I'm Just Clambering Up A Fence/ You Can Say I Got No Sense

Remember the nutjob who scaled the White House fence last year, right before the elections? Kansas City's The Pitch catches up with him - he's a disgruntled would-be Ron Kovic named Alexis Janicki.

Two days earlier, Janicki and his wife, Jamie, had arrived in Washington, D.C., to visit Janicki's mother. Janicki announced he didn't feel well, but they went on with their plan to visit a conference on green energy. The crowds on the subway made things worse. When they reached the expo, Janicki snapped. After Iraq, crowds often have that effect. He took off without a word, dashing roughly 10 blocks toward the White House.

Now, as Janicki approaches the fountain, three Secret Service agents blitz toward him. Their guns are drawn. One man holds the leash on a German shepherd. Tall and lithe, Janicki swings wide around the fountain, keeping it between him and the men.

Past the fountain, Janicki darts at full speed. He's just 10 yards from the White House doors when the agents intercept him and raise their weapons.

Janicki pulls up. He raises his hands. "Stop!" he screams. "All right, you got me." Janicki chuckles, then cheers, "Whoo-hooo!"

Takeways from the article: 1) Janicki's life has been surprisingly un-ruined by his White House blitz, possibly because the POTUS was out of town. 2) Even after he blitzed the White House no one is paying much attention to his boiling-over angry psyche.

Here's a companion piece:

Almost one-third of returning veterans who received health care at Veterans Affairs facilities between 2001 and 2005 were given a mental health or psychosocial diagnosis, according to a report in the March 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Some reports have suggested that soldiers returning from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, the most recent military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, experience high rates of substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions, according to background information in the article.

Happy Thursday!