21 Feb 2013
Families of Veterans, Homeless Vets, Homelessness, News No Comments Permalink

Los Angeles has largest homeless vet population it the country

February 21, 2013 No Comments

Los Angeles has an estimated 20,000 veterans that are homeless. 388 acres were deeded explictly  to homeless veterans in 1888. The land is not being used for veterans. Veterans have been completely let down. The VA made a deal with the Veterans Park Conservancy and gave them a 10 year lease of 16 acres for the purpose of establishing a park, but that was not the purpose that the land deeded for. The park is locked to Veterans. This is a land grab of a very desirable piece of land.. The property belongs to the Vets and all benefits of the land must go to help the vets. There is enough land there to house all the homeless vets.

Recent Articles

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/02/14/struggling-to-care-for-our-broken-la-veterans/

http://www.laweekly.com/2013-01-24/news/homeless-veterans-tough-winter-los-angeles/

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Veterans-Hospital-Renovation-Will-Help-Homeless-Vets-188135391.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/28/opinion/la-ed-va-homeless-veterans-20121228

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/02/01/a-federal-judge-hollywood-va-land-hackers-and-homeless-veterans/

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/10/160736598/los-angeles-va-has-made-millions-on-rental-deals

 

Veterans Relief: http://www.veteranstoday.com/downloads/humanitarian.relief.project.pdf

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-u-s-house-of-representatives-provide-housing-for-homeless-veterans-at-the-va-s-medical-center

Petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-barack-obama-as-commander-in-chief-open-the-locked-gates-to-the-los-angeles-national-veterans-home

 

Some Video

http://youtu.be/9v7aYlA9k04

Support the film: http://www.homelessvetmovie.com/

http://youtu.be/pm1xf0LSPAk

http://youtu.be/Y0Q54E–9ss

———

Make Waves …

Congressman Henry Waxman — http://waxman.house.gov/
http://waxman.house.gov/contact-me
Los Angeles Office: http://waxman.house.gov/office/los-angeles

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: http://www.va.gov/ 

Los Angeles City Council: http://www.lacity.org/government/ElectedOfficialOffices/index.htm?laCategory=1940

———

Historical data: 
http://waxman.house.gov/issue/west-los-angeles-va

http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/015.html

 

31 Jan 2013
Events No Comments Permalink

Dennis Kucinich to Deliver 12th Annual Frank Kelly Lecture

January 31, 2013 No Comments

February 8, 2013
7:30 p.m.

kucinichDennis Kucinich, an eight-term congressman from Ohio, will deliver the 12th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s future on February 8 in Santa Barbara. Rep. Kucinich, who is currently finishing his final term in the House of Representatives, has also served for many years as the United Nations Representative for the group Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.

The Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future was established by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in 2001. Frank K. Kelly was a founder and senior vice president of the Foundation. He was a visionary advocate for humanity and inspired many people through his writing and example to take action on behalf of humanity.

Dennis Kucinich’s lecture will take place on Friday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

 

http://www.lobero.com

 

33 East Canon Perdido Street • Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Box Office Fax: 805-963-8752

30 Jan 2013
Films & Documentaries, Videos No Comments Permalink

Peace Has No Borders

January 30, 2013 No Comments

Screen shot 2013-01-30 at 9.52.19 AMHoward Zinn (Vets For Peace) referred to our ‘topsy-turvy world’ where the powerful lead us into destruction and death while those who follow their conscience are punished. Deb Ellis and I had the opportunity to honor the life of Howard when we made the Academy Award Nominated film, Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train.  This success has led to our current film project Peace Has No Borders.

Since that moment we have been following the lives of several resisters as they strive to maintain aPeacehasnoborders life of normalcy for themselves and their families in their newly adopted northern home while battling the forces of an ever right leaning Canadian government seeking to deport them. The fate that waits them back in the USA is one of humiliation, incarceration, and injustice, made only more painful by the fact that the war has fallen off the radar screen of most Americans.

We are asking for your help and solidarity as we strive to bring this untold story to the public.

http://peacehasnoborders.com/

PREVIEW: http://youtu.be/vpQUSN_l_2g

http://www.facebook.com/PeaceHasNoBorders

30 Jan 2013
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD No Comments Permalink

Study Investigating the Biological Basis of PTSD

January 30, 2013 No Comments

The Neuroimaging Research Lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA is investigating the biological basis of PTSD. They are trying to recruit new participants (military veterans) for the study.

“ARE YOU AN IDENTICAL TWIN?

If so, have you or your twin served in a war zone?

Lisa Shin, PhD and colleagues in the Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) are conducting a study to examine brain activity in individuals with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They seek participants who are identical twins in which one co-twin experienced combat and the other did not. You do not have to have PTSD to participate.

The study takes place in Boston. Travel expenses are covered by the study and participants are paid $500 for their time. Participation is completely voluntary and confidential.

For more information about this important research opportunity, please visit http://www.martinos.org/shinlab  or email TwinStudy@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu.”

 

 
30 Jan 2013
Drones No Comments Permalink

Drone Strike Information

January 30, 2013 No Comments

Everything We Know So Far About Drone Strikes

 

Yahoo News Article

Who to Follow

For reporting and commentary on the drone war on Twitter:

@drones collects op-eds and news on well, drones. (Run by members of the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, which has been outspoken about privacy concerns in the use of domestic drones, but it also covers national security.)

@natlsecuritycnn has breaking news.

@Dangerroom from Wired covers national security and technology, including a lot on drones.

@lawfareblog covers the drone war’s legal dimensions.

@gregorydjohnsen is an expert on Yemen, who is closely following the war there.

@AfPakChannel from the New America Foundation and Foreign Policy tweets news and commentary on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

21 Jan 2013
Costs of War, News, Veterans Issues No Comments Permalink

349 active-duty suicides in 2012

January 21, 2013 No Comments

The following article was published in August, 2012, after July was reveled to be the highest month for U.S. Army suicides on record. We are republishing it today (Jan 14) as the U.S. military has revealed 349 active-duty suicides in 2012, the highest number on record. In that same year, there were 295 U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan.

March Forward! and Veterans For Peace are working to battle the suicide epidemic within the ranks of the U.S. military itself with the Our Lives Our Rights campaign. Please to support this important effort.

January 14, 2013 | The U.S. Army revealed that July yielded the highest number of active-duty soldier suicides on record, with 38 in just a single month (this number does not include other branches of service, or Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who commit suicide once they get out of the military).

Full story… http://evergreenedigest.org/record-us-military-suicides-2012

 

In suicide epidemic, military wrestles with prosecuting troops who attempt it, Michael Doyle, McClatchy Newspapers

http://evergreenedigest.org/suicide-epidemic-military-wrestles-prosecuting-troops-who-attempt-it