‘From Where I Sit’

                                                            PRELUDE:

I am neither for nor against any organized religion. Everyone has the absolute right to seek his or her spirituality and faith from any quarter they choose. I am simply pointing to a possible scenario involving religions on a global scale.

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Ever since the days of the Vietnam War and Watergate, I have had a healthy mistrust in what the U.S. Government has been telling the public on almost every issue that affects us.

                                                                   

Since my teenage years, I have wondered about the “division of Church and State”. The constructors of our founding documents made a clear, unambiguous

statement to keep Church and State separated; mostly due to their past experiences with the English Monarchy/Church, from which they were seceding. My question is how has this provision in our Constitution been increasingly ignored over my lifetime and been allowed to meld into the body politic.   

While I am sure this is not a brand new phenomenon, the blurring of the lines between Church and State has been noticeably growing at a fast pace. I first noticed this in the late 1950’s when Dwight Eisenhower was President and our Nation’s Civil Rights movement started shifting into high gear. Back then, as it is now, it was perfectly understandable that our society was looking for spiritual guidance. Then, in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, The Vietnam Conflict led many young folks toward seeking alternative spiritual guidance. Some folks seemed to find that guidance in sex, drugs, and rock and roll. By the time the 1980’s and the 1990’s rolled in, it seemed like National and Global incidents were coming at us much faster. The 2000’s and 2010’ kept this ball rolling at an ever increasing rate. Now, it’s the 2020’s and World and National events have picked up momentum such that Church is covertly able to infiltrate the State.

   
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While the Nation has been in constant upheaval here and abroad, our citizenry seemed to be fast losing their trust in a major source of social guidance, the U.S. Government. With that trust center all but gone, folks have turned to forms of organized religion, forms of atheism, and other less traditional means of spirituality to find guidance. Amidst National mayhem and chaos, the erosion of separation of Church and State is in its final stages. This was, and is, going on very much behind the scenes.

Something to seriously ponder:

                                       [Ctrl + click to open hyperlinks]

I invite you to look into The Fellowship Foundation. They are the folks who run the “National Prayer Breakfast” in Washington DC and in over 100 Countries globally (referred to generally as “The Family”). Take a look at the World’s movers and shakers who attend these events. Who, in our Country, invites them (invitation only to the events). I believe that everyone should get some education on this situation to see where this movement is headed.

 ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Prayer_Breakfast

The National Prayer Breakfast is a yearly event held in Washington, D.C., usually on the first Thursday in February. The founder of this event was Abraham Vereide.^[1] The event—which is actually a series of meetings, luncheons, and dinners—has taken place since 1953 and has been held at least since the 1980s at the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Avenue NW.

The National Prayer Breakfast, held in the Hilton's International Ballroom, is yearly attended by some 3,500 guests, including international invitees from over 100 countries. It is hosted by members of the United States Congress and is organized on their behalf by The Fellowship Foundation, a Christian organization. It is designed to be a forum for the political, social, and business elite to assemble and pray together. Since the inception of the National Prayer Breakfast, several U.S. states and cities and other countries have established their own annual prayer breakfast events.

[1]: Getter, Lisa (September 27, 2002), "Showing Faith in Discretion", Los Angeles Times.

History

The origin of the National Prayer Breakfast is traced back to prayer groups with business and civic leaders in Seattle, organized by Abraham Vereide in the 1930's. When he moved to Washington, DC, he established similar groups with members of Congress. In 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended a meeting by invitation of Congressmen, Vereide, and Billy Graham. Vereide's successor Douglas Coe and Rev. Richard C. Halverson have also carried leadership roles in organizing the event. A government leader was quoted as saying that the Breakfast and Coe's influence offers foreign leaders access to the President that "circumvents the State Department and usual vetting... that such a meeting would require," and other participants indicated that their purpose for attending was political.^[2] Initially called the Presidential Prayer Breakfast, the name was changed in 1970 to the National Prayer Breakfast. Every American president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has participated in the annual event.^[3][4]

[2]:  Lindsay, D. Michael (2006). "Is the National Prayer Breakfast Surrounded by a "Christian Mafia"? Religious Publicity and Secrecy within the Corridors of Power". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 74 (2): 390–419. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfj060. ISSN 0002-7189. JSTOR 4094038.

Mission Statement -

The Fellowship Foundation's 501(c)(3) mission statement is: To develop and maintain an informal association of people banded together, to go out as "ambassadors of reconciliation," modeling the principles of Jesus, based on loving God and loving others.

ref: https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Fellowship+Foundation+Mission+Statement&oq=The+Fellowship+Foundation+Mission+Statement&aqs=chrome..69i57j33.2

You may have thought that Leah Remini’s

expose’ on the Church of Scientology was bizarre.

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Is Washington DC simply ignoring a major element of our founding documents? Why has religion become so entrenched in our Government even when our Constitution proclaims otherwise? It seems “The Family’s” mission creep has become a sprint. I am beginning to think that Christianity, in some form, is attempting to fortify its ranks for the possibility of another great religious war. Moreover, this is not being done in the Churches. This is being done very quietly in the halls and back rooms of government. After all, what has been behind wars of all kinds for thousands of years? Humankind’s history has been dominated with religious wars; some small, some large, some extremely large.

I have taken note of some current theories on what the next World War may look like. It would not surprise me in the least if World War III is fought exclusively on religious grounds; perhaps, Christianity vs. Islam. For this reason alone, it behooves our Citizenry keep a keen eye on our Federal Government. and what they do in this arena.

Do not let a handful of manipulators and

scoundrels lead us down a very dark hole.

Veterans in Crisis Mode

June 3, 2016

A PLEA FOR HELP

Our Long Island Veteran Community needs help, and it needs it quickly. Apparently, the Department of Veterans Affairs has begun stripping both our older and younger Veterans of their rightful, earned medical and mental health disability claims. The VA has also come up with a foolproof way of making it nearly impossible for any Veteran to receive medical services; either from the VA Health Administration, or the private sector by manipulating the types of Discharges.

We are talking about men and women who raised their right hands and swore to defend this Country. They did this willingly and with a great sense of pride. The U.S Government also told them that they would be taken care of after they had served their Country. The reality is that, at every turn, both young and old Veterans are being denied benefits, and turned away in alarmingly increasing numbers from the VA Medical Administration.

Everything the public has been fed since the fiasco in Phoenix either is an outright lie, or simply doesn’t work as advertised. It’s all about the money! The “voo-doo” economics of the 1980’s has morphed into “voo-doo” accounting in the 2000’s and the Department of Veterans Affairs is playing it to hilt.

I have been witness to a microcosm of the VA Health Administration’s way of delivering its product to its intended market for forty-five years. I have been enrolled at the VA Medical Center in Northport, NY over that period. I am acquainted with a multitude of highly qualified Veteran enrollees who are well versed in the administrative and building trade disciplines. The recent closing of our Operating suites is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how grossly mismanaged this Medical Center has been and is currently. As I have read and seen the local news accounts on the subject of our Operating Room closures (plus other Medical Center accounts over the years), I can no longer stand idly by and simple voice my concerns among my fellow Veterans.

I am directly referencing recent articles in Newsday and the New York Times; Martin Evans (Newsday), Valerie Bauman (Newsday), and Kristina Rebelo (New York Times). These Journalists have recently reported on the Operating Room closures and a few other situations at the VAMC, Northport. Newsday’s articles started with a very generous accounting of the situation based on the information being fed from the Medical Center’s Management. Unfortunately, the information disseminated is rife with misleading statements and outright lies. The recent New York Times article was not so complimentary. For the most part, the journalistic accounts indicate that the Press has been “drinking the Kool-Aide” the VA has been serving. Two of our local U.S. Congressmen have not taken a sip of that Kool-Aide, and raised the roof in Washington DC because, they were not informed by the Medical Center, or the VA, about the situation in Northport until two weeks ago; over four months after the closures first occurred. The result was astounding. A visit by the VA’s Under-secretary for Health (May 27, 2016), and suddenly the Medical Center Director found the $32,000.00 to fix the ventilation problem in the air vents feeding the Operating Rooms. Why was that money not found in January when the problem was acknowledged by the Medical Center’s Engineering Department and a VA air quality sub-contractor?

As I mentioned, this is just the tip of a very large iceberg. A short list of other problem areas include: black mold in all the buildings that were built in 1928 (what came out of the duct system in the operating Rooms contained evidence of black mold); the dis-organization of the entire medical structure; the lack of expenditures on all aspects of the facility’s maintenance; and, the total breakdown of employee morale and accountability. The crumbling of this Medical facility at all levels has been happening at an alarming rate over the last two decades, and the Veterans Administration chooses to turn a blind eye. If confronted, they serve up a new round of Kool-Aide for anyone who challenges their fraud against and disrespect for the area’s Veteran community. How this can happen in a Medical Center that is supposed to serve our Veterans is beyond the pale. The VA is steadfastly opposed to having an independent audit and assessment of its practices and of its facility, so a proper audit will probably never happen

As Veterans, we fought to defend this Nation, and, now, we are forced to fight another war at home to secure what was promised us. This overall situation is not right, on so many levels, and needs to a major remedy immediately. I have some cogent thoughts on the subject, and am willing to open a dialogue with anyone who actually cares about how this Nation is treating its Veterans.

Samples of some suggested reading for 2016 (so far):

Vietnam Veterans Magazine 

https://vva.org/publications/the-vva-veteran/  

The American Legion Magazine

http://www.legion.org/magazine

The VFW Magazine

http://www.vfw.org/News-and-Events/Magazine/

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Hutch Dubosque, President

PTSD Veterans Association of Northport, Inc.

10 Woolsey St., Huntington, NY   11743

hutch.dubosque@live.com / 631-223-6107

Why do we go to war ?

- a primer on the mechanisms that enable us to constantly enter armed conflict without thought or planning.

Having been to war, and having had the privilege of returning home in one piece, the question of why our society so eagerly participates in armed conflict haunts me every day. Trying to answer this question is a lot like trying to construct the mosaic of a huge jig-saw puzzle. As with a large jig-saw puzzle, you tend to dwell first on the picture of the finished product; most normally on the top face of the box the puzzle comes in. You look for features that might make it easier to find and place the correct pieces in the correct spots. Then, you open the box, and hope that all the pieces are there.

Most of the puzzles I have encountered have begun their construction by first finding the corner pieces. This is followed by trying to lay out the four sides of the puzzle. Then you generally look for remarkable sets of pieces close to the perimeter, and start building inward toward the center. In doing this, you find that there are segments of a puzzle that stand out more than others; it’s a visual thing. What you are doing with this puzzle is precisely what is done in properly planning and constructing a strategy when you are contemplating going to war.

Planning for war, going to war, and coping with the aftermath are the tedious regimens similar to constructing the middle sections of that jig-saw puzzle. You set forth the most obvious categories, fine tune them, and then link them in a way that will give you the best chance for success. This gives you the “how”, the “when”, the “where”, and the “what”, but I does not give you the “why”.

To even start to grasp the “why” of “why we go to war”, it helps to consider our Nation’s rather bellicose nature from our Revolutionary War to the present war in Afghanistan and the re-occurrence of the war in Iraq. Up through most of the Vietnam War, our government and our society was in reasonably coherent agreement on the need to engage. By 1975, our government and our society started taking totally divergent courses when the question of entering armed conflict came up as a National discussion.

So, what happened in the mid-70’s? It is my contention that, from 1969 to 1975, our government began to have an increasing fear of the American public. As a result of this fear, our government began an arduous journey into the land of secrecy and deceit. Over the course of the twenty years following the Vietnam war, the CIA, the NSA, the FBI, and, eventually, the 12 other National Security Agencies had the veil of immunity, anonymity, and secrecy draped over them by all three branches of government; the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch. You can throw the Supreme Court into that mix, as well. At the same time, our Captains of Industry discovered new-found wealth and profit in a planned continuance of the Military/Industrial Complex. With the advent of giant leaps in technology and  the “M/I C” on steroids, our Nation’s war production was probably the most lucrative business to be involved with starting in the late 1970’s; Richard Bruce Cheney certainly thought so.

With both these factors in place and operating on all cylinders, it was relatively easy to commit our Military anywhere in the World. And, you guessed it, that’s exactly what happened. So, the question of “why” starts off with the fact that it was easy and hugely profitable. Coincidentally, there was a societal and philosophical sea change in our National identity.  The “me” generation became thoroughly ensconced in everyday life, and that seemed to lead very quickly to what was coined as “American Exceptionalism”. If we revisit the box with the jig-saw puzzle in it, it looks as if we develop our decisions to engage in precisely the exact way we choose to construct the puzzle. Consider the box itself as the Military/Industrial Complex. Consider the picture on the top of that box to hold all the secret nuances of rationalization and justification. Consider the choice to purchase the box with the puzzle in it as our own “American Exceptionalism”. This could just as easily be stated in reverse by hi-lighting the decision to purchase in the first place.

That’s a lot to chew on in one sitting. Make it a little more digestible by looking at the decision to purchase the box, the box itself, and the picture on top. If, for instance, you take away the need, or urge, to purchase the box, the question is mute, and you don’t engage. Of the three stated aspects prior to opening the box, changing the “Exceptionalism” and arrogance of the American psyche may prove to be the most achievable. You are not going to put a halt to the advancements in technology. You are, most likely, not going to stifle the obscene and profitable war production of this Country. Changing how we look at the rest of the World might be of immediate consideration, and reasonably doable. Dropping the words exceptional and arrogance form our National identity might just show the rest of the World that we will be willing to lead by example, not military force. Consider the respect our Country would regain if we chose to be a true leader, instead of a constant conqueror. Most of us, at one time or another, has voiced a preference for peace on this planet. Perhaps the United States could start the ball rolling in that direction, and do it very soon.

This little essay all began with an all-consuming passion to stop our government from making more Veterans. We obviously can’t take care of the ones we have currently, so tell where the logic is in making new ones. Also, this concept of “nation building” has my head spinning and my shorts in a knot. I ask you, “Who the Hell are we to tell people from any other sovereign Country how to run their government, their economy, and, ultimately, their society?” I don’t think anyone can provide a solid argument for that kind of mentality.

 Saturday, June 28, 2014

from the desk of: We The Peeps 1 
( http://wethepeeps1.blogspot.com/ )

DATELINE: VIET NAM.......CLEANING UP THE MESS

Retiree Assistance Office - RAO BULLETIN, 1 December 2010:

“The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has told the Da Nang People's Committee that it plans to spend US$34 million to rid the city's airport of Agent Orange. The two-year project is intended to ensure that plants can again grow in contaminated earth.  Former military airports in central Binh Dinh Province's Phu Cat District and southern Dong Nai Province's Bien Hoa District will be next on the list for detoxification, says USAID.

Phu Cat Air Base

During the past three years, with funding provided by various American non-governmental organizations, the agency has approved spending of US$21 million to deal with dioxin contamination in the country, according to Da Nang City's Department of Foreign Affairs. The $21 million total includes $16 million to be spent on dioxin clean-up of the area and $2 million to be spent on assessing environmental impacts as well as exploring technical solutions to the problem. The remaining $3 million have been earmarked to help improve the lives of the city's Agent Orange victims and disadvantaged people.”

Bien Hoa Air Base

Da Nang Air Base, 1965

 “Dioxin-contaminated earth will be scooped up and burned in tubes at temperatures of more than 350 Celsius degrees, according to the agency. From 72 to 80 million liters or defoliants were sprayed over Vietnamese forests during the war, including the highly toxic Agent Orange, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Da Nang, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat airports are home to some of the highest dioxin concentrations in the contamination of the environment. Today, dioxin levels at the airport are up to 400 times higher than internationally accepted levels. The affected zone has been sealed off from the public.”

Oh, what a treat! Hundreds of millions of dollars as restitution for the Enemy.

I guess we don't have to take care of our own soldiers, who wrote a blank check to the
Government, up to and including their lives. And some people actually wonder out loud why our Country is going to Hell in a hand basket!

Source: Vietnam Net Bridge

 http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/society/1740/society-in-brief-19-11.html article 19 Nov 2010

 !!! Author’s caveat: What follows may be upsetting to those brave souls who fought this War in Viet Nam and, now, fight to attain recognition and benefits they earned from the U.S. Government. !!!

*author’s note: I hi-lighted a few paragraphs to point out our Nation’s stance on Agent Orange, a known carcinogenic. If our Government were to admit the catastrophic outcome of spraying that chemical on the Viet Namese people and on their own Soldiers, they would, indeed, be liable for a lot more than they currently accept. This is an obvious attempt to down-play the role of Agent Orange in the health of all affected.

Vietnam Agent Orange Cleanup Started By U.S.

By MIKE IVES 08/08/12 06:04 AM ET

In this photo taken Aug. 7, 2012, Vo Hong Vu 

tries to draw some animals at a 

rehabilitation center in Danang, Vietnam. 

(AP Photo/Maika Elan)

DANANG, Vietnam — Vo Duoc fights back tears while sharing the news that broke his heart: A few days ago he received test results confirming he and 11 family members have elevated levels of dioxin lingering in their blood. The family lives in a two-story house near a former U.S. military base in Danang where the defoliant Agent Orange was stored during the Vietnam War, which ended nearly four decades ago. Duoc, 58, sells steel for a living and has diabetes, while his wife battles breast cancer and their daughter has remained childless after suffering repeated miscarriages. For years, Duoc thought the ailments were unrelated, but after seeing the blood tests he now suspects his family unwittingly ingested dioxin from Agent Orange-contaminated fish, vegetables and well water.

Dioxin, a persistent chemical linked to cancer, birth defects and other disabilities, has seeped into Vietnam's soils and watersheds, creating a lasting war legacy that remains a thorny issue between the former foes. Washington has been slow to respond, but on Thursday the U.S. for the first time will begin cleaning up dioxin from Agent Orange that was stored at the former military base, now part of Danang's airport.

 "It's better late than never that the U.S. government is cleaning up the environment for our children," Duoc said in Danang, surrounded by family members sitting on plastic stools. "They have to do as much as possible and as quickly as possible."

The $43 million project begins as Vietnam and the U.S. forge closer ties to boost trade and counter China's rising influence in the disputed South China Sea.

Although the countries' economic and military ties are blossoming, progress on addressing the dioxin legacy has been slow. Washington still disputes a claim by Hanoi that between 3 million to 4 million Vietnamese were affected by toxic chemicals sprayed by U.S. planes during the war to eliminate jungle cover for guerrilla fighters, arguing that the actual number is far lower and other environmental factors are to blame for the health issues. That position irks Vietnamese, who say the United States maintains a double standard in acknowledging the consequences of Agent Orange. The U.S. has given billions of dollars in disability payments to American servicemen who developed illnesses associated with dioxin after exposure to the defoliant during the Vietnam War.

 In 2004, a group of Vietnamese citizens filed suit in a U.S. court against companies that produced the chemical, but the case was dismissed and the Supreme Court declined to take it up.

Until a few years ago, Washington took a defensive position whenever Agent Orange was raised because no one had determined how much dioxin remained in Vietnam's soil and watersheds, and the U.S. worried about potential liabilities, said Susan Hammond, director of the War Legacies Project, a U.S. nonprofit organization that mainly focuses on the Agent Orange legacy from the Vietnam War.

"There was a lot of the blame game going on, and it led nowhere," Hammond said by telephone from Vermont. "But now at least progress is being made."

 Over the past five years, Congress has appropriated about $49 million for environmental remediation and about $11 million to help people living with disabilities in Vietnam regardless of cause. Experts have identified three former U.S. air bases – in Danang in central Vietnam and the southern locations of Bien Hoa and Phu Cat – as hotspots where Agent Orange was mixed, stored and loaded onto planes.

The U.S. military dumped some 20 million gallons (75 million liters) of Agent Orange and other herbicides on about a quarter of former South Vietnam between 1962 and 1971.

The defoliant decimated about 5 million acres (2 million hectares) of forest – roughly the size of Massachusetts – and another 500,000 acres (202,000 hectares) of crops.

 The war ended on April 30, 1975, when northern Communist forces seized control of Saigon, the U.S.-backed former capital of South Vietnam. The country was then reunified under a one-party Communist government. Following years of poverty and isolation, Vietnam shook hands with the U.S. in 1995 and normalized diplomatic relations.

Since then, the relationship has flourished and the two countries have become important trading partners. Military ties have also strengthened, with Vietnam looking to the U.S. amid rising tensions with China in the disputed South China Sea, which is believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves and is crossed by vital shipping lanes. Although Washington remains a vocal critic of Vietnam's human rights record, it also views the country as a key ally in its push to re-engage militarily in the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. says maintaining peace and freedom of navigation in the sea is in its national interest.

 The Agent Orange issue has continued to blight the U.S.-Vietnam relationship because dioxin can linger in soils and at the bottom of lakes and rivers for generations, entering the food supply through the fat of fish and other animals.

Vietnam's Ministry of Defense and the U.S. now plan to excavate 73,000 cubic meters (2.5 million cubic feet) of soil from the airport and heat it to a high temperature in storage tanks until the dioxin is removed. The project is expected to be completed in four years.

Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Washington-based Aspen Institute, said Thursday's start "marks the coming together of our two countries to achieve a practical solution to dioxin contamination."

His organization coordinates the U.S-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin, which connects prominent American and Vietnamese scientists, health experts and former officials.

The group in May said that $450 million is needed to clean up dioxin hot spots, provide services to people with disabilities, and repair damaged landscapes across Vietnam over the next five years.

The U.S. is rolling out a $9 million project to address disabilities in Vietnam through 2015, but it continues to dispute Vietnam's claim that dioxin has caused health problems there. It remains unclear whether the U.S. will clean up all of Vietnam's dioxin, and how much it will allocate in the long term for people who claim to be Agent Orange victims.

A national action plan that Vietnam's government released in June lays out goals for dealing with Agent Orange, but does not give a price tag. Every penny counts for Nguyen Thi Hien, who directs three rehabilitation and vocational training centers for 150 children and young adults with disabilities in Danang on a budget of roughly 100 million dong ($5,000) per month. The children, busy drawing and making plastic flowers that are sold to raise funds, suffer from a range of physical and mental ailments that Hien says are linked to dioxin.

 Vo Duoc, the steel salesman, will travel to the capital, Hanoi, next month to receive treatment for his diabetes. But he says he's more concerned about what will happen to his six grandchildren, who haven't yet been tested for dioxin.

"They had nothing to do with the war," Duoc said. "But I live in fear that they'll test positive like me."

Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/vietnam-agent-organe-clea_n_1755611.html