Crossposted from the California High Speed Rail Blog

California newspapers, the LA Times excepted, have been using their editorial pages to try to convince Californians that somehow, an economic downturn caused by overdependence on oil should not be addressed by job-creating projects that would provide renewably powered transportation and enable economic growth over the long term. Most recently it’s the Redding Record-Searchlight making the argument that somehow Prop 1A would hurt California’s budget and economy, when in fact it is a necessary part of the solution.

This is Shasta Dam under construction in 1942:

It remains a key part not just of the state of California’s overall water storage and provision system, but was crucial to the Redding economy during the 1930s and in the years since.

It was also a Depression-era project. Built at a time when California barely had enough money to balance its own budget. In 1933 California passed a bond measure allowing money to be spent on the dam – $170 million, a significant sum in those days. By 1935 California had secured federal funds to help begin construction on the dam. The jobs created by the dam project and the long-term value of the Central Valley Project were considerable. Redding got badly needed jobs as well as flood control. California got jobs and a base for long-term agriculture, an industry that remains significant to this day in Redding.

Had California rejected the 1933 Shasta Dam bond, chances are the dam would not have been built for a decade or two. Redding would have lost out on those crucial jobs in the depths of the Depression and California agriculture might not have had the stable water source it needed to be productive for these last 70 years.

We can go on. The Golden Gate Bridge funding fell through after the 1929 stock market crash – so voters in the North Coast counties that comprise the Golden Gate Bridge District had to approve bonds, which they did in November 1930. Similar bonds had to be sold for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, also in the depths of the Depression. The two bridge projects not only provided jobs when they were desperately needed but enabled massive economic growth in the Bay Area after World War II.

The argument that we cannot build high speed rail because of the economic crisis or credit crunch simply doesn’t hold water. The economic downturn is an argument FOR high speed rail. Worse, the Redding Record-Searchlight’s reasons for not supporting Prop 1A make little sense:

An alluring investment in 21st-century transportation for a growing state? Yes. It’s also $10 billion that California doesn’t have.

Of course California doesn’t have $10 billion – which is why we’re going to borrow it. The state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst has determined we actually can afford Prop 1A. Repayment lasts over a 40-year term. The jobs, tax revenue and economic activity created by high speed rail combined with the savings on oil consumption and carbon emissions are likely to outweigh the annual debt service cost.

If it were up to HSR deniers like the Redding Record-Searchlight we’d still be in the Depression. We wouldn’t have the dams and bridges that made our late 20th century prosperity possible. And if we follow their advice we will have a hard time getting out of whatever we’re going to call this economic crisis.

So-called Pres. George W. Bush initiated a war of aggression and limitless occupation against the sovereign nation of Iraq in order to exact revenge on Sadaam Hussein over Hussein’s assassination attempt on former Pres. George H.W. Bush and to secure Iraqi oil for Bush’s Texas oil cronies.  Sen. John McCain and Rep. Mary Bono Baxely Mack, absentee Congresswoman, have supported every Bush war policy without reservation.  In fact, McCain is prepared for the U.S. to continue the occupation of Iraq ‘for 100 years.’

The U.S. Army recently released a study on the impact of the Bush war of aggression on the mental health of U.S. troops (The Associated Press, by Pauline Jelinek, dated March 7, 2008).  The findings of the report are devastating to the Bush occupation efforts and reveal the harmful impact on a significant percentage of U.S. troops.

More below the flip…

More than 27% of U.S. troops on their third or fourth combat tour suffered anxiety, depression, post-combat stress and other problems.  More than 12% of U.S. troops on their first tour suffered similar mental health problems

Suicide rates “remained elevated” in both Iraq and in Afghanistan.  Four suicides occurred last year in Afghanistan and 34 either confirmed or suspected suicides in Iraq.  If all suicides are confirmed, this would be the highest suicide rate since the Bush war of aggression began

The percentage of soldiers reporting depression in Afghanistan was higher than that in Iraq, and mental health problems in general were higher than they had previously been in Afghanistan.  The adjusted rate in 2007 for depression in Afghanistan was 11.4% compared with 7.6% in Iraq

83% of U.S. troops in Afghanistan reported exposure to traumatic combat events, a key risk factor for poor mental health among the troops

Spreading U.S. troops out in Afghanistan tended to isolate troops and made it more difficult for them to obtain mental health services in Afghanistan

About 29% of U.S. troops in combat outposts in Iraq reported that it was difficult to obtain mental health services in Iraq.  About 13% of U.S. troops not at outposts reported similar difficulty

U.S. troops receiving “Battlemind” training reported fewer mental health problems than those who did not.  The training teaches U.S. troops and families what to expect before troops depart for the Bush occupation of Iraq and what common problems to look out for when troops readjust to Stateside life following deployment

29% of U.S. troops feared seeking mental health services would harm their careers, down from 34% in 2006.  Fears of seeking mental health services would prevent many from getting help for anxiety, depression, and post-combat stress and would exacerbate the symptoms

89% of U.S. troops reported that their unit’s morale was neither high nor very high, down from 93% in 2006.  79.4% reported neither high nor very high individual morale, down from 81.7% in 2006.

In Iraq, 72% of soldiers reported knowing someone seriously injured or killed

U.S. troops reported an average of only 5.6 hours of sleep nightly in Iraq, significantly less than that needed to maintain optimal level of performance.  This puts U.S. troops at greater risk for harm.  Officers appear to significantly underestimate the impact of sleep deprivation.

Almost 33% of U.S. troops in Afghanistan were highly concerned that they were not getting sufficient sleep, and about 25% reported falling asleep during convoys last year thereby increasing their risk for harm.  16% of U.S. troops reported taking psychiatric medications during 2007 (there was no figure for the percentage of troops who were prescribed psychiatric medications and who were not taking them), and about half of those were sleep medications

In an news article dated Friday, November 16, 2007, Kevin Johnson, USA Today reports that Reservists who return from the Iraqi Civil War to conduct police work face particular challenges:

“Shortly after Wayne Williamson returned to Texas from an 11-month deployment to Iraq as an Army reservist, he began jumping at virtually every unexpected sound.

“Although his attorney now says his reactions were perhaps classic symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, Williamson told no one, including his supervisors at the Austin Police Department, until March – after he opened fire on an unarmed suspect during a brief foot chase.

“The suspect was not hit, but one of the three rounds struck a parked van, narrowly missing two children inside. The shooting cost Williamson his job, and prosecutors are reviewing whether his reactions were criminal.

As regarding the initial invasion of the sovereign Nation of Iraq, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, D.C., and the product safety concerns of the American parent and consumer, the so-called Bush Administration has little or no planning pertaining to the re-entry of Reservists onto the police force.  This is the most incompetent Administration in U.S. history and its effects are now being played out on American streets and highways.

More below the flip…

Johnson continues:

“Police and mental health authorities say Williamson’s case represents an increasing concern about thousands of returning reservists.  Unlike other part-time soldiers, they resume duties that sometimes require the use of lethal force under conditions very different from the combat zone…

“…For those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, lethal force is a central part of the mission. Rules governing its use vary where enemy attacks are constant threats.

“You can’t just put people back in these jobs, give them their badge and gun and expect that things are going to be fine,” says Stephen Curran, a Maryland psychologist who counsels officers. “Getting back into the flow of things is a challenge (for returning officers). Most make it, but there are others who come back with problems.”

“Of particular concern, Curran says, are the long-term effects of prolonged and close-range exposure to blasts from mortar fire or improvised explosive devices. Even when there is no apparent physical injury, repeated exposure can trigger symptoms similar to concussion, which can substantially alter victims’ ability to concentrate.

“Recovery time can be a year or more,” Curran says of the condition, which is not easily diagnosed.”

“Although thousands of officers served in Vietnam, the Iraq war differs because of the urban combat and the military’s unprecedented reliance on reservists, who routinely are dispatched to the front lines there and in Afghanistan…

“…In Tucson, police psychologist Mary-Wales North says the department’s reorientation activities include a debriefing by a department psychologist before and after deployments.  Returning officers spend about two weeks training on the shooting range and get refresher courses on high-speed driving.”

In another USA Today article, Johnson reports:

“A survey last month of 103 psychologists across the USA who treat public safety officers found 16% were counseling those who had returned from combat zones, says Stephen Curran, a Maryland psychologist who conducted the survey and counsels officers.”

Thus far in my private practice in Palm Springs and in the Inland Empire, I have seen a police officer/Reservist who returned from the Iraq Civil War with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD, please refer to my previous post re the signs and symptoms of PTSD at Returning Iraq Occupation Forces Have Increased Incidence of Depression and Anxiety), a child of a Reservist who suffered from depression related to fears that her father would die in Iraq, and other family members who suffered from anxiety and depression related to families in turmoil related to military issues.  This does not include the number of gay servicement whom I have seen who were summarily discharged from service due to their perceived or actual sexual orientation.  The effects of the poor planning, poor execution, and poor oversight of this intramural conflict has been disastrous thus far on military personnel, their families, and their communities.

It will take years before the full effects of this foreign policy disaster is known in all of its human terms.  God save America.