Another US VA Scandal - GI Bill Funnels Taxpayer Money To Masturbation Classes, “Hate Churches” And More

Iraq War veteran David Rodriguez steps into a softly lit classroom at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, crosses his legs and sits on a pillow in front of an altar decorated with a rope, a model of a penis and a statue of a Hindu god.
Rodriguez, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who led an engineering battalion that dismantled roadside bombs, is here for a class on “sexual bodywork.” When instruction begins, he will join his classmates in practicing different forms of masturbation.
“They do vulva massage and penis massage and anal massage,” said instructor Ariadne H. Luya, who holds a Ph.D. from the institute, an unaccredited graduate school founded in 1976 by an iconoclastic Methodist minister who amassed a large collection of erotic art and pornographic films, including child pornography, that is kept at the school.
“We want to get people out of their ruts. Have you been masturbating the same way for 20 years?” she asked rhetorically. “How’s that going for you? Would you like to try something new?”

Rodriguez is funding his studies with the GI Bill, which means taxpayers are covering his tuition to pursue a doctorate in human sexuality – more than $20,000 over the past two years.

But in the absence of strong government oversight, Reveal has found a gold rush of 2,000 schools cashing in on the exemption. The list includes schools set up to make a profit by teaching blackjack, scuba diving, dog grooming, taxidermy and yoga.
Many are owned by individuals who’ve gone bankrupt or failed to pay their taxes. A handful are owned by convicted felons…
Back at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, the Rev. Ted McIlvenna, the school’s president, walks down a narrow hallway cluttered with erotic paintings and sculptures, pornographic magazines and reel after reel of pornographic films.
“This is where we keep the kiddie porn,” he said, pointing at a 10-foot-long locked cabinet. “You have to have a doctorate to open it.”

– From the Reveal article: GI Bill Pays for Unaccredited Sex, Bible and Massage Schools
If you feel you’ve had enough Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) related scandals for one lifetime, you’ve come to the wrong place. I’m sure all Liberty Blitzkrieg readers will recall the huge outcry last year when it was revealed that some of those unfortunate Americans who sacrificed themselves in wars for imperial dominance and overseas profits, were left hung out to dry by the VA. So much so, that some vets even died while waiting for healthcare within the VA system.
Not to worry though. Under the GI Bill, taxpayers are funding all sorts of “learning” at unaccredited schools, including masturbation classes at San Francisco’s Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, hate sermons at places such as the Oklahoma Baptist College and Institute, and all sorts of other scams run by convicted felons. I wish I was making this up.

From the Center for Investigative Reporting’s Reveal:

Iraq War veteran David Rodriguez steps into a softly lit classroom at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, crosses his legs and sits on a pillow in front of an altar decorated with a rope, a model of a penis and a statue of a Hindu god.
Rodriguez, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who led an engineering battalion that dismantled roadside bombs, is here for a class on “sexual bodywork.” When instruction begins, he will join his classmates in practicing different forms of masturbation.
“They do vulva massage and penis massage and anal massage,” said instructor Ariadne H. Luya, who holds a Ph.D. from the institute, an unaccredited graduate school founded in 1976 by an iconoclastic Methodist minister who amassed a large collection of erotic art and pornographic films, including child pornography, that is kept at the school.
“We want to get people out of their ruts. Have you been masturbating the same way for 20 years?” she asked rhetorically. “How’s that going for you? Would you like to try something new?”

Rodriguez is funding his studies with the GI Bill, which means taxpayers are covering his tuition to pursue a doctorate in human sexuality – more than $20,000 over the past two years. He says he wants to counsel veterans with sexual problems.
Opinions may differ about whether Rodriguez’s degree is more or less valuable than other academic pursuits. But one thing is clear: His school does not meet the minimum standards that the U.S. Department of Education requires for receipt of other federal funds.
The institute is eligible to receive money directly from the U.S. Treasury because the GI Bill does not require schools to be accredited – a formal process that typically includes extensive site visits and audits by an independent organization charged with upholding academic standards.

But in the absence of strong government oversight, Reveal has found a gold rush of 2,000 schools cashing in on the exemption. The list includes schools set up to make a profit by teaching blackjack, scuba diving, dog grooming, taxidermy and yoga. Many are owned by individuals who’ve gone bankrupt or failed to pay their taxes. A handful are owned by convicted felons.
The cost to taxpayers: more than $260 million from the time the new GI Bill took effect in 2009 until the end of 2014.

Dozens of unaccredited Bible colleges benefit from the loophole, including one, the Oklahoma Baptist College and Institute, that is part of a church that was placed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of hate groups. Its president, the Rev. Tom Vineyard, once declared that “50 to 60 percent of homosexuals are infected with intestinal parasites” and that “homosexuals account for half of the murders in large cities.” In December, Vineyard shot and killed a 14-year-old boy during what police said was an attempted burglary at his home. No charges were filed.
“It boils down to this,” Van Buren said. “Your tax money paid me to fight a war and to sacrifice my family. For the rest of my life, I’ll be feeling the weight of that war. The education benefit I receive is part of that package, that I have the liberty to go where I want to go.”
But some veterans advocates say such choices run counter to the purpose of the GI Bill, which is designed to help veterans succeed in civilian life.
Reveal conducted extensive background checks on 100 unaccredited schools in 10 states that receive GI Bill money, including all of the top recipients and a sampling of others. More than a third were owned or run by individuals who had declared bankruptcy or failed to pay their taxes.
In Georgia, GI Bill funds flowed to a construction academy whose president has declared bankruptcy twice and been arrested for assault. In New Jersey, they funded a for-profit nursing program whose president has faced five liens for unpaid taxes. In Pennsylvania, taxpayers paid for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to attend a commercial trucking program whose president has lodged eight guilty pleas in traffic court, including driving an unregistered vehicle, driving a vehicle without proper inspection and speeding in a school zone.
A handful of unaccredited schools are owned by convicted felons, including Royal Image Barber College, a Chicago-area beauty school whose founder, Corey Lewis, served four years in prison on charges of vehicular invasion and aggravated robbery. He also has declared bankruptcy twice in the past four years.
The VA declined to discuss specific problems with any school, but in a statement, the agency argued that the “law sets no specific prohibitions against approving a program due to a school’s owner having declared bankruptcy, owed back taxes, or having been convicted of a crime in the past.”
Back at the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, the Rev. Ted McIlvenna, the school’s president, walks down a narrow hallway cluttered with erotic paintings and sculptures, pornographic magazines and reel after reel of pornographic films.
“This is where we keep the kiddie porn,” he said, pointing at a 10-foot-long locked cabinet. “You have to have a doctorate to open it.”

McIlvenna, who has been in business since 1976, says he will never seek accreditation from an organization approved by the Department of Education.
“Accreditation is a bunch of crap,” he said. “They would never let me keep my library.”
“We don’t take any federal money,” he said, “except for the veterans,” he quickly added – because it comes with no strings attached.

Your taxpayer money at work. Speechless.
Of course, this merely represents the latest in an endless series of systemic US taxpayer fleecing.

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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