Life in OUR America, Volume 2, The Livyjr Files Options

[Livyjr]

When you have a moment, I posted on the FDR Vs. George Bush thread, some comments by James Roosevelt, FDR's grandson.

Very right on.

A.B.

And here I am coming back from Mr. A.B.'s thread above, and with me, I have brought over that article that Mr. A.B. references above, as I have learned that people coming in here who are not registered cannot navigate around very easily, since the search engine feature and member's post feature to short-cut getting from thread "A" to thread "B" do not work for them.

I learned this the other night when I was trying to direct, over the phone, a friend to Mr. A.B.'s "Religion and Politics" thread to read the discussion going on over there.

Finally, we just had to give it up, as he could not find "Religion and Politics", and without seeing what he was looking at on his computer, and without him being able to use the "member's post" feature, there was just no way to get him to "home"!

"Don't use FDR to undermine Social Security"
By James Roosevelt Jr. | January 31, 2005

IN HIS inaugural address, President George W. Bush invoked the name of my grandfather, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as part of his campaign to privatize Social Security.

Similarly, a political organization supporting that drastic change recently ran a television commercial using a newsreel clip showing President Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law.

The implication that FDR would support privatization of America's greatest national program is an attempt to deceive the American people and an outrage.

President Roosevelt founded Social Security for very basic but important reasons.

He believed that the only enemy that could ever defeat the United States was fear itself.

He and my grandmother, Eleanor, looked at America and found fear of want -- particularly after retirement or loss of a parent.

Today, thanks in large part to Social Security, the number of older Americans below the poverty line has dropped from almost 50 percent to only 8 percent.

FDR believed that Social Security should be simple, guaranteed, fair, earned, and available to all Americans.

President Roosevelt was adamant that Social Security was an insurance program to provide basic needs in retirement.

As a former Wall Street lawyer, my grandfather fully supported the opportunity of every American to have fair investment opportunities.

But Social Security was -- and is -- something different.

It was -- and is -- the guaranteed basis of a secure retirement.

The risk is that future retired Americans will lose that assurance if the guaranteed benefit is eliminated.

Drastic changes that divert the payroll tax to privatization will almost certainly eliminate that guaranteed benefit by crippling the ability to pay benefits, imposing trillions of dollars of new costs on the government and creating massive federal debt.

Privatization threatens to bring about the collapse of the entire Social Security system.

FDR was realistic about the need to adapt Social Security as the workforce evolved.

In my office I have his original handwritten note to my father outlining the principles I've just discussed.

By the time the program was enacted in 1935, the details were quite different.

But the principles remained the same.

Throughout the six successful decades of Social Security, it has been adjusted in both benefits and revenues.

But it has continued to observe FDR's principles of a secure, guaranteed retirement income provided by an insurance system that all workers pay for.

Then, as now, the key to taking the fear out of the Social Security debate is speaking truthfully.

Instead, the proponents of privatization have not only misused the name and image of my grandfather, they have mischaracterized undisputed facts to create a phony impetus for abandonment of the program.

Those who are seeking immediate, drastic change should recognize that even the Social Security trustees appointed by the president agree that Social Security with no changes could pay full benefits until 2042, even under pessimistic assumptions about economic growth.

They should recognize that the Congressional Budget Office says that Social Security with no changes could pay full benefits until 2052.

They should recognize that even then benefits would be cut only about 25 percent if there were no changes, not nearly as drastically as most private account proposals would cut them.

The lies and half-truths from the proponents of privatization must stop.

Most of all, the creation of fear by the unjustified use of words like "crisis" and "bankruptcy" is destructive of a reasonable debate about what adjustments to Social Security will ensure the payment of full benefits throughout the 21st century.

Every honest person knows that there is no crisis, there is no threat of bankruptcy, and that what is needed are adjustments, not drastic measures like privatization.

Just as bad is the use of terms like "worthless IOUs" to describe US Treasury bonds held by the trust fund.

These are scare tactics designed to create fear.

These attempts to divide grandparents, parents, and children are an attack on the most successful program this country has ever had.

Social Security unites the interests of my parents' generation, my contemporaries, and my children's generation.

It can be strengthened with incremental changes.

To achieve that, the Congress and the White House must work together -- without ideological agendas.

FDR's goal of freedom from fear can be preserved by truthful, reasonable negotiation that is free of false implications and misrepresentation.

James Roosevelt Jr. is a lawyer and former associate commissioner of Social Security.

[Livyjr]

"Don't use FDR to undermine Social Security"
By James Roosevelt Jr. | January 31, 2005

IN HIS inaugural address, President George W. Bush invoked the name of my grandfather, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as part of his campaign to privatize Social Security.

Similarly, a political organization supporting that drastic change recently ran a television commercial using a newsreel clip showing President Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law.

The implication that FDR would support privatization of America's greatest national program is an attempt to deceive the American people and an outrage.

Then, as now, the key to taking the fear out of the Social Security debate is speaking truthfully.

Instead, the proponents of privatization have not only misused the name and image of my grandfather, they have mischaracterized undisputed facts to create a phony impetus for abandonment of the program.

The lies and half-truths from the proponents of privatization must stop.

These are scare tactics designed to create fear.

These attempts to divide grandparents, parents, and children are an attack on the most successful program this country has ever had.

Social Security unites the interests of my parents' generation, my contemporaries, and my children's generation.

It can be strengthened with incremental changes.

To achieve that, the Congress and the White House must work together -- without ideological agendas.

FDR's goal of freedom from fear can be preserved by truthful, reasonable negotiation that is free of false implications and misrepresentation.

James Roosevelt Jr. is a lawyer and former associate commissioner of Social Security.

The lies and half-truths from the proponents of privatization must stop!

And yes, they must!

But can they?

That is one of the foremost questions of OUR times, here in OUR America these days: CAN GEORGE W. BUSH EVER STOP LYING?

And I would say, no, he cannot!

I don't think he actually knows how, to be truthful!

It is what I believe is called "pathological" lying with him, and it is a part of who he just seems to be!

NOW ...

I am ready to admit that I might be wrong here, that the lying is not so much pathological as it is a cold, calculated thing, an intentional will to deceive, and how will we ever really know, because it is a sure thing that nobody of any consequence in the psychological field, or psychiatric field, will ever get a chance to tell us the truth of the matter, and so, right now, all we know is that the single truth we will get from George W. Bush, IS THAT WE WILL GET NO TRUTH AT ALL!

And that, folks, IS life in OUR America today!

[Livyjr]

Ahhh, ChoicePoint!

A name from the past.

A name that shall live in infamy.

Not having an honest press here in OUR America, from across the Pond comes Greg Palast, reporter for the UK Guardian, author of "The best Government Money Can Buy:"

www.Salon.com

Monday, December 4, 2000

If Vice President Al Gore is wondering where his Florida votes went, rather than sift through a pile of chad, he might want to look at a "scrub list" of 173,000 names targeted to be knocked off the Florida voter registry by a division of the office of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris.

A close examination suggests thousands of voters may have lost their right to vote based on a flaw-ridden list that included purported "felons" provided by a private firm with tight Republican ties.

Early in the year, the company, ChoicePoint .....

And here I am just returning from Volume I of "Life in OUR America", where I just retrieved this story above, on the Bush Co.'s plan to computerize even more of OUR personal data, thus making it available and accessible to identity thieves, as this next chilling story shows can be, and in fact, is the case, with data about us that is presently stored on computers, and sold, or traded as a kind of "commodity", out there in the real world:

Spam, Scams & Viruses

"ChoicePoint urged to make wider disclosure - More victims surface in data theft case; suspect arrested"

By Bob Sullivan, Technology correspondent
MSNBC

Updated: 4:29 p.m. ET Feb. 16, 2005

NEW YORK - A New York state legislator is calling on database giant ChoicePoint to reveal a wider list of consumers impacted by a recent data theft at the firm involving thousands of consumers.

Atlanta-based ChoicePoint maintains and sells background files on virtually every adult American, culled from millions of public and private records.

Last week, the firm sent some 35,000 letters to California residents telling them their personal data may have been stolen by criminals who set up fake companies and downloaded information from ChoicePoint.
 
The incident was first revealed by MSNBC.com on Monday.

And that, folks, IS life in OUR America today!

U.S. National - Reuters

"U.S. Probing ChoicePoint Over Data Theft"
Fri Mar 4,10:27 AM ET

By Aleksandrs Rozens

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal authorities are investigating the theft of more than 100,000 consumer profiles in databases of ChoicePoint Inc. as well as trading in its stock by top executives, the company said on Friday.

ChoicePoint, which maintains personal profiles of nearly every U.S. consumer, said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an informal inquiry and the Federal Trade Commission has begun a separate inquiry.

The company, which sells its data to employers, landlords, marketing companies and about 35 U.S. government agencies, also said it was halting the sale of many information products that contain sensitive consumer data, including social security and driver's license numbers.

It said, however, that exceptions would be made where there is a specific consumer-driven transaction or benefit, or where the products support federal, state or local government and criminal justice purposes.

The company said the SEC is looking into the circumstances surrounding the theft of the profiles and recent trading in ChoicePoint stock by its chief executive officer, Derek Smith, and chief operating officer and president, Doug Curling.

The FTC, meanwhile, is conducting an inquiry into ChoicePoint's compliance with federal consumer information security laws.

ChoicePoint shares fell 3.6 percent in early trading.

A company spokesman was not available to comment about the SEC investigation into trading by ChoicePoint executives.

Last month, ChoicePoint announced that criminals gained access to a database of personal records after they posed as legitimate businesses.

These thieves got at profiles of consumers that include Social Security numbers, credit histories, criminal records and other sensitive material,

The identity thieves set up roughly 50 fraudulent business accounts to gain access to the consumer data.

ChoicePoint's databases contain 19 billion public records, including driving records, sex-offender lists and FBI lists of wanted criminals and suspected terrorists.

The company, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, said its move to halt the sale of some data containing sensitive consumer data will reduce 2005 core revenues by $15 million to $20 million and will be dilutive to earnings by 10 to 12 cents a share.

ChoicePoint said it will continue to serve most of its core markets and customers, but its latest move will likely impact the availability of information to certain customers, especially small businesses.

The move to limit the consumer data is expected to be completed within 90 days, the company said, adding that its has strengthened its customer credentialing process.

In California, the only state that requires companies to disclose security breaches, ChoicePoint sent warning letters to 30,000 to 35,000 consumers advising them to check their credit reports.

U.S. investigators notified the company of the breach in October, but ChoicePoint did not send out the consumer warnings until last week.

Jones said it took a while for the company to determine which consumer records were affected.

ChoicePoint shares fell $1.45 to $38.83 on the New York Stock Exchange in Friday morning trading.

Just last week, Bank of America Corp. said it lost data tapes containing information on 1.2 million federal employee credit cards, among them U.S. senators.

Those tapes were lost in December, but bank officials were not allowed to notify cardholders until they received permission from federal law enforcement authorities.

[Livyjr]

U.S. National - Reuters

"U.S. Probing ChoicePoint Over Data Theft"
Fri Mar 4,10:27 AM ET 

By Aleksandrs Rozens

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal authorities are investigating the theft of more than 100,000 consumer profiles in databases of ChoicePoint Inc. as well as trading in its stock by top executives, the company said on Friday.
 
ChoicePoint, which maintains personal profiles of nearly every U.S. consumer, said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an informal inquiry and the Federal Trade Commission has begun a separate inquiry.

The company, which sells its data to employers, landlords, marketing companies and about 35 U.S. government agencies, also said it was halting the sale of many information products that contain sensitive consumer data, including social security and driver's license numbers.

It said, however, that exceptions would be made where there is a specific consumer-driven transaction or benefit, or where the products support federal, state or local government and criminal justice purposes.

ChoicePoint shares fell 3.6 percent in early trading.

Last month, ChoicePoint announced that criminals gained access to a database of personal records after they posed as legitimate businesses.

These thieves got at profiles of consumers that include Social Security numbers, credit histories, criminal records and other sensitive material.

The identity thieves set up roughly 50 fraudulent business accounts to gain access to the consumer data.

ChoicePoint's databases contain 19 billion public records, including driving records, sex-offender lists and FBI lists of wanted criminals and suspected terrorists.

The company, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, said its move to halt the sale of some data containing sensitive consumer data will reduce 2005 core revenues by $15 million to $20 million and will be dilutive to earnings by 10 to 12 cents a share.

SO!

What exactly are we, the serfs and commoners, the weak, the disenfranchised, etc., here in OUR America to think about all of this above?

Especially about this company having access to FBI records, and other "sensitive" data about us, which includes just about everything under the sun, ABOUT US?

SO THAT THEY CAN THEN SELL IT, FOR MILLIONS!

How did they get it in the first place?

How did THEY get OUR social security numbers, for example?

It had to be from the government, did it not?

Or was it one of us, here in OUR America?

Did one of you people out there, owning as every American does, a Cray supercomputer, loaded right at the factory with all of this stuff, did one of you naughty folks, you tricky devils you, did YOU sell this information to this Choicepoint crowd, with it CLOSE REPUBLICAN TIES, so that it could then re-sell the information, FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, and to thieves, to boot, which is generally the only "CLASS" in OUR America these days with any real money to toss around like this, BECAUSE for them, the thieves, to get this information, ON US, this "sensitive" information that has now been "sold" to them, as though we were nothing but cattle in a feed-lot, and these were merely "breeding records", or something like that, THESE THIEVES NEEDED MONEY IN THE FIRST PLACE WITH WHICH TO BUY THIS SENSITIVE INFORMATION, about us!

SO!

What is the real deal, here?

And am I the only one who thinks it stinks, to high heaven?

Are people in OUR America these days just so used to the lying, the endless lying, that goes on at the corporate and government levels here in OUR America, that this is just another big "HO-HUM"?

"Oh, Livyjr, you simple sap, you; don't you know nothing at all?"

"Don't you know, Livyjr, that the word 'America' is just another euphemism for lying and stealing and dishonesty?"

Well!

Hmmmm.

I think I do now!

[Abu Beacon]

SO!

And am I the only one who thinks it stinks, to high heaven?

Are people in OUR America these days just so used to the lying, the endless lying, that goes on at the corporate and government levels here in OUR America, that this is just another big "HO-HUM"?

"Oh, Livyjr, you simple sap, you; don't you know nothing at all?"

"Don't you know, Livyjr, that the word 'America' is just another euphemism for lying and stealing and dishonesty?"

Well!

Hmmmm.

I think I do now!

Well, Livyjr, I just do not understand how you can be so "UNPATRIOTIC. "

Tsk. Tsk.

I have decided on an appropriate punishment for you.

You are to be locked in a room for 24 hours with a tape player or DVD playing John Philip Sousa music very loudly.

That will straighten you out.

Just in case there is one soul reading this, who is taking my comments seriously,
please be advised that this is said in jest. I happen to agree with Livyjr 100%

A.B.

[jeffmoskin]

CAN GEORGE W. BUSH EVER STOP LYING?

And I would say, no, he cannot!

I don't think he actually knows how, to be truthful!

It is what I believe is called "pathological" lying with him, and it is a part of who he just seems to be!

Bushspeak, a close cousin of Newspeak, as described by George Orwell in "1984."

WAR IS PEACE!
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY!
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH!

Orwell was way ahead of his time.

[jeffmoskin]

How did THEY get OUR social security numbers, for example?

It had to be from the government, did it not?

Or was it one of us, here in OUR America?

Here's a big laugh -

I actually HAVE IN MY POSESSION the original, dog-eared Social Security Card I received in 1959. It says on the front of it,

For Social Security Purposes Only

NOT TO BE USED FOR IDENTIFICATION

[Livyjr]

U.S. National - Reuters

"U.S. Probing ChoicePoint Over Data Theft"
Fri Mar 4,10:27 AM ET 

By Aleksandrs Rozens

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal authorities are investigating the theft of more than 100,000 consumer profiles in databases of ChoicePoint Inc. as well as trading in its stock by top executives, the company said on Friday.
 
The company, which sells its data to employers, landlords, marketing companies and about 35 U.S. government agencies, also said it was halting the sale of many information products that contain sensitive consumer data, including social security and driver's license numbers.

ChoicePoint's databases contain 19 billion public records, including driving records, sex-offender lists and FBI lists of wanted criminals and suspected terrorists.

The company, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, said its move to halt the sale of some data containing sensitive consumer data will reduce 2005 core revenues by $15 million to $20 million and will be dilutive to earnings by 10 to 12 cents a share.

And here I do have to say that I am, well, p***ed right off about this whole concept of what this Choicepoint story really represents to us as citizens, here in OUR America, and especially this bit about this company having and selling FBI records, which just may be about us!

What, for example, is this business about this "REPUBLICAN BID-NESS" having FBI records about "SUSPECTED TAY-RISTS" FOR SALE?

And to whom?

Who is Choicepoint's "MARKET" for this kind of information?

And whose names are on those lists?

Is yours?

And how would you know?

Has anyone out there ever tried to find out if YOU have an FBI file on YOU?

I have, and I do, BUT .....

I CANNOT HAVE ACCESS TO IT!

Yes, that is right.

My file, at last count, was hundreds and hundreds of pages long, and while I did get about 230 pages of it, the rest is sealed, so that I cannot know what is in there, or how it got there, or what it says, and what that might mean to me, here in OUR America, about my own future!

And why do I have an FBI file?

Am I a criminal?

Am I a tay-rist?

NO, and NO!

Or at least I know that I am not either of those things, BUT ....

I don't know what either the FBI, OR Choicepoint are saying about the matter, and I DON'T KNOW WHAT Choicepoint is SELLING, about me!

And do any of you?

As for why I have an FBI file, or why part of that file exists, the only part that I was able to get, and have to this day, is because I gave evidence to the FBI, in 1989, about government corruption where I live.

That part of my file is about 230 pages long, and it is quite interesting to read, in fact, for it details how an FBI "investigation" really works, and it is not at all re-assuring, to be very truthful, not because the FBI does not "investigate", BUT BECAUSE THE OFFICE OF THE LOCAL U.S. ATTORNEY HAS OVERALL CONTROL OF HOW THE INVESTIGATION PROCEEDS, and so, has the power to cut off the investigation, and then bury not only the "fruits" of the investigation, BUT THE SAP OF A CITIZEN WHO GAVE THE EVIDENCE, which in this case was me!

Yes, folks, I must admit it!

I am one great big damn fool!

And because of that, I walked right into a trap, and am now paying for that, IN SPADES!

Evidence that I gave to the FBI simply disappeared, and the investigation was closed, and then, it took me years and years to finally get these records that I did get.

In the meantime, down the hammer came, right on top of me!

And without that "LOST" evidence, and without access to my FBI records, I was completely and totally unable to get out from under that hammer, which, of course, is the purpose of the exercise, AS THE U.S. ATTORNEYS WHERE I LIVE ARE "POLITICALS", with an interest themselves in "getting ahead" in what is a very political BID-NESS, that being the BID-NESS of GUMMINT up there in the corrupt Empire State of NEW YORK!

The FBI agent that I was "dealing" with actually came to me, and said, "Livyjr, my advice to you is to just get clear out of town for a while, or forever, because you have pissed off people above me, and they are coming after you, and I cannot, and will not put myself in jeopardy to do a thing for you!"

"It just is not worth it!"

And so it was.

Interestingly, sometime after that, I noticed in the newspapers a little article that mentioned that the U.S. Attorney who had "shut off" the investigation was being "recommended" for a federal judgeship.

In the meantime, I have "records" about me that I know nothing about, other than they exist, and that is that!

BUT ...

This CHOICEPOINT actually may, and they can then "SELL" those records to whomever, for whatever, so long as THEY, Choicepoint, get their money for doing so, selling these "FBI records", that is!

Life in OUR America!

What a crock, BECAUSE IT IS NOT OURS!

No more than a feed-lot full of cattle is theirs!

And have no doubts about it, folks, feed-lot cattle is US!

Unless, of course, you have a lot of money, and connections to the Republican National Committee, in which case, you are not a cow in a feed-lot, you are probably an economic slave to them, instead, which, I guess, is a step uwards from being merely an animal, here in OUR America!

SO!

MOOOOO!

[Livyjr]

Here's a big laugh -

I actually HAVE IN MY POSESSION the original, dog-eared Social Security Card I received in 1959.

It says on the front of it,

For Social Security Purposes Only

NOT TO BE USED FOR IDENTIFICATION

And I, jeffmoskin, have mine, also "dog-eared" by now, from about that same period of time, and mine has that same legend on it, and many, many times, I have looked at that legend, and thought about it, and I have even talked to a number of other "oldsters" here in OUR America about that and we all think the way you do - WHY IS OUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER NOW BEING USED AS AN IDENTITY DEVICE TO TRACK OUR MOVEMENTS, here in OUR America.

And how the hell did this Choicepoint company get access to that information SO THAT IT CAN TRACK US, and then SELL that information, ON US, to thieves?

When I went in the Army in 1968, I was issued an Army "service number" which I can still recite, AND THEN, sometime in 1968, or maybe early 1969, all of a sudden, OUR social security numbers became our service numbers, so that after that date, those entering service did not have a "service number", as I did.

And after that, once I got back from Viet Nam, anyway, it seemed that more and more, people, especially in banks, began to DEMAND our social security numbers, especially if you were cashing a check.

Then stores began asking for social security numbers, and all the time, that legend on the Social Security card kept saying "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION"!

If you did not "SURRENDER" this information, the person requesting it, who was nothing more than a store clerk, or a bank teller, often younger than I was, would get quite snippy, to say the least.

AND THEN, ALONG CAME IDENTITY THEFT, here in OUR America, which is now a "BIG BID-NESS" in and of itself, that is fueling a lot of the economic growth, here in OUR America, that George W. Bush likes to tout as being HIS accomplishment, when he tells us why we are so lucky to have him as OUR President.

TWO AND TWO=FOUR, here?

[Livyjr]

Bushspeak, a close cousin of Newspeak, as described by George Orwell in "1984."

WAR IS PEACE!
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY!
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH!

Orwell was way ahead of his time.

Or maybe he had prescient vision, but was just not able to exactly "pin" the year, according to OUR calender, as can be the case with prescient vision!

You know what will be, but not quite exactly when!

And so he picked "1984" as a date, which is really pretty close, when you think about the "run-up" required to actually get George W. Bush into this high office, which might just have started way back in the 1930's, and the "BEGINNINGS" of the Bush Co. "DYNASTY" here on OUR earth, because it sure includes a lot more than just America now, and by plan, is my thought.

[Livyjr]

I'm starting to understand you a little better Livyjr. 

I'm starting to understand more and more the uncanny beauty I find here. 

You have seen and done things no human being should ever have to see/do.

In my profession I've had the privilege of working with many men and women like you - but mostly men.

The combat veterans I've met from WWII, Korea, Vietnam & Desert Strom have one thing in common: the depth of their experiences and the profound effect those experiences have had on the way they see life. 

The veteran's understanding of life, war, death, horror, tragedy, community, isolation, home,  is so much more profound. 

And they are so much more beautiful to me because of this fact.   

You know, last night I read a post of yours over at A.B.'s corner about my grandmother and how she was to be admired because she had not been beaten down. 

I'm still a bit unsure of myself in these threads and so I did not say what initially came to my mind after reading that comment, which I may very well be taking out of context.

But since I have a clearer vision this evening after reading your posts on Vietnam I will share my original thoughts with you.

That I respect people like A.B., my grandmother, you, and many others, not because they have not been beaten down. 

The way I see it, life is incredibly hard on people. 

I respect you all because life has beaten you down but some force inside of each of you refuses to stay down, refuses to follow the well-travelled paths of the masses.

Because you all have faced down your own demons - some of them repeatedly, some of them daily, and some of them will continue to challenge you (us) all until the day you (we) die. 

I respect people like you because I see the human condition so clearly in your eyes, your words, your actions.

Men and women who have greatly suffered and overcome (I use this term fairly loosly as "overcome" is often a fluid, cyclical process) see everything around them with a clarity of vision that often escapes the rest.

Not only do I admire these people, but I also find them to be the touchstones I run to when I am lost. 

Not because they have never been lost or broken - but because they have been. 

There are so many ways people are broken. 

And it is in those broken places that I think people are their most beautiful.

And with Gabrielle's words above in mind, I include this next "story" because it is right close to home, for me, who has this same "condition" as a result of RPG-7 warheads going off right next to my head, not once, but twice, in Viet Nam.

And why I come in here to "communicate" with people, where I don't have to "talk", because that mode if difficult, as this story will demonstrate.

And here, I want to say that we who suffer this "condition" are treated as freaks and objects of derision by the PERFECT PEOPLE OVER HERE, who point at their own heads and then us, as they call us "F***ING MORONS" and such like, which, of course PROVES THEIR SUPERIORITY TO US, who are, of course, way down beneath them, because we got "HIT IN THE HEAD, and being PERFECT PEOPLE, they, of course, did not!

Top Stories - USATODAY.com

"Key Iraq wound: Brain trauma"

Fri Mar 4, 6:13 AM ET

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

A growing number of U.S. troops whose body armor helped them survive bomb and rocket attacks are suffering brain damage as a result of the blasts.

It's a type of injury some military doctors say has become the signature wound of the Iraq war.

Known as traumatic brain injury, or TBI, the wound is of the sort that many soldiers in previous wars never lived long enough to suffer.

The explosions often cause brain damage similar to "shaken-baby syndrome," says Warren Lux, a neurologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

"You've got great body armor on, and you don't die," says Louis French, a neuropsychologist at Walter Reed.

"But there's a whole other set of possible consequences."

"It's sort of like when they started putting airbags in cars and started seeing all these orthopedic injuries."

The injury is often hard to recognize - for doctors, for families and for the troops themselves.

Months after being hurt, many soldiers may look fully recovered, but their brain functions remain labored.

"They struggle much more than you think just from talking to them, so there is that sort of hidden quality to it," Lux says.

To identify cases of TBI, doctors at Walter Reed screened every arriving servicemember wounded in an explosion, along with those hurt in Iraq or Afghanistan in a vehicle accident or fall, or by a gunshot wound to the face, neck or head.

They found TBI in about 60% of the cases.

The largest group was 21-year-olds.

From January 2003 to this January, 437 cases of TBI were diagnosed among wounded soldiers at the Army hospital, Lux says.

Slightly more than half had permanent brain damage.

Similar TBI screening began in August at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., near Washington.

It showed 83% - or 97 wounded Marines and sailors - with temporary or permanent brain damage.

Forty-seven cases of moderate to severe TBI were identified earlier in the year.

The wound may come to characterize this war, much the way illnesses from Agent Orange typified the Vietnam War, doctors say.

"The numbers make it a serious problem," Lux says.

An explosion can cause the brain to move violently inside the skull.

The shock wave from the blast can also damage brain tissue, Lux says.

"The good news is that those people would have been dead" in earlier wars, says Deborah Warden, national director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.

"But now they're alive."

"And we need to help them."

Symptoms of TBI vary.

They include headaches, sensitivity to light or noise, behavioral changes, impaired memory and a loss in problem-solving abilities.

In severe cases, victims must relearn how to walk and talk.

"It's like being born again, literally," says Sgt. Edward "Ted" Wade, 27, a soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division who lost his right arm and suffered TBI in an explosion last year near Fallujah.

Today, he sometimes struggles to formulate a thought, and his eyes blink repeatedly as he concentrates.

[Livyjr]

Top Stories - USATODAY.com
 
"Key Iraq wound: Brain trauma"

Fri Mar 4, 6:13 AM ET 
 
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

A growing number of U.S. troops whose body armor helped them survive bomb and rocket attacks are suffering brain damage as a result of the blasts.

It's a type of injury some military doctors say has become the signature wound of the Iraq  war.

Known as traumatic brain injury, or TBI, the wound is of the sort that many soldiers in previous wars never lived long enough to suffer.

The explosions often cause brain damage similar to "shaken-baby syndrome," says Warren Lux, a neurologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

"You've got great body armor on, and you don't die," says Louis French, a neuropsychologist at Walter Reed.

"But there's a whole other set of possible consequences."

"The good news is that those people would have been dead" in earlier wars, says Deborah Warden, national director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.

"But now they're alive."

"And we need to help them."

Symptoms of TBI vary.

They include headaches, sensitivity to light or noise, behavioral changes, impaired memory and a loss in problem-solving abilities.

In severe cases, victims must relearn how to walk and talk.

"It's like being born again, literally," says Sgt. Edward "Ted" Wade, 27, a soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division who lost his right arm and suffered TBI in an explosion last year near Fallujah.

Today, he sometimes struggles to formulate a thought, and his eyes blink repeatedly as he concentrates.

And with this article posted above, here is a companion article that came to me over the "VETERANS' GRAPEVINE" that is worth reading, as it too deals with the "costs" to us of this Bush Co. war in Iraq, a war that does not benefit us, that does not make us "safe", that does not really do anything for us, BUT DOES MAKE THE BUSH CO. faction quite rich, for which riches they bear no cost whatsoever, ONLY PROFITS:

Dear Military Families:

46 town meetings across the state of Vermont passed resolutions this week calling for the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Iraq and calling on the Vermont Legislature to set up a commission to study the impacts of National Guard deployments on soldiers, families, communities and the state.

Military Families Speak Out members in Vermont -- including many with loved ones in the Vermont National Guard -- have been at the center of the campaign to get these resolutions passed.

The process involved many discussions and speaking engagements at a very local level -- talking about everything from the lack of firefighters and police in local communities because they were deployed with their Guard units to Iraq; to the problem of post-traumatic stress disorder in returning soldiers; to impacts on families and children from long deployments; to the declining enlistment rate and what that means in years to come if there are not enough Vermont National Guard soldiers to help with future emergencies and natural disasters that may befall the state.

ABC's Nightline is devoting tonight's show to this topic. (Thursday, March 3, 2005)

Generally Nightline is on after the late local ABC news.

Check local listings for exact time.

Below is Nightline's press release on tonight's program.

In peace and solidarity
Military Families Speak Out
http://www.mfso.org

Nightline's press release about the program reads:

ABC NEWS “NIGHTLINE” FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2005

Of the fifty states, Vermont has the highest death toll per capita in Iraq, while nearly half of its National Guard has been deployed there.

Out of fifty-two town meetings held across the state this week, a majority voted to pass resolutions that support the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

On Thursday, March 3, 2005 at 11:35 p.m. (ET), ABC News “Nightline” will take a look at the Vermont National Guard, the unit at the center of this debate, and how the effort to withdraw troops from Iraq is being addressed on a local level.

[jeffmoskin]

Has anyone out there ever tried to find out if YOU have an FBI file on YOU?

I have, and I do, BUT .....

I CANNOT HAVE ACCESS TO IT!

Yes, that is right.

My file, at last count, was hundreds and hundreds of pages long, and while I did get about 230 pages of it, the rest is sealed, so that I cannot know what is in there, or how it got there, or what it says, and what that might mean to me, here in OUR America, about my own future!

And why do I have an FBI file?

Am I a criminal?

Am I a tay-rist?

NO, and NO!

Or at least I know that I am not either of those things, BUT ....

But you CAN have access under the Freedom of Information Act to your FBI file. My wife was able to get a copy of her father's (deceased) as his daughter. I've seen it - It is about an inch thick - and it is full of the most USELESS and generally WRONG information (and I use that word verrrryy loosely) you could imagine.

These FBI guys must have an IQ of 65. And they will take a whole page to describe the comings and goings of an individual, which means absolutely nothing, and then draw sweeping conclusions about it all.

Pure fantasy.

Here's Another True story:

Two friends of mine own a flying school out here in L.A. After 9/11, the FBI came calling to look at their records. The two were maybe 19 years old, wearing cheap JC Penney suits, white socks, black shoes.

Right off the funny pages.

And they were clueless. My friends, eager to help, had to show them what they needed to see and tell them what they had to ask. They were very grateful.

Three days later, a DIFFERENT pair of FBI agents arrived. Same costume, same age, same IQ. This time, my friends said, hey, "your guys have already been here." Didn't phase 'em. They went through the same drill.

A week later... you guessed it. This time, my friends were starting to wonder if ANYBODY knew what the hell was going on at HQ, assuming that there really is an HQ.

Makes you understand about the Minnesota and Phoenix FBI memos that were IGNORED regarding Hani Hanjour and Zacharias Moussawi.

This post has been edited by jeffmoskin: Mar 4 2005, 06:59 PM

[Gabrielle]

And with Gabrielle's words above in mind, I include this next "story" because it is right close to home, for me, who has this same "condition" as a result of RPG-7 warheads going off right next to my head, not once, but twice, in Viet Nam.

And why I come in here to "communicate" with people, where I don't have to "talk", because that mode if difficult, as this story will demonstrate.

And here, I want to say that we who suffer this "condition" are treated as freaks and objects of derision by the PERFECT PEOPLE OVER HERE, who point at their own heads and then us, as they call us "F***ING MORONS" and such like, which, of course PROVES THEIR SUPERIORITY TO US, who are, of course, way down beneath them, because we got "HIT IN THE HEAD, and being PERFECT PEOPLE, they, of course, did not!

Dear Livyjr.,
Thanks for the head's up. I'm glad you shared a few of your experiences with traumatic brain injury during combat here. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you to read about these young men coming home with blast and shrapnel related neurological injuries. It seems to me you must understand better than anyone what life is going to be like for these men and their families. I'm so sorry to hear of your cruel experiences with the "perfect people." I can understand how you would think this way but, of course, I do not agree that they're perfect. They sound cruel, superficial, ignorant, disrespectful, etc. You got hit in the head because you were a combat soldier, Livy. Not because you were or are bad or imperfect.

Whenever I meet very wise people I frequently find a history of suffering. I would have never known that verbal communication was difficult for you. And I would have never known, or even suspected, that you'd had two brain injuries. You posts are always such a delight to read. So eloquent, so centered, so full of meaning and nuance and humanity.

Sometimes seeing a newspaper article or the television news can set off a cascade of bad memories. Flashbacks can be quite common in combat veterans - years after their traumatic experiences - while sitting at home watching the news about soldiers who are currently in a war zone. Sometimes it's necessary to take a sabbatical from that particular news story for a while, if it gets to be too much.

A couple of personal thoughts. Sometimes I think it's easy to forget why we're here. We can get to chatting about this or that as we attempt to mentally flee the tragedies and horrors we hear about many times each day. And then a particular story will bring the whole mountain crushing back down on us - reviving our understanding of just how awful this all is. We remember why we come here to fight the horror.

We remember that spark in ourselves that cannot be extinguished, that refuses to "go gently into that good night," that has been given a reprive, to continue our path here on earth, because our work is not yet finished. You have contributed so much to this forum, Livyjr. I can't tell you how many times a day I now think of the words "OUR America." "Life in OUR America" or "A.B.'s Corner" with that wonderful potbellied stove. I wanted so much to pop into A.B.'s corner last night and ask you and Jeff and A.B. and the others there some questions about how you felt/how you coped with the knowledge that our government/corporate elites were so incestuously linked and crooked when you first found out.

What do you think it is in you that keeps fighting to make "Our America" a better place, Livyjr.? What personal quality do you think will most benefit these men who have suffered brain injuries in Iraq? What activities do you think will help them the most. What is the best way that others can help these men and women as they are forced to relearn so many basics of communication and movement, etc.? Well, I have about 10,000 more questions like this but I will try to restrain myself.

BTW, Livyjr., I have always considered you a very articulate, kind, wise, and sensitive man. An old-fashioned gentleman with the courage to look for the truth.

This post has been edited by Gabrielle: Mar 4 2005, 09:44 PM

[jeffmoskin]

Dear Livyjr.,
Thanks for the head's up.    I'm glad you shared a few of your experiences with traumatic brain injury during combat here. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you to read about these young men coming home with blast and shrapnel related neurological injuries.  It seems to me you must understand better than anyone what life is going to be like for these men and their families.  I'm so sorry to hear of your cruel experiences with the "perfect people."  I can understand how you would think this way but, of course, I do not agree that they're perfect. They sound cruel, superficial, ignorant, disrespectful, etc.  You got hit in the head because you were a combat soldier, Livy.  Not because you were or are bad or imperfect. 

Whenever I meet very wise people I frequently find a history of suffering.  I would have never known that verbal communication was difficult for you.  And I would have never known, or even suspected, that you'd had two brain injuries.  You posts are always such a delight to read.  So eloquent, so centered, so full of meaning and nuance and humanity. 

Sometimes seeing a newspaper article or the television news can set off a cascade of bad memories.  Flashbacks can be quite common in combat veterans - years after their traumatic experiences - while sitting at home watching the news about soldiers who are currently in a war zone.  Sometimes it's necessary to take a sabbatical from that particular news story for a while, if it gets to be too much. 

A couple of personal thoughts.  Sometimes I think it's easy to forget why we're here.  We can get to chatting about this or that as we attempt to  mentally flee the tragedies and horrors we hear about many times each day.  And then a particular story will bring the whole mountain crushing back down on us - reviving our understanding of just how awful this all is.  We remember why we come here to fight the horror.

We remember that spark in ourselves that cannot be extinguished, that refuses to "go gently into that good night," that has been given a reprive, to continue our path here on earth, because our work is not yet finished.  You have contributed so much to this forum, Livyjr.  I can't tell you how many times a day I now think of the words "OUR America."  "Life in OUR America" or "A.B.'s Corner" with that wonderful potbellied stove.  I wanted so much to pop into A.B.'s corner last night and ask you and Jeff and A.B. and the others there some questions about how you felt/how you coped with the knowledge that our government/corporate elites were so incestuously linked and crooked when you first found out.

What do you think it is in you that keeps fighting to make "Our America" a better place, Livyjr.?  What personal quality do you think will most benefit these men who have suffered brain injuries in Iraq?  What activities do you think will help them the most.  What is the best way that others can help these men and women as they are forced to relearn so many basics of communication and movement, etc.?  Well, I have about 10,000 more questions like this but I will try to restrain myself. 

BTW, Livyjr., I have always considered you a very articulate, kind, wise, and sensitive man.  An old-fashioned gentleman with the courage to look for the truth.

Thank you for writing these words, Gabrielle, My eyes are teary; your thoughts penetrate into my soul.

I come here every day.

Without fail.

We ARE a community; it is a strange one - we have never met face to face. And yet, I feel we know eachother very well. Livyjr and I travelled parallel paths; we are nearly the same age. He is a soldier; I am not. A.B. is a soldier, although as I gather not a combatant.

We all have our points of view, our individual observances of the world, our world, BUSHWORLD.

I'm glad we have this forum.

It truly makes my day.

And as a P.S. -

Thank you Livyjr, for starting this thread.

And for having SURVIVED the Viet Nam war.

Alive.

And still fighting.

This post has been edited by jeffmoskin: Mar 4 2005, 10:18 PM

[Gabrielle]

Thank you for writing these words, Gabrielle, My eyes are teary; your thoughts penetrate into my soul.

I come here every day.

Without fail.

We ARE a community; it is a strange one - we have never met face to face. And yet, I feel we know eachother very well. Livyjr and I travelled parallel paths; we are nearly the same age. He is a soldier; I am not. A.B. is a soldier, although as I gather not a combatant.

We all have our points of view, our individual observances of the world, our world, BUSHWORLD.

I'm glad we have this forum.

It truly makes my day.

Jeff, I'm glad we have this forum, too! This forum is really part of my "community" now. I see the same people here day after day and it makes me feel good just to see what everybody is talking about. Some days people are all giggly. Some days super-sensitive. Some days worn down. Some days fired up. Each person with their own unique outlook, skills, pet peeves, etc. It's a wonderful experience!

[Abu Beacon]

Thank you for writing these words, Gabrielle, My eyes are teary; your thoughts penetrate into my soul.

I come here every day.

Without fail.

We ARE a community; it is a strange one - we have never met face to face. And yet, I feel we know eachother very well. Livyjr and I travelled parallel paths; we are nearly the same age. He is a soldier; I am not. A.B. is a soldier, although as I gather not a combatant.

We all have our points of view, our individual observances of the world, our world, BUSHWORLD.

I'm glad we have this forum.

It truly makes my day.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gabrielle -----

In your post commenting on your feelings about Livyjr, you also reveal a great deal about yourself. It is very evident that you are a peson who is extremely sensitive to the feelings of others and one who looks under the surface of events, situations, what people say, etc.

You are a very " deep " person, Gabrielle and I, for one, am delighted that you have joined us in this thread and in A.B.'s Corner.

You have added another dimension to this ongoing conversation.

In my service as a soldier in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific. I saw and experinced many of the horrors of the killing of other people, but not in the same way as Livyjr, for which I am grateful.

My combat experience was not ' hand to hand ' as was Livy jr's.

Because of the branch of service in which which I was assigned ( 155 M.M. artillery ) there was always an amount of space between our unit and the enemy.
And I am thankful for that. Mostly, where a soldier is assigned and what dangers he finds himself in is a matter of the ' luck of the draw '.

In my case, my unit was assigned to a small island whose mission was to prevent
any invasion which would occur in order to take over the air strip which was used by our Air Force bombers who went out daily to try to neutralize the enemy's ability to have their planes wreak damage on us.

Our biggest danger was in the daily air raids by the Japanese and the incessant bombing of the airstrip ( about 3 miles from our gun position ).

Japan, at that time owned the skies. Tokyo Rose taunted us daily, mentioning my unit by name and promising us they could ' take us 'any time they wanted to.

But it was the bombing, day after day, that was the danger and several of the men in the unit could not handle it and suffered mental breakdowns.

Some time ago, I mentioned that the saying " there are no atheists in fox holes " was not true. There were many atheists in fox holes and many of them cursed God for putting them in danger while others had very temporary conversions.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Other than having malaria ( like practically every one else ), I came home without a scratch.

Livyjr was not as fortunate, but I agree with your comment. Gabrielle, that it was the suffering that had much to do with making him wise.

Strange, when I started this posting, the last thing I had in mind was to write about anything concerning my military experience.

As a matter of fact, in the 59 years since the World War II ended, this is the most I have ever written about it.

I guess I will say. to you, Gabrielle, " it's all your fault '. You have a way of drawing people out.

And that's a good thing.

A.B.

[jeffmoskin]

As a matter of fact, in the 59 years since the World War II ended, this is the most I have ever written about it.

And you are "typical" of what Tom Brokenjaw referred to as "The Greatest Generation." My father-in-law was a B-24 Gunner in the Pacific, and the family has had to literally pry information out of him. And he has really only been willing to talk about it in the past few years!

Yep, from 1945 until 1995: not a peep.

In looking back, and having had no personal experience with war, I suppose that there were (are) a lot of things he preferred not to think about. I suspect it is that way with you and with Livyjy as well.

But I hope that MANY PEOPLE are reading this thread. Every now and then one of you will post a fragment of that part of your life. It is important to debunk the John Wayne mythology about war if we are EVER to be rid of it.

Lord knows, we have taken a giant step backward with these fools in Washington.

This post has been edited by jeffmoskin: Mar 5 2005, 08:37 AM

[jeffmoskin]

BUMP!


The Mods are cleaning house.

Slow down, for God's sake!

[Gabrielle]

Gabrielle -----

In your post commenting on your feelings about Livyjr, you also reveal a great deal about yourself. It is very evident that you are a peson who is extremely sensitive to the feelings of others and one who looks under the surface of events, situations, what people say, etc.

You are a very " deep " person, Gabrielle and I, for one, am delighted that you have joined us in this thread and in A.B.'s Corner.

You have added another dimension to this ongoing conversation.

In my service as a soldier in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific. I saw and experinced many of the horrors of the killing of other people, but not in the same way as Livyjr, for which I am grateful.

My combat experience was not ' hand to hand ' as was Livy jr's.

Because of the branch of service in which which I was assigned ( 155 M.M. artillery ) there was always an amount of space between our unit and the enemy.
And I am thankful for that. Mostly, where a soldier is assigned and what dangers he finds himself in is a matter of the ' luck of the draw '.

In my case, my unit was assigned to a small island whose mission was to prevent
any invasion which would occur in order to take over the air strip which was used by our Air Force bombers who went out daily to try to neutralize the enemy's ability to have their planes wreak damage on us.

Our biggest danger was in the daily air raids by the Japanese and the incessant bombing of the airstrip ( about 3 miles from our gun position ).

Japan, at that time owned the skies. Tokyo Rose taunted us daily, mentioning my unit by name and promising us they could ' take us 'any time they wanted to.

But it was the bombing, day after day, that was the danger and several of the men in the unit could not handle it and suffered mental breakdowns.

Some time ago, I mentioned that the saying " there are no atheists in fox holes " was not true. There were many atheists in fox holes and many of them cursed God for putting them in danger while others had very temporary conversions.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Other than having malaria ( like practically every one else ), I came home without a scratch.

Livyjr was not as fortunate, but I agree with your comment. Gabrielle, that it was the suffering that had much to do with making him wise.

Strange, when I started this posting, the last thing I had in mind was to write about anything concerning my military experience.

As a matter of fact, in the 59 years since the World War II ended, this is the most I have ever written about it.

I guess I will say. to you, Gabrielle, " it's all your fault '. You have a way of drawing people out.

And that's a good thing.

A.B.,
I feel so honored that you have also shared some of your stories of the South Pacific with the forum. It is difficult for those of us who have never been in combat to understand just how terrifying it can be. I am continually amazed at how brave, how couragous you and the other veterans are. And I feel very fortunate to be able to consider you my friend.

I find it very interesting that you say it's not true "there are no athiests in foxholes." I can see that men would curse God or turn their backs on him, or refuse to turn to belief in God during such a horrible experience. I might lose all faith in God, too, under the same circumstances. Seeing human suffering has been one of the greatest challenges to my faith.

It sounds awful to have been on that island, having Japan saying they could take your base at any time. And then to get bombed daily. I'm assuming that you lived through months and months of believing that at any moment you could be fatally injured by a bomb. Hearing bombs going off all the time must have been very unnerving, to say the least. I can see why men and women would have nervous breakdowns under such circumstances.

I'm glad you are here, A.B.! I'm glad you are sharing your wisdom and experiences with us. As Jeff says, I'm glad you are "Alive. And still fighting."

I think we need to remember that we're dealing with very volatile, very painful memories. Discussing these memories on a public forum without a real life support system to fall back on, should things get rough, worries me.