Photographer out of hospital after "suicide by cop" bid (McCusker/NOLA)

[uppityperson]

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003019216

Times-Picayune Photographer John McCusker Out Of Hospital

August 17, 2006

By Daryl Lang

New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer John McCusker was released from the hospital this week and will face four criminal charges related to his confrontation with police two weeks ago, according to his editor.

McCusker feels embarrassed about what happened and grateful for the people who supported him, says photo editor Doug Parker, who spoke to McCusker earlier this week. "He's in very good spirits," Parker says.

McCusker had been under psychiatric evaluation since Aug. 8, when he provoked police officers in what was described as an attempted "suicide by cop." McCusker, a life-long New Orleans resident, was apparently depressed over being unable to get enough insurance money to rebuild his house, which was destroyed in the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina last year.

He is now home and has been talking to friends. "He sounds like the John we know," says Bridget O'Brian, who spoke to McCusker Thursday. O'Brian is a former Picayune reporter and founder of Friends of the Times-Picayune, a fund to help employees of the newspaper....(more@link, including report of money raised to help him).

Cross posted to Hurricane Survivors Group and here in GD to get more coverage. Link to article of his suicide attempt here- http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/us/10orleans.html?ex=1156219200&en=e9e2fa42ceb68add&ei=5070

[Swamp Rat]

1. k&r

[uppityperson]

2. indeed. Just read "1 dead in Attic"

heard about it on DU, bought it, got it, read it. sigh. It could be any of us anywhere, we cannot rely on our gvt to help. sigh again.

[Swamp Rat]

3. We're waiting... expecting it to happen to us again.

This ain't mass psychosis; this is past experience talkin'. :(

[uppityperson]

4. wunderground blog report here.

It's another quiet day in the tropical Atlantic. The persistent area of low pressure off the U.S. East Coast moved ashore this morning in Georgia. An area of heavy thunderstorms south of Jamaica is associated with a westward-moving tropical wave. Wind shear is high here, 20-30 knots, and development is not expected. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the area of strong thunderstorms between Africa and the Lesser Antilles Island, is moderately active today, but no real threat areas stand out within it. The GFS and NOGAPS models continue to predict that a tropical storm will develop within the ITCZ by late in the week. However, any development here will have to contend with a large area of dry air and African dust that covers the entire eastern tropical Atlantic, north of the ITCZ.

Wind shear across most of the tropical Atlantic is forecast to drop to very low levels beginning Wednesday, and I expect we'll have at least one tropical storm developing by the end of the week.

Until then, enjoy these quiet days!
Jeff Masters

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=468&tstamp=200608

It is not just this year, but next yr, the next yr, the next yr, combine with the big earthquake we west coasters are waiting for, drought in mid-lands, tornados, etc, good times aren't over, but they sure are different.

[uppityperson]

5. kick once to push it back up

getting outrage fatigue

[uppityperson]

6. once for the weekday crowd.