Southwest PA Self-defense Network Blog

This particular quote hit me hard after I heard it. Why me? I looked up at the ceiling as if I could see right through it into the heavens and yelled, “ Why me! Why me!” time and time again. Demanding an answer from God. “How could you let this happen to me?”   You were supposed to watch over me! You were supposed to protect me! Were you asleep? Did you just look away as I lay there as someone raped me? It was at that time when I decided to take a break with the Man who I have always had a relationship with…God. I just didn’t know if I could trust Him anymore. I couldn’t comprehend how or why He would allow me to be raped.” -           From a training video on faith communities and sexual assault.

I found this while doing some research into kidnapping. What is unbelievable is the one statistic " In 2010, law enforcement agencies submitted nearly 14.2 million images and videos to CVIP. In 2011, they submitted more than 22 million images and videos. " TESTIMONY OF MICHELLE COLLINS Vice President, Exploited Children Division and Assistant to the President of NCMEC NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN Before the U.S. SENTENCING COMMISSION February 15, 2012 “Federal Child Pornography Offenses” Madame Chairwoman and Commissioners, thank you for inviting the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) to testify about the issue of federal child pornography offenses. NCMEC was pleased to provide testimony to the Commission in 2009 on the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. I am honored to appear before you today to bring attention to the victims of child pornography. As you know, NCMEC is a not-for-profit cor...

This is a fascinating story but what can we learn from it? Simple awareness. Is this guy catching the trap any different then noticing something out of place around your house, work or family? http://news.yahoo.com/dangerous-booby-traps-found-popular-utah-trail-211044845.html Dangerous booby traps found on popular Utah trail SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The 20-pound spiked boulder was rigged to swing at head-level with just a trip of a thin wire — a military-like booby trap set on a popular Utah canyon trail. Any unsuspecting hiker exploring the makeshift dead-wood shelter could have fallen prey. Two men arrested over the weekend on suspicion of misdemeanor reckless endangerment told authorities the traps were intended for wildlife, but investigators don't believe the story. "This is a shelter put together by people, visited by people — anything that would be impacted by their device would have to be humans," Utah County sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said. "It took some...

Edgar Allen Poe in the Tell-Tale Heart talks about the weight of guilt on the human soul. Why does crime and guilt weigh on a person when they do the deed in the first place?  Every now and then this kind of story crops up and makes you wonder..hmmm.. http://news.yahoo.com/man-stops-policeman-confesses-oklahoma-murder-25-years-003824501.html Man stops policeman, confesses to Oklahoma murder 25 years ago OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A homeless man walked up to a policeman in Montana last week and confessed to involvement in the murder of an Oklahoma county commissioner 25 years ago, authorities said on Monday. "He just said he wanted to get something off of his chest," said Stan Florence , director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation . "I think it was just one of those things he carried with him for 25 years and wanted to talk to somebody about it." The man, Clifford W. Eagle , 53, told police he and another man were involved in the death of Leo Boyd Reasoner...

This missing child story will be one to watch. If the parents are not responsible ( and there is no indication that they are) then the child wandered away late at night ( unlikey) or someone had staked out the family. Searchers scour Tucson for missing 6-year-old girl By TERRY TANG | Associated Press  –  37 mins ago This undated photo provided by … TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The parents of a missing 6-year-old Arizona girl asked their parish priest for prayers Sunday as volunteers passed out fliers across Tucson and scores of law enforcement officers tried to figure out whether she had been abducted. Officers kept the whole neighborhood block where Isabel Mercedes Celis lives cordoned off for a second day and fanned out over a wide area looking for clues to the possible kidnapping. The girl's parents last saw their daughter in her bedroom at their Tucson home at 11 p.m. Friday and discovered her missing at about 8 a.m. Saturday, police spokeswoman Sgt. Maria Hawke said. T...

When I first began to get interested in martial arts, combat, fighting and war I began to read up on and admire trained warriors like Navy SEALS, Green Berets, Delta Force, Marine Recon, the Samurai, the Ninja and hired hit men or "mechanics".  I admired thier training and thier ability to kill efficiently. They were professional at what they did and no one could do it like they could. Really? Then I heard about mass killings or more accurately spree killings where an individual goes in and kills a number of people usually by shooting. Then I heard about school shootings like Columbine where 2 teenagers killed 13 people. I thought about some of the biographies I'd read about the warriors I admired so much and some of them never fired a shot at another human being.  These teenagers, who were untrained, had killed more people then some Navy SEALS or Delta Force warriors had. Wait a minute... Didn't you have to be highly trained to kill someone? Didn't you have to ha...

http://news.yahoo.com/norway-killer-done-again-084449509.html " Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik insisted Tuesday he would massacre 77 people all over again, calling his July rampage the most "spectacular" attack by a nationalist militant since World War II." So clearly this guy is unrepentant. Prison is supposed to be a punishment and a reformation. What if he doesn't "repent"? "Norway doesn't have the death penalty. If found mentally sane — the key issue to be decided in the trial — Breivik could face a maximum 21-year prison sentence or an alternate custody arrangement that would keep him locked up as long as he is considered a menace to society" Theoretically, this guy could be kept in jail for the rest of his life as long as he is considered a menace to society but I don't know Norwegian law. But what's interesting is what the 21 year prison sentence says about human life and crime in Norway. Norway has said that the ...

I stumbled upon this and thought it was interesting. http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/ServiceServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=180 Project ALERT is a corps of more than 170 retired federal, state, and local law-enforcement professionals who donate their time and expertise as consultants to the law-enforcement communities throughout the country. The average Project ALERT Representative (PAR) has retired after working more than 20 years within a federal, state, or local, law-enforcement agency. Although they are no longer sworn officers, they have not lost their investigative expertise and wish to share their knowledge and experience within the field through the Project ALERT program. Project ALERT representatives are trained by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and participate in a variety of ways on missing child cases. They specialize in the long term missing children cases (cold cases). They perform a wide range of functions includi...

In the book The Serial Killer Whisperer there are several self defense principles we can pull from and in some cases, from the killers own words. 1. Don't believe what the bad guy tells you. In many, many cases of kidnapping and killing, the bad guy will tell the victim they won't harm them or they'll let them go if they do what the killer says. " Of course, I kept telling her constantly that if she did everything I asked and didn’t cause any problems, I’d let her go later. She knew I was going to rape her. But she thought that was all…All of them but one believed me”( pg 234)-  serial killer David Gore. Kidnappers and killers will tell their victims anything to gain compliance. One may wonder why would the victim listen to them especially after they’ve already been assaulted?   It has to do with the mental state of the victim. Many, many victims simply cannot wrap their mind around the idea that something really evil is happening to them, right now and they desperatel...

I found this on Dear Abby today. Abby's answer is short and to the point because she is limited by space in newspapers. She leaves out good information that this person may want to know to help her friend. It's all good but what if this person has follow up question? DEAR ABBY: I'm 18 and a high school graduate. My best friend was raped a year ago. It took her a long time to be able to tell me, and although I begged her to tell, she would not go to the authorities. S he has heard stories from other girls and has reason to believe the same boy has raped them, too. I believe if she came forward, the other girls might speak up. Then he won't be able to continue to do this to other girls. But I can't change her mind. Is there something I can do? Can I go to the police and tell them what she told me? Should I talk to a lawyer? I don't want to see her regret not doing something. She's very fragile and this is so hard for her. She has told very few people. Please t...

From The Serial Killer Whisperer page 263 " What Al wanted Tony to understand from thier trip was that none of the serial killers whom they'd visited had a moral center. They cared only about themselves. They lived in a world where there was no right or wrong, no morality or immorality. It was a world of moral weightlessness. There was only what each of them wanted, thier own selfish needs, whatever those might be at the moment. Everyone esle was a pawn, a prop, a puppet on a stage to satisfy whatever sick desires they felt at any given moment. They were predators. The rest of mankind were rabbits to be eaten."

Sometimes the victims viewpoint gets forgotten. From The Serial Killer Whisperer page 254 " One day Melody went to a public library to do research about Gore and death row in Florida. ' He was eating three meals a day, had a television, and idn't have to work or worry about rent. He had gotten married in prison and was having people write to him. It was costing taxpayers $72.39 a day to keep him alive and that wasn't counting the cost because of his appeals. He was costing the state $26,500 per year just in food and lodging.' At this point, it had been eight years since his arrest. In that time period, the state had spent more than $200,000 just in prison costs. ' I was the victim, yet no one was paying my rent or making sure I got three meals a day. People were feeling sorry for him. But what about Lynn and the others whom me victimized? Everyone was so worried about his rights. What about our rights? This wasn't a case of  him being innocent. Everyone kn...

This is a quote from the book on page 253. The killer, David Gore, had killed Melody's best friend in front of her, held a knife to her neck as she was tied up and they were hiding in the attic. Gore had to be retried and Melody had to take a leave from school in California to go to the trial. " Gore was found guility a second time, and Melody returned to California, but she was an emotional wreck. Because of her long absence from college, she had missed classes and the school told her that she was three hours short of graduating with her peers. She'd also been replaced at the lucrative job that she enjoyed, because she'd been gone for so long. All of her college friends were moving on. She wasn't. Depressed and short of money, Melody moved to Los Angeles, rented  tiny apartment, and began searching for work. She also began smoking pot. It didn't help, so she tried harder drugs. The second trial had stirre up long-buried emotions. She had nightmares. Gore was t...

Review of The Serial Killer Whisperer   by Pete Earley It’s been awhile since a book has given me so much to write about and this was both a high and a low reading it. Earley tells the story of Tony Giaglia, who as a 15 year old has a traumatic brain injury. This brain injury caused certain psychological and emotional damage and resulted in him, being able to somehow make connection with serial killers. No, this is not some weird supernatural psychic link but the ability to communicate with them in prison, express his thoughts and feelings and get them to open up to him about a wide range of subjects. At first I thought, this would be a couple of letters similar to what one might think of a celebrity. I’ve read my share of crime novels and stories and I understand the concept of a sociopath and con artist and attention seeking convicts who want an audience. Much to my surprise it wasn’t just a couple of letters but over 3,000 letters plus phone calls and visits. Even law enforcemen...

I like the fact this guy was a Marine. It undermines the horrid notion that our Marines are nothing more then bloodthirsty killers who only want to hurt and kill. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/brian-stann-knocks-alessio-sakara-then-stops-fight-124227139.html Brian Stann knocks out Alessio Sakara, then stops fight without help from referee  UFC middleweight Brian Stann is a fighter, a Marine, and recently, a commentator for Fox. He's used to wearing many hats, so it's no surprise that during his UFC on Fuel 2 win over Alessio Sakara, he was both fighter and referee. By Maggie Hendricks | Cagewriter  –  7 hours ago Stann knocked Sakara down with a bevy of knees in the first round. While in Sakara's guard, Stann knocked his opponent out with short elbows. When he saw Sakara was clearly out, he pulled back, waving to referee Marc Goddard that Sakara was knocked out. Though MMA rules indicate Stann would not have been wrong to continue the bout until Goddard s...

Here is the article with link: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/chicago/lawsuit-fbi-fitness-test-discriminates-against-men-123741574.html CHICAGO (CBS) — A male Chicago FBI employee is suing the agency, alleging gender discrimination. As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, Jay Bauer, a Northwestern University doctoral graduate, joined the FBI in 2009 as an intelligence analyst. His lawsuit contends the agency's fitness test is biased against men. In the lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by WBBM Newsradio, says he was required to do 30 push-ups. He managed 29, but says a woman taking the test got a second chance. Bauer says he scored at or near the top of his class at everything from firearms training to academics, and filled other requirements for men — completing 38 sit-ups in one minute, sprinting 300 meters in 52.4 seconds, and running 1.5 miles in 12 minutes, 24 seconds. But he says he had to resign from special agent training over the one missed push-up. Bauer's atto...

Women Who Love Men Who Kill By Sheila Isenberg Part 2 Part 1 explored what the attraction is and how the women justify their involvement. We now turn our attention as to why they are attracted to this type of person. The author gives her view and also quotes a number of relationship therapists, psychologist and psychiatrists. Here are some points about the relationship. The women are damaged, physically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually and this relationship meets a deep need. The majority of the women were abused at some point in time and in some cases severely. There is something captivating about being in love with a murderer. This is not true love, that of companionship and sacrifice but one of romantic love where the ideal is pursued and never has to meet reality. This relationship gives the women some sense of fame and notoriety. If it weren’t for the murderer they would be a nobody. At least now they have people calling for interviews. It gives them a sense of purpose. ...

Women Who Love Men Who Kill By Sheila Isenberg Part 1 For a number of years I’ve often wondered what is wrong with these women who marry or pursue murderers and serial killers. Most serial killers and a high number of murderers have women who are groupies, fans and pursuers who become enamored of them. In a number of cases these women correspond with, meet with and fall in love with, the murderer. This book explores those women, the murderer and the relationship. Most scenarios played out the same way. A women begins to correspond with an inmate either through a personal ad ( Correspond with a Lonely Inmate! ) or through a friend. They end up meeting and calling and eventually the women finds her self in love. And what love it is: passionate, strong, romantic, powerful, all consuming. Often times these women will move across the country to be next to the man they love, divorce current husbands, dissolve long term relationships, alienate children and relatives and give up careers. The a...

Review of 139 Ways Young Women Can Prevent Sexual Assault by Richard Hart. After reviewing a large number of books on self defense and assault prevention, this book ranks low on my list.   Most of the information that he gives is sound and good but there is a certain aspect of the book that didn’t sit well with me. It took me a while and some research to figure it out, but he’s an arm chair fighter and gives advice about physical conflict from that position. In several areas he makes it clear “A woman stands virtually NO CHANCE physically against a man outweighing her by 45 pounds” [emphasis his] (page 19).   I understand where he is coming from in that, a trained women should not be cocky about her ability and should avoid conflict; however, one of the areas that women lack in self defense is assertiveness against fear.   Let me explain: A women would have no problem telling a child forcefully “stop hitting me!” but if it was against a man outweighing her by 45 pounds sh...

Victim philosophy There is story I read awhile ago that bears repeating. A self defense instructor was visiting a friend in another country and when they left the friends small house, he didn’t lock the door. When the self defense instructor asked why don’t you lock the door the man replied, “If someone wants my TV they’re going to get it. At least, this way I don’t have a broken door AND a missing TV.” Now, on the surface this seems logical, after all if someone wants your car or TV you might was well minimize the damage. But want does this communicate? What is the underlying philosophy that bubbles up? Just this: You are a helpless victim in the face of criminal oppression and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m here to tell you it’s not true!   You do what you can and not adopt a victim philosophy. A victim philosophy whispers in your ear and says: - Don’t resist. You’ll only make the situation worse - You’re too weak, wimpy, soft, stupid to fight back against such an impos...

This is one of several articles out there but this one has the most information that I could find. My comments are in bold. Student expelled for having unloaded shotguns in truck By RYAN OLSON - Staff Writer Posted: 11/20/2009 12:09:32 AM PST WILLOWS -- The Willows Unified School District board of trustees has expelled a 16-year-old for having unloaded shotguns in his pickup parked just off the Willows High School campus. (This school district is in California .) The board voted 4-0 Thursday to expel junior Gary Tudesko after the weapons were discovered via scent-sniffing dogs on Oct. 26. Board Vice President Alex Parisio abstained from the discussion and vote because he is related to Tudesko's family. (Scent sniffing dogs? This would never hold up in a court of law because there was no probable cause. But this is a school so   Creative Liberty Rules apply.) Expulsion hearings are normally held in closed sessions, but affected students and their parents can request a pub...

1.        The justice system provides justice. This partly depends on what you mean by justice. For some, going to jail for more than 10 years for any reason is justice so a rapist who goes to jail for 15 years and gets out in 10, justice would have been served.   The common belief   is that criminals will do an appropriate amount of jail time for their crime.   However, depending on your source of information the average jail time for murder is 10 to 15 years.   Crime victims are routinely appalled at how little the criminal gets when their lives have been devastated. 2.        The justice system will move quickly in trial and prosecution. Again, crime victims are stunned and dismayed to find out their case may take years to resolve.   Thanks to TV the belief is where the criminal is caught today and by next week he’s in prison for 20 years.   3.        Defensive use ...