MGx - Musings, Essays & Ballads

Recognizing the importance of addressing the climate change crisis and reducing dependence upon foreign oil and gas, the US Department of Energy (USDOE) has launched an aggressive program aiming to meet 20% of America’s energy needs via wind by 2030. In conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the American Wind Energy […]

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Due to the nature of the wars in Iraq and Aghanistan more military personnel are likely to see or experience combat trauma, sufffer from mental illness and become homeless. Read more from CNN
Officials say many more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer post-traumatic stress disorder than veterans of previous wars. The government says PTSD is […]

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Thanks to Jim Webb and others and despite opposition by John McCain and the Bush Administration a strong new GI Bill passed yesterday

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Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and Linda J Bilmes have done an exhaustive study on the real cost of the Iraq war. The book goes into great detail the costs to other nations and the impact on the global economy as well.
More importantly, it assesses the human cost in more […]

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From an email I received this morning -
A task force appointed by Governor K. is holding Town Halls around the state to determine how existing programs can work together to support returning soldiers.
The Portland meeting included several vets and family members who spoke to the difficulties in accessing support and getting employment. Representatives from the […]

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The processing rate from DoD to VA varies around the country. Around here it is roughly four months but can take up to nine months in Hawaii. This story from Rawstory details how severely wounded veterans can lose their homes waiting for their benefits to be approved.
Nearly 20,000 disabled soldiers were discharged in […]

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From the NY Times, a scathing indictment of our commander in chief and his policies toward our military and people at home.
…the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures out of uniform. He does this on the ground that the bill is too generous and may discourage re-enlistment, further […]

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Watch these ads promoting passage of the new GI Bill as proposed by veterans, Sen Jim Webb and Sen Chuck Hagel

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The Washington Post reports that an official urged staff to cut back on PTSD diagnoses.
A psychologist who helps lead the post-traumatic stress disorder program at a medical facility for veterans in Texas told staff members to refrain from diagnosing PTSD because so many veterans were seeking government disability payments for the condition.
“Given that we are […]

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This is how we ’support our troops’ in America.

Wave your flags and display your magnets and then really support the troops and write Congress!

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How do you support the troops? More than 120 veterans per week commit suicide but the VA and the Pentagon do not want you to know and took steps to deliberately hide this fact from the public.

Meanwhile, GI benefits, severely stripped during the last few years are up for a vote to restore full […]

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Traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder both characterized by severe physiological and irreparable damage to the brain are subject of a new study released by the RAND Corporation.
“There is a major health crisis facing those men and women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Terri Tanielian, the project’s co-leader […]

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Inadequate funding of the VA leaves many veterans untreated.
…testimony before U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti, Dr. Gerald Cross, the undersecretary for health at the Veterans Health Administration, made a startling admission during cross-examination by the plaintiffs’ attorneys that would appear to contradict the agency’s position.
Cross admitted that veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were not […]

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