Three are dead after a shooting at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia on Thursday night. All the victims were Marines, including the shooter, who took his own life. Early reports indicated that after the first person was shot around 11 p.m, authorities and the gunman -- believed to have been a staff member at the base’s officer-candidate school -- engaged in a standoff, with the suspect barricaded in the barracks. When the authorities finally entered the barracks early Friday morning, they found the shooter and another victim dead inside.

NBC News reports:

"The assailant and both victims, a man and a woman, were staff members at the school and not students, a senior defense official said. The official called the incident "isolated," adding: "There was nothing random here."'

"The names of the dead were being withheld for 24 hours pending notification of next of kin."

"Military police and Prince William County, Va., Sheriff's Department officers responded to a report of gunshots around 10:30 p.m. local time and were on the scene within five minutes, base commander Col. David W. Maxwell said at a press conference on Friday."

"They found one Marine dead and the shooter inside the barracks, a Marine official said. At 3 a.m., officers entered the barracks and found two more bodies, including that of the shooter, the official said. The three, all active duty Marines, were pronounced dead at the scene."

Updated reports Friday morning say that authorities did not fire any shots and did not hear any shots fired, and there was no standoff or barricades.

"Why officers hesitated before entering the barracks remained unclear Friday morning."

The assailant appeared to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to base officials.

At this time it is believed that a "relationship dispute" was the motive behind the shooting, according to a Marine official.

By Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica

President Obama has directed the Centers for Disease Control to research gun violence as part of his legislative package on gun control. The CDC hasn't pursued this kind of research since 1996 when the National Rifle Association lobbied Congress to cut funding for it, arguing that the studies were politicized and being used to promote gun control. We've interviewed Dr. Mark Rosenberg, who led the agency's gun violence research in the nineties when he was the director of the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

We talked to Rosenberg about the work the agency was doing before funding was cut and how it's relevant to today's gun control debate. Here's an edited transcript.

There's been coverage recently about how Congress cut funding for gun violence research, but not much about what the agency was actually researching and what it was finding. You were in charge of that. Tell us a little bit about what the CDC was doing back then.

There were basically four questions that we were trying to answer. The first question is what is the problem? Who were the victims? Who was killed? Who were injured? Where did they happen? Under what circumstances? When? What times of the year? What times of the day? What was the relationship to other events? How did they happen? What were the weapons that were used? What was the relationship between the people involved? What was the motive or the setting in which they happened?

The second question is what are the causes? What are the things that increase one's risk of being shot? What are the things that decrease one's risk of being shot?

The third question we were trying to answer is what works to prevent these? What kinds of policies, what kinds of interventions, what kinds of police practices or medical practices or education and school practices actually might prevent some of these shootings? We're not just looking at mass shootings, but also looking at the bulk of the homicides that occur every year and the suicides, which account for a majority of all gun deaths.

Then the last question is how do you do it? Once you have a program or policy that has been proven to work in one place, how do you spread it? How do you actually put it in place?

So what were you were able to find before funding got cut off?

One of the critical studies that we supported was looking at the question of whether having a firearm in your home protects you or puts you at increased risk. This was a very important question because people who want to sell more guns say that having a gun in your home is the way to protect your family.

What the research showed was not only did having a firearm in your home not protect you, but it hugely increased the risk that someone in your family would die from a firearm homicide. It increased the risk almost 300 percent, almost three times as high.

It also showed that the risk that someone in your home would commit suicide went up. It went up five-fold if you had a gun in the home. These are huge, huge risks, and to just put that in perspective, we look at a risk that someone might get a heart attack or that they might get a certain type of cancer, and if that risk might be 20 percent greater, that may be enough to ban a certain drug or a certain product.

But in this case, we're talking about a risk not 20 percent, not 100 percent, not 200 percent, but almost 300 percent or 500 percent. These are huge, huge risks.

I understand there was also an effort to collect data on gun violence through something called the Firearm Injury Surveillance System. What did that involve?

We were collecting information to answer the question of who, what, where, when, and how did shootings occur?

We were finding that most homicides occur between people who know each other, people who are acquaintances or might be doing business together or might be living together. They're not stranger-on-stranger shootings. They're not mostly home intrusions.

We also found that there were a lot of firearm suicides, and in fact most firearm deaths are suicides. There were a lot of young people who were impulsive who were using guns to commit suicide.

So if you were able to continue this work, what kind of data do you think would be available today?

I think we'd know much more information about what sorts of weapons are used in what sorts of firearm deaths and injuries.

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An Oregon teen was taken off life support a week after he attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself from playground equipment at an elementary school.

Jadin Bell, 15, was driven to take his own life because he was bullied for being homosexual, according to his family.

Officials at Bell's school, La Grande High School, said they were investigating reports that Jadin was being bullied at the time that he hung himself.

Hundreds of students had turned out to honor Jadin Bell, a sophomore at La Grande High School, at a vigil last week while he was still fighting for his life in the hospital.

Family friend Bud Hill believes that Jadin was pushed to suicide after being bullied, both online and in person, for being gay.

'He was different, and they tend to pick on the different ones,' Hill told KOMO News.

Jadin was afraid to turn in the bullies...afraid that it would only make the situation worse. He had asked his parents to homeschool him.

'If someone was down and out he would walk into a room and say a couple quick words and everybody would just forget about their problems and smile,' Hill added. 'He just had a gift.'

"Jadin is one of the best people I have ever met," LHS junior Frankie Benitez told the La Grande Observer. "He makes everyone around him feel good all the time."

A close family friend, Jody Bullock runs an adult assisted living home for seniors said that Jadin came over frequently and always made a point of saying hello to her residents and talking with them. Bullock said it is unusual for young people to do this, noting that often young people are afraid of seniors.

“He is an amazing young man who is smart and very social,” Bullock said. “He has a persona and a presence that you want to be a part of,” she said.

“We always knew that Jadin is a special person," said Jadin's mother, Lola Lathrop, "Now everyone knows.”

After the jump, some helpful resources for young people contemplating suicide, their parents, and educators.

Continue reading »

Some new information on the prosecution of Aaron Swartz...

CNET News:

State prosecutors who investigated the late Aaron Swartz had planned to let him off with a stern warning, but federal prosecutor Carmen Ortiz took over and chose to make an example of the Internet activist, according to a report in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.

Middlesex County's district attorney had planned no jail time, "with Swartz duly admonished and then returned to civil society to continue his pioneering electronic work in a less legally questionable manner," the report (alternate link) said. "Tragedy intervened when Ortiz's office took over the case to send 'a message.'"
...
The Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly report was written by Harvey Silverglate, a prominent Cambridge criminal defense lawyer whose clients have included Michael Milken and Leona Helmsley. Silverglate, the author of Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent, is of counsel to the firm that initially represented Swartz in his attempts to defend himself against 13 felony charges brought by Ortiz's office. Those charges carried a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.

Silverglate told CNET today that:

"Continuance without a finding" was the anticipated disposition of the case were the charge to remain in state court, with the Middlesex County District Attorney to prosecute it. Under such a disposition, the charge is held in abeyance ("continued") without any verdict ("without a finding"). The defendant is on probation for a period of a few months up to maybe a couple of years at the most; if the defendant does not get into further legal trouble, the charge is dismissed, and the defendant has no criminal record. This is what the lawyers expected to happen when Swartz was arrested for "trespassing at MIT." But then the feds took over the case, and the rest is tragic history.

Be sure to also read the mention of the efforts by Ortiz to seize a family-owned motel, that failed -- thankfully -- and the stinging rebuke she received from the judge in the case. The case screams "Abuse of power!"

Up with Chris Hayes talked about the ongoing legacy of Aaron Swartz on Saturday:

Once again, the number of suicides among soldiers outnumbered combat-related deaths for the year.

Stars and Stripes:

Through November this year, potentially 303 active-duty, Reserve and National Guard soldiers took their own lives. In Afghanistan 212 soldiers were killed as of Dec. 7. The trajectory for soldier suicides keeps getting worse.
...
The numbers have increased despite a range of training and awareness programs instituted by the service in the last few years.

More measures may be on the way:

- A bipartisan group of 36 lawmakers is pushing for new rules allowing military commanders and mental health specialists to ask unstable troops whether they own any personal firearms; lawmakers from both the House and the Senate are working on a final compromise version of the legislation.

- Gun rights advocates have opposed the idea, saying it could lead to commanders intimidating some individuals into giving up personal weapons.

"Gun rights advocates," (NRA) see a problem with "unstable" soldiers surrendering their weapons? I'd really like to see a poll conducted among the soldiers themselves to see how they feel about such a measure being enacted in the hopes of reducing suicide in their ranks.

A New Delhi gang-rape victim passed away Friday after suffering a brain injury and organ failure during the horrific attack, which has sparked protests throughout the country. The Indian medical student was brutally raped, beaten, and thrown from a moving bus on December 16. Her injuries were so severe that she spent several days in intensive care before being airlifted for treatment to Singapore.

Via:

The 23-year-old medical student, who was severely beaten, raped for almost an hour and thrown out of a moving bus in New Delhi on Dec 16, was airlifted to Singapore on December 26 for specialist treatment.

The attack had sparked demonstrations across India, culminating last weekend in pitched battles between police and protesters outraged over the lack of safety for women in the capital.

"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth Hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days. She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain."

"She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome," he added.

Another gang-rape victim, a 17-year-old Indian girl, has committed suicide after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers.

Via:

"The police started pressuring her to either reach a financial settlement with her attackers or marry one of them," her sister told the NDTV network.

Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India reported that a police officer has been suspended for allegedly refusing to register a rape complaint in the northern state of Chhattisgar.

The woman and her husband later brought the case to the attention of a more senior officer and a hunt has now been launched for her attacker, an auto rickshaw driver.

Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year in India were against women.

The real figure is thought to be much higher as so many women are reluctant to report attacks to the police.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has pledged to bring in new laws to cover attacks on women.

A receptionist at the King Edward VII hospital has committed suicide, just days after she was pranked by two Australian DJs posing as Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. DJs Michael Christian and Mel Greig phoned the hospital where Kate Middleton was being treated posing as the royals and asked to be connected to “Kate, my granddaughter.” The receptionist then put the call through to Kate’s nurse, who was also fooled, and relayed information about Kate’s care. The DJs issued an apology, but the receptionist was found yesterday at an address just a few yards away from the hospital where she worked. The death is being called “unexplained” but sources say it is clear she killed herself. On Friday, the two DJs deleted their Twitter accounts, and announced that they will be suspending themselves from the radio station.

"The tragic news will heap pressure on 2DayFM, the radio station which made the call."

"The station is already serving two five-year license probations after serious breaches of the Australian regulator's code."

"The broadcaster was handed the first reprimand in 2009 after a 14-year-old girl was attached to a lie detector and then said live on air that she had been raped."

More at the DailyBeast.

Moments before Ameia Egana, aged 53, was to be evicted from her fourth floor apartment, she clambered over the balcony railing and jumped to her death. Police at the scene said she died on impact. It is the second suicide in Spain in a matter of weeks; a man facing eviction in Grenada was found hanging in his home. A local judge called to the scene said the law on evictions must be changed. Al Jazeera's Peter Sharp reports.

On Monday, Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos promised that no needy family will go homeless over mortgage arrears, responding to public fury over Egana's suicide as she was being evicted.

Via Reuters:

Facing accusations that politicians and banks are complicit in de facto "murder", Spain's banking association said its members would suspend eviction orders for two years for those borrowers worst hit by economic crisis and record unemployment.

Banks have repossessed close to 400,000 homes in Spain since a property bubble burst in 2008 and the nation subsequently sank into recession, throwing millions out of work and unable to keep up mortgage payments to the banks.

Nearly one million homes now sit vacant in Spain. A citizens' movement called "Stop Evictions" asked the banks earlier this year to forgive mortgage debt for properties worth less than 200,000 euros, and where all family members are unemployed. Currently under Spanish law, even when borrowers turn their home over to the banks, they must still pay the entire amount of the mortgage.

Police unions have agreed to support officers who refuse to participate in eviction proceedings. But until government finalizes reforms to eviction laws, there are those who will still face eviction and homelessness. Meanwhile, the banks are set to receive part of an up to 100 billion euro European bailout to offset their financial hardships as so many are unable to pay their mortgage debts.

The 'Economic Suicides':

“I have no solution in front of me." -- Antonis Perris of Greece, unemployed for two years before he took the hand of his 90-year-old mother and climbed to the roof of their apartment building and leapt to their death.

In his last note on an online music discussion site, Perris wrote that his mother had Alzheimer’s disease and that he had recently learned he was ill. He had not expected a recession, so he had not saved money. His credit cards were maxed out. He had started selling his family’s possessions but saw no permanent solution to his problems. He blamed the “powerful of this Earth” for his situation.

Giuseppe Campaniello of Italy set himself on fire outside a government tax office in Bologna on March 28 after his company collapsed.

“I see no other solution than this dignified end to my life, so I don’t find myself fishing through garbage cans for my sustenance.” — Retired pharmacist Dimitris Christoulas, 77, who shot himself in Athens’s central square on April 4.

“Violence is to work 40 years for peanuts and to wonder if you’ll ever get to retire. . . . Violence is unemployment.” — Savvas Metoikidis, 44, who hanged himself in his father’s warehouse in Thessaloniki on April 21.

“I hope my grandchildren will never be born in Greece.” — A 61-year-old electrician who hanged himself from a tree in Athens on May 30.

To date there have been 7,387 Occupy protesters arrested in the United States alone. Bankers? Zero.

More articles on economic suicide:

Death by Foreclosure

Wells Fargo Drives Homeowner to Suicide

'Dying for Work' Billboard's Dangling Dummy Disturbs Drivers

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Billboards that read "Dying for work," and "Hope you're happy, Wall Street" greeted commuters and residents in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday, but what really got their attention were the dummies hung with nooses underneath the billboards.

911 switchboards were inundated with phone calls from concerned citizens reporting possible bodies hanging from signs around the city. The first report was regarding one of the billboards on Interstate 15 and Bonanza that read "Dying for work," with a dummy dressed in a business suit hanging by a noose.

Via:

The billboard space appeared to belong to Lamar Advertising. The company said the space was not purchased by any company.

Trooper Jeremie Elliott said, though, the billboard appeared to be a publicity stunt.

Later in the morning, FOX5 learned of another billboard location on S. Highland Avenue with a hanging mannequin. On this billboard, the words "Hope you're happy Wall St." were written with a similar mannequin underneath.

Nevada Department of Transportation was called to take down the I-15 advertisement.

The Occupy movement was a natural suspect for the Fox News affiliate, but they denied taking part in the billboards.

Later in the day, Occupy Las Vegas released this statement in response to the dummies seen hanging from billboards around Las Vegas Wednesday morning:

"The City of Las Vegas woke up to reality this morning, when a series of billboards adorned with hanging dummies and political messages were discovered around town. Some consider these displays to be an act of vandalism, while others see them as a brilliant piece of street art.

No matter which opinion you hold, the fact remains that - like the problems of homelessness, unemployment and suicide - these signs cannot be ignored. They are gigantic, they are complicated, they are painful, and they are telling you that our city - like our society - is in serious trouble. The truth has a way of pushing through, like grass through a sidewalk.

Here are some of those truths:

Clark County has the second highest rate of adult suicide in the country right now. It has the fifth highest rate of child suicide. and thanks to the governor's draconian education budget, the Social Work programs that used to supply volunteers and interns to help such people have been de-funded. The Clark County suicide hotline number is 'not in service at this time.'

While we here at OccupyLV do not know the identity of the artist responsible, we applaud their creative spirit and respect their dedication.

In a society continually hammered by waves of economic devastation, soul-sucking corporate shibboleths, humiliating governmental policies and a militarized police force which serves the interests of the 1% by trampling freedom of speech and assembly, it is not surprising that radical consciousness will find its expression through various forms of art.

More surprising is the fact that it took so long to appear."