The suicide of a transgender teen from Ohio — who wrote an anguished note pleading, "Fix society" before walking into the path of a truck — has struck a chord across the country.
Others who have transitioned from one gender to another took to Twitter to post their stories under the hashtag #RealLiveTransAdult. An advocacy group called for a national effort to ban "conversion therapy." And an online petition calling for the teen's family to use her chosen name on her tombstone has gathered 35,000 signatures.
A veteran protests the veteran suicide rate, which just jumped from 18 to 22 a day
Almost once an hour – every 65 minutes to be precise – a military veteran commits suicide, says a new investigation by the Department of Veterans Affairs. By far the most extensive study of veteran suicides ever conducted, the report, issued Friday, examined suicide data from 1999 to 2010.
The data was then compared with a previous investigation – primarily an estimation – that had been conducted over the same time period, and had found a suicide rate of 18 per day.
Many of these suicides involve older veterans; 69 percent of the suicides recorded were by veterans age 50 and older. But another way to look at this is that 31 percent of these suicides were by veterans 49 and younger. In other words,by men in the prime of life.
And then there are the shockingly common active duty suicides. Just two weeks ago, the military released data showing that suicides among those on active duty hit a record high in 2012. There were 349 suicides among active duty personnel – almost one a day. That means there are now more suicides among active duty soldiers than there are combat deaths.
I’m not a statistician, but the information released about how the data were gathered suggests that these numbers may still be considerably underestimated. Suicides often go unreported as cause of death due to the stigma. And the data collected were from just 21 states, because these are the only states in which military status is listed on the death certificate. They were then extrapolated to apply to all 50 states.
Veteran Suicide, An Underreported Epidemic
Companion dog programs ease depression
Veteran suicide is not a new issue – the various branches of the military have been raising awareness and increasing proactive treatment programs for veteran suicide for the past couple of years. But that’s partly what makes the new reports so upsetting – they appear to show that veteran suicides remain undeterred by current efforts.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has a new crisis line and website with multiple avenues, including text and online chat, for those contemplating suicide to reach out. The site also offers extensive information and resources for families and friends to help them spot the warning signs of depression and suicidal thinking and take action.
ccording to this week’s press release, the crisis line has already resulted in saving 26,000 veterans from suicide. That’s wonderful news – except that the fact that 26,000 vets are actively suicidal is deeply disturbing.
President Obama signed an executive order on August 31st authorizing the VA to hire additional staff and double the capacity of the crisis line. Let’s hope that helps.
It’s important to note that the suicide rate overall in the United States has been rising, and veterans actually make up fewer suicide cases proportionately than they did 25 years ago. While the suicide rate in the U.S. has risen 31 percent since 1999, the rate among veterans has risen 22 percent in the same period. So according to calculations offered in a New York Times report, the percentage of the nation’s suicides that involve veterans is now 21 percent, down from 25 percent in 1999.
But yikes – whether the number is one in five or one in four, it’s still pretty shocking that veterans make up such a high proportion of suicides in this country. Veterans affairs experts explain this by saying that veterans fall into high-risk groups for suicide, which include being male, having access to guns, and living in a rural area, but those factors don’t seem to come close to accounting for such a high rate.
I covered this subject previously as part of a report about service dogs and how they are helping veterans cope with depression and mental illness. One statistic that veterans’ groups offered at the time: for every veteran killed by enemy combattants, 25 veterans kill themselves.
But note: that comparison was based on the prior suicide data, so today’s comparison would be even more extreme. Here’s hoping the new campaign of public awareness and new efforts to investigate veteran suicide will result in greater access to mental health services for all veterans.
Psychedelic Science: The surge in psychiatric research using hallucinogens
Dr Timothy Leary, a former Harvard Professor charged with illegal possession of marijuana, during a debate about the effects of psychedelic drugs. Leary claimed that teenage use of LSD was getting out of control.KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES
Research into the therapeutic potential of illegal "psychedelic" drugs to treat an assortment of mainstream mental health conditions is undergoing a modern-day renaissance.
LSD and other hallucinogens, once confined to the lab, exploded into mainstream culture after the pied-piper of psychedelics, Timothy Leary, urged a generation to try LSD and other hallucinogens as a way to "turn on, tune in, drop out." Many followed his advice, some with bad results. And that triggered a backlash that led the federal government to criminalize psychedelic drugs in 1970.
"There is this tendency when drugs become criminalized for their non-medical use, their medical use then subsequently also becomes suppressed," says Doblin.
But since early 2000, a new willingness to look again at these drugs has shifted the research landscape. And thanks to the fundraising efforts of MAPS and the Heffter Research Institute, modern-day psychedelics studies are now happening at top academic research facilities, including Johns Hopkins University, New York University, the University of New Mexico and UCLA.
"These agents have very broad applicability within psychiatry and can be used for mood disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders," says Dr. Stephen Ross, a psychiatrist and psychedelics researcher at NYU School of Medicine. "They can be used for so many things that our treatment have not improved in recent years."
But the drugs are powerful and must be used with caution, especially since it's believed they can exacerbate serious mental conditions, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. However, used in a supervised setting with trained therapists, these drugs have the potential to offer properly-screened patients much-needed new treatment options.
"We are not at all referencing our work to the recreational drug-use world, which is rife with potential risks," says Dr. Charles Grob, director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and a pioneer in modern-day psychedelics research. "We are talking about developing a new model ... to be used within medicine and psychiatry."
Grob says psychedelics offer a rather unusual paradigm in which many patients are reporting relief with as few as one or two supervised applications of the drugs, used in conjunction with limited psychotherapy.
"This is very different than conventional drug treatment, which, more often than not, administers a drug on a daily basis for weeks, months and even years," Grob says.
And research into these drugs is a bit less conventional as well. Because the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classifies these illegal drugs as "Schedule One" substances — considered risky with "no currently accepted medical use" — scientists must adhere to strict protocols when researching them. Those include rules on how the drugs are used, handled and stored.
But a greater challenge remains financing. So far, the government has yet to fund research into psychedelics. That leaves private donations as the sole source of funding.
Scientists in this field say they believe as more evidence into the varied uses for these drugs is collected and published the government will be more likely to grant research funding requests.
And as more time passes, Grob says, the stigma brought on by the excesses of 1960s counterculture will further fade.
"The '60s are long over. As the Moody Blues used to sing, 'Timothy Leary is dead'…and many of those with whom he fought have also exited," Grob says, "It's a new world and there is a greater need than ever for more effective treatment models for individuals for whom our conventional treatment models are often sorely lacking.
A man was shot and killed by a police officer Tuesday in Berkeley, Missouri, authorities said – sparking new unrest in a region already reeling following an August police shooting in Ferguson, which is located about two miles away.
The shooting happened at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday at a Mobil gas station, St. Louis County Police public information officer Sgt. Brian Schellman said.
According to Schellman, the officer noticed two males on the side of the gas station building and approached, when one of the men pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officer.
“Fearing for his life, the Berkeley Officer fired several shots, striking the subject, fatally wounding him,” Schellman said in a statement.
The shooting is under investigation, and the deceased man’s handgun was recovered, Schellman said. The victim’s identity has not been released.
Michael Brown, 18, was killed in the August shooting in Ferguson. A grand jury declined to bring charges against the officer, Darren Wilson, who fatally shot the unarmed teen.
WASHINGTON — It has been a tough year for the Hillary Rodham Clinton juggernaut.
Her record as secretary of state was undercut by the rise of the Islamic State and a breakdown in relations with Russia. Her much-awaited book didn’t sell many copies. Her face graced the cover of this year’s worst-selling issue of People magazine.
Then, during the last few weeks, a different juggernaut erupted — a liberal campaign to persuade Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren to run for president.
One group, MoveOn.org, is spending $1 million on a “Run Warren Run” effort and recently sent troops to the first-caucus state of Iowa. A second team, Democracy for America, has bolted from its pro-Clinton founder and is using $250,000 on a similar pro-Warren effort.
Clinton still appears likely to clinch a nomination, particularly if Warren keeps her pledge not to run. But the difficulties of 2014 are casting her race in a different light, raising questions about liberal dissatisfaction with her record and whether a leftward shift would hurt her in a general election.
“There are a lot of unchecked boxes with Hillary Clinton when it comes to economic populism and corporate accountability,” said Adam Green, cofounder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal group. “There are definitely red flags.”
He cited pricey speaking fees that Clinton received at two events for Goldman Sachs, a Wall Street investment bank, and questions about her position on numerous policies that affect the middle class, such as a long-shot hope to expand Social Security benefits.
The group, while not part of the draft effort, has sent an organizer to New Hampshire in hopes of creating a coalition that ensures that candidates carry Warren’s message.
At the very least, these liberal groups hope to use her momentum to push Clinton in a direction more aligned with a populist agenda.
“We absolutely would welcome Secretary Clinton laying out an energizing and bold agenda on the issues MoveOn members care about and Senator Warren cares about,” said Ben Wikler, Washington director of MoveOn.org.
In a sign of increased agitation with the Warren dynamic, a Clinton adviser recently met with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said cofounder Green, confirming a report first aired by MSNBC. He declined to provide details.
Democracy for America helps showcase the divide among activists. While the liberal group is pushing for Warren, founder Howard Dean favors Clinton.
“I am convinced if you put the facts in front of Hillary Clinton, she would see the facts, she would understand the issue, and she would do the right thing,” said Dean, a former Vermont governor and past chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Many Democrats still flock to Clinton. More than 80 percent said they would support her in a presidential bid, according to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. But 71 percent of all voters surveyed said they want the next president to take a different approach to the White House.
Warren’s recent successes have propelled her popularity among liberals. She nearly derailed a big spending bill over a provision that she said would water down financial regulations. She has also taken on the White House by opposing Obama’s nominee for a Treasury undersecretary, Antonio Weiss, largely due to his Wall Street ties.
Supporters shrug at Warren’s insistence that she is not running in 2016 and note that she puts her dismissals in present tense. She has pledged to complete her term, which ends in January 2019. Clinton has signaled she will run but has not given a final decision.
Clinton has stayed silent on Warren’s latest maneuvers. But supporters are setting her up as a liberal figure in her own right.
“There’s such an impressive record in Hillary’s life and across the span of her career supporting and promoting opportunities for middle-class families, for women, and children,” said Tracy Sefl, a senior adviser for Ready for Hillary, a political action committee that is not affiliated with Clinton but has raised more than $12 million to encourage a presidential bid.
Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Clinton, said the two women have long fought for the same ideals.
Asked about the impact of Warren’s rise on a potential Clinton bid, he said via e-mail, “We need more people like Elizabeth Warren and those she inspires fighting for them.”
Clinton channeled the Massachusetts senator in October, when she spoke at a Boston event aimed at saving Martha Coakley’s faltering Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that, you know, it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs,” she said, echoing a theme often sounded by Warren. Republicans denounced her remarks as liberal pandering, and she backed away from them days later saying she had “shorthanded” her comments.
But some of the enthusiasm Clinton generated when she first ran for president in 2008 has waned.
A speech she gave at Georgetown University this month filled a little more than half the auditorium.
Her autobiography, a 656-page tome titled “Hard Choices,” has yet to sell enough copies to meet a reported $14 million advance.
And people still wince at Clinton’s comment last June that she and her husband left the White House “dead broke.”
Some supporters fear this erosion of Clinton’s image, especially when encouraged by members of her own party, will hurt Democratic chances of winning the White House.
“My concern is anytime you leave your base, you run the risk of Republicans pursuing,” said Lou D’Allesandro, a longtime New Hampshire state senator and Clinton ally. “But if [Clinton] decides to run, it will be tough to unlodge her.”
The pair aren’t exactly chummy.
Warren called out Clinton in her book, “The Two-Income Trap,” for approving bankruptcy legislation as a New York senator that Warren believed would harm working families.
But Warren has said she backs a Clinton run. And Clinton has sought to make friends. “I love watching Elizabeth give it to those who deserve to get it,” she said at the Coakley event.
Liberals are banking on the Warren focus to pay off even if she doesn’t run.
Clinton “isn’t a turn-off as much as an insurance policy,” said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic political analyst in Boston. “This is much more about getting Hillary Clinton to embrace these conditions than watching Elizabeth Warren on a campaign for the White House.”
Kevin Johnson, Oren Dorell and Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY10:08 p.m. EST December 17, 2014
WASHINGTON — Hours after an announcement that U.S. authorities determined North Korea was behind the recent cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, the entertainment company announced it was pulling the release of the film The Interview.
The comedy about journalists who score an interview with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was scheduled for a Dec. 25 release.
"Sony Pictures has no further release plans for the film," according to a statement from the company.
Sony also removed any mention of the movie from its website by Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier Wednesday, a federal law enforcement official offered the news about North Korea.
The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a formal announcement of attribution by the U.S. government could come as soon as Thursday.
U.S. investigators believe the attacks originated outside North Korea, but they have determined that the actions were sanctioned by North Korean leaders, a second U.S. official said Wednesday.
The U.S. government is not prepared to issue formal charges against North Korea or its leadership, but the official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said a lesser statement of attribution is expected..
U.S. investigators had moved quickly toward a determination in recent days, indicating this week that attribution was imminent.
Addressing the matter last week, FBI Director James Comey said the attack was very "complicated'' and the government wanted to be sure "before we make an attribution that we have high confidence in it.''
Sony was hit by hackers Nov. 24. A glowing red skeleton appeared on screens throughout the Culver City, Calif.-based Sony subsidiary.
The hack apparently was in response to the planned release of The Interview, which featured James Franco and Seth Rogen as tabloid TV journalists. As they prepare to travel to the secretive North Korea, they're recruited by the CIA to assassinate Kim.
Tuesday, the hackers, who call themselves the Guardians of Peace, posted a message threatening a 9/11 type attack on theaters that showed the movie.
While making the film, Sony representatives met with Assistant Secretary Daniel Russell of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs and other State Department officials to discuss U.S. policy in Asia, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. She did not detail their conversations.
Psaki would not confirm reports that Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, relayed messages to Sony about the movie. King "did not view the movie and did not have any contact directly with Sony," she said.
Psaki said the department had no "credible information to support these threats" against theaters showing the film.
The hacking has had other, massive repercussions for the media giant. Almost 38 million files were stolen and doled out on file-sharing websites.
Files included the screening versions of five Sony films, the script to the most recent James Bond movie, embarrassing e-mails between studio executives, salary data and personal information about Sony staff.
During the three weeks since the attack, an ongoing question has been "Why?"
Historically, hackers have either stolen intellectual property as part of an industrial espionage campaign or grabbed personal data to sell.
An attack that merely posted material, much of which could have been sold for large amounts of money on the black market, is unprecedented.
After entering and copying much of the Sony network, the hackers released malicious software, or malware, that infected Sony's computers and was extremely destructive.
"Its job was not just to erase files but to destroy them," said Tom Kellermann, a computer security expert with Trend Micro.
This sort of behavior hadn't been seen much since the 1990s, when "script kiddies" copied computer programs they didn't actually understand and used them merely to wreak havoc.
"Back then, we saw this a lot, people jumping in, messing up a network and jumping out, but there was no financial gain. It was just 'Ha ha, look what I did!' " Kellermann said.
North Korea has been suspected of employing hacking attacks against groups it disagreed with, including South Korean media outlets and banks.
