0    

Maine–1                                 Vermont-1

Michigan–17                         Washington–9

Minnesota–3                        Wisconsin–1

Missouri–3                           West Virginia–3

Mississippi–1                       Wyoming–0

Montana-0                       Kabul–0

Mexico–0                         Baghdad–0  

———————————————   Total– 346 VA Agents in the world. Spooky, huh?

The way I look at this is a mega-business venture as though they just legalized pot and you have to throw down quick with your own Pot Shop before the neighborhood has one on every corner. Lord know I get about 3 calls a day of Vets looking for legal help. If we’re so skinny on representatives for this, the sky’s the limit. The last thing you want is to be a small town clown and the tail end Charlie.

I figured there would be one in American Samoa because I’ve met a lot of South Sea Islanders from there. It isn’t even listed as ever having one. Hawaii was another disappointment. I’m giving both some serious thought if no one else wants them.

P.S. I was going to count the attorneys. There are 19 in Alaska. Alabama has 222. Arkansas has 132 and that’s where I gave up counting due to Writer’s eyeball cramp.

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Nodster

 

 

 

Posted in All about Veterans, KP Veterans, Lawyering Up, VA Agents, vA news, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments