Suicide is painless

The phrase "Suicide is Painless" is the title of a song that most people will remember from the opening credits of the movie version of M*A*S*H, but if you think about it suicide is anything but painless.

I've had a few friends commit suicide and when I think about them I am just angry! Angry that they didn't let me talk them out of it, angry that they are not here and I can't help them, and angry because I miss being able to talk to them and tell them of the hurt and pain they left behind.

Suicide is a bit of a selfish undertaking because it doesn't think about anybody but the person that wants to just "not be." One person I knew went to the extent of arranging pre-paid funeralarrangements for his wife and driving himself to just outside the funeral home before he took his own life. WTF dude! It's thoughtful and creepy beyond understanding.

So far I have talked only about people I know in this post, but what about people I don't know?

David Kellermann, Freddie Mac acting CEO, was found dead in his home Wednesday morning. His death, still under investigation, is a suspected suicide.

Cheung Shu-hung, co-owner of Lee Der Industrial Co., apparently hung himself in his factory. The motive behind his suicide was not given, but I’m sure it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out. Cheug, and his company Lee Der, were under immense pressure by Chinese officials (who are eagerly trying to protect the country’s crucial export industry from a bad reputation of being potentially unsafe/dangerous). They have been trying to regain international consumer confidence, after a handful of recalls in the recent past, with new regulations, inspections, and increased pressure on manufacturers, like Cheung himself. Cheung’s Lee Der was temporarily banned from exporting products, causing him financial stress and damage. Chinese goods have been under fire after a chemical additive in pet food caused the death of some pets in the United States; and toxic ingredients were found in a long list of products, from seafood to toothpaste, which were recalled or rejected by a number of countries worried about safety.
Chung Mong-hun, a son of the late founder of the giant Hyundai conglomerate has been found dead below his 12th floor office. Chung, a top executive of the Hyundai conglomerate, was indicted recently to face trial over a scandal around the inter-Korean summit of 2000.

He was one of South Korea's top executives and had been accused of the illegal transfer of money to North Korea over the historic summit with the South. He jumped from his office on the 12th floor, the BBC website reported. Chung was chairman of Hyundai-Asan, a Hyundai subsidiary that runs a series of joint ventures in North Korea with the Government.

Chung had been accused of transferring up to $100m to the north to persuade North Korea to agree to the summit three years ago, which at the time was hailed as a historic success. However, North Korea's participation now appears to have been motivated more by money than a desire for reconciliation with the south.

Former Enron Corp. vice chairman J. Clifford Baxter was found dead in his car in a Houston suburb early Friday, the victim of an apparent suicide, police said.

Suicide is a sad and less than honorable way to go out, mostly because of what is left behind, which is shattered lives of angry loved ones.

I don't know what to say, but to my friends that I lost . . .

. . . I miss you brother