VA acknowledges DISGRACEFUL Behavior: "Executives" won't be getting bonuses

In what shoulda been done ten years ago, the civil servants dubbed "executives," by the VA, won't be snagging bonuses this year. It's obviously a half-assed attempt to placate Veterans and the general population, in regards to outrage they've faced over the gargantuan disability claims backlog.

http://www.armytimes.com/article/20130429/NEWS/304290034/VA-withholds-executives-bonuses-over-claims-backlog

a sad state of affairs

it's not political.
it's not mean-spirited.
it's not unhinged negativity.
or irascible mumblings of disgruntled bottom-feeders.

no.

it's about Americans, Veterans.
and how they're treated by the very government which they served.
something's broken.
don't know what exactly.
but i suspect a disconnect in D.C.
the policy makers locked into self-aggrandizing mission statements.
spiced with an air of elitism and tempered by spats of good luck -- a bubble shielding higher-ups from the struggle average Veterans face on the daily.

(don't get me wrong, I've encountered many earnest, caring, and admirable-types @ the VA, Long Beach and Los Angeles)

but i could be wrong.
could be out of my element.
precise scientific measurements fast-balled by the VA could probably spin it differently.
rhetoric is a mighty weapon.
but for the dozen of so former Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen that chat with me on the regular, have shared their stories with me for documentaries, stage plays, and the like, it's a struggle for these young men to keep their heads above water.
nevertheless, i suppose the VA is trying.
is pushing to get better.
good on them.
but @ this point in the game, fatigue is not acceptable.

you can read more here: http://ht.ly/e4wAc

Veterans say marijuana eases PTSD

Veterans say marijuana eases PTSD

-- and yet the VA is quite open to prescribing hardcore narcotics for all manner of pains. go figure...

the needle was big

and she was an intern.

the "doctor."

so, technically, she wasn't a doctor. but, a real "doctor" was beside her.

asking her if she knew where the L5, L6, disks were.

she didn't. broad pointed to the wrong place.

and the "doctor" corrected her.

so she stabbed me with this monstrous needle - and it hurt.

pretty bad, i gotta admit.

then i felt a POP! and i think she breached my spinal cord.

penetrated me.

watching the needle squirm via live x-ray.

she could see the needle inside me, and she missed.

this goddamn intern missed. so she pulled out.

poked again.

hurt again.

missed again.

WHAT. THE. FUCK? why does it seem like i'm somebody's experiment.

some vietnamese intern who barely speaks english is fucking experimenting with my back.

with my life. sanity. family. career.

all of it.

and she's missing. finally i had to say something.

"WHAT THE FUCK? AM I GUINEA PIG OR SOME SHIT LADY?"

the "doctor" - the so-called real "doctor" - explained the Long Beach VA was a 'teaching hospital.'

essentially means these graduate students cut their teeth on Vets.

practice makes perfect, right?

finally hit the spot. i got numb. real numb. they patch me up. put me in a wheelchair - cuz i couldn't walk, and wheeled me out to the lobby - the staging area for other Vets seeking relief.

what a sight. nothing but old geezers.

buncha fat, old, depressed, anemic-looking, utterly soul-crushing, Veterans.

geez...

some guy in a wheelchair didn't even seem like he knew where he was.

mumbling. bumbling.

another guy, some former Jarhead who looked like a 50-year soda jerk, told me i'd probably have to live with this pain for the rest of my life.

have to come in for these goddamn shots every three-months.

but look on the bright side: you'll get %100 disability from the VA.

oh, and you can't forget this one: you'll be able to work @ the VA commissary, serving up slop to vietnamese interns!

woooyeah! - that's what i want from my life.

dishing slop.

to interns.

who don't speak English.

doped up and wheelchair bound.

don't get me wrong, i love helping Vets, and i'm a fan of young vietnamese women - but i'll pass.

needless to say, my experience @ the Long Beach VA, was horrible.

downright shameful.