Burn Pits Are Killing Veterans
A little background on what burn pits are. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere that US troops are deployed without a large infrastructure, there are burn pits. These are, very simply, pits dug into the ground where we burn our trash. Some trash doesn't really want to burn on its own so we would pour jet fuel, JP-8 specifically, onto it to make sure it burns. When you pour incredibly toxic fuel onto equally toxic waste, the smoke is truly awful. Troops would breathe that shit in for MONTHS on end, with almost no reprieve. Spoiler alert, that shit is bad for you. Now, young men and women, often under 30, are dying of incredibly aggressive forms of cancer that, for the most part, are only found in those with burn pit exposure. Cherry on top of this fucked up sundae-the government handed out contracts for incinerators to be used instead. They paid MILLIONS OF DOLLARS for them, and they were too small, too slow, and ended up in the burn pit of government waste. They clearly knew burn pits were a bad idea, even in 2006.
Jon Stewart of Daily Show fame has long fought for the medical rights of 9/11 First Responders. His impassioned testimonies in front of Congress are heart-wrenching. He has recently taken up the cause of Global War On Terror veterans and the fucked up nightmare that burn pit exposure is becoming.
If you are at all familiar with the government, specifically the Department of Veterans Affairs, you completely understand what he is saying. After all, the VA and DoD are still fucking over Vietnam veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange. Quick background on that, it was a defoliant developed to kill entire jungles to deny the enemy the use of them to hide and yes, it is fucked up too.
There are people dying right now, today, because of this burn pit exposure, and the government is shrugging its shoulders about it. Jon Stewart and countless others are just trying to get the government to officially recognize that burning literal tons of toxic trash is bad for you.
If you're a veteran you can be recognized, at least officially unofficially by the VA, by signing your name on the Burn Pit Registry.
There are also some great Veteran Service Organizations that can help you navigate the bureaucratic labyrinth that is the VA. They can be found, ironically, on the VA Website right here.
Whew, okay, Kyle,,,play some Bertie Higgins,,,
That is a pretty heavy topic, but we still had a lot of fun on the show. Cons doesn't know what a vulva is, so I helped him out with a ditty I came up with. Kate did some military ASMR stuff which was weird, and I got triggered over the Air Force using electric scooters to get around on bases. You should listen to the episode.
ROUND 1: ::Whispering:: Round one is sure to give you alllll the tingles as we low crawl into the world of Military ASMR, ooooohhhh, ahhhhh, oooohhhh. Kate has a game that’s sure to leave us all in goosebumps, oOOOOo
ROUND 2: Most military branches are new boot goofin’ but over at Edwards Airforce Base their new SCOOT goofin’ on electric scooters. Would you be seen in uniform rolling over to the PX on one?
ROUND 3: Jon Stewart used to make us laugh on The Daily Show & now he’s making us cheer as he stands up for veterans dealing with fallout from deployment burn pits. He’s calling out the DoD for some real hot garbage.
ROUND 4: Apparently the Russian military had a quick break from trolling us with their planes & vehicles & decided to get real into anatomy. Most recently they stormed a theater to stop a screening of the documentary… Vulva 3.0. For uh, research purposes I’m sure.
ROUND 5: When a Coast Guard crew got sidelined by Coronavirus, the mission was able to keep rolling along thanks to young cadets at the Academy who went on to have the summer of a lifetime on the high seas. Have we finally found a good case of ‘being voluntold’?