suicide

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About fucking time, Australian Defence Force!

23 October 2008 in Defence, Personal by Stilgherrian | 1 comment

Finally! After a three-year battle, the families of four Australian soldiers who committed suicide will receive ex gratia compensation payments. The amounts have not been disclosed. My feelings are very mixed — because this is very personal.

I’ve told some of this story before, in last year’s post Releasing the Black Hawk crash video was A Good Thing and this year’s Anzac Day Rememberings. I won’t repeat it all now — though I reckon your time spent reading those essays and following the links will be well spent.

All I’ll say today is something I said on Anzac Day:

I pray that the commanders of Australia’s military forces, and their political “masters”, will one day remember that there are more important, more admirable personal qualities than the ability to cover one’s own arse.

That four fine young men who volunteered for the armed forces ended up taking their own lives is a tragedy.

That there are people who have tried shifting the blame and who have delayed these four families receiving the justice and closure they deserve is truly, truly disgusting.

“Putting [Lotus] Notes on iPhone is like getting out a piece of exquisite Wedgwood china and using it to serve a steaming pile of dog shit. Have you ever seen Notes? It’s not software, it’s a form of punishment. Companies that use Notes have to staff not only a help desk but also a suicide prevention centre — it’s that bad.” From The Fake Steve Jobs diary, via Memex 1.1.

28 January 2008 by Stilgherrian | No comments

US research shows that country music fans have the highest suicide rate. “The results of a multiple regression analysis of 49 metropolitan areas show that the greater the airtime devoted to country music, the greater the white suicide rate. The effect is independent of divorce, southernness, poverty, and gun availability.” Hat tip to The Road to Surfdom.

21 January 2008 by Stilgherrian | 8 comments

Annabel Crabb has written a superb profile of Senator Penny Wong, Australia’s new Minister for Climate Change and Water. Alas, this was not the best way for me to discover that the death of her younger brother, my very good mate Toby Wong, was a suicide. I miss you, you crazy man.

09 December 2007 by Stilgherrian | 2 comments

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