GeezerSue

Okay..so apparently you really believe the line of crap you've been fed, but here's the reality. The government promised ALL of us medical care. It does not now provide that care to everyone. Here is the webpage, but it's hard to read. http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility/Library/pubs/VAIncomeThresholds/ (Click on the PDF copy.) It only provides that care to those who have SERVICE-CONNECTED-DISABILITIES. Now, putting your ass on the line isn't enough. Now, you have to be poor enough, too. There are PLENTY of totally disabled veterans who are, because their disabilities are not service-connected--NOT eligible for VA services. I guess I thought you knew how this worked. Everyon should get the kind of service your brother is receiving...but not everyone is. They must now prove that they are poor enough.

If your brother is receiving medical care at a VA facility and does not have a serivce-connected injury, then he has to be low income or he won't get the care. That is NOT what we were promised. We were promised medical care...period. So an older vet who has a wife and an annual income of $33,000 (for two people) is too wealthy to qualify for the care that was promised to him with NO income needs-test. Here's some info from outside the ruling junta... http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/03/19/dems.radio/ http://veterans.house.gov/democratic/budget/snapshot6-29-05.htm Dubya's people say, "Well, we're spending more than we did LAST year." Yeah...but you have added THOUSANDS of injured people...many of them with traumatic brain injuries and/or overwhelming ortho injuries...who will need care never before imagined or available. So you add a couple of bucks to the budget AND add many thousands of injured vets and you STILL have fewer pennies available per veteran. (Not to mention that his whole family often has to relocate for the length of his rehab, becaue the local centers have been "consolidated" into the larger ones.)

I don't think there's a "behavioral problem" or a psych diagnosis in store for us. I think it's related to dopamine receptors...like these folks do. http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2002-06/dnl-nfl061302.php For me, the "cure" will be a way to regulate dopamine and dopamine receptors...not confessing to a character flaw and putting forth an effort to NOT do what our brains are telling us TO do.

Ten days early, I had my 12-month check-up. My weight is down a little over 90 pounds. It would be more if my diet in any way reflected that I'd like to lose weight. My labs are--two doctors have said so--great. So far, the DS ( Soup or the salad and nothing else and to tell them not to bring the bread. And then eat the soup or salad. And then, if I was still hungry, to order a shrimp cocktail or chicken wings or something else high in Protein, and wait for THAT to arrive. By the time it gets there--he says--I MAY notice that I'm not as hungry as I was when I ordered it and I'll probably eat less. And, while I should limit the candy, the gym is working off the candy I'm eating and if I want to do all that work and only lose the candy calories and a little bit more...it's my call. But, of the two (STUPID) behaviors, the portion sizes are more of an issue for long term success. So, that's where I am. Down about 110 pounds from my highest pre-op weight and down a little over 90 from my pre-revision weight. That leaves me about 50 pounds heavier (and 30+ years older) than I was when I finished basic training. Sooooo, I'm assuming that I get add on 15 pounds or so for being old and that I need to knock off another 35 pounds now. Who woulda thunk I'd EVER need to lose only 35 pounds? Amazing.

No, I'm quite sure you do NOT understand. My husband and I are patriotic American military veterans who cherish the freedoms we volunteered our time and potentially our lives to protect. My husband had been a legion member for over 35 years...longer than I've known him. And we are outraged by how the American Legion has joined in lockstep with the Moron-in-Chief, putting neo-con poitics above everything else. (BTW, did you notice how the legion snubbed Tammy Duckworth--the double amputee Iraq war veteran pilot, in favor of the non-veteran Republican? Good move, Legion. Real supportive of Veterans.) And we are saddened by how many people are unable to see what is happening around them...who will follow blindly without reading outside the party line...who STILL believe there is some connection (other than Dubya) between 9/11 and Iraq...who don't get that what we have done in the Middle East is just making things worse and will cost more American lives...who (mostly) have never lived outside the US...who (mostly) live in their little homogeneous white-bread neighborhoods and have no idea how we look to the outside world...who (mostly) have never been in a minority of any kind...and who CLAIM that they know what is happening in Iraq. The ignorance is astounding. Oh...and let's all DO attack an organization the purpse of which is to defend the Bill of Rights. Yup...that's a threat we just can't have.

We joined the ACLU this year...and my husband did NOT renew his American Legion membership. And, the ACLU no more promotes NAMBLA than it does Nazis...it just promotes our bill of rights...which says in effect that stupid, weird, hateful people are allowed to exist.

I appreciate anything anyone is doing to DEFEND us. I don't appreciate anyone's blowing up innocent people in my name or with my buck. I didn't say anything about YOUR religion. Did I? I was taliking about EXTREMISTS, Christian or Muslim. I'm not your typical "bleeding heart liberal," as I--like your son--volunteered to serve our country. I'll be q "bleeding heart progressive" if you don't mind. So, the polls that showed that Bush was right about the war were ALSO wrong? Gimme a break...the elections went the way they did because MOST AMERICANS now understand that he lied or--at the very least was BADLY misinformed--and we didn't and don't belong in Iraq. It would really nice if EVERYONE could catch on, but that doesn't usually happen. I understand that it would make more sense to the families of those who are currently serving if the lives of their loved ones were being put on the line for a REASON. Sadly, that isn't the case. Well, there IS a reason...but it isn't the defense of this country. And we will probably pay for years to come...but only because we've gone where we didn't belong and killed thousand and thousands of innocent people.

The Iraqis wanted to be saved from whoever was killing them. They did NOT want to be saved from Islam or from a non-democratic government. All of the survivors will remember who maimed or killed whom...including: http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2008/images/20030425007100503.jpg And here are some more people we helped: http://www.robert-fisk.com/iraqwarvictims_page19.htm It isn't the liberals who are running around screaming, scared to death that the nearest brown guy is going to blow up the PigglyWiggly. THAT behavior is coming from people who don't read and don't watch anything but Faux News and who let others tell them what should scare them. I think that most of us know what "polarized" means. But it is no longer a 50/50 deal...it is currently a 31% Approval Rating...and dropping: http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=167794 The "Jihadists" are already here...and they aren't brown and they aren't Muslim. They are white...and they are Christian...and they are blowing up federal buildings and abortion clinics and stalking doctors and murdering them in ther homes...and they are doing God's work. Just ask them. And they are staple gunning "fags" to fences and killing them. And they have killed federal marshalls and bombed gay nightclubs. God's work. There is very little difference between Christian extremist psychos and Muslim suicide bombers...except that the Christian "heroes" run and hide afterward. But, if you are convinced that this issue is what you say it is, I can't imaging your not wanting to enlist and do your part to save all of us. I chose the Army website, because that's the branch I enlisted in...but I'll be glad to hook you up with a USMC recruiter if you'd rather: http://www.goarmy.com/flindex.jsp

Here's what I've read on the topic. MOST surgeons do not place a second band on someone who has experienced erosion with a first band. The logic behind that decision is that the best predictor of how a patient will react in the future is how the patient has reacted in the past.

Faux News isn't news. It's propaganda. No, it didn't start six years ago. It's been going on a long time. I know that all of us are in far more danger since we attacked and killed thousands and thousands of innocent people. THEY have relatives, too. THEIR children will remember the slaughter of their parents. Hell, yeah it's more dangerous since we went into Iraq for no reason.

Mousecrazy...you have a lot of unassociated random facts in here, strung together in a way that implies there is some logic...and there is not. What you neglected ot mention is that NONE of those repeated attacks on Americans were perpetrated by or even funded by Iraq. YES, there were attacks...but we had no right to lash out at just ANY country. And funny which country we chose. We might as well have bombed Manila...more Americans had been killed by Philipine terrorists than by Iraq terrorists. The fact that someone hurt us does not give us the right to just randomly pick a group of other people to hurt. "In some respects," the "ideology of Naziism" (and Hitler DEVELOPED Naziism, not just popularized it) is similar to SOME OF the ideology of the Boy Scouts of America. Get 'em young, train 'em up in the way they should grow, teach them what they need to survive, imbue them with patriotic pledges and songs...and so on. Naziism is a hybrid based on Prussian militarism...BSA provided good training for those who might later enter the US military. There ARE similarities. If you're looking for a group analogous to Islamic Jihadists, you need only look to the more militant Christian groups. THERE'S your analogy. Uh...no. Our response in the Pacific was a response to THE ATTACK ON THE US MILITARY AT PEARL HARBOR and a FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR by the Japanese. For Roosevelt's actions to be equal to Dubya's, Roosevelt would have had to respond to the Pearl Harbor attack by invading Peru. Great. Keep the National Guard at home. Use our money to protect our harbors and airports and borders. All he has done is invade a country that did nothing to us and convince a lot of people--well, down to 31% this week--that we went there BECAUSE of something that somebody did to us. The only similarity I can find between Roosevelt and Dubya is that they both cavalierly and under the pretext of protecting us, robbed many Americans of their rights. Roosevelt abused Japanese Americans. Bush has abused MOST OF US by chipping away at our freedoms...the one thing that makes our country strong. If Roosevelt had acted in a timely fashion, the six million who died--instead of the few who survived--would have been saved and boats full of Jews would not have been sent back from FLORIDA to certain death. The bully, Mousecrazy, is in the mirror in the oval office. Well...Tuesday, we're going to a funeral...for a young man who died for NOTHING. He meant well, he did as told, he was willing to put his life on the line for all of us...but we will eventually declare this debacle a far bigger loss than Viet Nam and his blood will have been spilled for a hopeless cause. BTW, the book Imperial Hubris explains Jihad to the uninitiated. The defense of the faith is, to Muslims, as much a part of their faith as the mass is to a Catholic. The assertion that "they hate us because we're free" is garbage. They live among us. They do NOT attack the XXX-theater in your town or burn down stores that sell Playboy or plant bombs along the path of the Gay Pride parade. They don't blow-up abortion clinics or go into Amish territory and execute little girls. In other words, they pretty much live-and-let-live. Devout Muslims maintain a belief that they are supposed to live all of life...ALL OF LIFE...as outlined in their holy books. They cannot imagine that any part of life would fall outside of the word of God. What makes a devout Muslim go (in our opinion) over the deep end is that others--outsiders like us--do not want them to live their lives according to the will of Allah AND their plausible perception that what they most treasure--God, Allah, Muslim lands--are under attack by those who do not want them to live in the way that they are absolutely sure God wants them to live. While there are inside power struggles within Muslim lands, what triggers a jihad (a defensive jihad--which any Muslim is duty-bound to participate in) is what WE do to THEM.

NO...neither the giver nor the receiver has to get stark naked for a blow job. Sue :::starting to think that SOME education--although not for children, so I wish the Republicans HADN'T insisted on all that publicity--on the nature of these things MIGHT be in order:::

Kind of a moral conundrum, eh? We are in a tax bracket that is better served by the Republicans...but that damned mirror in the bathroom is easier to look into when the Dems are in office.

Wait a minute. Bush creates a war and then we're not supposed to speak unkindly of him because we're at war? Isn't that like someone killing their parents and then asking for pity because they're an orphan? First, it's not REALLY a war. Congress declares war and they haven't yet. Then, it is IMPOSSIBLE...IM-FREAKIN'-POSSIBLE...to win a "war on crime," "a war on hunger," "a war on disease," or "a war on drugs," "a war on terror," or any other evil thing. Those things...crime, hunger, drugs and terror will never completely go away and therefore no war against them can or will ever be "won." So, Pres NumbNutz attacks the wrong country for the wrong reasons and then declares a purpose that cannot be accomplished in his lifetime, my lifetime, your lifetime...and we're not supposed to speak unkindly of him because we're at war? Sorry, but that's EXACTLY why we have to speak up. That emperor is stark-naked.

First, the only thing that links Osama, Sadam and the suicide bombers is Bush. Then, I was a proud service member AND a military wife and nothing I've said is intended to detract from the jobs our troops are doing. But Bush is binLaden's most valuable asset. He--bin Laden--would not have been able to unite almost all the Muslims on the planet without the staggering incompetence of the Moron-in-Chief. I don't think that in binLaden's very wettest dreams he ever imagined that we'd go into Iraq because of 9/11. (Well...no RATIONAL person would have done it or expected it. That would be like our attacking Canada because we're tired of the illegal immigration coming through Mexico.) But Dubya did it, and now, even the Muslims who WERE friendly now hate us...and for GOOD reason. And...if establishing a democracy in the middle east is so important, why didn't we start with Saudi Arabia...that's a kingdom...not a democracy. Or, if threats to our security were important, why didn't we start with the kooks in Korea or Iran? No, Bush--through his monumental incompetence--is the most dangerous guy on two feet AND he's binLaden's secret weapon. And...here's some Republican double talk in action: •They "support" our troops, right? Been to a stateside VA Hospital lately? Have you noticed who is getting thrown OUT of those facilities? It's an eye-opener. *And, Bush spends TRILLIONS of dollars and then says the Dems are going to raise the taxes? If one of your family members went ape shit on one of your credit cards, wouldn't you have to bite the bullet and start writing checks to pay for the party? Yeah...eventually our taxes will be going up, but not because the Dems spent our money...Dubya and his pussies in Congress did that. (I didn't serve in Germany, but I lived there when DH did...3rd ID, in Kitzingen. We just visited a short while back. It sure has changed.) Sue

In my late stepfather's Alzheimer's support group meeting, we had a lady who TRIED to work...but whose husband kept setting the microwave for 60:00 minutes to make a cup of instant coffee. But your mess sounds WAY bigger.

YOU KNOW ME, CARLENE, I'D RATHER BITE MY TONGUE THAN OFFEND ANYONE! :heh: My mom was in a senior community for a dozen years or so before she moved to assisted living. I even found neighbors whose kids (in their 50's and 60's) would come lock the parents (in their late 70's and up) in their apartments at night so they wouldn't wander...but leave them alone. So if the building went up in flames, Mom or Dad was toast. And, given the parents' cognitive situations, they were the most likely people in the building to burn the place down. Sad to say, every one of those apartments was 100% paid for (no mortgages allowed) and could have been sold to help pay for assisted living, at least for a few years. But, no...until I reported them, they were just locking Mom in at night so she wouldn't wander and bother the neighbors...and so that their inheritance would be intact. How wrong is it to hope that if they DO inherit money under these circumstances, they use it to buy something they choke on or that crashes while they're in it, huh? I have my faults...plenty of them...but not getting my mom appropriate care so that I can profit...that just is NOT one of them.

I haven't read all the responses (so I don't know whose toes I'm stepping on), but I think people who play that game to inherit the money are greedy and that their parents did a piss poor job of raising ethical people...so I guess they--in some karmic way--may deserve those Medicaid facilities. But I wouldn't put MY mom in one to make a buck. Mom has a monthly income of about $1700 and is currently a resident of an assisted living facility the bill for which is $3425 per month and will be going up because she is going to need MORE ongoing care. She has a Long Term Care Policy that will--for a short time--pay a little over half the cost, leaving Mom a couple of hundred a month for medication and Depends and haircuts. For as long as Mother is a candidate for a nice assisted living facility that doesn't even have a place for those with advanced cognitive problems or bad medical problems...my sister and I and our husbands will do our damnedest to keep her OUT of a Medicaid-accepting nursing home. We eventually had to place her husband in one of those and they are just nasty...even the best ones are nasty. Now, I WILL confess to the following...when Mom's husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's--over twenty years ago and there were no programs for spouses in that situation--I found an attorney and a court and arranged a legal separation between Mom and her husband. That meant he had court ordered spousal support AND that her house--which he had never paid for--was definitely HER HOUSE. When he eventully needed a nasty old nursing home...we finally found him a very small place ( < 25 beds) out in the woods. His income was figured at his gross, less any court-ordered payments (which we kept at about 50% of the income), and his $25/month allowance. In those days, had we not done that, HER house would have been sold to pay for HIS nursing home care and SHE would have been indigent for all this time. And, now, she'd be on the dole. So, based on my experience, when a spouse "sets aside" enough money for his or her own basic needs, that's one thing. But when kids deprive their parents of nice, upscale assisted living facilities such as the one my mom is in , or even one of the really, really nice expensive ones...so that they can have a larger inheritance...well, they are pigs and I hope that what goes around comes around. They are abusing taxpayers AND their parents to make a buck...how despicable.

Do they really need help? As opposed to how THIS congress has helped the average American family? "I earned capital in this campaign, political capital," President Bush said two days after winning re-election with 51% of the vote, "and now I intend to spend it." We don't want to get THESE results mixed up with the big Dubya victory. If you're a pro-choice woman, McCaine isn't moderate...if you are NOT pro-choice, you still might have noticed that he has been posturing and positioning himself to try to attain your vote...in other words, he's selling out in the HOPE that you'll think he's moderate. But he's really very far right. ]If jokes are a true indicator of anything, then what does THIS say? [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1U7qgudyww&mode=related&search=]YouTube - Bush Missing WMD's Joke[/ame] You are right in that I think MOST voters want them to stop acting like whores, but I don't see how your approach is giving the Democrats even a chance to prove themselves wrong...it seems like you've already convicted them. So far, the Republicans own Abramoff and Ney and DeLay and Menendez and Foley and Hastert and Pombo and had the close ties to energy scandals and Enron and the donut-hole in Medicare Prescriptions for your parents or grandparents. All the democrats had recently was a horny president. speaking of horny...we have a Republican governor-elect (Nevada) who may have himself in a bit of a bind, except when the Congressional Republicans get horny they tend to bring assault into the picture. Give then a CHANCE to disgrace themselves...or at least to shoot themselves in the foot....before you condemn them.

Thanks, but history has shown that it's best not to encourage the rowdy broads...

I didn't say that I wouldn't vote for a woman or a candidate of color...I'm saying that the odds of a successful run are not that great. (And, I'm a woman and kinda brown myself, so let's not go there.) I actually think that an Edwards-Obama ticket would work better than any ticket with a Hillary on it. Then, JMO...O, how I HOPE THAT SCHOOL YOU'RE ATTENDING TEACHES HISTORY!!! Kerry--whom you probably hate--is the one who went to war. Dubya was hiding out at home, getting drunk and doing crack and being the REAL protected rich kid. More recently, Dubya sent MORE poor kids to war and then didn't listen to the generals. Clinton did not run out in the middle of the night and start being the president of some other country behind my back. So, he didn't cheat on me. Did he cheat on you or do you just find oral sex between two consenting adults objectionable? I ask because, lately, it has become public that MANY Republican representatives are engaging in far more exotic sexual/domestic behavior and some attempting to do so with people below the age of consent. (Or pay them for NOT telling about the beatings.) I think your numbers for the 9/11 terrorist plane attacks are inflated...not that one death isn't as bad as 5,000...I just don't think there were 5,000 killed. Now, I don't know how it worked when YOU enlisted in the military, but when I did, I did so because I wanted to participate in defending our country. (And I wanted my GI Bill.) I would not have been very happy about slaughtering tens of thousand of innocent people who did NOTHING to us just to get our hands on more oil. THAT's what Bush ordered. I'd have probably done what I needed to do to get out. BTW, over 33% of our returning combat veterans who use VA care need psych care. Killing innocent people does that to folks. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you need to get in touch with some facts. Here are a few quotes regarding the guy that Bush declared he'd keep until the end...until the election: "We went to war with a flawed plan that didn't account for the hard work to build the peace after we took down the regime. We also served under a secretary of defense who didn't understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, who didn't build a strong team."--Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste. "I really believe that we need a new secretary of defense because Secretary Rumsfeld carries way too much baggage with him...I think we need senior military leaders who understand the principals of war and apply them ruthlessly, and when the time comes, they need to call it like it is." Retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Swannick. "In the lead-up to the Iraq war and its later conduct, I saw, at a minimum, true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility; at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption." Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni There are more, but these are a start. And how about Powell? HE finally admitted that Bush fired him. So, Bush...the drunken golden boy of the Alabama Air National Guard is your HERO and these guys (and more) who spent their lives and careers in the military are the bad guys? Afghanistan...no problem...go get the fuckers. Iraq...it was a weenie waving show for his Daddy's benefit. "Hey, Daddy...YOU didn't get him, but I did...ha, ha, ha. My pee-pee's bigger, my pee-pee's bigger. Now can I have Mommy?" What about those of us who DON'T want to go to church? Are we still allowed to be here--or like the Taliban dictate--are we required to worship Bush's God? Yes, indeed "Goooo Bush." Gooooo as far away as fucking possible!! And...since it's Veteran's Day...you're welcome for my service. Sue Thanks for the reminder...I'm going to go download "Not Ready to Make Nice."

If I hadn't retired, we'd be sitting right next to you. Which, come to think of it, is one reaon I DID retire...well, that and the extra 140 pounds or so I was carrying which made it difficult to breathe. But, I guess I don't mind so much (except when they're spending it on wars) because the most basic basics are not provided to the low income folks on a graduated basis and, therefore, take a much bigger percentage of the income of a very low income person. On another board I'm on there is a voluntary contribution suggested. For some people, $25 is is 20% of a week's income and a big part of their grocery budget. For others, it's about 20-30 minutes' pay or less. In my case--and more so in yours, I'm sure--when you can get to the post office, buying a roll of stamps does not put a dent in your budget. To others, you can only buy a few stamps at a time. Well...that...and my European friends pay a far higher percentage that we do...but they get good stuff!!!

My sister and her husband only care about what they "get back." Duh...

Thanks for the kind wishes re DH's buddy. He (DH), big tough former infantryman, made it all the way home before he fell apart. About the Neocons...they don't want just to dominate other countries, they want to dominate us, too. They will insist that each one of us behaves in a manner that is in accordance with THEIR beliefs...because they possess the only true, correct set of beliefs in the universe.

What Carlene said, AND...that freakin' liberal Kerry actually went to war while Dubya hid out in a safe place daddy found for him. I'm a liberal...do you have any doubt that I'd be willing to kick ass if someone got invaded MY space? thing is, being that I actually showed up for military duty and worked in a branch of Military Intelligence, I'd try to bomb the shit out of the right country. A major differnece from how the moron in chief did it. And now...I'm off to console my husband. His good friend had to leave work early today when the news arrived that his son was just killed in Iraq. National Guard...yup...that's what HE signed up for.