The
Scripps Howard News Service has, over the last month,
been probing how
veterans are compensated for injuries and illnesses. In the process of plowing
through the databases, Scripps learned something nobody expected -- that since the
1970s, possibly thousands of veterans have received millions of dollars in
disability checks for venereal diseases they got while in military service. For
example,
the story tells about
a Columbia, S.C., veteran who served from 1955 to
1958 and said he had caught gonorrhea about 10 times during and after his service, which caused arthritis in his left knee. A VA appeals
board in 2005 evaluated him as 20-percent disabled and, therefore, eligible for about $200 a month. The Scripps story explains:
Scores of veterans across the country are getting lifetime checks
from the government for gonorrhea, genital herpes and other venereal diseases
they caught while in the ranks.
The disability payments are made under a little-known provision
from three decades ago that entitles vets to monthly benefits for sexually
transmitted diseases they contracted, or simply aggravated, while in the
service -- even if they became infected on their own time years ago.
Under the rule Congress created at the end of the Vietnam War,
even genital warts are considered a "service-connected" condition
entitling a vet to the same $100 or more a month for the rest of his or her
life that those who suffer wounds or battle injuries can receive.
This enrages some veterans of combat in Iraq, particularly those who have
had to battle the backlogged Department of Veterans Affairs bureaucracy to be
deemed worthy of benefits for clearly war-related disabilities. For them, the
fact that the VA's resources and taxpayers' wallets are being tapped for such
claims is hard to stomach.
"It's a crock," said Jerry Yarbrough, a former volunteer
fire fighter in Gibson County, Tenn., who suffered major systemic damage from
heatstroke as an Army fueling specialist in the early days of the Iraq invasion
and continues to fight for full benefits now that he's "a virtual prisoner
in my own home."
The number of veterans getting benefits for sexually transmitted
diseases is unclear. Repeated requests to the Department of Veterans Affairs
for that information went unanswered.
But a review by Scripps Howard News Service of more than 60,000
cases under the purview of the VA's Veterans Benefits Administration reveals
that there likely have been thousands of vets since 1972 who, collectively,
have drawn millions of dollars in payments for conditions they readily
acknowledge came from illicit sexual activity.
The Mercury Rumor
There is a rumor/urban myth in the wind about the
increasingly popular fluorescent light bulbs. The rumor is, as some are, partly
based in fact.
The story goes like this -- when a person breaks a fluorescent light
bulb, the breakage releases enough mercury to require a cleanup from a hazardous-materials
response crew. It actually did happen in Maine, but Snopes.com tracked down the
rumor and the truth.
See this story from
WABC-TV in New York.
Webbies
Awarded
Check out the nominees and winners here.
10
Most-Used Computer Passwords
The new PC Magazine lists them:
1. password
2.
123456
3.
qwerty
4.
abc123
5.
letmein
6.
monkey
7.
myspace1
8.
password1
9.
blink182
10.
(your first name)
Gray Behind the Wheel
Here is a story that really uses the power of many media to
fill out our understanding of a story. It
includes a multimedia project that helps the reader understand what aging
has to do with driver safety. It also includes a
database that helps every reader get local. The
package includes explanations of medical problems that can affect driving ability.
USA
Today
found:
Fatality rates for drivers begin to climb after age 65, according
to a recent study by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the AAA
Foundation for Traffic Safety, based on data from 1999-2004. From ages 75 to
84, the rate of about three deaths per 100 million miles driven is equal to the
death rate of teenage drivers. For drivers 85 and older, the fatality rate
skyrockets to nearly four times higher than that for teens.
The numbers are particularly daunting at a time when the U.S.
Census Bureau projects there will be 9.6 million people 85 and older by 2030,
up 73 percent from today. Road safety analysts predict that by 2030, when all baby
boomers are at least 65, they will be responsible for 25 percent of all fatal crashes.
In 2005, 11 percent of fatal crashes involved drivers that old.
AARP
also has some resources on how to know when it is time to hang up the keys
and how to help somebody who is unsafe but won't quit driving.
Al's Morning Multimedia
When
I talk about what makes multimedia projects work in the journalism world, I use
the word "interaction." Online users love to interact with information. While
today's multimedia site is not a journalism site, it illustrates well what I am
talking about. Just click here and
play along in a game of chess. Not only can you play the computer, you can
see what the computer is thinking as it plots out your possible future moves
and what moves it might make.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
A couple additional resources here: The risks at intersections for...
