America’s younger veterans are now facing a similar crisis.
Burn pits, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) says, are “this generation’s Agent Orange.”
For hundreds of thousands of veterans who served in the Persian Gulf region since 1990, tons of war zone waste was disposed of in burn pits, at times causing billows of toxic black smoke to permeate surrounding areas.
The VA says items burned in open air pits included chemicals, paint, medical and human waste, metal, munitions, unexploded ordnances, petroleum, plastics, rubber and food waste.
Yet, the VA has not linked burn pits directly to adverse health effects.
Data shows backlog, long wait for social security disability hearings
Data shows backlog, long wait for social security disability hearings By Max Diekneite | February 8, 2021 at 6:09 PM EST - Updated February 8 at 7:00 PM
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A WTOC Investigation found some people in Georgia and South Carolina are waiting more than a year just to find out if they are eligible for social security disability benefits.
According to data given to WTOC by the Social Security Administration (SSA), 63.4% of people who apply for disability are denied the first time. The SSA said it usually takes about 200 days to find out. But for many, that’s just the beginning. According to new data released in October, the average wait time for an appeal hearing in the Savannah area is 356 days – nearly an entire year.
U.S. sanctions targeting Venezuela have likely had a negative effect on the South American country s economy, a report published Monday by a U.S. government watchdog said.
Facial recognition may help find Capitol rioters but it could harm many others, experts say By Johana Bhuiyan, Los Angeles Times
Published: February 8, 2021, 6:00am
Share: FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 file photo, supporters of President Donald Trump, including Jacob Chansley, right with fur hat, are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. A judge ordered corrections authorities to provide organic food to an Arizona man who is accused of participating in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol while sporting face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Advocates say not enough is being done to track the issue and hold offenders responsible.
The murder rate of Indigenous women is more than 10 times beyond the national average on some reservations, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Four out of five Indigenous women have reported experiencing violence, more than half of which have been sexual in nature, according to the National Congress of American Indians.
There were 565 actively missing Indigenous women across the country, KUTV reported on Feb. 4, citing information from the FBI.
Yet data from Indigenous organizations suggest that figure might actually be far greater. In 2016, the Urban Indian Health Institute found there were 5,712 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, of which only 116 had been in a federal missing persons database.