What the FOIA System Has Taught Me

The VA's Game Plan

Internal policies and training structures strongly discourage treating clinicians from making certain diagnoses or from linking conditions to military service. “Do not provide nexus opinions.” Clinicians are told this repeatedly. “Document symptoms, not disability determinations.” This is standard language in VA onboarding.

Freedom of Information and the Secrets of Okinawa and Beyond

When systems fail, the burden shifts to those least equipped to carry it. They are asked to reconstruct decades-old events, to supply evidence that should already exist, to relive trauma in search of validation. Then there are the questions that linger in the shadows — about Okinawa and beyond. Stories of exposure, of materials moved and stored, of records incomplete or inaccessible. Whether through classification, fragmentation, or neglect, gaps in transparency deepen suspicion and erode public confidence.

The Okinawa Cover-up and the Collapse of the Rule of Law

How an event like Agent Orange can cripple and begin the collapse of the rule of law, when transparency and honesty is not upheld.

What the FOIA System Has Taught Me

The Freedom of Information Act isn't just a paperwork - it is a lesson in patience, persistence, and perspective. What it taught me is that transparency is not automatic, it often has to be pursued.

Follow the Money, Follow the Silence

"There is no evidence Agent Orange was shipped to Okinawa", but what is the 1963 Machinato Shipping Document?!