Gunfire wounds 3 at grocery in Pierce County
A 20-year-old woman armed with a revolver opened fire in a grocery store on Pierce County's Key Peninsula on Saturday afternoon, wounding three men. In the shooting's aftermath, a husband and wife provided crucial help — the wife sitting on the shooter while the husband tended to a man who had been shot.
By Ken Armstrong and Sandi Doughton
Seattle Times staff reporters
A 20-year-old woman armed with a revolver opened fire in a grocery store on Pierce County's Key Peninsula on Saturday afternoon, wounding three men. In the aftermath, a husband and wife provided crucial help — the wife sitting on the shooter while the husband tended to a man who had been shot.
The shooter was still inside the store when Pierce County sheriff's deputies arrived and took her into custody.
The woman has a history of mental illness and apparently didn't know any of the victims, Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said. "All she told us was that she didn't like the people she shot," he said. "But we have no way of tying her to any of them."
read more here
Sunday, August 12, 2012
$1.7 Million Grant Will Allow Hartford To Retain 12 Police Officers
$1.7 Million Grant Will Allow Hartford To Retain 12 Police Officers
By JESSE RIFKIN
The Hartford Courant
August 10, 2012
HARTFORD
Thanks to a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Hartford will be able to retain 12 police officers about to complete training at the state police academy.
Celebrating the grant at a press conference Thursday were U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. John Larson, Mayor Pedro E. Segarra, Acting Police Chief James Rovella, and city council President Shawn Wooden.
Blumenthal highlighted the employment value in addition to the policing value.
By JESSE RIFKIN
The Hartford Courant
August 10, 2012
HARTFORD
Thanks to a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Hartford will be able to retain 12 police officers about to complete training at the state police academy.
Celebrating the grant at a press conference Thursday were U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. John Larson, Mayor Pedro E. Segarra, Acting Police Chief James Rovella, and city council President Shawn Wooden.
Blumenthal highlighted the employment value in addition to the policing value.
Connecticut statewide received $4.7 million. The other police departments were Waterbury with $1.75 million for 14 new military veteran hires, New Haven with $750,000 for six new military veteran hires, and Norwich with $500,000 for four military veteran hires.
(Hartford's money was targeted for rehires scheduled for layoffs, not new hires.)
read more here
DOD:86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported
Military sexual assault is focus of YouTube series
By JULIE WATSON
The Associated Press
Published: August 12, 2012
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The enormous obstacles and emotional torment that a female solider confronts in reporting a sexual assault in the military is the focus of the three-part Web series "Lauren" debuting Monday on YouTube's new channel WIGS, which focuses on drama for women.
Featuring "Flashdance" star Jennifer Beals and Troian Bellisario, "Lauren" gives a close-up look at the challenges women service members face in trying to find justice after being raped. It's a problem that military leaders have focused unprecedented attention on this year.
The Defense Department has estimated that 86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, an indication that some women are worried about the effect reporting an assault may have on their career and that they mistrust the military prosecution system. Nearly 3,200 sexual assaults were reported in the military last year.
Military leaders say sexual assault is not only dehumanizing to the victims but threatens operational readiness. The Pentagon has set up hotlines and has been trying to encourage service members to help victims. High-ranking Navy leaders have likened their campaign to the crusade years ago to stop rampant drug abuse, although activists say sweeping institutional changes are needed for victims to find justice.
read more here
By JULIE WATSON
The Associated Press
Published: August 12, 2012
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The enormous obstacles and emotional torment that a female solider confronts in reporting a sexual assault in the military is the focus of the three-part Web series "Lauren" debuting Monday on YouTube's new channel WIGS, which focuses on drama for women.
Featuring "Flashdance" star Jennifer Beals and Troian Bellisario, "Lauren" gives a close-up look at the challenges women service members face in trying to find justice after being raped. It's a problem that military leaders have focused unprecedented attention on this year.
The Defense Department has estimated that 86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, an indication that some women are worried about the effect reporting an assault may have on their career and that they mistrust the military prosecution system. Nearly 3,200 sexual assaults were reported in the military last year.
Military leaders say sexual assault is not only dehumanizing to the victims but threatens operational readiness. The Pentagon has set up hotlines and has been trying to encourage service members to help victims. High-ranking Navy leaders have likened their campaign to the crusade years ago to stop rampant drug abuse, although activists say sweeping institutional changes are needed for victims to find justice.
read more here
No one is giving up on finding Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux
Volunteers resume search for missing soldier
The Associated Press
Army Times
Posted : Saturday Aug 11, 2012
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Volunteers are again planning to search for a missing Fort Bragg soldier.
The Fayetteville Observer reports that the volunteers are scheduled to gather Saturday to look for Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux.
The 23-year-old was last seen April 14 at a bar where she had gone the night before to sing karaoke.
read more here
The Associated Press
Army Times
Posted : Saturday Aug 11, 2012
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Volunteers are again planning to search for a missing Fort Bragg soldier.
The Fayetteville Observer reports that the volunteers are scheduled to gather Saturday to look for Pfc. Kelli Bordeaux.
The 23-year-old was last seen April 14 at a bar where she had gone the night before to sing karaoke.
read more here
Troubled veterans left without health-care benefits
Troubled veterans left without health-care benefits
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
August 11, 2012
A few weeks after Jarrid Starks ended his Army service in May, he went to an office in Albany, Ore., to enroll for veterans health-care benefits.
Starks brought medical records that detailed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a twisted vertebra and a possible brain injury from concussions. Other records documented his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where his bravery fighting the Taliban was recognized with a Bronze Star for Valor.
None of that was enough to qualify him for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
That's because Starks left the military this year with an other-than-honorable discharge — his final year of service scarred by pot smoking and taking absences without leave (AWOL).
He was told to fill out a form, then wait — possibly a year or more — while officials review his military record to determine whether he is eligible for health care.
"I was absolutely livid," Starks, 26, recalls. "This just isn't right."
Starks is among the more than 20,000 men and women who exited the Army and Marines during the past four years with other-than-honorable discharges that hamstring their access to VA health care and may strip them of disability benefits.
read more here
This was news on this blog back in 2007.
More than 20,000 men and women exited the Army and Marines during the past four years with other-than-honorable discharges that can restrict their veterans health-care and disability benefits. Critics says those rules leave some troubled combat veterans struggling to find treatment and support.
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
August 11, 2012
A few weeks after Jarrid Starks ended his Army service in May, he went to an office in Albany, Ore., to enroll for veterans health-care benefits.
Starks brought medical records that detailed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a twisted vertebra and a possible brain injury from concussions. Other records documented his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where his bravery fighting the Taliban was recognized with a Bronze Star for Valor.
None of that was enough to qualify him for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
That's because Starks left the military this year with an other-than-honorable discharge — his final year of service scarred by pot smoking and taking absences without leave (AWOL).
He was told to fill out a form, then wait — possibly a year or more — while officials review his military record to determine whether he is eligible for health care.
"I was absolutely livid," Starks, 26, recalls. "This just isn't right."
Starks is among the more than 20,000 men and women who exited the Army and Marines during the past four years with other-than-honorable discharges that hamstring their access to VA health care and may strip them of disability benefits.
read more here
This was news on this blog back in 2007.
10 discharges a day for "personality disorder"
Many soldiers get boot for 'pre-existing' mental illness
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 29, 2007
By Philip Dine
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq - as many as 10 a day - are being discharged by the military for mental health reasons. But the Pentagon isn't blaming the war. It says the soldiers had "pre-existing" conditions that disqualify them for treatment by the government.
Many soldiers and Marines being discharged on this basis actually suffer from combat-related problems, experts say. But by classifying them as having a condition unrelated to the war, the Defense Department is able to quickly get rid of troops having trouble doing their work while also saving the expense of caring for them.
The result appears to be that many actually suffering from combat-related problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries don't get the help they need.
Working behind the scenes, Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., have written and inserted into the defense authorization bill a provision that would make it harder for the Pentagon to discharge thousands of troops. The Post-Dispatch has learned that the measure has been accepted into the Senate defense bill and will probably become part of the Senate-House bill to be voted on this week.
read more here
Fort Benning soldiers team up to help disabled Vietnam Veteran
Fort Benning soldiers roll up their sleeves to help their own
COLUMBUS, GA
WTVM
August 11, 2012
Some Fort Benning soldiers rolled up their sleeves to help one of their own on Saturday.
News leader 9 was at the home and talked to the former soldier who says it's nice to finally have someone do something for him.
At his home on Memphis Street in Columbus that he shares with his wife Katie, 77 year-old Jackie Kirkpatrick Sr. told us old stories of his days as a soldier in Vietnam.
He's a highly decorated veteran who spent 24 years of his life serving in the army.
"His overall spirit was just awesome and to see the struggles that they're going through right now, he's just an awesome energy. He's told me on several occasions that he would be out here doing it himself but unfortunately he's just not physically able," team captain and soldier in Delta Company 146th Infantry, added Lt. E. Thomas Bowen
1st Lt. Bowen and soldiers from 146th Infantry, teamed up with the organization House of Heroes to help Kirkpatrick out around his home.
read more here
COLUMBUS, GA
WTVM
August 11, 2012
Some Fort Benning soldiers rolled up their sleeves to help one of their own on Saturday.
News leader 9 was at the home and talked to the former soldier who says it's nice to finally have someone do something for him.
At his home on Memphis Street in Columbus that he shares with his wife Katie, 77 year-old Jackie Kirkpatrick Sr. told us old stories of his days as a soldier in Vietnam.
He's a highly decorated veteran who spent 24 years of his life serving in the army.
"His overall spirit was just awesome and to see the struggles that they're going through right now, he's just an awesome energy. He's told me on several occasions that he would be out here doing it himself but unfortunately he's just not physically able," team captain and soldier in Delta Company 146th Infantry, added Lt. E. Thomas Bowen
1st Lt. Bowen and soldiers from 146th Infantry, teamed up with the organization House of Heroes to help Kirkpatrick out around his home.
read more here
Dallas-area veterans try to leave battle behind
Dallas-area veterans try to leave battle behind
NECN.com
Aug 12, 2012
DALLAS (AP) — Just after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Mike Rials was on track to graduate from Richardson's J.J. Pearce High School and start his freshman year at Texas Tech. But at the last minute, Rials decided he wanted a bigger challenge: He enlisted in the Marines.
Nine years later, Rials, 27, will finally get his diploma when he graduates next week from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in psychology. He credits UTD's Center for BrainHealth, and its work with him and other recent war veterans struggling physically or emotionally from their time in combat.
Many recently discharged veterans have difficulty adjusting to civilian life, especially those dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury, the two signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That adjustment can be even more difficult when the veteran goes from the battlefield to the classroom.
"When they come off the battlefield, where they've had to be hyper-vigilant to so much that's going on, it triggers the brain to do the opposite of what you need to do for a higher-thinking job," said Dr. Sandra Chapman, the center's founder and chief director.
"You're hyper-focused, stressed and not sleeping well."
In five years with the Marines, Rials did three combat tours. Assigned to the infantry, Rials was just 19 when he deployed to Iraq during the height of the insurgency. In his first two tours, in 2004 and 2005, he fought in Fallujah and Haditha, two major hot spots.
His last tour of duty, in Afghanistan in September 2007, left Rials physically and emotionally scarred when a roadside bomb destroyed his Humvee. A close friend was badly injured and trapped in the burning vehicle. Rials pulled him out, but the Marine died soon after. Rials, who was briefly knocked unconscious by the blast, suffered second-degree burns to his arm. The wounds to his psyche lasted much longer.
After his discharge in 2008, Rials returned to the Dallas area. But the veteran, who had risen to the rank of sergeant and commanded up to 40 Marines, could barely make it through an average day. He couldn't turn his mind off of potential threats. Going into grocery stores, restaurants or other public places turned into a nerve-racking, heart-pounding experience. He isolated himself and used alcohol to self-medicate.
He hated what he'd become.
read more here
NECN.com
Aug 12, 2012
DALLAS (AP) — Just after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, Mike Rials was on track to graduate from Richardson's J.J. Pearce High School and start his freshman year at Texas Tech. But at the last minute, Rials decided he wanted a bigger challenge: He enlisted in the Marines.
Nine years later, Rials, 27, will finally get his diploma when he graduates next week from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in psychology. He credits UTD's Center for BrainHealth, and its work with him and other recent war veterans struggling physically or emotionally from their time in combat.
Many recently discharged veterans have difficulty adjusting to civilian life, especially those dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury, the two signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That adjustment can be even more difficult when the veteran goes from the battlefield to the classroom.
"When they come off the battlefield, where they've had to be hyper-vigilant to so much that's going on, it triggers the brain to do the opposite of what you need to do for a higher-thinking job," said Dr. Sandra Chapman, the center's founder and chief director.
"You're hyper-focused, stressed and not sleeping well."
In five years with the Marines, Rials did three combat tours. Assigned to the infantry, Rials was just 19 when he deployed to Iraq during the height of the insurgency. In his first two tours, in 2004 and 2005, he fought in Fallujah and Haditha, two major hot spots.
His last tour of duty, in Afghanistan in September 2007, left Rials physically and emotionally scarred when a roadside bomb destroyed his Humvee. A close friend was badly injured and trapped in the burning vehicle. Rials pulled him out, but the Marine died soon after. Rials, who was briefly knocked unconscious by the blast, suffered second-degree burns to his arm. The wounds to his psyche lasted much longer.
After his discharge in 2008, Rials returned to the Dallas area. But the veteran, who had risen to the rank of sergeant and commanded up to 40 Marines, could barely make it through an average day. He couldn't turn his mind off of potential threats. Going into grocery stores, restaurants or other public places turned into a nerve-racking, heart-pounding experience. He isolated himself and used alcohol to self-medicate.
He hated what he'd become.
read more here
Combat Vet With PTSD Booted From Army, Barred From Healthcare
Combat Vet With PTSD Booted From Army, Barred From Healthcare
OPB News
Austin Jenkins
Aug. 11, 2012
SALEM, Ore. – In Salem , a former Army staff sergeant named Jarrid Starks has run out of the medications that keep him stable. He has severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental and physical wounds of war. But he’s currently not eligible for veterans’ health benefits that would include prescription refills. That’s because Starks was kicked out of the Army for bad behavior. He’s far from alone.
Jarrid Starks joined the Army right out of high school with dreams of a 20-year career.
He left the Army earlier this year in disgrace. Starks recalls being escorted from the psychiatric ward at Madigan Army Hospital to an out-processing center and then to the front gate of Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
“I had a 90-day supply of medication that I received from Madigan in a paper lunch sack,“ he says.
That sack of pills was Stark’s lifeline: a combination of antidepressants, beta-blockers, anti-psychotics, muscle-relaxants and sleep aides. A daily cocktail that allowed Starks to keep his anger and anxiety in check.
He sports a baseball cap that reads, “Warning this vet is medicated for your protection.”
It’s a joke, but not really.
“Ya, in every joke lay a bit of truth," Starks quips.
read more here
OPB News
Austin Jenkins
Aug. 11, 2012
SALEM, Ore. – In Salem , a former Army staff sergeant named Jarrid Starks has run out of the medications that keep him stable. He has severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental and physical wounds of war. But he’s currently not eligible for veterans’ health benefits that would include prescription refills. That’s because Starks was kicked out of the Army for bad behavior. He’s far from alone.
Jarrid Starks joined the Army right out of high school with dreams of a 20-year career.
He left the Army earlier this year in disgrace. Starks recalls being escorted from the psychiatric ward at Madigan Army Hospital to an out-processing center and then to the front gate of Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
“I had a 90-day supply of medication that I received from Madigan in a paper lunch sack,“ he says.
That sack of pills was Stark’s lifeline: a combination of antidepressants, beta-blockers, anti-psychotics, muscle-relaxants and sleep aides. A daily cocktail that allowed Starks to keep his anger and anxiety in check.
He sports a baseball cap that reads, “Warning this vet is medicated for your protection.”
It’s a joke, but not really.
“Ya, in every joke lay a bit of truth," Starks quips.
read more here
Wounded war hero Spc. Charlie Lemon to receive free home
Wounded war hero Spc. Charlie Lemon to receive free home
By: Jennifer Moore
TAMPA - Last year on June 8, 2011, Army Spc. Charlie Lemon lost both his legs deployed overseas with the 3rd Armored Calvary out of Fort Hood, Texas.
An IED destroyed the Humvee Lemon was riding in, and he endured months of extensive rehabilitation at San Antonio Military Medical Center.
ABC Action News covered Lemon's homecoming as family and friends greeted him at Tampa International Airport back in April when he returned for a week in the Tampa Bay area.
read more here
By: Jennifer Moore
TAMPA - Last year on June 8, 2011, Army Spc. Charlie Lemon lost both his legs deployed overseas with the 3rd Armored Calvary out of Fort Hood, Texas.
An IED destroyed the Humvee Lemon was riding in, and he endured months of extensive rehabilitation at San Antonio Military Medical Center.
ABC Action News covered Lemon's homecoming as family and friends greeted him at Tampa International Airport back in April when he returned for a week in the Tampa Bay area.
read more here
This is what CNN thinks is the biggest problem with Romney picking Ryan?
This is what CNN thinks is the biggest problem with Romney picking Ryan
They didn't seem to think that cutting the VA budget or selling it off to private for profit companies was a big deal. Do they even know about this? They talk about Ryan's budget but didn't seem interested in what the rest of his plan has in it.
If you want to know why CNN Hit 20-Year Weekday Primetime Low I just may be one example of why that happened. There are millions of Americans just like me.
CNN joined in the 24/7 coverage of politics and dropped everything else Americans care about. That isn't the only problem. They failed to actually report on the rest of the story when they covered politicians.
When Mitch McConnell and the Republicans became the party in charge of the congress, he didn't say their number one job was to put Americans back to work. He said their job was to make President Obama a one term president. Then they began to take the steps to do it.
The rest of the country had to pay for their plan to work. If they fixed anything, it wouldn't be in their best interest but they had to act as if they were doing something to earn their pay checks and their own insurance coverage. So they went after the deficit they had been silent about every year before.
Most of us remember the fact two wars were never in the budget but were put on the charge card with no plans on how to ever pay for them. The fact that billions were unaccounted for didn't matter before.
This didn't matter either.
They wanted to end the Affordable Care Act, they dubbed "Obamacare" and not fix what they thought was wrong with it. They took the easy way out and said just kill it. While this may have "fired up their base" it would have left millions right back where they were with no way to pay for a doctor visit and adult kids without any insurance up to 26.
They complained about the unemployment rate as millions of people were out of work and then made it worse by saying they had to cut the deficit and laid off public employees. They didn't say their number one job was to take care of veterans even though every day we saw more and more of them suffering without getting the care they not only needed, but earned when they lived up to their promise to defend this nation with their lives. There is a very long list of things they didn't say was their job and veterans ended up suffering for all of what they didn't want to do.
Veterans usually go into public service. It is in their blood to want to be of service to this country. They become police officers, firefighters and emergency responders. They go into healthcare and they become teachers. They go into public service working for their cities and towns to make them better. What happened? A lot of them lost their jobs with the budget cuts but CNN didn't seem to think any of this was important to mention. If they mentioned it at all, I missed it and so did most Americans.
They didn't seem interested in the fact that National Guards and Reservists on repeated deployments were coming back home with no jobs and no healthcare since they are not covered unless they are deployed and their families are not covered so if they get sick, they are on their own.
FOX Orlando
But this happens all the time. Instead of CNN covering what is happening to so many military families and veterans, they just put on politicians from both parties to make whatever claims they want to make. Some political coverage is necessary but not as much as they decided to do especially when troops were being killed overseas and veterans right here were suffering, waiting for care they were promised.
The only good thing to come out of all of this is there is finally some incentive to hire veterans and companies are taking advantage of it. The unemployment rate for veterans has gone down. It could have gone down a lot lower if cable news stations devoted time to covering them all along.
When I go to events, there is always someone with a political point of view, but the majority of the veterans I am with are talking about their lives and what is going on with them as veterans and their kids serving today.
I don't watch CNN much anymore while I gave up on FOX cable news and MSNBC a very long time ago. They act as if politics are all that matters but most of us are fed up with that topic being covered most of the time. Oh, sorry I almost forgot that Anderson Cooper on CNN covers Syria a lot too.
UPDATE
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH PICKING RYAN IS HIS BUDGET THAT CUTS THE VA WHEN VETERANS NEED IT THE MOST!
But a serious downside to a Romney-Ryan ticket may be Ryan's specific policy ideas. Widely lauded in conservative circles, Ryan's budget plan will become front and center in the campaign. This is especially true for the fundamental restructuring of Medicare as proposed in the plan. Medicare and Social Security are typically viewed as the "third rail" of American politics, and presidential candidates have historically shied away from proposing sweeping changes to these programs.
They didn't seem to think that cutting the VA budget or selling it off to private for profit companies was a big deal. Do they even know about this? They talk about Ryan's budget but didn't seem interested in what the rest of his plan has in it.
If you want to know why CNN Hit 20-Year Weekday Primetime Low I just may be one example of why that happened. There are millions of Americans just like me.
CNN joined in the 24/7 coverage of politics and dropped everything else Americans care about. That isn't the only problem. They failed to actually report on the rest of the story when they covered politicians.
When Mitch McConnell and the Republicans became the party in charge of the congress, he didn't say their number one job was to put Americans back to work. He said their job was to make President Obama a one term president. Then they began to take the steps to do it.
The rest of the country had to pay for their plan to work. If they fixed anything, it wouldn't be in their best interest but they had to act as if they were doing something to earn their pay checks and their own insurance coverage. So they went after the deficit they had been silent about every year before.
Most of us remember the fact two wars were never in the budget but were put on the charge card with no plans on how to ever pay for them. The fact that billions were unaccounted for didn't matter before.
This didn't matter either.
Iraq Banks Billions in Surpluses, GAO Says The United States has appropriated about $48 billion for Iraqi reconstruction since 2003 and has committed all but about $6 billion.
They wanted to end the Affordable Care Act, they dubbed "Obamacare" and not fix what they thought was wrong with it. They took the easy way out and said just kill it. While this may have "fired up their base" it would have left millions right back where they were with no way to pay for a doctor visit and adult kids without any insurance up to 26.
They complained about the unemployment rate as millions of people were out of work and then made it worse by saying they had to cut the deficit and laid off public employees. They didn't say their number one job was to take care of veterans even though every day we saw more and more of them suffering without getting the care they not only needed, but earned when they lived up to their promise to defend this nation with their lives. There is a very long list of things they didn't say was their job and veterans ended up suffering for all of what they didn't want to do.
Veterans usually go into public service. It is in their blood to want to be of service to this country. They become police officers, firefighters and emergency responders. They go into healthcare and they become teachers. They go into public service working for their cities and towns to make them better. What happened? A lot of them lost their jobs with the budget cuts but CNN didn't seem to think any of this was important to mention. If they mentioned it at all, I missed it and so did most Americans.
They didn't seem interested in the fact that National Guards and Reservists on repeated deployments were coming back home with no jobs and no healthcare since they are not covered unless they are deployed and their families are not covered so if they get sick, they are on their own.
FOX Orlando
During the time that Marine Cpl. Adam Byler spent his 8 months in Afghanistan, his little girl, Adalynn, was born. When he recently came back home, it was love at first sight.
Adalynn Byler was pronounced on Monday evening and was on support in order to allow organ transplant teams to be set up. Her family was very generous in allowing other families to have their prayers/wishes/dreams answered. There are three lives whose futures changed on Tuesday by the forward and outward thinking of the Byler family.
But this happens all the time. Instead of CNN covering what is happening to so many military families and veterans, they just put on politicians from both parties to make whatever claims they want to make. Some political coverage is necessary but not as much as they decided to do especially when troops were being killed overseas and veterans right here were suffering, waiting for care they were promised.
The only good thing to come out of all of this is there is finally some incentive to hire veterans and companies are taking advantage of it. The unemployment rate for veterans has gone down. It could have gone down a lot lower if cable news stations devoted time to covering them all along.
When I go to events, there is always someone with a political point of view, but the majority of the veterans I am with are talking about their lives and what is going on with them as veterans and their kids serving today.
I don't watch CNN much anymore while I gave up on FOX cable news and MSNBC a very long time ago. They act as if politics are all that matters but most of us are fed up with that topic being covered most of the time. Oh, sorry I almost forgot that Anderson Cooper on CNN covers Syria a lot too.
UPDATE
THE BIGGEST PROBLEM WITH PICKING RYAN IS HIS BUDGET THAT CUTS THE VA WHEN VETERANS NEED IT THE MOST!
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