We put together the over 4,000 Crosses last weekend, Mother's Day, this weekend they are getting painted! Anyone in North Carolina, or near, are Welcome to Visit the Memorial next weekend, Memorial Day!
This 2007 Memorial Day Weekend pay your respects at Arlington South - Prayer and Peace Vigil In Mac Anderson Park, 433 Race Street, Statesville, N.C. Saturday, May 26 & Sunday, May 27: 10 AM – 9 PM and Monday, May 28: 10 AM – 6 PM
Dedication Ceremony: Saturday May 26, 2007 at 1:30 PM Diverse Religious and Community Leaders, Veterans, Poets, Musicians and others
This memorial is intended to be a place to mourn, reflect, contemplate, grieve, and meditate.
We want to honor and acknowledge those who have lost their lives.
We want to support and honor the families who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and Iraq.
We want to mourn the loss of all life – military and civilian, of every nationality.
We Thank Our Generous Sponsors and Volunteers*: The MASON Memorial Foundation** - Lowes Home Improvement – Bunch Johnson Funeral Home – Advantage Storage of Statesville – Diane and Greg Frederick – The James Austin Company - Mary Terese Stevens - Diane Pennel - Linda Englund –Gold Star Mothers - Freedom Group - Veterans for Peace - Military Families Speak Out - CODEPINK – Home Depot – Bob and Lisa Barber
**Mason Memorial Foundation was founded in 2003 in loving memory of Mason Young. Our mission is to provide charitable contributions, gifts and funding to individuals in need and to community institutions that work to improve the well being of children and families. We are currently helping families in North Carolina, Northwest Arkansas, and Haiti. “Envisioning a World Where All Children Have the Opportunity to Grow Up Happy, Healthy, & Safe in Loving Families.”
*Sponsors and Donors as of May 18, 2007
Arlington South - Memorial Day Weekend Prayer and Peace Vigil Mac Anderson Park, 433 Race Road, Statesville N.C. Saturday May 26, and Sunday May 27, 10 AM – 9 PM; Monday May 28, 10 AM – 6 PM
Gold Star Mother Summer Lipford, whose son Steven F. Sirko died in Iraq in 2005, is calling on people in our region to help erect a white wooden cross in memory of each of our troops who have died in Iraq. This memorial is intended to be a place to mourn, reflect, contemplate, grieve, and meditate.
Corruption and Incompitence Gets Deeper & Deeper & Deeper.....................................!!
And with Two Theaters of Operations that are in Quagmire Mode!
Corruption within this Administration, and previous Congresses just keeps bubbling up from within the beltway that can't contain it no more it's so prevalent!!
And where do we get this great news from, not here, but The Guardian, i.e. UK!!
By HOPE YEN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly two dozen officials who received hefty performance bonuses last year at the Veterans Affairs Department also sat on the boards charged with recommending the payments. Documents obtained by The Associated Press raise questions of conflicts of interest or appearances of conflicts in connection with the bonuses, some of which went to senior officials involved in crafting a budget that came up $1.3 billion short and jeopardized veterans' health care. The documents show that 21 of 32 officials who were members of VA performance review boards received more than half a million dollars in payments themselves. Among them: nearly a dozen senior officials who devised the flawed 2005 budget. Also rewarded was the deputy undersecretary for benefits, who manages a system with severe backlogs of veterans waiting for disability benefits. Deputy undersecretaries who sit on the review boards, which are appointed by VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, also had input on bonus recommendations involving themselves, fellow members and spouses that made questionable performance claims and neglected agency problems. The VA, which has defended the bonuses as necessary to retain hardworking senior employees, says board members do not participate in bonus decisions that involve themselves or fellow board members. In those cases, recommendations are made by agency heads in consultation with deputy undersecretaries, who usually serve as supervisors to their fellow board members, the agency says. But government watchdogs were harshly critical, saying the process does little to instill public confidence in the fairness of awards. In its last known report on the issue - one involving NASA - the Government Accountability Office in 1980 urged that performance boards add credibility and objectivity to their decisions by including ``one or more impartial members from outside the agency,'' although agencies are not required to do so. With the exception of a panel tasked with reviewing the VA inspector general's office, all the VA's performance board members come from within the agency. In one case, Michael Walcoff, associate deputy undersecretary for field operations who sits on two of the review boards, and his wife, Kimberly, a VA director, received a package of bonuses totaling $42,000. ``This is a scandal in the making,'' said Paul C. Light, professor of public service at New York University who specializes in government reform. He said the VA bonuses pointed to possible ``featherbedding'' and other favoritism. Light said given the current problems in veterans care, the department would be best served if Nicholson restricted most performance bonuses for at least a year except in cases of clear improvement. ``This is not the time for largesse for the Department of Veterans Affairs,'' Light said. ``They must not make a link between retention and employees, but employees and performance as an incentive to solve these very serious problems.'' Following reports this month by the AP of the $3.8 million in bonuses, groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have called on Nicholson to explain why officials involved in budget foul-ups would be rewarded. Annual bonuses to senior VA officials last year averaged more than $16,000, the highest average in government. Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., has introduced legislation that would freeze 2007 VA bonuses for ``senior politically appointed officers'' - such as assistant secretaries or deputy undersecretaries - until the agency pares its disability claims backlog to under 100,000 cases. The VA says deputy undersecretaries are career employees, and a committee spokeswoman acknowledged that was the case. ``It is simply unacceptable that veterans are waiting longer and longer for benefits they desperately need while senior staff members in charge of bad policy are rewarded so-called performance bonuses,'' Hall said. The legislation, originally scheduled for a vote Tuesday, was expected to be considered along with other veterans health care bills later this month, a spokeswoman for Hall said. Under a federal law passed in 1978 to increase government accountability by tying bonuses more closely to performance, agencies are required to appoint performance review boards yearly to guarantee bonus awards are ``fair and credible.'' According to guidance by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, performance boards must ensure that bonuses are given based not only on individual accomplishments cited by supervisors, but also the department's overall success. However, 2006 bonus proposals obtained by the AP show that senior officials who received top payments of $33,000 were sometimes credited for achievements that were questionable, if not inaccurate. Also, no mention was made of agency-wide problems. For example: -Rita Reed, deputy assistant secretary for budget: ``Demonstrated the ability to design and implement strategies that maximize employee potential and foster high ethical standards in meeting the organization's mission and goals.'' While touting her role in launching programs to ``leverage the VA's buying power'' as well as collecting $5.1 million in erroneous payments, the proposal does not mention Reed's lead role in crafting the VA's flawed 2005 budget. Months prior to her bonus award, GAO investigators determined the VA had used misleading accounting to justify health cuts, claiming false savings in part by double-counting savings from volume purchasing in government contracts from year to year. -William Feeley, deputy undersecretary for health for operations and management: ``Made numerous contributions to veterans and the Veterans Health Administration in his role as deputy undersecretary.'' It said he also led systemwide improvements that resulted in a 2.2 percent decrease in wait times for primary care. Feeley received a top bonus and is credited for yearlong achievements even though he did not take the job until February 2006, nearly halfway into the fiscal year. Previously, he was a VA regional director who played a role in the flawed 2005 budget. Regarding veterans' wait times to see doctors, a 2005 report from the VA inspector general found that VA schedulers routinely put the wrong requested appointment dates into the system, which made reported wait times appear shorter than they really were. The IG has said problems lingered in 2006 despite VA promises. -Ronald Aument, deputy undersecretary for benefits: ``His knowledge of VBA programs and operations and his breadth of experiences across VA have contributed greatly to VBA's progress in improving services to veterans.'' Aument helps manage a disability claims system that has backlogs of 400,000 to 600,000 veterans. The waits average 177 days, two months short of the VA's strategic goal of 125 days to process claims. Nicholson has called the delays unacceptable. --- On the Net: Veterans Affairs Department
Is 'Funding' Really For Troops?
What Happened To Funding and Oversite For Military/Veteran Care In Previous Congresses?
Tim Coil is a Gulf War veteran with PTSD. In early March, he and his wife visited the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library in Ohio so that his wife, Yvette, could study for a test and he could do some reading.
His wife was putting up 3x5 cards on the window of the room used by the recruiters. “Don’t fall for it! Military recruiters lie,” said one. “It’s not honorable to fight for a lying President,” said another. Then the police came.
“My husband said that the library was a public place and we are allowed our freedom of speech,” Coil says. “The director said it was his library, and so we would have to follow his rules.”
On May 10, Yvette Coil says that her lawyer was advised that the state would drop charges if they would pay $100 in court fees. “Tim said he should not have to pay for being harassed,” says Yvette. “No one has the right to take your freedoms away.” The case is scheduled for June 5.
And from Rev. Clair Hochstetler, M.Div. Goshen, Indiana (a hospital chaplain and a member of MaplePeace in this community) Printed at Freepress.org:
Gulf War 1 veteran and conscientious objector, Tim Coil, was arrested for what he considered to be Free Speech in an Ohio public library.
Tim and Yvette need your support. Yvette is a full-time college student and her husband Tim is on disability. Read detailed background to this whole story at Mother Speak
There is a sample letter you can use, or enhance, and send to the library director. There is also other contact information at site.
William Rivers Pitt writes: "Recall, for context, our national debate over torture, renditions, and the rights of prisoners captured in the 'War on Terror.' Recall the secret memos, endorsed by then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, that slapped aside Geneva Convention prohibitions against the torture of prisoners. Recall Abu Ghraib, and the shameful photos documenting the absence of those prohibitions in living, bleeding color. It was theoretical at the time, that debate, an exercise in nationalist rhetoric and sound-bite showmanship. It isn't theoretical anymore."
Of Actions and Consequences, Torture and Troops By William Rivers Pitt t r u t h o u t | Columnist Tuesday 15 May 2007 The most painful thing for the inmates there were the cries of the people being tortured. One day, they brought sheets to cover the cell in order for no one to see anything. They began torturing one of them, and we could hear what was happening. We listened as his soul cracked. - Former inmate of Abu Ghraib There was an ambush outside Baghdad a few days ago, yet another accent in Iraq's ceaseless symphony of carnage. Little about it was distinctive at first, until word got out that three American soldiers attached to the attacked convoy were missing. The Islamic State of Iraq, described in American media reports as an "al Qaeda front group," subsequently claimed to be holding these missing soldiers as hostages. Pentagon officials confirmed their claim, and some 4,000 troops have since fanned out to search for the abducted troops. Recall, for context, our national debate over torture, renditions, and the rights of prisoners captured in the "War on Terror." Recall the secret memos, endorsed by then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, that slapped aside Geneva Convention prohibitions against the torture of prisoners. Recall Abu Ghraib, and the shameful photos documenting the absence of those prohibitions in living, bleeding color. It was theoretical at the time, that debate, an exercise in nationalist rhetoric and sound-bite showmanship. Those who voiced warnings, who tried to remind us that actions have consequences, hardly made a dent. Abu Ghraib was exposed, and we were outraged, and then we forgot. The mangled morality of state-sanctioned brutality continued as mere fodder for this theoretical argument, and the horrors within those faraway prison walls simply got folded into the main. It isn't theoretical anymore. Three American soldiers are hostages today, and God help them if their captors decide to play by our rules. Will these three soldiers be taken by their captors to another country, to some faraway facility filled with the infrastructure of applied agony? Will they be handed over to men who know precisely how to make a nerve ending shriek, who extract screams from flesh like miners of misery? There is precedent if this happens; our government has been doing it for years. Bush's people send prisoners to far-flung nations, where they are tortured without mercy, because that theoretical debate made this an acceptable practice. Will these three soldiers be beaten, raped, electrocuted and murdered? Will their religious faith be used as a weapon of humiliation against them? There is precedent if this happens; our government cleared a path for the atrocities of Abu Ghraib, for the murder and rape and torture and humiliation which took place there, and it was that theoretical debate which made this an acceptable practice. Those who tried to warn the Bush administration about the inherent dangers of mistreating prisoners used images just like these to make their point. If prisoners are allowed to be tortured, if their faith is humiliated and their bodies savaged, a terrible price will be paid. It won't be paid by comfortable politicians who blithely red-line the strictures of our common morality while sending troops off to war. It will be paid by those troops, American soldiers struggling to survive the application of wretched policy. To allow torture is to accept torture completely, especially torture as retaliation. If the enshrinement of torture as a legitimate tactic had been inspired solely by fear, anger, desperation or a desire to defend the country at all costs, one might be able to understand. That wasn't the case here. The decision to make torture an acceptable policy was born, first and foremost, from the mercenary priorities of a few powerful Bush administration officials. Blowing up Geneva, ripping up rights, defying all the rules, all this was just another necessary step along the path towards the establishment of the Supreme Executive, the termination of oversight, and the wilting of any separation of powers. Put more bluntly, three American soldiers may be suffering the torments of Hell because some of Bush's people made a power play. They pushed the limits, and then dismissed those limits out of hand, in order to show that they could, and because nobody stopped them. Now, three soldiers who played no part in crafting those decisions face the grim results of those decisions. Those three troops do not in any way whatsoever deserve this fate, nor even the mere possibility of this fate. In exactly 616 days, the oath of office will be solemnly sworn by a new president, bringing a final conclusion to the gruesome phenomenon that is this administration. If we, as a nation, learn but one lesson from what we have seen and endured these last years, it must be this: actions have consequences. If the foundations of basic decency are allowed to be razed, if the rights and protections which define us are allowed to be erased, prepare to reap the whirlwind. Light a candle, lift a prayer, make a vow, do whatever suits you best sometime today. Do so in the hope that this nation, this world, and those three soldiers, may survive the consequences of the inexcusable and deadly actions which have delivered us to this place.
----------------------
William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of two books: "War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know" and "The Greatest Sedition Is Silence." His newest book, "House of Ill Repute: Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged Reputation," is now available from PoliPointPress. -------
I subscribed to a News Catch site some 4 to 6 months ago to see one: if it would give me any information on Depleted Uranium as to any articles popping up, and two: if it really worked as described.
Well for about the first couple of months I was getting report E's that were stating nothing was being reported, than those stopped, and I had forgotten about it.
Than this morning, before heading to work, I received the following:
Depleted uranium may post health hazard UPI.com Mon, May 7, 2007 07:00:00 PM CDT A U.S. study suggests exposure to particles of depleted uranium might increase the risk ...damage and lung cancer. Depleted uranium is the material remaining ...twice that of lead, depleted uranium is ideal for use ...Southern Maine have discovered depleted uranium dust produced in combat ...tested the effects of depleted uranium dust ...
Bingo!!
So I visited the link, than took a few of the important words and phrases and found the following:
Depleted uranium (DU) is commonly used in military armor and munitions, and thus, exposure of soldiers and non-combatants is potentially frequent and widespread. DU is considered a suspected human carcinogen, affecting the bronchial cells of the lung. However, few investigations have studied DU in human bronchial cells. Accordingly, we determined the cytotoxicity and clastogenicity of both particulate (water-insoluble) and soluble DU in human bronchial fibroblasts (WTHBF-6 cells). We used uranium trioxide (UO3) and uranyl acetate (UA) as prototypical particulate and soluble DU salts, respectively. After a 24 h exposure, both UO3 and UA induced concentration-dependent cytotoxicity in WTHBF-6 cells. Specifically, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 5 g/cm2 UO3 induced 99, 57, 32, and 1% relative survival, respectively. Similarly, 100, 200, 400, and 800 M UA induced 98, 92, 70, and 56% relative survival, respectively. When treated with chronic exposure, up to 72 h, of either UO3 or UA, there was an increased degree of cytotoxicity. We assessed the clastogenicity of these compounds and found that at concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1, and 5 g/cm2 UO3, 5, 6, 10, and 15% of metaphase cells exhibit some form of chromosome damage. UA did not induce chromosome damage above background levels. There were slight increases in chromosome damage induced when we extended the UO3 treatment time to 48 or 72 h, but no meaningful increase in chromosome damage was observed with chronic exposure to UA.
Now, I'm not a scientist and it's been a looooong time since any high school chemistry classes, so I'll leave this up to those who get the lingo.
But the way I'm reading it, what was suspected, and seen in some pictures of the Iraqi people, this report/study may have punched a hole in the dam of information needed on what DU is really doing and our widespread use of!
Written by Pyllis Armstrong 9NEWS NOW Created:5/14/2007 6:59:07 AM Last Updated:5/14/2007 4:45:37 PM
(WUSA)- Mother’s Day is usually a time for Moms to relax or enjoy special gifts. Here in Washington, dozens of mothers spend their day protesting for peace.
They rallied in Lafayette Park across from the White House with signs and songs. Code Pink 4 Peace sponsored the event for people who oppose the war in Iraq.
Cindy Kaylor traveled from Illinois to participate in the peace rally. Her 26-year-old son was deployed to Iraq in January.
Kaylor says she does not know if he is one of the soldiers killed or taken hostage over the weekend. She supports the American military, but is against keeping U.S. troops in Iraq.
Another mother, Cindy Popol, says she brought her children to help teach them the principles of peace. Popol says individuals and families that practice peaceful living, can help their kids learn that they have a choice.
Some supporters of the war also expressed their views at the rally. Ron Kirby says we have to fight the terrorists in Iraq or we will be fighting them on American soil.
Former second commander in Iraq, Major General (ret.) Paul D. Eaton declares that the President did not listen to his commanders, and is still not listening, when it comes to the war in Iraq:
I had heard bits and pieces awhile ago than nothing, apparently I've been missing a few little tidbits of propaganda and coverup.
My first thoughts, awhile back, were "What are they trying to say, that some shit on a bomb will have lasting bacterial traces after explosion?"
It sounded so rediculus I figured that was why I hadn't heard much more about it, though I hadn't thought that some Supper Germ, i.e. WMD, had been unleashed by the Pentagon's Military Care Facilities, and that more had been suffering and dying from this potential Supper Germ, too much else going on, so it easily slipped under the radar.
Now, Bacteria on Shit, on an IED, Survives an Explosion and Resulting Fire!!! Radiation in Depleted Uranium Doesn't Survive in any Explosion and Fire!!!
Got That!!
Marcie, I removed her last name, sent this to Thomas at the G.I. Special Newsletter and he posted it in this current issue: Volume: 5E Issue: 14 Acinetobacter Kills PDF . I took her URLs and found the titles of the reports and the transcripts. What she sent and Thomas posted is found below:
“Hospital Staff And Patients In The U.S. Are Dying”
“A Misinformation Campaign By The Pentagon Regarding The Infection Problems In The Military Medical System”
“They Have Failed To Reduce The Infection Rate In Their Own Medical System; In Fact It Is Going Up”
From: Marcie To: GI Special Sent: May 12, 2007 Subject: Misinformation Campaign
MORE ON ACINETOBACTER
This past week was apparently the beginning of a misinformation campaign by the Pentagon regarding the infection problems in the military medical system. In several news articles and twice on CNN in interviews the Pentagon has implied that the insurgents are smearing animal feces on the IED’s and that is where the bacteria is coming from. This has gone unchallenged by the MSM. In fact the MSM never picked up on Steve Silbermans expose in January which you posted. Wired Magazine sent a hard copy to every member of Congress, the New York Times, The Washington Post, The LA Times, and more. The Invisible Enemy
All chose to ignore this. I almost choked when I caught the CNN segments on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning but nearly cried when I heard Bill Maher repeat this lie last night.
Anyone in the military or anyone who is even thinking at all realizes that biologics cannot withstand the heat generated by even a small bomb. Disbursement methods for biologics are much more complicated and use very small explosive charges.
The military has already proven to themselves that they are origin and the cause of the spread of Acinetobacter Baummanni.
Their failure to contain it despite this knowledge has lead to the spread of this superbug to hospitals all over our country.
They have failed to reduce the infection rate in their own medical system, in fact it is going up. Hospital staff and patients in the US are dying from this I never dreamed 4 years ago that things would get this bad. Here are links to the news articles and CNN Transcripts. This information is also available at my new website The Iraq Infections The Irresponsibility Did Not Begin at Walter Reed
Bombs, some laced with poison, are taking a huge toll among U.S. troops long after the explosions and far from the battlefield. Let’s go to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr -- Barbara. BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, military doctors have a new worry about badly wounded troops. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) STARR: (voice-over): Hundreds of wounded troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are facing a growing threat -- dangerous and sometimes deadly infections. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We’re seeing more of it now than we did at the beginning of the war. STARR: As body armor improves, more troops are surviving the massive injuries caused by IEDs. But those wounds are becoming a breeding ground for drug-resistant infections. Researchers say the infections are often so bad troops may require more surgery or, in some cases, even amputation of arms or legs. COL. GLENN WORTMANN, WALTER REED ARMY MEDICAL CENTER: Because they’re surviving with these tremendous wounds that allows an environment for these bacteria to flourish. And, therefore, I think our infections are worse than you would see on the civilian side. STARR: Infections in hospitals are nothing new, but one of the bacteria now showing up, acinetobacter, is resistant to almost all antibiotics. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you here between 15 and about 20 percent of patients that come in the door are colonized or infected with the organism. STARR: Researchers also say some infections occur because of natural bacteria in the soil. Wounds are contaminated when there is an IED attack. There are also cases where IEDs have been deliberately filled with chemicals and animal waste, a deadly mix for open wounds. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: I’m just thinking about these stories out yesterday about these EFPs and other improvised-explosive devices, where insurgents and terrorists and now coating them with animal excrement and other bits of awful to try to inflict, you know, greater casualties by, you know, creating these wounds that just will not heal and become resistant to antibiotics. CALDWELL: John, we continue to see them use any kind of tactic they can -- will, you know, inflict more casualties and cause more fear and intimidation amongst the people and the security forces, just like they do with these chlorine tanks that they put on top of their bombs, so they have a chlorine fume that is caused. I mean, it just shows you the type of nature the enemy we’re fighting against over here and what we’re up -- having to deal with. ROBERTS: All right. Well, General Caldwell, it’s another troubling development there. And we thank you for your time. We know your busy. And good luck today at the briefing today and with the vice president’s visit.
Now just One More Time, Bacteria on Shit, on an IED, Survives an Explosion and Resulting Fire!!! Radiation in Depleted Uranium Doesn't Survive in any Explosion and Fire!!!
