U.S. Military, Suicide and the Deceptive Recruiting Process.

Aside from the taxes we pay, the American public is mostly untouched by the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, etc., etc. Why?  Because an all-volunteer military ensures this is the case. But the suicide rate among military veterans is alarming, the highest ever recorded according to the Pentagon, far exceeding death in combat. 

In 2013, an active-duty suicide occurs every hour, which if continues, will far exceed the 350 suicides in 2012, and according to the NY Times, the suicide rate in the military may be under reported.  What's more is that, supposedly, prior to 2012, 52% of the military suicides never even saw combat. Since 2012, the suicide rate is higher amongst deployed troops.   So what's going on here?

A suicide note left by Iraq war veteran Daniel Somers and released to the public by his family may offer some insight.

“The simple truth is this: During my first deployment, I was made to participate in things, the enormity of which is hard to describe. War crimes, crimes against humanity. Though I did not participate willingly, and made what I thought was my best effort to stop these events, there are some things that a person simply can not come back from. I take some pride in that, actually, as to move on in life after being part of such a thing would be the mark of a sociopath in my mind. These things go far beyond what most are even aware of.” -- Daniel Somers

From this soldier's testimony, amongst an ocean of testimony, many of our young men and women are repeatedly being exposed to atrocities--that the 24/7 "official news" machine will never mention--of such magnitude it's almost impossible to recover. Then, after veterans return home, they must deal with the Veterans Administration, a bureaucratic nightmare in and of itself. Up to 70% of all veterans do not get the compensation/treatment promised, or that they are legally entitled. Why? The system is obviously designed to create huge barriers. Even good people who work for the VA find it hard to do their job.

One could say, 'well, it's all volunteer...no one forced them into it.' That's true, except for the deceptive process of military recruiting, not to mention, recruiters targets those--mostly underprivileged--who are not even old enough to drink, and not too long ago, vote. Aside from the lack of life experience, their brains, not even fully developed, have been warped, brainwashed and desensitized through violent movies, video games (Call of Duty, etc.), and a dumbed down education.

Young people are lied to, tricked into defending a false premise. They are told they are fighting for our freedom, told they will be taken care of, told their lives will be better for serving, etc., etc,. However...

they're not told that enlisted men are fair game for just about any kind of experimentation from drugs to vaccines to mind control. (Over the years, hundreds of thousands of military personnel have been involved in human experimentation and other intentional exposures conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD), often without a service member's knowledge or consent. OR, in some cases, soldiers who consented to serve as human subjects found themselves participating in experiments quite different from those described at the time they volunteered.)

they're not told that, if deployed, they will more than likely be chemically poisoned--Depleted Uranium, anyone?-- and that the chances of having deformed children are much higher than the general population.

they're not told that once they return to civilian life, no one will want to hire you. That the Department of Homeland Security will put you on a terrorist list.


they're not told that the U.S. arms both sides of the conflict, and will use their blood and the blood of innocents to fertilize the battlefield in order that warfare continues in perpetuity...that the U.S. has a vested interest in keeping the war machine alive and humming.

they're not told that half of the U.S. "troops" are, in fact, not troops at all, but mercenaries, paid twice as much as they are with accountability to no one.

they are not told that war is a racket...that what they're really fighting for is to profit the elite few, who hide the truth and true motivations for these wars.

Having said that, these wealthy and powerful few would have no power if not for the well-meaning, conditioned and obedient masses. They're not going to change, so......



Links:

A murder-suicide and the dark side of military recruiting

Special Report: Death at Naval Station Great Lakes

Read more...

The Nationally Directed Effort to Take Down Aaron Swartz

The death of Aaron Swartz, co-founder of Reddit, co-author of the specifications for the Web feed format RSS 1.0 (Rich Site Summary), pioneer of open-source, and  Internet activist against the monopoly of information, was sadly, a death that was coerced. Yes, he apparently killed himself, but it's the government--with the assistance of MIT who over-zealously persecuted through prosecution, and pushed him to that point.  Not the first time, I might add.

The issue here is the abusive treatment of citizens, in particular, one citizen who courageously spoke truth to power, Aaron Swartz, by a government bureaucracy intent on intimidating activists. In this case, prosecuting a person accused of a victimless "crime," if it was a crime at all, and threatening a severe sentence--35-years in jail-- in retaliation for, in this case, advocating on behalf of the free flow of information on the Internet.

What was Aaron Swartz's crime? Attempting to liberate taxpayer paid research journals--that already belonged to the public--to the public for free, journals that the "owner" of the records, JSTOR, declined to press charges. Swartz did not seek to profit from the information he liberated, and the writers/researchers had already been compensated for the work, unlike all of corrupt banksters, CEOs, and politicians, who not only go free but are rewarded for intentionally bringing down the global economy.

“..he used an open network connection at MIT, which explicitly allowed free guest access, to download academic research papers that were available for free for any user on that particular network."

According to a good friend of his, Aaron Swartz had a "much broader agenda than the information freedom fights for which he had become known." He was also a "political activist interested in health care, financial corruption, and the drug war."  To sum it up, Aaron's goal was making "life a little less unfair." And for that, he paid the ultimate price.

Here are some of the more unusual aspects in this case:

Two days before Aaron Swartz was arrested, the Secret Service took over the investigation.

"On the morning of January 4, 2011, at approximately 8:00 am, MIT personnel located the netbook being used for the downloads and decided to leave it in place and institute a packet capture of the network traffic to and from the netbook.4 Timeline at 6. This was accomplished using the laptop of Dave Newman, MIT Senior Network Engineer, which was connected to the netbook and intercepted the communications coming to and from it. Id. Later that day, beginning at 11:00 am, the Secret Service assumed control of the investigation."

The top federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz and her assistant Stephen Heymann rejected any deal that did not involve a prison sentence.

Aaron Swartz prosecutor 'drove another hacker to suicide in 2008 after he named him in a cyber crime case'

“In his suicide note, James said he had no faith in the justice system, which he believed were trying to tie him to a crime he did not commit.

'I have no faith in the "justice" system. Perhaps my actions today, and this letter, will send a stronger message to the public.

'Either way, I have lost control over this situation, and this is my only way to regain control.

'Remember, it's not whether you win or lose, it's whether I win or lose, and sitting in jail for 20, ten, or even five years for a crime I didn't commit is not me winning. I die free.'

James was the first juvenile put into confinement for a federal cyber crime case.

And last, but certainly not least, from emptywheel, who seems to be breaking most of the news regarding the death of Aaron Swartz, the Department of Justice invoked Aaron Swartz’ manifesto to justify investigative methods.

“And look at the passage from the Manifesto they quote in the brief, which appears in this larger passage.

“There is no justice in following unjust laws. It’s time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture.

We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with the world. We need to take stuff that’s out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file sharing networks.

In context, much of the manifesto advocates for things that are perfectly legal: sharing documents under Fair Use. Taking information that is out of copyright and making it accessible. Purchasing databases and putting them on the web.

Aside from sharing passwords, about the only thing that might be illegal here (depending on copyright!) is downloading scientific journals and uploading them to file sharing networks.

Precisely what the government accused Swartz of.

But they don’t cite that passage. Rather, they cite the “making copies” passage–something not inherently illegal. As if that justified the investigative tactics they used.

Used as it is in this page-limited brief arguing why their tactics were legal, the citation is really bizarre. But it does seem to admit that the government considers Swartz’ role in the Open Access movement to be as much proof he was a criminal as that he chose to download the documents at MIT and not Harvard.

This is just one more example of how distorted the whole US justice system has become in order to please the elite few who want to retain their power and wealth at any cost.

“For remember, we live in a world where the architects of the financial crisis regularly dine at the White House — and where even those brought to “justice” never even have to admit any wrongdoing, let alone be labeled “felons.” Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig,

Read more...

Suicide Causes More Death Than Car Accidents.

In June, the NY Times published an article stating that "the suicide rate among the nation’s active-duty military personnel has spiked this year, eclipsing the number of troops dying in battle and on pace to set a record annual high since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more than a decade ago." . Well, it appears the suicide epidemic is not confined to the military.

A new study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that suicide causes more death than car crashes.  That's right, while the rate of car crashes continues to decline, the rate of suicide has increased dramatically making it the leading cause of injury deaths in America. 

I guess it should come as no surprise as statistics show that suicide rates increase in times of economic trouble, and despite what the media tells you, the only recovery going on is the banks and corporations recovering more and more of our money.

Deaths from car accidents decreased 25%  while deaths from poisoning rose 125%, deaths from falls rose 71% , and deaths from suicides rose 15%. Moreover, the author of the study, Ian R. H. Rockett, PhD, MPH, believes suicides are "terribly undercounted" and that the official data on suicide may be off by as much as  20%.

"Suicides are terribly undercounted; I think the problem is much worse than official data would lead us to believe. There may be 20 percent or more unrecognized suicides. Many of the poisoning deaths may actually be intended. A lot of these deaths are due from overdoses of prescription drugs." --Ian R. H. Rockett

The last decade has seen not only the national rate increased, but the global rate as well.

"Conclusions. Mortality rates for suicide, poisoning, and falls rose substantially over the past decade. Suicide has surpassed motor vehicle traffic crashes as the leading cause of injury mortality. Comprehensive traffic safety measures have successfully reduced the national motor vehicle traffic crash mortality rate. Similar efforts will be required to diminish the burden of other injury. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print September 20, 2012: e1-e9. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300960)

Read more...

More Soldiers Dying From Suicide than Combat.

Suicides are sky-rocketing among the 1.4 million active-duty military personnel , averaging one per day since the beginning of 2012, the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war. That's not counting all the soldiers who have come home. Once they are discharged, they immediately begin falling through the cracks, so much so that it’s doubtful there are any accurate numbers on suicide rates among veterans of recent wars. One thing we do know is that the numbers are very high.

The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan — about 50 percent more — according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press.The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of 2012 far outnumber U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan — about 50 percent more — according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press.

Kim Ruocco, widow of Marine Maj. John Ruocco, a helicopter pilot who hanged himself in 2005 between Iraq deployments, said he was unable to bring himself to go for help.

"He was so afraid of how people would view him once he went for help," she said in an interview at her home in suburban Boston. "He thought that people would think he was weak, that people would think he was just trying to get out of redeploying or trying to get out of service, or that he just couldn't hack it - when, in reality, he was sick. He had suffered injury in combat and he had also suffered from depression and let it go untreated for years. And because of that, he's dead today."

One man responded to the article:

I was very moved by this article. Being a soldier who was made a example after I reported I was having problems and suicidal. The military has not changed since my discharge 20 years ago.Recently I was forced to use the military confidential line and was first hung up on, then put on hold, and finally told to call back Monday. This was a crisis line. To my horror after obtaining a copy of my medical records for treatment and services outside the VA medical system. There was a note by my doctor saying I made a call and was "Babbleing". I have still not been seen nor helped with this problem(s).That General lied, and the VA doesnt care. Just pick up the phone and call the confidential number. I cannot explain the cost of my reporting being suicidal as a active duty soldier. But it ruined my life. If your in the service your best off doing it and dont live as I am and have been.Thank you for this article and getting the word out. I will be more than happy to share my medical records publicly for any doubters.

Is it any wonder that so many take their lives after they find out they're fighting a global war for corporate plunder by those who profit from death and destruction?

War Is A Racket - Smedley Butler, 1935

Who Pays The Bills?

[T]he soldier pays the biggest part of the bill.

If you don't believe this, visit the American cemeteries on the battlefields abroad. Or visit any of the veteran's hospitals in the United States. On a tour of the country, in the midst of which I am at the time of this writing, I have visited eighteen government hospitals for veterans. In them are a total of about 50,000 destroyed men -- men who were the pick of the nation eighteen years ago. The very able chief surgeon at the government hospital; at Milwaukee, where there are 3,800 of the living dead, told me that mortality among veterans is three times as great as among those who stayed at home.

Boys with a normal viewpoint were taken out of the fields and offices and factories and classrooms and put into the ranks. There they were remolded; they were made over; they were made to "about face"; to regard murder as the order of the day. They were put shoulder to shoulder and, through mass psychology, they were entirely changed. We used them for a couple of years and trained them to think nothing at all of killing or of being killed.

Then, suddenly, we discharged them and told them to make another "about face" ! This time they had to do their own readjustment, sans [without] mass psychology, sans officers' aid and advice and sans nation-wide propaganda. We didn't need them any more. So we scattered them about without any "three-minute" or "Liberty Loan" speeches or parades. Many, too many, of these fine young boys are eventually destroyed, mentally, because they could not make that final "about face" alone.

In the government hospital in Marion, Indiana, 1,800 of these boys are in pens! Five hundred of them in a barracks with steel bars and wires all around outside the buildings and on the porches. These already have been mentally destroyed. These boys don't even look like human beings. Oh, the looks on their faces! Physically, they are in good shape; mentally, they are gone.

There are thousands and thousands of these cases, and more and more are coming in all the time. The tremendous excitement of the war, the sudden cutting off of that excitement -- the young boys couldn't stand it.

Read more...

Predatory Banksters Push Man to Suicide.

Banks like Wells Fargo destroy lives every single day, and get away with it despite their cruel and unethical practices. Here is one of those stories that ended in tragedy.

Right from the start, homeowners, Norman and Oriane Rousseau provided proof to Wells Fargo, that they - the bank - had, indeed, received the Rousseau's mortgage payment and cashed their check; but had misapplied the payment. The bank lied, claiming they ordered a stop payment on the cashier's check, despite the fact that a  cashier's check payment can't be stopped.  Like a well-oiled machine, the bank continued their process of destruction. The bank "lost" their payment three times in the last eight months of the loan. The bank continued to lose every shred of Norman’s evidence: the cashier’s check receipts; certified mail from him with returned signatures from them; certified mail from his attorney; documentation that they were cashing the checks, etc.

“In May 2009 the bank claimed the couple had missed their April payment. They proved they had made a payment in person at the bank, using a cashier’s check and that the check had been cashed by the bank. The bank then claimed they had ordered a stop payment on the check, even though a cashier’s check payment cannot be stopped,” writes Johnson. “The runaround began. The bank began harassing them for payment, sometimes as many as six-eight calls per day, sometimes even late at night. On August 3, 2009 the bank claimed the Rousseaus hadn’t paid June or July’s payments either, demanding $3,406.50. But then on August 8 the bank assured them they were current on payments. Then the bank again claimed it had not been paid and that the bank had been trying to contact them without success, and that they now owed $3,478,25.”

The Rousseaus soon learned that the loan they believed they were paying was entirely different from what they received — a loan loaded with prepayment penalties, unnecessary fees, and one that had them paying less than the amount of interest on the loan, making it reset and actually add to the cost of their debt. The longer they continued to make minimum payments, the further they fell behind, and with the “lost” check they fell into a cycle they were unable to ever get out of.

Norman tried to make his voice heard. He took his case to authorities at every level: local, state, and national to no avail. Norman lost his job and used all their savings on lawyers and the legal fight. Eventually, pushed by banksters to the brink of homelessness, Norman Rousseau shot and killed himself. An evicted Oriane Rousseau, his wife, doesn’t even have the money to bury her husband.


Rousseau v. Wells Fargo

Husband’s Suicide Yesterday, Wells Fargo to Evict Wife Tomorrow Anyway

Read more...

"As if Some Evil Beast Controls Government, the Economy, and Our Lives Now"

Mark, a member of the 99'ers (those whose extended unemployment benefits expire after 99 weeks) wrote a suicide note chronicling his plight and the plight of an ever increasing number of unemployed Americans, due to no fault of their own.

To the unemployed, sick, disabled and poor:

Hello,

I'm unemployed over two years now, a 99er without any benefits for three months. I followed Unemployed Friends almost from its start, never posted until now, but am grateful for my time with you all. I did as asked with calls and e-mails, etc. I've a confession to make to you all. I'm a criminal.

I've obeyed the 10 commandments and all laws except: I'm unemployed and that's now a crime, I'm poor and that's a crime, I'm worthless surplus population and that's a crime, I'm a main street American Citizen born and raised in the USA and that's now a crime, and I'm euthanizing myself as I write this note -- so arrest my corpse. This isn't a call for help, the deed is done, it's not what I wanted. Death is my best available option. It's not just that my bank account is $4, that I've not eaten in a week, not because hunger pangs are agonizing (I'm a wimp), not because I live in physical and mental anguish, not because the landlady is banging on the door non-stop and I face eviction, not that Congress and President have sent a strong message they no longer help the unemployed. It's because I'm a law abiding though worthless, long-term unemployed older man who is surplus population. Had I used my college education to rip people off and steal from the elderly, poor, disabled and main street Americans I would be wearing different shoes now -- a petty king. Hard work, honesty, loving kindness, charity and mercy, and becoming unemployed and destitute unable to pay your bills are all considered foolishness and high crimes in America now. Whereas stealing and lying and cheating and being greedy to excess and destroying the fabric of America is rewarded and protected -- even making such people petty king and petty queens among us.

Since the end of 2008, when corporate America began enjoying the resumption of growth, profits have swelled from an annualized pace of $995 billion to the current $1.66 trillion as of the end of September 2010. Over the same period, the number of non-farm jobs counted by the Labor Department has slipped from 13.4 million to 13 million -- there is no recovery for the unemployed and main street. We taxpayers have handed trillions of dollars to the same bank and insurance industry that started our economic disaster with its reckless gambling. We bailed out General Motors. We distributed tax cuts to businesses that were supposed to use this lubrication to expand and hire. For our dollars, we have been rewarded with starvation, homelessness and a plague of fear -- a testament to post-national capitalism.

Twelve years ago, I lost the last of my family. Ten years ago, I lost the love of my life, couldn't even visit him in the hospital because gays have no rights. I fought through and grieved and went on as best I could. Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with Diabetes and Stage 2 high blood pressure with various complications including kidney problems, mild heart failure, Diabetic Retinopathy. These conditions are debilitating and painful. I am on over eight prescribed medications, which is very difficult without insurance and income. But I struggled on and my primary caregiver was very pleased with my effort overtime with my A1C at seven. Still these physical disabilities have progressively worsened, and I have had a harder and harder time functioning in basic ways. All the while, I give thanks to God because I know there are many more worse off than me -- and I tried to help by giving money to charities and smiling at people who looked down and sharing what little I had.

I am college educated and worked 35 years in management, receiving written references and praise from every boss for whom I worked. Yet, after thousands of resumes, applications, e-mails, phone calls, and drop ins, I've failed to get a job even at McDonalds. I've discovered there are three strikes against me -- most 99ers will understand. Strike one -- businesses are not hiring long-term unemployed -- in fact many job ads now underline "the unemployed need not apply." Strike two -- I am almost 60 years old. Employers prefer hiring younger workers who demand less and are better pack mules. Strike three -- for every job opening I've applied, there are over 300 applicants according to each business who allow a follow up call. With the U3 unemployment holding steady at 9.6percent and U6 at 17 percent for the past 18 months, the chances of me or any 99er landing a job is less than winning the Mega Million Jackpot. On top of that, even the most conservative economists admit unemployment will not start to fall before 2012 and most predict up to seven years of this crap.

I believe the Congress and President have no intention of really aiding the unemployed -- due to various political reasons and their total removal from the suffering of most Americans, their cold-hearted, self-serving natures. Had they really wanted to help us, they could have used unspent stimulus monies or cut foolish costs like the failed wars or foreign aid, and farm subsidies. The unspent stimulus money alone cold have taken care of ALL unemployed persons for five years or until the unemployment rate reached 7 percent if Congress and the President really wanted to help us -- and not string us all along with a meager safety net that fails every few months. In any case, if I were to survive homelessness (would be like winning the mega-millions) and with those three strikes against me, in seven more years, I'll be near 70 with the new retirement age at 70 -- now who will hire an old homeless guy out of work for nine years with just a few years until retirement?

So, here I am. Long term unemployed, older man, with chronic health problems, now totally broke, hungry, facing eviction. My landlady should really be an advocate for the unemployed -- she bangs on my door demanding I take action. A phone call and a "please" are not enough for her -- she is angry. She is right to be angry with me, I am unemployed -- as apparently everyone is now angry with us unemployed.

Two hundred and eleven and social services cannot help single men. Food banks and other charities are unable to help any more folks -- they are overwhelmed with the poor in this nation. So I have the "freedom" to be homeless and destitute and "pursue happiness" in garbage cans and then die -- yay for America huh? It's the end of November and cold. A diabetic homeless older person will experience amputations in the winter months. So I will be raiding garbage cans for food, as my body literally falls apart, a foot here, a finger there. I have experienced and even worked with pain from my diseases -- hardship I can face. I just cannot muster the courage to slowly die in agony and humiliation in the gutter.

I have no family, I have no friends. For the past two years, I've had nobody to talk with as people who knew me react to the "unemployed" label as if it were leprosy and contagious. I am not a bad person, in fact people really like me. But everyone seems to be on a tight budget these days and living in incredible fear. It is hopeless since we all are hearing more and more that we unemployed are to blame for unemployment, that we are just lazy, that we are no good, that we are sinners, that we are druggies, yet we are the victims who suffer and are punished while the robber baron banksters and tycoons become senators, congress, presidents and petty kings. So the only option left for me is merciful self euthanasia.

It is with a heavy heart that I have set my death in motion, but what I am facing is not living. So off I go, I have made peace with God and placed my burden on Jesus and He forgives me. This nation has become evil to the core, with cold-hearted politicians and tycoons squeezing what little Main Street Americans have left. It is not the America into which I was born -- the land of the free and the home of the brave with kind folks who help neighbors -- it is now land of the Tycoon-haves and the rest of us have-nots who march into hopelessness and despair.

Every unemployed person I have met over these past two years have been saintly. Sharing what little they have, and being charitable -- being kind and patient and supportive. Isn't it amazing that we Americans who suffer so much, have not taken to the streets in violence, riots or gotten out the guillotines and marched on tycoons and Washington in revolt as would happen in most other nations? But rather we plead with deaf politicians to please help us. We don't demand huge sums -- just 300 bucks a week, barely enough to cover housing for most. Most of all we say, please help us get a job, please allow us dignity.

I can't help but juxtapose our plight to the tycoons and politicians. They are never satisfied with their enormous wealth, and always want more millions no matter whom it hurts. They STEAL from pension funds, banks, the people and government, and little Wall Street investors. Then rather than face punishment, they become petty kings in this world. They are disloyal to America, unpatriotic, and serve their own foreign UN-American greedy causes and demand more and more and more. I feel that this is not the nation into which I was born. I was born in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. America, where people give as much as they receive. America, where all people work for the common good, and try to leave a better and more prosperous nation for the next generation. America, where people help their neighbors and show charity and mercy. This new America is alien to me -- it is an America of greed and corruption and avarice and mean spirited selfishness and hatred of the common good -- it is an America of savage beasts roaring and tearing at the weak, and bullying the humble and peacemakers and poor and those without means to defend themselves. I am not welcome here anymore. I don't belong here anymore. It's as if some evil beast controls government, the economy, and our lives now.

I must go now, my home is someplace else. Goodbye and God bless you all. God bless the unemployed and poor and elderly and disabled. God bless America and the American people except the tycoons and politicians -- may God retain the sins of tycoons and politicians and phony preachers and send them to the Devil.

Mark

Links:

Nine Pictures of the Extreme Income/Wealth Gap

Many people don’t understand our country’s problem of concentration of income and wealth because they don’t see it. People just don't understand how much wealth there is at the top now. The wealth at the top is so extreme that it is beyond most people’s ability to comprehend.

If people understood just how concentrated wealth has become in our country and the effect is has on our politics, our democracy and our people, they would demand our politicians do something about it.

How Much Is A Billion?

Some Wall Street types (and others) make over a billion dollars a year – each year. How much is a billion dollars? How can you visualize an amount of money so high? Here is one way to think about it: The median income in the US is around $50,000, meaning half of us make less and half of us make more. If you make $50,000 a year, and don’t spend a single penny of it, it will take you 20,000 years to save a billion dollars. . . . (Please come back and read the rest of this after you have recovered.)

Read more...

Only the Good Die Young?

With the massive amounts of unemployment, underemployment, and job insecurity today, it would be no surprise to find out suicide rates have increased or are increasing, especially amongst young men, who identify so closely with what they do. Many of these men are good, caring men, with a strong conscience, who want to make/leave the world a better place. Unfortunately, it is also these men, who will blame themselves and succumb to despair when not given the chance.

Michel Martin, host of Tell Me More on NPR lost her brother, Norman McQueen, Jr., a former New York City firefighter who aided relief efforts at ground zero in the aftermath on 9/11, to suicide, two weeks ago, today.

Rather than hide this tragedy, as many people often choose to do after the suicide of a loved one, Ms. Martin decided to share just how proud she was of her brother, a very good man, offering a commentary on the death of her only brother, Can I Just Tell You? Maybe Someday Love Will Cure Despair.

Now, I know some people think taking your own life is a selfish act, but I cannot bring myself to see it that way. I see it as self-less, in the sense that you come to believe your self has no value; that everyone would be better off without you.

I think my brother thought he was a failure, that with his long bout of unemployment he could not live up to what was expected of him as a man, and that we'd all be better off without him.

He was so wrong.

My brother was a good man. He was the first to offer to carry a bag of heavy groceries, to push a wheelchair up a steep ramp, to change a stranger's tire on a rainy night.

Years ago, when I was a newspaper reporter and working on a story in New York, he insisted on driving me to all my interviews because he thought I had been out of the 'hood too long and might not be able to handle myself. (I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had just had my car windows bashed in on the assignment I had just finished, and lived to tell about it. And I tried to remember not to mention it when I climbed up into an office building that had just been bombed.)

I am telling you all this because I refuse to be ashamed.

Read more...

Bullycide and the Mutilation of a Child's Spirit.

Second update: The American Academy of Pediatrics released a new policy statement (pdf file) on June 29, 2009, recognizing the serious threat bullying poses to kids’ health and safety, and increasing the involvement of pediatricians when it comes to dealing with bullying.

Listen here to Dr. Robert Sege, one of the report’s authors and chief of ambulatory pediatrics at Boston Medical Center, and Sirdeaner Walker, the mother of 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hovver (pictured below) who hanged himself last April after being relentlessly bullied at his Springfield, Massachusetts elementary school.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Update: Another 11-year old, Jaheem Herrera, frustrated with bullies calling him "gay", "ugly", and "the virgin", took his own life.

His mother found him hanging by his belt in the closet."He used to say Mom they keep telling me this ... this gay word, this gay, gay, gay. I'm tired of hearing it, they're telling me the same thing over and over," she told CNN, as she wiped away tears from her face.

But while she says her son complained about the bullying, she had no idea how bad it had gotten.

"He told me, but he just got to the point where he didn't want me to get involved anymore because nothing was done," she said.

Bermudez said she complained to the school about bullying seven or eight times, but it wasn't enough to save him.

"It [apparently] just got worse and worse and worse until Thursday," she said. "Just to walk up to that room and see your baby hanging there. My daughter saw this, my baby saw this, my kids are traumatized."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The parents of Eric Mohat a 17-year old, who was "harassed so mercilessly in high school that when one bully said publicly in class, "Why don't you go home and shoot yourself, no one will miss you," he did", aren't seeking monetary compensation; "rather, they are asking that the high school that their son attended recognize their son's death as a "bullicide" and put in place what they believe is a badly needed anti-bullying program."



In another case, 11-year old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover's mother found him hanging by an extension cord on the second floor of their home Monday night after, as his mother said, "he had endured another day of taunting at New Leadership Charter School, where he was a sixth-grader." Carl left behind a note for family members. He would have turned 12-years old on April 17.

The perception that a child is violating stereotypical gender roles by other children plays a significant role in bullying behavior. Students taunted and threatened both Eric and Carl on a daily basis, often referring to them as "gay," "fag," "queer" and "homo", and in Eric's case, and possibly Carl's, often in front of teachers. Both Carl's mother and Eric's parents tried to intervene and called the school repeatedly to complain about the situation, but nothing changed.

In one national survey, the reason most frequently reported by victims of bullying for being harassed was the student’s appearance. The next most cited reason for frequent harassment was sexual orientation ( A National Report on School Bullying).

In another report, students in middle school reported remarks about someone’s presumed homosexuality or gender identity as one of the most common forms of verbal harassment. In addition, a new review of studies from thirteen countries from Yale School of Medicine, have found signs of an apparent connection between bullying, being bullied and suicide.

Bullying, all too often, occurs with the full complaisance of adults - teachers, coaches, parents, etc - especially when it comes to perceived sexual orientation of boys, in particular. Young girls who don't conform to gender roles (tomboys) are accepted and even desired up to a certain age, whereas boys who don't conform are not at all accepted and almost certain to experience some form of bullying.

When children grow up in a society that preach and teach that gay people are not acceptable, hence, encourage this group to hide (Don'tAsk Don't Tell, closeted people in the public eye: politicians, Hollywood actors, etc.) who they are, and to hate themselves, it's no wonder that 30% of GLBT youth take their own lives and why the bullying of this group of children, in particular, occurs.

I can't let anyone find out that I'm not straight. It would be so humiliating. My friends would hate me, I just know it. They might even want to beat me up. Any my family, I've overheard them lots of times talking about gay people. They've said they hate gays, and even God hates gays, too. It really scares me now, when I hear my family talk that way, because now, they are talking about me .... Sometimes I feel like disappearing from the face of the this earth. - 16-year old Bobby Griffith *

This reason - the bullying and high suicide rate of GLBT youth - alone, is what makes the neoconservative long-term plan of targeting gay people, in order to generate "moral" panic - going as far as to suggest that our civilization is "at stake" - in order to secure their greedy agenda, just plain evil. Ironically, our civilization is "at stake" not because of gay marriage, but because of their greedy agenda.

If these same adults, complicit in the bullying behavior, were faced with the threat of potential law suits, they might change their tune. If that's what it takes, let the law suits begin.

"Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well-considered, and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child's spirit." Erik Erikson

* Bobby Griffith, quoted in Miller, B. Jaye, "From Silence to Suicide: Measuring a Mother's Loss," in Blumenfeld, Warren J. (ed.). Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price, Boston: Beacon Press, 1992, pp. 88-89.

Read more...

Commemorating Carl Walker's Birthday. The National Day of Silence.

Approximately one week ago I blogged about how children bullying other children can mutilate a child's spirit which can lead to bullicide (suicide by bully), as it did in Carl Walker's case. Sexual orientation is cited as the second most common reason given for bullying after appearance.

Yesterday, April 17, which would have been Carl Walker's 12th birthday, had he not taken his own life, also marked the National Day of Silence. This day is supposed to "bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Each year the event has grown, now with hundreds of thousands of students coming together to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior."

Essence Magazine interviewed Carl's mother who provided more details of her son's tragic death. Although Carl, only 11-years old, had not declared his sexuality, he was teased for what the other children perceived to be his sexuality.

"He told me that he was being called names and the kids were saying, "You're gay; you act like a girl."

It can't be emphasized enough that 30% of GLBT youth successfully take their own lives, and all of those deaths can be attributed to the acceptance of homophobia throughout all areas of our society. Unfortunately, this includes the child's own family, and friends. Unlike other minorities, who can seek comfort or support within the family, church, or many times, their community, children who are either gay, or perceived to be gay - sometimes before they even know that they are - have no support system whatsoever.

Is it any wonder that the suicide rate is so high within this group of young people?

Homophobia is Killing Our Youth

Read more...

Bullies Are Cowards

Normal everyday seemingly boring events often lead me to post what most would consider a boring rant. I just hope that no one reads my blog and recognizes themselves in one of these boring events. Considering that all of one or two people read this blog, I'll say my chances are pretty good that won't happen.

A few days ago I was jogging across the school parking lot I ran into an old acquaintance and his 10-year old son. I hadn't seen him in years so I decided to do a "stop and chat" as Larry David calls it, and catch up on his life. While we were talking his son starts laughing and pointing toward an unusually short man walking along the edge of the parking lot. My friend casually told the boy,

"Cut it out, we're trying to talk."

The boy continued to mock this man so my friend turns to me and jokingly says,

"He is really short, isn't he?"

As if the fact that this man was unusual in some way was justification for his son's behavior. Since it was obvious that this kid's father wasn't going to intervene and the man could probably hear and see what the boy was doing I leaned over and told the kid,

"You do know that the man you're laughing at is Sammy "the stub" Luciano, descendant of Lucky Luciano. He specializes in taking out people under 5' tall."

I was hoping this kid was less than 5' tall and would get the message to back off. He must've understood because he looked at me like I was psycho and quickly walked over to his father's side for protection from me or Sammy "the stub" Luciano, I don't know which.

Unfortunately, often times, danger must be present, real or imagined, as Sammy "the stub" Luciano was for that boy, for an issue to be taken seriously; the fact that the matter at hand is hurting others is not enough.

Now that school shootings seem to occur more often than ever before and children or teenagers who have been severely bullied are the shooters, schoolyard bullying is being taken a little more seriously but I'm afraid it's going to take a few more "Columbines" before teachers, parents, politicians and administrators make eliminating or decreasing bullying a priority.

The other end of the spectrum and far more common and much less reported on, are those victims of bullying that turn on themselves. We'll never know how many people end up committing suicide because they are being bullied and see no way out or the bullying they've experienced in the past has resulted in taking their own life. Most of the time the cause will be blamed on something else such as mental illness, or an abusive home situation, which is more than likely true but I'm sure there are many cases where bullying plays a large part.

It's reported that teachers notice and intervene in only one out of 25 episodes of verbal or emotional bullying behavior. There is no excuse for teachers and/or parents to ignore such behavior for that type of conduct usually escalates. In addition to intervening, adults should take a proactive approach and create role-playing situations to teach empathy to children starting in pre-school and continue teaching the importance of empathy throughout the child's educational process. If we combine intervention, teaching empathy with a no tolerance for schoolyard terrorism policy, I think we would see a radical decrease in such behavior.

Bullies intimidate smaller or weaker people that they know won't fight back...bully is just another word for coward.

Read more...