Dr Jill Biden in Iraq

Dr. Biden Hears From Guard Troops, Iraqi Teachers

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, talks with soldiers from the Texas Army National Guard on Camp Prosperity in Baghdad, July 5, 2010. Biden held a roundtable discussion with Guard members as an opportunity to hear their family concerns. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson

6 July 2010 CAMP PROSPERITY, Iraq, July 6, 2010 – Reintegration, education and support for single soldiers’ families were among the issues Texas Army National Guard soldiers raised here yesterday during a roundtable discussion with Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden.

Dr. Biden was in Iraq with her husband over the weekend to visit with troops for the Fourth of July holiday and to meet with senior Iraqi leaders. Dr. Biden met with several military units while there, but showed a personal interest in speaking to Guard members.

“I have a special place in my heart for the National Guard,” she told the group of about a dozen soldiers of the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team out of Houston who had gathered in a small café here. Her son, Beau, she explained, is in the Delaware Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq last year.

An ongoing issue she’s heard about, she said, is education. National Guard families don’t live on a base, she explained, and the schools their children attend may not be aware that their parent is deployed or how to identify deployment-related issues. Dr. Biden encouraged the Guard members, who are due to return home in August, to share their family related concerns with her, particularly regarding their separation and homecoming.

“When our son came home for [leave], and then had to go back again, his kids were affected. How could they not be?” she said. “I think I understand some of what you may be going through, but it’s nice to hear what you’re experiencing, what we can help you with, what [First Lady] Michelle [Obama] and I should be working.” Continued

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, meets with female Iraqi teachers at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, July 5, 2010. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson

Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, visits with airmen on the flightline at Baghdad International Airport before departing Iraq, July 5, 2010. The Bidens spent their Fourth of July weekend visiting U.S. troops and senior Iraqi leaders. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson

Children and PTSD

Slowly, but much much faster then over the previous four decades, the country has woken up to PTS in the civilian society especially in abused and traumatized children!!

Children's hospital screening for PTSD

July 6, 2010 Badly injured kids who have disorder are being offered treatment, free of charge.

Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin is now screening the most severely injured children those who come through the hospital's trauma center for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Children between the ages of 7 and 17 who show signs of mental or emotional stress because of an accident, wreck or medical mishap also are being offered free counseling, the researchers said. The screening and the counseling, both of which require parent and child permission, are part of a study aimed at predicting which children are likely to suffer PTSD, an ailment more often associated with troops traumatized in battle.

The researchers started enrolling children in November, and as of Friday, 111 had agreed to participate. They hope to enroll 250 participants.

"Once we have a \u2026 reliable way of predicting (PTSD), then we can provide a reliable intervention to see if they can be prevented from having PTSD," said Kevin Stark, a professor in the department of educational psychology at the University of Texas and director of psychological services at the Texas Child Study Center, a collaboration between Dell Children's and UT. "The reason that is important is because PTSD, once it develops, becomes a chronic, lifelong disorder." Continued

If this is a really serious study as well as attempt at care, and not just some exercise to be abandoned as taking to much time or costing to much money, they will find that more then just accidents etc. can and does bring about PTS from trauma a child or adult experiences or lives through or in, and long overdue!

This should be expanded, and has already started but not as a wide well reported issue in occupation theaters like Iraq and Afghanistan, child soldiers in other parts of the world, and not treating enough children. This study could learn much from the work already going on but in a tiny fraction of the affected in the rest of the world! Why, because destructive invasions and occupations bring on the most extreme life traumas for much more then the soldiers sent and how the affected handle those extremes for the complete change of a normal life brought up to expect to live!

Brit Torture Claims Inquiry

UK names judge to lead inquiry into torture claims

6 July 2010 Britain will hold a judge-led inquiry into allegations that its spies were complicit in the torture of terror suspects held by the U.S. and other allies.

The government also announced Tuesday it will pay compensation to detainees found to have been mistreated in the global pursuit of terrorists after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The probe, by a three-member panel headed by retired judge Peter Gibson, could complicate intelligence-sharing with Washington.

It follows civil cases brought against the government by 12 ex-detainees who claim British intelligence agents colluded in their mistreatment in Pakistan, Morocco and elsewhere. Continued

Finally, A Torture Investigation

Jul. 6, 2010 Good news for accountability advocates: The government will soon launch an investigation of claims that it was involved with the torture, abuse, and "rendition" of terrorism suspects.

The British government, that is.

Eighteen months into the Obama administration, there has been no movement towards a full, public investigation of America's treatment of detainees. But on Tuesday afternoon in the UK, David Cameron, the new conservative prime minister, announced that his government will launch an inquiry into Britain's role in alleged detainee abuse. "Our reputation as a country that believes in human rights, justice, fairness and the rule of law—indeed for much of what the [security and intelligence] services exist to protect—risks being tarnished," Cameron said. "The longer... questions [about potential abuse] remain unanswered, the bigger the stain on our reputation as a country that believes in freedom, fairness and human rights grows."

The commission is due to start its work this year, will take some public testimony, and will reach "an authoritative view" on what happened, Cameron told Parliament. The inquiry will be headed by a prominent judge, Peter Gibson, who is currently the commissioner of the UK's intelligence services. It will also include two other experts: former London Times scribe Peter Riddell and Janet Paraskeva, who runs the government's internal civil service watchdog. Continued

Visualizing Memory, War

Visualizing Memory, Photographing War Stories

Listen to the Story

July 4, 2010 How do you photograph memory? It's a question that fine-art photographer Jennifer Karady is exploring. Her latest project visualizes not just any memory, but memories of war brought home by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. An exhibition of photos from her ongoing project, "Soldiers' Stories of Iraq and Afghanistan," is currently on display at SF CameraWork in San Francisco.

Karady is not a journalist; she's not a documentary photographer. She's a fine artist. And among many things, she's interested in "staged narrative tableau paintings," as she put it — images that are carefully composed and visually dramatic. Before 2004, her work had nothing to do with war. But in following the news from Iraq and Afghanistan, she became intrigued by the first-person narratives told by returning veterans — and thought her style of photography might be a way to tell those stories visually.

For veterans, though, they are not easy stories to tell. "Unless you’ve worn the boots," says Starlyn Lara, "you just don't understand the life." Lara's portrait is the last in Karady's series: She is bolt upright in bed — as if waking from a nightmare. The room around her is completely scorched. But she's fully clad in uniform, and a giant pink rabbit looms in the background. Continued

Photo's are at above but Read the rest of the soldiers' stories, as well as the photo's on Karady's website.

A Soldier's Eye on War

Local veteran's suicide reflects troubling trend

July 5, 2010 Orrin Gorman McClellan is among the war casualties that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has just begun to track — young men and women who served in the post-9/11 military, and killed themselves after struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and other war wounds.

DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES Perry McClellan and Judith Gorman put a flagpole in front of their home to commemorate their son's life and service. A talented artist, he helped his parents create a new veterans center on Whidbey Island before taking his life in May.

Orrin Gorman McClellan grew up among the alder and cedar that cover his family's 11-acre homestead on Whidbey Island. He relished painting, music and acting, playing the star role of Toad in a local production of "The Wind in the Willows."

McClellan seemed an unlikely Army recruit. But in the post-9/11 world, he responded to talk of honor, service and camaraderie. After graduating from high school, without informing his parents, McClellan signed up for three years of active duty.

He served in Afghanistan, where he lost friends to enemy bullets, picked up the body parts of blown-up soldiers and wrestled with the emotions unleashed by combat missions.

"Have you ever felt that each word you say brings you further away from explaining yourself," he wrote in an April 30, 2005, poem in a computer journal. "Everything you create puts a sour taste in your mouth and every action you take burns you with shame."

In the fall of 2006, McClellan left the Army and came back to his Western Washington island and a strong support network eager to help him rebuild his life. But family and friends were not enough to save him.

This year, on May 18, McClellan took his life with a handgun.

Snip

"He never really came all the way home," said his mother, Judith Gorman, a social worker skilled in counseling traumatized people. "If some good can come out of this, I would like communities to be able to recognize that we all have to be able to bear some of the burden. We can't just expect veterans to heal ...

"We have to listen to their stories. Deep listening."

A Soldier's Eye on War

Perry McClellan and his wife Judith Gorman discuss the war photography of their son Orrin Gorman McClellan who served in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2005-2006. Orrin, who continued fighting PTSD after returning home, took his own life in 2010.



Poetry from a War Zone

Perry McClellan and Judith Gorman read the words of their son Orrin Gorman McClellan, who penned these poems while serving with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan in 2005-2006. Orrin, who struggled with PTSD after returning home, took his own life in 2010.

In July of 2005, near the end of his time in Afghanistan, McClellan wrote a bitter ode to military recruiters:

"take your pleasantries

your generalizations, good intentions,

sweet words, and half truths,

put them in a box.

drape a flag over it.

and bury it with the rest of the dead." Continued

Propaganda Show Trial or For Real, This Time?

Our blanket support of the Israeli Neo-Con ideology government has and is creating long term National Security problems, as to country and citizens, and adding to the killing and maiming of our military forces still occupying Iraq and Afghanistan as well as one more major negative in implementing a Counter Insurgency program!

Israeli soldiers face criminal indictments in Gaza incursion

An Israeli tank near the Israel-Gaza border during Operation Cast Lead, undertaken by Israel in late 2008

July 6, 2010 Israeli soldiers face criminal indictments for their conduct during a three-week incursion into Gaza, including charges of manslaughter and the use of a Palestinian man as a "human shield," Israel's chief military prosecutor said Tuesday.

Israeli investigators looked into more than 150 incidents during Operation Cast Lead, undertaken by Israel in late 2008 in response to an escalation of Palestinian rocket attacks, said Maj. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit, the military advocate general for the Israeli Defense Forces, in a statement. The military conducted 50 probes.

The IDF investigation found that in one incident, a battalion commander authorized sending a Palestinian man into a house sheltering terrorists in order to convince them to leave the house. The battalion commander was indicted for the improper use of civilians, the IDF statement said.

A staff sergeant faces manslaughter charges for the shooting death of a Palestinian man. There was evidence, the IDF said, that the man was walking with a group of people waving a white flag. Continued

Making Sure One Always Has An 'Enemy'!

Thus much easier to control your own, and prosper from in power, stature and wealth!

Thousands missing out on education in Gaza

Photo: Suhair Karam/IRIN Nuha Abed Rabbo, 9, on her way to an UNRWA elementary school in eastern Gaza

GAZA CITY, 5 July 2010 (IRIN) - Thousands of Palestinian refugee children in the Gaza Strip are unable to receive adequate education, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

About 39,000 child refugees in Gaza will not attend UNRWA schools this year, since the agency is unable to build or re-build schools due to the Israeli blockade, damage sustained during the 23-day Israeli offensive (27 December 2008 - 18 January 2009) and population growth, UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness said in Jerusalem.

“My sons have trouble learning due to the large number of children, usually over 40 per class,” said Noa Ashi. Her sons Tareq, aged 9, and Mohammed, 7, attend New Gaza Elementary School (A) run by UNRWA in Gaza City. “The classrooms are small and three children share each desk,” she said, adding that Tareq and Mohammed attend school only four hours a day.

Snip

There are 750,000 children living in Gaza. "On this road and under these conditions - lack of access, physical deterioration and its psychological effect - the situation will get worse," said Ging. Continued

Iraq: Not Just 'wrong' but Criminal!

Did Blair know it was wrong to invade Iraq?

4th July, 2010 EIGHTY years ago, just after the First World War and with the world rapidly sliding towards the next, the French philosopher Julien Benda wrote a book called "The Treason of the Clerks" "clerks" in the medieval sense, educated men, intellectuals, who despite their high calling chose to serve the State rather than Truth.

They were the ones who provided the justification for the wars and made them possible.

Curiously, nobody has ever written a book called "The Treason of the Lawyers." Nobody has ever accused Lord Goldsmith of being an intellectual, either. But while the Law is not exactly the same as the Truth, it is certainly possible to betray it in the service of the State. That is what Goldsmith did, and it ended in a war.

Goldsmith was the Attorney General, the chief law officer of the British government, when then-prime minister Tony Blair chose to join the United States in the invasion of Iraq. The particular law he betrayed was the most important law of all: the one that outlaws war. The documents that prove it came spilling out last Wednesday.

They were released by the Chilcot inquiry, an official investigation into the British decision to invade Iraq. The key question was: did Tony Blair understand that this war was illegal? The answer turns out to be: he bloody well should have.

Snip

Why does this matter? Because the law matters. Above all, this law matters. It is the law the United Nations was created to enforce: Thou shalt not invade other countries. Not even if they are run by bad people, or claim land that you think should be yours, or pose some real or imaginary danger to your 'security'. We have fought wars since forever, but now it's over. In fact, it's a crime. Continued

Chilcot Iraq War Inquiry: Declassified Documents

July 5, 1989: Oliver North

One of the many parts of the start to the countries present day situations on many fronts!

From United States v. Oliver L. North, Office of the Independent Counsel (OIC) Papers, National Archives & Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.Former National Security Council aide Oliver North received a $150,000 fine and a suspended prison term for his part in the Iran-Contra scandal. The scandal was a secret arrangement directed from the Reagan White House that provided funds to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels (despite specific congressional prohibition) from profits gained by selling arms to Iran (at war with Iraq at the time) in hopes of their releasing hostages, despite Pres. Reagan’s claim that he would never negotiate with hostage-takers.
North’s conviction was later overturned because evidence revealed in the congressional Iran-Contra hearings had compromised his right to a fair trial.

The Oliver North File: His Diaries, E-Mail, and Memos on the Kerry Report, Contras and Drugs

February 26, 2004 National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 113

Diaries, e-mail, and memos of Iran-contra figure Oliver North, posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive, directly contradict his criticisms yesterday of Sen. John Kerry's 1988 Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee report on the ways that covert support for the Nicaraguan contras in the 1980s undermined the U.S. war on drugs.

Mr. North claimed to talk show hosts Hannity & Colmes that the Kerry report was "wrong," that Sen. Kerry "makes this stuff up and then he can't justify it," and that "The fact is nobody in the government of the United States, going all the way back to the earliest days of this under Jimmy Carter, ever had anything to do with running drugs to support the Nicaraguan resistance. Nobody in the government of the United States. I will stand on that to my grave."

The Kerry subcommittee did not report that U.S. government officials ran drugs, but rather, that Mr. North, then on the National Security Council staff at the White House, and other senior officials created a privatized contra network that attracted drug traffickers looking for cover for their operations, then turned a blind eye to repeated reports of drug smuggling related to the contras, and actively worked with known drug smugglers such as Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to assist the contras. The report cited former Drug Enforcement Administration head John Lawn testifying that Mr. North himself had prematurely leaked a DEA undercover operation, jeopardizing agents' lives, for political advantage in an upcoming Congressional vote on aid to the contras (p.121).

Among the documents posted today are: Continued

Iraqi War Refugees: Post-Traumatic Stress

This is unprecedented news and much needed research study. Except for many veterans, mostly of the brothers and sisters of our conflict in Vietnam, and some of the civilian professionals and advocates through these past decades, it is rare, if at all, that not only this country but any other takes into consideration those invaded and occupied especially the mental stress of living within or being forced into a refugee status for years or forever!

$2.6 million US-backed study at Wayne State targets trauma among Iraqi war refugees

July 4, 2010 The U.S. is funding a $2.6 million study of post-traumatic stress among Iraqi war refugees in the Detroit area.

Wayne State University medical school researcher Dr. Bengt Arnetz heads the five-year study, funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health. Continued

Dr. Arnetz secures $2.6 million NIH grant to investigate stress resiliency of Iraqi refugees

July 1, 2010 A Wayne State University School of Medicine researcher will conduct one of the largest studies ever on stress resiliency and the social programs designed to ease post-traumatic stress disorder among Iraqi war refugees.

Using a five-year, $2,641,244 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health, Bengt Arnetz, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., will track Iraqi refugees in metropolitan Detroit who have been exposed to war in their home country to determine the effect of post-migration factors such as employment, language classes, and mental and social health services in mitigating stress and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr. Arnetz, a professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences and director of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Health, said he believes this will be the largest controlled study to date that investigates stress resiliency and risk factors in Iraqi refugees who have experienced war as noncombatants. It is also the first study ever of refugees in which there will be a mechanism to study a random sample of immigrants at the time they arrive in their host country. Continued

Supporting Our Military Families

First Lady Michelle Obama

July 04, 2010 This Independence Day, First Lady Michelle Obama has a special message for all Americans about supporting our military families: Continued

Conspiracy Theories?

Grist to the conspiracy mill

4 Jul 2010 Many of Blair’s former intimates would rather it were not any sort of deal. Each of the men bidding to become Labour’s next leader has discovered – just in time – that the Iraq war was a bit of a mistake and yet, somehow, nothing to do with them. David Miliband, for one, has urged that we all “move on”.

This is the same Miliband who, as Foreign Secretary, rose in the Commons to state categorically (and indignantly) that MI5 had not, and would never, involve itself in the torture of prisoners. He had better hope that the forthcoming Government inquiry into the issue is also happy to “move on”.

Still, one outrage at a time. Just as it was announced that Blair is to be feted for his humanitarian habits, the Chilcot inquiry arose last week from its post-election slumbers. More paperwork – David Cameron must have hesitated for all of two seconds – has been released. Its import is either tragic, hilarious, or both:

you decide.

Remember how we were all dismissed as mad conspiracy nuts for ever believing that an august personage such as England’s Attorney-General could debase his high office by twisting every principle of international law just to suit Blair’s purpose? That was true.

Remember, also, how we used to be accused of puerile anti-Americanism for believing that Blair had set aside any duty to his country just for the chance to say, “Yes, George, right away, George”? It was all true. Seedy, sad, near inexplicable, but true.

As it transpires, the then Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, told the then Prime Minister the same thing over and over. The advice scarcely justified a fancy salary, given that it was founded on the basic principles of international law, but Goldsmith attempted, for a while, to do his bit.

To wit: you can start a legal war for one of three reasons. Either you are under attack, an attack is clearly imminent, or the UN has authorised your actions for the common good. Goldsmith even went to the bother of pointing out that Saddam’s alleged interest in weapons of mass destruction was not, of itself, good enough evidence of “imminence”. He also said, repeatedly, that UN resolution 1441 had failed to give explicit authorisation for bombing the entrails out of Iraq.

Snip

But there I go: conspiracies. The need to reach for extravagant and irrational explanations for mundane events; the refusal, deleterious to discourse, just to take things at face value. Then it turns out that common sense was right all along: Blair was lying, lying in plain sight, in full knowledge of the meaning of his perfect sentences, at every step in the adventure. A warrant for his arrest is long overdue.

Last week there surfaced another claim concerning Dr David Kelly, the man who knew all about Iraq and WMD. That individual ended his life, they said, because foolishly he encouraged a BBC journalist to question Downing Street’s claims. Now it is argued seriously that Kelly was physically incapable of cutting his own wrists.

More conspiracy nonsense? Considering what we know now about Blair’s war, I offer one piece of advice: don’t seek an opinion from Lord Goldsmith. Continued

Brit Labour Leadership Turning Into Doves Now?

Seems many involved, or heavily connected by political ideology, in all the death and destruction of others, as well as their own {ours}, these past years, are starting to sing like birds of peace and not squawk like birds of prey, on both sides of the pond.

David Miliband: we did not need to fight Iraq war

03 Jul 2010 The Labour leadership candidate takes time off the campaign trail to tell Mary Riddell what he thinks about WMD, the Gordon Brown years ... and his brother Ed.

Labour leadership hopeful David Miliband Photo: PA

In A Midlands trades and labour club, David Miliband is asked about Afghanistan."I'm terrified my son will be posted there," says a soldier's father. "I don't want my son to die."

At every stop in his leadership campaign, Mr Miliband fields similar questions. "Your son will be making a difference," he says, and he means it. But, away from the meeting, he also warns of the urgent need for a peace deal to end the Afghan war. "There is no time to lose," he says. The compact he envisages would include not only Taliban fighters but tribal warlords. "It must be an inclusive peace."

Snip

Is he saying the war should never have been fought? "The way I put it is that if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn't have been a war. I've set out that if we knew there were no WMD, there would have been no UN resolutions and no war.

"The toll in British and Iraqi life, never mind the toll in trust, has been very, very high. It's a war we didn't need to fight," he says before reverting to his previous formula, saying he is mindful of the dead and doesn't want to "rewrite my own history."

He pauses, conscious that he has gone further than he intended. But his regrets and reservations over Iraq sound at least equal to those of his brother and Mr Balls? "Of course. People are dead. I voted in good faith." Did his brother ever express his misgivings to him? "I'm not getting into opening up private discussions," he says. "He was in America at the time."

The other lingering issue of his old brief will surface shortly, with the Government expected to announce a judge-led inquiry into claims that British intelligence agencies were complicit in the torture of terrorism suspects. Continued

On this side of the pond we've been having the typical, for recent history, and easy to recognize, for some people as it was while going on, the rovian revisionist history ideology, Blame Anybody But The Real War Criminals as to both occupations {but used for every issue where the need is felt}, as the country yawns and holds no one accountable nor wants to. It's that 'moveon' it's in the past, no lessons to be learned, no need to minimize any type of blowback by holding all those involved up to public indictments, and keep changing the subject so the country quickly forgets the reality and hires you back into the seats of power and policy!

Just a very recent sample

Tillman: McChrystal and the bush Administration

This will remind more about the workings of the bush administration, and should, but as the article below points out Gen McChrystal won't feel comfortable about it nor should many in the Army leadership as well as the Pentagon at the time. This shouldn't only remind people of just the Tillman tragic incident and fabrication of what took place, but the others already known about as well, in Iraq and Afghanistan, all the cover ups, fabrications and lies! DeJa-Vu of us older vets time!

The Tillman Story

Featuring candid and revelatory interviews with Pat's fellow soldiers as well as his family, Amir Bar-Lev’s emotional and insightful film not only shines a light on the shady aftermath of Pat’s death and calls to task the entire chain of command but also examines themes as timeless as the notion of heroism itself. Continued with Video of Director Description

This New Pat Tillman Documentary Will Make McChrystal's Retirement Less Pleasant

July 01, 2010 Sick of reading about Stanley McChrystal yet? Brace yourself. The newly retired general won't be getting in many relaxing golf games or afternoon naps anytime soon—at least not if a new documentary about the death the professional football player turned Army ranger Pat Tillman has any say about it. In the film, which will open next month, documentarian Amir Bar Lev explores the myth-making by both the government and the media following the death of Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2004. Continued

NOAA Updated Scenarios of Gulf Information

NOAA Models Long-Term Oil Threat to Gulf and East Coast Shoreline

NOAA has used modeling of historical wind and ocean currents to project the likelihood that surface oil from the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill will impact additional U.S. coastline. This modeling, part of NOAA’s comprehensive response to the unprecedented Gulf oil disaster, can help guide the ongoing preparedness, response and cleanup efforts.

“This NOAA model shows where oil may be likely to travel, thereby giving coastal states and communities information about potential threats of shoreline impacts. This kind of information should assist in the preparation of adequate preparedness measures,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA is strongly committed to providing reliable information to the public and to responders at all levels.” Continued

Snip

Updated scenarios and more information about the model

They have six animated links at the site, three are gif files and three are mp4, of possible oil travel, this is just one of the possibilities.

A Mix For America

I still have some hope, but waining rapidly, that this country can one day get back together, sadly I'll probably be long gone if that ever comes about, we've gone to far backwards in mentality and frankly evolution!!

Hear The Mix

Whether you're a constitutional scholar, someone who yells "USA! USA! USA!" at sporting events, or both, you'll agree that America — the country, not the soft-rock band behind "A Horse With No Name" — is worth at least one day off a year. From representative democracy and free speech to the ingenuity that gave the world deep-fried cheese and Slankets, America deserves a continuous music mix extolling her virtues. Continued

In Iraq, Little To Show

In Iraq, Little To Show For Lost Lives, Billions Spent

July 1, 2010 Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq's cities. Amid the continuing drawdown, only 50,000 U.S. troops will be left in Iraq by the end of the summer.

The country is at a crossroads. While violence is down from the levels of 2006 and 2007, many Iraqis say the country the U.S. is slowly leaving behind is hardly a success story.

Every day, massive convoys roll out of Iraq carrying the machinery of war. This is one of the largest and most complicated drawdowns in U.S. history — as well as one of the speediest.

The message from America's politicians, military and diplomats is clear: The Iraq war — at least America's role in it — is over. U.S. forces are now assuming a training and advisory role. Continued

Is glen beck "Grifting" in Using a Veterans Organization {UpDated}

The beck is having a get together with many of the grifters, a very patriotic? affair, on the so called right and those in this country easily feeding into their meme's, as they offer nothing of real policy or idea's but seem to really hate the country they and their's before them especially grew up in. I say their's before them because it was them who built the once middle class and helped everyone as well as the upper class and all investors etc. to prosper, up until some thirty years back when it all started changing and we're now living in the wake of the destruction.

In this get together he's blatantly stating that proceeds of will be donated to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation which seems to be embracing this gathering of grifters, none I'll bet are speaking for free, they just don't, unlike real grassroots rallies, they charge handsomely for their few minutes of 'talking points' or 'bumper sticker' quotes. There's a caveat as to this funding for the SOWF and is written out in the very small print well hidden at the bottom of the becks website page for the gathering of the patriotic? flag wavers.

Restoring Honor Rally

The purchase of Restoring Honor Rally merchandise is not a donation to SOWF, but all net proceeds from the sale of Restoring Honor Rally merchandise is being donated to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place on August 28, 2010. All contributions in excess of these costs will then be retained by the SOWF. Tax ID 52-1183585.

That first highlight means folks, You Can't Write Off The Costs You 'Contribute' As A Donation as you would in giving to a group helping others, a charity of need, if you were to want to. So you flag wavers and teabaggers attending please spend and spend, beck and company will get happier and happier with you!

Now notice the second highlight and read very carefully, like I said the speakers attending don't do so for Free and they get paid really handsomely for their fifteen or so minutes of empty talk while cutting down the country and it's long established once proud and envied history!

But there's more apparently the grifter beck DOESN'T HAVE A DC PARK PERMIT for his gathering of the 'second coming', yet, where he feeds the crowds gathered loaves of stale bread and rotten fish with those hidden smiles from him and the rest as they silently count the 'contributions' given all the way to the bank or off shore tax haven!!

This explains the above abit clearer:


It should be interesting to research out the public disclosures as to not only this gather, as to the IRS filings, but what this Veterans group will actually get that's left over, If Anything! And all those attending will have the responsibility of the contributions, if any, to this Veterans org.

We've had the reports of some well known Veterans orgs and how much those that lead them are paid and what actually gets to the recipients, the Veterans. We've, Veterans, have been following the news recently of a so called Veterans Group that seems to be nothing more then a Political Slush fund for Campaign Contributions with extremely little given to Veterans needs if anything at all.

Here's some recent news on that:

Attorney general: Group bilked Ohioans for $1.9 million

30 June 2010 Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray has filed suit against a national nonprofit that has collected $1.9 million in donations from Ohioans in the name of helping military veterans.

During a press conference near the Statehouse June 24, Cordray called the U.S. Navy Veterans Association "a phony outfit that is simply using the good name of our armed forces ... to cheat Ohioans and other patriotic Americans."

The state has requested temporary restraining orders to stop the Florida-based group from collecting donations in Ohio, with hopes of confiscating new donations for future return to donors.

With the action, Ohio joins a number of other states investigating the association and its activities. The issue came to light following an investigation by the St. Petersburg Times newspaper, which questioned whether the group was using donations to assist veterans or if some of the donations went instead to political candidates. Continued

U.S. Navy Vets director's political donations result in boon for Virginia charities

30 June 2010 The public exposure that has come to the U.S. Navy Veterans Association in Virginia after their founder Bobby Thompson made contributions to various elected officials has not worked out so well for the group. However, the group's loss has turned into various other charities' gain in the Commonwealth.

The group is now under investigation by the Virginia's Office of Consumer Affairs, which regulates charities. Two state delegates yesterday asked the governor to direct the Virginia State Police to investigate as well, though a spokeswoman for the department said no such inquiry has so far been opened.

After questions were raised about the group's activities--authorities have been unable to locate many of the officers and staffers listed on various official documents--several Virginia politicians who had received donations from Thompson pledged to contribute money in equal amounts to his donation to other charities.

We've now got a listing of who gave where.

Snip

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) was the recipient of Thompson's most generous gifts--two checks totaling $55,500. After resisting, Cuccinelli has said he would put an equivalent amount in a restricted bank account and donate it to charity if Thompson is convicted of misappropriating the group's funds. Continued

Notice that last, the State Attorney General, part of that job is investigating corruption, has instead of donating the already tainted monies, which others have quickly done, will hold onto it, now notice the political party letter after the name!

More on this so called Veterans org as it first came out and other recent use of the Military and Veterans, suspected:

U.S. Navy Veterans Association. {If you visit that link be prepared, patriotic music, and looks like an real early style website produced by someone who is a lousy pitchman, or grifter, as it screams at you.}

Another scam charity by those who use our military personal and veterans for their own personal wealth and comfort? The cut and links below are the first of two reports on this charity{?} or extension of political PAC{!}. The second part and links follow that.

U.S. Navy Veterans Association: Under the radar

Is the U.S. Navy Veterans a helpful charity or an illusion? Try finding the leaders and following the money. -->-->-->

Part one

* Under the radar
Is the U.S. Navy Veterans a helpful charity or an illusion? Try finding the leaders and following the money.

* About the USNVA
Many names, many claims ... many dead ends.

* Letters: The U.S. Navy Veterans Association responds
Answering questions from the St. Petersburg Times, the group sent hundreds of pages of e-mails that veered into attacks on the reporter, the newspaper and the nonprofit that owns it, the Poynter Institute. Here are nine key responses. -->-->-->

Multimillion-dollar nonprofit charity for Navy veterans steeped in secrecy

Bobby Thompson, left, poses with Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee, as Gee accepts a Navy Veterans Association donation to the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranches. With them are association volunteers Blanca Contreras, left, and Karmika Rubin, since named special counsel.

Suppertime on a Sunday evening, a phone rings in suburban Tampa. Some 1,200 miles away, in a call center in Michigan, a cheerful telemarketer starts his pitch for a donation to the U.S. Navy Veterans Association.

Our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan need your help, he says. Any donation, even $20, would help pay for care packages.

He says the Navy Vets group has a long history. "They have a main office right there in Tampa. They really are on the up and up.''

How much of the donation gets to the Navy veterans, the homeowner asks, and how much goes to the telemarketer?

"That's a good question, I'm glad you asked. Hold the line and I'll get a supervisor.''

The supervisor says 20 percent goes to the charity. When the home­owner presses for more details, the line goes dead.

Other questions about the nonprofit went unanswered as well. In a six-month investigation, the St. Petersburg Times could find only one officer in the entire organization, and the nonprofit declined to reveal where its millions of dollars of income went. -->-->-->

Second part of this investigative journalist report:

Part two

* Money and politics
Bobby Thompson mixed his nonprofit with his personal politics, which are passionately held and backed with cash.

* Dear Sen. Miller
Les Miller says the charity's message was clear: Drop out of the Hillsborough County Commission race.

* 'News to me'
Records lead to a California professor and a phantom voter in Hillsborough County.

* Political contributions by Bobby C. Thompson (PDF)

* NAVPAC contributions (PDF)

* Letter to Les Miller (PDF)

Charity leader’s sideline: politics

The Ybor duplex: Thompson lived in the left side. The right side doubled as offices for the nonprofit Navy Veterans Association and for NAVPAC, a political action committee. After the Times started asking questions, the PAC shut down and Thompson cleared out. His landlord said he left no forwarding address.

It's an important rule of thumb for organizations the IRS has certified as tax-exempt nonprofits: They should be nonpartisan and refrain from interfering in political contests.

Bobby Thompson, the voice of the IRS-certified, nonprofit U.S. Navy Veterans Association, made clear he knows it: "It's simple,'' he said in an interview. "We do not make endorsements or political contributions."

But Thompson has mixed his nonprofit with his personal politics, which are passionately held and backed by cash.

Snip

More than 10 years ago, Thompson helped organize U.S. Navy Veterans for Good Government, later called NAVPAC. That group contributed to dozens of politicians around the country.

Snip

The Navy Veterans Association said Thompson has met personally with political figures from Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio to Gov. Charlie Crist to President George W. Bush. Two Christmases ago, he sent friends pictures of himself next to Bush.

A photo of Thompson with Iorio was tacked to the front of the unpretentious duplex in Ybor City where Thompson lived and worked. Half of the duplex was his home, the other half was an office that did double-duty for NAVPAC and for the Navy Veterans nonprofit. Thompson helped found both organizations. -->-->-->

Many names, many claims ... many dead ends

The roster at the U.S. Navy Veterans Association's Washington headquarters includes CEO Jack L. Nimitz, secretary Brian Reagan and compliance officer Patsy Mii. State officers include Saul Sena of Delaware, Gaither Longfellow of Alabama and, from Alaska, Bob "Boats" Rankles.

Their names are among the 85 included in documents the association filed with the IRS.

Is Nimitz a descendant of Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander of Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II? The Navy Veterans Association would not say and provided no help locating him or any of the other officers.

The St. Petersburg Times conducted hundreds of searches of directories, online public records databases and newspaper and broadcast stories going back more than 25 years. In six months searching, the Times could not find any of them. -->-->-->

And this from last year, found while looking for a few other links on the above:

Firm must halt its charity fraud

A telemarketing company has been tagged for deceptive fundraising practices

Community Support Inc. solicited contributions for numerous charities, including the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, the Association for Firefighters and Paramedics Inc., the American Foundation for Disabled Children and the Reserve Police Officers Association.

The telemarketing firm told residents that 100 percent of their donations would go to charitable programs, and the money would be used in Hawaii. In fact, 85 percent to 90 percent of the money collected went to the fundraisers themselves and none supported charities in Hawaii, according to the suit. -->-->-->

The directly above, with not only two occupations ongoing and soliciting for a Veterans Group but also following the attacks on 9/11 doing same as to a Firefighters and Paramedics group then a heart pulling for Disabled Children, tells much about the lengths some will go to not only enrich themselves, as well as networking for political connections looking to reap even more, but use the sacrifices and physical troubles of others, in this country, not caring at all nor having any compassion about those they use!

This is also what this countries economy has developed into, instead of using those highly touted 'free market' ideologies of pushing the money to the top thus supposedly creating a 'trickle down' of prosperity for All, it's collecting at the top, not creating or sustaining jobs nor growth, and much being directed towards political policy control by business and personal ideologies and not for the better of this country and it's citizens!

Add To The Above

The posts by angelajean on Beck as well as the very recent report Sean Hannity's charity alleged to be a scam - is anyone surprised?

Team up a carnival barker like Sean Hannity with an illegal arms merchant like Oliver North, give them a "charity" with a patriotic hook, and entrust them with your money - good plan, right?

When allegations came out this week - from another conservative, no less - that Hannity's charity didn't really meet what a person would consider a reputable level when it comes to how much they actually give, the first question might be - is anyone surprised? -->-->-->

And the long running pattern becomes clearer and clearer!! Though for many of us we've watched this over these decades and the growth of!

We all know what a so called political party already really thinks about those that serve, or at least those of us who served in Vietnam as well as recipients of, they had a real good time and allot of laughs over their funny!



Wonder if they've resupplied to sell for 'contributions' to the gather so they can 'donate', which will be a write off, what's left to the Veterans org. SOWF, after of course they once again have a Real Good time laughing and joking about!

UpDate:

"I Have A Scheme!"

"Continuing the Revisionist History for the coming times!" {wink, wink, reason I, like our brothers and sisters, have inserted supporting a veterans group as a show of my patriotism, wink, wink!}
The beckster

""America Speaks to BP"" This Afternoon

Live streaming Q&A this afternoon

July 1, 2010

Ask BP Exec Bob Dudley Your Questions for a Live Interview Thursday

On July 1 at 3:30 p.m. ET, senior correspondent Ray Suarez will moderate a live Q&A session between BP's Bob Dudley, the executive now in charge of the company's oil leak response, and you.



Google, YouTube and the NewsHour have partnered to produce a one-hour program, "America Speaks to BP."

With oil continuing to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, and Hurricane Alex bearing down on the Gulf Coast and swirling the oil-stained waters, there's plenty to ask, and we want your questions. If you had the chance, what would you ask Bob Dudley?

Don't wait. Click here to submit your questions -- either in written or video form -- via Google Moderator.

The interview will stream live at 3:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. CT) on the NewsHour's site and on YouTube in a special web cast. You can also watch excerpts of the conversation on Thursday evening's PBS NewsHour broadcast.

Find our oil leak tracker and other NewsHour coverage of the oil spill here

If you are going to participate with Questions you might want to view the below first to help expand on what the Corporate World, in this case the Huge Oil Companies, are doing to destroy the World most of us grew up in, apparently not John 'the tanned one' or the rest of the (R) cult, as he stated yesterday, if older then say thirty years when it all started.

Below, if you missed it last night, is one of those discussions is a must see as they talk about what way to many are ignoring or just get scant mention.

BP Slick John Wathan's Blogspot . You can friend him on FaceBook


John Wathan shooting photos and video through the open plane window over the Gulf

CREEKKEEPER appears on Olberman