Tuesday, August 2, 2011

New PSA Combats Spice Use Among Military

New PSA Combats Spice Use Among Military

Synthetic Drug Spice Mimics Marijuana

SAN DIEGO -- A controversial campaign launched by a Marine general aims to combat the use of spice, a synthetic drug that mimics marijuana.

The effects of spice are unpredictable and range from headaches to psychedelic trips.

The drug has appealed to young people and some members of the military because standard drug tests could not detect it.

In a new public service announcement, a one-star Marine general based in Japan takes aim at spice.

"The use of spice has no role in our corps," says the general in the PSA. "It degrades readiness, [and] puts other Marines and sailors at risk… I ask you to join me, police our ranks, hold other Marines and sailors accountable and say, 'Not in our corps!'"
read more here
New PSA Combats Spice Use Among Military

U.S. Air Force Sargent back from Iraq wins $1 million lotto jackpot

'I bent down and kissed the ground': U.S. Air Force Sargent back from Iraq wins $1 million lotto jackpot
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 7:40 AM on 2nd August 2011

A U.S. Air Force staff Sargent back from a tour in Iraq has hit the jackpot after winning $1 million on a lottery scratch card.

Tim Ruch was at Washington D.C.'s Nationals Park for a July 5th Military Appreciation Night when he bought the $20 D.C. Lottery Gold scratch card.

Sgt. Ruch, who was back from a 6-month tour in Iraq, was with a friend who he hadn't seen for more than a year when he says he made the impulse buy.
Read more: U.S. Air Force Sargent back from Iraq wins $1 million lotto jackpot

Gov. Scott's name on Veterans Hall of Fame?

The state of Florida has an abundance of heroes to honor that would inspire a sense of pride, however, Governor Scott should have never been part of this even mentioned unless they wanted to include all veterans instead of combat veterans with the medals to prove they went above and beyond.

Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame: What Could Go Wrong?

Published: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 12:08 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 12:08 a.m.
In the midst of its slash-and-burn session this spring, the Florida Legislature found something noncontroversial to do — or so it probably thought.

It seemed like a good idea. Lawmakers passed a bill that established a Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame to honor "those military veterans, who, through their works and lives during and after their military service, have made a significant contribution to the state of Florida."

The best part (from a legislator's point of view)? The Hall of Fame will be administered "without appropriation of state funds."

What could be better? It's a bipartisan bill that everyone — Republicans, Democrats, independents, fundamentalists, apathetics, agnostics — could rally around, and it wouldn't cost them a dime. Who could possibly be offended?

Those lawmakers reckoned without Rick Scott — the amateur-but-superambitious politician who bought his way into the Governor's Office and actually thought he deserved to be there because he spent so much money that his company illegally extracted from the federal Medicare program.

Q: When the list of the first class of Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame honorees was drawn up, and submitted for approval to Rick Scott and three other Republicans, who was one of the front-line honorees?

A: Rick Scott.

Q: Who submitted the list?

A: Actually, it was Rick Scott's hand-picked Veterans Affairs Department appointee and former chief of staff.
read more here
Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame
Cpl. Larry Smedley


U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Miller Oviedo FL Medal of Honor




Medal of Honor for Floridians

Indian Wars
Varnum, Charles Albert
Army
Pensacola, FL

Philippine Insurrection
Condon, Clarence Milville
Army
St. Augustine, FL

World War I
Ormsbee, Jr., Francis Edward
Navy
Florida

World War II
**Femoyer, Robert Edward
Army AC
Jacksonville, FL

McCampbell, David
Navy
West Palm Beach, FL

**McGuire, Jr., Thomas Buchanan
Army AC
Sebring, FL

**McTureous, Jr., Robert Miller
USMC
Altoona, FL

Mills, James Henry
Army
Fort Meade, FL

**Nininger, Jr., Alexander Ramsey
Army
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Korean War
**Bennett, Emory L.
Army
New Smyrna, FL
Cocoa, FL

**Lopez, Baldomero
USMC
Tampa, FL

Vietnam War
**Bowen, Jr., Hammett Lee
Army
Jacksonville, FL

**Carter, Bruce Wayne
USMC
Jacksonville, FL

**Cutinha, Nicholas Joseph
Army
Fernandina Beach, FL
Coral Gables, FL

Ingram, Robert R.
Navy
Clearwater, FL


**Jenkins, Jr., Robert Henry
USMC
Interlachen, FL
Jacksonville, FL

Lassen, Clyde Everett
Navy
Fort Myers, FL
Jacksonville, FL

**Sims, Clifford Chester
Army
Port St. Joe, FL
Jacksonville, FL

**Smedley, Larry Eugene
USMC
Orlando, FL

War On Terror (Iraq)
**Smith, Paul Ray
Army
Tampa, FL

Peace Time Awards
**Corry, Jr., William Merrill
Navy
Quincy, FL
Florida


Scott Pulls Controversial Name From Veterans' Hall of Fame List
By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER
Ledger Tallahassee Bureau
Published: Friday, July 29, 2011 at 4:20 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, July 29, 2011 at 4:20 a.m.
TALLAHASSEE | Gov. Rick Scott's office sought to distance itself Thursday from the embarrassment of a list of prospective inductees to the new Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame that originally included six former members of the Confederate army, a former governor convicted of intimidating black citizens and Scott, himself.

After questions arose over the records and lack of diversity of the 22 people on the list — all white men and former governors with military service — state officials announced that the issue had been dropped from the agenda of next Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.

If approved, the Hall of Fame members would have been formally inducted on Veterans Day in November and honored with a plaque on the wall at the state Capitol.

The Hall of Fame is based on a new state law that created the honor and allowed the state Department of Veterans' Affairs to come up with the list. click link for more

Army Vet to Enter Mental Health Court as Part of Sentencing

Army Vet Larsen to Enter Mental Health Court as Part of Sentencing

By Bradley Guire

An Army veteran accused of malicious harassment was sentenced on Monday to probation and mental health court.

John C. Larsen, 42, of Twin Falls, had a prison term of three to five years suspended. He will instead serve a four-year probation and participate in the 5th Judicial District Mental Health Court with a specialized treatment program tailored to his needs. Larsen has previously described himself as a 20-year veteran who was declared 100 percent disabled based on a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was accused of screaming at a Muslim woman, Amna Schultz, of Jerome, while both parties were shopping near the Twin Falls Walmart’s electronics department last December.


Read more: Army Vet Larsen to Enter Mental Health Court as Part of Sentencing

PTSD Iraq veteran getting "quiet" house from community

This story shows how far we've come on PTSD. Staff Sgt. Hill went through a year long PTSD program. That's great and it shows that the government is trying to do something about it. What is the most remarkable in all of this is the fact people understand the need to help him and his family. He lived in a noisy area fueling his PTSD so the community stepped up to build him a home where he does not have to hear so much noise it haunts him. Glenn Close nominated him for this Extreme Makeover. Gov. Brownback put on a hardhat and got to work. This is about a community getting together to help a veteran.

Gov. Brownback and Topeka business go to the "Extreme"



Governor Sam Brownback has set his sights on building up; from the economy to private sector jobs.

Now he is taking the term literal by actually building and putting hammer to nail for the hit show "Extreme Makover: Home Edition."

A Topeka lighting store is also a bright spot in the process. Long Lighting Studio is supplying the lighting fixtures for the home.

It''s all for Staff Sargeant Allen Hill, who sacrificed for his state and country. While in Iraq, a roadside bomb nearly killed him and left him with a severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Now, Gov. Brownback and others are recognizing that sacrifice by helping him build his life back.
read more here
Gov. Brownback and Topeka business go to the "Extreme"

Homeless ex-POW 4 tour Vietnam vet says he’s tired of fighting-was lying?

UPDATE
What was he thinking?
Jerry Davich: Hobart man’s P.O.W. claims refuted, paperwork fraudulent
August 2, 2011

The ‘Obama slam’

“If Barack Obama was standing right here, I’d bust him in the mouth for forgetting people like me.”

This inflammatory quote from now-disgraced “Vietnam era vet” Jerome Pagell was used as the front-page headline for my Tuesday column. And, although I had nothing to do with its placement on the front page, I heard repeated complaints about it.

It hasn’t helped that the quote came from a guy who is a lying, deceptive fraud. Then again, I heard several complaints well before anyone knew that new info. But are those readers upset because Obama is our president or because Obama is, well, Obama?

Meaning, I wonder if those readers would have been just as upset if, say, George Bush, was named instead? Or would I (and Post-Tribune editors) be hearing from only Bush supporters, equally upset about slamming their man in print?

Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that the majority of complaints have been from the black community, seemingly more upset about the “Obama slam” on the front page than the vet’s lies about being a P.O.W.

Connie Utley was duped. I was duped. And possibly so were many of you, thanks to me. For that, I sincerely apologize.

My Tuesday column on Jerome Pagell turned out to be only partly accurate in its tragic depiction of the disabled Vietnam era veteran.

In truth, the 69-year-old Hobart man showed me forged paperwork claiming he was a prisoner of war. He was not, according to multiple sources familiar with his “stolen valor” scam.

“He’s a fraud,” said Earl McDowell, district one commander for the state’s Veterans of Foreign Wars.

On Tuesday morning, McDowell went to Pagell’s home to confront him about his P.O.W. claims alongside Utley, the hair salon owner who first contacted me about Pagell. She has been helping Pagell for weeks and she called me Tuesday morning bawling from shame, disappointment, and anger toward Pagell.

“I have to know the truth,” she told Pagell face to face, with McDowell standing nearby. “I loved you, and I helped you with anything you needed. Why would you lie to me?”

Pagell refuted McDowell’s claims that he is a fraud, yet refused to provide him with the same paperwork he showed me when I visited his home. That paperwork confirmed that Pagell was a P.O.W. who was held captive more than two years in Vietnam.
read more here
Hobart man’s P.O.W. claims refuted, paperwork fraudulent
Jerry Davich: Homeless POW vet says he’s tired of fighting
JERRY DAVICH jdavich@post-trib.com
August 1, 2011 5:56PM
Jerome Pagell of Hobart talks about Vietnam at A Lil' Off The Top Monday, Aug. 1, 2011, in Hobart. Pagell was a POW in Vietnam for 26 months, 12 days, 14 hours, and 23 minutes. | Scott M. Bort~Sun-Times Media

Disobedient tears ran down the proud but tired face of Jerome Pagell.

“Sir, I served honorably for this country. I gave blood for this country. And I lived in a hell hole as a prisoner of war for this country,” he told me, fighting back emotions. “But my government doesn’t care about me, and I’m tired of getting crapped on and forgotten about.”

Pagell, who turns 69 next week, served four tours in Vietnam as a U.S. Army cardiovascular nurse, first arriving in 1961.

On June 6, 1964, he was captured by the Viet Cong and imprisoned in a cage that was 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. There, for “26 months, 12 days, 14 hours and 23 minutes,” Pagell lived, cried, urinated, defecated, yelled, laughed and questioned God’s existence.

“I cried out to God for his angel of death to come take me home,” he recalled in vivid detail.

But the angel of death never came. He finally was discovered and released by the Swiss in August 1966.

During another tour of duty, his unit was hit by Agent Orange, the code name for a cancer-causing herbicide used by the U.S. military. He developed ocular blastoma, a cancer behind the eyes, causing him to slowly lose his eyesight.

He has since developed diabetes, high blood pressure and post-traumatic stress disorder, and he’s legally blind. His feet are dark purple from poor circulation.
read more here
Homeless POW vet says he’s tired of fighting

Grant to allow veteran screenings to continue

Grant to allow veteran screenings to continue

By Tram Whitehurst, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
August 2, 2011

St. John’s Medical Center has been awarded a $375,000 grant to continue providing cognitive health screenings and care to veterans in Wyoming and eastern Idaho.

Funded by the Rural Health Office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the grant calls on the hospital’s Institute for Cognitive Health to offer free memory care to veterans enrolled in the VA health care system.

The goal of the program, which runs through May, is to identify U.S. veterans suffering from memory loss and to provide care and referral assistance.
read more here
Grant to allow veteran screenings to continue

Fort Wainwright soldier shot by troopers at campground

Fort Wainwright soldier shot by troopers at Delta Junction campground
by Sam Friedman / sfriedman@newsminer.com
Aug 01, 2011
Updated 12:35 a.m.

FAIRBANKS - A Fort Wainwright soldier was shot by an Alaska State Trooper at a Delta Junction campground early this morning.

At 12:09 a.m., Alaska State Troopers were called to Delta State Recreation Site Campground across from the Delta Junction airport in response to the report of an intoxicated man firing a gun.

At the campground, someone pointed out Spc. Timothy J. Fitzgerald to a trooper as he was getting out of a patrol car, troopers said.

Fitzgerald, 28, was reportedly lying on the ground and pointing a gun at them. The trooper shot and hit him.


Read more: Fort Wainwright soldier shot by troopers

Monday, August 1, 2011

Police: Lejeune Marine punched, threatened to kill taxi driver

Police: Lejeune Marine punched, threatened to kill taxi driver

RALEIGH, N.C. — Raleigh police arrested a Marine based at Camp Lejeune Saturday night after he allegedly punched a taxi driver in the face and threatened to kill him, arrest warrants state.
read more here
Lejeune Marine punched threatened to kill taxi driver

Three year old girl, taken from Mom's arms, raped, beaten and killed

3-Year-Old Girl Raped And Killed
Isaac Paul Vasquez - KFOX News Producer
Posted: 6:45 pm MDT July 30, 2011
Updated: 4:13 pm MDT July 31, 2011

CUAUHTEMOC, Mexico -- Police in Cuauhtemoc arrested two men they said raped and killed a 3-year-old.

The town sits about 60 miles west of Chihuahua City, Mexico.

KFOX media partners at the El Paso Times report that's where investigators said the men snatched the girl from her mother's arms.
read more here
3-Year-Old Girl Raped And Killed

26 Assault sniper rifles stolen from Fort Irwin

Assault, sniper rifles stolen from Irwin
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jul 30, 2011 8:14:09 EDT
FORT IRWIN, Calif. — More than two dozen assault rifles have been stolen from this base, and investigators sought the public’s help as they looked to arrest suspects and recover the weapons, federal officials said Friday.

Twenty-six AK74 assault rifles and one Dragunov sniper rifle were stolen from a supply warehouse at Fort Irwin on July 15, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says in a statement.

Some arrests have been made and one rifle has been recovered, but the agency is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to further arrests, the statement said.

“Community participation is necessary to improve the likelihood that ATF and our law enforcement partners will track down the firearms as well as the criminals who have sought to destabilize our community through illegal activity,” ATF Special Agent in Charge John A. Torres said in the statement.
read more here
Assault sniper rifles stolen from Irwin

Huey added to Warhawk Air Museum

A group of Vietnam Veterans get long overdue recognition
By Eric Fink
CREATED JUL. 30, 2011

On this summer weekend the Warhawk Air Musueum in Nampa played host to a group of men who so proudly served on the Vietnam battlefields.

More than 40 years after returning home, the pilots and fighters who captioned the "Mustang Gunship Huey Helicopter," in Southeast Asia, were recognized for their service. The "Huey" was unveiled at the Air Museum and veterans from across the country attended the ceremony.

"It brings back memories, what we saw what we did, what our job was. I can't help but get emotional, it's a very emotional thing," Sid King, a former fighter pilot said. "Too many memories, too many good times. Too many hard times."
read more here
A group of Vietnam Veterans get long overdue recognition

Former Marine Corps commanding officer fined

Former Marine Corps commanding officer fined
By: The Associated Press
The Associated Press
07/30/11 3:58 PM

The former commanding officer at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point has been fined $10,000 after pleading guilty in military court to driving while impaired, having an open container of alcohol in his car and dereliction of duty.


Read more at the Washington Examiner: Former Marine Corps commanding officer fined

Las Vegas police sergeant's book explores depression, suicide

Las Vegas police sergeant's book explores depression, suicide

BY MIKE BLASKY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: Jul. 31, 2011
More than 20 years into Sgt. Clarke Paris' career at the Metropolitan Police Department, he made a terrifying realization.

He was depressed.

Two decades of bad memories -- which Paris calls "cop stew" -- boiled in his brain: Dead babies, teen suicides, fights, car crashes, rape victims, police shootings, murders.

Paris tried to ignore the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. He had never killed anyone. His partner never died in his arms. He had no right to feel this way, he thought.

As the stress worsened, Paris decided he had to tell his wife, Tracie. He picked a day when his kids were out of the house and she lounged in the pool.

read more here
Police sergeant book explores depression suicide

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Defending discounts to debutantes while ditching defenders

Just can't take it anymore right now. Screaming at the TV doesn't do much good so here's a rant to let me blow off some steam.

Defending discounts to debutantes while ditching defenders is sickening but some folks in congress are damn proud of it. Isn't that what all of the fighting about the debt has been about? They say let everyone suffer because paying down the debt is so all fired important all of a sudden but you better not touch the tax cuts the wealthy have. The troops? Veterans? Security with police and firefighters? Well, guess average people in this country no longer matter and security is now just a memory of a buzz word they used for years to frighten people. That words has been replaced by the boogyman of "debt" but they forget about the debts we already owed.

Some in congress are no longer ashamed they want to cut spending on veterans after years of struggling to begin to be able to have wounds treated, like Agent Orange and PTSD. Some go after retirement as if they shouldn't be able to collect military retirement and social security even though they paid for it.

Orlando just sent off reservists heading into Afghanistan to risk their lives stopping bombs from blowing up more of our soldiers. Instead of just worrying about doing what they have to do, we sent them off worrying about getting their paychecks to pay their bills. Such a sorry comment on how little some in congress really think about them.

We used to hear a lot of talk about how the President had to be supported if we supported the troops but that was a different President back then. Now this President doesn't even deserve a tiny bit of respect from them and supporting the troops means nothing. Didn't they think we'd notice any of this?

The rest of the world has been watching and there is more than just our credit rating at stake here. We're losing our honor. We are showing the world that in this country the American dream has become a nightmare for the many so that dreams can come true for the wealthy as they ship our jobs overseas and then get tax cuts for doing it. Our troops come home with no jobs to go to if they are lucky enough to be able to work and if not, they have to wait for a year or more to be able to see an approved claim with a disability check.

There was a report a couple of years ago saying that more and more military folks were leaving the Republican party to become Independent. I bet after all this, there won't be any more military families in the Republican party. That party has been hijacked and they are just too greedy to notice the difference they are trying to make in this county will destroy it.

McConnell toned it down a bit in this but it pretty much sums it up.



The Dems used it in this video and from what we've all seen the last year, they are doing whatever it takes no matter how many of us have to suffer.


Now the Dems have shown some backbone, which is good but it's too little to late for the people who switched over to being Independents. Maybe someday the folks in Washington on both sides will remember that while the wealthy do fund their retirement, if we didn't vote for them, they would be just another rich debutante wanting to hang out with people just like them and ignore the rest of us.