FW: Wendesday, 18 March 2015

Ya' know, every once in a while something comes along that is just perfect!!!

We are here on earth to do good unto others. What the others are here for, I have no idea. 

To: rserge1@outlook.com
Subject: Fwd: Wendesday, 18 March 2015

Zach,  Herald & Review  After eBay spotting and long journey, WWII pilot's possessions end up with family.  You just never know when you're going to bump into the last traces of a real hero. That's true even for experts such as Dan Janvrin, who is used to sifting through the bits and pieces of their lives. 

 Did you know:

-      Department of Defense Warrior Games 2015. 

-      Army picks female intelligence soldier for USAREUR's top enlisted slot. 

-      Tricare to No Longer Cover Some Prescription Pain Killers.   

-      White House office to delete its FOIA regulations. 

-      McCain: GOP can't afford to defer defense spending debate.

-      House GOP taps war fund to solve defense spending cap. 

-      DOD explores changes to 5-year rule, LQA. 

-      Quality of life for Vets. 

-      House vets chairman: VA impeding congressional oversight. 

-      VA, Congress trade barbs over trust, transparency. 

-      VA Watchdog overhauls policies on investigative report. 

-      US Sets New Record for Denying, Censoring Government Files. 

-      Special Report: Traumatic Brain Injury.  

-      Obama talks about trust at VA scandal site. 

-      Colorado VA Hospital Construction is More Than $1 Billion Over Budget. 

-      Cost of new Denver-area VA hospital swells fivefold to $1.73 billion. 

-      Estimated cost of new Denver VA hospital balloons to $1.73B. 

-      Veterans Affairs Wants A Disney Run Hospital. 

-      Veterans Group Launches Social Network to Put Personal Dave on VA Scandal. 

-      Elder Law: Department of Veterans Affairs proposes 3-year look-back for gifts. 

-      Bad advice? VA wants retirement home resident to repay $45,000. 

-      Facebook's suicide prevention tools connect friends, test privacy. 

-      Civil War re-enactors bring history to life at Fayetteville exhibit. 

​​

-      After eBay spotting and long journey, WWII pilot's possessions end up with family. 

Did you know:

Military Medicine, VA aim to share more patients in San Antonio:  In a move that helps veterans, and active-duty military patients and their families, local VA and military medical facilities have dramatically increased their work-share agreements over the past two years and they are seeking to add more.

Department of Defense Warrior Games 2015.  The Department of Defense Warrior Games 2015 will take place June 19 - 28 at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.  DoD Warrior Games is an annual sporting competition bringing together wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans from across the country.  This is the first year that the department is organizing the games, which were previously run by the United States Olympic Committee and held at

Army picks female intelligence soldier for USAREUR's top enlisted slot.  U.S. Army Europe's Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges has selected Command Sgt. Major Sheryl Lyon as the next senior enlisted leader for U.S. Army Europe, breaking new ground for a position that until now has always been held by male combat arms soldiers.

Military.com  Tricare to No Longer Cover Some Prescription Pain Killers.  Tricare officials are rolling out a new prescription drug clearance system that will block from coverage some ingredients used in compounded medications like pain killers, officials announced March 13. 

USA Today   White House office to delete its FOIA regulations.  The White House is removing a federal regulation that subjects its Office of Administration to the Freedom of Information Act, making official a policy under Presidents Bush and Obama to reject requests for records to that office. 

The Hill   McCain: GOP can't afford to defer defense spending debate.  Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is keeping up the pressure on his fellow Republicans to lift spending caps for the Defense Department. 

House GOP taps war fund to solve defense spending cap.  Fiscal hawks in the House on Tuesday proposed pumping billions into the military's emergency overseas war fund as a way to circumvent a mandatory limit on base defense spending that the services warn will damage national security and readiness.

DOD explores changes to 5-year rule, LQA.  The Defense Department is considering new limits to housing allowances for civilian employees as it reviews a benefit that costs the government about $500 million annually.

TribLIVE: Quality of life for Vets.  If H.R. 969 is passed, it will afford proper, equitable VA benefits to Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Thousands of Vietnam veterans who did not have boots on the ground will be eligible for benefits and compensation.

House vets chairman: VA impeding congressional oversight.  Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., has accused the inspector general and other officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs of withholding reports from his panel, despite pledges to be transparent.

Military Times: VA, Congress trade barbs over trust, transparency.  A year after the Veterans Affairs Department was rocked by findings of hidden patient wait lists and manipulated records, House Republicans are accusing the department's new leadership of doing little to fix the transparency problems.

USA Today: VA Watchdog overhauls policies on investigative report.  The chief watchdog at the Veterans Affairs Department is overhauling its policies for making public the findings of dozens of investigations into veterans' health care… Acting VA Inspector General Richard Griffin announced Tuesday that all decisions about whether to release investigative reports will now be made by his immediate staff.

The New York Times (AP): US Sets New Record for Denying, Censoring Government Files.  Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them… records showed Veterans Affairs doctors concluding that a gunman who later killed 12 people had no mental health issues despite serious problems and encounters with police during the same period.

Special Report: Traumatic Brain Injury.   Traumatic brain injury is one of the invisible wounds of war and one of the signature injuries of troops wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq. This Defense.gov special report highlights the Defense Department's efforts to care for wounded warriors suffering from this condition while …

The Washington Post (Federal Eye): Obama talks about trust at VA scandal site.  President Obama went to the scene of the misdeeds when he visited the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix on Friday… Obama visited Phoenix not to claim victory that the afflicted agency had been healed, but to inspect the repair job.

Wall Street Journal: Colorado VA Hospital Construction is More Than $1 Billion Over Budget.  A Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Colorado will be more than $1 billion over budget before the project is completed, according to new estimates released by the department Tuesday… The medical center in Aurora, Colo., is now projected to cost $1.73 billion, nearly three times its original budgeted amount with the contractor.

Stars and Stripes (AP): Cost of new Denver-area VA hospital swells fivefold to $1.73 billion.  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday that it will cost $1.73 billion to build a VA hospital in the Denver suburb of Aurora — more than five times its initial $328 million price tag… Work resumed under an interim contract after the VA enlisted the Army Corps of Engineers as project advisers.

The Washington Times (AP): Estimated cost of new Denver VA hospital balloons to $1.73B.  The Department of Veterans Affairs says it will cost $1.73 billion to build a VA hospital in the Denver suburb of Aurora - more than five times its initial $328 million price tag… The Denver Post reports the new cost estimate, which VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson revealed to Colorado lawmakers Tuesday, is the latest development in the project that has been in development for more than a decade and has suffered huge cost overruns and delays.

DisabledVeterans.org: Veterans Affairs Wants A Disney Run Hospital.  Four weeks ago, we first heard Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald has been pushing Disney ideals onto veterans, and that the Disney love affair did not start with him… Disney is apparently behind the MyVA and ICARE platform proposed by Secretary McDonald to help VA employees be friendlier with veterans and their family members.

BuzzFeed: Veterans Group Launches Social Network to Put Personal Dave on VA Scandal.  A veterans group has created a new way for service members to put pressure on the Veterans Administration as complaints of long lines and substandard care continue to plague the VA… The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America will launch TheWaitWeCarry.org Tuesday, a social network that lets veterans post personal stories of seeking and receiving care at VA facilities around the United States.

Houston Chronicle: Elder Law: Department of Veterans Affairs proposes 3-year look-back for gifts.  On Jan. 23, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposed to amend its regulations governing entitlement to VA Pension. The VA helps veterans and their families by providing supplemental tax-free income through the Veterans Pension benefit.

The Modesto Bee: Bad advice? VA wants retirement home resident to repay $45,000.  Debera Fathke said an adviser at the Standiford Place retirement center in Modesto helped obtain veterans benefits for residents, including her mother, who was granted $1,100 a month in 2011 to supplement her retirement income.

Minnesota Public Radio News: Facebook's suicide prevention tools connect friends, test privacy.  Facebook is the latest social media network to roll out support resources for suicide prevention. The company is now trying to combat suicide by doing what it does best — connecting friends… one initiative is deploying this big data to predict the suicide risk of veteran soldiers by monitoring social media posts among other behavioral factors.

Civil War re-enactors bring history to life at Fayetteville exhibit.  The exhibit continues this afternoon with displays of weapons, clothing, toiletries and other items that the soldiers of the 1860s carried across country and into battle.

Herald & Review  After eBay spotting and long journey, WWII pilot's possessions end up with family.  You just never know when you're going to bump into the last traces of a real hero. That's true even for experts such as Dan Janvrin, who is used to sifting through the bits and pieces of their lives.