Give Vietnam Blue Water Navy Veterans Their Presumptive Rights - Add Your Signature!

FLASH UPDATE … MARCH 31, 2016

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Give Vietnam Blue Water Navy Veterans their presumptive rights - Add Your Signature!

CLICK HERE!

The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association just posted an update on the petition you signed, U.S. House of Representatives: Give the Vietnam Blue Water Navy Veterans their presumptive rights..

We're at 60,000 signatures and climbing!

The Health side is a problem. But where is the root cause of the problem? The very top echelon of the VA management supported by the Veterans Benefits Administration. When money gets tight the VBA goes into action. Deny all Blue Water Navy claims, call for an investigation (loosely called research) to see if the burn pits were really harmful to one's health, A delaying tactic. Don't bring up the 500,000 patients treated for COPD each year because of the chemicals used in everyday military life. Restrict the claims on LeJuene water benefits to a bare minimum. Ensure that required records needed to prove a claim are not available. They have had so many years of practice at it, they're experts. Although I am repeating hear say, but one top executive was purported to say, if you bring me one expert to testify in your favor, I'll get ten to testify against your claim. So it's all money, show me the money and anything is possible.

Posted by AgentOrangeZone at 7:36 AM No comments:

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Oregon veteran to take Agent Orange health issues to Washington, D.C.

http://democratherald.com/news/lebanon-veteran-to-take-agent-orange-health-issues-to-washington/article_d8cee5ec-3d88-5c2d-be40-519d5a41cbf7.html

Tom Owen doesn’t have side effects from being exposed to the defoliant commonly called Agent Orange during his time in Vietnam, but he is fighting for the thousands of families affected by the toxic chemical.

Owen will travel to Washington, D.C., next Wednesday and has a full schedule of meetings planned with members of the Senate and House, talking about the health effects caused by exposure to toxins and lobbying for the passing of House Resolution 1769 and Senate Bill 901.

“These bills would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to allocate a portion of the money spent annually on research issues for the study of health effects caused by Agent Orange and other toxic chemicals,” Owen said. “It’s not just the veterans, it’s the health effects of their children and grandchildren. This stuff affects DNA.”

Owen said about $250 million is budgeted each year for research projects.

Owen will travel with John Birch, Region 8 director of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and they will meet Mokie Porter, communications director for the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Owen said 183 members of Congress and 28 Senators have signed on to support the bills.

“This is really about future generations, not so much us old guys,” Owen said. “We don’t want our current military men and women, or their children, affected by this stuff.”

Posted by AgentOrangeZone at 7:47 AM No comments:

Dear Editor: Support HB 1769 and SB 901

http://democratherald.com/news/opinion/mailbag/mailbag-support-hb-and-sb-march/article_d702b10b-43d9-583b-ac3f-cbfe1f573ac5.html

The purpose of this letter is to urge the general public and veterans to call their state representatives and senators in support of House Bill 1769 and Senate Bill 901, the Toxic Research Act of 2015.

Between 1945 and 1962, about 450,000 servicemen were exposed to ionizing radiation from atmosphere testing of nuclear weapons. Many scientist state that ionizing radiation can cause any cancer, but the VA only recognizes certain cancers.

During the Cold War, many servicemen, mostly Army, were exposed to chemical and biological agents to test their effectiveness, and then given antidotes. Many of their health problems today could be results of those test.

The wide use of Agent Orange in Vietnam and elsewhere has proven to be devastating to servicemen and the people of Vietnam.

Posted by AgentOrangeZone at 7:44 AM No comments:

Monday, March 28, 2016

Agent Orange and the battle of GMOs

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503459&objectid=11612176

WHILE in Hawke's Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday for a funeral, I saw an odd connection between the family member who's passed on and a local campaign that appears to be developing strong grassroots support.

The funeral was for my brother-in-law, Arthur Frederickson, who died after a very long illness, the roots of which go back 55 years.

Arthur was a lovely bloke and although he trained as a professional factory inspector for what was then the Labour Department, his heart lay in the New Zealand Army and many years of his life were spent as a soldier. This commitment was almost certainly the cause of his many years of ill-health. Sometime in the 1960s, Arthur volunteered to be part of the New Zealand Army contingent that went to fight in Vietnam.

This was not a cushy number; he was a sergeant in an artillery group that was very close to the frontline.

With the enemy, known as the Viet Cong, making use of the dense jungle for hit and run raids against the American forces and their allies, the Americans decided that a quick way of cramping the Viet Cong's jungle tactics would be to destroy the jungle.

To implement this strategy, more than 72 million litres of defoliant was sprayed over 1.8 million ha of Vietnam in the 10 years of the war. The most widely used was named "Agent Orange", after the identifying stripe on the barrels. Arthur and his comrades, being deployed close to the battle front as artillerymen were doused with this malign concoction on a regular basis.

Posted by AgentOrangeZone at 9:11 AM No comments:

The good, worrisom aspects of the manipulation of genes

http://www.fayobserver.com/opinion/local_columns/community-advisory-board-the-good-worrisom-aspects-of-the-manipulation/article_0ec449a1-2ac9-5cfe-b6ca-ed51e9bdcb41.html

Genetics is a difficult topic to understand. The very word itself will turn some readers off and make them put down this column before going further.

Long ago people understood that animals could be bred to make certain characteristics stronger and for those characteristics to be maintained. That was simple. Put two animals or plants together and an exchange of sexual material would do the trick, so to speak.

Moving on down the line a bit, we humans, as the supposedly most intelligent beings on the planet, thought that the genetic stuff was concentrated in the center of cells called the nucleus. Nothing about genes could change that. That idea has changed. Other parts of cells have genes as well. Techniques have been developed that enable us to change genes. Some people think that messing with Mother Nature is a bad thing. (Where is Father Nature in all of this? I don't know. Perhaps he left, leaving genetics as a field of single parenting.)
Now there is a rapidly growing field of genetic manipulation. Scientists can change genes. There is growing fear that changing genes to make things better is dangerous. Some of the fear is based on religion, with people simple saying that humans cannot play the role of the creator. That notion is contrary to the teaching that the creator made humankind in his or her image. If that much is true then humankind can use genetic modification to the benefit of itself. The fact is that it already has done that.

Posted by AgentOrangeZone at 9:07 AM No comments:

“Weed Whackers, Monsanto, glyphosate, and the war on invasive species”

http://milliontrees.me/2015/08/14/weed-whakers-monsanto-glyphosate-and-the-war-on-invasive-species/

Harper’s Magazine describes itself: “the oldest general-interest monthly in America, explores the issues that drive our national conversation, through long-form narrative journalism and essays…” Harper’s has just published an article by Andrew Cockburn, an experienced investigative journalist with an impressive track-record of informing the public of some of the darkest secrets in our country. The article is available here: Cockburn – Weed Whackers

Posted by AgentOrangeZone at 9:03 AM No comments:

Hypothyroidism, bladder cancer, and multiple myeloma linked to Agent Orange herbicide exposure

http://www.belmarrahealth.com/hypothyroidism-bladder-cancer-and-multiple-myeloma-linked-to-agent-orange-herbicide-exposure-study/

Hypothyroidism, bladder cancer, and multiple myeloma have been linked to Agent Orange herbicide exposure. On the other hand, the new findings do not support that spina bifida, a birth defect, may occur in offspring of veterans who served during the Vietnam War and were exposed to Agent Orange.

The report is 1,115 pages long and outlines health complications associated with exposure to Agent Orange, along with other herbicides during the Vietnam War. The findings of the link between bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and Agent Orange came from a large study of Korean War veterans who also served during the Vietnam War. On the other hand, spina bifida factor was downgraded, as there was not enough supporting evidence that Agent Orange increased the risk of spina bifida.

The authors wrote, “[The inclusion of] spina bifida in the limited or suggestive category of association was based on preliminary findings from [an ongoing Air Force study]. However, to date, a complete analysis of the data from that study for neural tube defects has not been published … [and] no subsequent studies have found increases in spina bifida with exposure to components of the herbicides sprayed in Vietnam.”

Bladder cancer and hypothyroidism were upgraded, as more evidence had come to light to reveal a stronger link, and Parkinson-like symptoms were also added.

Nearly 2.6 million Americans served in Vietnam who could have all been exposed to Agent Orange during their years in service. The herbicide was sprayed across 20 percent of the country’s jungles where enemy troops could hide. Many veterans are still trying to get recognized as having been exposed to Agent Orange even on the ship or plane. Retired Navy Commander John Wells said, “There was no magic, invisible Agent Orange filter at the mouth of the rivers. We have documented proof of its presence in Nha Trang Harbor, 20 years after the war. That evidence has been presented to the VA. The distillation system which produced drinking water and water for the boilers did not remove the dioxin — it enriched it.”

Ongoing studies of veterans’ health have been recommended to not only determine the effects of the herbicide on the veterans, but on their offspring as well.