Marine shot and killed at Beaufort air station, another Marine in custody
Marine Corps Times By: Shawn Snow April 13, 2019
A Marine was shot and killed aboard the Beaufort, South Carolina, Marine air station at 9:30 p.m. Friday, according to Marine officials.
Another Marine is a suspect in the shooting and currently is in custody, according to Lt. Kevin Buss, a spokesman with the Beaufort air station.
The Marine killed in the deadly shooting belonged to Marine Aircraft Group 31, or MAG-31.
The incident is under investigation and the Corps provided no other details.
MAG-31 and the Beaufort air station are also home to Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, an F-35B training squadron. get updates here
Father of four killed in crane accident at SoHo construction site
PIX 11 News BY KRISTINE GARCIA AND CRISTIAN BENAVIDES APRIL 13, 2019
SOHO, Manhattan — A construction worker who was a father of four and war veteran died early Saturday during a crane incident at a Manhattan construction site.
Gregory Echevarria, 34, was found unconscious and unresponsive with severe trauma to his body at a construction site in the vicinity of Varick and Broome streets around 3:15 a.m. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The construction crew, that also included Echevarria's brother, was setting up a crane counterweight when it slipped, fatally striking Echevarria, a source told PIX11.
Echevarria's final act was reportedly pushing a coworker out of the way, saving his life.
"He's selfless, that's one thing I can say," family friend Duane Davis told PIX11 Saturday outside Echevarria's childhood home in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
"The best father, son, everything," family member Judi Cruz said of Echevarria.
Family told PIX11 that Echevarria was a father of four, including a three-month-old, and that he was a veteran. Echevarria did four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan over 10 years, according to family members, who are devastated that his baby boy is left without a father. read more here
update 4-26-19 I contacted lawyers over this and they wanted to know how many books were involved...
I have no way of knowing that considering how many people had viewed my profile that far outnumber the page views on Wounded Times and my videos. Consider how many searched for me and then understand why I may never know. Yes, that says 15,446,256 and is the Google count on my profile from a few years ago.
Why you should never publish your book on April Fools Day or with Xlibris
Wounded Times Kathie Costos April 13, 2019
"We're not interested in owning your work...after all, we didn't write it." Xlibris
That quote is from the Xlibris brochure that made me decide on choosing them as the (FLUSHING) publisher for the book that had to "get out there" way back in 2003.
After all this time telling veterans to #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife that is what I am doing. Breaking the silence on what has been torturing me for all these years and taking back control over my own work! I wrote FOR THE LOVE OF JACK, HIS WAR/MY BATTLE before 9-11 but could not find a publisher. After all, it was about a veteran's family living with PTSD. To top that off, the veteran was a Vietnam veteran. You know, before they were big news again.
After 9-11, I added to the ending and had the copyright done in 2002. 2003 I decided to self publish it. On April 1, 2003 it was published.
Yes, April Fools Day! Should have known right there it was off to a bad start with this (FLUSH) company.
After 16 years...I can assure you, that while the actual ownership of the book does belong to me, they have not seemed to be able to remember that fact. I was hearing from people about reading the book, but saw few sales reported. I questioned Xlibris and they said that they were "used" books they must have been reading. Used book? How when there were only a few "new" ones sold according to them. Just to find out what was going on, I ordered 2 books from Barnes and Noble. I had them shipped to the store and yes, paid full price. The bar code did not work. Anyway, a few more emails and trust was gone. I wanted my book out of their hands. I told them to stop printing it. That didn't work. Really odd that they did not manage to explain why the book was still being sold, if there were no sales. I wrote to the Better Business Bureau and Xlibris responded with it was my ego that was involved and not their problem. Besides, they also said that I was taking up too much of their time. Odd thing is that responding to the BBB, they said that "half a dozen" more were sold. By 2004 I totally had it and my lawyer sent them a letter to stop publishing it and give me a full report. In 2005, the book was still being sold. I (FLUSH) emailedthem again!
This is their response.
RE: STOP SELLING MY BOOK/CANCELLATION CONFIRMATION Mon, Mar 14, 2005 6:33 am Channel (Channel@Xlibris.com)
Dear Ms. Costos, As long as Ingram still has physical copies of your book in stock, your book will continue to be listed as available and people can continue to purchase copies of it through the different online resellers. Another way to get hold of your book is through the used book resellers.
What happened was when customers decided to sell their used copy of a book to these resellers; they can set the book's price to any amount they want when they list it with online resellers with Amazon.com, Borders.com, Barnes and Noble.com. Xlibris does not have a relationship with these used book resellers nor do we have a say in the way they operate their business since they got these books from the customers who decided to sell their purchased books to them. Further, these used book resellers are entitled to sell used book under the first sale doctrine of copyright law.
This email is also to confirm the cancellation of your book with Xlibris. Your book entitled "For The Love of Jack", with ISBN 1-4010-8691-8, is no longer available for sale through our Xlibris website or the 800 number. Although no new copies of your book will be produced from this point forward you should be aware that due to our relationship with various printers and book distributors, physical copies of your book currently exist within the book vending channels. For reasons of quality assurance and to provide a more efficient ordering process, Ingram will keep a handful of copies of all titles listed with them in stock at all times.Ingram currently shows one (1) physical copy of your book in stock.Your title will remain available in the channels until this copy is sold. When a title is listed as cancelled, production knows not to replenish this stock once it is depleted. Unfortunately, it must be depleted before Ingram will remove the title's listing from its system.
Amazon and the other online channels base their listing information from what Ingram's system provides. As a result, as long as Ingram has copies in stock, title will remain listed with the online stores. These online resellers and distributors could not change the availability of your book to out of stock until somebody purchases these remaining books from them.
The copies that the online retailers have were purchased from us (you were paid royalties for these sales) giving the resellers the right to continue the sale of your book with no implication on the contract between you and Xlibris. Please note that as part of Barnes and Noble's sales programs, titles that are considered "out of print" are kept in the system as such to allow customers the ability to track hard-to-find books. Hard-to-find and out-of-print books present a great source of revenue for these businesses, which is why they continue listing books that are no longer available through their distributor. We would like you to know that it has been a pleasure doing business with you. We wish you success in your writing endeavors and we hope to work with you again in the future.
How could there be more "used" copies than ones I had been "paid for" in the first place?
"Hard-to-find and out-of-print books present a great source of revenue for these businesses, which is why they continue listing books that are no longer available through their distributor."
A great source of revenue that are no longer available? Is this why they refused to pull the book? FLUSHING seriously?
I emailed them again and told them I wanted this stopped! I asked them how I could finally get this done.
This is their reply.
Channel (Channel@Xlibris.com)To:you (Bcc) + 1 more DetailsDear Ma'am,Currently, there is only one (1) physical copy of the book left at Ingram's microinventory. You may purchase this remaining copy either through Amazon/Borders.com or Barnes and Noble.com. Based on Amazon's listing, it is indicated that there is only 1 left in stock for your title. List Price: $20.99
So I paid full price for that book and others!
Well this kept going on, and on, and on! I tried giving away free PDF of it, and that happened many times, because I figured if I was not getting paid, I could at least control that and get it into the hands of people it would help. In 2012, I opted to have it republished with a few changes on Amazon.
Long story short, 2019 and the book was still online. I am planning on writing the follow up. Last week, after trying to get my ducks in a row for more changes coming to this site (which we'll talk about later), I went onto Amazon and saw that the damn thing was still online right next to the one I put up in 2012. I hit the roof when I saw that there were "new" copies and "used" copies.
I sent an email to Xlibris, Lightening Source/Ingram (the printer) and Amazon legal department.Ingram legal department responded, just stating that "The title in question, For the Love of Jack / EAN 9781401086916, is already cancelled in our system." with no answer as to when that was done or why it was still available.
Cutting this shorter than including in all the evidence and emails back and forth, on March 28, 2019 Xlibris responded with,
"However, although no new copies were produced, we would like to make you aware that due to our relationship with various printers and book distributors, physical copies of your book may currently exist within the book vending channels until these copies have been sold out."
The email went on to state that, when a book is out of print, it can still be online but will show "out of print" or "not available" even though I had already shown them, that according to Amazon, they had at least one new one.
So, I ordered it and it shipped.
I didn't know I was a magician! How did I manage to buy a brand new book that went extinct in 2005? Wow, looks like there are a lot of (FLUSHING) magic tricks going on!
This new copy that did not exist shipped out the day after I ordered it from California.
On April 1, 2019, exactly 16 years after they published my book, I asked them to tell me when they supposedly stopped it from being printed. On April 2, 2019 they responded with this.
"Upon further checking, the book was cancelled way back March 11, 2005. Therefore, there was really a time wherein the book was available."
When questioned again as to how it was possible I managed to buy a new book...and not a new one, they replied with this.
The books I bought online in 2005 were new, and they had emailed acknowledgement of at least one of them. How were they not able to decide when they "cancelled" it? Was it 2004? 2005? And how the (FLUSH) were people making money off new ones when Xlibris denied the existence of new ones?
*******
update 4/17/2019
About the ISBN Standard "The ISBN identifies the title or other book-like product (such as an audiobook) to which it is assigned, but also the publisher to be contacted for ordering purposes. If an ISBN is obtained from a company other than the official ISBN Agency, that ISBN will not identify the publisher of the title accurately. This can have implications for doing business in the publishing industry supply chain."
"For more than thirty years, ISBNs were 10 digits long. On January 1, 2007 the ISBN system switched to a 13-digit format. Now all ISBNs are 13-digits long. If you were assigned 10-digit ISBNs, you can convert them to the 13-digit format at the converter found at this website. A 10-digit ISBN cannot be converted to 13-digits merely by placing three digits in front of the 10-digit number. There is an algorithm that frequently results in a change of the last digit of the ISBN."
But that is exactly what they did!
ISBN-13:978-1401086916
ISBN-10:1401086918 So why would they add this number years after they supposedly stopped printing it?
*******
How did I manage to buy new books, yes, paying full price, for books that went extinct? I called Morgan and Morgan yesterday and ran down what happened. They wanted to know how many I thought were sold. How the (FLUSH) would I know that since Xlibris keeps saying that only "used" copies are being sold and they have "no control" over that? The lesson here is, never publish on April Fools Day...or with Xlibris because after 16 years of putting me through hell, they cannot, or will not, explain how it is a book that had so few sales, according to them, IS STILL BEING SOLD!
Ariana Grande ‘Didn’t Mean to Startle’ Anyone With ‘Terrifying’ Brain Scan Pics
US Weekly By Dan Clarendon April 12, 2019
“I wish there was more that I could fix. You think with time it’ll become easier to talk about. Or you’ll make peace with it. But every day I wait for that peace to come, and it’s still very painful.” Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande wants fans to know that her post-traumatic stress disorder is “not a joke,” and she documented her mental health struggle with brain scan images posted to her Instagram Stories on Thursday, April 11.
The post displays images of a typical brain scan, a brain scan from someone suffering from PTSD, and Grande’s brain scan. The scan of the PTSD-affected brain showed more highlighted areas than that of the typical brain, but Grande’s brain scan showed even more highlighted areas than either of them. In her caption, the 26-year-old called her scans “hilarious and terrifying.” read more here
Central Iowa mom surprises children following 10-month deployment to Afghanistan
ABC 9 News
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) - Captain Keri Pender, of the Iowa National Guard, pulled a fast one on her three children Thursday in West Des Moines.
She surprised her three children at their schools following a ten-month deployment to Afghanistan.
Before she left the United States, Pender, who has served with the Iowa National Guard for eight years, told her kids Caleb, a sixth grader; Devin, an eighth grader; and Bailey, a tenth grader, that she was going to be deployed longer than expected. go here for more
Medical marijuana patients lash out at Florida lawmakers for trying to cap THC levels
Orlando Weekly Posted By Dara Kam News Service of Florida Apr 9, 2019
“A bill that was supposed to be about helping a community that is plagued with drug addiction and drug overdose … a bill that was supposed to be about helping a veteran community that is plagued (with) suicide is now being used as leverage by lawmakers to try and impose their will on the people."
Photo via Florida House of Representatives
State Rep. Ray Rodrigues
After fiery exchanges with veterans and patient advocates who accused a legislative leader of relying on faulty research, members of a House committee on Tuesday pushed forward a proposal that would cap the level of euphoria-inducing THC in smokable medical marijuana.
The House plan would also give veterans free, state-issued medical marijuana identification cards, a sweetener that angered veterans who lashed out at the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ray Rodrigues, during an emotionally charged House Appropriations Committee meeting.
Jimmy Johnston, a veteran who is president of the North Florida chapter of Weed for Warriors Project, lashed out at the committee for linking the free ID cards for veterans, a savings of $75 per year, with the THC cap.
Rodrigues, a soft-spoken Estero Republican who serves as chairman of the House Health & Human Services Committee, was visibly shaken following a meeting that became so heated the House sergeant and his aides were summoned.
Rodrigues has shepherded House medical-marijuana legislation since the state first authorized non-euphoric cannabis for a limited number of patients in 2014. read more here
Balancing Safety And Privacy When A Veteran Goes Missing
NPR Quil Lawrence April 9, 2019 Heard on All Things Considered
A Wisconsin combat veteran was driving down the highway in February when he suddenly found his name, license plate number and mental health information broadcast on the radio, on television and posted on electronic billboards across the state.
"It felt very violating. Because I didn't want everyone who doesn't know me to know I have problems. It made me want to crawl into a bigger hole," he told NPR.
But the "Green Alert" might have saved his life.
"It's still affecting me dramatically and negatively, but at the same time it's quite possible that it's why I'm here right now," says the former Air Force staff sergeant. "It's kind of a double-edged sword."
NPR is not divulging the man's name because he never consented to have his information made public. A new Wisconsin law allows authorities to put that information out the same way an AMBER Alert publicizes missing children or a Silver Alert does for people with cognitive impairment. It's the first Green Alert to take effect — green for the color of military fatigues — though many states are considering the program.
The Wisconsin law is called the Corey Adams Searchlight Act. Adams was an Afghanistan vet from Milwaukee who went missing in 2017. His family feared he was suicidal. But police didn't immediately treat him as a missing person, because unlike children, adults have a right to disappear if they want to.
Adams was found dead weeks later. His family mobilized around the idea of an alert system for veterans and it became law in Wisconsin last year. That attracted a powerful advocate – the retired commander of U.S. special forces in Africa, Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc. read more here
BOSTON (CBS) – A man and woman charged with burglarizing the home of a Vietnam veteran while he was fighting for his life in the hospital claimed they needed money so one of their dogs could have surgery.
Police said 35-year-old Joseph Migliaccio, of Woonsocket, R.I. and 31-year-old Sarah Hampton, of Sudbury, burglarized the home three times over the weekend. They broke into the house in broad daylight, authorities say, while the veteran, Gene Rano, is fighting for his life in the hospital.
Boston 25 News By: Heather Hegedus Apr 11, 2019
Rano's son says he thinks he has seen the pair in his father's home socializing with him and he tells Boston 25 News he feels disgusted they may have preyed on the home knowing Rano was in the hospital.
MARLBOROUGH, Mass. - Two people have been arrested after Marlborough Police say surveillance video showed them breaking into a house while a Vietnam veteran was in the hospital fighting for his life.
Last week, 68-year-old Gene Rano was hospitalized after suffering serious burns to more than 40% of his body while burning brush near his home.
Rano is currently in a coma at Massachusetts General Hospital after doctors amputated both of his legs. read more here
Family: Vietnam Vet Shot to Death by 16-Year-Old Boy His Granddaughter Snuck into Detroit Home
FOX 35 April 8, 2019
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A 70-year-old man was killed in an altercation overnight at a home in Detroit.
A family member tells us the man's granddaughter lives with him, and that she snuck a boy into the house. The boy and the grandfather got into an argument and we're told the boy shot and killed the man.
This happened at a home in the 9900 block of Mansfield, which is on the city's west side near Greenfield and W Chicago. We're told the argument happened after the grandfather had asked the boy to leave.
Detroit police tell us the suspect, a 16-year-old, left the home with the gun. read more here
Army veteran once called his parents to say good-bye as he contemplated suicide. Now he helps other struggling veterans.
11 Alive Author: Hope Ford April 8, 2019
Gary Herber made a plan and waited until he had 10 percent battery left on his phone to call his parents to say goodbye. Years later, he works with the same program that helped him change his life around.
ATLANTA — Two veterans committed suicide outside of VA medical clinics in Georgia over a weekend in April.
It's a harsh reminder of the struggle and pain of many veterans in America. Roughly, one veteran dies by suicide every 65 minutes in the country.
Gary Herber was almost one of them. In November of 2010, Herber made a plan and called his family to let them know.
"I waited until I has about 10 percent left on my battery and called my parents to say goodbye," Herber recalled. "In a 10-minute phone call, thank God they were able to get the New York City Police to my house and they kicked the door in and saved my life."
Herber served in the Army for close to five years and while in Afghanistan, the truck he was in was hit with a bomb.
"In that moment, my whole life changed," he stated.
He returned to America, his health problems consuming him as he isolated himself from the world around him.
"From chronic pain to anger to anxiety, I just decided I was done with the world and no one could understand what I was going through," he explained.
But that door kick from police saved him and he ended up in Atlanta at a program called SHARE Military Initiative with the Shepherd's Center.
"I spent 14 weeks at the Shepherd Center center and it turned my life around 180 degrees," he said.
Herber now works with the center, run by The Shepherd's Men, a group of veterans and civilians, who help raise awareness, fund raise and work with veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. The programs at the center help address their needs and veteran suicide, with over 500 veterans graduating from SHARE since 2008. read more here
