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VETERANS POST

by Freddy Groves

EDITOR'S NOTE: 2nd paragraph can be cut for length if needed.

New Presumptives for Agent Orange

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The Department of Veterans Affairs has added three presumptives to its list of illnesses caused by Agent Orange: bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinsonism.

The new ones are added to: AL amyloidosis, chronic B-cell leukemias, chloracne, diabetes mellitus Type 2, Hodgkin's disease, ischemic heart disease, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Parkinson's disease, peripheral neuropathy early-onset, porphyria cutanea tarda, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers and soft tissue sarcomas.

We have Nehmer vs. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to thank for that, the 1986 class-action lawsuit that continues to give and give. If you previously filed for benefits for the three new illnesses, your case will now automatically be reviewed. No need to refile. Each time a new illness is added, Nehmer means that any previous claims for illnesses will be reviewed and disability pay will be retroactive to the date of the initial claim.

But that's not all. The VA will now consider making a list of respiratory illnesses into presumptives. They're calling it "particulate matter pollution," coming from the burn pits, as well as sandstorm dust, pollution, fuels, vehicle exhaust and dirt from farming or construction. Illnesses they're looking at include asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis for those who served in the Persian Gulf War after Sept. 19, 2001, or in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan during the Persian Gulf War.

When it comes to air-quality presumptives, one wonders about the incinerator outside Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan that ran from 1985 to 2001, spewing 90 tons of medical and industrial waste daily. The VA website says there is no scientific evidence that the incinerator caused risk of disease and therefore no presumptive illnesses ... yet the med.navy.mil site has many medical links, including one from 1994 that says air monitoring indicated there was a "significantly elevated risk to human health" from those incinerator emissions. In 2001, it followed up with a 574-page Human Health Risk Assessment. The VA needs to read it.

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STRANGE BUT TRUE

By Lucie Winborne

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* "Bonobo," the common name for apes, was a typo. Researchers are said to have first found the animals in the town of Bolobo, Zaire, but misspelled the town's name as "Bonobo" on the crate in which one was shipped, and the error stuck.

* Are you a fan of coffee breaks? Then you'll want to head to Stoughton, Wisconsin, for their annual Coffee Break Festival, featuring coffee tastings, "brew-offs" and -- seriously -- bean-spitting contests. Next one's in August.

* The world's largest padlock measures an impressive 56.8 inches tall, 41.3 inches wide, and 10.2 inches deep, and weighs in at 916 pounds. Sorry, we don't know what it was built to protect ...

* One of the earliest known vacuum cleaners was so large that it had to be hauled via a horse-drawn carriage. Giant hoses were inserted into customers' windows while a gas-powered motor sucked dirt into a glass container for the shock and awe of onlookers.

* You can thank the American armed forces for the first McDonald's Drive Thru, which made its debut in Sierra Vista, Arizona, near the Fort Huachuca military installation. Rules prohibited soldiers from wearing their uniforms in public, and no one wanted to switch to civvies just to grab a burger, so restaurant manager David Rich cut a hole in the wall, allowing them to pick up their orders without leaving their vehicles. Unsurprisingly, the idea quickly caught on with the general public.

* The next time someone tells you they're sweating like a pig, they're actually lying (though, we're sure, unintentionally!): Pigs are born without sweat glands, hence the need for a nice mud puddle to cool off in.

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Thought for the Day: "The beauty of nature has been one of the great inspirations of my life." -- Jim Henson

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CONTRACT BRIDGE

By Steve Becker

BIG THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES

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East dealer.

Both sides vulnerable.

NORTH

[S] 7 5 4 3 2

[H] 6

[D] 7 5 4

[C] K 7 3 2

WEST

[S] --

[H] Q J 8 5 3

[D] K Q 8 2

[C] J 9 8 6

EAST

[S] J 9

[H] A K 10 9 7 4 2

[D] 9 3

[C] 10 5

SOUTH

[S] A K Q 10 8 6

[H] --

[D] A J 10 6

[C] A Q 4

The bidding:

East South West North

3 [H] Dble 4 [H] Pass

Pass 4 [S] 5 [H] 5 [S]

Pass 6 [S]

Opening lead -- queen of hearts.

"For the want of a nail, the kingdom was lost" might well apply to many bridge hands where a seemingly insignificant card makes all the difference between success and failure for declarer.

If declarer doesn't have the critical card, then he can't be held accountable for the outcome. But if he has it when play begins and misuses it, he has no one to blame but himself for an unsatisfactory result.

Take this deal where South wound up in six spades after a highly competitive auction. Pleased with his prospects, he ruffed the opening heart lead with the six, drew trump and then played the A-Q-K of clubs, setting the stage for an endplay.

If the clubs had broken 3-3, or if West had started with only two clubs, the plan would have succeeded. South would then have led a diamond to the jack, forcing a diamond return from West into the A-10 or a ruff-and-discard, either of which would have yielded the slam.

As it was, though, when declarer led a diamond to the jack, West won and exited with his remaining club. South ruffed and had to lose another diamond for down one.

As the cards lie, declarer could have made his contract by ruffing dummy's club and leading the jack of diamonds from his hand. But this would not have worked out well if East had started with one of the diamond honors. However, given that the slam was a sure thing from the start regardless of how the opposing cards were divided, that declarer misguessed how to play at the end at least served the interests of justice.

To assure the slam, all declarer has to do is ruff the opening heart lead with any spade higher than the six. After drawing trump and cashing the A-Q-K of clubs, he ruffs dummy's last club high and then leads the six of spades to dummy's seven. Now a diamond to the jack truly endplays West.