Another Cost of Oil?

12019 Gable Oaks has been on the real estate market for 55 days here in San Antonio.



This 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home had been rented by a family with two small children - boys 8 and 9.

Here are some comments from the seller's disclosure for the house sale:

If the answer to any of the items in section 3 is yes, explain (attach additional sheets if necessary): Tenant who occupied property set fire to the downstairs living area on april 1, 2010, fire contained to downstairs was put out by local fire department.

Click to expand...

If the answer to any of the items in section 5 is yes, explain (attach additional sheets if necessary): On April 1st, 2010 the tenant occupying in the property shot and killed her 2 minor children then committed suicide by shooting herself. All were found up stairs.

Click to expand...

News Story

News 4 WOAI was told deputies were called by Richard Griffin, an army soldier in Killeen getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan. He told them he and his wife were going through a divorce and that she had threatened to kill herself.

Click to expand...

I know the chronic stress of having bags packed waiting for the call to get on an airplane in the middle of the night to go...somewhere. And know the feeling of being deployed away from my family for extended periods. But those were in peace time or the end of the first Gulf war. This is different. The military divorce rate is higher than in the civilian world. Alcoholism and family abuse are a factor - due to the extreme stress. But this breaks my heart.

Good luck adding a spot on a balance sheet for stuff like this.

The abuse of the military by the Republican Party has been appalling.
They start two wars, don't pay for them & don't have the guts to
initiate a draft to properly add personnel to the military.

Sounds like I'm all pro-draft.... well, I'm not. BUT, I am a realist who
understands that you can't have these brave men and women on a
constant revolving door. All standards for deployment were thrown
out and instead stop-loss was abused.

In the 70's / 80's there was a plan initiated to ween us off of the
foreign oil and the Republicans put it in the dumpster.

If ya wanna have a war... make your citizens pay for it. You may find
the support missing. If ya wanna have two wars... ya better have a
plan to get the soldiers you are going to need instead of destroying
the lives of the very brave individuals that you need to rely upon.

This is soooo tragic. At a total loss for words.

There is more to that story than just oil. Although it is part of the issue.

Dems are no better when it comes to wars. I'm sure people still remember Kennedy/LBJ.

The truth is that we are an undeclared empire. That means we want to eliminate resistance everywhere ...

Unfortunately our citizens are poorly educated and thus don't care. They can be easily swayed with rhetoric and made to vote against their own interests.

AndyH said:

12019 Gable Oaks has been on the real estate market for 55 days here in San Antonio.

This 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home had been rented by a family with two small children - boys 8 and 9.

Here are some comments from the seller's disclosure for the house sale:

If the answer to any of the items in section 3 is yes, explain (attach additional sheets if necessary): Tenant who occupied property set fire to the downstairs living area on april 1, 2010, fire contained to downstairs was put out by local fire department.

Click to expand...

If the answer to any of the items in section 5 is yes, explain (attach additional sheets if necessary): On April 1st, 2010 the tenant occupying in the property shot and killed her 2 minor children then committed suicide by shooting herself. All were found up stairs.

Click to expand...

News Story

News 4 WOAI was told deputies were called by Richard Griffin, an army soldier in Killeen getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan. He told them he and his wife were going through a divorce and that she had threatened to kill herself.

Click to expand...

I know the chronic stress of having bags packed waiting for the call to get on an airplane in the middle of the night to go...somewhere. And know the feeling of being deployed away from my family for extended periods. But those were in peace time or the end of the first Gulf war. This is different. The military divorce rate is higher than in the civilian world. Alcoholism and family abuse are a factor - due to the extreme stress. But this breaks my heart.

Good luck adding a spot on a balance sheet for stuff like this.

Click to expand...

Sad....but what does this have to do with the Nissan Leaf??? :?

derkraut said:

Sad....but what does this have to do with the Nissan Leaf??? :?

Click to expand...

See the forum - "Non Leaf Discussions".

So, is this burnt, haunted house now offered for a real bargin price?

evnow said:

Dems are no better when it comes to wars. I'm sure people still remember Kennedy/LBJ.

The truth is that we are an undeclared empire. That means we want to eliminate resistance everywhere ...

Unfortunately our citizens are poorly educated and thus don't care. They can be easily swayed with rhetoric and made to vote against their own interests.

Click to expand...

So very true.... our past is bloody for sure. Just ask the American Indian nations.
Eminent domain sure sounded good to the lily white faces of the European transplants.

The point... at least mine was the abuse of military personnel. As to NAM... just
imagine losing a loved one for the "Domino Theory". Hell, Eisenhower was one
of the first to warn us of the MIC. He wouldn't even be allowed in the current
Republican Party........

smkettner said:

There is more to that story than just oil. Although it is part of the issue.

Click to expand...

Yes - more than oil.

And yet...if Afghanistan wasn't a convenient place to run a pipeline from oil fields to the sea, and if we weren't addicted to oil and 'playing' along with the other governments ...fighting... for a piece of the oil pie before it's all locked up...

This is as much a part of the 'collateral damage' of oil addiction as oiled birds in the Gulf of Mexico or poisoned water in Ecuador**. The price at the pump is only a small part of what we pay for a gallon of fuel.

Along with...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127860466

Nearly as many American troops at home and abroad have committed suicide this year as have been killed in combat in Afghanistan. Alarmed at the growing rate of soldiers taking their own lives, the Army has begun investigating its mental health and suicide prevention programs.

Click to expand...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/11/national/main6083072.shtml

He noted that of the 30,000 suicides each year in America, about 20 percent are committed by veterans.

Click to expand...

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_3dc03ec3-6a37-5608-8563-aca88f635271.html

A steady rise in suicides is confounding Marine Corps commanders, despite years of efforts to assure troops their careers won't suffer for seeking mental health counseling, a top general said Tuesday.

Click to expand...

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123185434

The suicide rate in all four services was higher than the national average, with 52 Marines and 48 Sailors taking their own lives in 2009, according to the individual services' annual reports. As of November, 147 Soldiers had fallen to suicide. The final 2009 figures for the Army are expected to be released Jan. 14. Air Force officials reported 41 active-duty suicides, a 12.5 per 100,000 ratio, in 2009.

Click to expand...

**
And check this out... The documentary CRUDE, about the Texaco/Chevron-Texaco oil effort in Ecuador has come under legal attack by Chevron - and a US district court ordered the movie makers to:

In a truly unprecedented decision, the District Court has ordered Berlinger to
turn over all of the previously unreleased footage from Crude – over 600 hours
worth – to Chevron and two of its employees. The District Court has not in any
way limited the scope of the footage these parties may obtain, nor has it placed any
restrictions on their public or private use of that footage.

Click to expand...

More here: http://www.crudethemovie.com/

AndyH said:

smkettner said:

There is more to that story than just oil. Although it is part of the issue.

Click to expand...

Yes - more than oil.

And yet...if Afghanistan wasn't a convenient place to run a pipeline from oil fields to the sea, and if we weren't addicted to oil and 'playing' along with the other governments ...fighting... for a piece of the oil pie before it's all locked up...

This is as much a part of the 'collateral damage' of oil addiction as oiled birds in the Gulf of Mexico or poisoned water in Ecuador**. The price at the pump is only a small part of what we pay for a gallon of fuel.

Click to expand...

I think you missed my point. The person that commited murder/suicide was most probably mentally unstable with underlying relationship issues.
This may well have happened with or without the war in Iraq/Afganistan.

smkettner said:

I think you missed my point. The person that commited murder/suicide was most probably mentally unstable with underlying relationship issues.
This may well have happened with or without the war in Iraq/Afganistan.

Click to expand...

No - I didn't miss your point. It's also clear you've not been in uniform. The point is that while the military suicide rate has roughly followed the civilian rate for many years, it's taken an off-ramp and gone in a new direction.

Two active wars - both in the Middle East and both more about oil than not - have strained our military and their families significantly. The operations tempo is way up - more frequent deployments with less time back home between rotations.

Military folks that are asked to do things that don't mesh with their conscience can't leave that 'at the office'. They're under contract and can't say 'no' like civilians can. It's hard on the GI but it's often more difficult for the family.

I didn't have a problem explaining to my wife why I had to have three bags packed and stored in the hall closet just in case the telephone call came at 3:45AM with orders to be on an airplane by 4:30AM, because she was also active duty and her bags were packed and in the closet as well.

Many civilian spouses never can understand, because what that call means to them is that their spouse is leaving them alone with the house and kids, probably won't have access to a telephone, can't tell him/her where they're going or when/if they're coming back...and by the way, what do you mean you won't be here to help me when the baby's crying at 2:30?...Hey - will your checks make it into the account? Because I still have diapers to buy while you're dodging improvised explosive devices...

No - no stress there at all.

The oil companies don't have to include military support in their quarterly reports any more than the other inconsequential factors like air or water pollution or increased cancer rates around refineries...