Gang worker wounded in the body but not in his heart
Shot and partially paralyzed while protecting an at-risk youth, Calvin Hodges has only one objective: restoring peace to Nickerson Gardens.
By Scott Gold and Joel Rubin
February 5, 2010
Calvin Hodges insists he is not angry at the men who shot him.
"I'm angry at the mind-set," Hodges said on a recent afternoon in Nickerson Gardens, the Watts public housing complex where he grew up, and nearly died.
At 35, he's seen it from all sides now during a journey that has taken him from repeated run-ins with the police to being praised by them as a hero.
In the three months since Hodges was shot, leaving him partly paralyzed, he has become an emblem of all that is risky about the city's campaign to interlace traditional policing with gang intervention and street outreach. And if the authorities' suspicions are right -- that a deadly wave of violence followed Hodges' shooting because he was in the hospital, unavailable to keep the peace -- he will become an emblem, too, of why City Hall believes that risk is worth it.
Within weeks of Hodges' shooting, Nickerson Gardens degenerated into a terrible spiral of violence after several years of relative calm. At least five men have been shot to death in the area since Nov. 22; police believe the killings are linked to a dispute within the Bounty Hunters, Nickerson's dominant gang.
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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hodges5-2010feb05,0,18294.story
Friday, February 5, 2010
UK:Veterans Suffering From 'Hidden' Mental Trauma
When you read this keep the fact that the US has sent a lot more men and women into Iraq and Afghanistan, just as we have during other wars. The truth is, everyone seems to be trying to deal with a flood but cannot see the tsunami just offshore.
We haven't reached all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with PTSD but the most troubling fact is, we still haven't reached all the Vietnam, Korean or WWII veterans either.
As numbers are released from the DOD, they are not part of what the VA releases. Lost in between discharge from the military and getting into the VA system, there are more not being counted by anyone other than their own families.
We haven't reached all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with PTSD but the most troubling fact is, we still haven't reached all the Vietnam, Korean or WWII veterans either.
As numbers are released from the DOD, they are not part of what the VA releases. Lost in between discharge from the military and getting into the VA system, there are more not being counted by anyone other than their own families.
Veterans Suffering From 'Hidden' Mental Trauma
8:49am UK, Friday February 05, 2010
Geoff Meade, defence correspondent
The former head of the British Army has warned of hundreds of undiagnosed victims of mental trauma from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sir Richard Dannatt spoke as he helped launch a new charity aimed at mentally ill service veterans.
Speaking at the inauguration of PTSD-Resolution, he said cases of post traumatic stress diagnosed so far were only the tip of the iceberg.
"These are hidden injuries," he said.
He welcomed that serving soldiers were now trained to spot the symptoms of battle stress in comrades and contrasted that with his experience as a young officer, decorated for bravery in Northern Ireland.
"In South Armagh, where a company commander was blown up in front of us, we called in all patrols, opened the bar and got smashed. There has to be a better way," he said.
read more here
Veterans Suffering From Hidden Mental Trauma
Soldier's mother says U.S. Army is covering up murder
Soldier's mother says U.S. Army is covering up murder
New details three months after daughter's death
February 05, 2010 5:17 AM
Craig Smith
COLONIE -- Colleen Murphy told a roomful of reporters she does not know who would have wanted her daughter dead or why, but she believes someone in the army is covering up whatever happened to 29-year-old Staff Sergeant Amy Seyboth-Tirador.
"I've been told too many lies...I don't trust them," Murphy said, referring to army investigators.
Five days after Seyboth-Tirador's death, Murphy and her former husband, Gerard Seyboth were saying it was not an accident and not a suicide. They said they had been briefed by two generals. They offered no theories on a motive, except that their daughter's work in intelligence gathering may have made her a target, something Murphy still sees as a possible scenario.
"I don't know if Amy found something out in her job, I don't know if it was an issue between people, but Amy was set up to be in place for the perfect suicide," Murphy says.
read more here
http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/army-1270835-murphy-told.html
New details three months after daughter's death
February 05, 2010 5:17 AM
Craig Smith
COLONIE -- Colleen Murphy told a roomful of reporters she does not know who would have wanted her daughter dead or why, but she believes someone in the army is covering up whatever happened to 29-year-old Staff Sergeant Amy Seyboth-Tirador.
"I've been told too many lies...I don't trust them," Murphy said, referring to army investigators.
Five days after Seyboth-Tirador's death, Murphy and her former husband, Gerard Seyboth were saying it was not an accident and not a suicide. They said they had been briefed by two generals. They offered no theories on a motive, except that their daughter's work in intelligence gathering may have made her a target, something Murphy still sees as a possible scenario.
"I don't know if Amy found something out in her job, I don't know if it was an issue between people, but Amy was set up to be in place for the perfect suicide," Murphy says.
read more here
http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/army-1270835-murphy-told.html
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Defense Dept. probes Marine mental health care
Defense Dept. probes Marine mental health care
By KEVIN MAURER
The Associated Press
Thursday, February 4, 2010; 2:15 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. -- The Defense Department will investigate complaints of substandard mental health care for Marines at Camp Lejeune, according to a North Carolina congressman Thursday who had asked for the probe amid reports of retaliation against a whistleblower.
Public questions about the quality of mental health care provided by a private contractor at the base were raised last year by the September firing of Dr. Kernan Manion, a brain trauma specialist who had complained to commanders about poor facilities, inadequate care programs and weak security.
Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican whose district includes Camp Lejeune, asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a probe of the mental health care issue after Salon.com, which first reported Manion's firing, last week reported on documents it obtained that showed officials had changed Manion's job performance evaluations from good to bad after his complaints.
By KEVIN MAURER
The Associated Press
Thursday, February 4, 2010; 2:15 PM
WILMINGTON, N.C. -- The Defense Department will investigate complaints of substandard mental health care for Marines at Camp Lejeune, according to a North Carolina congressman Thursday who had asked for the probe amid reports of retaliation against a whistleblower.
Public questions about the quality of mental health care provided by a private contractor at the base were raised last year by the September firing of Dr. Kernan Manion, a brain trauma specialist who had complained to commanders about poor facilities, inadequate care programs and weak security.
Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican whose district includes Camp Lejeune, asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a probe of the mental health care issue after Salon.com, which first reported Manion's firing, last week reported on documents it obtained that showed officials had changed Manion's job performance evaluations from good to bad after his complaints.
Manion, 59, has 25 years of experience as a psychiatrist with a specialty in traumatic brain injury, or TBI. Manion last year said he was fired for writing memos to his military superiors complaining of shoddy care for Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
In e-mails shown to The Associated Press, Manion complained, among other things, that the military was not dealing with PTSD properly and that the hospital lacked security procedures in the event of a Fort Hood-like shooting.read more here
Bomb-sniffing dogs being rushed to Iraq
Bomb-sniffing dogs being rushed to Iraq
Chelsea J. Carter - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 4, 2010 9:28:58 EST
BAGHDAD — American military officials are stepping up delivery of bomb-detection dogs to Iraq with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government under pressure for using equipment that may be ineffective in finding explosives.
read more here
Bomb-sniffing dogs being rushed to Iraq
Chelsea J. Carter - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 4, 2010 9:28:58 EST
BAGHDAD — American military officials are stepping up delivery of bomb-detection dogs to Iraq with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government under pressure for using equipment that may be ineffective in finding explosives.
read more here
Bomb-sniffing dogs being rushed to Iraq
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