t’is the night before V day
and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except a small squirmy louse.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/13/vets.budget.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest
It’s interesting to read this article after hearing on the news this morning that there was a 25% casualty rate during Vietnam and the first gulf war, but the current war had a survival rate of some 90%. From what I do know of veteran’s benefits, there has to be some roof on what the system can handle. This is an assumption based on what I have seen one friend of mine go through after fighting during the first gulf war, and the fact that my own father and his father, both veterans, never have sought out the supposed ‘benefits’ doled out to them for spilling their blood or having shrapnel embedded into their limbs. I wonder how and who will be paying for these benefits, or if the soldiers that fought during the two Bush wars will be the ones panhandling for change from your kids [and be ignored like people ignore the Vietnam vets].
I am going to have to go back through my history to see budget deficits and surpluses throughout our time to be able to state it with conviction that our current deficit and party lines are parallel, but I can say that the more research I do into the stock market and the value of the dollar makes me believe that investing in foreign markets is the only way to ensure you have any money in the future at all. Of course, what good these dollars might be to you is up for grabs in an increasingly hostile economy, but it is something to think about.
http://nymag.com/news/businessfinance/bottomline/27337/index.html
Later on tonight I will be putting up photographs from our Domincan Republic adventure, complete with dolphin swims, swimming with the fishes (or piggies as we call them) and various other lazy activities we decided to partake in to avoid the frigid temperatures here (some 50-60 degrees colder here than where I was).
There is something super romantic about the Caribbean–and everyone has a smile for you. DR prides itself on having one of the lowest crime rates in the world, which you would not necessarily understand given the poverty, but as I thought more about it, I realized, yes, these people live life. If I ever get married one day, I want to have my ceremony on the beach at some lovely Caribbean resort, and I want everyone to have a great time being there, so they can remember the day (which would be a shock to just about everyone who knows me anyways) when I became someone’s other, and have beautiful sunny, margarita and pina colada memories of it all. And maybe they, too, can swim with the dolphins and fishes and snorkel and horse back ride and take advantage of all of it.
As the wife of a disabled veteran who seeks nothing from the VA, tell me about it. I know all too well the pain and suffering that our veterans must deal with from Korea through today. It’s nauseating, to think that they are going to increase the fees and decrease the services, and yet, nothing ever changes. I’m proud to support my husband and even prouder to have him by my side. But not a day goes by do I NOT worry about what will become of his injuries as he ages. Implants only last *so* long, as you and I both know intimately. 🙁 His back already gives him terrible fits… his shoulder is starting to loosen, and his nose, well… has already separated, but it was due to an attack he suffered from a crazy fucking neighbor who jumped him. Will my civilian medical insurance cover the repairs from Bethesda’s work 13 years ago? I doubt it. But will the VA? Probably not. Not to mention the plastic surgery he is already in need of to repair the scar tissue that is breaking down and starting to show in his perfect face. 🙁
I love my veterans… all of them, from every walk of life. And I’ll be fucking damned if I’ll let this Democratic Congress rip away *ANY* benefits or monies that they deserve, INCLUDING de-funding the War on Terror or the activities on the frontlines of that war in Iraq. Which of course, you know they will try and pull.
*feh*
Nice to see you again, and I’m glad you had a great time in the DR. Hopefully if I get this job and move home to Colorado, I’ll be able to take my first REAL vacation next year.
tell me about it
Yes, I have seen and suspect the worst. Though I am really not so sure that the budget has anything to do with a democratic congress when you consider they had 6 years to make a difference, to make a dent in the budget. I am not sure that trying to pull money out of thin air is really even possible.
Taking this into account and the idea that the national guard has only 40% of the necessary equipment that they need to do their job makes everything seem a bit more dire than I would like to envision.
I am sorry your hubby is in so much pain, Miss Jho. He is lucky to have a survivor like yourself who has his back.
Go go CO! I could move back there, but I need to finish a few things here first. I am still considering a small diversion out there for a few months if I can do it.
Re: tell me about it
At least they are nearing some semblance of balance, though. Just in the last month, the deficit decreased another 1.9 Billion. Which is a good thing. Our National Guard has never had a whole freakin’ lot of stuff to work with, which I think is truly abysmal. I’m really worried that the asshats up in Congress are gonna try and defund the troops. They already feel betrayed and forgotten, and are pissed!
*sigh* But yeah… I would like to see them take a much higher priority, as they *are* the ones bleeding for us.
Well guess what?????????????? You got a place to stay now baby! I just got off the phone with the hiring company! I start March 26th!!!!!!!!!! I know I know.. it IS Thornton, not Colorado Springs, but who cares!?? It’s NOT San Diego! 😀
Now, the problem becomes, how in the hell do I afford this, but I’m working on that as we speak. I’m close, but … ya know how it is. I’m worried that it won’t be enough, huh. 😀 But miracles happen. I got this job, didn’t I!? 😀
I adore you, and wish you were closer to me..
xxoo
raychel
😉
Raychel,
I read about you and you have been going through so much lately. I wish I could take you out for coffee or something. Or our little pit bulls could play together. That would rock.
I hope you are feeling better. Your sentiments are returned, for sure.
xo
I grew up with a vietnam vet mother. She served as a nurse in a MASH for one year, as part of her duties. Never fired a shot, only helped stitch people back together, and yet she was attacked and villified for simply being a vet. Then to deal with the government haggling over every little thing… It’s like they’re trying to make the veterans sicker, by putting them through hell.
If you serve honorably, you should never have to worry about health care. End of discussion. At least that’s how I see it. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed DR! 🙂
yes
Honestly,
I don’t know why and how it is we have a government that does that to its own citizens, but knowing their penchant for treating some of their own like lab rats (unwilling of course) makes me think that stepping up and doing the right thing (like say taking care of our own) will not be the choice made.
If you take a look at the past 7 years. I think we can all see exactly how much value our government has put in to benefit each and every one of us on a daily basis. Oh, wait, except the war, and the death on screen every day, and the outsourcing of tech jobs to foreign countries, and an economy dependent on China, and too many corporate benefits, and bonuses to huge corporations for their security and rebuilding “efforts”. Takes a ton of effort to sign yourself up for those contracts.
We don’t take care of the people we are supposed to take care of, the people in this country. If our National Guardsman were not in Iraq fighting someone else’s war, they would have been here to help out with Katrina. Maybe then there would have been adequate supply to secure and help and save lives here.
No no, though. Murder is the American way. It’s about killing and destroying in as many ways as we deem necessary.
Re: yes
“When rich speculators prosper while farmers lose their land; when government officials spend money on weapons instead of cures; when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible while the poor have nowhere to turn – all this is robbery and chaos. It is not in keeping with the Tao.”
-Tao Te Ching #53, trans. Stephen Mitchell
I don’t agree that it’s about killing and destroying; I think that’s a symptom. The world today is focused around entertainment and self-gratification, and shaping the world to suit one’s illusions. Those in power can shape the media and news to rally the people, and set up an endless series of pleasurable distractions and fake scares to keep them compliant. And unlike most people, who have to pay the bill some time, those in power just re-spin the consequences so the people don’t notice the moral and financial debt piling up.
The only way to stop it is demanding accountability. Paying for our vets’ health care is one way to do this. Fighting outsourcing and corporate profiteering are others.
Do you agree that violence, murder and anger are, in the end, distractions?
There is indeed a good bit of poverty in the Caribbean… most of it is missed by the tourists that come to visit “paradise”.
There are portions of the US, I have come to realize, where you can live your whole life without coming into touch with reality. I do not envy that lifestyle because I grew up knowing and understanding struggle in all its forms.
I think a wedding in the Caribbean would be perfect for you <3