Standoff in New Cumberland ends peacefully
NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. (WHTM ) - A police standoff with a man who barricaded himself inside his home ended peacefully Saturday evening after several hours of negotiations.
Officers said the unidentified man in the home, near Wayne and 2nd streets, is a a member of the military and had threatened to commit suicide.
read more here
http://www.abc27.com/Global/story.asp?S=13657838
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Failure of 9/11 health bill could hurt NY clinics
(AP) -- The network of health centers providing free medical tests and treatment to 58,000 people exposed to World Trade Center dust faces a less certain future if Congress doesn't pass legislation aimed at helping victims of 9/11's toxic legacy.
Senate Republicans last week blocked action on a bill appropriating up to $3.2 billion for medical programs caring for people who fell ill after breathing in ash and pulverized building materials at ground zero.
The act would have guaranteed at least eight years of strong, even lavish, funding for existing health programs for 9/11 responders and other New York City residents exposed to the dust.
Thousands of people who have lingering respiratory problems, post-traumatic stress disorder and other ailments have been getting checkups, counseling, medication and other treatments at federally funded centers around New York City and its suburbs.
The centers, though, have perpetually seemed to be living on borrowed time. No law mandates that the programs must continue. Congress has chosen to fund them one fiscal year at a time, meaning there is no guarantee the money will be there a year from now.
"We don't know what the future holds," said Jeffrey Hon, World Trade Center health coordinator for the New York City Health Department.
Hon said there is no immediate danger that the services will end, but because there is no sustained budget, it is difficult to keep researchers and staff in the program or hire top medical talent.
Patients getting care never know for sure whether they will be able to turn to the same clinics for help a year down the road.
read more here
Failure of 9/11 health bill could hurt NY clinics
http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=553502
Monday December 13, 2010
Lame-as-F@#k Congress
Here's a tribute to a few Republican senators who find comfort and advantage in invoking the heroes of 9/11 but refuse to give them health care. (08:16)
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Lame-as-F@#k Congress | ||||
| ||||
Wounded Vet Reunites with GI Who Saved Him
Wounded Vet Reunites with GI Who Saved Him
December 13, 2010
Associated Press
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The last time they were together, it was in the wreckage of a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Edward Matayka, a 33-year-old Vermont National Guard medic, had been mortally wounded.
Specialist David Schwerer was among those who gave him first aid, applying tourniquets that saved his life but couldn't save his legs.
On Saturday, Matayka got to say thank you, welcoming Schwerer home from a yearlong deployment in an emotional reunion at a ceremony for returning troops.
"This was one of the first things he requested coming out of unconsciousness, to greet the man who saved his life once he found out who it was," said Laurie Ingalls, his mother-in-law. "He wanted to greet him so badly."
read more here
Wounded Vet Reunites with GI Who Saved Him
December 13, 2010
Associated Press
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. - The last time they were together, it was in the wreckage of a roadside bombing in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Edward Matayka, a 33-year-old Vermont National Guard medic, had been mortally wounded.
Specialist David Schwerer was among those who gave him first aid, applying tourniquets that saved his life but couldn't save his legs.
On Saturday, Matayka got to say thank you, welcoming Schwerer home from a yearlong deployment in an emotional reunion at a ceremony for returning troops.
"This was one of the first things he requested coming out of unconsciousness, to greet the man who saved his life once he found out who it was," said Laurie Ingalls, his mother-in-law. "He wanted to greet him so badly."
read more here
Wounded Vet Reunites with GI Who Saved Him
Spc. Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was killed Sunday in Afghanistan
Patrick D. Deans: Orlando soldier killed in Afghanistan
Spc. Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was killed Sunday in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan.
A 22-year-old Orlando man was among the six soldiers killed recently in an attack in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced.
Spc. Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was died Sunday in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device, the Department of Defense announced.
Another Florida man was killed in this attack: Spc. Jorge E. Villacis, 24, of Sunrise.
The Florida men and four other soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
Spc. Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was killed Sunday
also killed in this attack
Spc. Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was killed Sunday in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan.
A 22-year-old Orlando man was among the six soldiers killed recently in an attack in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced.
Spc. Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was died Sunday in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan from wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device, the Department of Defense announced.
Another Florida man was killed in this attack: Spc. Jorge E. Villacis, 24, of Sunrise.
The Florida men and four other soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
Spc. Patrick D. Deans of Orlando was killed Sunday
also killed in this attack
Cpl. Sean M. Collins, 25, of Ewa Beach, HawaiiSpc. Kenneth E. Necochea Jr., 21, of San Diego, CalifCpl. Willie A. McLawhorn Jr., 23, of Conway, N.C.Spc. Derek T. Simonetta, 21, of Redwood City, Calif.
Some vets "falling through the cracks" of the VA medical system
Some vets "falling through the cracks" of the VA medical system
Tim Goff, Multimedia Journalist
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A couple from southern Maine are speaking out about issues they are having with the Veterans Administration receiving treatment and payments for care.
Brian Barron enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1966. He served a tour in Vietnam, was wounded and received a purple heart. Barron was honorably discharged in 1969.
"When he was over in Nam, he was exposed to Agent Orange and now he has Parkinson's Disease," explained Brian's wife, Sally.
Brian Barron also suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"It really bothers me to see him going through this, and to see him cry because he feels useless," said Sally. "Laying in the bed and not being able to do things for himself, and not being able to help me, and lead the life that he was used to living."
Brian has been shuttled in and out of medical facilities throughout southern Maine for the past two years, dealing with these ailments that the Barron's claim are a result of his service to his country. Many times when Brian is hospitalized, the Barron's are faced with denials in coverage and have to pay for treatments and medications out of pocket.
"With the VA you have to call to get permission to bring him to a hospital here in Portland," said Sally. "If they don't feel it's necessary, or you don't get the right people, they won't pay for the transfer to the hospital or they won't pay for the hospital bill."
read more here
Some vets falling through the cracks of the VA medical system
Tim Goff, Multimedia Journalist
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A couple from southern Maine are speaking out about issues they are having with the Veterans Administration receiving treatment and payments for care.
Brian Barron enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1966. He served a tour in Vietnam, was wounded and received a purple heart. Barron was honorably discharged in 1969.
"When he was over in Nam, he was exposed to Agent Orange and now he has Parkinson's Disease," explained Brian's wife, Sally.
Brian Barron also suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"It really bothers me to see him going through this, and to see him cry because he feels useless," said Sally. "Laying in the bed and not being able to do things for himself, and not being able to help me, and lead the life that he was used to living."
Brian has been shuttled in and out of medical facilities throughout southern Maine for the past two years, dealing with these ailments that the Barron's claim are a result of his service to his country. Many times when Brian is hospitalized, the Barron's are faced with denials in coverage and have to pay for treatments and medications out of pocket.
"With the VA you have to call to get permission to bring him to a hospital here in Portland," said Sally. "If they don't feel it's necessary, or you don't get the right people, they won't pay for the transfer to the hospital or they won't pay for the hospital bill."
read more here
Some vets falling through the cracks of the VA medical system
ACLU lawsuit says military refuses to release records on rape
While I am very angry over the ACLU wanting to defend Westboro's right to protest at military funerals, they can do a lot of good. This is one of those times they do end up helping.
Conn. ACLU lawsuit says military refuses to release records on rape, sex harassment cases
JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Associated Press
4:53 p.m. EST, December 13, 2010
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Sexual assault pervades the military, but the Pentagon refuses to release records that fully document the problem and how it is handled, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups said in a federal lawsuit that seeks access to the records.
Tens of thousands of service members have reported some form of sexual assault, harassment or trauma in the past decade, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in New Haven against the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. The plaintiffs include the Service Women's Action Network, the ACLU of Connecticut and Yale Law School students.
The groups that filed suit want information on the number of acquittals, convictions and sentences, the number of disability claims related to sexual trauma that were accepted and rejected, and the number of sexual harassment complaints. The records are needed to determine the extent of the problem and what has been done to address it, the groups say.
"The government's refusal to even take the first step of providing comprehensive and accurate information about the sexual trauma inflicted upon our women and men in uniform ... is all too telling," said Anuradha Bhagwati, a former Marine captain and executive director of SWAN. "The DOD and VA should put the interests of service members first and expose information on the extent of sexual trauma in the military to the sanitizing light of day."
read more here
ACLU lawsuit says military refuses to release records on rape
Hero-less Hurt More
Hero-less Hurt More
December 13, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie ·
When they are of use to the military and the country, they are regarded as heroes. Local residents seem all too willing to show up at their wakes and funerals. Some show up for parades twice a year to honor the fallen on Memorial Day and the living on Veteran’s Day. They are also included in on celebrations for July 4th but that is pretty much it. When they become veterans, no longer of service, but hurt by their service, then they become a problem. Then they are less of hero in our eyes.
We’ll show up for the funerals of these soldiers but what we don’t want to acknowledge is what the survivors of this attack will go through after.
read more here
Hero-less Hurt More
December 13, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie ·
When they are of use to the military and the country, they are regarded as heroes. Local residents seem all too willing to show up at their wakes and funerals. Some show up for parades twice a year to honor the fallen on Memorial Day and the living on Veteran’s Day. They are also included in on celebrations for July 4th but that is pretty much it. When they become veterans, no longer of service, but hurt by their service, then they become a problem. Then they are less of hero in our eyes.
We’ll show up for the funerals of these soldiers but what we don’t want to acknowledge is what the survivors of this attack will go through after.
read more here
Hero-less Hurt More
2010 is highest of U.S. Marine Suicide Attempts
More bad numbers hidden in spin: 2010 is highest of U.S. Marine Suicide Attempts
December 11, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie ·
This sounded too good to be true because it is. The Marines have been changing their attitude on PTSD and depression so deeply felt they want to end their own lives, but they have a long way to go. More Marines tried to kill themselves this year with 14 attempts last month.
These numbers are bad but at least they do show some of the efforts made have been working. We’ve seen these numbers go down before only to be followed by an increase the following month. Let’s hope they are finally getting it right.
read more here
More bad numbers hidden in spin
December 11, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie ·
This sounded too good to be true because it is. The Marines have been changing their attitude on PTSD and depression so deeply felt they want to end their own lives, but they have a long way to go. More Marines tried to kill themselves this year with 14 attempts last month.
These numbers are bad but at least they do show some of the efforts made have been working. We’ve seen these numbers go down before only to be followed by an increase the following month. Let’s hope they are finally getting it right.
While there were no suicides in November, the Marine Corps’ monthly suicide report, issued this week, showed that the number of troops who attempted suicide in 2010 now exceeds the total for any previous year. Fourteen troops tried to kill themselves in November, the report said, raising that number for the year to 165, one more than the record 164 attempted suicides in all of 2009.
read more here
More bad numbers hidden in spin
Monday, December 13, 2010
Polk country deputy, Air Force veteran, killed coming out of store
Out-of-control SUV strikes patrol car, kills Polk deputy
Sgt. Wes Whitmore was a 15-year Sheriff's Office veteran
By Arelis R. Hernández and Amy L. Edwards, Orlando Sentinel
6:03 p.m. EST, December 12, 2010
A Polk County Sheriff's Office sergeant died Sunday after an out-of-control sports utility vehicle struck his patrol car and then propelled the vehicle into the law-enforcement officer as he stood nearby.
Wesley Richard Whitmore Jr., a 15-year Sheriff's Office veteran, parked at the 7-Eleven on Spirit Lake Road and Recker Highway in Winter Haven and had just exited his patrol car when a Cadillac Escalade struck his vehicle.
Witnesses told investigators that moments before the Cadillac struck the deputy sheriff's car, the SUV crashed through metal barriers, hit a woman as she stood outside her business, struck the corner of that business, and then continued south through the parking lot, where it then struck Whitmore's vehicle.
read more here
Out of control SUV strikes patrol car kills Polk deputy
Sgt. Wes Whitmore was a 15-year Sheriff's Office veteran
By Arelis R. Hernández and Amy L. Edwards, Orlando Sentinel
6:03 p.m. EST, December 12, 2010
A Polk County Sheriff's Office sergeant died Sunday after an out-of-control sports utility vehicle struck his patrol car and then propelled the vehicle into the law-enforcement officer as he stood nearby.
Wesley Richard Whitmore Jr., a 15-year Sheriff's Office veteran, parked at the 7-Eleven on Spirit Lake Road and Recker Highway in Winter Haven and had just exited his patrol car when a Cadillac Escalade struck his vehicle.
Witnesses told investigators that moments before the Cadillac struck the deputy sheriff's car, the SUV crashed through metal barriers, hit a woman as she stood outside her business, struck the corner of that business, and then continued south through the parking lot, where it then struck Whitmore's vehicle.
Whitmore, who lived in Lakeland, is a U.S. Air Force veteran. He is survived by his wife and adult children.
read more here
Out of control SUV strikes patrol car kills Polk deputy
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Mice are not soldiers
When this first came out, I thought it best to just avoid posting on it. It is still alive and well in the blog world, thus ending my silence.
First problem is that this trial was tested on mice. Not knowing that much about mice, I am assuming that mice do not deal with a lot of emotions, so this raises a lot of questions when we're talking about men and women. What does this do after to the emotion? Will we have zombie soldiers with no feelings left at all or will this just block off what happened already? If it does that, then what about needing to grieve for a fallen friend? If they cannot feel anything connected to the event, what does this do to the rest of their lives when they couldn't feel any of it?
Then we have the issue of five hours after the event. It was injected into the brain of mice. How do soldiers get it when they are in combat? Is someone going to run around with operating equipment? Good luck with that since there are not enough mental health workers deployed as it is.
Scientists develop drug that can stop post-traumatic stress disorder before it starts
By CLAIRE BATES
Scientists have discovered a way to stop post-traumatic stress syndrome in its tracks - by injecting a calming drug into the brain.
Around 30 per cent of people who experience a traumatic event will develop the severe anxiety disorder, which overwhelms a person's ability to cope.
Symptoms can include vivid flashbacks, emotional numbness and nightmares.
While two-thirds recover within a few months some are dogged by the condition for years.
Now researchers from Northwestern University have found the molecular cause of the debilitating syndrome and a way to treat it.
First problem is that this trial was tested on mice. Not knowing that much about mice, I am assuming that mice do not deal with a lot of emotions, so this raises a lot of questions when we're talking about men and women. What does this do after to the emotion? Will we have zombie soldiers with no feelings left at all or will this just block off what happened already? If it does that, then what about needing to grieve for a fallen friend? If they cannot feel anything connected to the event, what does this do to the rest of their lives when they couldn't feel any of it?
Then we have the issue of five hours after the event. It was injected into the brain of mice. How do soldiers get it when they are in combat? Is someone going to run around with operating equipment? Good luck with that since there are not enough mental health workers deployed as it is.
Scientists develop drug that can stop post-traumatic stress disorder before it starts
By CLAIRE BATES
Scientists have discovered a way to stop post-traumatic stress syndrome in its tracks - by injecting a calming drug into the brain.
Around 30 per cent of people who experience a traumatic event will develop the severe anxiety disorder, which overwhelms a person's ability to cope.
Symptoms can include vivid flashbacks, emotional numbness and nightmares.
While two-thirds recover within a few months some are dogged by the condition for years.
Now researchers from Northwestern University have found the molecular cause of the debilitating syndrome and a way to treat it.
However, the effect only worked if the drug was administered within five hours of the event.
Past studies have tried to treat the extreme fear responses, after they have already developed, she noted.
The study, conducted with mice, was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Read more:
Scientists develop drug that can stop post traumatic stress
More than 1,000 mourn 1st Lt. Scott Milley
Hundreds line streets to mourn humble soldier, 23
By Marie Szaniszlo
Sunday, December 12, 2010
More than 1,000 people turned out yesterday to pay tribute to a 23-year-old Sudbury soldier who was killed during his first month of deployment in Afghanistan.
Army 1st Lt. Scott Milley “was afraid of spiders, but he had no fear of any man,” his father said to a crowd so large that it spilled over from the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School auditorium into the gym.
Milley had his orders changed so that he could go to Afghanistan sooner, but he “wanted no praise for what he did,” Steven Milley Sr. said, noting that he was still finding awards his son had tucked away in drawers, never mentioning them.
In his brief time in Afghanistan, Scott managed to win over a local governor, who held a memorial service after learning of his death, his father said.
read more here
Hundreds line streets to mourn humble soldier
Sunday, December 12, 2010
More than 1,000 people turned out yesterday to pay tribute to a 23-year-old Sudbury soldier who was killed during his first month of deployment in Afghanistan.
Army 1st Lt. Scott Milley “was afraid of spiders, but he had no fear of any man,” his father said to a crowd so large that it spilled over from the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School auditorium into the gym.
Milley had his orders changed so that he could go to Afghanistan sooner, but he “wanted no praise for what he did,” Steven Milley Sr. said, noting that he was still finding awards his son had tucked away in drawers, never mentioning them.
In his brief time in Afghanistan, Scott managed to win over a local governor, who held a memorial service after learning of his death, his father said.
read more here
Hundreds line streets to mourn humble soldier
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Stunning report on enlistments and mental health
It seems as if the military is still playing games with discharges by hiding behind "anxiety" disorders when PTSD is an anxiety disorder!
Stunning report on enlistments and mental health
December 11, 2010 posted by Chaplain Kathie
Waivers do not match the number of discharges so there is a clear problem still going on in the military. While “personality disorder” discharges dropped, it looks like they are still trying to get rid of “problems” instead of taking care of them. We would have to believe that the mental health tests are all flawed to have allowed men and women into the military when they had mental health problems already, training them to use weapons to kill and sending them into combat. This would also mean they didn’t care about the rest of the troops enough to prevent mentally ill recruits from entering into the service.
Troops booted for pre-existing mental issuesread more here
By Kelly Kennedy – Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 10, 2010 15:26:26 EST
From 2003 to 2008, more people were separated from the military within their first year of service for “pre-existing” psychiatric conditions than for any other reason, according to a military report.
Those discharges do not qualify a service member for medical benefits or medical retirement pay after leaving.
Twenty-two percent of soldiers who were given “existed prior to service,” or EPTS, discharges had psychiatric conditions, while 42 percent of Marine Corps EPTS discharges fell under that category. The figures for the Navy and Air Force were 24 percent and less than 1 percent, respectively.
Whether the Marine Corps is not screening its new recruits for mental health issues as well as the other services, or whether other factors are at work, is not clear.
“I guess that means the services have knowingly been enlisting and sending to war individuals who have significant mental health disorders,” said Andreas-Georg Pogany, a Colorado-based veterans advocate who has tried to help combat veterans fight military efforts to discharge them for pre-existing mental conditions.
According to the 2010 Accession Medical Standards Analysis & Research Activity Report, the Army approved 1,231 waivers for anxiety, dissociative and somatoform disorders from 2004 until 2009, and another 522 for depressive disorder.
Stunning report on enlistments and mental health
Silver Star soldier: Belated medal marks Vietnam valor
Silver Star soldier: Belated medal marks Vietnam valor
Sgt. Ernie Slavik III spent the night of June 19, 1967, under enemy fire, dragging seven wounded soldiers from a bloody battlefield in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta to a successful medical evacuation.
Slavik, a longtime Antioch resident, will be honored for his valor that night on Sunday, when U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Barrington, is scheduled to present him with a Silver Star for gallantry in action during a ceremony at the VFW hall in Addison.
It won’t be Slavik’s first such honor. He has already been awarded a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for “exceptionally valorous actions” on July 11, 1967, when he took out two enemy bunkers and several insurgents during a firefight in which he fought in the open under heavy enemy fire and was credited with turning the tide of that battle. He was wounded in three places by grenade shrapnel.
Slavik, 65, who now likes to spend his time duck hunting and fishing near his Channel Lake home, hasn’t spoken often of his heroic actions in the 43 years since they occurred.
“I didn’t do what I did in Vietnam to be a hero or get awards,” he said in an interview Friday. “I did it to keep my comrades and myself alive and do my share to show the world the extremes that Americans (will go to) to keep the freedom that we have in America.”
read more here
Belated medal marks Vietnam valor
Sgt. Ernie Slavik III spent the night of June 19, 1967, under enemy fire, dragging seven wounded soldiers from a bloody battlefield in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta to a successful medical evacuation.
Slavik, a longtime Antioch resident, will be honored for his valor that night on Sunday, when U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Barrington, is scheduled to present him with a Silver Star for gallantry in action during a ceremony at the VFW hall in Addison.
It won’t be Slavik’s first such honor. He has already been awarded a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for “exceptionally valorous actions” on July 11, 1967, when he took out two enemy bunkers and several insurgents during a firefight in which he fought in the open under heavy enemy fire and was credited with turning the tide of that battle. He was wounded in three places by grenade shrapnel.
Slavik, 65, who now likes to spend his time duck hunting and fishing near his Channel Lake home, hasn’t spoken often of his heroic actions in the 43 years since they occurred.
“I didn’t do what I did in Vietnam to be a hero or get awards,” he said in an interview Friday. “I did it to keep my comrades and myself alive and do my share to show the world the extremes that Americans (will go to) to keep the freedom that we have in America.”
read more here
Belated medal marks Vietnam valor
Westboro group is ready to stalk another family as they lay to rest a Marine
Westboro group is ready to stalk another family as they lay to rest a Marine killed in Afghanistan. They will show up at the church were prayers will be said and tears will be shed. They will then follow the family and friends to the grave where Sgt. Matthew Abbate's coffin will rest as they take off the American flag, fold it tenderly and hand it over to the family on behalf of a grateful nation. We can talk all we want about freedom in this country including the right to say what we want but unless we talk about the rights of families to not be forced to listen, this nation is far from free for all. Who protects the families right to grieve in peace? Who protects them from being stalked by a group dedicated to hatred hiding behind their claim to be serving God? Does the law no longer take an interest in protecting peaceful people as they attend a funeral?
Westboro church members plan to protest at Marine's funeral in Fresno
By MARC BENJAMIN
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010 - 12:00 am
FRESNO, Calif -- FRESNO, Calif. - Members of a controversial Kansas church group who protest at funerals of America's war dead say they'll be in Fresno Saturday to picket the funeral of a Clovis Marine.
A group of "not more than six" members of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., will be protesting outside Peoples Church in northeast Fresno - where funeral services are scheduled for Marine Sgt. Matthew Abbate - and then follow the procession to the burial in Merced County, church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper said Friday.
Abbate, 26, died Dec. 2 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Read more:
Westboro church members plan to protest at Marine's funeral in Fresno
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