Port St. Lucie police officer shot during standoff
SWAT situation lasts 6 hours
UPDATED 5:49 PM EST Feb 28, 2013
Injured officer has nine shotgun pellets in his leg
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. —A police officer is recovering after being shot during a standoff with a man who's now facing serious charges, investigators said.
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Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sequester will raise the cost of troops medical care?
Military to spend more on care under sequester
By Gregg Zoroya
USA Today
Posted : Thursday Feb 28, 2013
Sweeping budget cuts going into effect Friday create a paradox for military medicine: spending money to save money, Army, Navy and Air Force medical officials say.
As thousands of civilian medical workers are furloughed because of the “sequester,” patients will be sent to private doctors at public expense to receive timely medical care, according to the military medical officials.
“This will result in increased medical care costs to the DOD (Department of Defense) and American taxpayers,” says an Army Public Affairs statement released this week.
The point of the sequester cuts established by Congress and signed by President Obama was to slash federal spending by $85 billion across the federal government.
Vice Adm. Matthew Nathan, Navy surgeon general, wrote in a recent message to sailors that “Navy Medicine will not and cannot hang a ‘closed’ sign at the front door of our facilities. We will work ... to refer care as necessary, also recognizing that referring out care does not save money in the long run.”
read more here
By Gregg Zoroya
USA Today
Posted : Thursday Feb 28, 2013
Sweeping budget cuts going into effect Friday create a paradox for military medicine: spending money to save money, Army, Navy and Air Force medical officials say.
As thousands of civilian medical workers are furloughed because of the “sequester,” patients will be sent to private doctors at public expense to receive timely medical care, according to the military medical officials.
“This will result in increased medical care costs to the DOD (Department of Defense) and American taxpayers,” says an Army Public Affairs statement released this week.
The point of the sequester cuts established by Congress and signed by President Obama was to slash federal spending by $85 billion across the federal government.
Vice Adm. Matthew Nathan, Navy surgeon general, wrote in a recent message to sailors that “Navy Medicine will not and cannot hang a ‘closed’ sign at the front door of our facilities. We will work ... to refer care as necessary, also recognizing that referring out care does not save money in the long run.”
read more here
These are the elected officials that voted against women
These are the people who voted against the Violence Against Women Act.
That means they also voted against protecting women like me. I was almost killed by my ex-husband over 30 years ago. There is no excuse for voting against something that will end up helping women like me and make it a crime to hurt us instead of something that just says "shame on you, don't do it again."
Florida members of the House and Senate that voted against protecting women
Bilirakis
DeSantis
Mica
Miller
Posey
Radel
Ross
Rubio
Southerland
Yoho
For more members go here
Senators that voted against protecting women
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lee (R-UT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Wicker (R-MS)
That means they also voted against protecting women like me. I was almost killed by my ex-husband over 30 years ago. There is no excuse for voting against something that will end up helping women like me and make it a crime to hurt us instead of something that just says "shame on you, don't do it again."
Florida members of the House and Senate that voted against protecting women
Bilirakis
DeSantis
Mica
Miller
Posey
Radel
Ross
Rubio
Southerland
Yoho
For more members go here
Senators that voted against protecting women
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
DeMint (R-SC)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lee (R-UT)
Lugar (R-IN)
McConnell (R-KY)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Wicker (R-MS)
Iraq veteran talks about attempted suicide
Iraq veteran talks about attempted suicide
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
February 28, 2013
When it is too late and we read about successful suicides, we settle for feeling sorry for the families left behind. Shame on us! We settle too easily for too much.
Reporters are given assignments to cover and sometimes they don't care or have no clue what they are reporting on. Sometimes they do care but are not given the proper deadline so they can actually investigate what is real to weigh against what they are being told. They go out and interview "professionals" without anything to know if they are being fed a BS line or the truth. Most of the time I sit here shocked by what disinformation passes for facts.
Here are the simple solutions that keep getting ignored.
1. End Resilience Training.
Why?
Because telling them they can train their brain to be "mentally tough" is a barrier to asking for help. When they get that notion into their heads that PTSD is being mentally weak, they are not about to admit they need help. They feel defective as if the others they are with are tougher or "trained" better than they were able to.
2. Stop pretending any of this is new.
Why?
Because while OEF and OIF veterans are the first internet generation, they are not the first generation of war fighters to suffer from what was asked of them. Everything printed in the press has happened to every other generation. The general public just didn't know what was happening because reporters and researchers had limited access to reports.
If they think for a second all this suffering is just about them they will not listen to older veterans and their families who have been through all of this and are still standing. They went through coming home with no help at all, between 150,000 and 200,000 of Vietnam veterans committed suicides, went through many divorces and then tried again, got jobs, lost jobs, over 300,000 of them ended up homeless and the list goes on.
3. Stop funding research that has already been done.
Why?
Because PTSD and combat has been studied for over 40 years and there has not been anything new that has come out to justify wasted spending topped off with no accountability on any of this.
4. Start funding programs with a proven track record that includes families.
Why?
Because families are on the front lines of helping veterans heal. They can help or they can do more harm simply because they do not understand what PTSD is, why they act and respond the way they do or where to go for support for what they are going through.
5. Stop pretending that "moral injury" has not always been part of Combat and PTSD.
Why?
Because it has already been well documented that it begins with that. It has to include healing the soul/spirit of the veteran.
6. Stop pushing attempts to numb them.
Why?
Because numbing is not healing and does not work.
7. Cognitive therapy has to be changed.
Why?
Because exposing them to face what happened and what they did will not work unless they are able to forgive what they did as well as what was done to them.
8. The final thought on this is Congress must stop holding hearings on the problems and start holding hearings on what works along with holding the DOD, VA, groups and charities accountable for the outcomes of what Congress paid them to do. If they do not then we will continue to see suicides and attempted suicides go up.
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
February 28, 2013
When it is too late and we read about successful suicides, we settle for feeling sorry for the families left behind. Shame on us! We settle too easily for too much.
Military Suicides on Rise; No Simple SolutionsWe settle for what the military tells us they are doing about it, then settle for excuses they give us for more and more committing suicide everyday, then we settle for lame ass titles like "No Simple Solutions" as if that is supposed to do any good or save one life.
Arizona Public Media
Story by Gisela Telis
February 26, 2013
When Ricardo Pereyda returned from Iraq, he thought his most difficult days were behind him. But nothing had prepared him for the battle he would face back home.
“It was extremely difficult when I got back,” Pereyda recalls. “Here I was, a 22-year-old kid ... and I felt used up. I felt like, what now?”
Pereyda, who had served in the U.S. Army military police, was now living with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Nightmares kept him from sleeping, and his days were wrought with anxiety, anger and grief.
Within a year and a half, Pereyda was medically discharged and going through a divorce.
It was then, Pereyda says, that he decided to end his life. On a quiet afternoon, with his beloved dog beside him, he wrote a letter to his loved ones and held a gun to his head. He would have pulled the trigger, he says, if it weren’t for the thought that entered his mind in that moment: the thought of the pain his death would cause his parents.
read more here
Reporters are given assignments to cover and sometimes they don't care or have no clue what they are reporting on. Sometimes they do care but are not given the proper deadline so they can actually investigate what is real to weigh against what they are being told. They go out and interview "professionals" without anything to know if they are being fed a BS line or the truth. Most of the time I sit here shocked by what disinformation passes for facts.
Here are the simple solutions that keep getting ignored.
1. End Resilience Training.
Why?
Because telling them they can train their brain to be "mentally tough" is a barrier to asking for help. When they get that notion into their heads that PTSD is being mentally weak, they are not about to admit they need help. They feel defective as if the others they are with are tougher or "trained" better than they were able to.
2. Stop pretending any of this is new.
Why?
Because while OEF and OIF veterans are the first internet generation, they are not the first generation of war fighters to suffer from what was asked of them. Everything printed in the press has happened to every other generation. The general public just didn't know what was happening because reporters and researchers had limited access to reports.
If they think for a second all this suffering is just about them they will not listen to older veterans and their families who have been through all of this and are still standing. They went through coming home with no help at all, between 150,000 and 200,000 of Vietnam veterans committed suicides, went through many divorces and then tried again, got jobs, lost jobs, over 300,000 of them ended up homeless and the list goes on.
3. Stop funding research that has already been done.
Why?
Because PTSD and combat has been studied for over 40 years and there has not been anything new that has come out to justify wasted spending topped off with no accountability on any of this.
4. Start funding programs with a proven track record that includes families.
Why?
Because families are on the front lines of helping veterans heal. They can help or they can do more harm simply because they do not understand what PTSD is, why they act and respond the way they do or where to go for support for what they are going through.
5. Stop pretending that "moral injury" has not always been part of Combat and PTSD.
Why?
Because it has already been well documented that it begins with that. It has to include healing the soul/spirit of the veteran.
6. Stop pushing attempts to numb them.
Why?
Because numbing is not healing and does not work.
7. Cognitive therapy has to be changed.
Why?
Because exposing them to face what happened and what they did will not work unless they are able to forgive what they did as well as what was done to them.
8. The final thought on this is Congress must stop holding hearings on the problems and start holding hearings on what works along with holding the DOD, VA, groups and charities accountable for the outcomes of what Congress paid them to do. If they do not then we will continue to see suicides and attempted suicides go up.
Jacksonville firefighters charity helps native son following Afghanistan injuries
Jacksonville firefighters charity helps native son following Afghanistan injuries
'He was spared by God and has all his limbs,' says Josh Gillette's dad.
Jacksonville.com
Florida Times Union
by Dan Scanlan
Posted: February 27, 2013
Josh Gillette might not be able to make it to Friday’s luncheon in his honor.
Funds raised at the 11:30 a.m. luncheon at the Jacksonville Fire Fighter Hall at 618 Stockton St. will go to his family from the Jacksonville Fire Fighter Charities. The bills have racked up from Gillette’s and his wife’s trips from their Tennessee home to Walter Reed for therapy, said his father, David Gillette.
“I prayed and prayed for God to provide for my son and daughter-in-law and every time I turn around, someone is wanting to help,” Gillette said from his Jacksonville home.
read more here
'He was spared by God and has all his limbs,' says Josh Gillette's dad.
Jacksonville.com
Florida Times Union
by Dan Scanlan
Posted: February 27, 2013
Josh Gillette might not be able to make it to Friday’s luncheon in his honor.
Jacksonville native Josh Gillette, 32, is recovering from an explosion in Afghanistan. He attended Englewood and Wolfson high schools and was part of their JROTC programsBut as the Jacksonville native continues therapy at Walter Reed Medical Center for major injuries suffered in Afghanistan, people who don’t know him will be helping his future.
Funds raised at the 11:30 a.m. luncheon at the Jacksonville Fire Fighter Hall at 618 Stockton St. will go to his family from the Jacksonville Fire Fighter Charities. The bills have racked up from Gillette’s and his wife’s trips from their Tennessee home to Walter Reed for therapy, said his father, David Gillette.
“I prayed and prayed for God to provide for my son and daughter-in-law and every time I turn around, someone is wanting to help,” Gillette said from his Jacksonville home.
Fundraising site The website The War Hero was set up by Shain Gillette to help cover the costs his brother’s family is incurring in recuperating from his injuries.
read more here
Army won't release Madigan PTSD data
Army withholding findings of Madigan PTSD probe
By Rebecca Ruiz
NBC News contributor
The results of a months-long investigation into the reversal of post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center are being kept confidential.
Earlier this month, Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the Madigan findings would not be disclosed.
Days later, the Army denied Freedom of Information Act requests for documents related to the controversy made by three Seattle-area news organizations.
George Wright, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, told NBC News that “concerns brought up in the Madigan matter will be addressed” in a separate forthcoming report by the Army's Task Force on Behavioral Health.
read more here
By Rebecca Ruiz
NBC News contributor
The results of a months-long investigation into the reversal of post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center are being kept confidential.
Earlier this month, Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the Madigan findings would not be disclosed.
Days later, the Army denied Freedom of Information Act requests for documents related to the controversy made by three Seattle-area news organizations.
George Wright, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, told NBC News that “concerns brought up in the Madigan matter will be addressed” in a separate forthcoming report by the Army's Task Force on Behavioral Health.
read more here
Connecticut Grandmother killed kids in murder-suicide
Double Murder-Suicide Again Brings Mental Health Issues to the Forefront
Debra Denison reportedly suffered from bipolar disorder. 'It underscores that we need to do more to provide mental health access to people and families struggling," state Sen. Andrew Maynard said.
By Bree Shirvell
As Connecticut residents mourn the tragic loss of two young North Stonington boys, the state is once again facing questions about mental health and gun policies.
On Tuesday afternoon, Debra Denison, 47, of Stonington picked up her grandsons, Alton Perry, 2, and 6-month-old Ashton Perry, from Kidds and Co. day care in North Stonington. Sometime that night she shot the two boys to death at a boat launch in Preston near Lake of Isles golf course before killing herself.
"This is absolutely heartbreaking," Senator Chris Murphy said. "Our thoughts are with the family and their loved ones as they deal with this awful tragedy.”
read more here
Debra Denison reportedly suffered from bipolar disorder. 'It underscores that we need to do more to provide mental health access to people and families struggling," state Sen. Andrew Maynard said.
By Bree Shirvell
As Connecticut residents mourn the tragic loss of two young North Stonington boys, the state is once again facing questions about mental health and gun policies.
On Tuesday afternoon, Debra Denison, 47, of Stonington picked up her grandsons, Alton Perry, 2, and 6-month-old Ashton Perry, from Kidds and Co. day care in North Stonington. Sometime that night she shot the two boys to death at a boat launch in Preston near Lake of Isles golf course before killing herself.
"This is absolutely heartbreaking," Senator Chris Murphy said. "Our thoughts are with the family and their loved ones as they deal with this awful tragedy.”
read more here
Fort Hood families talk about cuts
Fort Hood Families Take Part In Army's Online Fiscal Cliff Chat
KCEN News
Posted: Feb 27, 2013
By Sophia Stamas
If Congress can't agree on a national budget by Friday, automatic spending cuts will take effect, delivering a hard hit to the military.
As the deadline draws near, more military families and civilian employees have questions about how the sequester might affect them.
So today the Army hosted a live chat on it's Twitter feed.
The three main topics were impact on soldier training, civilian furloughs, and how they could affect programs and services to military families.
"I'm concerned about retirement pay," says Tamma Ruth.
After 23 years as an Army wife, Tamma is intently tuning into the buzz over automatic spending cuts.
She says, "My husband has served, and been in Iraq, and been in harm's way for a long time, and I think he deserves to have his full military retirement."
read more here
KCEN News
Posted: Feb 27, 2013
By Sophia Stamas
If Congress can't agree on a national budget by Friday, automatic spending cuts will take effect, delivering a hard hit to the military.
As the deadline draws near, more military families and civilian employees have questions about how the sequester might affect them.
So today the Army hosted a live chat on it's Twitter feed.
The three main topics were impact on soldier training, civilian furloughs, and how they could affect programs and services to military families.
"I'm concerned about retirement pay," says Tamma Ruth.
After 23 years as an Army wife, Tamma is intently tuning into the buzz over automatic spending cuts.
She says, "My husband has served, and been in Iraq, and been in harm's way for a long time, and I think he deserves to have his full military retirement."
read more here
Open letter to Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
Dear Senator Sanders,
The House and Senate have failed our troops and our veterans!More and more leave military service while both houses refuse to hold anyone accountable for what is done to them while they are in. You guys hold hearings while families hold dead veterans in their arms screaming "why" when these men and women survived combat but could not find one reason to live one more day.
These are the facts
Comprehensive Solider Fitness increased suicide warning ignored by the DOD and Congress held no on accountable. The program passed off as Resilience Training, which replaced Battlemind failed these men and women. Each year we read headlines of the rise in suicides at the same time we read leaders saying they were doing something about it. The Congress turned around, renewed contracts, funded research that was passed off as new without ever once acknowledging the studies were already done in the last 40 years and never once asked for the money back when the results were this deplorable.
Just because OEF OIF Veterans, the first internet generation of war fighters have made the news, that does not mean any of this is new. Look up the records of what veterans all the up to the Gulf War came back to and finally learn the truth.
Has Congress ever once noticed that with the implementation of the Suicide Prevention reporting an increase in calls, no one asked why with all the other things the government has been doing in "preventing" PTSD? What about Suicide Prevention Fund had a surplus?
Or that this is the kind of "training" they have been doing?
Staff Sgt. Victoria Gettman, a lab technician instructor at Fort Sam Houston, told The Huffington Post that she was among 800 soldiers from the 264th Medical Battalion undergoing resilience training on Sept. 26. Almost all of the soldiers were fresh out of boot camp and in training for their first job in the Army.No one was held to account for any of this.
After a 45-minute talk on how to cope with stress, the officer in charge turned the stage over to a chaplain for the sometimes controversial "spiritual fitness" part of the session.
When will Congress once and for all ask what works? When will all of you take a look at how we ended up with this?
Veterans 7% of population 22% of suicides yet we are expected to believe our government has been addressing it?
Senator Sanders I know you just took over as Chairman, but you have to get your staff to actually learn about what is real, what works, what is a waste of money and what families are going through if you are ever going to do anything meaningful to save their lives!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has a tough job ahead
Hagel vows to ‘take care’ of DoD work force
Army Times
By Marcus Weisgerber
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 27, 2013
WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel pledged to take care of the Defense Department’s military and civilian work force even as billions of dollars in defense spending cuts loom.
In his first address to the Pentagon work force as defense secretary on Wednesday, Hagel said the DoD needs “to deal with this reality” that about $46 billion in cuts, known as sequestration, are set to kick in Friday.
“We need to figure this out,” Hagel said. “You are doing that. You have been doing that. We need to deal with this reality.”
If hit with these spending cuts and a yearlong continuing resolution, which is $11 billion less than the Pentagon’s planned 2013 budget, senior defense officials have said they would need to furlough most of DoD’s 800,000 civilian workers over the next six months. Military pay is exempt from the sequestration cuts.
“Our budget problems here, if nothing else what we’re dealing with, what you’re dealing with, what we’re all dealing with, is yes, dollars coming down; but it’s the uncertainty of the planning, it’s the uncertainty of the commitments, the uncertainty of what’s ahead,” Hagel said.
read more here
Just noticed this is post 18,000!
Army Times
By Marcus Weisgerber
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 27, 2013
WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel pledged to take care of the Defense Department’s military and civilian work force even as billions of dollars in defense spending cuts loom.
In his first address to the Pentagon work force as defense secretary on Wednesday, Hagel said the DoD needs “to deal with this reality” that about $46 billion in cuts, known as sequestration, are set to kick in Friday.
“We need to figure this out,” Hagel said. “You are doing that. You have been doing that. We need to deal with this reality.”
If hit with these spending cuts and a yearlong continuing resolution, which is $11 billion less than the Pentagon’s planned 2013 budget, senior defense officials have said they would need to furlough most of DoD’s 800,000 civilian workers over the next six months. Military pay is exempt from the sequestration cuts.
“Our budget problems here, if nothing else what we’re dealing with, what you’re dealing with, what we’re all dealing with, is yes, dollars coming down; but it’s the uncertainty of the planning, it’s the uncertainty of the commitments, the uncertainty of what’s ahead,” Hagel said.
read more here
Just noticed this is post 18,000!
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