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Comment by Pope OoO (Out of Order) on May 3, 2013 at 2:17am

Suicides soar among US middle-aged people

People aged 35-64 accounted for nearly two thirds of of US suicides

The suicide rate among middle-aged Americans rose 28% in a decade, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has found.

Among adults 35-64, white people and American Indians saw the sharpest increases from 1999 to 2010.

The CDC did not investigate causes behind the trend, but noted many suicide prevention programmes were geared towards youths and the elderly.

The report found no significant change among other age groups.

Since 2009, suicide has claimed more Americans than motor vehicle crashes.

There were 38,350 suicides in 2010, making it the nation's 10th leading cause of death, the CDC said.

People aged 35-64 accounted for some 57% of suicides in the US, according to the data.

Overall, the suicide rate among Americans in this age group increased from nearly 14 per 100,000 people in 1999 to almost 18 in 2010, the CDC reported.

Among American Indians, suicides increased 65% from more than 11 per 100,000 to almost 19 in that decade

Suicides by white people increased 40%, from 16 per 100,000 to 22.

Experts are unsure about what caused the increase in suicides to be so disproportionately steep among Native Americans and white people, during a period which spanned the recession.

The sharpest increase in suicides in the study was among 50 to 64-year-olds of all ethnic backgrounds.

Death by firearm was still the most common method of suicide among middle-age Americans, representing 48% of such recorded incidents in 2010.

Hangings overtook drug overdoses in this age group, becoming the second most common method of suicide.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 29, 2013 at 11:24pm

Truncated transcript from today’s SCOTUS argument

For those of you who don’t want to read the transcript of the oral argument in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which is all of 82 pages long, or whose heads exploded when you tried to read it, I’ve written a helpful summary. It’s available below the jump.

This summary is still fairly long, but it’s shorter and I’ve worked to make things as accessible as possible to those without legal training.

As a result, there are some places where I might have oversimplified the legal argument. My summarizing might be partially colored by my personal viewpoints, but this is basically what happened, plus or minus the aliens eating children.

Oral argument starts with Charles Cooper speaking on behalf of the petitioners, who are not in favor of same-sex marriage in California.

COOPER: Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. Today, we—

ROBERTS: In keeping with the practices of this Court, we don’t allow anyone to complete a full sentence before interrupting them. Tell us why the people who hired you should even be allowed to bring a case.

COOPER: Because California said so.

GINSBURG: So? We’ve said before that in order to be able to bring a federal case, you have to have an injury in fact, something that is specific to you.

COOPER: But these people were injured. They didn’t want gay people to marry, and now look! Gays. Lesbians. Able to marry at will. It’s very injurious. They’re injured just thinking about it.

GINSBURG: Assuming that counts as an injury, doesn’t everyone suffer from the same injury? How is this an injury specific to them?

COOPER: … Er, these people suffer more because they really don’t want gay people to marry. And California has said that if you don’t want something enough to put an initiative on the ballot—

ROBERTS: Since when does California get to decide questions of federal standing?

COOPER: Uh…

SOTOMAYOR: Because, you know, officers like the attorney general take oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution, whereas these assholes—I mean, the people bringing this case have no such duties.

COOPER: The Court has never held that.

SOTOMAYOR: We’ve never had a case like this.

COOPER: Still. [continue]

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on August 22, 2011 at 12:01pm

Federal appeals court rules teacher can’t be sued for bashing Christianity

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on June 20, 2011 at 12:42pm

Pakistan detains girl, 8, with suicide vest

Comment by Pope OoO (Out of Order) on April 28, 2011 at 11:56pm

Had another funny thought about where whackos belong. Perhaps Trump's announcement (that he supposedly can't release until end of his Apprentice show season) will be that he'll take Beck's place at FOX.

Comment by Pope OoO (Out of Order) on April 28, 2011 at 5:05pm

I expected Obama to use the birther issue eventually and smartly, but I wonder if it's a bit premature right now. I want the whackos to win some primaries, so they can be cut down to size and lose in November. I would have held the birth certificate back a few more months, at least.

I'm not trying to start a discussion. (Wish I had more time!) Maybe I'm just wishing others could contribute here. Say, speaking of current events and whipping up interest, I wonder if all those tornadoes are God's punishment because of Westboro Babtist Church? Sure, they're in Kansas, but that's close enough, right?

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 31, 2011 at 10:16am

Muslim Girl, 14, Lashed to Death for Adultery

Despite her mother proclaiming her innocence, Bangladeshi 14-year-old Hena Akhter was convicted of adultery, and, according to Sharia Law, sentenced to 101 lashes. She dropped after 70, and was taken to a hospital, where she died one week later. Initially, an autopsy report deemed her death a suicide, but a further investigation has uncovered some chilling details. Growing up in a shared hut in rural Shariatpur, Hena was repeatedly harassed by her 42-year-old cousin, Mahbub Khan. One night, according to Hena’s sister, Khan beat and raped her, and when his wife intervened, she dragged the teenage girl back to their hut and trampled her on the floor. The next day, the imam ordered a fatwa, sentencing the couple to an illicit relationship. Khan only ended up receiving a few lashes, unlike Hena. After Hena’s severely beaten body was exhumed and doctors confirmed she died of internal bleeding, authorities launched an investigation, charging the doctors on Monday for Hena’s “false post-mortem report,” and then arresting several people, including Khan, in connection with Hena’s death.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 30, 2011 at 6:02pm

The Conservative States of America

America is an increasingly conservative nation, by ideology and by political affiliation, according to polling results from the Gallup Organization. While conservatives have long outnumbered liberals and moderates across the U.S., the study sheds new light on state-by-state patterns. The map below shows the pattern for the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Mississippi is the first state with more than 50% conservative identification, with Idaho, Alabama, Wyoming, and Utah approaching that level, and Arkansas, South Carolina, North Dakota, Louisiana, and South Dakota (the rest of the top-ten conservative states) 45% or higher. Conservatives outnumber liberals in even the most liberal-leaning states (excluding the District of Columbia): Vermont, (30.7% conservative to 30.5% liberal), Rhode Island (29.9% to 29.3%), and Massachusetts (29.9% to 28.0%).

Political commentators have long pointed to underlying social and economic sorting that underpins this growing conservative/ liberal divide. But what factors account for the growing conservatism of Americans and American states?

With the help of my colleague Charlotta Mellander, I decided to take a look. We ran a simple correlation analysis on the Gallup poll numbers, comparing conservative identification to a variety of key economic, demographic, and cultural factors by state. As always, our analysis only points to associations between variables; we do not make any claims about causation and note that other factors that we have not looked at might come into play. Still, a number of intriguing findings cropped up.

Maps and charts not included here. Visit The Atlantic to view them and the rest of the article.

Comment by Dallas the Phallus on March 27, 2011 at 10:22pm

Need another reason to hate wacky theists?

Wisconsin Church Members Charged With Abusing Infants

The pastor and seven members of a small church in central Wisconsin have been charged with using wooden rods to spank infants as young as 2 months old for "being emotional, grumpy or crying," the Dane County Sheriff's office said.

 

***********************

 

"If you spank early and it is done right, then kids will be happy and obedient," Philip Caminiti said, according to the criminal complaint.

Comment by T A A on March 15, 2011 at 3:27am

It's my impression from reading various sources that we're indeed not dealing with a catastrophic meltdown but a very slow one, like an annoying slow leak on a tire. I may of course be wrong. But very often the truth is somewhere in between. The risks of not acting due to "under" alarm are much greater than the reverse risk.

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