Gascn faulted for ending training of officers

San Francisco police shoot wheelchair-bound man twice in the groin
Stumble This! A man in a Wheelchair was shot twice in the groin by San Francisco police outside a Mental Health facility Tuesday. A cellphone video uploaded to YouTube Wednesday showed four plainclothes and two uniformed officers surrounding the wheelchair-bound man. He was reportedly armed with a knife and a chunk of concrete. Police said that the suspect stabbed one cop in the shoulder and slashed tires on a city vehicle. San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon explained at a press conferenc...

North Dakota Legislature Looks To Outlaw Name Calling
That’s a trite way of describing the Legislation, that has sprung up from the overreaction to Cooperstown teenager Cassidy Andel who was allegedly bullied. In response, we’re getting expensive, knee-jerk legislation that a) isn’t likely to solve any problems and b) is going to cost the Taxpayers a lot. Requires the state’s superintendent to create an anti-bullying plan for the whole state, consulting with the Attorney General, the Department of Health, prosecutors from ar...

Assisted Living: More Young People Are Winding Up In Nursing Homes
SARASOTA, Fla. — Adam Martin doesn't fit in here. No one else in this nursing home wears Air Jordans. No one else has stacks of music videos by 2Pac and Jay-Z. No one else is just 26. It's no longer unusual to find a nursing home resident who is decades younger than his neighbor: About one in seven people now living in such facilities in the U.S. is under 65. But the growing phenomenon presents a host of challenges for nursing homes, while patients like Martin face staggering isolation. ...

More Young People Winding Up in Nursing Homes
(AP) SARASOTA, Fla. - Adam Martin doesn't fit in here. No one else in this nursing home wears Air Jordans. No one else has stacks of music videos by 2Pac and Jay-Z. No one else is just 26. It's no longer unusual to find a nursing home resident who is decades younger than his neighbor: About one in seven people now living in such facilities in the U.S. is under 65. But the growing phenomenon presents a host of challenges for nursing homes, while patients like Martin face staggering isolation. "...

More young people are winding up in nursing homes
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Adam Martin doesn’t fit in here. No one else in this nursing home wears Air Jordans. No one else has stacks of music videos by 2Pac and Jay-Z. No one else is just 26. It’s no longer unusual to find a nursing home resident who is decades younger than his neighbor: About one in seven people now living in such facilities in the U.S. is under 65. But the growing phenomenon presents a host of challenges for nursing homes, while patients like Martin face stagger...

More young people winding up in nursing homes...
SARASOTA, Fla. – Adam Martin doesn't fit in here. No one else in this nursing home wears Air Jordans. No one else has stacks of music videos by 2Pac and Jay-Z. No one else is just 26. It's no longer unusual to find a nursing home resident who is decades younger than his neighbor: About one in seven people now living in such facilities in the U.S. is under 65. But the growing phenomenon presents a host of challenges for nursing homes, while patients like Martin face staggering isolation. "I...

DJ Jaffe: FDA May Let Religion Prevent Mental Illness Treatment
On January 27th and 28th, the Food and Drug Administration is having a meeting to decide who controls your right to choose Mental Illness treatment. On one side are doctors, scientists, patients and their advocates. On the other side is a doctor who doesn't believe Mental Illness is real and a religion. The FDA will have to side with one or the other, and the outcome is by no means certain. The hearings concern the continued availability of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT, or "Shock Treatment")...

'There Is No Definition of a Mental Disorder'
Gary Greenberg's recent Wired article about the anxiously anticipated and repeatedly delayed fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMS-5) begins with a revealing admission. "There is no definition of a mental disorder," Allen Frances tells him. "It's bullshit. I mean, you just can't define it....These concepts are virtually impossible to define precisely with bright lines at the boundaries." Frances should know. As the lea...

Advocates trying to spread the word on mental health parity
As Congress gears up for another health reform fight and Connecticut lawmakers contemplate state-level reforms, a group of consumer and Mental Health advocates is trying to draw attention to a less-noticed federal law they say stands to benefit many state residents. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was largely overshadowed by federal health reform, but it provides what Victoria Veltri, General Counsel for the state Office of the Healthc...

DHHS Secretary Cansler in the news on health issues
Pity poor North Carolina DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler.  He is pictured in the Raleigh News and Observer today.  Not once, but twice. Health Care is the top issue in the news today, and Cansler heads the large agency, the Department of Health and Human Services.  DHHS is responsible for Oversight ofMedicaid for NC and for Oversight of Mental Health/Substance Abuse/ and Developmental Disabilities services, as well as Social Services Oversight functions. The N&O’s front pa...

Colorado governor pardons man executed for murder in 1939
Denver (Reuters) - Colorado's outgoing Governor issued a posthumous pardon on Friday to a mentally Disabled man executed in 1939 for the Murder of a 15-year-old girl, a crime the condemned man's supporters have long said he never committed. In pardoning Joe Arridy, Governor Bill Ritter called the case a "tragic conviction (based) on a false and coerced confession." "In addition, it would be Unconstitutional today to impose the death penalty on anyone as intellectually Disabled as Arridy," Ritte...

Potsdam court mired in backlog
POTSDAM — The St. Lawrence County District Attorney's office is systematically reviewing hundreds of pending Village Court Cases, many of which may end up dismissed. The backlog of cases became severe while former Village Justice Joseph T. Welch presided over court, prosecutors say. Mr. Welch resigned abruptly last month after serving as village justice since December 2007. Village police were investigating whether he used Cocaine while holding court. "It's a big problem," Distri...

Video: San Francisco Police Shoot Man in Wheelchair
In the video below, police appear to shoot a man in a Wheelchair who was armed with knives and may have stabbed an officer. There are a number of questions raised by this video over the use of lethal force. What is curious is that citizens were next to the man when the police arrive and traffic is still moving by the scene despite the possible use of the weapons. The greatest concern is why the police did not use non-lethal force such as a Taser or isolate the man while they cut off traffic and ...

What is Happening in Our Society That We Need to Drug Five-Year-Old Children?
© GETTY CREATIVE Attention Deficit disorder can be hard for parents A report in today's newspaper says that Children with attention Deficit disorder (ADHD) can't switch off the default mode network (DMN) in their brains, the daydreaming function. Stimulant drugs such as methylphenidate may help to switch off this DMN, turn down the volume, as it were, and enable the ADHD sufferer to focus on a task. These findings are interesting, but they do not address the question of why so many child...

Closing prisons needs to be on the table
From Change.org: Texas’ Prison population is shrinking. The state has made great strides in recent years to offer community alternatives to long sentences. But with a Budget Crisis looming, state Prison officials are saying they won’t consider closing a single prison. Laying off staff and cutting Prison programs while keeping 112 costly prisons running is a mistake, and will lead Texas back to the cycle of crime and punishment that build those prisons. Sign the petition and edit th...

Waban man charged in fatal June crash
Nearly seven months after a Newton car crash claimed the life of a Chelsea janitor, a 21-year-old suspect was charged with his death. Authorities yesterday cited Evan Hoffman of Waban with negligent motor vehicle homicide, as well as speeding, a marked-lanes violation and driving without Insurance. On June 26, Hoffman’s Jeep Grand Cherokee allegedly crossed into the eastbound lane of Beacon Street and struck Jose Puzul-Perez’s Ford Aerostar head-on, killing the 43-year-old. For Mari...

Colorado governor pardons man executed for murder in 1939
By Keith Coffman Denver | Fri Jan 7, 2011 5:47pm EST Denver (Reuters) - Colorado's outgoing Governor issued a posthumous pardon on Friday to a mentally Disabled man executed in 1939 for the Murder of a 15-year-old girl, a crime the condemned man's supporters have long said he never committed. In pardoning Joe Arridy, Governor Bill Ritter called the case a "tragic conviction (based) on a false and coerced confession." "In addition, it would be Unconstitutional today to impose the death penalty...

Three gambler parents banned from Pa. casinos
Three more parents who gambled their Children's safety outside Bensalem's Parx Casino were reckoned with this week - one by a Bucks County Court judge, the others by state gaming officials. On Thursday, Donald Waige of Philadelphia was placed on 18 months of Probation for leaving his 15-month-old son in a car outside the casino in the summer while he gambled. Also Thursday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board imposed lifetime casino bans on two other Philadelphia men who did likewise with thei...

Conservative talk radio weekly recap: Jan 3-7
My new Talk Radio Watch column is now up! Enjoy FREE audio and video highlights from the week in conservative talk radio. Top stories include: Who got called "the Larry Flynt of talk radio" by Alec Baldwin? CLICK HERE for more. PLUS: Glenn Beck's latest hire -- former HuffPo CEO Betsy Morgan! -- grants an intriguing if jargon-stuffed interview to Forbes , explaining why she made the switch:The other thing I’ll say is it was very deliberate in the Press Release to talk about The Blaze...

Police's homeless murder appeal
Police have appealed for help in tracking the last hours of a Homeless man found murdered in Swansea city centre. David Michael Alan Williams, 26, was found outside the Iceland Supermarket in St David's Square at 0400 GMT on Friday, 7 January. Two men are still being questioned. Det Supt Burke, of the South Wales Police major crime investigation team, said Mr Williams was hmoeless and sleeping on the streets of Swansea city centre. "We are also appealing to anyone who saw any persons i...

Pic of the day: Obama in 2013
This week's big story was the Homeless man with the golden voice: <object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="https://www.YouTube.com/v/pR4DBMh_v0c&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://www.YouTube.com/v/pR4DBMh_v0c&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="applicatio...

Street music and voodoo art in Haiti
A year ago, a powerful Earthquake brought death and destruction to Poverty-stricken Caribbean country of Haiti, killing 230,000 people and leaving 1.5 million Homeless. Twelve months on, Mike Thomson from BBC Radio 4's Today programme returned there to meet a voodoo artist using the bones of Earthquake Victims in his work. But first, he witnessed the spectacle of a 'rara' street band winding its way through the streets of Port au Prince. To see the enhanced content on this page, ...

Radio industry voices approval, frustration at Ted Williams story
There is no doubt that Ted Williams has an amazing voice. It's a voice that only belongs behind a microphone announcing a Basketball game, voicing an Infomercial, reading the news or reminiscing with us on our favorite oldies station. And who doesn't love a story about someone getting a second chance at life? It's inspiring to know that when we might need that second chance or if we are looking for one right now, there's hope. To see the outpouring of jobs, opportunities and ...

Forget the Homeless Radio Guy, Actual Hero Is His Ex-Wife
Photo: Today Show/NBC While the rest of the world cooed and melted over the story of Ted Williams's unexpected ascent from Homeless man with a talent for radio to Viral Video sensation and Cleveland Cavaliers announcer, we also sobbed gently into our keyboard remained unmoved. Sure this was an uplifting instance of rare second chances and dreams coming true, but what about other Homeless people who aren't blessed with a golden voice? Where is the Internet on that, huh? Now tha...

Another "Accidental" Shooting
In this case the shooter happened to be an Iraq War Veteran, which was part of the reason he was out on bail awaiting sentencing for an extremely vicious assault on a Homeless man. That was a mistake. A former soldier convicted of beating up a Homeless man has been arrested on reckless homicide and weapons charges in a woman's fatal shooting in suburban Cincinnati. Riley Feller, 25, was arrested late Thursday night in Norwood. Feller was waving a 9mm Handgun around when ...