Republicans Must Help Our Veterans

To the surprise of many and according to Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) suggested to the audience at a town hall event in Phoenix Thursday that marijuana legalization should be “on the table.” It could be that after all of the time spent in an enemy prison camp in North Vietnam, the Senator from Arizona can understand the pain other veterans suffer. This unforgiving mental anguish is commonly known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

The Veterans Administration is starting to listen to many other veterans who complain about harsh drugs prescribed by VA doctors for PTSD. John J. Walters writes that “treating PTSD with marijuana could curb veteran suicides.” Veterans committing suicide is averaging 22 every day. It has increased more than 20 percent since 2007.

Prescribing powerful psychotropic (mood altering) drugs like Lorazepam for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety is common practice among military doctors, writes Walters. Drugs like Lorazepam do not help our vets coming home with PTSD.

Read more: http://www.ringoffireradio.com/2013/09/republicans-must-help-veterans/

Protecting Survivors, Holding Commanders Accountable, & Bringing Perpetrators to Justice

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill – a former courtroom prosecutor of sex crimes, and senior member of the Armed Services Committee – is leading the effort in Congress to curb sexual assaults in the military.

Click HERE to read a recent column by Claire and Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, making the case for historic reforms that maintain military commanders’ accountability.

• Introduced legislation to strip commanders’ authority to dismiss jury convictions against sex offenders, while also imposing new requirements that strengthen accountability in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

• Expanded her legislation and gained bipartisan support from Republican Senator Susan Collins, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and fellow Missouri Senator Roy Blunt – as well as Republican Congressman Mike Turner and Democratic Congresswoman Niki Tsongas.

Read more: http://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/MilitaryJustice/

Soldier arrested for series of sex assaults at gunpoint

A 25-year-old Anchorage-based soldier is in custody after being arrested in connection with a series of sexual assaults at gunpoint in Anchorage since July, Anchorage police said.

Tony Earl Bullock Jr. was arrested on Monday and charged in a nine-count felony complaint with multiple charges of sexual assault and assault with a weapon after police served search warrants on locations where Bullock lived, including his barracks room on the Army side of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and a Mountain View apartment he shared with his girlfriend, police said.

Police said Bullock’s arrest stems from three reported sexual assaults. A young woman reported being abducted off the street in Mountain View on July 16 and forced at gunpoint into a secluded alley, where the suspect forced “multiple sex events” on her, police said. On July 17, a young woman was abducted at gunpoint on Bragaw Street and subjected to “multiple similar sex acts,” police said.

Can the military police itself on sex crimes?

Washington— The U.S. Senate is poised to pass legislation this fall aimed at curbing what lawmakers agree is a troubling crisis of sexual assaults in the armed forces, but disagreements remain over whether military commanders can be trusted to lead the charge against abuse.

The battle has led to divisions in the Michigan congressional delegation. Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee, will present national defense authorization legislation in the coming weeks that includes more than two dozen provisions to encourage reporting, prosecution and prevention of sexual assaults.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131017/OPINION01/310170036#ixzz2i1mz5ojL

 

Male nurse ‘fondled paralyzed Afghanistan war veteran, 24, who revealed the abuse to his father through eye movements’

A registered male nurse has been arrested for  allegedly fondling a paralyzed Afghanistan war veteran who is unable to  speak.

The 24-year-old paraplegic told his father  about the alleged abuse at the hands of 39-year-old Dioscoro  Flores by using eye movements and a board to spell out words, a police report  said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2459754/Chicago-male-nurse-fondled-paralyzed-Afghanistan-war-veteran.html