December 17, 2010
Melvin Biddle, Medal of Honor recipient, dead at 87
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON, Ind. — Melvin Biddle, the soft-spoken Central Indiana native who went on to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in World War II’s infamous Battle of the Bulge, died Friday at Saint John’s Medical Center. He was 87.
Melvin Biddle, MOH, dead at 87
From MSNBC
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Fearless woman helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder
Researchers have been trying to block experiences from this part of the brain for a very long time but in the process they need to know what else they will be preventing as a part of the human mind is supposed to function in harmony with other parts of the brain. Fear is not the enemy to defeat but overcoming it is the key they should be looking for.
Fearless woman helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder
By William Atkins
Sunday, 19 December 2010 00:41
Science - Health
Page 1 of 3
American researchers are studying a woman nicknamed "SM" who is without fear, with the hope they can learn how to better treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients.
The research is written in the journal Current Biology. It is entitled “The Human Amygdala and the Induction and Experience of Fear” (December 16, 2010)
The authors are Justin S. Feinstein, Ralph Adolphs, Antonio Damasio, and Daniel Tranel, either from the University of Iowa (Iowa City) or the University of Southern California (Los Angeles).
The woman, who has been nicknamed “SM,” has amygdale damage caused by Urbach-Wiethy disease.
Amygdala (nucleus amygdae) is an almond-shaped structure within the medial temporal lobes of the brain. It is used to process memories of emotional reactions, such as fear in animals including humans.
read more here
Fearless woman helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder
Bringing homeless veterans indoors
Bringing veterans indoors
By Mark Emmons
memmons@mercurynews.com
Posted: 12/18/2010 12:02:00 AM PST
Updated: 12/18/2010 03:51:24 AM PST
Larry Morrison pulls a key chain from his pocket. Attached is one of his Army dog tags, so shiny that it appears almost brand new. There's also a pair of worn St. Christopher medals.
They honor two close friends who didn't come home with him from the Vietnam War.
"You never forget," said Morrison, 60. "But just in case, I have these."
Like many of his generation, Morrison returned from Southeast Asia a changed man after a 22-month tour of duty. Plagued by post-traumatic stress disorder, he would self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, trying to ease the episodes of apprehension and fear that would flare up unexpectedly. His downward spiral hit bottom with a year spent homeless on South Bay streets.
But in July, at the suggestion of a San Jose police officer, an ill and exhausted Morrison arrived at the EHC LifeBuilders' Veterans Service Center in San Jose. Morrison received shelter, food, medical treatment and something else:
A renewed sense of hope.
"This is a good place," he said. "They've showed me the path here. They've put me on the onramp, and I'm trying to get back to life's highway. They really care."
Homelessness is a persistent problem that hasn't been made any easier by the terrible economy. But it's a particularly vexing issue for veterans.
An estimated 107,000 vets experienced homelessness in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Although those numbers are a sharp decline from earlier in the decade, veterans still represent 13 percent of the country's homeless population.
read more here
Bringing veterans indoors
By Mark Emmons
memmons@mercurynews.com
Posted: 12/18/2010 12:02:00 AM PST
Updated: 12/18/2010 03:51:24 AM PST
Larry Morrison pulls a key chain from his pocket. Attached is one of his Army dog tags, so shiny that it appears almost brand new. There's also a pair of worn St. Christopher medals.
They honor two close friends who didn't come home with him from the Vietnam War.
"You never forget," said Morrison, 60. "But just in case, I have these."
Like many of his generation, Morrison returned from Southeast Asia a changed man after a 22-month tour of duty. Plagued by post-traumatic stress disorder, he would self-medicate with drugs and alcohol, trying to ease the episodes of apprehension and fear that would flare up unexpectedly. His downward spiral hit bottom with a year spent homeless on South Bay streets.
But in July, at the suggestion of a San Jose police officer, an ill and exhausted Morrison arrived at the EHC LifeBuilders' Veterans Service Center in San Jose. Morrison received shelter, food, medical treatment and something else:
A renewed sense of hope.
"This is a good place," he said. "They've showed me the path here. They've put me on the onramp, and I'm trying to get back to life's highway. They really care."
Homelessness is a persistent problem that hasn't been made any easier by the terrible economy. But it's a particularly vexing issue for veterans.
An estimated 107,000 vets experienced homelessness in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Although those numbers are a sharp decline from earlier in the decade, veterans still represent 13 percent of the country's homeless population.
read more here
Bringing veterans indoors
VA says PTSD claims up 125%
VA says PTSD claims up 125%
December 18, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie
This is just the beginning. You may think that nine years after troops were sent into Afghanistan that this would be close to the end but then you’d have to think that all other veterans had been taken care of. The fact is, they haven’t been. There were many Vietnam veterans unaware of what was “wrong” with them along with many more wanting nothing to do with the VA. They had heard horror stories about claims being denied leading them to believe they would be subjecting themselves to even more suffering turning to the government they no longer trusted. All of this topped off with the stigma hanging over their heads of being labeled as a “mental cases” or “crazy Nam vet” not worth much at all. It has taken over 40 years to make up for one year of their lives in hell yet there are many more who have not gotten the message yet that help and hope is waiting for them.
The other issue is that they know they will have to wait in a very long, ever growing, line. They will stand behind a quarter of a million men and women waiting over 125 days just to be told if their claim is approved or not. Most of the time when it is finally approved, they do not receive the 100% for a service connected disability like PTSD preventing them from working. They have to fight for the rest of the percentage they should be entitled to. Others will wait until their claim works to the top of the pile only to be informed their claim has been denied or more paperwork is needed to be done.
PTSD claims alone have increased 125% and there have been 200,000 new Agent Orange-related claims, only 30,000 of which have been decided, the department said.
New claims flow into the sea of other claims from other groups of veterans because when men and women were sent into combat, no one thought to make sure the VA was ready for the increase in need war would create.
In combat, the only safe emotion is anger. When PTSD takes over, that is the strongest emotion allowed to come out. The extra battle of fighting the VA feeds anger at the same time it robs them of hope. Advocates tell them the sooner they get treated the better but what we don’t tell them is they will go through hell to get treated. We don’t tell them that while they are suffering, seeing it all turn to crap, they will have to face months, if not years, of fighting the VA to get it. We won’t tell them that getting the help they need may take longer than the reason they need help in the first place.
For Vietnam veterans, most of them served 12 months overseas. One year in hell caused a lifetime of suffering in far too many. According to a 1978 publication from the Disabled American Veterans’ study, Readjustment Problems Among Vietnam Veterans by Jim Goodwin Psy.D, there were well known issues that have since been forgotten as if none of these studies had ever been published. While veterans wait, millions are wasted on repeating what was already known. By 1978 there were 500,000 Vietnam veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder even though the VA had no yet accepted the term. These men and many female veterans ended up fighting to heal at the same time they spent years trying to get the VA to help them heal, which made it all worse.
Trauma is Greek meaning “wound” and it was used because PTSD comes from an outside force after exposure to life threatening events. It really means a wound to a person’s emotional part of their brain caused by the stressful situations creating disorder. In other words, had they lived without the traumas of combat, or in the case of civilians without exposure to other causes, they would not be suffering. But the process of filing claims with the VA and then waiting for their claims to be approved adds more trauma into their lives instead of easing their already wounded minds. If help was waiting for them there would have been less chronically ill lacking the ability to support themselves. It all gets worse as time goes by because what happens in their lives adds to it. The last thing they need is a prolonged battle with the VA.
read more here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/12/18/va-says-ptsd-claims-up-125/
December 18, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie
This is just the beginning. You may think that nine years after troops were sent into Afghanistan that this would be close to the end but then you’d have to think that all other veterans had been taken care of. The fact is, they haven’t been. There were many Vietnam veterans unaware of what was “wrong” with them along with many more wanting nothing to do with the VA. They had heard horror stories about claims being denied leading them to believe they would be subjecting themselves to even more suffering turning to the government they no longer trusted. All of this topped off with the stigma hanging over their heads of being labeled as a “mental cases” or “crazy Nam vet” not worth much at all. It has taken over 40 years to make up for one year of their lives in hell yet there are many more who have not gotten the message yet that help and hope is waiting for them.
The other issue is that they know they will have to wait in a very long, ever growing, line. They will stand behind a quarter of a million men and women waiting over 125 days just to be told if their claim is approved or not. Most of the time when it is finally approved, they do not receive the 100% for a service connected disability like PTSD preventing them from working. They have to fight for the rest of the percentage they should be entitled to. Others will wait until their claim works to the top of the pile only to be informed their claim has been denied or more paperwork is needed to be done.
PTSD claims alone have increased 125% and there have been 200,000 new Agent Orange-related claims, only 30,000 of which have been decided, the department said.
New claims flow into the sea of other claims from other groups of veterans because when men and women were sent into combat, no one thought to make sure the VA was ready for the increase in need war would create.
Veterans Affairs faces daunting job of reducing medical claims backlogWhile they wait, bills are not paid if they are unable to work. This adds to the long list of symptoms PTSD comes with. Depression is part of PTSD. Waiting month after month to hear if their service will be honored or not feeds depression along with paranoia because they know what the truth is and justice would not allow them to suffer instead of being taken care of. They see their families suffer because they can no longer provide for them. This builds all of the other symptoms of PTSD as they feel their lives are being threatened while watching it all fall apart.
From Jennifer Rizzo, CNN National Security Producer
December 17, 2010 11:20 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A quarter-million medical claims have been in the system for 125-plus days, official says
Secretary Shinsheki had vowed to eliminate that delay time by year’s end
Changes in guidelines contributed to a higher number of claims
Washington (CNN) — Veteran claims for medical benefits are still piled high at the Veterans Affairs Department, despite a major push from the secretary of the department for quicker claims processing.
There are a quarter of a million claims in the system that have not been assessed within 125 days of being filed, according to Mike Walcoff, acting under secretary for benefits. Backlogged claims amount to more than one-third of the cases in the system, a similar ratio to last year.
Veterans Affairs faces daunting job of reducing medical claims backlog
In combat, the only safe emotion is anger. When PTSD takes over, that is the strongest emotion allowed to come out. The extra battle of fighting the VA feeds anger at the same time it robs them of hope. Advocates tell them the sooner they get treated the better but what we don’t tell them is they will go through hell to get treated. We don’t tell them that while they are suffering, seeing it all turn to crap, they will have to face months, if not years, of fighting the VA to get it. We won’t tell them that getting the help they need may take longer than the reason they need help in the first place.
For Vietnam veterans, most of them served 12 months overseas. One year in hell caused a lifetime of suffering in far too many. According to a 1978 publication from the Disabled American Veterans’ study, Readjustment Problems Among Vietnam Veterans by Jim Goodwin Psy.D, there were well known issues that have since been forgotten as if none of these studies had ever been published. While veterans wait, millions are wasted on repeating what was already known. By 1978 there were 500,000 Vietnam veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder even though the VA had no yet accepted the term. These men and many female veterans ended up fighting to heal at the same time they spent years trying to get the VA to help them heal, which made it all worse.
Trauma is Greek meaning “wound” and it was used because PTSD comes from an outside force after exposure to life threatening events. It really means a wound to a person’s emotional part of their brain caused by the stressful situations creating disorder. In other words, had they lived without the traumas of combat, or in the case of civilians without exposure to other causes, they would not be suffering. But the process of filing claims with the VA and then waiting for their claims to be approved adds more trauma into their lives instead of easing their already wounded minds. If help was waiting for them there would have been less chronically ill lacking the ability to support themselves. It all gets worse as time goes by because what happens in their lives adds to it. The last thing they need is a prolonged battle with the VA.
read more here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/12/18/va-says-ptsd-claims-up-125/
Friday, December 17, 2010
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
By Frederik Joelving
NEW YORK | Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:08pm EST
(Reuters Health) - Chris Cramer, 62, was a fledgling war correspondent when one spring day 30 years ago he got much closer to the battle than he'd ever intended.
Just back from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, his boss at the BBC had asked him to fly to Tehran, where militants were holding dozens of Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy.
But as he went to pick up his visa in London on April 30, 1980, he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire: Six gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy, taking Cramer and 25 other people hostage.
"I lasted two days before I became sick -- well, I actually feigned a heart attack to get out," said Cramer, now global editor of multimedia at Reuters in New York.
While the experience left his body unscathed, his mental health was in tatters.
"I went through real anguish for a couple of years," he said. "I had flashbacks, I had extraordinary claustrophobia, which I'd never had before. For several years, I did not go to a cinema, I did not go into an elevator. If I ever went into a restaurant, I positioned myself near the door for a fast exit. For many, many months after the incident I checked under my car every morning before driving it. I was a basket case, I was a mess."
It is becoming increasingly clear that there is nothing unique about Cramer's case. In fact, a 2003 survey found, more than a quarter of war correspondents struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
That's just shy of the 30 percent of Vietnam veterans who have suffered the mental breakdown, and nearly four times higher than in the general population, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. And there are signs that journalists may be facing more dangers now than ever, putting both their physical and mental health at risk.
"There are a lot of undetected emotional problems in the profession," said Dr. Anthony Feinstein, a psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, Canada, and one of the first to explore the psychological toll of war reporting. "Some of the big organizations are very aware of it, but many are not."
read more here
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
By Frederik Joelving
NEW YORK | Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:08pm EST
(Reuters Health) - Chris Cramer, 62, was a fledgling war correspondent when one spring day 30 years ago he got much closer to the battle than he'd ever intended.
Just back from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, his boss at the BBC had asked him to fly to Tehran, where militants were holding dozens of Americans hostage at the U.S. embassy.
But as he went to pick up his visa in London on April 30, 1980, he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire: Six gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy, taking Cramer and 25 other people hostage.
"I lasted two days before I became sick -- well, I actually feigned a heart attack to get out," said Cramer, now global editor of multimedia at Reuters in New York.
While the experience left his body unscathed, his mental health was in tatters.
"I went through real anguish for a couple of years," he said. "I had flashbacks, I had extraordinary claustrophobia, which I'd never had before. For several years, I did not go to a cinema, I did not go into an elevator. If I ever went into a restaurant, I positioned myself near the door for a fast exit. For many, many months after the incident I checked under my car every morning before driving it. I was a basket case, I was a mess."
It is becoming increasingly clear that there is nothing unique about Cramer's case. In fact, a 2003 survey found, more than a quarter of war correspondents struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
That's just shy of the 30 percent of Vietnam veterans who have suffered the mental breakdown, and nearly four times higher than in the general population, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. And there are signs that journalists may be facing more dangers now than ever, putting both their physical and mental health at risk.
"There are a lot of undetected emotional problems in the profession," said Dr. Anthony Feinstein, a psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, Canada, and one of the first to explore the psychological toll of war reporting. "Some of the big organizations are very aware of it, but many are not."
read more here
When the news breaks the journalist: PTSD
VA Processes First Claims for New Agent Orange Presumptives
VA Processes First Claims for New Agent Orange Presumptives
New Program Speeds Approval for Vietnam Veterans
WASHINGTON (Dec. 17, 2010) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has
decided more than 28,000 claims in the first six weeks of processing
disability compensation applications from Vietnam Veterans with diseases
related to exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange.
"With new technology and ongoing improvements, we are quickly removing
roadblocks to processing benefits," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki. "We are also conducting significant outreach to
Vietnam Veterans to encourage them to submit their completed application
for this long-awaited benefit."
VA published a final regulation on Aug. 31 that makes Veterans who
served in the Republic of Vietnam and who have been diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, or a B-cell (or hairy-cell)
leukemia eligible for health care and disability compensation benefits.
With the expiration of the required 60-day congressional review on Oct.
30, VA is now able to process these claims.
Vietnam Veterans covered under the new policy are encouraged to file
their claims through a new VA Web portal at www.fasttrack.va.gov
. Vietnam Veterans are the first users
of this convenient automated claims processing system.
If treated for these diseases outside of VA's health system, it is
important for Veterans to gather medical evidence from their non-VA
physicians. VA has made it easy for physicians to supply the clinical
findings needed to approve the claim through the new Web portal. These
medical forms are also available at www.vba.va.gov/disabilityexams.
The portal guides Veterans through Web-based menus to capture
information and medical evidence required for faster claims decisions.
While the new system currently is limited to these three disabilities,
usage will expand soon to include claims for other conditions.
VA has begun collecting data that recaps its progress in processing
claims for new Agent Orange benefits at
Agent Orange Report Card
New Program Speeds Approval for Vietnam Veterans
WASHINGTON (Dec. 17, 2010) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has
decided more than 28,000 claims in the first six weeks of processing
disability compensation applications from Vietnam Veterans with diseases
related to exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange.
"With new technology and ongoing improvements, we are quickly removing
roadblocks to processing benefits," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki. "We are also conducting significant outreach to
Vietnam Veterans to encourage them to submit their completed application
for this long-awaited benefit."
VA published a final regulation on Aug. 31 that makes Veterans who
served in the Republic of Vietnam and who have been diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, or a B-cell (or hairy-cell)
leukemia eligible for health care and disability compensation benefits.
With the expiration of the required 60-day congressional review on Oct.
30, VA is now able to process these claims.
Vietnam Veterans covered under the new policy are encouraged to file
their claims through a new VA Web portal at www.fasttrack.va.gov
of this convenient automated claims processing system.
If treated for these diseases outside of VA's health system, it is
important for Veterans to gather medical evidence from their non-VA
physicians. VA has made it easy for physicians to supply the clinical
findings needed to approve the claim through the new Web portal. These
medical forms are also available at www.vba.va.gov/disabilityexams.
The portal guides Veterans through Web-based menus to capture
information and medical evidence required for faster claims decisions.
While the new system currently is limited to these three disabilities,
usage will expand soon to include claims for other conditions.
VA has begun collecting data that recaps its progress in processing
claims for new Agent Orange benefits at
Agent Orange Report Card
Do you deserve a miracle in your life?
Do you deserve a miracle in your life? You may be like me knowing you need a miracle but not feeling as if you deserve one. How many times have you put your head in your hands and thought "only a miracle can save me now" because you felt so helpless? All of us do it at one time or another in our lifetime. With the economy the way it is right now, there are more and more worried about things they never thought they'd have to worry about.
How do you pay the bills instead of what gifts you will buy at the mall? Did you find yourself staying away from malls because you know you don't have a dime to your name to spare? Did you wonder why you couldn't shop like your friends or have a party like the one you were invited to? Did you wonder what you did wrong that this year there is no reason to celebrate at all?
This is supposed to be the joyous time of the year when TV commercials tell us that giving the perfect gift to someone we love will make us happy. It is supposed to be the time of being unselfishly thinking about the happiness of someone else instead of ourselves. Yet when you saw interviews of people waiting all night for a black friday sale, they were talking about buying something for themselves. The people who have money, are able to pay their bills, pay to heat their homes and pay their mortgages/rent, tend to not feel lucky as much as they feel they deserve all they have. After all, they worked hard for all of it but the truth is, most of us worked hard but were left with nothing to show for it.
We may remember years when our families seemed to have all we could ever ask for with a tree decorated tenderly, stuffed with perfectly wrapped gifts we spent weeks shopping for and enough food to feed the neighborhood. We may think about years when our families were all gathered around to celebrate this day we are supposed to honor the birth of Christ. Then we wonder why it all fell apart. How did we end up this year with nothing? How did our family members pass away so there is no need to set the table for more than two? How did we end up not even putting up a tree this year while our neighbors have their homes covered in lights? There was a time when seeing these homes gave me a warm feeling inside but now they just make me feel more empty.
Maxed out credit cards and bills you can't pay because your bank account is empty leaves you wondering when the ghosts of Christmas will show up and haunt your rich relatives so their eyes are opened to your need. You scrape up as much change as you can so that you can buy a lottery ticket right after you hear about some other needy person hitting it for millions and you wonder why it wasn't you. You may think back to all the years you donated to charity to help others have a reason to celebrate, knowing they were cared about by someone while this year you are the one in need but no one is coming to help you feel cared about.
Over two thousand years ago a child was born. He came into this world to live among the poor instead of among the rich and powerful. No one deserved Him coming into this world to teach them what love really was and no one deserved Him being willing to sacrifice His life. He could have had left us all to live and die according to our own thoughts and stand before God on our day of judgment all by ourselves to answer for our deeds, but He came anyway. He preached about taking care of the poor and needy, helping each other with caring hearts, charity, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. He also told the people who heard His voice that God loved them.
They went back to their simple homes with little comforts but they knew they were no longer invisible to God because a loving miracle came into their lives and gave them love.
Those times were not taken up by shopping at the mall or untangling lights from the year before. They did not spend hours addressing Christmas cards to send to people they never hear from during the rest of the year. They didn't avoid paying a bill so they could go out and buy what they couldn't afford any more than they felt guilty because they couldn't buy anything for a gift someone else didn't really want or need just so they wouldn't be embarrassed by their poverty. They had a different value system that did not leave room for feeding the coffers of mega store chains. To them it was not what they could buy for someone else but what they could give to someone.
We seem to live in a time and place where greed is now something to not be ashamed of. Politicians proudly fight for the wealthy to the point where no one else's needs can be met until they take care of the rich. The rich want more and more no matter who has to suffer or pay for something they don't really need but feel they deserve. Yet when you look them in the eyes, you see how empty their lives really are. There are others, rich beyond belief, yet they have taken a vow to give away a great portion of their wealth to charity. They do not feel as if they deserve their money but have been blessed to have it. While some will spend their days shopping for stuff, others will go through their closets because this time of year is also cold in most parts of the country and there are homeless people with even less needing warm clothes and blankets. They will give what they don't need to someone with even less than they have. The homeless getting the help may not feel as if they deserve any help at all, but will feel blessed that someone cares they are in need.
None of us really deserve a miracle to happen in our lives, but we pray for one anyway. We hope that soon our help will come and our tears will stop flowing out of our eyes. We wait. Somewhere in the country, there is a person being called to help us but they do not willingly deliver what God is asking them to do, so we wait longer. We end up blaming God for not answering our prayers and then we turn from God. The same God who loved us so much He sent Christ. The same God we praised when we felt He helped us all the other times in our lives when we were in need.
The day we fell in love, we felt God sent the person into our lives. The day we marry, we invite God to be there with us and watch over us,yet when we argue, we feel God has stepped out of our lives. We thank him when our kids are born yet as soon as they get sick, turn into brats or don't live up to our expectations, we wonder where God is. We thank Him when we get a job and run to Him when we lose a job wondering why He didn't protect us from the budget cut or the bad boss we had. In good times, it is easy to praise God until we have it so good for so long that we end up believing we deserve it all and then want to keep it all for ourselves. In times of need, we turn to God for help, believing we deserve His help, until prayers have been unanswered for so long that we end up not feeling as if we deserve any help at all and God has judged us unworthy. We forget about all the times before when He helped us despite ourselves.
It is what we do in times of our own need that is a miracle. If we have seen everything taken away yet want to pray for someone else, there is a miracle. If we are ill yet pray for someone else, there is a miracle. If we have lost most of our faith yet manage to say a prayer for someone else, that is a miracle. When we can rise above our own troubles, our own heartaches, our own misery for the sake of someone else, there are miracles happening all around us everyday.
There was a woman who came to me last year to help her son. She said I saved his life after countless hours on the phone and spent emailing. Yet when her son was better and the crisis was over, I asked her for financial help, she turned me down. It was not something to make me regret helping her or her son and that was a miracle because honestly, had it been all on my ideas, I would have regretted every minute of it but God changed the way I thought about it and I ended up feeling sorry for her because she could take no pity on me or my need. The miracle lives on because no matter what I face, I still want to help other people when no one wants to help me.
This is the way we all need to live out our days to really honor the day Christ came into this world. The miracle in your life may not be fixing the problems in your life as much as it will be about fixing the way you face the problems with love, charity and compassion still there for others. If you feel love for someone else, be not ashamed you cannot buy them a gift. If you cannot afford to send a card this year, then send a prayer. If you cannot afford to travel to see family and friends, take the time to call them. We can give so much to others even when we have very little ourselves.
How do you pay the bills instead of what gifts you will buy at the mall? Did you find yourself staying away from malls because you know you don't have a dime to your name to spare? Did you wonder why you couldn't shop like your friends or have a party like the one you were invited to? Did you wonder what you did wrong that this year there is no reason to celebrate at all?
This is supposed to be the joyous time of the year when TV commercials tell us that giving the perfect gift to someone we love will make us happy. It is supposed to be the time of being unselfishly thinking about the happiness of someone else instead of ourselves. Yet when you saw interviews of people waiting all night for a black friday sale, they were talking about buying something for themselves. The people who have money, are able to pay their bills, pay to heat their homes and pay their mortgages/rent, tend to not feel lucky as much as they feel they deserve all they have. After all, they worked hard for all of it but the truth is, most of us worked hard but were left with nothing to show for it.
We may remember years when our families seemed to have all we could ever ask for with a tree decorated tenderly, stuffed with perfectly wrapped gifts we spent weeks shopping for and enough food to feed the neighborhood. We may think about years when our families were all gathered around to celebrate this day we are supposed to honor the birth of Christ. Then we wonder why it all fell apart. How did we end up this year with nothing? How did our family members pass away so there is no need to set the table for more than two? How did we end up not even putting up a tree this year while our neighbors have their homes covered in lights? There was a time when seeing these homes gave me a warm feeling inside but now they just make me feel more empty.
Maxed out credit cards and bills you can't pay because your bank account is empty leaves you wondering when the ghosts of Christmas will show up and haunt your rich relatives so their eyes are opened to your need. You scrape up as much change as you can so that you can buy a lottery ticket right after you hear about some other needy person hitting it for millions and you wonder why it wasn't you. You may think back to all the years you donated to charity to help others have a reason to celebrate, knowing they were cared about by someone while this year you are the one in need but no one is coming to help you feel cared about.
Over two thousand years ago a child was born. He came into this world to live among the poor instead of among the rich and powerful. No one deserved Him coming into this world to teach them what love really was and no one deserved Him being willing to sacrifice His life. He could have had left us all to live and die according to our own thoughts and stand before God on our day of judgment all by ourselves to answer for our deeds, but He came anyway. He preached about taking care of the poor and needy, helping each other with caring hearts, charity, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. He also told the people who heard His voice that God loved them.
They went back to their simple homes with little comforts but they knew they were no longer invisible to God because a loving miracle came into their lives and gave them love.
Those times were not taken up by shopping at the mall or untangling lights from the year before. They did not spend hours addressing Christmas cards to send to people they never hear from during the rest of the year. They didn't avoid paying a bill so they could go out and buy what they couldn't afford any more than they felt guilty because they couldn't buy anything for a gift someone else didn't really want or need just so they wouldn't be embarrassed by their poverty. They had a different value system that did not leave room for feeding the coffers of mega store chains. To them it was not what they could buy for someone else but what they could give to someone.
We seem to live in a time and place where greed is now something to not be ashamed of. Politicians proudly fight for the wealthy to the point where no one else's needs can be met until they take care of the rich. The rich want more and more no matter who has to suffer or pay for something they don't really need but feel they deserve. Yet when you look them in the eyes, you see how empty their lives really are. There are others, rich beyond belief, yet they have taken a vow to give away a great portion of their wealth to charity. They do not feel as if they deserve their money but have been blessed to have it. While some will spend their days shopping for stuff, others will go through their closets because this time of year is also cold in most parts of the country and there are homeless people with even less needing warm clothes and blankets. They will give what they don't need to someone with even less than they have. The homeless getting the help may not feel as if they deserve any help at all, but will feel blessed that someone cares they are in need.
None of us really deserve a miracle to happen in our lives, but we pray for one anyway. We hope that soon our help will come and our tears will stop flowing out of our eyes. We wait. Somewhere in the country, there is a person being called to help us but they do not willingly deliver what God is asking them to do, so we wait longer. We end up blaming God for not answering our prayers and then we turn from God. The same God who loved us so much He sent Christ. The same God we praised when we felt He helped us all the other times in our lives when we were in need.
The day we fell in love, we felt God sent the person into our lives. The day we marry, we invite God to be there with us and watch over us,yet when we argue, we feel God has stepped out of our lives. We thank him when our kids are born yet as soon as they get sick, turn into brats or don't live up to our expectations, we wonder where God is. We thank Him when we get a job and run to Him when we lose a job wondering why He didn't protect us from the budget cut or the bad boss we had. In good times, it is easy to praise God until we have it so good for so long that we end up believing we deserve it all and then want to keep it all for ourselves. In times of need, we turn to God for help, believing we deserve His help, until prayers have been unanswered for so long that we end up not feeling as if we deserve any help at all and God has judged us unworthy. We forget about all the times before when He helped us despite ourselves.
It is what we do in times of our own need that is a miracle. If we have seen everything taken away yet want to pray for someone else, there is a miracle. If we are ill yet pray for someone else, there is a miracle. If we have lost most of our faith yet manage to say a prayer for someone else, that is a miracle. When we can rise above our own troubles, our own heartaches, our own misery for the sake of someone else, there are miracles happening all around us everyday.
There was a woman who came to me last year to help her son. She said I saved his life after countless hours on the phone and spent emailing. Yet when her son was better and the crisis was over, I asked her for financial help, she turned me down. It was not something to make me regret helping her or her son and that was a miracle because honestly, had it been all on my ideas, I would have regretted every minute of it but God changed the way I thought about it and I ended up feeling sorry for her because she could take no pity on me or my need. The miracle lives on because no matter what I face, I still want to help other people when no one wants to help me.
This is the way we all need to live out our days to really honor the day Christ came into this world. The miracle in your life may not be fixing the problems in your life as much as it will be about fixing the way you face the problems with love, charity and compassion still there for others. If you feel love for someone else, be not ashamed you cannot buy them a gift. If you cannot afford to send a card this year, then send a prayer. If you cannot afford to travel to see family and friends, take the time to call them. We can give so much to others even when we have very little ourselves.
Slain Ft. Stewart soldier never violent
Mother: Slain Ft. Stewart soldier never violent
By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press
5:36 p.m. CST, December 16, 2010
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A slain Fort Stewart soldier was never violent, his mother said Thursday, disputing an assertion by the military that her son may have been the aggressor in a domestic fight that led to his death.
Army Spc. Alante L. Whiting, 22, of Westland, Mich., was fatally stabbed on the Georgia Army post Dec. 8 just hours after he returned from a tour in Iraq. He died at Fort Stewart's hospital.
His mother, Alesia Whiting, told The Associated Press that she spoke with her son, an Army intelligence analyst, by phone after his unit's flight landed in Georgia. She said he sounded like he couldn't be happier to be back.
"He was ecstatic -- laughing, joking, being silly," Alesia Whiting said. "He was telling me about the gift basket in his room that the soldiers all get. He was just talking about stuff in the future, saying, `I can't wait to get home, mommy."'
Within 18 hours after he arrived at Fort Stewart, Alante Whiting was dead. A delivery driver found him bleeding outside his barracks on Fort Stewart and called 911.
read more here
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ga-soldierslaying,0,4878572.story
By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press
5:36 p.m. CST, December 16, 2010
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A slain Fort Stewart soldier was never violent, his mother said Thursday, disputing an assertion by the military that her son may have been the aggressor in a domestic fight that led to his death.
Army Spc. Alante L. Whiting, 22, of Westland, Mich., was fatally stabbed on the Georgia Army post Dec. 8 just hours after he returned from a tour in Iraq. He died at Fort Stewart's hospital.
His mother, Alesia Whiting, told The Associated Press that she spoke with her son, an Army intelligence analyst, by phone after his unit's flight landed in Georgia. She said he sounded like he couldn't be happier to be back.
"He was ecstatic -- laughing, joking, being silly," Alesia Whiting said. "He was telling me about the gift basket in his room that the soldiers all get. He was just talking about stuff in the future, saying, `I can't wait to get home, mommy."'
Within 18 hours after he arrived at Fort Stewart, Alante Whiting was dead. A delivery driver found him bleeding outside his barracks on Fort Stewart and called 911.
read more here
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ga-soldierslaying,0,4878572.story
Mall shooting suspect served multiple times in Afghanistan
Mall shooting suspect is Army veteran; served in Afghanistan
Friends say the man lived with his wife in Springfield and served multiple tours overseas
BY JACK MORAN
The Register-Guard
Published: Friday, Dec 17, 2010 06:00AM
A former Army soldier shot by police after he allegedly fired several gunshots in a crowded Valley River Center parking lot on Wednesday clung to life Thursday at a Springfield hospital, officials said.
The man, identified by police as Michael Thomas Mason, 27, was listed in critical condition Thursday afternoon and was receiving treatment in the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, hospital spokesman Jim Godbold said. However, when reached late Thursday night, Godbold said the hospital had no information on a person by that name at its facility.
Under federal medical privacy law, hospital officials are not allowed to disclose whether a patient has been admitted to their facility if and when so requested by a patient’s family.
Eugene police Capt. Chuck Tilby said investigators could not confirm Mason’s hometown. However, residents of an east Springfield neighborhood say Mason has lived at two addresses south of Main Street during the past few years.
Neighbors said Mason is married, and served multiple military tours in Afghanistan since U.S. combat operations began there in 2001.
“My son looks up to him, calls him his ‘life-sized soldier,’ ” said Camellia Street resident Kendra Lufkin, referring to Mason’s relationship with her 9-year-old son, Creed.
Lufkin and several other neighbors said Mason and his wife moved into a home earlier this year after residing in a nearby apartment complex. Lane County property records list him as the home’s owner.
A family spokesman who provided The Register-Guard with Mason’s photo said Mason served in the Army from 2002 to 2006.
Lufkin called Mason “a big teddy bear” with a tough exterior who once confided to her that his final tour in Afghanistan kept him awake some nights because the experience was “very extreme.”
read more here
Mall shooting suspect is Army veteran served in Afghanistan
Friends say the man lived with his wife in Springfield and served multiple tours overseas
BY JACK MORAN
The Register-Guard
Published: Friday, Dec 17, 2010 06:00AM
A former Army soldier shot by police after he allegedly fired several gunshots in a crowded Valley River Center parking lot on Wednesday clung to life Thursday at a Springfield hospital, officials said.
The man, identified by police as Michael Thomas Mason, 27, was listed in critical condition Thursday afternoon and was receiving treatment in the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, hospital spokesman Jim Godbold said. However, when reached late Thursday night, Godbold said the hospital had no information on a person by that name at its facility.
Under federal medical privacy law, hospital officials are not allowed to disclose whether a patient has been admitted to their facility if and when so requested by a patient’s family.
Eugene police Capt. Chuck Tilby said investigators could not confirm Mason’s hometown. However, residents of an east Springfield neighborhood say Mason has lived at two addresses south of Main Street during the past few years.
Neighbors said Mason is married, and served multiple military tours in Afghanistan since U.S. combat operations began there in 2001.
“My son looks up to him, calls him his ‘life-sized soldier,’ ” said Camellia Street resident Kendra Lufkin, referring to Mason’s relationship with her 9-year-old son, Creed.
Lufkin and several other neighbors said Mason and his wife moved into a home earlier this year after residing in a nearby apartment complex. Lane County property records list him as the home’s owner.
A family spokesman who provided The Register-Guard with Mason’s photo said Mason served in the Army from 2002 to 2006.
Lufkin called Mason “a big teddy bear” with a tough exterior who once confided to her that his final tour in Afghanistan kept him awake some nights because the experience was “very extreme.”
read more here
Mall shooting suspect is Army veteran served in Afghanistan
9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster
Can there be any doubt left that the people who used September 11 really didn't care? They didn't care about the heroes that day we watched rush to ground zero, stand silently in line as another body had been found any more than they cared about them spending countless hours searching, hoping, praying, covered in toxic dust. They didn't even care that this happened 9 years ago and still these men and women who took no thought of their own lives when they were needed now face no thought over their lives as a result of their actions from the government because some in the GOP only cared when they could use these heroes.
Thursday December 16, 2010
9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster
9/11 first responders watch as Mitch McConnell cries over a friend's retirement, and Jon Kyl explains why the Senate can't work the week after Christmas. (08:55)
go here http://www.thedailyshow.com/
They should have never been asked to die like this, to suffer without the help they thought would be there but to have members of congress tell them they just don't deserve the same attention the rich have gotten from them, is too disgraceful to believe.
They were willing to die if a building fell on them. Willing to die trying to save the lives of someone else. To face death because they cared enough to go where others ran away from should have every American in this country screaming at the top of their own lungs that this is clearly wrong!
Thursday December 16, 2010
9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster
9/11 first responders watch as Mitch McConnell cries over a friend's retirement, and Jon Kyl explains why the Senate can't work the week after Christmas. (08:55)
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| 9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster | ||||
| ||||
They should have never been asked to die like this, to suffer without the help they thought would be there but to have members of congress tell them they just don't deserve the same attention the rich have gotten from them, is too disgraceful to believe.
They were willing to die if a building fell on them. Willing to die trying to save the lives of someone else. To face death because they cared enough to go where others ran away from should have every American in this country screaming at the top of their own lungs that this is clearly wrong!
Pentagon has wrongfully discharged nearly 26,000 service members
Let's say that all of these servicemen and women did in fact have a "personality disorder" before they enlisted. If the military allowed them to enlist, then they accepted responsibility for them from that point on. Considering that a mental health condition like personality disorder would have put them in greater danger during combat and would have endangered the others they served with, the DOD would have known what they were doing, apparently fine with doing it. But that would also be assuming they just didn't care. There were mental health waivers given out but nowhere near the numbers of discharges. Even if they received a waiver, this should in no way take the burden of care off their shoulders. But it did.
But the DOD did not live up to their duty to take care of them.
They returned home changed just as many before them. They saw the others having to fight for the care they were promised with a honorable discharge in their hands. They saw them wait in long lines, wait for months, even years, to have their claim honored and they wondered what chance they would have of getting any help at all after what was done to them. They lost it all. They lost faith in this country they were willing to die for. They lost the sense of pride they had when they suddenly could no longer support their families and pay their bills. They lost the faith their families had in them when they were beaten down so far there was no reason to try any longer.
Service organizations wouldn't help them because they were discharged with less than honorable conditions. Senators and Representatives wouldn't talk to them or listen to their stories. There were very few reporters able to acknowledge this injustice leaving them with nowhere to turn. Some said these wrongfully discharged veterans should just go on welfare or collect social security since they were unable to work but no one thought about the fact many of these veterans entered into the military right out of high school. No one cared.
Then came the Vietnam Veterans of America remembering what it felt like to be kicked to the streets after risking their lives in another country because that was what the government said had to be done. They knew what it was like to have this same government deny them care but they also had some faith in the people of this country to do the right thing. Had they not believed in the rest of us, they wouldn't have found any reason to fight for what they accomplished. They made all the programs for PTSD possible and now they want to make sure these wrongfully discharged veterans get the help they were denied for far too long.
"DoD's compliance with counseling requirement was as low as 40% between 2001 and 2007, as was compliance with diagnosis requirement. In 2008, the Government Accountability Office ('GAO') found that 'DoD does not have reasonable assurance that its key personality disorder separation requirements have been followed' after reviewing PD discharges occurring between 2001 and 2007."They were willing to let them join. They trained them to go into combat. Then they sent them to fight the enemy. Then when their minds paid the price, they were kicked out with nothing to count on. No benefits. No help to heal. No justice after being willing to lay down their lives for this country. Was this honorable? Was this what Washington said was the way to treat them?
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, is directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated"
-- George Washington
They returned home changed just as many before them. They saw the others having to fight for the care they were promised with a honorable discharge in their hands. They saw them wait in long lines, wait for months, even years, to have their claim honored and they wondered what chance they would have of getting any help at all after what was done to them. They lost it all. They lost faith in this country they were willing to die for. They lost the sense of pride they had when they suddenly could no longer support their families and pay their bills. They lost the faith their families had in them when they were beaten down so far there was no reason to try any longer.
Service organizations wouldn't help them because they were discharged with less than honorable conditions. Senators and Representatives wouldn't talk to them or listen to their stories. There were very few reporters able to acknowledge this injustice leaving them with nowhere to turn. Some said these wrongfully discharged veterans should just go on welfare or collect social security since they were unable to work but no one thought about the fact many of these veterans entered into the military right out of high school. No one cared.
Then came the Vietnam Veterans of America remembering what it felt like to be kicked to the streets after risking their lives in another country because that was what the government said had to be done. They knew what it was like to have this same government deny them care but they also had some faith in the people of this country to do the right thing. Had they not believed in the rest of us, they wouldn't have found any reason to fight for what they accomplished. They made all the programs for PTSD possible and now they want to make sure these wrongfully discharged veterans get the help they were denied for far too long.
Pentagon Uses 'Personality Disorder' to Deny Veterans Health Care
By CHRIS COUGHLIN
ShareThis
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CN) - The Pentagon has wrongfully discharged nearly 26,000 service members since 2001 "on the basis of so-called 'personality disorder'" - rather than for post-traumatic stress or other service-connected disabilities - to save itself $12.5 billion in health-care costs, the Vietnam Veterans of America claims in a federal FOIA complaint. The Vietnam Veterans say discharges for faultily diagnosed "personality disorder" increased drastically after the Pentagon began calling up veterans after the 9/11 attacks.
"Over the past nine years, Defendant Department of Defense ('DoD') and its components and subcomponent services have systematically and wrongfully discharged nearly 26,000 service members who have service-related disabilities on the basis of so called 'personality disorder,'" the complaint states. "Veterans who responded courageously to the government's call to action after September 11, 2001 by serving in the Armed Forced have returned home only to find that DoD's personality disorder designation prevents them from accessing service-connected disability benefits and veterans health care. By carelessly disregarding the personality disorder regulations which were promulgated for the benefit of service members, DoD has broken the United States' longstanding promise to provide for its veterans."
"The military classifies PD as a condition pre-existing military service," the complaint states. "Veterans discharged from the military on the basis of a PD diagnosis are not entitled to service-connected disability benefits or VA care.
"By its own admission, DoD dismissed 25,656 service members on the basis of PD between fiscal years 2001 and 2007; 3,372 of these discharged service members had served in combat or imminent danger zones in support of OCO [Overseas Contingency Operation]. Approximately 2,800 of the service members whom DoD had dismissed on the basis of PD had deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.
"By discharging 22,656 service members on the basis of PD, the DoD has saved the military approximately $4.5 billion in medical care and $8 billion in disability compensation that these service members would have received had they been discharged on the basis of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder ('PTSD') or another service-connected disability."
The complaint adds: "DoD has admitted that its doctors failed to interview anyone but the service members before making most of the 22,656 PD diagnoses that led to discharge." This despite the fact that "Prior to 2008, DoD regulations in PD discharges required that service members get formal counseling regarding the reason for their impending discharge and receive a PD diagnosis from a psychiatrist or psychologist stating that the PD interfered with their ability to function in the military.
"DoD's compliance with counseling requirement was as low as 40% between 2001 and 2007, as was compliance with diagnosis requirement. In 2008, the Government Accountability Office ('GAO') found that 'DoD does not have reasonable assurance that its key personality disorder separation requirements have been followed' after reviewing PD discharges occurring between 2001 and 2007."
read more here
Personality Disorder to Deny Veterans Health Care
Thursday, December 16, 2010
VA Announces Use of Standard Payment Rates for Some Non-VA Care
VA Announces Use of Standard Payment Rates for Some Non-VA Care
WASHINGTON (Dec. 16, 2010) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced today it will begin using Medicare's standard payment rates
for certain medical procedures performed by non-VA providers on Feb. 16,
2011.
"This regulation will have no impact on the Veterans we care for," said
VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert A. Petzel. "VA will now have
the ability to better plan budgets and place more money into access to
health care for the Veterans that VA is honored to serve."
The new adjustment was made in federal regulations and will affect the
following treatments VA provides to Veterans through contracted care:
ambulatory surgical center care, anesthesia, clinical laboratory,
hospital outpatient perspective payment systems, and end stage renal
disease (ESRD).
Veterans who are eligible for care will continue to receive the
uninterrupted care they need and have earned. Non-VA doctors and
facilities will still get paid for services they provide to eligible
Veterans but at rates set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) Prospective Payment Systems (PPS) and Fee Schedules.
Existing contracts will not be affected and the rule allows for new
contracts using the new rates.
Savings of approximately $1.8 billion over five years will allow VA to
continue to invest in such innovative programs as a wearable artificial
kidney, home dialysis and expanding access through stand-alone clinics.
"Adopting CMS pricing methodology for these schedules and services will
allow VA medical centers to use their resources more efficiently to meet
Veterans' needs," said Gary Baker, VA's health administration chief
business officer. "The adoption of Medicare rates will help ensure
consistent, predictable medical costs, while also helping to control
costs and expenditures."
The pricing methodology changes are a result of a rule change to 38 CFR
17.56, the federal regulation that governs VA when paying medical claims
for Veterans treated in community facilities. The proposed rule was
published on Feb. 18, 2010 and was opened for public comment April 19,
2010. The congressional review period for the final rule begins Dec. 17
and lasts 60 days.
VA is providing written notifications to Veterans and non-VA providers.
As additional information becomes available, it will be posted to the
VA's "Non-VA Purchased Care" Web site, www.nonvacare.va.gov.
WASHINGTON (Dec. 16, 2010) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
announced today it will begin using Medicare's standard payment rates
for certain medical procedures performed by non-VA providers on Feb. 16,
2011.
"This regulation will have no impact on the Veterans we care for," said
VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert A. Petzel. "VA will now have
the ability to better plan budgets and place more money into access to
health care for the Veterans that VA is honored to serve."
The new adjustment was made in federal regulations and will affect the
following treatments VA provides to Veterans through contracted care:
ambulatory surgical center care, anesthesia, clinical laboratory,
hospital outpatient perspective payment systems, and end stage renal
disease (ESRD).
Veterans who are eligible for care will continue to receive the
uninterrupted care they need and have earned. Non-VA doctors and
facilities will still get paid for services they provide to eligible
Veterans but at rates set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) Prospective Payment Systems (PPS) and Fee Schedules.
Existing contracts will not be affected and the rule allows for new
contracts using the new rates.
Savings of approximately $1.8 billion over five years will allow VA to
continue to invest in such innovative programs as a wearable artificial
kidney, home dialysis and expanding access through stand-alone clinics.
"Adopting CMS pricing methodology for these schedules and services will
allow VA medical centers to use their resources more efficiently to meet
Veterans' needs," said Gary Baker, VA's health administration chief
business officer. "The adoption of Medicare rates will help ensure
consistent, predictable medical costs, while also helping to control
costs and expenditures."
The pricing methodology changes are a result of a rule change to 38 CFR
17.56, the federal regulation that governs VA when paying medical claims
for Veterans treated in community facilities. The proposed rule was
published on Feb. 18, 2010 and was opened for public comment April 19,
2010. The congressional review period for the final rule begins Dec. 17
and lasts 60 days.
VA is providing written notifications to Veterans and non-VA providers.
As additional information becomes available, it will be posted to the
VA's "Non-VA Purchased Care" Web site, www.nonvacare.va.gov.
Bah humbug when politics takes over caring
Bah humbug when politics takes over caring
This is supposed to be the time of year when we honor the birth of Christ, yet we fail miserably at honoring his life. There is talk on some cable station (you know which one) claiming there is a war on Christmas and right now I really wish that were true. There should be a war on the way we “celebrate” Christmas.
I just came back from dropping off a comforter, blanket and some warm clothes because I drove by a local store with a sign asking for donations for the needy. It is a store we shop at but I never once asked them about their political views. I’ve asked about a lot of things but never really cared about who they voted for. Why? Because it really doesn’t matter since if they voted for the person I didn’t’ vote for, we’d both think the other one was wrong, yet we’d both still be in the neighborhood, trying to get by as humans. If they are asking for donations for the needy, they have to have good hearts to go along with great business practices. Isn’t that what is supposed to matter?
It also occurred to me that I don’t care who ends up with what I donated or if they hold a different political belief than I have. There is absolutely no assurance on this earth that I am right or they are. There is however great evidence that they are in need of help, have less than I do and according to Christ, we’re supposed to take care of them. I don’t want anything back from them and they will never know what I gave, have a clue who I am or be able to do any more for me than thank God a stranger cared about them.
We have seen everything reduced to politics. There was a time when people needing to see a doctor would either be able to pay for it or the doctor would work with them but those days long ago passed replaced by an insurance industry dictating who gets saved and who gets shown the door. It would have been a time when people would be ashamed to admit they didn’t want other people to be able to have insurance coverage, but now they wear their “I got mine screw you” attitude with pride much like Scrooge thought being a greedy wretch was a good thing. Some of these people are entering into the House in January and got angry when they were told they would have to wait for their own health insurance coverage to being and yes, funded by the tax payers they thought denial of their coverage was a good thing. I guess they think they are more deserving than the people they are taking an oath to serve.
We have seniors and veterans in this country who have not received a raise in two years. The $250 check to make up the difference last year and this year were voted down by Republicans yet they fought hard to make sure the rich received tax breaks. This also goes to show that being against every bill the people wanted was blocked until they got their own way for the sake of the rich.
There used to be a time when again, they would be ashamed of defending the rich to the point where the rest of us could just vanish off the face of the earth, but now they are proud of their dirty deeds. We can expect this from politicians since most of them do tend to bend the truth but when the regular people in this country take on their bad habits, we’re all in trouble.
Does a family stop being a family if they do not all vote alike? Do neighbors even know how someone thinks politically? Do kids care if their parents and their friend’s parents vote the same way? When you donate to the Salvation Army Santa do you care who gets the money and what political party they belong to? When you donate to a kid off the Angel Tree in your church, do you care anything above and beyond giving a kid without anything a gift at Christmas? When you donate blood do you think about if you will be saving the life of a Republican or Democrat, a gay man or woman, or does it matter more you will be saving a life?
When the body of a soldier returns home, do you only show up for the funeral or take off your hat as the hearse passes by only if you know how they voted and approved? Do you pray less for the family if you discover they are not in the same political party as you are?
I have great friends because we care about each other. We talk about our lives, our families but never talk about political views. None of that really matters above caring about each other as humans. When all is fair game in politics, we are all targets and nothing else matters.
So fight over if it is Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas because Santa was not in Bethlehem. Since most have forgotten what His life was supposed to mean in the first place, I doubt they really care at all anymore.
This is supposed to be the time of year when we honor the birth of Christ, yet we fail miserably at honoring his life. There is talk on some cable station (you know which one) claiming there is a war on Christmas and right now I really wish that were true. There should be a war on the way we “celebrate” Christmas.
I just came back from dropping off a comforter, blanket and some warm clothes because I drove by a local store with a sign asking for donations for the needy. It is a store we shop at but I never once asked them about their political views. I’ve asked about a lot of things but never really cared about who they voted for. Why? Because it really doesn’t matter since if they voted for the person I didn’t’ vote for, we’d both think the other one was wrong, yet we’d both still be in the neighborhood, trying to get by as humans. If they are asking for donations for the needy, they have to have good hearts to go along with great business practices. Isn’t that what is supposed to matter?
It also occurred to me that I don’t care who ends up with what I donated or if they hold a different political belief than I have. There is absolutely no assurance on this earth that I am right or they are. There is however great evidence that they are in need of help, have less than I do and according to Christ, we’re supposed to take care of them. I don’t want anything back from them and they will never know what I gave, have a clue who I am or be able to do any more for me than thank God a stranger cared about them.
We have seen everything reduced to politics. There was a time when people needing to see a doctor would either be able to pay for it or the doctor would work with them but those days long ago passed replaced by an insurance industry dictating who gets saved and who gets shown the door. It would have been a time when people would be ashamed to admit they didn’t want other people to be able to have insurance coverage, but now they wear their “I got mine screw you” attitude with pride much like Scrooge thought being a greedy wretch was a good thing. Some of these people are entering into the House in January and got angry when they were told they would have to wait for their own health insurance coverage to being and yes, funded by the tax payers they thought denial of their coverage was a good thing. I guess they think they are more deserving than the people they are taking an oath to serve.
We have seniors and veterans in this country who have not received a raise in two years. The $250 check to make up the difference last year and this year were voted down by Republicans yet they fought hard to make sure the rich received tax breaks. This also goes to show that being against every bill the people wanted was blocked until they got their own way for the sake of the rich.
There used to be a time when again, they would be ashamed of defending the rich to the point where the rest of us could just vanish off the face of the earth, but now they are proud of their dirty deeds. We can expect this from politicians since most of them do tend to bend the truth but when the regular people in this country take on their bad habits, we’re all in trouble.
Does a family stop being a family if they do not all vote alike? Do neighbors even know how someone thinks politically? Do kids care if their parents and their friend’s parents vote the same way? When you donate to the Salvation Army Santa do you care who gets the money and what political party they belong to? When you donate to a kid off the Angel Tree in your church, do you care anything above and beyond giving a kid without anything a gift at Christmas? When you donate blood do you think about if you will be saving the life of a Republican or Democrat, a gay man or woman, or does it matter more you will be saving a life?
When the body of a soldier returns home, do you only show up for the funeral or take off your hat as the hearse passes by only if you know how they voted and approved? Do you pray less for the family if you discover they are not in the same political party as you are?
I have great friends because we care about each other. We talk about our lives, our families but never talk about political views. None of that really matters above caring about each other as humans. When all is fair game in politics, we are all targets and nothing else matters.
So fight over if it is Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas because Santa was not in Bethlehem. Since most have forgotten what His life was supposed to mean in the first place, I doubt they really care at all anymore.
Vietnam veteran committed suicide in a VA medical parking lot
UPDATE
Police Digest: Identity of man who killed himself near Providence hospital revealed
01:00 AM EST on Saturday, December 18, 2010
PROVIDENCE
Police identify man who killed himself near VA hospital
The police have identified the man who committed suicide outside the Providence VA Medical Center Wednesday afternoon as David Petrucci, 63, of Cumberland.
Petrucci, a Vietnam veteran, was being treated at the medical center but did not have an appointment on Wednesday, according to a medical center spokesman. The spokesman would not say what he was being treated for.
Witnesses told the police they heard a gunshot and found a man lying near a car in the parking lot, bleeding from his head. A handgun was lying nearby.
Vietnam veterans’ groups contacted by The Journal said they were looking into the suicide but could not immediately identify Petrucci as a member of a veterans’ group.
Identity of man who killed himself near Providence hospital revealed
Veteran commits suicide outside VA hospital in Providence
5:25 PM Wed, Dec 15, 2010
Amanda Milkovits
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Vietnam veteran committed suicide in a parking lot outside the Providence VA Medical Center early Wednesday afternoon.
People inside the medical building at 830 Chalkstone Ave. heard a gunshot just before 12:30 p.m. and called the police, said VA spokesman Tom Antonaccio.
The police found the 63-year-old Cumberland man lying outside his vehicle in the parking lot, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, Antonaccio said.
read more here
Veteran commits suicide outside VA hospital in Providence
Police Digest: Identity of man who killed himself near Providence hospital revealed
01:00 AM EST on Saturday, December 18, 2010
PROVIDENCE
Police identify man who killed himself near VA hospital
The police have identified the man who committed suicide outside the Providence VA Medical Center Wednesday afternoon as David Petrucci, 63, of Cumberland.
Petrucci, a Vietnam veteran, was being treated at the medical center but did not have an appointment on Wednesday, according to a medical center spokesman. The spokesman would not say what he was being treated for.
Witnesses told the police they heard a gunshot and found a man lying near a car in the parking lot, bleeding from his head. A handgun was lying nearby.
Vietnam veterans’ groups contacted by The Journal said they were looking into the suicide but could not immediately identify Petrucci as a member of a veterans’ group.
Identity of man who killed himself near Providence hospital revealed
Veteran commits suicide outside VA hospital in Providence
5:25 PM Wed, Dec 15, 2010
Amanda Milkovits
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Vietnam veteran committed suicide in a parking lot outside the Providence VA Medical Center early Wednesday afternoon.
People inside the medical building at 830 Chalkstone Ave. heard a gunshot just before 12:30 p.m. and called the police, said VA spokesman Tom Antonaccio.
The police found the 63-year-old Cumberland man lying outside his vehicle in the parking lot, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot, Antonaccio said.
read more here
Veteran commits suicide outside VA hospital in Providence
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)