Today's WTF

From The Economist:

IN WAR, it is said, there are no unwounded soldiers. Bombs that shatter bones also batter brains. Even on the periphery, war afflicts men with aching joints, ringing ears and psychological damage. Imagine, then, the human damage wrought by over a decade of battle.

America does not have to. Its wounded warriors are now seeking help in record numbers. Nearly half of its 1.6m soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have asked for disability benefits from the government. (Just 21% filed similar claims after the first Gulf war, according to estimates.) With ageing veterans of earlier conflicts also seeking more help, America’s disabled-servicemen population has increased by almost 45% since 2000.

 --snip--

Nearly 1m veterans are now waiting. On average it takes the VA about nine months to complete a claim. In some big cities the average delay is over 600 days. Those who appeal against a refusal usually wait two years for a resolution. Mr Obama entered the White House with a promise to fix the system, but waiting-times have increased considerably on his watch. Even the navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden says he is waiting for his claim to be processed.

But, hey - let's not let all that ruin our day or anything.  In fact, we should look for something heart-warming and sentimental to keep us from thinking too hard about how fucked up all this is. So here's the story about a dog named Lemon Pay who was mutilated by bad guys in a Mexican drug gang:

A dog named Pay de Limon (Lemon Pay) runs, fitted with two front prosthetic legs at Milagros Caninos rescue shelter in Mexico City, on August 29, 2012. Members of a drug gang in the Mexican state of Zacatecas chopped off Limon’s paws to practice cutting fingers off kidnapped people, according to Milagros Caninos founder Patricia Ruiz. Fresnillo residents found Limon in a dumpster bleeding and legless.

After administering first aid procedures, they managed to take him to Milagros Caninos, an association that rehabilitates dogs that have suffered extreme abuse. The prosthetic limbs were made at OrthoPets in Denver, Colorado, after the shelter was able to raise over $6,000.
(Reuters/Tomas Bravo)

So we send people to fight and to bleed and to die in a coupla of really stupid wars, and when they come home broken, we fuck them (and/or their families) around for a year or two while we complain about how expensive and difficult it all is.

But somebody finds a fucked up dog and holy crap, dude - better get on that one right away cuz y'know - the Mexicans can pay us in cash up front and everything.

And Jesus wept.

(ed note: really hoping the dog story isn't an April Fools thing - that would really mellow my harsh)