"Bob McDonnell federal corruption trial hears closing arguments
Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife took bribes and used their political muscle to promote a sketchy nutritional supplement because they were deeply in debt and couldn’t refuse the more than $165,000 in loans and gifts, including designer dresses and a Rolex watch, prosecutors said Friday.
Defense attorneys contended in their closing arguments that McDonnell, once a rising star in the Republican party, made a bad decision but never gave any special treatment to former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams. They said Maureen McDonnell’s acceptance of the gifts may have been “tacky,” but it was not illegal because she was not a public official.
“You’re being asked to render a legal verdict, not a moral verdict,” said Bob McDonnell’s lawyer, Henry Asbill. “Jonnie didn’t get anything. Nothing. This case is all ‘quid,’ no ‘quo.’”
The McDonnells were charged in a 14-count indictment that accused them of conspiracy and bribery. Maureen McDonnell also faces an obstruction charge.
The five-week, soap opera-like trial aired the McDonnells’ dirty laundry with testimony about the former first couple’s fights, crumbling marriage and financial troubles.
McDonnell, once considered a possible running mate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was swept into office in a landslide five years ago....
He was also considered a top challenger to Clinton in early pundictions.
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Related: McDonnell is a Star Witness
Coverage cooled down for a few days. Why?
"He’s been living, while separated from his wife, with a priest who got busted for cruising dudes in parking lots."
"Barricaded in office, soldier shoots herself" | Associated Press August 26, 2014
FORT LEE, Va. — An enraged soldier barricaded herself inside a major command’s headquarters and shot herself in the head Monday after throwing objects around the office as law enforcement officials tried to negotiate with her, the Army said. She died later in the day.
Strange.
The soldier, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead after being taken to Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, according to a news release issued by Fort Lee, where the Monday morning shooting took place. No other injuries were reported.
The heavily trafficked base went on lockdown while the soldier was barricaded on the third floor of the four-story building that houses the Army’s Combined Arms Support Command. About 1,100 people were inside, but no one else was hurt, officials said.
The Army said an alert was sounded across the post and those in the building either took shelter inside or evacuated as directed.
‘‘This situation could’ve been worse,’’ said Major General Stephen R. Lyons, who took over as commanding general of the support command Friday.
The soldier was a sergeant first class who has been in the Army for 14 years and at Fort Lee for three, Lyons said. Her gun was not a service weapon.
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Another VA failure?
"IG: Shoddy care by VA didn’t cause Phoenix deaths" by Stephen Ohlemacher | Associated Press August 27, 2014
WASHINGTON — Government investigators found no proof that delays in care caused veterans to die at a Phoenix VA hospital, but they found plenty of problems that the Veterans Affairs Department is promising to fix.
I'm sure it didn't help.
Investigators uncovered large-scale improprieties in the way VA hospitals and clinics across the nation have been scheduling veterans for appointments, according to a report released Tuesday by the VA’s Office of Inspector General.
One might almost say.... gasp.... a "conspiracy."
The report said workers falsified wait lists while their supervisors looked the other way or even directed it, resulting in chronic delays for veterans seeking care.
Because that's the $y$tem of promotion and bonuses, even while much of administrative bureaucracy is making six-figure salaries.
‘‘Inappropriate scheduling practices are a nationwide systemic problem,’’ said the report by Richard Griffin, the VA’s acting inspector general. ‘‘These practices became systemic because [the Veterans Health Administration] did not hold senior headquarters and facility leadership responsible and accountable.’’
And it has been going on for decades. What el$e would you expect in a war culture?
The report could deflate an explosive allegation that helped launch the scandal in the spring: that as many as 40 veterans died while awaiting care at the Phoenix VA hospital. Investigators identified 40 patients who died while awaiting appointments in Phoenix, the report said, but added: ‘‘While the case reviews in this report document poor quality of care, we are unable to conclusively assert that the absence of timely quality care caused the deaths of these veterans.’’
Vets have gotten used to the VA and Pentagon saying no connection. Think Agent Orange and Depleted Uranium. Maybe they will confess in 40 years after you are all dead.
Nevertheless, top VA officials said the report’s findings were troubling.
‘‘I’m glad that veterans didn’t die because of delays in care, or at least they weren’t able to conclude that they did,’’ Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said in an interview. ‘‘But the fundamental issue is, veterans are waiting too long, and that’s the problem we’ve got to face.’’
What a strange thing to say.
In a memo responding to the report, VA Secretary Robert McDonald apologized to veterans and pledged to implement the 24 recommendations in the inspector general’s report.
‘‘We sincerely apologize to all veterans and we will continue to listen to veterans, their families, veterans service organizations, and our VA employees to improve access to the care and benefits veterans earned and deserve,’’ said McDonald’s memo, which was also signed by Carolyn Clancy, VA undersecretary for health.
Yeah, the new corporate exec who is fixing everything. Should have voted in Mitt instead. He'd have fixed this problem Obummer has neglected for six years while creating more vets needing the service, and given us the true executive face of AmeriKan government.
Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said the Phoenix VA ‘‘failed to meet our nation’s obligation to provide timely, quality health care to veterans.’’
‘‘What happened in Phoenix is inexcusable and must never happen again in any VA facility,’’ said the Vermont independent. ‘‘The people who lied or manipulated data at Phoenix and elsewhere must be held accountable.’’
They are not, and what did you know and when did you know it, Bernie? I mean, you been sitting on committee a long time now.
In April, Dr. Samuel Foote, who had worked for the Phoenix VA for more than 20 years before retiring in December, told Congress that up to 40 patients died while awaiting care at the hospital.
But, but....
Foote accused Arizona VA leaders of collecting bonuses for reducing patient wait times. But, he said, the purported successes resulted from data manipulation rather than improved service.
If they had put that effort into caring for the veterans.... sigh. War overwhelming them, huh?
The allegations rocked the agency. Eric Shinseki resigned as VA secretary.
Shineski tossed overboard and to the sharks.
In July, Congress approved spending an additional $16 billion to help shore up the system.
And that was when it basically dropped off the media radar screen.
On Tuesday, Foote issued a statement questioning the inspector general’s inability to ‘‘conclusively assert’’ that veterans died because of delays in care.
‘‘What charts did they look at? How many did they look at?” Foote said.
The investigation was done by a team of physicians, special agents, auditors, and health inspectors, who reviewed VA and outside medical records for patients who died while waiting for care, the report said.
‘‘This report cannot capture the personal disappointment, frustration and loss of faith of individual veterans and their family members with a health care system that often could not respond to their mental and physical health needs in a timely manner,’’ the report said. ‘‘Immediate and substantive changes are needed.’’
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Fuck Bernie Sanders. He's out there defending Israel.
As for this next guy, he came into office with the same goddamn promises and six years later I'm getting this propaganda poop?
"Obama details his plans to revamp VA" by Peter Baker | New York Times August 27, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Obama promised several thousand military veterans on Tuesday that he would take further action to improve their access to health care and housing as he seeks to turn around a dysfunctional system.
Addressing the national convention of the American Legion, Obama acknowledged that the government needed to “regain credibility” after disclosures of falsified records and poor care, and he vowed to follow through on changes that will make the Department of Veterans Affairs system “more effective and more efficient” and put veterans first.
“What we’ve come to learn is that the misconduct we’ve seen at too many facilities with long wait times and veterans denied care and folks cooking the books is outrageous and inexcusable,” Obama said to polite, if not enthusiastic, applause. “We are going to get to the bottom of these problems. We are going to fix what is wrong. We are going to do right by you and your families, and that is a solid pledge and commitment I’m making to you here.”
Obama was joined by Robert McDonald, a former Procter & Gamble chief executive who took over as veterans affairs secretary from Eric Shinseki. The former general resigned in May amid reports of troubles throughout the system.
The president has also signed bipartisan legislation devoting $16 billion to the goal of fixing the veterans’ health care system by, among other things, hiring more medical-care providers to shorten waiting times. The new law will give McDonald more authority to fire officials for poor performance, and will allow veterans to use other providers if they cannot obtain prompt attention at a VA facility.
In speaking to the veterans, Obama mentioned the military action he has ordered in Iraq, and added that the country’s prayers were with the family of James Foley, the American journalist whose beheading was shown in a video released last week by the Islamic State. “Our message to anyone who harms our people: America does not forget, our reach is long, we are patient, justice will be done,” he said. He went on to warn that the battle with the Islamic State “won’t be easy and won’t be quick.”
Related: Foley Video is Fake
Just making a case for the reoccupation of Iraq. That means more veterans needing VA service for a creation of US and Israeli intelligence.
The president also emphasized that he planned to bring home most troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, and would not send ground troops back into combat in Iraq. “We will not allow the United States to be dragged back into another ground war in Iraq, because ultimately it is up to the Iraqis to bridge their differences and secure themselves,” he said.
He's calling them "advisers," and we have seen that movie before. As for Afghanistan, he once said they would all be out by the end of this year, but now we are finding out final withdrawal doesn't really mean withdrawing finally.
He made no direct mention of the debate about whether to order airstrikes or other military action against Islamic State forces in neighboring Syria. But he said that in fighting terrorists, “the answer is not to send in large-scale military deployments that overstretch our military and lead us to occupying countries for a long period of time, and end up feeding extremism.”
Such hollow garbage coming from an either disingenuous or delusional soul.
The president used the visit to the convention to announce several other steps he will take, using his executive authority, to improve services for veterans, primarily to make it easier for them to receive mental health care and to lower their monthly housing payments.
Why have you waited so long? Zipping 'em off left and right with the health care waivers.
Among other things, members of the armed forces leaving the service will be automatically enrolled in the VA’s transition program, rather than having to seek it out themselves or requiring referrals, officials said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs will test expanded peer support for mental health, conduct studies on early detection of post-traumatic stress and suicidal thoughts, and extend suicide prevention and mental health training for health care providers, chaplains and others who work with veterans.
The administration will also team up with large banks to make it easier for active-duty military service members to reduce mortgage interest rates, and will expand efforts to make sure troops can get the student debt relief to which they are already entitled, officials said.
After it was found the banks were scamming and scheming them. $upport the troops!
Not everyone was impressed. “President Obama’s actions today fall far short of what’s needed to regain the trust of America’s veterans,” Representative Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican and chairman of the House’s Veterans’ Affairs Committee, stated.
That's his whole presidency in a phrase.
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At least the big hospitals are better than the small ones.
Of course, we are just a bunch of grouchy old veterans out here:
"Training guide likens veterans to Oscar the Grouch" August 28, 2014
PHILADELPHIA — An internal training guide used by the US Department of Veterans Affairs compared veterans unhappy about their care to Oscar the Grouch, a newspaper reported.
Maybe it was the wait times.
The Philadelphia Inquirer obtained a VA training slide show with tips for employees on how to help veterans with their claims. It was shown to VA employees staffing events with veterans in Philadelphia.
About a dozen slides included pictures of the grumpy ‘‘Sesame Street’’ character who lives in a trash can.
Not only is that disrespectful to veterans who have been through so much already, but it is insulting in the shadow of the HOMELESSNESS among VETERANS (as Obama has billions to send to faraway nations to foment overthrows and support juntas).
The slide show said that veterans might be demanding and unrealistic and advised staffers on ‘‘what to say to Oscar the Grouch.’’
Veterans groups called the comparison insulting, especially after a VA scandal over veterans’ health care.
That was my reaction, yeah.
‘‘There is no time or place to make light of the current crisis that the VA is in,’’ said Joe Davis, a national spokesman for the VFW, ‘‘and especially to insult the VA’s primary customer.’’
A VA spokeswoman told the Inquirer that the agency regretted any misunderstanding.
‘‘The training provided was not intended to equate veterans with this character,’’ spokeswoman Marisa Prugsawan said.
(Blog editor sits here and shakes head at how stupid they think you are. And they wonder why you are grouchy?)
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Time for some fragging:
"Army knocks 2-star down to 1-star rank" AP August 28, 2014
WASHINGTON — A two-star Army general faulted for failing to properly investigate sexual assault and other accusations against a colonel on his staff will be retired at one-star rank, the Army said Wednesday.
That scandal is back under the sheets. The greatest military this world has ever seen liberates women, didn't you know?
The decision by Army Secretary John M. McHugh comes more than a year after Major General Michael T. Harrison was suspended from his duties as commander of Army forces in Japan.
His case has been cited as evidence of why sex-crime victims say they don’t trust the military to protect them, despite efforts by senior Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, to make commanders accountable.
In March Congress rejected an effort to strip commanders of the authority to prosecute cases, especially those related to sexual assault, and hand the job to seasoned military lawyers.
An Army inspector general’s investigation report released in April said that in March 2013, when a Japanese woman accused the unidentified colonel on Harrison’s staff of sexually assaulting her, Harrison waited months to report it to criminal investigators, a violation of Army rules.
Oh, this happened overseas?
By retiring one rank lower, Harrison will lose a substantial amount of retirement pay.
Poor guy.
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Related: Defense secretary OKs Medal of Honor for WWI hero
It's like the Nazi Germany we see in movies, awarding all sorts of medals while losing the war.
USS Saratoga carrier off to be scrapped
Constitution takes one last spin before retrofit
That will take to long to get back to Virginia. Better take a flight.
Mass. National Guard fighter jet crashes in Va.
Pilot from Mass. base died in Va. crash, officials say
Ejection carries its own danger for pilots
Mass. pilot identified after death in Va. crash
Massachusetts Guard pilot killed in crash mourned
For blimp pilot, life is a breeze at 1,000 feet
Back on the ground in Virginia:
Virginia girl, 2, dies after being left in van
I don't know what the psyop agenda is there other than to convince you it's hotter than ever amongst the chill. That's why I'm not all fired up over any more weather reports, and apparently neither is the Globe. I'm sorry if you don't like the choices I'm making as to what is important or not.
