News and Current Events - 2012

[doodler]

I know this is REALLY hard to believe, but I agree with Ellen.
 

[Passion]

I know this is REALLY hard to believe, but I agree with Ellen.
 

Doodler coming out of the closet!   Or is she??

[morrobay]

I know this is REALLY hard to believe, but I agree with Ellen.
 

 

[morrobay]

Actually, your statement that women must request combat duty is not accurate. Women make up between 11 and 13% of the US military and by law, women are not allowed to JOIN certain combat units, such as the infantry, but are used in numerous so called support units. The problem with the Afghan and Iraqi wars has been the lack of 'fronts' and women, as often as not, have found themselves in combat right along side the troops they are supposed to be supporting. One way many commanders are utilizing their female soldiers in combat is by 'attaching' them rather than 'assigning' them to combat units.

One recent study at a single VA facility followed 1620 returning Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom vets, comprised of 240 women (6.7%) and 1380 men who enrolled for health care. Of those who enrolled, 53% of the women (127) and 45% of the men (621) actually used the services. VA hospitals do not treat 'women's' diseases/problems (like pregnancy, menopause.)


Currently, it is estimated 48% of women in the military have been sexually assaulted.

*"To understand these findings, it is helpful to look back to the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, which was based on a nationally representative sample of veterans that included an oversampling of women. Lifetime PTSD prevalence was 26.9 percent in women and 30.9 percent in men, and current PTSD prevalence (in the mid-1980s) was 8.5 percent in women and 15.2 percent in men. The likely explanation for the gender difference is that the men and women who served in Vietnam differed on numerous risk and protective factors, e.g., the women were older, more educated, more likely to be officers and to serve in medical roles, and less likely to experience combat."
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Women Veterans
Paula P. Schnurr, Ph.D., VA National Center for PTSD, VA Medical Center, White River Junction, Vermont

Interesting and frightening stats...and I had no idea that VA hospitals didn't treat "women's problems". That's bullshit.  Isn't a veteran a veteran?  

[doodler]

Very few women use the VA. Back in the 60s women were a very small percentage of the military... 1%?... so it's not been a big problem until recently. The percentage is much higher now and there are a lot of younger women vets, still in their reproductive years. Couple that with high unemployment and lack of health insurance from other places. The military has been a man's world, a straight man's world, a straight white man's world. But things, they are a'changin'.

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

I know this is REALLY hard to believe, but I agree with Ellen.
 

aw dood, it's not hard for me to believe at all!

 

[Marge_Innavera]

Whether or not Walker stays in office, it looks like he's got a huge embarrassment heading his way:



Wisconsin Officials Must Verify 1.9 Million Recall Signatures

"Wisconsin election officials will examine more than 1.9 million petition signatures aimed at forcing recalls of Governor Scott Walker, his lieutenant governor and four state senators, all Republicans.

"The Government Accountability Board, a nonpartisan panel of former judges, for two months will focus on the validity of names turned in yesterday in Madison, the state capital, said Director Kevin Kennedy. The timing of any recall election is unknown, he said, because there are 'so many variables' in a verification process that will be webcast and subject to legal challenges. Two sets of eyes will examine every name, he said.

“We have no dog in this fight,' Kennedy said yesterday at a news conference in Madison, referring to the board’s neutrality. “We just have a job to do.'

"Walker, 44, pushed collective-bargaining curbs on public employees that divided the state of 5.7 million people. At least 1 million people signed petitions to force him from office, nearly as many as the 1.1 million who voted for him in 2010. If the board finds at least 540,208 of the signatures are valid, Wisconsin will become only the third state to consider ousting a governor."

full story at http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-18/wisconsin-officials-must-verify-1-9-million-recall-signatures.html

[fofol]

Interesting and frightening stats...and I had no idea that VA hospitals didn't treat "women's problems". That's bullshit.  Isn't a veteran a veteran?  

Yes, a veteran is a veteran, without doubt, no question.  ...those 'interesting and frightening stats' are the bullshit.  Many VA Hospitals do, in fact, these days have separate Women's Health clinics - including the one where I work.  These are not separate buildings, but segregated parts of the VA Hospital dedicated to women and women's issues, with a  Women's Health staff that is mostly female.  The VA responds to all veterans, and formerly sent female veterans to medical facilities outside the VA (picking up the tab) when the demand for women's services were low.  This changed about 10 - 12 years ago when the numbers of women who requested VA services rose to numbers that would justify the expense of adding women's clinics to the various kinds of medical services that the VA provides.  That said, I work  for the VA in the Northeastern US, where the population is dense, so we've had a separate clinic for about ten years now.  There may well be other areas in the country where the VA facilities do not have the numbers to set up special women's clinics in each hospital: in those cases, women are welcomed to come into the VA for basic primary care and then are sent on fee basis (the VA pays) to outside facilities.  Women are not denied services in the VA system anywhere in the country.

There is a lot of misinformation about the VA in circulation: the VA where I'm employed has enjoyed the highest patient satisfaction rates of all the hospitals in the state for the last 12 years.  All of our staff clinicians - the doctors - are also associate professors at Brown University.  Women Veterans have been encouraged to come here by outreach campaigns.  Don't believe everything you read.

[morrobay]

  Don't believe everything you read.

I'll remember that....

[fofol]

Facts is facts.

[doodler]

Yes, a veteran is a veteran, without doubt, no question.  ...those 'interesting and frightening stats' are the bullshit.  Many VA Hospitals do, in fact, these days have separate Women's Health clinics - including the one where I work.  These are not separate buildings, but segregated parts of the VA Hospital dedicated to women and women's issues, with a  Women's Health staff that is mostly female.  The VA responds to all veterans, and formerly sent female veterans to medical facilities outside the VA (picking up the tab) when the demand for women's services were low.  This changed about 10 - 12 years ago when the numbers of women who requested VA services rose to numbers that would justify the expense of adding women's clinics to the various kinds of medical services that the VA provides.  That said, I work  for the VA in the Northeastern US, where the population is dense, so we've had a separate clinic for about ten years now.  There may well be other areas in the country where the VA facilities do not have the numbers to set up special women's clinics in each hospital: in those cases, women are welcomed to come into the VA for basic primary care and then are sent on fee basis (the VA pays) to outside facilities.  Women are not denied services in the VA system anywhere in the country.

There is a lot of misinformation about the VA in circulation: the VA where I'm employed has enjoyed the highest patient satisfaction rates of all the hospitals in the state for the last 12 years.  All of our staff clinicians - the doctors - are also associate professors at Brown University.  Women Veterans have been encouraged to come here by outreach campaigns.  Don't believe everything you read.

The two studies I quoted from were written in 2008 and the one on PTSD was from the VA site.

Personal experience, contrary to yours, in 2008 I called my local VA facility... 30+ miles away... to inquire about services and was told they were available for things like cancer, heart disease, mental health, etc but there was no gyn coverage. I was encouraged to sign up because there aren't many women vets in this area... or at least not many using the VA. The men I know who use that hospital are divided in their opinion on the quality of care. I opted to stick with what I had... which was nothing until my medicare kicked in later in the year. A friend of mine, in the Nashville area, put over 20 years in with the Army and also has no VA hospital coverage for 'female problems.' Yes, she can go elsewhere but why should she have to?

Also, I just finished a lengthy 'survey' process funded by the VA involving female Vietnam vets. According to one of the interviewers, the purpose was to see if the needs of women vets are being met. When you spend hours one on one with these interviewers a certain rapport develops and we had quite a discussion about the situation. Much of what I was told surprised me as I have none of the medical issues so many vets (male and female) do... but then, I have very few medical problems period.

There may be misinformation out there about the VA or info that is contrary to personal experience, but women vets do not receive the same care as men vets.

[fofol]

Dood - thing of it is, is that the more women who sign up for VA services in any locale the closer that VA gets to being allowed a Women's Clinic.  As I tried to state earlier, services bvecome available when there ius a large enough demand: no hosptial in the world is going to have an OB-GYN clinic if 98% of their patients are male - it's just not economically feasible or reasonable, and that  is the actual patient load we had hear until some time in the last decade, when the Gulf veterans began returning home.  Still, the VA here pays for services we couldn't provide until we hit that critical mass (which would vary from one locale to the next) of female veterans - sadly, the female veteran would have to go elsewhere if her local VA couldn't handle her issues, but that's why we have a Fee-Basis program.  There are no barriers set by the VA to attracting and treating female veterans: that said, sometimes we do have to send some patients elsewhere for treatment.  But sometimes it is easier to seek medical care somewhere closer, and even at that you can thank Congress, not the VA.

[doodler]

Dood - thing of it is, is that the more women who sign up for VA services in any locale the closer that VA gets to being allowed a Women's Clinic.  As I tried to state earlier, services bvecome available when there ius a large enough demand: no hosptial in the world is going to have an OB-GYN clinic if 98% of their patients are male - it's just not economically feasible or reasonable, and that  is the actual patient load we had hear until some time in the last decade, when the Gulf veterans began returning home.  Still, the VA here pays for services we couldn't provide until we hit that critical mass (which would vary from one locale to the next) of female veterans - sadly, the female veteran would have to go elsewhere if her local VA couldn't handle her issues, but that's why we have a Fee-Basis program.  There are no barriers set by the VA to attracting and treating female veterans: that said, sometimes we do have to send some patients elsewhere for treatment.  But sometimes it is easier to seek medical care somewhere closer, and even at that you can thank Congress, not the VA.

I understand what you're saying. And that was the IMPRESSION I got from my local VA hospital although they didn't come right out and say it. I went for years and years without health insurance and never thought about the VA because most women... and most men WITH other care available... just don't enroll. In fact, it used to be there were periods when enrollment was open and you couldn't qualify or join (whatever) at other times. Don't know if that is still true. If RETIRED vets and some disabled ones are lucky enough to live close to a post or base with a hospital facility, they and their families use that instead of the VA. But it is not just enrolling in the program... if you don't USE the facility, it doesn't help. For me, now, there are two perfectly good hospitals  much closer than the VA one.

[fritzkep]

Ah. Romney has millions invested in the Cayman Islands. Not bad.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/romney-parks-millions-offshore-tax-haven/story?id=15378566#.TxeGWaUS01K

[killersmom]

Ah. Romney has millions invested in the Cayman Islands. Not bad.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/romney-parks-millions-offshore-tax-haven/story?id=15378566#.TxeGWaUS01K

And he only pays a 15% tax rate because most of his income is from capital gains, whereas the rest of us pay a much higher rate.