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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Bush Administration BUSTED for SHABBY TREATMENT of wounded Veterans!
Good afternoon Bob,
Let me say that I highly appreciated and agreed with your reasoning and conclusions as stated, except that I now feel compelled to defend my beliefs as expressed in “Truth,” which is posted at
http://com3.runboard.com/btheowlsnest.f5.t67
Although I was raised and schooled as a Roman Catholic, my separate and independent researches into the religions and the physical sciences, combined with my involuntarily inherited obsessions and intelligence, had firmly and unchangeably convinced me that there had to be and has to be the Creator (”God,” “Allah,” or any others of the names assigned to Him by humans), and that He did and does have a purpose and a plan for this world and the next, but that it goes against His discernible nature and principles to “painfully punish” those of us who fail to reach the next phase of His eternal plan via a continuous bloodline reaching into the “end generation” of all-knowing and all-wise humans.
So, even in my beliefs, I know that the Bushes, their ilk and their descents, are doomed to “enjoy” only this life (to the respective extents that their “nagging consciences” will allow), which life is analogous to a mere “blink of the eye” in comparison with “Eternity”.
I can see no chances that their physical and spiritual genes will be carried forth for many generations via their children and descents from their children. For an immediate example, look to Vice-president Cheney, whose only child is a lesbian and thus his “final heir,” along with the fact that his rapidly-failing health is preventing him from personally enjoying his ill-gotten gains.
With all respect for your religion and the very wise Jesus upon whose perfect philosophy it was based, and with the same respect toward Aaron’s religion and Moses,
Joseph
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3/31/2007, 1:24 pm
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Incog4
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Re: Bush Administration BUSTED for SHABBY TREATMENT of wounded Veterans!
quote:
insider3 wrote:
Aaron, sometimes you say more in fewer words than even Joseph does, as in your post immediately above this, "describing" President Bush.
To a casual reader, it might seem that Joseph and you are basing your assessments of Bush upon ONLY his words and actions in connection with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that you are "calling him names" ONLY because of the soldiers and civilians who lay dead or maimed in the wake of those wars.
But, to the thousands of us who have read MOST of this "multi-faceted" web site, including the section about victimized Children and Families, in which the FINANCIAL connections between the "child-snatching" industry and the Bush FAMILIES are detailed and documented, it is quite clear that personal profiteering at the expense of dire suffering by non-related others has been a TRADITIONAL "family value" of the Bushes.
Unlike Joseph (according to his essay entitled "Truth"), but like you Aaron, I believe in the concept of "Hell," as a place of eternal punishment for ESPECIALLY the souls of monsters who grew exceedingly wealthy and powerful in this mortal coil by EXPLOITING opportunities to profit from the suffering and deaths of poor and powerless INNOCENTS of all ages, nationalities and religions.
So in my widely shared opinion, the Bushes and their cronies, along with all others who have profited from the unholy schemes and wars of OUR times, have "reservations made" for their souls in the never-ending afterlife, where they will be sharing the company of their ilk from ALL OTHER times in the history and future of mankind.
As you might deduce from this post, I am an actual and practicing Christian, and I just got home from church and lunch. Today's sermon happened to be on the subject of the wars in the Middle East and America's parts in them, and, judging from their reactions, it appeared that the entire congregation is AGAINST the Bush Administration, even though THE BULK of us are employed by the Federal government.
Bob
Hi again Bob,
First let me say that Joseph and I have "gone round and round" about our conflicting concepts of the afterlife, but that I ran out of arguments against his conclusion that "mortal sinners" are doomed to only "eternal oblivion," like so many sperms that fail to swim fast enough and straight enough to be first to reach and fertilize a woman's egg.
But this is about a point of curiosity that you raised in your quoted post, to wit; What were you doing in church on a Saturday instead of a Sunday? Are you a member of the Seventh-day Adventist religion?
Aaron
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4/1/2007, 3:01 pm
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insider3
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Re: Bush Administration BUSTED for SHABBY TREATMENT of wounded Veterans!
Sorry for the confusion, Aaron.
Saturday's was a special commemorative service for the war-dead. We were all back for regular service on Sunday.
Bob
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4/2/2007, 9:16 am
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Incog4
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Re: Bush Administration BUSTED for SHABBY TREATMENT of wounded Veterans!
Independent Medical Review Group Presents Preliminary Conclusions
By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
Apr 12, 2007 - 6:11:09 PM
Blackanthem Military News, WASHINGTON, D.C. – The problems wounded servicemembers and their families experienced at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here are systemic, members of the Independent Review Group said here yesterday.
The group met with members of the Defense Health Board and presented preliminary conclusions at a meeting at the hospital.
"There has always been an American ethic and that ethic is that America always takes care of its wounded," said John O. Marsh, co-chairman of the group and former Army secretary. "We've got be certain that we always emphasize that ethic."
The group is looking exclusively at conditions Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md. Yet the group's finding indicate problems beyond the two flagship military medical centers.
"We have reason to think that the observations we make are systemic," Marsh said. "We did encounter indications that some of the problems ... do exist in other medical facilities of our armed forces."
Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo West, co-chairman of the group, said there were failures of leadership at Walter Reed. Army Secretary Francis Harvey, Army Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, and Walter Reed Commander Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman were fired for those failures.
West said there was a "virtually incomprehensible inattention to non-medical facilities," and an "almost palpable disdain" for the long-term treatment that outpatients need.
Marsh said the circumstances at Walter Reed created a "perfect storm." The Army did not expect the number of injured from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army officials did not invest in the Walter Reed facility once it was placed on the base realignment and closure list, and they tried to fill the void by hiring contractors to provide critical outpatient services. Medical personnel did not understand how to cope or treat servicemembers affected by traumatic brain injuries from improvised explosive devices and post-traumatic stress disorder. Finally, there is a systemic breakdown of the disability review process.
The group will recommend speeding up closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, West said. Under the base realignment and closure commission, Walter Reed and Bethesda are to be consolidated in Bethesda and the whole complex named the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The group recommends speeding up construction at Bethesda and ensuring that there is no "dying on the vine" for the facilities at Walter Reed until the complex is open. This will require funding improvements at a facility that is due to close, group officials said.
The group will recommend more money to research traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. Medical personnel need to know the best diagnostic tools and treatments for these conditions.
The group will recommend more case workers for out-patient servicemembers, and better training for the case workers. The group will also study what part contracting-out played in the hospital's "perfect storm."
Finally, the group is unanimous regarding the disability review process, West said. "The horrors that are inflicted on our wounded servicemembers and their families in the name of physical disability review, simply must be fixed," he said.
All servicemembers go through three separate board proceedings to determine disability. In the Army it is four proceedings. There are different stands and results from these boards and they appear "wildly incomprehensible" to wounded servicemembers and their families, West said.
The system needs to be combined and consolidated into a reasonable process from the servicemembers point of view, West said.
"To be sure it was the degradation of the physical facilities that caught the eye of the media," West said. "Important as that is, we believe there is far more important things to be dealt with here than applying paint or crawling around basements to deal with electrical problems.
"This is our bottom line: We are the United States of America," he continued. "These are our sons and daughters and sisters, uncle and aunt, maybe even a grandparent or two. ... Their families are our families. We are their neighbors. Their anguish is ours. We can and must do better."
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4/15/2007, 12:49 pm
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Bush Administration BUSTED for SHABBY TREATMENT of wounded Veterans!
Classify this shameful information as “Adding insult to injury of America’s wounded Vets!”
Joseph
-------------------------------------
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1617205,00.html
Thursday, May. 03, 2007
Veterans Affairs Bonuses Questioned
By AP/HOPE YEN
Months after a politically embarrassing $1 billion shortfall that put veterans' health care in peril, Veterans Affairs officials involved in the foul-up got hefty bonuses ranging up to $33,000.
The list of bonuses to senior career officials at the Veterans Affairs Department in 2006, obtained by The Associated Press, documents a generous package of more than $3.8 million in payments by a financially strapped agency straining to help care for thousands of injured veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among those receiving payments were a deputy assistant secretary and several regional directors who crafted the VA's flawed budget for 2005 based on misleading accounting. They received performance payments up to $33,000 each, a figure equal to about 20 percent of their annual salaries.
Also receiving a top bonus was the deputy undersecretary for benefits, who helps manage a disability claims system that has a backlog of cases and delays averaging 177 days in getting benefits to injured veterans.
The bonuses were awarded even after government investigators had determined the VA repeatedly miscalculated — if not deliberately misled taxpayers — with questionable methods used to justify Bush administration cuts to health care amid a burgeoning Iraq war. Annual bonuses to senior VA officials now average more than $16,000 — the most lucrative in government. The VA said the payments are necessary to retain hardworking career officials.
Several watchdog groups questioned the practice. They cited short-staffing and underfunding at VA clinics that have become particularly evident after recent disclosures of shoddy outpatient treatment of injured troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
"Hundreds of thousands of our veterans remain homeless every day and hundreds of thousands more veterans wait six months or more for VA disability claim decisions," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense. "The lavish amounts of VA bonus cash would be better spent on a robust plan to cut VA red tape."
Sen. Daniel Akaka, chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said the payments pointed to an improper "entitlement for the most centrally placed or well-connected staff."
Seeking an explanation from Secretary Jim Nicholson, Akaka also asked the department to outline steps to address disparities in which Washington-based senior officials got higher payments than their counterparts elsewhere. "Awards should be determined according to performance," said Akaka, D-Hawaii.
A VA spokesman, Matt Burns, said the department was reviewing Akaka's request. Burns contended that many of the senior officials had been with the department for years, with an expertise that could not be replicated immediately if they were to leave for the more profitable private sector. "Rewarding knowledgeable and professional career public servants is entirely appropriate," he said. "The importance of retaining committed career leaders in any government organization cannot be overstated."
The bonuses are determined by the heads of the VA's various divisions, based in part on performance evaluations. All requests are submitted to Nicholson for final approval.
In July 2005, the VA stunned Congress by suddenly announcing it faced a $1 billion shortfall after failing to take into account the additional cost of caring for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. The admission, months after the department insisted it was operating within its means and did not need additional money, drew harsh criticism from both parties and some calls for Nicholson's resignation.
The investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, determined the VA had used misleading accounting methods and claimed false savings of more than $1.3 billion, apparently because President Bush was not willing, at the time, to ask Congress for more money.
According to the White House Office of Personnel Management, roughly three of every four senior officials at the VA have received some kind of bonus each year. In recent years, the payment amount has steadily increased from being one of the lowest in government — $8,120 in 2002 — to the most generous — $16,713 in 2005.
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5/8/2007, 6:43 am
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Bush Administration BUSTED for SHABBY TREATMENT of wounded Veterans!
Military.com
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,135998,00.html
Were VA Bonuses Bogus?
Associated Press | May 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - The Veterans Affairs Department said Wednesday it has asked an oversight agency to review the way the VA handed out $3.8 million in bonuses to senior officials last year.
Michael Kussman, the acting undersecretary for health, said VA Secretary Jim Nicholson made the request to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management after government watchdogs questioned the propriety of the awards, some of which went to senior officials involved in crafting a budget that came up $1.3 billion short and jeopardized veterans' health care.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that 21 of 32 officials who were members of VA performance review boards - the bodies charged with overseeing bonuses - received more than half a million dollars in payments themselves.
"The secretary has asked OPM to come and look at the process," Kussman said at a Senate hearing. He would not say whether the VA should put outsiders on the boards to ensure impartiality and boost public confidence in the system.
In its last known report on the issue - one involving NASA - the Government Accountability Office in 1980 urged that performance boards add credibility and objectivity to their decisions by including "one or more impartial members from outside the agency," although agencies are not required to do so.
With the exception of a panel tasked with reviewing the VA inspector general's office, all the VA's performance board members come from within the agency.
A House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight is scheduled to hold hearings soon to investigate more than $3.8 million in bonuses awarded last year.
Groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have called on Nicholson to explain why officials involved in budget foul-ups would be rewarded. The VA says the bonuses are need to retain hardworking senior officials.
Related Article: VA Bonus Winners Sat on Review Boards
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,135877,00.html
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5/17/2007, 7:51 am
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Joseph Sarandos
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Re: Bush Administration BUSTED for SHABBY TREATMENT of wounded Veterans!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/14/AR2007061401643_pf.html
Army Plans to Hire More Psychiatrists
PAULINE JELINEK
The Associated Press
Friday, June 15, 2007; 2:30 AM
WASHINGTON -- Overwhelmed by the number of soldiers returning from war with mental problems, the Army is planning to hire at least 25 percent more psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers.
A contract finalized this week but not yet announced calls for spending $33 million to add about 200 mental health professionals to help soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health needs, officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.
"As the war has gone on, PTSD and other psychological effects of war have increased," said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army surgeon general.
"The number of (mental health workers) that was adequate for a peacetime military is not adequate for a nation that's been at war," she said in an interview.
The new hiring, which she said could begin immediately, is part of a wider plan of action the Army has laid out to improve health care to wounded or ill veterans and their families. It also comes as the Defense Department completes a wider mental health study _ the latest in a series over recent months that has found services for troops have been inadequate.
Ritchie said long and repeat deployments caused by extended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are causing more mental strain on troops. "At the time that the war began, I don't think anybody anticipated how long it would be going on," she said.
Surveys of troops in Iraq have shown that 15 percent to 20 percent of Army soldiers have signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress, which can cause flashbacks of traumatic combat experiences and other severe reactions.
About 35 percent of soldiers are seeking some kind of mental health treatment a year after returning home under a program that screens returning troops for physical and mental health.
The military has seen a number of high-profile incidents of alleged abuse in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the killings of 24 civilians by Marines, the rape and killing of a 14-year-old girl and the slaying of her family and the sexual humiliation of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. Officials and military analysts have blamed ethics lapses partly on the strain of combat and insufficient training troops got before being sent to the battlefront.
Ritchie said the 200 new medical health workers will be added to more than 600 uniformed and civilian mental health professionals now working at three dozen Army medical centers and hospitals.
The Army also is planning a number of other improvements, such as streamlining bureaucracy that vets must go through to get care and adding more lawyers and other workers to help them and their families.
A report from a Defense Department task force released Thursday also found "current efforts fall significantly short" in providing help for troops.
"The psychological health needs of America's military service members, their families and their survivors pose a daunting and growing challenge to the Department of Defense," it said.
The task force was required by Congress under in 2006 law.
Also on Thursday, a Senate panel voted to expand brain screenings and counseling for wounded veterans of the Iraq war and to reduce red tape for service members moving from Pentagon to Veterans Affairs care.
The bill, approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee, also would boost disability pay and provide more counseling for family members of tens of thousands of U.S. service members wounded in combat.
The action, which sends the bill to the Senate floor, capped a flurry of activity in recent weeks to reach broad agreement on a single measure that would improve health care following reports of shoddy outpatient treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Separately, the VA said that it would bolster programs to prevent suicide among veterans by hiring additional counselors at each of its 153 medical centers after an internal review found that current VA programs were inadequate.
The unspecified number of new counselors would join 9,000 mental health professionals already employed by the VA to help veterans.
Meanwhile, the White House has backed away from earlier threats to veto a spending bill containing $4 billion more than President Bush sought for veterans' health care.
Just last month, White House budget director Rob Portman pledged that Bush would veto bills from Congress that would break through Bush's budget caps.
The House is slated on Friday to take up the $64.7 billion measure, which also funds military base construction. A companion Senate bill sailed through the Appropriations Committee Thursday afternoon.
___
Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Hope Yen and Robert Burns contributed to this report.
© 2007 The Associated Press
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6/15/2007, 6:46 am
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