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Commander's Comments
his has been quite a full year for our MOWW Chapter. We have had several
interesting speakers and the Holiday Inn has provided us with some fine food and
a pleasant room for our meetings, as has the Austin Club. This past year as many
know, we participated in Memorial Day services at the Cook -Walden memorial
gardens. Then on November 11 we joined many other veteran groups in the parade
downtown and services at the Capitol. Last summer we sent 24 students to YLCs
held in Texas and plan on expanding this number this year. I want to thank all
who have participated in promoting our chapter's activities and attending our
meetings.
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your contributions to support the Youth Leadership Conferences and
also to provide transportation for the youths to attend these camps.
I applaud each of you for your support in these areas and for those
who presented awards to local ROTC students. Please continue to
support your elected officers as they work to further the precepts
as outlined in our preamble. Thank you for letting me be your
Commander this past year as it has been an honor and a privilege to
serve.
Congratulations
The Silver Patrick Henry Award will be presented to COL McVeigh at
the May meeting. |
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Meeting, 8 May 2003
The Austin Club (110 East Ninth Street). Please fill out the enclosed menu
form and return it to Mary Kelso, 7502 Valleydale Drive, Austin, TX
78746 to arrive not later than 5 May.
Schedule:
1830-1900 - Social
1900-1905 - Invocation & Salutes
1905-1945 - Dinner
1945-2000 - Break
2000-2015 - Awards & Festivities
2015-2045 - Speaker
2045-2100 - Adjourn
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Chaplain's Selection
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble." - Psalm 46:1
Chapter Officers |
Commander - | Maj. Bracken | | Senior Vice Cmdr. - | LTC McClure | |
Junior Vice Cmdr. - | Col Holland | | Adjutant - | COL Szendrey | |
Treasurer - | LTC Kelso | | Chaplain - | CDR Cochran | | Surgeon - | MG Bernstein | |
Judge Advocate - | COL Schiesser | | Public Information - | Maj. Tilley |
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Acknowledgement
Thanks to the following companions who provided financial support for the
students being sent to YLC this year: MG Bernstein, CD Cochran, LTC Anderson, LTC
Bosserman, MAJ Bullard, LTC Bracken, COL Castille, MAJ Garison, Col Holland, COL
Hefford, LTC Kelso, COL McVeigh, COL Smith, COL Szendrey, LT Yates and Mrs.
Eagan
Legislation
S. 451 and H.R. 548 - increase the minimum Survivor Benefit Plan basic
annuity for surviving spouses age 62 and older from 35 to 55% phased in over
five years: and to provide for a one year open season.
S. 623 and H.R. 1231 - allows retirees to pay health insurance premiums on
pretax basis and allows a deduction for TRICARE supplement premiums.
Quotes to Ponder
"That man is successful who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much,
who has gained the respect of the intelligent men and the love of children; who
has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who leaves the world better than
he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
who never lacked appreciation of earth's beauty or failed to express it; who
looked for the best in others and gave the best he had." - Robert Louis
Stevenson | |
Items of Interest
Due to a glitch by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in processing a new payment rate to physicians, Medicare
beneficiaries may be asked in their copayment notices to pay 1.6 percent
more than they actually owe for services. The 1.6 percent overpayment may
not amount to much in some cases, but in the case of a surgery for
example, the 1.6 percent overpayment could add up to a significant amount.
The error in some copayment notices stems from a new 2003 Medicare payment
rate to physicians-a rate that is 1.6 percent higher than in 2002-that
took effect March 1. That means patients could be overcharged for
physician services rendered in January or February but processed by the
CMS after March 1. The CMS advises beneficiaries who think they may have
been overcharged to ask their doctors whether their claims were submitted
at the appropriate 2002 rate or at the higher 2003 rate. Physicians are
responsible for reimbursing patients for overpayments. If you suspect you
have been overcharged, call your doctor. Or call the phone number on your
Medicare Summary Notice or the Medicare hotline at (800) 6334222.
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Viewpoint
At a time when we are contemplating a new adventure in Iraq and remaking
the country into as area of democracy and economic freedom, it is worth
recalling what has happened in the past. In the carve-up of the Ottoman
Empire at the end of World War I, London thought that the best way to
secure routes to India, the jewel in its imperil crown, was to dominate Mesopotamia. To that end, the treaty at the close of the war cobbled
together Iraq from three Ottoman provinces, one Kurish, one
Sunni Muslim
and another Shi'ite Muslim. The British moved in under a League of
Nations mandate. In 1920 a full-scale revolt broke out. Very quickly the
British public, weary of endless war and shocked by reports that the
R.A.F. routinely bombed women and children in Kurdish villages, turned
against the intervention in Iraq. By the time the British slunk home in
the 1930s, Iraq had its brush with imperialism. But just as beauty is in
the eye of the holder, so imperialism is in the mind of the imperialized.
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The motive of imperialists is irrelevant. France justified its past
colonial policies by a mission to civilize. What matters is that imperialism
means rule by others. In the end, as the old colonial powers came to understand,
that breeds resentment and costs both money and young lives. Today's
neoimperialists claim that if the U.S. could rebuild West Germany and Japan
after World War II, it can rebuild Iraq. But the cases could hardly be more
different. Both West Germany and Japan had fixed national identities; Iraq does
not. Both nations, Germany especially, had memories of democratic institutions:
Iraq does not. Neither Japan nor Germany had bitter memories of prior attempts
to impose colonial rule; Iraq does. How will Baghdad be transformed? A free Iraq
in a prosperous Arab world is in everyone's interest, and unseating Saddam is a
good start down that road. It's what follows that's tricky. The lesson of
history is that reforms succeed best if they well up from within a nation, not
when they are thrust upon it from outside. It would be nice to know that we heed
the lessons from the failed imperialism of the Past. - Excerpts: Time |
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