I know some of you are in dire straits, especially in these economic times. But some of you have appeared on Stardust Radio in one of their shows, others listen, some call in.
Others addressed here are the recipients of the help of people who have never asked for a dime for what they do, and this will not be one of these times. If you have received my help, I ask, if you can, to send a check or whatever you can afford to:
Stardust Radio
PO Box 102
Riverside, Iowa 52327
If you can't donate and you have a website for veterans or the military, please publish this letter there.
Why you may ask? Well here is why. Just so you understand, Jeff and Linda Showalter have been paying several hundred dollars (almost a thousand) every month for years to cover the phone lines and equipment to keep the station on the air. The 800 line was intended for quick calls for people to ask a question and then get off. But people have been staying on the line for 30, 40 minutes, an hour and longer and it has been very expensive. And the shows are not paying for the calls, so Jeff has to pay it. There are two base fees for the line every month and a charge of 24 cents per minute.
Judi Burns from Stardust just did a fantastic interview with a group of four K-9 at Manas Air Base. Two on patrols, the kennel master and the civilian trainer who had to get out and sign on with a contractor to stay on with K-9's. She talks to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan weekly, as well as those who support them.
The website costs money, the archive site costs money - it all costs money and they are trying to keep it going. Chat Star costs time and maintenance. They are constantly working on something for Stardust. He does not get much support or thanks from those of us who receive free air time with production and technician fees waived. A recent article in some local papers did bring him a few notes of thanks and he was amazed. He should hear it from us, too.
Again, please, please support this worthy cause.
Thank you and god bless you all,
Kurt Priessman, MSgt, USAF (Ret)
Vet Advocate, The Bottom Line, HELPPP, K-9
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Stardust radio has great veteran programming and Congressman Filner Chairman of the House VA Committee is a frequent guest, it is an asset we will all miss, if it has to go away, all donations are appreciated.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Brother can you spare a ten?
Friday, May 8, 2009
VA PROVIDES OVERDUE RELIEF FOR VETERANS IN NURSING HOMES
VA PROVIDES OVERDUE RELIEF FOR VETERANS IN NURSING HOMES
Akaka & Feingold pushed for implementation of law
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) and Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) today applauded news that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is finally implementing a law to reimburse state nursing homes for the full cost of the care they provide for certain seriously disabled veterans. More than two years after Congress passed legislation to provide full nursing home reimbursements for veterans with disabilities rated 70 percent or greater, cash-strapped states and more than a thousand disabled and elderly veterans stand to benefit from the law’s implementation. VA will pay retroactive reimbursements for nursing home care back to March 21, 2007.
“This long-overdue benefit will help disabled veterans receive the care they earned through their service. It will provide relief to nursing homes across the country that have been burdened with the cost of their care, despite Congress’s order that VA provide reimbursement. I am pleased that VA will provide retroactive benefits for the veterans and state homes that have waited for over two years to receive the assistance they are entitled to,” said Akaka.
Feingold stated, “For over a year, I have been pressing the VA to put in place these regulations so that veterans, and the state homes that care for them, won’t have to pay for care in state long-term care facilities that they would receive for free in VA facilities. I am pleased that the new administration has finally acted on this issue and our veterans who have more than earned this care will be able to receive it in more facilities and without having to use their often limited income to pay for it.”
On May 5, 2006, Senator Akaka introduced the Veterans Long-Term Care Security Act directing VA to pay the full cost of nursing home care for certain disabled veterans. That bill was later incorporated into the omnibus Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006, which became Public Law 109-461 on December 22, 2006. When more than a year had passed and VA had yet to implement the law, Akaka and Feingold were joined by a bipartisan group of Senators in calling on VA to quickly issue the regulations necessary for implementation.
On Monday May 11, Discovery Channel airs it's new three-part series Weaponizers
On Monday, Discovery Channel airs it's new three-part series Weaponizers. I thought this might be something your readers would love.
The series pits two teams of master builders against each other, as they turn ordinary vehicles into remote-controlled machines of destruction. With the pace and intensity of a video game, vehicles are completed with live-ammunition machine guns and other seemingly ordinary objects that are transformed into powerful weapons.
DOWNLOADS AVAILABLE:
Photos of the cast and crew
--> VIDEO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD: https://www.box.net/shared/m281linumt
Interviews are also available, please let me know if you have any interest or if you would like more information.
DISCOVERY CHANNEL'S NEW SERIES 'WEAPONIZERS" PREMIERES MONDAY, MAY 11
From the producers of MYTHBUSTERS comes an explosive new three-part series, WEAPONIZERS, premiering on Discovery Channel, Monday, May 11 at 9PM and Monday, May 18 at 8PM and 9PM ET/PT.
WEAPONIZERS pits two teams of master builders against each other, as they turn ordinary vehicles into remote-controlled machines of destruction. With the pace and intensity of a video game, vehicles are completed with live-ammunition machine guns and other seemingly ordinary objects that are transformed into powerful weapons.
In each episode, the teams convert regular rides such as a shuttle bus, an ice cream van and muscle cars into vicious vehicles.
Once all testing is complete, each team descends into respective underground control bunkers to command their vehicles for a two-round competition. In round one, the teams undertake a challenge-based phase where the vehicles race to destroy or defend exploding targets such as medieval castles or Mad Max style fuel depots. Then in round two, the Weaponizers are thrown into a Carmageddon Round where the rules are... there are no rules. It's a gloves off test of what expertise these teams can draw on to achieve victory, which in WEAPONIZERS' terms means there is only one vehicle left standing!
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For the big kids in all of us, I can remember when we use to fantasize about making the remote controlled weapons systems, that could reak havoc and mayhem without putting our troops in harms way, this show seems right up our alley.
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has introduced the Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2009 (H.Res. 417
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin has introduced the Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2009 (H.Res. 417), calling on President Obama to reverse the damaging and illegal actions taken by the Bush/Cheney Administration and to collaborate with Congress to proactively prevent any further abuses of executive branch power.
“This measure lists steps President Obama can take to proactively prevent any further abuses of executive branch power and restore the public’s faith in our government,” Baldwin said.
The Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2009 calls on President Obama to:
* Affirm our nation’s commitment to uphold the Constitution;
* Fully investigate Bush/Cheney administration officials’ alleged crimes and hold them accountable for any illegal acts;
* Hold accountable Bush/Cheney Administration officials who showed or show contempt for the legal duty to comply with Congressional subpoenas; disclosed the identity of any covert intelligence agent; pursued politically-motivated prosecutions;
* Ensure that any Bush/Cheney administration official guilty of a war crime is prosecuted under the War Crimes Act and the Anti-Torture Act;
* Affirm that it is the sole legal right of Congress to declare war;
* Criminalize lying to Congress and the American public about the reasons for going to war;
* Restore the writ of habeas corpus as an essential principle of our democracy;
* Ensure that torture and rendition are uniformly prohibited under United States law;
* Responsibly close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp;
* Ensure that Americans can bring claims against their government;
* Immediately take affirmative steps to protect all Bush/Cheney Administration documents;
* Publicly review potential abuses of the presidential pardon process; and
* Further reform the use of presidential signing statements.
A copy of the Executive Branch Accountability Act of 2009 as introduced can be found in this PDF.
Congresswoman Baldwin explains why she feels this bill is necessary: Video.
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THEM TO COSPONSOR!
Capitol Hill Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Find your Congress Member's phone and fax numbers.
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as a veteran I feel the elected officials need to be held accountable for issuing illegal orders, and so far the only ones that have been held accountable are enlisted men and women, I feel they deserve better than this, from the actions they did take at Abu Graib, the memo's written by Judge Bybee and approved by the Chain of Command are what these men and women appeared to have followed, so why is it only the "little people" are held accountable, if Vice President Cheney is so concerned about the little people he should have spoke up, when the Army was court martialing these men and women. Justice should apply to all in the United States, not one set for the ruling class and another for the "little guys". The FBI agents present at Gitmo walked out of the interrogations and refused to participate due to the illegal acts they saw, and they were not punished by the administration, so why were Army personnel prosecuted for obeying the rule changes the Bush Administration lawyers at DOJ and the department of defense approved?
House bypasses governor’s veto to claim Oklahoma’s sovereignty
House bypasses governor’s veto to claim Oklahoma’s sovereignty
Although Gov. Brad Henry vetoed similar legislation 10 days earlier, House members Monday again approved a resolution claiming Oklahoma’s sovereignty.
Gov. Brad Henry speaks to members of the Oklahoma Press Association at their convention held at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown in Tulsa. SHERRY BROWN/Tulsa World Friday, Feb. 6, 2009
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Unlike House Joint Resolution 1003, House Concurrent Resolution 1028 does not need the governor’s approval.
The House passed the measure 73-22. It now goes to the Senate.
"We’re going to get it done one way or the other,” said the resolutions’ author, Rep. Charles Key, R-Oklahoma City.
"I think our governor is out of step.”
House Democrats objected, saying the issue already had been taken up and had been vetoed, but House Speaker Pro Tempore Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, ruled the veto is not final action.
Key said he expects HCR 1028 will pass in the Senate. HJR 1003 earlier passed the House 83-18 and won approval in the Senate 29-18.
Henry vetoed HJR 1003 because he said it suggested, among other things, that Oklahoma should return federal tax dollars.
Key said HCR 1028, which, if passed, would be sent to Democratic President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress, would not jeopardize federal funds but would tell Congress to "get back into their proper constitutional role.” The resolution states the federal government should "cease and desist” mandates that are beyond the scope of its powers.
Key said many federal laws violate the 10th Amendment, which says powers not delegated to the U.S. government "are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” The Constitution lists about 20 duties required of the U.S. government, he said.
Congress should not be providing bailouts to financial institutions and automakers, he said.
"We give all this money to all these different entities, including automakers, and now they’re talking about, ‘Well maybe it’s better to let them go bankrupt,’” Key said. "Well, maybe we should have let them go bankrupt before we gave them the money.”
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My response is NOT just to Oklahoma it is to all of the people that think you can secede from the United States, that issue was settled once and for all in 1865, in one of the worst wars this nation has ever seen, my grandfather and all of my great Uncles fought in that war, they all survived and one was seriously wounded and lost an arm. Our family was lucky. What these people advocating for seccession is callled treason, and for the life of me I can't see any good Americans committing treason knowingly, so my guess is that most of you don't know what you are asking for. Get new candidates and replace the ones who are not legislating the way you want, that is the Amrican way, not starting and advocating a new civil war.
My family like many of yours have served this nation in uniform my family has been here since 1635 when the ship Angel Gabriel brought the first "Bailey" to America from England. There has been a Bailey in every war this nation has fought, and I imagine they will continue to serve the United States of America, not a soverign state but a soveriegn "nation" of all 50 states and territories.
My guess is most people speaking of seccession have never worn the military uniform of the US, if they had they would not be talking about "quitting it". Mike Bailey
implications for OEF/OIF suicide prevention efforts
implications for OEF/OIF suicide prevention efforts
Journal of Mental Health Counseling , April, 2009 by Jeffery Martin, Marjan Ghahramanlou-Holloway, Kathryn Lou, Paulette Tucciarone
ShareEmailDiggFacebookTwitterGoogleDeliciousStumbleUponNewsvineLinkedInMy YahooTechnoratiRedditPrintRecommend0Suicide is a significant public health concern within the United States' military. Suicide may occur before, during, and after military deployment or service for a multitude of reasons that may or may not be directly related to deployment. Therefore, it is crucial that mental health counselors are trained to identify risk at an early stage so they can offer evidence-based practices to manage and reduce it. Enhanced understanding of the similarities and differences in suicide risk and protective factors for civilian and military individuals is crucial for counselors who work directly with Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) active-duty personnel, veterans, and family members. This review aims to educate counselors about the role of demographic, life event, psychopathology, and behavioral and psychological variables in exacerbating or alleviating the desire to die. The information presented is based on an electronic search of medical and psychological databases for terms related to suicide by military service members. Recommendations related to identification, prevention, and management of suicide risk in OEF/OIF service members and beneficiaries are presented.
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Public Health Significance of Suicide
Suicide is a serious public health problem throughout the world. Globally it accounts for nearly half of all violence-related deaths (World Health Organization [WHO], 2006). In the United States (U.S.) suicide is the 11th leading cause of death, with about 30,000 deaths annually (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2007). Among those aged 15-24 suicide is the third leading cause of death, at a rate of 10.3 per 100,000 (U.S Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 2004). In the U.S. between 1999 and 2004, 54.6% of suicide deaths were attributed to firearms, 20.4% to suffocation, and 17.2% to poisoning (CDC). On average, more than 80 Americans die by suicide every day. Males are four times more likely to die by suicide than females (CDC, 2006). One common assumption for this disparity' is related to the method of suicide: males use firearms in 50-60% of cases (CDC, 2007).
The National Mental Health Association (2006) estimates that there are 500,000 nonfatal suicide events in the U.S. every year. In 2002 more than 90,000 hospitalizations and 324,000 emergency room evaluations were attributed to nonfatal suicide events (CDC, 2004). Moscicki (2001) found that 2-5% of the U.S. population has attempted suicide at some point. Of about 6,000 respondents aged 15-54 responding to the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS), 13.5% had experienced suicide ideation, 3.9% had engaged in some type of preparatory behavior, and 4.6% had attempted suicide (Kessler, Borges, & Walters, 1999). Suicide death and injuries in the U.S. are estimated to result in over $25 billion annually in direct costs and such indirect costs as lost productivity (CDC, 2006).
The U.S. active-duty military is comprised predominantly of young male adults; about 50% are aged 17-26 (Eaton, Messer, Wilson, & Hoge, 2006). According to CDC data (2004), suicide is the third leading cause of death among this age group generally. In the U.S. military, suicide has historically ranked as the second leading cause after accidents (Ritchie, Keppler, & Rothberg, 2003). In 2005, the reported Department of Defense (DoD) average suicide rate was 11.4 per 100,000 (ranging from 8.9 for the Air Force to 13.7 for the Army). Carr, Hoge, Gardner, and Potter (2004) suggested that correcting reporting and classification mistakes might increase suicide rates in the military by as much as 21%. To date, there are no reliable data on suicide attempts in the military. Recent findings from the Post-Deployment Health Assessment survey (Hoge, Auchterlonie, & Milliken, 2006) indicated that of 222,620 soldiers and Marines returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), 1.1% (n = 2,411) reported "some" suicide ideation and 0.2% (n = 467) reported "a lot."
Purpose and Methodology of Current Review
The U.S. National Strategy for Suicide Prevention identifies suicide as a "public health problem that is preventable." One of its goals is the development and promotion of effective clinical and professional practices (U.S. Public Health Service [USPHS], 2001, p. 46). The DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) have demonstrated their commitment to preventing suicide by funding research on military suicide, setting up groups like the DoD Suicide Prevention and Risk Reduction Committee, and providing training, such as the Military Suicide Prevention Conference.
Enhanced understanding of the similarities and differences in suicide risk and protective factors for civilian and military individuals is crucial for mental health counselors who work directly with Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and OIF active-duty personnel, veterans, and family members. Our review of the literature highlights unique assessment and treatment implications that need to be carefully considered when working with these clients. Because suicide behavior may occur before, during, and after deployment or service for a multitude of reasons that may or may not be directly related to deployment, it is crucial that we as counselors identify the risks early and offer evidence-based practices to manage and reduce them.
The article is 18 pages long I will not copy the entire article please click on the link above and go to the website and read it, if you are interested in this material. thank you Mike
Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day
Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day. To truly appreciate military spouses, we should act as a nation as if their service in supporting and standing by their servicemember despite the hardships of military life (particularly to their own career and/or educational aspirations) is as valuable as the service as the servicemember they love and support--or close to it. The military demands nearly as much of the spouse as it does of the soldier yet does not provide comparable services, care, or treatment. The Obama Administration, particularly under Michelle's leadership and with the help of Congress, can change this.
1. Comparable dental and vision care.
2. Military spouse federal hiring preference (even after divorce if married longer than a certain number of years, say 5, 7, or 10).
3. Emergency psychiatric care for military families that does not require going to an emergency room.
4. Support and pass the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act.
Women in the Military and the Obama Administration
Posted on May 7th, 2009 |
by Carissa Picard in 2008 Election Coverage, All News, Iraq War, Op-ed, Texas News, The War on Terror, US Government News, US News, US Politics, Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC News, military
You may be thinking that I am talking about the female servicemember, but I am actually talking about her counterpart, the military spouse (of which approximately 93 percent are still women). According to the Rand Corporation, the research organization often used to conduct studies for the Department of Defense, although military spouses often have more education than their civilian counterparts, they are also often more frequently under-employed and under-paid than those same counterparts.
Frequently, military spouses end up on a de facto mommy track—even when they don’t have children. More than half of our military spouses have children, but without the support of the other parent, the difficulty of single parenting (in essence) turns many a working or studying spouse into a stay at home mom (or dad). For those without children, the frequent moves alone hurt career and educational goals and aspirations. I have met military spouses with college credits from four or more colleges (although the rise in credibility of on-line universities is changing this). For a spouse who obtains her educational goals, she then faces the fact that she either chooses a “portable” career (the Department of Defense encourages teaching, nursing, medical transcriptionists, etc…) or watches her own career deflate like a flan in the cupboard for too long. Not to mention that most military installations are in economically depressed areas and many employers do not want to invest in someone who could leave with little to no notice any time in the next six months to two years. As a result, many military spouses turn to working from home as an outlet for their career aspirations, starting their own small businesses if they can (hence the creation and success of organizations like the Military Spouse Business Association).
Former President Ronald Reagan declared the Friday before Mother’s Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Frankly, however, spouses need more than a day of appreciation. Military spouses endure nearly every hardship of military life (absent actually going to war) that servicemembers do and yet there is no formal recognition of it or support for them. Moreover, it never occurs to lawmakers or others that there should be. Benefits to ease the burdens of the multiple moves, such as being able to maintain one state of residency (this is the second year Congress is pondering the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act) and rewards for “serving” your country, such as the veterans preference in hiring for federal jobs, are not given to military spouses. Military spouses (and children for that matter), do not even have comparable dental and vision care. So long as they are stationed in the United States (as opposed to Germany, for example), military dependents are not allowed to received dental or vision care on post and have to pay into a limited dental and vision plan.
To illustrate the federal hiring preference, consider my own marriage. After six years and four military moves, including Germany, I have been on the aforementioned mommy track. If I were to apply for a federal job, I would discover that although I have spent the past six years moving to support my husband’s career (and subsequent promotions), there is no military spouse hiring preference comparable to the veterans hiring preference. Thus, while my husband has had no interruption in his own career to compensate for, he would automatically get a five point preference (over me) for an honorable discharge from service and a ten point preference if he had a ten percent service connected disability rating or higher. I do not begrudge that of our veterans and wounded warriors; in fact, I advocate it. But I also support equity in benefits for service and I believe that the sacrifices being made by spouses should be recognized in these hiring preferences, PARTICULARLY because of the obstacles faced by military spouses with regards to furthering their educations and/or careers.
When this presidential election came down to Senators Obama and McCain, there was a lot of talk about national service and what it means to “serve” your country. McCain and his supporters naturally felt they had the market covered with his military service during the Vietnam War (and subsequent years as a prisoner of war). Then-Senator Obama and his supporters countered that national service, or put differently, serving your country, can come in many shapes and forms—not solely that of a man in a uniform bearing arms. Echoing that theme of variegated national service and its value to this country in its diversity, was Angie Morgan, a military spouse and member of Blue Star Families for Obama that I interviewed at the Democratic National Convention in August of 2008 for Military Spouse Magazine. In that interview, Angie Morgan told me that as a military spouse she was “excited” by now President Obama’s vision of “active citizenship” whereby everyone serves this country in some capacity, albeit not necessarily by wearing a uniform (i.e., referencing volunteer work and other ways of being socially conscious and sensitive to the needs of your fellow Americans in your day to day decision making).
Michelle Obama made it known during the campaign that the welfare of military families was of particular importance to her. Since the election, she has held several events with military spouses and apparently will have a staff devoted to these issues. If we are going to recognize and reward the military service of the soldier, why not do the same for the spouse—the one person in the service who has been willing to sacrifice his or her career and/or educational aspirations to support the mission of the military by supporting the orders of the servicemember?
Meanwhile, here at Fort Hood, Texas, I have learned that they cannot give me figures on spouse suicides but they know that they see so many attempted suicides in the Emergency Room that the medical staff have become quite adept at handling them. My theory is that these spouses may have reached the point of needing emergency mental health care and this is the only way to receive it. As a military spouse, no matter what your circumstances, there is no emergency mental health care for you unless you end up in the ER. If you are a soldier here, of course, there is twenty four hour mental health care and a walk in “Rest and Resiliency” center (R and R center). The R and R center has its critics and its flaws, but it exists. There is no R and R center for families.
Finally, there is the issue of treating the post-traumatic stress of military spouses. We do not have any public service announcements about the trauma of being married in the military and to the military; to a man or woman who is sometimes permanently altered in ways that you never imagined when you married him or her. At least once or twice a month a soldier in Fort Hood housing is arrested for domestic violence. It is interesting that the Department of Defense likes to emphasize that deployments are not the cause of an increase in domestic violence but cannot refute that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is. While the Rand Corporation found that 1 in 5 soldiers will likely return with PTSD, the Veterans Administration has diagnosed 40 percent of our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with PTSD. We have no studies and no figures for spousal PTSD.
I often tell people that after this last combat tour, my husband is NOT the only veteran in this marriage, but apparently I am the only person who believes this to be the case. Despite seven years of wars and deployments that have led to an alarming increase in Army divorce as well as partner violence (the latter is believed to be connected to the increase in post-traumatic stress disorder), the federal government doesn’t recognize the “service” of the military spouse. Will a Democratic Administration like the Obama’s and now, with Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter’s recent move to the Democratic Party, a Democratic Congress change this?
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Carissa Picard
Advocate
Attorney
Writer
