Tag: veterans

VA whistleblower exposes the official VA medical claims data showing the COVID shots are a healthcare disaster

Yesterday, I received the official VA health claims data for the last 20 years from Sonny Fleeman, a signatory of the Declaration of Military Accountability and a member of Feds For Freedom.

In this video, Sonny explains how Veterans can get compensated for their injuries.

In this article, I’ll be releasing the data for the very first time so you can see for yourself whether you think the shots were helpful or harmful.

I’ll also show you conditions that were elevated by 50% or more from 2020 rates and I’ll go into detail on a few of them.

The VA is ignoring all these safety signals and not warning veterans about the possibility the shots could be unsafe. Instead, the VA is blindly trusting the CDC and ignoring their own data. They should be held accountable because by refusing to look at their own data, they are killing people. Too bad nobody in Congress will bring this data to their attention.

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Abbey Gate Families Issue Statement on Trump Honoring the Fallen at Arlington Cemetery After Media Hit Job on Alleged “Physical Clash” With Cemetery Official Over Photographer

President Trump and several family members of the fallen from the August 26, 2021 Abbey Gate terror attack had a heartfelt, dignified morning at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday honoring their loved ones on the third anniversary of the attack. Trump participated with the family members along with several grievously wounded survivors in three wreath laying ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by a visit to the graves of the fallen in Section 60.

The wreath laying ceremonies were covered by the media (somewhat), but press was not allowed by cemetery rules at Section 60. However, the Trump campaign said it had been granted permission by Arlington and the families to film at Section 60 that day.

A cemetery official on the scene tried to prevent the photographers with Trump and the families from accompanying them in Section 60, provoking an alleged incident that was reported by NPR Tuesday (excerpt):

Two members of Donald Trump’s campaign staff had a verbal and physical altercation Monday with an official at Arlington National Cemetery, where the former president participated in a wreath-laying ceremony, NPR has learned.

A source with knowledge of the incident said the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried. The source said Arlington officials had made clear that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area, known as Section 60.

When the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60, campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside, according to the source.

..In a statement to NPR, Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s spokesman, strongly rejected the notion of a physical altercation, adding: “We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.

“The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” Cheung said in the statement.

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Stolen Valor Walz Plays Victim: “You Should Never Denigrate Another Person’s Service Record”

Bragging that he’s “a champion of our men and women in uniform” during a recent labor union conference for government employees, Walz also clapped back at media reports criticizing him for lying about his National Guard service.

“I’m gonna say it again as clearly as I can. I am damn proud of my service to this country. And, I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record. To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words. Thank you for your service and sacrifice,” he told the audience.

However, people aren’t denigrating Walz’s service record, they’re exposing the fact that he ditched his National Guard unit just after he learned they’d be sent to fight in the Iraq War.

The complaints are also coming from high-ranking servicemen like Walz’s battalion commander and others.

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2008 Video Shows Tim Walz Implying He Suffered PTSD from Afghanistan Deployment

Newly resurfaced video from a hearing in 2008 shows Minnesota Governor Tim Walz implying heavily that he suffered PTSD from deployment to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Walz was speaking to the family of a Gold Star veteran at the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Veterans and Mental Health when he made remarks that suggested he had personal experience of PTSD after serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004 with the National Guard.

“I can tell you this, having been one of those that came back. We were in support of OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom]… when we came back, they showed us the horse whisperer and told us to be nice when we went home. And that was the extent of it. That was in 2004.”

Since Walz became Kamala Harris’s presumptive running-mate, there has been intense scrutiny of his service record. Walz has been accused of “stolen valor” for making misleading statements about his rank and operational deployments. Walz never took part in Operation Enduring Freedom, the name for US operations directly in and above Afghan territory, but was posted to Italy with the National Guard in a support role. He has also been criticized for retiring from the National Guard in order to avoid a deployment to an actual warzone, Iraq.

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Navy Veteran Declared Non-Citizen, Loses License After Real ID Application

A Navy veteran went in to get a Tennessee Real ID driver’s license and ended up having the state take his American citizenship away, The Western Journal reports.

David O’Connor went to the Driver Service Center in McMinn County last month to renew his license and obtain a Real ID. Real IDs were created by Congress in 2005 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. One must provide documents to prove U.S. citizenship to qualify for a Real ID. 

According to the state’s website, “Official Birth Certificate issued by a U.S. state, jurisdiction or territory (Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Swain’s Island, Guam),” “U.S. Government-issued Certified Birth Certificate,” “U.S. Certificate of Birth Abroad (DS-1350 or FS-545)” or “Valid, unexpired U.S. Passport” are all acceptable documents.

“They told me I shouldn’t have had the license in the first place ’cause I couldn’t prove that I was a citizen,” the 77-year-old told WTVF in an interview.

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Senators Approve Bill To Let VA Doctors Recommend Medical Marijuana To Veterans In Legal States

A key U.S. Senate committee has approved a spending bill with a new amendment allowing doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to discuss and recommend medical marijuana to patients living in legal states.

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the cannabis amendment from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in a voice vote on Thursday, also advancing the overall legislation, which provides funding for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilConVA) for the 2025 Fiscal Year.

“The only healthcare system in America where a doctor cannot discuss medical marijuana with patients in states where it’s legal is the veterans system,” Merkley told the panel. “We’re discriminating against our veterans. This is really unacceptable.”

The same committee similarly passed the senator’s veterans and cannabis amendment last session and in prior years.

“This committee has approved this amendment in every single markup since 2015 for the last decade, because we want to have our veterans have the same fair access to the full range of medical advice that every other individual in America already has,” Merkley said.

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California Lawmakers Kill World’s Most Marginal Psychedelics Reform

The world’s most modest psychedelics reform has failed in the California Legislature once again.

Yesterday, the sponsors of a bill that would have allowed three California counties to run temporary pilot programs through which veterans and first responders could be administered psilocybin (the “magic” chemical in magic mushrooms) under medical supervision pulled their legislation, reports KQED.

The bill’s authors cited a certain “no” vote in a coming Assembly Health Committee hearing as the reason for axing their own legislation.

This is the latest failure of legislation aimed at liberalizing laws surrounding psychedelic use in the Golden State.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed legislation that would have decriminalized the personal possession and use of various plant-based psychedelics, saying he might support narrower legalization of these substances for therapeutic uses.

In May, a broader measure that would have established a statewide system for licensing and regulating psychedelic use, including the use of MDMA, mescaline, and psilocybin, in private therapeutic settings stalled in the state Senate.

The bill that failed this week was narrower still. It would have authorized the public health officers of San Francisco, San Diego, and Santa Cruz to license up to five facilities where licensed medical professionals could administer psilocybin and psilocin (both psychoactive substances found in so-called magic mushrooms) to screened military veterans and first responders. The program would sunset after three years.

California’s latest, failed reform efforts were modeled off new programs set up by Oregon and Colorado that likewise legalize psychedelic use in tightly regulated, state-licensed therapy-like settings.

Some local jurisdictions, including several California cities and Washington, D.C., have passed more modest “deprioritization” policies to classify enforcement of certain psychedelic laws as the lowest law enforcement priority.

In D.C., at least, that’s created a thriving gray-black market for psychedelic mushrooms. With the modest assurance that they won’t face legal penalties, many of the city’s pre-existing, semi-legal cannabis businesses have started selling mushrooms as well.

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House Passes Veterans-Focused Marijuana And Psychedelics Amendments

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved amendments to a large-scale spending bill that would authorize U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical marijuana recommendations to military veterans and support psychedelics research and access.

One day after the Rules Committee cleared the proposals for floor consideration, the full chamber adopted them as part of appropriations legislation covering Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilConVA) in a series of votes on Tuesday.

The cannabis measure passed in a vote of 290-116, while the two psychedelics proposals were adopted on voice votes.

One of the accepted proposals from Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Dave Joyce (R-OH)—who together are the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus—would allow veterans to access state medical marijuana programs and eliminate a VA directive barring the department’s doctors from issuing cannabis recommendations.

SEC. 419. None of the funds appropriated or other wise made available to the Department of Veterans Affairs in this Act may be used to enforce Veterans Health Directive 1315 as it relates to—

(1) the policy stating that ‘‘VHA providers are prohibited from completing forms or registering Veterans for participation in a State-approved marijuana program’’;

(2) the directive for the ‘‘Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management’’ to ensure that ‘‘medical facility Directors are aware that it is VHA policy for providers to assess Veteran use of marijuana but providers are prohibited from recommending, making referrals to or completing paperwork for Veteran participation in State marijuana programs’’; and

(3) the directive for the ‘‘VA Medical Facility Director’’ to ensure that ‘‘VA facility staff are aware of the following’’ ‘‘[t]he prohibition on recommending, making referrals to or completing forms and registering Veterans for participation in State approved marijuana programs’’.

“My proposed amendment, I believe, is common sense. It allows doctors in the VA—those that deal with veterans—to give advice to their veteran patients,” Mast said on the floor. “That seems simple enough, but under the status quo, VA doctors are limited in essential treatment options that they can offer to their patients and treatments that patients that are not veterans can readily assess in many states.”

“Beyond the veteran population, the nation is turning the page on how we think about cannabis. It’s become a key part of the medical system in more than 30 states. It offers law-abiding Americans a low-cost and safe option,” he said. “Do not keep those who’ve fought for our country from accessing what’s proven to be a critical tool for pain management. It is time for change. Veterans deserve to have access to every possible tool, and the best medical options available and the best possible medical advice by their doctors.”

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Service Members Are Waiting For Congress and Department of Defense to Acknowledge That the COVID-19 Shot Mandate Was Unlawful and Harmful

House Armed Service Committee (HASC) Republicans announced on X this morning that service members and military families will be prioritized in the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

For many, last year’s NDAA was an abject disappointment, failing to recognize Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s 2021 shot mandate was unlawful. It remains to be seen whether this year’s version will call a spade a spade or hide behind similar weak language.

One thing is certain: Thousands of service members, veterans, and their supporters will be watching, laser-focused on the statement made by HASC. Earlier this year, 231 active service members and veterans signed the Declaration of Military Accountability (DMA)—an open letter seeking accountability over the harm caused by the implementation and enforcement of the now-rescinded COVID-19 shot mandate. Nearly 34,000 others, including civilians, have pledged their support alongside the original signatories of the letter.

Brad Miller, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who previously served as a battalion commander in the 101st Airborne Division, is one of the original signatories of the DMA and a voice for accountability. In October 2021, after nearly 19 years of honorable service, he was unjustly relieved of command for refusing the jab.

For service members like Miller, Congress, and DOD must acknowledge the unlawfulness and harmful effects of the once-mandated COVID-19 injection.

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Congressional Lawmakers To Vote On GOP-Led Psychedelics Bill For Veterans This Week Despite VA Opposition

A congressional committee is set to vote this week on a GOP-led bill that would instruct the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to notify Congress if any psychedelics are added to its formulary of covered prescription drugs.

About a month after the House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee held an initial hearing on the legislation from Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), members will mark up the bill on Tuesday.

The panel had also discussed a measure from the subcommittee chair Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) during last month’s hearing, but that proposal isn’t on the Tuesday markup agenda—even though VA voiced support for it on the condition that certain amendments were made.

VA came out against the psychedelics bill that is getting a vote, arguing that it’s “unnecessary.”

The bill states that VA must report to Congress on the addition of any psychedelic medicines to its formulary within 180 days of their federal approval by Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The report would need to include “the determination of the Secretary whether to include such drug in the formulary of the Department,” as well as “the justification of the Secretary for such determination,” the bill text says.

Currently, there are no psychedelic drugs that are federally approved to prescribe as medicine. But that could soon change, as FDA recently agreed to review a new drug application for MDMA-assisted therapy on an expedited basis. The agency has also designated psilocybin, and more recently an LSD-like compound, as “breakthrough therapies.”

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