Camp Lejeune residents blame rare cancer cluster on the water

Mike Partain shows an X-ray of the tumor found in his right breast. He knows of 19 fellow former Camp Lejeune residents who have had male breast cancer. (Colin Hackley / Florida Times-Union / December 31, 2008)

Camp Lejeune residents blame rare cancer cluster on the water
For three decades, dry-cleaning chemicals and industrial solvents laced the water used by local Marines and their families. Mike Partain and at least 19 others developed male breast cancer.
By David Zucchino

August 26, 2009
Reporting from Tallahassee, Fla. - One night in April 2007, as Mike Partain hugged his wife before going to bed, she felt a small lump above his right nipple. A mammogram -- a "man-o-gram," he called it -- led to a diagnosis of male breast cancer. Six days later, the 41-year-old insurance adjuster had a mastectomy.

Partain had no idea men could get breast cancer. But he thinks he knows what caused his: contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he was born.

Over the last two years, Partain has compiled a list of 19 others diagnosed with male breast cancer who once lived on the base.

For three decades -- from the 1950s to the mid-1980s -- the water supply used by hundreds of thousands of Marines and their families was laced with chemicals from an off-base dry-cleaning company and industrial solvents used to clean military equipment.
read more here
Camp Lejeune residents blame rare cancer cluster
linked from RawStory

Disabled veteran panhandling in Wilmington

Disabled veteran panhandling in Wilmington
Posted: Aug 25, 2009 4:51 PM EDT


Posted by Debra Worley

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - A disabled Vietnam veteran who is upset with the healthcare system has taken to the streets to survive.

Alfred Overstreet has cancer and had brain surgery, but said he does not get enough funding from Medicaid to survive.

He lives in a rest home and said he doesn't have much money to live on after his rent and prescriptions are paid.
go here for more
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=10988852

Detectives honor homeless Vietnam veteran, Gary Dale Wilson

Detectives honor homeless Vietnam veteran who died alone in Riveria Beach woods


With no family to be found, they make sure Gary Dale Wilson's passing is noted.

By JASON SCHULTZ

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Gary Dale Wilson died alone in the woods in Riviera Beach sometime in May or June.

Nobody reported Wilson, a 61-year-old Vietnam veteran, missing for weeks. Even after police found his decomposed body in late July, they could not find any family members to claim him.


But on Tuesday two Riviera Beach police officers who helped find Wilson's body made sure that at the end, somebody was there to remember him.

"This guy served his country. Somebody should be there," said Detective Sgt. Patrick Galligan at the South Florida National Cemetery.

Wilson, who served as a private in the U.S. Army, was buried Tuesday at the military cemetery on State Road 7 just south of Lantana Road. Galligan and Detective Jeremy Summers were the only people who attended the ceremony, except for cemetery and funeral home employees, and a three-man Army honor guard.

Wilson, who was homeless, frequented the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Riviera Beach to pick up medicine for the throat cancer that eventually killed him. He also did odd jobs at St. George's Church and Community Center.

He was last seen alive in May after leaving the medical center.

Church officials reported him missing in July. Police found his decomposed remains on July 29 in what appeared to be his campsite in the woods south of Martin Luther King Boulevard, Summers said.

"He wouldn't take a handout. He worked around the church and accepted food, but he never accepted money, even for the work he put in," Summers said. "He just did it alone and didn't have many friends."
read more here
Detectives honor homeless Vietnam veteran

Australia fake Vietnam "Hero" has no excuse

"I never went to Vietnam and I thought, 'maybe I can say I am a vet because I'm associating with them all the time'. Charles Gibbons said after being caught as a fake Vietnam veteran with medals.

Yes, he really said that. I associate with them all the time too, plus spent the last 25 years married to one of them. I can tell you that just being around them makes people admire them, respect them, value them enough that no one in their right mind would ever consider impersonating one of them. People who do such a despicable act can never come close to understanding them because these men and women, they thought about others when they risked their lives in Vietnam. Didn't matter if they found themselves in Vietnam by will to serve or draft number pulled, they all served side by side and risked their lives for each other.

Thirty years this man pulled off a huge lie, used the Vietnam veterans he "associated with" and managed to look them in the eyes when he was spinning his tall tales of glory and suffering. Now he's sorry? Did he admit it all by himself by a sudden awakening of his conscience? No. He was turned in and then he was sorry. Just like the rest of them they are always sorry when they are caught, offering all kinds of excuses for what they did, trying to be what they will never be and will never understand the kind of person it takes to really be a Vietnam veteran. How about all the veterans this man hurt? How about the real ones trapped because they didn't save their paperwork and frauds like this make is almost impossible to be believed? They just never cared enough about the men and women they pretended to be or they would have never, ever thought about trying to take what they did not earn from them, respect.

Service a lie: Charles Gibbons wore beret and medals he was not entitled to on Anzac Day

Man apologises for posing as war veteran for 30 years

Russell Robinson

August 27, 2009 12:00am


A "WANNABE" war hero apologised to Diggers for fraudulently passing himself off as a Vietnam veteran.

For years council parking inspector Charles Campbell Gibbons, 60, claimed he had completed two tours of duty as a military policeman in South Vietnam.

During that time, he claimed, he'd lost a lung.

He would proudly march on Anzac Day wearing the red beret and badge of the military police.

Pinned to his tunic would be seven medals, signifying Vietnam War service, and 15 years regular army service.

But it was all a lie.

"It was done very stupidly. I should never have done it, but I did it and I regret it," he told the Herald Sun.

"I know there are people out there who do this, and I did it.

"I have no excuse for what I did. If I could go back in time there's not a chance I would have done this.

"I am disgusted with myself."

His double life was exposed on the ANZMI military imposters website.
read more here
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25986890-2862,00.html

Texas mom's struggle for a better life ends abruptly in Tampa

A mom's struggle for a better life ends abruptly in Tampa at hot dog stand
By Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Wednesday, August 26, 2009


TAMPA — Carolina Allmon worked in a school cafeteria in Texas, but fantasized about running her own restaurant.

She was 42, supporting two daughters, struggling to pay the bills.

Two weeks ago, she took a chance. She moved with her girls from Texas to Tampa and partnered with her friend's husband, Vicente Hernande Quintero, to open a roadside hot dog stand. They settled in a gas station parking lot on busy Hillsborough Avenue. On Monday at 11 a.m., they opened for business.

As Quintero recovered at Tampa General Hospital from broken ribs and back injuries, he recalled what happened on that first day.

Allmon was securing a sign just before 4 p.m. when Quintero heard her scream.

Moments later, police found him under the metal tongue of a runaway trailer. Police say the trailer detached from a pickup truck and careened toward their stand, striking them.

Quintero later learned that Allmon had tried to flee, but was hit by a riding lawn mower as it tumbled off the trailer. She lay next to him, dead.

The 16-year-old pickup truck driver, Dennis Tintle, was cited for failing to secure his trailer.
read more here
A moms struggle for a better life ends abruptly in Tampa

St. Petersburg woman uses defibrillator to save man

St. Petersburg woman uses defibrillator to save man outside Sweetbay grocery store
By Kameel Stanley, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Aug 25, 2009 11:12 PM
ST. PETERSBURG — A 33-year-old woman helped save a 73-year-old man's life Tuesday night when she used a defibrillator to get his heart beating again.

Jennifer Trombly of St. Petersburg had just walked out of a Sweetbay Supermarket about 6 p.m. when she heard a commotion and saw a man lying on the ground outside the store.

When the man stopped breathing, bystanders began performing CPR.

Trombly, whose 9-year-old son has a condition that can cause him to go into a life-threatening arrhythmia, raced to her car and got her personal automated external defibrillator, or AED.
read more here
St Petersburg woman uses defibrillator to save man

Man, 57, shot 21-year-old girlfriend, drove away with her body

UPDATE

Winter Haven man involved in murder-suicide was Republican political operative in Pennsylvania

John M. Nicholson, 57, of Winter Haven is accused of shooting his 21-year-old live-in girlfriend, Kristy Lisenby, on Tuesday in Polk County.

Cops: Man, 57, shot 21-year-old girlfriend, drove away with her body
John "Jack" M. Nicholson, 57, is accused of shooting 21-year-old Kristy Lisenby at around 5:29 a.m. Tuesday in front of Jarrett Gordon Ford, 3015 Lake Alfred Road, Winter Haven.

Kevin P. Connolly

Sentinel Staff Writer

9:06 a.m. EDT, August 26, 2009



Authorities are searching for a Winter Haven man and his 21-year-old live-in girlfriend after witnesses said he shot the woman Tuesday and put her in his SUV before driving away.

John "Jack" M. Nicholson, 57, is accused of shooting Kristy Lisenby at around 5:29 a.m. Tuesday in front of Jarrett Gordon Ford, 3015 Lake Alfred Road, Winter Haven.

A witness took a photo of the 1991 Ford Explorer 2-door Sport that Nicholson was driving. The gray vehicle has a Florida license plate: F807FS. Nicholson lives at 80 Perch St., Winter Haven,

Authorities checked local hospitals but no one matching Lisenby's description has been treated, according to a news release this morning from the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Witness told authorities a man thought to be Nicholson was driving his SUV when he pulled alongside a woman later identified as Lisenby.

"Lisenby was then observed to walk to the vehicle, lean into the passenger window and at the same time, witnesses say they observed the driver, a male, raise an unknown type of gun at the victim. Witnesses reported hearing a gunshot,'' according to the release.

"Witnesses reported they then saw Lisenby fall to the ground. The driver then exited the SUV, walked around picked up the victim, and placed her in the passenger seat. The suspect then drove away from the scene. "

An arrest warrant charging Nicholson with aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated assault with a firearm has been issued for him.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 863-534-6379 or 863-534-6200.

Vietnam Vet Maj. Donald Graham to receive 2 Silver Stars

BOB PENNELL / THE (MEDFORD, ORE.) MAIL TRIBUNE VIA AP Retired Army Maj. Donald Graham will receive two Silver Stars and other medals during a ceremony Aug. 27. Graham was nominated for the medals during the Vietnam War but only recently learned they had been awarded.

Vietnam vet to receive forgotten Silver Stars

By Paul Fattig - The (Medford, Ore.) Mail Tribune via AP
Posted : Wednesday Aug 26, 2009 8:46:34 EDT

MEDFORD, Ore. — As a retired Army major who did two combat tours in South Vietnam, longtime Medford resident Donald Graham has always had high regard for Silver Star recipients.

After all, he knew they had put their lives on the line for their fellow soldiers and were recognized with the Army’s second-highest award.

“I was put in for three Silver Stars — one was downgraded to a Bronze Star,” said the soft-spoken veteran. “But I never heard anything about the Silver Stars after they put me up for them.”

After completing 20 years in the Army, Graham, 68, went on with his life, joining the U.S. Postal Service and retiring last year after 17 years.

It was only within the past month that he learned from the Jackson County Veterans Service Office that the Army had indeed awarded him two Silver Stars for bravery during combat in two separate missions more than 35 years ago. The information came up during a check of his military records he had requested.
read more here
Vietnam vet to receive forgotten Silver Stars

Soldier's case against Subway advances

Subway should be blocked from bases in Iraq and Afghanistan because of this. Go onto any military base around the country and you see Subway shops. Yet apparently they do not support the men and women serving, especially this one while he was serving in Afghanistan. If they do not support those who serve, then they should not be allowed to do business on bases.

Soldier's case against Subway advances

03:35 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 25, 2009
By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News
krobinson@dallasnews.com

Claims against the real estate arm of the Subway sandwich chain for alleged violation of a law designed to protect the interests of U.S. troops can move forward, a Dallas County civil judge has ruled.


Attorneys for Subway Real Estate Corp. had sought a summary judgment essentially ending the 2-year quest of Lt. Col. Leon Batie, whose Subway eateries fell behind on rent and were taken from him while he was on active duty in Afghanistan.read more here
Soldier's case against Subway advances

Soldiers come home to families, crowded Carson

Soldiers come home to families, crowded Carson

August 25, 2009 5:19 PM
TOM ROEDER
THE GAZETTE
The lines at Fort Carson — to get on the post, to get a burger, to do just about anything — got a bit longer today.

The post was a virtual ghost town early this year with just a few thousand GIs on hand. Now, with soldiers coming home from Iraq and arriving by the score every day to fill out the 4th Infantry Division headquarters and its 1st Brigade Combat Team, the post is brimming.

And leaders couldn’t be happier.

“It’s great getting all these kids home safe,” said division Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Dailey at a ceremony this afternoon to welcome 230 soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team back from a year in Iraq.

The post now houses three combat brigades — more troops than have been on the post at one time since the invasion of Iraq.
read more here
Soldiers come home to families crowded Carson

Cancels Contract with UTSW Medical Center

UPDATE
A New False outrage

As usual spin is in and truth is out, even when it comes to our veterans. This program was not working according to the agreement the VA had with them. This is from a "news" site. Notice the wording.

Democrats cancel Gulf War illness research money
that Republicans earmarked for Texas center
Suzanne Gamboa August 26th, 2009

Too bad this "news" site missed this

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2009
11:49 AM
CONTACT: Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Nathan White (202)225-5871


Kucinich Secures $8 Million For Gulf War Veterans Illness Research
Money Will Expand On Studies For Treatment, Bringing Us Closer To Identifying A Cure
WASHINGTON - July 31 -

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) secured a major victory for veterans of the first Gulf War by garnering $8 million for Gulf War Illness (GWI) research in the Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations bill that passed the House yesterday.


“This research will build on previous studies on Gulf War Illness.” Kucinich said. “This funding will take giant steps forward in identifying a treatment or a cure for Gulf War Veteran’s illness.”


In its landmark 454-page report delivered in November, the Congressionally-mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses at the Department of Veterans Affairs (RAC) reported that “Gulf War illness is real, that it is the result of neurotoxin exposures during Gulf War deployment and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time.”


For the first time, the report identified several suspected causes and two known causes: exposure to pesticides and a drug given to troops to protect them from nerve gas.


“There are currently no effective treatments for these conditions. With research, we learn the true causes of GWI and the possibilities open up. We must continue to attack GWI and fund the research with an amount commensurate with the scope of the problem,” said Kucinich.


Kucinich’s request for funding received bipartisan support from Reps. Henry Brown, Holt, Filner, Michaud, Baldwin, C. Brown, Conyers, Edwards, Grijalva, Hall, Maloney, McDermott, D. Moore, G. Moore, Pascrell, Pingree, Ross, Sestak, Stark and Yarmuth.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/07/31-4

And this one

Gulf War Research Funding Positive Sign for Affected Veterans
Submitted by linda on Wed, 12/06/2006 - 12:00am.
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
WASHINGTON - The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization applauds Congress for having the foresight to provide funding to the Southwestern Medical Center’s Gulf War Illness research program. The Center, headed by Dr. Robert Haley at the University of Texas Southwestern, was awarded $15 million, renewable for up to four years, to further the scientific knowledge on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses research. “This research will not only impact veterans of the 1991 Gulf War, but may prove beneficial for those currently serving in the Southwest Asia theater and the Middle East during this Global War on Terror,” said National Commander Paul A. Morin. According to the quarterly Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom health care utilization report released last month issued by the Veteran Health Administration's Office of Public Health and Environmental Hazards, there have been 67,743 visits made for illnesses categorized as “Symptoms, Signs and Ill Defined Conditions” out of the 205,097 visits made to VA Medical Centers. The Institute of Medicine’s September 2006 report, Gulf War and Health, Volume 4, indicated that existing research has demonstrated that Gulf War veterans are reporting more symptoms including more severe symptoms than their non-deployed counter-parts and there is no known explanation for it. “The purpose of research is to fill in the gaps of knowledge where there is little, yet suggestive information,” Morin explained. “Dr. Haley’s research will further this knowledge about Gulf War veterans’ illnesses and hopefully help improve the lives of ill Gulf War veterans, and their families who suffer beside them,” Morin added.

Gulf War Research Funding Positive Sign for Affected Veterans

There were rules this funding involved and if this "news" site read the report they posted, they would know why the funding was cut off. I thought people were supposed to care about our veterans and where the money was goind while they wait for help.

VA Continues Gulf War Research,

Cancels Contract with UTSW Medical Center



WASHINGTON (Aug. 26, 2009) - Citing persistent noncompliance and
numerous performance deficiencies, the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) will not exercise the third year of a five-year, $75 million
contract with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
(UTSWMC) to perform research into Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (GWVI).



"Research into the illnesses suffered by Gulf War Veterans remains a
priority for VA," said Dr. Gerald M. Cross, VA's Acting Under Secretary
for Health. "As part of our commitment to this vital effort, we must
make certain that our resources are used to support effective and
productive research."



VA listed several reasons for not exercising the contract option,
including UTSWMC's persistent and continuing noncompliance with contract
terms and conditions and detailed documentation by the contracting
officer of performance deficiencies. VA also noted that its Office of
Inspector General documented severe performance deficiencies in a July
15 report and recommended that no further task orders be issued under
the contract.



VA will meet with UTSWMC contract staff on today to provide guidance for
completing work in progress and submitting adequate documentation to
allow payment. UTSWMC will be allowed to fulfill task orders already in
progress if it corrects all performance deficiencies. .



The decision not to continue the contract means VA's research program
will be able to redirect funds to support additional research into GWVI.
In 2010, that research will include a genomic study to identify
susceptibility factors and markers of GWVI; studies of similarities and
differences with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia; studies of
new diagnostic tests; identification of sub-populations of ill Gulf War
Veterans; and studies of potential new treatments.



The redirected funding for these new VA research initiatives will be in
addition to the substantial support VA already provides for GWVI
research--$7 million in 2008 and $4.8 million so far in 2009.

Convicted GI poisoned himself before surrendering

Father: Convicted GI poisoned himself before surrendering
By Seth Robbins, Stars and Stripes
Online Edition, Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A Special Forces soldier who was on the run for nearly two days following a court-martial conviction poisoned himself before surrendering to police, his father told Stars and Stripes on Tuesday.

Kelly A. Stewart — a sergeant first class at the time of his conviction last week on charges of kidnapping, forcible sodomy and aggravated sexual assault of a German woman in August 2008 — is now in intensive care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, according to his father, John.

Stewart, 36, fled early Thursday morning after being convicted the night before at his court-martial in Vilseck, Germany. He surrendered late Friday to military police in Stuttgart and was taken to the Army confinement facility at Coleman Barracks in Mannheim. It was at the confinement facility where Stewart showed the first signs of illness, his father said in a telephone interview Tuesday morning.

Stewart, a medic by training, may have injected himself with poison or swallowed pills while he was fleeing authorities, his father said.

He was taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on Sunday and then flown to Walter Reed in Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon, medical officials said. Patient privacy rules prevent medical officials from discussing patient treatment and conditions.

“He may or may not live,” said John Stewart, who said he was heading to an airport to board a plane from Nebraska to be at his son’s bedside. “He is in the ICU (intensive care unit) and there appears to be some major organ damage, particularly to his kidneys.”
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64383

Senator Ted Kennedy battle with brain cancer ends

Obama calls Kennedy 'greatest U.S. senator of our time'
Posted: August 26th, 2009 08:07 AM ET
(CNN) – President Obama issued a statement Tuesday morning on the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy:
For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts.
I valued his wise counsel in the Senate, where, regardless of the swirl of events, he always had time for a new colleague. I cherished his confidence and momentous support in my race for the Presidency. And even as he waged a valiant struggle with a mortal illness, I've profited as President from his encouragement and wisdom.
An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time.

For most of my life I lived in Massachusetts. Senator Kennedy will never be forgotten for all he tried to do. When he could have taken the easy way out, he fought because he thought it was the right thing to do. Just like his brother, President John F. Kennedy, said in his famous speeches. To the Kennedy family, it was a lot more than words.

Was he perfect? No, none of us are. I am sure some in this country will bring up Mary Jo Kopecky and the Chappaquidic Bridge, because it's already started. This happened in 1969. They never stop to think that this man had already suffered too many deaths and maybe, just maybe was not thinking right at all.

Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Jr, 1944 died in WWII
Kathleen Agnes Kennedy, died in a plane crash in 1948
John Kennedy, assassinated 1963
Bobby Kennedy, assassinated in 1968
Rosemary Kennedy, lobotomy at age 23

Did he make a fatal mistake in judgment? Yes, but what is missed is why and what was behind it.

The rest of his life, what he tried to do and the people he tried so hard to take of though, remember him as a champion for the forgotten. He could have spent his life out of the public eye and relaxed with the family's wealth but he chose to serve instead. Three brothers before him died in service to this nation, one in the military, one in the president's office and one on his way there left him knowing his life of pain and anguish also enabled him to retain compassion in public service.

If you want to leave a comment about Chappaquidic, forget about it. I won't allow one. That day haunted him enough already. He pleaded guilty for leaving the scene of an accident, but it never left him. If you look up what he did for the rest of us the rest of his life, maybe, just maybe, he can be forgiven by those who still wish to judge him.

Rev. Tim Vakoc, Chaplain, died after neglect

Workers at home where chaplain fell criticized
By PATRICK CONDON (AP)

MINNEAPOLIS — A patient at a Minnesota nursing home who fell and later died was neglected by two health care workers there, according to a report from state health officials in what appears to be an investigation into the death of a chaplain who had been injured in Iraq.

The investigative report from the Minnesota Department of Health does not name the patient because of privacy laws, and spokesman John Steiger would not confirm the identity Tuesday.

However, details in the report match those previously reported about the accident at St. Therese Home in New Hope on June 20 that preceded the death of the Rev. Tim Vakoc. The priest was believed to be the first military chaplain wounded in Iraq.

The state investigation refers to a patient who hit his head after he fell out of a mechanical lift while being moved by two staff members. He died at a hospital later that day.

The investigation said the two employees, both nursing assistants, did not follow procedures for using the lift despite having been trained to do so. "Neglect did occur," the report states.

However, details in the report match those previously reported about the accident at St. Therese Home in New Hope on June 20 that preceded the death of the Rev. Tim Vakoc. The priest was believed to be the first military chaplain wounded in Iraq.

Vakoc, a Robbinsdale native who was 49 when he died, became an Army chaplain in 1996. He was returning from celebrating a Mass with troops near Mosul on May 29, 2004, when he was struck by a bomb blast that severely injured his brain and cost him an eye. He was believed to be the first military chaplain wounded in Iraq.

He was hospitalized at both Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, and underwent numerous surgeries. He had slowly started recognizing friends and families, and spoke again for the first time about three years ago. He was transferred to St. Therese at the end of 2006.

read more here

Workers at home where chaplain fell criticized

Tenn. hostage situation ends in 4 dead

Tenn. hostage situation ends in 4 dead
Published: Aug. 25, 2009 at 6:33 PM
MOOSEBURG, Tenn., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A hostage situation in a Mooseburg, Tenn., barn ended Tuesday with four people dead, including the hostage taker-shooter, sheriff's department officials said.

The apparent multiple murder-suicide was discovered after more than three dozen heavily armed police tactical unit officers entered the barn where the killings occurred, WJHL-TV, Johnson City, reported.
read more here
Tenn. hostage situation ends in 4 dead

Some people just don't get what 9-11 meant

Do you think they cared if someone was a Republican or a Democrat that day? Or any other day?

Unlike First Lady Michelle Obama, I won't back down from this. I have never been more proud of this country after 9-11 and more appalled by what it is turning into now. If you love your children, you correct their behavior. You may be proud of them but at the moments when you have to scream at them to stop acting like jerks, not so much pride there. You still love them the same way I still love this country but when politics have to take over every single thing that happens, including the event that changed this country for the better, even though it didn't last long, is just pure "jerk" from the people using it.

The problem for people like this is that 9-11 is etched into our hearts and memories so that no one can ever make us forget what it was like watching the firefighters and police officers rushing to the burning buildings. No one can forget how they stood side by side and spent endless days searching for the people lost because they knew someone was waiting for them, but they didn't come home. We saw them stand in reverence as one of their own was recovered. We saw what it was like to drive down any street in this country and see a sea of flags from every house and flying on cars.

We also remember what it was like when every member of Congress stood together as Americans!

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) says: “Senators and House members, Democrats and Republicans will stand shoulder to shoulder to fight this evil that has perpetrated on this nation. We will stand together to make sure that those who have brought forth this evil deed will pay the price.”

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D) calls the day’s attacks “an assault on our people and on our freedom,” and says, “We, Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, stand strongly united behind the president and we’ll work together to ensure that the full resources of the government are brought to bear in these efforts.” To applause, he announces, “Congress will convene tomorrow.” The press conference ends with the members of Congress joining together for an apparently spontaneous singing of “God Bless America.”

Congress History Commons

So please tell me how turning even this into some kind of political game is anything to be proud of?

Right-wingers cry socialism over 9/11 anniversary plan backed by many in GOP


By Daniel Tencer

Published: August 25, 2009

Right-wing commentators are claiming that the White House is planning to “erase the meaning” of the 9/11 attacks and turn the anniversary into “a day of leftist celebration and statist idolatry” — despite the fact that the plan for a National Day of Service on 9/11 had broad bipartisan support.

An article by Matthew Vadum, published Monday in the American Spectator, states that the president’s plan for a National Day of Service, to be celebrated on September 11, would eliminate 9/11 as a political tool for Republicans.

“The plan is to turn a ‘day of fear’ that helps Republicans into a day of activism called the National Day of Service that helps the left,” writes Vadum. “In other words, nihilistic liberals are planning to drain 9/11 of all meaning.”

As some commentators have pointed out, Vadum’s article overlooks the fact that the idea to link the 9/11 anniversary to volunteerism was originally promoted by President George W. Bush, and the bill to make it law, passed this spring, had bipartisan support.

Seventy House Republicans and 22 GOP senators voted for the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act, which established the National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11.
read more here
Right-wingers cry socialism over 9 11

Wife, bystander unable to help man who drowned after saving dog

Wife, bystander unable to help man who drowned after saving dog
Husband, she says, wanted to be remembered for his art

By Joseph Ruzich

Special to the Tribune

August 25, 2009


Dilbara Arapova "had a bad feeling about the place."

She and her husband, Vasily Fedorouk, an internationally renowned sculptor from Westmont, were playing with their dog, Era, near Horsetail Lake in the Cook County forest preserve in Palos Township on Sunday morning. It was the first time they had taken the dog to the location, and Arapova was leery.

"There were a lot of weeds [along the shore]," Arapova said.

The 2 1/2 -year-old German hunting terrier went into the lake to fetch a ball but got caught in some vegetation. Fedorouk, 59, jumped into the lake, freed the family pet but wound up getting entangled himself, officials said.

"He was waving his hands in the water," Arapova said. "At first I thought he was joking. Then he went underwater and I started to scream. I couldn't help him. I can't swim."

Arapova said another man at the scene, who also couldn't swim, called police on a cell phone. Police and paramedics arrived about eight minutes after the incident, Arapova said, but it was too late.

Fedorouk was found submerged in 6 to 8 feet of water and later was pronounced dead. An official with the Cook County medical examiner's office said Monday that Fedorouk died of accidental drowning. Arapova said police told her that Fedorouk apparently got caught in fishing line.
read more here
Wife bystander unable to help man who drowned after saving dog

Requiem for a fallen officer, Cpl. Mike Roberts

Escorted by a Tampa police officer, Cynthia Roberts leaves her husband's funeral service.KATHLEEN FLYNN Times

Requiem for a fallen officer
About 4,000 people — including Gov. Charlie Crist — attended Tampa Police Cpl. Michael Roberts' funeral.

LUTZ — Cindy Roberts leaned into an officer for support as she walked toward her husband's casket.

A sea of uniforms and badges surrounded her as more than 4,000 gathered at St. Timothy Catholic Church to honor the life of a man known for his love of policing and family.

Cpl. Mike Roberts, 38, an 11-year veteran Tampa Police Department, died Wednesday, Aug 19, after a man pushing a shopping cart full of weapons shot him on a Sulphur Springs street corner.


Gallery: Photos from the service Video
Roberts' wife thanks city officials, residents Backstory
Eulogy: Tampa chief honors Roberts' memory (PDF)

Deadliest year in Afghanistan reached already

08/25/09 AP: 4 U.S. Troops Killed in Afghanistan
The U.S. military says an improvised explosive device has killed four American service members in southern Afghanistan. U.S. military spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker says the four were killed in the south in an explosion Tuesday.
http://icasualties.org/oef/

172 US, 123 Coalition, 295 total

Couple charged in 2-year-old girl's python-related death

Couple charged in 2-year-old girl's python-related death
The mother of a Sumter County girl asphyxiated by a Burmese python and the woman's live-in boyfriend were charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the death, officials said Monday. Read more...



Father of python victim supports charges against mom, boyfriend