Gun deaths at highest level in 40 years, CDC says
New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’sWONDER database shows gun-related deaths have reached the highest level in almost 40 years.
Nearly 40,000 people in the United States died from a gunshot wound in 2017. According to the data, 14,542 were murders and 23,854 were ruled a suicide.
The CEO of Lutheran Services Florida Health Systems, Christine Cauffield, calls the high suicide rate a “silent disease.
“Those individuals that do complete suicides — when autopsies are performed, (they) definitely have one or more substances in their bodies at the time of the suicide death,” Cauffield said.
She said those who take their own lives tend to fit the same demographic.
“We are seeing a real rise in suicides, particularly males age 60 and higher,” Cauffield said.
According to Cauffield, Florida ranks 50th in the nation when it comes to funding for behavioral health resources.
She said more money would go a long way.
“It can certainly reduce (the) waiting list, it can improve access to care to services that individuals desperately need; we need more residential beds,” Cauffield said.
Cauffield said there’s hope in the form of medication and therapy but it starts with an important step.
“It’s so important to reach out and let people know how you are feeling,” Cauffield said.
LSF Health Systems is a 24/7 access to a care line where clinicians are on standby to take your call if you need someone to talk to. That number is 877-229-9098.
Article via AJC
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In Venezuelan crisis, families can’t even afford to properly bury the dead
CUCUTA, Colombia – As the crisis in Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship deepens – gripped by mass hunger, starvation and a lack of medical supplies – there is no comfort even for the dead.
“What is happening is medieval. People are ‘renting’ caskets for a service, but giving them back. The same casket is being used over and over again because people cannot afford to buy one,” Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges, who has been living in exile in the Colombian capital of Bogota for the past nine months, told Fox News. “And then they have to wrap the body in plastic bags for the burial. Others don’t have money for a land plot, so they are burying loved ones in their back garden.”
Borges said the “really creepy” problem of how to properly bury the dead has become the norm rather than the exception. Other Venezuelans concurred, indicating the use of “common graves,” along with backyard burials, was becoming standard.
One Venezuelan, who asked his name not be published, described the sudden death of his father in the capital Caracas last week, which left the family without a vehicle to take the body to the morgue. It took more than a day for the body to be collected.
Atilio Gonzalez (C), a priest of the Southern Cemetery for the last 24 years, prays during a burial ceremony at the Southern Cemetery in Caracas January 28, 2014. Since then, proper burials have become too expensive for the vast majority of the population.
And even then, the family had to say their goodbyes – they had no money for a funeral, or burial – praying the body would be disposed of in some kind of mass cremation.
For every day a body remains in the morgue, the cost rises, leaving families without the means for collection. In such cases, loved ones are simply left stranded – their relatives in mourning, not knowing what to do, and without closure.
“Funeral services are too expensive. Coffins are expensive, as well as paying for a place in the cemetery and everything that comes with it: the chapel for the service, the plate,” Julett Pineda, a health journalist for Efecto Cocuyo in Caracas, told Fox News. “People cannot have a decent funeral.”
Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges, who has been living in exile in the Colombian capital of Bogota.
Pineda recounted stories of parents who have tried to collect and earn money for the funerals of their own children. But as the economy of the cash-strapped nation continues to deteriorate, all they can afford is the cremation, which costs roughly a third of burial costs.
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Santa ripped off beard, told children ‘get the f*** out’ during Christmas festival meltdown – due to a fire alarm
ST. IVES, England – Organizers of a Christmas event have apologized to outraged parents after a fire alarm reportedly prompted Santa Claus to burst out of his grotto, rip off his beard and scream at children to “get the f**k out.”
The incident occurred at an event in the English town of St. Ives, Cambridgeshire on Sunday, when an alarm at a nearby but unconnected event caused an evacuation of the building, organizers said.
While parents and children were already evacuating, Santa Claus tore into the room and started causing havoc, a customer said on Facebook.
“He came changing (sic) in, ripped his hat and beard off in front of 50 odd kids and started shouting and swearing at people to leave,” the post said.
“You should be ashamed of yourself acting like that in front of children. There is no way he should be allowed near a child,” it added.
This nightmare before Christmas prompted an apology from the event’s organizers, who explained that the fire alarm had gone off in an unrelated family-friendly “rave” taking place in the same building, and that Santa had merely been trying to help.
“Santa was upstairs in his grotto… and immediately assisted in the evacuation of the building” upon hearing the fire alarm, Festival Events St. Ives (FESt) said.
“FESt wish to apologize for any offense or distress caused to parents and children by the attempts to ensure all visitors and staff had exited the building and were safe,” they added.
But the incident, which some on social media likened to the 2003 movie “Bad Santa,” left parents furious.
A mother told local news outlet Cambridgeshire Live: “My friend’s little boy was upset as his dad was carrying him when Santa told them ‘to get the f*** out,’” adding that she had to tell her children that the man wasn’t the real Santa but an imposter who would be going on the ‘naughty list.’”
The event is set to go ahead again this weekend. Organizers did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment, and have not confirmed whether the same Santa Claus will return.
7-year-old immigrant girl dies of dehydration, shock after Border Patrol arrest
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Federal immigration authorities have confirmed that a 7-year-old girl who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with her father last week died after being taken into the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol.
The Washington Post reports the girl died of dehydration and shock more than eight hours after she was arrested by agents near Lordsburg, New Mexico. The girl was from Guatemala and was traveling with a group of 163 people who approached agents to turn themselves in.
It’s unknown what happened to the girl during those eight hours before she started having seizures and was flown to an El Paso hospital.
In a statement, Customs and Border Protection said the girl had not eaten or consumed water in several days.
The agency did not provide the Associated Press with the statement it gave to the Post, despite repeated requests.