Tag Archives: suicide

How about an independent probe into Epstein death?

Jeffrey Epstein was under the “watchful eye” of the U.S. Department of Justice. He was being held in a Manhattan jail cell. He was arguably the most notorious criminal in federal custody, a guy who needed the DOJ’s relentless and unblinking attention.

Then he hangs himself. The DOJ is denied the opportunity to put a known pedophile on trial for allegations of sex trafficking underage girls.

The multimillionaire also had two high-profile relationships, with Bill Clinton and Donald Trump … a former and current president of the United States.

Now we hear from Attorney General William Barr blasting to smithereens the security detail at the Manhattan jail. He has called Epstein’s death a monumental failure.

Really, Mr. AG? Well, who is responsible for that failure? I contend that the AG himself is to blame. This happened on Barr’s watch.

The medical examiner has reportedly determined Epstein’s cause of death. There appears to be no evidence of “foul play,” or so we’re led to believe. I won’t join conspiracy theorists who have ideas and notions aplenty about what happened to Epstein.

However, does the DOJ investigate itself? Does the Justice Department look deeply into this a**hole’s death?

I don’t know how the DOJ does that. Nor do I accept that the department can peel away all the layers to expose the truth behind what happened to this guy.

Epstein was put on suicide watch in late July after he was found unconscious in his cell; he reportedly had ligature marks on his neck, suggesting an attempt at hanging himself. Then they removed the suicide watch. Then we hear that the security staff was overworked and didn’t keep an eye on this bastard at all times, allowing him to string himself up inside the jail cell.

That sounds like incompetence. I believe the incompetence goes far beyond the walls of that correctional facility.

Attorney General Barr needs to step aside. He needs to find an independent investigator to take over and determine how such a high-value, high-profile and infamous prisoner can kill himself while he’s in the hands of a federal agency charged with keeping him alive while his notorious case works its way toward adjudication.

Suicide takes another celebrity

Kate Spade. Now it’s Anthony Bourdain.

Both of these individuals were huge in their respective spheres: Spade as a fashionista; Bourdain as a TV personality/storyteller/food critic.

They took their own lives. The entertainment world is in shock.

We are likely to hear expressions of profound grief and shock that Bourdain is now gone. He was working on a CNN special in France when a friend found him in his hotel room.

What are we to make of this?

After Spade’s tragic death, word came out about an increase in suicide in recent years. The response has been to stoke awareness among friends and loved ones of those who might harbor thoughts of suicide.

By all means we must maintain vigilance. We must be cognizant of those we know who are troubled by whatever pressures they are feeling in the moment.

I was not dialed in too intently to the work of either Spade or Bourdain. However, as a human being who knew someone who took his own life, my heart aches for the pain inflicted on the loved ones who are suffering today.

The advice we are receiving, to be alert to the pain of those closest to us, should serve as a serious wake-up call.

How did Lubitz get a commercial license?

I’ve posed the question already, but a report today prompts me to ask it again … in stronger terms.

How on God’s Earth did Andreas Lubitz ever obtain a commercial pilot’s license and what in the name of all that is holy was he doing on the Germanwings plane that he crashed into the French Alps?

http://news.yahoo.com/second-black-box-found-french-alps-plane-crash-134958557.html

Lubitz, the co-pilot who locked the captain out of the flight deck before crashing the plane and killing all 150 passengers and crew members, had reportedly researched cockpit security and suicide before committing this horrifying airborne atrocity.

The world already has learned that he had been diagnosed with “suicidal tendencies” some years ago. Then someone cleared him to fly apparently after determining he no longer exhibited those tendencies.

How does a medical pro make such a determination?

They’ve located the second black box in the wreckage of the aircraft. More details will come forth about the horrifying final moments of the flight.

Meanwhile, the families and other loved ones of those who died will continue to live in intense anguish as the world keeps asking questions about how Andreas Lubitz was allowed at the controls of a commercial jetliner.