Suicides are surging among US troops!

Suicides are surging among US troops


By Robert Burns, AP, Jun 7, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP)—Suicides are surging among America’s troops, averaging nearly one a day this year—the fastest pace in the nation’s decade of war.

The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan—about 50 percent more—according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press.

The numbers reflect a military burdened with wartime demands from Iraq and Afghanistan that have taken a greater toll than foreseen a decade ago. The military also is struggling with increased sexual assaults, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and other misbehavior.

The reasons for the increase are not fully understood. Among explanations, studies have pointed to combat exposure, post-traumatic stress, misuse of prescription medications and personal financial problems. Army data suggest soldiers with multiple combat tours are at greater risk of committing suicide, although a substantial proportion of Army suicides are committed by soldiers who never deployed.

The unpopular war in Afghanistan is winding down with the last combat troops scheduled to leave at the end of 2014. But this year has seen record numbers of soldiers being killed by Afghan troops, and there also have been several scandals involving U.S. troop misconduct.

The 2012 active-duty suicide total of 154 through June 3 compares to 130 in the same period last year, an 18 percent increase. And it’s more than the 136.2 suicides that the Pentagon had projected for this period based on the trend from 2001-2011. This year’s January-May total is up 25 percent from two years ago, and it is 16 percent ahead of the pace for 2009, which ended with the highest yearly total thus far.

The numbers are rising among the 1.4 million active-duty military personnel despite years of effort to encourage troops to seek help with mental health problems. Many in the military believe that going for help is seen as a sign of weakness and thus a potential threat to advancement.

Kim Ruocco, widow of Marine Maj. John Ruocco, a helicopter pilot who hanged himself in 2005 between Iraq deployments, said he was unable to bring himself to go for help.

“He was so afraid of how people would view him once he went for help,” she said in an interview at her home in suburban Boston. “He thought that people would think he was weak, that people would think he was just trying to get out of redeploying or trying to get out of service, or that he just couldn’t hack it—when, in reality, he was sick. He had suffered injury in combat and he had also suffered from depression and let it go untreated for years. And because of that, he’s dead today.”

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Chariots in the Red Sea!

Chariots in the Red Sea


By Joe Kovacs, WND, June 7, 2012

A news report that stunned the world nine years ago about the discovery of possible ancient chariot wheels at the bottom of the Red Sea is suddenly gaining fresh attention with new video claiming “irrefutable evidence” that corroborates the find.

In June 2003, WND interviewed Bible enthusiasts who dove the waters of the Red Sea, alleging they found and photographed parts of chariots that may be the actual remains of the catastrophe brought upon the Egyptian army which pursued the Israelites, according to the Book of Exodus in the Bible.

“I am 99.9 percent sure I picked up a chariot wheel,” said Peter Elmer, a forklift mechanic from Keynsham, England, who made two diving trips to the Gulf of Aqaba branch of the sea. “It was covered in coral.”

“I believe I actually sat in an ancient chariot cab,” he told WND at the time, referring to his time exploring a submerged item in the underwater junkyard. “Without question, it is most definitely the remains of the Egyptian army.”

Now, Michael Rood, a Hebrew-roots teacher, has produced a video proffering evidence Elmer is absolutely correct.

His DVD, titled “The Red Sea Crossing,” documents the work of numerous researchers from the U.S. and overseas who have probed an underwater land bridge between a beachhead at Nuweiba, Egypt, and what is today Saudi Arabia.

“What they found strewn across the bottom of the reed sea has shaken the religious and scientific community,” says Rood. “Cameras, mounted on remote-controlled submarines, revealed coral-encrusted chariot parts, horse and human remains strewn like battlefield wreckage on the bottom of the reed sea.”

He uses the term “reed sea” instead of Red Sea, as that’s the literal translation of the words “yam suph” in Holy Scripture, referring to the body of water God miraculously opened for the ancient Israelites to cross on dry land, before drowning the Egyptians in hot pursuit.

“Even a novice can readily see that these are not natural coral formations,” Rood said, showing a variety of circular shapes he insists are chariot wheels, some with axles still intact.

He gave special attention to a single gold-veneered, four-spoked chariot wheel that was photographed and buried in place with a marker buoy nearby.

“Because coral does not attach to gold or silver, this priceless specimen remains untarnished by time,” he said, calling it “strong evidence that this is actually one of the two chariot wheels that the pharaoh rode to his death.”

Rood also explained giant pillars have been found on both sides of the crossing to mark the event. One was discovered eroded on the Egyptian shore by the late American archaeologist Ron Wyatt. Later, another was located on the Arabian side with “the legible remains of ancient paleo-Hebrew inscriptions.”

He says the words for pharaoh, death, Egypt, King Solomon and the sacred name of God, YHWH, are all present on the second pillar.

“King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, knew exactly where the children of Israel made their escape just 500 years before, and so he established pillars to memorialize the yam suph crossing,” said Rood.

He points out the depth of water of would make it impossible for a crossing to have taken place anywhere with the exception of the shallow land bridge at Nuweiba.

“If the water were to be removed, it would still be impossible to cross this chasm, which is as deep and wide as the Grand Canyon in Arizona,” Rood said.

“But,” he added, “at the beach where Israel camped, an underwater land bridge gently slopes at a 6-degree angle, levels out at about 900 feet, and then gradually rises to meet the western shore of Midian.

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Starlight & Time- Dr. Russell Humphreys

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Disproving Evolution in 82 seconds

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Dr. Russell Humphreys- Starlight & Time!

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Excerpts from Psalm 9

Psalm of David:

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart;... I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High... for thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them. But the Lord will endure forever: he hath prepared his throne for judgement. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgement to the people in uprightness.

The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing praises to the Lord, .. declare among the people his doings... He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

Have mercy upon me , O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer... I will rejoice in thy salvation. The Lord is known by the judgement which he executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail... Put them in fear, O lord; that the nations may know themselves to be but men.

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Accepting the Judge- Dr. Timothy Keller

A talk by Dr. Timothy Keller about the justice and judgment side of God’s nature, reconciled with the love and mercy of Jesus. Ultimately, Jesus is the judge who gets down off the judgment bench and comes down to the dock, weeping for you. Good points about how to live with integrity and yet humility, “knowing that a judgment day is coming, but you have already been judged by the Judge who was judged for you.” Run time is 45 minutes.

(Note: The streaming version of this audio seems to have some glitches in that it goes back and repeats partway through. But you can download the file and then it works perfectly.)

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Spain Holds Trump Card in Bank Bailout Negotions

By Nicholas Kulish and Raphael Minder, NY Times, June 6, 2012

BERLIN—The bargaining has begun over a deal to rescue Spain’s ailing banks, confronting Europe with urgent choices about whether to try to enforce onerous bailout terms on Madrid as the crisis spreads to the region’s largest economies.

The question has seemingly become one of when, and not if, Spain’s banks will receive assistance from European countries, with investors on Wednesday predicting an imminent rescue and pushing up stocks and bonds on both sides of the Atlantic.

Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy, is too big to fail and possibly too big to steamroll, changing the balance of power in negotiations over a bailout. Political leaders in Madrid are insisting that emergency aid to their banks avoid the stigma in capital markets that has hobbled countries like Greece, Portugal and Ireland after accepting tough rescue terms. They are also fighting to slow the pace of austerity and economic change that have pushed those smaller countries into deeper recessions.

Spain has the added advantage of seeking help in a changed political environment in which calls for growth have begun to outweigh German insistence on austerity. Unlike Greece, Spain’s government did not run large budget deficits before the crisis, giving it leverage to argue that European aid to its banks should not come weighed down with a politically delicate loss of decision-making power over its own economic and fiscal policies.

Madrid’s trump card in this latest game of euro-zone poker is that the consequences of a Spanish default and exit from the euro zone would probably be so catastrophic that policy makers in Berlin will be willing to bend their bailout rules for Spain, and are on the verge of doing just that.

German officials have said they are prepared to weather a Greek exit from the euro if necessary, but no such claims are made about Spain. As such, Spanish leaders, who feel Madrid has already made many painful changes and spending cuts, are holding out for a deal that requires only a tightening of oversight on the financial sector and no strings attached to the country’s budget powers.

The wrangling over Spain underlines the way the European Union stumbles to solutions for each problem as it arises. Frustration has grown over the uncertainty afflicting the global economy as a result of Europe’s instability and the toll it takes on an already slowing growth rate.

“The strategy of plugging holes only works for so long,” said Friedrich Mostböck, chief economist and head of research for the Erste Group in Vienna. “Eventually, you come to the point where a common euro area requires a common fiscal policy.”

The ultimate solution will hinge on Germany and how much its leaders are willing to bend. Berlin has an incentive to get the Spanish problem under control before Greek parliamentary elections on June 17, to help contain contagion in the event of instability after the vote, said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank.

“I’m naïvely optimistic that it would be good to have the Spanish problem solved before the Greek election,” he said, “and my impression is the relevant policy makers think the same.”

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Study examines vocational certificates´ big rewards!

By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY, June 6, 2012

Good news for new high school graduates who don’t think college-level algebra or freshman English is their thing. A study released Wednesday finds that certificates awarded through short-term vocational training programs can reap a bigger payoff than a bachelor’s degree.

It’s more true for men than women, for Hispanics than blacks. And technology fields are more lucrative than, say, cosmetology. But generally, short-term degree programs that focus on specific occupations can be “the fastest, cheapest way to get a job that pays,” says Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Certificates also have grown in popularity, particularly in the South and West, says the report, based on four federal data sets. One million certificates were awarded in 2010, up from 300,000 in 1994, the researchers found. Of all college degrees and credentials awarded in 2010, they calculated that certificates represented 22%.

Yet the credential is rarely counted in government surveys looking at educational attainment, the report notes.

“This an element that deserves more focus and attention than it’s gotten,” says Jamie Merisotis, president of the non-profit Lumina Foundation, which is seeking to increase the number of Americans who complete college degrees—or other credentials beyond the high school diploma.

Typically offered through community or technical college, for-profit college or nonprofit organization, certificate programs typically recognize completion of a course of study based on a specific field, such as auto mechanics, drafting and electronics. They don’t usually involve industry-based exams to prove mastery of a particular skill.

The center’s analysis confirms that average earnings for U.S. workers increased as their level of education rises. On average, workers who hold a certificate earned 20% more than workers with only a high school diploma. But certificate-holders earned more than some workers holding bachelor’s degrees:

•Male certificate holders earn more than 40% of men with associate’s degrees and 24% of men with bachelor’s degrees. Female certificate holders earn more than 34% of women with associate’s degrees and 24% of women with bachelor’s degrees.

•Men who work in computer and information services earn about $72,500 a year, which is more than what 72% of men with an associate’s degree and 54% of men with a bachelor’s degree earn. Women in that same field earn $56,664, which is more than what 75% of women with an associate’s degree and 64% of women with a bachelor’s degree earn.

About a third of certificate holders eventually earn either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, the study shows. It also suggests that more employers are placing a higher value on short-term credentials, says Jonathan Robe, spokesman for the non-profit Center for College Affordability and Productivity. “My takeaway (from the study) was there are a lot of students who are looking for alternatives to traditional college education,” he says.

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If Not You, Then Who?

By Ron White, June 6, 2012

It was a little after midnight some time ago and I was heading home after having dinner with a friend. One hand was checking my text messages on my cell phone and the other steering my direction. One eye glanced at my phone—in retrospect an unsafe move—and the other monitored the road and my path. In the next instant, I witnessed the life of a middle-aged woman I had never met change before my eyes.

One moment her minivan was steady in front of me and the next second she was bouncing off cars, jerking back and forth, then slamming into a concrete barrier. It was, without question, the most violent and horrific accident I have ever watched unfold. Perhaps she was checking her cell phone, had too much to drink or simply misjudged her distance between cars. Regardless, her life transformed from enjoying her ride and possibly singing along with her favorite tune on the radio to ending in a mangled wreck as cars continued to pass.

I pulled over and for a brief second stood in horror at the destruction that lay before me. Others pulled over as well and we all froze like statues as we looked at the mess. No one rushed to the car. Would it explode? The engine was running at a high idle and smoke was everywhere. When I realized no one was rushing to the car, I asked myself, “If not you, then who?” I darted to the car and at the last minute couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t bring myself to open the car door. What would I see? Would it be a twisted and bloody body? Would it be a body of a deceased driver? Would it be a baby thrown from a car seat? I have never been so scared to open a car door as I was that night.

I knocked on the window, hoping beyond hope that the driver would open the door.

Knock, knock… no answer. Knock, knock… no answer….

I peered in the window to see if I could see someone, still not wanting to open the door. I saw no driver and thus knew they must be slumped down in the seat. I was scared to death and slowly opened the door and as I took in one of the deepest breaths of my life….

It was a middle-aged woman with a body twisted and contorted in the most unnatural position. Blood came from her mouth and her body bore the marks of a brutal fight with an automobile.

“What is your name?” I asked.

“Laurie,” was the barely audible reply.

“Well, Laurie you are okay, you are going to be fine; help is on the way. They will be here in a minute….”

I placed my hand on Laurie’s side and looked at the only part of her body not harmed by the accident. That was her eyes. We looked each other straight in the eye for what seemed like an eternity. With all that I was, I wanted her to see in my eyes that she was safe and going to be okay, although I believed neither. Her grateful eyes replied without speaking that she was hurting and scared to death.

Soon other travelers made it to the car, not really to help Laurie but just to get a look at her. Within minutes paramedic help had arrived and I stepped back from the car and wanted to get out of there as fast as I could. I did not want to talk to the police, bystanders or paramedics. I just wanted to leave and leave now. I did just that as I sprinted to my truck. I slammed my door and sped away as I wondered how she would be. I will never know….

Yet, what I do know is that a dozen people could have held Laurie’s hand that night and comforted her with their words and eyes, but human nature often doesn’t implore us to do that. Human nature too often spurs us to wait and let someone else get involved, let someone else take action and simply let someone else live life.

Are you standing on the sidelines of life? Or are you diving in with the ‘If not you, then who?’ attitude?

In regard to:

Making a difference in your community—If not you, then who?

Achieving your dreams—If not you, then who?

You can live life watching others take action. Or you can watch others live life and watch from the sidelines. That is often the safe move, yet never the move of someone destined for success on the wheels of living.

Someone will make a million dollars, someone will make a difference in your community, someone will build a successful business and someone will achieve their dreams. Who will it be? It will be the person who steps off the sidelines and moves toward action when others are paralyzed with fear. Overcome your fears and run toward what stands before you. Will you still be scared? Most likely, yes. But just take a deep breath and open the door….

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