Suicide rates among middle-age people are going up, according to a new study. The trend seems to be driven by the entrance of the Baby Boom generation into middle age, when chronic diseases rear their ugly heads.

The study, published in the journal Public Health Reports, reveals middle-age suicides to be at odds with the overall U.S. suicide rate, which has been declining. People ages 40 to 59 have long had a moderate suicide rate, according to sociologist Ellen Idler of Emory University in Atlanta, who co-authored the research paper.

“The findings are disturbing, because they’re a reversal of a long-standing trend,” Idler said in a statement.

Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, Idler and her colleagues tracked suicide rates between 1979 and 2005. By 2000, most people ages 40 to 59 were Baby Boomers and the suicide rate started climbing steadily for these middle-age ranges. The researchers found significant increases of more than 2 percent per year for men, and more than 3 percent per year for women, from 1999 to 2005. (By 2005, all those in the middle-age group were baby boomers, defined as those born between 1945 and 1964.)

Preliminary data from 2006 and 2007, the latest years for which numbers are available, indicate that the trend toward more middle-age suicides is continuing, Idler said. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the suicide rate for 45- to 54-year-olds was 17.7 deaths per 100,000 people in 2007. That’s compared with 13 deaths per 100,000 people in the 25- to 34-year-old age group and 12.6 deaths per 100,000 in the 65- to 74-year-old group.

Though many are surprised to learn it, suicide claims more lives than homicide, and that’s long been true.

The post-1999 increase in middle-age suicide has been particularly dramatic for those who are unmarried and less educated, the analysis showed. Suicide rates in men aged 40 to 49 who had some college but no degree went up 16.3 percent between 2000 and 2005, while the suicide rate in men aged 50 to 59 went up 29.6 percent. Women showed a similar pattern, with about a 30 percent increase in the suicide rate for women with some college but no degree in both age groups.

Men and women with a high school degree or less also became more likely to commit suicide. Rates in men with a high school diploma went up 11.7 percent in the 40 to 49 age group and 27 percent in the 50 to 59 age group. Women in those groups saw their suicide rates increase by 15 and 17 percent, respectively. Middle-age participants with a college degree appeared largely protected from the trend.

The baby boomers also experienced higher suicide rates during their adolescence and young adulthood, doubling the rate for those age groups at the time. Their suicide rate then declined slightly and stabilized, before beginning to increase again in midlife.

“You might think that the higher rates in adolescence would lead to lower rates later because the most suicide prone people would be gone, but that doesn’t appear to be the case,” Idler said.

Studies show that knowing someone who committed suicide is a risk factor for people who later kill themselves.

“The high rates in adolescence could actually be contributing to the high rates in middle age,” Idler said.

Idler also said substance abuse and the onset of chronic disease could contribute to baby boomer suicides.

“As children, the baby boomers were the healthiest cohort that had ever lived, due to the availability of antibiotics and vaccines,” she said. “Chronic conditions could be more of a rude awakening for them in midlife than they were for earlier generations.”

Gainesville, Florida’s Dove World Outreach Center really wants to burn some Korans on 9/11, damnit! And even though the city has denied them a “burn permit” for the occasion, they’re doing it anyway. USA, USA!

The church recently announced its plan for “International Burn a Koran Day” on 9/11, as a way to “stand up for righteousness.” (It’s still unclear how many international participants there will be.) And just so we’re clear, Dove’s pastor, Terry Jones, says he has no problem with Muslims and welcomes them to America.

Gainesville’s fire chief has made it clear to the church, however, that it will not get any special permit to evade a city ordinance banning the open burning of books. They will be fined.

But does anyone expect rationality to play into the Dove World Outreach Center’s decision-making process? Screw that! They’re burning Korans.

In an e-mail newsletter sent out Wednesday, the church announced: “City of Gainesville denies burn permit — BUT WE WILL STILL BURN KORANS.”

The large Jesus statue iconic to Interstate 75 in Monroe was destroyed following an apparent lightning strike during a thunderstorm.

Motorists were stopped along the highway and along Union Road in Monroe to watch the 62-foot King of Kings statue burn. The fire was reported at 11:15 p.m. Monday, June 14. Within minutes, all that was left was the steel frame of the statue at Solid Rock Church, 904 N. Union Road.

Church member Cassie Browning, 27, of Dayton, said she was driving north on I-75 on her way back from Tennessee when she and her family saw smoke and noticed the statue missing. “It meant so much to so many people,” Browning said. “The statue can be destroyed and gone, but Jesus can’t be.”

It is absolutely critical that you perform a warm up and a warm down before and after your exercises by taking a warm towel and for 3 minutes wrapping it around your penis.

Of course, as with every exercise program, when you are performing any kind of exercise to make your penis bigger you need to be consistent and persistent. For more comprehensive information about other penis enlargement options check out the website below.

This exercise involves grabbing your penis head with the grip of an okay symbol by making the shape of the letter O with your index finger and your thumb. Stretch your penis in front and hold it in that stretch for around 10-15 seconds. After you have done that gently massage your penis. Now continue to stretch and hold the penis for around 10-15 seconds in up, left, right, straight and down directions. Be sure to massage between each repetition. If you have trouble keeping a grip I recommend using tissue or toilet paper. Be sure not to stretch your penis too far, this exercise should not be painful.

We, the scary Arab clowns love two things. Tits and gambling. Instead, we think you are more likely to double your paycheck or see big bosoms by paying a visit to a casino.

You’ll find a wide variety of games, payout statistics, and great ways to make your small paycheck into a bigger one! As always, you are taking your risks for yourself, but at least with a casino you know that you will get the statistics ahead of time.

Personally, we like movie reviews here and we also found that there were more than a few interesting things we’d never seen before such as the pole dancing competition. We don’t have that in Yemen or even in Bahrain!

We liked the interviews and background on all of our favorite screenwriters and definitely found it easy to integrate and ingratiate ourselves into the facebook community, twitter community, and the people who love scary clowns community. We like this guy the best!

We think he is probably dead. As to you, well, we don’t know if you are yet, but you will be, that’s for sure.

This post sponsored by IamRogue.com

Tensions between Israel and Turkey spilled into a second day Tuesday when Turkish officials summoned the Israeli ambassador to a meeting, Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported.

Israel criticized Turkey Monday for a Turkish television series that it said depicted Israeli intelligence agents as baby-snatchers.

When asked about Tuesday’s meeting between Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy and Turkish officials, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was pre-planned.

That session came one day after Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned the Turkish ambassador to complain about the television show that Israel found offensive, a spokesman for Ayalon said.

Afterward, Ayalon tweeted that he had “Told Turk Amb that this is an intolerable situation which endangers the Jewish community, the Israel envoys and tourists coming to Turkey.”

Several senior Israeli Foreign Ministry sources, who didn’t want to be named because it would jeopardize their jobs, criticized Ayalon’s treatment of Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol at the start of their meeting Monday. At the session, Celikkol was seated below Ayalon.

With cameras rolling, Ayalon turned to the television crews and said, “The main thing is that you see that he is seated low and that we are high … that there is one flag on the table (the Israeli flag) and that we are not smiling.”

The sources told CNN they were “surprised by Ayalon’s undiplomatic behavior.”

Ceylon Ozen, spokeswoman for the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv, told CNN that Celikkol felt his treatment was “unacceptable, shocking and primitive,” and did not comply with standards for diplomacy. He has contacted the Israeli ambassador to Turkey and requested a formal apology from the Israelis, she said.

There had been media speculation that Ayalon’s summons was designed to sabotage a trip to Ankara Sunday by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. A spokesman for Ayalon said that was “completely wide of the mark.”

Barak’s office said he had no plans to cancel his trip.

Israeli politicians and media outlets roundly condemned an episode of the popular Turkish soap opera, “Valley of the Wolves: Ambush,” that depicted the Israeli intelligence service Mossad spying inside Turkey and kidnapping Turkish babies. The program also showed Mossad attacking the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and taking the ambassador and his family hostage.

In a written statement, “Valley of the Wolves: Ambush” producer Pana Film said the show “will continue to tell the truth and expose the wrongs.”

Israel summoned the Turkish ambassador the same day that Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lambasted Israel for air strikes Sunday on Gaza, the Turkish state-run Anatolian News Agency reported.

“Why is it doing this? Because it says ‘I possess the power in this region,’” the news agency quoted Erdogan as saying of Israel. “It possesses unproportionate power and it is using this. It is not acting in accordance with U.N. resolutions, it is uncomfortable. It says ‘I will do whatever I please.’”

During a joint news conference, held with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Erdogan called for the international community “to warn Israel about its nuclear arsenal just like it did with Iran,” ANA reported. Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal, but has never acknowledged that publicly.

In a written statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry condemned the criticism.

“Erdogan’s remarks join the anti-Israel program broadcast on Turkish television and the harsh statements against Israel that have been said consistently and systematically for over a year,” the statement said.

“The state of Israel reserves the full right to protect its citizens from missile attacks and from the terror of the Hamas and Hezbollah. Turkey is the last that can preach morality to Israel and the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).”

“Valley of the Wolves: Ambush” is part of a popular franchise in Turkey. The series “Valley of the Wolves” first aired in 2003 on Turkish television, followed by a 2006 movie of the same name that stirred controversy with its portrayal of American soldiers in Iraq and what some described as thinly-veiled anti-Semitism. The movie, based on the series, featured American actors Gary Busey and Billy Zane.

Another television version, “Valley of the Wolves: Terror,” was canceled after one episode in February 2007. “Ambush” first aired in April 2007.

Israel and Turkey have enjoyed close military and economic ties for more than a decade. But relations have grown testy at times in recent years over Israel’s activities in the Palestinian territories and over its Gaza offensive in December and January.

She’s been thoroughly enjoying her filming duties for her new VH1 show “The Price of Beauty” and yesterday (October 6) Jessica Simpson found herself in Morocco.

The “Come on Over” songstress seems to have been bitten by the Twitter bug as well, given her vast number of tweets while on the road.

Upon arrival, Miss Simpson tweeted, “What shall I do on my day off here in Marrakech? hmmm..i’ll keep you posted…” Later she wrote, “Morocco fun!! I love the girls!!! XOXOXO”

And it has been quite an adventure so far, as Jessica and her crew have traveled to Thailand, Brazil, Japan, and Uganda.

Think about it, the dollar is low, Afghanistan war has support, America produces nothing but war and entertainment, Iran has nukes, support for war with Iran is high amongst American rednecks, the American Econoly needs one of its periodic war boosts.

We are guessing that there will be open hostility by late December.

CAIRNS, Australia – A man who used a public toilet in a shopping mall was taken to a hospital to have the toilet seat removed from his backside after someone smeared it with glue in what an official condemned Monday as a sick joke. Police urged possible witnesses to come forward after the 58-year-old man was humiliated in the northeastern city of Cairns by the prank.

An ambulance was called to help the man after he was found stuck by fast-acting adhesive glue to a toilet seat on Saturday in the busy shopping mall.

Paramedics removed the seat from the toilet and took him to a hospital, where medical staff used industrial solvents to get it off.

Cairns local government official Di Forsyth said the man, who was not identified, was not injured but was “extremely embarrassed” by his experience.

“I’m disgusted that a gentlemen has had to go through that because someone thinks it’s funny,” Forsyth said. “It’s a sick joke.”

We agree with the official, it’s a sick joke. We’re sure he would also agree with us that it’s a sick joke that never stops being funny. What kind of idiot doesn’t wipe a public toilet seat before sitting on it anyway? The kind that deserves a toilet seat stuck to his bum, that’s what kind!

In other news, we are slightly disturbed that fake boobs are all given serial numbers and thus able to be used for positive identification. We aren’t real sure why this bothers us except that we think that a woman should be given the right to choose to disclose whether her boobs are real or fake.

The body of a mutilated murder-victim was positively identified by matching the serial numbers on her breast-implants:

Fiore’s body was found last Saturday in a Dumpster behind an apartment complex in Buena Park, just outside Anaheim, California. Her teeth had been extracted and fingers removed in what police said was an apparent attempt to conceal her identity.

Law enforcement sources have told CNN that Fiore was identified through the serial numbers on her breast implants. – from Boing Boing

That’s all we have for today, but isn’t it enough?