FLIGHT LUNCHEON MEETING, THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2014 1200 HOURS CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL 6121 N IH-35 AUSTIN, TX OUR GUEST SPEAKER FOR THE LUNCHEON MEETING WILL BE OUR PAST
WE WILL NEED YOUR RESERVATION NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT MONDAY, APRIL 7. RESERVATION SHOULD BE MADE BY COMPLETING THE FORM ON THE SECOND PAGE OF THIS FLYER AND RETURNING IT TO THE TREASURER, COL CHARLIE LOFLIN, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT NOT LATER THAN MONDAY April 7. If you make a reservation and do not cancel by 2400 hours the FRIDAY before the meeting you must pay for the meal you ordered.
If you have not paid your 2014 Chapter dues of $20, please pay them so that you
will keep your membership current. Even if you are a life member of the order, LOCAL
FLIGHT DUES ARE DUE ANNUALLY. THE STATUS OF YOUR DUES CAN BE CHECKED
ON THE APOLLO SITE (http://apollo.daedalians.org/flights/62) UNDER "MY STUFF"
"MY PAYMENT HISTORY" VOLABAMUS VOLAMUS
FLIGHT CAPTAIN'S COMMENTS WE WILL BE MEETING APRIL 10, 2014, IN THE BAR/LOUNGE AT THE CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL, 6121NIH35, AUSTIN, TX. THE REGISTRATION WILL START AT 1130 HOURS, AND MEETING WILL BEGIN AT 1200. LUNCH WILL BE SERVED AT 1215 HOURS. DRESS FOR THIS MEETING WILL BE CASUAL. Please make reservations so that we can give the hotel a correct number for meals and seating arrangements.
LONGHORN FLIGHT 38 DINNER RESERVATION Please make _______ meal reservation(s) in my name for the Thursday April 10, 2014 Lunch Meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
I have enclosed my check for $_______ (including $_____ dues for 2014) RSVPs WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL 2400 HOURS ON MONDAY, April 7 PRIOR TO THE
MEETING ON THURSDAY April 10, 2014. Please make the check payable to: LONGHORN FLIGHT 38
MEMBER NAME:___________________ GUEST/SPOUSE:___________________ EMAIL___________________________ |
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Sixty-one-year-old James L. Hill, an Army Veteran, is now one of the longest
living heart transplant survivors in the world. Hill received his new heart
30 years ago, back in 1984, at the McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond,
Va. He was 31 back then and the hospital's 27th heart transplant patient.
The hospital now has more than 300 heart transplant operations to its
credit. "I feel great," Hill told a Richmond Times-Dispatch
reporter President Obama signed a law in 2012 offering health benefits to thousands of former Marines and their families who were exposed decades ago to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. But in a related case headed to the Supreme Court in April that could bolster or block their claims for damages, Obama's Justice Department has argued that the clock has run out. The little-noticed case could have profound implications for victims of hidden contamination at Camp Lejeune and other former industrial sites in states that set deadlines on damage claims. Five Vietnam combat veterans and three veterans' organizations filed a class action lawsuit in federal court on 3 MAR, seeking relief for tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans who developed post-traumatic stress disorder during their military service and subsequently received an other than honorable discharge. Tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans received an other than honorable discharge for conduct attributable to their undiagnosed PTSD, according to a news release. A Louisiana man who helped federal prosecutors make their case against JPMorgan Chase's mortgage lending practices has earned $63.9 million for his efforts. The government will pay the amount to Keith Edwards, the whistle-blower who originally sued the bank last year, according to a filing in a United States District Court in Manhattan on 7 MAR. Last month, the bank agreed to pay $614 million to settle charges that it violated rules at the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which insure mortgages made by lenders. The bulk of the settlement, $564.6 million, went to the F.H.A. Mr. Edwards will receive $56.46 million from the F.H.A. and the remainder from the settlement reached in the Veterans Affairs case. The backlog of benefits claims pending with the Veterans Affairs Department has dropped by almost half from this time last year, when it made headlines as a national embarrassment and an insult to the service of veterans. With a medical care budget of $59.1 billion, including collections, VA is positioned to provide care to 6.7 million patients in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. The patient total includes over 757,000 people whose military service began after Sept. 11, 2001. The average time for a denied claim to work its way through the cumbersome Department of Veterans Affairs appeals process shot up to more than 900 days last year, double the department's long-term target. After hovering between 500 and 750 days for the past decade, what the VA refers to as its "appeals resolution time" hit 923 days in fiscal 2013. That was a 37 percent jump in one year, from 675 in fiscal 2012, according to a review of the department's annual performance report. The department's long-term goal is to get that figure to 400 days, although the trend over the past decade has been in the other direction. Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. -- Mark Twain |
Even as the Obama administration works to provide health coverage
to millions of uninsured Americans, government investigators uncovered dozens
of cases where the VA failed to cover emergency hospital costs for uninsured disabled veterans.
Sailors and Marines could see as much as a 25 percent increase in sea pay, according to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in a Navy release 4 MAR. This is the first increase in sea pay in more than a decade and is expected to take effect this summer. The adjustment is aimed at keeping pace with the dollar's inflation rate since October 2001. VA's Polytrauma/ Traumatic Brain Injury System of Care has developed "Concussion Coach," a mobile application that provides portable tools to assess symptoms and to facilitate use of coping strategies. This mobile app is available to Veterans and the general public and is intended to support treatment with a healthcare professional by providing portable, convenient tools for the user to assess symptoms and cope with concussion-related problems. App Store A number of items in this issue come from the RAO Bulletin No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it. -- W.C. Fields By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere. ---Billy Crystal A story from a U.S. Soldier somewhere in Afghanistan: "So we are up in the mountains at about 0100 hrs looking for a bad guy that we thought was in the area. Here are ten of us, pitch black, crystal clear night, about 25 degrees. We know there are bad guys in the area; a few shots have been fired but no big deal. We decide that we need air cover and the only thing in the area is a solo B-1 bomber. He flies around at about 20,000 feet and tells us there is nothing in the area. He then asks if we would like a low level show of force. Stupid question. Of course we tell him yes. The controller who is attached to the team then is heard talking to the pilot. Pilot asks if we want it subsonic or supersonic. Very stupid question. Pilot advises he is twenty miles out and stand by. The controller gets us all sitting down in a line and points out the proper location. You have to picture this. Pitch black, ten killers sitting down, dead quiet and overlooking this about 30 mile long valley. All of a sudden, way out (below our level) you see a set of four 200' white flames coming at us. The controller says, "Ah-- guys-- you might want to plug your ears". Faster than you can think a B-1, supersonic, 1000' over our heads, blasts the sound barrier and it feels like God just hit you in the head with a hammer". He then stands it straight up with 4 white trails of flame coming out and disappears." Cost of gas for that: Probably $50,000 She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still. On Amtrak travelers 62 years of age and over are eligible to receive a 15% discount on the lowest available rail fare on most Amtrak trains. |