Missing pieces

Here's a great article on the suspicions surrounding the Terri Schindler Schiavo case.

Story:
A bulletin issued by the New York State Office for Prevention of Domestic Violence states that strangulation has only recently been identified as one of the most lethal forms of domestic violence.

When perpetrators use strangulation to silence their victims, this is a form of power and control that has a devastating psychological effect on victims and a potentially fatal outcome.

Historically, "choking" was rarely prosecuted as a serious offense because victims minimize the level of violence and police and medical personnel fail to recognize it.

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'Pool cue-do'

Ahhh....
I simply love spunky women like this one here. My kind of gal totally!
On a serious note - the story also shows how a pool cue has its uses as an offensive or defensive weapon. It is a very dangerous weapon...

Story:
Local bartender Hazel Sue Murnahan lived up to her father’s expectations Monday night when she fought back against a man who attempted to rob her shortly after she beat him in a game of pool.

"My daddy didn’t raise me to be a wimp," she said.

Murnahan, 34, said she bullied the would-be robber, whom she described to police as "slim-built," out of the bar with a pool cue. She said he came up behind her back, grabbed her arm, put a knife to her side and said, "I hate to do this, but give me everything that’s in your register."

"He comes in and sits here telling me his whole life’s story and then tries to rob me?" she said. "I don’t think so."

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'That'll teacher'

There are lots of conflicts and violence directed at teachers, and still very few, unfortunately learn how to protect themselves.
Do they need to learn self-defense? Absolutely not - there are conflict management skills involving positioning, zoning, evasion, distancing, defusing, distracting, pacing etc. that can be learned - and used - by anyone!
This is not by any means an attempt to blame this teacher for being attacked - the perpetrator is always to blame for his/her actions!

Story:
A 16-year-old high school student has been suspended and charged with assault after allegedly choking his female teacher in a classroom attack. Police have also taken out an interim apprehended violence order against the student on the 24-year-old teacher's behalf.

The alleged incident occurred shortly after the school bell rang at 3 p.m. on Monday at a high school in Sydney, known for its excellence in mathematics.

It is understood it will be alleged the male student tried to throttle the teacher, but police yesterday would not reveal what led to the alleged assault.

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Yogurt wit

When someone asks you a question, you always answer, right?
And needless to say, we always tell the truth - even when a criminal is conducting his interview!
Seems like the conflict management tactic of counter-questioning could come in handy when you A. need more information, or B. suspect that answering correctly can cause you problems.

Counter-answering (funny version):
English speaking person: "How are you doing?"
German speaking person: "How am I doing what?"

Story:
A 19-year-old man have been accused of trying to rob a yogurt store in Fort Wayne in early March.

He had approached the clerk at Yogurt Express and questioned her about the placement of security cameras at the store, as well as the amount of money in the register.

The clerk said there were no cameras, and Gray told her he was robbing the store, according to police.

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15 voted against

I'm kind of curious how 15 senator can vote against something as utterly ridiculous like this.
Maybe they were reasoning that these criminals are professionals on the job, and should be protected as such?
Can someone get a hold of these people and ask where they have their brains tucked away? I know they are on vacation somewhere in political la-la land - but where precisely?

Story:
The New York State Senate passed a bill in Albany on Tuesday banning felons from suing for civil damages for injuries received while committing a crime.

"It is just plain ridiculous that a criminal can sue and collect money because he got hurt while trying to mug or rob someone in their home," Senator Michael Balbon said in a statement.

The bill would change the law to prohibit a criminal from recovering any damages from a crime victim or other parties for injuries received while the crime was committed. The proposal passed on the Senate floor with 44 votes in favor of it, while 15 voted against it.

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Myths and realities

Here's a great article from snopes.com that you ought to read!

It points to some e-mail spam that is floating around in cyber-space, and which gives women a lot of strange, and even directly misleading advice about rape and rape prevention.

I have read the same e-mail many times over - being passed on as "good advice". Like I said, do yourself a service and read the truth about this giant load of doo-doo! There are a few good points, but the majority is really way off!

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A neat move

Here's a neat little defensive "trick" that has been used by several persons to escape abductors.

Story:
An eight-year-old girl escaped an abduction attempt after a man offered her lollies in a western Sydney street, police say.

The man attempted to lure the girl into his blue Magna sedan as she walked at Lethbridge Park about 8:30 a.m. yesterday.

After offering her sweets, police said the driver left his car and grabbed the girl by the arm.

She broke free by slipping out of her jumper before running home.

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Blending

Here's a great example of what we refer to as blinding or blending. It involves impairing the attacker's vision by the use of hands/fingers, spit, coins, sand, spray, liquids, flames or similar.
This has been used over and over again to get a potential victim out of a tight spot. It can be used to get free from a hold, to set up another technique like takedown, punch or kick, or to make sure you can escape safely.

Story:
A 50-year-old woman fended off an attack by a 43-year-old convicted sex offender on a Santa Cruz beach by throwing sand in his eyes on Tuesday, Santa Cruz police said today.

The woman told police the man had chatted with her briefly before he allegedly pushed her down on the ground and forced himself on top of her.

The woman, who was alone on the beach, said she warded him off by screaming and throwing sand in his face, police reported.

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Kick-box girl

UK -- A student told how she used a kick boxing move to fend off a knife-wielding thug who tried to rape her as she walked home after celebrating her 21st birthday.

The student was on the way to her home in Hunters Bar when she was grabbed from behind, threatened with a blade and dragged by her throat to a secluded grassed area.

The woman, who used to attend kick-boxing classes, said: "I was scared when I was on the ground but I was angry more than anything else. There was no way I was being raped - I remember thinking I would rather be dead.

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Pooper scooper

Here's the kind of strength a person - any person really - can have "on full tilt". I've witnessed it in psychiatric patients - this 47-year-old woman was allegedly under influence of crack cocaine.
So the expression "size doesn't matter" is true then? To some extent, yes. It is quite a dangerous assumption to believe that someone is harmless because he or she is small!
This story also points to the amount of resistance we are all able to muster if we have to fight for our life - real or perceived.

Story:
It took five police officers, three hits with a Taser gun, leg straps and a spit bag to subdue a 5-foot tall, 105-pound woman who entered a Waukesha home and attacked a couple she didn't know with a metal pooper scooper and scissors, authorities said.

With a scissors in each hand, she fought the 6-foot, 210-pound homeowner. He said that he couldn't believe the woman's strength.

When the first officer arrived, the attacker was foaming at the mouth and struggling with the homeowner, the complaint says. She continued to fight the officer who used a Taser gun, but it appeared to have no effect on her. More and more officers were called to assist, and she was stunned with the Taser two more times.
Using their combined weight, five officers were finally able to subdue the woman enough to take her to hospital to check her for injuries.

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Nose job

I say well done to this brave kid!
Dangerous though - you never know if a weapon (or back-up) is at hand.
Anyhow, a solid punch to the nose is a good deterrent in many cases. This is even more true when it comes as a total surprise!

Story:
A 12-year-old karate champion told today how he turned the tables on a would-be mugger when he unleashed his martial arts skills on the yob.

Jake Oliver was walking back to his home in Hartcliffe, Bristol, on Saturday morning when he was confronted by the balaclava-clad thug. The stocky, 5ft 10ins, assailant had leapt out from behind a bush and demanded Jake's phone.

But the unruffled youngster - who won a gold medal at a national karate championships last year - refused and delivered a karate chop, which broke the man's nose.

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The art of 'Suemo'

In reality, there's a thin line between self-defense and going 'over board'. If the beating can be seen as revenge, then the robber may - as crazy as it is - have a possible case.

Story:
Rochester, N.Y. -- A man is suing an auto-parts store for assault and battery after he attempted to hold up the business and employees responded by beating him with a metal pipe.

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The 'wurst' way to go?

German police have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering a woman with a sausage.

Prosecutors and police said the 50-year-old was arrested after the woman's body was discovered in an apartment in Zwickau, eastern Germany. They said she had choked on a Bockwurst, a popular large German sausage.

The prosecutors said the man had given a patchy account of events, acknowledging that he may have "administered" a Bockwurst to the woman.

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Happy birthday!

Well, maybe she, eh.. I mean he thought that the woman's purse was a perfect match to her, eh... his own dress?

Story:
Dotty Stella was celebrating her 71st birthday yesterday afternoon at a restaurant when a young man disguised in woman's clothing, wig and makeup approached her.

Stella says she didn't realize that the man reached over and snatched her purse. Shoppers who heard Stella's yell chased the thief down the street until he jumped over a fence. Others called the police.

The 16-year-old was caught and taken to a juvenile detention center. As for Stella, she says getting her purse back was the best birthday gift she could wish for.

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The interview

Here's a great article showing what we call the "interview". An interview is part of the strategy most predators use to test a potential victim.

Story:
He was sitting on a motorcycle next to her mother's vacant parked car and he gave her the creeps. Then the ''interview'' began: "How old are you... what movie did you see... I have a son your age... who are you looking for?"

It's called an interview because how a potential victim answers the questions, through both words and body language, determines whether or not they'll be the''chosen on''.

Like I said, my daughter Danielle wasn't abducted, she failed the "interview" criminals use to choose their victims. Carly Brucia, the 11 year old in Florida who was recently abducted passed her interview.

Danielle knew what to do; keep at least two arms length from the stranger create a strong presence, assess the situation and surroundings, acknowledge that there could be danger, go to the safety of a crowd.

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Can defend herself

Without saying anything about Polk being guilty of murder or not, I have to agree with this statement.

Story:
Even after a man punches a smaller woman twice in the face, smears pepper spray in her eyes, pulls her hair and bites her on the arm, she could start defending herself and win the fight, a self-defense expert testified Friday in the trial of Susan Polk.

'You would be hurt and slightly injured, but if it's the last breath you're going to take, you're going to defend yourself,' said Laura Castro-Shelley, a martial arts instructor.

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Learn more about how hundreds of women have defended themselves:

Women Can

Pocketknife, tactical skills

I strongly advice you to read these two stories.
They're about the same incident - a former US marine being attacked by four robbers armed with a shotgun and a gun.

It shows how this brave man sees himself and carries himself with sorrow and dignity in light of the tragic outcome (one of the assailants were killed).
It also shows how he did everything "by the book" as far as self-defense goes: Trying to run, yelling "fire", seeking a lighted area, choosing the place for the stand-off, fighting multiple attackers, using hands and feet to create distance, seizing opportunities, etc.
And it also points to the potential danger of even a small blade like a pocket knife.

Story:
A 36-year-old former Marine cook used a pocketknife to fend off a group of would-be robbers, killing one and wounding another, police said.

Thomas Autry, who authorities said will not be charged, was walking home from his job waiting tables Monday night when four people got out of a car and chased him, Atlanta police detective Danny Stephens said. One attacker had a shotgun, and another had a pistol.

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