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Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 05/24/2011 10:37:12

Good Morning.

Today is our 2,988th day in Iraq, and our 3,504th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing wars, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4454
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) 4313
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3595
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 226
Since Operation New Dawn: 36

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,582
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 887
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq: 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 198, 818, 250, 000 .00



Have any of you been to a military funeral? I never have...I've never even been close to one. My relatives that served all chose to be buried in civil ceremonies with one exception, a distant elder cousin that was buried at the Bourne National Veteran's cemetery on Cape Cod some years ago.

But if you're a politician, it's usually required attendance on your part, especially if you hold higher office in the state. Much to his credit, Governor Mitt Romney started quietly attending all veteran's funerals in Massachusetts during his tenure...quietly, without fanfare, and usually without media. This has been continued by the democrat Deval Patrick during his term in office. It's just the right thing for a governor to do. Unless you're the governor of Oregon. Then you only go if it's not inconvenient to you.


While some governors go out of their way to acknowledge the sanctity of military funerals, Oregon’s new governor says he won’t attend them in his state if it’s inconvenient to him.

Gov. John Kitzhaber is making a departure from his predecessor, Ted Kulongoski, a former Marine who was so determined to attend military funerals he would cancel out-of-town travel to attend them. In fact, Kulongoski attended more than 100 military funerals during his eight years in office.

But Kitzhaber has missed both funerals observed in Oregon since he took office in January -- one for a Marine and another for an Army National Guard solider.

Kitzhaber was in Washington, D.C., attending a national governor's conference during the first funeral and did not attend the second because he had a family conflict. Kitzhaber sent high-ranking officials in his place.

"I view my job as having a variety of responsibilities," Kitzhaber told reporters at a news conference, according to the Oregonian. "I doubt if I will be able to attend every single service."

It is not known how often governors across the country attend military funerals, but it isn't rare and some have ordered flags flown at half-staff on government buildings in honor of local soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lawmakers in Oregon aren't happy about the new governor's stance.

"He's the commander in chief of the Oregon National Guard," Republican state Rep. Julie Parrish, wife of an Army National Guard solider, told the Oregonian. "It comes with responsibilities."


I could guess what party he is, as the story doesn't note which one (original link is Fox) but really, does it matter in this case?

I'll change gears here...and now it's time for the wayback machine. It seems hard to believe, but we've been at this war in Iraq since 1991; 20 years ago this past January we first invaded. Never mind what two decades of varying levels of conflict have done to both our nations, and indeed, ours and the global economy. Despite the limited focus (by comparison) to today, veterans of Desert Storm had their own issues when they came home from war.

Gulf War Syndrome is a chronic and baffling illness...and back in the day was a difficult disease to diagnose. In some ways it still is; and the veterans so affected still fight the stigma of the disease, since unlike a traumatic wound, there is nothing visibly 'wrong' with them.

But after decades of study, researchers may finally be homing in on the source of the problem. As you'll see from the first paragraph...the best long-term treatment will be to simply come home.


U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait have inhaled microscopic dust particles laden with toxic metals, bacteria and fungi — a toxic stew that may explain everything from the undiagnosed Gulf War Syndrome symptoms lingering from the 1991 war against Iraq to high rates of respiratory, neurological and heart ailments encountered in the current wars, scientists say.

“From my research and that of others, I really think this may be the smoking gun,” says Navy Capt. Mark Lyles, chair of medical sciences and biotechnology at the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. “It fits everything — symptoms, timing, everything.”

Lyles and other researchers found that dust particles — up to 1,000 of which can sit on the head of a pin — gathered in Iraq and Kuwait contain 37 metals, including aluminum, lead, manganese, strontium and tin. The metals have been linked to neurological disorders, cancer, respiratory ailments, depression and heart disease, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers believe the metals occur both naturally and as a byproduct of pollution.

Researchers in and out of the military say the particles are smaller and easier to inhale than most dust particles, and that recent droughts in the region have killed desert shrubs that helped keep down that dust. The military’s heavy vehicles have pounded the desert’s protective crust into a layer of fine silt, Lyles says. Servicemembers breathe the dust — and all it carries — deeply into their lungs.

The dust contains 147 different kinds of bacteria, as well as fungi that could spread disease, Lyles found. Since the wars began in Iraq in 2003 and in Afghanistan in 2001, the military has seen a 251 percent increase in the rate of neurological disorders per 10,000 active-duty servicemembers, a 47 percent rise in the rate of respiratory issues and a 34 percent increase in the rate of cardiovascular disease, according to a USA Today analysis of military morbidity records from 2001 to 2010. Those increases have researchers seeking possible causes.

Despite the research by Lyles and others, and the documented spikes in respiratory illnesses, Defense Department officials contend there are no health issues associated with the dust.

“The (Defense Department) has examined the concerns raised by the studies accomplished by Capt. Lyles,” says Craig Postlewaite, who heads up the Secretary of Defense’s Force Readiness and Health Assurance Office. He said the military found the dust is “not noticeably different from samples collected in the Sahara Desert and desert regions in the U.S. and China.”


Lastly this morning...if you're on the book of Faces, I hope you've seen the messages from Paul Rieckhoff about rebooting the IAVA website. Please take a moment to go there and take a look at what he's doing...and add your voice to the debate!
 

40 comments (Latest Comment: 05/24/2011 20:58:30 by livingonli)
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Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 13:15:14
Good Morning

Comment by wickedpam on 05/24/2011 13:28:11
Morning

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 13:49:33
I have decided to spend some time upstairs today and listen to the show a bit before I spend time with the Mom and the nephew...

Comment by BobR on 05/24/2011 13:50:53
I attended a military funeral - sort of... My Uncle Albert died about 10 years ago. He served in the Navy during WWII, and was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was buried in a small cemetery east of Rochester, NY.

The military sent out two corpsmen to perform the duties. They brought a boombox to play taps, then folded up the flag draping his coffin and presented it to my aunt. It seemed a little "cheap".

I wonder, though what my aunt thought (and what my uncle would have thought) about the two soldiers - they were both black and my aunt and uncle were both hopeless bigots.


Comment by BobR on 05/24/2011 13:53:37
I think the "dust" aspect of Gulf War Syndrome is definitely the key - considering that the dust contains depleted uranium from all those missiles. What a stupid arrogant thing to do - put radioactive material in the tips of missiles we use for "every day" warfare. Talk about dirty bombs...

Comment by TriSec on 05/24/2011 14:09:26
I was at a Memorial Day ceremony last year...the VFW didn't have a bugler, but they had one of the newfangled "fake" ones with a speaker in the bell. Looks much better from a distance, and to an untrained ear it sounds the same.

Which reminds me, I need to try to find that organization that calls volunteer buglers for such things. I can play that.





Comment by wickedpam on 05/24/2011 14:16:37
I've never been to the funeral of someone who was active duty. But at least 2 of my grandfathers had military funeral. One in York, PA - Taps, the guns, the flag, it was very nicely done. The other was in Arlington - needless to say that had a couple of extra bells a whistles.

Comment by wickedpam on 05/24/2011 14:17:22
I'm with JOhn on the earpiece issue - they fall out of my ears too - I hate them

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 14:19:30
Quote by wickedpam:
I'm with JOhn on the earpiece issue - they fall out of my ears too - I hate them

I can understand that, but then don't talk on the phone while driving. It's dangerous.

A friend of mine Sister died a few weeks ago from injuries suffered after being rearended by a person talking on the phone.

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 14:23:23
Comment by wickedpam on 05/24/2011 14:24:46
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I'm with JOhn on the earpiece issue - they fall out of my ears too - I hate them

I can understand that, but then don't talk on the phone while driving. It's dangerous.

A friend of mine Sister died a few weeks ago from injuries suffered after being rearended by a person talking on the phone.



I try very hard not to - when it does happen, which is rare, and someone's in the car with me they hold the phone and its on speaker.

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 14:40:30
Dare to be stupid? that was Wierd Al

Comment by TriSec on 05/24/2011 14:43:25
Hateful winter, soggy 'spring' and now this tornado stuff has been insane.

Maybe that preacher was right; it's the timing that's wrong. Death by a thousand cuts...

Comment by Scoopster on 05/24/2011 14:58:22
Mornin' all.. Feeling much better today without any swollen hangy parts in the back of my throat.

Yoinks! I'm a bit surprised the military didn't catch on to him & throw him out for DADT..

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 15:07:05

Reading this from the bottom on up, and I have to say, Something is terribly wrong. WHY did the Army give him this security clearance?

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 15:07:44
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all.. Feeling much better today without any swollen hangy parts in the back of my throat.

Yoinks! I'm a bit surprised the military didn't catch on to him & throw him out for DADT..
I don;t get how they missed that. Then they allegedly give him security clearance?? This is amazing.


Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 15:13:16
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all.. Feeling much better today without any swollen hangy parts in the back of my throat.

Yoinks! I'm a bit surprised the military didn't catch on to him & throw him out for DADT..
I don;t get how they missed that. Then they allegedly give him security clearance?? This is amazing.


May 7, 2010 Manning is found in a fetal position with a knife in a storage room; he had carved the words "I want" into a chair, according to an Army report. The Washington Post reports that later that evening, he hit a female soldier in the face -- an act for which he would be demoted.



Comment by Scoopster on 05/24/2011 15:27:11
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all.. Feeling much better today without any swollen hangy parts in the back of my throat.

Yoinks! I'm a bit surprised the military didn't catch on to him & throw him out for DADT..
I don;t get how they missed that. Then they allegedly give him security clearance?? This is amazing.

If you read through the whole thing it's like a story about a normal kid whose mind is broken by the military, then you can watch the mental downward spiral from there. Between the strain of active duty, the pressure from being semi-closeted, depression from breaking up with his boyfriend, and then the random hints that someone was kinda manipulating his state of mind.. it's like he was so screwed up that he leaked the docs out of spite against the world around him.

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 15:31:43
Well, Scoop -- It sorta blows the whole Whistleblower Idea to me. He did this out of spite. It also meshes up with the frontline special a few weeks ago thta talked about a serious breakdown in his home with his Stepmother.

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 15:32:35
WHY he was given such clearance is beyond me. He even mentions a hacking conference.

Comment by Scoopster on 05/24/2011 15:49:37
Quote by Raine:
WHY he was given such clearance is beyond me. He even mentions a hacking conference.

I wonder if the Army saw that and figured he'd be good in a position of data security.

Which is stupid. No hacker that young has the proper temperament to be able to know where the line is. I know this - I've been at that point myself.

Comment by Scoopster on 05/24/2011 15:54:06
Comment by wickedpam on 05/24/2011 15:54:34
I've seen Puke & Snot - yes, I do enjoy the Renn Faire from time to time

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/24/2011 15:54:50
I am experimenting with our programmable light controllers, in case I need to program special combinations when I do testing. Supposedly, at noon, this 6 foot stage fixture on my desk is going to slowly get brighter over the next hour (so as not to disturb my cubemates).

For tomorrow morning, however, the show will probably be seizure inducing, as it will flash and do rainbow effects, there should be only 2 of us around to see it. Stage fixtures are very bright.

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 15:59:10
Quote by trojanrabbit:
I am experimenting with our programmable light controllers, in case I need to program special combinations when I do testing. Supposedly, at noon, this 6 foot stage fixture on my desk is going to slowly get brighter over the next hour (so as not to disturb my cubemates).

For tomorrow morning, however, the show will probably be seizure inducing, as it will flash and do rainbow effects, there should be only 2 of us around to see it. Stage fixtures are very bright.

Wowser!!!

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 16:04:51
Quote by Scoopster:
Okay.. now I'm pissed.
heartless cruel bastard.

I think even tho most hardcore conservatives will think he's gone too far with this one.


Comment by livingonli on 05/24/2011 16:04:54
Good day everyone. When I got home, I filled the tank on the rental car for return and it ended up costing me almost 60 bucks. The first time I bought more than a few gallons of gas since I had the Saturn so that certainly got the gas prices to sink in. The only thing with my own car is I haven't been able to get the trunk open yet. It doesn't seem to respond to the key and the release on the seat seems a little off.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/24/2011 16:07:34
Quote by Raine:
Quote by trojanrabbit:
I am experimenting with our programmable light controllers, in case I need to program special combinations when I do testing. Supposedly, at noon, this 6 foot stage fixture on my desk is going to slowly get brighter over the next hour (so as not to disturb my cubemates).

For tomorrow morning, however, the show will probably be seizure inducing, as it will flash and do rainbow effects, there should be only 2 of us around to see it. Stage fixtures are very bright.

Wowser!!!


Success! the show is starting. First the red lights will come up, then the greens will be added (giving yellow) then blue will be added to make white.

At full power it will consume about 400 watts, and that's much brighter than an incandescent light.

I fantasize buying a couple of strings of these and stringing them up at home as holiday lights or as something to freak the cats out. Each light can become any color you want, and if weaved into a curtain (if you have enough strings) can be made to show video. Good employee discount (I guess to foster experimentation)

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/24/2011 16:10:56
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Okay.. now I'm pissed.
heartless cruel bastard.

I think even tho most hardcore conservatives will think he's gone too far with this one.


If this were a blue state, I could almost see it as punishment. Maybe Cantor will make it blue. Who am I kidding - there's no arguing with a teatard.


Comment by wickedpam on 05/24/2011 16:12:33
Quote by livingonli:
Good day everyone. When I got home, I filled the tank on the rental car for return and it ended up costing me almost 60 bucks. The first time I bought more than a few gallons of gas since I had the Saturn so that certainly got the gas prices to sink in. The only thing with my own car is I haven't been able to get the trunk open yet. It doesn't seem to respond to the key and the release on the seat seems a little off.


can you take it back to the dealer? I know that in the winter my key won't turn in the lock on the trunk but I can usually just pop it from the lever inside. Do you hear it go "thunk"?

Comment by Scoopster on 05/24/2011 16:15:10
Comment by livingonli on 05/24/2011 16:22:34
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by livingonli:
Good day everyone. When I got home, I filled the tank on the rental car for return and it ended up costing me almost 60 bucks. The first time I bought more than a few gallons of gas since I had the Saturn so that certainly got the gas prices to sink in. The only thing with my own car is I haven't been able to get the trunk open yet. It doesn't seem to respond to the key and the release on the seat seems a little off.


can you take it back to the dealer? I know that in the winter my key won't turn in the lock on the trunk but I can usually just pop it from the lever inside. Do you hear it go "thunk"?

It doesn't budge. I'm going to call and figure out what the deal is.

Comment by livingonli on 05/24/2011 16:23:02
It's probably something I'm doing since my mats are in the trunk where they were drying..

Comment by wickedpam on 05/24/2011 16:31:45
Quote by livingonli:
It's probably something I'm doing since my mats are in the trunk where they were drying..



try pulling down the back seats to get your mats out - but definatly call the dealer if the trunk worked before you bought it, it should would after

Comment by Raine on 05/24/2011 16:54:03
I am totally jamming out to Bob Dylan today! 70 years!

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/24/2011 16:57:20
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by livingonli:
Good day everyone. When I got home, I filled the tank on the rental car for return and it ended up costing me almost 60 bucks. The first time I bought more than a few gallons of gas since I had the Saturn so that certainly got the gas prices to sink in. The only thing with my own car is I haven't been able to get the trunk open yet. It doesn't seem to respond to the key and the release on the seat seems a little off.


can you take it back to the dealer? I know that in the winter my key won't turn in the lock on the trunk but I can usually just pop it from the lever inside. Do you hear it go "thunk"?


Is "the key" the remote? Is there a physical lock as well. Any noise when the remote is used? Does the inside lever work something else like the fuel door as well?


Comment by velveeta jones on 05/24/2011 17:10:08
Hey! The Westboro church gave $20,000 to the Gay Mens Health Crisis Center in Topeka!!! What-what?




Comment by TriSec on 05/24/2011 17:57:16
Way delayed reactions from Funked in the Head (circa 5/20)

Popped in the head? I could deal with that.

Gewt Ningrich!

Comment by Scoopster on 05/24/2011 18:56:19
Oh wow.. check this out:



Comment by livingonli on 05/24/2011 20:58:30
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by livingonli:
Good day everyone. When I got home, I filled the tank on the rental car for return and it ended up costing me almost 60 bucks. The first time I bought more than a few gallons of gas since I had the Saturn so that certainly got the gas prices to sink in. The only thing with my own car is I haven't been able to get the trunk open yet. It doesn't seem to respond to the key and the release on the seat seems a little off.


can you take it back to the dealer? I know that in the winter my key won't turn in the lock on the trunk but I can usually just pop it from the lever inside. Do you hear it go "thunk"?


Is "the key" the remote? Is there a physical lock as well. Any noise when the remote is used? Does the inside lever work something else like the fuel door as well?

No remote on the keypad. It just does the unlocking of the doors. I called the dealer so I am dropping it off at the service department on Tuesday. Either there's a problem with the mechanism or it will turn out to be something stupid.