Moving Wall arrives
By JO ANN BOBBY-GILBERT (jgilbert@reviewonline.com)
EAST LIVERPOOL - They came from a variety of towns by a variety of conveyances, but their reason for coming was one and the same: to honor the vets.
As early as 7:30 a.m., the roar of motorcycles could be heard traveling toward Calcutta as bikers gathered to escort the Moving Wall to its resting place in Thompson Park.
About 100 riders, many members of the Rolling Thunder veterans' group, solemnly led the trailer hauling the packed-up pieces of the memorial to the park, where it was assembled almost reverently by a group of assorted volunteers.
Dressed in their leather chaps and vests to ward off the early morning cold, the riders included city Councilmen Bink Applegate and James Tennant and city firefighter Jeff Southall.
As the first piece was carried to the apex, onlookers stood quietly, only the clicking of scores of cameras to be heard as history was recorded again in the river city.
This was the second visit to the city for the memorial, which attracted tens of thousands of visitors when it reposed in the park during the Memorial Day weekend in 1994, glistening black panels proudly bearing its stark message for all to see.
Again this time, the community stepped up to the cause, headed by local veteran Ron Simmons, donating money and their time to bring the memorial back to town, prepare a place for it and set it up.
"It's all about our veterans," Mayor Jim Swoger said, as he watched the work progress, each shining black panel carried by two volunteers to its resting place.
"It's an honorable thing, and that's what it's going to be the whole time it's here," Swoger said.
read more here
http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/518405.html
Friday, September 4, 2009
Bikers gathered to escort the Moving Wall
Afghanistan extensions announced; some dwell time cut
Afghanistan extensions announced; some dwell time cut
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 19:59:53 EDT
The deployments of the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters and the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade have been extended in Afghanistan to allow follow-on units have at least one year at home before deploying next summer, the Army announced Thursday.
The 82nd Airborne Division headquarters, operating in Afghanistan as Combined Joint Task Force-82, will stay for 52 additional days and return in June. The 3rd CAB, based at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., will be extended 14 days.
The 101st Airborne Division headquarters, which returned from Afghanistan in June this year, was slated to deploy in December 2010, but will return to Afghanistan six months earlier than expected, cutting its 18-month dwell time to 12 months. The headquarters will replace the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters in a transfer of authority scheduled for June.
The 3rd CAB will be replaced by the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Drum, N.Y.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/army_division_rotation_090309w/
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 19:59:53 EDT
The deployments of the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters and the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade have been extended in Afghanistan to allow follow-on units have at least one year at home before deploying next summer, the Army announced Thursday.
The 82nd Airborne Division headquarters, operating in Afghanistan as Combined Joint Task Force-82, will stay for 52 additional days and return in June. The 3rd CAB, based at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., will be extended 14 days.
The 101st Airborne Division headquarters, which returned from Afghanistan in June this year, was slated to deploy in December 2010, but will return to Afghanistan six months earlier than expected, cutting its 18-month dwell time to 12 months. The headquarters will replace the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters in a transfer of authority scheduled for June.
The 3rd CAB will be replaced by the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Drum, N.Y.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/army_division_rotation_090309w/
Firefighters have more to worry about at Camp Pendleton
Fire burns at Camp Pendleton
The Associated Press
Posted: 09/03/2009 07:41:23 PM PDT
Updated: 09/03/2009 07:41:23 PM PDT
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.—A fire is burning on a firing range at the Camp Pendleton Marine base, but officials say firefighters are keeping their distance in case of possible unexploded mines and mortar.
read more here
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13265683
The Associated Press
Posted: 09/03/2009 07:41:23 PM PDT
Updated: 09/03/2009 07:41:23 PM PDT
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.—A fire is burning on a firing range at the Camp Pendleton Marine base, but officials say firefighters are keeping their distance in case of possible unexploded mines and mortar.
read more here
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13265683
Chicago Blackhawks become Marines for a day
Chicago Blackhawks become Marines for a day
Marcus Leshock WGN News
Members of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines invited Blackhawks wingers Andrew Ladd and Ben Eager participate in a Combat Fitness Test.
The program was made a semi-annual requirement for all Marines in 2008. It consists of three different rounds:
1. Running - Marines run a half mile sprint in less than 2 minutes and 45 seconds. A five minute break ensues, then...
2. Ammo Can Lift - A square can filled with ammunition is hoisted from underneath the chin up over the head, as many times as possible within 2 minutes. Ladd completely 120 reps, very impressive even by Marine standards.
3. The Maneuver Under Fire Course - Marines run a course of cones, carry more ammo cans, throw a grenade, and hoist a wounded Marine onto their back and run him/her to safety. The Marine will run 300 yards during this exercise, all in about 2 minutes.
Marines will complete this training twice a year, on top of any other exercises they might be assigned. And you thought you had a tough job.
go here for the video
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-hawks-marines-sept3,0,7279198.story
Marcus Leshock WGN News
Members of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines invited Blackhawks wingers Andrew Ladd and Ben Eager participate in a Combat Fitness Test.
The program was made a semi-annual requirement for all Marines in 2008. It consists of three different rounds:
1. Running - Marines run a half mile sprint in less than 2 minutes and 45 seconds. A five minute break ensues, then...
2. Ammo Can Lift - A square can filled with ammunition is hoisted from underneath the chin up over the head, as many times as possible within 2 minutes. Ladd completely 120 reps, very impressive even by Marine standards.
3. The Maneuver Under Fire Course - Marines run a course of cones, carry more ammo cans, throw a grenade, and hoist a wounded Marine onto their back and run him/her to safety. The Marine will run 300 yards during this exercise, all in about 2 minutes.
Marines will complete this training twice a year, on top of any other exercises they might be assigned. And you thought you had a tough job.
go here for the video
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-hawks-marines-sept3,0,7279198.story
Big Crowd Greets 'A Hometown Hero'
Do you ever wonder what if all of these people coming out to honor returning soldiers, wounded in combat, or in times when their caskets are carried to their final rest, would also fight for them? Imagine 300 people turning out to honor Spc. Anderson, calling or writing a letter to their congressman demanding action on the VA's claim processing. What do you think would happen then? Repeat that in cities and towns all across America. Do you think congress would place taking care of the wounded and disabled veterans in the highest priority category?
We have almost a million veterans waiting for their claims to be processed. Some of them are new veterans, no longer employed by the military and not able to be employed by businesses. That means no incomes because they were wounded serving the nation. Some of them are older veterans finding that Agent Orange resting in their bloodstream has awakened with the same deadly intent as the Vietcong. Others coming to the understanding what has been wrong with them all along has a name, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and they should be compensated. This after they've spent more than half their lives suffering with nightmares, flashbacks, losing jobs, seeing their families fall apart and feeling abandoned by the friends they used to have.
They are the men and women we counted on, sent off with waving flags and best wishes, to serve this nation. They are also the men and women we felt we could forget about soon after they came home. We left them to suffer whatever fate they would face without a second thought, believing the VA took care of all of them. We believed if they were seeing their claims tied up or denied, they must not deserve it, instead of wondering what as wrong in this system that was supposed to be taking care of the disabled veterans. After all, they were home so our obligation to them was done.
We open our emails everyday and see nonsense subject lines as if we're supposed to pay attention to them, pass them on and get angry. Most of these emails fuel hatred instead of being helpful to anyone. It's stunning to think that if the senders of these emails concentrated on actually doing something for someone instead of against someone, this nation would be a lot better off. With the time it takes to read the email and forward it off to their own contacts, they could have helped save a life, ease a burden, support a family in need or adopted a wounded veteran making sure he/she didn't fall though the cracks while waiting for what they already earned by serving.
Their agenda is clear. It's political on both sides. Yet if they took that same passion, focused on the real problems our veterans face everyday, no veteran would be waiting for anything. They didn't make us wait to go risk their lives. Why should we ever be willing to accept any of them waiting to have their wounds taken care of and compensated so they can pay their bills?
Spc. Anderson said, "I'm glad to be home." Wouldn't it be great if we made all of them feel glad to be back home for longer than a short time?
We have almost a million veterans waiting for their claims to be processed. Some of them are new veterans, no longer employed by the military and not able to be employed by businesses. That means no incomes because they were wounded serving the nation. Some of them are older veterans finding that Agent Orange resting in their bloodstream has awakened with the same deadly intent as the Vietcong. Others coming to the understanding what has been wrong with them all along has a name, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and they should be compensated. This after they've spent more than half their lives suffering with nightmares, flashbacks, losing jobs, seeing their families fall apart and feeling abandoned by the friends they used to have.
They are the men and women we counted on, sent off with waving flags and best wishes, to serve this nation. They are also the men and women we felt we could forget about soon after they came home. We left them to suffer whatever fate they would face without a second thought, believing the VA took care of all of them. We believed if they were seeing their claims tied up or denied, they must not deserve it, instead of wondering what as wrong in this system that was supposed to be taking care of the disabled veterans. After all, they were home so our obligation to them was done.
We open our emails everyday and see nonsense subject lines as if we're supposed to pay attention to them, pass them on and get angry. Most of these emails fuel hatred instead of being helpful to anyone. It's stunning to think that if the senders of these emails concentrated on actually doing something for someone instead of against someone, this nation would be a lot better off. With the time it takes to read the email and forward it off to their own contacts, they could have helped save a life, ease a burden, support a family in need or adopted a wounded veteran making sure he/she didn't fall though the cracks while waiting for what they already earned by serving.
Their agenda is clear. It's political on both sides. Yet if they took that same passion, focused on the real problems our veterans face everyday, no veteran would be waiting for anything. They didn't make us wait to go risk their lives. Why should we ever be willing to accept any of them waiting to have their wounds taken care of and compensated so they can pay their bills?
Spc. Anderson said, "I'm glad to be home." Wouldn't it be great if we made all of them feel glad to be back home for longer than a short time?
Big Crowd Greets 'A Hometown Hero'
Wounded Soldier
Escorted Into Town And Says He's 'Glad To Be Home'
BY BILL JONES
STAFF WRITER
A young southern Greene County soldier who was wounded in Afghanistan in June received a hero's welcome on Wednesday evening in downtown Greeneville.
Spc. Robert "Alex" Anderson, 20, had been escorted to Greeneville from the Tennessee Welcome Center on Interstate 81 in Bristol by police, sheriff's deputies, state troopers and a phalanx of motorcycles.
Shortly after he emerged from his grandparents' sport utility vehicle on South Main Street near the Woolsey and Woolsey law offices, Anderson said, "I'm glad to be home."
He also noted, in response to a question about what it meant to be home, that "it means more than words can describe."
"While I was here, I couldn't wait to leave Greeneville," he said. "Now, it's good to be back."
He also noted that he was surprised to see how many people support the military in general and wounded soldiers in particular.
read more here
http://www.greenevillesun.com/story/305514
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Football player who disarmed girl with gun on bus
High praise for football player who disarmed girl with gun on bus
Story Highlights
Bus camera footage captures Kaleb Eulls, 18, tackling girl
Sheriff: 14-year-old girl brandished gun, threatened those teasing her
"I just realized something had to be done," Eulls tells CNN affiliate
"There would've been a lot of grieving families," were it not for Eulls, sheriff says
By Emanuella Grinberg
CNN
(CNN) -- A Mississippi high school quarterback is being hailed as a hero for saving a school bus full of elementary and high school students from a gun-wielding girl.
Surveillance camera footage on the Yazoo County school bus on Tuesday captured 18-year-old Kaleb Eulls tackling the 14-year-old girl while the children evacuated the bus.
He managed to wrestle the .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun from her, Yazoo County Sheriff Thomas Vaughan told CNN.
"Things could've got real ugly and there would've been a lot of grieving families in Yazoo County right now," Thomas said. "I'm just extremely glad this young man took the bull by horns and stopped a potentially deadly situation."
Twenty-two children ages 5 to 18 were on the bus to Linwood Elementary School, Yazoo County Junior High and High School when the unidentified girl drew a gun from her bag, Vaughan said. Watch the confrontation unfold on camera »
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/03/mississippi.bus.hero/index.html
Story Highlights
Bus camera footage captures Kaleb Eulls, 18, tackling girl
Sheriff: 14-year-old girl brandished gun, threatened those teasing her
"I just realized something had to be done," Eulls tells CNN affiliate
"There would've been a lot of grieving families," were it not for Eulls, sheriff says
By Emanuella Grinberg
CNN
(CNN) -- A Mississippi high school quarterback is being hailed as a hero for saving a school bus full of elementary and high school students from a gun-wielding girl.
Surveillance camera footage on the Yazoo County school bus on Tuesday captured 18-year-old Kaleb Eulls tackling the 14-year-old girl while the children evacuated the bus.
He managed to wrestle the .380 caliber semi-automatic handgun from her, Yazoo County Sheriff Thomas Vaughan told CNN.
"Things could've got real ugly and there would've been a lot of grieving families in Yazoo County right now," Thomas said. "I'm just extremely glad this young man took the bull by horns and stopped a potentially deadly situation."
Twenty-two children ages 5 to 18 were on the bus to Linwood Elementary School, Yazoo County Junior High and High School when the unidentified girl drew a gun from her bag, Vaughan said. Watch the confrontation unfold on camera »
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/03/mississippi.bus.hero/index.html
What if veterans had a stronger voice?
I could do this. Starting it wouldn't be a problem at all, but ending it would be. How could I do this when there is so much the veterans need? Where would I draw the line with all the reports I track and the veterans I help online?
Do I focus on the Vietnam veterans still waiting for help, fighting to not only have their claims approved, but still dealing with PTSD and Agent Orange, plus suicides, being in jail because the court systems across the country never stopped to consider them as combat wounded the way they do now? Yes, they are still in jail and most of them are in because of PTSD that no one was talking about.
Do I tell the stories of how they ended up homeless, saw their families fall apart, lost their jobs, or had to deal with co-workers thinking it was funny to set off a fire cracker or drop something behind their backs or say something they knew would get them ticked off?
Maybe I could do a story on how they came home, as outcasts, given up on by the American people, but they never gave up on us. They kept fighting to get the rest of us understand them and what they went through in our name, plus what they ended up having to live with when they came home. They kept giving us a chance waiting for the day when we would finally honor them, understand them and try to help them.
Do I write about the newer veterans and what they need out of us, which frankly is a hell of a lot more than words of "support the troops" when we can't seem to do much else?
Do I write about how they all serve together, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, from all walks of life, beliefs, faiths and races, but come home to a divided nation that places politics above all else?
Do I write about how they had to endure endless deployments with the topic of the day on the 24 hour cable news was fixated on celebrities while they were getting blown up because no one thought how to really plan the occupation of Afghanistan or Iraq? They didn't even have the equipment they needed but no one cared. The news stopped covering both military campaigns.
Do I write about the DOD or the VA or any of the problems with claims backlogged in a pile of almost a million, their families suffering with the lost income at the same time they are dealing with the fact the lifetime in the military they planned on was obliterated with combat wounds, physical and mentally? Hmm, then I'd have to figure out if I focus on them or their families with no clue, no support and no one to help them take care of their husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. Where would it end?
Then there is the other cluster when you have 95 million groups (exaggeration but close) all competing for money, grants and clout against each other instead of working together for the sake of the veterans they really do want to help, but have let their egos get in the way?
That's my dilemma. Starting it wouldn't be a problem at all. Deciding what is the most important story to me would be impossible.
How about you? You must have a favorite topic on this blog. I bet you know almost as much about it as I do so how about it? How about using your love, your talent, and coming up with a video project for CNN. You never know, you could change a life too. After all, there is no greater feeling in the world than to help someone, especially someone willing to die for you.
I do it all the time and to be honest, sometimes I want to scream about it to the world that "today I saved a life, then unloaded the dishwasher" because no matter what I'm able to do, life goes on and there are responsibilities I have just like everyone else. That's the point. So do they. No matter what they do when they are deployed, they still have to come home and do mundane things like take out the trash and go food shopping, pay bills, and everything else we all have to do during the day but for them, coming home never really feels like home. Tell their stories and make CNN know, they are a lot more interesting to us than Michael Jackson.
Do I focus on the Vietnam veterans still waiting for help, fighting to not only have their claims approved, but still dealing with PTSD and Agent Orange, plus suicides, being in jail because the court systems across the country never stopped to consider them as combat wounded the way they do now? Yes, they are still in jail and most of them are in because of PTSD that no one was talking about.
Do I tell the stories of how they ended up homeless, saw their families fall apart, lost their jobs, or had to deal with co-workers thinking it was funny to set off a fire cracker or drop something behind their backs or say something they knew would get them ticked off?
Maybe I could do a story on how they came home, as outcasts, given up on by the American people, but they never gave up on us. They kept fighting to get the rest of us understand them and what they went through in our name, plus what they ended up having to live with when they came home. They kept giving us a chance waiting for the day when we would finally honor them, understand them and try to help them.
Do I write about the newer veterans and what they need out of us, which frankly is a hell of a lot more than words of "support the troops" when we can't seem to do much else?
Do I write about how they all serve together, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, from all walks of life, beliefs, faiths and races, but come home to a divided nation that places politics above all else?
Do I write about how they had to endure endless deployments with the topic of the day on the 24 hour cable news was fixated on celebrities while they were getting blown up because no one thought how to really plan the occupation of Afghanistan or Iraq? They didn't even have the equipment they needed but no one cared. The news stopped covering both military campaigns.
Do I write about the DOD or the VA or any of the problems with claims backlogged in a pile of almost a million, their families suffering with the lost income at the same time they are dealing with the fact the lifetime in the military they planned on was obliterated with combat wounds, physical and mentally? Hmm, then I'd have to figure out if I focus on them or their families with no clue, no support and no one to help them take care of their husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. Where would it end?
Then there is the other cluster when you have 95 million groups (exaggeration but close) all competing for money, grants and clout against each other instead of working together for the sake of the veterans they really do want to help, but have let their egos get in the way?
That's my dilemma. Starting it wouldn't be a problem at all. Deciding what is the most important story to me would be impossible.
How about you? You must have a favorite topic on this blog. I bet you know almost as much about it as I do so how about it? How about using your love, your talent, and coming up with a video project for CNN. You never know, you could change a life too. After all, there is no greater feeling in the world than to help someone, especially someone willing to die for you.
I do it all the time and to be honest, sometimes I want to scream about it to the world that "today I saved a life, then unloaded the dishwasher" because no matter what I'm able to do, life goes on and there are responsibilities I have just like everyone else. That's the point. So do they. No matter what they do when they are deployed, they still have to come home and do mundane things like take out the trash and go food shopping, pay bills, and everything else we all have to do during the day but for them, coming home never really feels like home. Tell their stories and make CNN know, they are a lot more interesting to us than Michael Jackson.
What if veterans had a stronger voice?
It’s a sad reality that war veterans are oftentimes forgotten in the United States once they return to their civilian lives. Economic struggles, homelessness and inadequate veterans benefits are just some of the problems they face.
But what would happen if veterans had a stronger voice in our society? Together, we can find out.
Grab a video camera and find a veteran – whether a relative, a resident at a nearby nursing home, or someone you just met – and ask about his or her biggest concerns.
If you don’t have access to a video camera, take photos of a veteran and write a short summary of your findings.
Try and keep the interview under three minutes and be sure to provide basic details about the veteran you profile.
Assignment rules:
Challenge: Interview a veteran
Format: Video (preferred) or photos with text
Length: No longer than three minutes
Deadline: Wednesday, September 9, 2009
go here to find out more
http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=323775
Camps offered to families of deployed troops
Camps offered to families of deployed troops
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 20:50:53 EDT
Service members and their families who have experienced deployments within the last 15 months are eligible to attend a free four-day camp at one of four national park locations, sponsored by the National Military Family Association.
In addition, families who attend these Operation Purple Family Retreats will receive a $200 stipend per family when they arrive at the retreat site to cover the cost of travel.
Families will be paired with specialized field science educators who will guide them through activities like nature hikes, canoeing, beach exploration, and arts and crafts. In addition, FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress), a program designed to help military families build resiliency to face the challenges of multiple deployments, will provide activities to help the families strengthen their relationships, according to the NMFA.
Eligible are service members from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard — active duty, National Guard or reserve — as well as families of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/military_familycamps_090309w/
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 20:50:53 EDT
Service members and their families who have experienced deployments within the last 15 months are eligible to attend a free four-day camp at one of four national park locations, sponsored by the National Military Family Association.
In addition, families who attend these Operation Purple Family Retreats will receive a $200 stipend per family when they arrive at the retreat site to cover the cost of travel.
Families will be paired with specialized field science educators who will guide them through activities like nature hikes, canoeing, beach exploration, and arts and crafts. In addition, FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress), a program designed to help military families build resiliency to face the challenges of multiple deployments, will provide activities to help the families strengthen their relationships, according to the NMFA.
Eligible are service members from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard — active duty, National Guard or reserve — as well as families of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/military_familycamps_090309w/
Gay former sailor says hazing led to PTSD
Gay former sailor says hazing led to PTSD
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, September 5, 2009
WASHINGTON — Former Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha says he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after being physically and sexually abused by fellow sailors over a two-year period. But after a Navy investigation into widespread hazing allegations within the unit, the only sailor discharged was Rocha, because he also admitted that he is gay.
According to documents released by Youth Radio this week, Navy investigators found dozens of hazing incidents over a two-year span at the Military Working Dog unit in Naval Support Activity-Bahrain. At one point, the documents show, Rocha was hog-tied, fed dog food and tossed into a dog kennel full of feces. Commanders also openly questioned his sexuality and forced him to simulate oral sex on other men.
Following the investigation, Rocha sought treatment for PTSD and later admitted he is gay, the news outlet reported. Shortly thereafter, he was discharged under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibits homosexual troops from serving openly in the ranks.
However, the commander in charge of the unit at the time of the hazing did not lose his job, and was recently promoted to senior chief, documents show.
None of the alleged abusers was punished, according to the report.
read more here
Gay former sailor says hazing led to PTSD
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, September 5, 2009
WASHINGTON — Former Petty Officer 3rd Class Joseph Rocha says he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after being physically and sexually abused by fellow sailors over a two-year period. But after a Navy investigation into widespread hazing allegations within the unit, the only sailor discharged was Rocha, because he also admitted that he is gay.
According to documents released by Youth Radio this week, Navy investigators found dozens of hazing incidents over a two-year span at the Military Working Dog unit in Naval Support Activity-Bahrain. At one point, the documents show, Rocha was hog-tied, fed dog food and tossed into a dog kennel full of feces. Commanders also openly questioned his sexuality and forced him to simulate oral sex on other men.
Following the investigation, Rocha sought treatment for PTSD and later admitted he is gay, the news outlet reported. Shortly thereafter, he was discharged under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibits homosexual troops from serving openly in the ranks.
However, the commander in charge of the unit at the time of the hazing did not lose his job, and was recently promoted to senior chief, documents show.
None of the alleged abusers was punished, according to the report.
read more here
Gay former sailor says hazing led to PTSD
GOP Chairman Jim Greer must really hate those who serve
’Socialist indoctrination’ means that anyone that gives of themselves for the sake of others, must be a bad thing and that must also include the people entering into political office. After all, aren't they supposed to be serving the public good? Isn't that what they keep telling us when they want our votes?
This man must also hate people that enter into the military since they enter into it for the greater good as well and to serve others. They surely don't risk their lives for themselves.
Then we have the National Guards, again, people going into that field do it for the sake of others.
Then police officers, again, risking their lives for the sake of others.
Then firefighters, yes, in it for the sake of others.
Then you have the others working in public service, all from tax payer funds and then others under non-profits like service organizations. Teachers, tax payer funded. City and town employees, tax payer funded.
They are the people you count on when you are in trouble or facing danger, the people you count on to defend this nation and the first people you think about when you need them but evidently the first people forgotten about when someone can use words to make a call to serve others as a bad thing.
As a Chaplain, committed to serving others, I find this deeply offensive. I was raised to do it by a Korean War vet and WWII uncles I had as a role model. They all enlisted to serve others. Frankly, I think Jim Greer's agenda has gotten way out of control because he'd have to be a fool to think serving others is a bad thing. I think he owes the people in this country a deep apology for what he said.
This man must also hate people that enter into the military since they enter into it for the greater good as well and to serve others. They surely don't risk their lives for themselves.
Then we have the National Guards, again, people going into that field do it for the sake of others.
Then police officers, again, risking their lives for the sake of others.
Then firefighters, yes, in it for the sake of others.
Then you have the others working in public service, all from tax payer funds and then others under non-profits like service organizations. Teachers, tax payer funded. City and town employees, tax payer funded.
They are the people you count on when you are in trouble or facing danger, the people you count on to defend this nation and the first people you think about when you need them but evidently the first people forgotten about when someone can use words to make a call to serve others as a bad thing.
As a Chaplain, committed to serving others, I find this deeply offensive. I was raised to do it by a Korean War vet and WWII uncles I had as a role model. They all enlisted to serve others. Frankly, I think Jim Greer's agenda has gotten way out of control because he'd have to be a fool to think serving others is a bad thing. I think he owes the people in this country a deep apology for what he said.
FL GOP: Obama’s speech to schoolkids ’socialist indoctrination’
By Daniel Tencer
Published: September 2, 2009
UPDATE: After complaints about an Obama administration plan to have students’ lesson plans include an assignment on “how to help” the president — the White House has reversed course and says they’ll rewrite the primer.
Among the ideas suggested for pre-K to 6th grade students was to “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.”
White House spokesman Tommy Vietor told Fox News that new language will make “lesson plans clearer,” and that a planned Obama speech to students “is not a policy speech, but is intended to encourage kids to work hard and commit to school.”
Raw Story’s original story follows. The White House’s initial lesson plan (PDF) can be seen here.
The head of the Florida Republican Party says a speech President Barack Obama plans to give to the nation’s schoolchildren is an attempt to “indoctrinate” America’s youth into a “socialist” ideology.
“I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology,” Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer said in a press release.
read more here
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/09/02/obamas-speech-children-indoctrination/
Historians Press For Access To Files On Civil War Soldiers From Connecticut
If we are ever going to get to the point where no one ever feels ashamed of serving this country and ending up paying for it with PTSD, this is the way we get there. Uncovering what was known way back in the Civil war, what they went through and what happened to them after is vital to illuminating one simple fact, humans go to war and suffer after it. It really is that simple.
If you read the Bible, it's in there. If you read any history books about ancient warfare, it's in there. Talk to any veteran and you'll see it. None of this is new because humans have the same original design they always did. We can talk all we want about what to do when veterans ask for help but getting them to even want to admit they need help is the hardest battle of all to win. You have to take someone that was trained to kill and risk their lives everyday, then ask them to be "weaker" in their own minds asking for help. This is one of the hardest things to get past. If they understood what it was, they would know it had nothing to do with courage or their ability. It only had to do with being human and being compassionate.
If you read the Bible, it's in there. If you read any history books about ancient warfare, it's in there. Talk to any veteran and you'll see it. None of this is new because humans have the same original design they always did. We can talk all we want about what to do when veterans ask for help but getting them to even want to admit they need help is the hardest battle of all to win. You have to take someone that was trained to kill and risk their lives everyday, then ask them to be "weaker" in their own minds asking for help. This is one of the hardest things to get past. If they understood what it was, they would know it had nothing to do with courage or their ability. It only had to do with being human and being compassionate.
Historians Press For Access To Files On Civil War Soldiers From Connecticut
By JESSE LEAVENWORTH
The Hartford Courant
September 3, 2009
HARTFORD — - Historians seeking to probe the mental health records of Connecticut Civil War veterans pressed their case Wednesday at a state Freedom of Information Commission hearing.
The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services has refused to allow researchers unfettered access to records at what is now Connecticut Valley Hospital, formerly the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane.
The main sticking point is researchers' insistence that they be allowed to use individual patients' names in a planned book on Connecticut's role in the war. The state's position is that research could be allowed, but unrestricted use of names would violate patient confidentiality laws.
read more here
Historians Press For Access To Files On Civil War
Health-care overhaul debate puts VA in the spotlight
It looks like some people would rather treat veterans so badly they will allow them to feel as if they are just not as capable as the rest of the people in this country making their own choices when it comes to the end of their lives. As I've posted here many times, we used our right with the VA and with a lawyer to make sure our own choices would be honored when we couldn't speak for ourselves. Too bad some think they can use veterans in a political game, but it's even worse when others just play along instead of finding out what the truth is. Veterans deserved a lot better out of all of us.
Health-care overhaul debate puts VA in the spotlight
While Republicans are calling a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health-planning booklet a "death book" that encourages veterans to kill themselves or forgo care, ethicists and legal and medical experts say it's a reasonable attempt to help veterans plan for the end of their lives.
By Chris Adams
McClatchy Newspapers
Republicans call VA's "Planning ... " a "death book."
WASHINGTON — While Republicans are calling a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health-planning booklet a "death book" that encourages veterans to kill themselves or forgo care, ethicists and legal and medical experts say it's a reasonable attempt to help veterans plan for the end of their lives.
Jim Towey, former director of President George W. Bush's White House office of faith-based initiatives, wrote in The Wall Street Journal last month that the VA's "Your Life, Your Choices" booklet encourages veterans to "hurry up and die." Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said the VA effort aimed at veterans was "encouraging them to commit suicide."
"There is nothing in this pamphlet or in any of the VA effort in this area that is aimed at asking that veterans be allowed to die to save money," said the University of Pennsylvania's Arthur Caplan, one of the nation's leading bioethicists. "To say otherwise is just an exercise in ludicrous, inflammatory rhetoric."
VA chaplains said "Your Life" is helpful.
read more here
Health-care overhaul debate puts VA in the spotlight
Healthcare supporter bites off opponent’s pinky
Not only were the people shocked, this has gotten way out of hand and totally ironic when you think the man that was against public healthcare, used it to get his finger put back on.
Healthcare supporter bites off opponent’s pinky
By John Byrne
Published: September 3, 2009According to reports, the man then picked up his finger and promptly walked to a nearby hospital for treatment. Neither individual was identified.
The altercation took place outside at a rally sponsored by MoveOn.org.
The news comes just a day after a man was reportedly punched in the face and knocked to the ground by a supporter of the public health insurance option in Miami.
An Associated Press report published Thursday afternoon indicates that the protester had successful surgery on his finger, and was covered by a government health plan.
“A hospital spokeswoman says the man lost half the finger, but doctors reattached it and he was sent home the same night,” the AP reports. “She says he had Medicare.”read more here
Teen crashes into war memorial
Teen crashes into war memorial
By Brenna R. Kelly • bkelly@nky.com • September 2, 2009
ERLANGER – Three granite stones that memorialize Kenton County residents who died in the Vietnam War will have to be replaced after a car slammed into the Erlanger Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wednesday.
Police say a 16-year-old Elsmere boy was driving drunk in a stolen 2003 Hyundai Elantra was speeding down Dixie Highway while fleeing from police early Wednesday morning. The teen lost control, hit the curb and crashed into the memorial, knocking the stones off their bases and bending a flag pole.
Vietnam veteran Allen Thomas, who lives nearby, surveyed the damage Wednesday morning.
“It’s a sad feeling…but it’s property – we can rebuild it,” said Thomas, secretary of the Northern Kentucky chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America. “We’ll feel bad for a few days or a few weeks until we get it back up.”
The memorial, which has been at the intersection more than 20 years, lists the names of all the Kenton County residents killed in the war. The chapter, which had insurance on the monument, will likely hold a rededication ceremony after the memorial is fixed, Thomas said.
read more here
Teen crashes into war memorial
By Brenna R. Kelly • bkelly@nky.com • September 2, 2009
ERLANGER – Three granite stones that memorialize Kenton County residents who died in the Vietnam War will have to be replaced after a car slammed into the Erlanger Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wednesday.
Police say a 16-year-old Elsmere boy was driving drunk in a stolen 2003 Hyundai Elantra was speeding down Dixie Highway while fleeing from police early Wednesday morning. The teen lost control, hit the curb and crashed into the memorial, knocking the stones off their bases and bending a flag pole.
Vietnam veteran Allen Thomas, who lives nearby, surveyed the damage Wednesday morning.
“It’s a sad feeling…but it’s property – we can rebuild it,” said Thomas, secretary of the Northern Kentucky chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America. “We’ll feel bad for a few days or a few weeks until we get it back up.”
The memorial, which has been at the intersection more than 20 years, lists the names of all the Kenton County residents killed in the war. The chapter, which had insurance on the monument, will likely hold a rededication ceremony after the memorial is fixed, Thomas said.
read more here
Teen crashes into war memorial
Pastor Mistakenly Killed In Drug Sting
Friends: Pastor Mistakenly Killed In Drug Sting
GBI Investigating Fatal Shooting
POSTED: 3:53 pm EDT September 2, 2009
STEPHENS COUNTY, Ga. -- A pastor was shot and killed following a drug sting in Stephens County, Ga., on Tuesday, and the officers involved and friends of the pastor are giving different versions of what led up to the shooting.
The Stephens County coroner confirmed that 28-year-old Jonathan Ayers was pronounced dead at Stephens County Hospital on Tuesday.
Ayers, a father-to-be, was the pastor of the Shoal Creek Baptist Church. He maintained a personal blog linked off the church's Web page, jonathanayers.blogspot.com.
read more here
http://www.wyff4.com/cnn-news/20690809/detail.html
GBI Investigating Fatal Shooting
POSTED: 3:53 pm EDT September 2, 2009
STEPHENS COUNTY, Ga. -- A pastor was shot and killed following a drug sting in Stephens County, Ga., on Tuesday, and the officers involved and friends of the pastor are giving different versions of what led up to the shooting.
The Stephens County coroner confirmed that 28-year-old Jonathan Ayers was pronounced dead at Stephens County Hospital on Tuesday.
Ayers, a father-to-be, was the pastor of the Shoal Creek Baptist Church. He maintained a personal blog linked off the church's Web page, jonathanayers.blogspot.com.
read more here
http://www.wyff4.com/cnn-news/20690809/detail.html
Sen. Udall Opens Regional Office, Talks PTSD and Afghanistan
Sen. Udall Opens Regional Office, Talks PTSD & Afghanistan
Posted: Sep 2, 2009 05:37 PM EDT
Updated: Sep 2, 2009 06:12 PM EDT
by Zach Thaxton
z.thaxton@krdo.com
COLORADO SPRINGS - Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) announced the grand opening Wednesday of his new Pikes Peak Regional Office. It's located inside the Pikes Peak Regional Development Center at 2880 International Circle near Memorial Park. During an afternoon press conference, Sen. Udall also announced the formation of and first meeting with a new 12-member military advisory committee made up of statewide leaders with a range of military expertise. The Senator will confer with the committee twice a year.
Sen. Udall also addressed the topics of Post-Traumatic Stress and the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. A half-dozen Fort Carson have been charged in Southern Colorado murders committed after returning from conflict in Iraq. An Army report concluded combat stress may have been a contributing factor in their violent acts back on U.S. soil. Sen. Udall says enhanced diagnosis and treatment tactics were among the first topics discussed by his new committee. He told the gathered press Wednesday, "The mind is a marvelous organ. It's probably the most powerful human weapon that we have, but it's also very fragile. And we're increasingly aware of ways in which you can train troops before they go into theater as to how to maintain the health of your mind, how to deal with the inevitable stresses and strains of being in a combat setting."
read more here
Sen Udall Opens Regional Office, Talks PTSD and Afghanistan
Senator to visit Carson, meet base officials
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 8:29:08 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., is meeting with Fort Carson military officials to discuss the role of soldiers from the base in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Udall will meet with Maj. Gen. David Perkins and other military leaders Thursday. A Udall spokeswoman says the senator and the military officials will discuss the soldiers’ training and making sure they have all the resources they need.
Udall is also expected to talk about health and behavioral care for soldiers, and helping returning veterans adapt to civilian life after their deployments.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_army_udall_carson_090309/
Posted: Sep 2, 2009 05:37 PM EDT
Updated: Sep 2, 2009 06:12 PM EDT
by Zach Thaxton
z.thaxton@krdo.com
COLORADO SPRINGS - Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) announced the grand opening Wednesday of his new Pikes Peak Regional Office. It's located inside the Pikes Peak Regional Development Center at 2880 International Circle near Memorial Park. During an afternoon press conference, Sen. Udall also announced the formation of and first meeting with a new 12-member military advisory committee made up of statewide leaders with a range of military expertise. The Senator will confer with the committee twice a year.
Sen. Udall also addressed the topics of Post-Traumatic Stress and the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. A half-dozen Fort Carson have been charged in Southern Colorado murders committed after returning from conflict in Iraq. An Army report concluded combat stress may have been a contributing factor in their violent acts back on U.S. soil. Sen. Udall says enhanced diagnosis and treatment tactics were among the first topics discussed by his new committee. He told the gathered press Wednesday, "The mind is a marvelous organ. It's probably the most powerful human weapon that we have, but it's also very fragile. And we're increasingly aware of ways in which you can train troops before they go into theater as to how to maintain the health of your mind, how to deal with the inevitable stresses and strains of being in a combat setting."
read more here
Sen Udall Opens Regional Office, Talks PTSD and Afghanistan
Senator to visit Carson, meet base officials
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Sep 3, 2009 8:29:08 EDT
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., is meeting with Fort Carson military officials to discuss the role of soldiers from the base in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Udall will meet with Maj. Gen. David Perkins and other military leaders Thursday. A Udall spokeswoman says the senator and the military officials will discuss the soldiers’ training and making sure they have all the resources they need.
Udall is also expected to talk about health and behavioral care for soldiers, and helping returning veterans adapt to civilian life after their deployments.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_army_udall_carson_090309/
Iraq war vet in Vicksburg threatens suicide
Iraq war vet in Vicksburg threatens suicide
A 23-year-old man engaged police in a nearly four-hour standoff outside Vicksburg Municipal Court after being sentenced this morning on a domestic violence charge.
Torrance Burnett of Vicksburg walked out of the courtroom after being assigned to counseling, went to his car and retrieved an automatic handgun, Chief Walter Armstrong said.
"He didn't have the gun in the courthouse," Armstrong said. "But some people in the courtroom indicated (to authorities) that he had a weapon with him. Officers went outside and saw him with his hands in his pockets."
Upon seeing police, Burnett ran, the chief said. Officers chased him for a block before Burnett stopped behind the library on Washington Street and pointed the gun at his own head.
"He kept it there for three or four hours," Armstrong said.
read more here
Iraq war vet in Vicksburg threatens suicide
A 23-year-old man engaged police in a nearly four-hour standoff outside Vicksburg Municipal Court after being sentenced this morning on a domestic violence charge.
Torrance Burnett of Vicksburg walked out of the courtroom after being assigned to counseling, went to his car and retrieved an automatic handgun, Chief Walter Armstrong said.
"He didn't have the gun in the courthouse," Armstrong said. "But some people in the courtroom indicated (to authorities) that he had a weapon with him. Officers went outside and saw him with his hands in his pockets."
Upon seeing police, Burnett ran, the chief said. Officers chased him for a block before Burnett stopped behind the library on Washington Street and pointed the gun at his own head.
"He kept it there for three or four hours," Armstrong said.
read more here
Iraq war vet in Vicksburg threatens suicide
Saved from bullet by a Vera Bradley handbag
Saved from bullet by a handbag
Suspect arrested in shooting at Kennedy Krieger, but incident points to continuing challenges near Hopkins
By Justin Fenton justin.fenton@baltsun.com
September 3, 2009
Sitting in her car Tuesday night outside the Kennedy Krieger Institute as police investigated a shooting, Ana Matheus held up what may have spared her from serious injury: her Vera Bradley handbag.
She reached in and pulled out her pocketbook. Inside was a checkbook, a credit card and a $20 bill - all pierced by a bullet that narrowly missed striking her as she left work at Kennedy Krieger.
Matheus was not harmed, but a female co-worker was wounded when one of the stray bullets struck her in the hand about 6:30 p.m. Matheus said the woman was walking just a foot in front of her when the shots rang out. With the errant bullet piercing the bag that was slung over her shoulder, Mathus was inches away from being wounded herself.
"I've always felt pretty safe with the security guards on the corners, but I don't know, it definitely feels less safe now," said Matheus, a 27-year-old social worker in the pediatric hospital at Kennedy Krieger. "It's pretty surreal."
read more here
Saved from bullet by a handbag
Suspect arrested in shooting at Kennedy Krieger, but incident points to continuing challenges near Hopkins
By Justin Fenton justin.fenton@baltsun.com
September 3, 2009
Sitting in her car Tuesday night outside the Kennedy Krieger Institute as police investigated a shooting, Ana Matheus held up what may have spared her from serious injury: her Vera Bradley handbag.
She reached in and pulled out her pocketbook. Inside was a checkbook, a credit card and a $20 bill - all pierced by a bullet that narrowly missed striking her as she left work at Kennedy Krieger.
Matheus was not harmed, but a female co-worker was wounded when one of the stray bullets struck her in the hand about 6:30 p.m. Matheus said the woman was walking just a foot in front of her when the shots rang out. With the errant bullet piercing the bag that was slung over her shoulder, Mathus was inches away from being wounded herself.
"I've always felt pretty safe with the security guards on the corners, but I don't know, it definitely feels less safe now," said Matheus, a 27-year-old social worker in the pediatric hospital at Kennedy Krieger. "It's pretty surreal."
read more here
Saved from bullet by a handbag
Do our elected deserve better healthcare than us?
UPDATE, Looks like we now know why
Six lobbyists per lawmaker enough on health care?
Posted: 01:09 PM ET
FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:
Want to know why they’re having trouble getting health care reform passed in Washington? Consider this: There are six…. count ‘em — six, lobbyists for each of the 535 members of Congress.
This translates to 3,300 lobbyists working on health care — or three times the number who lobby on defense. These groups reportedly spent more than $263 million on lobbying during the first six months of this year — with drug makers alone spending more than $134 million.
One expert tells Bloomberg news: “The sheer quantity of money that’s sloshed around Washington is drowning out the voices of citizens and the groups that speak up for them.”
And let’s talk about that money for a minute. According to The Center for Responsive Politics, health-related companies gave almost $170 million to federal lawmakers in 2007 and 2008.
It's really amazing the same people saying government healthcare is no good, are also the same people thinking private healthcare is not good enough for them. Why do you think that is? Could you imagine if we told them that they have to give their's up and live like the rest of us?
Six lobbyists per lawmaker enough on health care
Six lobbyists per lawmaker enough on health care?
Posted: 01:09 PM ET
FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:
Want to know why they’re having trouble getting health care reform passed in Washington? Consider this: There are six…. count ‘em — six, lobbyists for each of the 535 members of Congress.
This translates to 3,300 lobbyists working on health care — or three times the number who lobby on defense. These groups reportedly spent more than $263 million on lobbying during the first six months of this year — with drug makers alone spending more than $134 million.
One expert tells Bloomberg news: “The sheer quantity of money that’s sloshed around Washington is drowning out the voices of citizens and the groups that speak up for them.”
And let’s talk about that money for a minute. According to The Center for Responsive Politics, health-related companies gave almost $170 million to federal lawmakers in 2007 and 2008.
It's really amazing the same people saying government healthcare is no good, are also the same people thinking private healthcare is not good enough for them. Why do you think that is? Could you imagine if we told them that they have to give their's up and live like the rest of us?
Six lobbyists per lawmaker enough on health care
GOPers Decrying "Socialized Medicine" Go To Govt. Hospital For Surgeries
By The Huffington Post News Team, Huffington Post
Republicans in Congress have raised the specter of a bloated, "socialized," bureaucrat-run nightmare of a health care system as a means of undermining the White House's effort at a systematic overhaul. And yet, as Democratic sources are now pointing out, when medical crisis hit close to home, many of these same officials turned to a government-run hospital for their own intensive care and difficult surgeries.
Take, for instance, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who warned that "a government takeover of health care" would "take away the care that people already have [and] are perfectly satisfied with." In its place, the senator said, would be "a system in which care and treatment will be either delayed or denied."
That was July 2009. In February 2003, McConnell actually went to one of those government-run institutions (where treatment is, apparently, "either delayed or denied") for a procedure of his own. The Kentucky Republican traveled to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to have an elective coronary artery bypass surgery after it had been revealed that he had arterial blockages.
Also known as Bethesda Naval Hospital, the National Naval Medical Center is the premier branch of the United States Navy's system of medical centers -- as in, the government runs it. It's also the place where elected officials of all ideological stripes and political branches often go get surgery performed. Indeed, members of Congress pay an annual fee for the privilege of getting treatment at Bethesda Naval Hospital or, for that matter, Walter Reed Army Medical Center. It is, as longtime Democrat Martin Frost wrote for Politico, "like belonging to an HMO." Only, in these cases, the surgery is conducted at a public facility.
read more here
GOPers Decrying Socialized Medicine
Service Dogs Help Traumatized Veterans Heal
Service Dogs Help Traumatized Veterans Heal
These trained canines alert owners to warning signs of PTSD, experts say
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Sept. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Iraq war veteran Jennifer Pacanowski was unaware that she was racing dangerously down the freeway at 85 miles an hour when she felt a wet nose nudge her elbow.
She immediately slowed down.
The wet nose belonged to Boo, Pacanowski's 110-pound Bull Mastiff, warning her that her anxiety levels were rising, a dangerous state given that Pacanowski has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from her experiences as a medic in the war.
Boo, who turned 1 in August, has been with Pacanowski, helping her deal with the world since last December.
"Sometimes I forget where I am and will go back to the war in Iraq. He brings me back to reality and makes me realize that I can't run people off the road. It's a frequent thing with PTSD to have road rage," said Pacanowski, who returned to the United States at the end of 2004 and now lives in northeastern Pennsylvania. "He's a comfort. I also know I'm not alone, and people can't just sneak up on me without his knowledge."
Boo is one of a team of "psychiatric service dogs" being used all over the country to help people with various mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and, perhaps most notably, PTSD.
read more here
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100244515
These trained canines alert owners to warning signs of PTSD, experts say
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Sept. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Iraq war veteran Jennifer Pacanowski was unaware that she was racing dangerously down the freeway at 85 miles an hour when she felt a wet nose nudge her elbow.
She immediately slowed down.
The wet nose belonged to Boo, Pacanowski's 110-pound Bull Mastiff, warning her that her anxiety levels were rising, a dangerous state given that Pacanowski has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from her experiences as a medic in the war.
Boo, who turned 1 in August, has been with Pacanowski, helping her deal with the world since last December.
"Sometimes I forget where I am and will go back to the war in Iraq. He brings me back to reality and makes me realize that I can't run people off the road. It's a frequent thing with PTSD to have road rage," said Pacanowski, who returned to the United States at the end of 2004 and now lives in northeastern Pennsylvania. "He's a comfort. I also know I'm not alone, and people can't just sneak up on me without his knowledge."
Boo is one of a team of "psychiatric service dogs" being used all over the country to help people with various mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and, perhaps most notably, PTSD.
read more here
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100244515
Iraq, Afghan Vet Drug Problems Could Surpass Those of Vietnam Era
Iraq, Afghan Vet Drug Problems Could Surpass Those of Vietnam Era
Published August 31st, 2009
A report from the recent Wounds of War Conference at Columbia University focused on the issue of Veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with a host of issues, including drug and alcohol abuse and untreated PTSD. Experts projected that drug problems for young Veterans will exceed those of the Vietnam era.
Today's soldiers have spent more time deployed in combat than their Vietnam era counterparts, according to experts at the conference, which is contributing to more soldiers suffering from PTSD. The drugs on which service men and women become dependent are frequently pharmaceutical painkillers issued to them for combat injuries. They often do not realize how reliant they have become on the drugs to help them cope with the anxiety of their war experiences until they return home. Illicit drug and alcohol abuse then often take the place of painkillers and other prescribed drugs
Presenters at the conference addressed the fact that many returning soldiers are just out of their teens, have transitioned from the structure of high school, to the structure of the military, and have witnessed and been a part of extreme acts of violence while deployed. Former soldiers are then are sent home as civilians and left to figure out how to live their lives while coping with the aftereffects of war.
Only a third of returning Veterans seek out help from the VA after leaving the services, and many former soldiers are uncomfortable getting counseling from a government organization. In particular, female Veterans, who report high rates of sexual abuse and rape while in the military report feeling unsafe in VA buildings full of “men in uniforms.”
read more here
http://www.nvfnews.org/news
Published August 31st, 2009
A report from the recent Wounds of War Conference at Columbia University focused on the issue of Veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with a host of issues, including drug and alcohol abuse and untreated PTSD. Experts projected that drug problems for young Veterans will exceed those of the Vietnam era.
Today's soldiers have spent more time deployed in combat than their Vietnam era counterparts, according to experts at the conference, which is contributing to more soldiers suffering from PTSD. The drugs on which service men and women become dependent are frequently pharmaceutical painkillers issued to them for combat injuries. They often do not realize how reliant they have become on the drugs to help them cope with the anxiety of their war experiences until they return home. Illicit drug and alcohol abuse then often take the place of painkillers and other prescribed drugs
Presenters at the conference addressed the fact that many returning soldiers are just out of their teens, have transitioned from the structure of high school, to the structure of the military, and have witnessed and been a part of extreme acts of violence while deployed. Former soldiers are then are sent home as civilians and left to figure out how to live their lives while coping with the aftereffects of war.
Only a third of returning Veterans seek out help from the VA after leaving the services, and many former soldiers are uncomfortable getting counseling from a government organization. In particular, female Veterans, who report high rates of sexual abuse and rape while in the military report feeling unsafe in VA buildings full of “men in uniforms.”
read more here
http://www.nvfnews.org/news
Florida Veteran Elected Leader of The American Legion
CORRECTING and REPLACING Florida Veteran Elected Leader of The American Legion
Wed Sep 2, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(Business Wire)--
Please replace the correction dated Aug. 27, 2009 with the following corrected
version due to multiple revisions.
The corrected release reads:
FLORIDA VETERAN ELECTED LEADER OF THE AMERICAN LEGION
A retired U.S. Navy captain has been elected national commander of the nation`s
largest veterans organization.
Delegates to The American Legion`s 91st National Convention here chose Clarence
Hill of Jacksonville, Fla., to lead the 2.5 million-member organization of
wartime veterans for a one-year term.
The new national commander plans to increase The American Legion`s outreach
efforts using social media networks and other technologies. His goals also
include diversifying The American Legion by recruiting more minorities and
increasing awareness of issues affecting women veterans. While veterans from any
war era will always be welcome in The American Legion, Hill plans to expand
outreach efforts to Vietnam era, post-Vietnam era and current War on Terrorism
veterans.
A native of Martin`s Ferry, Ohio, Hill graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in
1972 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Heserved 19 of the next 24 years on sea
duty and retired in 1996. His afloat service included one frigate, two
destroyers, two cruisers, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 12 in Mayport, Fla, and the
Sixth Fleet in Gaeta, Italy. He served as officer-in-charge of a PT boat,
commanded the Naval Communications Station United Kingdom in Thurso, Scotland,
for three years, and the guided missile frigate USS MCINERNEY (FFG-8) for two
years, including combat operations during Operation Desert Storm. Ashore, he
earned two masters degrees, one from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey,
Calif., and the other from the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.
A 27-year Legionnaire, Hill is a Life Member and three-time Post Commander of
American Legion Post 316 in Atlantic Beach, Fla. He is a dual member belonging
to SAL Squadron 316. He attended the National American Legion College in 2000
and was an instructor in 2001. He was department commander for Florida from July
2002 to July 2003, achieving an all-time-high in membership. Hill earned eight
"Gold Brigade Awards" for recruiting 50 or more members of The American Legion
in a single year. He served for three years as the national chairman of The
American Legion National and Homeland Security Commission and belongs to The
American Legion Riders.
Cmdr. Hill took the oath of office along with five other national officers.
Serving as national vice commanders are Eugene A. Schumacher of Aberdeen, S.D.;
James C. Morris of Cardington, Ohio; Dr. Gordon B. Browning of Chestertown, Md.,
Mark A. Avis of Palmer, Mass., and Morris M. Bentley of Grangeville, Idaho.
National Historian James T. Higuera of Arcadia, Calif., National Chaplain John
L. Beaver of Mobile, Ala., and Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Martel of Pierson, Fla.,
were appointed to their positions by Cmdr. Hill following the close of the
national convention.
Florida Veteran Elected Leader of The American Legion
Wed Sep 2, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(Business Wire)--
Please replace the correction dated Aug. 27, 2009 with the following corrected
version due to multiple revisions.
The corrected release reads:
FLORIDA VETERAN ELECTED LEADER OF THE AMERICAN LEGION
A retired U.S. Navy captain has been elected national commander of the nation`s
largest veterans organization.
Delegates to The American Legion`s 91st National Convention here chose Clarence
Hill of Jacksonville, Fla., to lead the 2.5 million-member organization of
wartime veterans for a one-year term.
The new national commander plans to increase The American Legion`s outreach
efforts using social media networks and other technologies. His goals also
include diversifying The American Legion by recruiting more minorities and
increasing awareness of issues affecting women veterans. While veterans from any
war era will always be welcome in The American Legion, Hill plans to expand
outreach efforts to Vietnam era, post-Vietnam era and current War on Terrorism
veterans.
A native of Martin`s Ferry, Ohio, Hill graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in
1972 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Heserved 19 of the next 24 years on sea
duty and retired in 1996. His afloat service included one frigate, two
destroyers, two cruisers, Cruiser-Destroyer Group 12 in Mayport, Fla, and the
Sixth Fleet in Gaeta, Italy. He served as officer-in-charge of a PT boat,
commanded the Naval Communications Station United Kingdom in Thurso, Scotland,
for three years, and the guided missile frigate USS MCINERNEY (FFG-8) for two
years, including combat operations during Operation Desert Storm. Ashore, he
earned two masters degrees, one from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey,
Calif., and the other from the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.
A 27-year Legionnaire, Hill is a Life Member and three-time Post Commander of
American Legion Post 316 in Atlantic Beach, Fla. He is a dual member belonging
to SAL Squadron 316. He attended the National American Legion College in 2000
and was an instructor in 2001. He was department commander for Florida from July
2002 to July 2003, achieving an all-time-high in membership. Hill earned eight
"Gold Brigade Awards" for recruiting 50 or more members of The American Legion
in a single year. He served for three years as the national chairman of The
American Legion National and Homeland Security Commission and belongs to The
American Legion Riders.
Cmdr. Hill took the oath of office along with five other national officers.
Serving as national vice commanders are Eugene A. Schumacher of Aberdeen, S.D.;
James C. Morris of Cardington, Ohio; Dr. Gordon B. Browning of Chestertown, Md.,
Mark A. Avis of Palmer, Mass., and Morris M. Bentley of Grangeville, Idaho.
National Historian James T. Higuera of Arcadia, Calif., National Chaplain John
L. Beaver of Mobile, Ala., and Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Martel of Pierson, Fla.,
were appointed to their positions by Cmdr. Hill following the close of the
national convention.
Florida Veteran Elected Leader of The American Legion
Orlando's Arcadian Broad, explains what happened
Totally off topic, but one of the luxuries of having your own blog. One of my pleasures is watching America's Got Talent. My husband got me hooked on this show a couple of years ago. I would be working online and hear him laughing his head off in the other room. I'd sit and watch for a few minutes, then get back to work. Soon I found myself watching longer. Then it was watching all of it. I love to see the talent this country has, and yes, even enjoy watching the people with no talent at all, but then feel sorry for them.
Arcadian Broad is one with great talent and he's just a kid. His audition was fantastic. It's easy to notice that when they audition and are on their own, they are amazing, but as the show goes on, they change their style, do things that are not that great and then get nailed by the judges for the changes. It looks like now we know why.
Well since he lives in Orlando, I think Disney should sign him fast and put him to work. He is one amazing kid.
I'll still watch the show because of the talent but now I won't wonder why people change their acts so much and end up off the show.
Arcadian Broad is one with great talent and he's just a kid. His audition was fantastic. It's easy to notice that when they audition and are on their own, they are amazing, but as the show goes on, they change their style, do things that are not that great and then get nailed by the judges for the changes. It looks like now we know why.
Well since he lives in Orlando, I think Disney should sign him fast and put him to work. He is one amazing kid.
I'll still watch the show because of the talent but now I won't wonder why people change their acts so much and end up off the show.
Is 'America's Got Talent' fixed? Just ask contestant Arcadian Broad.
After his semifinal performance last night, Broad accused the 'Talent' producers of forcing him to do a 'High School Musical'-esque dance routine -- a routine that failed to impress judge Piers Morgan. "Are you good enough to get to the final?" Piers asked. "The answer would be no."
Broad tried to explain himself -- "I didn't have this planned. I didn't want to do 'High School Musical,' and the producers gave me this hand," he said -- but was quickly cut off by both Piers and fellow judge Sharon Osbourne. "It's not about what you did tonight. It's purely about your technical ability as a dancer," Piers said. Even host Nick Cannon jumped in to say each contestant ultimately has a final say in what they perform.
read more here
Is Americas Got Talent fixed
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Healthcare opponent punches 65-year-old supporter
Healthcare opponent punches 65-year-old supporter
For political drama, there's always Florida.
A 65-year-old man cheering healthcare reform in Miami was punched in the face and knocked to the ground by an opponent of a public health plan, according to a reporter at the scene. The rally took place outside a Great Miami Chamber of Commerce event where Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL - below right) was speaking.
"Luis Perrero of Coral Gables was standing among about 40 Democratic activists and union workers when a man in a Ford pick-up truck pulled up to the rally at Jungle Island and began arguing with the crowd," the Herald's Tolouse Oloronippa blogged Wednesday. "The man, who only gave his first name as Raul, said Perrero called him a Spanish curse word. He punched Perrero in the face. Perrero fell to the ground and lay motionless for a few minutes."
"I'm amazed the way this has become such a politicized issue,'' Perrero told Oloronippa. "It shows that people who are against the public option will resort to anything, including battery on a senior citizen to prevent healthcare reform.''
"It was totally uncalled for," Wilhelmina Ford, another public healthcare supporter quipped. "The guy may have had words with him but he didn't have to hit him in the face.''
read more here
Healthcare opponent punches 65 year-old supporter
What is this really all about? Is it that the people, like this man accused of punching out a senior citizen, doesn't really care about anyone but themselves, or is it a matter of something much more sinister at work here?
This is not a matter of facts fueling opinions. This is more a matter of them being formed from obvious lies. So who is behind them? PR firms paid to make sure the giants get their bounty? Politicians motivated to put the interests of companies ahead of people? Not really sure but it's becoming more clear it's business fueling all of this.
When you think about the basis for the lies,they are all personal ones and intended to get passions pumping, and not in a good way. Veterans are used. The elderly are used. Both groups, sensitive subjects in any debate, but both groups also end up with "socialized" medical care. Last time I checked the VA and Medicare were government health. But even with that, both groups are the targets of these emails filled with lies. Then people screaming at these town halls end up saying they don't want government involved in their healthcare, but they never seem to hear that it would be an added option and not forced for all, plus they ignore the fact they could have a veteran or a senior citizen sitting right next to them using the VA or Medicare, feeling as if they've just been slammed.
They say that they work for their healthcare but they never seem to stop and think they have no control over if they even have a job or not and could lose it like so many others over the last couple of years. What will they use for healthcare then? What if they end up with a pre-existing medical condition, like so many other people getting older and a bit grayer, but not in the elderly category? Right now they only see what they have but don't seem to understand what they have to give up to have it, like pay raises because their company has to pay more to cover them and their own portion of the premium has gone up, meaning they have less money to take home. Ever wonder what that kind of money could do to the economy if it was put back into it instead of the insurance companies hands?
Everyone has some kind of an agenda but when it comes to changes in healthcare, the only ones that can gain anything are in the healthcare industry, and not the doctors and nurses we count on everyday for delivering it.
More than 20 firefighters reportedly injured in Station Fire
California counts cost of raging wildfires
Story Highlights
More than 20 firefighters reportedly injured in Station Fire; two died earlier in crash
California has spent $21 million fighting fire; it's 22 percent contained
Blaze encroaching on San Gabriel Wilderness Area in Angeles National Forest
Crews battle blaze near historic observatory atop Mount Wilson
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A raging wildfire north of Los Angeles has displaced thousands of anxious Californians, burning 140,150 acres by Wednesday.
Beth Halaas sifted through the ashes of her family's charred Los Angeles County home trying to find something to salvage.
"It's stuff. Hold on to some of it for traditions. But you've got to remember it's just stuff," she said on CNN's "Campbell Brown."
The so-called Station Fire forced Noel and Marta Rincon to evacuate their home in Tujunga.
"I thought that we were losing our home," the husband said of the residence where he was born and the couple raised their family.
read more here
California counts cost of raging wildfires
Story Highlights
More than 20 firefighters reportedly injured in Station Fire; two died earlier in crash
California has spent $21 million fighting fire; it's 22 percent contained
Blaze encroaching on San Gabriel Wilderness Area in Angeles National Forest
Crews battle blaze near historic observatory atop Mount Wilson
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A raging wildfire north of Los Angeles has displaced thousands of anxious Californians, burning 140,150 acres by Wednesday.
Beth Halaas sifted through the ashes of her family's charred Los Angeles County home trying to find something to salvage.
"It's stuff. Hold on to some of it for traditions. But you've got to remember it's just stuff," she said on CNN's "Campbell Brown."
The so-called Station Fire forced Noel and Marta Rincon to evacuate their home in Tujunga.
"I thought that we were losing our home," the husband said of the residence where he was born and the couple raised their family.
read more here
California counts cost of raging wildfires
The Voice of a New Generation of Veterans
The Voice of a New Generation of Veterans
After Serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, White House Aide Tackles Policy Challenges
By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Matt Flavin oversaw a 450-person intelligence unit in Bosnia, deployed overseas with the Navy SEALs and survived combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the challenge now facing the 29-year-old is in Washington, where he is charged with helping President Obama make good on his pledge to expand veterans' benefits.
Flavin, director of the new White House Office of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, is the administration's liaison to the nation's roughly 23 million veterans. For a president with no military experience, he orchestrates outreach to the politically prized constituency.
In a community dominated by veterans of the Vietnam War, Flavin embodies a generational change. He and the few other administration officials who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan -- including Tammy Duckworth, an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs -- offer a voice in Washington for the men and women fighting in today's conflicts.
read more here
The Voice of a New Generation of Veterans
After Serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, White House Aide Tackles Policy Challenges
By Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Matt Flavin oversaw a 450-person intelligence unit in Bosnia, deployed overseas with the Navy SEALs and survived combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the challenge now facing the 29-year-old is in Washington, where he is charged with helping President Obama make good on his pledge to expand veterans' benefits.
Flavin, director of the new White House Office of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, is the administration's liaison to the nation's roughly 23 million veterans. For a president with no military experience, he orchestrates outreach to the politically prized constituency.
In a community dominated by veterans of the Vietnam War, Flavin embodies a generational change. He and the few other administration officials who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan -- including Tammy Duckworth, an assistant secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs -- offer a voice in Washington for the men and women fighting in today's conflicts.
read more here
The Voice of a New Generation of Veterans
Military leaders, first responders learn about PTSD
Combining these groups is one of the best things they could do because it's great to know they have plenty of company living with this misery. Feeling alone is a terrible thing but finding each other, well, strength comes from numbers.
Military leaders, first responders learn about PTSD
Posted: Sep 2, 2009 07:53 PM EDT
by ABC-7 Reporter/Anchor Celina Avila
EL PASO, Texas -- In an attempt to increase awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder, military leaders and first responders in our community were invited to a symposium at Sierra Providence Medical Center.
Firefighters on harnesses at the scene of a bad crash. An elderly couple murdered, allegedly in front of children. A deadly shooting of an high-schooler, allegedly by a Fort Bliss soldier in need of mental help.
Those are not only recent headlines but actual emergencies. "Everybody looks at you and expects you to be the strong one," said El Paso police officer Michael Baranyay.
A somber video detailed the reality of war was shown to various law enforcement agencies. The video shed light on post-traumatic stress disorder and how it can affect the tough men and women we look to protect us.
read more here
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=11037494&nav=menu193_2
Budget cuts hurt everyone
Bad economy hurts us all the way around. We all know the kinds of problems California has but budget cuts left a fire engine shut and in another story, rape kits have not been placed where they are needed to catch a rapist.
These two stories just came out today as firefighters are trying to put out another wildfire raging and two firefighters died.
What is the answer? What can be done in such a bad economy? Not an easy answer but the most obvious one is to raise taxes on the people to help pay for what businesses no longer contribute. They are doing that in Florida by raising fees. Things are starting to turn around according to the experts but how long will it be before police and fire departments are back up to full funding? These cuts don't just hurt the police officers and firefighters, they hurt the citizens these men and women risk their lives for everyday.
3-year-old's drowning underscores L.A. Fire Department budget cuts
By Robert J. Lopez
A 3-year-old boy died in a swimming pool accident last week in Bel-Air on a day when one of the neighborhood's fire engines had been shut down
LA County to attack rape kit backlog
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The sheriff in California's Los Angeles County says he's committing $3 million in next year's budget to help with the backlog in rape kit DNA testing.
Human Rights Watch, the civil rights advocacy group, said the announcement came in a letter it received from County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. The rights group has been researching the backlog of untested evidence in rape cases.
read more here
These two stories just came out today as firefighters are trying to put out another wildfire raging and two firefighters died.
What is the answer? What can be done in such a bad economy? Not an easy answer but the most obvious one is to raise taxes on the people to help pay for what businesses no longer contribute. They are doing that in Florida by raising fees. Things are starting to turn around according to the experts but how long will it be before police and fire departments are back up to full funding? These cuts don't just hurt the police officers and firefighters, they hurt the citizens these men and women risk their lives for everyday.
PTSD on Trail: Ex-New York City Pollice Officer
Father says PTSD caused him to enter school with gun
By Steve Lieberman • slieberm@lohud.com • September 1, 2009
Peter Cocker today informed the court that he will offer a psychiatric defense to charges he rushed into South Orangetown Middle School armed and held the superintendent at gunpoint before being disarmed.
The Tappan father suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from years as a New York City police officer, his lawyer, Gerard Damiani, said after a court appearance at the Rockland County Courthouse in New City.
Cocker became agitated June 9 after his son collapsed on the baseball field and he felt his boy had swine flu symptoms , Damiani said.
He also had been drinking alcohol heavily, a form of self-medication resulting from post traumatic stress, Damiani said.
Cocker became angry at Schools Superintendent Kenneth Mitchell for sending out a Rockland Health Department form letter on swine flu precautions, authorities said. Cocker wanted the letter changed and the schools closed. The boy attends the middle school.
read more here
http://www.lohud.com/article/20090901/NEWS03/909010386
By Steve Lieberman • slieberm@lohud.com • September 1, 2009
Peter Cocker today informed the court that he will offer a psychiatric defense to charges he rushed into South Orangetown Middle School armed and held the superintendent at gunpoint before being disarmed.
The Tappan father suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from years as a New York City police officer, his lawyer, Gerard Damiani, said after a court appearance at the Rockland County Courthouse in New City.
Cocker became agitated June 9 after his son collapsed on the baseball field and he felt his boy had swine flu symptoms , Damiani said.
He also had been drinking alcohol heavily, a form of self-medication resulting from post traumatic stress, Damiani said.
Cocker became angry at Schools Superintendent Kenneth Mitchell for sending out a Rockland Health Department form letter on swine flu precautions, authorities said. Cocker wanted the letter changed and the schools closed. The boy attends the middle school.
read more here
http://www.lohud.com/article/20090901/NEWS03/909010386
Sgt. Northcutt's Post-Iraq Nightmare
If you are more offended by the language in this article than what they story really is, then you really shouldn't be reading this blog. I'm sure my regular readers will overlook the street language because they would probable be using the same words themselves. Why not? When I'm angry I still use them. What our troops are going through with being kept in combat on medication is enough to get anyone angry.
Sgt. Northcutt's Post-Iraq Nightmare: Getting Arrested for Growing Pot
By Fred Gardner, O'Shaughnessy's . Posted September 1, 2009.
Phillip Northcutt started legally cultivating medical marijuana to deal with PTSD from fighting in the Iraq. It wasn't long before the police and the courts caught up with him.
Phil Northcutt saw the map of Iraq on the wall and started recalling his time there. He’d been stationed in Ramadi, Al Anbar Province, in 2004.
Phil Northcutt: There was this main street, ‘Route Michigan,’ like a 4-lane highway going through town with a 12-inch tall median painted yellow and black. When we first got there you could see big holes in the median. By the time we left, there was no median. It had been blown up along six or seven miles of roadway...
There were two different kinds of fighters we engaged. When we first got there it was like local fighters. You could tell. They were wearing the man dresses and flip-flops and they had old rusty AKs. They were like beat-up, ragged-out goat herders but with weapons. They didn’t use squad maneuvers, they didn’t use military tactics, it was a shoot and run kind of thing. And pretty much we killed all those guys or they went away.
And then the second wave came in. These dudes were wearing brand new Adidas, American jeans, they were wearing tactical rigs like American contractors, baseball hats, sunglasses –they looked like American contractors.
read more here
Getting Arrested for Growing Pot
Fallen Marine's Mom Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame
Energizer honors Masaryktown mom's tireless work on behalf of U.S. troops with Keep Going Hall of Fame
By Beth N. Gray, Times Correspondent
In Print: Wednesday, September 2, 2009
MASARYKTOWN — Dee Mills has worked tirelessly for years as founder of Lea's Prayers and Postage to bring joy to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now, it's time for her service to be honored — in a big way.
Mills has brought national fame to herself and this tiny crossroads community in Hernando County as the 2009 winner of the national Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame award. The award celebrates people whose attributes and actions best exemplify qualities of the Energizer Bunny: perseverance, determination and never-quit attitude.
The bunny is featured in ads plugging the battery company's theme, "It keeps going and going and going."
Among thousands of applicants for the Hall of Fame, Mills, 53, was selected in June by a company panel from among 100 finalists, then named one of the Top 10.
Brief biographies of the 10 appeared on the Energizer Web site, and viewers were asked to vote their choice for a Hall of Fame inductee. The company announced her selection this week. Mills learned of her win about two weeks ago but she was sworn to secrecy.
After Marine Sgt. Lea Mills, then 21, son of Mills and her husband, Rob, was killed in Iraq in April 2006, Mills launched her effort to let deployed troops know they are not forgotten.
read more here
Keep Going Hall of Fame
By Beth N. Gray, Times Correspondent
In Print: Wednesday, September 2, 2009
MASARYKTOWN — Dee Mills has worked tirelessly for years as founder of Lea's Prayers and Postage to bring joy to troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now, it's time for her service to be honored — in a big way.
Mills has brought national fame to herself and this tiny crossroads community in Hernando County as the 2009 winner of the national Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame award. The award celebrates people whose attributes and actions best exemplify qualities of the Energizer Bunny: perseverance, determination and never-quit attitude.
The bunny is featured in ads plugging the battery company's theme, "It keeps going and going and going."
Among thousands of applicants for the Hall of Fame, Mills, 53, was selected in June by a company panel from among 100 finalists, then named one of the Top 10.
Brief biographies of the 10 appeared on the Energizer Web site, and viewers were asked to vote their choice for a Hall of Fame inductee. The company announced her selection this week. Mills learned of her win about two weeks ago but she was sworn to secrecy.
After Marine Sgt. Lea Mills, then 21, son of Mills and her husband, Rob, was killed in Iraq in April 2006, Mills launched her effort to let deployed troops know they are not forgotten.
read more here
Keep Going Hall of Fame
Bank America tells man with no arms they need thumb print?
Bank of America's thumbprint rule irks man born with no arms
The Associated Press
12:22 p.m. EDT, September 2, 2009
TAMPA - A Florida man born without arms says a Tampa-area bank would not let him cash a check because he could not provide a thumbprint.
read more here
Bank of America thumbprint rule irks man born with no arms
The Associated Press
12:22 p.m. EDT, September 2, 2009
TAMPA - A Florida man born without arms says a Tampa-area bank would not let him cash a check because he could not provide a thumbprint.
read more here
Bank of America thumbprint rule irks man born with no arms
Man shot in front of 100 people, no clues
Police identify man shot at Orlando apartment complex
Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
9:10 a.m. EDT, September 2, 2009
Orlando police are investigating an late night shooting at a complex on Jacobs Place near the East-West Expressway.
Jarrell C. Bowers, 25, was shot in front of a crowd of about 100 people who were gathered at the complex, an Orlando lieutenant said.
Bowers was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition. He is recovering there this morning.
read more here
Police identify man shot at Orlando apartment complex
Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
9:10 a.m. EDT, September 2, 2009
Orlando police are investigating an late night shooting at a complex on Jacobs Place near the East-West Expressway.
Jarrell C. Bowers, 25, was shot in front of a crowd of about 100 people who were gathered at the complex, an Orlando lieutenant said.
Bowers was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition. He is recovering there this morning.
read more here
Police identify man shot at Orlando apartment complex
A pastor who hates Pres. Obama and wishes he would die
Secret service investigates pastor 8:42
A pastor who hates Pres. Obama and wishes he would die. What's the Secret Service doing? What Rick Sanchez found out
Source: CNN
Added On September 1, 2009
Where is all of this hate coming from when they are supposed to be "Christian leaders?" Think about it. Westborough Baptist Church protesting at military funerals. This man and others saying they want President Obama to die. Where is all this hate coming from? People didn't like President Bush but even if the leaders spoke out on what he was doing, they prayed he would open his eyes, they prayed for him and for the country. They did not pray he would die.
A pastor who hates Pres. Obama and wishes he would die. What's the Secret Service doing? What Rick Sanchez found out
Source: CNN
Added On September 1, 2009
Where is all of this hate coming from when they are supposed to be "Christian leaders?" Think about it. Westborough Baptist Church protesting at military funerals. This man and others saying they want President Obama to die. Where is all this hate coming from? People didn't like President Bush but even if the leaders spoke out on what he was doing, they prayed he would open his eyes, they prayed for him and for the country. They did not pray he would die.
Veterans suffering from PTSD can visit virtual Chicoma Island for help
Veterans suffering from PTSD can visit virtual Chicoma Island for help
By Bob Brewin 09/01/2009
View slideshow of veteran visiting Chicoma Lodge in Second Life.
Combat veterans rarely talk about their most searing hidden emotions and thoughts caused by their experiences in battle, a reticence that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles is near completing Coming Home, a virtual world in Second Life that its creators hope will help break down the barriers to PTSD treatment, said Jacquelyn Morie, a project leader at ICT.
The institute developed a virtual world that features immersive therapy, which mental health professionals can use to treat Iraq combat veterans suffering form PTSD called Virtual Iraq. The site includes a virtual Iraqi village that veterans can walk through.
ICT initially planned to use the village in Second Life, but in a recent paper that Morie wrote, a veteran told her that he found the Iraqi village "disturbingly realistic, and he did not believe that any veteran should be allowed to explore the village without a therapist at his side."
read more here
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090901_9444.php?oref=topstory
By Bob Brewin 09/01/2009
View slideshow of veteran visiting Chicoma Lodge in Second Life.
Combat veterans rarely talk about their most searing hidden emotions and thoughts caused by their experiences in battle, a reticence that can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles is near completing Coming Home, a virtual world in Second Life that its creators hope will help break down the barriers to PTSD treatment, said Jacquelyn Morie, a project leader at ICT.
The institute developed a virtual world that features immersive therapy, which mental health professionals can use to treat Iraq combat veterans suffering form PTSD called Virtual Iraq. The site includes a virtual Iraqi village that veterans can walk through.
ICT initially planned to use the village in Second Life, but in a recent paper that Morie wrote, a veteran told her that he found the Iraqi village "disturbingly realistic, and he did not believe that any veteran should be allowed to explore the village without a therapist at his side."
read more here
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090901_9444.php?oref=topstory
Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire really using military intelligence
Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire just made me very hopeful by saying it depends on what works best, instead of just using what is there, she's searching. The military has a habit of searching for the latest and greatest when it comes to winning wars, but hardly ever seems to apply the same intelligence when it comes to what war does. She just proved it by this statement alone.
There are great programs out there, like the Montana National Guard have, plus some others, but there are also programs that don't work. In many cases, they actually do more harm than good. One I hope they totally abandon is Battlemind, but judging from the lack of reports on this program lately, I have a feeling they have been dropping it quietly. The other is Warrior Mind, which could have been a great program had they not fully understood the message being delivered ended up being yet again, if you end up with PTSD, it's your fault. Both of these programs could have worked really well if they had been thought out more and the developers heard the words being said through the ears of someone with PTSD. Then they would have known how much harm they were doing.
The other thing in this report is that Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli's words showed they still don't understand that PTSD comes after trauma, strikes the compassionate with vengeance and is a wound to the soul/emotions, that makes these men and women so wonderful and vulnerable at the same time. If they ever understand this then they will know exactly what to do and come up with programs that address the body-mind-spirit connection that is under assault. This is not all bad because at least he's asking what is behind it instead of ignoring it.
There are great programs out there, like the Montana National Guard have, plus some others, but there are also programs that don't work. In many cases, they actually do more harm than good. One I hope they totally abandon is Battlemind, but judging from the lack of reports on this program lately, I have a feeling they have been dropping it quietly. The other is Warrior Mind, which could have been a great program had they not fully understood the message being delivered ended up being yet again, if you end up with PTSD, it's your fault. Both of these programs could have worked really well if they had been thought out more and the developers heard the words being said through the ears of someone with PTSD. Then they would have known how much harm they were doing.
The other thing in this report is that Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli's words showed they still don't understand that PTSD comes after trauma, strikes the compassionate with vengeance and is a wound to the soul/emotions, that makes these men and women so wonderful and vulnerable at the same time. If they ever understand this then they will know exactly what to do and come up with programs that address the body-mind-spirit connection that is under assault. This is not all bad because at least he's asking what is behind it instead of ignoring it.
Schofield Barracks hosting suicide awareness event
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The Army in Hawai'i will recognize National Suicide Prevention Month tomorrow on Sills Field at Schofield Barracks with events intended to promote awareness of the impact suicide has not only has on family members, but also on the "Army family," officials said.
The day starts at 6:30 a.m. with a two-mile fun run, followed by opportunities for soldiers and family members to visit booths staffed by behavioral health experts, Army counselors and military chaplains.
"The most frustrating thing is trying to find a cause," Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 30.
Among those efforts, which included a service-wide stand down and a series of chain-teaching sessions, is a $50 million, five-year study on suicide conducted in conjunction with the National Institute of Mental Health.
"It's not that the Army lacks programs to confront the problem of suicide," said Brig. Gen. Colleen McGuire, Director, Army Suicide Prevention Task Force. "The long-term challenge is determining which programs are most effective for our soldiers, and ensuring Army leaders, from junior noncommissioned officers to the most senior leaders, know how to help their soldiers take advantage of these programs."
read more here
Schofield Barracks hosting suicide awareness event
What is the real agenda
What is the real agenda?
Up until about 15 minutes ago, I was in a pretty good mood. I started to go through some emails and some of them were very nice, very hopeful, with a clear agenda of helping others. No political thoughts hiding or blatantly clear. They were just about humans needing each other and acknowledging it.
The problem came when the rants made my mood darken. I feel like I do when on Tuesday night I go to see a bad movie and feel it was not only a waste of time and money, but left me wondering what is wrong with some people when they put out something that is not helpful, hopeful or even funny. If you walk out of a movie feeling worse than you walk in, that's a bad movie. This is not a movie but a bunch of people across this country hiding behind an actor's mask with a clear agenda that is politically motivated hiding behind a noble cause.
Some of the subjects are about "corruption in the VA" the "death book" and topic of the times, "Obamacare." All of these are coming in under the category of veterans.
First I wonder where all these people were when all the problems the veterans were facing over the last eight years while the number of veterans seeking help from the VA was growing along with the claims waiting, but nothing was being done. I wonder where they were when the suicides and attempted suicides was increasing, not only in the military but with our veterans as well when last reported 18 a day commit suicide.
The difference between then and now is a different administration with a different political party.
Gone are the days of "you have to support the President in a time of war" indicating that if you spoke out against anything the other administration did, you were not supporting the troops or the veterans. "You have to support the war or you don't support the troops" was dropped and suddenly they are coming out saying that even Afghanistan should be ended. Blog after blog that ignored the facts in order to support their own agenda have totally switched into being what they used to call anti-American, anti-military and anti-troops. Amazing!
Some fair minded people paying attention (like me) were attacked from both sides because we dared to tell the truth no matter who was in charge. Believing they need to be treated fairly while being held accountable just doesn't seem to fit in anymore. Gone are the times when fighting for all veterans was a good thing to do if you dare to take on a politician.
Some say that it's because of the 2000 election that politics took over everything but that is not the truth. It's an excuse. 9-11 proved that when we were all Americans. It is because of the blog world being used by people with hidden agendas. Instead of talking about the same problems the veterans faced all these years and staying on the fact most of the problem are getting worse, they want to jump on to false outrages as if they are helpful at all. Instead of demanding plans to get the troops back home from Iraq and Afghanistan so that no one can ever compare either to Vietnam, the claws come out. Instead of finding solutions to the huge problems they face, they waste their time and energy sending out emails to make someone's blood boil in a feeding frenzy so they don't pay attention to any of the facts behind how we got to where we are or what the real problems are.
I just read an email from someone saying that "the death book signals out veterans" as if that made any sense at all. It was from the VA! It is about making choices with time to think about what veterans want when it comes to their own lives but this person decided to use words that would cause people to get upset without having time to think about what was really in the publication.
Much like a very bad movie, with bad actors working off an even worse script, their agenda is clear and this is not about veterans or the troops. All of these chain emails are about manipulating without a good imagination or noble intent. It's a waste of time, an assault on the emotions and all will have a bad ending if good people don't start to ignore the people sending out these emails and start to focus on the real problems veterans face along with the troops.
Up until about 15 minutes ago, I was in a pretty good mood. I started to go through some emails and some of them were very nice, very hopeful, with a clear agenda of helping others. No political thoughts hiding or blatantly clear. They were just about humans needing each other and acknowledging it.
The problem came when the rants made my mood darken. I feel like I do when on Tuesday night I go to see a bad movie and feel it was not only a waste of time and money, but left me wondering what is wrong with some people when they put out something that is not helpful, hopeful or even funny. If you walk out of a movie feeling worse than you walk in, that's a bad movie. This is not a movie but a bunch of people across this country hiding behind an actor's mask with a clear agenda that is politically motivated hiding behind a noble cause.
Some of the subjects are about "corruption in the VA" the "death book" and topic of the times, "Obamacare." All of these are coming in under the category of veterans.
First I wonder where all these people were when all the problems the veterans were facing over the last eight years while the number of veterans seeking help from the VA was growing along with the claims waiting, but nothing was being done. I wonder where they were when the suicides and attempted suicides was increasing, not only in the military but with our veterans as well when last reported 18 a day commit suicide.
The difference between then and now is a different administration with a different political party.
Gone are the days of "you have to support the President in a time of war" indicating that if you spoke out against anything the other administration did, you were not supporting the troops or the veterans. "You have to support the war or you don't support the troops" was dropped and suddenly they are coming out saying that even Afghanistan should be ended. Blog after blog that ignored the facts in order to support their own agenda have totally switched into being what they used to call anti-American, anti-military and anti-troops. Amazing!
Some fair minded people paying attention (like me) were attacked from both sides because we dared to tell the truth no matter who was in charge. Believing they need to be treated fairly while being held accountable just doesn't seem to fit in anymore. Gone are the times when fighting for all veterans was a good thing to do if you dare to take on a politician.
Some say that it's because of the 2000 election that politics took over everything but that is not the truth. It's an excuse. 9-11 proved that when we were all Americans. It is because of the blog world being used by people with hidden agendas. Instead of talking about the same problems the veterans faced all these years and staying on the fact most of the problem are getting worse, they want to jump on to false outrages as if they are helpful at all. Instead of demanding plans to get the troops back home from Iraq and Afghanistan so that no one can ever compare either to Vietnam, the claws come out. Instead of finding solutions to the huge problems they face, they waste their time and energy sending out emails to make someone's blood boil in a feeding frenzy so they don't pay attention to any of the facts behind how we got to where we are or what the real problems are.
I just read an email from someone saying that "the death book signals out veterans" as if that made any sense at all. It was from the VA! It is about making choices with time to think about what veterans want when it comes to their own lives but this person decided to use words that would cause people to get upset without having time to think about what was really in the publication.
Much like a very bad movie, with bad actors working off an even worse script, their agenda is clear and this is not about veterans or the troops. All of these chain emails are about manipulating without a good imagination or noble intent. It's a waste of time, an assault on the emotions and all will have a bad ending if good people don't start to ignore the people sending out these emails and start to focus on the real problems veterans face along with the troops.
A Hero's Death in Afghanistan, and the Question 'Why?'
A Hero's Death in Afghanistan, and the Question 'Why?'
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
On Saturday, millions watched as Ted Kennedy made his final trip to Arlington National Cemetery. With rather less attention, Arlington's soil opened again Monday to accept the remains of one of Kennedy's former aides, 40-year-old Bill Cahir.
The deceased, an Alexandria resident, was unknown to most Americans, but he did no less for his country than his old boss -- and, gauged by the last full measure of devotion, he did even more. He went from his job working for Kennedy in the Senate to become, at various points, a Washington journalist and a failed congressional candidate. But it was the Sept. 11 attacks that inspired Cahir, at age 34, to get an age waiver from military recruiters in 2003 and enlist in the Marines.
That brave and fateful choice ultimately landed Sgt. Cahir on the horse-drawn caisson at Arlington on Monday, two weeks after he took a bullet to the neck while on patrol in Afghanistan. Cahir's widow, pregnant with his twin daughters, accepted the folded flag from his casket.
read more here
A Hero Death in Afghanistan
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
On Saturday, millions watched as Ted Kennedy made his final trip to Arlington National Cemetery. With rather less attention, Arlington's soil opened again Monday to accept the remains of one of Kennedy's former aides, 40-year-old Bill Cahir.
The deceased, an Alexandria resident, was unknown to most Americans, but he did no less for his country than his old boss -- and, gauged by the last full measure of devotion, he did even more. He went from his job working for Kennedy in the Senate to become, at various points, a Washington journalist and a failed congressional candidate. But it was the Sept. 11 attacks that inspired Cahir, at age 34, to get an age waiver from military recruiters in 2003 and enlist in the Marines.
That brave and fateful choice ultimately landed Sgt. Cahir on the horse-drawn caisson at Arlington on Monday, two weeks after he took a bullet to the neck while on patrol in Afghanistan. Cahir's widow, pregnant with his twin daughters, accepted the folded flag from his casket.
read more here
A Hero Death in Afghanistan
Subconscious Restructuring for PTSD blocked from review
There is no one size fits all approach for treating PTSD and there never will be, simply because we are all different. While some with PTSD use drugs and alcohol as self-medication, others not only have PTSD, but are addicted to drugs and alcohol, suffering a double whammy. If you treat them all as if they are addicts, it won't work for all of them just as if you treat them all as if they are just self-medicating, they will not all be treated properly. The same goes with the wrong diagnosis. If psychiatrist are looking for depression, they will find it because it comes with PTSD and they could be mistreating the patient if they do not look at trauma. PTSD is misdiagnosed all the time because of all the symptoms that can be found in other mental illness. PTSD only comes after traumatic events.
That said, Subconscious Restructuring could help a lot of veterans. It claims to alter the intrusive thoughts and help deal with depression. When it comes to suicide, depression is the number one reason because they lose hope. If this program can help reduce depression it should at least be studied. No program should be dismissed without clinical evidence any more than they should be approved without it.
That said, Subconscious Restructuring could help a lot of veterans. It claims to alter the intrusive thoughts and help deal with depression. When it comes to suicide, depression is the number one reason because they lose hope. If this program can help reduce depression it should at least be studied. No program should be dismissed without clinical evidence any more than they should be approved without it.
Life Coach: The Only Evidence Based PTSD/Suicide Intervention Is Blocked By NIMH From Scientific Review
By Kelly Burris
NIMH Blocked the only Evidence Based program process for PTSD/Suicide from Scientific Review.
Despite an unprecedented crisis in military suicidality, the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) rejected the only evidence based proposal the SR process to cure post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide in the U.S. Army.
The rejection shocked proposal scientists, former Marine officer, combat veteran and psychotherapist Dr. Ron Clark, the Principal Investigator (PI), and former USAF officer, psychologist and co PI Dr. Jeff Litchford.
The SR process proposed by the doctors has a record of success over its 25 year history, and has established itself as the only evidence based program process in mental health. The model, referred to by Dr. Clark and Litchford as Subconscious Restructuring (SR), is well suited as the program of choice to overcome PTSD/suicidality problems of combat returning U.S. Army military personnel and their families. It teaches depressed, traumatized and suicidal service personnel and their families how to restructure their subconscious, and replace dysfunctional components with more appropriate goal oriented words, pictures, thoughts, emotions and behaviors. When symptoms of depression are present, as in the case of PTSD and suicidality, the Burris SR intervention is especially effective.
No evidence based program processes were funded in 2007, when $277 million was dispersed via CDMRP to address PTSD and TBI. 2008 became a record setting year for military suicides with 2009 on track for setting another record.
read more here
Life Coach Holistic Health
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Bliss soldier charged in bar shooting
Bliss soldier charged in bar shooting
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 1, 2009 14:18:48 EDT
EL PASO, Texas — A 23-year-old Fort Bliss soldier is jailed in El Paso for allegedly trying to kill two fellow soldiers during a gang shooting.
Pvt. Antonio Saunders was arrested Monday and jailed on two counts of attempted murder.
El Paso police say he admitted shooting at two fellow soldiers after a weekend bar fight. Spc. Frank Calderon, 22, was wounded and remains hospitalized. The other soldier wasn't injured.
Saunders turned himself into military police and is being held in $150,000 bail. Online jail records don't show if he has a lawyer.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_bar_shooting_090109/
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 1, 2009 14:18:48 EDT
EL PASO, Texas — A 23-year-old Fort Bliss soldier is jailed in El Paso for allegedly trying to kill two fellow soldiers during a gang shooting.
Pvt. Antonio Saunders was arrested Monday and jailed on two counts of attempted murder.
El Paso police say he admitted shooting at two fellow soldiers after a weekend bar fight. Spc. Frank Calderon, 22, was wounded and remains hospitalized. The other soldier wasn't injured.
Saunders turned himself into military police and is being held in $150,000 bail. Online jail records don't show if he has a lawyer.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_bar_shooting_090109/
3 infants hurt as car crashes into child care center
3 infants hurt as car crashes into child care center
By KOMO Staff Watch the story REDMOND, Wash. -- Three infants were taken to a hospital after an SUV crashed into a childcare building in Redmond Monday afternoon.
The crash happened around 4:30 p.m. inside the Archstone Apartment complex in the 4300 block of 156th Avenue NE.
A 2006 Toyota RAV-4 SUV struck the front room of the Childtime Learning Center that houses seven infants, ranging in age from 3 to 9 months, said Capt. Rob Torrey with the Redmond Fire Department. Officials said in all, there were 45 to 50 children present.
"I was kind of scared because I heard a big crash and I heard glass. And I heard people screaming really loud," said a little boy named David Shtukin.
Two children were taken to Overlake Hospital in Bellevue while one was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but none of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening.
read more here
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/56411292.html
Mom delivers baby, now fights for her life
Mom delivers baby, now fights for her life
Valerie Post, 24, is in a medically induced coma at Tampa General Hospital after delivering her baby two months early, following complications from a swine flu infection.
Video: Valerie's husband talks about her illness
Valerie Post, 24, is in a medically induced coma at Tampa General Hospital after delivering her baby two months early, following complications from a swine flu infection.
Video: Valerie's husband talks about her illness
Police charge man in fatal shooting at Melbourne bar
Police charge man in fatal shooting at Melbourne bar
BY J.D.GALLOP and KAUSTUV BASU • FLORIDA TODAY • September 1, 2009
A 26-year-old man has been charged with gunning down a bar patron in a crowded Melbourne bar on Monday.
Melbourne detectives charged Donald L. Kautz, no address given, with first-degree murder with a firearm just after midnight. He was taken to the Brevard County Detention Center in Sharpes.
Police also continue to search for a motive in the shooting, but added that Kautz and the victim were seen arguing.
Witnesses at the Just 1 More Bar at 1202 Sarno Road said Kautz, wearing a black bandana and plaid shirt, had been acting strangely moments before heading out to his car and returning with a handgun.
Kautz then fired off several rounds inside the crowded establishment, striking 45-year-old Noel Randall II at least once in the chest at close range, the witnesses said.
read more here
Police charge man in fatal shooting at Melbourne bar
BY J.D.GALLOP and KAUSTUV BASU • FLORIDA TODAY • September 1, 2009
A 26-year-old man has been charged with gunning down a bar patron in a crowded Melbourne bar on Monday.
Melbourne detectives charged Donald L. Kautz, no address given, with first-degree murder with a firearm just after midnight. He was taken to the Brevard County Detention Center in Sharpes.
Police also continue to search for a motive in the shooting, but added that Kautz and the victim were seen arguing.
Witnesses at the Just 1 More Bar at 1202 Sarno Road said Kautz, wearing a black bandana and plaid shirt, had been acting strangely moments before heading out to his car and returning with a handgun.
Kautz then fired off several rounds inside the crowded establishment, striking 45-year-old Noel Randall II at least once in the chest at close range, the witnesses said.
read more here
Police charge man in fatal shooting at Melbourne bar
Police: Man barricaded inside home dies of self-inflicted gunshot
Police: Man barricaded inside home dies of self-inflicted gunshot
Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
2:39 p.m. EDT, September 1, 2009
An armed man who barricaded himself inside a home on Dorado Avenue has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
The Orlando Police SWAT team and Crisis Negotiation Team were at the scene in the 700 block of Dorado Avenue since about 8:30 a.m.
Police shot gas canisters into the home around 1 p.m. and then heard a gun shot inside the home. They entered and found Alexis Franco, 34, dead inside.
read more here
Man barricaded inside home dies of self inflicted gunshot
Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
2:39 p.m. EDT, September 1, 2009
An armed man who barricaded himself inside a home on Dorado Avenue has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
The Orlando Police SWAT team and Crisis Negotiation Team were at the scene in the 700 block of Dorado Avenue since about 8:30 a.m.
Police shot gas canisters into the home around 1 p.m. and then heard a gun shot inside the home. They entered and found Alexis Franco, 34, dead inside.
read more here
Man barricaded inside home dies of self inflicted gunshot
President Meets With Fallen Marine's Family
President Meets With Fallen Marine's Family
21-Year-Old Killed Overseas
POSTED: 6:17 pm EDT August 31, 2009
YARMOUTH, Mass. -- When President Barack Obama left Sen. Edward Kennedy's funeral, he had one more stop planned in Massachusetts at Cape Cod Air Station for a private, undisclosed meeting with the family of a fallen Marine from Yarmouth -- Nicholas Xiarhos.
"This is the coin he gave me when he walked up to shake hands. He stuck it in there. It says his name -- president of the United States," Nicholas' father, Steve Xiarhos, said.
In February, Nicholas Xiarhos had met Obama when he spoke at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where the Marine corporal was stationed after his first tour of duty in Iraq. His father said he called home right away to tell his family he was volunteering for duty in Afghanistan.
read more here and watch report
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/20654735/detail.html
21-Year-Old Killed Overseas
POSTED: 6:17 pm EDT August 31, 2009
YARMOUTH, Mass. -- When President Barack Obama left Sen. Edward Kennedy's funeral, he had one more stop planned in Massachusetts at Cape Cod Air Station for a private, undisclosed meeting with the family of a fallen Marine from Yarmouth -- Nicholas Xiarhos.
"This is the coin he gave me when he walked up to shake hands. He stuck it in there. It says his name -- president of the United States," Nicholas' father, Steve Xiarhos, said.
In February, Nicholas Xiarhos had met Obama when he spoke at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where the Marine corporal was stationed after his first tour of duty in Iraq. His father said he called home right away to tell his family he was volunteering for duty in Afghanistan.
read more here and watch report
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/20654735/detail.html
One-Third of All Cocaine Seized in U.S. Laced With Lethal De-Worming Drug
Tainted Cocaine Kills 3, Sickens 100
One-Third of All Cocaine Seized in U.S. Laced With Lethal De-Worming Drug
(AP) Nearly a third of all cocaine seized in the United States is laced with a dangerous veterinary medicine - a livestock de-worming drug that might enhance cocaine's effects but has been blamed in at least three deaths and scores of serious illnesses.
The medication called levamisole has killed at least three people in the U.S. and Canada and sickened more than 100 others. It can be used in humans to treat colorectal cancer, but it severely weakens the body's immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to fatal infections.
Scientific studies suggest levamisole might give cocaine a more intense high, possibly by increasing levels of dopamine, the brain's "feel-good" neurotransmitters.
Drug Enforcement Administration documents reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that 30 percent of all U.S. cocaine seizures are tainted with the drug. And health officials told the AP that most physicians know virtually nothing about its risks.
"I would think it would be fair to say the vast majority of doctors in the United States have no idea this is going on," said Eric Lavonas, assistant director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, where as much as half of the cocaine is believed to contain levamisole. "You can't diagnose a disease you've never heard of."
Authorities believe cocaine manufacturers are adding the levamisole in Colombia, before the cocaine is smuggled into the U.S. and Canada to be sold as white powder or crack.
read more here
Tainted Cocaine Kills 3, Sickens 100
One-Third of All Cocaine Seized in U.S. Laced With Lethal De-Worming Drug
(AP) Nearly a third of all cocaine seized in the United States is laced with a dangerous veterinary medicine - a livestock de-worming drug that might enhance cocaine's effects but has been blamed in at least three deaths and scores of serious illnesses.
The medication called levamisole has killed at least three people in the U.S. and Canada and sickened more than 100 others. It can be used in humans to treat colorectal cancer, but it severely weakens the body's immune system, leaving patients vulnerable to fatal infections.
Scientific studies suggest levamisole might give cocaine a more intense high, possibly by increasing levels of dopamine, the brain's "feel-good" neurotransmitters.
Drug Enforcement Administration documents reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that 30 percent of all U.S. cocaine seizures are tainted with the drug. And health officials told the AP that most physicians know virtually nothing about its risks.
"I would think it would be fair to say the vast majority of doctors in the United States have no idea this is going on," said Eric Lavonas, assistant director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver, where as much as half of the cocaine is believed to contain levamisole. "You can't diagnose a disease you've never heard of."
Authorities believe cocaine manufacturers are adding the levamisole in Colombia, before the cocaine is smuggled into the U.S. and Canada to be sold as white powder or crack.
read more here
Tainted Cocaine Kills 3, Sickens 100
Starting today, some Tricare services free
Starting today, some Tricare services free
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Sep 1, 2009 12:35:24 EDT
As of Sept. 1, certain Tricare beneficiaries no longer will have to pay out of pocket for immunizations, mammograms and some other preventive services.
However, the new benefit does not apply to all preventive services or to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.
Also as of Sept. 1, beneficiaries can request reimbursement for any of these covered preventive services that they have paid for since Oct. 14, 2008. The benefit is retroactive to that date, when it was signed into law.
Covered preventive services include screenings for colorectal cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer; immunizations; and certain physical exams, including well-child visits for children younger than 6. This means the patient has no co-payments or cost shares, even if his or her annual Tricare deductible has not been met.
read more here
Starting today some Tricare services free
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Sep 1, 2009 12:35:24 EDT
As of Sept. 1, certain Tricare beneficiaries no longer will have to pay out of pocket for immunizations, mammograms and some other preventive services.
However, the new benefit does not apply to all preventive services or to Medicare-eligible beneficiaries.
Also as of Sept. 1, beneficiaries can request reimbursement for any of these covered preventive services that they have paid for since Oct. 14, 2008. The benefit is retroactive to that date, when it was signed into law.
Covered preventive services include screenings for colorectal cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer; immunizations; and certain physical exams, including well-child visits for children younger than 6. This means the patient has no co-payments or cost shares, even if his or her annual Tricare deductible has not been met.
read more here
Starting today some Tricare services free
1st Lt. James A. Gardner Medal Of Honor donated to 101st Airborne
MoH of Vietnam vet donated to 101st Airborne
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 1, 2009 13:05:44 EDT
DYERSBURG, Tenn. — The family of a Dyersburg soldier who received the Medal of Honor posthumously has donated his medal to the 101st Airborne Division.
The medal was awarded to 1st Lt. James A. Gardner, who died in battle in Vietnam on Feb. 7, 1966 — his 23rd birthday.
The State Gazette in Dyersburg reported Gardner's sister, Linda Gardner-Park, presented the medal to the division's 327th Regiment on Aug. 14 during a ceremony at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Gardner was one of only 246 recipients of the Medal of Honor for actions during the Vietnam War.
Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of the 101st Airborne, said at the ceremony Gardner-Park's donation made her brother's sacrifice "a very real and very tangible statement."
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_MOH_donation_090109/
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 1, 2009 13:05:44 EDT
DYERSBURG, Tenn. — The family of a Dyersburg soldier who received the Medal of Honor posthumously has donated his medal to the 101st Airborne Division.
The medal was awarded to 1st Lt. James A. Gardner, who died in battle in Vietnam on Feb. 7, 1966 — his 23rd birthday.
The State Gazette in Dyersburg reported Gardner's sister, Linda Gardner-Park, presented the medal to the division's 327th Regiment on Aug. 14 during a ceremony at Fort Campbell, Ky.
Gardner was one of only 246 recipients of the Medal of Honor for actions during the Vietnam War.
Maj. Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of the 101st Airborne, said at the ceremony Gardner-Park's donation made her brother's sacrifice "a very real and very tangible statement."
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_MOH_donation_090109/
Wounded GIs in Afghanistan
Wounded GIs in Afghanistan: Casualties More Seriously Injured Than in Iraq
David Wood Columnist
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan -- They are the invisible casualties of this war, the 2,194 Americans who have been badly wounded in battle here. More are coming.
Stunned, torn and bleeding, they are extracted from dusty battlefields in wild, shouting chaos, and because they are so quickly rushed into the hands of trauma nurses and surgeons, more of them survive than in past wars.
But their wounds are often grievous, even more severe than those inflicted in the Iraq war. It is not uncommon for a casualty to arrive at a combat surgical hospital with two, three or even more immediately life-threatening injuries. Simultaneously drawn to the soldier's side will be specialists in setting broken bones, repairing deep abdominal wounds, attending to crushing chest injuries and cleaning the stumps of amputated limbs, while a neurologist works to assess brain damage.
The battle dead, deservedly, are venerated and honored by name. They are memorialized by their comrades in formal, intense, battlefield ceremony, honored as their remains are carried past rows of saluting troops onto waiting aircraft, and their sacrifices are sanctified again during and after their various journeys home. Their deaths are announced by the Pentagon and recorded on gravestones.
The wounded receive no such recognition. They are moved swiftly and anonymously; their names and sacrifices are not publicly recorded by the Department of Defense, which effectively bans interviews and photographs.
But as they are tenderly passed along -- from the combat medics who bandage them and the dust-off pilots who fly them away under fire, to the surgeons who perform emergency battle-zone surgery and the aero-medical evacuation pilots and crews who fly them toward home -- they are known and respected, honored, and treated with urgent compassion.
read more here
Wounded GIs in Afghanistan
David Wood Columnist
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan -- They are the invisible casualties of this war, the 2,194 Americans who have been badly wounded in battle here. More are coming.
Stunned, torn and bleeding, they are extracted from dusty battlefields in wild, shouting chaos, and because they are so quickly rushed into the hands of trauma nurses and surgeons, more of them survive than in past wars.
But their wounds are often grievous, even more severe than those inflicted in the Iraq war. It is not uncommon for a casualty to arrive at a combat surgical hospital with two, three or even more immediately life-threatening injuries. Simultaneously drawn to the soldier's side will be specialists in setting broken bones, repairing deep abdominal wounds, attending to crushing chest injuries and cleaning the stumps of amputated limbs, while a neurologist works to assess brain damage.
The battle dead, deservedly, are venerated and honored by name. They are memorialized by their comrades in formal, intense, battlefield ceremony, honored as their remains are carried past rows of saluting troops onto waiting aircraft, and their sacrifices are sanctified again during and after their various journeys home. Their deaths are announced by the Pentagon and recorded on gravestones.
The wounded receive no such recognition. They are moved swiftly and anonymously; their names and sacrifices are not publicly recorded by the Department of Defense, which effectively bans interviews and photographs.
But as they are tenderly passed along -- from the combat medics who bandage them and the dust-off pilots who fly them away under fire, to the surgeons who perform emergency battle-zone surgery and the aero-medical evacuation pilots and crews who fly them toward home -- they are known and respected, honored, and treated with urgent compassion.
read more here
Wounded GIs in Afghanistan
VA Honors Veterans Who Are Artists, Performers
VA Honors Veterans Who Are Artists, Performers
National Veterans Creative Arts Festival Coming to San Antonio
WASHINGTON (Sept. 1, 2009) - More than 120 Veterans from across the country who are medal winners in national music, dance, drama, creative writing or visual arts contests are preparing to attend the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in San Antonio from Oct. 5 - 11.
"The Creative Arts Festival represents the top achievements of Veterans participating in VA art therapy throughout the nation," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "Their achievements are a testament to the outstanding care and rehabilitative techniques used to pave the way toward recovery for our nation's most deserving men and women."
The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV) and the American Legion Auxiliary. It is hosted this year by the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio.
The festival is the culmination of a year-long fine arts talent competition involving nearly 3,500 participants nationwide. It is open to all Veterans receiving care at VA medical facilities.
"It is truly an honor for the American Legion Auxiliary to support the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival," said National President Rita Navarreté. "This phenomenal event affords our Veterans a unique outlet for their creative expression and is incredibly inspiring for everyone who is privileged to attend."
At this year's event, these talented Veterans will come to San Antonio for a week of rehearsals and workshops, concluding on Sunday, Oct. 11, with a visual art exhibit and gala variety stage show at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium.
"The Board of Directors of HHV is again thrilled and privileged to co-sponsor the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival with VA and the American Legion Auxiliary," said Mike Lynch, HHV president and CEO. "HHV wishes to congratulate all Veterans who entered into this national competition, for you have shared your fantastic performing and visual arts abilities with America."
The artists will exhibit their work from 12:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium. At 2 p.m., performers in music, drama and dance, as well as the creative writing winners, will showcase their talents in an entertaining stage show backed by a professional orchestra.
Heloise, from "Hints from Heloise," will serve as the festival stage show's mistress of ceremonies for the first time. Actress Bo Derek, honorary chairperson of VA's National Rehabilitation Special Events, is expected to attend the event again this year.
For further information about the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, contact Jeanne Stith at (202) 461-7448, or log on to the festival's Web site at: www.creativeartsfestival.va.gov
National Veterans Creative Arts Festival Coming to San Antonio
WASHINGTON (Sept. 1, 2009) - More than 120 Veterans from across the country who are medal winners in national music, dance, drama, creative writing or visual arts contests are preparing to attend the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in San Antonio from Oct. 5 - 11.
"The Creative Arts Festival represents the top achievements of Veterans participating in VA art therapy throughout the nation," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "Their achievements are a testament to the outstanding care and rehabilitative techniques used to pave the way toward recovery for our nation's most deserving men and women."
The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival is presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV) and the American Legion Auxiliary. It is hosted this year by the South Texas Veterans Health Care System in San Antonio.
The festival is the culmination of a year-long fine arts talent competition involving nearly 3,500 participants nationwide. It is open to all Veterans receiving care at VA medical facilities.
"It is truly an honor for the American Legion Auxiliary to support the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival," said National President Rita Navarreté. "This phenomenal event affords our Veterans a unique outlet for their creative expression and is incredibly inspiring for everyone who is privileged to attend."
At this year's event, these talented Veterans will come to San Antonio for a week of rehearsals and workshops, concluding on Sunday, Oct. 11, with a visual art exhibit and gala variety stage show at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium.
"The Board of Directors of HHV is again thrilled and privileged to co-sponsor the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival with VA and the American Legion Auxiliary," said Mike Lynch, HHV president and CEO. "HHV wishes to congratulate all Veterans who entered into this national competition, for you have shared your fantastic performing and visual arts abilities with America."
The artists will exhibit their work from 12:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium. At 2 p.m., performers in music, drama and dance, as well as the creative writing winners, will showcase their talents in an entertaining stage show backed by a professional orchestra.
Heloise, from "Hints from Heloise," will serve as the festival stage show's mistress of ceremonies for the first time. Actress Bo Derek, honorary chairperson of VA's National Rehabilitation Special Events, is expected to attend the event again this year.
For further information about the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, contact Jeanne Stith at (202) 461-7448, or log on to the festival's Web site at: www.creativeartsfestival.va.gov
California:Mourning the loss of two Firefighters
In the Line of Duty.... Mourning the loss of two Firefighters
"Winning the lottery has ruined my life. I wish I had never won."
Ever wonder what you'd do if you suddenly came into a lot of money? How many times do you play the lottery and start to daydream about how you would spend the money? Whenever the temptation becomes too great, I play the lottery. I used to play it a lot more, especially when I walked into a store and saw a scratch ticket that was loose in the rack. "Someone's castaway could be my big win!" I'd think for an instant and buy it as my eyes widen with the possibilities of my guardian angel finally getting the message I need help and she got there in time to help me out. Oh, what I would do with all that money! So far, I never had the problem of really having to decide for real.
I asked my husband one time when we played the lottery for one of the big prizes what he'd do with the money. His response was one of the biggest reasons of why I love him so much. He said, "First I'd pay off the house and the bills. I'd buy a new bike. (Harley motorcycle) Then I'd put some away for later, but the rest, well, who needs that kind of money? I'd give the rest away to charity."
It's easy to think you wouldn't be greedy when you don't have money. It's a lot harder when you actually have it. I'd like to think that we would live up to our ideals when we really had the chance to, but there are no guarantees values are so deeply rooted inside of any of us that we would always do the right thing.
Here's a story of a young woman who had to decide what to do with lottery money she won when she was a teenager. It's a lesson for all of us.
I asked my husband one time when we played the lottery for one of the big prizes what he'd do with the money. His response was one of the biggest reasons of why I love him so much. He said, "First I'd pay off the house and the bills. I'd buy a new bike. (Harley motorcycle) Then I'd put some away for later, but the rest, well, who needs that kind of money? I'd give the rest away to charity."
It's easy to think you wouldn't be greedy when you don't have money. It's a lot harder when you actually have it. I'd like to think that we would live up to our ideals when we really had the chance to, but there are no guarantees values are so deeply rooted inside of any of us that we would always do the right thing.
Here's a story of a young woman who had to decide what to do with lottery money she won when she was a teenager. It's a lesson for all of us.
Teen Lottery Winner Says She's Broke
"Winning the lottery has ruined my life. I wish I had never won."
(Aug. 31) - A young woman who won over $3 million in the lottery when she was just 16says she blew it all on wild shopping sprees, breast implants and cocaine.
Rogers, from Cumbria in northwest England, was a shop assistant when she hit the jackpot in 2003. Now 22 and the mother of two young children, she says she has about $32,000 left.
read more here
Teen Lottery Winner Says She's Broke
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