And So It Begins...Vietnam in Reverse

Flashback: Back in the late 1950's to early 1960's America sent military advisers and trainers to the the Republic of South Vietnam in order to train a fledgling military to fight the onslaught of the communist backed North Vietnamese.

Eventually, no "good" action goes unpunished and as more attacks by the North on the U.S. advisers continued, the only alternative left for the U.S. was send more and better armed troops and thus, the Vietnam War began.

Fast Forward: Just as in the case of Vietnam, the Socialists, Democrats saw that America was coming together on the War on Terror after 9-11 and THIS could not be allowed for their agenda of destruction of America to continue.

So what did the LEFT do, start undermining the war effort, both in Afghanistan and Iraqi till finally Americans became "war weary".

This "war weariness" would eventually lead to the American sheeple to elect Boo Boo Obama as our Clown in Chief with the promise that he would withdraw our troops from the Middle East.

Now, six years later, he is finally doing it and though the generals have advised against it, Boo Boo's socialist agenda ignored them.

As America and our allies withdrew combat troops, ISIS & other radical Muslims began their consolation and march to destroy everything America and our allies proudly fought and died for over the passed years.

As ISIS continued its savage march, Boo Boo finally and reluctantly sent advisers and trainers BACK to Middle East, with the "promise" that there will be "no combat boots" om the ground, although intelligent people KNOW that anytime American combat troops is in a hostile environment, they ARE combat boots on the ground.

American Sheeple never learn, they would rather believe that under Boo Boo and his Socialists, everything will be "lollipops and roses" and didn't listen or believe when many Patriots warned that sending "advisers" and "trainers" is just the beginning for our re-entry into another war in the Middle East.

American Troops Battle ISIS For First Time as Militants Attack Iraqi Base

A number of militants have been killed in Islamic State's very first battle with U.S. ground troops after the extremists attempted to overrun an Iraqi military base.

The militants attacked Ein al-Asad military base on Sunday where more than 100 U.S. military support troops are based.

Despite launching the surprise attack just after midnight, ISIS's offensive was swiftly repelled when U.S. troops and F-18 jets joined in the skirmish in support of the Iraqi Army.

Facing both Iraqi and US troops supported by F18 jets, an unknown number of ISIS attackers were killed during the two hour firefight before being forced to retreat.

Ein al-Asad came under repeated attack by ISIS troops in October, however, now bolstered by the U.S. assistance, it poses a much more formidable target.

Sheikh Mahmud Nimrawi, a tribal leader in the region, said 'US forces intervened because ISIS started to come near the base, which they are stationed in, so (it was) out of self-defense,' Shafaq News reported.

He added: 'We have made progress in (the) al-Dolab area, in which ISIS has withdrawn from.'

During the Iraq War, it was the largest airbase located within Iraq's Anbar province.

Although it scaled down in size following the conclusion of the war, it remains in use by the Iraq Army and is located deep within the remote areas on the front line against ISIS.

Meanwhile, Kurdish forces have launched an operation to retake the town of Sinjar in northwest Iraq after coalition planes pounded Islamic State positions overnight, Kurdish officials said.

The peshmerga fighters made gains against ISIS throughout the day, the officials said, driving the militants out of at least eight sub-districts in the Zumar area, east of Sinjar.

If the peshmerga succeeded in recapturing the town, it would open up a corridor to Sinjar mountain, where hundreds of minority Yazidis have been besieged by ISIS militants since August.

It would also be a symbolic victory for the Kurds, whose reputation as fearsome warriors was bruised after Islamic State overpowered the peshmerga in Sinjar and killed or captured hundreds of Yazidis.

'At 8.00 this morning the ground offensive began to liberate Sinjar town,' said one official in the Kurdish region's Security Council, adding that coalition planes had bombed the area for several hours beforehand.

'There's evidence that a lot of ISIS fighters abandoned their weapons and fled the area.'

Several other Kurdish security officials gave similar accounts.

U.S. President Barack Obama cited the duty to prevent an impending massacre of Yazidis by Islamic State militants as one of the main reasons for authorizing the first air strikes in Iraq this summer.

Final note: Air power DOES NOT/WILL NOT win a war, IT will take Warriors on the ground in mud, muck and blood to WIN. I only pray that the American sheeple will soon learn this and America will grow a set, elect TRUE LEADERS, who will unleash the Devil Dogs of hell and allow our military to do what they do best, KILL THE ENEMY, BLOW THINGS UP AND COME HOME!

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2878897/American-troops-battle-ISIS-time-attempted-attack-militants-Iraqi-base.html

Government Mismanagement at Pearl Harbor Memorial

Sunday will mark the 73rd anniversary of the "Day that will live in infamy" allegations of mismanagement at one the one of the nation's most hallowed sites, an underwater grave for more than 900 sailors and Marines killed when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and sank their ship in 1941.

Now, it's the scene of alleged rampant mismanagement.

An internal report from the National Park Service, which operates a visitors' center for a memorial at the battleship, said tour companies sold tickets with the knowledge of park officials even though tickets are supposed to be free.

Another pointed to substandard maintenance, including scuffed museum walls that languished un-repaired and bird feces that wasn't cleaned.

The revelations in documents released last month come just before crowds gather at Pearl Harbor on Sunday for an annual ceremony remembering more than 2,400 sailors, Marines and soldiers killed 73 years ago.

"To watch the desecration of a very sacred, very important place was very disheartening," said John Landrysmith, a former park service guide and 41-year-old Iraq war veteran.

He quit his job earlier this year after feeling his supervisor was punishing him for questioning the ticket policy and believing the park service failed to act on his complaints. He intends to file a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against the park service.

Park superintendent Paul DePrey said the park service was trying to accommodate the tour companies, which bring busloads of people each day.

"It was not intended for a huge glut of tickets that were going to just the tour companies," he said "We tried to work that system the best we could. It was not successful."

The practice stopped when they realized it didn't comply with park service policy and wasn't working as intended, he said.

A new ticketing system starting next month, DePrey said, will do a better job laying out the terms and conditions of the permits commercial tour companies operate under. The park service will also start scanning tickets to get data on how they are being used.

The problems outlined in the reports are centered at the visitor's center, which anyone visiting the Arizona and the memorial must pass through. The $56-million complex, rebuilt four years ago, explains events leading up and during the attack with the help of museum exhibits and movie screenings.

Visitors then board boats to the white, open-air memorial that sits atop the Arizona's rusting hull.

There are only 4,350 boat tickets available each day. That amounts to less than 1.6 million tickets a year, even though the park service says 1.8 million people visit Pearl Harbor annually.

A September 2013 park service report said there was "at minimum" no transparency in the way tickets were distributed.

The report, which was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the nonprofit group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, outlined how park service employees gave walk-in tickets intended for independent visitors to commercial tour companies who then sold them.

Tickets were also given to Pacific Historic Parks, a nonprofit that runs a gift shop and raises money for the memorial. The organization gave some to people spending $7 to rent an audio tour from the nonprofit, and gave others to companies that would lead clients to the audio tours, the report said.

There were rarely enough tickets for independent visitors while this was going on, the report said.

DePrey said visitors pay the companies for the transportation they provide to Pearl Harbor from Waikiki hotels and other places not for the tickets.

Yet the report said uniformed commercial tour drivers were observed standing about 15 feet in front of the park service information desk - in full view of the park ranger - offering tickets to visitors who were already at Pearl Harbor.

Another anecdote said two visitors reported being sold tickets for $39 each by a tour company even though they drove their own rental car to the visitor's center.

A separate internal report listed a slew of maintenance issues. Photos from the report show peeling paint in the museum and accumulated bird droppings.

Some maintenance problems persist. Visitors to the museum today will see silver duct tape securing a black ribbon with the words "Exhibit Temporarily Unavailable" to an empty glass case that once held model of the Arizona. The exhibit's been down for a year.

Outside, an orange plastic fence surrounds a muddy spot where a water catchment basin isn't working as intended. The fence has been up since last December, the park service said.

The park service is trying to keep the facility in as good condition as it can, DePrey said.

"I'm not happy when I see aspects of the facility that are in poor condition. It's not something that I or my maintenance or the park rangers are proud of," DePrey said. "But we are realistic that these things will happen from time to time."

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PEARL_HARBOR_MEMORIAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-05-07-33-59

Deserter Bowe Bergdahl: Continued Pentagon Cover Up

Nearly five months after the release of Taliban prisoner Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (Calling him Sgt is an insult to ALL who have EARN the rank...OM), the military has yet to release a report on Bergdahl leaving deserting his Afghanistan post in 2009 that also makes recommendations on whether he should be punished. (If he isn't punished, that would mean ANY member of the military who decides to desert his post would / should go unpunished, an extremely bad precedent will be set or has that precedent already been set some 20+ years ago with the case of Robert Russell Garwood, another case that it my opinion had political overtones considering we had a Draft Dodging Commander in Chief in the White house...OM)

The Pentagon says it is not holding up the decision, though the review by Army Gen. Kenneth Dahl was finished in early October. (Waiting for Boo Boo's intervention? ...OM)

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, recently acknowledged the report has been completed and said it is under review.

“As you know, in this building that can sometimes take a while, especially for major investigations like this," he said. (Considering that the Pentagon has become more about politics then about defense. ...OM)

Desertion in the military is technically punishable by death. But given the circumstances of Bergdahl's case, such a sentence is essentially out of the realm of possibility. (Why?...OM)

Editor's Note:

ARTICLE 85. DESERTION

Did Bergdahl

(a) Any member of the armed forces who–

(1) without authority goes or remains absent from his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to remain away there from permanently; YES.

(2) quits his unit, organization, or place of duty with intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service; or - YES

(3) without being regularly separated from one of the armed forces enlists or accepts an appointment in the same or another on of the armed forces without fully disclosing the fact that he has not been regularly separated, or enters any foreign armed service except when authorized by the United States; is guilty of desertion.

(b) Any commissioned officer of the armed forces who, after tender of his resignation and before notice of its acceptance, quits his post or proper duties without leave and with intent to remain away therefrom permanently is guilty of desertion.

(c) Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, (WAS AMERICA AT WAR...YES! DID BERGDAHL LEAVE HIS POST WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION?...YES! Whats the problem?) but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct.

Bergdahl, the only American prisoner in the war deserter in Afghanistan, could face a lesser administrative punishment including forfeiture of back pay or even jail time. But Army officials are acutely aware of the potential political backlash that could follow severely punishing a prisoner of war  deserter. (Since when does "political backlash" have any influence on the Military Justice system?...OM)

Meanwhile, Bergdahl is still serving as a sergeant(Be interesting to hear him giving a lower rank instructions / orders...OM) at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. He has a desk job with the Army after being held captive for roughly five years, much of that time spent in a metal box (Where's the proof? Considering there are photos of him holding a weapon and playing soccer. Isn't the first duty of an American POW as explained by Article 3 of the Code of Conduct:

Article III

a. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy. ...OM)

Bergdahl’s May 2014 release, which was secured by exchanging five high-value Taliban detainees from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, has sparked widespread controversy.

Soon after President Obama announced the exchange, many of Bergdahl’s former unit members spoke out, calling him a deserter, saying he put fellow soldiers’ lives at risk. (Accessory before and after the fact?...OM)

At least some Republican lawmakers think it was a bad deal. (So do a lot of the American people....OM)

Sen. John McCain referred to the prisoners as “the Taliban dream team.”

"These are the worst of the worst, the hardest of the hardest,” the Arizona Republican (And former REAL POW...OM) told Fox News. “I can't tell you how dangerous these people are."

Now, California GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter, a former Marine (HEY FoxNews, There is NO SUCH THING as a FORMER MARINE...OM), wants to know whether the swap included a ransom and if the United States was swindled. (And the American people and the Critters will never know, just like Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS targeting scandal and the list goes on and on ad nauseam...OM)

"It has been brought to my attention that a payment was made to an Afghan intermediary who ‘disappeared’ with the money and failed to facilitate Bergdahl's release in return," Hunter wrote Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a Nov. 4 letter.

The alleged payment, Hunter says, was made in February through the Joint Special Operations Command and might have exceeded $1 million.

“Number one, you can't pay ransoms,” Hunter told Fox News. “Number two, if there is an exceptional case when you can get an American back, then there ought to be some oversight and there has to be some congressional purview over this -- and there hasn't been. I mean the (Defense Department) can't break the law and have no repercussions whatsoever.”

The Pentagon told Hunter on Friday that no money was exchanged and that paying ransom is indeed against the law.

“There was no ransom paid,” Kirby told reporters. “Nor was there an attempt to do so that failed.”

Hunter’s office still alleges that FBI operatives and members of the Army’s elite Delta Force orchestrated a botched cash exchange and says the congressman will request a formal investigation of the matter by the Defense Department’s inspector general.

The deal purportedly involved Delta members giving the money to an informant who disappeared instead of giving Bergdahl to FBI agents at a predetermined spot inside Afghanistan, on the border with North Waziristan.

Concerns about the circumstances of the prisoner swap have increased in the wake of the Islamic State executing five Americans in the past four months.

The president has ordered a review of how American hostages are handled by the U.S. government. (In other words, Boo Boo wants America to START negotiating with terrorists...OM)

Families of the beheaded Americans have issued complaints about how their sons’ cases were handled. However, the White House says it has no plans to allowing ransom to be paid for hostages. (YEA RIGHT,,,OM)

Semper Fi!

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11/26/public-awaits-military-completed-bergdahl-report-that-includes-recommendations/?intcmp=latestnews

Politically Correct DoD Renames “unlawful combatants” in Detainee Manual

In fact, captured terrorists went out of style a long time ago, so that’s not the actual change. Until recently — like, say, two weeks ago — the Department of Defense used the term unlawful combatant as the label for terrorists captured by American military and intelligence forces as a way to distinguish them from uniformed soldiers of a recognized state authority in a straight-up fight. Their new manual dispenses with that term, the Federation of American Scientists noticed today (November 26, 2011) (via Steven Aftergood and Olivier Knox):

When it comes to Department of Defense doctrine on military treatment of detained persons, “unlawful enemy combatants” are a thing of the past. That term has been retired and replaced by “unprivileged enemy belligerents” in a new revision of Joint Publication 3-13 on Detainee Operations, dated November 13, 2014.

The manual even has this helpful chart for readers:

The only actual mention of the previous term comes in the Summary of Changes on page iii, which notes that the revision “[r]evises terminology, taxonomy, and definitions for unlawful enemy combatant, unprivileged belligerent, detainee, and detainee operations.” There is no particular explanation for why unlawful combatant no longer suffices, or why “unprivileged” makes for a clearer understanding between the categories of legitimate POW and everyone else.

So what’s going on here? Political correctness run amok, like saying there’s no such thing as an unlawful person? A way to reinforce the idea of “privilege”? No, not really — or at least not on the DoD’s behalf. If anyone’s to blame for the blandification of nomenclature … it’s Congress. The new revision to the DoD manual brings the terminology in line with 10 U.S. Code § 948a, which provides definitions for detainee policies rewritten by Congress to refine the military-commission process. It provides a very precise definition of the two classes of belligerents (Don't they mean ENEMIES...OM):

(6) Privileged belligerent.— The term “privileged belligerent” means an individual belonging to one of the eight categories enumerated in Article 4 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

(7) Unprivileged enemy belligerent.— The term “unprivileged enemy belligerent” means an individual (other than a privileged belligerent) who—

    (A) has engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners;
    (B) has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States or            its coalition partners; or
    (C) was a part of al Qaeda at the time of the alleged offense under this chapter.

This section goes back to the Military Commissions Act of 2006, sponsored by Mitch McConnell, but the new terms were introduced in the 111th Congress in the NDAA for 2009. It passed in October 2009 and was signed a few days later by President Obama. The only contemporaneous discussion of this change I could find in a quick search was by Joanne Mariner at Findlaw, who dismissed it as “cosmetic.” Another change was somewhat more substantial:

The new law begins by tweaking the definition of individuals eligible for trial before military commissions — most obviously by scrapping the phrase “unlawful enemy combatant,” and replacing it with “unprivileged enemy belligerent.” This is a cosmetic change, not a real improvement, which mirrors the administration’s decision to drop the enemy combatant formula in habeas litigation at Guantanamo Bay.

In addition, the new definition sets out three separate grounds on which a person might be deemed an “unprivileged enemy belligerent,” which vary somewhat from the grounds for eligibility included in the previous definition. The third ground, now separate from the previous two, is membership in Al Qaeda, whether or not the member has engaged in or supported hostilities against the US. (Under the previous definition, membership in “Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces” was relevant to the determination of whether a person had engaged in or supported hostilities, but was not itself a distinct ground for eligibility.)

Notably, the Taliban is no longer specifically named in the new definition. This suggests, perhaps, that the administration is acknowledging a meaningful difference between the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and wants to leave open, at least for the future, the possibility that the Taliban is not the enemy (Then why doesn't Boo Boo invite the Taliban to the WH for a coffee summit?...OM).

That might seem a little more notable in the wake of the Bowe Bergdahl swap (Where is the media, FOWNEWS in particular, following up on what the Army did with this deserter?,,,OM). It’s possible that this could provide the White House a way to press for the release of more Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay (So that they can go back & join ISIS/ISSL or whatever they want to call it. I call them enemies...OM), but it would be a tendentious and silly argument. Publicly, the administration (The same administration that said if you like your doctor or your health insurance you can keep them?....OM) has argued that the risk from their release has disappeared by now, which is their main and most effective argument, even if experience has clearly proven it to be untrue — which we’ve known for years.

At any rate, the new nomenclature seems pretty silly, and the need to change from unlawful combatant non-existent. Don’t blame the Department of Defense for it, although we can certainly wonder why it took them five years to catch up to the changes (and what may have prompted the recent action). That silliness comes from one of America’s great resources of silliness and meaningless redefinitions of perfectly suitable language — from your elected officials on Capitol Hill. On the plus side, we can now ask terrorists to check their unprivilege as they enter the detention system, or something.

Let us know what you think.

Semper Fi!

A thank you to the Riceman for the tip!

Source: http://hotair.com/archives/2014/11/26/dod-renames-unlawful-combatants-in-detainee-manual-to/

Monarch (Tyrant, Despot?) or President?

This is a special post written by The Riceman, a friend, colleague and fellow Patriot. I'm honored to post it here.

In Federalist #69, Hamilton compared the powers and limitations of the proposed U.S. Executive to the powers of the British Monarch. Here are a few excerpts (emphasis is mine):

1. The President of the United States would be liable to be impeached, tried, and, upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law. The person of the king of Great Britain is sacred and inviolable; there is no constitutional tribunal to which he is amenable; no punishment to which he can be subjected without involving the crisis of a national revolution. (Apparently, the Republicans are treating the Current Occupant as a Monarch, since they cannot even bring themselves to utter the "I-Word".)

2. The President is to have power, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur. The king of Great Britain is the sole and absolute representative of the nation in all foreign transactions. He can of his own accord make treaties of peace, commerce, alliance, and of every other description. It has been insinuated, that his authority in this respect is not conclusive, and that his conventions with foreign powers are subject to the revision, and stand in need of the ratification, of Parliament. But I believe this doctrine was never heard of, until it was broached upon the present occasion. Every jurist of that kingdom, and every other man acquainted with its Constitution, knows, as an established fact, that the prerogative of making treaties exists in the crown in its utomst plentitude; and that the compacts entered into by the royal authority have the most complete legal validity and perfection, independent of any other sanction. (Witness the Current Occupant's recent Greenhouse Gas/Climate Change Agreement with China: He decreed it to be so--there's no talk of the Congress ratifying ANYTHING!)

3. The one can confer no privileges whatever; the other can make denizens of aliens, noblemen of commoners; can erect corporations with all the rights incident to corporate bodies. (Taking the second point first: didn't the Current Occupant actually select the new head of General Motors, after the government took controlling interest in that corporation, as well as Chrysler Corp.? Lastly, what of today's planned announcement of the Executive Order granting Amnesty to 5 million illegal immigrants plus the millions more that will come due to both the porous border and chain immigration?)

So, do we still have a national executive, or has it degenerated in to a Hereditary/Monied Aristocracy Monarch (Bushes & Clintons)? 

President or Monarch/Tyrant/Despot??

Sources: http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa69.htm

                http://constitution.org/c5/

Semper Fi and thank you Riceman!

Our Veterans Still Facing Enemies Who Can Destroy Their Lives

Prior to the recent election, America was made aware of those who unselfishly gave up part of their lives to don the uniform of the American military were facing the broken promises of America just as those who went before them when it comes to receiving much needed healthcare from the VA.

Talking heads, T.V. and radio hosts jumped on the bandwagon, some even saying that they'll, "Give the VA 90 days for the VA to show some improvement" after Congress passed "emergency" funding and a new administrator was appointed and ratified. Where are they now?

Well, just as in the past there has been little improvement.

Some VA hospitals used the funding for big screen T.V.'s in the hospital, while the inpatient veterans were going without properly cleaned blankets.

Roughly 10% of all the Veterans Affairs patients are still waiting a month or more for appointments.

Now, though this may seem to be a minor problem for some, we learn that those who visit the VA are once again facing an enemy. This enemy may not take their physical lives but can take their personal lives.

Two years after a major security breach compromised the personal information of over 4,000 veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continues to suffer from systemic “security weaknesses,” according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

“While the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has taken actions to mitigate previously identified vulnerabilities, it has not fully addressed these weaknesses. … Until VA fully addresses previously identified security weaknesses, its information is at heightened risk of unauthorized access, modification, and disclosure and its systems at risk of disruption,” the report found.

The VA has experienced multiple high-profile breaches in recent years, and the report cautions that unless it corrects “underlying” security vulnerabilities in its systems, breaches are likely to continue and could result in unauthorized access and disclosure of personal information.

Many of the weaknesses identified in the report are not new, but the inspectors say the agency has failed to sufficiently address some of the “previously identified vulnerabilities.”

The VA Inspector General released a report in February 2013 that identified deficiencies in “management controls intended to ensure that VA’s critical systems have appropriate security baselines and up-to-date vulnerability patches,” and made recommendations to resolve the problems.

The VA said they completed the recommendations and would continue to improve those security controls but the recent inspection found that the VA failed to deliver on that promise.(Haven't "we" heard this before?...OM)

“The department has not yet effectively implemented a program to manage vulnerabilities and apply associated patches,” the report notes. “Until it does so, it will remain at increased risk that known vulnerabilities could be exploited.”

The IG made eight recommendations to correct the problems, but the agency appears to be off to a poor start implementing those.

The VA received a draft of the findings, and responded that six of the recommendations were implemented. However, the report notes that inspectors “are concerned that the actions VA described as completed for at least two of the six recommendations may not comprehensively address the weaknesses we identified.”

The latest report marks the 16th consecutive year the agency has failed a cyber security assessment. The House Veteran Affairs Committee held a hearing on Tuesday to address the ongoing concerns.

Chairman Jeff Miller (R., Fla.) said in his opening remarks that the VA’s Technology Office has “greatly contributed to the problems of data manipulation” by failing to address the persistent weaknesses.

“These failures are not because of a lack of resources, as some VA senior officials want us to believe,” he said. “Within the past decade, Congress has provided over 28 billion dollars to VA’s Office of Information and Technology to ensure its goals and actions are aligned with and driving the strategic goals of the agency. Given the availability of resources, it is apparent that this office’s lack of success and repeated under performance is a leadership failure.”

Let us know what you think.

Semper Fi!

Source: http://freebeacon.com/issues/va-has-not-corrected-security-problems/

More than 600,000 veterans wait a month or more for appointments at VA

More than 600,000 veterans — 10% of all the Veterans Affairs patients — continue to wait a month or more for appointments at VA hospitals and clinics, according to data obtained by USA TODAY.

The VA has made some progress in dealing with the backlog of cases that forced former secretary Eric Shinseki to retire early this year. For instance, the VA substantially cut the overall number of worst-case scenarios for veterans — those who had waited more than four months for an appointment. That figure dropped from 120,000 in May to 23,000 in October. Much of that improvement occurred because patients received care from private providers.

Since May, the VA has been reduced the number of veterans waiting longest for care — its top priority — by 57%, according to James Hutton, a VA spokesman. From June to September, the VA completed 19 million appointments, an increase of 1.2 million compared with the same time last year.

"VA's goal continues to be to provide timely, high-quality healthcare for veterans," Hutton said in a statement. "Veterans and VA employees nationwide understand the need for reform, and VA is committed to putting these reforms into place. And while we have significantly improved capacity and access to care, we have not yet achieved our intended state — systemic and timely access across the board. It will be an ongoing and significant effort to reach our goals."

To recruit more health care providers, VA Secretary Robert McDonald has proposed pay hikes for VA doctors and dentists, Hutton said. McDonald announced a restructuring of the VA on Nov. 10.

The new data show that dozens of hospitals and clinics leave a quarter or more of all their patients waiting 30 days or more for an appointment.

• Some facilities still have extremely long wait times for basic care, including 64 that have average wait times over 60 days for new patients seeking primary care. They include major facilities, such as hospitals in Baltimore; Jacksonville, Fla.; Temple, Texas, and Atlanta. All have at least 30,000 pending appointments.​

In Jacksonville, the average new patient is left waiting 77 days, a fact that previously obscured in the VA's data because it was averaged into the much-better performance of the nearby Gainesville hospital. Jacksonville only sees two-thirds of its patients within 30 days, the worst rate of any major facility in the VA system.

The VA is hiring more staff to deal with those delays, Hutton said.

• Ten facilities reported waits of more than three months for a new patient to see a specialist. At the top of the list: the Westmoreland, Pa., clinic, where patients are waiting 174 days — nearly six months — for a specialty appointment.

Thirty-three facilities have kept new patients seeking a mental-health appointments waiting for at least two months (I wonder if there is any data on if any of these veterans, committed suicide during those two months?...OM) . Among those are large hospitals in Martinsburg, W.Va., Amarillo, Texas, and Tuskegee, Ala. And 10 clinics and hospitals kept established patients waiting at least three weeks longer than the patients wanted for mental health appointments.

• Some small locations have big waiting times, too. The Wagner, S.D., clinic near the Nebraska state line, has only 155 total appointments of any type pending — and its new patient wait time is 153 days.

The data looks at nearly 6 million appointments until Oct. 1 and scheduled through Veterans Health Administration.

Members of Congress continue to express dissatisfaction (They "express" dissatisfaction, BUT not doing anything about it...OM) with the delays in disciplining VA employees involved in covering up the long wait times.

"The events of the last year have proven that far too many senior VA leaders have lied, manipulated data, or simply failed to do the job for which they were hired," said Rep. Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican and chairman of House Veterans' Affairs Committee, during a hearing Thursday. "It is also clear that VA's attempt to instill accountability for these leaders has been both nearly non-existent and rife with self-inflicted roadblocks to real reform."

What do you think? Please let us know.

Semper Fi!

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/16/long-wait-times-persist-at-many-va-hospitals/19033789/

Remembering the Veterans Year Round

                             

The election is finally over, the future course for America may have been changed and the various news organizations and “talking heads” are dissecting, praising or making excuses for the victories or defeats of the various political races.

With all the chatter, it seems strange that there is little to no mention of how these races will affect the forgotten men and women who sacrificed to make these elections possible, THE VETERANS.

Americans are celebrating Veterans Day (Remembrance) with various sales, a day off from work, maybe a parade or two, some small gatherings or just resting.

Most people will not really be thinking about or asking what they can REALLY do to honor and celebrate those fine men and women, who stood up when the American people called to protect the Freedoms that many sheeple have taken for granted.

As a Veteran may I suggest a few ways for people to truly honor the American Veteran.

To me one of the most important ways to honor and remember the Veteran is to remind those in Congress, the talking heads, celebrities (be fore warned some do not like to be called out) and others that just because Congress passed and POTUS signed “The Veterans Access,Choice and Accountability Act of 2014” that now all is “well” with the VA. IT ISN'T! 

So, what can YOU do?

Start by continuing to remind those who “voiced” outrage about the pi$ poor treatment that the Veterans have / have not received, then disappeared from the public eye. They got their publicity or whatever they were seeking but nothing has changed. The plight of the Veteran continues.

To do this, do what every warrior does, use every “weapon” available to you.

“Weapons” like twitter, snail mail, email, telephones whatever YOU can, its up to You.

Another way to honor the Veterans year round, not just on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month and it will mean a little sacrifice on your part. YES, a sacrifice.

This sacrifice will require some time and maybe foregoing that extra cup of custom coffee or that extra donut.

As far as time, search the Net for the phone number of the nearest VA in your area then pick up the phone and call the VA hospital and ask, “What 'health and comfort' items are needed for inpatient Veterans?” For those not familiar with “health and comfort” items, these are the things most Americans take for granted, things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.

Remember, a number of veterans admitted to the VA hospitals come in on weekends,completely unprepared and may not have someone to bring them these items,

"Those healthcare professionals who REALLY give a damn, have to hustle in the attempt to find those needed “health and comfort” items elsewhere in the hospital"

You may also ask them what other items might be needed to may help make the Veterans' stay in the hospital a little more pleasant. Items such as books, playing cards, etc.

As you can guess by now, the sacrifice of time and money are linked.

You are now armed with a “list” of needed items from your phone call to the VA and the money you save by foregoing that extra cup of coffee or donut; its time to “attack”.

On your next trip to the local Wally World (just as an example) wander back to the pharmacy section and look. You will find shelves of various travel sized “health and comfort” items, most cost about $0.97 plus tax.

You can also find other inexpensive items throughout the pharmacy area, use your judgment. Spend what you can afford. Remember every little bit helps.

You can figure out whether you want to take these items to the VA on a weekly or a monthly basis. OR if taking a trip to the VA hospital is not convenient, call the VA and ask them about mailing these items. REMEMBER to get the mailing address. 

Another way to help and remember the Veterans and I'm borrowing this from Jason F. Wright and his Christmas jar project. But instead of a Christmas jar, why not a Veteran's jar?

Mr. Wright's original idea was to have a jar, you may already have one, that you throw your change in at the end of the day. Then quietly and anonymously leave the jar on a needy family's doorstep during the Christmas season. Don't worry if there isn't a large sum of money in the jar, when a family is “hurting”, every little bit helps.

Let's just modify this a little bit. Instead waiting till the Christmas season, find a Veteran in your neighborhood that may be struggling and anonymously leave it for him or her on Veterans Day.

If you don't know of a Veteran who is struggling, donate it to one of the many Veteran's organizations.

Or you can use it to buy the needed items for those in the VA hospitals. IF you really care, want to help and honor the Veterans you can figure out what to do with the Veterans Jar.

So, as you leave the house this Veterans' Day to go and shop those Veterans' Day sales ask yourself, “Is this really the way to remember and honor those men and women who sacrificed for my freedom? Is there something more I can do?”

Semper Fi!

Once again, I must thank Igor for his proof reading and editing.

There Are Lies, Damn Lies and Then There Are Democrats

Charlie Rangel continues with the rest of the Socialists Democrats including Adolf Hitler in believing that "If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed ", during a Thursday campaign rally for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

Rangel has joined the rest of the of the Democrats in their main campaign strategy of race baiting and FEAR by comparing some members of the GOP to confederates from the Civil War era [Whose leaders were mainly Democrats...OM]. But at the Thursday (October 30) evening event, he added that they "believe that slavery isn't over."

Not surprisingly I disagree with him. It has been the Democrats/ Progressives / Socialists or whatever you choose to call them that continue to believe in slavery.

Not the physical slavery of whips and chains, but chains of the mind and the whips of dependence on the government if they really think and choose to vote against Democrats.

Consider what President Lyndon B. Johnson said to two governors on board Air Force One after he launched the "Great Society" in 1964-1965,

“I’ll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years.” [I will not apologize for the use of an offensive word, it is a DIRECT quote...OM]

or when LBJ said,

"These Negroes, they’re getting pretty uppity these days and that’s a problem for us since they’ve got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we’ve got to do something about this, we’ve got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference."

Thus LBJ successfully returned African Americans to mental chains of the plantation.

And now Obama is planning to add millions of new slaves to the Democrat controlled plantation. 

This new plantation is complete with the overseers, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who make millions of dollars and live rather well while those they oversee continue to in poverty within the inner city.

These overseers or their friends have ensured that IF one or more of their "charges" attempt to or even break the chains of poverty that they are "whipped" with everyone watching by a constant bombardment of degrading statements and insults.

"In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and there were those slaves that lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master ... exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him." [Harry Belafonte about Colin Powell. YET Colin Powell chose to support race over freedom when he supported Obama in 2008. Strange Powell is very silent now...OM]

Rangel continued,

"We have to win. We have to be able to send a national message with Andrew Cuomo. And the thing is: Everything we believe in — everything we believe in — they hate. They don't disagree — they hate! They think if you didn't come from Europe 30 years ago, you didn't even make it. Some of them believe that slavery isn't over and they and think they won the Civil War!"

Sorry Charlie, but it was Abraham Lincoln, a REPUBLICAN, who guided America through the Civil War after the DEMOCRATIC Governors of the Southern States decided to succeed from the union over slavery.

It would be Lincoln who would issue Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel territory free in 1862.

Finally, on the subject of slavery, was it not the Democrats who worked hand-in-glove with the Ku Klux Klan for generations? Wasn't it the Democrats who actually started the KKK and endorsed its mayhem?

As Rangel continued about the upcoming midterm elections,

"And so what we have to do is send a collective voice. Everything we're doing is God's work [God's work? or Karl Marx's work?...OM]: education [Why do Democrats constantly vote against Charter Schools?], healthcare, affordable housing, [protecting against] discrimination, paying people the minimum wage."

"Caesar, too, helped the people, but they lost their liberty to him."

Sources: 

http://www.businessinsider.com/charlie-rangel-some-republicans-believe-that-slavery-isnt-over-2014-10

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/some-of-the-lost-history-in-the-civil-rights-movement

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2309727/posts

Marines Become First Causalities of Operation Inherent Resolve and No LSM Coverage

May God welcome these young Marines as they report for their final muster. May God bless and comfort their families and loved one. Semper Fi!

Marine Cpl. Jordan L. Spears

COURTESY OF THE U.S. MARINE CORPS

The death of Marine Cpl. Jordan L. Spears has been reclassified to indicate he died in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday.

Spears, 21, and another aircrew member bailed out of an MV-22 Osprey when it lost power shortly after take off from the USS Makin Island on Oct. 1. Navy and Marine Corps teams rescued the other Marine but were unable to find Spears. He was presumed lost at sea after the search ended. The pilot of the Osprey regained control and returned to the ship.

The plane was operating in support of the mission in Iraq and Syria, Navy officials said at the time. But the operation had not yet been named, so Spears’ death was classified as a non-global war on terrorism casualty, according to the DOD.

On Oct. 15, more than two months after the U.S. began launching air strikes against the Islamic State, the Pentagon named the operation Inherent Resolve.

Ten days later, Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal, 19, died in a “non-combat related incident” in Baghdad (Please see below...OM). Neal’s death was described by some media outlets as the first death of an American servicemember since Operation Inherent Resolve had been named, and others as the first death of a servicemember in the fight against the Islamic State, which prompted the Marines to look into reclassifying Spears’ death, a Marine spokesman said.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Capt. Eric Flanagan said.

Spears, of Memphis, Indiana, was assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron-163, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.

Neal, of Riverside, Calif., was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment out of Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Source: http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/marine-corporal-is-reclassified-as-1st-to-die-in-operation-inherent-resolve-1.310939

DOD: Marine's death 1st in Iraq, 2nd since start of US campaign against Islamic State

Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal is the Marine identified as having died on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014, in Baghdad from a non-combat related incident, the military said in a release.

The Defense Department has announced the first death of an American servicemember in Iraq in the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State militant group.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal, 19, of Riverside, Calif., died Thursday in Baghdad from what the DOD described in a news release issued Friday night as a “non-combat related incident.” The DOD is investigating.

He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force — Crisis Response — Central Command, whose headquarters element deploys from Camp Pendleton, Calif., according to the DOD news release.

Neal’s death is the second since the campaign began on Aug. 8. The effort was named Operation Inherent Resolve on Oct. 15.

On Oct. 2, a Marine was presumed lost at sea after bailing out of a MV-22 Osprey that lost power after taking off from the USS Makin Island in the Persian Gulf a day earlier.

Cpl. Jordan L. Spears, 21, of Memphis, Ind., was one of two aircrew members who went into the water when the Osprey’s pilot lost control of the aircraft, which the Navy said was participating in flight operations in support of the missions over Iraq and Syria. The pilot regained control of the Osprey, and the other aircrew member was recovered.

“Cpl. Spears was a cherished member of our MEU family, and he fulfilled a key role in our aviation combat element,” Col. Matthew Trollinger, commander of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, wrote on the unit’s official Facebook page.

The Makin Island arrived in the Middle East in September to participate in operations against the Islamic State.

Source: http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/dod-marine-s-death-1st-in-iraq-2nd-since-start-of-us-campaign-against-islamic-state-1.310320

John Kerry’s Wife’s Foundation Supports Anti-Israel Propaganda

Cartoon by Gary Varvel/Creators Syndicate.

A food cart that hands out anti-Israel propaganda with each of its sandwiches has received funding from a foundation run by Secretary of State John Kerry’s (Who served in Vietnam...OM) wife.

Conflict Kitchen, a pop-up restaurant located at the intersection of Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh University, seeks to use food to educate (Shouldn't that be indoctrinate...OM) locals and college students about countries that are allegedly in conflict with the United States.

It recently began serving Palestinian food wrapped in leaflets that include quotes from Palestinians defending terrorism and opposing the existence of Israel.

“How can you compare Israeli F-16s, which are some of the best military planes in the world, to a few hundred homemade rockets?” states one quote on the wrapper, a reference to Hamas rocket attacks against Israelis. “You’re pushing them to the absolute extreme. So what do you expect?”

“Palestinians (HAMAS?...OM) are not going to just let [Israel] in and drop their arms,” it adds. “No, they’re going to kill and they are going to die.”

The statements on the wrappers were taken from interviews with Palestinians. They are published without quotation marks and do not appear to be edited for accuracy.

Another section of the wrapper refers to the creation of Israel as “an intentional and ongoing offensive.” It also alleges that Israel deliberately blocks Palestinians from obtaining drinking water, opposes non-Jews from becoming citizens, and has assassinated or imprisoned all of the non-corrupt Palestinian leaders.

According to the wrapper, Conflict Kitchen is supported in part by the Heinz Endowment, which is chaired by Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.

A spokesman for the Heinz Endowment told the Washington Free Beacon that it gave Conflict Kitchen a $50,000 grant last April to support its relocation to another site in Pittsburgh.

He declined to say whether the Heinz Endowment would continue to support the group in the future, but added that, “the opinions of Conflict Kitchen do not represent those of the Heinz Endowment.”

As secretary of state, John Kerry has devoted much of his time to pushing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, but has made little progress. In addition to blaming the rise of the Islamic State on the lack of a peace deal last week, Kerry also claimed earlier this year that Israel could become an “apartheid state” if it doesn’t reach an agreement.

The Conflict Kitchen’s wrapper—as well as two recent events it held with anti-Israel activists—is drawing criticism from the local pro-Israel community.

One event featured Laila El-Haddad, a Palestinian activist who supports a one-state solution and the boycott campaign against Israel.

A second event featured University of Pittsburgh professor Ken Boas, a board member of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA, who reportedly compared Israel to South Africa under apartheid and called on the audience to support a boycott of Israel.

Gregg Roman, community relations director for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, said that Conflict Kitchen organizers have declined to include speakers who are supportive of Israel at the events.

Roman says his request was rejected by Conflict Kitchen’s co-director, Jon Rubin, who is an associate professor in the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University.

“I reached out to Professor Rubin at the end of his event and asked if it would be possible have a member of the Jewish or Israeli community in Pittsburgh to offer a mainstream point of view. And we were flat out rejected,” Roman told the Free Beacon. “We look forward to breaking bread with him if he changes his mind.” (Does it surprise anyone that a professor WHO doesn't want to hear another point of view?...OM)

Rubin did not respond to request for comment from the Free Beacon. However, according to Pittsburgh News, he recently said the pro-Israel community has “plenty of other” platforms to present its views.

“The goal of our project is to represent the voices of the people that we are working with, [the Palestinians], so it does not make sense to have someone from Israel on every one of the panels,” said Rubin. “We may have an Israeli perspective at some point, and I understand their desire to have their narrative told, but they have plenty of other formats to do that.”

Boas made a similar argument during his Conflict Kitchen lecture.

“For a lifetime we’ve been hearing one side,” said Boas, according to the Jewish Chronicle. “From the Jewish Chronicle to the New York Times. Why do we continually have to have balance and get into debates and have discussions?”

“Israel needs to be held accountable for what it’s done and what it’s doing,” Boas added. “This is not a symmetrical issue. Israel is the occupying force, and the Palestinians are the occupied people.”

Previously, Conflict Kitchen served Iranian food along with leaflets that included quotes that claimed a nuclear Iran would not be a threat and that the United States would profit from any military intervention.

“Iran should equally have the right to develop nuclear weapons,” said one quote on wrapper.

“In general, Iranian people have no issues with the Jews,” said another quote. “What Iranians resent is the creation of the state of Israel because of the disaster that it created for millions of Palestinians. To this day, Israel refuses to recognize the United Nation’s resolutions for Israel to leave the occupied lands.”

The Heinz Endowment was not listed as a supporter of Conflict Kitchen on the Iranian food wrapper.

According to Conflict Kitchen’s Palestinian leaflets, it also receives funding from the Sprout Fund, the Benter Foundation, and the Studio for Creative Inquiry. The Benter Foundation is run by horse-racing tycoon and Democracy Alliance member Bill Benter, who was revealed to be a major funder of liberal Middle East lobbying group J Street in 2010.

Source: http://freebeacon.com/national-security/kitchen-nightmares/

Democrats - Say One Thing to Get Elected, Do Another - HYPOCRITES

First socialist democrat candidate for U.S. Senator from Kentucky Alison Lundergan Grimes' campaign staff admits that Grimes is lying about her support for the coal industry here in KY.

Then one of her donors admits that after Grimes is elected she'll **** the coal industry.

Then she's too embarrassed to admit she voted for Obama in 2012.

Now we find out that her family's business not only just pays minimum wage but have items that degrade women.

Monday on CNN's "The Lead With Jake Tapper," the democrat candidate for U.S. Senator from Kentucky Alison Lundergan Grimes, who has been pushing for raising the minimum wage by saying, "I'm fighting for all Kentuckians, all working Americans across this nation. I don't believe $7.25 an hour raises a family of four above the poverty level," was taken to task for her families restaurant paying their employees only a minimum wage.

CNN's Chris Frates reported, "You might be surprised that Grimes' family business pays some tipped employees only minimum wage. Here in Kentucky, servers at, "Huge Jass Burgers," are making just $2.13 an hour. That's the minimum wage for tipped employees and it hasn't budged since the '90s. The minimum wage for workers who aren't making tips is $7.25 an hour, a figure that last increased five years ago."

According to CNN’s report, waiters at the “Hugh Jass Burgers” restaurant in Kentucky, Grimes’ family restaurant, make just $2.13, the minimum wage allowed to tipped employees since the 90’s.

“My family is not in this race, I’m on the ballot,” Grimes said in response to questions about her family’s compensation practices.

However, CNN found that Grimes is actually somewhat, if not directly, involved in the family’s restaurant, having done legal work for the business, like signing the lease agreement and representing the restaurant in a lawsuit.

The CNN report also notes that Grimes has attacked Republicans for sexism on the campaign trail, while her family’s restaurant menu uses double entendres that could be construed as demeaning to women.

On the menu at the restaurant are food items like “Charlotte’s Rack,” with the sub-header, “Sure to be voted ‘Biggest Rack,’” and “Abby’s Hugh Jass,” named after Grimes’ sister. The restaurant also sells a novelty cooking apron with the phrase, “Check out my buns,” printed across the front.

Grimes did not respond to a request for comment from CNN’s investigative team regarding the use of double entendres at the restaurant.

Source: The Riceman and http://davidwebbshow.com/2014/10/cnn-grimes-family-business-only-pays-minimum-wage/

"We Need Reinforcements"...Gunny Sends

Source: Mike Shelton

Since Ebola, the Elections and the VA Scandal have overtaken the news cycle. WHAT the VA Scandal has "disappeared"? Oh, forgot, the Critters through more money at it and replaced the "captain" of the Titanic so all is fixed. NOT!

 With all of this, I feel like Marine Colonel Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War in 1950:

"We’ve been looking for the enemy for several days now. We’ve finally found them. We are surrounded. That simplifies the problem of getting to these people and killing them.”

I am not looking for the enemy, I have found them and they are the American sheeple. Instead of physically killing them, I would prefer to kill their lack on focus with information and here's where I'll need you, the readers help, but more on that in a minute.

Some may be wondering how does Ebola, the upcoming elections and the VA Scandal intertwine.

EBOLA

Boo Boo is sending 3900+ troops including the National Guard to the Ebola "Hot Zone", in fact a hundred Marines have been there since the 10th of October.

Now, looking at the chaos & panic that just 3 Ebola victims in the U.S. has caused within the healthcare system, can you just imagine what will happen if just, GOD FORBID, 2 or 3 of the original 100 Marines get exposed or worst yet one percent of the 3900 troops (39 for the sheeple) get exposed. How are those brave troops going to be treated? What about the troop's families? Are the base hospitals READY for this possibility? IS the VA system? Is our healthcare system?

The Election

There is nothing we, The PEOPLE, can do about the Clown in Chief and his complete incompetence concerning national security, ISIS or Ebola, BUT we, the PEOPLE can elect / reelect Senators / Representatives that will do something like securing our borders or stopping air travel from the "Hot Zone".

After all, it seems that Socialists  Democrats seem to back Boo Boo's Politically correct misjudgment at putting in to place a travel ban from the Ebola "Hot Zones".

What can we, the PEOPLE, do? Get out and vote, as the the old saying goes "kick the bums out".

The VA Scandal

As I pointed out, our troops are in the "Hot Zone" and some may return in fairly good shape and decide to leave the military.

Ebola may be laying dormant, no one really knows, so say in six months, a young Marine vet wakes up, he feels like chit and decides to go to the VA, since he can't afford healthcare under Obamacare or he's unemployed because of the Socialists Democrats backing Obama's non economical policy.

Our young Marine gets to the VA and there he sits, feeling worst as every minute passes.

Finally he is told that he has to make an appointment for two weeks later. That two weeks stretches into a month and unfortunately, our young Marine passes, cause of death, a new strain of EBOLA.

Now, here is where I need reinforcements and it won't cost a cent.

Since Montel Williams, Glenn Beck, O'Reilly and other talking heads have dropped the ball on the VA Scandal, it is up to we, the PEOPLE, to pick up the ball and run with it.

How? Lets start simple by keeping eye out for articles, news reports on the VA hospitals in your area. IF there is any information, good or bad, get it out there.

IF you need a place to post it, let me know. I'll be more then happy to post it here, full credit will be given. Just post links information in the comments section.

IF the talking heads, politicians won't follow up, We will.

"Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory." General George S. Patton

Semper Fi!

CDC Waste

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) claims their mission is to "collaborate to create the expertise, information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health…"

And with a budget of $10.6 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2011, and a requested budget of $11.3 billion for FY 2012, they should be well equipped to fulfill said mission.

However, it appears yet again that the officials in charge of making important regulatory decisions that impact your health are masters of poor judgment calls, and in some cases, outright fraud.

A report released under the direction of Senator Tom Coburn, CDC Off Center, reveals that the agency in charge of "fighting and preventing disease" has frittered away hundreds of millions of tax dollars for outrageous purchases and unsuccessful prevention efforts, while at the same time failing to control disease.

This report was released in June 2007, but it got little attention in the press. And the truth is, most Americans still believe the CDC is doing a fine job at protecting their health. That's why I feel it's important to revisit this now, so more Americans can get a clearer picture of what the CDC is really about …

CDC Funds Used for Erotic Writing Classes, Bar Night, Porn Star …

The CDC's budget may not seem outrageous initially, considering the formidable task they are undertaking, but a closer review reveals lavish spending and questionable judgment are more the norm than the exception at the CDC. For instance, the report reveals the following about the CDC's spending habits:

• CDC's Arlen Specter Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center cost nearly $110 million – including $10 million in furniture
• CDC spent $106 million on the Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications & Visitor Center, when it already had one
• CDC built a $200,000 fitness center (inside a $21-milllion CDC building) that has $30,000 saunas, zero-gravity chairs, and mood-enhancing light shows

Perhaps you can justify the need for the preeminent health agency in the United States to have state-of-the-art buildings … but I challenge you to find a way to justify the spending of the CDC-funded Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco, California, which allegedly included:

• A "Men for Hire" event, with the featured speaker Joseph Itiel, who, according to the report it was advertised, "presents practical tips and covers the seven guidelines for safe and friendly relations with escorts."
• A two-hour workshop on how to "flirt with greater finesse."
• A four-part erotic writing workshop
• A magazine, which included such articles as "Party at BJ's," which explained how to have a "house party" and how much alcohol to serve
• A bar night for HIV-positive men. As the report pointed out, "To recap: a group that receives federal funds spends money to target not only a high-risk population, but one actually carrying the communicable disease HIV, and hosts the targeted event at a bar with alcohol, a known risk factor for spreading HIV."

Other groups have also used CDC funds to host a safe-sex event that featured a porn star dressed in a towel and cowboy boots, as well as, a transgender beauty pageant, As the report stated:

"Instead of focusing efforts on partner-notification, risk avoidance, early diagnosis through routine testing, and other proven epidemiological approaches for preventing the spread of communicable diseases, all too often many of CDC's largest grantees were hosting events that produced questionable, if any, results and in some cases promoted activities in direct contradiction with known risk-behaviors for spreading the disease.

One of CDC's largest HIV/AIDS grantees was cited for actually using CDC prevention funds to encourage sexual behavior. CDC guidelines for AIDS assistance programs direct that no funds are to "be used to provide education or information designed to promote or encourage, directly, homosexual or heterosexual sexual activity or intravenous substance abuse."

They further note that this shall "not be construed to restrict the ability of an education program to provide accurate information about … [AIDS], provided that any informational materials used are not obscene." After years of congressional inquiry, CDC finally sent a warning letter to the offending group whose activities were encouraging sexual behavior."

CDC Spends $1.7 Million for "Hollywood Liaison"

This is part of the CDC Entertainment Education Program, which makes sure that when your favorite TV shows feature a health topic, that information is accurate, or at least "CDC-approved." As the report notes, this includes consulting at a rate of nearly $6,000 per television episode, as well as:

"CDC officials persuaded producers of NBC's "ER" to place a condom poster on the set "as a roundabout way of getting the health message to TV viewers," and made sure that a bioterrorism 92 scenario on Fox's "24" is accurate. CDC also makes sure the proper federal agency is referenced in a show, trying to correct past mistakes where one show depicted NIH personnel doing tasks that would more likely have been the CDC's responsibility.

And all these resources are provided to the entertainment industry free of charge, courtesy of four federal health agencies spending American tax dollars."

And let's also not forget the CDC has established an awards program for TV shows to honor those that feature accurate health themes, judged by none other than CDC and NCI health experts.

What about Disease Prevention?

Of course, the real question is whether the CDC is making a dent in the rising disease rates across the United States, and the answer appears to be a resounding no …

For instance, the report noted that after the CDC announced plans to eliminate syphilis, five years later the rate had increased 68 percent among men. Then there was the $335 million kid-targeted media campaign to fight obesity, which had unknown health impacts, and obesity rates are still rising.

The report explains:

" … while CDC has been given millions, and in some cases billions, of dollars to help prevent certain diseases among Americans, for many of these diseases the rates have not decreased, but have stayed the same or even increased under CDC's watch. In the case of HIV, despite spending billions of dollars, CDC cannot even report how many Americans have the communicable disease."

The CDC is also the mastermind behind many questionable public health initiatives … like the 2009 H1N1 swine flu debacle. As you may recall, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic turned out to be a complete sham, with a fast-tracked and particularly dangerous vaccine being pushed as the sole remedy.

Children and pregnant women were the primary targets of this dangerous vaccine. The H1N1 flu was a perfect example of how the CDC can brazenly distort reality, and often ignore and deny the dangerous and life-threatening side effects of their solution. As a result of this bogus propaganda campaign, thousands of people were harmed (and many died) worldwide.

CDC is No Stranger to Fraud, Questionable Integrity

Unfortunately, the CDC's insults to taxpayers do not stop at lavish spending but rather extend to questionable ethics and integrity -- even outright fraud. For instance, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show that since the 1970's, the dental health professionals in the CDC have had sole control over the agency's stance supporting water fluoridation. 

The CDC is part of a larger administrative structure that provides intra-agency support and resource sharing for health issues that require the input from more than one area of expertise. Other offices that share information and expertise with the CDC include the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office of Minority Health and Health Equity, and the Agency for Toxic Substances.

The general assumption has been that the agency used a broad range of expert input to evaluate fluoride before reaching the decision to support water fluoridation.

Yet the documents show that no CDC toxicologists, minority health professionals, experts in diabetes, or others outside the Oral Health Division had any input into the agency's position.

This flies in the face of what the agency claims, and what water, health,  and political leaders have believed about the way the CDC operates. Without these additional experts from other fields, can we reasonably believe that the agency has properly assessed the research on whole-body harm from fluoridation? The documents have drawn attention to the CDC's and the EPA's fluoride safety statements, which appear completely at odds with current scientific knowledge, and the fact that no outside experts from related fields were ever included may very well explain this discrepancy.

Another shocking case involving the CDC is that of Dr. Poul Thorsen, who, after being found to have falsified documents, was indicted on fraud, money laundering and tax evasion after stealing somewhere between $1-2 million in research grant money from the CDC.

Here you might wonder why I'm faulting the CDC, as the organization was the victim of fraud.

The reason I fault them is because they hired Dr. Thorsen to debunk the link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism—which he did to their satisfaction. However, CDC officials may have played a significant role in "guiding" this research to their desired end, and now that Thorsen has been exposed as a fraud, the agency still upholds his research as being of high caliber. (Thorsen's research center, the North Atlantic Epidemiology Alliances (NANEA), has also received $14.6 million from the CDC since 2002, according to The Huffington Post.

Many of the resulting "research" studies from NANEA have been used to support supposed vaccine safety.)

And then there is Dr. Kimberly Quinlan Lindsey, a top official with the CDC who has recently been arrested and charged withtwo counts of child molestation and one count of bestiality. Dr. Lindsey, who joined the CDC in 1999, is currently the deputy director for the Laboratory Science Policy and Practice Program Office. She's second in command of the program office.

As an official in charge of CDC health recommendations for all American children, her alleged actions raise troublesome questions about her level of concern for the health and well-being of children in general.

Who is Holding the CDC Accountable?

It seems no one, and therein lies the problem, as it is the CDC who is supposed to be looking out for your health.

So, who can you trust?

I would recommend trusting yourself. Do your own research, and make your own decisions accordingly. I urge you -- for your health's sake -- to consider what the motivating force is behind the messages you hear, even if they come from "trusted" sources like the CDC. You've got to think about who's gaining what from their recommendations, and then ultimately use your own judgment.

I'm reminded of a popular quote by Buddha, which sums this up nicely:

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it -- even if I have said it -- unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

Source:  Dr. Mercola at http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/28/cdc-waste-funds-for-disease-prevention.aspx