• A battlefield in the courtroom
• Monopolizing America's Voting System
• CIA detainees again an issue in Lithuania
• The Coal Industry's $47 Million PR Spending Spree
• Senate bill would see Iraq contractors face justice in US courts

• The $2.5 trillion global oil scam
• Two Good Ideas for Banking Reform
• Banking lobby lament: Put down your pitchforks
• Navigator involved in nuke-powered US sub crash was listening to iPod
• Rep. John Culberson Gushes Over Hate Radio's Michael Savage: ‘We Need You’

• The Drug Industry Cashes In
• Gates Bars Torture Photos' Release
• The Weekly Standard's smears indict only itself
• As Karzai starts new term, doubts grow that he'll finish
• Majority in US now see Afghan war as not worth fighting

DEALING WITH BEHAVIORS SUCH AS STUBBORNNESS AND UNCOOPERATIVENESS 

CAREGIVER TIPS FOR THOSE WITH DEMENTIAS/ALZHEIMER'S

by Carol Ware Duff MSN, BS, RN

The person with dementia may be stubborn or uncooperative because of changes in the brain and an inability to control behaviors. 

• Mother Refuses Deployment
• McChrystal In Fantasyland About Afghanistan
• California Dems to Obama: Get Out of Afghanistan
• New Baghdad Airport Security Contractor Has Major Bagagge
• Conservatives: Detainees Will Be OK In IL Prison, Warn GOP Of 'Scaremongering'

1. Obtain a copy of DD Form 293, "Application for the Review of Discharge or Dismissal from the Armed Forces of the United States."
2. Complete personal information in Section 1.
3. If you are making the application on behalf of another individual, complete Section 2.
4. Indicate the action you wish the board to accomplish in Section 3.
5. In section 4, indicate whether you wish to appear before the board in Washington D.C., wait for a traveling board, or have a records only review.
6. If you are being represented by another person, complete section 5.
7. Complete Section 6 if you elect not to be represented by counsel.
8. List supporting documentation in Section 7.
9. In Section 8, tell the board exactly why they should consider upgrading your discharge.
10. Sign and Date the Form in Section 9.
11. Mail the completed form to the address listed on the reverse side of the DD Form 293.

• The Fifty-Year War
• Reading the Af-Pak Tealeaves
• Shining Light on Roots of Terrorism
• U.S. Asks More From Pakistan in Terror War
• Ex-Islamic radicals on what motivates - and impedes - extremism

• Camp Lejeune whistle-blower fired
• High Costs Weigh on Troop Debate for Afghan War
• US blocks release of Iraq, Afghanistan torture photos
• Investigators Study Tangle of Clues on Fort Hood Suspect
• CIA says it gets its money's worth from Pakistani spy agency

• A Return to American Justice
• The Right's textbook "surrender to terrorists"
• Illinois prison in running to house Gitmo detainees
• Financial crisis investigators are taking Wall Street names
• Goldman Sachs Tells How to Cash in on Health Care Reform

ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMER ANNOUNCES ONGOING COMMITMENT TO COMBAT HOMELESSNESS AMONG VETERANS IN THE NAME OF RENEWING OUR NATION’S PATRIOTIC SPIRIT

FIREWORKS DISPLAYS, PARADES, MARCHING BANDS INCORPORATE MUSIC INTO PATRIOTIC PROGRAMMING

NEW YORK CITY EMBRACES “I AM AN AMERICAN” BY FEATURING SONG IN THIS YEAR’S VETERANS DAY PARADE AND SHOWING VIDEO TO RETURNING TROOPS AT “THANK YOU FOR SERVING” CONCERT

PHILADELPHIA -- In honor and loving support of our nation’s veterans, legendary music pioneer and co-creator of “The Philadelphia Sound” KENNY GAMBLE is releasing a new DVD/CD commemorative package of his acclaimed new symphonic ode to patriotism, “I Am An Am American,” on November 10, 2009 surrounding Veterans Day to help raise funds and awareness for battling homelessness among veterans.

• Say Nyet to Afghanistan
• The media's silly Fort Hood coverage
• Exxon's CEO, Instructing Us About Oil Prices
• Afghan Enclave Seen as Model to Rebuild, and Rebuff Taliban
• Former US envoy Galbraith could earn $100m from Iraqi oil field

By Donella H. Meadows

Folks who do systems analysis have a great belief in "leverage points." These are places within a complex system (a corporation, an economy, a living body, a city, an ecosystem) where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything.

The systems community has a lot of lore about leverage points. Those of us who were trained by the great Jay Forrester at MIT have absorbed one of his favorite stories. "People know intuitively where leverage points are. Time after time I've done an analysis of a company, and I've figured out a leverage point. Then I've gone to the company and discovered that everyone is pushing it in the wrong direction !"

• Obama rejects all Afghan war options
• At Fort Hood, Witness Credits Second Officer
• When veterans die -- from lack of health insurance
• Marine reservist attacked Greek priest he mistook for terrorist
• Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower
• Taleban spin doctors winning fresh ground in propaganda war with Nato

I remember being twenty one in August of 65, the week of my birthday, and standing alone on a hill near Chu Lai, looking out over the only road and admiring the low angle textures of the light on the South China Sea. The gulls circling above the villager’s fishing boats, pulled high on the beach beyond reach of the tides, the last of the fishermen in the distance walking in twos, returning to their homes for the night.

I stood there alone with the breeze slowly drying my sweat soaked uniform, alone with the taste and smell of the ocean and its limitless life, alone with the eternal sound of the surf as it stretched its fingers toward the ancient boats.

A few years ago I was contacted by a veteran's wife who told me her imprisoned Vietnam-era Navy veteran husband was being persecuted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and the U.S. Department of Justice. Thousands of man-hours of research later, I say there is no question that she's right about her husband and not just him.

I work as a veteran's advocate and staff writer for Veterans Today, and I'm honoring Veterans Day. It's personal for me, not because my father's a veteran or my girlfriend's father is a veteran, it's because I'm proud that I do a piss-load of work for veterans, it straight-up makes me a better person.

Ever since Armistice Day was declared at the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month of 1919, Americans have paused every November 11 to salute the service and remember the sacrifice of those who have protected and defended our Nation.

Throughout our history, Americans have never faltered.  Whether in epic battles, the names of which are known to many, or in little-known skirmishes, remembered only by those who fought them, men and women of our Armed Forces have pledged themselves to preserve the strength and assure the survival of our Nation.  Time and again, the men and women of our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard answered each call to serve and safeguard our way of life. 

 The fall colors don’t seem as bright as they were in years past.  The autumn sun, still feels warm on my face but I don’t seem to be warmed by it.  The cool balmy breeze still tells me that winter and the Holidays will soon be here.  My heart screams “My Daddy’s gone!!”  I know that he would say “come on Ah-gee be strong-life goes on, you know what you have to do.”  So I get up every morning, put on my  smile.  Jim Carson’s  daughter Alley, carries on.  I do what is right, like I always do and always will, even though I am not feeling it because he asked me too.   My Daddy is gone and this time he’s not coming back.  Then-I remember my promise. 

 An Army brats promise. " Don’t worry Daddy.   I’ll take care of Mama and the other kids.  They’ll be safe with me, I promise."

November 10, 2009 – This Veterans Day, November 11th, a collaboration of local organizations will unite to honor roughly 20,000 veterans and their families at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. With volunteers estimated in the hundreds, every gravesite will be decorated with a bouquet of flowers in admiration of the sacrifices made by the members of our Armed Forces.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and the 200th birthday of America’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln. In honor of this, Flowers for Heroes has teamed up other organizations including the Illinois Motorcycle Freedom Run to make this Veterans Day something to remember.

Tully Rinckey PLLC: A Full Service Military Law Practice Helps Veterans

Washington, D.C. – Tully Rinckey PLLC is a Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (SDVOB) law firm dedicated to providing superior legal representation and service in the areas of military and federal employment law. With a military law practice led by former United States Judge Advocate General’s (JAG’s), our firm is prepared to aggressively handle a wide variety of cases and has a personal understanding of the issues facing military personnel and veterans on a daily basis.

Reading Jeff Gates' Today’s Ancient Warfare: Facts vs. Beliefs, a related question that always presents itself in reading analyses of propaganda and thought control and other systems employed to dissolve a target population's capacity to think is: Those opinionmakers and policymakers in a position to do something and in the know presumably that the political-propaganda game is on - in 2002 Colin Powell, Sens. Clinton, Biden, Edwards, Kerry, Kohl and so on - can turn around and defeat a carefully crafted propaganda effort in a democracy, correct?

We were short on Daniel Ellsbergs in 2002-03, one guesses in part because Joe Wilson and Valarie Plame-Wilson became a cautionary tale, but guts and humanity can defeat cowards and propaganda in a society where the formal structures of democracy exist.

by Zulma Weeks, Staff Writer

So, while I have had every intention of continuing my story, life has just taken over!  I find it best to write and just get it out of my system.  My friends, neighbors and family will appreciate it; there is only so much ranting one can take! 

I’ve learned over the months that: 1) widowhood is NOT for wimps.  The seedy people will take advantage or you will get walked all over by ‘caring’ strangers.  2) crying is necessary AND feels good—preferably in private so we don’t make ANYONE feel uncomfortable.  Our society and culture has so much to learn about grief!  3) support groups ARE NOT crutches to lean on forever but a very vital part of the healing/recovery process. 4) There really are good people left in this world that actually care.

by Barbie Perkins-Cooper

            As a writer and the proud wife of a Vietnam Veteran, I research information about the military, especially informative material to assist Veterans in their battles with the Veterans Administration.

Recently, I discovered the heartbreaking story of Denise and Terry Soles and their devastating experiences with V.A. medical benefits and care during the illness and eventual death of Terry Soles.

Denise Soles and I have a bit in common. My father died from esophageal cancer in 1999. Terry Soles was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 1998. Denise is a feisty, determined woman who does not take no for an answer, and like me, she documents the actions of medical care along with the comments doctors express.

By Dr S.M. Rahman

Franklin D. Roosevelt made a very profound statement in 1938. He said: “You cannot organize civilization around the core of militarism and at the same time expect reason to control human destiny.” This wisdom is lost on the Americans and there lies the reason why the world is turned into an arena of violence, terror and conflicts, as if God had ordained this planet called Earth to be an abode of the humans, to perpetually engage themselves in antagonistic struggle against each other and transform the planet into a killing field.

Anthropologists have differed that violence is an integral aspect of human existence. Freud, however, had propounded that human beings were endowed with two opposite instinctual predispositions – life instinct (Eros) and death instinct (Thanatos).

 GAZA ISN'T ABOUT ISRAELI SECURITY

GAZA IS ABOUT A WORLD GONE MAD

by Jeff Gates, Staff Writer

VeteransToday.com - Israeli officials are right to worry. Gazans too. Yet Americans should worry even more.Israel’s “legitimacy” will not last.

Of course, that assumes its legitimacy was deserved. That issue also is now called into question in light of the consistency of Israeli behavior over the past six decades. The emerging issues are these: When and how will the recognition of Israel’s nation-state status be withdrawn? How will Tel Aviv behave in the interim?

by Jeff Gates, Staff Writer

Barack Obama’s recent conduct at the U.N. removed all remaining doubt as to Israeli influence inside this latest U.S. presidency. When he uttered the phrase “the Jewish state of Israel,” he provided precisely the provocation required to ensure that peace in the Middle East will continue to be deferred.

When, in May 1948, Christian-Zionist Harry Truman agreed to recognize an enclave of Jewish-Zionist extremists as a nation state, he struck out “Jewish state” and wrote the “state of Israel.” Despite assurances from Zionist lobbyist Chaim Weizmann that Israel would be a democracy, Truman feared the Zionist state might become what it became: a racist theocracy committed to an expansionist agenda that endangers U.S. interests in the region.