BOHICA

DoD panel calls for radical retirement overhaul

By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer

Posted : Monday Jul 25, 2011 13:24:26 EDT

A sweeping new plan to overhaul the Pentagon’s retirement system would give some benefits to all troops and phase out the 20-year cliff vesting system that has defined military careers for generations.

In a massive change that could affect today’s troops, the plan calls for a corporate-style benefits program that would contribute money to troops’

retirement savings account rather than the promise of a future monthly pension, according to a new proposal from an influential Pentagon advisory board.

All troops would receive the yearly retirement contributions, regardless of whether they stay for 20 years. Those contributions might amount to about

16.5 percent of a member’s annual pay and would be deposited into a mandatory version of the Thrift Savings Plan, the military’s existing 401(k)-style account that now does not include government matching contributions.

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Tell us what you think. Email retirement@militarytimes.com

A critical new feature would adjust those contributions to give more money to troops who deploy frequently, accept hardship assignments or serve in high-demand jobs. It would also give the services a new lever to incentivize some troops to leave or stay on active duty longer.

The new proposal was unveiled July 21 by the Defense Business Board, the wellspring for many cost-saving initiatives adopted by the Defense Department in recent years. The new retirement plan would mark the biggest change in military retirement in more than 60 years and require approval from Congress.

“The current system is unfair, unaffordable and inflexible,” said Richard Spencer, a former finance executive and Marine Corps pilot who led the board’s eight-month retirement study.

This alternative plan would “enhance the ability of the service member to build a meaningful retirement asset [with] complete flexibility for their lifestyle or desires,” Spencer said.

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The thing that burns my ass most about this new scheme to reduce the budget on the backs of those who actually provide the freedom you and I live under is, the LABOR UNIONS that represent civilian local, state and federal government employees all refuse to move into this form of retirement plan. 

 

 

IF IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR SOME DESK JOCKEY AT CITY HALL... IS AIN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR AMERICA'S WARRIORS EITHER.

YOU WANT TO SAVE SOME MONEY?

STOP GIVING  LIFETIME RETIREMENT

BENEFITS TO CONGRESS AND SENATE MEMBERS

AFTER SERVING ONE TERM IN OFFICE

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BOHICA

B  end

O  ver

H  ere

I  t

C  omes

A  gain

WHY

NEW ORLEANS AUG. 2005

HURRICANE KATRINA

Shortly after the hurricane moved away on August 30, 2005, some residents of New Orleans who remained in the city began looting stores. Many were in search of food and water that were not available to them through any other means, as well as non-essential items. Reports of RAPE MURDER AND SHOOTING AT RESCUERS was the "News at 11:00" leader for what seemed like weeks.

Media and Hollyood outcry was endless. And blame for a lack of government response to help the residents who ignored evacuation orders was vocalized by the same Kanye West, who interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Music Video Awards, when he said "George Bush hates black people."

As the U.S. military and rescue services regained control over the city, there were restrictions on the activity of the media. On September 9, the military leader of the relief effort announced that reporters would have "zero access" to efforts to recover bodies in New Orleans. Immediately following this announcement, CNN filed a lawsuit and obtained a temporary restraining order against the ban. The next day the government backed down and reversed the ban.
Hurricane Katrina has also been the centerpiece of several documentary films, including Spike Lee's film, WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE, and Darren Martinez's film, HELLP. An episode of the Fox TV series House first broadcast on May 16, 2006, featured a teenage victim of Hurricane Katrina at the center of the main medical storyline. An episode of the BBC show Top Gear was praised by some for being one of the first to show the total scale of the destruction once the waters had receded.

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NOTE* NONE OF THE ABOVE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN 2005.

ALL ARE OF THE DESTRUCTION CAUSED BY SEASONAL FLOODING IN IOWA SPRING 2011.

Where are the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa, and helping the folks affected by the floods or areas devastated by recent tornadoes?  Where is good old Michael Moore? 

Why is the media NOT asking the tough questions about  why the federal government hasn't solved this problem?   ...Asking  where the FEMA trucks and trailers and food services are?  

Why isn't the Federal government moving Iowa people into free hotels in Chicago and Minneapolis ?  

When will Spike Lee say that the Federal government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines ?  

Where are Sean Penn, Bono, and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes, cases of beer and television sets?         

 

 

Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of shootings at rescuers, of rapes and murder? 

Where are all the people screaming that Barack Obama hates white, rural people? My God, where are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Oprah, and Ray Coniff Jr?  

How come you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again?   Where are the government bail out vouchers? The government debit cards?   

There must be one hell of a big difference between the value of the people of Iowa and value of the people of Louisiana.

 

An award.

The nice lady who writes her blog at:

http://indigoviolet-indigo.blogspot.com/2011/07/blogs-that-rock.html

gave me this

It's time for a little update.

The eye surgery went well. Thank you my friends for all your words of encouragement and support. Although the sight in the left eye is far from perfect. It beats hell out of the TOTALLY BLIND that it was 3 weeks ago. Because of that surgery, the surgeon took me off the physical therapy for 6  weeks. But I'm doing my stretch and reach work at home, and still going to Occupational Therapy.

Remember, I told you about visiting my dentist for the first time since my Chemo event? The dentist noticed a small lesion on my lip, just below the corner of my right nostril. He wrote a consult for dermatology and I got the results of my biopsy today. 

BASAL CELL CARCINOMA

I've been told that if I'm gonna have a NOMA. BASAL CELL CARCINOMA is the one to have. But I can't help but wonder why MY FACE? 

It's such a pretty face.

On a more serious note.

My son got his wheelchair this weekend.

The one thing I feared most in my life, since I was 13, confined to a wheelchair, became a reality for me at age 55. Once realized, it turns out it isn't as bad as I feared it would be. Don't get the wrong idea, it sucks ass. But it doesn't make me want to quit living, like I thought it would. And despite being frustrated by it. I have not blamed or been angry with my God for this being my destiny. I still hold out hope that I will get strong and walk again. But on the other hand, my son's condition continues to get worse. 

And God!

That pisses me off...

SOMEONE HAD TO SAY IT

HELL'S KITCHEN

BIKER BAR

LAKE ELSINORE, CALIFORNIA

MACHETES, BOTTLE ROCKETS, LAWN DARTS and a HANGMANS NOOSE

An old Led Zep song starts out with the lyrics,

"IN THE DAYS OF MY YOUTH I WAS TOLD WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN..."

and continues

"GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES, YOU KNOW I'VE HAD MY SHARE..."

As a boy, I was a constant source of worry for my poor mother. I was an adrenaline junkie. Always questing for the next dose, with absolutely no regard for the outcome, as it pertained to me. For reasons I can't explain, I loved to play with the things I was warned not to mess with. And on several occasions those unheeded warnings cost me dearly. One specific warning was over my affection for fire works, bottle rockets, specifically. Unlike many of the boys I grew up with, I didn't smoke cigarettes. But I did use cigarettes. I would hold a lit one in my mouth and use it to light the fuse on a cherry bomb or an M-80 so I could launch them from my slingshot and achieve that most sought after effect, "THE LONG RANGE AIR BURST." I would also use the smokes to light the fuse on bottle rockets and throw them in the direction of opposing team members in a game we called "ROCKET WARS."

On July 5, 1968, 8 short weeks before my 16th birthday, I stepped out into my front yard with a box of matches, 1 Bel Air cigarette and 5 dozen bottle rockets. The first rocket launched perfectly, went approximately 50 feet up and disintegrated in a loud bang. I put the second rocket in the same hole in the ground as the first one and lit the fuse and stepped back to watch the launch. The fuse sputtered and hissed just like the previous one did. But the launch was a failure, a DUD. That thing cost me like 3cents and I was pissed about being ripped off. Cussing under my breath as I stepped up and leaned over to pull the rocket from the launch hole, the frigging thing took off and hit me squarely in my left eye, throwing me literally to the ground. The pain was blinding, and so was the rocket strike. I must have yelped in pain because my mom was at the door in a  flash. Covering my right eye and looking into the bright Carolina sun with my left eye, proved that I was indeed blinded by the hit. All I saw was a total blackness. The rocket had torn my iris at the top where it attaches to the white of my eye, leaving an opening in the shape of an arc that went from 10:00 - 2:00. The tear filled the interior of my eye with blood and that blocked light from striking my retina.

A CLASSIC DEFINITION OF THE WORD BLIND!

A quick ambulance ride to the Naval Hospital, Camp Lejeune. Admitted to the ophthalmology ward for treatment. I don't recall the doctors name. But he told me there was a 10% chance, if I did exactly what he told me, that I would regain the sight in my left eye. He wrapped my eyes with white bandages and ordered me to lay flat on my back for 2 weeks to let the blood drain out of my eye. everything was going fine until i had to use the toilet. The corpsmen refused to let me up and brought me a bed pan instead. After using it once, I vowed to never do it again. And for the remainder of the two weeks I refused to eat anything. When the staff questioned my lack appetite, I told them I felt sick to my stomach and didn't feel like eating.

At the end of the 2 weeks, when the doctor removed the bandages, for the second time in my life, I could see with both eyes. But because of the extra hole in my eye, bright light was painful.  So I wore a pair of teardrop sunglasses during most of my waking hours. When school resumed in September, my first class I was told by one Mr.Daughtry, 

"no wearing sunglasses in his classroom without a note from a doctor."

His jaw dropped so hard, you'd think he got sucker punched, when I walked up and handed him my doctor's prescription giving me permission to wear sunglasses during all daylight hours. A plus for having been blinded . And my classmates believed I was a stoner because I wore shades constantly. There were even some rumors that I had blackmail evidence on some teacher, and that's why they let me wear my Raybans in class.

Fast forward 43 years to Wednesday 22 June 2011, at VA Hospital San Diego, Ca. One of the unexpected side effects of my chemotherapy is a complete cataract of my injured eye. For the second time in my life I was blind in my left eye, only this time laying on my back for a few weeks made no difference. Cataract surgery is not a laser procedure. It is an interocular operation that entails surgical removal and replacement of the clouded lens. But because my eye had a damaged iris (the mechanism that holds the lens in place) lens replacement was a bit more complex (ain't that just like me?). 

So, as the gurney crossed the O.R. threshold I prayed this little prayer:

Dr. KARIN THOMAS IS THE GREATEST EYE SURGEON THAT GOD EVER LET DRAW BREATH. AND IN HIS INFINITE WISDOM AND MERCY, HE HAS PLACED ME IN HER CARE...

2 HOURS LATER I LOOKED LIKE THIS

The pain was bearable but constant. It  felt like someone was pressing on my eyeball with a large thumb. After beating a four year morphine/vicodin jag, I definitely didn't want to start up on narcotics again. And for the third time in the short history of me, I can see with both eyes...

NEXT WEEK I GO IN TO HAVE THE STITCHES REMOVED FROM MY CORNEA.

DID YOU EVER SAY

"STICK A NEEDLE IN MY EYE?"

ME TOO...

SAY IT AGAIN... I DARE YOU!