Calls for rapid EU overhaul at anniversary summit...
Calls for rapid EU overhaul at anniversary summit

By Madeline Chambers and Ingrid Melander 1 hour, 32 minutes ago

BERLIN (Reuters) - Supporters of closer European integration used the 50th anniversary of the EU on Saturday to press for a swift overhaul of the bloc that would prepare it for 21st century challenges such as terrorism and climate change.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting a weekend summit she hopes will generate new momentum for European unity and she said the EU's 490 million citizens urgently needed clarity about where the enlarged 27-nation bloc was headed.

"Our goal is show our citizens how to create a revitalised, effective
European Union before the next European parliamentary elections in 2009," Merkel said in her weekly Internet broadcast. "The people in Europe have a right to know this."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the bloc's post-war peace and prosperity an example for the world but said the EU was at a crossroads.

"In Europe, 2007 is the year when the past and the future meet," Barroso said at a gala concert in Brussels.

"Building on our great past, we must reaffirm that the Union is the best answer to 21st challenges such as globalisation, sustainable economic growth and competitiveness, political solidarity, energy supply, climate change, and security."

Public support for membership has declined in many states because of fears the EU is failing to protect workers from the impact of globalisation, eroding national identities and meddling excessively in national affairs.

To mark the anniversary of the founding Treaty of Rome, festivities are being staged around Europe and the once-divided German capital is hosting two days of street parties, all-night museum shows and open nightclubs.

On Sunday, Merkel will unveil the "Berlin Declaration," a statement on EU values and achievements she hopes will set the stage for a relaunch of the constitution that was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

The two-page declaration, seen by Reuters, sets a 2009 deadline for giving the bloc a "renewed common basis" -- code for institutional reforms meant to give the bloc a long-term president and foreign minister, a simpler decision-making system and more say for the European and national parliaments.

DEEP DIVISIONS

However, in a reflection of deep divisions about how to move forward, the declaration makes no specific reference to the constitution and avoids mentioning future enlargement -- one factor behind the French and Dutch "no" votes.

A poll taken for the Eurosceptical Open Europe think-tank found nearly half of citizens in the euro zone would rather go back to the national currencies they gave up in 2002.

The advent of Eurosceptical governments in Prague and Warsaw, as well as persistent public opposition in Britain, the Netherlands and France, mean Merkel's efforts to launch new treaty negotiations will be fraught with difficulty.

"The Netherlands believes that treaty changes are needed, but we don't need something called a constitution," Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told reporters in Berlin.

The Czech Republic is deeply sceptical about a new treaty while the Poles want to reopen a reform of the voting system that the vast majority of other member states support.

In a speech to European bishops on Saturday,
Pope Benedict accused the EU of apostasy for refusing to mention Christianity in the declaration.

The German chancellor and her 26 fellow EU leaders are to begin the celebrations at a gala concert on Saturday when Simon Rattle conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in "Folk Songs" by Italian composer Luciano Berio and Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

Then German President Horst Koehler will host a dinner for the leaders at his Schloss Bellevue residence.

On Sunday morning, Merkel, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering will sign the declaration at a ceremony at Berlin's German Historical Museum.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Ratz, Madeline Chambers and Claudia Kade in Berlin and Philip Pullella in Rome)

Secret French UFO Files on the Net...
France puts secret UFO archive on Web

By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 23, 5:13 PM ET

PARIS - The saucer-shaped object is said to have touched down in the south of France and then zoomed off. It left behind scorch marks and that haunting age-old question: Are we alone? This is just one of the cases from France's secret "X-Files" — some 100,000 documents on supposed UFOs and sightings of other unexplained phenomena that the French space agency is publishing on the Internet.
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France is the first country to put its entire weird sightings archive online, said Jacques Patenet, who heads the space agency's UFO cell — the Group for Study and Information on Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena.

Their oldest recorded sighting dates from 1937, Patenet told The Associated Press in an interview Friday. The first batch of archives went up on the agency's Web site this week, drawing a server-busting wave of traffic.

"The Web site exploded in two hours. We suspected that there was a certain amount of interest, but not to this extent," Patenet said.

The archive includes police and expert reports, witness sketches (some are childlike doodlings), maps, photos and video and audio recordings. In all, the archive has some 1,650 cases on record and about 6,000 witness accounts.

The space agency, known by its French initials CNES, said it is making them public to draw the scientific community's attention to unexplained cases and because their secrecy generated suspicions that officials were hiding something.

"There's always this impression of plots, of secrets, of wanting to hide things," Patenet said. "The great danger would be to leave the field open to sects and charlatans."

He said many cases were unexplained lights in the sky. "Only 20 to 30" could be classified as "Objet Volant Non Identifie" — UFOs that appeared to be physical objects, leaving "marks on the ground, radar images," he said.

Even Charles de Gaulle, France's wartime hero who became president, got the UFO bug.

"In 1954, there was a wave of sightings of phenomena in France, and it went up to the highest levels of state. Gen. de Gaulle himself assigned ... an aide and told him, 'Look into this for me, study it to see if something needs to be done,'" Patenet said.

That year, there were hundreds of sightings over several months, but generally there are 50 to 100 reported each year.

Only 9 percent of France's strange phenomena have been fully explained, the agency said. Experts found likely reasons for another 33 percent, and 30 percent could not be identified for lack of information.

Other cases were impossible to crack. The most baffling were labeled "Class D aerospace phenomena" — which the agency defines as "inexplicable despite precise testimonies and the (good) quality of material information gathered." Some 28 percent of sightings fall into this category.

Patenet singled out the January 1981 case of the saucer-shaped object that a witness said he saw land in Trans-en-Provence, a village inland from the French Riviera.

Some 8 feet across, the zinc-colored object made a whistling noise as it landed. The witness later drew a picture: It resembled a wok with a lid and legs.

"The machine stayed a few seconds on the ground and then left very quickly but it left marks that were analyzed and allowed us to determine that the ground had been heated up, that the object must have weighed several hundred kilos (pounds), and that surrounding plants underwent biological changes," said Patenet.

"So something really happened. It really defies analysis," he said.

The agency said everything in the archive would be published, except for psychological reports about witnesses and their names.

Most of the time, witnesses were sincere about what they saw, Patenet said.

"Very few look for publicity because they fear most of all that they will not be taken seriously."

Still, there were frauds.

In 1979, in Cergy-Pontoise outside Paris, a man showed up at a police station claiming his friend had been abducted by a UFO — a bright light that appeared on the road and swallowed up his car. Several days later, the man purportedly reappeared in a field, emerging out of a sphere of light.

Investigators went so far as to test the man's blood for signs that he had recently experienced weightlessness — and they found none. The agency labeled it a hoax.

Some cases took years to unravel. In 1985, two farmers near the Atlantic coastal city of Royan saw a burning object drop into a field nearby.

Experts initially concluded that it was part of the propulsion device of a recently launched satellite. Eventually they realized it was a piece of German World War II ordnance that spontaneously exploded four decades after the war.

Among the unexplained cases, one of the most perplexing concerned a 1994 Air France flight. While flying over the Paris region, the crew noticed a large brown-red disk hovering on the horizon and constantly changing shape. The case "has never been explained to this day, and leaves the door open to all possible hypotheses," the agency wrote.

So, do we have neighbors out there, after all?

"I don't have an answer to that," said Patenet. "Even if there is such a planet, given the size of the universe, what is the probability that two civilizations ... will meet or come across each other? I really don't know. It's very complicated. It's incalculable."

___

Associated Press writer Angela Doland in Paris contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

http://www.cnes.fr

"DAMN COCA-COLA! DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!" - paraphrase from Planet of the Apes...
Worldwide, Communities Demand Access to Water

Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US Fri Mar 23, 10:48 AM ET

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 23 (OneWorld) - Holding scores of rallies and sit-ins around world, environmental and community groups Thursday made fresh calls for drastic actions to protect the world's rivers and other water resources from the devastating impact of global warming, pollution, and toxic waste.

From Bangladesh to Burkina Faso and Mali to Mozambique, activists reminded the world that there are still more than 1 billion people who have no access to safe drinking water and another 2 billion--one third of the world's population--without any access to adequate sanitation.

According to the
United Nations, which has designated March 22 as "World Water Day," despite increased international efforts, about 700 million people in 43 countries still suffer from water shortage.

Experts say if appropriate actions are not taken on time to deal with the threat of global warming, this figure could increase to more than 3 billion in less than 20 years. Climatic changes are already affecting the natural ebb and flow of most of the world's longest rivers.

According to some estimates, every year 34 million people--mostly children--die from water-related diseases like diarrhea and malaria. About 80 percent of these diseases and over one third of related deaths are caused by contaminated waters.

Those involved in global campaigns for clean-water access assert that diseases spawned by unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitation can be prevented if appropriate and timely actions are taken by those who hold the economic and political power.

"The world knows how to do it. What is lacking is funding and political will," said David Douglas, president of Water Advocates, a Washington, DC-based group lobbying for increased funding for water-access programs around the world.

"Clean drinking water and basic sanitation underlie every aspect of development--from good health and education to economic growth and environmental sustainability," Douglas added in a statement.

Mindful that in many cases, the scarcity and pollution of the world's waters are indirectly causing the spread of extreme poverty and deadly diseases, activists demanded the world's richest nations, which are largely responsible for industrial pollution, take responsibility to overcome the water crisis.

In Ghana, for instance, activists associated with the environmental group WaterAid presented a petition to German diplomats asking them to ensure that when the G8 leaders meet next time they put water on top of their agenda.

The activists believe that a global "action plan," forged at the highest political levels, would help ensure the world's poorest people have access to clean water.

In addition to Germany, the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations includes the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, and Russia. At a UN summit held in New York in 2001, many nations, including the G8, agreed to make joint efforts to guarantee at least half a billion more people in the world have access to clean water by 2015.

For their part, UN officials responsible for monitoring the world's food production and consumption also touted the urgency of dealing with the world's water crisis.

"This is the challenge of the 21st century," said Dr. Jacques Diouf, director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, about the water crisis. "The bulk of that challenge lies in finding more effective ways to conserve, use, and protect the world's water resources."

Noting that agriculture accounts for about 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawn from lakes, waterways, and aquifers around the world, Diouf estimated that with the growing demand for food, 14 percent more freshwater will need to be withdrawn for agricultural purposes in the next 30 years.

"Food is water," he said. "Without water, we cannot produce; and without it, we simply cannot eat. It takes 1,000 to 2,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilogram of wheat and 13,000 to 15,000 liters to produce the same quantity of grain-fed beef."

As population grows and development needs call for increased allocations of water for cities, agriculture, and industries, said Diouf, the increased pressure on water resources could lead "to tensions, conflicts among users, and excessive strain on the environment."

There are indications around the world that Diouf's predications may already be coming true. On World Water Day, in India, activists used the occasion to draw the world's attention to the growing phenomenon of privatization of water and its abuse at the hands of commercial enterprises.

More than 300 demonstrators marched to the National Planning Commission's offices in the capital city of New Delhi seeking action from the government on water issues with regard to the soft drink giant Coca Cola's bottling operations in rural parts of the country. Eyewitnesses said more than 40 activists were arrested.

Indian water advocacy groups hold Coca Cola responsible for water shortages and contamination in many areas, citing the company's mining of groundwater as a cause for the drying of community wells and other water sources.

The company has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

"The world needs to know that Coca Cola has an extremely unsustainable relationship with water, its primary raw material," said Amit Srivastava of the India Resource Center, a campaign group that works closely with a number of U.S.-based environmental groups.

"Drinking Coca Cola contributes directly to the loss of lives, livelihoods, and communities in India," Srivastava added in a statement. "On this World Water Day, we encourage people around the world to think before they drink Coca Cola."

Do you feel lucky, Punk? Do ya?

AP
New Orleans residents arming themselves

By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 46 minutes ago

NEW ORLEANS - Sixty-four-year-old Vivian Westerman rode out Hurricane Katrina in her 19th-century house. So terrible was the experience that she wanted two things before the 2006 season arrived: a backup power source and a gun. "I got a 6,000-watt generator and the cutest little Smith & Wesson, snub-nose .38 you ever saw," she boasted. "I've never been more confident." People across New Orleans are arming themselves — not only against the possibility of another storm bringing anarchy, but against the violence that has engulfed the metropolitan area in the 19 months since Katrina, making New Orleans the nation's murder capital.
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The number of permits issued to carry concealed weapons is running twice as high as it was before Katrina — this, in a city with only about half its pre-storm population of around 450,000. Attendance at firearms classes and hours logged at shooting ranges also are up, according to the gun industry.

Gun dealers who saw sales shoot up during the chaotic few months after Katrina say that sales are still brisk, and that the customers are a cross-section of the population — doctors, lawyers, bankers, artists, laborers, stay-at-home moms.

"People are in fear of their lives. They're looking for ways to feel safe again," said Mike Roniger, manager of Gretna Gunworks in Jefferson Parish.

Citizens, the tourism industry, police and politicians officials have been alarmed by the wave of killings in New Orleans, with 162 in 2006 and 37 so far this year. A Tulane University study put the city's 2006 homicide rate at 96 slayings per 100,000 people, the highest in the nation.

National Guardsmen and state police are patrolling the streets of New Orleans. In neighboring Jefferson Parish, which posted a record 66 homicides in 2006, the sheriff sent armored vehicles to protect high-crime neighborhoods.

In New Orleans, police have accused the district attorney of failing to prosecute many suspects. Prosecutors have accused the police of not bringing them solid cases.

Some people are losing faith in the system to protect them.

Earnest Johnson, a 37-year-old chef who lives in Kenner, bought his first gun recently and visits a shooting range regularly. "Things are way worse than they used to be," he said. "You have to do something to protect yourself."

Kevin Cato, a 41-year-old contractor, bought a .45-caliber handgun for protection when he is working in some of the city's still-deserted areas. "But it's not much safer at home," Cato said. "The police chased a guy through my yard one time with their guns out."

In New Orleans, the number of concealed-carry permits issued jumped from 432 in 2003-04 to 832 in 2005-06. In Jefferson Parish, 522 permits were issued in 2003-04, and 1,362 in 2005-06.

Mike Mayer, owner of Jefferson Indoor Range and Gun Outlet in suburban Metairie, said that despite the dropoff in population, sales are up about 38 percent overall since Katrina.

Just how many guns are out there is anybody's guess. Gun buyers in Louisiana are not required to register their weapon or obtain a concealed-carry permit if they keep the gun in their house or car.

In a measure of how dangerous New Orleans is becoming, guns are finding their way into criminal hands at an alarming rate. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' "time-to-crime" analysis of the interval between the legal sale of a gun and the time it is seized in a crime investigation is five years on average around the nation, said ATF spokesman Austin Banks. In New Orleans, time-to-crime is six months, he said.

This sometimes happens because of "straw purchases," in which a buyer obtains a gun for someone not legally eligible to purchase one. Many guns also are stolen from homes and cars.

While many are buying guns for protection, only two defensive killings of criminals by civilians took place in New Orleans in 2006, according to police. No charges were filed against the shooters.

Westerman, an artist who lives in the city's Algiers neighborhood, is prepared to use deadly force.

"I'm a marksman now. I know what I'm doing," she said. "There are a lot of us. The girl next door is a crack shot."

Jaded Journalists be Damned! Innately stupid and undeserving of their jobs is more like it!
Media views
New York Times: An Immigrant Segment by Radio’s ‘Jersey Guys’ Draws Fire (3/23/07) by Andrew Jacobs
The New York daily finally notices the latest racist stunt from shock jocks just over the border. Among quoted condemnations of a "La Cuca Gotcha" feature—encouraging the persecution of perceived undocumented immigrants—as “dehumanizing,” “poisonous” and “idiotic,” Jacobs also inadvertently condemns the role profit motive plays in commercial radio's airing of personalities who "blame illegal immigrants for...violent crime [and] hint... that illegal immigrants were more likely to become terrorists":
Seeking to profit from the recently ignited firestorm, the Jersey Guys... gleefully refused to back down.... Considering the...lack of contrition and the anger among Latino advocates, “La Cucha Gotcha” is likely to spark an even larger backlash. That may or may not be a bad thing for the station.

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Editor & Publisher: Many Get Edwards 'Scoop' Wrong—Based on Single Source (3/22/07)
"The Story May Have Been Incorrect, But We Had It First" is how one blogger lampooned the plentiful news outlets that rushed to beat each other to the erroneous "scoop" that "former Sen. John Edwards would be suspending his campaign for president due to his wife's new bout with cancer."
Outlets falling for it ranged from MSNBC to the Washington Times, which headlined its story "Report: Edwards Suspending Campaigning." This appeared shortly before his scheduled noon announcement. The Los Angeles Times and Newsday were among many others which also headlined the "suspension" on their sites. The source for many of the reports was a blog item on Politico.com. The author, Ben Smith, later admitted it was based on a single source and he apologized.

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Time: Scandal, Power and the President (3/22/07) by Massimo Calabresi & Jay Carney
Commenting on the politicized U.S. attorney firing scandal, columnists argue that
Washington scandals metastasize, growing and changing until we can't remember what they were about in the beginning.... When it's over, we'll be hard-pressed to remember how it began.

But it's clear the general public are pretty aware that the Watergate started with a break-in and the Lewinsky scandal began with a blowjob—despite the sorry performance of those who's job it is to keep the story straight.
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Boston Phoenix: Off-Color TV Party (3/21/07) by Phillipe and Jorge
Noting that "a lot of cash is a requirement for an FCC broadcast license, but there are a few other hurdles. One calls for the owner to be 'of good character,'" two columnists introduce us to an aspiring owner of Boston's WLNE-TV station:
According to reports by the Associated Press and other news organizations, [Kevin] O'Brien also made his share of racially insensitive remarks, including, "We can't right all the wrongs of the Civil War; we've got to quit hiring all these black people." Here's another: "I've never seen a minority broadcast enterprise work in my entire life, especially if they have control."... According to court documents, [he has] "stated on numerous occasions that 'my father always told me, you can't trust those Indians.'"... O'Brien reportedly said, "These Jewish holidays—I've always thought those existed just so those people either wouldn't have to work or take the day and do inventory."

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Salon: ACLU Defeats COPA, Again (3/22/07) by Joan Walsh
The online magazine's editor in chief celebrates "another big victory for free speech on the Internet" in
word that the ACLU won its latest attempt to beat back the Child Online Protection Act, which would have imposed steep fines and potential prison terms on anyone who published material deemed "harmful" to minors and failed to use an age-verification system to keep minors out.

The ACLU has long argued that "Congress does not have the right to censor information on the Internet" and that COPA threatens "draconian criminal sanctions" while it does "not provide effective protection" for children because it is technologically unable to "be enforced on the more than 50 percent of speech posted overseas." (Ad-viewing required.)
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Honolulu Weekly: Ka Leo Victorious Over Viacom (3/21/07) by Ian Lind
A Hawai'i campus newspaper's battle "against one of the world’s largest media corporations has ended with a victory for freedom of the press," including the "more than 500 college and university newspapers" using websites managed by a Viacom subsidiary.
College Publisher, a division of media giant Viacom, announced late last week it would no longer require college and university newspapers to avoid stories critical of the company or its many corporate affiliates in order to get free access to its exclusive online publishing system.... The controversial contract detail came to light after Ka Leo O Hawai‘i balked at signing a new contract warranting that none of its contents would be “damaging or injurious to [College Publisher], Content Partners or any of its respective affiliates, related entities, licensees or assignees.”

Curiously, while the Viacom subsidiary "denied any intent to limit what its affiliated college newspapers can print or display on their websites," they simultaneously "said the clause was intended to prevent student newspapers from gaining leverage during contract negotiations from their ability to write about unresolved issues."
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One sane and honest Israeli Leader is not enough!

AP
Peres calls Lebanon war a 'mistake'

By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer 51 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Vice-Premier Shimon Peres told a panel investigating the government's handling of last year's war in Lebanon that
Israel's decision to invade was a mistake and the military was unprepared, according to testimony made public Thursday.

Peres also said Hezbollah did a better job of handling media coverage than the Israelis did.

The 15-page transcript of his appearance before the commission last November has large swathes deleted by Israel's military censors on security grounds, but nevertheless provides insights into the veteran statesman's thinking.

"The greatest mistake is the very fact of war," he told the commission. "If it had been up to me, I would not have gone into this war."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed the commission, headed by a retired judge, under intense pressure from a dissatisfied public because of the inconclusive war. Hezbollah rained almost 4,000 rockets on northern Israel, but Israel's military failed to achieve the war's stated aims — smashing the guerrilla group and returning two captured soldiers.

Army chief Dan Halutz resigned as a result of the widespread criticism and there have been calls for Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz to follow suit.

While Peres refused to lay blame, he said the military "was not prepared for this war" and its inconclusive outcome harmed Israel's deterrent posture in the eyes of the Arab world.

"We are perceived today as weaker than we were before," he said.

Peres told the commission the war was neither a success nor a failure, but he said the government was wrong to publicly prioritize the return of the soldiers, snatched by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid on July 12.

"If you say your primary objective is to free the abducted (soldiers), you in practice put yourself at the mercy of the enemy," Peres told the panel. "Why would you say that?"

He added that Hezbollah had been more effective than Israel in the battle for favorable media coverage of the monthlong conflict, finding an effective spokesman in its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

"Hezbollah united around a spokesman of no little talent - Nasrallah," Peres said. "We relentlessly attacked one another. One person blamed the other and the net effect was negative."

Peres, 83, told the five-member panel of jurists and retired generals, however, that he kept his misgivings about sending the army into Lebanon to himself for fear that arguing against it in Cabinet meetings would leak out and damage the public perception of ministerial unity.

"It would have come out immediately," he said. "I wanted to be cautious but effective and not like someone from the opposition."

The panel has said it will issue partial findings in late April, including assessments of decisions taken by Olmert and other key officials. Although the commission does not have the power to dismiss Olmert, analysts say a critical report could force the unpopular premier to resign under the pressure of public opinion.

In February, Olmert gave seven hours of testimony and underwent intense questioning before the commission in a closed-door hearing widely perceived as his last chance to stave off censure. The transcript of that session is expected to be released in the coming days.

The conflict took the lives of between 1,035 and 1,191 Lebanese civilians and combatants, according to tallies by government agencies, humanitarian groups and The Associated Press. A total of 120 Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting, and 39 civilians were killed by Hezbollah rockets fired into northern Israel during the conflict. The fighting ended on Aug. 14 with a
United Nations-brokered cease-fire.

In Washington, former U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton defended the war with Hezbollah as a legitimate act of self-defense. He said it had tacit support from many Arab states.

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SOCIETY REFUSES TO ACCEPT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ITS GROTESQUE RATIONALIZATIONS!
VA NEWS FLASH from Larry Scott at VA Watchdog dot Org -- 03-21-2007 #10


STUDY: PTSD DIAGNOSIS INFLATED, TIGHTER DEFINITION

NEEDED -- Researcher: "Maybe you don't need to work

through what is bothering you. Maybe you need

to get over what is bothering you."

ED: THIS IS EXACTLY THE UNINFORMED, CLICHED ATTITUDE OF INDIFFERENCE BY WHICH MORE THAN FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND VIET-NAM VETS HAVE BEEN MURDERED BY A SOCIETY THAT REFUSES TO ACCEPT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ITS GROTESQUE RATIONALIZATIONS, OR EVEN MAKE AN HONEST DEATH COUNT! GIVE ME THIS ASSHOLE'S STREET ADDRESS! THE TWIN STULIDITY IS, "I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING BUT A PRE-EXISTING PERSONALITY DISORDER, AND HE DIDN'T GET ALONG WITH HIS FATHER ALL THAT WELL..."

THESE ARE NOTHING BUT MEANS BY WHICH THE SO-CALLED LOYAL TO VETS VETERANS AFAIRS STOOGES USE TO AVOID ACKNOWLEDGING RESPONSIBILITY, BECAUSE THE PENTAGON AND ADMINISTRATION AND CONGRESS ALL "SERVE" AT THE BEHEST OF A POPULATION THAT IS MANIPULATED BY SELFSERVING FUCKER'S WHO DON'T LIKE TO BE SUED OR LOOK BAD...NO MATTER HOW BADLY THEY BEHAVE OR SCREW UP, THEN WORK TO MANIPULATE VETS AND ANY OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC GULLIBLE ENOUGH, INTO SIDING WITH THEM, BECAUSE HOW SMART ARE MOST US CITIZENS IN THE FIRST PLACE! LOOK WHAT THEY HAVE ELECTED PRESIDENT...AND TO CONGRESS!

Right now we are more threatened by an uneducated, unenlightened, uninformed, self indulgent, se;lfish, and stupid right wing population of voters who don't want to know anything or be accountable for any of their idiotic views, or the results there of,and won't accept that such connections exist between their stupidity and the horrors they cause, than by the so-called "Terrorists" they presume lurk around every dark corner. We are THIS CLOSE to becoming as shallow as the Chinese when it comes to mental health issues. PTSD is the parallel of Global Warning, a favorite whipping boy for those who want to look good before their constuents.

HERE'S A THOUGHT. THE COST OF REGULAR SHOTS OF THORAZINE FOR SO-CALLED CONSERVATIVES AND A DRY PLACE TO SLEEP, AGAINST THE COST OF VETERAN HEALTH CARE...!



Story here... http://www.boston.com/news/nation/
articles/2007/03/21/tighter_definition_of_post_
traumatic_stress_disorder_needed_study_says/

Story below:

---------------

Tighter definition of post-traumatic stress disorder needed, study says

Research suggests diagnoses inflated

By Scott Allen, Globe Staff



The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are so common that depressed people who have never faced trauma usually qualify for the condition, according to a new study that raises questions about whether thousands of Iraq war veterans as well as civilians are getting the right diagnosis and treatment for their emotional problems.

Military researchers estimate that 12 to 20 percent of Iraq war veterans show signs of post-traumatic stress, such as recurrent nightmares, emotional numbness, and high anxiety, and the disorder accounts for half of all mental health disability claims.

But the new study by McLean Hospital researchers suggests those numbers may be greatly inflated: Researchers found that almost 80 percent of the depressed people they interviewed showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress even if they could not name a single trauma that could have caused them.

"If you can identify a nasty event which occurred before these symptoms emerged, you can call it post-traumatic stress disorder," said Dr. J. Alexander Bodkin , lead author of the study in today's Journal of Anxiety Disorders. "I'm not saying there is no such thing as a mood or anxiety disorder caused by traumatic events, but the symptoms [used to classify the illness] are really grossly inadequate."

Bodkin said it's crucial to get the diagnosis right. Though people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress commonly are also treated for depression or anxiety, he said some treatments for post-traumatic stress, such as focusing on "facing" the trauma, could be counterproductive. "It might be worse than a waste of time. Maybe you don't need to work through what is bothering you. Maybe you need to get over what is bothering you," said Bodkin.

The study joins a growing body of research that questions whether post-traumatic stress disorder is a distinct mental illness, at least as it is currently defined. Unlike other mental illnesses, the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder begins not with the patient's symptoms, but with identifying a major trauma such as witnessing a murder or fighting in a war. Critics say that can lead therapists to falsely conclude that the symptoms were caused by the trauma. It could be that the trauma worsened an underlying condition such as depression or anxiety.

Yesterday, psychiatric researchers who wrote the post-traumatic stress disorder definition agreed that the definition needs to be tightened. Psychologist David Barlow of Boston University said the official definition, which he helped develop in 1994, has become outdated as advances in brain science suggest that post-traumatic stress is more closely related to other conditions than researchers recognized at the time.

"We might need to step back a level and begin looking at what these disorders have in common," said Barlow, then cochairman of the committee that wrote the post-traumatic stress disorder section for the psychiatrists' bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM.

However, Dr. Michael First , editor of the DSM, said he believes post-traumatic stress disorder is a separate disorder. "My concern is that it's overused," said First, of Columbia University. "It started out as combat neuroses for very severely traumatized soldiers, but now it's all over the place."

Post-traumatic stress disorder wasn't officially recognized as a mental illness until 1980, as a growing number of Vietnam combat veterans complained of flashbacks, nightmares, and other symptoms that their doctors said were rooted in the horrors that they had witnessed. With the inclusion of post-traumatic stress disorder in the DSM, veterans whose symptoms didn't match any existing disease would become eligible for treatment and, potentially, disability benefits, while civilians would become eligible for private insurance coverage.

Some 5.2 million US adults suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder each year, according to the National Center for PTSD, but the risk is highest among military personnel. Last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs granted 269,399 claims for disability based on post-traumatic stress, accounting for 48.9 percent of all mental health disability claims.

But skeptics questioned whether one trauma, even one as horrific as war, could be the root of so much mental illness; more likely, they argued that stress worsens underlying conditions and that, for some, even a minor trauma could act as a trigger. For instance, one study showed that college students who had suffered only minor traumas, such as getting stuck in an elevator, were more likely to show PTSD symptoms than those who had suffered major loss.

The researchers at McLean Hospital interviewed 103 depression patients using the same survey that a counselor would to diagnose post-traumatic stress. If patients hadn't suffered a serious loss, they were urged to discuss even a minor trauma that caused them recurrent distress. Researchers found that 79 percent had PTSD symptoms, including 28 patients who could not come up with one traumatic memory.

Bodkin said the results show that the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder is unreliable. "People have just been averting their eyes since 1980 from some pretty glaring scientific problems," he said.



Scott Allen can be reached at allen@globe.com.

---------------

Larry Scott --

Don't forget to read all of today's VA News Flashes (click here)

Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage

email Larry PGP key on request

Letterman regular 'Bud' Melman dies...
Letterman regular 'Bud' Melman dies

By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press Writer Wed Mar 21, 9:52 PM ET

NEW YORK - Calvert DeForest, the white-haired, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows, has died after a long illness. The Brooklyn-born DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, Letterman's "Late Show" announced Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT

He made dozens of appearances on Letterman's shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: dueting with Sonny Bono on "I Got You, Babe," doing a
Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, handing out hot towels to arrivals at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

"Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself — a genuine, modest and nice man," Letterman said in a statement. "To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him."

The gnomish DeForest was working as a file clerk at a drug rehabilitation center when show producers, who had seen him in a New York University student's film, came calling.

He was the first face to greet viewers when Letterman's NBC show debuted on Feb. 1, 1982, offering a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film "Frankenstein."

"It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life," he once said of his first Letterman appearance.

DeForest, given the nom de tube of Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host launched "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS in 1993, though DeForest had to use his real name because of a dispute with NBC over "intellectual property."

Cue cards were often DeForest's television kryptonite, and his character inevitably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick black-rimmed glasses.

DeForest often drew laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a "Late Show" correspondent at events such as the 1994
Winter Olympics in Norway or the anniversary Woodstock concert that year.

His last appearance on "Late Show," celebrating his 81st birthday, came in 2002.

DeForest also appeared in an assortment of other television shows and films, including "Nothing Lasts Forever" with
Bill Murray and
Dan Aykroyd.

At his request, there will be no funeral service for DeForest, who left no survivors.

Warm thoughts from assholes who think that is what it is about doesn't give us our lives back!
Honoring Our Veterans
President George W. Bush poses for a photo after addressing the American Legion 47th National Convention, Tuesday, March 6, 2006, in Washington, D.C. White House photo by Eric Draper

President George W. Bush poses for a photo after addressing the American Legion 47th National Convention, Tuesday, March 6, 2006, in Washington, D.C. White House photo by Eric Draper
President Bush Discusses Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, War on Terror at American Legion

Support of our veterans has been a high priority in my administration. This year I've asked Congress for more than $86 billion for veterans' services. And if Congress approves my request, this would amount to a 77 percent increase of the budget since I took office; it would be the highest level of support for our veterans in American history. (Applause.) We share with your concern about making sure our vets have good health care. I've talked to your commanders past, and suspect I'll be talking to your commanders future, about making sure that our veterans have got good, decent, quality health care. Since 2001, we've helped over 1 million more veterans -- we've added a million veterans -- take advantage of the VA health care system.

The 2008 budget proposal will increase the VA health care budget by 83 percent since I took office. The Department of Defense's health care budget has grown from $19 billion to $38 billion. And that's an important commitment, and I look forward to working with Congress to say to our veterans, we care about you. Money is one thing; delivery of services is another. (Applause.)

I know I share -- listen, I am as concerned as you are about the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. My decisions have put our kids in harm's way. And I'm concerned about the fact that when they come back they don't get the full treatment they deserve. Many people working at Walter Reed are fine people. If you've been out there, you know what I'm talking about. They're dedicated, honorable healers who care deeply about our soldiers. Fine doctors, nurses and therapists work day and night to help the wounded. Yet some of our troops at Walter Reed have experienced bureaucratic delays and living conditions that are less than they deserve. It's unacceptable to me, it is unacceptable to you, it's unacceptable to our country -- and it's not going to continue.

I recently asked Secretary of Defense Bob Gates to assess the situation at Walter Reed firsthand and report back to me. He confirmed that there are problems, real problems. He has taken action to address those problems and hold people to account -- including relieving the general in charge of the facility and accepting the resignation of the Secretary of the Army.

As we work to improve conditions at Walter Reed, we are also taking steps to find out whether similar problems exist at other military and veterans hospitals. (Applause.) The best way to do so in a constructive way, in a way that will bring forth the truth, is to create a bipartisan Presidential Commission. I've asked two distinguished public servants to lead the commission, and they have accepted -- Senator Bob Dole and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. (Applause.)

The Commission will conduct a comprehensive review of the care America is providing our wounded servicemen and women returning from the battlefield. This review will examine their treatment from the time they leave the battlefield through their return to civilian life as veterans -- so we can ensure that we're meeting the physical and mental health needs of all. As this commission begins its work and considers its recommendations, I have also directed the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to lead a task force composed of seven members of my Cabinet to focus and respond to immediate needs.

We have an obligation, we have a moral obligation to provide the best possible care and treatment to the men and women who have served our country. They deserve it, and they're going to get it. (Applause.)

Full Transcript

Veterans Day, 2006

Through the generations, America's men and women in uniform have defeated tyrants, liberated continents, and set a standard of courage and idealism for the entire world. On Veterans Day, our Nation pays tribute to those who have proudly served in our Armed Forces.

To protect the Nation they love, our veterans stepped forward when America needed them most. In conflicts around the world, their sacrifice and resolve helped destroy the enemies of freedom and saved millions from oppression. In answering history's call with honor, decency, and resolve, our veterans have shown the power of liberty and earned the respect and admiration of a grateful Nation.

All of America's veterans have placed our Nation's security before their own lives, creating a debt that we can never fully repay. Our veterans represent the best of America, and they deserve the best America can give them.

As we recall the service of our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen, we are reminded that the defense of freedom comes with great loss and sacrifice. This Veterans Day, we give thanks to those who have served freedom's cause; we salute the members of our Armed Forces who are confronting our adversaries abroad; and we honor the men and women who left America's shores but did not live to be thanked as veterans. They will always be remembered by our country.

With respect for and in recognition of the contributions our service men and women have made to the cause of peace and freedom around the world, the Congress has provided (5 U.S.C. 6103(a)) that November 11 of each year shall be set aside as a legal public holiday to honor veterans.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 11, 2006, as Veterans Day and urge all Americans to observe November 5 through November 11, 2006, as National Veterans Awareness Week. I encourage all Americans to recognize the valor and sacrifice of our veterans through ceremonies and prayers. I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to display the flag of the United States and to support and participate in patriotic activities in their communities. I invite civic and fraternal organizations, places of worship, schools, businesses, unions, and the media to support this national observance with commemorative expressions and programs.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

GEORGE W. BUSH

The enemy here will be those who will refuse assistence to those in need, showing no concern for their well being!
House Democrats see Iraq withdrawal bill win

By Richard Cowan 1 hour, 15 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders on Wednesday predicted the U.S. House of Representatives will pass a war-funding bill that sets a strict timetable for withdrawing American combat troops from
Iraq, after struggling to round up sufficient votes.

"We're going to go this week," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (news, bio, voting record) of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "We'll have 218 (votes)," Emanuel said.

Loading up the bill with funds for drought relief, hurricane rebuilding and other measures, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) of California and her Democratic lieutenants have worked to clinch the necessary votes -- 218 of the House's 435 members -- to pass a $124.1 billion bill that mostly funds the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan this year.

President George W. Bush wants the money to keep U.S. forces in Iraq in an effort to stabilize it. Democrats have made the spending bill the focus of their efforts to end the conflict that has entered its fifth year with more than 3,200 U.S. troops killed and more than 20,000 wounded.

But Democrats have been split, with liberals calling for a quicker withdrawal date than the bill sets and moderates worried they could be depicted as undermining U.S. troops by putting strings on the war-fighting funds.

Under the Democrats' bill, all U.S. combat troops would have to be out of Iraq by September 1, 2008, a provision the White House says would prompt a veto from Bush.

Democrats, already anticipating that veto, are eyeing other bills coming up this year to attach similar language while building pressure for an end to the war.

Backaing Bush, House Republicans said they were united against the Democrats' war funds bill. "There is only one way to do the right thing for our troops and for the safety and security of future generations of Americans," said House Republican leader John Boehner (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio, who called for a war-funding bill "with no strings attached."

'BIG TEST'

Some liberal Democrats have announced they would support Pelosi's bill even though they want an earlier troop pullout, letting Democratic leaders claim momentum going into the vote.

Rep. James Moran (news, bio, voting record), a Virginia Democrat who sits on the House Appropriations panel that oversees defense spending, said the vote "is really the first big test of whether we can pull together the left and the right (of the Democratic Party). It is a test of our leadership."

But indicative of how close the vote could be, Pelosi summoned former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski to Capitol Hill to appeal to Democrats to vote for the war-funding bill with a timetable for troop withdrawal.

On Tuesday, Brzezinski, who served in President Jimmy Carter's administration, said the Democrats' war-funding bill "provides what has been lacking: a means to hold the Iraqi government accountable for its performance by conditioning U.S. support to the meeting of benchmarks already endorsed by
President Bush and Iraqi leaders."

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (news, bio, voting record), a New Hampshire Democrat newly elected in November on an anti-war platform, told reporters she will vote for the bill because it sets a date for withdrawal.

"If you want to support the troops, you need to get them out. This has a date, so I'm comfortable with this," she said.

Asked if she heard "murmuring" back home from war opponents in her district, Shea-Porter responded, "No murmuring, just screaming," from constituents who she said were shocked she would vote for any measure that continues to fund the war.

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell)

Missing boy scout found...
Updated:2007-03-21 14:27:22
Rescued Scout Survived on Creek Water
Hero Dog Leads Searchers to Lost Boy
By ESTES THOMPSON
AP

McGRADY, N.C. (March 21) - The lost Boy Scout who survived on creek water for four days in the North Carolina mountains had told a friend before wandering off -- apparently to try to hitchhike home -- that he didn't want to camp out anymore, a fellow Scout said Wednesday.

Talk About It: Post Thoughts
Twelve-year-old Michael Auberry had slept in that morning while the other Scouts went hiking, but he seemed fine when they returned for lunch.

The boys thought he had just gone to clean his mess kit after eating, fellow Boy Scout Griffin Prufer told NBC's "Today" show Wednesday. But as the time wore on, they grew worried.

"I noticed my dad going into the woods yelling and screaming his name and blowing whistles and stuff," Griffin said.

"I was scared," he said. "He (Michael) said something to his tent mate. He said he didn't want to go on camping trips anywhere."

That was early Saturday afternoon. The hours became days as scores of searchers with trained dogs and heat-sensing helicopters scoured the area for the missing Scout. Then, just before noon on Tuesday, a search dog named Gandalf caught Michael's scent about a mile from the Scout troop's camp site.

'A Tremendous Blessing'
Boy Scout Michael Auberry's father discusses his son's condition.

Next Video: Boy Scout Rescued
Please enable JavaScript to view this sequence.

Previous 1/3 Next
Gandalf "popped his head three times" and there was Michael, walking along a stream, said Misha Marshall, the 2-year-old Shiloh shepherd's trainer.

"He was a little dazed," Marshall said, and he was tired, hungry and dehydrated, but calm. The searchers help Michael out of the woods and gave him granola bars, crackers and water. Later, at a hospital with his parents, Michael ate chicken fingers and asked for cookies.

"He was homesick," said his father, Kent Auberry. "He started walking, and at one point when he was walking he thought maybe he'd walk as far as the road and hitchhike home."

"We're going to have our lectures about hitchhiking again," the father said. "We've had them in the past, but with a special vigor, we'll go over that again with Michael."

Michael said he slept in tree branches, drank river water and curled up under rocks while he was in the wilderness. "He saw the helicopters and heard people calling him, but he yelled back and they didn't hear him," Auberry said.

"He's got a tremendous life spirit," the father said, adding that Michael "wants to thank Gandalf especially -- even though he ate the peanut butter crackers they gave him."

A celebration service was planned Wednesday evening at the family's church in Greensboro, though organizers said they didn't expect Michael or his family to attend.

Michael had worn two jackets, one of them fleece, and was believed to have a mess kit and potato chips with him when he disappeared. The temperature dropped into the 20s some nights, and he said he lost his hat and glasses in the woods.

Once rescued, though, the first thing he said to searchers was that "he wanted a helicopter ride out of there," said Blue Ridge Parkway ranger David Bauer.

Aside from a few cuts and scratches, Michael was in good health. He was given IV fluids in the ambulance to help him rehydrate and told his father he wanted to sleep, said ambulance driver Bud Lane.

Hours earlier, the boy's father had talked about one of Michael's favorite books when he was younger, a story titled "Hatchet" about a boy whose plane crashes in the wilderness, and how the boy survives on his own.

"I think he's got some of that book in his mind," Auberry said.

He said Michael had been reluctant to go on the trip. The boy had asked his dad if he would give him $5 if he didn't have a good time. Auberry said he assured him that if he wasn't happy on the trip, they would do something fun together the next day.

"To have our son back is a tremendous blessing," Auberry said Tuesday afternoon. He also offered a plea from Michael about making up his sixth-grade schoolwork.

"He's worried about make-up work in Miss Self's class," Auberry said. "So if Miss Self could cut him a break, he would be very, very grateful."

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-03-18 15:15:16

The "Pro-Life" Warmongers don't seem to give a rat's ass about Our Children!
VA NEWS FLASH from Larry Scott at VA Watchdog dot Org -- 12-16-2005 #5

HOW MUCH MONEY IS THE VA SPENDING PER VETERAN IN YOUR CONGRESSIONAL

DISTRICT? -- IS YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE DOING A GOOD JOB TAKING CARE

OF VETERANS? -- REP. STEVE BUYER'S DISTRICT IS NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST!



I would like to thank Kenneth S. Colburn, Principal in Techpolitics.org for letting me know about his website.

Here's a brief explanation of what Techpolitics.org does: Techpolitics uses computer assisted research to disclose votes by Members of the House of Representatives that fail to align with the interests of large numbers of their constituents. Those constituencies often include minorities, less affluent persons, Social Security recipients, veterans, rural residents and students. Information on political contributions and other factors that may also influence House decisions are also presented.

This site contains a wealth of information. Link to home page here... http://www.techpolitics.org/

And, here are some statistics you'll want to take a look at. From Techpolitics.org: Veterans Administration figures for number of veterans and expenditures by congressional district for FY 2004 are compiled in a single interactive table. A figure is calculated for expenditures per veteran for each congressional district.

The full table is here... http://www.techpolitics.org/congress/veteransdata04.php?sort_field
=veteransdata04.totalexpend*1000/veteransdata04.totalpatients&sort_order=desc

The first thing I noticed when sorting was that of the 50 Districts where veterans received the most, 33 of 50 Representatives are Democrats.

Then, of the 50 Districts where veterans received the smallest amount, 41 of 50 Representatives are Republicans.

And, one of the Districts with the lowest amount of money being spent on veterans is Indiana's 4th District...Represented by Steve Buyer, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

That speaks for itself.

Another interesting table is here... http://www.techpolitics.org/congress/1091vote224.php

Explanation from Techpolitics.org: The House on May 26, 2005 defeated 213-214 an amendment by Representative Charles Melancon (D-LA) to the military and veterans appropriations bill to provide a $53 million increase in veterans' services. Nineteen Republicans joined 193 Democrats in voting for the Melancon Amendment. However Republican Members representing 16 of the 18 districts with the highest number of veterans (excluding Texas, as explained below) voted against the Melancon amendment to increase funds for services for veterans.

Take a look and see how your representative voted.

Enjoy the info on Techpolitic.org.



Larry Scott

After this article says suicides are disturbing, it becomes useless! A whole lot of blather!
MILITARY GOES ONLINE TO STEM TROOP SUICIDE --

Web site helps soldiers cope with trauma

and stress of Iraq.





Story here... http://www.sfgate.com/
cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/0
3/16/MNG4GOMICN1.DTL

Story below:

---------------

Military goes online to stem troop suicide

Web site helps soldiers cope with trauma and stress of Iraq

Justin Berton, Chronicle Staff Writer



Here's a future scene from the Iraq battlefield, circa July 2007: A U.S. soldier battles against the enemy all day long. At night, after returning to base, he's troubled by what he's seen. But he knows better than to speak up.

Just outside the view of his fellow soldiers, he logs on to a virtual therapy Web site provided by the military called www.afterdeployment.org . He knows that if his comrades see him talking with one of the shrinks on base, they would lose trust in him, label him a head case. A medical file soon would contain records of the visit. If he ever wanted a promotion, he'd have to explain the weakness of his mind.

Or that's the thinking among the male-dominated, therapy-averse troops, according to researchers, therapists and military psychologists who met at the fifth annual Military Suicide Prevention Conference in Hollywood, Fla., last week. Attendees discussed how to stem military suicides -- in 2005 alone, the last year for which there are confirmed figures, 22 service members killed themselves in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.

Although the suicide rate among soldiers in combat is comparable to that of the general male population of the same age group, concern is growing in the military that, due to the traumatic events of recent U.S. wars, both active soldiers and veterans are psychologically vulnerable. A study of troops returning from the Iraq war, published in the January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, showed that 16 percent of them met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder within one year of returning home. The disorder has been defined as a lingering anxiety or depression triggered by past extreme traumatic events, such as serving in combat.

Since the military is 85 percent male and the majority of its members are ages 17 to 24, conference attendees hailed the planned July 1 launch of www.afterdeployment.org as the best way to reach a group skeptical about counseling and most prone to suicide.

"If you told me to try therapy when I was 22, I would have told you you were the crazy one," said Keith Armstrong, a family therapist at UC San Francisco who spoke at the conference. He is one of the authors of the recently published "Courage After Fire," a book that helps families and soldiers cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Armstrong said the military's Web site, which will include an on-screen therapist who can appear in video workshops, will not have the nuance and feel of face-to-face meetings between client and therapist. But, he added, "If a large portion of your population won't step foot into a therapist's office in the first place, maybe this is the precursor to therapy that's necessary."

The Web site has been under construction for two years as part of a Congressional mandate to address post-traumatic stress disorder and after studies showed that soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were reluctant to visit field counselors for fear of being stigmatized by their peers, said Air Force Col. Dr. Robert Ireland, program director for mental health policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Defense.

In 2003, the Office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General conducted a study of military suicides after five soldiers in Iraq killed themselves within a month. The new Web site would allow soldiers in the field and veterans at home to log on anonymously. Since the Web site is considered self-help rather than professional therapy, soldiers won't receive medical advice or prescriptions for anxiety-relief drugs. Ireland said traffic on the site would not be tracked, nor would the Department of Defense monitor it.

"We won't know what's going on unless they contact a provider and say they used the site," Ireland said.

Army Col. Dr. Gregory Gahm said the site's design, including the URL -- .org instead of .mil -- is geared toward the young male who is unlikely to seek official military help for mental health needs. The test site, which Gahm presented at the conference, showed a home page with a decidedly hip look: images of young soldiers, surrounded by links that are spelled out in a style normally found on hip-hop CD covers: "KnOW your stUff." Another asks, "How am I doing?" and leads the user to a self-assessment survey.

In focus groups, Gahm said viewers complained that the initial site included photographs of men who looked "too depressed." The military hired a screenwriter and teamed with a psychiatrist to write dialogue for typical sessions.

After users progress through a series of self-analysis surveys and listen to video testimonials from fellow soldiers, they enter a workshop led by an on-screen therapist, to whom they e-mail their thoughts and questions. In response, the therapist offers prerecorded video answers about anxiety and depression as well as tips to address those emotions.

Gahm said the ideal therapist, who has yet to record the workshops, would be a multicultural female young enough to draw trust from her viewers yet old enough to be viewed as credible. She would also be a psychologist who works for the military.

"It's a small window we're working with to find this person," Gahm said, adding that the military would not turn to an actress. "But we're really trying to reach a young crowd who wouldn't ordinarily turn to therapy."

The video sessions are designed to increase in intensity and to allow users to save their workshops on private computer files. Eventually, Ireland said, he hoped users who logged on over several weeks or months would seek out a traditional therapist and share the work they've done.

"That way they've got a huge jump-start for themselves and the providers," Ireland said. "They've done the groundwork, and they don't feel like they're starting from scratch."

Army Reserve Sgt. Mike Durant, 33, who fought in Al Doha, Iraq, about 20 miles south of Baghdad from February 2005 to January 2006, said the view toward therapy among the ranks was "comparable to what it was in the 1940s."

During his tour, Durant, who now lives in Sacramento, saw a friend blown up by an improvised explosive device. At the time, his wife at home was in the process of divorcing him.

Researchers at the conference said that psychological autopsies of suicides showed failed relationships at home were among the leading causes. That, coupled with sleep deprivation and traumatic episodes of combat plus the proximity of loaded weapons, makes those on the battlefield particularly vulnerable to suicide.

Durant admitted he had thought of killing himself. "I wanted the waiting to be over," he said. "We'd do IED sweeps along the same roads, some days all day. You were just waiting for it to happen to you. You were waiting to get blown up."

After the death of his friend and with the divorce pending, Durant said his officers ordered him to visit a field Combat Stress Center for a mandatory 72-hour evaluation. Even before he returned to his battalion, he knew his commanders had lost faith in him. Anyone who was shipped to the shrinks, or sought treatment, was a liability.

"In their eyes, I was no longer reliable," Durant said. "I couldn't be trusted. I was unstable to them."

Even though he had been a member of the unit for 10 years and had served as an infantry team leader who was responsible for three men, Durant said that, while he was not officially demoted on paper, his duties dropped from one of leadership to that of a rifleman.

"Before I was sent there, I was fairly respected and highly regarded," he said. After his time at the Combat Stress Center, Durant said, "Peers and friends didn't want anything to do with me; it was like I had some sort of disease."

Durant, who now receives treatment at a Veterans' Affairs hospital in Sacramento, said the virtual therapy experiment might work for the soldiers who have already returned home. "In combat, there's just not a lot of time to cry about things. You try not to think about them; you push it out of your head. If you didn't, you wind up going crazy.

"But once you get back to the States, that's when you unwind. You start processing. You realize what you did, what you felt. That's when it becomes overwhelming."

In light of studies that estimate 16 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq have post-traumatic stress disorder, practitioners like Armstrong are bracing for a sharp increase of mental health patients into VA hospitals and the public health system. Even though there is no evidence that the disorder alone can lead to suicide, left undiagnosed and untreated, it can play a role in a soldier taking his life, Armstrong said.

Ireland said comparing the disorder and suicide rates in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars with past conflicts is difficult since reporting methods have varied. Just last year, the Department of Defense standardized the definition of suicide for all branches.

At the conference, a report from the Army Reserves showed that of the 20 confirmed suicides from its military branch in 2006, all occurred in the United States. Ten of the dead had served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Nineteen of the 20 suicides were male.

Lt. Col. Dr. Steven Pflanz, who manages the suicide prevention program for the Air Force, said, "We'll have to see how it plays out. If we did nothing, it would be a mental health care crisis. But if we can manage care now, it can possibly offset any problems down the line."



U.S. military fatalities in Iraq

Information available from March 19, 2003, to Feb. 3, 2007

Total deaths

All hostile deaths: 2,485

Total non-hostile deaths: 606

Total non-hostile deaths

Accidents: 390

Suicide: 99

Illness: 57

Pending: 42*

Homicide: 12

Undetermined: 6

* Final category to be determined at a later date

Source: U.S. Department of Defense



E-mail Justin Berton at jberton@sfchronicle.com.


---------------

Larry Scott --

This is a sleazy power struggle based in nothing meaningful except denial of constitutional rights!!
UPDATE: SENATOR CORRECTS DAV'S ANTI-ATTORNEY

STATEMENTS -- "I believe that veterans are mature,

responsible and capable enough to decide for

themselves whether to hire legal representation."





The "Attorneys for Veterans" issue remains in the news.

Last week, the DAV sent out a letter and petitions to their Commanders and members. They were urged to sign the petitions and send them to Congress in an effort to repeal the "Attorneys for Veterans" legislation passed last year.

Background on all of this with backlinks can be found here...
http://vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfMAR07/nf031607-1.htm

Now, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), who favors "Attorneys for Veterans" and who was mentioned in the DAV's letter, speaks out to correct what appears to be a "misrepresentation" by the DAV.

As the DAV continues to oppose a veteran's right to an attorney, we can expect more "misrepresentations" from them.

And, we have commentary from an attorney who represents veterans in the VA claims process: "I believe Senator Craig wrote a very well reasoned response to the DAV. The only thing I would have added is since the new law only allows attorney representation after a denial by the VA Regional Office and the submission of a Notice of Disagreement, attorney representation would only occur after a Veterans' Service Organization (VSO) (if the veteran was so represented) has failed to obtain a favorable decision. I believe this is a very important point. If the veteran first obtained VSO representation [from the DAV, for example], and that representation failed to obtain a favorable result, why shouldn't the veteran then be allowed to seek other representation, if he or she so chooses?"

Craig's letter below:

---------------

---------------

Larry Scott --

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Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage

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It is the death of the Porn industry! Retinas will be seared and tumors will grow inside brains!
December Playboy Cover featuring Nude Ann Coulter

By Dood Abides
11/14/2006 07:20:17 AM EST

Ann Coulter bares all this December for Playboy and WILT


Los Angeles, CA (APE) - She's been abhorred for years as the most downrated person on the internet, which means... aw heck, you know what it means. People love retching over Ann Coulter.

What it hasn't meant, all these years, though, as all those thousands of disappointed freepers know, is seeing even one picture of this 18th-century tossup queen without anything strategically covering her.

No longer.

At 44, Coulter, who has been scintillating fans with her own brand of historic revisionism, has posed au natural for Playboy. The December issue, with her on the cover, attacks newsstands Friday. The pages of pictures on the inside leave readers scrambling for imagination.

It was for a good cause, Coulter, almost 45, explained when Associated Press Extraterrestrial caught up with her, fully loathed, at her undisclosed location.

Q: Why now?

Ann Coulter: My decision to do Playboy is literally one week in the making. I've always chided others for taking their clothes off and posed as the girl next door. I'm the number one right-wing talking head, and for years I've been known as "The Queen of Slime", all while keeping my clothes on, and that's taken some real discipline. Every couple of years when Hef would call I would graciously decline, because it would kill that whole androgynous legend that I've got going for me, and I thought that I could maintain the mystery by keeping my clothes on.

But this year, when I got the call from Hef, it was almost my 45th birthday. The Republican party had just received a humpin', so I thought, "Wow... at 45, America doesn't want us anymore?" And I thought it's almost an epiphany... like a "F--- 'em all!" moment. I feel empowered that you can criticize other people's morals and yet still be single, with no children, sexy and confident, and then bare all for the world.

Q: So what's the story on the androgynous deal?

Coulter: I feel proud of myself. I work out really hard, and people will just have to decide for themselves. The reason that I wanted to do it the most is because I am posing for a purpose: a portion of the proceeds from each issue sold is going to my charity.

Q: That would be...?

Coulter: I am the celebrity spokesperson for WILT, the national anti-erectile function association. It stands for Whitebread Ideology Less Tumescence. If you think about it, this last midterm election in which the Republican Party received such a humpin' was all because of this vast priapism of the party over the last six years that resulted in all the scandals. My charity is devoted to wresting control of erections from the parties and putting them back in the hands of voters. Celibacy is not just for Paris Hilton anymore.

KEYWORDS: Ann Coulter, December Playboy, Cindy Margolis, Satire

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Display:
December Playboy Cover featuring Nude Ann Coulter | 3 comments (3 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Tips/Flames? (1.00 / 2)

by Dood Abides on 11/14/2006 07:20:51 AM EST

Hey. (1.00 / 2)
I see you were able to cleanly rip off your address label.

Good Work;)

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic
by Tom Ball on 11/14/2006 02:01:18 PM EST

Bonds, Stocks, Pillaries of Justice (none / 1)
Right centerfold -- wrong mag.

S&M Magazine wrapped up Ann and other sexflints in a "monster" mx-page whips and chains spread with Ann as centerfold for Christmas.

It's their "The Women of Abu Graib and Gitmo" edition.

Speaking of which...remember J. Geil's Centerfold from the 80's? I wonder what pimply-faced malevolents actually went to high school with Coulter at New Canaan(CT) High and were just sick enough to dream she'd be a centerfold one day.

PS: By the way, you can see Ann's pre-bulemia amino acids at:

http://photos2.flickr.com/1 881708_180ba7d24f.jpg

No doubt she took up fencing to shish kebob homeless, disgusting Washingtonians. Seems their ranks have grown as they now include Repugs who find themselves between being forced from office and their next lobbying gig.

by FlyCatcher on 11/14/2006 09:28:57 PM EST

December Playboy Cover featuring Nude Ann Coulter | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)