DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—A group of 24 veterans organizations signed a letter slamming the Department of Veteran Affairs under Secretary Denis McDonough’s leadership for allegedly stonewalling veterans’ access to timely medical care when the VA bureaucracy fails to meet their needs. The letter, which was sent Monday and obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation, accused the Biden-Harris VA of undertaking a “concerted and strategic effort” to hinder veterans from accessing community care options when direct VA care is not immediately available. VSO-Letter-to-SecVA-on-Community-Care-Access-2-Dec-24Download Community Cares, a Trump-era program greenlit in 2018 as part of the VA MISSION Act, allows veterans to get specific care from non-VA providers if the department approves the request. Specifically, the letter calls on McDonough to approve community care referrals made by VA physicians and to remove “Referral Coordination Teams” that judge if any given referral by a physician is “clinically appropriate.” “Mr. Secretary, while these last approximately 50 days of the Biden-Harris Administration may seem like a minute for government agencies, for the sick veterans waiting for health care and getting the bureaucratic runaround from [Veterans Health Administration] almost two months can be a lifetime, both figuratively and literally,” the letter reads. “The Trump-Pence administration was clear as to what their regulatory intent was with regard to community care access in their original June 2019 community care access standard regulation.” The VA also blamed budgetary constraints within the department on the existence of community care options, despite the fact that a patient only becomes eligible if direct VA care is not available, according to the letter. The VA allegedly abuses inaccurate wait-time numbers, which allows the VA to skimp on providing community care options to patients by inputting their date of inquiry in the VA system 20 to 28 days later, according to the letter. The practice gives the VA more time to allow the direct VA care system to take the request when community care could have provided it earlier, according to the letter. The organizations’ advocated for an external scheduling system that the letter claims would speed up care considerably. “The budgetary facts do not support the argument that community care is somehow robbing Direct VA Care,” the letter reads. “Instead, it’s clear VHA can’t provide adequate and timely Direct VA Care, but apparently it is trying to protect those Direct VA care dollars for veteran patients that cannot be seen.” The signatories include the National Defense Committee, U.S. Navy Association, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and Mission: POW/MIA, along with 20 other organizations. VA press secretary Terrence Hayes told the DCNF in a statement that the direct VA care system is seeing record-high usage and trust from its patients, saying the VA care system is “proven to be the best care in America for Veterans.” “Whenever it takes too long to get a veteran access to needed care at a VA facility (or if they would have to drive too far), we ensure that they get care from a community provider,” Hayes said. “Veterans eligible for community care can always choose to receive care from a provider in VA’s community care network.” Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post Veterans Groups Accuse Biden-Harris VA of Stonewalling Access to Medical Care appeared first on The Daily Signal.

ActBlue In Trouble?

No, it won’t be called Moony McMoonFace!

If correct, signs of primordial black holes could be easily detected on Earth.

The new WWF report represents a decade of describing new-to-science species from across six countries.

If you are reading this, it is thanks to this technology.

A New York Times writer is facing substantial criticism after referring to biological women as "non-transgender women." The author was discussing testosterone levels and men in women's sports, particularly San Jose State University's male volleyball player Blaire (Brayden) Fleming, who plays on the SJSU women's volleyball team.At 6'1'', Fleming possesses obvious strength and athletic advantages over women, a fact that has been noticed by countless athletes who have shared the court with him. This includes teammate Brooke Slusser, who told Blaze News that Fleming's "power" was something she had "never seen before."Fleming's inclusion has caused the following schools to forfeit matches: Boise State (twice), Nevada, Southern Utah, Utah State, and Wyoming.'This is so insulting to the billions of women in the world.'New York Times writer Juliet Macur declined to name the athlete, however, citing that "she" has not "publicly confirmed her identity and declined an interview request."The most contentious part of the article came when the author was discussing the NCAA's rules surrounding hormone levels and the inclusion of transgender athletes.The excerpt, which has angered many women, reads as follows:On its website, the N.C.A.A. says trans volleyball players are eligible to play if their testosterone level is less than 10 nanomoles per liter — that's at least four times more than what many experts say is the top of the range for non-transgender women, and in the typical range for adult men.This reference to women as "non-transgender," as if men who believe they are women or receive surgeries to appear as a woman are indeed the norm, set off a firestorm with actual women online.British Olympian Sharron Davies said she felt this was evidence that transgenderism is a "men's rights movement." "Women are now Non transgender women! Just wow! How anyone can say this isn't a men's rights movement I'll never know, whilst women lose their rights, their words, their safeguards, their sports, their sex discrimination laws ... I will never understand."Tennis legend Martina Navratilova, who even has "#VoteBlue" on her X profile, took great offense to the excerpt:"[New York Times] you stink. We are women, not NOT TRANSGENDER WOMEN. Just WOMEN will do in the future."Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace simply called the article "bs," while Chaya Raichik said through her popular account Libs of TikTok that she felt insulted."Hey [New York Times], I'm not a 'non-transgender woman.' I'm a woman. Adult human female. This is so insulting to the billions of women in the world."Many other "non-transgender" women took shots at the outlet, with some simply calling the publication "a joke."New York Times is a joke.— Ruthless World ?? (@Ruthlessworld2) December 1, 2024 Another woman said the New York Times had made itself "irrelevant" with this kind of verbiage, while a woman named Katie said the language contributed to the "erasure of women." They have made themselves completely irrelevant. No one cares what @nytimes says about anything.— Elaine ?? (@sweetdreamdairy) December 1, 2024 Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) committed "medical malpractice," according to the final investigative report from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.The over 500-page report, released Monday, claimed that Cuomo "participated in medical malpractice and publicly covered up the total number of nursing home fatalities in New York."'Cuomo's executive chamber decided to remove "out-of-facility" fatalities — such as nursing home residents who died from COVID after falling ill and being transferred to hospitals.'Over the past several months, the subcommittee has released findings from its investigations, alleging that Cuomo made "criminally false statements" about a July 2020 New York State Department of Health report that downplayed the number of COVID-related nursing home deaths by 46%. Despite testifying otherwise, Cuomo was allegedly "directly involved in editing" the health report. The subcommittee concluded that Cuomo "Likely Gave False Statements to the Select Subcommittee in Violation of 18 U.S.C," a federal crime that could result in a five-year prison sentence. In October, the subcommittee referred his alleged "criminally false statements" to the Department of Justice for prosecution. However, the referral does not compel the DOJ to proceed with the investigation.The final report argued that Cuomo's deadly decision to place COVID patients in nursing homes was "antithetical to known science," was inconsistent with federal guidelines, and therefore amounted to "medical malpractice." He was also accused of attempting to "cover it up.""Cuomo's executive chamber decided to remove 'out-of-facility' fatalities — such as nursing home residents who died from COVID after falling ill and being transferred to hospitals — from the July report, thus dramatically reducing the total death toll," the report stated.Richard Azzopardi, Cuomo's spokesperson, told the New York Post that the report was "the same weak gruel the MAGA Republicans on this committee have been peddling for months if not years."Azzopardi claimed that the Republican-led panel was out to get its "perceived political enemies.""From the very beginning this has been an abuse of power and a waste of taxpayer money aimed at punishing perceived political enemies — like Dr. [Anthony] Fauci [then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases], Governor Cuomo, and 'the deep state' — that does nothing to make us more prepared for the next pandemic," he told the news outlet.Azzopardi added, "The DOJ — three times — the Manhattan DA, and others looked at the nursing home issue and found no wrongdoing, while the meritless civil lawsuit launched by the very same people who have been working arm and arm with this committee was tossed out of court."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President-elect Donald Trump won the presidency in a landslide against Vice President Kamala Harris, and liberal women everywhere are in shambles. Particularly, the liberal women like Ana Navarro of “The View.” “In 2016 at this time, the Women’s March was being planned. That began getting planned the election night and it began with a Facebook post of a housewife in Hawaii, and it turned into millions of women marching all over the country the day after the inauguration,” Navarro explained to the distraught panel. “We’re all eight years older. I think a lot of us are still apoplectic that America voted against a qualified woman again and put in this racist misogynist, and they don’t care,” she continued. “And so it’s, like, it’s tiring. It is exhausting. It is disappointing.” “This election cycle was like an emotional roller coaster, right? We had Joe Biden, the debate, two assassination attempts, Kamala coming in and running hard, leaving it all on the field for 107 days, and then we thought she was going to win like we did with Hillary in 2016 and she didn’t.” “So I think people are exhausted. I think they are looking at taking care of themselves before they care of America,” she said. “I got to breathe. My mental health has got to be in a good place. My physical health has got to be in a good place. That doesn’t mean we’re going to tune out for four years, but it means we’re going to take some bubble baths for a little bit.” Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” is endlessly amused by the women on this particular show. “First off, Donald Trump is not a racist, and he’s not a misogynist,” Rubin says, adding, “judge the guy by what he actually does, and then I think you’ll find yourself on the right side of history. And Ana, you will find yourself miserable and alone.” Want more from Dave Rubin?To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida became the first Democrat to join the bipartisan House DOGE caucus on Tuesday. The DOGE caucus was formed after President-elect Donald Trump announced the new Department of Government Efficiency, which former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamay and tech mogul Elon Musk would be leading in the incoming administration. Although the House caucus has solely consisted of Republicans until this point, Moskowitz expressed that government efficiency "should not be a partisan issue." 'The Caucus should look at the bureaucracy that DHS has become and include recommendations to make Secret Service and FEMA independent federal agencies with a direct report to the White House.'"Today, I will join the Congressional DOGE Caucus, because I believe that streamlining government processes and reducing ineffective government spending should not be a partisan issue," Moskowitz said in a Tuesday statement. "I've been clear that there are ways we can reorganize our government to make it work better for the American people."Moskowitz specifically pointed to the DHS and the many federal agencies under its purview, including FEMA and the Secret Service. "Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security, while very necessary, has gotten too big," Moskowitz continued. "The Caucus should look at the bureaucracy that DHS has become and include recommendations to make Secret Service and FEMA independent federal agencies with a direct report to the White House."Both federal agencies have been under severe scrutiny over the last few months. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been critical of the Secret Service following the first assassination attempt against Trump back in July. FEMA also received backlash in November after reports revealed that agency officials directed employees to skip houses devastated by Hurricane Milton in Florida if they had visible pro-Trump displays and signs. "It is not practical to have 22 agencies under this one department," Moskowitz continued. "I look forward to working in a bipartisan manner with my colleagues to remove FEMA and Secret Service from DHS." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!