This guide is for families (who are not close to God) preparing for imminent terrorist or strategic nuclear attacks with expected severe destruction followed by widespread radioactive fallout downwind. Read more...
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, every year over 200 people in the United States die from CO produced by fuel-burning appliances (furnaces, ranges, water heaters, room heaters). Others die from CO produced while burning charcoal inside a home, garage, vehicle or tent. Still others die from CO produced by cars left running in attached garages. Several thousand people go to hospital emergency rooms each year for treatment for CO poisoning. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention
Taking even limited action now will go a long way toward preparing you financially before a disaster strikes. Financial Preperation for Disasters
Having an ample supply of clean water is a top priority in an emergency. A normally active person needs to drink at least two quarts of water each day. Hot environments can double that amount. Children, nursing mothers, and ill people will need even more. You will also need water for food preparation and hygiene. Store a total of at least one gallon per person, per day. You should store at least a two-week supply of water for each member of your family. Food and Water in an Emergency
American homes suffer an unwanted fire every 10 seconds, and every 60 seconds they suffer a fire serious enough to call the fire department. Most importantly, every two and a half-hours someone is killed in a home fire—that’s over 3,500 people killed in 2000
After Hurricane Andrew, a team of experts examined homes that had failed and ones that had survived. They found four areas that should be checked for weakness—the roof, windows, doors, and if you have one, garage door. In this brochure, we discuss some things you can do to help make your home stronger before the next hurricane strikes. You may need to make some improvements or install temporary wind protection. It is important that you do these projects now, before a hurricane threatens.
During an emergency, it may become necessary to turn off your utilities at your home or business. Post-disaster fires can be caused by damaged electrical and gas lines and appliances. Turning utilities off...
The Red Cross strongly recommends that you visit your local fire department to learn how to use a fire extinguisher properly. You need to practice to ensure you will remember how to respond when you are forced to react quickly. An experienced fire professional will be able to explain the safest, most effective way to use one. What do you do with that red thing...
If you choose to buy a generator, make sure you get one that is listed with the Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) or Factory Mutual (FM). Look at the labels on lighting, appliances and equipment you plan to connect to the generator to determine the amount of power that will be needed to operate the equipment. Using a generator...
Never pour water down the drain when there may be another use for it. Use it to water your indoor plants or garden. Water conservation for everyone
How to survive the first 100 hours of a major disaster... More...
Is Life in the Big City Now An Oxymoron?
In the wake of terror, country life looking better and better
What is it that draws us to the big cities of any nation? Opportunity, diversity, and perhaps a more exciting life. When survival is the priority, though, all those reasons go out the window. Family safety becomes the new priority. For many rural families, when they read an article such as the one below, they are thanking God that they live where they do. And they are praying for loved ones who are dead-set on staying in the large city. Apparently, the tragedy of 911, terrorist attacks such as the one recently in London, and many cities of the world aren't enough to teach us that a concentrated population makes a good bull's eye. When you lose loved ones, the big salary, proximity to the art centers, variety of eating establishments, universities, and job opportunities become minor, even empty, issues. I hope we do not become complacent with the enormous amount of "terror threat" news stories we are confronted with on a weekly and even daily basis. Families should make decisions to control the damage, before they must do "damage control." Remember, sometimes, there is not strength in numbers.
Captured documents, terrorists reveal the preferred dates, places for 'American Hiroshima'
(excerpted from World Net Daily News)
Al-Qaida's prime targets for launching nuclear terrorist attacks are the nine U.S. cities with the highest Jewish populations, according to captured leaders and documents. According to the G2 Bulletin, Osama bin Laden is planning what he calls an "American Hiroshima," the ultimate terrorist attack on U.S. cities, using nuclear weapons already smuggled into the country across the Mexican border along with thousands of sleeper agents.
The series of attacks is designed to kill 4 million, destroy the economy and fundamentally alter the course of history.
At least two fully assembled and operational nuclear weapons are believed to be hidden in the United States already, according to G2 Bulletin, intelligence sources and an upcoming book, "The al-Qaida Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse," by former FBI consultant Paul L. Williams.
The cities chosen as optimal targets are New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston and Washington, D.C. New York and Washington top the preferred target list for al-Qaida leadership. Read more...
What Actually Happens in a Nuclear Attack
By Alan F. Phillips, M.D., D.M.R.T.
(Excerpted from The Effects of a Nuclear Bomb Explosion on the Inhabitants of a City/PGS Briefing Paper)
The detonation of a single nuclear bomb or "warhead" would cause a local disaster on a scale that few people in the world have seen and survived. However, it should not be confused with the effects of a nuclear war, in which many nuclear bombs would be exploded. That would cause the end of civilization in the countries concerned, and perhaps over the whole world, as well as radioactive contamination of whole continents, and terrible damage to the environment and ecology.
The effect of a single bomb would depend on its power, and where it exploded -- high in the air or at ground level -- and whether in a densely populated and built-up area like a city or in open country like an attack on a missile silo.
The nuclear bombs available to the great military powers of the world (China, France, Israel, Russia, United Kingdom, United States) range in power from several megatons down to a few kilotons (and some even smaller).
A "megaton" is the explosive power of one million tons of TNT (1). A "kiloton" is the power of one thousand tons of TNT. Bombs likely to be available to terrorist organizations or governments other than the great military powers would be in the 10- to 100-kiloton range. Bombs made by amateurs might not explode with the full power they were designed for.
The two bombs that have been exploded over cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in August 1945, were in the ten- to twenty-kiloton range.
(1) TNT stands for tri-nitro-toluene, a high explosive commonly used in shells and bombs throughout the Second World War. Weight for weight, its explosive power is roughly equal to that of dynamite.]
A ONE-MEGATON BOMB DETONATED IN THE AIR
First, we will look at the result of a single bomb of one megaton detonated at an altitude of 2,500 metres (read how to convert kilometers, a thousand meters, to miles) above a city, to cause maximum blast effects. This is believed to have been a main part of the targeting strategy of the Soviet Union and the United States during the "Cold War". The Russian and U.S. governments have stated that missiles would not remain targeted on cities. However, thousands of missiles and warheads are still deployed. They could be targeted on any city in the world in a matter of minutes, and re-targeted to their original targets in seconds.
Flash and fireball
The first effect of a nuclear explosion in the air is an intense flash of light, as quick as a lightning flash but a thousand times as bright. It is accompanied by a powerful pulse of heat radiation, sufficient to set fire to light combustible material out to a distance of fourteen km., and to paint or wood at half that distance. There is also an intense pulse of X-rays, sufficient to be lethal at a distance of three km.; in fact that would be a rather small factor, since people that close would all or nearly all be killed by the blast that follows.
Immediately after the flash, a "fireball" forms in the air and rises for several seconds, blindingly bright and radiating much heat. On a clear day or night, people up to eighty km. away who happened to be facing that way, or who turned their eyes to look where the flash came from, would be temporarily or permanently blinded.
Within ten km. of "ground zero" (which is the point directly under the explosion) all parts of the body exposed to the flash would be burned deeply into the flesh. Superficial burns would be caused at greater distances, out to fifteen km. at least. Clothing that caught fire would cause many more burns. The weather conditions prevailing, and the time of day the bomb exploded, would both influence the degrees of damage. For example, the radii for skin burns and blindness would depend on the weather. Mist or fog reduces the range of the heat and light rays; on the other hand, darkness dilates the pupils of the eyes increasing the probability of severe eye damage from the flash.
Blast
Starting at the same instant, but travelling more slowly (like the sound of thunder following a lightning flash) is an enormously powerful blast wave. It would destroy even reinforced concrete buildings for a radius of two km., and ordinary brick or timber frame houses out to eight km. Major damage to houses would extend out to fourteen km., and windows would be broken at twenty or thirty km. People at a distance, if they realized what had happened when they saw the flash, would have a few seconds to lie down, or even to dive into a ditch or hollow, before the blast hit.
Within three km., almost everyone would be killed, either directly by the blast or by collapsing or flying masonry. At eight km., it is estimated that about fifty per cent of people would be killed by the effects of the blast.
Immediately following the blast wave would be hurricane force winds, first outwards from the explosion, and many seconds later inwards to replace the air that went out. Within four km., the wind would be of tornado force, six hundred km./hr., sufficient to drive straws into wooden utility poles or glass splinters into people, but of course over a much wider area than a tornado. People in the open would be picked up and hurled into any object strong enough to be still standing.
Firestorm
Many fires would have been started by the first flash. Burst fuel tanks, gas mains, and collapsed buildings would provide more fuel, and it is likely that confluent fires would cause a "firestorm". This is when coalescent fires cause sufficient updraft to form their own wind, blowing inwards from all sides and thereby increasing the intensity of the fire. The temperature even in basements and bomb shelters rises above lethal levels, and all available oxygen is used by the fire.
The wind blowing inwards is of gale force, so that even strong uninjured people would have difficulty walking or trying to run outwards away from the fire.
Delayed Radiation ("fallout")
A nuclear explosion, as well as giving off a great pulse of radiation at the time, leaves everything in the vicinity radioactive. In the case of an "air-burst" as just described, most of the radioactive products would be gaseous, or completely vaporized, and would rise with the fireball and come down slowly, if at all. There might be a rainstorm containing radioactivity, as there was at Hiroshima; and the rubble within a kilometre or two of the ground zero would be radioactive. This might hamper later rescue efforts, and affect the very few survivors from that central area, but would not be a major factor.
In any nuclear bomb explosion, a large fraction (a minimum of one-third) of the original fissile material (plutonium or U-235) does not get destroyed. This would result in widespread contamination, increasing the late risk of cancer for those who survived ten to twenty years. (These amounts of plutonium and uranium would have no immediate toxic effects.)
Rescue Problems
If the bomb exploded squarely over the centre of a city, no rescue services within the area of major structural damage would be able to function. All down-town hospitals would be destroyed, and there would be no electricity, water, or telephone communication in the area served by city utilities.
Rescue services from outside would be hampered by impassable roads and the central area of severe damage would be inaccessible. The number of injured in the peripheral area would be so great that emergency services of surrounding cities would be completely overloaded, as would be any surviving suburban hospitals and all the hospitals of neighbouring cities. Even to be seen by a doctor and given analgesics, the injured from one city would need to be distributed among all the hospitals of North America.
The destroyed city would be radioactive. Decisions to attempt rescue work would depend first on a survey of the area by a specialist team with appropriate protection, and then on a policy decision as to how much radiation the rescue teams should be permitted. Willingness of the team members and their unions to accept the risk would be a final factor.
Medical Problems
The estimates for a city of one million or two million struck by a single one-megaton bomb are that around one third of the inhabitants would be killed instantly or fatally injured, one third seriously injured, and the rest uninjured or only slightly injured. That number of injured, if they could be distributed throughout the hospitals of North America, would occupy something like a third of the total number of beds; and of course no hospital can deal adequately with such an influx of urgent cases within a few days.
There might be fifty times as many cases of severe burns as there are burn beds in the whole of North America. A whole year's supply of blood for transfusion would be needed immediately, and of course is not available in storage nor could it be collected from volunteers in a few days.
The injured who reached hospitals would have to be assayed for radioactivity, for the safety of the staff, which would cause a serious bottle-neck and delay in most hospitals.
The result of this huge overload of cases is that most of the injured would die, even though prompt treatment might have saved them. Relatively few would even get reached by rescue teams before they were moribund or dead; the majority would probably die in hours or days without any analgesic, and without food, water, or any assistance.
A ONE-MEGATON BOMB DETONATED AT GROUND LEVEL
If the bomb exploded at ground level instead of high above the city, the main difference would be an enormous crater four hundred metres across and seventy metres deep. All the dirt, rock, or masonry excavated would be made into radioactive dust and small debris. The larger particles would quickly descend in the immediate vicinity, and the finer particles and dust would descend in minutes or hours, mainly downwind from the site of the explosion.
The radiation dose to people exposed to this fallout would depend upon many factors, and would be enough to be lethal to anyone in the open or in a frame house for several hundred kilometres downwind. A simple basement "fallout shelter" would afford good protection. It would be necessary to spend a week or more in a fall-out shelter, and it would be impossible to judge when it would be safe to leave without a radiation survey meter or advice from public health authorities.
The area of blast damage would be smaller by perhaps a half, compared with an air-burst, though an earthquake effect would add to structural damage to buildings. The number of immediate deaths might be about half of those from an air-burst, but unless survivors could find protection from fall-out there would be many deaths from radiation sickness days or weeks after the bomb.
A TEN-KILOTON BOMB DETONATED AT GROUND LEVEL
If a bomb in the 10- to 20-kiloton range (the likeliest terrorist bomb) were to be exploded near ground level or in a ship in the harbour, the areas of blast, heat, and burn damage would be much smaller, perhaps reaching out to only one-tenth of the distances estimated for the one-megaton air-burst. The numbers of immediately killed and severely injured people would be counted in thousands, not hundreds of thousands.
Exploded on land, the bomb would vaporize all people and buildings in the immediate vicinity, and make a crater that might be as much as one hundred metres in diameter. If in the harbour, there would be a crater in the harbour floor and a tidal wave. The outstanding feature would be a radioactive downpour because much of the water in the harbour would be made radioactive and thrown high into the air as fine and coarse spray.
The explosion at ground level of this type of bomb would probably not cause a firestorm, so rescue operations for the injured might have some degree of success.
In either case, radioactive fallout would be serious, and might make the city, and an area of countryside stretching tens of kilometres downwind, uninhabitable for weeks or years. There would be a number of deaths from radiation sickness, for which there is really no effective medical treatment. The total amount of radioactivity might be comparable with the Chernobyl disaster, more or less depending on many circumstances.
THE ENHANCED RADIATION WEAPON OR "NEUTRON BOMB"
This is a small 'hydrogen bomb' in the 1- to 10-kiloton range without the outer casing of depleted uranium, which in an ordinary hydrogen bomb stops the neutrons that are formed and converts them into additional explosive power. The result is a spray of neutrons that is lethal for a distance of a few hundred metres. These neutrons, unlike the X-rays from the explosion, penetrate a considerable thickness of concrete or steel protection, like defence posts or the sides of a tank. They are designed for 'battle-field' use, not for use against cities. It is commonly said that neutron bombs spare buildings, but we believe this is a misconception. The blast effect would be reduced by half, and would still be enormous.
HOW COULD THIS SORT OF "ONE-BOMB" SCENARIO DEVELOP?
It is worth considering what circumstances might result in one or just a few nuclear bombs exploding, as opposed to a major nuclear war.
We hope, but we cannot be sure, that a nuclear attack by one of the "great powers" against a smaller country (which has been threatened several times since 1945) would never be carried out for any reason whatever.
There have been serious risks of war involving smaller military powers with nuclear weapons, such as India, Pakistan, and Israel. Clear or veiled threats of nuclear attack have been made by these countries, and might be again. Such use would most probably be directed at cities, and the bombs delivered by aircraft or relatively short-range rocket. It might be air-burst or ground-burst, with bombs in the ten- to one-hundred kiloton range.
Accidental or unauthorized launch of an intercontinental missile or a submarine-launched missile from one of the big nuclear arsenals might destroy a city with a bomb in the range of 100 kilotons to 1 megaton.
A terrorist type of attack is perhaps the most likely risk, and might be done by criminals for blackmail or ransom, or might be directed by an unidentified hostile government against a country too powerful for a declaration of war to be considered. It is possible that a 'hydrogen bomb' might be acquired from one of the superpower arsenals, and delivered by ship to the harbour of a port. More likely is a bomb in the ten-kiloton range exploded at ground level in a city, or in a ship.
An accident to a nuclear weapon, such as dropping it down a silo or from an aircraft, would not cause a full-scale nuclear explosion, but could scatter kilograms of plutonium by detonation of the high-explosive charge. To cause a nuclear explosion, the charge has to be detonated absolutely simultaneously all round the nuclear core, which is done by special electric circuits. Accidental detonation by a shock would not do this, but one wonders whether an electrical fault or a lightning stroke could ever do it.
FINAL COMMENTS
The above description was set in the context of a North American city. As proliferation of nuclear weapons continues, there is a greater risk that a tropical city may be attacked.
In such circumstances, the deaths and injuries from firestorms and flash burns would be higher than in the North American context, because many of the dwellings would be of light construction, and a higher proportion of the population would be likely to be in the open at the time of the explosion.
The distances quoted from ground zero are derived from a number of secondary sources, which do not all agree. Basically the numbers are derived from United States government measurements made during the years before 1963, when test nuclear explosions were permitted in the atmosphere.
It does not really matter if some of these distances are not accurate. Similarly, even if the estimates of deaths and injuries are considerably over-stated, the consequences of exploding a nuclear bomb and giving rise to a disaster even approaching this magnitude - anywhere on earth - remain completely unacceptable.
The only way to abolish this risk is to get rid of all the nuclear bombs in the world.
The Electronic Blanket
(The Electromagnetic Nuclear Bomb)
High-altitude electromagnetic pulses (HEMP) produced by high-altitude bursts occur in an area of the atmosphere where the density of the air is low. Because of this, the gamma rays can travel very far before they are absorbed. These rays travel downward into the increasingly dense atmosphere. The electric field has a rise time of about 1 nanosecond. Even with such a short pulse, the effects can be tremendous. For a high altitude burst, the effects can also be far reaching. By many calculations, one properly placed nuclear bomb (possibly hidden in a satellite) detonated above the center of the United States could produce huge electrical fields. "The EMP from a single hydrogen bomb exploded 300 kilometers over the heart of the United States could set up an electrical field 50 kV/m strong over nearly all of North America". Since EMP is electromagnetic radiation traveling at the speed of light, all of the area could possibly be effected almost simultaneously. All communications, television, radio, cars, trucks, planes, etc could be effected resulting in an Electronic blanket where all electronics in our country could be neutralized including the knowledge of the Nuclear attack...
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Joey Allcorn, featured in the video above, testifies during a Congressional hearing in Wahsington concerning the impending destruction of internet radio, and in support of the Internet Radio Equality Act (IREA) in Congress and the Senate, now.
MONTE VISTA-Two Monte Vista-based Internet Radio stations are facing royalty rates from 300 to 1200 percent of what the broadcast provision of the Small Webcaster's Settlement Act allowed- royalties based on revenue or expenses. Now those rates are based on plays, after the Copyright Royalty Board nullified the Congressionally mandated SWSA on March 2.
Dianne Lockhart, owner of Solace Radio and Meander Radio, is among thousands of small webcasters who might have to shut their stations down after July 15, the deadline for the new rates to go into effect. She broadcasts as part of the Live365 Network, trading streaming costs and storage for the Network running their ads on her stations.
A hearing before the House subcommittee on June 27 revealed that, although many Representatives have co-sponsored the Bill, the speaker maintained that webcasters should "work it out" with the collecting organization, SoundExchange. That has been impossible, according to webcasters, hence the introduction of the IREA.
Many are hoping for a Stay in congress that would prevent the new rates from going into effect, until Congress and the Senate can get the bills out of committee. The bill in Congress is HR 2060 and the Senate Bill is SB 1353. Webcasters across the board are calling for citizens to contact their Congressional representatives and Senators, to get the bill moving.
MONTE VISTA-Some emergency and law enforcement personnel may have thought last Wednesday was 'Hell Day' in the Valley. With the windstorm on Wednesday, residents learned how vulnerable their lives and property can be to high winds. Winds up to seventy miles per hour tore and twisted trees in Monte Vista and the entire Valley, keeping emergency personnel busy with calls from residents worried about power lines and damage to their houses. State troopers and CDOT personnel dealt with trees and limbs on the roadways, while firefighters from several agencies battled a blaze that encompassed more than 160 acres near the Great Sand Dunes National Park, forcing evacuation of the visitors' center and campsites there, and warning Zapata residents that they might have to evacuate. A three vehicle accident on Highway 17 north of Alamosa, resulting in a fatality caused emergency personnel and law enforcement to have to close the road for a while.The wind was cited as a factor in the crash. The winds were also wreaking havoc south of the border, too, with one power line breaking, near the Red River area, and whipping into a creek.Trees toppled in Monte Vista and lost branches, some causing damage to property, and others appeared to miraculously miss the adjacent buildings when they fell.
San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) Customer Service Department Manager Michelle Trujillo was told by a fellow employeed that a tree fell on her new car, parked in the REC parking lot."It banged up the passenger side and busted up the window," she said, "but it's at the body shop. They're repairing it."REC personnel decided the tree was "weakened", and cut the remainder of the tree down, planning to replace it later with another tree.Local dentist, Brian Roberts... Read more in this week's issue of the Monte Vista Journal.
Grads finally "free"
Students at Monte Vista High School awaited hearing their name, May 26, and taking their final walk to 'freedom' from high school. Outgoing Superintendent Don Wilkinson bestowed honor cords on students who worked hard to make the grade. Parents watched a memorable photo montage of students' academic lives, with both laughter and tears at this monumental achievement for students and parents alike. More...
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7 Large Tunnels Beneath U.S.-Mexican Border Raising Security Concerns
SAN DIEGO — While key entrance and exit points have been plugged in some of the biggest tunnels used to ferry people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border, the passageways remain largely intact raising concerns smugglers reuse them, according to a published report. In recent years, dozens of tunnels have been discovered running under the border. The smaller, more crudely constructed passages are easily destroyed, authorities say. But the larger, more elaborate tunnels require enormous amounts of material and expertise to fill. Copy and paste this link for the full story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C248658%2C00.html
Cancer makes news, again
Chlorine in the bathwater linked to cancer
Low levels of chlorine in tap water used for bathing can almost double the risk of bladder cancer, a study claims. Scientists found chemical by-products from mains water containing the disinfectant can be absorbed through the skin in the bath or shower and accumulate in the bladder. Swimming in public pools can also present a risk because chlorine levels are much higher. The risk is caused by chemical by-products called THMs which are produced when chlorine is added to water. Researchers found... Click here to read this story.
Second study links cell phones to brain tumors
Long-term users of mobile phones are significantly more likely to develop a certain type of brain tumour on the side of the head where they hold their handsets, according to new research. The results seem to suggest health risks in people who have regularly used mobiles for over 10 years A large-scale study found that those who had regularly used mobiles for longer than 10 years were almost 40 per cent more likely to develop nervous system tumours called gliomas near to where they hold their phones. The new research, to be published later this year in the International Journal of Cancer, is the second study to suggest... Click here to read this story.
Big Brother strikes again
Is the government assuming too much, by requiring our kids to get immunized for venereal disease? They're calling it a cancer vaccine.
States Consider Required Cancer Vaccine: As Communities Consider Requiring A Shot Against Cervical Cancer For Girls, Some Parents Are Wary
(CBS) It may seem premature for Kelley Ellsworth to even think about anything that has to do with sex, when it comes to her kids. Her daughter Kira is only in fifth grade. But she and her friends may be among the first students required by law to get vaccinated for a sexually transmitted disease, one that can cause cervical cancer. CBS News correspondent Sharyl Atkisson reports. Read the story, here.
Bullycide
Will your child die of bullycide?
By Dianne James
(Editor's note: Many thanks to Brenda for her courage and conviction and permission to use Jared's story for this article. Please read Jared's story at the end of this article, this is an ongoing problem throughout the world. It needs to stop. A note of caution: Recent findings have shown that children and teens who take antidepressants are more prone to suicidal thoughts. That story later.)
(MONTE VISTA, CO) - I've tried my entire life not to hate people, to avoid the bitterness that comes with hatred and prejudice. There is one group of individuals that I could very nearly hate, though, and those are bullies. When I was a child, I had probably more than my share of bullies, due, in part to my small stature and the fact that we moved a lot. Always being the new kid has its special problems, and the new kid is like a bullseye to a school bully, because a new kid hasn't had the time to make friends and build alliances. They're out there on their own, until they do.
I can remember when I was in grade school in Dimmitt, Texas, and the new kid, being a bull's eye for girl and boy bullies alike. The girls would taunt me on the playground, threaten to cut my hair, exclude me or run away from me, saying cruel things. One particular day, I was about at the end of my rope with these abusers, having sat through an entire morning of having spitballs thrown across the classroom when the teacher would be turned writing on the board. I had already been kicked very hard, on the tailbone by a boy bully that day. When the bell rang and they all left, headed for the cafeteria, I stayed in my seat and cried. The teacher came over and tried to ascertain the problem, by I was inconsolable at this point. The straw had broken the camel's back. I had not talked to anyone about the things happening at school, not teachers, not even my parents. I would not stop crying, so the teacher brought the principal into the room. He talked to me, and calmed me down enough to get me to go with him and personally have lunch with him in the cafeteria. Just him and me. Those kids must've realized how much trouble they could be in, and began approaching our table with their desserts and food from their trays. I thought, trying to look good to that principal. I doubt if he was fooled, but the bullying stopped, at that school anyway. I didn't make friends there before we moved again, because I had no interest in befriending people who would treat me that way. Those were kids in Dimmitt, Texas, class of 1975, by the way. Shame on you. Remember, what goes around comes around.
In other schools I encountered different versions of bullying. I look back now, and realize that I must have had some strength, to never tell on them. Sometimes, the bullying gets worse if you tell. In one school the senior class heard about the cruelty of a group of girls I had hung around with, and threatened them. One senior (I was a freshman) told me, "there's something wrong with the class of '75, they're just the meanest bunch of kids." (Friona, Texas, Class of '75) I silently agreed, and befriended another group of girls who were very nice. But then we moved again...
We moved to Clovis, New Mexico, in the middle of a terrible time with racial unrest and violence. A cheerleader had been shot in the face. I decided I wasn't going to public school any more. My parents didn't fight me on it, I was fourteen then, and I was homeschooled from then on. This article is about children and teens who commit suicide as a result of being bullied. The one thing I had going for me was thinking, "I can get through this," and my faith in God. My family belief was that if you commit suicide, you couldn't ask forgiveness, and you've taken a life (your own), and therefore you would not go to heaven. Hey, it worked for me.
I can remember, at one particular school, while at home, one day, I discovered a bunch of books on the martial arts, Ju-Jitsu, that an uncle had left at our house. I was fascinated by it, and read every one of them. The illustrations showed how you could defend yourself, and even put an attacker's eyes out, break their eardrums, and many other useful things to a bullied child. I was only ten, then, and had no one to practice with. The Ju-Jitsu defense idea slowly faded from my arsenal. I excelled in my classes that year, and discovered the saying that I would hear much later, as an adult, "The best way to get even is to be a success" was true.
Most of the schools I attended harbored just a few bullies, and most of the student body was decent. It's just that the new kid makes a good target. They weren't all like Dimmit, Texas schools. I heard many years later that the hospital there was refusing emergency patients if they couldn't pay. I thought to myself, "Of course, it's Dimmit, what do they expect?"
What bullies do
Name calling
Put-downs
Cruel teasing
Saying/writing negative things about others
Exclusion from participation
Not talking or recognizing
Intimidation
Threats
Taking property
Destroying belongings
Hitting/kicking
Forcing others to do things they don’t want to do
Cyberspace/chat room messages sent to many peers
The types of bullies
Type One
The first type of bully is more of the stereotypical bully. The aggressor has few tools in his social tool box to deal appropriately with peers and compensates for this lack by physically picking on others. The aggressor does not need a reason and in many cases is quick to escalate to physical aggression without using logic or even considering potential consequences.
Type Two
The second group of bullies might be called the instigators. These bullies generate conflict and bullying scenarios with others, either directly or indirectly through peer pressure. They are quick to become negative and argumentative. They will exaggerated responses in conflict situations. They tend to be bright and manipulative. If things are calm, the instigator will stir up the pot and in many cases, justify the negative results, often at the expense of a peer.
Type Three
The third type of bully is often an individual who has been victimized by a bully and now becomes a bully themselves. In life, we learn from what we believe are our mistakes. If the issues of victimization are not addressed, it is easy to understand why a victim would become "the avenger". "Do unto others, as they have done unto you!"
When bullies grow up
I've also dealt with my share of adult bullies- people who have never internalized how their actions impair their social relationships and their lives. I've encountered jealousy, micro-management, and even sabotage from adult bullies in the work place. Adult bullies have been allowed to run amuck into their adult years, many of them ending up in the penal system, and some of them simply having acquired enough social skills to blend into society from low-level employees to managers.
Some of the indicators of an adult bully
Can be male or female, fellow employee or manager, husband, wife, or parent
Was a bully or was bullied in school
Blows issues out of proportion
Unreasonable/rigid management
His way or the highway
I’m going to sue!
Wants to be brother, not dad
Destroys staff, backs down later
Now more apt to use learned cruelty through verbalization- aiming for "pushing the buttons" by using intimate knowledge to hurt another
Sabotages the work of another
Micro-manages
Still makes cruel comments and put-downs
Imagine this
"Imagine these things happening in our workplace. Imagine being harassed and humiliated day in and day out. Imagine being shoved in the hallways or knocked in the head--never knowing when the perpetrator will strike again. Imagine sitting quietly, eating your lunch, and being knocked from your chair. Just imagine that as your head hits the floor, you go in and out of consciousness, as you feel blow after blow, to your head and face. Imagine being told that if you ever defend yourself--you will be fired--but your attackers are allowed back the next day or the next week--to do it all over again.
"Hard to imagine, isn't it? How absurd to think that any business in the United States would operate in that fashion and stay in business. Yet, in the business of public education, we are telling our children to expect it and accept it. The reality is that others took Brandon's life long before he ended his pain. Brandon was courageous. He fought a valiant battle, enduring all these things--until he lost all hope. Just imagine." Cathy, Brandon's mom (http://www.jaredstory.com/brandon.html)
Jared's Story: Death by Bullycide
Jared Benjamin High, born Sept. 23, 1985, died Sept. 29, 1998, by suicide.
It is believed that depression causes most teenage suicides, but this creates a new question - what causes the depression? A person just doesn't wake up one morning with depression. Psychologists believe that some people have a genetic tendency towards depression, some people develop depression because of environmental triggers, and some people can have both genetic and environmental triggers, (See "Teen Depression and it's Causes"). Jared developed depression from bullying at school as well as an assault by a bully in school. The new term being used to describe this type of teen Suicide is, "bullycide," a suicide caused from the effects of bullying.
As Jared's mom, I welcome you to my grief project, JaredStory.com. You will find an abundance, (almost 6 years), of stories about Jared, research concerning bullying, depression, suicide prevention and suicide, as well as some motherly advise to help those thinking about suicide or those who have been through bullying, depression and/or a loss by suicide. There are pages with serious subject matter, as well as pages filled with laughter.
If you are doing some studies on bullying, (teen) depression and suicide, be sure and click on the other links to the left or support the advertisers on this page. By supporting the advertisers on JaredStory.com, you keep this website active on the web. If you have had thoughts of suicide, be sure and read, "Teenage Suicide - Been There, Done That" and if you are feeling down, be sure and read my favorite story about Jared, "The Skittles War," and make, (and eat) Jared's favorite cake, "Dirt Cake," which I call, "Worm Cake." It will take you back to the happy moments in your own life and you will forget your troubles for a time.
Jared's loss filled our lives with grief, but the healing has come. Our family has found hope in understanding Jared's purpose in life and in The Meaning of Life. (Be sure and read "Commit Suicide, and go where?") We were left behind with only memories of Jared, some good, some bad, but our healing journey goes on.
Refusal (not inability) to think rationally about themselves and others;
Small scale Terrorist, with behavior mostly taking place during school time;
Justifies terrorist activities towards his/her targets or victims with self psychological excuses ("I want to appear tough and in control");
Enjoys enforcing power on others and causing extreme fear;
Over-bearing person who tyrannizes the non-violent and physically less strong;
To rule by intimidation, terror;
Threatens or acts violence on others;
Calls an assault a "fight," "disagreement" or "justice."
(The only differences between a terrorist and a bully, is in the organized planning or cause of the activity, and the scale of terror. A bullied child will believe that there is no difference between a terrorist and a bully given the above definitions.)
STORIES OF "BULLYCIDES" (SUICIDE'S ATTRIBUTED TO BULLYING)
STORIES OF BULLYING SURVIVORS WHO SPEAK ABOUT THE PAIN
o practice to ensure you will remember how to respond when you are forced to react quickly. An experienced fire professional will be able to explain the safest, most effective way to use one.
exciting life. When survival is the priority, though, all those reasons go out the window. Family safety becomes the new priority. For many rural families, when they read an article such as the one below, they are thanking God that they live where they do. And they are praying for loved ones who are dead-set on staying in the large city. Apparently, the tragedy of 911, terrorist attacks such as the one recently in London, and many cities of the world aren't enough to teach us that a concentrated population makes a good bull's eye. When you lose loved ones, the big salary, proximity to the art centers, variety of eating establishments, universities, and job opportunities become minor, even empty, issues. I hope we do not become complacent with the enormous amount of "terror threat" news stories we are confronted with on a weekly and even daily basis. Families should make decisions to control the damage, before they must do "damage control." Remember, sometimes, there is not strength in numbers.
