This in from MTV News producer Michelle Rabinowitz:

A couple of years ago, (former) MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago and I got to try out this really cool virtual-reality video game some scientists were using to treat veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). (You can see Gideon checking out the game’s graphics in the clip above.) Our own Stephen Totilo even wrote a killer article about it.

So, when about a dozen people emailed me the recent New Yorker feature on the same topic, I’ve been more than happy to redirect them back to our original coverage. Yo, New Yorker, we call first!!

Anyway, the set-up is a mod of “Full Spectrum Warrior,” and boy was it nerve-wracking. I almost peed my pants a couple of times — and we were using the incomplete setup of just a controller and the virtual-reality helmet! The full set-up includes a rumble mat and odor machine with authentic Iraq War scents such as “body odor” and “burning.” Um, good times!

You have to respect the men and women who can handle this in the real world…

Editor’s Note: It’s crazy serious and difficult for the U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq, but our soldiers still find time for a little fun and escape: just like many of you, they love their weekly dose of “American Idol.” We made friends on the Internet with some members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne division (Fort Bragg, what up!), who will be sending us their review of each “Idol” installment.

Our soldiers each week (L-R): PFC Joshua Miranda, 22 (Orlando, FL); PFC Nathan Puckett, 19 (Cynthiana, KY); SPC Cory Combs, 21 (Plymouth, MA); and SSG Steve Cody, 27 (Los Angeles, CA)

Only two of our soldiers caught this week’s “Idol” performances (Joshua and Steve), and even halfway across the globe, they could see Syesha Mercado’s elimination coming a mile away. For their money, our boys in camo are betting that the “Idol” crown will be placed on the noggin of David Cook on next week’s finale. Here are their impressions of this week’s renditions, after the jump. Read more…

So that new GI Bill that was set to be voted on last week? Yeah, it got yanked off the House table after a contingent of conservative(ish) Democrats known as the “Blue Dogs” opposed the measure.

They barked over the lack of a funding plan — even though the bill is part of a supplemental funding package for the wars these veterans have fought in, and Congress keeps passing those packages without a funding plan. In response to such public disunity, House Speaker and Dem Nancy Pelosi announced in a press conference, “I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.”

We hope the folks in DC worked on the issue over the weekend, because Pelosi said that she still plans on having the supplemental funding package — GI Bill included — on the President’s desk before Memorial Day Weekend.

A few people posted thoughtful responses to our last entry on the bill:

· Leon: “It’s clear that the government is too broke to afford to pay for the troops’ education but [is] still selling the fact that they will do so to prospective soldiers. I feel for those who sign up to fight for “freedom” and to help themselves get an education but are being robbed from the start.”

· Joshua Hudson: “Giving a good college benefit would attract better recruits…Educated veterans [add] to the reputation of the military as a viable option for a career. It is good for America, the military and those who serve…We need a motivated, educated young crew of veterans out there to be an inspiration to our future soldiers.”

So many members of our generation have fought in Iraq, and continue to fight. What are your thoughts on how we should welcome them home? Why has it taken this long for the GI Bill to be revised? And what benefits do you think would best serve our troops when they return home?

This in from MTV News exec producer Jim Fraenkel:

For those of you who’ve been following our “Idol In Iraq” series here at Newsroom, here’s a little bit of backstory about Private First Class Nathan Puckett — the 19-year-old soldier who made our weekly “Idol” installments happen.

Nathan came to the attention of MTV News strictly by chance…through my Facebook account.

About three months ago, I received a friend request from Nathan. We had no friends in common, so after accepting, I asked why he’d reached out to me. He told me that I looked like someone who had been in “a military class” with him. “Looks like I’m wrong,” he concluded. “Anyways, how’s New York? I’ve never been. After I get out of Iraq, I’m probably gonna try to visit one of my friends up there.”

The two of us struck up a friendship online. Our stations in life, it seemed, couldn’t have been farther apart, geographically or otherwise: I was the executive producer of MTV News, while Nathan had enlisted in the Army “right out of high school.” But we soon discovered common ground… Read more…

Editor’s Note: It’s crazy serious and difficult for the US Armed Forces in Iraq, but our soldiers still find time for a little fun and escape: just like many of you, they love their weekly dose of “American Idol.” We made friends on the Internet with some members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne division (Fort Bragg, what up!), who will be sending us their review of each “Idol” installment.

Our soldiers each week (L-R): PFC Joshua Miranda, 22 (Orlando, FL); PFC Nathan Puckett, 19 (Cynthiana, KY); SPC Cory Combs, 21 (Plymouth, MA); and SSG Steve Cody, 27 (Los Angeles, CA)

So, not all of our soldier pals got to catch this week’s “Idol” performances (SSG Cody was the only one who did, and he only caught the last half of the episode), because they were off doing what our nation’s servicemen and women do — real classified-type stuff. That means there isn’t a complete briefing from our Iraq-based “Idol” hounds this week. But even though he’s halfway around the globe, in one of the world’s most unstable countries, Cody still could tell that dread-head Jason Castro’s number was going to be the one called.

Surprisingly, SSG Cody didn’t even mention Paulagate in his report, but it does seem he’s got a little thing for dark horse Syesha Mercado — but that’s something he’s got to work out himself.

SSG Cody’s impressions of this week’s “Idol,” after the jump. Read more…

This is from cameraman extraordinaire Brendan Kennedy, fresh from a shoot with former Secretary of State Colin Powell:

This morning I woke up at six and got all gussied up to shoot a speech given by Colin Powell. To be more precise, I’ve been working on a segment about the GI Bill, which, if you have no idea (like me), gives veterans money to go to school. A new version of the bill was just presented to the House today.

But this is where it gets depressing —

While the student vets we’ve been talking to about the current bill have been totally inspiring, the fact that most of these kids come back from Iraq and Afghanistan and can’t afford to go to college is not only infuriating but downright embarrassing.

After WWII, the GI Bill paid for the college of the vet’s choice, books, and room and board. Today the GI Bill now barely gives vets enough to go to community college, let alone pay rent and go to a four-year college, whether public or private. The budget is frighteningly low. And if you have a family to help support? Forget it!

Plenty of people right now enjoy telling you to “support our troops.” But I’m really glad that there are actually some people looking to the future of our troops once they’ve returned home — people like Sen. Jim Webb, Gen. Colin Powell, and Rep. Patrick Murphy — and trying to fix an antiquated system that does anything but give troops the hand they deserve.