Our right to petition the government

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Laura

…”the right of the people . . . to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” is a protected activity and liberty.  It applies to local, State and Federal governmental bodies (executive, legislative,courts, and agencies).  The Petition Clause could be utilized by veterans yet other than advocates who are allowed to appear before the Senate and House Veterans committees, I’m not aware of much petition activity by veteran-citizens.  

I believe the Petition Clause could be used to get unbiased scientific answers from the government about the HCV epidemic in our veteran population.  This is a matter of both private and public concern and the lack of published studies and current studies injures individual veterans and the public.

The Supreme Court heard a Petition Clause case, BOROUGH OF DURYEA, PENNSYLVANIA, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. CHARLES J. GUARNIERI (6/20/11), which involved a government employee’s union grievance against his employer.  (OPINION LINK)

Justice Scalia’s opinion (beginning on pg. 26) points out that

 “The text of the Petition Clause does not distinguish petitions of public concern from petitions of private concern. Accordingly, there should be no doctrinal distinction between them unless the history or tradition of the Petition Clause justifies it. The mere fact that the Court can enumerate several historical petitions of public importance, ante, at 14– 16, does not establish such a tradition, given that petitions for redress of private grievances vastly outnumbered them. …It is the Constitution that establishes constitutional rights, not the Justices’ notions of what is important, or the top numbers on their Petition Hit Parade. And there is no basis for believing that the Petition Clause gives special protection to public petitions.”

cards

Yo. Your Honor.org postcard campaign for free access to PACER court records. “The cards came in 100 packs of 10 cards. Each pack had a common picture and 2 different inscriptions.” Image: Public Domain by Public Resources click image to go to Flickr

I’m not a big believer in the effectiveness of mass online petitions and email campaigns compared to old fashioned postcard campaigns and calling campaigns. The former show more effort and cost a little for the card and stamp. For private petitions, personal contacts, face-to-face, and snail mail letters are better than emails.

The above is from a beautiful postcard campaign (Yo. Your Honor.org) created to make Pacer Public Access to Court Electronic Records free.  (link).  The website offers the details (LINK).  This is really smart because the cards are so classy–and pubic domain–they deserve framing. Attractive cards might be kept on the justices’ desks.  Like Holy cards.  Or inspirational cards of any sort.

I have signed up at Pacer and had to provide the following to read case documents I’m interested in at a cost of 10 cents per page.  To log in and read, Public Resource states the terms I found:

“PACER system, a person must furnish their name, address, date of birth, a valid credit card, and a valid U.S. taxpayer ID. The charging algorithm is complex, but is essentially $0.10/page with a maximum of $3 per document. Additional charges are levied for docket reports in HTML, audio files, and searches of the PACER Case Locator. If a user incurs less than $15 in charges per quarter, the fee for that quarter is waived. Source: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, PACER User Manual for ECF Courts, September 2014.

Pacer is cheaper than the paid Pacer services, like Pacer Monitor, but still, this information should be free even if one reads more than $15.00 worth per quarter. Pro Se folks don’t have budgets for downloading all the documents they want to read. Caution:  If you decide to view case documents, be sure to “save as” (will make a pdf) to your computer or you’ll have to pay for them again.  You can’t store them in a folder within Pacer. I learned this the hard way.

Before you pay Pacer however, use Chrome or  Firefox browser and RECAP to see if a document you want to read is free on the Internet Archive.  RECAP is a cool service from Princeton University and The Free Law Service. View a tutorial video to peak inside PACER:  (LINK)

So what kind of public domain images would ASKNODers like to see on postcards? Jet injectors? Village street barbers in Vietnam? Transfusions in the bush? Combat blood exposures? Proof of lack of hand hygiene in the military? Recruits getting vaccinated? Vietnamese sex workers from the war?  Dental diseases caused by HCV?  Text with educational facts?  Statistics? Infographics?  The possibilities are endless really to educate and remind people of how bloody this long crazy war was.

Accidental needle sticks are bad; punji sticks, very bad.

company-h

Marines of Company H walk through a punji-staked gully, January 28, 1966. Image: government

Posted in Complaints Department, Food for thought, General Messages, Guest authors, research, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

VARO– MARK’S OPUS–WHAT’S BEHIND DOOR #3

Posted on June 11, 2015 by asknod
Mark's big win

Mark @ 192%–The third time is the charm

Many of you across the fruited asknod and Hadit plain continue to suffer the misconception, goaded on undoubtedly by VSO horror stories, that if you ask for another bowl of porridge from VA, they will not only give you a smaller bowl but take away your spoon. Hogwash. If that was the case, frequent filers would have 0% across the board or far less than their due.

Take me as an example. I refused to lose at this game and am now perched on the cusp of another 100% schedular rating and a 40% and 10% (on appeal for 30%). Berta, a frequent moderator of immense knowledge on Hadit.com, has a storied history of claims spanning two decades and two husbands and to date has yet to lose-even on several CUE claims.

Now we address my good friend Mark.  The long story is in the link. The short story that continues to dispel the myth about VA’s propensity to downrate you when you disagree is this. Mark got 20% for his Hep. Typical VA lowball. He got his 100% schedular after flailing around and finally by dropping his no-account Cal. Dept. of Vet Disasters rep. and coming back to me. Once free of him, everything began to unfold properly. Last week, he got the ultimate smooth tan one-or for you guys from other sites-the BBE or Big Brown Envelope. His was truly as I had predicted and even better, Monty’s cookie jar was behind Door # 3.

I began this in 2008 and explained to Mark the process to ultimately end up with SMC S. We carefully crafted his claim with all the magic words and nexus info to make it slide like pancakes on bacon grease. The result? Hold on to your your hats, folks. Them dingbats at the Oakland RO went overboard.

Mark’s decision

1) 40% for Diabetes II

2) 40% for Fibromyalgia/ secondary to HCV

3)40% for PN left upper extremity

4)30% for right upper ”                ”

5)20% for left lower  ”                    ”

6) 20% for right lower ”                 ”

7) SMC S

Now, does that sound like the vindictive VA or yore? Can any of you say that you have been whacked for asking for a higher rating? I admonish you to appeal any such happening and get back to me after you win. If you are indeed better, you get reduced. This happens-especially in surgical situations where a 100% rating is assigned- full well knowing it is temporary. Nevertheless, VA is fond of revisiting the 40-70% ratings with an eye towards an ambush in the first five years. Shit happens. When it does, there’s a good attorney available who will bear your sword.

k.eagle headshot 2012We do have “Hurricane” Katrina Eagle to thank for shepherding this through in short order. That’s the best kind of bacon grease for any VA claim and I’m fortunate to have her on my speed dial for Vets.

Remember, God sends the right. If you are owed, you get doughed- or in this case the proper ratings. The only error I see is that they should have given him SMC K for loss of use of a creative organ due to the DM 2. That’s what Hurricanes are for. As an aside, Mark asked me if there was any more money on the table he was missing. I pointed out the addition of a wife would add $160 to the pot each month but the hole in the bottom of that argument is that I have yet to find a woman you can operate for less that $3 K a month. Mark has decided to ignore my sage advice on the subject that the most poisonous substance on earth is wedding cake.

You can lead them to Bachelor parties but you cannot get them drunk enough to miss the nuptials. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

Posted in BvA HCV decisions, KP Veterans, Tips and Tricks, VA Attorneys, VA Medical Mysteries Explained, vARO Decisions, Veterans Law, VSOs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

VA WATCHPUPPY

Posted on June 11, 2015 by asknod
2 cents

Entitled to our two cents. Image credit: Libby Levi for  OpenSource.com. Some rights reserved. click image to go to Flickr and creative commons license info

I noticed I was getting a lot of hits from another Veterans’ oriented website so naturally I was intrigued. I found this criticism from an ASKNOD reader:  “Attention Bloggers:  This is why we don’t rant.  When you rant and speak about VA or any other veterans organization, you’ll sometimes get away with it.  There is a lot to be angry about these days.  But anger isn’t any reason to resort to attention grabbing headlines using untrue statements, rumors, or innuendo.  The facts will set you free.  Rumors and outright lies will get you sued.”

Had the owner of the website come to me, he would have received a background briefing on what actually ensued and why the retraction was published. He also would have realized that the “attention grabbing headlines” as he describes them, were simply passed on to you readers from you readers. This was an unfortunate occurrence and a poor decision on my part but it was a far cry from a rant. Rants are reserved for the VA. That is the function of a website like asknod.org. We have always prided ourselves on our conviction to speak out when we perceive wrongs. Overstepping those boundaries have consequences but it was not done to increase our  readership.

In a nonadversarial setting such as the VA describes it’s ex parte process, Veterans often find themselves particularly disadvantaged by  those they depend on to represent them.  This has always been our focus and the raison d’être of our being. Occasionally, you readers bring other things to the forefront for inspection. Therein lay the problem. Publishing is a finely balanced ballet that requires emotion be divorced from the equation. On that, I stand guilty as charged.

While I find defending myself in VA Courts or the CAVC to be daunting and anything but nonadversarial, I firmly believe depending on the National Organizations  authorized by Congress for us are a fool’s errand. If that, too, constitutes a rant, so be it. Asknod was begun with one and only one ideal. After reading over 10,000 VA BVA decisions, one thing was undeniable. No one on any Veterans blog site, including Mr. Strickland’s,  had a clue that you needed three prime ingredients to win a claim. No one. We set out to change that and we have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Caluza, Hickson and Shedden are almost household names in the lexicon of successful Veterans who win their claims around here. The VA has even included a blurb on it when you file telling you this. Meanwhile, large National Service Organizations continue to allow their representatives to permit unsuspecting Veterans to be led to slaughter at the BVA with no nexus letter .

I was publishing these legal precepts on how to win and writing my book all the while viewing numerous other websites askance and wondering why they failed to teach the same knowledge. With the exception of Hadit.com, Theresa’s website, very little useful knowledge was  being disseminated. Helping Vets is the program here. Helping Vets win is the paramount consideration. While I may have concerns about other websites, I do not attack them or denigrate the owners/authors/publishers. As Veterans, it is important to stand as one and be counted. Fracturing us into many small subsets of dissatisfaction accomplishes nothing and diminishes our strength of numbers.

As an aside, my dual publications on Veterans Today were  what provoked this. Sadly, the publication has nothing to do with Veterans and is a misnomer.  The term hornswoggled comes to mind when I was invited to publish there. We learn from our mistakes. I, for one, have no problem admitting that.

While I freely apologize for my indiscretions regarding WWP, I feel no remorse for ranting or publishing attention-getting headlines about the injustices visited upon us by Mother VA. Had I never begun that line of discourse, there would be 500 or more less Veterans service connected-most at 100% schedular or TDIU. Most all suffer from the terminal diseases of HCV and AO. That wasn’t accomplished with rumor or innuendo.

The teaching moment from this is valuable. Apologies have been rendered to those whom I offended. If Watchdog.org wants to use them as attention-grabbing headlines to up his/their readership, fly at it. I’ll be your huckleberry. Meanwhile we’ll continue  teaching all of you the secret handshake and the Caluza password.  And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Posted in All about Veterans | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Easier cheaper blood testing on the way

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Laura
elizabeth_holmes_photo1

Elizabeth Holmes and tiny vial Image: Press photo c. Theranos. Educational Fair use only.

A positive story from Zina Moukheiber in Forbes (July 21, 2014) features innovator Elizabeth Holmes. She left Stanford to begin a company that only needs a micro-amount of blood for many types of tests.  Her company, Theranos, has attracted capital from many areas, and no wonder.  Transparency–prices for each test are posted online! No big needles. No big blood vials.  It uses tech already convenient and familiar to access information about one’s own body (LINK TO APP PAGE).  Fewer accidental needle-sticks.  Less medical waste to deal with. 

The centers are being installed in Walgreens.  Certainly the procedure is less expensive than traditional methods and more convenient.  This will disrupt the business model of Qwest and other big labs because the company posts its prices online. Same price for the uninsured or insured.   Cleveland Clinic has partnered with Theranos:

A standard lipid panel, for example, costs $2.99 via Theranos, and can cost anywhere from $60 to hundreds of dollars, depending on where and when it’s performed.

Ms. Holmes 16-minute talk at TEDMED 2014 resonates with me. Click image to view.

holmes

Other news stories: Arizona Central (LINK) reports that lawmakers like this new method and concept.  Blood tests without a doctor’s order?  The profession will likely push back even though the global benefits are many. Their attractive website is worth a visit (LINK).

Since the VA is already using Walgreen’s for flu shots, the VA might be able to save money and time by using this disruptive and safer medical technology.  A brilliant idea that should be widely adopted.

Update:  I forgot to write that the HCV-antibody test at Theranos is only $9.81 for initial screening.  Other panels are available.  

 

Posted in Blood info, Food for thought, Future Veterans, Guest authors, Medical News, research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

CAVC-KINDER V. McDONALD–ACTUAL IMPROVEMENT OF FUNCTIONING IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Posted on June 7, 2015 by asknod

vetcourtappealspromoHoo, boy. You read that and you get the heebie jeebies thinking this is a foray into VR&E ILP Law. Sad to say, we need a good opinion on that subject and none on the horizon except mine in the BVA chute waiting to come out. False alarm. It’s our ages-old VA once again reducing ratings when their focus should be on issuing them. Funny thing is they rarely succeed at this. It’s so predictable, you almost can guarantee you’ll see several a year show up here. 

Meet Mr. Jeffrey G. Kinder, a peacetime Vet of the 80s (83-86) who came back several years after that three-year stint and decided to become a lifer in 88.  He got a fistful of medals spanning the two wars of 91 and through 05. He managed to clobber his foot somehow and it was clearly SC. He got the rating smartly accomplished before pulling the plug and VA quickly gave him 30% for the faux left toe and another 10% for scarring. Some of this must have encompassed the pain on excursion but the CAVC decision (14-1434) doesn’t specifically mention a rating for that.

Here’s where Mr. Kinder’s oddysey leaves the realm of credulity and moves into the Twilight zone. The Denver RO issued this rating in March 2005. Barely a year later in February 2006, they had Jeff back in for another C&P. Denver can’t even find the bid records for the new hospital in that time yet they have Jeff back on the exam table.

VA performed additional examinations of Mr. Kinder’s left toe and scar in February 2006. The examiner noted that the left toe had a “successful surgical outcome with some persistent pain and reduced motion.” The examiner noted that there was tenderness with motion and that Mr. Kinder had subjective complaints of pain in the region of the joint, including pain with walking, standing, and activity.  The examiner also indicated that Mr. Kinder was unemployed.  Following this examination, the RO proposed to reduce Mr. Kinder’s disability rating for his left toe to 10% and reduce the rating for his scar to noncompensable. Mr. Kinder expressed his disagreement with this proposal in a May 2006 letter, which indicated that the surgery on his left foot aggravated him so much that he could hardly walk, that he was unemployed, and requested that he be afforded vocational rehabilitation. 
The RO implemented the rating reduction in May 2006.

Kinda reminds me of one of those rude, uncouth Cheeze-its. “I can’t hear youuuuu.” And here we depart into Never Never Land and the theatre of the absurd. Having been previously apprised of his (un) employment status and desire to do some retraining a la VR&E, the VA calls him back in yet again for Dog and Pony Show # 3. This time it’s a mere formality to keep all the boxes checked and the process legal.

Kinder BVA top sheetKinder

2013 JMR

Kinder reversa

lKInder II reversal.

In October 2006, VA performed another examination of Mr. Kinder’s service-connected foot disorder. The examiner noted that Mr. Kinder had “worked as a civilian in Kuwait as an ammo specialist” in 2005 and “then worked as a civilian contractor in Iraq for 6 weeks” but”was then medically evac[uated] out of Iraq due to problems with his right foot and right leg.” The examiner then stated: “He has not missed any days of work in the last year due to his left foot or toe condition.” Id. The examiner also noted that Mr. Kinder reported “chronic pain in his
left second toe at the MTP joint that has brought worse flares everyday with weightbearing or any standing or walking.” Id. The examiner further noted that Mr. Kinder complained that his pain “has never gotten better after surgery and never gone away.”

Granted, he did say the medivac was for his right foot and right leg. The Rater firmly clings to this as Gospel in an attempt to divert attention away from the fact that the left foot/toe issues are still the focus of the problem. This is  also a lovely way of moonwalking semantically saying that had it not been for the right leg issues, he’d still be employed but the suggestion is still that he really has not missed any work except for that pesky medivac. This rater has been to the Baltimore Aspire Academy and obtained his degree in Advanced Tortured English Usage. Here he ably employed it to Mr. Kinder’s rating and then ignored all further evidence- lay or otherwise-to rebut it.

Denver dutifully issued a SOC in December 2007 and the Alex Trebek music welled up in a 30-second loop that would span another six years. In November 2012, the BVA VLJ, Mike Kilcoyne, put the fork in it and affirmed the reduction. Jeff now has seven years into this and his saga is just beginning.

Kinder realized this was going nowhere and wisely headed up to 625 Indiana Ave. for some real justice and thought he had attained it. Feeling extremely confident,  he took a JMR for a remand to straighten it out. The only problem with these types of pseudoremands are that the BVA (and by extension the RO) just gin up a new “what part of ‘no’ don’t you understand, Jeff?”. Kilcoyne once again put his flawed, improper imprimatur on it and they sent it out to steno for typing and mailing. SOSDD (same old shit- different decision).

downloadSeems Jeff wasn’t born recently so he headed back to the Big House yet again. The second time was the charm. Considering it came from Judge Moorman, I’m pleasantly surprised, too. The judge wasn’t as entertained on this return visit as the OGC thought he would be. In fact, he threw the yellow flag down and then read them the riot act once again on when and how you giveth- and when and why you can taketh away. It can most easily be seen in action in Schafrath v Derwinski (1991) and Brown v Brown (1993). When you (VA) set out to reduce, the law is almost as strict as calling CUE on your own prior ratings. Not only does the Vet have to have substantially improved, the VA has to show that it’s a) at least as likely as not that the improvement is going to continue and is not merely a temporary flash in the pan; additionally b), you (VA) have ascertained the effects of  any pain in musculoskeletal injuries (Deluca v. Brown (1995)) and take that into consideration.

Part c of this reduction test includes the Brown codicil that VA consider the ‘big picture’ and address how all this affects the actual day-to-day functioning in everyday life. This is where it segues dangerously into that ILP “independence in the activities of everyday living” language. Suddenly the rater is given God-like powers of determination as to what, subjectively, he the rater determines is applicable to the Vet’s abilities to “soldier on”. In Jeff’s case, this was never addressed. The rater focused on anything and everything but his ability to put one foot in front of the other (pun inadvertently inserted but not intended) and make do with what he had.

In the 21st Century, we almost always see the military issue what they consider definitive disability ratings as we transition now from soldier to Vet (MEBs). What we also see more and more of is the propensity of the VA to abrogate what would appear to be the same ratings protocols and promptly reduce that which the Vet was awarded by the service. The VA denial language may differ subtly but the Modus Operandi is identical every time. This is a variation on the Military granting 40% and before you can get to the Denver RO and the rarefied air there, you discover VA shrinkage to 10%. If it were only Denver you could ascribe it to the altitude. One thing is certain and immutable. You can’t hang this one on stoned DROs. Maybe VLJ Kilcoyne has a winter skiing getaway or condo there…

CaptureCongratulations to Alexandra Lio for a stunning reversal feather to add to her resume. She hangs her shingle at Bob Chisholm’s Ranch in case you need her. This isn’t her first, nor will it be her last expedition up to the Big House, I’m sure.

 

Posted in CAVC Knowledge, CAVC/COVA Decision, Lawyering Up, Reductions in rating | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

New free release: Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in Agent Orange-Contaminated C-123 Aircraft

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Laura
Agent Orange and C-123

Free download (120 pages)

The VA ordered this study and it is now available as a free download (pdf link)–or it can be read online. In short, the findings state: 

“Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure rejects the idea that the dioxin residues detected on interior surfaces of the C-123s were immobile and effectively inaccessible to the Reservists as a source of exposure. Accordingly, this report states with confidence that the Air Force Reservists were exposed when working in the Operation Ranch Hand C-123s and so experienced some increase in their risk of a variety of adverse responses.”

This study was authored by:

Committee to Evaluate the Potential Exposure of Agent Orange/TCDD Residue and Level of Risk of Adverse Health Effects for Aircrew of Post-Vietnam C-123 Aircraft; Board on the Health of Select Populations; Institute of Medicine

Posted in AO, Guest authors, Medical News, Vietnam Disease Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Free veterans’ law clinics at top universities

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Laura
syra2

Hall of Languages at Syracuse University Image credit: Xiaofan Luo on Flickr (some rights reserved)

Alternatives to VSOs are cropping up.  There’s Yale Veterans Legal Services Clinic in Connecticut.  Now New Yorkers are stepping up. 

“When a veteran is assisted by an attorney when applying for benefits or upgrading their military discharge the impact can be incredible,” said Tom Caruso, the co-founder of the Veterans Legal Clinic at Syracuse University. “Studies have shown that there is a 144 percent increase in compensation on VA claims and the veterans can have a VA decision in just a few weeks.” (LINK)

The need in the area is great.  They write “With one of the country’s largest military bases, Ft. Drum, a reserve unit from every military branch in Onondaga County, and the Syracuse VA Medical Center directly next-door, Syracuse Law is uniquely positioned to establish New York State’s first comprehensive Veterans Legal Clinic.”

The Veterans Legal Clinic of Syracuse University College of Law is designed for those who can’t afford an attorney. Transportation to appointments are free too.

The Clinic will benefit our veterans and community by assisting with VA claims, representing clients in VA Claim appeals, and helping veterans in upgrading discharges.

The student attorneys work pro bono and earn college credits and professional experience.

Syracuse  also offers practicing attorneys a free six-hour Clinical Legal Education (CLE) qualification in return for helping one veteran with a legal matter pro bono.  CLE Topics covered include:

  • VA benefits
  • Discharge Upgrades
  • Service Members Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
  • Uniformd Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
  • Veterans in the Criminal Justice System

College legal programs under the direction of qualified attorneys are good for veterans because it’s not clear if there are any educational qualifications for VSOs  prior to taking  VA qualifying VSO classes.  The BVA has over 500 attorney’s (plus new hires) helping judges deal with claims.

The VA has published a fact sheet (2/15) with information about free legal help at VA facilities (LINK) that may be useful but there is little consistency in what services are offered nationwide.

A 2015 list of pro bono veterans’ legal services is here (LINK).  I’m not aware of a way to assess their success rate since non-VSOs seem to be lumped into the “other” category by the BVA.  If the various legal clinics were broken out as a class we could see how they are doing with their representation at the BVA.

Posted in BvA Decisions, Guest authors, Lawyering Up, Tips and Tricks, VA Attorneys, VA statistics, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

ILP– HI YO SILVER QUEEN AWAY

Posted on June 3, 2015 by asknod

2015-04-29 11.54.16Nothing is more fun than getting tomatoes and corn in the ground. Well, except for all the other flavors of fruit and vegetables. It behooves me to be able, now, to prove to the VR&E hierarchy that I can operate a larger greenhouse. Once (I’m an optimist) I win this at the BVA, there is going to be much consternation in Room 1366 over what and how to deal with me. Remember, Seattle has never had a Vet so rude and obstreperous as me. I had the gall to actually appeal my denial to DC. Hiding the VA 9 in some file no one could find was merely a temporary staving off of finality. I merely sent in another one. Those green cards may cost about $7.00 but the look of absolute surprise (and horror) that crosses their countenances is worth every penny when you pull it out.

Again, perennially I thank Paul and Leigh for enlightening me on which corn to grow. Silver Queen is killer. I started it in the greenhouse a bit prematurely but the weather turned warm quickly. It did get to about 12 inches before I planted. So much for being knee-high by the 4th of July.

DSC01220

DSC01221

 

DSC01219

And the sugar snap/strawberry report for Monday evening.

DSC01228

And Tuesday

DSC01217

And this afternoon

DSC01216

And last but not least, Cupcake with our new fertilizer specialist Cooper.

DSC01226

 

Posted in Food for the soul, Independent Living Program, VR&E | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

DVA-WHAT ELSE COULD GO WRONG?

Posted on June 3, 2015 by asknod

VeteransAdministration.12755109_stdThat question must ricochet around 810 Vermin Ave. NW day in and day out. If it isn’t someone with a conscience and an ax to grind filing a Whistleblower claim, it’s some unnerving revelation that the boys in Denver have been playing fast and loose poker with the contractors of the new VAMC. Somebody saw the bet and called. VA didn’t have the $1.6 billion  owing and had to admit it publicly. Unfortunately, Rep. Miller is getting bombarded day in and day out as well with requests for more hearings on what is turning out to be a distressingly long list of dirty VA laundry. The ashes of Phoenix haven’t even cooled off yet. What gives?

Secretary Call me Bob has been in the saddle for long enough to be apprised of the myriad problems and given the authority to hire and fire to fix it.  He seems rather ambivalent from one day to the next about firing all the gomers or praying things settle down.

Consider the lists you guys send me. All this in a week.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/06/02/va-acknowledges-it-has-no-contracts-in-place-for-some-outside-medical-care-for-veterans/?tid=hpModule_308f7142-9199-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239

http://dailycaller.com/2015/06/02/va-whistleblower-reports-intimidation-after-revealing-billions-in-illegal-healthcare-spending/

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/investigations/2015/05/24/phoenix-va-bosses-mired-personal-conflicts/27724253/

VA OIG Calls Out Fraud And Abuse At Philadelphia VA

http://www.foxbusiness.com/economy-policy/2015/06/01/va-vanishing-patient-flra-case/

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/senate-tweaks-health-law-boost-specialized-care

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/crime/2015/05/20/former-veterans-affairs-director-sent-trial/27669817/

http://www.newsmax.com/US/veterans-va-scandal-john-boehner/2015/05/20/id/645762/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/05/14/9-big-takeaways-from-memo-accusing-va-of-making-a-mockery-of-spending-rules/

The VA propaganda machine

Click to access Veteran_Poverty_Trends.pdf

Click to access VAOIG-SAR-2015-1.pdf

Then the inane. Oh, God. We’re mollycoddling them.

http://www.wadenapj.com/opinion/commentary/3753594-va-blue-water-agent-orange-lawsuit-dismissed

And the human interest stories on Vets. These warm my heart. Keep sending them in.

http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/World-War-II-vet-who-lost-life-savings-to-be-6276476.php?google_editors_picks=true

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/23/hawaii-mango-man_n_7425252.html

Posted in All about Veterans, Food for thought, Gulf War Issues, Medical News, OIG Entertainment, VA Health Care, VA Medical Mysteries Explained, vA news, VA statistics, VAOIG Watchdogs, Veterans Law | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

KEY PENINSULA VETS– PERSONALIZED VET BRICKS

Posted on June 3, 2015 by asknod

Capture 2Hey Veterans. How about showing some support for the Key Peninsula Veterans Brick drive. All the profits for these babies go to help real Vets with no deductions for Dealer Prep. and handling fees. No fuel surcharges. No VSOs intercepting a “small contribution for the National Organization”. Nada. These are my brothers and sisters on our tiny peninsula. We are rural and many are poor beyond their means.

What’s more, we have no national affiliation with the 59 Big Brothers that dominate the Veterans conversation re donations. Thus every dime percolates to those who need it. We also have Fireworks around the 4th of July if any of you want to drive up here for that. We cannot deliver. USPS is adamant about that.

Attached here is the .pdf and order form to download and print. Show your support for my Vet’s organization if you feel I’ve made any difference in your lives. The money will go to an excellent cause unencumbered. I thank each of you in advance.

Key Peninsula Vet Bricks

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