Last updated on 2014.04.09
Veterans for a Strong America, a Swift-Boaty organization created by Republican South Dakota lawyer Joel Arends to put a patriotic gloss on arch-conservative bushwah, appears to be doing something nice. My inbox lit up this afternoon with a press release from VSA announcing a medical mission to the Philippines, leaving Sunday and returning on January 14.
Here's the full release:
Vets Deploy to Philippines to Aid Typhoon Victims
Vets Group will Administer Over a Million Dollars in Needed MedicineFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASESIOUX FALLS, SD January 2, 2014 – The Veterans for a Strong America Foundation has announced it will be sending medical professionals that are combat veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide medical services and aid relief efforts in the Philippines.From January 5 through January 15 six veterans from five states will converge on the Philippines to provide medical and logistical support to existing relief agencies. In addition to the six veterans, five other personnel will also provide medical, logistical and relief support.
Veterans for a Strong America Foundation chairman Joel Arends will lead the group to the Tacloban area of the Philippines, one of the hardest hit areas by Typhoon Haiyang. “Veterans are looking to further their service out of uniform and the group that we’ve recruited is perfectly suited to bolster the relief effort – they know how to handle adversity in austere conditions and will adapt very quickly and hit the ground running. Our team is filled with a mix of military and civilian medical professionals that all have significant experience they can bring to bear in a part of the world that needs our help right now.”
In addition to bringing skilled medical professionals to the Philippines, the group will also bring along $1.5 million in much-needed antibiotics and other vital medicine that has been unable to make it way to the hardest hit areas of the islands. “Thanks to the great efforts of our partners and team members, they were able to procure over a million dollars in medicine that we will bring with us and administer while on the ground,” said VSA Foundation chairman Joel Arends.
The Foundation also has a secondary mission – to provide veterans with meaningful international experiences that build relationships with other countries. “The Philippines and the United States have a long history of working together and our military team members know that history reaches back to the special bond formed between the two countries during WWII. Trips like these help us build and strengthen international relationships between our countries and veterans are some of the best trained diplomats our nation has to offer” [Veterans for a Strong America, press release, 2014.01.02].
Just as interesting is the note at the bottom. The e-mail came from VSA, and they tell me to direct media inquiries to VSA's e-mail, but the footer reads thus:
Copyright © 2014 Dr. Annette Bosworth for Senate, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you are a member of the media.
Our mailing address is:
Dr. Annette Bosworth for Senate
2601 S. Minnesota Ave.
Suite 105-129
Sioux Falls, SD 57105
So the VSA press release is copyrighted by the Bosworth Senate campaign. I don't usually see press releases copyrighted; that makes me wonder if they slapped "For Immediate Release" at the top just to trick me into reprinting copyrighted material so Annette and husband Chad Haber could finally tell their lawyer Joel to sue the Madville Times.
But let's not be conspiratorial. The release doesn't say Annette is one of the civilian medical professionals joining this mission, but her recent Twitterage about booking tickets to the Philippines and asking God for money, as well as some underground chatter I've heard about Team Bosworth-Haber organizing something they hope to brand as "Delta Force Medics," suggests this Annette's latest flight of fancy.
This trip could be the smartest thing Annette does all year. She'll get away from Facebook and conservative pandering. She'll get away from Starbucks and the daily personal revivals at Hy-Vee. If she's really lucky, she'll get away from Chad. She'll get back to what she's really good at: caring for patients. Dealing with medical crises. Doing the good she's best equipped to do. Maybe she'll get four days in to helping people in need and remember why she got her medical degree.
And on the plane ride back across the big blue ocean, she'll tell Joel to draft her termination of candidacy to send to the FEC. She'll get home, hug her boys, restore her clinic's normal operating hours... and tell Chad to get a real job. That might have made #11 on my 2014 wish list.
Do good work, Joel and Annette. Serve others with pure hearts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b5aW08ivHU
I found the address interesting: 2601 S. Minnesota Ave. Suite 105-129. After I did a little checking, I believe this is the new home of Bosworth for Senate Campaign HQ: http://www.theupsstorelocal.com/2125/products--services. While Chad now has a locked office, I don't believe there is room for a desk.
ha ha ha, shame on you interested.
Well, that confirms the reports that Arends, a Rounds supporter with Dan Lederman, is behind the Bosworth campaign for Rounds. He and Lederman are also rumored to have been instrumental in getting Ravnsborg in the race for Rounds.
Brilliant idea to have numerous candidates claiming to be conservative in the race to keep voters confused and national groups distracted from getting behind an actual conservative.
Well, if CH is guilty of copyright infringement, then Pat Powers is even more so since he published the release as well, without acknowledging the copyright. On the other hand, in light of the previous buildup to the Phillipines trip by the Bos, as well as her other bizarre behaviors, one must wonder if there has not been some co-opting of a legitimate release. Arends might very well be extremely upset. Guess the only thing to do is to ask Arends whether this release is from him or Bosworth. Of course, the Bosworth campaign news probably belongs in "The Globe" (since Weekly World News is defunct).
Oh, Annette and Chad are both going alright...look at Chad Haber's FB page...there's a pic of them titled 'packing to go the Philippines! and yes the dates correlate with Arends trip as do the comments under the pic. They did great things in Haiti and I am sure they will do great things in the Philippines; but, there's one thing about the Bosworth/Haber team: they NEVER do ANYTHING purely for doing good for someone else, whether it be the homeless (the scandal that almost cost the Dr. her medical license), the fight against depression with the latest technology (the scandal surrounding her TMS machine she stole from another Dr.), the raffle for the veterans (the scandal she started and hasn't paid back the raffle ticket holders for), or Haiti (the country almost worked with them to give them millions in land there); so, the question is, what's in it for them. Because, honestly, there's always an ulterior/alterior motive behind what they do.
I haven't heard about the scandal surrounding the TMS machine, WestRiver... Can you fill me/us in?
DeejayBeejr, that address is a strip mall and the UPS Store is one of its tenants. Kristi Noem's campaign headquarters were once located there but the space is empty and the translucent sign on the lighted sign display was turned around to face backwards. Which kind of sums up her time in office ... backwards.
Did anyone ask Joel who is paying for Bosworth's ticket? The one her son was asking people to donate to recently? Or was Bosworth's ticket paid for by VSA and the donation was actually for Chad's ticket? Just curious.
CAH,
We should just talk about the TMS machine thing sometime offline, then you can do what you want with the info. :)
CAH,
I thought you may also be interested in some of the comments on Bosworth's stuff over on PP page. Find the blog about Denton Haber giving her family a puppy for Christmas video...you'll see that there is obviously someone in the Haber family calling her bluff as well. I believe the comments states that most of the video is crap, that all Denton Haber wanted was for them to show up for a Christmas, get out of the RV and come live with him instead of making it part of their fake controversy, and that a dead man can't defend himself. Interesting stuff; maybe the Haber family would be willing to talk ?
The door for conversation is always open....
(TMS -- I have a friend who uses that treatment. She says it works. But shouldn't one be getting that treatment from a psychiatrist, not a medical doctor?)
TG, I have sent VSA a question about funding for the trip.
I think what everyone wants to know is if she will still be posting her semi-daily devotionals
Powers deleted a post pointing out that Arends sent the press release with campaign information for Bosworth. It is appearing that Arends is using his non-profit to support Bosworth's campaign, which is probably pretty illegal.
What is even more disturbing is the growing appearance that Rounds is behind a scheme to recruit decoy conservative candidates to distract SD conservatives and national groups. Arends and Lederman are both avowed Rounds supporters and yet both have campaign support ties to Bosworth and Ravnsborg.
DD - what are A & L's campaign support ties to B & R? I haven't seen anything but I don't read everything either. Thanks!
I have a real hard time figuring out why we always send help to other countries when they have a natural disaster and during Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy none of these countries sent any help to us. I know the reasons, but to me it just isn't right. There are places and people in our country that need help.
Correction, Joan: our allies offered $846 million in resources to help after Hurricane Katrina. We used only $40 million, wasted some, rejected a lot more. Says this 2007 Washington Post article, "Overall, the United States declined 54 of 77 recorded aid offers from three of its staunchest allies: Canada, Britain and Israel, according to a 40-page State Department table of the offers that had been received as of January 2006."
Why would a country that has the Federal Reserve kicking in 85 BILLION a month worry about the peanuts of 846 Million? Not even one of those Billion!