This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Sporkmaster

  • The Irony of John Kerry.

    Since the President canceled his trip to Aisa, he has send John Kerry in his place to assure that the United States will not support for Asia against pressure from China.

    Acknowledging that Obama is missing opportunities for direct diplomacy with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and others attending a series of international trade and cooperation meetings, Kerry was at pains to tell Asian leaders that they should not read too much into the absence.

    You mean like sending VVFP/VFP’s Poster child one why we needed to leave Vietnam and never come back? Does anyone really think that the leaders believe this promise considering how was handled Vietnam and how we are handling Afghanistan?

  • Over medicating in the VA/military health care.

    Well I have been looking for a reason excuse to talk about this and this is about as good as any. This is about a Veteran that died from “over-medicated”.

    “It just got out of control,” said Heather. “They just started pill after pill, prescription after prescription…and he’d come home with all brand-new medications, higher milligrams.”

    I have recently seen this in regards to the medication that I take for my ADD.

    Short history, diagnosed at the age of five. Was on Ritalin for the better part of twenty years, and started taking adderall. off and on since 2010. So I have a general idea of what to expect from the medication and the risks.

    For example, this medication is not a cure all. It will not make one have the mental discipline to do the needed tasks, it will just help you do it. A better way of saying this how vision glasses help people. It will help you see clearly, but it will not influence you on were you look.

    Second is the idea of taking “drug holidays” to prevent the body from becoming desensitized to the medication does. Also it allows the body to recover from the reduced appetite that comes with this type of drug. Just keep this in mind for the next part.

    I am going through school right now and I was having some trouble with my ADD and I wanted to talk to Behavioral Health about ideas for better coping mechanism for school. The first thing that I was told that I needed to be on a medication regiment. When I told them that I was already taking 1 20mg of Adderall XR (extended release) on weekdays, that it was not enough. That until I was on a working regiment that any coping mechanisms would be ineffective.

    So I wait for my appointment to talk to the doctor. We got some basic history about my ADD. He increases my dose to 30mg XR and that I need to take on the weekends when I study. Ok we get that out of the way and I was ready to talk about now coping ideas that I have been wanting to talk about for over two weeks.

    Nope, nothing. It seems that the Adderal will take care of everything and that i did not need to do anything else. Remember when I was talking about what these drugs can and cannot do earlier? Yea I was very surprised to hear that and was thinking about the newer patients who get Adderal and get told the same thing. I go about my schooling and about two weeks later I have a follow up.

    I told that the increased medication seems to have helped me in the hands on portions and helping with studying I was concerned about two things. The first one was the effects real or was this a placebo effect, and that I was unconsciously looking/wanting to see better results. The second was with no drug holidays that what is there to prevent my body from becoming desensitized to the medication.

    His first answer was to evaluate for long term and if it was a placebo effect would reduce rather then maintain. The second was that if I become desensitized to the medication that we could just increase the dose.

    I asked him what happens if I keep finding myself having to keep increasing the medication dosage over and over to keep the same therapeutic levels. His answer was that there was a point that the body will not be desensitized to the medication and to remain on that dosage.

    The answer that I wanted to say was “you mean death”? Considering what the drug is and that it it highly abused in colleges and other schools that you would want to control the dosage by drug holidays (It is in the medication instructions) to keep the risk of becoming dependent on the medication. So I wonder when I see comments like this if anyone else has had similar experiences.

    “I have seen people that have not had an exam of that body part that they’re complaining of pain in for two years,” said a doctor who presently treats pain patients at the VA and had asked not to be identified. “It’s easier to write a prescription for narcotics, and just move along, get to the next patient.”

  • Blood, Sweat and Tears are now a fashion accessory. (Update)

    Valor as a fasion statement
    Well it seems that the people over at Urban Outfitters have decided that it would be trendy to added military patches and ranks to their clothing lines. Units such as the Third Ranger Battalion and the Army EOD patch are such the rage these days. I mean why actually serve in the military and have to deal with military life when you can look like you did for a low price of $85 dollars?

    Our friends at Guardians of Valor are one of the first people to report this and are actively encouraging Veterans to write to the company to have these clothing items pulled.

    Guess what Urban Outfitter’s this is NOT a fashion accessory, to include all the other patches you have adorned your clothing with. These insignia are not worn as fashion, Soldiers have died while wearing these patches and scrolls!!!

    I am sure some will say “no big deal”, but I beg to differ! It is opening the door for posers to claim this crap. Oh you have a Ranger Scroll on your vest, must be a Ranger!! So don’t tell us it won’t hurt anyone, or someone wont get scammed, because it will happen eventually! Not to mention it is degrading the Scroll and the other patches!

    We do ask if you contact them, or post on their FB page, keep it polite and professional! We have emailed them and explained our point of view, and why it should not be sold as some accessory.

    I will post new updates to this story when we get a reply.

    UPDATE:It looks like the item(s) in question will be removed from their clothing line.

    “Thank you for your comments and we appreciate you bringing this to our attention. It is never Urban Outfitters’ intention to offend our customers. We respect the military and value our nation’s veterans and those in active duty. Although the use of military insignias is common practice within fashion industry trends, we understand your concerns and will remove the Standard Cloth Patches Blue Vest from our website.”

  • Thoughts about Syria.

    With all this talk about military action in Syria it is a topic of concern for active military. Right now there seems to be more questions then answers. Questions like:

    1. If troops are committed to the ground, how will the threat of insider attacks similar to those that happened in Afghanistan be confronted?

    2. With the VA still in backlog over claims from the conflict from Iraq and Afghanistan, what is the plan of action to ensure military personal wounded/injuries from a military operation in Syria have effective and prompt medical care?

    3.With US troops still in Afghanistan until late 2014 and the reduction in total force size, how is it possible to avoid being overstretched. Especially if the operation becomes extended like the OIF and OEF?

    4.Considering how results from the missile strikes in the Pakistan border in the past ten years, how will a missile strike in Syria have a different outcome then the one that we have been launching for the past few years?

    I mean for me it seems that the current Administration is is having a very hard time ending the conflict in Afghanistan, what would give use the confidence in them in starting/escalating a conflict? Will the ROEs be more realistic in the sense of giving our troops the ability to defend themselves without the fear of a Courts Martial every time they pull the trigger? What happens if troops are committed, will the Administration have the same enthusiasm in supporting the mission? That same enthusiasm that that seems to be lacking in Afghanistan for the past few years.

    Which brings the real question is;

    Why should think that a operation in Syria would not end badly or prolonged involvement considering how things are going in Afghanistan and on the home front for the Veterans of OEF?

  • Doctors Without Borders making a run for the border.

    Well any border that takes them out of Somalia. It seems that the violence there has reached a point that they cannot operate due to the violence directed at them. It seems that according to the group that it is not just a few random attacks that are a issue but the environment that promotes theses attacks.

    It (Doctors Without Borders) said civilian leaders tolerate or “condone the killing, assaulting and abducting ” of aid workers.

    “The same actors with whom MSF must negotiate minimum guarantees to respect its medical humanitarian mission have in some cases played a role in the abuses against MSF staff, either through direct involvement or tacit approval, particularly but not exclusively in south-central Somalia,” it said.

    So this will course have a very negative effects for war torn places like Somalia and any area that is next to it. It is a sober reminder that noble ideals often falter in the face of harsh realities.

    But were is the stupid you ask? That is coming up next. While I do think that the risks that they do take is crazy I can at least sympathies with wanting to go out and try to bring relief to troubled areas. I mean I can relate to throwing caution and reason into the wind if it means helping someone.

    I thought that about a similar group called. “Our Journey to Smiles“. In the past few years they have gone down the path from naive idealism to shameless political talking points. Even when the reality of what type of violence awaits them after we leave they are still continue on with the absurdity.

    Which comes down to this video from them dreaming about “A world without borders” . Some noticeable points in the video.

    I feel that I need to do everything I can to stop climate change & to stop the environmental damage in general. We need to transform society so that it’s actually sustainable.

    With everything that is going on right now in Afghanistan, your worried about climate change? Tell me those are really “your” words there.

    All human beings live under the same blue sky.
    The sky has no borders! It has no borders..

    Yea, that is adorable.

    But here is the big one.

    My mother is sick & I need to take her to Pakistan.I’m worried about encountering problems at the border.How I wish for a world without borders!

    So all of this to do over worrying about not being able to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan? But because it has ‘meaning” somehow it is getting people to post comments like this one.

    THIS IS BREATHTAKING!!!! SO POWERFUL!!! It MUST go Viral!! TASHAKOR & MOHABAT, from? the bottom of my Heart!

    Yea, good luck with that.

  • SMA Chandler:”This is about one standard applied equally across the force.”

    So it seems that SMA Chandler has been holding Town Hall style meetings over Military is wanting to have women in combat arms. I cannot see how he can make some of the statements that I have read given the statements made by Big Army. But I guess that he managed to overcome that hurdle.

    “There’s a misconception that female Soldiers won’t have to meet the same standards as male Soldiers or that we’re going to lower standards. That’s just not the case,” Chandler said. “This is about one standard applied equally across the force.”

    But the Army has yet to get a working standard uniform let alone rifle which we have been hearing about for years. But we are going to make a Physical fitness standard across the board. But then they drop this.

    “Many of our standards are outdated and very old. What we’re doing now is looking at the physical requirements for any person, male or female, to serve in an MOS, and once the revised standard is implemented, that will be the standard for anyone to serve in that MOS.”

    So let me get this straight, their physical requirements will vary from MOS to MOS? I understand that if you have additional training as being Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger, and SF that the PT testing while have higher requirements. But these are not MOSs, so at a glance it looked like the PT tests would become individualized to the MOS rather then the universal PT requirements we have today, baring age and gender. So with this in mind how is this moving toward a universal PT standard?

    But if you have a problem with it, your just a trouble maker and need to get with the program.

    “The first and largest obstacle the Army must overcome for integration is the culture,” Chandler said. “There is still a perception in some parts of the Army that female Soldiers won’t be able to do the same things as their male counterparts, or that we won’t be as successful if we have them in combat arms organizations. I think the people saying these things are a vocal minority.”

    Feeling the love, Feeling the love.

  • Let Us Mourn The Millions America Slaughtered

    So once again antiwar blogs are talking this weekend to reminder you two important things. The first that you are all baby killers and war criminals because of of the millions of people that died in all the wars we took part in that ether were not American and/or not in our Armed Forces.

    This veteran is waiting for the year in which the Veterans For Peace, in its Memorial Day Press Release, states that Veterans mourn first, the lives America took in poor countries, both the civilian men, women and children and the patriots that fought our illegal and criminal invasions since 1945. Only then should come bitterly mourning GIs who were duped by our elected officials and the CIA and Pentagon fed, corporate-controlled war-promoting media cartel fooling them with lies, misinformation, disinformation and psyop techniques that deceived them into proudly following homicidal criminal orders.

    Again, this veteran is hoping that the Veterans For Peace Memorial Day Statement Press Release will say that VFP, or at least many if not all VFP, mourn the patriots of US invaded countries that fell fighting against overwhelming odds, and their civilian countrymen and children who also fell in harms way of those US invading forces.

    Second that those who died should be only considered after the fact because they are war criminals.

    To be polite, we mourn them first before mourning our own soldiers who were killed in the line of duty following our government’s criminal orders. Otherwise how can anyone believe VFP condemns the taking of all these millions of lives of poor people overseas in illegal criminal military action; an illegal use of military that Representative from Texas, Congressman and Republican candidate for president, denounced (but did not call for prosecution).

    Third is that you should not be celebrating with parades, flags and anything that puts the service of those who have gone before us in any positive light because it was hijacked.

    This Memorial Day 2013, Veterans For Peace is asking their fellow Americans to morn quietly at home. We ask that all sincerely patriotic citizens not take part in military parades and festive open-air observances under flags flying military colors. It anyone asks you why, say you don’t like selective mourning, that is, mourning our dead but not those our soldiers killed.

    Memorial Day has been hijacked, just as our nation has been hijacked, by the investment banks of the Military-Industrial-Complex. Its corporate owned media promotes and hails an indiscriminate celebration of all US wars as heroic.

    Oh and the comments are just as bad.

    from what i know, soldiers are generally clueless about exactly why they are being deployed to all the countries they are being sent to. no matter how hard things are, its never a justification to go halfway around the world to kill innocent people or to pilot drones to do the same-kill innocent people with “pinpoint accuracy”

    As a former president of VFP (Veterans For Peace) I can tell you that many of our members skip the Memorial Day celebrations altogether because those events are, primarily and sadly, a glorification of the military and the killing machines of war. Members who do participate carry our banner, a dove on a military helmet with our name writ large, and a variety of signs against war and the suffering — all suffering, not just that of U.S. veterans — it leaves in its wake. They typically receive a very enthusiastic response from people watching the parade.

    So the next time that the Veterans for Peace says that support the troops just remember that they do, but it is not our troops.

  • Shooting at Mother’s day parade in New Orleans.

    At around 1:30 pm today there was a shooting at mother’s day parade tat . It has been announced that there have been at least seventeen nineteen injured with no reported fatalities at this time. New Orleans’s Mayor gave this statement.

    “It’s important for us, as I have said, to change the culture of death on the streets of New Orleans to a culture of life, and it’s going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach,” he said.

    “These kinds of incidents are not going to go unanswered. We’re going to be very, very aggressive. There were hundreds of people out there today, so somebody knows who did this.”