Kay Steiger

This is pretty horrifying. An ex-Marine was convicted of torturing and killing his wife: Prosecutors contended that on Nov. 30, 2004, Speights assembled a series of torture and restraint devices, including chains, ankle cuffs, plastic ties, mace and a 300,000-volt stun gun at the Irvine apartment the couple shared. He then chained Zill to the […]

Last night, Democratic candidates for president gathered for the seventh debate. There are more debates in this election season than I’m pretty sure ever before — and it’s only (almost) November. Still, the debates don’t really seem to be productive. Paul Waldman attacks Tim Russert as a moderator, and I think he’s mainly right, but […]

A recent study reported in the New York Times shows that suicide rates among veterans are the same as among civilians as long as they are receiving treatment for depression. There were some differences, though. While suicide rates among civilians typically peak later in life, veterans experience a peak between the ages of 18 to […]

The Guardian reports that officials fear that up to 20,000 UK soldiers have undiagnosed brain injuries. And the DoD says that up to 20 percent of American soldiers may suffer from “mild traumatic brain injuries.” The reason this is such a problem is that soldiers are suffering injuries primarily from blasts, so even if they […]

Over at Campus Progress (full disclosure: they pay my salary), UC-Santa Barbara student Kristen Tucker highlights an army of young conservatives, more commonly known as the Young America’s Foundation, who gathered for a weekend of Ronald Reagan-worship and some good old-fashioned Muslim-bashing at a seminar at the Gipper’s ranch called “Radical Islam 101: Defining America’s […]

The NYTimes reports today that a panel from the Institute of Medicine tested 53 drugs and 37 different psychotherapy approaches. All of the methods tested were inconclusive or ineffective. What this means is that it’s unclear how to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. It will take a lot more research to figure out how to effectively […]

Via Kaiser’s Daily Women’s Health Policy Report. The Virginian-Pilot looked into the Navy’s new policy for pregnant sailors. Previously, they were only allowed four months of shore time following childbirth, but the new policy allows for a year of shore time. The number of single mothers in the Navy appears to be rising slightly: 15 […]

Apparently Britain is also struggling with care for veterans. Reuters reports today that the UK government is upping the amount paid out to soldiers wounded in battle. What I found interesting is that they previously paid a fixed amount to wounded soldiers. British veterans, called “War Pensioners,” are already covered under NHS [PDF] like other […]

The AP reports that a Census Bureau analysis shows the federal tax system doesn’t exactly distribute the wealth evenly, “[W]ealthy states pay more than poor ones, blue states subsidize red states and states with powerful politicians on key House and Senate committees fare well in federal spending.” Hardly surprising, considering that all states need federal […]

The Hill reports today that antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan is looking to run against Nancy Pelosi in 2008. Sheehan says Pelosi has failed to defund the war. Apparently, Sheehan doesn’t know that the trend for reelection in Congress is very high (over 90 percent in the last two congressional election years). Furthermore, Pelosi’s approval rating […]