"Groundhog Day is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell...
"Murray plays Phil Connors, an egocentric Pittsburgh TV weatherman who, during a hated assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, finds himself repeating the same day over and over again.
"After indulging in hedonism and numerous suicide attempts, he begins to reexamine his life and priorities."
Groundhog Day (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It's hard to miss the egocentric hedonism of US elites behind our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
It's at least as hard to miss the rising profit margins of defense contractors, or the millions of dollars of blood money funneled into campaign coffers every two years.
While the previous points are subject to debate, current suicide levels in the US military aren't.
"From the invasion of Afghanistan until last summer (2009), the U.S. military had lost 761 soldiers in combat there. But a higher number in the service 817 had taken their own lives over the same period.
"The surge in suicides, which have risen five years in a row, has become a vexing problem for which the Army's highest levels of command have yet to find a solution despite deploying hundreds of mental-health experts and investing millions of dollars..."
Military Suicides Up Among Soldiers in Repeat Army Tours - TIME
The "Groundhog Day" effect of waking to the same nightmare every morning is no where more profound than on Memorial Day; when the recurring nightmares of suicide, PTSD and domestic violence get shoved aside by corporate spectacle.
"Around Memorial Day 2004, the Army released a study that said one in eight of its returning soldiers were reporting symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In February of the next year, the VA said one in four of its Afghan and Iraq veterans were being treated for mental health disorders.
"By Memorial Day 2008, Bush Administration officials were saying that more than half of the 300,000 veterans treated at the VA so far had some sort of mental health condition. In September 2009, researchers were predicting that 35 percent of returning veterans could be diagnosed with PTSD in the coming years.
"Meanwhile, the suicide rate among veterans is about 6,000 a year, a rate veterans organizations say is at 'epidemic proportions' and 'out of control.' According to a report last week, the VAs suicide hotline logged a record 14,000 calls in April alone.
"And yet, how many people know, as theyre flipping their burgers and watching their parades today, that on May 10, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that 'unchecked incompetence' by the Department of Veterans Affairs has led to poor mental health care and slow processing of disability claims for veterans? Thus, the majority wrote (.pdf), the VA was violating veterans Constitutional right to care in return for their service."
Memorial Day in Wartime by Kelley B. Vlahos -- Antiwar.com
Some Things Never Change:
War is a Racket
"Murray plays Phil Connors, an egocentric Pittsburgh TV weatherman who, during a hated assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, finds himself repeating the same day over and over again.
"After indulging in hedonism and numerous suicide attempts, he begins to reexamine his life and priorities."
Groundhog Day (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It's hard to miss the egocentric hedonism of US elites behind our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
It's at least as hard to miss the rising profit margins of defense contractors, or the millions of dollars of blood money funneled into campaign coffers every two years.
While the previous points are subject to debate, current suicide levels in the US military aren't.
"From the invasion of Afghanistan until last summer (2009), the U.S. military had lost 761 soldiers in combat there. But a higher number in the service 817 had taken their own lives over the same period.
"The surge in suicides, which have risen five years in a row, has become a vexing problem for which the Army's highest levels of command have yet to find a solution despite deploying hundreds of mental-health experts and investing millions of dollars..."
Military Suicides Up Among Soldiers in Repeat Army Tours - TIME
The "Groundhog Day" effect of waking to the same nightmare every morning is no where more profound than on Memorial Day; when the recurring nightmares of suicide, PTSD and domestic violence get shoved aside by corporate spectacle.
"Around Memorial Day 2004, the Army released a study that said one in eight of its returning soldiers were reporting symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In February of the next year, the VA said one in four of its Afghan and Iraq veterans were being treated for mental health disorders.
"By Memorial Day 2008, Bush Administration officials were saying that more than half of the 300,000 veterans treated at the VA so far had some sort of mental health condition. In September 2009, researchers were predicting that 35 percent of returning veterans could be diagnosed with PTSD in the coming years.
"Meanwhile, the suicide rate among veterans is about 6,000 a year, a rate veterans organizations say is at 'epidemic proportions' and 'out of control.' According to a report last week, the VAs suicide hotline logged a record 14,000 calls in April alone.
"And yet, how many people know, as theyre flipping their burgers and watching their parades today, that on May 10, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that 'unchecked incompetence' by the Department of Veterans Affairs has led to poor mental health care and slow processing of disability claims for veterans? Thus, the majority wrote (.pdf), the VA was violating veterans Constitutional right to care in return for their service."
Memorial Day in Wartime by Kelley B. Vlahos -- Antiwar.com
Some Things Never Change:
War is a Racket
