http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-november-5-2009/the-11-3-project
it is about 8 minutes well worth the time you will be rolling
Friday, November 6, 2009
Jon Stewart "channels" Glenn Beck 11/3 Project
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Terrence Lekites, aka Terry Lekites:
This was changed at Mr Leitkes request at 10:35 am EST on Jan 6, 2011 the first time he has ever contacted me and claimed this data was wrong flame away
after some research all concerned with this shoud read this link and decide for yourself about T Lekites it is his Linked in account
saved linked in profile 29 Sep 2009
I did not create the document Mr Lekites did
In the past 24 hours I have received numerous threats over this post, lawsuits, arrest, the FBI will be after me etc, I have had been told to get this "cleaned up or else" for one thing I have no control over Linked In and their pages I did not claim to have created that page it was on the Stolen Valor pages created by the POW Network in Sep 2009 I copies and pasted from it in Nov 2009 I surely have nothing to do with the VVA or their publications and their interviews at any time.
People have claimed to have been awarded medals and degrees from colleges for years for whatever reasons they chose to do it, why they do it you will have to ask them or their psychiatrists.
I have copies of e mails from people who have asked for proof of the claims on linked in and were lied to by Terrence Lekites saying the award was at his parents home
"I just recently retired. Takes time to update database. Medal and
paperwork are with my parents in Florida.
Sent from my iPhone
Terrence D. Lekites
Retired Federal Prosecutor
Defense Intelligence Agency
www.dia.mil"
people reading this need to make up their own minds about the truth of the problem, is it me or Terry Lekites?
I am done being threatened though. I will not remove this post.
DAILY MYTHBUSTER: Health Insurance Reform and Veterans
DAILY MYTHBUSTER: Health Insurance Reform and Veterans
Congressional Desk November 04, 2009
´Reform Will Undermine the Health Care That Veterans and Military Families Have Now´
Health insurance reform opponents continue to spread myths – now about the recently introduced Affordable Health Care for America Act, including saying that health insurance reform will undermine the health care that veterans and military families have now. But the facts continue to knock these myths down.
MYTH: "Enactment of the House health insurance reform bill would undermine the health care that veterans and military families are receiving now."
FACT: Veterans´ health care and TRICARE (for military families) would not be impacted by passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Nothing in the bill would affect, change, or undermine the health care that veterans enrolled in VA health care and military families enrolled in TRICARE are currently receiving.
Further language has been included in the Affordable Health Care for America Act that makes clear that the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense retain full authority to operate the VA health care system and TRICARE without interference from any new organizations, agencies, or commissions established by the legislation. In addition, specific language has been included to exempt TRICARE from the requirements of the essential benefits package and other insurance requirements.
MYTH: "Veterans and military families enrolled in VA health care and TRICARE will be penalized for not having acceptable coverage – being forced to pay the penalty of 2.5% of adjusted income."
FACT: The Affordable Health Care for American Act recognizes VA health care and TRICARE as acceptable minimum coverage—so enrollees are already meeting the shared responsibility requirement and will face no fee or penalty.
Specifically, the bill contains a section that states that 1) individuals enrolled in the veterans´ health care program; and 2) individuals and dependents enrolled in TRICARE will be considered as having acceptable minimum coverage – meaning they have met the bill´s shared responsibility requirement for individuals to purchase insurance if they can afford it. In other words, individuals enrolled in VA health care or TRICARE will never be subject to the bill´s 2.5% fee for those who choose not to purchase affordable health insurance.
MYTH: "Enactment of the House health insurance reform bill would limit the choices that veterans, service members, and their dependents have for their health care."
FACT: The Affordable Health Care for America Act contains provisions that explicitly allow veterans receiving VA health care or service members and their families receiving TRICARE to also enroll in an insurance plan through the bill´s Health Insurance Exchange. This would provide veterans and service members the opportunity to obtain additional coverage for themselves and their dependents if they desire.
This had been a key concern of many veterans´ organizations. For example, the Disabled American Veterans had written: "Any national health care reform legislation must make certain all veterans, including those enrolled in VA health care, remain eligible to enroll in any exchange-participating health benefits plan offered under [the bill] through the Health Insurance Exchange, or in any other public or cooperative health insurance program." This key objective of veterans´ organizations is fully addressed in this bill.
MYTH: "Enactment of the House health insurance reform bill would undermine the TRICARE For Life program (health care for military retirees)."
FACT: Just as the Affordable Health Care for America Act fully protects the current VA health care and TRICARE systems, it also fully protects the TRICARE For Life program.
There is a chain e-mail currently going around the Internet that states that the efforts of the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats on health insurance reform will result in undermining the benefits in the TRICARE For Life program for military retirees. Once again, these charges are not true. (The TRICARE For Life program was introduced in 2002 as a supplement to Medicare for military retirees. It covers many medical costs not covered by Medicare.) Just as the Affordable Health Care for America Act does nothing to affect the TRICARE program, it also has no provisions that affect the TRICARE For Life program. The health care benefits of military retirees are fully protected.
The American Chronicle, California Chronicle, Los Angeles Chronicle, World Sentinel, and affiliates are online magazines for national, international, state, and local news. We also provide opinion and feature articles. We have over 5,000 contributors, over 100,000 articles, and over 11 million visitors annually.
__._,_.___DAILY MYTHBUSTER: Health Insurance Reform and Veterans
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Find the truth and don't pay attention to bogus e mails that are meant to scare you
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Despite Significant Dollars Spent on Gulf War Illness Research, Many Questions Remain Unanswered
Monday, June 01, 2009
Despite Significant Dollars Spent on Gulf War Illness Research, Many Questions Remain Unanswered
By Stephen Spotswood | U.S. Medicine, June 2009
Used with permission from U.S. Medicine
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In the push to direct attention and resources to illnesses and concerns of the nation’s most recent veterans, are problems faced by veterans from previous Middle East conflicts being neglected? Specifically, is Gulf War Illness, the signature ailment of veterans who served in the 1990 Gulf War, being neglected? Those are the questions that members of the House VA Subcommittee on Oversight are interested in answering over the course of several hearings examining the impact of toxin exposures during the Gulf War and the subsequent research and response efforts by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
“It has been almost 19 years since the United States deployed some 700,000 service members to the Gulf in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm,” Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., subcommittee chair, said at the first of those hearings held May 19th.
“When these troops returned home, some reported symptoms that were believed to be related to their service. Still today, these same veterans are looking for answers about proper medical treatment and the benefits that they bravely earned. While we hear about numerous studies and millions of dollars spent on Gulf War Illness research, many questions remain unanswered. In the end, we still don’t know how to respond to Gulf War veterans who asks: “Why am I sick or will I get sick?”
“Subsequent hearings on this issue will take a multi-level view of the methodology and conclusions of Gulf War Illness research and how the review of information was compiled and why certain methods were employed,” he explained.
A Misunderstood Illness
Gulf War illness, also known as Gulf War Syndrome, is an illness reported by combat veterans of the Gulf War characterized by a wide range of symptoms, including chronic fatigue, loss of muscle control, muscle and joint pain, memory loss, and breathing problems. GWI has never been fully understood, and its causes and the exact nature of the illness, have been a source of scienti?c examination and debate since it was first documented. VA and DoD have conducted a number of studies on veterans reportedly suffering from GWI, and have concluded that combat-deployed Gulf War veterans suffer from more multisymptom illnesses than their nondeployed counterparts. And a report released in November 2008 by the federally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses estimates that one out of every four Gulf War veterans is afflicted with GWI.
However, veterans’ advocates contend that understanding of GWI remains incomplete, and the illness and those afflicted misunderstood. “Is VA doing enough for Gulf War veterans?” Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense asked at the hearing. “The answer is, ‘No.’ They remain frustrated and angry at our government’s lack of action. As a Gulf War veteran, I have personally experienced VA’s denials and delays.”
“We have three questions that we need answered,” he said. “Why are we ill? Where can we get treatment? And who will pay for our care and disability benefits? There are few treatments for us. And VA disability benefits are very difficult to obtain,” Sullivan noted. “And VA’s Web site now says that experts say there is not a Gulf War Syndrome.”
The contention that there is no actual syndrome stems from an Institute of Medicine report released in 2006 stating that what is commonly referred to as GWI is actually not a single disease process, but actually a number of separate illnesses. While the theory that GWI actually consists of multiple concurrent diseases is not scientifically controversial, and is not to clinicians treating Gulf War veterans, a new revelation, the media attention the report received, might have helped muddy the issue of the existence of GWI for the general public and physicians unfamiliar with treating veterans, veterans advocates contend.
Sullivan quoted from VA Congressional testimony in 2007 stating that Gulf War veterans are suffering from a wide variety of common, recognized illnesses rather than a multisymptom illness that evades diagnosis. He also noted that DoD leaders in testimony in 2008 characterized the symptoms of ill Gulf War veterans as “wear and tear problems.”
“Unfortunately, the history of Gulf War Illness both with DoD and VA is one of misdirection, denial and filled with, some would say, mendacity,” declared Rick Weidman, executive director of the Vietnam Veterans of America. “You could pass legislation specifically prescribing [care], but all you need is top leadership that says we have a covenant with the men and women who risked life and limb for the Constitution [and] we are going to do everything humanly possible to figure out how they were lessoned, whether that be physically, psychologically or economically.”
Currently, there is no real VA protocol for treating GWI and no real method to track veterans suffering from it. “We need to have a protocol and we need to have a real registry,” Weidman declared. “The reason why they don’t follow through is to minimize the problem.
If you don’t have stats, you don’t have a problem.”
A Real Disease
It’s the hope of veterans’ advocates that VA and DoD will take note of the ?ndings of the November 2008 ?ndings of the federal advisory committee on GWI, which stated unequivocally that the illness exists and that there is solid evidence as to its cause. “Our committee had several main findings,” explained Lea Steele, Ph.D., former scientific advisor to the committee. “First, Gulf War illness is real. The same types and patterns of symptoms are consistently identi?ed in diverse groups of Gulf War veterans. Secondly, Gulf War illness differs significantly from trauma and combat stress disorders seen after other wars. [PTSD rates] are actually low in Gulf War veterans compared to veterans of other wars. And studies do not show a similar pervasive unexplained illness in veterans of other wars, including the current war.”
The other major finding was that evidence points consistently to two causal factors. The first is the use of pyridostigmine bromide pills, which were given to protect troops from the effects of nerve agents. The only widespread use of PB pills was during the Gulf War. The second causal agent is the extensive use of pesticides. Both act as neurotoxicants through their effects on an important neurotransmitters in the brain and nervous system. “The evidence all suggests that these exposures made these veterans ill and their illnesses parallel to what you would expect from these kind of exposures,” Dr. Steele explained.
Later testimony from DoD revealed that military leaders are rejecting the committee’s findings regarding PB in favor of the IoM report of 2006, which determined that the evidence of the origins of GWI was inconclusive. “We view PB as a very, very important tool in our armament to protect our troops against nerve agent exposure,” explained Craig Postlewaite, DVM, DoD deputy director of force health readiness and protection programs. “The only change that we have made is that we are better in our documentation now so we can track who was given these medications, so if we ever have to go back and do an analysis, we’ll have better data.”
As to whether GWI is a single pathology, or multiple diseases process, Dr. Steele called the argument a moot point. “Our committee found this question to be trivial,” she said. “The clear result from Gulf War studies is that a large number of veterans suffer from this consistent pattern of illness, however it is labeled. This is not controversial scienti?cally. There are no ?ndings to the contrary. Despite the unusual or complex or difficult to diagnose nature of Gulf War illness, there is every justification from a scienti?c perspective for this problem to be clearly addressed in the same way as other long-term health care problems.”
But whether GWI is one illness or a dozen, whether it was caused by PB or other toxins, the problem remains that not only does proven treatment remain elusive, but so does clinicians’ ability to identify when a patient suffers from it.
“The heart of the problem is that there is no clear diagnostic test yet to determine who has it and who doesn’t have it. And that has been a source of frustration for both veterans and clinicians,” Dr. Steele explained. “And funding for Gulf War illness research has declined dramatically since 2001. Our committee has called for an increase in our commitment to find effective treatment and diagnostic tests for Gulf War illness and other health care issues.”
Despite Significant Dollars Spent on Gulf War Illness Research, Many Questions Remain Unanswered
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in fair disclosure I am a Gulf War vet also, I served at Khasab Air Force Base, on the northern tip of Oman, a nice safe place for an infantryman I was assigned to the 878th Engineers to help build quonset huts that were to be used for offices for personnel on the flight line, they were expanding the natural fortress to enable the air base to handle B 52s and other large aircraft the US and other allies would need, it was a very long and narrow valley, it would be a very hard target for anyone to attack in anyway, by air, land or sea, we used to sit on the beach at night and watch the smugglers boats run actoss the Straights of Hormuz to deliver contrband to the Iranians. I know many veterans from the 1148th Transportation unit come home ill, losing wieght quickly and one of the quickest to die was the Company Commander, dozens of others were extremely sick. I have seen numerous chemical weapons studies from the NIH, SIPRI the Pentagon knows what is the cause of these veterans problems, they just to refuse to acknowledge these studies as it will open the nation to billions in compensation payments for cardiac and pulmonary and gastrointestinal issues related to the Sarin and mustard agent exposures, the Army created when they destroyed the ammo dumps at Kamisayah Iraq on March 19, 1991 without first learning what the bunkers help, rockets and artillery shells filled with chemical weapons.
Shinseki Announces Veterans' Stories Posted on VA's Web Page
Shinseki Announces Veterans' Stories Posted on VA's Web Page
Countdown to Veterans Day with Library of Congress
WASHINGTON (Nov. 4, 2009) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will join
with the Library of Congress to host a "Veterans History Countdown" on
the VA Web site - www.va.gov
histories of Veterans from every state and U.S. territory.
"VA has partnered with the Library of Congress to honor our Veterans,
preserve their histories and ensure that their service, sacrifice and
heroism will never be forgotten," said Secretary Shinseki. "We want to
encourage Americans to record the oral histories of Veterans for future
generations."
Each day, beginning Nov.1, VA's Web feature will introduce new personal
histories, culminating on Veterans Day when a Veteran's history from
each state and U.S. territory will be available simply by clicking on
the U.S. map in the display.
As Veterans Day approaches, the VA Web display will urge Americans to
"Honor our Veterans. Record their Histories!" The display will link to
the library's Veterans History Project Web site -- www.loc.gov/vets --
which provides background about the program, a guide for volunteers to
follow in recording and submitting Veterans' oral histories and to
access the project's extensive digital archive.
VA has collaborated with the Veterans History Project since its
implementing legislation was signed into law on Oct. 27, 2000. VA
Voluntary Service has made oral history recording part of its program.
VA offers Veterans the opportunity to record their histories at its
facilities and special events. These collections of first-hand accounts
are archived in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
"We hope the Veterans History Countdown will serve as a call to action
for volunteers to record the first-hand stories of the Veterans they
know-relatives, neighbors, friends," said Bob Patrick, director of the
Veterans History Project.
The Veterans History Project collects and preserves the remembrances of
American war Veterans and civilian workers who supported them.
The recordings make accessible the first-hand remembrances of American
wartime Veterans from World War I through the current conflicts in Iraq
and Afghanistan so that future generations may hear directly from
Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Approximately
65,000 individual stories comprise the collection of the Veterans
History Project.
The project relies on volunteers to record Veterans' remembrances using
guidelines accessible at www.loc.gov/vets/
Volunteer interviewers may request information at vohp@loc.gov
371-5848.
Most U.S. youths unfit to serve, data show
Most U.S. youths unfit to serve, data show
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 4, 2009 5:57:41 EST
U.S. military-age youth are increasingly unfit to serve — mostly because they’re in such lousy shape.
According to the latest Pentagon figures, a full 35 percent, or more than one-third, of the roughly 31.2 million Americans aged 17 to 24 are unqualified for military service because of physical and medical issues. And, said Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon’s director of accessions, “the major component of this is obesity. We have an obesity crisis in the country. There’s no question about it.”
The Pentagon draws its data from the Centers for Disease Control, which regularly tracks obesity. The steadily rising trend is not good news for military recruiters, despite their recent successes, nor for the overall health of the U.S. population.
In 1987, according to the CDC, a mere 6 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds, or about 1 out of 20, were obese. In 2008, 22 years later, 23 percent of that age group — almost 1 out of 4 — was considered to be obese.
The CDC measures obesity by body mass index, a figure calculated from height and weight that is considered a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people. According to the CDC, the body mass index for a man standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds is 21.8; the normal range lies between 18.5 and 24.9. Below that range is considered underweight; a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. A person with a body mass index of 30 or greater is considered to be obese.
Obese individuals are at increased risk for a number of diseases and health conditions, including hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, some cancers and other problems, according to the CDC. In addition to those concerns, the military rejects obese recruits in part because so much extra weight likely couldn’t be dropped during the course of basic training — even if they could get through the entire program.
“Kids are just not able to do push-ups,” Gilroy said. “And they can’t do pull-ups. And they can’t run.”
The reasons are “almost common knowledge, Gilroy said — what he called “the couch potato syndrome” and the widespread elimination of scholastic physical fitness programs.
Mission: Readiness
In a study being released Thursday in Washington, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and a group of retired military officers led by former Army Gen. Wesley Clark will sound the alarm bells and call young Americans’ relative lack of overall fitness for military duty a national security threat. The group, Mission: Readiness, will release a report that draws on Pentagon data showing that 75 percent of the nation’s 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for service for a variety of reasons.
Put another way, only 4.7 million of the 31.2 million 17- to 24-year-olds in a 2007 survey are eligible to enlist, according to a periodic survey commissioned by the Pentagon. This group includes those who have scored in the top four categories on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, or AQFT; eligible college graduates; and qualified college students.
According to the Pentagon, the ineligible population breaks down this way:
•Medical/physical problems, 35 percent.
•Illegal drug use, 18 percent.
•Mental Category V (the lowest 10 percent of the population), 9 percent.
•Too many dependents under age 18, 6 percent.
•Criminal record, 5 percent.
Waivers
Some conditions or situations can be waivered or are periodically loosened by the services, as is the case with certain medical conditions, such as asthma. Waiverable examples include limited marijuana use and having too many dependents. For example, the Pentagon says a waiver is required when an applicant is married and has more than two dependents under 18, or is unmarried and has custody of any dependents under 18. Waiver policies vary depending on the needs of the service.
The group of potential enlistees is further slimmed by the “propensity to serve” among American youths, which social scientists say also is declining. According to Gilroy, research shows that about 12 percent of all U.S. military-eligible youth show an interest in military service.
The Pentagon just finished a record year for recruiting. Every active and reserve component met or exceeded both their numeric and quality recruiting goals for fiscal 2009. Each easily exceeded the Pentagon goal of having at least 90 percent of recruits be high school graduates, and having 60 percent or more score at or above the 50th percentile on the AFQT.
But the weak economy has helped, as has increased spending on recruiting. And given the ever-shrinking pool of potential candidates, concern grows. Bill Carr, undersecretary of defense for military personnel policy, says that to maintain the force, the military has to attract more than 15 percent of qualified young Americans.
The difference is, to some degree, made up through the use of waivers. About 1 in 5 recruits still requires a waiver of some sort to enter the service, with about two-thirds for conduct and one-third for medical issues, Carr said.
Most U.S. youths unfit to serve, data show
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This is just plain sad, that our youth are in such bad shape physically, morally and criminally. This means even if Congress did pass a draft law, 75% of the men and women drafted would be rejected, when I was in the Army they use to have companies called STC or Special Training Companies where recruits would spend weeks or months if necessary losing weight or learning how to speak English, so they could function in the Army.
I think most military personnel find after their basic and advanced treaining that their old civilian clothes no longer fit properly due to mescle toning and the build up of their upper body mostly, there arms were larger, their stomachs smaller, and it happened without them even really noticing it along the way due to the way military uniforms fit, loosely, but their T shirts now seemed tight and their jeans slid off their waists, I wieghed 155 pounds when I entered the Army in 1973 and I weighed 155 pounds when I left the Army in 1982, but I had muscles in my upper body where none existed in 1973. The Army service just rearranged the weight into a better place and function.
I personally feel a few years of military service would benefit all of America's youth, it teaches them teamwork, respect, caring, self confidence, and make them better citizens. But then thats just my 2 cents.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Soldiers Nearly Killed with Military's Bioterrorism Vaccine
NaturalNews) Approximately 200 soldiers have suffered from serious and even life-threatening complications from the government-mandated smallpox vaccine, and one has even died.
Starting in 2002, fears over a bioterrorist attack have led the U.S. government to require that all of its military servicepeople receive vaccination against a variety of diseases before deployment, including anthrax and smallpox. An estimated 1.7 million have been vaccinated against smallpox since then. Yet in a number of cases, the vaccine has led to severe complications such as inflammations of the brain or heart. In 2003, two expert panels concluded that Army Specialist Rachel Ray died in part due to complications from the deployment vaccines that she had been given.
"The reality is, we're never going to have zero risk on a vaccine," said Dr. Michael Kilpatrick of the Military Health System. "There's always going to be that individual that has some untoward event that would occur."
Awareness of the risks over the smallpox vaccine has prevented the government from requiring vaccination of civilians.
One potential side effect is infection with the virus used in the vaccine, a condition known as progressive vaccinia. Back when smallpox vaccination was widespread, the infection had a 15 percent fatality rate.
In a recent case, Lance Cpl. Cory Belken began to suffer from a persistent headache and unusual sleepiness one week after receiving the smallpox vaccine. He was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, which was destroying his circulatory system, and was immediately placed on chemotherapy.
The cancer treatment destroyed his immune system, leading to progressive vaccinia and no fewer than two infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. He broke out in a rash, had spreading vaccinia lesions all over his body, became delirious with a fever of 104.6 degrees, and began to suffer from organ failure.
Treating Belken required 30 times the dose of Vaccinia Immune Globulin that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has previously assumed would be needed for a single person.
Belken's family said that the leukemia would have been enough for their family to deal with, without vaccine complications on top of it.
"I think it's a big chance they're taking giving them the shots," his mother said.
Soldiers Nearly Killed with Military's Bioterrorism Vaccine
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