WASHINGTON - For veterans struggling financially due to a job loss or decreased income, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers an assortment of programs that can relieve the costs of health care or provide care at no cost.

“With the downturn in the economy, VA recognizes that many veterans will feel the effects,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “Therefore, it is important that eligible veterans learn of the many ways VA has to help them afford the health care they have earned.”

Veterans whose previous income was ruled too high for VA health care may be able to enter the VA system based upon a hardship if their current year’s income is projected to fall below federal income thresholds due to a job loss, separation from service or some other financial setback.  Veterans determined eligible due to hardship can avoid copays applied to higher-income veterans.  Qualifying veterans may be eligible for enrollment and receive health care at no cost.

by Bradford Rand, 

Happy New Year from the entire TECHEXPO Top Secret Team. This is a final reminder about out January 2009 events. When making your Cleared Career Fair choices, please remember that TECHEXPO events are typically 2-3 times larger than our competitors.

What does more companies recruiting at our events mean to you? Candidates have a choice when choosing job fairs and typically attend those that afford them the most options. With nearly 60 companies participating in TECHEXPO next week and our nearest competitor has only 8, the choice is clear for any job seeker. TECHEXPO Top Secret is the best use of their valuable time.

Companies already scheduled for next week include: Abraxas Corporation, ACI - Advanced Concepts, Inc., Apptis Inc., Army Team C4ISR - Fort Monmouth, AT&T Government Solutions, BAE Systems IT, BAE Systems - NSS, BCT, LLC, Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, Crucial Security, Inc., CyberCore Technologies, DataPath, Inc., e.magination IG, EDS, an HP Company, Engineering Systems Solutions - ESS, Inc., ESRI - Environmental Systems Research Institute, Everest Technology Solutions, General Dynamics IT, Geneva Software, Inc., GH Engineering, Inc., IBM Corporation, L-3 Communications, L1 McClendon, ManTech International Corp., MicroLink, LLC, Modern Technology Solutions Inc / MTSI, NISC / Information Manufacturing Company, Northrop Grumman, Prime Solutions, Red Arch Solutions, SAIC, SI International, Sierra Nevada Corp, Silverback 7, Solers Inc., SPADAC, SPARTA, Sycamore.US, The Boeing Company, The Van Dyke Technology Group, Trusant Technologies, LLC, Xelas Systems Engineering & more!

by CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)

I am not an apologist for Israel.  I am not an apologist for the Palestinians.  I feel for both sides.  Both peoples are in constant agony, although on very different levels and for very different reasons.  It is probably true to a great extent that Israel has caused great suffering in Palestine.  It is very true, without doubt, that the Arab world has not given Israel a moment’s peace since she was born; actually since long before she was born. Both the Palestinians and the Israelis have taken turns in brutalizing the “other” side.  I want us all to reflect on this for a minute.  The entire situation is ridiculous.  Why?

First Reason:  Israelis and Palestinians are for the most part the exact same people right down to mitochondrial DNA.  They are not cousins.  They are siblings.   If you think I am telling a story here, read these blogs:

Anyone interested in reading science articles and laymen’s articles with a science bent on the issue of Jewish bloodlines and how they converge with various bloodlines around the world can read the following websites: 

(1) CyrpoJews (2) Khazaria (3) Arab Genetics

Pay particular attention to the second paragraph of this article.  It states, in part, the following:  “At the haplotype level, determined by both binary and microsatellite markers, a more detailed pattern was observed. Single-step microsatellite networks of Arab and Jewish haplotypes revealed a common pool for a large portion of Y chromosomes, suggesting a relatively recent common ancestry. The two modal haplotypes in the I&P Arabs were closely related to the most frequent haplotype of Jews (the Cohen modal haplotype).”

by Jeff Swansen

We are trying to fulfill our mission by involving the public in our historical and traditional ways of remembering Memorial Day. One of these traditional ways is with flowers. The gift of flowers at a memorial site is a ritual that occurs around the world in every culture. As you probably know our own Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, when on the 30th of May Americans would decorate the graves of Civil War Veterans with flowers.
 
We have designed a beautiful and dignified “Thank You” floral bouquet of artificial flowers. The floral sleeve is appropriately flag draped in red, white and blue with a specially designed label evoking past Memorial Days. It pays tribute to those who fought and died for us; it explains the origins of Memorial Day and includes a beautiful and moving poem in their honor. The Foundation would like to give the public an opportunity to remember and honor the nation’s war heroes, by placing these bouquets at the Nations War Memorials during Memorial Day Weekend even if they are unable to visit Washington D.C.
 
We will be using stems of artificial red roses in the bouquet. The tradition of red flowers as a symbol of the blood that was shed for our freedom and liberty goes back to the Civil War. Red roses are also the universal symbol of love.

By Jeff Schogol

ARLINGTON, Va. — Defense officials have rejected the idea that troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder should be eligible for the Purple Heart.

"PTSD is an anxiety disorder caused by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event; it is not a wound intentionally caused by the enemy from an ‘outside force or agent,’ but is a secondary effect caused by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event," said Defense Department spokeswoman Eileen Lainez.

The matter came up in May, when a military psychologist at Fort Bliss, Texas, told reporters he felt that making troops suffering from PTSD eligible for the Purple Heart would help remove the disorder’s stigma.

"These guys have paid at least a high — as high a price, some of them — as anybody with a traumatic brain injury, as anybody with shrapnel wound, and what it does is it says this is the wound that isn’t worthy, and I say it is," John E. Fortunato said in May.

When a reporter asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates about Fortunato’s comments, Gates said the matter was "clearly something that needs to be looked at," prompting a review by the Defense Department’s Awards Advisory Group.

By Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent

This morning the Israel Defense Forces operation in the Gaza Strip approaches a critical juncture: To be − deeper in, at a higher cost − or not to be. The operation in its current format has exhausted itself. There is no point in pursuing it. The choice now is between going forward, at a price Israeli society is understandably reluctant to pay, or stopping, completing the mission in place and undertaking a unilateral withdrawal without waiting for the false hope of an agreement without Hamas' participation. Additional achievements cannot be expected without further efforts that could prove too late and too great.

Last night's blast, which killed three Israeli troops and wounded about 20 others, was a hint of what could happen if the ground operation is expanded. The IDF is advancing slowly and carefully in the northern Gaza Strip. Israelis, and especially those with loved ones risking their lives in battle, should be grateful to the entire chain of command for their caution. The commanders endanger themselves no less than their soldiers, as last night's events demonstrated.

The troops' measured advance is aimed at giving them superiority in every engagement with Hamas. Israel knows that Hamas seeks the blood of IDF soldiers, Israeli civilians and Palestinians not a party to the conflict. The IDF seeks to minimize the damage to these three groups and maximize it among a fourth group − Hamas members.

1. Two Counties In Pennsylvania To Open PTSD Treatment Centers. 
2. Headaches Said To Be A Potential Indicator Of Cognitive Deficits In Iraq War Vets.  
3. Depressed Vets Said To Be At Highest Suicide Risk Following Hospitalization.  
4. Advisory Committee On Gulf War Veterans To Hold Public Sessions In Seattle. 
5. Budget Would Increase Fees Collected From California Vets.   
6. New Orleans City Council Approves Money To Prepare For New VA Hospital.  
7. Veterans Participate In National Creative Arts Festival. 
8. VA Attempting To Assist Homeless Veterans.  
9. VA To Mail Out Disability Verification Letters To Florida Vets, Surviving Spouses.  
10. Jacksonville National Cemetery Consecrated.

Gaza horrors sow seeds for future violence

    * Boy on Hamas TV: "When we will grow up, we will bomb them back"
    * Tearful girl: "Maybe my sister could die some day, I don't know. I am afraid"
    * Psychiatrists say seeing destruction firsthand can create violence in the future
    * One psychiatrist said earlier children witnessing violence grew into extremists

From Nic Robertson, CNN

SDEROT, Israel -- Mohammed Abu Hassanin may be a young boy, but he's old enough to know he's scared of the attacks being launched by Israel in Gaza.

"When the Jews bomb us when we are asleep, [Hassanin] says 'We get scared,' " a translator says.  Hassanin is one boy from Gaza speaking frankly to an anchor on Hamas TV about the attacks, which have gone on for 10 days.

Children like him have accounted for one-third of the casualties at Gaza's main hospital, foreign doctors say. And now Hamas and their media are making them the face of the attacks.  The children have seen terrible images of tragedy: their friends injured or killed and bloodied bodies in the streets. They are images Hassanin says he will never forget. He'll keep them stored away until he's old enough to do something about it.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAIN BY ISRAEL

U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH GIVES ISRAEL GREEN LIGHT,  OUR MORAL CHARACTER FURTHER ERODES

by Sheera Frenkel in Jerusalem and Michael Evans

Israel is believed to be using controversial white phosphorus shells to screen its assault on the heavily populated Gaza Strip yesterday. The weapon, used by British and US forces in Iraq, can cause horrific burns but is not illegal if used as a smokescreen.

As the Israeli army stormed to the edges of Gaza City and the Palestinian death toll topped 500, the tell-tale shells could be seen spreading tentacles of thick white smoke to cover the troops’ advance. “These explosions are fantastic looking, and produce a great deal of smoke that blinds the enemy so that our forces can move in,” said one Israeli security expert. Burning blobs of phosphorus would cause severe injuries to anyone caught beneath them and force would-be snipers or operators of remote-controlled booby traps to take cover. Israel admitted using white phosphorus during its 2006 war with Lebanon.

The use of the weapon in the Gaza Strip, one of the world’s mostly densely population areas, is likely to ignite yet more controversy over Israel’s offensive, in which more than 2,300 Palestinians have been wounded.

The Geneva Treaty of 1980 stipulates that white phosphorus should not be used as a weapon of war in civilian areas, but there is no blanket ban under international law on its use as a smokescreen or for illumination. However, Charles Heyman, a military expert and former major in the British Army, said: “If white phosphorus was deliberately fired at a crowd of people someone would end up in The Hague. White phosphorus is also a terror weapon. The descending blobs of phosphorus will burn when in contact with skin.”

As Europe calls for a ceasefire, Israel is accused of cruel tactics and use of deadly white phosphorous in its blood-soaked assault on Gaza. 

By Liliana Segura

A week ago, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced that "Operation Cast Lead," as the current bombing of Gaza has been dubbed, "will continue until all its goals are met."

Whatever those goals are, exactly, they are clearly incomplete; Barak told Israel's Army Radio, the strikes would intensify "as much as needed to meet the goals we set for ourselves, to bring quiet to the south."

Over a week after the start of this blood-soaked chapter in the Israel/Palestine saga, there is no quiet but the silence of the dead -- over 530, and counting. On Sunday, Israeli ground troops entered Gaza, escalating the violence. "At least 75 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday," the AFP reported on Monday, "when Israel upped a weeklong bombardment of Hamas targets in Gaza by pouring in ground troops into the densely populated territory."

More recently, it has been reported in the UK Times Online that the Israel Defense Forces is using white phosphorus in its attacks, a controversial substance that can cause excruciating burns, but nevertheless is not illegal if it is only used as a smokescreen. Banned by the Geneva conventions, white phosphorus has been used by the U.S. military in Iraq: