Suicide Prevention in All Federal Departments 

Department of Defense components have created 'suicide prevention' programs and trained their military and civilian personnel to be alert and responsive to the needs of their organizations and circumstances. The DoD programs lend themselves to being adapted throughout all Federal Departments and Agencies.

I suggest a top down directive to all federal departments that will encourage suicide prevention training for federal employees that are in supervisory positions, hear and investigate employee complaints, interact with survivors of suicide (military as well as civilian), and others that have duties in law enforcement, security, mental health, supervising conduct of prisoners, and comparable positions.

See also my blog: Military-Civilian Teamwork in Suicide Prevention, at:

http://scribe1917x.livejournal.com/8508.html

Back to Work 

Same as many U S citizens, I expect that the government's economic 'Recovery' programs will return our employer industries to the levels that prevailed before the nation was gripped by massive unemployment. I also expect that hiring trends will be gradual and extend across time.

Granted that the unemployed will be offered jobs. Former employees will likely be recalled early. Then, new hires will come from the experienced, the sufficiently skilled, and otherwise acceptably qualified workers.

Meanwhile, throughout the country, hundreds of thousands of adolescents to young adults are passing through 9th to 12th grades, and many 12th graders and dropouts have matured into men and women who are either heading for college or looking for a paying job in order to marry and 'make a living' for a planned family.

What is 'government,' national to local, in the context of the federal 'Recovery' initiative doing NOW to prepare and QUALIFY this long march of young CITIZENS IN GOOD STANDING for what it'll take for them to get and hold a job that'll pay enough to provide for their participation in the nation's next adult generation? In effect, what programs exist now (at each level of government (or other authorities/industries/social resources) that a youth/young adult seeking a paying job can contact, learn from, and continue on into 'job seeking? If such contacts and guidance exists, have they been sufficiently publicized to the youth/young adults? What about a follow up system and staff for appropriate neighborhoods?

Next point: (An untrained young adult has been employed as an apprentice by a 'small business' manufacturer. Following the paper work and a short tour of the work unit where he-she'll be assigned he/she is turned over to the 1st line supervisor who instructs him/her on his/her duties, which include several hands-on technical operations. (I was in a comparable situation way-back-when) MISTAKES HAPPEN!

Enormous waste of resources occurs and lives lost because of mistakes and deficiencies in producing things and in industrial services. As a former (now long-retired) management analyst in a govt inspector general office and in other assignments, the scope of my responsibilities included manufacturing, maintenance, and later on, research and analysis of 'production' defects and abuse of materiel in both government and the private sectors. Often, the causes included poor procedures and training in getting at the 'root cause' of a problem. My experience is that normally, workers do not hide mistakes or minimize deficiencies. Further, on-the-job the worker is the 1st line supervisor's friend.

Post-retirement, I prepared a pamphlet 1979 on fixing and preventing mistakes in the workplace that was published by the Small Business Administration. I occasionally update the pamphlet and the current version is on line at:

http://scribe1917x.livejournal.com/9032.html

Depletion of Essential Nonrenewable Resources 

Excerpt from the Inaugural Address by President Barack Obama, Jan. 20, 2009:

' . . . and to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders . . . . NOR CAN WE CONSUME THE WORLD'S RESOURCES WITHOUT REGARD TO EFFECT. FOR THE WORLD HAS CHANGED, AND WE MUST CHANGE WITH IT.' (emphasis added)

The President's concern about the pace at which the world and the United States consume their reserves of industrial-base resources, specifically resources that are nonrenewable and accessible in finite and diminishing reserves strongly suggests replenishing essential resources that will be lost to future generations is an increasingly predictable fact, with significant 'EFFECT' on the United States and the world's economies and quality of life.

The reality of the dilemma posed by the President is close enough to be in our forseeable future; further, that upon its arrival, will be with us indefinitely. Therefore, the dilemma qualifies for 'Open Government' discussion insofar as 'depletion of nonrenewable resources' can be defined and the 'effect' that will apply worldwide is understood. The issue deserves cross feed now through an 'Open Government' dialogue, 'brainstorm.' or other form of group collaboration, comment and documentation. It warrants being considered in the context of 'climate change' and perhaps still another 'economic disaster' redux.'

Several years ago I wrote a layman-level future history on the same subject, now a blog at:

http://scribe1917x.livejournal.com/4923.html

I also tried to interest young folks by extrapolating the eventual 'nonrenewables' dilemma and relevant technologies in an sf format that can be freely downloaded from the Gutenberg Archive at:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18257

'Mike' Moldeven