StooltimeCounseling's Blog

For the past couple months, Shock Hazard and I have tried to get fellow bloggers together for a meet and greet. Here is another opportunity for that to happen:

Fox 2 Detroit bloggers are invited to meet and greet each other on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 10:00am at Dimitri's Family restaurant on Gratiot just south of 23 mile road in Chesterfield.

• Join us for some laughs.
• Bring your lap top so some serious Fox 2 Detroit blogging can happen then and there. Hey, maybe we can do one, big group post. There should be enough creativity in the room, given our diverse views and perspectives. 
• Watch as Shock uses his "hunt and peck" technique while typing.
• See my new Detroit Lions banner that will make an appearance on ESPN and Fox Sports on game day, 10-26-08, when the Detroit Lions compete against the Washington Redskins. This banner is awesome, professionally done and has an amazing, thought evoking, eye-catching new slogan that will replace, "Restore The Roar". The new slogan captures the current mood of Lions fans, while the art work captivates the imagination. [To give you an idea of the banner's popularity, I've had numerous people use their cell phone cameras to take a picture of it, while others reported they would buy T-shirts if they become available. Thanks to Sign-A-Rama for a job well done on the banner!]
• See how many waitresses you can find who have blue eyes.
• Plenty of coffee or tea or whatever pleases your taste buds.
• Good company!

Hope to see you there! Shock and I promise to be gracious hosts.

-STC. 

NICKNAMES

• If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and  Sarah.
• If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.

EATING OUT

• When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50.  None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
• When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

MONEY

• A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
• A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she  doesn't need but it's on sale.

BATHROOMS

• A man has six items in his bathroom:  toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel .
• The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337.  A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these  items.

ARGUMENTS

• A woman has the last word in  any argument.
• Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

FUTURE

• A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
• A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

SUCCESS

• A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
• A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

MARRIAGE

• A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
• A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.

DRESSING UP

• A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a  book, and get the mail.
• A man will dress up for weddings and  funerals.

NATURAL

• Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
• Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING

• Ah, children.  A woman knows all about her children.  She knows about  dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
• A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE  DAY
A married man should forget his mistakes.  There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!

 

 Primary Logo for the Detroit Lions, 1952-1960. ©

(Taken from Wikipedia's History Of The Detroit Lions and being fairly used to make the following point):

Change can be good.

Lets not stop with the firing of Lions President/CEO/General Manager, Mr. Matt Millen, for doing a poor job. This front office move made a lot of fans happy, but at the end of the day, Millen wasn't on the field making plays. 

Lets not stop with the purging of the team's mental attitude on the sidelines, field and lockerroom that is probably a big part of a losing record. Where's the passion from the players during a game and during interviews with the media? Even frustrated people can show some passion!

In addition to those things (and others), lets change the logo back to when it represented championship caliber.

Lets go real deep with change, even if it's retrospective change, as the Detroit Lions get a face lift so they will once again be contenders in the NFL like they were during the 1950's.

Remember Detroit Lions fans, the lion is truly the monarch of the jungle!

Go Lions!

Jimmy Johnson, of Fox NFL Sunday, is so optimistic, one must question his credentials as a broadcaster. Aren't sportscasters supposed to be "critical" so that they can be viewed as "objective"? 

Given Jimmy's "hopeful" comment about the Lions during the 3rd game of the season, when the Lions lost to the 49'ers, 31-13, coupled with my pattern of finding something positive to say about the Lions each week, I felt compelled to bring in some reinforcements. This week, it's Jimmy Johnson.

Why would Jimmy Johnson make an attempt to be empathic with Lions fans, who keep waiting for the 2008 season to do a 180 degree turn rather than just be "good-time Charlie" fans?

All I know, when Jimmy Johnson said the Detroit Lions are "playing possum", it had Terry Bradshaw rolling his eyes during their half-time show on Sunday. Of course, we already know what Terry Bradshaw thinks about Detroit.

"Playing possum"  (taken from Wikipedia) :

"Playing possum" is a phrase which literally means "to pretend to be dead".

It comes from a characteristic of the Virginia opossum, which is famous for pretending to be dead when threatened. This instinct doesn't always pay off in the modern world; for example, opossums scavenging roadkill may use it in response to the threat posed by oncoming traffic, and subsequently end up as roadkill themselves.

"Playing possum" can also mean simply pretending to be injured, unconscious, or otherwise vulnerable, often to lure an opponent into a vulnerable position himself.

There are two weeks (next week is a bye-week) for Mr. Ford to do something different with the Lions organization if he doesn't want the possum to end up as road kill this year. Show Lions fans that the team is not really dead, and that it's just pretending.

It's your move Mr. Ford. Don't be the driver who runs over your own scavenging possum that's pretending to be dead, when it's really alive.

In addition to the team's win-loss record, one of the measures I'm going to use to decide if the team is becoming successful, is when I hear the team asking more questions than they are answering.

Roe v. Wade From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Roe v. Wade Supreme Court of the United States Argued December 9, 1971
Reargued October 11, 1972
Decided January 22, 1973
Full case name: Jane Roe, et al. v. Henry Wade, District Attorney of Dallas County Citations: 410 U.S. 113 (see more...); 93 S. Ct. 705; 35 L. Ed. 2d 147; 1973 U.S. LEXIS 159 Prior history: Judgment for plaintiffs, injunction denied, 314 F. Supp. 1217 (N.D. Tex. 1970); probable jurisdiction noted, 402 U.S. 941 (1971); set for reargument, 408 U.S. 919 (1972) Subsequent history: Rehearing denied, 410 U.S. 959 (1973) Argument: Oral argument Holding Texas law making it a crime to assist a woman to get an abortion violated her due process rights. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas affirmed in part, reversed in part. Court membership Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices: William O. Douglas, William J. Brennan, Jr., Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William Rehnquist Case opinions Majority by: Blackmun
Joined by: Burger, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Powell
Concurrence by: Burger
Concurrence by: Douglas
Concurrence by: Stewart
Dissent by: White
Joined by: Rehnquist
Dissent by: Rehnquist
Laws applied U.S. Const. Amend. XIV; Tex. Code Crim. Proc. arts. 1191–94, 1196

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) is a controversial United States Supreme Court case that resulted in a landmark decision regarding abortion.[1] According to the Roe decision, most laws against abortion in the United States violated a constitutional right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision overturned all state and federal laws outlawing or restricting abortion that were inconsistent with its holdings. Roe v. Wade is one of the most controversial and politically significant cases in U.S. Supreme Court history. Its lesser-known companion case, Doe v. Bolton, was decided at the same time.[2]

Roe v. Wade centrally held that a mother may abort her pregnancy for any reason, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes ‘viable.’ The Court defined viable as being potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid. Viability usually occurs at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks."[1] The Court also held that abortion after viability must be available when needed to protect a woman's health, which the Court defined broadly in the companion case of Doe v. Bolton. These rulings affected laws in 46 states.[3]

The Roe v. Wade decision prompted national debate that continues today. Debated subjects include whether and to what extent abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, what methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication, and what the role should be of religious and  moral views in the political sphere. Roe v. Wade reshaped national politics, dividing much of the nation into pro-Roe (mostly pro-choice) and anti-Roe (mostly pro-life) camps, and inspiring grassroots activism on both sides.

My Questions:

• If the purpose of a court is to interpret the law rather than legislate a law, is the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling unconstitutional?
• Should each of the 50 states, by putting it up for a vote, decide if it wants legal abortion? This would be consistent with how gay marriage became a law in some states and not others. The matter was put up for a vote.
• Why do some people think Sarah Palin will advocate to overturn Roe vs. Wade if elected as VP, even though her thoughts and feelings about abortion are thus far limited to saying she is comfortable with her convictions and will not shove her faith down anyone's throat?
• How strong of an influence does Roe vs. Wade have on defining the Democratic party? Is this issue the major divide between the Republicans and Democrats or is it the tax and spend, socialism or capitalism thing?
• Does the term, "pro-choice", encompass all areas of a person's life or only on the abortion issue?

When people talk about religion or politics, the conversation can get very heated because both subjects evoke very personal thoughts and feelings. What happens when a conversation combines religion and sports?

We all have a cross to bear. The cross is a symbol for something that can weigh us down. The weight of a cross can be the burden that immobilizes us so we cannot move forward. What cross does the Detroit Lions bear? How can the Detroit Lions embrace their cross so they can move forward?

The Detroit Lions are a confused team. This, I believe, is their cross to bear. Should we run the ball or should we pass it? This can confuse even the smartest squirrel trying to cross the road as it goes back and forth, unable to make a decision. Take heart. Confusion is the first step to wisdom.

I challenge the Detroit Lions to use their confusion (cross to bear) as something positive. Embrace the confusion and learn from it. 

When someone is confused, the best case scenario is to start asking questions to get some answers on how to improve. Ask questions, get feedback and wise up!

Personally, I am embracing the Detroit Lions as my cross to bear. I have one request, though: Can my cross be made of balsa wood? I'm going to pray about it.

Lyrics to Gridiron Heroes
The Victory Song of the Detroit Lions

(Verse)
Hail the colors Blue and Silver let them wave.
Sing their song and cheer the Gridiron Heroes brave,
Fighting for fame, winning the game,
Dashing to victory as they go.

(Chorus)
Forward down the field,
A charging team that will not yield.
And when the Blue and Silver wave,
Stand and cheer the brave.
Rah, Rah, Rah.
Go hard, win the game.
With honor you will keep your fame.
Down the field and gain,
A Lion victory!

GO LIONS!

It looks like there may be some disagreement between the Founding Fathers and the ACLU:

Today's..."separation of church and state"...not the intent of America's founding documents...nor intended by the founders!

Amendment I"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances."

1.  Words "separation of church and state" are not in the First Amendment.

2.  The 90 founding fathers never mentioned even once during the framing of the First Amendment (June 7 - September 25, 1789) a "separation of church and state."  (See Congressional Record.)

3.  The same day Congress passed the First Amendment (Sept. 25, 1789); they approved a resolution requesting President George Washington to proclaim "...a day of public thanksgiving and prayer...."

4.  Thomas Jefferson wrote this phrase, "thus building a wall of separation between church and State...." on January 1, 1802, (11 years after the First Amendment was ratified) in a private letter to the Danbury Baptist Association to assure them that the federal government could not and would not try to establish a national denomination.  Jefferson was an ambassador in France during the time of the Constitutional Convention.  However, while President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson was
also made president of the Washington, DC public school system in which he placed the Bible and the Isaac Watt's hymnal as the two primary reading texts!  Jefferson's phrase was used only twice by the U.S. Supreme Court from 1802 to 1947; and it was not until 1947 (Everson case) that it was taken out of context and given a meaning never intended (first use was 1878 in Reynolds case).
 

"In matters of religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the Constitution  independent
of the powers of the General [federal] Government."
  (Thomas Jefferson, 1805, in his second Inaugural Address.)
 
"There is not a shadow of right in the general [federal] government to intermeddle with  religion....This
subject is, for the honor of America, perfectly free and unshackled."
  (The Writings of James Madison, Vol. 5, pp. 176, 132.)
 

5.  Applies to Congress, not the states.

6.  First English language Bible printed in America was by Congress in 1782 "for use of schools."

7.  The founding fathers gave speeches, read from the Bible, and prayed at public school graduations.

8.  The U.S. Capitol was used as a church building by the founding fathers.

9.  Founding father judges had prayer in their court rooms with the jurors.
 
10.  A view from the Washington Monument forms a perfect cross.

 Northwest Ordinance(requirements for statehood).SECTION 13, ARTICLE III"Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."

(Passed from July 17 - August 7, 1789; during the midst of the framing of the First Amendment, which was June 7 - September 25, 1789.  Please note that the founding fathers used the word religion to mean Christianity.)
 

"Religion is the only solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the  precepts of religion, and the duties of man towards God."
          (Gouverneur Morris, 1792, Notes on the Form of a Constitution for France.)
Founding father who physically wrote the Constitution, and most active member of Constitutional Convention, spoke 173 times on the floor.
 
"Why...should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book?  Its morals are  pure, its examples captivating and noble. The reverence for the sacred book that is thus early  impressed last long; and, probably, if not impressed in infancy, never takes hold of the  mind."
(Fisher Ames, The Works of Fisher Ames, 1809.)  Founding father who on September 20, 1789 helped provide the wording for the First Amendment.
 
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality  are indispensable supports.  In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who  should labor to subvert these great pillars....  The mere politician, equally with the pious  man, ought to respect and cherish them....  Let it simply
be asked, ‘Where is the security for  property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert?'  ...And let  us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.   Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds...reason and  experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of  religious principle."
  (George Washington, 1796, Farewell Address.)

  The Constitution of the United StatesPreamble"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this  truth-that God governs in the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground  without His notice, it is probable that an empire can rise without His aid?  We have been  assured in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they labour in vain  that build it.'  I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall  succeed in this political building no better than the Builders of Babel:"
  (Benjamin Franklin at the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787.)

Article I, Section 7"If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law."
 

"How comes it that Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, is recognized by all the departments of  Government?  In the law, Sunday is a ‘dies non;' it cannot be used for the service of legal  process, the return of writs, or other judicial purposes.  The executive departments, the  public establishments, are all closed on Sundays; ...neither House of Congress sits."
  (U.S. Senate, January 19, 1853, on Congressional Chaplains.)
 

Article IV, Section 4"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government,..."
 

"...I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes and take so little pains to prevent them.     We...neglect...the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government...
the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible...."
(Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, A Defence of the Use of the Bible in Schools, 1830.)
 
"...it is the sincere desire of the writer that our citizens should early understand that the  genuine source of correct republican principles is the Bible, particularly the New Testament  or the Christian religion."
  (Noah Webster, History of the United States, 1832, public school textbook.)
 
"...the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people."
  (Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.)

Article VI"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
 

"No person who denies the being of God or a future state of rewards and punishments shall  hold any office in the civil department of the State."
  (Constitution of the State of Mississippi, 1817.  Other states had similar requirements.)
 

Article VII"DONE in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth."
 
(Dated recognizing the birth of Jesus Christ:  Anno Domini/Christmas!)
 

"The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His  Apostles....This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of  government."
  (Noah Webster, History of the United States, 1832, public school textbook.)
 

Declaration of Independence"...Laws of Nature and of Natures's God entitle them..."

"The laws of nature are the laws of God, Whose authority can be superseded by no  power  on earth."
  (George Mason, before the General Court of Virginia, 1772.)

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis,  a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?"
  (Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781.)

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions..."

"We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient, He reigns  in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come."
  (Samuel Adams, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, August 2, 1776.)

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence..."

"The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were....the general  principles of Christianity."
  (John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813.)

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"It is impossible to build sound constitutional doctrine on a mistaken understanding of Constitutional history....  The establishment clause [of the First Amendment] has been expressly freighted with Jefferson's misleading metaphor for nearly forty years....  There is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the Framers intended to build a wall of separation [between church and state]....  The recent court decisions are in no way based on either the language or the intent of the Framers."

 (Associate Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, Wallace v. Jafree, 1985.)

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The majority of the information contained in "Today's...separation of church and state...!" was learned about and derived from resources by David Barton of WallBuilders (817-441-6044), Stephen McDowell of the Providence Foundation (804-978-
4535), John Whitehead of The Rutherford Institute (804-978-3888), William Federer of AmeriSearch (314-621-6446), and Rus Walton and John Eidsmoe of the Plymouth Rock Foundation (1-800-210-1620):
 

 The Truth About Thomas Jefferson and the First Amendment (pamphlet), The Changing First Amendment  (audio),  America, God Shed His Grace on Thee (tract): WallBuilders.
 Providential Perspective (Teaching Journal):  Providence Foundation.
 The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights (booklet), The Real Story Behind The Separation of Church  and State (audio):  The Rutherford Institute.
 America's God & Country (Encyclopedia of Quotations): AmeriSearch.
 Institute on the Constitution (audio and video):  Plymouth Rock Foundation.

• Los Angeles, CA.
• San Diego, CA.
• San Francisco, CA.
• Seattle, WA.

For which one of these cities would you vote to host The Statue Of Responsibility?

You do have a say in the matter. Go to the following link to vote:

The Statue Of Responsibility Foundation

As you can read from my bio, I sit on two different steering committees with the Statue Of Responsibility Foundation. Our grass roots effort is picking up steam to build the monument that will bookend the Statue Of Liberty. Please cast your vote by going to the Foundation's website. You will find the link to vote on the left side of the home page. Your vote matters!

Thank you!

Mark Rogers.

Liberty + Responsibility = Our Freedom

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses, And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!

Who was Humpty Dumpty?
Humpty Dumpty was a colloquial term used in 15th century England to describe someone who was fat or obese - giving rise to lots of theories pertaining to the identity of Humpty Dumpty. However, in this case the question should be not Who was Humpty Dumpty but What was Humpty Dumpty? Humpty Dumpty was in fact an unusually large canon which was mounted on the protective wall of "St. Mary's Wall Church" in Colchester, England. It was intended to protect the Parliamentarian stronghold of Colchester which was in the temporarily in control of the Royalists during the period of English history, described as the English Civil War ( 1642 - 1649). A shot from a Parliamentary canon succeeded in damaging the wall underneath Humpty Dumpty causing the canon to fall to the ground. The Royalists 'all the King's men' attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall but even with the help of ' all the King's horses' failed in their task and Colchester fell to the Parliamentarians after a siege lasting eleven weeks.

Credit for above goes to: http://www.famousquotes.me.uk/nursery_rhymes/humpty_du
mpty.htm

My opine:  And here I thought Humpty Dumpty was a metaphor for any politician who got caught up in a power-grabbing-term-of-office, often times generated by an over-inflated, grandiose, self-centered ego.

Silly, me. What was I thinking?

The Detroit Motor City Coney Island, owned and managed by Manny and mom, Patty, since 6-26-06, can be found at 19-D South Water Street, Henderson, Nevada 89015. Located in downtown Henderson, the coney island is about 15 miles from the Las Vegas strip.

Born and raised in Detroit, Patty, and son, Manny, moved to Nevada when daughter/sister, Michelle, earned a track scholarship to attend school in Nevada. The family also took with them their love for coney islands and some of the products that have made Detroit famous.

Products like Better Made Potato chips, Sanders Hot Fudge, Faygo and Vernors Soda and Dearborn Brand Meat to name a few.

Not only can a customer enjoy Detroit-based food items on the menu, there are numerous reminders of all the major Detroit sports teams hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. The Pistons, Red Wings, Lions, Tigers and Vipers are nicely acknowledged.

Patrons who are visiting the area from Michigan are encouraged to write their names on the inside walls as one way of claiming a piece of Michigan in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Manager, Patty, said of her love for coney islands, the city of Detroit and what she and her son aspire for their business, "I ate my first coney at Dooleys at Vernor Junction. I grew up on coneys. Hopefully, one day, we'll be as busy as Lafayette Coney Island"!

Best wishes for a prosperous mom-and-son-business-venture to manager, Patty and owner, Manny, of The Detroit Motor City Coney Island in Henderson, Nevada. My family and I enjoyed our two stops at your restaurant in July, 2008.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Go Lions!!

Only one of these two lunch boxes will take the Tigers to post season. Which lunch box will the team take to work with them while there's still time to make a difference?

GO, TIGERS! 

To be a victim of a crime is a painful experience, whether it be a crime against property or person. The purpose of this post is to help readers decrease their chances of becoming a victim. There are never any guarantees in life, so the information can only be used as guidelines to increase one's safety and security in a world where the criminal element (enemy) has the desire (to hurt, bully), opportunity (a car or purse to steal) and ability (overpower, intimidate, use of technology or weapons) to inflict harm on innocent, law-abiding citizens.

I want to thank the West Bloomfield police department for having two of their finest men present this information to Easter Seals staff at an inservice entitled, "Service Provider Safety And Security". Thank you, Sgt. Tom Keilman and Officer Rick Trabulsy. I appreciate getting your permission to write this blog post on the Fox 2 website.

What follows is what I learned about personal safety and security as well as some interesting links to self-defense laws, requirements to obtain a concealed pistol permit, pistol free areas and laws against carrying under the influence.

VICTIMIZATION OVERVIEW:

• The offender has a plan. It includes the desire, opportunity and ability to commit a crime.
• The desire is connected to the criminal's observations of potential victims. No matter where we go, criminals are observing their potential victims. It could be at the grocery store, where 90% of the shoppers are female, who carry purses. It could be the garbage man or mail man, who can sell our personal information to criminals.
• The opportunity is related to the criminal making contact with the victim. Approach tactics are used to get close to an intended victim.
• The stranger approach happens in a moment. The victim does not know the criminal in this scenario. Purse snatchings, muggings or car jackings are some examples. 
• The casual approach takes time to develop. This could be the "nice" man who meets an unsuspecting female victim on-line, develops her trust by wining and dining her and then robs her blind by stealing her credit cards or something similar.
• The family approach is related to situations concerning domestic violence. Abuse or neglect of any kind underscores the family approach of the criminal.
• The ability to commit a crime is connected to the actual confrontation with the victim. To stop the criminal from getting to this part of their plan, a potential victim needs to eliminate the criminal's opportunity. Whoever has the best plan, wins.

DEVELOPING A TACTICAL PRESENTATION:

• The best defense is a good offense.
• Be aware of your surroundings.
• Dress to win.
• Implement assertive body language by walking with a purpose and making eye contact with strangers. For example, when store employees greet and make eye contact with customers upon entering the store, retail fraud is decreased. 
• Think two or three steps ahead at all times so the criminal has less of an opportunity to use the element of surprise.
• Have an inventory of aggressive verbal responses if confronted by a criminal. Yell to draw attention. Use simple words like, "Stop", "Fire", "Get back", "No" or "911". Avoid using the word, "Rape", because bystanders could turn a deaf ear for fear of getting involved in something that doesn't concern them.
• Trust your intuition or 6th sense when out in public. A denial of potential danger is the greatest enemy of intuition. Be aware!
• Train to win or have a positive view of escaping potential danger. Have a plan and practice it. Visualize yourself winning against the criminal. Evaluate/adapt your plan as needed.
• Another key to safety is to take someone with you when going out in public like the shopping mall.

ENEMIES OF THE CRIMINAL:

• Extended time: A criminal wants to do a crime fast. Locking your doors (car, home) and having an alarm system extends the time needed to commit a crime. This doesn't mean the criminal stops being a criminal. Crime prevention is a fallacy. However, by extending the time needed to commit a crime, the crime is moved somewhere else because the criminal then looks for the opportunity to commit a crime elsewhere.
• Light: From dusk to dawn, have some kind of lighting turned on in your home. Avoid walking in dark areas on the street. 
• Noise: Alarms, horns, whistles and yelling all draw attention to the criminal. Drawing attention is something the criminal does not want during the commission of a crime.

DEFENSIVE TACTICS, STRATEGIES AND SKILLS:

• The goal of a potential victim is to ESCAPE a dangerous situation.
• It is a personal choice to use a counter attack to defend yourself or not defend yourself, based on the circumstances. You must have confidence in yourself and your abilities if you choose the former.
• To repeat, the goal is to get away, to escape. If you choose to defend yourself, your counter attack must be quick and vicious.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IF YOU ARE ASSAULTED:

• The assailant is probably stronger than you and may have a weapon.
• The assailant has the advantage of surprise.
• The assailant has picked the time and location of the attack.
• The attacker will intimidate with threats of injury or other consequences.
• Your fear may paralyze your thinking and response.
• If your attacker is armed with a weapon DO NOT resist, but if it is your life, do what is necessary.
• If you are confronted by multiple assailants, resist only if absolutely necessary.
• If an attacker is after property, give it up! Resisting may make the encounter escalate.
• Avoid being taken to a second crime scene/location.

ESCAPE CONSIDERATIONS AND TACTICS:

• Run to safety, not away from danger.
• Do not hesitate when it comes to escaping.
• Get objects (like a car) or noise (blow a whistle, yelling, car horn) between you and the assailant. Do whatever is necessary to draw attention to yourself.
• Hide only if your general location is unknown, there are numerous available options or help is not near.
• Keep thinking ahead. Re-evaluate your plan as needed.
• Your best weapons are your awareness and a good tactical presentation.

Self-Defense Law

Requirements To Obtain A Concealed Pistol Permit

Pistol Free Areas

Carrying Under The Influence

If you are able to learn self-defense skills (martial arts, contacting your local police department to inquire about local places that teach this training, other) by all means, get the training. Learning and practicing self-defense skills helps improve your confidence so you can develop a plan to help you escape from dangerous situations.

Be safe!

 

When Pudge got traded to the Yankees in late July, Detroit Tiger's manager, Jim Leyland, said something like this: 'Pudge won't be the reason we make it to the playoffs, neither will Inge. How our pitching staff does will determine if we make it to the post season'.

That assessment led to the re-acquisition of relief pitcher, Farnsworth, who pitched okay during his first two outings. I look forward to seeing more of Farnsworth doing his thing on the mound. It was nice to hear how he wants to help the team make it to the playoffs.

I don't know if the Tigers are receptive to hearing ideas on how to improve the team from the fans. Yes or no, here's one to help upset the applecart:

Since it has been decided that the pitching staff is the deciding factor to make it to the post season, try something different with them. Rather than begin each game with the starting pitchers, use the relief pitchers first. Start a game with Todd Jones (after he feels better) or Fernando Rodney or Kyle Farnsworth or Fossum (to name a few of the relief talent). Use starters like Verlander or Miner or Rogers or any other starting pitcher to pitch in the late innings. Lets see what happens. The current pitching rotation (who starts, who relieves) is not working.

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, 'Doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results, is insane'.