A SAD LOSS

Army major found dead in national cemetery[d]

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GOOD MORNING FLINT!
BY Terry Bankert 6/6/08
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REFLECTIONS; As our country prepares to realign itself politically we are daily reminded of the two front war with our troops at risk. That risk is physical on the battlefield and emotional later. With respect we express the loss of Major Lance Waldorf.[TRB]

SUICIDE IN THE MILITARY The roll call of Iraq and Afghanistan vets who have committed suicide... continues to grow in an utterly disturbing and rapid manner. [h] We, on the out side of the military hope that there are programs in place for troubled soldiers.[trb] "The war had a great deal to do with this," said Lana Waldorf, about her husband's death. Waldorf said her husband suffered from post-traumatic stress and increasing depression after returning home from serving as a civil affairs specialist in Afghanistan. [d2] "We see a lot of things that are going on in the war which do contribute -- mainly the longtime and multiple deployments away from home, exposure to really terrifying and horrifying things, the easy availability of loaded weapons and a force that's very, very busy right now," said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatric consultant to the Army surgeon general.[A]

MILITARY SUICIDE IN OAKLAND COUNTY The body of an Oakland County U.S. Army major, an apparent suicide, was found about 2 p.m. Monday by a Great Lakes National Cemetery caretaker.[d] "Anyone coming back from a war where they have seen killing, where they have seen death, where they have feared for their own life, is going to come back with emotional wounds," she told the AP. "Those wounds need to be treated with loving care -- through a church, through the Veterans Administration, through their families. And the government needs to orchestrate this."[h]

A NOTE LEFT Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Gary Muir said Lance Waldorf, 40, of Bingham Farms, dressed in his military camouflage fatigues, left behind a suicide note and then drove to the 544-acre veteran's cemetery off Belford Road. Waldorf sat down under a tree within view of a lake and ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. [d] "It is a sad, tragic story," said Muir. "He left behind photos and notes to his wife about what he planned to do but with no explanation for his actions or what prompted them. [d] WHY Lana Waldorf, 51, said her husband of seven years suffered from depression as a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. She only learned of it when she found a document on their printer he had prepared for an appointment at a Veterans Administration hospital.[A] "My husband kept all of this from me," she said. "I read it and was stunned because I had no idea what he was going through."[A]

SCHEDULED FOR DEPLOYMENT "He was scheduled for a deployment to Iraq but there was no indication it -- or anything else for that matter -- played a role in his suicide." [d] Family members could not be reached for comment Wednesday. He is survived by a wife and stepson. [d] Waldorf said her husband, who served with the 414th Battalion out of Southfield, never wavered in his support for the military's mission. She said as a civil affairs officer in Afghanistan, he was responsible for rebuilding roads, schools, hospitals, villages and orphanages.[A] "One of his favorite things was when they would visit the orphanage," she said. "Children just clung to the soldiers. They would hold onto their hands for hours."[A]

20 YEAR COMMISSIONED OFFICER Waldorf was a chartered financial consultant with Merrill Lynch's Auburn Hills office and spent 20 years as a commissioned officer in the United States Army and Army Reserve. He returned home in 2007 after having served two tours in Afghanistan as a civil affairs officer coordinating humanitarian assistance and as a diplomat to the Afghan government. Waldorf was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service for his accomplishments. [d]

SUICIDE IN THE MILITARY Military officials said last week that Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007 at the highest rate on record. The toll is climbing ever higher this year as long war deployments stretch on.[A] The 115 confirmed suicides among active-duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops who had been activated amounted to a rate of 18.8 per 100,000 troops -- the highest since the Army began keeping records in 1980.[A] The 115 confirmed suicides in 2007 among active-duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops activated amounted to a suicide rate of 18.8 per 100,000 troops, the highest since the Army began documenting such statistics in 1980. And the numbers are growing higher this year with extended deployments.[d2] Visitation for Waldorf will be from 1-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Friday at the McCabe Funeral Home, 31950 W. 12 Mile in Farmington Hills. Services will be 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the NorthRidge Church, 49555 N. Territorial in Plymouth. [d]

MILITARY SHOULD BETTER TREAT THE EMOTIONAL WOUNDS Lana Waldorf believes her husband's depression kept him from aggressively seeking help. She would like the military to institute monthly evaluations for returning soldiers.[A] "Anyone coming back from a war where they have seen killing, where they have seen death, where they have feared for their own life, is going to come back with emotional wounds," she said. "Those wounds need to be treated with loving care -- through a church, through the Veterans Administration, through their families. And the government needs to orchestrate this."[A]

HE SERVED HIS LORD, FAMILY AND COUNTRY "He was a diligent worker and he was a servant of the Lord and always sought to do the right thing," she said. "It is a tremendous loss to my family, to my friends and to my country, and it is a tremendous gain for heaven."[h]
–END

Posted here by Terry Bankert ...
6/03/08 5 Family Mediation and Divorce Practice. http://attorneybankert.com/
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---
[d] Detroit News http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080604/METRO02/806040451/1361
[D2] Detroit News http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080605/METRO/806050384/1409
[a] AP http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/soldiers_wife_says_husband_cou.html
[h] Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/another-shocking-vet-suic_b_105255.html
[trb] Comments of Terry Bankert http://attorneybankert.com/
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TAX ON LIVING HUMAN FAT PROPOSED!

Human fat tax discussed!
______________________
GOOD MORNING FLINT! BY Terry Bankert 6/5/08
You are invited to join me at Face Book http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry_Bankert/645845362 ___________________________
Full article at http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/
Flint Talk http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=29750#29750 __________________________
BLOGGING FOR MICHIGAN http://bloggingformichigan.com/
Great information from caring people in Michigan USA
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Amid calls for unity, politics divide UN food conference[b]
At stake in crisis: 1 billion hungry across globe[b]
"The enemy is hunger," Ban said, and the international community is "duty bound to act, to act now, and to act as one". [al]

REFLECTIONS: It is a well established economic theory that if cost is increased it will reduce demand. [trb]
Then why not impose a targeted tax or arbitrary increase in cost for the over consumption of food to reduce demand. Since the market economy is in shambles we must do something. [trb]

Of special importance is to reduce demand in those countries or individual people who practice over consumption. [trb]

Specifically why not impose a special tax on those with over 20% body fat and use these funds to feed the hungry in Africa. [trb]

Now heres a topic that Sharpton and Jackson can sink their teeth into. Since the rise of Obama they now have little to talk about or profit from.Take the song ‘ Short People” and substitutre fat for short. Now we have a theme song! What do you think? [trb]

YOU FAT PEOPLE ARE KILLING US The high cost of food has already sparked protests and riots around the world.[al] Shades of solent green, where is Heston when you need him.[trb] On Tuesday, the United Nations food agency chief told delegates that billions of dollars are being wasted on feeding obese people in the West while millions face starvation. [al] "No one understands... how over-consumption by obese people in the world costs $20bn each year," Jacques Diouf said.[al

A FAT PERSON IN A SUV, NOW THERES A TERRORIST BENT ON DISRUPTING THE WORLD ORDER! "No one understands... how over-consumption by obese people in the world costs $20bn each year," Jacques Diouf said.[al]

ON EARTH THERE ARE COUNTRIES THAT CANNOT FEED THEiR PEOPLE! FAO has listed 22 countries that are particularly vulnerable owing to a combination of high levels of chronic hunger - defined as more than 30 per cent undernourishment - and being net importers of both food and fuel. [m] Countries such as Eritrea, Niger, Comoros, Haiti and Liberia are particularly affected. [m]

REINVEST IN ARGICULTURE NOT THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX? "Today some 862 million people are suffering from hunger and malnourishment and this highlights the need to re-invest in agriculture. It should be clear now that agriculture needs to be put back onto the development agenda".[aa]

WE HAVE TOO MANY PEOPLE AND THE FAT ONES ARE EATING TOO MUCH, SAYS AMERICA, ...SORTA.. “We are anticipating this year an over 40 percent increase in food price inflation globally, 43 percent approximately. Of that we can identify two to three percent of that price increase that is driven by biofuels. A majority, of course, is energy and the second largest piece or about equal piece is the increase in consumption around the world, which is using up the production stocks,” he said.[V2]

HUMAN FAT TAX PROPOSED Well actually one has not been mentioned any where but here, but it sounds like a good idea to me. What do you think?[trb] What will this look like... we have to attach a statement from our Doctor or community weigh in station to our taxes.[trb]

FORGING AHEAD FOR FOOD Delegates to a U.N. summit on rising food prices worked late into the night Wednesday trying to forge a compromise on a strategy to combat a crisis that is increasing hunger worldwide.[a] It was supposed to be an emergency conference on food shortages, climate change, and energy. At the opening ceremony Tuesday, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, noted that there were nearly one billion people short of food and called upon countries gathered here to act with "a sense of purpose and mission."[b] U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday that dealing with the current global food crisis is a fight the international community cannot afford to lose. The U.N. chief is attending a world food security summit at the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. For VOA, Sabina Castelfranco reports.[v] U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said Tuesday the world’s leaders have a responsibility to allow markets to provide food efficiently, without obstructing access to it or limiting safe technologies to produce it. Schafer leads the U.S. delegation to the U.N. summit on Food Security and Climate Change in Rome. The summit is being held at the headquarters of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.[v2]

R&D FOR BIOFUEL The proposed final declaration would call for stepped-up food production, reduced trade restrictions and more research on the contentious issue of biofuels.[a] Using prices corrected for inflation, the report stated that over the next decade rice and sugar prices will increase by less than 10 per cent, wheat by less than 20 per cent, butter coarse grains and oilseeds will rise 30 per cent, and vegetable oils over 50 per cent.[aa]

A PLEDGE TO NOT DESTROY OUR ABILITY TO SUSTAIN OURSELVES A copy of the draft obtained by The Associated Press ended with a pledge to alleviate the suffering caused by the price crisis, stimulate food production, increase investment in agriculture, address obstacles to food access and use resources in a sustainable way.[a] Hunger degrades everything we have been fighting for in recent years and decades. Recent riots and protests show that hunger and the threat of hunger breed unrest and instability. We are duty bound to act, to act now, and to act as one."[v] The FAO and OECD also cited growing demand for biofuel as another factor forcing up prices, saying that world ethanol production has tripled between 2000 and 2007 and is expected to double again in the next decade. Climate change, low stock levels and speculation could also add to price volatility.[aa]

U.N. SUMMIT Delegates pushed positions on wording for the final document at a closed-door session, less than 12 hours before the summit at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization was to convene for its third and final day Thursday.[a] Tough Choice: What to Put On Menu at Hunger Summit[w] But when the microphone was opened to the powerful politicians who had flown in from all over the world, they spoke mostly about economics and politics.[b] Delegates at the summit in Rome have been divided over the role bio-fuels is playing in driving up food prices to the point of provoking riots in some countries.[v]

CORN BASED BIOFUEL TO BE 10% OF MARKET BY 2020...BIOFUEL GOOD! Biofuels made from sugar cane, corn and other crops have been seen as a way to combat climate change and rising oil prices. The U.S. has been subsidizing corn-based ethanol production, and the 27-nation European Union endorsed a plan last year calling for biofuels to make up 10 percent of the fuel for road vehicles by 2020.[a]

BIOFUEL BAD....! But environmentalists, aid groups and some countries are becoming increasingly wary of biofuels, which they say could accelerate global warming by encouraging deforestation and contribute to soaring commodities prices by diverting crops from food to biofuel production.[a]

ESSENTIALS VS OPPORTUNITIES The draft appeared to seek a balance between both sides, saying it was "essential" to address the "challenges and opportunities" posed by biofuels.[a] "In-depth studies are necessary to ensure that production and use of biofuels is sustainable," it said.[a] Ahmadinejad accused unnamed "powers" of profiteering from high food prices through subsidies and market manipulations.[al] The draft echoed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call at the summit to minimize the use of restrictive trade measures. He has urged nations to revisit export restrictions and import tariffs as a way to ensure food security during the price rise.[a]

LIBERATE TRADE?...A FOOD NAFTA? The draft calls on the international community to continue efforts to liberate global trade in agriculture by reducing trade barriers and market-distorting policies.[a] The US secretary of agriculture, Ed Schafer, talked about the benefits of biofuels and how genetically modified crops could ease world hunger. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil spoke for half an hour about how Brazilian biofuels were superior to the US offerings. The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, talked about how colonialism had created the food crisis. And President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran spoke of the need to inject religion into food politics.[b]

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PLAN At a news conference Tuesday, Schafer said, “The United States is implementing an integrated a three-pronged strategy to combat rising global food prices. First, the president has committed an immediate and expanded humanitarian response that targets the most critical needs globally and supports those individuals who are most vulnerable to rising food prices." [v2] “Second, we support urgent efforts to address the underlying causes of the food crisis in developing countries that have the potential to become major producers in their regions. Longstanding issues of improving agriculture productivity, alleviating market bottlenecks and promoting market-based principles remain and therefore require immediate attention. Third, we ask all countries to allow the free flow of food and the safe technologies that produce that food,” he said.[v2]

PLANT CROPS ON YOUR CITY VACANT LOTS? The document also echoes Ban's call to increase food production by 50 percent by 2030.[a] Since 2004, food production in China has increased for four consecutive years and the total grain output exceeded 500 million tons last year. [c] Sun said China's grain reserves are currently abundant and there is enough supply of major farm products to offset the effects of the two natural disasters. [c] 'Food production needs to rise by 50 per cent by the year 2030 to meet the rising demand,' the UN secretary general said. [m] However more urgent measures were also needed, for example to ensure the success of next year's agricultural harvests, Ban said. [m] Farmers in the northern hemisphere needing to plant their crops by the end of July required immediate supplies of seeds and fertilizers, FAO Director General Jacques Diouf, told the same news conference. [m]

POLITICAL WILL WITHOUT RESOURCES... "There's a lot of consensus on the way forward," said John Holmes, the U.N. humanitarian affairs chief who is coordinating a special task force on the food crisis. The summit "has shown that the political will is there, but the resources need to be found" for funding.[a] At the three-day conference held by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, there was a lot of argument about whether the high food prices were caused by the rush to biofuels, protective tariffs, the soaring price of oil, or the distortion of subsidies.[b] The highest food prices in three decades have exacerbated a crisis in developing nations where 850 million people were already facing food shortages, Ban warned delegates at the opening on Tuesday. [m]

GUNS OR BUTTER? Ban predicted that as much as $20 billion may be needed each year to increase food production. [a] Sun said as a huge, developing country with 1.3 billion people, China has always paid great attention to food and agricultural development. [c] The Chinese government will continue to adhere to the food security policy of basic self-sufficiency, complemented by imports and exports to readjust surplus and shortfalls, he said.[c] "We believe the problem is much more political than everything else," said Walter Poveda Ricaurte, the Ecuadorean agriculture minister. "We have to differentiate between the countries who are really affected by the food crisis and those who are seeing it as an economic opportunity."[b] According to the report, rice, a staple for more than half the earth's population, will remain in short supply on global markets, and poor countries that rely on food imports could see food bills up 40 percent this year after a similar price hike in 2007[aa] See the above discussion on taxing overconsumption.[trb]
–end
Posted here by Terry Bankert ... 6/03/08 5
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---where did this stuff come from---
[a] AP http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iwx4bYD140egrMPye_3RBhOxE6IgD913HML00 [c] China View http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/05/content_8314807.htm
[b] Boston.com http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/06/05/amid_calls_for_unity_politics_divide_un_food_conference/ [trb] Comments of Terry Bankert to include unattributed Cap headlines http://attorneybankert.com/
[v] Voice of America http://voanews.com/english/2008-06-04-voa14.cfm
[al] Aljazeera.Net http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FD716E05-777C-4831-9C1F-FA151EDD05FC.htm
[m] Monsters and Critics http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_ 1409299.php/Global_fight_against_hunger_&quotcannot_fail%22_UN_chief_says__Roundup_ [aa] All Africa http://allafrica.com/stories/200806040651.html
[v2] Voice of America http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2008-06-03-voa22.cfm
[w] Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121252256452242329.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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