A Bleak Future

The house across the street from my house that was foreclosed on had a first and second mortgage of over $400,000 on it. It is now for sale for $229,000 by the bank. It looks like the holder of the 2nd mortgage took a direct hit on that loan. The bank that held the 1st mortgage also is taking a cleaning on their loan.

I never thought of my home as an investment but more as nothing more than housing that was being subsidized by the tax deductions the IRS allowed me to take for the interest I was paying on the loan on it. I paid $38,000 for my home when I bought it over 30 years ago and the loan on it has been completely paid off. My house turns out to be the best investment I ever made in my life compared to all my other investments and it still continues to be the best investment I've ever made.

When the US digs out of the economic mess it created for itself, the economy of the US just might not look like it did before our economic crash. I suspect that the economy of the US will resemble more the economies of Europe. There is a very good chance that homeownership for most Americans will become an untenable goal just like it is for most Europeans. Homeownership will become an advantage of a new privileged class made up of us old geezers who bought our homes when they were affordable and held on to them through good and bad times. Everyone else will be tenants like most Europeans are.

We are going to be living in very trying and "interesting" times for the rest of the time I have left to live. I hope things will be better for our grandchildren.

Fred

Financial Crisis Increasing Suicide Risk, WHO Warns

There's this wonderful drug that in generic form is dirt cheap. It works very well for many people suffering from depression. With that medication they can lose their job, be homeless and hungry and not be too bothered by it all. It's called Prozac (Fluoxetine). I call it "powdered happiness". Isn't modern technology fabulous?

Fred

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

HEALTH/WELLNESS | 12.10.2008
Financial Crisis Increasing Suicide Risk, WHO Warns

Will financial woes increase depression worldwide?

With global stock markets plunging and some banks teetering on bankruptcy, the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning of a surge in suicides and mental illness. Just how depressing can it get?

As the number of foreclosures grow and the value of stock portfolios plummet, news reports from the US of the financial fallout are growing increasingly dire.

A 90-year-old woman in Ohio shot herself while being served an eviction notice. A 45-year-old businessman in Los Angeles murdered five members of his family before turning the gun on himself, saying in a suicide note that he had done so because of his troubling financial situation.

While these stories put a human face on the toll the financial crisis has taken, the Director General of the World Health Organization this may only be the tip of the iceberg.

"We should not be surprised or underestimate the turbulence and the likely consequences of the financial crisis,” Margaret Chan told a meeting of mental health care professionals in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday this week.

As people struggle to cope with losing their homes or livelihoods, she said, "It should not come as a surprise if we continue to see more stresses, more suicides and more mental disorders."

Financial crisis not the origin of the problem


Traders aren't the only ones feeling the pain

To those who can recall the stories of bankers jumping out of windows across New York at the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929, the correlation between a financial crisis and an increase in suicide seems quite real.

But to Ulrich Hegerl, Director of the Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Leipzig and spokesperson for German Research Network on Depression and Suicidality, the reality is more complicated than that.

“A person with depression can blame their depression on whatever has been in the news recently, so some might begin to say that they are depressed because of the financial crisis. But the financial crisis isn’t necessarily the basis for the illness in the first place.”

Indeed, one study conducted by the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behavior showed that a majority of suicides and suicide attempts committed by men were done so by those who were considered “economically active” (i.e. employed). That same study showed little annual change in numbers of suicides from 1989 to 2002, despite great economic changes after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Lack of care at root of problem


WHO is especially concerned about the mental health of those in low-income countries

Still, the problem is one that plagues many countries. A study released by WHO in 2001 identified depression as heading the list of disorders responsible for the global burden of disease in industrial countries.

According to the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD), more than 58,000 persons in the countries of the European Union commit suicide annually. Europe-wide, dying from suicide accounts for the second highest risk of death for young men and the third highest risk for young women.

WHO chief Margaret Chanvstressed that the majority of people worldwide suffering from mental illness live in low- and middle-income countries, where there is an "abysmal lack of care," inadequate mental health care budgets and where victims suffer from social stigma and discrimination.

Hegerl likewise says that proper treatment is the only effective way to lower the prevalence of depression and suicide. And he warns against misinterpreting the statistics, which, according to the European Depression Association (EDA) show the number of cases of depression steadily increasing over the next decade.

“Simply because the financial crisis exists doesn’t mean we can assume a higher number of cases of depressed persons. It’s more complicated than that.”


Courtney Tenz

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German Politicians Say Bank Managers Should Be Held Liable
Politicians from Germany's governing parties said bank managers should be held responsible if their institution gets into trouble. Meanwhile, Berlin called for a solution after the collapse of Hypo Real Estate's bailout. (05.10.2008)

Opinion: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Bail-Out is Not the End
The US government and Federal Reserve has saved mortgage companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which together lost $14 billion (9.9 billion euros), but DW's Karl Zawadzky still thinks crisis is too close for comfort. (08.09.2008)

German Scientists Say Smokers More Prone to Suicide
Plenty has been said about the effect of smoking on people's bodies, but for the first time a study has shown that smoking may also be related to emotional problems. (09.02.2008)

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France, Germany Agree to Unite Europe in Face of Credit Crisis

Germany, France and the rest of the nations of the European Union (EU) will not be looking to the US for leadership in weathering the emerging world economic crises. The US and its leadership have more than adequately demonstrated that they have neither the skills or the intelligence needed to make the macro economics of the world more stable.

The EU has matured to the point that it is now a major player in world economics and doesn't have to take a back seat to anyone. All of the EU's economic decisions will be based in the economic self interest of the EU and not those of the US. Actually, I feel more comfortable with the people making the economic decisions for the EU than I do with those making them for the US. They have an almost 8 year track record of bumbling and failure.

Fred

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


FINANCE | 11.10.2008
France, Germany Agree to Unite Europe in Face of Credit Crisis

Sarkozy said Europe can't afford France and Germany moving in different directions

German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy discussed the option of partially nationalizing European banks ahead of a meeting of euro zone leaders. Berlin is also reportedly set to present its own rescue deal.

The pair met at the home village and final resting place of General Charles de Gaulle on Saturday, Oct. 11, one day before a Paris summit on the global credit crisis of the leaders of all 15 members of the euro zone.

France and Germany have "exactly the same view" on the financial crisis, Sarkozy told reporters.

"We have prepared a certain number of decisions that we will submit to our partners in the presence of the president of the European Commission and the governor of the (European) central bank," he said. "All decisions, all preparations and all analyses, we're making together."

Merkel agreed on the need for unity, and said governments would have to "redirect the markets so that they serve the people, and not ruin them."

She also said Paris and Berlin were "on the same path as regards putting in place a concerted and coherent reaction for the euro zone." The chancellor, however, added that there was also "naturally room for maneuver for each member state."

Both leaders also rejected establishing a common European fund to aid banks. Sarkozy said a pan-European pot would create "gigantic problems.

"This isn't about a European fund, but about balanced behavior by all member states," Merkel added.

Euro zone mulls following British lead


The euro zone will discuss following the Bank of England in partially nationalizing banks

The heads of the European Union's four biggest economies -- Britain, France, Germany and Italy -- had held a first emergency summit one week earlier but Merkel and Sarkozy were split over the need for a common plan.

After a week of plunging stock markets, and crisis talks on Friday between the finance ministers of the G7 industrial powers, the euro zone has agreed to try once more to coordinate a response.

Sunday's meeting follows a move by Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown to guarantee inter-bank lending and to offer to take stakes in some of the country's biggest banks in a program of partial nationalization.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said that while French banks were in a relatively good position and would probably not need a government buy-in, other European economies may benefit from following the British example.

"It's very likely, because European banks are also under-capitalized," she said in an interview with France Info radio on Saturday. "We have seen Great Britain, which is outside the euro zone, make propositions in this area. We'll have to see about that in the euro zone, but I suppose it's one of the options."

Germany on verge of new rescue plan


Traders and investors around the world are hoping for an end to falling markets

There is a better chance of leaders making a nationalization deal after Berlin, which has expressed its reluctance to governments taking stakes in private banks, was reportedly preparing a new bank rescue package that includes such an option.

Merkel said Germany may inject capital into its banks but it was not planning to take permanent stakes in them.

"This is about providing the banks with sufficient capital," Merkel told reporters. "I don't rule out that there will be capital injections."

German media reported that Merkel's Cabinet would meet to discuss the rescue package on Monday and work to push it through parliament in an expedited process.

The plan to be discussed at the euro-zone leaders' meeting includes a mix of state guarantees and the possibility of the government buying a stake in faltering banks and could cost a total of between 300 billion euros and 400 billion euros, Handelsblatt.com reported Saturday.

"I hope that the guarantees for inter-bank credit and a easing of accounting policies will be enough for German banks," Michael Meister, the Christian coalition's deputy parliamentary leader, told the Web site.

He added that if the government did shore up banks with new capital, it would "demand substantial services in return."

Earlier in the week, the German daily Die Welt also reported that Germany was working on a British-style plan.

DW staff (sms)

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G7 Vows Urgent, Decisive Action to Tackle Financial Crisis
The world's seven leading economies agreed to do everything in their power to beat a financial crisis threatening to plunge the world into recession, saying they will use "all available tools" to save tottering banks. (11.10.2008)

Germany Steps up Pressure for Bank Regulation
As Germany Friday, Oct. 10 stepped up diplomatic pressure to regulate financial markets under an eight-point plan, Berlin denied it had plans to nationalize commercial banks. (10.10.2008)

Why the EU Needs to Unite to Fight Credit Crunch
So far every EU nation has reacted in its own way to the international financial crisis. Christian Ehler, a member of the European parliament, talks to Deutsche Welle about what the EU nations can do about it. (09.10.2008)

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Wall Street Bailout Won’t Do Much to Help Ailing Economy

Excellent paper from The Center for Economic and Policy Research. It's a paper that should be read and studied by all of our elected representatives. But alas, most of them are very deficient in their intellectual skills and too proficient in their skills of persuasion, deceit and blatant fabrication of alleged facts.

Fred

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

Wall Street Bailout Won’t Do Much to Help Ailing Economy

by Mark Weisbrot

October 9, 2008, Modesto Bee (CA)
October 9, 2008, Lake Wylie Pilot (SC)
October 9, 2008, Tri-City Herald (WA)
October 9, 2008, Bellingham Herald (WA)

It is now clear the approval by Congress of President Bush’s $700 bailout package on Friday October 3rd has done nothing to ease the current financial crisis. Credit markets have worsened for several days after the bill passed the Congress. The stock market also plummeted to nearly ten-year lows.

So much for dire warnings from the Bush Administration that Congress was risking a Great Depression if it did not quickly fork over the dough. The bailout’s supporters said Congress had to do something to unfreeze the credit markets. It didn’t work.

There is a basic misunderstanding of the current financial crisis and economic recession that is widespread. Most people think that the current economic downturn – which will be officially designated a recession some time in the near future – is the result of the financial crisis. But this is not true. The current recession is mainly the result of a collapsing housing bubble. This bubble of more than $8 trillion dollars accumulated between 1996-2006, and it is only about 60 percent deflated so far. This means that even if all the problems in the financial system were miraculously solved tomorrow, the United States would still be facing a serious recession.

Of course the financial crisis can make this worse, as financial institutions cut back on lending and short-term interest rates for commercial borrowing rise. And we are indeed facing a serious financial crisis. But the bailout package is a wasteful and inefficient way of dealing with the problem of banks holding bad debt, mostly related to mortgages gone sour in the housing bust. It enables the U.S. Treasury Department to buy up “troubled assets” – mostly mortgage-related securities – from financial institutions, at prices that will likely be much higher than they are worth.

Economists across the political spectrum saw this as a wasteful and inefficient way to fill holes in banks’ balance sheets. Ordinary citizens and taxpayers saw the bailout as an enormous rip-off, and flooded Congress with phone calls, defeating the bailout on its first vote.

Indeed, the most important ways that our government is currently holding the financial crisis in check do not involve overpaying banks for bad assets. The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury have intervened repeatedly to pour liquidity into the banking system. They have agreed to federally insure $3.4 trillion of money market mutual funds held by millions of Americans. This week the Fed created a new facility to buy commercial paper, the short-term debt issued by banks and corporations, where lending has been shrinking. The Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the nation’s largest insurer, were also necessary to preserve the stability of the financial system.

All this is just the beginning of cleaning up the mess that has resulted from a de-regulated and un-regulated financial system gone wild. The government will have to take over more insolvent financial institutions and provide capital to others. It will have to take steps to help homeowners, to minimize foreclosures and evictions. And it will need to provide the largest fiscal stimulus package since the Great Depression, to prevent this recession from dragging on for years. The worst part about the bailout is that some politicians will say we can’t afford the necessary stimulus because we just added $700 billion to the national debt.

Americans will have to fight for measures that protect the public interest, not the interests of those who made this mess. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made $163 million as CEO of Goldman Sachs in 2006. Now he and his former colleagues at Goldman are running the Wall Street bailout.

During the Asian financial crisis ten years ago, there was an expression for this kind of system: “crony capitalism.”

Mark Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, D.C. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan. He is co-author, with Dean Baker, of Social Security: The Phony Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 2000), and has written numerous research papers on economic policy. He is also president of Just Foreign Policy.

Surviving the Recession

Back when I was in High School I remember having an American History teacher who told the class that during the Depression in 1929 he lived on a boat and went to graduate school at UC Berkeley. He advised us that one of the best things to do when another Depression or major Recession comes along the best way to live through it is to go to graduate school and survive it living cheap and acquiring a skill that can be useful when the economic crises comes to an end.

Along came the major Recession of the 70's. I remembered his advice and I had not used my VA educational benefits yet. That's when I decided to go to graduate school and get an MBA. The VA paid for everything and even paid for my housing. The Recession came to an end about the time I finished graduate school and within a month I had a good paying full-time job.

The moral of the story - In a major Recession (also known as a Depression) go to graduate school and wait it out.

Fred

Scientist Warns Climate Change Happening Faster Than Predicted

CLIMATE | 10.10.2008
Scientist Warns Climate Change Happening Faster Than Predicted

Scientists warn sea levels are rising faster than predicted

Global warming calculations have been too optimistic and global sea levels are likely to rise a full meter this century, senior German scientists have warned. They say UN-backed data on climate change is out of date.

"We should prepare for a rise of sea levels of one meter this century," said Joachim Schellnhuber, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), which advises the German government on environmental policy.

The melting rates of glaciers in the Himalayas and the Greenland ice-sheet have doubled or even tripled in recent years, due partly to increased greenhouse gas emissions by Chinese power stations, he said.

His findings used data which was unavailable to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) when it compiled its most recent global warming report.

In February 2007, in the first volume of a landmark report, the Nobel Prize-winning IPCC predicted the oceans would rise by between 18 and 59 centimeters by 2100.

The umbrella effect


The Earth is hurtling toward a warmer age at a quickening pace, say scientists

Further causes for concern include a drop in the amount of dirt particles in the air that protect from sunlight. Schellnhuber warned that cleaning air in Beijing and in other large cities suffering from pollution problems by limiting car and power-plant emissions may raise global temperatures instead of lowering them.

Aerosols, or particles suspended in air, have a cooling effect on the earth, countering global warming linked to carbon dioxide, said Schellnhuber, explaining that a drop in aerosols in the atmosphere could cause a rapid rise in temperatures.

Airborne pollutants act as an umbrella worldwide while CO2 provides insulation, trapping heat attempting to escape into the atmosphere. A rise in temperature because of declines in aerosols in the atmosphere can be offset by slashing CO2 emissions, he said.

By not reducing carbon output, humanity "is closing the last door we have through which we can possibly influence the global climate,'' Schellnhuber warned.

Urgent need for action


Carbon emissions must be cut back -- now

The scientist stressed that there is what he called a 50-50 chance of limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) before 2100, which would avert the worst damage of climate change -- so long as plans fleshed out by the G8 countries to reduce emissions are realized.

The United Nations-sponsored climate-change talks this December in Poznan, Poland, and next year in Copenhagen must reach an agreement to limit CO2, he added.

"There is really no time to spare,'' Schellnhuber said in an interview with Bloomberg. "Technology will play a decisive role in limiting carbon but we have to move to a carbon-free world by the end of the century.''

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) has warned that environmental issues risk being neglected because of the global financial crisis.

"We can spend relatively little money now or vast sums in decades to come," he was quoted as saying in Zeit Online. "We are wealthy enough to afford climate protection -- and we are too badly-off to ignore it."


DW staff (jp)

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Sociologist: Climate Change is a Chance to Work Together
Climate change offers Europe a chance to change the way the world solves problems by drawing in poorer countries, says sociologist Ulrich Beck in an exclusive essay for DW-WORLD.DE. (22.07.2008)

Environmentalists Slam G8's Emissions Deal as Meaningless
As G8 leaders trumpeted their landmark deal to cut global emissions by 50 per cent by 2050, the '50/50' agreement, which has yet to be sealed, was quickly lambasted by environmentalists as virtually meaningless. (08.07.2008)

Opinion: Climate Conference is a Lesson in Irresponsibility
Combating global warming was the stated focus of the Major Economies Meeting in Paris on April 17 and 18, but according to DW's Helle Jeppesen, the conference didn't deserve the designation "Climate Conference." (19.04.2008)

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The Murder of Military Women Continues

Excellent article from Truthout.org.

If I had a daughter in the US military I would be living in a state of constant fear for her safety from her own comrades in arms.

Fred

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

"My Daughter's Dream Became a Nightmare": The Murder of Military Women Continues
Tuesday 07 October 2008
by: Ann Wright, t r u t h o u t | Perspective



"My daughter's dream became a nightmare," sadly said Gloria Barrios, seven months after her daughter, US Air Force Senior Airman Blanca Luna, was murdered on Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.

On March 7, 2008, Senior Airman Luna, 27, was found dead in her room at the Sheppard Air Force Base Inn, an on-base lodging facility. She had been stabbed in the back of the neck with a short knife. Luna, an Air Force Reservist with four years of prior military service in the Marine Corps including a tour in Japan, was killed three days before she was to graduate from an Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Heating training course.

When she was notified of her daughter's death, she was handed a letter from Major General K.C. McClain, commander of the Air Force Personnel Center, which stated that her daughter "was found dead on 7 March 2008 at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, as the result of an apparent homicide." When her body was returned to her family for burial, Barrios and other family members saw bruises on Blanca's face and wounds on her fingers as if she were defending herself. One of the investigators later told Mrs. Barrios that Blanca had been killed in an "assassin-like" manner. Friends say that she told them some in her unit "had given her problems."

Seven months later, Luna's mother made her first visit to the base where her daughter was killed, to pry more information from the Air Force about her daughter's death. Although the Air Force sent investigators to her home in Chicago several times to brief her on the case, she was concerned that the Air Force would not provide a copy of the autopsy report and other documents, seven months after Luna was killed. The Air Force says it cannot provide Mrs. Barrios with a copy of the autopsy as the investigation is "ongoing." Mrs. Barrios plans to have an independent autopsy conducted.

She was accompanied by her sister and six persons from a support group in Chicago and by several concerned Texans from Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton. The Chicago support group, composed of long-time, experienced social justice activists in the Hispanic community, also included Juan Torres, whose son John, an Army soldier, was found dead under very suspicious circumstances in 2004 at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Because of his battle to get documents from the Army bureaucracy on the death of his son four years ago, Torres has been helping the Barrios family in their effort to gain information about the death of Luna.

When Mrs. Barrios and friends arrived on the Air Base they were greeted by five Air Force officials. Mrs. Barrios requested that her support group be allowed to join her in an Air Force-conducted bus tour of the facilities where her daughter went to school and the lodging facility where she was found dead, but the request was denied. Mrs. Barrios then asked that her friend and translator, Magda Castaneda, and I be allowed to go on the bus and attend the meeting with the base commander and investigators.

After consultation with the base public affairs officer, Deputy Wing Commander Colonel Norsworthy decreed that only Mrs. Barrios' sister and Mr. Torres could accompany her. Mrs. Barrios, her sister and Mr. Torres are not fluent in English. Mrs. Barrios told the Air Force officers she did not feel comfortable with having translators provided by the Air Force and again asked that Mrs. Castaneda be allowed to translate for her as Mrs. Castaneda had done numerous times during Air Force briefings at her home. She asked that I be allowed to go, as I knew the military bureaucracy.

In front of the support group, the Air Force public affairs officer, George Woodward, advised Colonel Norsworthy not to allow Mrs. Casteneda and me to come on the base and attend the meetings as both of us were "outspoken in the media and their presence would jeopardize the integrity of the meeting with the family."

Mrs. Castaneda countered that during a previous meeting with the Air Force investigators in Chicago, she had been told by one investigator that she asked too many questions. Could that be the reason that she was unable to accompany Mrs. Barrios, she asked? Mrs. Barrios also reminded the officers that after she was interviewed for an article about her daughter that was published in July in the Chicago Reader, "Murder on the Base", she was warned by an Air Force official not to speak to the media again.

Mrs. Castaneda demanded that Woodward provide her a copy of the article on which he based his decision to recommend to the deputy base commander that she not be allowed on the base to translate for the family. Several hours later, Woodward gave Castaneda an article from Indy media in which she was quoted as the translator for Mrs. Barrios, and in which she had translated Barrios' statement: "Luna a four year Marine veteran."

While Colonel Wright (the author of this article) has written numerous articles concerning the rape and murder of women in the military, she reminded the officers that she holds a valid military ID card as a retired colonel, that she had not violated any laws or military regulations by writing and speaking about issues of violence against women in the military and that most families of military members who have been killed are at a disadvantage in dealing with the military bureaucracy in finding answers to the questions they have about the deaths of their loved ones. She reminded the officials that the parents of NFL football player Pat Tillman, who after three Congressional hearings on the death of their son in Afghanistan in 2002, still don't have answers to the questions of who killed their son and why the perpetrator of the crime hasn't been brought to justice. Families of "ordinary" service members, and particularly families with limited knowledge of the military and with limited financial means find themselves at the mercy of the military for information.

The base Catholic chaplain and the staff Judge Advocate, both colonels, were silent during the exchange. One would have thought that perhaps a chaplain who watched as Mrs. Barrios, a single mother whose only daughter had been killed and whose English was minimal, broke down in tears and sat sobbing on the curb as the public affairs officer described her friends as "outspoken and a threat to the integrity of the meetings" would have been sensitive to a grieving mother's need for a family friend who had translated in all the previous meetings with the Air Force investigators - but he was silent. Likewise, the senior lawyer on the base, who no doubt had handled many criminal cases, would have recognized that a distraught mother would need someone who could take notes and understand the nuances of the discussion in English during the very stressful discussions with the investigators - but he was silent. Instead, the colonels bowed to the civilian public affairs officer's advice that "outspoken" women were a threat to the "integrity of the meeting."

Eventually, Mrs. Barrios, her sister Algeria and Juan Torres met with Brigadier General Mannon, commander of the 82nd Training Wing, and with three members of the Office of Special Investigations. Mrs. Barrios said they were given no new information about the investigation and questioned again why her friends, who over the past seven months have been a part of the briefings from the Air Force, had been kept out of meetings where the Air Force officials knew they were not going to provide any new information.

Since 2003, there have been 34 homicides and 218 "self-inflicted" deaths (suicides) in the Air Force, and in 2007-2008 alone, five homicides and 35 "self-inflicted" deaths according to the Public Affairs Office of the 82nd Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force base.

On the same day that Mrs. Barrios went to Sheppard Air Force Base, October 3, 2008, the US Army announced that a US Army woman sergeant had been killed near Fort Bragg, North Carolina, by a stab wound in the neck. Sergeant Christina Smith, 29, was stabbed on September 30, 2008, allegedly by her US Army husband Sergeant Richard Smith, who was accompanied by Private First Class Matthew Kvapil.

Smith was the fourth military woman murdered in North Carolina in the past nine months.

On June 21, 2008, US Army Specialist Megan Touma, 23, was killed inside a Fayetteville, North Carolina, hotel, less than two weeks after she arrived at Fort Bragg from an assignment in Germany. She was seven months pregnant. Sergeant Edgar Patino, a married male soldier assigned to Fort Bragg, whom Touma knew from Germany and who reportedly was the father of the unborn child, has been arrested for her murder.

On July 10, 2008, Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, an Army nurse at Fort Bragg, was killed. Her estranged husband, Marine Corporal John Wimunc of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, has been arrested in her death and the burning of her body and Lance Corporal Kyle Alden was arrested for destroying evidence and providing a false alibi.

Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach had been raped in May 2007 and protective orders had been issued against the alleged perpetrator, fellow Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean. The burned body of Lauterbach and her unborn baby were found in a shallow grave in the backyard of Laurean's home in January 2008. Laurean fled to Mexico, where he was captured by Mexican authorities. He is currently awaiting extradition to the United States to stand trial. Lauterbach's mother testified before Congress on July 31, 2008, that the Marine Corps ignored warning signs that Laurean was a danger to her daughter.

On Wednesday, October 8, at 11:30 a.m., a vigil for the four military women and all victims of violence will be held at the Main Gate at Fort Bragg, followed by a discussion on violence against women at the Quaker Peace Center in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and by a wreath laying at Lafayette Memorial Park. The events are sponsored by the Coalition to End Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in the Military, Veterans for Peace and the Quaker Peace Center.

--------

Ann Wright is a retired Army Reserve colonel and a 29-year veteran of the Army and Army Reserves. She was a diplomat in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned from the Department of State on March 19, 2003, in opposition to the Iraq war. She has written several articles on violence against women in the military, including "Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up?", "U.S. Military Keeping Secrets About Female Soldiers' 'Suicides'?" and "Is There an Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?". She is also the co-author of the book, "Dissent: Voices of Conscience."