In Non-Related News: What the Heck?!

I am quite the news hound. My daily routine includes reading newspapers, visiting websites and blogs - especially those with a militay theme. Beyond reading these for personal edification, I blog here. I need to come up with SOMETHING to talk about! This week was rife with interesting little snippets that I could have talked about. For example, I could have talked about the fact that a new class of aircraft carriers will not have urinals (this will allow for more flexible birthing options). I could have mentioned the very controversial news that a senator from New Hampshire is trying to convince Congress to cover abortions for women service members who are victims of rape or incest. I could have talked about the importance of OPSEC on Facebook, deployment blues, or a myriad of other topics today. Instead, I HAVE to talk about this:

Warhorse: The military's 'My Little Pony' fan club. Yes, you read that right. Military and My Little Pony fan club in the same sentence. Apparently it's a real "thing". I don't know if you've heard of "bronies?" These are adult men who are fans of the My Little Pony cartoon, and I would assume accompanying merchandise. Not that there's anything wrong with that (I'm serious). But this latest phenomenon involves members of the US Military attending these Pony Conventions in uniform and sporting pony patches, or "cutie patches". I'm pretty sure that's not okay.

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Speaking of "not okay", you may have heard that UnitedHealth Group has won the latest appeal in the TriWest battle. Beginning April 1, 2013, United takes over servicing Tricare contracts. I've heard from numerous spouses on the West Coast that this change in insurance providers is going to have direct and detrimental results in their children's care: United pays out less to medical providers than TriWest did. Drastically less. An example: 1 hour of Speech Therapy had cost TriWest $114 in payment. United will only pay $36. Children are going to end up losing services because this pitiful amount of payment is less than what the offices would actually pay the medical professional hourly! I have no idea how this can possible end in good for military family members. 

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I'll end on a high note, of sorts. Actor Charlie Sheen has pledged a million dollars to the USO. 

"It's an honor for me to be able to give back to these men and women of the military who have done so much for all of us," Sheen said in a statement. "They put their lives on the line for us every day, and I'm just happy that my work on 'Anger Management' can bring a little bit of relief to the troops and their families."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great. Excellent. Very happy for the families who will be directly effected by this. Unfortunately, this means I will grudgingly take his name off my "poop list" for all the cray-cray he put us through last year!