Driver who plowed into strangers had history of mental illness

Suspect in Sunnyvale ramming of crowd moaned, ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ over and over

San Francisco Chronicle
Evan Sernoffsky , Matthias Gafni , Gwendolyn Wu and Lauren Hernández
April 24, 2019

Joshua Peoples, 38, said his brother served in the military overseas. The U.S. Army Reserve confirmed he served as a civil affairs specialist “from March 2004 to July 2009, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He deployed to Iraq from June 2005 to May 2006.”

Moments after Army veteran Isaiah Joel Peoples careened his car through a crowded Sunnyvale intersection, sending bodies flying through the air, the 34-year-old Sunnyvale resident with a history of mental illness praised Jesus, according to investigators and a witness.

“Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus,” a witness said Peoples moaned after emerging from his wrecked car Tuesday night, just feet from a crooked line of crumpled bicycles and mangled, bloody bodies.

Peoples was arrested at the scene, and police, who said they believe his actions were intentional but not connected to any terrorist group, booked him on suspicion of eight counts of attempted murder. They said he did not express remorse.
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Thank you WSCR-AM 670’s Dan McNeil

When a radio show host had the chance to remain silent about mental illness, he chose to #BreakTheSilence and confront the bully of his healing.

After over half my life has been consumed by PTSD and the efforts to help veterans to heal, getting them to overcome the stigma, has been the hardest thing to do. Someone decided that mental illness was something to be ashamed of, and that is the message they got.

This is for anyone with a mental illness, no matter what it is. No matter what it is caused by or what label it has been given. 

The truth is, there is no shame for you unless you put it there. Do you really care what other people think about you, more than what you think about yourself?

Mental illness is real and so is taking steps to live the best life possible by doing what is possible to living happier ever after!

Well this radio show guy just won one for all of you last night!

After 'dead pool' pick, radio host Dan McNeil shares mental health struggle: 'I must confess, this guy got to me'

Chicago Tribune
Phil Rosenthal
January 18, 2019

Sharing a vulnerability uncommon among sports radio hosts, WSCR-AM 670’s Dan McNeil laid himself bare in a post-midnight Facebook post Friday.

McNeil, 57, apparently was triggered by a text from a listener who informed him he had been selected in the listener’s so-called dead pool in which the deaths of those chosen score points weighted toward the decedent’s relative youth.

Despite initially seeming to laugh off the note as he might on the air — “Give the dude credit for a sound investment strategy; I’m a good ‘value pick’ in a pool like that” — McNeil responded with soulful ruminations on living with vices, mental health issues and suicide.

Then he shared the impact he imagined his death would have on his three grown sons.

“I must confess, this guy got to me,” McNeil wrote. “I even cried a few times. Daydreaming about my sons’ sadness over the void in their lives is an optic I’d just as soon avoid.

“What kind of human has so much contempt for a radio show, he wishes for — at the minimum, bets on — a guy’s death? So, hoping that guy is reading this — as I did on the air, hoping he was listening — I want him to quickly meet my sons, now bereaved by the loss of their dad.”
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New Hampshire Hospital for the mentally ill is prison?

Families, Advocates Speak Out Against the Secure Psychiatric Unit at NH Men’s Prison
InDepthNH.org
Written by Nancy West
January 26, 2018

CONCORD — Two mothers told lawmakers their daughters are harassed, humiliated, and sometimes “locked down” at the Secure Psychiatric Unit at the New Hampshire Prison for Men, and a former patient recounted nearly dying as his pleas for emergency medical care were ignored.

The Secure Psychiatric Unit has stirred controversy because mentally ill people are held there if they haven’t committed a crime, but are considered too dangerous to be housed at the New Hampshire Hospital for the mentally ill.

At SPU, civilly committed patients who were found not guilty by reason of insanity and not competent to stand trial are commingled with convicted criminals who are mentally ill in a 60-bed unit on the grounds of the men’s prison. Presently, three women and one person who is transitioning from male to female, are housed in the unit on the prison campus with about 1,400 men.

“My daughter has been in SPU (Secure Psychiatric Unit) for three years,” said Cindy Glazier. “I can visit on weekends. That’s it. It’s a prison setting, not a psychiatric unit. It’s not for patients. She’s treated like a prisoner and it’s not set up as a hospital.

Glazier’s daughter, Patina Welch, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in 2015 to jumping out a second-story window in Lyman holding her 4-month-old boy-girl twins, killing her son and injuring her daughter the summer before. Welch told police she was trying to save them from armed intruders.

The prosecutor at the time said there was clear and convincing evidence that Welch suffered from a mental disease or defect. Welch was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and personality disorder.
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Homeless Veteran Sits in Jail Because No Room At State Hospital?

Homeless veteran in jail, no space at state psychiatric facility
ABC 12 News
By Terry Camp
Apr 27, 2017

SAGINAW (WJRT) - (04/27/17) - A homeless veteran has been found incompetent to stand trial after he was accused of carjacking a woman and smashing that car into a police car.

He remains in jail and his attorney says that's wrong, but he would like him to be put into a state psychiatric facility, but there are no beds available - a problem that a state official says is getting worse.

Willie Hill is an Army veteran who has a long criminal history. His last run-in with police was in October, when he drove the car he stole from a woman right into a Michigan State Police car. The trooper and Hill were not injured. A judge ordered a forensic exam for Hill.

“The forensic center did a psychological interview and found him to be incompetent to stand trial at this time,” said Jim Piazza, Hill’s attorney.

That means Hill should be sent to one of the state's five psychiatric hospitals for treatment.

“They have to make him competent within 15 months or the case is dismissed,” Piazza said.

A month after Hill was ruled incompetent to stand trial, he remains in the Saginaw County Jail because the state has no available space at its psychiatric centers.
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Michael Savage Lashes Out After Veteran with PTSD Calls

Savage said the country needs "men like him to save the country" after a caller saying he was a veteran with PTSD. He said people with PTSD are a bunch of losers and looking for a paycheck. Yep! He went off digging the hole in his mouth bigger and bigger while I was thinking about the Navy SEALs with PTSD and some of them committed suicide, along with other members of Special Forces, along with Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airmen. Along with them members of the National Guards and Reservists. Along with them the other millions of veterans with PTSD and along with them firefighters and police officers. As if all that wasn't bad enough, he also said that ISIS defeated our military!

Michael Savage rails against PTSD sufferers: ‘No wonder ISIS can defeat our military’
The Washington Times
By Jessica Chasmar
Tuesday, October 21, 2014

“I am so sick and tired of everyone with their complaints about PTSD, depression,” the host began. “Everyone wants their hand held, and a government check. What are you, the only generation that had PTSD? The only generation that’s depressed? I’m sick of it. I can’t take the celebration of weakness and depression.”

Conservative radio host Michael Savage recently launched into a fiery rant against those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, arguing that the “celebration of weakness and depression” has undermined the United States and its military.

“No wonder we’re being laughed at around the world. No wonder ISIS can defeat our military,” Mr. Savage said about veterans with PTSD during his radio program on Oct.14, Mediaite reported.
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I am sure there are a lot of veterans out there with medals to prove they were brave enough to go into combat ready to have a conversation with this man about his view of the nation they defended.

Pathway to Profit Mentally Ill Get Eviction Notices

EXCLUSIVE: Mentally disabled New Yorkers face eviction as Pathways to Housing program fails to pay landlords
Landlords have given 1,300 eviction notices in the last four years to mentally disabled clients of Pathways to Housing, records show.
The nonprofit program is mired in debt and as of February, owed landlords $1.6 million in back rent, with the average payment six months overdue.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY GREG B. SMITH
Sunday, September 7, 2014

The group is mired in debt, dropping from a $1 million surplus in 2008 to a $3 million deficit last year, records show. As of February, it owed landlords $1.6 million in back rent, with the average payment six months overdue.

In March, the Office of Mental Health questioned an “excessive number of administrative staff on the payroll,” according to a letter from a department official to Pathways Director Georgia Boothe.

The group’s president, Sam Tsemberis, made nearly $300,000 in 2013. Boothe made $174,000 last year, and four other Pathways executives cleared six figures, including a $182,000-a-year psychiatrist.

The agency also questioned $900,000 in “affiliate fees” Pathways paid itself for two years after it went national in 2011 with no written agreement spelling out what the money was for, documents show.

Thanks for nothing.

Hundreds of mentally disabled New Yorkers have been slapped with eviction notices because a nonprofit that was supposed to arrange their taxpayer-funded housing was not paying their rent, the Daily News has learned.

Landlords have whacked the vulnerable clients of Pathways to Housing with 1,300 eviction notices in the last four years, records show.

Struggling to end this pattern of neglect, the state Office of Mental Health — the primary source of the group’s funding — recently discovered alarming questions about what Pathways has been doing with the millions of taxpayer dollars it has received in the last few years.
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Robin Williams Died at 63

Robin Williams dead at 63
Entertainment Inside Movies
By Nicole Sperling
Aug 11, 2014

Oscar winner and comedian Robin Williams died this morning at 63. While his publicist wouldn’t confirm that his death was a suicide, a rep did issue this statement. “Robin Williams passed away this morning. He has been battling severe depression of late. This is a tragic and sudden loss. The family respectfully asks for their privacy as they grieve during this very difficult time.”

Williams, who won an Oscar for his supporting role in Good Will Hunting, will reprise his role as Theodore Roosevelt in the third installment of Night at the Museum this December. He had recently signed on to reprise his beloved role as Mrs. Doubtfire in a sequel to be directed by Chris Columbus, and was last seen opposite Annette Bening in the indie film The Face of Love. His sitcom The Crazy Ones premiered on CBS last fall, but was not picked up for a second season. read more here

Remembering Robin, Good Morning Vietnam, Rest in Peace Robin

Mentally ill veteran died in jail at half his weight

Mentally ill inmate dies at half his body weight in Broward jail; lawsuit alleges neglect
Sun Sentinel
By Tonya Alanez
July 13, 2014

During his 155 days in jail, Raleigh Priester withered to half his body weight.

When the 6-foot-2-inch father of two was found dead on his jail cell floor, he weighed 120 pounds.

On the day of his arrest five months earlier, he had weighed in at 240 pounds, records show.

Priester, 52, spent the final months of his troubled life in solitary confinement at a Broward sheriff's jail, naked, mumbling to himself and playing an imaginary flute.

The mentally ill man frequently refused to eat or take medications, and alternated between banging his head on the floor and laying in a fetal position on his bunk, jail medical records show.

The Sheriff's Office said it hadn't yet received the complaint, but would review it and respond in court. The inmate health-care provider declined to comment about the case, citing federal medical privacy laws.

The U.S. Army veteran with a two-decade history of schizophrenia died July 10, 2012, at a jail in Pompano Beach.

It was a seemingly immature act that landed Priester behind bars.

He was jailed on the morning of Feb. 6, 2012, accused of hurling a rock at a Fort Lauderdale parking-garage attendant and hitting him in the upper back after Priester was told he was trespassing.
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Homeless Vet Framed for Rape Sues Chicago

Homeless Vet Framed for Rape Sues Chicago
Courthouse News
By JACK BOUBOUSHIAN
April 29, 2014

CHICAGO (CN) - A homeless, mentally ill veteran spent 11 years in prison after Chicago police withheld exonerating evidence and coerced him into confessing to a rape in a downtown courtroom that never happened, the man claims in court.

Carl Chatman sued Chicago, 15 police officers, Assistant State's Attorney Brian Holmes, and others, in Federal Court.

"Carl Chatman spent more than eleven years in prison for a rape he did not commit," the complaint states.

"Not only did Mr. Chatman not commit the rape for which he was wrongfully convicted, but the rape never even occurred at all. The purported victim made up an account of having been raped in Chicago's Daley Center so that she could bring a lawsuit for money damage against the company responsible for the building's security.

"This marked the second time this same woman had fabricated rape charges in order to bring a legal action against a building security company for illicit financial gain.

"After the purported rape victim made up the story of having been attacked in the Daley Center, the defendants proceeded to 'solve' the crime. Specifically, in their zealousness to obtain a swift conviction in a high profile case, the defendant Chicago police officers took advantage of Mr. Chatman's mental instability and coerced him to falsely confess to a crime that never actually happened."

Chatman, now 59, is an Army veteran who in 2000, had "fallen on hard times. He was an easily confused and extremely vulnerable man," according to the 48-page lawsuit filed by Chicago attorneys Loevy & Loevy.

Chatman went to Chicago's Daley Center, a hub of government offices, to learn how to file a small claims suit in 2002. There, he accidentally walked into Judge Ronald Bartkowicz's courtroom, where he ran into Susan Riggio, who worked as a scheduling clerk for a judge.

"After a very brief interaction, Mr. Chatman left without incident. At the time, he was wearing a Blackhawks jacket and street clothes.

"Based on this encounter, defendant Riggio knew what Mr. Chatman looked like, and also knew that he was a defenseless and guileless individual, who would not fare well if falsely accused. He was, in short, the perfect target for her plan," the complaint states.
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Pharoahe Monch PTSD album shares personal struggle

I don't understand Hip Hop any more than my parents understood Rock, the music I liked (and still do) because they were from another generation. I had to look Pharoahe Monch up online when I received an email about a new album. I think it is possible for this to be helpful to the new generation of veterans but I am in no position to judge it. I'll leave that up to you.

After Surviving Wars With The Industry and Depression Pharoahe Monch Prescribes The “P.T.S.D.” Album
All HipHop.com
by Yohance Kyles
March 18th, 2014

(AllHipHop Features) Seeking professional help in addressing mental health issues has long been a taboo subject for many in the Black community. A combination of relying on religious support, limited access to health care, and a tendency to self-medicate has contributed to a culture of complacency for African-Americans when addressing mental illness.

As a microcosm of a greater society, Hip Hop has also often buried its head in the sand when it comes to facing anxiety and mood disorders. The stigma of being perceived as weak or afflicted inaccurately associated with mental illness conflicts with the Alpha male persona that is usually championed in rap music. But it is also hard to ignore the contradiction of Hip Hop’s obsession with celebrating “being real” with its tendency to ignore the real-life concerns of battling depression.

Pharoahe Monch is one member of the Hip Hop community that has chosen to keep it real by revealing his own past complications with mental health issues. Like a true artist, the South Jamaica, Queens emcee used those past experiences to inspire his work. His story about overcoming depression comes in the form of his upcoming concept album P.T.S.D. (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

“It was a challenge because it forced me to draw upon my health care and mental health,” says Monch. “Before I even started writing, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is going to be a challenge, but this is where an artist needs to be.’ I don’t think an artist can be comfortable. I think an artist should take chances, feel pressure, and try to live up to the ideas they’re trying to bring into fruition.”
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Pharoahe Monch Releases “P.T.S.D.” LP Cover Art, Tracklist And Promo Trailer

matthewwhitlock | March 18, 2014 | 0 Comments

Riding the wave and success of his latest single, “Bad M.F.” Pharoahe Monch blesses his fans with the official tracklist, cover art AND promo trailer for his forthcoming LP, P.T.S.D. One, two, three, bang. Arguably the best emcee in the game just laced us with a tri-fecta of information to get us even more hyped for the big release.

Always a master of the running narrative, Monch will play the storyteller role throughout the LP, posing as an independent artist weary from the war against the industry machine and through the struggle of the black male experience in America. The release will feature guest appearances fromBlack Thought, Talib Kweli, Denaun Porter and production from Lee Stone, Marco Polo, Jesse West and Quelle Chris.

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President Kennedy tried to do right for mentally ill 50 years ago

Kennedy's Vision for Mental Health Never Realized
Associated Press
By MICHELLE R. SMITH
PROVIDENCE, R.I. October 20, 2013 (AP)

The last piece of legislation President John F. Kennedy signed turns 50 this month: the Community Mental Health Act, which helped transform the way people with mental illness are treated and cared for in the United States.

Signed on Oct. 31, 1963, weeks before Kennedy was assassinated, the legislation aimed to build mental health centers accessible to all Americans so that those with mental illnesses could be treated while working and living at home, rather than being kept in neglectful and often abusive state institutions, sometimes for years on end.

Kennedy said when he signed the bill that the legislation to build 1,500 centers would mean the population of those living in state mental hospitals — at that time more than 500,000 people — could be cut in half. In a special message to Congress earlier that year, he said the idea was to successfully and quickly treat patients in their own communities and then return them to "a useful place in society."

Recent deadly mass shootings, including at the Washington Navy Yard and a Colorado movie theater, have been perpetrated by men who were apparently not being adequately treated for serious mental illnesses. Those tragedies have focused public attention on the mental health system and made clear that Kennedy's vision was never fully realized.

The legislation did help to usher in positive life-altering changes for people with serious illnesses such as schizophrenia, many of whom now live normal, productive lives with jobs and families. In 1963, the average stay in a state institution for someone with schizophrenia was 11 years. But only half of the proposed centers were ever built, and those were never fully funded.

Meanwhile, about 90 percent of beds have been cut at state hospitals, according to Paul Appelbaum, a Columbia University psychiatry professor and expert in how the law affects the practice of medicine. In many cases, several mental health experts said, that has left nowhere for the sickest people to turn, so they end up homeless, abusing substances or in prison. The three largest mental health providers in the nation today are jails: Cook County in Illinois, Los Angeles County and Rikers Island in New York.
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Iraq War veteran speaks college students about PTSD

A hero's message
Iraq War veteran speaks to PTSD, mental health awareness
Pocono Record
By RICARDO MORALES
October 09, 2013

During a deployment to Iraq in 2004, Bryan Adams, a Purple Heart recipient, was performing reconnaissance in Takrit when he was spotted by two children on the sidewalk.

"They had this terrified look in their eyes, like they were seeing a ghost," Adams said. Seconds later, the children had run away and Adams heard gunshots all around him.

"I was in the middle of an ambush," he said. "They opened up on us from across the street, three guys with AK47's ... I could feel the heat from the bullets going past my face."

Adams ran as fast as he could, barely making it around the corner of the street, oblivious to the pain of a gunshot wound in his leg. "I was certain I was going to die," he said.

It was one of the incidents that gave rise to Adams' post-traumatic stress disorder.

Speaking to students and community members at East Stroudsburg University's Keystone Room, Adams recounted the story of his tour in Iraq and subsequent struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder Tuesday night.

Detailing his personal experiences first rejecting, then finally acknowledging and accepting help for his mental health condition, Adams called on students to treat mental health seriously and assist in changing the conversation surrounding mental health disorders.

"Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students," Adams said, adding that one in four college students has a diagnosable mental illness. The same way people should see professionals after breaking an arm, they should also seek help for mental health, he added. "It's not going to get better on its own."

Adams used his own life as an example of how isolation and shutting others out was not the answer.
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Dr. Phil slams mentally ill again, so why is he a psychiatrist?

It wasn't bad enough when this hack attacked veterans in a show called heroes to monsters but he keeps stepping in it by slamming the very people he took an oath to help.

Mental Health America Urges Dr. Phil to Issue Retraction for Mental Illness Comments
By Mental Health America
Published: August 5, 2013
ALEXANDRIA, VA.

Statement of Wayne W. Lindstrom, Ph.D., president and CEO of Mental Health America:

"Mental Health America calls on syndicated talk show host Dr. Phil to issue a retraction for reckless and offensive remarks he made about individuals who live with mental illness (During his show, Dr. Phil said people who are insane 'suck on rocks and bark at the moon.')

"Comments like these, particularly from a professional psychologist, perpetuate inaccurate and harmful stereotypes that marginalize millions of Americans. These statements only produce shame and embarrassment when we should be promoting understanding. They diminish the contributions of millions of Americans and discourage individuals from seeking treatment for mental health conditions that allow them to achieve recovery and live full and productive lives.

"Dr. Phil's comments are particularly inappropriate in the light of the National Dialogue now occurring around the country, which was launched by President Obama during the White House National Conference on Mental Health and is designed to promote greater understanding and awareness about mental health.
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Psychiatrists under fire in mental health battle

Psychiatrists under fire in mental health battle
British Psychological Society to launch attack on rival profession, casting doubt on biomedical model of mental illness
Jamie Doward
The Observer
Saturday 11 May 2013

There is no scientific evidence that psychiatric diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are valid or useful, according to the leading body representing Britain's clinical psychologists.

In a groundbreaking move that has already prompted a fierce backlash from psychiatrists, the British Psychological Society's division of clinical psychology (DCP) will on Monday issue a statement declaring that, given the lack of evidence, it is time for a "paradigm shift" in how the issues of mental health are understood. The statement effectively casts doubt on psychiatry's predominantly biomedical model of mental distress – the idea that people are suffering from illnesses that are treatable by doctors using drugs. The DCP said its decision to speak out "reflects fundamental concerns about the development, personal impact and core assumptions of the (diagnosis) systems", used by psychiatry.

Dr Lucy Johnstone, a consultant clinical psychologist who helped draw up the DCP's statement, said it was unhelpful to see mental health issues as illnesses with biological causes.

"On the contrary, there is now overwhelming evidence that people break down as a result of a complex mix of social and psychological circumstances – bereavement and loss, poverty and discrimination, trauma and abuse," Johnstone said. The provocative statement by the DCP has been timed to come out shortly before the release of DSM-5, the fifth edition of the American Psychiatry Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
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Not Alone slamming McDonalds for parody

There are few guilty pleasures I have, or should I say had, because one of them will no longer taste as good in my mouth. The McDonalds ad for Big Mac has left a very bitter taste in my mouth.

"You're not alone" is the message I have been giving to veterans when they suffer after combat. It is a message most Vietnam veterans didn't hear until the last decade with the Internet and even now. many still have not heard it is not their fault. It is the message I give to families falling apart because they feel alone with what is happening in their homes. I give it to grieving parents when they have to bury their sons and daughters after they came home from combat but couldn't survive here.

To read those words attached to Big Mac is something my stomach just can't deal with.

McDonald's pulls regional ad parody of mental illness
Bruce Horovitz
USA TODAY
April 11, 2013



McDonald's has killed a regional ad that seems to poke fun at mental illness, but some critics say the fast-food chain may not be doing enough.

McDonald's is not lovin' it.

Following consumer complaints, a regional ad for its Big Mac that parodies mental illness -- featuring a familiar photo of a woman who appears to be crying with her head in her hand -- has been yanked by the fast-food giant from Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway trains. The headline in the ad states: "You're not alone." But the small print underneath says, "Millions of people love the Big Mac."

Worst of all: The ad includes a toll-free phone number that connects consumers to McDonald's customer satisfaction line. A recording asks consumers if they want to share an "experience" that they had at a McDonald's restaurant.

"The worst possible situation is if someone in an emotional crisis were to see that image and call that number," says Bob Carolla, spokesman for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. "It would be a cruel mistake."
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Rick Warren's son, Matthew, commits suicide, church says

Pastor Rick Warren's son, Matthew, commits suicide, church says
By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer
NBC News
April 6, 2013

The youngest son of Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life," has committed suicide, the evangelical pastor said in a letter to members of his church on Saturday.

Matthew Warren, the youngest son of Warren and his wife Kay, died after a long struggle with mental illness, according to the statement from Saddleback Valley Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif. The church asked for “everyone to join us in praying for the entire Warren family” on Saturday.

“At 27 years of age, Matthew was an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many,” Saddleback Church said in the statement. “Unfortunately, he also suffered from mental illness resulting in deep depression and suicidal thoughts.”

Matthew Warren was found dead of what appeared to be suicide by gunshot in his home in Mission Viejo, Calif., said Supervising Deputy Dan Aikin of the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s Department. The estimated time of death was 10 a.m. on Friday morning.
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“In spite of America’s best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided,” Warren wrote to church members. “Today, after a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life.”

Senator Reed Announces $4.79 Mill More Towards Ending Homelessness

Senator Reed Announces $4.79 Mill More Towards Ending Homelessness POSTED BY ALEX FERRERAS MARCH 29, 2013 (Source: Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless) – Today at the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless annual awards luncheon, U.S. Senator Jack Reed presented Sue Bodington, Deputy Director for Programs at Rhode Island Housing, with the 2013 Jack Reed Advocacy Award for her deep and abiding dedication to promoting affordable housing and combating homelessness in Rhode Island for more than 30 years.

Today, Senator Reed also announced over $4.79 million in federal funding for programs working to reduce homelessness in Rhode Island. The federal Continuum of Care (CoC) grants support 43 local housing assistance programs that offer a wide variety of services for homeless veterans, the mentally ill, families, single men, women and children. read more here

Who is defending the rights of the children to live?

I was watching CNN when Piers Morgan had a heated exchange with the President of Gun Owners of America while Larry Pratt once again said teachers should have been armed, just as he had on MSNBC.

There is plenty of talk about the rights of gun owners but not enough about people to go to school, to go to a movie, go shopping or simply do what they do in a normal day when an un-normal person gets their hands on assault weapons.

I decided to turn my computer back on and tackle this part of the debate we should be having when I read this.

EXCLUSIVE: Fear of being committed may have caused Connecticut gunman to snap
By Jana Winter
Published December 18, 2012
FoxNews.com

“From what I've been told, Adam was aware of her petitioning the court for conservatorship and (her) plans to have him committed," Flashman told FoxNews.com.
"Adam was apparently very upset about this. He thought she just wanted to send him away. From what I understand, he was really, really angry. I think this could have been it, what set him off.”

The shooters Mom knew he was mentally ill enough to want to have him committed. Think about that for a second. She still had taken him to the gun range to go shooting and still had assault weapons in her home while she thought her son was dangerous. How can this be justifiable?

Getting back to Pratt and his comments about the rights of people to own guns, that is fine when they are responsible and respect the power of the weapons they own but when the same laws allow dangerous people to get their hands on assault weapons, that cannot be defended.

The shooters Mom, for whatever reason, did not remove those weapons even though she though her son needed to be committed. People still defend her right to have those guns? What about the rights of the 20 children to live? The 6 other adults to live? For the rest of the students in that elementary school to feel safe? For the families to feel that they had nothing to worry about when they sent their kids to school? Her guns were legally owned yet Pratt said the teachers should have been armed too? Her guns were legal but Pratt's answer is more guns. In what? The "right hands" because he is so sure that everyone that owns guns are responsible? He must have thought the shooters Mom was responsible as well because she bought the guns legally and had permits for them. We saw how all that turned out.

Real life is not the movies. In the movies people aim a weapon and it hits the target. Cops don't have to fire multiple times, miss and have to keep shooting until they hit the person they are aiming at. The director tells the person to just fall down. Real life isn't like that and it is time we stopped pretending it is.

There shouldn't have to be laws for someone to remove guns from a house with a mental illness so severe they should be committed. That is what should just be common sense and it is not happening.

If there is ever going to be an honest debate in this country about guns, then we need to stop pretending that every gun owner does the right thing.

UPDATE December 19, 2012

If you want a gun to protect yourself and your home, most people can understand that. If you want a gun to go hunting, most people are ok with that too. Why on earth do you want an assault weapon? You don't need them. If normal gun owners do not take a stand against assault weapons then you'll be part of the problem in the eyes of the rest of the country. Do the right thing and push these gun owner groups to come up with a solution that will protect your rights and the rights of others to not have to fear what some do with their "legal" guns.

Houston police officer kills double amputee in wheelchair

Double Amputee Shooting: Matthew Jacob Marin, Houston Officer, Kills Man In Wheelchair, Police Say By
The Associated Press
09/22/12

HOUSTON -- A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.

Police spokeswoman Jodi Silva said the man cornered the officer in his wheelchair and was making threats while trying to stab the officer with the pen. At the time, the officer did not know what the metal object was that the man was waving, Silva said.

She said the man came "within inches to a foot" of the officer and did not follow instructions to calm down and remain still.
read more here

Emails, death and dumb

Emails, death and dumb
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
September 5, 2012

This morning I received yet another email from someone so focused on hating Democrats and the President, that I asked to be removed from his email list. I'm fed up with people I used to respect sending out lies filled with nonsense especially when they are in a position of being respected. This person is a Chaplain! Does he automatically assume everyone he knows agrees with the hatred he is supporting? Does he have a clue anymore what a Chaplain is supposed to be? I was part of his group a very long time ago and now I am more convinced than ever leaving it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Not that my own hands are clean because I used to be political as well. I didn't send out emails but I posted them on my old blog. I fell into the same trap I always complain about. I thought it was my duty to share the truth without ever once considering that some people would be hurt by what I posted. That stopped when a Marine sent me an email and asked me to stop doing it. I fired back a testy response defending my right to say what I wanted. Yep, got on that high horse and went as fast as I could. He replied with a very simple question. "Are you doing this for us or yourself?" After I stopped crying I realized he opened my eyes to how wrong I was.

I made him a promise that I would start this blog and only do political posts when it was about what politicians were doing for them or to them.

For the last 5 years, I kept that promise all while being constantly repulsed by emails flying in from both sides.

I read emails from military families and veterans all the time because their lives are falling apart and they are not getting the help they need. Then I read news reports from all over the country that make me so sad it is hard to type.

I posted this first thing. Fort Worth Mom let her toddler die because she was depressed about her husband's deployment. She tried to commit suicide and asked for help but didn't get it. Her other two children were also neglected. Then I read this.

Florida woman arrested for leaving infant son in dumpster: police
Alexandria Sladon-Marler was a troubled young woman with a history of frequent run-in with the law.
BY CHRISTINE ROBERTS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

A Florida mother sits behind bars accused of infanticide after she was arrested and jailed Monday.

Alexandria Sladon-Marler was a familiar figure to many in the small Lake Ridge neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale, population 3,000. Some days she could be seen sitting on curb and just hanging out.

"She used to like to knock on windows," Mary Rhodes, former head of the neighborhood's Community for a Better Lake Ridge, told the Daily News. "She'd hang out at local Wendy's…knock on men's car windows and ask for sex."

Sladon-Marler was struggling with a troubled life. Those who knew her suggest that mental illness — not just bad behavior — played a part in the tragedy of this mother, and child.

If she had been spotted and helped during one of the numerous times she had been in contact with the law, the system might have saved not only her, but also the tiny newborn found wrapped in a towel, stuffed into a pillowcase and hidden among the garbage and the trash of a dumpster behind the hotel Sladon-Marler was staying at, says Rhodes.
read more here

Two Moms, one military and one civilian clearly dealing with mental illness but no one took care of them. No one made sure they got the help they needed or made sure their children were safe yet what comes in emails? Crap about moral values from people so concerned with the life of the unborn they never have time to think about the living. There are two babies dead just from last weekend alone.

Will I read emails from these political zealots about either of these stories? No. They are never interested in doing anything to inform or actually do something about helping anyone.

The picked sides and the truth no longer matters to them. Humans in need never come into their minds or penetrate their stone cold hearts but they hide behind the title they believe they earned as a "Christian" using His name but never following in His footsteps. Spreading lies is not a value He would approve. Turning away from the poor, the sick, the needy is not something He would approve because He didn't approve of it when He walked this earth.

Matthew 25
The Sheep and the Goats
31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.

32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?

38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?

39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Bible Gateway

Do you do this for wounded? Do you do this for homeless? Do you do this for Christ's sake?