Some wounded soldiers ‘punished for injuries’

All I can say to this article, is that the Military should know that a soldier with a chronic illness caused by injury, such as service related narcolepsy, cannot simply be rehabilitated. Narcolepsy isn't something you just cure. It also is an illness which could cause serious harm to the sufferer should they be placed in a battle condition. Yet the military retains him, rather than dismiss him medically. I guess they are hoping to demote hi ma few times until his medical retirement would be a pittance, rather than pay him at the grade he was at when he became injured/ ill.


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Some wounded soldiers ‘punished for injuries’


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updated 4:00 p.m. ET, Tues., March. 10, 2009

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina - Staff Sgt. Jason Jonas says when he goes to bed at night, he is terrified his medication will cause him to oversleep and miss morning roll call again.

His commanders are fully aware the paratrooper wounded in Afghanistan has been diagnosed with a sleep disorder, because he is one of about 10,000 soldiers assigned to the Army's Warrior Transition units, created for troops recovering from injuries.

Instead of gingerly nursing them back to health, however, commanders at Fort Bragg's transition unit readily acknowledge holding them to the same standards as able-bodied soldiers in combat units, often assigning chores as punishment for minor infractions.
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In fact, the unit has a discipline rate three times as high as Fort Bragg's main tenant, the 82nd Airborne Division, and transition units at two other bases punish their soldiers even more frequently than the one at Fort Bragg, according to an Associated Press review of records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

"In my 10 years of service I have often seen soldiers mistreated, abused or left hanging, but never have I seen an entire unit collectively mentally and physically break down its members," said Jonas, a 28-year-old from Tempe, Arizona.

Adding insult to injury
Jonas is one of 11 current or former soldiers who have spent time in Fort Bragg's transition unit and say that its officers are either indifferent to their medical needs or trying to drive injured men and women from the military. Some complain they are being punished for the very injuries that landed them in the unit.

"It is the military's way of dealing with it: `You're a fake. You need to go back to work,'" said Pfc. Roman Serpik, 25, who enlisted in Duluth, Georgia. He said he injured his head and back in a practice parachute jump last April.

Jonas suffered a concussion on a jump in 1999 at Fort Bragg, and military doctors determined that that led him to develop narcolepsy, a disorder that causes people to fall asleep abruptly, he said. He provided copies of his medical profile to the AP to confirm he has the disorder.

He said medication for his condition made him miss formation five times, resulting in a demotion that cost him $400 a month.

Officers in the transition battalion at Fort Bragg's Womack Army Medical Center would not discuss individual soldiers' medical or disciplinary records, citing privacy laws. Speaking generally, they said the way to get soldiers back on their feet is discipline, not accepting excuses.

"Do we hold our capable warriors in transition accountable to these standards, to include the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the various Army regulations? Unapologetically, yes, we do," said Lt. Col. Jay Thornton, the unit's commander.

But the Dems would NEVER be hypocrites....or wish ill on someone... RIGHT?!?!

Just heard on Rush that a reporter was doing a bit on James Carville and that minutes before the 9/11 attacks were known, that Carville wished Bush would not succeed. Once the attacks had been announced, he promptly told the reporters present to, "Disregard everything we just said. This changes everything." Of course the lapdogs that are the MSM, obediently obeyed, rather than reporting the news as it had happened, as they tend to chirp when criticized. The fact that we are near a decade of this secret being kept speaks volumes to those reporters integrity, as well as the integrity of James Carville, who recently denounced Rush Limbaugh for making a similar statement against Obama.

Flashback: Carville Wanted Bush to Fail
The press never reported that Democratic strategist James Carville said he wanted President Bush to fail before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But a feeding frenzy ensued when radio host Rush Limbaugh recently said he wanted President Obama to fail.

By Bill Sammon

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, just minutes before learning of the terrorist attacks on America, Democratic strategist James Carville was hoping for President Bush to fail, telling a group of Washington reporters: "I certainly hope he doesn't succeed."

Carville was joined by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, who seemed encouraged by a survey he had just completed that revealed public misgivings about the newly minted president.

"We rush into these focus groups with these doubts that people have about him, and I'm wanting them to turn against him," Greenberg admitted.

The pollster added with a chuckle of disbelief: "They don't want him to fail. I mean, they think it matters if the president of the United States fails."

Minutes later, as news of the terrorist attacks reached the hotel conference room where the Democrats were having breakfast with the reporters, Carville announced: "Disregard everything we just said! This changes everything!"

The press followed Carville's orders, never reporting his or Greenberg's desire for Bush to fail. The omission was understandable at first, as reporters were consumed with chronicling the new war on terror. But months and even years later, the mainstream media chose to never resurrect those controversial sentiments, voiced by the Democratic Party's top strategists, that Bush should fail.

That omission stands in stark contrast to the feeding frenzy that ensued when radio host Rush Limbaugh recently said he wanted President Obama to fail. The press devoted wall-to-wall coverage to the remark, suggesting that Limbaugh and, by extension, conservative Republicans, were unpatriotic.

"The most influential Republican in the United States today, Mr. Rush Limbaugh, said he did not want President Obama to succeed," Carville railed on CNN recently. "He is the daddy of this Republican Congress."

Limbaugh, a staunch conservative, emphasized that he is rooting for the failure of Obama's liberal policies.

"The difference between Carville and his ilk and me is that I care about what happens to my country," Limbaugh told Fox on Wednesday. "I am not saying what I say for political advantage. I oppose actions, such as Obama's socialist agenda, that hurt my country.

"I deal in principles, not polls," Limbaugh added. "Carville and people like him live and breathe political exploitation. This is all a game to them. It's not a game to me. I am concerned about the well-being and survival of our nation. When has Carville ever advocated anything that would benefit the country at the expense of his party?"

Carville told Politico that focusing on Limbaugh is a deliberate strategy aimed at undermining Republicans.

"The television cameras just can't stay away from him," he said. "Our strategy depends on him keeping talking, and I think we're going to succeed."

Greenberg added: "He's driving the Republican reluctance to deal with Obama, which Americans want."

In 2006, 51 percent of Democrats wanted Bush to fail, according to a FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll.

It worked before you broke it...and we don't trust you to fix it.

You know, watching the Sunday News shows is a real bore. The Demoncrats want to blame Bush and Rush. The Republicrats want to blame Obama. Truth told, I blame all of them. The Republic that is the United States worked for several hundred years. Until recently, when big government got bigger, and Washington started spending money on every cause under the son, most outside of our country.

as they have progressed, they have systematically set things in motion for the complete disassembly of the Republic as it stood.

When Bush enacted Patriot Act 1, I was nervous. I mean, that was a lot of power to impart to a government that gave us Ruby Ridge, Waco, and Gulf War 2. But hey, Bush used executive privilege, so who were we but citizens to argue the point, right? Oh, but then he comes a long a few years later, and demands Patriot Act 2, a much more subversive and damn near secretive act, giving more far reaching powers. Again, executive privilege seemed to rule the day, and there was little fight against it, even though some people argued the point. Then throw in there that Bush all but had the Posse Commitatus shredded in a shred-o-matic. If you aren't familiar, that particular rule prevented the Military from being used as Police on, get this, American soil. It also prevented them from loaning the police military equipment.

As a former police officer of ten years service, I can tell you, the idea of the government coming in to police any area makes me nervous. Especially when the government seems to jump at the chance to erode our freedoms when given the opportunity. Especially the Demoncrats who want to take gun freedoms every time they are given the chance.

So then we get to the end of the Bush regime. I don;t say era, there is still a Bush son waiting his turn in the wings, and still plenty of Bush money to be had for an election bid. But before old Bush Jr. leaves, he sets some things in motion, since the economy is in the middle of a downturn. Even though wars are supposed to stimulate the economy, and the war was for oil. So Bush does a few rebates to stimulate the economy. Then, he does a bailout, giving the go ahead to Obama to do his own round of bailouts. But Obamy's bailouts are more like pork.

So here we are, the American people, wishing our elected leaders actually bothered to listen to us, wishing they cared about the American way of life, rather than wanting to change it. Wishing that it was partisan politics as usual, and that the Demoncrats and Republicrats would both admit fault, and shut the hell up.

The problem is; our forefathers gave us a working democracy/ republic. In the last fifty or so years, American politicians have done everything they can to change the focus of government, to empower the government, not the people, to minimize the importance of the people, and to maximize the influence that government has on even the most minute of details in our lives.

It's time for a change. For too long, we have sent people to Washington and various state capitals who refused to follow our requests, and simply paid attention to whatever power base had the most influence on their election that had big pockets. This country needs a revolution, a purge of all the deadwood in Washington, new rules in place to prevent career politicians from running amuck, and a way to easily get rid of the ones who try.

The problem is, that this country has done such a good job at diversifying that we are so divergent in philosophy on whats best for this country. We no longer have a fixed goal of what it should be, just idealistic wish, hope, or dream of what we think it should be, tainted by whatever set of ideals we as an individual hold near and dear to our hearts. As a Christian, I hate to say it, but the founding fathers were right on when they tried to create a seperation of church and state, but that same rule should also hold true to ideals, philosophies, businesses, and religions. Government should not be a looming monster with tentacles in every direction, it should be a subtle adviser in the background, whispering its ideas, and taking direction from it's superior.

Government should not be investing in research, or aiding other countries, it should merely be aiding its own country. If there is a cause worthy of financing, then people, individuals will come along, and champion that cause. It should not be the purpose of a government to take tax monies and invest them in that project. If I were a manager of a company, and took sole action to invest company monies into what I felt was a worthy cause, without checking with the board of directors, I'd find myself jobless and possibly under indictment in a heartbeat. We need to hold our politicians to the same two edged sword.

So I guess it's a shame that we now live in a world where we can't even muster enough people who care to fight a revolution, and take back whats ours. Serves us right.

FDIC Insured...for now.

Just a really quick blog, will post another tidbit later when I have more time. But this just crossed my desk, then my mind, and felt it bore some attention. It's now being suggested that the FDIC is close to being insolvent and that would mean that any money in the banks would NOT be Federally insured. (Although the Fed would probably suggest a bailout of some kind, entailing the printing of even more cash). If this happens, I'd recommend having all of your cash in hand, and if you haven't already; purchasing some gold, post haste.

Going, going....still going.

Ya know, it's hysterical. Obama looks at the Dow Jones Average, and without missing a beat, he tells the American Public "Now is a good time to buy stock." Wow. Whew, I think Obama missed his calling. Merrill Lynch must be pissed they didn't snatch him up as an analyst. I mean, stocks are tanking, and he wants us to buy more? I guess his motto is, "Buy low, sell lower."

And speaking of still going, Michael Jackson is having another farewell tour, you guessed it, overseas. Thank G_d, our children are still safe. Why can't that aging pedophile just melt away into obscurity quietly, why remind us he is still drawing breath? Why point out that he is now far removed from the caricature of himself he was in the 90's, and is now just an outright joke. But of course there are still screaming hordes of fans who scream and throw delicate underthings. (Why, unless he wears them). I guess the MJ apologists still think he is capable of no harm to small children. Well, a victim is born every second I guess.

Hey, even the rich are hurting at this point...

After a quick trip to the store, I have some breaking news. At a 10 AM meeting held at Gulfstream this morning, it was announced that six hundred direct employees and six hundred contractors will be laid off, and employees division-wide will be required to take five weeks off in July.

It is certainly not a good sign when a supposedly recession-proof industry is taking a financial downturn. I mean, the rich have to have their jets, and when you take into account that many orders for the jets in production now were ordered probably years or months ago, and that theoretically the economic downturn shouldn't have effected Gulfstream for years or months, considering the turnaround on the production of a jet.

Unfortunately, this theory doesn't hold water, and Gulfstream is suffering the same financial tribulation that the rest of the world is suffering through. But this is a perfect example of where the Government has it wrong. When things get financially tight, you do not go and expand your facility, hire new employees, design new jets, or expand services. You cut costs, cut services, lay off employees; you downsize. Yet the powers that be have decided to expand, spend, develop new programs, and increase the amount of government we are surrounded by and tax us into obliteration. All the while, offering to bail out everyone under the sun.

This is further proof that our government is morally bankrupt, soon to be fiscally bankrupt, and now are tactically bankrupt if they think that spending us out of a financial situation is any way of fixing a problem which developed due to poor money management.

I had the typical yeah...wait...what response to the news this morning when I heard about the woman who had called 911 for her emergency need to get her 10 piece chicken Mcnuggets. My first response was as an ex-cop. I immediately hoped she had been locked up for calling not once, not twice, but thrice. I was relieved to discover that she was cited for abuse of the 911 system. However we can rest assured that she still believes she was in the right on this, because she made sure to notify the media. The media in turn made her look like the laughing stock that she is. However she maintains that it was an emergency, because she had paid for a 10 piece Mcnuggets, they had run out, and they were refusing to give her a refund;

"This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn't have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don't want one," police quoted her as saying. "This is an emergency."

Yeahhhhh, 911 couldn't possibly have anything better to do, like take phone calls about shooting, dead bodies, robberies, domestic violence, or toddlers who have been missing for three months being reported missing (I'm not bitter....just homicidal at that mom. Another blog, another time I s'pose.)

But after watching the video interview, my next response was that of a typical cynical blogger. She's a typical biproduct of the American educational school system. She's ignorant from the neck up, certifiably stupid. Her mom and dad probably had very little to teach her in the way of etiquette, and her common sense is certainly lacking if she thinks that ten Mcnuggets trumps a homicide call to 911. Most people whould shy away from even calling the police non-emergency number in regards to a situation like this. Because to do so would take a police officer off of his beat; patrolling, protecting, and tasing riotous college students at political rallys. The Police State has far more important things to contemplate and enforce than your chicken Mcnuggets.

A few years ago, there was an audio clip that made scores of us cops giggle insidiously. It was some white bread soccer mom from the burbs bringing her child home from karate practice, she goes to a Burger King, and is dismayed that she can't get the burger she wants for her potentially spoiled child. So what did she do? She called 911, and was promptly told off by the Dispatcher, who made the statement;
"What do you want me to do, dispatch a police cruiser to have them enforce your cheeseburger? This is not a police matter ma'am. (((CLICK)))"

Florida Woman Calls 911 After McDonald's Runs Out of McNuggets

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

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Latreasa L. Goodman

A Florida woman called 911 three times after she paid for a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets at a McDonald's but the fast-food restaurant ran out of them and refused to give her a refund.

Latreasa L. Goodman, 27, made the calls after she tried to get her money back from a Fort Pierce McDonald's and the cashier told her all sales were final. Police released the 911 tapes.

"This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn't have McNuggets, I wouldn't have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don't want one," police quoted her as saying. "This is an emergency."

The cashier suggested she choose something else off the menu of equal value to the McNuggets, and offered the restaurant's cheeseburger called the McDouble.

"She's trying to force me to eat something off the menu and I don't want it," Goodman told 911.

The first dispatcher, a woman, asks if there's a manager there, but listens to Goodman's complaints and says she's sending someone.

The second, male dispatcher tells her he's aware of the incident and "we've got an officer coming out there to talk to you."

Police say Goodman was cited on a misuse of 911 charge. A current phone listing for Goodman couldn't be found.

A McDonald's spokesman said Goodman should have been given a refund, and she's being sent a gift card for a free meal.

FIRST POST!!!!!!!

Yeah, thats right, I got dibs on the first post. Oh wait, this isn't a message board is it?

What can you the average reader expect to read here? Well, like any other blog in the blogosphere, you'll find whatever is on my mind at the moment. You may like it, you may hate it, buts that my friend is the beauty of blogging. The other beautiful part is that no matter what I say, you get a chanced to counter it, and praise it. Not that I'm egotistical and want my every rambling praised.

Hopefully, the blogs name will be enough to inspire browse through readers, if not, and if anybody has a better idea, feel free to pass it on, I'm always open to suggestion.

Well, lets get this show on the road...

Ever and Always,
David