Ladywriter

15,000 returning from war; one base nearly doubles its mental health staff FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Some 15,000 soldiers are heading home to this sprawling base after spending more than a year at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and military health officials are bracing for a surge in brain injuries and psychological problems among those troops. Facing prospects that one in five of the 101st Airborne Division soldiers will suffer from stress-related disorders, the base has nearly doubled its psychological health staff. Army leaders are hoping to use the base's experiences to assess the long-term impact of repeated deployments. The three 101st Airborne combat brigades, which have begun arriving home, have gone through at least three tours in Iraq. The 3rd Brigade also served seven months in Afghanistan, early in the war. Next spring, the 4th Brigade will return from a 15-month tour in Afghanistan. So far, roughly 10,000 soldiers have come back; the remainder are expected by the end of January. Army leaders say they will closely watch Fort Campbell to determine the proper medical staffing levels needed to aid soldiers who have endured repeated rotations in the two war zones. "I don't know what to expect. I don't think anybody knows," said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, vice chief of staff of the Army, as he flew back to Washington from a recent tour of the base's medical facilities. "That's why I want to see numbers from the 101st's third deployment." What happens with the 101st Airborne, he said, will let the Army help other bases ready for similar homecomings in the next year or two, when multiple brigades from the 4th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division return. Noting that some soldiers in the 101st Airborne units have been to war four or five times, Chiarelli said he is most worried the military will not be able to find enough health care providers to deal effectively with the troops needing assistance. Limited access to help Many of the military bases are near small or remote communities that do not have access to the number of health professionals who might be needed as a great many soldiers return home. More than 63,600 active duty Army soldiers have done three or more tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. That is a nearly 12 percent of the total number of soldiers who have deployed at least once. Roughly four in 10 soldiers who have gone to war have served more than one deployment — and that number is growing steadily. One solution under discussion is the formation of mobile medical and psychological teams that can go to Army bases when they are expecting a surge in activity from returning units. At Fort Campbell, the director of health services, Col. Richard Thomas, has roughly doubled his authorized staff of psychologists and behavioral specialists to 55 and is trying to hire a few more. "I think we have enough staff to meet the demands of the soldiers here, but I could use more, and I'll hire more if I can," said Thomas. "I'll hire them until they tell me to stop." He said he expects the increased staffing levels to last at least through next year. 'They're not bipolar' For the first time, Thomas said, every soldier returning home will have an individual meeting with a behavioral health specialist and then go through a second such session 90 days to 120 days later. The second one is generally the time when indications of stress surface, after the initial euphoria of the homecoming wears off and sleeplessness, nightmares, and other symptoms show up. "We're seeing a lot of soldiers with stress related issues," he said. "They're not bipolar or schizophrenic. But they're deploying three and four times and the stress is tremendous. They're having relationship issues, financial issues, marital problems — all stress related." According to Dr. Bret Logan, deputy commander for managed care at the base, extended war zone stints that have lasted as long as 38 months over the course of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken a severe toll. 1 | 2 | Next >

I didn't figure Whitebeard would back off. I'm surprised Moria showed up, guess he got over his ass kickin. Will Garp make any kinda move to help Ace The last pg of this chapter was teh awesome! Robin n Chopper aint even in the grand line anymore...things are gonna get dicey...

Ikkaku needs to just let it rip yo

and get loaded n set off fireworks

yeah....

rotflmao X'D

GREENPEACE CLIMATE CAMPAIGN Poznan Dear friends, In just a few days, leaders from all over the world will gather in Poznan, Poland to decide on next steps to tackling climate change. At last year's meeting, governments pledged that by December 2009, they would nail down an agreement to achieve the global emission cuts required to keep climate change in check. We're half way to that deadline and it's time for our leaders to get make good on their promise. Join activists from around the world and let government leaders know that the World is Watching. We'll project your photos along with thousands of others during the meeting in Poznan. With your help, we can show real support for action on the climate crisis from citizens around the world. TAKE ACTION: Join us in Poland, submit a photo of yourself today! http://links.mailing.greenpeace.org/ctt?kn=3&m=30622970&r=MTExMjgyOTg5MgS2&b=2&j=NDMzNjI5ODgS1&mt=1&rt=0 Already uploaded your photo? Check out what is going on around the world on December 6th, the Global Day of Climate Action and forward this email your friends. http://links.mailing.greenpeace.org/ctt?kn=2&m=30622970&r=MTExMjgyOTg5MgS2&b=2&j=NDMzNjI5ODgS1&mt=1&rt=0 For the climate, Jess, Lisa, Eoin, Juliette and all of the climate team P.S. Follow what is happening at the Climate Rescue Station in Poland. http://links.mailing.greenpeace.org/ctt?kn=5&m=30622970&r=MTExMjgyOTg5MgS2&b=2&j=NDMzNjI5ODgS1&mt=1&rt=0

I didn't agree with President Bush's decision to invade Iraq. But I am even more disappointed with many Republican senators who repeatedly vote to deny our troops the medical care, protection and equipment they need. Georgia's Saxby Chambliss is one such senator, but he claims to be a supporter of our troops and veterans. Expose Saxby Chambliss's record of failing America's veterans >> http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/ACHM0/XIIq/ANR12 Chambliss is locked in a tight December 2 runoff election with Democrat Jim Martin for his Senate seat, and he's trying to paint himself as a friend to veterans and men and women in the service. But his voting record reveals the truth: * He opposed the Webb Amendment that would guarantee troops time at home between deployments. * He voted against increasing funding for veterans' health care 23 times. * He repeatedly voted against funding armored vehicles, equipment and body armor for troops and military equipment repair. Saxby Chambliss must be upfront with Georgia voters in the days leading up to this race to decide a critical Senate seat! Tell Chambliss: Cease campaigning as a friend to America's veterans and instead address questions on how you've already failed them! >> http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/ACHM0/XIIq/ANR12 Thank you, LiAnna Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team P.S. Have friends or family who are also concerned about Saxby Chambliss's record when it comes to "support" for our troops? Encourage them to sign, too >> http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/ACHna/XIIq/ANR12

BUSH IS PUSHING HARD TO GUT THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT By Ryan Powers, Think Progress Perino: The Endangered Species Act 'doesn't help support any species, including our own.' http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/108017/ The Associated Press reported yesterday that, as part of its long-fought campaign to gut the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Bush administration is pushing a last-minute regulatory change that would significantly weaken the ESA The rules would eliminate the input of federal wildlife scientists in some endangered species cases, [by allowing] the federal agency in charge of building, authorizing or funding a project to determine for itself whether a project would be likely to harm endangered wildlife and plants. At today's White House press conference, a reporter asked if the Associated Press had accurately described the proposed regulatory change. Perino responded first by saying she didn't have the documentation with her, but suggested that the rule change would have little effect because the ESA doesn't help protect "any species, including ours" anyway: PERINO: I don't have [the documentation] with me. I know conceptually what we support. And I know that the Endangered Species Act is a tangled web that doesn't actually help support any species, including our own. ... Q: (Laughter) So you're proposing eliminating it? PERINO: No. Perino's wholesale dismissal of the ESA could not be more inaccurate. Indeed, the law is responsible for saving, among other species, the Grey Wolf, the Grizzly Bear, and perhaps most notably our national bird, the American Bald Eagle. While Perino dismissed the rule change as insignificant, a spokesperson for the National Wildlife Federation explained, "These changes take unbiased, professional wildlife biologists out of the equation and put decisions in the hands of political appointees." More disturbing, however, is how widespread the last-minute assault on the federal government's environmental regulatory structure has become. The White House's other last minute initiatives include: - Eliminating environmental reviews of fishing regulations. A rule change proposed by National Marine Fisheries Service would repeal a requirement that "environmental impact statements be prepared for certain fisheries-management decisions." Instead, the government would "give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests." - Allowing more emissions from power plants. Over the objections of half of its 10 regional administrators, the Environmental Protection Agency is "finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas" by weakening the Clean Air Act. - Opening protected wilderness areas to energy development. Despite being blocked by "federal court and administrative rulings," the Bureau of Land Management is "reviving plans to sell oil and gas leases in pristine wilderness areas in eastern Utah that have long been protected from development." As Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, told the Wall Street Journal, "This administration will stop at nothing to jam through as many reckless proposals as they can before the clock runs out."

Barack Obama delivered a brief video message Wednesday to the Governors' Global Climate Summit in Beverly Hills, Calif., in which he unequivocally affirmed the scientific basis of climate change and vowed to take action on cutting carbon emissions, in spite of the troubled global economy. The president-elect declined, however, to attend next month's climate talks in Poznań, Poland. A number of activists, including Greenpeace and 350.org have been urging him to go, arguing that his presence would send a signal that the United States would is willing to join the rest of the developed world in combating global warming. Obama demurred, saying that "the United States has only one president at a time." But Obama's message nonetheless represents a strong departure from the climate policies of his predecessor. For years, the Bush White House challenged the validity of manmade global warming, with many critics claiming that the administration deliberately prevented climate scientists from disseminating their findings. For Obama, "the science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear." The president-elect promised a federal cap-and-trade system that would mandate that greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020, and then reduced an additional 80 percent by 2050. The government, he said, would invest $15 billion annually "to catalyze private sector efforts to build a clean energy future," a future that includes solar power, wind power, safe nuclear energy, next-generation biofuels, and "clean coal," whatever that means. These efforts, he said, would generate five million new green jobs. Headed by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bipartisan governors' summit brought together environmental officials and activists and oil executives from Europe, India, and China, along with a few governors of other US states, with a goal of drafting a pledge to work together to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Environmentalists welcomed Obama's commitment, which is only the second-major policy announcement made by the president-elect (the other, revealed in a press conference and a 60 Minutes interview, was fixing the economy.) Obama's official transition website, Change.gov, displays statements from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the National Wildlife Federation, and the World Wildlife Fund, all praising the address: "As world leaders gather in the coming weeks in Poland to negotiate a pathway out of the climate crisis, the eyes of the world will be upon America and our newfound resolve to rejoin global efforts," said the National Wildlife Federation's Larry Schweiger. Of course, promising to curb emissions is one thing. Actually curbing them is another matter. Time Magazine notes that the outcome of Obama's cap-and-trade proposal will depend on the outcome of the current horse-trading in Congress For all of Obama's green intentions, however, he can't pass carbon cap-and-trade legislation by fiat -- that will require Congress. Many congressional leaders, including some Democrats from coal-heavy states, remain doubtful about the benefits of mandatory carbon caps, especially with the U.S. drowning economically. One key signal will be the outcome of the battle for leadership of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. The contenders: Representative John Dingell of Michigan, who has defended Detroit from tougher fuel-efficiency standards and stood in the way of action on climate change, and the challenger, Henry Waxman of California, who scores high marks from environmentalists. hvG2XptIEJk for the record there is no such thing as clean coal. Just because we have a lot of it here (after we blow the tops off of mountains destroying ecosystems) doesn't put it on the table and food as fuel while millions starve to death is one of the worst ideas in a long sad history of bad ideas.

I've been watchin it on the news since the story broke yesterday

The swelling numbers waiting outside homeless shelters and food pantries around the country have grown by at least 30 percent since the summer. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/108622/ There are now 36.2 million Americans who cope daily with hunger, up by more than 3 million since 2000, according to the Food Research and Action Center in Washington, D.C. The number of people in the worst-off category -- the hungriest -- rose by 40 percent since 2000, to nearly 12 million people.

holy crap you mean there are ppl that still buy music?

fucking crazy shitz

*barf*

During the presidential campaign, both Senators Obama and McCain touted their support for "clean coal". But they were both missing the point: Conventional coal-burning power plants are the leading cause of global warming pollution in the United States. "Clean Coal" is a myth--a contradiction in terms. Coal companies claim they can develop coal plants at some point in the distant future that will capture and sequester carbon pollution. But carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is unproven and exorbitantly expensive. We need real solutions, not coal industry myths. Use the form below to send a message to President-elect Obama: We need clean, green energy now!

No, not everyone crosses over at death. This is why there are hauntings. Eventually they will cross over but not every single soul goes straight to the other side after death.

maybe he'll end the Ship installment and time skip to these kids as adults fully capable of dealing with serious shit this emo teen bullshit is so turning me away from this series. if i want teenagedramabullshit all I gotta do is stand in my fucking living room the emo and the ignorant dun make good heroes

anybody checked this album out yet? As an old skool GnR fan ... sounds about the same as they did 20 yrs ago

If the entity is a disembodied soul he may need to be told to go to the light/go to God. Not everyone who dies crosses over. A traumatic life or death experience can leave a soul earthbound for insane lengths of time; until they resolve their issue (where the myth of purgatory probably comes from) and cross over.

I am a member/on the mailing list of the following activist groups and media outlets The Huffington Post AlterNet The Nation Earth Justice Downsize DC True Majority Center for Biological Diversity Campaign for Liberty Greenpeace American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) League of Conservation Voters (LCV) 360 Save Our Environment Amnesty International USA Defenders of Wildlife yeah... thats alotta emails I get on a daily basis but being on the mailing lists of these groups I don't have to go looking for the campaigns/news stories that are important to me, they're sent directly to my email. I can't guess how many ecampaigns I've participated in, there have just been so many over the years. It was the constant stream of info into my email that prompted me to create the Take Action and 1408 forums. I try to post what comes my way in the forums or my blog on a daily basis...but I have off days too which is why y'all might wanna check these places and sign up for newsletter/alerts. If anybody has a media or watchdog group I don't have on my list I'm open to suggestions The enviroment and climate destabilization along with human rights and governance are my major concerns. I don't mind joining international or forigen groups as I'd like to be kept informed as to these types of policies on a global scale. So... Ready steady go