Newsletter for July 2003

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Inside this issue:

Beware of those who would 'empower' you
Being tough might be in your genes
3 teens, like, teach FBI to BC (be cool)
Headphones reduce your awareness
Homeland Security on the Web
Training makes the difference
Most drivers acknowledge their road behavior is risky

"Violence is rarely the answer...but when it is, it's the only answer."   Tim Larkin

Beware of those who would 'empower' you

One of the things that really chaps me are self-defense programs that claim they "empower" you.

All humans have the power to resist inherently and instinctively within them. You can't give it to them or empower them to defend themselves. They already have it. People seek self-defense training to learn how to employ different strategies and techniques that make their instinctive fight or flight system work more efficiently.

In other words, you instinctively have the will, you just need to find someone to teach you the skill.
 
The truth is that we live in a crime culture. Big fish eat smaller fish. Evil people prey on good people. The "norm" is that violence is perpetrated against both genders, all sexual preferences, all age groups, all races, all occupations.

Resolve today to get self-defense training.  You already have the power within you, now get the knowledge that lets you harness that power.

The Women's Self-Defense Institute has a listing of upcoming Rape Escape classes around the country.  Go to www.rapeescape.com.

Being tough might be in your genes

Researchers at the University of Michigan found that the ability for one person to endure more pain than another is held in a variation of a single gene.

The new research shows that your perception of pain is due at least partly to a gene that regulates how many endorphins your body produces.  The gene identified in the study produces an enzyme called COMT that metabolizes the brain chemical dopamine, which acts as a signal messenger between brain cells.

Everyone has two copies of this gene, one inherited from each parent, but they can inherit forms that differ by one amino acid. The COMT gene that contains the amino acid methionine, or met, is less active than if it contained the amino acid valine, or val. People in the study who had two copies of the val-COMT gene withstood significantly greater pain than the others in the study. Doctors verified that painkilling endorphins were much more active in these people's brains.

In contrast, people with two copies of the met-COMT gene suffered the most pain and had far less natural painkiller. People who inherited both a met and val gene copy tolerated pain at levels between the two.

So your ability to be "tough" and pain resistant might be mostly genetic.

“Most people think it took 5,000 to 40,000 U.S. troops to free Kabul, Afghanistan.  They are vastly mistaken – fewer than 100 American solders were on the ground when Kabul fell.  Not since Kublai Khan’s Mangudai and the 300 Spartans had so few men fought so many.”

Robin Moore

3 teens, like, teach FBI to BC (be cool)

Phuong Ly
Washington Post

As undercover assignments go, posing as a teenage girl online to catch pedophiles has its share of challenges for the typical FBI agent.

Should he ever capitalize words in instant messages?

Is it OK to say you buy your clothes at 5-7-9?

And Justin Timberlake, is he still hot or is he so two years ago?

For those investigative details, the FBI calls on Karen, Mary and Kristin, Maryland eighth-graders and best friends.

During the past year, the three have been teaching agents across the country how to communicate like teen girls, complete with written quizzes on celebrity gossip and clothing trends and assigned reading in Teen People and YM magazines. The first time the girls gave a quiz, all the agents failed.

"They, like, don't know anything," said Mary, 14, giggling.

"They're, like, do you like Michael Jackson?" said Karen, 14, rolling her eyes.

Probably the youngest instructors ever in an FBI classroom, the girls have become an invaluable help to "Operation Innocent Images," an initiative that tries to stop people from peddling child pornography or otherwise sexually exploiting children, FBI officials said. The Washington Post agreed to withhold the girls' last names to protect them from harassment on the Internet and elsewhere.

On Tuesday, at their middle school graduation ceremony, the girls each received a silver-framed letter of commendation signed by FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Operation Innocent Images was launched by the Baltimore FBI field office in 1995, and agents looked into 113 suspects in the first year. Over the years, Internet pedophiles have become savvier and more suspicious about whether they are chatting with a law enforcement agent or a real teenager. Many of the suspects question the chatters on trends and pop culture, trying to catch the FBI agents off-guard.

Karen, Mary and Kristin - honor roll students, PacSun shoppers and aficionados of pink toenail polish - have kept the FBI a step ahead, said Gary Bald, special agent in charge of the Baltimore office.

The girls were recruited after one of their fathers, an agent involved in the pedophile investigations, watched her instant messaging a friend and couldn't understand what she was typing. He realized that FBI training wasn't enough.

"We can teach agents how to be careful and make sure they're following the law and how to arrest people," Bald said. "But how to convince people they're a 13-year-old is something we need help on."

Agents estimate that at any given time, 20,000 pedophiles are online worldwide, trolling chat rooms after school for vulnerable teens. The program has led to the convictions of about 2,200 people across the country for swapping child pornography or arranging to meet minors for sex.

Around the FBI offices, Karen, Mary and Kristin have become like the agents' adopted daughters, getting hugs and high-fives from their students. But naturally, the adults often think they know best.

One agent kept insisting that he was right when he answered on a quiz that Timberlake was more popular than Destiny's Child. Another was miffed when the girls told the class that Led Zeppelin was not cool. Some kept wondering why "l2m" in instant messaging couldn't be "love to meet," instead of "listen to music."

And the younger female FBI agents assumed that teenage girls would think actor George Clooney was cute.

"We're, like, no," said Mary, making a face.

"He's, like, 50!" Karen exclaimed.
 

“You never know what is going on in someone’s head.  You can innocently be chatting with a girl at a party and then be attacked for no reason at all by her boyfriend who misinterprets the situation.  Even something as innocent as trying to get a parking space can sometimes turn violent and even if you try to walk away the attacker won’t let you.  In these cases, you had better know how to defend yourself.”

Royce Gracie

Headphones reduce your awareness

Lt. Dave D'Agostino, our friend from the Yale New Haven Health System, reminds us about the hazards of wearing earphones while out enjoying the summer weather.

He says that nice weather brings out more people to run, bike and walk while enjoying the weather.  He also opines that more and more people are wearing CD players, radios or MP3 players and listening through headphones.

"What I don't think comes into play is how much ability to hear what's going on around them is reduced by noise and failure to remain alert. This failure results in an opportunity for the 'bad folks' to help themselves to a fresh target," he says.

Homeland Security on the Web

I've come across an interesting article on an innovative idea on using the Web and citizens to increase Homeland security at the nation's power stations, dams and chemical plants.

However, the really interesting -- and scary -- part of the article is contained in the last paragraph.

Training Makes the Difference

This from Susan Bartlestone:

"Experts in my field have estimated that 3 out of 4 people who receive proper training will successfully deter crime. So take a Rape Prevention or Self-Defense course and put the odds of success in your favor. A good course gives you confidence, accuracy and a first-hand glimpse of your own (often surprising) physical power. More importantly, it is the quickest way to break through the mental barriers that limit us and separate us from our inner warrior. For crime survivors, it can also be an invaluable part of the healing process. Don't put it off. Get as much training as time and monetary constraints allow. There are a variety of different courses available everywhere. Some are lecture only with no physical contact and some emphasize fighting. Some are women-only, some are co-ed. Some have both male and female instructors and others only female or only male instructors. It's not an either-or situation; take as many different ones as you can."

Most drivers acknowledge their road behavior is risky

A recent poll by Volvo Cars of North America, AAA and Partners for Highway Safety has confirmed what you probably already know -- almost every driver on the road is doing something that can be considered risky.

More than 90 percent of drivers in the poll say they speed, eat, use cellphones or even read while at the wheel.

Seventy three percent of drivers said they regularly speed; 59 percent ate while driving; 37 percent used a cellphone; 28 percent wore no seat belt; 26 percent used no signal when turning; and 14 percent admitted to reading while driving.

They're out there...stay aware and stay safe.

Go here if you want to access the newsletter archives.

Brad Parker