Scoop’s Views

With 2008 suicide rates expected to exceed last year’s all-time-high rate and threatening to top those in the civilian population, the Army is stepping up efforts to get Soldiers and their leaders to look out for each other’s well-being and to take the stigma out of seeking mental-health help.

Sixty-two active-duty Soldiers, most of them junior enlisted members, committed suicide so far this calendar year, Col. Eddie Stephens, the Army’s deputy director for human resource policy, told reporters today during a Pentagon roundtable. The armed forces medical examiner is investigating another 31 suspected cases to determine if they will be classified as suicides.

Tags: ACE, active duty soldiers, American Forces Press Service, armed forces medical examiner, Army family, Army Reserve units, Ask Care Escort, battle buddies, battlefield, behavioral health care, Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, civilian population, Col. Eddie Stephens, Donna Miles, financial difficulties, intervene, intervention, junior enlisted members, leaders, legal issues, mental health help, National Guard units, National Suicide Prevention Week, occupational and operational issues, Pentagon, problems, relationships, risk factors, Shoulder to Shoulder No Soldier Stands Alone, soldiers, strength, stresses, suicide awareness training, suicide rates, U.S. Army, warning signs, weakness, World Suicide Prevention Day

Words. Nothing but words is what it comes down to from U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) who is cheering about the U.S. Senate passing an apology, tacked on to the Indian Health Bill, that was approved last week.

Mere words, nothing else, yet Brownback thinks the forked tongue the White Man, let alone politicians, are known to have, is going to help restore the relationship between the United States and Native Americans. Don’t make me laugh.

Tags: amendments, American Indians, apology, blood quantum, blood tests, broken treaties, Cherokee, Chippewa, citizenship, Congress, Cree, dishonorable dealings, healing, Indian Health bill, indian tribes, Lakota, mistreatment, Native Americans, Oneida, past failures, reconciliation, regrets, relationships, roll cards, Sen. Sam Brownback, Soiux, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate

It seems Esquire magazine has nothing better to do than to come up with a list of “59 Things A Man Should Never Do Past 30″ in an attempt, I am guessing, to fill space in its pages.

Tags: 30+, 30-plus, men, over 30, relationships, what not to do, what to do, Women