Category Archives: Opinion

Review: “The Jungle Book”

Posted on by
Reply

Richardson Rutter-Reese

“The Jungle Book” was a welcome visit from an old friend. Once again written and produced by Disney, the movie was a combination of a live-action and CGI work. For those not familiar with the work, it is a story of an orphan boy, Mowgli, who lives in a forest among his animal companions. The new take draws on elements of Disney’s original animated movie, and Kipling’s original work.

The story revolves around Mowgli trying to find his place in the jungle. From when he was found, Mowgli has been raised by a pack of wolves. During a period of peace, Shere Khan,  a tiger, threatens to kill Mowgli when the truce ends. As Mowgli’s wolf pack debates on if he should remain in the wolf pack, Mowgli voluntarily leaves.

Throughout the rest of the movie Mowgli goes through various trials throughout the jungle. Mowgli has an encounter with Kaa, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, he comes face to face with a swarm of bees, gets washed away in a rushing river, and ultimately, comes face to face with Shere Khan.  

Beyond singing along to “The Bare Necessities”, and “I Wanna Be Like You”, the story is one of accepting others, believing in yourself, and standing together against adversity. Mowgli faces adversity not from Shere Khan, but from those he considers family, and from himself. We not only see Mowgli grow into who he is, but seeing others around him accept Mowgli even though he is different.

“The Jungle Book” is an excellent film. Older viewers will find this not only a welcome return, but a significant movie that can stand on its own. Younger viewers will be enthralled by the cinematics and animation.

“The Jungle Book” is a worthy movie of anyone’s time. 5/5

Kael vs. Kubrick: “A Clockwork Orange”

Posted on by
1

Allison Hall

“Is there anything sadder — and ultimately more repellent — than a clean-minded pornographer?” In addressing Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, Pauline Kael, as quoted above, regards Kubrick and his film as unimpressive and unnecessary eroticism. In rebuttal, I argue that the elegance of violence in the film works toward overall horror,  the sexualization within society does little for dehumanizing the “straight” citizens in opposition to Alex, and, in compliance, Kubrick does employ strategic, questionable methods in pushing the audience to view Alex as the ultimate good guy, or at least victim, within the film.

Kael claims that the movie is classified as “clean-minded pornography” with the intent to arouse audiences because of Kubrick’s “pedantically calculated scenes”, however, this strategy does just the opposite. The rape scenes are riddled with savagery in that Alex doesn’t seem connected to anything he’s doing. He definitely seems to be getting pleasure, as demonstrated in the raping of Mrs. Alexander when Alex is dancing to his cover of Singing in the Rain and laughing all the while. So, yes, the experience is arousing for Alex, but does little for the average audience member. If anything, the unsettling detail accompanied by the fluid and vibrant motions hinting at Alex’s excitement during his intentional violent fits create disgust. Arguing that Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is pornography is debatable because whether or not the intent of these scenes are to arouse is unknown, but on either side of the argument, it seems unjust to claim that whatever it is remains clean-minded.

Kael argues that the innocence and whimsical nature of the violent acts, such as the pairing of classical music with brutality, remains as reasoning for it to be looked at as comical and light-hearted, but Alex is raping someone. This is observed in the first attempted raping of a young woman by another unrelated group. Pornography has the intent to arouse the audience and this scene just shouldn’t. This woman is suffering and very obviously feeling distressed, as seen in her cries for help. The elegant music and fluid choreography emphasize the innocence felt by the teens and therefore creates more of a sickening atmosphere than an arousing one. These children are toying with this innocent girl and exploiting her for their own enjoyment, not hers. No matter what way it’s looked at, it’s a crime and a discomforting one at that. The added classical music or other just furthers the idea that Alex likes this and sees nothing wrong with what he is doing. He likes rape. And the fact that such innocence in Alex’s mind is mimicked in his actions, his “schoolboy” like and accepted behavior, elongates the intended repellents from Alex’s actions and, more so, the society that has created him.

In Kael’s review, she suggests that “the trick of making the attacked less human than their attackers, so you feel no sympathy for them…” is a thing. This doesn’t actually seem to be Kubrick’s goal. As stated previously, Kubrick does well in disconnecting Alex and making the audience feel uncomfortable with the ease urged toward Alex’s endeavors. Each victim acts as a victim might. Nothing seems peculiar or off-putting. In fact, the Alexander home is very welcoming and warm and Mr. Alexander’s mental stability has flown out the window afterwards. Kael claims that “the “straight” people are far more twisted than Alex; they seem inhuman and incapable of suffering” because Kubrick’s over-sexualized community adds even more “deformity” to the plot. The problem remains that it is unclear in the film just how long society has been this way. These elderly citizens could have been born into this. It’s normal for them. Take the scene with the fit cat lady for example. Her house is riddled with sexual vulgarity, but still when answering the door to Alex remains fearful and skeptical. She isn’t violent. One could argue on the contrary using the battle scene between her and Alex as an example, but that’s just self-defense. What attacked person wouldn’t try to save themselves? Alex broke in to a house with locked doors and high windows. She is also older, accounting for her dominant attitude. While it may be a plausible argument to say that the sexual respects add twist to the concept, what isn’t clear is why this makes the adults and other characters less human. It only pushes the concept of a crippled societal structure by pushing the question of why these sexual exploitations are acceptable in such a society. The adults aren’t acting in any way vulgar or crass. As a matter of fact they seem frail and confused, as shown through Alex’s father upon Alex’s return home. Not trusting a flawed society seems to be the ultimate message for the film.

In the end, there is no hiding the fact that Kubrick is pushing Alex to be the abused protagonist. Because of what Kubrick has portrayed society to be, sexual and crime run, the audience is very capable of pinning everything on the man. Kael says that “Kubrick has removed many of the obstacles to our identifying with Alex” in comparison with Burgess’s novel. Apparently, Alex’s habits are cleaned up in the film and throughout he is given opportunities to play the innocent bystander. For example, after leaving the government facility and returning home, he finds himself to be actually homeless and ultimately alone. The audience, at this point, feels bad for poor little Alex and the rest is history. From the start, glimpses at the disorganized and faulty world around Alex and the aggressive nature of what is arguably all teenagers leads the audience to believe that Alex is a product of society to begin with. In the end, after he is “cured all right”, the audience sees that what Alex is now is a product of what the authorities have yet again made him and not only through the conditioning, but also through bribes and hush profits. Kubrick’s argument isn’t that man should accept what man has made, but rather man should blame authorities for what man has made.

In conclusion, while I disagree that detail takes away from the dramatization of the violence and the modern citizen within the film is dehumanized, I believe Kael is right in saying that Kubrick pushes a little too hard in wanting the audience to see eye to eye with Alex and accept what he is.

Work Cited

Kael, Pauline. “Stanley Strangelove.” Visual-Memory. The New Yorker Magazine. January 1972. Web. 4 April 2016

Is Frozen More Than What It Is?

Posted on by
1

Leira Moore

We all love and adore Disney, even when we’re in college. Most of us are now closet fans. As for the ones that don’t hide in the closet they have begun to dissect Disney, and how the characters relate and tie into each other. Some theories have made a lot of sense and make one wonder what Disney is truly up to.

Some may already know about Disney’s hidden Mickey where they subtly put a Mickey somewhere in every movie, or how Disney pays tribute to older movies in the new ones and vice versa. For instance in Beauty and The Beast, Belle stated that her favorite book had to deal with a man disguising himself as a prince, far off places, and daring sword fights, which alludes to Aladdin having come out a year later. Disney also put Scar from Lion King as a rug in the movie Hercules. When, in fact, Lion king came out a few years before Hercules. Yet, is there something more than Easter eggs or cameos?

I believe so because in the Disney world most of the characters tangle into each other’s lives in some way. The most obvious is family ties. Lets start with Belle and Beast. The ongoing theory is Jane from Tarzan is the granddaughter to them. That explains Jane’s accepting nature of Tarzan and why the tea set from Beauty and the Beast appears. To make it a little more interesting, the director who did Tarzan also did Frozen and he does imply that the parents did not die on the boat and suggest that those were Tarzan’s parents. To recap Tarzan is the brother to Elsa and Anna. There’s more. Frozen ties into the Little Mermaid by implying the first ship that’s sinking into the ocean was Elsa’s parents’ ship. Of course someone created a map that shows it wasn’t improbable for the ship to find its way into the Little Mermaid territory. Another common theory is Elsa’s parents were on their way to Rapunzel’s wedding when the ship sinks. In Frozen, Elsa’s coronation is three years after her parents death, but is it a coincidence that Rapunzel comes out threes years almost to the day before Frozen? Perhaps, but it creates a connection when Rapunzel and Flynn arrive to Elsa’s coronation. It is also hinted that Rapunzel’s mom, is sibling to one of Elsa’s parents, whether it’s the father or mother is up for debate.

To expand the universe a little more, Ariel’s mother in the Little Mermaid supposedly makes a cameo appearance in Peter Pan and gets murdered by Captain Hook. In the second Little Mermaid, it states that Ariel’s mother is killed by pirates. Also, common knowledge puts Ariel and Hercules as cousins considering Ariel is the daughter of Poseidon and Hercules the son of Zeus, while Zeus and Poseidon are brothers. The ties don’t stop there considering at the end of the movie when Ariel is marrying Prince Eric, the King and Grand Duke from Cinderella, are also in attendance. At that time in history it was common for royalty to invite other royals to major events. This also explains why Cinderella makes her cameo appearance in Frozen. Everybody who is anybody attended Queens Elsa’s coronation, even Lumiere and Cogsworth attend which hints that Belle and Prince Adam, also known as beast, are in attendance.

Of course these are just a few fan theories about the family ties of the characters and how their lives tend to mix and mingle often. However, as all theories go, one can always poke holes and find faults. For those like me who grew up on Disney, it reveals that Disney has grown up with us. We have grown up to decode and analyze the movies and continue to look for Easter eggs and cameos. Ultimately, who knows what Disney is truly up to, but it is fun to reminiscent and explore interesting theories other fans have discovered.

Alcohol at Chuck-E-Cheese

Posted on by
Reply

Hope Hawley

As some of you may have heard, the local Chuck-E-Cheese has put in an application  to serve beer and wine at its location at Central Mall in Texarkana. I wanted to write about this from the perspective of a college student.

First let me just say I do not have kids but I do have nephews and nieces whom I love to take to Chuck-E-Cheese, so with that being said, I say not just no but Hell no. Chuck-E-Cheese is not designed for adults; it’s known as “A place where a kid can be a kid.” How are you supposed to be a kid if you have a drunk parent running around? This just puts the establishment, employees, and other customers in danger. Now I know people are saying, well, beer and wine isn’t hard alcohol; you are correct, it is not, but it is to light- weights who can’t handle it or who can’t cut themselves off. Chuck-E-Cheese is simply not a place for adults to be drinking. I mean, why would you want to, anyway? If you are bringing your children there, it should be about their having fun, not you. As a college student I understand the struggle of having nothing “fun to do” in Texarkana but as a mature adult I also have enough common sense to know that mixing alcohol with a kids establishment is just flat out crazy.

There are plenty of places for adults to go and have a drink around town. Multiple restaurants, bars, clubs, and even the bowling alleys serve alcohol. At the bowling alley you can have fun bowling and drinking, which makes far more sense than playing games at Chuck-E-Cheese with two- and three-year olds running around while you’re sipping on a Budweiser. Some places that you may want to look into to have a good time while drinking that are adult friendly: Fat Jacks, Holiday Bowl, College Bowl, Stages, Buffalo Wild Wings, AppleBees, Electric Cowboy, Club Primetime, etc.

Yes, this is just the opinion of a college student and a young adult who likes to drink. Even I realize how crazy it would be to have a drunk person running around at Chuck-E-Cheese. Their slogan has always been “A place where a kid can be a kid,” but when you mix alcohol in, it’s taking that completely away. There are not many places in Texarkana where young kids can simply run around and be a kid so don’t take one of the few spots that are still around.

Are Cellphones Dangerous?

Posted on by
1

Sharda James

There are billions of people all over the world who use cell phones; they use them for many different reasons, some may use them for calling, or sending text messages, while other people might use them to log onto various forms of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, in order to see what people have been up to. Typically, there are two types of people when speaking about cellphones. There are the types of people who believe that cell phones are very dangerous because they waste time and money can sometimes lead to some sort of addiction, and they are dangerous to the human body. In today’s society, there is a large number of people, especially teenagers, who spend hours talking/texting, which some people believe to be a complete waste of time.

Those same people also believe that cell phones are a danger to everyone, because they tend to weaken family ties, and don’t allow for families to be “close” with one another, since everything is done electronically. There is also an existential amount of research all over the internet that talks about how bad cell phones can be for your health. They can cause different types of cancer, and many other health defects in people, especially when your phone is left beside you as you sleep. Although there is more information out there about how and why cell phones are dangerous, myself and many other people disagree with that information. We believe that cell phones are in fact the opposite of dangerous, and instead they are quite helpful and are great technological tools.

Cell phones are useful in many different situations, but especially when you are out and about, and some sort of accident occurs. Your phone is always right there, and easily accessible to call the police, or whom ever you may need to reach, in a way they allow you to feel more secure, regardless of the situation that you are in.

Almost everyone today has smart phones which allow you to look up tons of different information with a touch of a button that is definitely a big perk, especially in the sense that most phones now come with GPS Navigation. You no longer need to use big paper maps, instead you have a map of the world that you can carry around with you, wherever you go. Overall, I feel as though cell phones are not dangerous in any sense at all. The pros of having cell phones, very heavily outweigh the cons. Like many other things, they have the ability to be dangerous, depending on how you use them. As long as you use the phones in a smart and responsible manner, they can be one of the most useful tools on the planet.

Decision America Tour 2016

Posted on by
Reply

“America is at a crossroads, and I believe we should take every opportunity to stand up for the things of God and His Word.” –Franklin Graham

April 12th at 7 a.m., I forced myself out of bed to go sit on a van for 3 and half hours as the only college student amongst 100 other members of First Baptist Texarkana. The destination? Little Rock Arkansas. At 11:30 a.m. my grandma and I managed to weasel our way to the front row in a crowd of over 5,000 people gathered on the steps and lawn of the Arkansas State Capitol. Why? To hear Franklin Graham, speak, and to gather with other Christians and pray for our Nation.

Franklin Graham is a Christian evangelist and missionary from North Carolina. He plans on traveling to all 50 states in 2016 to host prayer rallies. His purpose? To encourage Christians to live out their faith, even within the political realm. His challenge was to live out your faith at home, in public, and at the ballot box.

Before we prayed, he gave a message over Nehemiah 1. He used the crumbling walls in this chapter as a metaphor for our Nation. Everything I took from this follows. Just like the walls of protection crumbled in Nehemiah 1, so our walls as a Nation are crumbling. We as Christians should not withdraw from politics, rather, we should influence and be a part of it. Too many teachers and political figures today are more concerned with political correctness than God’s truth. To truly be One Nation Under God we have to stand for truth. It starts locally. With you. From school board members, to mayor, to President. Every elected office matters. Let’s bring Christ back into our government.

It is important you know he and his team are not by any means supporting a single candidate or party. He emphasized that the only hope for our country is to pray about whom we are to vote for. He feels “this may be the most important election in the history of our Nation.” After the rally was over, he encouraged us to sign an electronic pledge that said we would pray for our state and country.

For more information on Franklin Graham, or Decision America and how you can be an influence in your community, click the links below!

https://decisionamericatour.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTX1oyJanXY

http://billygraham.org/gallery/decision-america-tour-photos-from-arkansas/

Pray. Vote. Engage.

Batman vs. Superman: A Fight for Contentment

Posted on by
Reply

Allison Hall

 

            When you heard announcements for Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, did you think ‘finally! This is the epic battle to the death that I’ve been waiting for!’? You wouldn’t be much different than other superhero movie goers. The problem is that’s not the movie. There is build up including minor squabble between the heroes but ultimately it’s a lot of Superman with a little bit of Batman who seems to be there to satisfy the title. It remains more true to the actual story line of the heroes than what it is built up to be. In the end, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is off putting due to confusing concepts and cinematography; however, it all seems drawn together by extraordinary talent.

The premise of the film is hyped to be a fight between Batman and Superman, however, the movie is more about Metropolis’ problems regarding Superman. This is probably due to the fact that the film is a sequel to Superman: Man of Steel. Regardless of whether it holds true to basic concepts of these characters, the movie should be able to stand alone. I don’t feel that it does. Batman is thrown into the film as a sort of public bystander with a narrow mentality. In hind sight, he seems to be a whiny, hyperactive brat. There’s no probable or obvious reasoning to the uninformed viewer behind the bat’s aggression. The film jumps from story line to story line and it’s hard to keep track of everything. Somewhere among what’s already been listed, the Lex Luthor story is brought in, Metropolis vs. Superman is touched on, and to further that the Justice League is alluded to. Aside from the movie being over packed, it is also very confusing in letting the audience know where they’re at in time. At some point you jump from what you’re seeing, to two months, to over a year and none of this is clear. Everything seems to be happening within a matter of days. It seems like a big mess of a prematurely popularized movie.

Another oddity is the use of the camera and scene jumps. The cuts do little for insinuating where you’ll be taken next. With the scenes so sparse and separated from the main story line it’s hard to understand and process what’s going on and relevant as well as what has actually happened and what remains to be false reality. There’s a lot of camera panning that adds on to length, dragging the movie out. Some of the camera shots seem unnecessary, such as the panning around buildings, and make the movie seem longer than it is or needs to be. It is typical for these shots to appear in superhero films, but so little seems to happen as far as action goes for prolonged periods of time, so these shots are just agonizing. At certain points it’s boring. There’s action, however, it doesn’t make up for the lengthy scenes. When you go to see a superhero movie, especially versus, you want constant head to head battle and a fast paced story line. That’s not what you get here. There is a lot of Superman feeling sorry for himself, creating a droll mood, and glimpses at an angsty Batman.

A big complaint remains to be the films acting and talent. Ben Affleck has received the most ridicule, but in reality he’s done his job. He plays Batman as a darker entity, which is nice, as apposed to the typical socially awkward Bruce Wayne. Affleck made a personal choice in characterization and I loved it. The rest of the movie is out of the ordinary, why shouldn’t the characters be? Another great talent was Jesse Eisenberg who plays Lex Luthor. In my familiarity, he plays comedic roles and here he’s portraying a deeper identity. He’s jumpy and energetic, not unlike his other roles, yet really portrays Luther as a character slowly descending into madness. Out of all things in the film, his characterization is one of the few things actually understood to be escalating.

This movie is less than satisfying when thinking of it in a new comer’s way. People unfamiliar with Superman or Batman wouldn’t have any trouble getting lost in the chaos. For the expert, this movie may be suitable, but for the average movie-only superhero fan, it is less than enjoyable.

 

Best Ever?

Posted on by
Reply

After an impressive championship run last June by the Golden State Warriors many fans were left wondering what’s next. That question was answered with the greatest regular season in NBA history. After starting the year off with 24 straight wins the Warriors, led by the terrific trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, they went on to go on a 73-9 record. That put them one game ahead of the of the Bulls team of 1996 that hit the 72 win-mark. So the question that is being asked now is are these Golden State Warriors the best team in NBA history.

This Warriors’ team has been better than any other team I have ever watched in my lifetime. They are made up with the best shooting backcourt the NBA has ever seen, along with a roster loaded with talent. While the NBA has been in the process of a change with the 3-point shot being more emphasized, but the Warriors’ took this to the next level. Steph Curry, the reigning MVP, is shooting better than any other player in the history of the NBA. This team has taken the passing of the San Antonio Spurs, and combined that with superior talent along with great chemistry.

The argument of the best team of all time is tough for many fans as it seems to be more about what era you watched. Many fans, and even players have had very strong arguments on this topic. One main reason this topic is tough is because both team’s posses player that are arguably the best player of their generations. One, Michael Jordan, is not as much of an argument because he was head and shoulders above all the competition he played against. Steph Curry on the other hand may not be the best player of his generation, considering the greatness of LeBron James, but he has definitely put himself into the heart of all fans today, young and old.

Besides just what player you watched and loved, there is another thing that many people like to bring up. Clearly the game has shifted in a physicality stand-point. What most arguers of the Bulls like to point out is that the Warriors could not stand up if the game was still played like it was in 90s. However, in that same breath, any fan of Steph Curry and Warriors would tell you that those Bulls would not be able to keep up with the pace, passing, and shooting of this great Golden State team.

Regardless of what team you think is better it is impossible to deny the greatness of this Warrior club. Whether they are better or not than that great Chicago Bulls’ team is impossible to tell, even though Bulls’ great, forward Scottie Pippen, was quoted saying that he thought his Bulls’ team would sweep this Warriors’ team. Either way this team has been fun to watch, and I can’t wait to see if they can repeat.

March Madness’ Mad Math

Posted on by
Reply

Kevin Luthringer

Wow… After the smoke clears following another exciting first weekend of the greatest sports event of the entire year, all I can say is WOW.  Trying to recap a weekend packed with great college basketball in one post isn’t easy but I am going to give it a go.

Well, I feel like natural place to start is good ole Sparty.  Mr. Final Four, Tom Izzo, and his Michigan State Spartans got bounced in the first round to the 15 seed Middle Tennessee State. This one surprised the heck out of me and most likely took me out of the running since I had MSU as a lock to get into the Final Four and the championship.

Now to some of the other awesome games, UALR, or University of Arkansas Little Rock, played in one of the most exciting games I watched this weekend. They had a little guard, number 3, who seemed to be shooting into the ocean. The kid could not miss.

Then the boys from Yale, who have never been to the Big Dance in school history, pulled off the big upset against Baylor (the Baylor kids’ post-game interview after the game was priceless if you haven’t seen it: Taurean Prince Press Conference). Keep in mind however these were both 12 / 5 games, and if you do this often then you know this happens almost every year.

Then you have one of my favorite teams to watch, Steven F. Austin. This team was my biggest concern with the seedings. Somehow SFA with Senior guard Thomas Walkup, who has not lost a conference game in 2 years and made a run in the tournament just a year or two ago was a 14 seed!  Now let me remind you, as I am writing this I still didn’t pick them (banging my head in to a wall) because I really liked Press Virginia and Bob Huggins to wear them out. I was wrong and big time!  SFA looked like the better team all game long. They were unable to hang on in the next game against Notre Dame, however.  And, why?  Because they did what has killed many a team; they played not to lose at the end.  Looking in control most of the game, they got out of their game plan and started running clock.  As time expired and on the THIRD offensive rebound, a Notre Dame player tips it in at the buzzer to send the Lumber Jacks from SFA home.

Among the other upsets a few that don’t seem quite as noteworthy because we have seen these teams make noise in the tournament in the past: VCU, Wichita State, Gonzaga, Syracuse.

But then you have the last two big ones. Hawaii beating Cal, which wasn’t a huge surprise if you caught the news of their leading scorer being injured during a practice right before the tourney and being unable to play.

The big one however, which leads us into the second round, is University of Northern Iowa. (Flashback: I instantly thought of one of their players the year they made the run to the Sweet Sixteen, who had my favorite name I think I have ever seen, Ali Farokhmanesh – and, yes, I did look up the spelling on that). Northern Iowa was able to take out the Longhorns thanks to an amazing one-handed half-court shot by their leader Paul Jesperson at the buzzer.

As UNI was going for the elimination of not one but two Texas teams they gave up the largest lead anyone has EVER given up in the last minute in ANY college basketball game EVER!!!  Sorry for being repetitive and redundant.  Texas A&M went on a 14-2 run with under 44 seconds to play and forced overtime where they would eventually pull the game out in the 2OT. Just to give you an idea of how crazy this was, ESPN has a “Win Percentage Calculator”, and with 44 seconds to go, up by 12, Texas A&M had 0.0% chance to win… Obviously, the reliability of said WPC is in question as A&M was able to pull off the win.  What a crushing loss for the Northern Iowa kids and fans.

Much as in that game, most of the “Cinderellas” lost their slippers for good in the round of 32 except for Syracuse (who could hardly be called a Cinderella, especially considering they were playing lower seeded Middle Tennessee State), Gonzaga who has made a name for themselves in this Tournament in the past, and Wisconsin.  The Badgers win over Xavier was just about as crushing as the Northern Iowa loss. Up by 3 with 11 seconds left Xavier gave up two threes to Wisconsin sharpshooter Brandon Koenig.  One to tie and then the winner with 2 seconds left (here’s the video if you didn’t see it Watch Bill Murray’s face). This led Koenig to say that he “went into his inner Steph Curry” after the game.

Man, I love March Madness.

The Woes of the Veterans’ Administration

Posted on by
Reply

Anthony Hamilton

It is very difficult in recent years to have paid any attention to any news outlet, and not realize that there are major problems as well as challenges facing the veteran’s administration here in the United States. Speaking for myself, as a disabled veteran, I feel the way that we are treated in many cases in downright disgraceful.

We are sent away for months at a time to “protect our freedoms” while in many cases our very family relationships suffer, due to missing births, graduations and every other family function that anyone can think of. There are also the injuries and casualties of war that ultimately can make life exceedingly difficult.

If we were to take a look at the average person (lawmakers) that have a say so about going to war, etc. they generally have no ties to the military, and not only would they not consider going in harm’s way to protect the country, but you hardly see any of their family members on the battlefield either, so why are these same people allowed to block funding to those who come home changed mentally or physically?

In most instances it’s like you go to war, give the best you have to give, then you come back home battle-scarred only to realize that the government has cast you aside, and no longer view you as their problem. It’s almost criminal, the fighting you have to go through with the government in order to get disability when you don’t come back home whole. If it doesn’t flat out take forever, you end up having to file twice and get what you have coming the second time around.

With all the missteps that the VA has recently encountered, some might wonder what type of people they’re hiring, or just how diligent these people might be. While these are fair questions, one thing we all must keep in mind is the budget cuts that the VA has been sustaining. Anytime you have the same amount of work to do with fewer employees, there will definitely be some hiccups along the way.

According to www.blogs.va.gov , there were 1.4 billion dollars in budget cuts in 2015. These cuts will have an adverse effect in Medical care, where they will lose $690 million dollars, meaning 70,000 less vets will have access to VA health care, there will be reduced staffing, and there will be delays in research. There will also be $592 million lost in new facilities, meaning the St. Louis rehab facility, outpatient clinic in Alameda, California and the French Camp CBOC in Livemore, California will either be delayed or not built at all. There will also be 18,000 less military families having the ability to seek a military funeral for loved ones who served.

There have also been recent incidents of veterans being infected at military hospitals because protocol wasn’t properly followed: www.cnn.com broke the story about 1,800 veterans of a VA Hospital in Missouri being infected with HIV due to technicians handwashing instruments before using the cleaning machines, when correct protocol is to only use the cleaning machine. Also the 3,400 vets infected at the Palomar Hospital in San Diego, California during colonoscopies performed with dirty endoscopes.

Another recent misstep was reported by www.foxnews.com regarding the 26.5 million veterans whose social security numbers and birthdates stolen when a VA laptop was stolen from an employee who took this information to his home without authorization.

Despite these discrepancies, there are many VA employees who are very diligent, and who also happen to love their jobs, and as a disabled vet, I have plenty of dealings with these workers. Ambulatory Care Dietician Karrie Cole, at the Texarkana CBOC has worked with me since 2010 trying to help me to take control of my diabetic ills. She has worked for the VA since 2009 and says she loves the job. “It’s very rewarding to know that you’ve helped people become healthier through diet” Cole said. She sees 8-10 patients a day, and she follows up with each patient and documents their progress.

Doctor of Physical Therapy Blair Culbreath at the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport says she also loves her job. “It’s very rewarding to work with someone who may have been injured, and be a major part of helping them regain their strength,” Culbreath said. She sees 5-8 patients in a day depending on whether the patient is new or returning. “I like to spend more time with a new patient to find out about their medical background.” Culbreath also pointed out that the wound care physical therapist sees more patients because they don’t have to spend as much time with each patient.

According to www.thehill.com, the Democrats blocked a VA funding bill from the Republicans in hopes of brokering what they feel would be a better deal for veterans and their families. In my opinion, as long as those in congress continue to play with VA funding like little kids fighting over toys, the VA is going to continue to have their missteps, and unfortunately, the veteran will continue to ultimately pay the price.