********** Comment **********

Joe, I visited that "circus" last week, and when Norma tried to pay in dollars, even though they had signs up all over the place stating they would accept payment as you have stated here, the cashier refused to accept dollars, "only pesos."  I understand this undeclared change may have occurred after several other embassies complained that while Immigrations accepted US currency, it refused theirs.
(Source: Walter Graue, DAV-3 Life Member)

 

Thank you Walter and we would appreciate any other feed back as well. 

Help us keep you informed.

++++++++++ GENERAL INFORMATION  ++++++++++++
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Adjustments for Service-Connected Benefits
AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: As required by the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2004, Public Law 108-363, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is hereby giving notice of adjustments in certain benefit
rates. These adjustments affect the compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) programs.

DATES: These adjustments are effective December 1, 2004, the date provided by Public Law 108-363.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pamela C. Liverman, Consultant, Compensation and Pension Service (212A), Veterans Benefit Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue,
NW., Washington, DC 20420, (757) 858-6148, ext. 107.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 2 of Public Law 108-363 provides for an increase in each of the rates in sections 1114, 1115(1), 1162, 1311, 1313, and 1314 of title 38, United States Code. VA is required to increase these benefit rates by the same percentage as increases in the benefit amounts payable under title II of the Social Security Act. In computing increased rates in the cited title 38 sections, fractions of a dollar are rounded down to the nearest dollar. The increased rates are required to be published in the Federal Register.

> > > > > Veterans Helping Veterans < < < < < <

++++++++++ NEXT LOCAL INFORMATION  ITEM ++++++++++++

DAV-3 RAFFLE BOOKS
FOR SALE: P250 ea.

PRIZES:

1ST:  P 10,000 (Pesos)
2nd:   P   5,000
 3rd:   P    3,000
4th:   P    2,000

*Drawing will be held at DAV's April 8, 2005 GMM.  Winners not need be present to win.

See the following for Tickets or more Info:

            1.   DAV Office
            2.   DAV Chapter Officers
            3.   All Veteran's Service Organizations

All proceeds will go to operation of the DAV office to better serve veterans.

++++++++++ LOCAL INFORMATION  Cont. ++++++++++++

From Jim Boyd, U.S. Embassy Warden

 

U.S. Embassy Outreach 

Is scheduled on 01 April 2005 (Friday) 0800 - 1100 HRS at the north end of Holliday Inn, Clark & Will include the following Representatives:

  a.. AMERICAN CITIZEN SERVICES
  b.. SOCIAL SECURITY
  c.. VETERANS ADMINISTRATION (VA)
  d.. IRS
* Hopefully others will be there as well (Will know later)

Great time to obtain service locally and to avoid a trip to Manila... Please remember that all payments to American Services must be in U.S. Dollars and the exact amount.

        1.  Current ICR/ACR
        2.  Valid Passport
        3.  $50 or Peso equivalent

Thurs. and Fri., Apr 7-8, 2005 at 0800 hrs (8 am) in the VFW Post 2485 meeting room.

The deadline for card issuance has been extended until Jun 30, 2005. 

++++++++++ NEXT LOCAL INFORMATION  ITEM ++++++++++++
Excerpt from:
Retiree Activities Office (RAO)
Clark Air Base Region - Angeles City, Philippines
PSC 517 Box R C
FPO AP 96517-1000
http://www2.mozcom.com/~rao_cabr
 

U.S. EMBASSY OUTREACH AT ANGELES CITY: 

 

#################################################################

 

 

 

 

 

Description
We are retired military members and their families living in the Philippines. The group is open to all retired military living in the Philippines who are genuinely interested in participating in such a group, who is interested in the mutual assistance we can give to each other, in socializing with other military retirees, in sharing the special concerns and problems we have or may face, in helping newcomers to find their way in a foreign country and its culture. Spam postings will not be tolerated. No flames, personal attacks. No name-calling is allowed. And Filipino bashing is not acceptable. This is also not the place to discuss American politics.
Check it out, good amout of veteran related information and also some very useful info for we retirees living here.

++++++++++ GENERAL VETERAN INFORMATION ++++++++++++

38 CFR §4.16 Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability of the individual.

        (a) Total disability ratings for compensation may be assigned, where the scheduler rating is less than total, when the disabled person is, in the judgment of the rating agency, unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service-connected disabilities: Provided, That, if there is only one such disability, this disability shall be ratable at 60 percent or more, and that, if there are two or more disabilities, there shall be at least one disability ratable at 40 percent or more, and sufficient additional disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more. For the above purpose of one 60 percent disability, or one 40 percent disability in combination, the following will be considered as one
disability:

                (1) Disabilities of one or both upper extremities, or of one or both lower extremities, including                                         the bilateral factor, if applicable,

                (2) Disabilities resulting from common etiology or a single accident,

                (3) Disabilities affecting a single body system, e.g. orthopedic, digestive,                                                                         respiratory, cardiovascular-renal, neuropsychiatric,

                (4) Multiple injuries incurred in action, or

                (5) Multiple disabilities incurred as a prisoner of war.

It is provided further that the existence or degree of nonservice-connected disabilities or previous unemployability status will be disregarded where the percentages referred to in this paragraph for the service-connected disability or disabilities are met and in the judgment of the rating agency such service-connected disabilities render the veteran unemployable. Marginal employment shall not be considered substantially gainful employment. For purposes of this section, marginal employment generally shall be deemed to exist when a veteran's earned annual income does not exceed the amount established by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, as the poverty threshold for one person. Marginal employment may also be held to exist, on a facts found basis (includes but is not limited to employment in a protected environment such as a family business or sheltered workshop), when earned annual income exceeds the poverty threshold. Consideration shall be given in all claims to the nature of the employment and the reason for termination. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a))

        (b) It is the established policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs that all veterans who are unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of service-connected disabilities shall be rated totally disabled. Therefore, rating boards should submit to the Director, Compensation and Pension Service, for extra-schedular consideration all cases of veterans who are unemployable by reason of
service-connected disabilities, but who fail to meet the percentage standards set forth in paragraph (a) of this section. The rating board will include a full statement as to the veteran's service-connected disabilities, employment history, educational and vocational attainment and all other factors having a bearing on the issue.

++++++++++ GENERAL VETERAN INFORMATION ++++++++++++

End-of-Life Decisions: What Would You Want?

Schiavo Case Forces Americans to Think About the Unthinkable
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46356
By Daniel DeNoon, WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Michael Smith, MD on Monday, March 21, 2005

March 21, 2005 - What would Terri Schiavo want?

Would the brain-damaged Florida woman want doctors to remove the feeding tube that has kept her alive for 16 years? Her husband believes she would. Would she instead prefer to keep whatever life remains to her? Her siblings and parents believe so.

And what about us? Whatever we think about the Schiavo case, it forces all of us to ask ourselves a troubling question. If we were in the same situation as Terri Schiavo, what would we want?

It may be the most important decision we ever make. Important decisions require information. To get that information, WebMD turned to two end-of-life experts.

End-of-Life Decisions: Brain Death vs. Persistent Vegetative State

Richard Demme, MD, leads the ethics committee at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. His group is responsible for determining what kinds of life-prolonging medical care - if any - patients want.

Schiavo, Demme notes, is not brain dead. Brain death means that there is no longer any electrical activity in any part of the brain. People who are brain dead cannot breathe on their own - and Terri Schiavo clearly can.

Most of the doctors in the Schiavo case say she is in something called a persistent vegetative state. Demme, who saw her brain scans at a medical meeting, agrees.

"It means the lower part of the brain that tells her lungs to breathe is still intact. But it doesn't mean she has any thoughts or the ability to experience anything," Demme tells WebMD. "Her brain is pretty much full of fluid. Barring some miracle, she will never get any better than she is now. There is nothing in medicine we know of that will make her able to think or experience again. To suggest there are medical therapies that can help her - that all she needs is tender loving care and she will be romping in the back yard again - is cruel."

End-of-Life-Decisions: Quality of Life, or Life Itself?

Just because a patient will never get better doesn't mean that person wants to die, Demme notes.

"Studies find that roughly two-thirds of Americans say, 'Quality of life is really important to me.' They would rather die a little sooner if their remaining life would be better," he says. "And about a third of Americans say, 'I don't care how bad things get, I will take every little gasp of life I can get, because death lasts a long time.'"

Some 40,000 Americans, Demme says, are living in a persistent vegetative state.

"Their loved ones think they may get some satisfaction from their lives," he says. "There is no consensus on this. Some people think, 'I would not like to live like that.'"

End-of-Life Decisions: Feeding Tube Removal

Terri Schiavo can't chew or swallow. She's kept alive by a feeding tube, says William Lamers, MD, medical consultant for The Hospice Foundation of America. Lamers, one of the first doctors to develop a hospice program in the United States, has led the standards and accreditation committee of the National Hospice Organization.

"She has a clear plastic tube that enters the middle of her abdomen," Lamers tells WebMD. "Food is prepared in a blender and poured into a spout and gravity-drained into her stomach. That can provide sufficient calories to keep her alive year after year. It is a wet mixture, so it provides hydration as well."

What would happen if the tube were removed? Schiavo would die of dehydration and malnutrition. That sounds terrible.

"When the feeding tube is discontinued, she goes into a negative protein balance," Lamers says. "Her body begins to metabolize her reservoirs of fat and muscle tissue. That - or, if she doesn't get water, dehydration - will probably be the thing that causes her kidneys and liver to stop functioning. Then she will go from kidney and liver failure to heart or brain dysfunction and die."

Surprisingly, Lamers says, it's a gentle death - and one chosen by many terminally ill patients. Lamers has attended many patients who have chosen to die this way.

"That kind of a death is not very painful," he says. "We know this from a tremendous amount of observations in patients who voluntarily stopped eating. They didn't experience a great deal of pain or discomfort."

Most of the pain, Lamers says, is felt by the patient's family.

"It is usually more difficult for the family," he says. "And it is difficult to let go. You have to sit there and listen to the family, and encourage discussion between the patient and the family so they get their reasoning out in front of everybody. I have done this with people who wanted to discontinue dialysis, disconnect the respirator, remove the feeding tube - there comes a time when people want to say enough is enough. The determination the family needs to make is this: "Is this a reasonable conclusion to make right now, to say I will die a natural death from lack of oxygen or food or water?"

End-of Life-Decisions: Getting What You Want

Most of us fear being in Schiavo's situation - that is, having to rely on others to guess what we'd want if we couldn't speak for ourselves.

Yet very few of us have taken the necessary steps. A recent poll by FindLaw.com shows that only one in three Americans has made a living will.

And even a living will does not ensure your wishes will be honored, Demme notes. Too often, he says, such wills fail to foresee specific circumstances that put people in ambiguous medical situations.

What's best, he says, is to legally designate someone to make decisions for you if you aren't able to make them yourself.

"When arguing parties are involved, legally designated health care proxy is the best thing we can have," Demme says. "I won't say living wills or advance directives are bad, but they are frequently misinterpreted or uninterpretable. But a health care proxy is much more flexible. It gives us somebody in real time to talk to."

Do you know what's in a Living Will?  Find out here:  Advance Medical Directives: Living Will, Power of Attorney, and Health Care Proxy

SOURCES: Richard Demme, MD, nephrologist and ethics committee chairman, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y. William Lamers, MD, medical consultant, The Hospice Foundation of America. FindLaw.com.
©2005 WebMD Inc.
©1996-2005 MedicineNet, Inc.
Statements and information regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Please consult your healthcare provider before beginning any course of supplementation or treatment.

++++++++++ GENERAL VETERAN INFORMATION ++++++++++++

Useful Websites & VA Publications

US Embassy, Manila  http://usembassy.state.gov/manila/
Department of Veterans Affairs - Home Page  http://www.va.gov/
Defense Finance and Accounting Service  http://www.dfas.mil/
Social Security Administration  http://www.ssa.gov/
38 CFR  http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/38cfr4_03.html
VA - My Health e Vet  http://www.myhealth.va.gov./
DAV National  http://www.dav.org/default.html
AL POST 123  http://www.geocities.com/philampost123/
VFW Post 2485  http://www.vfwpost2485.com/
RAO A.C. & Clark Area  http://mozcom.com/~rao_cabr/
RAO Baguio Area  http://post_119_gulfport_ms.tripod.com/rao1.html
RAO Subic Area  http://www.raosubic.com/
House Committee on Vet Affairs  http://www.veterans.house.gov/
LEGISLATION - THOMAS  http://thomas.loc.gov/