What this guy "knows" is wrong but press didn't care

I totally lost it earlier today when I read another news report with someone claiming that bombastic number of "22 a day" referring to veterans taking their lives. How many more times will it take for them to stop using veterans like that? How many more times do reporters have to get embarrassed for not knowing anything about any of this?
This is what I wrote earlier on Google+

"How the hell do people keep getting attention for getting it wrong? Is anyone paying attention to what is real anymore? What this guys "knows" is wrong and as for the "a lot" part, we're looking at over 70 a day and I actually bothered to put it all together because I read the damn reports!!! Good Lord! Nothing will change as long as people keep doing what is easy."

And this is the reason I wrote it.

“I know, it’s a lot,” said Joseph Palesano, after telling a group in attendance at Wednesday’s Kiwanis Club meeting in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena that 22 veterans lose their lives on average to suicide everyday.

So, not to cut through all the crap that is out there, here are the facts.

The "22 a day" rant came from the first VA suicide report, which stated clearly that it was limited data from just 21 states. Not 50, not including all veterans in those numbers and no, not just veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Also notice this on page 18

The other fact is both reports also stated that majority of veterans they knew about committing suicide were over the age of 50!

This is from the second study, where they had more data, but as you will see, they still didn't have all of it.

In 2001, Veterans accounted for 12.1 percent of the U.S. adult population and 23 percent of all suicides among U.S. adults. Between 2001 and 2014, there were decreases in both the proportion of U.S. adults who were Veterans (8.5 percent in 2014) and the proportion of adult suicide decedents who were Veterans (17.8 percent in 2014). However, changes in the proportion of U.S. adults who were Veterans or the proportion of adults who died by suicide and were Veterans leave gaps in our understanding of changes in rates of suicide among Veterans over time. 

Here is a list from every state on the data you need to know. Why? Because Death Certificate rules on "military service" vary from state to state. Just an example, California and Illinois just passed legislation last year to add it to their Death Certificates. In other words, no one knows how many in states like that.

Speaking of that, if a veteran ended up kicked out instead of being helped to heal, they were not counted at all.

Veterans Voice Suicide Concerns

Representatives of the organization Wellness Works spoke at this week’s South Pasadena Kiwanis Meeting 

It’s an alarming number that members of the Wellness Works organization hope will dwindle over time.“I know, it’s a lot,” said Joseph Palesano, after telling a group in attendance at Wednesday’s Kiwanis Club meeting in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena that 22 veterans lose their lives on average to suicide everyday.That’s everyday he reminded those taking in his somber message. “It’s too many,” he said, following his presentation. “That’s why we’re trying to do something about it.”

Now, how about they start with actually reading the reports before they go to the press? How about they actually study what has been done, what worked and what failed, you know, like when groups decided that older veterans did not need any help, so they left the off the to do list?

How about reporters actually learn some facts or even ask these people what the hell they are doing with the money, when all they seem to be doing is raising money and getting attention for doing that?

I guess I stopped going after them for far too long! It all piled up and exploded. Plus add in none of them are talking about the number of suicides within the military.