VETERANS POST
by Freddy Groves
Are You Getting All Your VA Benefits?
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Are you taking advantage of all your veterans' benefits? The Department of Veterans Affairs recently launched a program to bring awareness of the benefits that elderly veterans might be missing. Per the VA's notice, only 189,800 wartime veterans and 139,800 surviving spouses are using all the pension benefits they could receive.
Here are a few benefits, available through the Pension and Fiduciary Service:
* The Survivors Pension is a monthly payment to qualified surviving spouses and unmarried dependent children of wartime veterans, but only those who meet certain income and net-worth limits. There's an additional benefit for surviving spouses who are housebound or need aid and attendance from someone else.
* The VA Pension is for wartime veterans who are permanently and totally disabled because of nonservice disability, or those who are over age 65 and meet income and net-worth limits.
* The Special Monthly Pension is an additional payment for qualified veterans who are housebound, need aid and attendance for daily activities, have limited sight or are in a nursing home.
* Surviving Spouses of Blue Water Veterans (who served between Jan. 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975) might be eligible for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, even if they were previously denied.
* Funeral and Burial Benefits are available whether the death was service or nonservice related. Additionally, there are benefits such as the burial flag, a headstone or marker and Presidential Memorial Certificate. See the National Cemetery website for much more information [www.cem.va.gov/burial_benefits] and to check eligibility in advance.
For details about benefits, go to benefits.va.gov/benefits. Click on Apply to find instructions and forms.
Those seeking help in filing claims need to beware. Be sure who you're trusting with your information. Look for a VA-accredited Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative -- they are character-checked and have to pass an exam. Search for accredited representatives at www.va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation by filling in the information, or call 1-800-827-1000 to ask for someone in your area.
(c) 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.
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STRANGE BUT TRUE
By Lucie Winborne
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* Baritone Leonard Warren died on stage at The Met in 1960 just as he finished singing Verdi's "Morir, Tremenda Cosi" ("To Die, a Momentous Thing").
* While shedding, geckos will eat their skin in order to prevent predators from finding and eating them more easily.
* A man named Ronald MacDonald robbed a Wendy's in 2005.
* In the early 2000s, when hackers were not that rampant, a survey showed that 70% of London commuters would reveal their computer password in exchange for a chocolate bar, while 30% of the respondents admitted they would give their password even without said candy.
* The sequel to the 1953 film titled "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" was called "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes."
* Per capita, the happiest countries in the world also rank highest in terms of consumers of antidepressants.
* The term "plastic surgery" was coined in 1839, 70 years before plastic was even invented. It comes from the Greek word "plastike," which means "the art of modeling" of malleable flesh.
* Journalist John Richards founded The Apostrophe Protection Society in 2001 to enforce the proper use of the apostrophe in written English. He closed the society in 2019, however, at the age of 96, with the announcement that "the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won!"
* The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends avoiding drinking camel urine to prevent contracting Middle East respiratory syndrome. Thanks, guys, but we'll wait for the shot.
* Abibliophobia is the fear of running out of material to read.
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Thought for the Day: "When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches the ground, but not for long." -- Hakim Sanai
(c) 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.
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CONTRACT BRIDGE
by Steve Becker
FAMOUS HAND
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South dealer.
East-West vulnerable.
NORTH
[S] A 10 3
[H] K Q 9 7
[D] A K Q 9
[C] 5 4
WEST
[S] K 6 4
[H] A 10 8 6
[D] J 10 7 4
[C] 6 2
EAST
[S] J 8 7 2
[H] J 4 3
[D] 8 6 2
[C] Q 10 8
SOUTH
[S] Q 9 5
[H] 5 2
[D] 5 3
[C] A K J 9 7 3
The bidding:
South West North East
1 [C] Pass 1 [D] Pass
2 [C] Pass 2 [H] Pass
3 [C] Pass 3 [S] Pass
3 NT Pass 4 [C] Pass
5 [C] Pass 6 [C]
Opening lead -- four of diamonds.
Everyone is occasionally guilty of becoming enamored of a particular hand and overestimating its value. All players should, of course, strive to keep such excesses to a minimum, as steady overbidding is a serious fault in anyone's game. The best policy in bridge is to try to bid your hands as accurately as possible -- neither overbidding nor underbidding them -- but this is not always easy to do.
Consider this deal from the Italy-U.S. match in 1951. Howard Schenken was South for the American team and, at favorable vulnerability, decided to open one club.
He found his partner with a huge hand, and North never did stop bidding until a small slam was reached. Schenken did everything he could to slow his partner down, but North had the bit firmly in his teeth and refused to let go.
The Americans were exceptionally lucky on the deal because, as the cards were divided, the slam could not be stopped. West led a diamond. Schenken won the trick with dummy's queen, finessed the jack of clubs, led a heart to the queen and cashed the A-K of trump. When he next led another heart, West took the ace, and that was that. Declarer had 12 ice-cold tricks.
Schenken would have gone down had West held the queen of clubs or had East held the Q-10-x-x of trump, or had East held the ace of hearts, or if West had led a spade initially and East had the king.
North was extremely pleased by the favorable outcome, which was attributable for the most part to his optimistic series of bids. But he knew he had dodged a bullet, and no doubt vowed not to press his luck quite as much in the future.
(c)2021 King Features Syndicate Inc.
