Today’s Sacramento Bee has a very interesting article about a sharp rise in calls to the State Department of Personnel Management asking for grief counseling assistance for state employees dealing with suicides of co-workers.

The Bee writes:

California government departments  in 2009 made 33 requests for “critical incident stress debriefings,” in which counselors meet with employees traumatized by the suicide of a colleague.

In 2008, the state made 14 such calls. In 2007, when the Department of Personnel Administration began tracking the incidents, government departments made 18 requests for such grief counseling.

The data are drawn from such a relatively small population and over such a brief period that it’s impossible to determine any trends, said mental health experts interviewed by The Bee. Identifying a single cause for the kind of hopelessness that leads to suicide can be next to impossible.

But it’s clear, they said, that the state’s unprecedented labor unrest – on-again, off-again furloughs that cut state worker pay nearly 15 percent, fractured labor relations with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, rising public disdain for civil servants – has increased tension for a group of people who tend to value security and predictability in their work.

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“British Airways apologized to passengers after an emergency message warning they were about to crash into the sea was played by mistake… A spokesman for British Airways said an investigation was under way to discover whether it was human error or a computer glitch.” [AFP/Raw Story]

Forget The Onion. Do you want to know what humor will look like 15 years from now, in the 13th year of the Palin presidency? Then you’ll want to check out a funny Fox News photo feature titled “A New Look for the ‘God Squad.’” Just bear in mind that when I say “funny” I don’t mean “ha, ha, funny.” Rather, I mean depressing, humorless, joy-killing, religious themed “Photoshops” that appear to have been produced by a blind octagenarian nun using MS Paint and a gummed-up ball-mouse. My only question at this point: given that Fox appears to have made the tranformation to overtly evangelical prosletyzing right-wing proaganda newtork, when will the merger talks with the 700 Club actually take place?

Day 3. We’re starting to grow suspicious of Sheryll. As we were falling asleep, she was gently licking our mouth. But when we briefly opened our eyes, she had transformed into a hideous Salt Monster. We blinked — and she was a cute little dog again.

Our friends on the Night Crew at Target tell us we need to cut back on the Red Bull. But we can’t. Justin Bieber needs us.

And then, back in the attic, we thought, What if Sheryll isn’t what she appears to be? “Never you mind,” we heard. We snapped our head — and there was Sheryll with a bloody sock in her mouth.

That settled it. We’re switching to Snapple.

Note to aspiring directors: If you’re going to have a kid cussing in a viral video, make sure you’re the parent…

A city man was arrested after police said he coached his 8-year-old neighbor to swear and make racial slurs for a YouTube video.

Josh Eastman, 24, of Pearl Harbor Street, was charged Tuesday afternoon with impairing the morals of a child. He was released after posting $2,500 bond…

Police said Eastman admitted making and posting the video, but claimed his lawyer told him it was all right to do so.

Reached at his home Wednesday, Eastman denied that the things he had the boy say were disgusting. “It was fun things, funny,” he said.

No, sir, funny is a cute kitty chasing her linoleum reflection. Or, if not funny, it’s certainly safer.

Man arrested for ‘swearing kid’ video [Connecticut Post, via Raw Story]

[KittyVid via LuxMentis]

Actually, Eliot Spitzer’s gift to New York already submitted his entry in the Bigotry Appeasement Sweepstakes, but he’d like you to know he’s still in the running:

In the wake of the alleged hate crime against a New York City taxi driver, I must take this opportunity to remind New Yorkers that we cannot and will not allow bias and ignorance to infect our communities and deny our hard working, innocent residents the respect they deserve.

The potential for this kind of violence is one of the reasons why I have called publicly for a respectful and unifying conversation about the Park51 project. I continue to offer my assistance for an open dialogue that I believe will help to bring New Yorkers together.

Look, pal, if you wanna bring New Yorkers together, announce a fatwa on the Red Sox.

Bonus Demagogue Video! Larry McCarthy, who brought you the Willie Horton ad, shows that he hasn’t lost his chops.

Paterson pegs Park51 to stabbing [Politico, via ThinkProgress]

Producer Of New Commercial Smearing Muslims For Political Gain Also Produced The Willie Horton Ad [ThinkProgress]

“We can report to you exclusively that Sarah Palin’s 19-year-old daughter Bristol Palin has been cast on the 11th season of Dancing With the Stars, set to premiere Sept. 20, according to sources.” [E! Online]