'These Are Human Beings': VA Fires 1,400 More Employees It Considers Nonessential
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... The Department of Veterans Affairs fired 1,400 more employees Monday, bringing the total number of dismissals in the department to roughly 2,400 under the Trump administration's effort to slash the size of the federal workforce.

The workers -- more than 3.3% of the department's probationary employees -- were union members considered to have "non-mission critical" positions, according to a VA news release Monday evening. The move follows the firings of nearly 1,000 probationary employees Feb. 14, some of which were walked back later when they were determined to be essential employees.

The announcement drew sharp criticism from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which issued the first major statement since the firings began from a national veterans service organization. The ongoing cuts may disproportionately affect vets, since they make up more than 28% of the VA workforce and account for the same share of the federal workforce.

VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt said fired veterans weren't "brand-new, off-the-street employees," but were those who had served the country for decades in uniform and civil service.

"There are bigger ramifications in firing veterans than just faceless workers being let go. The American people are losing technical expertise, training and security clearances already bought and paid for by taxpayers," Lipphardt said in a statement Monday night. "We're losing people who are genuinely committed to the mission and find a continued sense of purpose in what they do."

VA Secretary Doug Collins described the dismissals as "extraordinarily difficult" but said the savings in salaries and benefits -- an estimated $83 million a year -- would go toward serving veterans, families and survivors. In fiscal 2023, the VA's budget was nearly $304 billion, including mandatory spending such as disability payments and pensions. ...

VA Research on Cancer, Suicide Prevention, Toxic Exposure at Risk from Federal Hiring Freeze
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... Hundreds of Department of Veterans Affairs medical research projects are being threatened by a hiring freeze across the federal government, a pair of top Democratic senators warned in a letter to the department this week.

About 200 research personnel could be cut and an estimated 370 studies and clinical trials could be canceled or suspended in the next 90 days if the freeze isn't lifted, the senators said, "directly impacting up to 10,000 veterans currently participating in research studies."

Studies on cancer treatments, opioid addiction, prosthetics, suicide prevention and toxic exposures are among those at risk, a coalition of research organizations warned in its own letter to Congress last week. ...

Johnny Mandel - Suicide Is Painless
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Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
The Tongue-in-cheek theme song for the very sad tongue-in-cheek comedy about the Korean war -- directed at the Vietnam war -- for both film and TV series. The film was released in 1970, at the height of the Vietnam war, and the TV series debuted in 1972, appealing to the growing anti-war crowd, lasted 11 years and was arguably one of the most successful series ever.
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