A Soldier's Suicide: Did he Have to Die?

What the soldier's father, Chris, would learn about his son's final days would lead the retired Special Forces commando, who teaches at Fort Bragg, to take on the very institution he's spent his life serving — and ultimately prompt an investigation by the Army Inspector General's office.

The documents, obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests filed by Chris Scheuerman, reveal a troubled soldier kept in Iraq despite repeated signs he was going to kill himself, including placing the muzzle of his weapon in his mouth multiple times.

Pfc. Jason Scheuerman nailed a suicide note to his barracks closet in Iraq, stepped inside and shot himself. "Maybe finaly I can get some peace," said the 20-year-old, misspelling "finally" but writing in a neat hand.

This Associated Press story brings to mind a recent conversation I had with a person in the mental health field. I was told some sketchy information about a local National Guard soldier just back from Iraq who is suffering severe Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He was back from his 2nd 15-month tour and fears greatly that next December, he'll be back in Iraq.

The soldier said that one in his platoon already committed suicide and another attempted it twice but chickened out. He said, "So did I!" The man is terribly angry with everybody, including family members, but especially so of 'foreign looking people.'

The mental health worker told me, 'Luckily he doesn't have a weapon [he says] because if he did, he'd shoot somebody, I'm sure of that.'

I asked if the government was paying for his counselling sessions. Because he is a Reserve Member, he doesn't get Veteran benefits.

I have been thinking of this man for many days now and wonder how he will do in the next few days. Even trauma-less folks often find these days stressful.

The Reserve and National Guard surely have been abused by this administration and apparently it is showing. I heard on NPR on Friday that the newest mental health report on active-duty servicemen and women showed a large uptick in suicides and attempted suicides. The reporter said that the length of the war, the seemingly no end in sight, and the 15-month tours have contributed greatly to the demise in the mental health of the troops.

I am most angry with the right-wing talking heads who continue to pump up this war, sitting back in their easy chairs, with no blood on their hands or on their children's hands. "It's an all-volunteer army!" they cunningly proclaim, as if that inoculates them and the tragic deaths and injuries suffered by the soldiers and Marines.

But what of the National Guard and Reserves? They are not professional soldiers. They are, as their names suggest, an auxiliary force to be used in times of emergencies. Iraq is hardly an emergency and never was. Yet these brave men and women are called upon again and again to put their jobs and families on hold, and go into hell for 15 months and then return home to a 'normal life.'

Never in my life have I witness such a blatant misuse of our resources. Never. And it goes on and on, no end in sight.

Right-wing Blog Closes Before Giving Me My Major Award!

Wouldn't you know it! I get nominated for an award and, damned if the blog closes down before I can give my acceptance speech. I would have rather had the grand-prize winning leg lamp, though.

Back to the award. The now-defunct right-wing blog, KoozNews, listed several [first] annual awards last week and this blog swept up the #1 position for the 'Worst Blog in Toledo.'

I have never won a major award before this one. When I saw that I was the first place winner, I went to my writing desk, pencil and paper in hand, and began writing my acceptance speech. It was a beauty! I did 7 re-writes until it was just perfect.

Well, all of that work for nought! Nada, nothing! Wouldn't you know, Mr. Kooz shuts down his crummy blog before I could accept the award and give the speech.

Drat! And his was such a neat and tidy blog, too. Just like you would expect from a tight-ass right-winger. He even vetted the comments before posting them. Only two of mine made the final cut. Apparently I tilted just a little too far left for his good taste.

Oh well, another blog down the proverbial drain. Glug! Glug!

City of Toledo's Partnership Registry Open for Business

An ordinance passed by Toledo City Council and signed into law by Mayor Finkbeiner a few weeks ago went into effect yesterday. Mayor Carty Finkbeiner on Nov. 21 signed the law that made Toledo the largest city in Ohio to create a domestic-partner registry. It requires the clerk of council to set up a registry for domestic-partner couples, whether of the same or opposite sexes.

The Blade reported that one of the first partnership registry requests was from a Universtiy of Toledo provost, Carol Bresnahan. Ms. Bresnahan, who is the vice provost of the University of Toledo, said bigotry is to blame for those who oppose the law. "It's their religious beliefs, and bigotry in the name of religion is still bigotry," Ms. Bresnahan said.

>An example of this religious bigotry came in the form of a letter from the bishop of Toledo which he mandated be read at all weekend masses just before council voted on the measure. A statement from the Toledo Catholic Diocese said that Bishop Leonard Blair was "confident that he speaks for many, many people in Toledo in expressing deep disappointment that both the City Council and the mayor have taken this action."

That letter angered many Catholics in the Toledo diocese causing some to decide to leave the church. I personally know of two such people.

The Blade reports that Cleveland Heights, Ohio, with a 2006 population of about 47,100, enacted such a registry in 2003 after passage of a citizen initiative.

Keep the Solstice Fires Burning

I hope your Solstice fire is still lit. Be sure to maintain it for the next 3 days and nights otherwise the sun will sink into the ocean. In 3 days the wizard will tell us if our sacrificial fires have caused the sun to rise once again!

The Imploding Imperial Presidency

We knew it would. Those of us paying attention knew it wouldn't be able to withhold the layers of secrets and deceit. There were too many, like a child trying to balance blocks too high, we knew it would all fall apart. Some might be happy about it, thinking vengefully. They got what they deserved. I do not. I am saddened and disgusted by it all and terribly afraid that it may not be able to be fixed at all.

The damage to our republic by the Bush/Cheney Administration is almost too much to innumerate. Congress ought to appoint a czar to investigate it all but, of course, they are a large part of the problem, too. After all, a strong Congress would have stopped this president in his tracks before March 20, 2003. But they didn't and because they did not exercise their constitutional mandate, the imperial presidency saw a green light and moved forward like an unstoppable bulldozer, crushing anything in its path.

The CIA torture tapes were perhaps the last straw, but maybe not the last one. Who can list all of the lies, spin and outright illegal deeds that have been done by this White House in these past seven years? I have lost track and that is exactly the problem. That czar ought to collect them all and write them on a poster board [or two] to re-educate the citizens on the damage that their careless votes has meant.

The photo of George Bush above is priceless. I am a keen observer of the face and this face shouts loudly to me of frustration and disdain. Disdain that it is over: the tightly sealed box of secrets has been pried open. It is the face of a tired man. Any man, no matter how strong, will show the strain of keeping secrets for so long. He, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove and Rice have, like the Wizard of Oz, kept us so fearful that we dare not probe too deeply into their affairs. But Toto barked and now the ruse is at an end.

What do discredited men do after it is all over and they have been publicly shamed? Many take to suicide; others flee to distant lands or hide in spider holes. Some are hung in public.

What will George W. Bush do? That is the only secret we don't know.

Andrew North, the departing BBC Baghdad correspondent, looks back on the 2003 US-led invasion.

Many Americans have blocked out 'the war,' especially at this time of the year. Those hopeful for an end were greatly disappointed in this past year, after the Dems swept into Congress. Others, especially those who once supported the war, don't want to think about that support now. So, who wants to read the review of all of the mistakes and blunders of that idiotic Bush/Cheney War?

Well, if you still have some intellectual curiosity as well as the courage to look at all of this, then Andrew North's piece will be the perfect read for you. The BBC titles it: Iraq: The trauma and the mistakes

New Nanowire Battery Holds Great Promise

ScienceDaily reports on new nano technology that could revolutionize the lithium battery strength. They report:

Stanford researchers have found a way to use silicon nanowires to reinvent the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power laptops, iPods, video cameras, cell phones, and countless other devices.

The new version of the battery was explained by Yi Cui. He explained that 'a laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours, a boon to ocean-hopping business travelers. "It's not a small improvement," Cui said. "It's a revolutionary development."
The greatly expanded storage capacity could make Li-ion batteries attractive to electric car manufacturers. Cui suggested that they could also be used in homes or offices to store electricity generated by rooftop solar panels. "Given the mature infrastructure behind silicon, this new technology can be pushed to real life quickly," Cui said.

Now we have to ask the question: how long before it will be ready for the automobile? It seems to me that replacing the conbustion engine is of paramount importance if we wish to save the planet. How will Big Oil react to this potential new energy source?

lots of questions...

Everything I need to know about the regressive right I learned in junior high

David Michael Green has written an article he calls, "Everything I need to know about the regressive right I learned in junior high." He writes:

I suspect that for most of us, these were the nightmare years of awkwardness, emotional pinball, and deep wounds over small slights. Oh, and zits, too – just in case you were somehow feeling too good about yourself on any given day.

But for those of you who have for some reason been wishing that you could return to those golden years, I’ve got news for you: You already have! That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. Courtesy of the regressive right and its Grand Old Party (and isn’t it just grand?), we’re reliving all those many joys again and again.

I was wondering how he was going to tie junior high to Republicans when I first received Green's email a few minutes ago. Let's see how it all unfolds...

But here’s the good news: Once you understand this, there’s no longer any mystery to figuring out these clowns. That’s ‘cause everything you need to know about the regressive right you already learned in junior high. For instance:

Elitism Is For Elites! What’s wrong with some people having all the goodies and most everybody else having little or none? That whole egalitarianism critique is for tenth-graders, man! When you’re in junior high, though, it all just makes perfect sense. Certain golden children were born to rule, and the rest were born to have it lauded over us, when we weren’t being laughed at, that is! You can certainly see that today in regressive policies on war and taxes, to name just two. Rich people paying taxes or Republicans going to Vietnam? Pshaw! Why do you think they keep us hoi polloi around, anyhow, other than to fight their wars and pay their tax bills?!?!

Green goes on comparing those ugly days in junior high with today's GOP. His topics include:

Personal Destruction Is Cool!

It’s A Really Scary World Out There.

Lying, Cheating, Secretiveness and Hypocrisy Will Get You What You Want.

Tantrums Will Get You What You Want.

Thinking For Yourself Is Highly Frowned Upon.

Girls Are Really, Really Scary.

It’s All About Me!

As I was reading through this essay I was thinking that this is déjà vu all over again! For the past 7 years I had the feeling that I'd been through this Bush/Cheney stuff at some other time and no wI realize that, in fact, I had! What a punishment.

Ohio's Voting System Has "critical security failures."

Testers looking at the performance of Ohio's voting machines identified numerous risks to election integrity ranging from minor to severe. Among their findings: a magnet and a Personal Digital Assistant (i.e. a Treo) may be all that is needed to hack into Ohio's voting systems. The NYT reports:

All five voting systems used in Ohio, a state whose electoral votes narrowly swung two elections toward President Bush, have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election, a report commissioned by the state’s top elections official has found.
“It was worse than I anticipated,” the official, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, said of the report. “I had hoped that perhaps one system would test superior to the others.”

Ms. Brunner proposed replacing all of the state’s voting machines, including the touch-screen ones used in more than 50 of Ohio’s 88 counties. She wants all counties to use optical scan machines that read and electronically record paper ballots that are filled in manually by voters.

Naturally, this calls into question the results of the 2004 presidential election. During that election, the Secretary of State of Ohio was also the chairperson of the Bush/Cheney re-election team, Kenneth Blackwell. Mr. Bush made an 'exceptionally strong' showing in the Buckeye state.

Rolling Stone Magazine printed a story in June of 2006 written by Robert Kennedy Jr. titled, Was the 2004 Election Stolen? Kennedy says, "The reports were especially disturbing in Ohio, the critical battleground state that clinched Bush's victory in the electoral college. Officials there purged tens of thousands of eligible voters from the rolls, neglected to process registration cards generated by Democratic voter drives, shortchanged Democratic precincts when they allocated voting machines and illegally derailed a recount that could have given Kerry the presidency Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House."

Is anybody surprised by all of this? Stolen in 2000 and again in 2004. The only question remains is: will it be again in 2008?

While Bush Was Busy Bullying Saddam...

You've probably sat in a classroom or two with the class bully. The holiday hit, A Christmas Story [you'll shoot your eye out!], features one. I had one for all 8 years of my grade school years. Today he's a fugitive from the FBI.

Vladimir Putin is Time Magazine's person of the Year. No, he is not the bully I was thinking of. In fact, I would bet he is no bully. Bullies are cowards and Putin is no coward. Cunning, calculating and dangerous to be sure.

George W. Bush is the bully I had in mind. Reports of his childhood shooting frogs at the pond is a good indication. Osama bin Laden mastermind the 9-11 attacks on America, but Bush went after the soft, safe, easy target of Saddam Hussein. Bush's toady, Cheney, helped him with the ruse.

In fact, Bush did that other cunning thing that bullies do: they soft-soaped the real tough guy, Putin. He declared that he saw his soul and it was a pure as the driven soul. Ha! Bush was able to get Tony Blair for his other toady, to help with the ambush-snowball fight.

Now Vladimir Putin has his dour photo on Time Magazine's cover. Saddam is dead; the easy target. Mission accomplished. Bin Laden and Putin linger on.

That's what we get for electing a bully as our leader.