Jump to content

Michigan: Worst State For Veterans


t-pain

Recommended Posts

You know, I would believe the "it's the R and D's fault" argument if my experience didn't tell me differently. It was the Republicans who started the "smaller government = better government" theory under Ronald Reagan. They succeeded in convincing the average dolt that government was their biggest problem. The Republicans then proceeded to dismantle government by underfunding government agencies and then blaming government when the agencies failed to do their job. Genius! Except that you don't really have to be a genius when the people you are trying to snooker are as stupid as barnyard animals.

So,anyway, the only government spending that the Republicans view as okay is military spending and law enforcement (prisons and police) spending - two sides of the same coin. Is it a coincidence that the rise of our police state is correlated to the rise of the Republican party? Remember, for profit prisons are a Republican idea. Republicans want to privatize all government functions. WTF? Effectively ending democracy which I believe may be the ultimate goal of the monied class. It would make things so much easier for them if they didn't have to answer to anyone for their actions.

 

I think a lot of Democrats caved to the Republicans because it has been so hard to counter Republican propaganda. That may be changing thanks to Donald Trump, but a situation this long in the making will probably take a long time to fix. People just aren't going to smarten up that quickly. I hope Trump wins the nomination. He will turn the Republican party on it's head.

Go to NY, it'll change your mind.  Cuomo actually made teh MMJ law there WORSE than what the R's would accept, he added a whole list of additional restrictions.  Look into the investments of all the D's they are all invested in the prison system and big oil.  And none of these bills get thru with only one side voting for them.  They make backroom deals so that BOTH of their controlling, money making agendas can get thru.  Who posted the get money out.com video?  The laws are flat lined according to the publics opinion on laws and it hits the sweet spot on teh corporations opinions on what should be law.  The whole gov't is a revolving door for the food industry, big oil, big pharma, etc. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only one here who was drafted? Probably.

 

But if you were drafted and sent to fight in SE Asia and then returned from that adventure to re-enter into the turbulent anti-war civil society, your view, especially those who suggest vets are coddled and unworthy, would be different.

 

And so would you.

 

If you returned.

 

Many here wouldn't.

Edited by outsideinthecold
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The SE Asian adventure was NOT Nixon's war, any more than Iraq was Obama's.

 

The Vietnam War was fought to support the Catholic Diem GVN regime. As such it was a JFK/LBJ war as much as anyone's.

 

Nixon/Ford and Kissinger's Paris Peace accord 'ended' the war although the bulk of those killed died on the Cambodian killing fields after the U.S. role in VN had ended.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The sergeant who took an idealist young fool under his wing and shepherded him relatively untouched through ten months in the field was just that, an early draftee in 1966 who re-upped seeking a better life than he'd known in the Kentucky coal fields and the hollows of Appalachia.

 

I hope he made twenty and many more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only one here who was drafted? Probably.

 

But if you were drafted and sent to fight in SE Asia and then returned from that adventure to re-enter into the turbulent anti-war civil society, your view, especially those who suggest vets are coddled and unworthy, would be different.

 

And so would you.

 

If you returned.

 

Many here wouldn't.

Drafted 1968, served in viet nam infantry, purple heart, bronze star. 18 months in country, so i got discharged when i returned home, Brother you are not alone ! Maladude was probably one of the Protesters that Spit on us when we came home.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JFK was president when American advisors were first sent to VN.

 

LBJ ramped up the war using the draft to fill 'old army' unit decimated in the first years of the escalated war when the first NVA (North Vietnam Army) troops were sent south to bolster the Viet Cong.

 

Nixon was elected in large measure due to his promise to end the war. I was part of his Vietnamization effort. I lived and fought with Montagnards in the Central highlands as part of a four man MACV MAT Team. My job was originally filled by SF troopers but after the SF advisors joined the abortive Montagnard rebellion against the Catholic GVN and their regular U.S. Army advisors (yep, Americans on opposite sides) the Special Forces mission was discontinued and the teams were filled with normal soldiers like me.

 

I voted for Nixon because of his promise. Little did I know his plan to end the war included sending me there.

 

This subsequently led to me and Sgt. Snodgrass sitting on a mountain top with sixty 'yards providing a radio relay site for VN and American units entering the NVA sanctuaries in Cambodia. I vividly recall listening to Nixon explain the only reason any U.S. troops were in VN was to protect other U.S. Troops.

 

Since there were only the two Americans on the hilltop, naturally Sgt Snodgrass blamed me for his presence there.

 

The parallels between VN and Afghanistan and Iraq are eerily similar.

 

There is an article in the April, 1968 a National Geographic for anyone interested in the Montagnards and their war. There is a map of the An Lac area on page 469. My team was located on the 'impassable' part of the old French Route 218 shown on the map. The road surface wasn't that bad but anyone traveling it was likely to get killed-hence the impassable notation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vets spoiled???????????? Even if that was true THEY EARNED IT. They got shot at blown up served in God forsaken poop holes on and on and on. Yep we should spoil them. Without vets Hitler would have won We would not have a friggen country to complain about without them putting their lives on the line. Don't even mention what the families of servicemen and women have to go through. Good grief.

As for the medical treatment through the VA it has been top notch for my husband, far far superior to what is available in any private hospital .As a nurse I am able to tell the difference in care. You cant knock the VA in staffing levels technology infection control or holding back the very best treatments/testing available to their patients - they spare no expense - if its clinically warrented they get it no thought of pinching pennies or short changing for the sake of the bottom line. The only thing I can fault them for is their wait times and even that has drasticly improved in the three decades they have been treating my husband.

now the VA is a whole different senerio. That is a nightmare to navigate and access services

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They got shot at blown up served in God forsaken poop holes on and on and on. Yep we should spoil them.

 

 

 

 The vast vast majority of veterans are none of those things nor did any of those things nor were encountered with such things.

 

 

 

Without vets Hitler would have won We would not have a friggen country to complain about without them putting their lives on the line.

 

Still riding on the backs of vets 75 years ago?

 

Heh.

 

"Without the draft, Hitler may have won" is probably a little closer to the truth.

 

 

 Anyhow,...

 

What I was saying is that this poll about the best places for veterans to live and Michigan being last is wrong,... and also the methodology is way off and Michigan is actually a pretty decent place for veterans to live. Not the "top",.. but middlin to pretty good; once you discount the bogus parameters of that poll.

 Medical care is pretty darn good. The VA services  are actually pretty decent and , yes, no one likes filling out forms, but once you get your paperwork in order, things are pretty straight forward and simple to deal with comparatively.

 

As someone mentioned previously,.. their GI bill education incentives werent very good back then. The new education incentives are beyond amazing.  Full rides and family member transferable. Sweet deal.  Also, employment incentives keep veteran unemployment below state and national levels. And many new laws are allowing veterans to get licensing in fields they never went to school for. So yea,... 

 

Ahh well, I knew I would rile some people up,... but I bet if you just sat back and thought about it like many of the vets I hang out with do,.. you would probably tilt over a little closer to my stated view. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

As someone mentioned previously,.. their GI bill education incentives werent very good back then. The new education incentives are beyond amazing.  Full rides and family member transferable. Sweet deal.  Also, employment incentives keep veteran unemployment below state and national levels. And many new laws are allowing veterans to get licensing in fields they never went to school for. So yea,...

 

sheesh ....You sound like a recruiting officer I once met years ago. Got any specifics on any of your claims? Like how many vets are enrolled at UM? MSU?

guess what it's around 1%.  These 'amazing' incentives can barely cover the costs of tuition and books. Compare that to WWII levels to see how they stack up. 

 

Anyway here is a video to show how the current admin is treating some retired vets.... Only the first 5mins of this video pertains to Vets specifically. The rest of it covers 4 more issues that force our quality of life here in our beloved state to deteriorate from its already much diminished rating. 

 

Quality of Life indexes for individual states puts us at the end of the spectrum vs the rest of the country for the average citizen as well as veterans. Saddest of all... things don't seem to be getting any better.

 

...edited to correct video link...

Edited by solabeirtan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to get a handle on what might be available;

 

Looks like they will pay tuition up to about $21,000 a year, books, room and board or a rural stipend. Looks like it's transferable to a relative. There's money available for apprenticeships too. 

 

 

 

http://www.benefits.va.gov/GIBILL/resources/benefits_resources/rates/ch33/ch33rates080115.asp#TUITION

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ya, this malamute claims to know an awful lot about the v a, so far it's all moo poo, I'm not going to waste my time arguing with someone about the v a that isn't in the v a. But I have spent a lot of time trying to find out about this program she claims to be participating in regarding mmj & vets with ptsd, my doctors say it doesn't exist & under the current law, unless the vets participating in this study are on her patient registry providing mmj to others would be against the law. i believe there was a program of this sort at Arizona state university in the past, & it got squashed. Not sure what ever happened to that lady. Maybe it's her?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Michigan Leading the Way for Veterans and Medical Cannabis


Michigan citizens demonstrated overwhelming support for medical cannabis in the November election in 2008. Since then, three VA Medical Center directors, with the determination by the VA Regional General Counsel, have made the use of medical cannabis an acceptable adjunct therapy. These are three VA directors that we all need to thank, out of the approximately 150 VA medical center directors in the U.S., only Michigan VA has done this.


 


http://veteransformedicalmarijuana.org/content/information-patients


Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Another recruiter in our midst? You've quoted Max Benefits Available if you choose to attend a private college...

 

The average rate for a private MI college $20,187.

 

Just to get a handle on what might be available;

 

Looks like they will pay tuition up to about $21,000 a year, books, room and board or a rural stipend. Looks like it's transferable to a relative. There's money available for apprenticeships too. 

 

 > Private Colleges in Michigan <

Edited by solabeirtan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Another recruiter in our midst? You've quoted Max Benefits Available if you choose to attend a private college...

 

The average rate for a private MI college $20,187.

 

 

 > Private Colleges in Michigan <

Nope. Just passing on what I googled to help out clearing up what is available. Very neutral posting from me. I find in a situation as serious as this one you don't want to add any drama.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Michigan Leading the Way for Veterans and Medical Cannabis

Michigan citizens demonstrated overwhelming support for medical cannabis in the November election in 2008. Since then, three VA Medical Center directors, with the determination by the VA Regional General Counsel, have made the use of medical cannabis an acceptable adjunct therapy. These are three VA directors that we all need to thank, out of the approximately 150 VA medical center directors in the U.S., only Michigan VA has done this.

 

http://veteransformedicalmarijuana.org/content/information-patients

 

 

Just to relate some personal experience with the VAs position on cannabis. Even though cannabis use was documented in my medical records and tolerated for some time, that time expired Nov 6, 2015 when I was notified that to obtain the upcoming necessary attention I need... I would have to forgo my cannabis use immediatley.  I have been pee tested as well as blood samples each month since. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...