Veterans and Active Duty Military Suicide Rates 2012

Recently a study published in the American Journal of Public Health finds that suicides have replaced car accidents as the leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S. This is in part because deaths from automobile accidents are down; well that part is good but does not tell the whole story: between 2000 and 2009 deaths by suicide went up by 15%.  

Professor Ian Rockett, an epidemiologist at West Virginia University says, “Suicides are terribly undercounted; I think the problem is much worse than official data would lead us to believe.” He added “there may be 20 percent or more unrecognized suicides…Many of the poisoning deaths may actually be intended, he added. A lot of these deaths are due from overdoses of prescription drugs. ”  Furthermore Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology said, "Both global and national increases in the number and rate of suicides through 2009, and as even more recent data indicates, through 2010, should concern all of us."

Now I am not going into the why very deep, it may be the hard economy, the way society has changed in the past 40 years or so, or people give too much credence to their sadness and surrender to their own feeling of hopelessness.   For the most part I say that it is their own decision, and let them have at it. I know "a permanent solution to a temporary problem", but temporary pain can drive some to extreme solutions, between the devil and the deep blue sea so to speak.  What I do want to explore is the correlation between the general population’s suicide rates, and those of Veterans and active duty military committing suicide.

"Military suicides have increased since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan", according to a Center for a New American Security Suicide report.  "In the fiscal year 2009 alone, 1,868 veterans of these wars have made suicide attempts", according to armytimes.com.  And you read things like this, “The epidemic is raging among those who are currently serving too. From 2005 to 2010, approximately one service member committed suicide every 36 hours, the CNAS study revealed.”   This raise in the rate of suicide is generally attributed to PTSD, and some of it may rightly be, but how much is caused by the same problems that everyone else is burdened with? 

“It (was) found that veterans were more than twice as likely to commit suicide in 2005 than non-vets. (Veterans committed suicide at the rate of between 18.7 to 20.8 per 100,000, compared to other Americans, who did so at the rate of 8.9 per 100,000.)”  CBS News.

This is a problem of sets, subsets, and overlapping subsets.  The set is the general population, the two subsets are 1- suicides without a military connection connection, and 2- suicides with a military connection.  It should be obvious that there is an overlay between subset 1 and 2.

To explore this let us assume the rates proffered by CBS to be true, but then let us also assume that 8.9 percent commented suicide for the same reason as the general population, this is the overlapping of the two subsets.  That leave the remaining Veterans who decide to end it at a 9.8 rate.  Now compare the non-overlapping portions of the two subsets:  8.9 for the general population, and 9.8 for the military non-overlapped subset. This is only 1.1 percent higher than the general population, hardly twice the rate proclaimed.  Good?  No, but the picture is not near as bleak as the media would have you believe.  The higher unemployment rate for Vets may help explain the different for this 1.1 percent, maybe they feel more guilt than the others did, the truth is only the one who does the act knows, and maybe not even them.  

One could decide to study the affect of serving on the rate of alcoholism as a result of having served.  If the study found that 6 percent of those who had served suffered with alcoholism would it be fair to say that this rate of alcoholism was due solely to serving when the general population has a alcoholism rate of 5 percent?  No, it would be the differences between those who served and the general population that could be attributed to having served.  If the study found that only 4 percent of the military were alcoholic then the 1 percent differences could be ascribed to having served, you would not blame the military for the 4 percent.

Now the people at CBS and other media outlets are at least as smart as I, and they know how they are projecting their stories to further their agenda.  They are concerned, imo, with painting the Military in a bad light, hard and uncaring of the troops, there agenda, as far as I can make out, it to persuade Americans that the Peace Corps is a much better choice than the US Military.  Now if they are not pushing this agenda and truly believe that the military is causing the troops, present and past duty, to commit suicide at twice the rate of the non-military population they need to go take a course is Set Theory!

Spend More Money Of Course

For the last 40 years or longer I have been hearing how we must improve our schools, how we must give them more funding so they can give the kids a good education, and we have, gave them more money that is.  In 2008-09, state, federal and local expenditures for K-12 public education totaled $12.2 billion on a student population of 1.4 million.  In spite of this according to the Department of Public Instruction data, only 70 percent of 9th grade students who enrolled as freshmen in 2005-06, graduated four years later in 2008-09.

Cost of a High School Diploma in North Carolina’s 10 Largest local education agencies (LEAs):

Table I High School Diploma: How Much Does it Cost? Ten Largest LEAs in North Carolina
LEA	(A) Total  of Ave. Annual Expenditures Per Pupil, K-12 (1996-97-2008-09) (Inflation Adjusted Dollars)	(B) 4 Yr. Graduation Rate  2008-09	(C) Cost of High School Diploma (A/B) (Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)
Cabarrus	$85,092	72.9	$116,724
Char.-Mecklenburg	$101,586	66.6	$152,531
Cumberland	$89,740	71.3	$125,862
Durham	$124,321	62.9	$197,648
Forsyth	$102,379	70.8	$144,603
Gaston	$86,970	72.3	$120,290
Guilford	$101,585	79.5	$127,779
Johnston	$90,629	75.1	$120,667
Union	$85,123	77.2	$110,262
Wake	$96,277	78.8	$122,178
Median of Ten Largest LEAs	$93,453	72.6	$122,478

This data is from the Education Statistics Access System (ESAS), available on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction web site.

This average, per student cost figures only reflect normal operating expenses. It does not include the costs of capital expenses, debt services, equipment purchases, transportation costs or the cost of community service programs.  Adding in these costs will raise per pupil spending another 25 percent or so. This with North Carolina ranking  45th in the nation in per-student spending on public schools in 2010, according to a U.S. Census Bureau.  We spend an average of $8,409 per-student in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, according to the report. That compares to national per-student spending of $10,615.

In spite of all this spending 2012’s nationwide high school seniors have the worst SAT reading score since 1972; with a of scored 486 on reading, out of a possible 800. In writing, students also dropped dramatically, down to 488. That’s a nine-point drop since 2006. Reading scores haven’t improved since the ‘60s.   So what do you reckon they are going to do to fix it?  What else but ask for more money?

70 percent graduation rate, what about the 30 percent that do not make it?  Flip buggers?  Welfare?  Crime?  Live with Mom and Dad for the rest of their lives?  Whatever it is I know that you doubt that most not fare as well as those who completes high school.  Being a high school dropout is not the end of the world; I was a high school dropout who after failing the 10th grade quit and went into the Marines, that rout is out now that the Marines require a high school diploma to enlist.  Sometime after getting discharged I got a GED, used that and the G.I. Bill to go to college and how hold a Master Degree and two undergraduate Bachelors of Science.  So no being a high school dropout is not a dead end, and many kids who do drop out will, like I, find a path to success.

It is the poor quality of skills that they are letting the graduates leave school with that concerns me, so bad that colleges are more and more requiring remedial courses in reading, writing, and math before the student is allowed to continue their education.  So what are we going to do about it?

The Just And The Unjust

That which is born

Dies.

No explanation point

Just a period.

~

Whether it goes

With a whimper

Or a bang,

It goes.

~

Death comes to the just

And to the unjust.

To the kind

And to the cruel.

~

Alas, all good things must pass,

But blessed be,

So must all the bad.

No matter what

~

This too shall pass.

The old to makes way

For the new

The new to become old.

~

There is nothing

New Under the sun

As the Preacher said

So long ago.

~

You cannot have

Your cake and eat it too.

To live the day

You must let it go on its way.

~

If you try to cage the wind

Sadly you will find

You can only keep air.

A breeze must be on its way.

~

To make a cake

You must break the eggs.

To be on your own

You must leave home.

~

If it comes, it comes to go,
And as Bobby said,
"He who is not busy
Being Born is busy dying".
~

It will come to pass.

Know that nothing lasts

Beyond its appointed time,

If you are born to hang you cannot drown!.

~

True it is

That your reach

Should exceed

Your grasp,

~

But it is so unrealistic

To believe that you

Will grasp everything

 Reach for.

~

And many times you will find

Before you can reach for this

You will have to let go of that.

As you change and redefine

~

What it is

That you are.

You can be lucky

Or you can be wise,

~

For it is through mistakes

That wisdom can be found,

And if you are so lucky

As to never make mistakes

~

It is just a lucky fool

You will find yourself to be.

And if you do not learn

From your mistakes

~

You will find that

You are naught

But an unlucky fool

Trapped in making the same

~

Mistakes time and time again

Until you learn

A way to avoid them

And chosen a different way.

~

But if you take too much to heart

The adage

"Look before you leap"

You just might find

~

œThat he who hesitates

Is lost. It is a balance

You must find between

Impetuousness and prudence.

~

Enjoy the good,

Knowing that it must leave.

Endure the bad

Knowing that it also must leave.

~

If naught else

Death will take

It away.

And in the grave

~

There is no joy

No sadness or hope,

Neither tears nor laughter,

Not even the resurrection is known

~

Until it comes

At the end of time.

Until that day

Life is for living

~

Live each day as

Full as you can.

And this advice I freely give

Please look to find

~

As much pleasure as you can

In the mundane,

For it is in the prosaic

That you spend most of your time.

~

©

Rexx

To The Victors Goes The Spoils

Three ways to look at the source history:
Accidental, Conspiratorial, and Unfolding.
~
By accidental things come about
Randomly, chance alone determines,
No certainties, just odd
That this will happen, this will not.
~
The Illuminati conspires to control
To build a New World Order
By electing the elite
To secretly serve its dictates.
~
Behind it all the
Unfolding of God’s Plan
The bringing of His Kingdom
And the Salvation of Man.
~
There is no doubt in my mind
No doubt at all
That chance is at work in the world
Chaos is its name, or Satan if you will.
~
He works to thwart the Unfolding
He uses the rich and poor
The elite and the common
To bring his destruction to pass.
~
The elite who conspire to control
Believe that death ends it all,
"Who was the fool, who the wise man, beggar or king?
Whether poor or rich, all's the same in death."
~
In every war they are on both sides.
They lend the money and get richer
Play the war for as long as it will play
Squeeze out every last nickel.
~
The good sons believe in the righteousness
Of their side. Hooray for our side!
And there is right, on both sides.
But to the victors goes the spoils.
~
And to the moneymen the profits,
Which they use to build
Their New World Order
With bribes, of riches and power.
~
But for those of you
Who cannot see the Unfolding
Of God’s Plan
I have this for you to contemplate.
~
Had Hitler, and all his atrocities,
The slaughter of 12 Million Jews
Had not occurred
Would Israel exist today?
~
~
~
©
Rexx

One More

One more road to travel
One more dollar to spend
One more woman to love
Before I come to my end.
~
One more, for all times sake
One, to share the adventure
One, to come home with
Before the day is done.
~
One, to ride down the trail with
One, that will take every fork
One, that will follow every bend
Before the road comes to an end.
~
One more time to be loved
One more time to be cherished
One more time to be held
Before time takes me away.
~
One that will love me for my mind
One that will love my way with horses
One that will accept all the rest of me
Before there is an end of me.
~
~
~
©
Rexx

One Last Time

One last time,
We give it one last time,
Time and time again.
~
Over and over again
We try it again
Just one more time.
~
If it's not this
Then it is that
That sends us on our way.
~
Away from our ease
And the storm rages
Crashing all tranquility.
~
Then the wind calms
The storm subdues
And we try again.
~
Love ain't easy
For those set
In their ways.
~
For you got your ways
And I got mine
And sometimes it seems
~
As if never
Will the twain meet.
Sometimes it appears
~
We can find
No middle ground.
And we are stuck
~
At odd ends
You on your side
Me on mine.
~
Frustration cries, "Quit",
But Love dries the eyes
And screams, "Try again!"
~
~
~
©
Rexx

Like An Old Freight Train

Like an old freight train

Climbing a long hard grade,

Got more load then any should claim.

He thought they had it made,

~

But the top of the hill

Instead of a peak

Just showed more hills,

And a hopelessness wreaks

~

That dammed all aspiration

Of a happy life together

Like a near stalled engine

That is dying to find an abler.

~

To be able to endure

The long ascension

Demanded by this amour

That she drown with bourbon

~

Wine, beer, and pills to hide,

To run where he could not go.

She would come to his side but then she backslides.

Over and over again, from years ago.

~

It seems she loved him more in the abstract,

Like the first boy she ever loved.

And now he is on this side track,

From her presents he has been saved.

~

He know in your heart she love him still,

But that is cold comfort compared to warm arms.

He knows that she is gone, and will have to wait until

His heart is broken from her charm.

~

As he wonders where and how she is,

Those thoughts leaves him so sad

That she have taken yourself so far,

But he cannot believe that in this absents she is glad.

~

He hears the whistle blowing,

He feels the mighty engine strain

He knows her heart is aching

For them to be together once again.

~

He has one task and one task only,

To stay on track, and keep his load going.

As much as he wants, and as badly

As he wants to be carried

~

Part of her load as well as his

This she will not allow.

Oh, but if they could but combine

What a much easier row it would be to plow.

~

Hers alone, even if it means they are alone.

Again and again he asks

How can she take so long

To pick up the telephone?

~

He keeps on my tracks and do his tasks.

He plays and goes for long walks

And his answer when anyone asks

Will she find her way to and by his side.

~

And if she does not, they quiry?

Well then, he responds

I am just as crazy

As the woman who got him to jump in that pond.

~

©

Rexx

An Argument From The Left

My side is right, your side is wrong,

And I can prove it!

Your side is dumb and gullible

Full of people easily duped,

While my side is smart

Full of the intelligential.

Your side cannot be reasoned with!

My side is reasonable.

Your side does not care about people,

My side wants to take care of people.

Your side is greedy and is only for the rich

My side wants to make the rich pay!

Your side wants to abandon the old

While my side want to care for them

Cradle to grave.

Let me reiterate

Your side is evil, greedy, and selfish

On the other hand, my side is good,

But there is no good in your side.

My side will do all in its power

To defeat your side for we are right

And you are wrong!

There I have proved it!!!!!

If I Could

I would

If I could

Do what I would.

But I can only that I can.

~

Wishes are not horses

And beggars don't ride,

Pigs can't fly

And frogs do bump their ass.

~

Still I ask you

Should drunks write,

Should lovers stay true?

What is right, and what is wrong?

~

Sometimes the hurt is

Beyond the pain

Where no pill can reach

No massage can touch.

~

If I could sing

I'd sing a song

But I cannot

Carry a tune in a bucket.

~

I would climb the highest mountain

But I have vertigo.

I would swim the widest ocean

But I cannot swim a lick.

~

But if I could do all that

Would it bring her back?

If she does not care

Why should I?

~

The best way they say

To get over a woman

Is to

Get on another one.

~

How can one bring to an end

To the endless

Except in a beginning

Of a new story?

~

O the lost

The poor lonely souls

Locked in solitude

Looking for a way out.

~

One is the loneliest number

One always wants to be two,

But the two have to match

Enough to become one.

~

©

Rexx