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

Category: Veterans Issues

  • Lawyer Scams Vets, Gets Busted, Pleads

    In The Inferno, Dante reserves a special place in his vision of hell for those who commit fraud and treachery.  He assigns them the worst punishments in hell:  the innermost two circles.

    I have to say that I agree with Dante.  And in my book, it’s doubly bad when the victim of fraud or treachery is helpless, due to either age or infirmity.  So let’s just say I really don’t like those who defraud or betray aged or seriously disabled veterans – particularly when they’ve been appointed to a position of special responsibility and trust.

    Yet as Jonn reminded us a few weeks ago such treachery happens with disturbing regularity.  People appointed to look after aged or seriously disabled veterans’ finances steal from them all the time.  IMO the VA needs to do a better job in selecting those it appoints to look after the financial matters of veterans.

    But sometimes one of these treacherous, thieving bastards gets nailed.  And when that happens it brings a smile to my face.

    I’m smiling today.

    It seems an unscrupulous attorney in Houston was preying on veterans.  He was acting as fiduciary for some aged and/or seriously disabled vets; his wife was in on the scam.   They were diverting at least some of those vets’ funds for their own use.

    They got caught.  And yesterday, Joe B. Philips plead guilty in  Federal court to conspiracy to make false statements, misappropriation by a fiduciary, and signing a false income tax return.  His wife, Dorothy Philips, plead guilty to conspiracy and making a false statement on an income tax return.

    Joe’s facing up to 13 years in prison; Dorothy is facing up to 8 years.  And I doubt they’ll get to share a cell.

    The Philips are somewhat aged themselves – in their 70s, to be precise.  You know what? I don’t care.  I still hope the judge gives each of them the maximum allowable sentence.

    That would really make me smile.

  • Romney promises to not hike Tricare fees

    Hondo sent a link to the Army Times article by some guy named Rick Maze who works for the cowardly, backstabbing senior editor, Tobias Naegale, in which they report that when Mitt Romney spoke to the American Legion last week, he promised that, if he’s elected president, he won’t hike Tricare fees for military retirees like the current administration plans;

    The quest to raise beneficiary fees is a longtime Pentagon initiative that has spanned several administrations, but Romney said he won’t ask service members and retirees “to pay more for their health care to pay for Obamacare.”

    There is no direct link between the Tricare fee increases sought by the Defense Department — and mostly rejected by Congress — and funding for the Affordable Care Act that is commonly called Obamacare, but the promise still drew loud cheers from the American Legion crowd.

    Yeah, nice save for the Obama Administration, Rick, except that the guy, David Chu, who wanted to hike personnel fees and lower benefits in the Bush Administration was never as successful as the clowns in this administration. And the Clinton Administration was successful in kicking military retirees over 65 years of age out of Tricare and into Medicare.

    And of course this 500% hike in Tricare fees isn’t part of the Obamacare health bill. This administration promised us that healthcare was going to be cheaper for regular citizens while raising costs for veterans, you know, because veterans haven’t done enough for this country already.

    I probably don’t need to tell this crowd that last year,the president told the American Legion Convention that he wasn’t going to balance the budget on the backs of veterans, but we’re the only ones paying more for the services we earned, then any of the services the government offers to people who haven’t worked a day in their lives.

    Romney also promised to get all veterans who qualified for the Post 9-11 Education Bill in-state tuition rates regardless of their qualification and it should be that way. Veterans served the whole nation, not just their home states. And if illegal aliens qualify for in-state tuition, why shouldn’t veterans?

  • Thanks, Mr. Jones

    We see a lot of harshness in the world today. At times it seems as if no one gives a damn about anything or anyone.

    Then you hear about something that makes you realize that there are some out there who care – and who, in their own small way, are making a difference.

    A few months ago, I brought up the issue of veterans burials. In that article I referenced the case of a veteran in Florida buried sans casket.

    It seems that someone in Florida didn’t like that outcome. And rather than stand around waiting for the Federal or state government to do something, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Literally.

    Tom Jones, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, is a woodworker. He decided to make a couple of prototype wooden urns for use in the burial of unclaimed and/or indigent veterans’ remains.

    But he didn’t stop there. He showed the prototype to a woodworking club of which he’s a member. They’ve now made 17, and plan to continue.

    Jones hopes woodworking clubs nationwide join in the endeavor. That would indeed be a good thing.

    Not everything must or should be done by the government. Americans are a self-reliant people; we can and will take care of ourselves and others, given opportunity and motivation. Jones’ actions here prove that.

    In case anyone wondered: yes, Jones is indeed a veteran.  But you’d probably guessed that.

    Well done, Mr. Jones. Well done.

    Thanks.

  • Shooting in NJ

    At about 4 am, some guy opened up with what ABC News is calling an AK-47, and killed two people. I guess there were other victims who haven’t died yet. And, of course, to make the shooting seem worse, the Associated Press counts the gunman, who apparently shot himself before police arrived, among the dead. However, the AP isn’t speculating that the shooter was a Marine like ABC news is doing. Good on them.

    Since they haven’t released the shooter’s name, we’re not sure if he’s a Marine or not. But what we can be sure of is that it’s not a result of PTS since people who suffer from PTS don’t act like this, except in the movies. Hell, we can’t even trust the media to identify the type of weapon, so how can we trust them to make a psychological diagnosis?

  • Don’t bring pruning shears to a stapler fight

    Chief Tango sends us a link to an AP story about David Kassner, a retired Army staff sergeant and veteran of the war against terror who was running a service station in Bellingham, WA when he was confronted by an unnamed 6 foot-tall man in a ski mask using pruning shears as a weapon;

    The robber demanded money, but Kassner refused. When the masked man grabbed the cash register and tried to take the whole thing, the clerk grabbed a nearby hammer-style stapler and swung it at the man’s head. Kassner missed that target but said he must have made contact because the man ran off empty-handed, clutching his wrist.

    We here at TAH love the fact that veterans are saving the world from itself a little bit at a time and we commend SSG Kassner for securing his area of operations in America.

  • Pentagon to Bissonnette: “See You In Court”

    Looks like the Pentagon is going to play hardball with former SEAL Matt Bissonnette (AKA “Mark Owen”) regarding his book.  The DoD General Counsel reportedly informed Bissonnette yesterday that the Pentagon is considering legal action against him and his publisher to force them to forfeit proceeds from Bissonnette’s upcoming book No Easy Day.

    Looks like Bissonnette should have actually read his Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement, especially paragraphs 3 and 5.  In paragraph 3, he specifically agreed to submit potentially classified manuscripts for prepublication classification review.  (He didn’t.)  And in paragraph 5, Bissonnette agreed in writing to forfeit all proceeds obtained through the unauthorized release of classified information.

    This isn’t any kind of government power grab, or “prior restraint” of any type.  Bissonnette screwed himself here.  He signed a formal, enforceable legal agreement with the government, and he later violated that agreement.  So now he gets the consequences – which were spelled out for him a priori.  He gets no sympathy from me.

  • I’d Guess He Was a Vet

  • Cop shoots Navy vet; “I’m sorry, you startled me”

    Tman sends a link about a Navy veteran, Jennifer Orey, who was shot in her backyard by police officers looking for a man who had been reported to be sneaking around in a black ski mask in the neighborhood.

    Orey was in her pajamas in her yard around 10:30 p.m. because she heard noises and thought it was her ex-husband, the newspaper reports.

    Orey and Deputy Luke Berhalter came in contact and the officer’s firearm discharged at point-blank range, her brother James Morgan told local Fox 5 News.

    “He fired without warning, saying freeze, or anything. Then just as she saw the black smoke coming out the barrel she turned her body,” Morgan said. “The bullet went through her chest and her left nipple, into her shoulder and out her pinkie.”

    The deputy reportedly told her, “I’m sorry, you startled me,” Morgan told the television station.

    Sorry, after watching the Dirty Harry movies, I thought you police guys trained for those circumstances. I even believed the parts where you like gave warnings and stuff. I’ll admit that Orey probably did the wrong thing when she went out to investigate noises in the dark by herself, but she certainly shouldn’t have been shot for it.