New health care bill won’t affect veteran’s medical benefits

Now that the first major hurdle for health care reform has passed many Americans are wondering how that will affect them. Especially veterans. The good news is THERE WILL BE NO CHANGES. here’s Statement from VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki

"As Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, I accepted the solemn responsibility to uphold our sacred trust
with
our nation's Veterans.  Fears that Veterans health care and TRICARE will
be undermined by the health reform legislation are unfounded.  I am
confident that the legislation being voted on today will provide the
protections afforded our nation's Veterans and the health care they have
earned
through their service.  The President and I stand firm in our commitment
to those who serve and have served in our armed forces.  We pledge to
continue
to provide the men and women in uniform and our Veterans the high
quality
health care they have earned.

President Obama has strongly supported Veterans and their needs, specifically health care needs, on every major issue for these past 14 months - advance appropriations, new GI Bill implementation, new Agent Orange presumptions for three additional diseases,
new Gulf War Illness presumptions for nine additional diseases, and a 16% budget increase in 2010 for the Department of Veterans Affairs, that is the largest in over 30 years, and which has been followed by a 2011 VA budget request that increases that record budget by an additional 7.6%. 

To give our Veterans further assurance that health reform legislation will not affect their health care systems, the Chairmen of five House committees, including Veterans Affairs
Chairman Bob Filner and Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton, have just issued a
joint letter reaffirming that the health reform legislation as written would protect those receiving care through all TRICARE and Department of Veterans Affairs programs." 

Source: Agent Orange Legacy

 

The making of a Conservative hero…

Image source

Take a tour of Dalat’s Crazy House

Hang Nga Guesthouse and Gallery in Dalat, Vietnam is better known as The Crazy House and it’s not hard to see why.

The base of the guesthouse was built to resemble a giant tree, but more of a scary horror movie tree than a friendly fairyland tree.

The whole structure is riddled with unexpected twists and turns, rooms where one least expects them, organically shaped windows, and animals. Stone animals, that is, like bears, giraffes, and spiders.
Built in 1990 by a woman named Dang Viet Nga (the daughter of a former president of Vietnam), The Crazy House immediately began attracting attention.

She saw an opportunity, and opened the house to the public, who’d happily pay a small fee to gawk at the house’s statues and pools and oddly-shaped rooms.

 Go here to see more photos – inside and out.

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The Red Tape Chronicles: Looking at the Internet’s most successful scams

Bob Sullivan covers Internet scams and consumer fraud for MSNBC.com. He is the winner of multiple journalism awards for his coverage of online crime and author of Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day and What You Can Do About It. and Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic.

By Bob Sullivan

“The Web is now littered with fake blogs, fake ads, fake acai berry products, fake work-at-home jobs and fake Web sites saying how great all these things are. You'll even see ads for such products on all major media Web sites, as they've become the Web's answer to late-night infomercials.

The FTC recently issued an opinion clarifying that fake testimonials on Web sites are a violation of federal law, and some of the over-the-top ads have disappeared. But the fakosphere is far from dead.

I know it's tempting to obey one rule that will make your tummy flat, make your bank account fat or make your cancer disappear. But you can't believe everything you read online. Never purchase a product without searching Google using this search term: "(Product name) scam" and "(Product Name) complaint." Then, spend three minutes familiarizing yourself with the reputation of the item you are about to buy and the price you are about to pay. One or two complaints might say one thing, but 500 complaints should certainly scream at you that you should put that credit card back in your wallet.”

Go here to read the rest of the scams.

As It Stands: Time to talk about toxic trailers and things that make you sick

Dave Stancliff/For the Times-Standard

Posted: 03/21/2010 01:30:16 AM PDT

”All right class settle down!

”Today we're going to take a different approach to our social studies class. We're going to play a Jeopardy-like game where I'll ask you about government agencies.

If you answer a question correctly you get 10 points. The person with the most points before the bell rings wins. The winner will get an A for the day and a pass on the next homework assignment. Are you ready? Here we go:

”Who responded to Hurricane Katrina?”

Hector -- “It sure wasn't President Bush. I don't think the guy even...”

”That'll be enough Hector. I'm asking what government agency responded to the people's needs for housing after the flooding?'

Venus -- “The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.”

”Very good, Venus. That's worth 10 points. And what did FEMA provide?”

Hector -- “Toxic trailers!” Go here to read the rest. 

Image source

Magnetic Hill in Ladakh, India is an optical illusion

Last fall I was talking about my “Bucket List” on this blog and how I ran across a “Magnetic Hill” while surfing the web. I thought it was real. It sounded like an interesting place to visit. But, thanks to an alert reader today, I now know the whole thing is a hoax! Oh well. Here’s some information you might find handy someday when you see or hear about a “mystery” or “gravity” spot for tourists.

A gravity hill, also known as a magnetic hill (and sometimes a mystery hill or a gravity road), is a place where the layout of the surrounding land produces the optical illusion that a very slight downhill slope appears to be an uphill slope. Thus, a car left out of gear will appear to be rolling uphill. There are hundreds of gravity hill locations around the world.

Explanation:

The slope of gravity hills is an optical illusion, although tour guides may claim natural or even supernatural forces are at work. The most important factor contributing to the illusion is a completely or mostly obstructed horizon; without a horizon, judging the slope of a surface is difficult as a reliable reference is missing. Objects one would normally assume to be more-or-less perpendicular to the ground (such as trees) may actually be leaning, offsetting the visual reference. The illusion is similar to the well-known Ames room, in which balls can also appear to roll against gravity. (PHOTO: Magnetic Hill in Ladakh, India )

Websites devoted to the paranormal also tend to have names like "Haunted Hill", "Magnetic Hill", or "Anti-gravity Hill", reflecting attribution of the properties of the area to the supernatural or magnetism. While humans also have a sense of balance to determine the inclination of the ground, visual cues can override this sense, especially if the inclination is shallow.

Related stories:

List of magnetic hills, a list of geographical gravity hills and their locations.

Mystery Spots and Gravity Hills at About.com

The Enigma Project

Scientific explanation of the phenomenon

Sloping off: Can cars roll uphill?

Going on Vacation soon? Here’s a few things to consider

We’re coming into that part of the year when Americans start going on vacations. I’d like to let people know that it’s important to do some research before going on vacation.

Going on vacation is a riskier proposition than ever before. Violence factors into spring break plans for college kids this year.

(right) Students visiting South Padre Island avoid short drive to Mexico

Cruise ship plagued by illness returns to port

(Left)Passengers on Celebrity Mercury sickened on three consecutive sailings

Vacation Travel Club - MISLEADING SERVICES & PRICING

“The Vacation Travel Club representatives were "less than open and honest" with us when we attended their presentation. (Summer of 2008).”

How to Avoid Travel Club Scams and Ripoffs - How Not to Get Taken for a Ride

Report: Mini Vacations - Mini Vacations Vacation Rip Off Tampa Florida

Shell Vacation Time Share - Rip Off - Shell Vacations Complaint -

Vacation Rentals Community - “Keith Briggs, owner of VRBO 10674, as at best a complete idiot and at worst a crook.”

Beware of Peabody Vacations! VACATION SCAM

If you do your research, you should have a great vacation. Happy travels!

The Ten Biggest Misconceptions We Learn In School

 FROM PAUL’S PONDERING BLOG:

“I do some teaching, and my kids are constantly turning in essays with tragically inaccurate examples, like "When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb..." or "Even Einstein got bad grades in school..." which society has for some reason decided to convince them are true. Actually, my kids are turning in examples more like "When Edison invented the atomic bomb..." or "When Ben Franklin signed the Magna Carta..."

1. Einstein got bad grades in school

Um... have you heard about this guy Einstein? Famous physicist? Relativity and all that? A genius, even? I'm pretty sure little Albert could handle his business in 4th grade arithmetic. Yes, contrary to popular belief, Einstein was a top student in elementary school, getting mostly top grades on the German grading scale of 1-6, which silly Americans later assumed, backwardly, were "D"s. The idea stuck because everybody loves the idea that their poor student can go on to great things. Sorry, parents, Einstein was teaching himself calculus at age 12.

Here’s the other nine misconceptions

Learn more about your ‘body burden’

Before we are even born, synthetic chemicals and heavy metals of all kinds begin building up in our bodies.  This chemical "body burden" is the focus of the information you will find on this web site.

The information on this site has been developed through the collaboration of health professionals, scientists, citizens groups and environmental organizations concerned about the chemical body burden we all carry and its health effects - known and unknown.

 

Idaho first to sign law against health care reform

  This move by the state of Idaho has many ramifications. One thing that I see becoming more of an issue is state’s rights.

  Experts are saying that the Supremacy clause in the U.S. Constitution ranks over state law and that the so-called “Idaho Health Freedom Act” will be shot down in the courts when they sue.

  Critics also say that the state will have to hire another deputy attorney at $100,000 a year at a time when the Idaho coffers are empty and the state is looking at massive cutbacks in services.

I predict that this will be a “watershed moment” for states rights as 37 other states are looking at following Idaho’s lead. The Federal government is in for a fight.

Excerpt:

“Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter addresses the media during a news conference on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 inside his office at the Idaho statehouse in Boise, Idaho. On Wednesday Otter signed a piece of legislation that will require the state of Idaho to sue the federal government upon passage of health care reform which comes as Democrats in Congress hope to pass healthcare reform this weekend.” (AP Photo/Charlie Litchfield)