inflicted mental illness

Cleveland Estate Planning Lawyer Nancy Fioritto Patete -- I just came across this article done by one of our attorney friends, on the topic of PTSD. The mess created by the "conventional" warfare of WWII was one thing; the jungle warfare in the Republic of Viet Nam was yet another thing; yet the urban warfare of the past two conflicts is especially insidious in its effects on the men surviving, and its impact on our society. Here's a snippet, but be sure to read the whole thing. Note the material from Martha Gellhorn.

Miller was clearly a casualty of PTSD. According to the stories, he suffers
nightmares, hallucinations, and flashbacks. He is hypervigilant and
claustrophobic. He abuses substances. In one episode, in the closed quarters of
a Navy ship he attacked a sailor who whistled, the shrill sounding to Miller
like a launched rocket grenade. In another, he blacked out but not before
pointing a gun at his then-wife. He drinks most of the time. He needs his space,
to be alone. Then he feels lonely and isolated. He is unable to cry. He works
nonstop. Intimacy becomes especially difficult. He spends time with other
vets.

time for that style makeover

While watching my minimalist concession to television viewing, Boston Legal, I got hooked by the news teaser about another police shooting.

Now, I've just got done with watching Ted Henry on Cleveland's Channel 5 deliver an innuendo-laden "news" report about the shooting of a young man over here in the vicinity of West 82nd and Denison. For my money, these TV stations are not our friends, and they're bad for the community at large. Go to Channel 5 on your own if you want to see the video clip, because I'm not going to link there.

The news whizzes at 5 gave scads of coverage to the decedent's girlfriend who says that everybody carries a gun, because it's "the style" these days. Instead of arguing for a style makeover, Ted goes through some stylin' himself in recounting, in detail, every other police shooting over the past 2-3 years, hinting at justice served up poorly. I'm fairly sure Ted doesn't live over here on Denison; he's clueless, yet he has the bully pulpit, if only for a few short moments. He's a menace, and I wonder if he's even aware.

Three officers, the early reports say, at 3 PM today simultaneously fired on 23-year-old Aaron Steele as he went for his stylish gun, 23-year-old Aaron with a history of assaulting police.

I don't think the question should be why did the police all shoot simultaneously, or whether they were justified. I think it should be why Aaron thought it was feasible or desirable or honorable to commit suicide by cop. Could sappy, sensational, unbalanced reportage like old Ted's have something to do with it? If they think this sad display of community bias is the equivalent of championing the underdog, they need to think again.

Turn off your TV; your life will improve immensely in 2-3 days. Send this to 12 of your closest friends and loved ones in the next 5 minutes, and you may see us delivered from the ignorant tyranny of the MSM within your lifetime.

Wild Bill O'Neill & the National Journal

Judge O'Neill Makes the National Journal Buckeye State Blog -- Here's our friend Wild Bill O'Neill getting some positive press again. We interviewed Bill for Meet.The.Bloggers on this past Bastille Day, July 14, 2006. From Jerid at the BSB--

While it's largely a paraphrase of of Sabrina Eaton's PD Article from earlier last week, it's still exciting to see Judge O'Neill getting early DC attention. From the National Journal's House Race Hotline (subscription):

Ret. Army Lt. Col./registered nurse/Appeals Court Judge/'06 OH Supreme Court nominee William O'Neill (D) has announced he'll seek Rep. Steve LaTourette's (R) seat in '08. O'Neill: "I'm running because I'm impatient with waiting for Congress to change the course America is on." O'Neill said LaTourette's 57% victory margin in '06 over "underfunded political novice" Lewis Katz (D) shows he can be defeated by a strong candidate. LaTourette "declined to comment on the challenge or whether he's planning to seek re-election" to an eighth term.

O'Neill lost an '06 OH Supreme Court bid, but won 1.3M votes despite raising no money for the campaign. For '08, O'Neill "intends to raise" $1-2M, but "he has to delay fund-raising until he leaves the bench" in 7/07. O'Neill "predicts he'll have no trouble raising cash." O'Neill: "People should be encouraged to put their money where their heart is." LaTourette, O'Neill said, is "dead wrong about the war, and on China and on health care. I will make that case, and we'll see what the voters have to say."

O'Neill, who earned a Bronze Star in the Army during Vietnam and has a son who served in Iraq, "said he plans to attack LaTourette's voting record on the Iraq war." O'Neill also said he feels well-equipped to call for universal health care, given he's a registered nurse who currently works on call in Hillcrest Hospital's pediatric ER.

desperately seeking wisdom

OpinionJournal - Featured Article: While we're talking about Mike Dovilla, here's a fairly balanced piece he sent me a few weeks back, from Joe Lieberman in the Opinion section of the Wall Street Journal on February 26th. Read the whole thing. It speaks to the political environment and the war environment under which Mike and everybody else we've required to serve over there must endure, and we must not jeopardize their safety or compromise the mission at this point based on knee-jerk reactions of the lightweights in the rear; most of them are not leaders, they're merely politicians; many of them don't serve our interests first. One of the worst feelings we all had during the RVN era was having our fate being decided by the politicians--thinking first of their safety, some of them, and then of ours--and by the irate public who weren't there, some of whom had opted not to serve. Here's Joe, who's beginning to show wisdom.

"I understand the frustration, anger and exhaustion so many Americans feel about Iraq, the desire to throw up our hands and simply say, 'Enough.' And I am painfully aware of the enormous toll of this war in human life, and of the infuriating mistakes that have been made in the war's conduct.

But we must not make another terrible mistake now. Many of the worst errors in Iraq arose precisely because the Bush administration best-cased what would happen after Saddam was overthrown. Now many opponents of the war are making the very same best-case mistake--assuming we can pull back in the midst of a critical battle with impunity, even arguing that our retreat will reduce the terrorism and sectarian violence in Iraq."

Dovilla's back, sort of

Three months ago, we covered Mike Dovilla's departure for the zone, the theater. Today, he's back with us, in a way, because he is announcing his new blog presence. I got this from an email he sent out St. Patrick's Day:

Dear Friends,

My blog on cleveland.com is now live and can be accessed at: http://blog.cleveland.com/baghdad/

I wish to thank The Plain Dealer, especially Denise Polverine, editor of cleveland.com, for this opportunity to share my story – and Frank O'Grady, my good friend and one of our most indefatigable volunteers during last year's Congressional campaign, for his helping in setting up and maintaining the blog. We will be updating this page regularly, so visit "early and often."

Please keep in touch.

All the best,

Mike

not easily intimidated

The Courier News :: News :: Elderly tourist slays mugger with bare hands--Here's a heartening tale of stand-up conduct.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- An American senior citizen killed an alleged mugger with his bare hands, and his traveling companions aboard a tour bus fended off two other assailants in the Atlantic coast city of Limon, police said.
The American, who is about 70 years old and retired from the military, put the 20-year-old in a head lock and broke his clavicle after the suspect and two other men armed with a knife and gun held up their tour bus, said Luis Hernandez, the police chief of Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose. The suspect, Warner Segura, later was declared dead, apparently from asphyxiation.
The two other men fled when the 12 senior citizens started defending themselves during the Wednesday attack.
Afterward, the tourists drove Segura to the Red Cross, where he was declared dead. The Red Cross also treated one of the tourists for an anxiety attack, Hernandez said Thursday.
The tourists left on their Carnival cruise ship after the incident, and Hernandez said authorities do not plan to press charges against them.
"They were in their right to defend themselves after being held up," he said.

breaking news: Judge Peter Corrigan rules on residency for City of Cleveland workforce

News just in from Cleveland Equanimous Philosopher (CEP) at the courthouse: Judge Peter Corrigan has just issued his opinion that the employees of the City of Cleveland need not live within the city limits. Watch Channel 3 news because CEP was interviewed by Tom Beres; CEP says he fumbled a bit on camera, but we are confident he was lawyerly, as is his wont.

revisiting Kurosawa's Seven Samurai

Seven Samurai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia--I haven't seen this flick in over 40 years but decided to experience it again this weekend. Warrior things have been on my mind lately. The film still holds up; it's a remarkable and incredible piece of work. Actually, it's even better now because you can watch it on DVD and concentrate and appreciate it. The last time I tried to view it was in a movie theatre packed with others who, like me, were afflicted with cases of raging adolescent hormones and did lots of strange things during the subtle scenes. If you have 3+ hours for the show itself and another 2-3 for the commentary, it's a great experience for a snowy day. We didn't realize, back in the '60s and before the advent of the spaghetti Western, how much the lead samurai, Takashi Shimura, looked like Lee Van Cleef.

we need to take care of our warriors

Cleveland officer investigated on claim he beat suspect--I really don't know what is at play here, but in general what we as a community need to remember is that, when we pay a policeman to go to war for us--the regular economy--against the drug economy, we need to support him as he uses his best judgment in an attempt to get our drug bait back. What does 5.5# of cocaine cost, and who pays for that if the drug dealer decides to play cute and keeps it hidden in his house? We paid the policeman to use bait to trap the dealer, and we also charged him with recovering the bait. Criminals need to understand that they give up certain rights and put themselves at unnecessary risk when they commit crimes and then fail to cooperate.

We must protect our warriors, first and foremost. We must protect our community. Those who work against the best interests of the community, who take from the community and make it sicker and weaker by distributing drugs and robbing people of their potential, deserve no sympathy from the court system. We need to write special rules of engagement when it comes to the war on drugs.