Tuesday, November 3, 2009

7th person arrested in Richmond High gang rape

7th person arrested in gang rape
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Police have not identified latest person arrested in the attack
Police say as many as 10 people involved in rape outside northern California high school
Attack occurred during homecoming dance
Ten people watched attack without calling 911, police say
(CNN) -- A seventh person has been arrested in a gang rape on a high school campus in northern California, police said Tuesday.
Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan did not identify the suspect. Of those arrested so far, one was released for lack of evidence.
Police say as many as 10 people were involved in the rape October 24 in a dimly lit alley outside Richmond High School, where a homecoming dance was taking place.
Another 10 people watched the attack without calling 911, police say.
Authorities say the attack lasted for more than two hours. The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and was released Wednesday.
Read local coverage of story from CNN affiliate KTVU
read more from CNN here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/03/california.gang.rape/index.html

GOP senators voted against rape victims for contractors

This is not about an employment issue but it is about a crime against women and the attitude some men have. These people should be ashamed and the rest of the senators that voted to treat rape like a crime should be honored by all women for this.

GANG RAPE LEGISLATION NIXED BY 30 GOP'ers

DEFENSE CONTRACTORS BUY SENATE VOTES

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor

Is it this plain? Are the facts this clear? Did 30 Republicans vote to allow defense contractors protection if their employees are raped, drugged and imprisoned? Haliburton/KBR, the "Dick" Cheney company did exactly this, locked a rape victim in a box, drugged her and kept her prisoner.


68 Senators, every single Democrat and some Republicans, voted to allow defense contractors whose employees are sexually assaulted be taken to court. Robert Kennedy Jr. and Mike Papantonio describe their take on opposition to the Rape Protection bill.
"I checked to make sure that the 30 Republican Senators who voted against Jamie Leigh Jones' anti-rape bill two weeks ago had wives and daughters. Most of them did. But their love for defense contractor PAC money is obviously greater than their love even for their own daughters. The Senate bill was simple to follow: if a contractor like KBR has an employee who is sexually assaulted on the job, that employee has a right to have a jury hear and decide the facts of the case. If the contractor denies the victim that right, then the U.S. government won't do business with that contractor. In 2005, Jones, a KBR employee, was gang-raped in Iraq by KBR workers. After she was gang-raped, KBR security held her prisoner inside a 5' x 6' shipping container to make sure she kept her mouth shut.
The vote to enact the bill was 68 to 30. Go to the website Republicans For Rape, and you can see the list of those 30 GOP leaders who voted against offering justice to victims like Jamie. They argued that it is too harsh to force a valued defense contractor like KBR or Haliburton to appear in front of a civil jury to face outraged and repulsed fathers, mothers, and sisters when stories like Jamie's are told. What those 30 all-male, all-Republican Senators would prefer is that Jamie and victims like her would be raped again by KBR by appearing in a closed door, secretive, arbitration hearing where no one would hear the details of the assault.
read more here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9224

Secretary Shinseki Details Plan to End Homelessness for Veterans

Preventing veterans from becoming homeless is something that can happen and needs to happen. For many, it is not as complicated as you may think it is. Just as education is important for the future of our kids, education is important to the future of our veterans. Too many do not know what PTSD is or what causes it. Families don't know and have an impossible task trying to cope with it in their veteran when they do not know what caused the changes in them. It also leads to many other issues that are preventable.

When we do not know what PTSD is it can lead to domestic violence. When we are unaware of what is happening to the veteran in the middle of a nightmare, we make mistakes in how we wake them up. This has lead to bloody noses and black eyes because a wife tried to shake them awake or yelled at them. When they are startled awake, in those few seconds, they are not in their bed or on the couch. They are right back in Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam, in danger, and their wife, she is not there in their mind but the enemy is. They have no clue they are safe in their own home. This also happens with flashbacks when they are not consciously there but someplace terrifying to them.

Dealing with all that comes with PTSD, from mood swings, to angry outbursts, irrational decisions, detachment, avoidance all the way down the list to self-medicating, it makes it hard to want to be able to have them stay in the home. That is unless you know where it is all coming from, why it's happening and what you can do about it to help them heal. This is the families job.

* VA will spend $3.2 billion next year to prevent and reduce
homelessness among Veterans. That includes $2.7 billion on medical
services and more than $500 million on specific homeless programs.



* VA aggressively diagnoses and treats the unseen wounds of war
that often lead to homelessness - severe isolation, dysfunctional
behaviors, depression and substance abuse. Last week, VA and the
Defense Department cosponsored a national summit on mental health that
will help both agencies better coordinate mental health efforts.

This is what can happen when there is clear, common sense, information available to them so they overcome the stigma and the needless shame they feel. Once they understand it comes after traumatic events and not because of them, they will overcome the fear they have inside about seeking help. They think that everything they do is odd until they find out how normal most of it is when they are dealing with PTSD. Once they know they can heal and learn how to cope with what will remain, they can live lives filled with hope and yes, even happy lives. The problem is, so far, the only thing they've heard is only part of the story because most of the people telling them about it only found it in books instead of life.

It's all possible but above all, it is all something they have been waiting for.

Secretary Shinseki Details Plan to End Homelessness for Veterans

Five-Year Plan Unveiled at Homeless Summit



WASHINGTON (Nov. 3, 2009) - Today, at the "VA National Summit Ending
Homelessness Among Veterans" Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki unveiled the department's comprehensive plan to end
homelessness among Veterans by marshalling the resources of government,
business and the private sector.



"President Obama and I are personally committed to ending homelessness
among Veterans within the next five years," said Shinseki. "Those who
have served this nation as Veterans should never find themselves on the
streets, living without care and without hope."



Shinseki's comprehensive plan to end homelessness includes preventive
measures like discharge planning for incarcerated Veterans re-entering
society, supportive services for low-income Veterans and their families
and a national referral center to link Veterans to local service
providers. Additionally, the plan calls for expanded efforts for
education, jobs, health care and housing.



"Our plan enlarges the scope of VA's efforts to combat homelessness,"
said Shinseki. "In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless
Veterans off the streets. Our five-year plan aims also at preventing
them from ever ending up homeless."



Other features of the plan outlined by Shinseki include:



* The new Post-9/11 GI Bill provides a powerful option for
qualified Veterans to pursue a fully funded degree program at a state
college or university. It is a major component of the fight against
Veteran homelessness.



* VA is collaborating with the Small Business Administration and
the General Services Administration to certify Veteran-owned small
businesses and service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses for
listing on the Federal Supply Register, which enhances their visibility
and competitiveness - creating jobs for Veterans.



* VA will spend $3.2 billion next year to prevent and reduce
homelessness among Veterans. That includes $2.7 billion on medical
services and more than $500 million on specific homeless programs.



* VA aggressively diagnoses and treats the unseen wounds of war
that often lead to homelessness - severe isolation, dysfunctional
behaviors, depression and substance abuse. Last week, VA and the
Defense Department cosponsored a national summit on mental health that
will help both agencies better coordinate mental health efforts.



* VA partners with more than 600 community organizations to
provide transitional housing to 20,000 Veterans. It also works with 240
public housing authorities to provide permanent housing to homeless
Veterans and their families under a partnership with the Department of
Housing and Urban Development. The VA/HUD partnership will provide
permanent housing to more than 20,000 Veterans and their families.



Over the duration of the conference it is expected that over 1,200
homeless service providers from federal and state agencies, the business
community, and faith-based and community providers will attend and
participate in the summit.



"This is not a summit on homelessness among Veterans," added Shinseki
"It's a summit on ending homelessness among Veterans."

Study says Risk of PTSD Linked to Genes, Environment

In keeping with the mission of Wounded Times Blog, providing information, I am posting this but I do not agree with this at all. After reading it, there are too many other reports in disagreement to this study. I'm living proof of some of them. A lifetime of exposure to traumatic events did not cause PTSD in me, but that is not the reason I doubt this report.

One of my brothers was in mental health and worked with inner city youth trying to get them what they needed so that they would find reason to continue with their education. Before he passed away, we argued over the cause of PTSD. He understood how kids growing up surrounded by violence would end up with PTSD but could not understand how his own brother-in-law did from Vietnam. The thing with PTSD is that it is so complicated that no matter what answer researchers are looking for, that's what they'll find with PTSD.

It comes from an outside force and is caused by traumatic events. That is the only way to get PTSD but if they look for any mental illness, they will find symptoms of it even though it came after traumatic events. There are some people with mental illness also exposed to traumatic events just as there are some using drugs and alcohol to self-medicate but are also dealing with the addiction itself.

That's my opinion but here is what this article said.

Risk of PTSD Linked to Genes, Environment

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on November 3, 2009
Childhood adversity and trauma during adulthood appear to predispose individuals to post-traumatic stress disorders.

Researchers found the combination of insults were more predictive of PTSD than exposure to only one type of disturbance.

Furthermore, the risk was additionally accentuated among individuals with a certain genetic mutation.

The report is found in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Although 40 percent to 70 percent of Americans have experienced traumatic events, only about 8 percent develop PTSD during their lifetimes, according to background information in the article.

PTSD is a complex anxiety disorder that involves re-experiencing, avoidance and increased arousal following exposure to a life-threatening event.
read more here
Risk of PTSD Linked to Genes, Environment

Officer Remains Remarkably Calm After Being Shot

Radio Recording Reveals Wounded Officer Remains Remarkably Calm As He Calls For Help
Jared Broyles Reporter
November 2, 2009
FORT SMITH - From the radio transmission between a wounded Fort Smith police officer and the dispatcher he called for help reveal his state of mind at the time.

Officer Parsons was surprisingly calm and impressively professional, although you could clearly hear the urgency in his voice. These were his first words: "Station, shots fired...I need help...I've been shot...I'm on Cliff Drive...I've been hit." Within seconds you hear the concerned voice of his supervisor Sgt. Dewey Young asking the station where he's at. A short time later, Parsons radios again: "I've been hit pretty good...I need an ambulance out here."

The suspect, 25-year-old Tristan Honey fled to New Mexico and later turned himself in to officials at this port of entry in San Jon. Parsons was shot four times; once in the center of his chest, but he was wearing a bulletproof vest. Chief Kevin Lindsey says the shot could have been fatal. Lindsey has visited parsons in the hospital and says he's doing well and will likely be released tomorrow.
go here for more
Officer Remains Remarkably Calm

Vietnam:Taking of Dong-Ha Bridge

Submitted By: LeatherNecker on April 29, 2009
Col. John W. Ripley, USMC (Ret.) 1:34 Ripley relates his heroic feat of singlehandedly stopping the enemy during a major offensive on Easter Sunday in 1972. His "tiny force" of South Vietnamese marines was poised on one side of the Dong-Ha Bridge to take on the "enormous force" of North Vietnamese troops ready to attack from the other side. Undaunted, the determined Captain Ripley decided to take the situation in his own hands to bring down the bridge. Lugging explosives on his back and under heavy enemy fire, he precariously crawled under the bridge, set the explosives and blew up the massive structure. Submitted by: LeatherNecker Three Keywords: John Ripley USMC Marines Vietnam

Suicide Toll Fuels Worry That Army Is Strained

There is no amount of money they can spend on PTSD unless they start to understand what is already known and begin to ask the right questions.

They research books, study someone an hour or so here and there. We study PTSD but above all, we live with them. We've watched them change over the years. We knew them before they went and soon discovered we met a stranger at the welcome home ceremony. We hear their voices when the nightmares come. We see them sitting in the room but being thousands of miles away, even years away from where they sit. They are not numbers to us. They are people we love.

Ask Vietnam veterans' wives what is needed to save their lives and chances are, they had to ask themselves the same question years ago when research was new, help was scarce and hope was dissolving. Some of us walked away because we didn't understand. Others stayed, living miserable lives because they were fighting the wrong battles and looking for impossible resolution. Most of us decided to learn and fight as hard as they did to stay alive in Vietnam. This was not a research project to us. Nothing we could close at the end of the day to return to our own "normal" lives. This was and is our life.

Why isn't anyone asking the wives of Vietnam veterans what they did to save the lives of their veterans? Why isn't anyone asking us to help the newer spouses learn how to do what we had to learn on our own? Why isn't the government asking us what cannot be learned from pages in books or treating a veteran that is less than truthful to them?

If they really want to save the lives of the troops and our veterans, they are asking the wrong questions to the wrong people and believing the wrong answers. It's not that we can replace psychologists or psychiatrists. We need more of them to help our families. But what we can do is help them do their jobs better because we know them better. We live with them and this is our life.

Suicide Toll Fuels Worry That Army Is Strained

By YOCHI J. DREAZEN
Sixteen American soldiers killed themselves in October in the U.S. and on duty overseas, an unusually high monthly toll that is fueling concerns about the mental health of the nation's military personnel after more than eight years of continuous warfare.

The Army's top generals worry that surging tens of thousands more troops into Afghanistan could increase the strain felt by many military personnel after years of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The October suicide figures mean that at least 134 active-duty soldiers have taken their own lives so far this year, putting the Army on pace to break last year's record of 140 active-duty suicides. The number of Army suicides has risen 37% since 2006, and last year, the suicide rate surpassed that of the U.S. population for the first time.


Army officials say the strain of repeated deployments with minimal time back in the U.S. is one of the biggest factors fueling the rise in military suicides.

The Army hit a grim milestone last year when the suicide rate exceeded that of the general population for the first time: 20.2 per 100,000 people in the military, compared with the civilian rate of 19.5 per 100,000. The Army's suicide rate was 12.7 per 100,000 in 2005, 15.3 in 2006 and 16.8 in 2007.

In response, the Army has launched a broad push to better understand military suicide and develop new ways of preventing it. In August, the Army and the National Institute of Mental Health said they would conduct a five-year, $50 million effort to better identify the factors that cause some soldiers to take their own lives.

Suicide Toll Fuels Worry That Army Is Strained

Monday, November 2, 2009

FBI think nun was murdered on Navajo reservation

Death of nun investigated as a murder
November 2, 2009 8:07 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Body of Sister Marguerite Bartz, 64, found Sunday on Navajo reservation in New Mexico
Her home had been broken into and her car stolen
FBI looking for her beige 2005 HONDA CR-V with N.J. plate NF24821
Diocese: She was known to be a woman always passionate for justice, peace

(CNN) -- Federal officials said Monday they are seeking information about the killing of a 64-year-old nun whose body was found Sunday on the Navajo reservation in northwest New Mexico.

Sister Marguerite Bartz's body was found in her convent in Navajo, New Mexico, in a remote area of the Four Corners region, said Lee Lamb, communications director for the diocese. Her home had been broken into and her car stolen, Lamb said.

According to the FBI, which has jurisdiction, Bartz was killed between Halloween night and Sunday morning. When she did not appear at Sunday Mass, a colleague checked on her and found her body.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/02/new.mexico.dead.nun/index.html

Lone senator holds up veterans bill

UPDATE
Coburn named as senator holding up vets bill

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 3, 2009 17:23:29 EST

Thirteen major military and veterans groups have joined forces to try to force one senator — Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma — to release a hold that he has placed on a major veterans benefits bill.

Coburn has been identified by Senate aides as the lawmaker preventing consideration of S 1963, the Veterans’ Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009, by using an informal but legal practice of putting a hold on a bill.

Coburn’s staff did not respond to questions, but Senate aides said the first-term senator has expressed concern about creating new and unfunded benefits and wants the opportunity to amend the measure.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_veteransbill_coburnhold_110309w/


Lone senator holds up veterans bill

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 2, 2009 17:01:59 EST

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is trying to bring pressure on the Senate to ignore tradition and bring a veterans health care bill up for debate despite the anonymous hold on the bill placed by a senator.

The bill in question is S 1963, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2009, which includes three top priorities of the veterans group.

It contains a package of improvements for female veterans, including more training for mental health providers in treating sexual trauma, a pilot program to offer child care so that veterans who have children find it easier make appointments, and a trial counseling program in which newly separated female veterans would be treated in retreat-like settings.

It also would expand mental health programs for veterans in rural areas by contracting with local community mental health centers, and expand mental health services for the immediate families of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_veteransbill_delayed_110209w/

Seattle authorities vow arrests in police officer's slaying


Seattle authorities vow arrests in police officer's slaying
November 2, 2009 9:58 a.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Police officer killed, student officer injured in shooting Saturday
Authorities: Officers were in parked car when shooting happened
Field training officer Timothy Brenton was married with two children, 11 and 8
Mayor: Slaying is first intentional homicide of Seattle police officer since 1994


(CNN) -- Law enforcement officials in Seattle, Washington, vowed Sunday to catch whoever is responsible for fatally shooting a police officer and injuring a student officer as they sat in a parked patrol car.

Field training officer Timothy Brenton, 39, was reviewing details of a traffic stop with student officer Brit Sweeney when a vehicle rolled up next to the squad car shortly after 10 p.m., authorities said

People inside the vehicle fired several shots into the squad car, killing Brenton and injuring Sweeney, according to police.

A shot grazed Sweeney, tearing through her uniform and protective vest, Police Chief John Diaz said at a news conference Sunday. She fired at the attackers' vehicle, but police didn't know whether any of her bullets struck it, Assistant Chief Jim Pugel said.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/01/washington.cop.killed/index.html