Six Ones

It's 11/11/11.

Earlier this month it was 11/11/11.

This only happens once a century.  Thus, people born in the next ten years,  will have to live to 90 or 100 to ever experience it.





But, so what?  Does it matter?  If you missed it, would your life be less?

"According to Alan Lenzi, professor of religious studies at University of the Pacific who studies biblical numerology, seeking meaning in numbers is a natural human tendency. "Cognitive scientists have demonstrated that the human brain is hard-wired to look for meaningful patterns in the sensory data it collects from the world," Lenzi told Life's Little Mysteries.

In most situations, this cognitive wiring helps us: It enables us to pick important information out of a background of random noise. But sometimes we overdo it by finding patterns where they aren't — from faces seen in the clouds to numerical coincidences. Once found, these patterns "are easily imbued with imaginative meaning," he said.

There is nothing unusual about the time 11:11 or the date 11/11/11, but our brains can't help noticing the repeating digits, and seeing them as meaningful. "Numbers that are already significant to us, such as calendar dates that also coincidentally fall into an obvious pattern, become doubly significant," Lenzi said. "11/11/11 is another example of people doing what people are cognitively prone to do: find significance." (from Life's Little Mysteries)

Of course, this is all silly because it is really 11/11/2011.  But 11/11/1111!  Now that would have been a year to see.  Unless you wrote the year in Roman Numerals MCXI.  During the 12th  century, according to Wikipedia 

the blast furnace for the smelting of cast iron is imported from China, appearing around Lapphyttan, Sweden, as early as 1150, and Alexander Neckam is the first European to document the mariner's compass, first documented by Shen Kuo in the previous century. 

Angkor Wat is built under the Hindu king Suryavarman II.

It was 45 years after William the Conqueror was crowned King of England and the population of London was about 18,000.   And beavers were hunted to extinction in England in the 12th Century.


The League of the Iroquois would be founded 31 years later in 1142.

But how does this fit into the world today?  What can we learn from the collapse of so many ancient empires?  How can each of us make today's world better?  Or keep it from getting worse?

For more than you want to know about 11 11 11.

Happy Birthday Beth!

More Snow, More Shoveling, Full Circle, Photoshop

You're going to get bored with these driveway pictures - or else I'll have to start learning some better photoshop tricks.  But once again, there were about 4 inches of snow on the driveway to be shoveled.  And the snow on the sides of the driveway are getting higher.  This is about the fourth snowfall since Oct. 30. 

But inside we had our new Full Circle Foods box.   It's nice, and something of a challenge, to open the box every two weeks and see what's inside.  J does most of the cooking these days.  I think I figured out why - she prefers eating it to what I cook.  So do I.
I think going into next summer we need to scout out the more local options.  Suggestions? 


We also moved forward on the uncluttering today via Craigslist - got rid of a nice chair that just doesn't work right for us.  And the buyer seemed very pleased.   

OK, I decided to go play with the FCF photo.  (I realized later it was the snow stuff I should jazz up, but when I tried, I wasn't impressed.  I'll have to find something else.) 

I found a website - photoshop essentials - tutorial on blending layers in photoshop.  Here I'm only using the persimmons and the carrots. 

For the carrots, I went through the different blend modes in the Layers window and decided I liked Light Color best for this.

For the persimmons (one's an apple), none of the Blending options appealed to me.  I'm not sure how it got open, but the styles window was open, and I tried the different options until I found "Light Dissolve" which, while not perfect, seemed best.  I'm using Photoshop 3, so I was pleased to read on photoshop essentials that the latest version isn't (essential):

But do you really need the latest and greatest version of Photoshop with all its bells and whistles in order to complete most of your day-to-day photo editing tasks? Adobe would like you to think, "Yes, absolutely!!", but chances are, more often than not, the answer is no. With just a little knowledge and a few basic skills, you can usually accomplish most of what you need to do. Even though each new version of Photoshop comes with new features, new options and new toys for us to play with, the core skills you need to have are the same in Photoshop CS3 as they were back in Photoshop 3 when Adobe first introduced layers into Photoshop.
So what are these core skills? Knowing how to make basic selections is one of them. Knowing how to use and work with layers in Photoshop is definitely one of them. Understanding how layer masks work is very important. And knowing how and when to use layer blend modes, which just happen to be the topic of this discussion, is absolutely essential.

Cadets Like Brent Scarpo A Lot - And Why You Should Consider Being a Mentor

Brent Scarpo's been keeping busy in Anchorage - East High, Clark Middle School, some radio shows, a small public workshop, Anchorage Police Department, the Cook Inlet Tribal Council among others.

Today I went along to hear him talk with about 160 cadets at the Alaska Military Youth Academy at Fort Richardson.  Their website gives an overview:

"The Alaska Military Youth Academy's ChalleNGe Program is designed to meet the life coping skills and educational needs of 16 to 18 year old Alaskans.  The Youth ChalleNGe program is a 22-week residential school based on the traditional military training model.

Cadets are instructed in the following areas: Life Coping Skills, Academic Excellence, Job Skills, Responsible Citizenship, Leadership/Followership, Health & Hygiene, Physical Fitness, and Service to Community. In addition to these skills, cadets work toward the completion of a GED or High School Diploma."

These are kids who have experienced difficulties in their young lives.

"Who can attend the AMYA ChalleNGe?
Young Alaskan men and women 16 through 19 years of age may apply to AMYA for admission to a ChalleNGe Program class. Applicants must be Alaska residents, must provide proof of United States citizenship or legal residency, may not have a traditional high school diploma or GED, be willing to commit to a drug, alcohol and tobacco-free life while enrolled, be free of legal entanglements and must be volunteers.

No young man or woman can be "sent" to an AMYA ChalleNGe course. Most importantly, applicants must have a desire to move their lives in a positive direction and must have made the decision to make a healthy change in their lives."

And Brent was raring to go.  His favorite audience, he said.  Alternative schools, places with kids who have extra obstacles in their lives.  And he had their close attention for two hours.

They wear uniforms, answer questions, "Sir, yes sir!"  They sit up straight.  It's a very military setting.  Brent is totally unmilitary.  He's real and his combination of experiences -  his own childhood difficulties but also being associated with movies all the kids had seen (they nearly all raised their hands to say they'd seen Shawshank Redemption and Matilda) - combined with his transparent delivery, was powerful.  When he asked questions, kids raised their hands to respond.  In a setting with a lot of formal military discipline (probably helpful for most of these kids) Brent was a brief moment of piercing love and about issues these kids know too well.




At the end, kids were lined up to shake Brent's hand and tell him thank you and that one part or another of the program had connected with them.  It was very powerful and I'm glad I was able to attend. 














This program is run by the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.  They have lots of volunteer mentor positions.  Anchorage folks, these are kids that a mentor could really help.

"Each class of the Academy consists of 17.5 months in two phases. The first is residential consisting of the most comprehensive 2 week evaluation of candidates for the program included with the remaining 20 weeks of immersion into a quasi-military environment. The second phase is the ChalleNGe post-residential phase continuing  the year of aftercare.  During the residential phase the adult mentor visits the Cadet, writes letters, attends special events, tutors and takes the Cadet on pass. This caring, responsible adult friendship increases the Cadet's chance for continued success.
During the one year of aftercare (which follows the graduation from the residential phase) the Mentor and Cadet continue regular weekly contact by face-to-face visits, telephone, letter and email.  Both the Cadet and the Mentor send reports monthly to the aftercare office reporting the Cadet's placement on the job or in school."

Think about it.  Mentoring makes a difference.

In one of the largest studies in the field (Tierney & Grossman, 1995), 959 youth who asked to be matched with a Big Brother/Big Sister during 1992-1993 were randomly assigned to one of two groups: a mentoring group or a control group (the latter youth were put on the 18-month waiting list). Both groups were interviewed when they applied for the program and 18 months later, and completed self-report indices. The study examined several broad areas that mentoring might affect: antisocial activities, academic performance, attitudes and behaviors, relationships with family, relationships with friends, self-concept, and social and cultural enrichment. The results indicated that "littles" (mentees) who met with their "bigs" (mentors) regularly for about a year were 46% less likely than the control group to start using illegal drugs, 27% less likely to start drinking, 52% less likely to skip a day ...

[The preview of the article ended there, sorry.]

"the moment I said that to them . . .that was it. We owned them" Jack Abramoff

Here's what Jack Abramoff said to Leslie Stahl on 60 Minutes Sunday:

“When we would become friendly with an office and they were important to us, and the chief of staff was a competent person, I would say or my staff would say to him or her at some point, ‘You know, when you’re done working on the Hill, we’d very much like you to consider coming to work for us.’ Now the moment I said that to them or any of our staff said that to ’em, that was it. We owned them. And what does that mean? Every request from our office, every request of our clients, everything that we want, they’re gonna do. And not only that, they’re gonna think of things we can’t think of to do.”

In the Alaska corruption trials, both Pete Kott and Bruce Weyhrauch were offered possible future jobs by Bill Allen.  And both, as the FBI tapes showed, did his bidding on the House floor in Juneau.  Bill Allen even told Pete Kott, "I own your ass."  It seems Alaskans speak the same language they speak in DC.

I would note that Abramoff who made, according to the CBS video, $20,000,000 a year lobbying, and in his own words 'owned' 100 offices, got a four year sentence. 

Tom Anderson's crime, and I'm retelling this from memory you can get the precise charges here, was a vague scheme to have a lobbyist pay $10,000 to an Alaska public policy website which would pay Anderson for work he did on the site. He did get paid, and deposited it directly into his account.   In exchange, Anderson talked to a few people, including a commissioner and a community meeting, about the need for building facilities for kids in Alaska so they didn't get sent out of state.  He did this without revealing his relationship to the lobbyist.  Nor did he report the $10,000 to APOC. But he didn't write or change any legislation.  He got sentenced to five years compared to Abramoff's four years.  

Every politician I've ever talked to thinks he's being ethical.  And many if not most are. But even if they aren't they think they are. Here's Abramoff's take:

"Most Congressmen don't feel they're being bought.  Most Congressmen, in their own minds, can justify the system. . . by the way, we wanted, as lobbyists, for them to think that way."

You can watch the 14 minute segment here.

Abramoff's suggestion for fighting DC corruption is to ban anyone who works for Congress to ever become a lobbyist.  We might consider that here in Alaska.  Except guess who makes the laws?  Lobbyists, staffers, and legislators.  

He also talks about getting language put into bills that's absolutely precise but no one would every know what it was for.  Seems like that's precisely what Don Young did to fund that highway in Florida that the people in Florida didn't even want.

I found this video through Cliff Groh's Alaska Political Corruption blog.

The Modern World - Do It Yourself Gas Mask

I found this in a forum at Why We Protest.

Simple DIY Gas Mask from the people of EGYPT

Things you will need

1- Amount of 2 medical filter masks.
2- Activated Charcoal (available at pharmacies one make is known as EUCARBON)
3- Glue Or Glue Gun
4- Swimming goggles

STEP 1
Take the activated Charcoal and crush it till it is fine but not powdered entirely.

STEP 2
Dampen the inside of one of the 2 medical masks. Do this on the inside so that it is similar to a cup. NB Only dampen slightly do not make it wet or the glue will not stick.

STEP 3
On the Dampened surface of the Medical Mask Add Approx 1-1.5 teaspoons of the crushed activated charcoal. Do not put it around the edges or or the glue will not stick.

The rest of the instructions are here. 

So, a mask could be made for about $8.56

Two masks at $1.25	$2.50
Charcoal, at $21 for 2-5 lbs (1 gal jug)	@$.05
Swim Goggles	$6.00
Glue	@$.01
Total per mask	$8.56

HTML Tables

What are the police paying?  Anywhere from $143 per mask and up.  And in their masks, they stop being humans and turn into anonymous insects of the state. 

More Snow - Natural Exercise

 I believe that the more natural exercise - physical activity that accomplishes some necessary task, like digging the hole for my insulation in September, and not just exercising to exercise - the better off we are.  The number of people who drive to the gym to work out, or take the elevator when they could take the stairs point out the irony of our times. 

Mother Nature is helping out this week.  I shoveled about 4 inches of snow out of the driveway yesterday and this morning I was greeted by another 6.  But the light snow doesn't have the heft of a shovelful of dirt, but tossing it does work on a back muscle.  And it didn't take more than ten minutes.  But it got me out in the cool fresh air and moving my body.

It helped, more psychologically than physically, that my neighbor had cleared the sidewalk at the bottom of the driveway for me.  


(This post is mainly for people in places like  LA or Honolulu who don't get to shovel snow, or who grew up in snow and now live in one of those snowless lands.)

"I was going to pull a Columbine"

When I did the skype interview with Brent Scarpo, almost two weeks ago, I asked what was the best experience he had doing his transformational work.  He gives two in the video below.

UPDATE:  Brent in the studio with Shannyn Moore

Listen and talk to Brent on the Shannyn Moore Show at 11:15am today (Monday) on 1020  on the AM dial.  95.5 FM.  Call 907-522-1020  Not in Anchorage?  Listen online.

Then tonight he'll talk at the East High Auditorium in his main public appearance while he's in town.  7pm.  It's free.

The title of the post? Ya gotta watch the video.



There's also a workshop Tuesday from 5:30pm to 9pm at the Mt. View Credit Union 1. To reserve  a spot in the workshop email Healing Racism in Anchorage or go to the HRA website.

UPDATE: I added the pictures of Brent in the studio with Shannyn Moore. David Linck, the publicist for Frozen Ground being filmed now in Anchorage (and many other movies including American Beauty) was also there.

Usufruct - A Term We Should All Know

Too many things are crashing together.  Brent Scarpo week is coming up and as a Healing Racism Steering Committee member I'll be involved with that during the week.  I want to get more video of him up, but I'll have live stuff probably soon and won't need to use the leftover skype video.  And my book club is meeting Monday night putting me in a conflict with Brent's Monday night talk.

It's especially vexing since I really like the book we're reading - Charles Wohlforth's The Fate Of Nature.   And Wohlforth is scheduled to be there.  Oh dilemmas.  And so I'm racing to finish it today and tomorrow.  It's an amazing book, using Alaska as a case study to explore the BIG ISSUES - the nature of human beings (cooperative or competitive?) and is our nature compatible with the survival of the world's ecosystem?   He takes us to unexpected places and introduces us to interesting people and their concepts and then ties them all together - a lot of time in Prince William Sound from the visit of Captain Cook,  the Russians, Cordova as it has changed from the time of the Kennicott Mine.  And Chenega from old village days, through its destruction during the 1964 earthquake, to the creation of Chugach Alaska after the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).   That's just a few of the many things covered.  And they all help illustrate a long array of ideas and theories.

There's also a section on early environmentalists nationally and how they impacted Alaska - particularly Gifford Pinchot, who was a major force in creating Chugach National Forest.  But before Pinchot, there was George Perkins Marsh who published, in 1864, The Earth as Modified by Human Action.  Wohlforth writes:

"He explained the fragility of ecosystems, the special qualities of old-growth forest, the potential to permanently damage soil, wetlands, rivers, and ocean, and he argued that environmental abuse similar to that rampant in the United States had brought about the collapse of ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea.  Marsh used a legal term to define humanity's proper relationship to the earth:  usufruct, which means a loan for use only, with the obligation to leave the borrowed item as it was found."  (p. 143)(emphasis added)

Instead of reading more yesterday, I was at the CCL meeting and then at the One People, One Earth meeting - both discussing man's impact on the earth's ecosystem.  Both, in their own ways, dealing with the idea usufruct.  I also saw Penny Arcade's show at Out North last night.  More on that later, but briefly, it's the adults only version of what Brent Scarpo will be doing this week.  Penny Arcade, who was part of Andy Warhol's crowd, will perform for a couple more weekends.  But I've got to get back to reading, and there's a driveway to shovel, and a few other things to distract me.  But just lying in bed this morning reading and reading was a real pleasure.  And the end of daylight savings time gave me an extra hour. 

Religion and Climate Change - Citizens Climate Lobby Meeting

Back at the Bioneers conference which seems so long ago, but was only October 15, I met Jim Thrall who had a table for the Citizen's Climate Lobby. Jim's a retired scientist with a PhD in something like acqautic ecology, and he's also a returned Peace Corps volunteer.  CCL was created by Marshall Saunders in California based on the model of Results - a citizen lobbying group for overcoming world hunger and poverty. Once he got that taken care of. . . no, I guess that didn't happen yet, but he did see real progress based on Results model, so he used it as the basis for the Citizens Climate Lobby which he founded in 2007. In his words:

It seemed to me that Congress was doing things exactly backwards. Why? Because it is dominated by special interests, in this case the fossil fuel industry. In my heart I knew something else was at play: Ordinary people were not asking their members of Congress for anything regarding climate change, not in an organized and effective way. Furthermore, they didn’t know what to do or how to do it, nor did they have self-confidence and support they needed. Citizens Climate Lobby’s purpose is to change all that by empowering individuals to have breakthroughs in exercising their personal and political power and by gaining the tools to be effective with government.

Jim was explaining all this to me and I took notes, but I have no idea where they are.  But Citizens Climate Change has a good website, so I can tell you this stuff.


Basically, they get people together who are concerned about climate change and help them organize their message and get it to their representatives in Washington DC.  Just like every other group that wants to successfully get their projects through legislative bodies.  They meet once a month - the first Saturday - with local folks and and by phone to the National organization and the various chapters around the country and in Canada.

So, today is the first Saturday and Jim invited me to come to see what they were doing.   The phone was out and we got to hear Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, atmospheric scientist and co-author of 'A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions.'
She was discussing how to talk to church groups about global warming.  There were two things to avoid:

1. The age of the earth.  She said that some groups shut down if you talked about the earth being over 7000 years old and it wasn't necessary.  There's enough data in the last 7000 years to make the argument for climate change.
2. Al Gore.  For some reason, the conservative faith based groups can't stand Al Gore, and to get through to many people you have separate him and global warming ideas.

These seem to be deeply held issues and spending time on them distract from the main message, so it's best to avoid them.

There were also things she says when talking to faith based communities:

1.  Her own faith in God and that humans are the stewards of God's creation - there's very little theology that needs to be agreed on here
2. God created the earth
3. Jesus gave us the responsibility to love our neighbors and care for the poor - and global warming is having the biggest harmful effects already on the poorest

I don't think she says it quite like that at synagogues, but the sense I got was that she was mostly focused on Christian denominations.

Then she had the elevator speech on global warming:

1. The planet is warming, and it's not just thermometers, but also changes in birds, insects, trees, it's in everyone's backyards
2. It's not like any previous cycle - if it were we would be getting cooler because the sun has been in one of its lower energy cycles which would should have cooled us
3. Since the Industrial Revolution began, we've been producing heat capturing gases. 

You can hear the whole discussion at their website.   Or you can listen to past presentations from this page.

One of the issues that came up, that I was only vaguely aware of, was that various faith based organizations had come out with their own stands on climate change.   The Catholic Church's Report came out in May and the NY Times reports:

"The widespread loss of ice and snow in the world's mountain glaciers is some of the clearest evidence we have for global changes in the climate system," concludes the analysis, which will be delivered to Pope Benedict XVI. It was assembled by an international team of experts at the behest of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Vatican's non-denominational scientific arm.

The report warns of "serious and potentially irreversible impacts of global warming caused by the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, and by changes in forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other land uses," urging steep cuts in the world's output of heat-trapping pollutants.

Failure to do so will imperil vulnerable ecosystems and human societies that depend on glaciers for freshwater, it says, including a huge swath of Central Asia where mountain glaciers store water for millions of people. Inaction also leaves some communities vulnerable to flooding from unstable meltwater lakes that can burst without warning, causing outburst floods and mudslides.

"We are committed to ensuring that all inhabitants of this planet receive their daily bread, fresh air to breathe and clean water to drink as we are aware that, if we want justice and peace, we must protect the habitat that sustains us," the document continues. "The believers among us as God to grant us this wish."

Presbyterians also have a report acknowledging climate change and the need for mitigation.

Southern Baptists have a Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change that is relatively timid, but nevertheless acknowledges that humans have contributed to global warming.  The have four statements:

• Statement 1
  Humans Must Care for Creation and Take Responsibility for Our Contributions to Environmental Degradation. 
• Statement 2
  It Is Prudent to Address Global Climate Change.
• Statement 3
  Christian Moral Convictions and Our Southern Baptist Doctrines Demand Our Environmental Stewardship. 
• Statement 4
  It Is Time for Individuals, Churches, Communities and Governments to Act.
  

 The American Baptists adopted a  Resolution on Global Warming in 1991!


Jim Thrall also mentioned the One People, One Earth -- Anchorage conference being held today at UAA which brought together climate scientists, interfaith leaders, and Native elders. I'll try to get some video from that up later.

On The Air with Tom Anderson - Where Can Bullies Get Help?

Last year, when Healing Racism in Anchorage brought Tim Wise to Anchorage he spoke on two conservative talk radio shows.  His topic was racism, which a lot of people still don't believe exists, and he was treated pretty shabbily by the hosts and some of the callers - and one of the hosts, right after he left, did a whole homophobic riff that was truly disgusting.

Tom Anderson on air

So when I put up the previous post, I was thinking of that experience.  In hindsight, I was overreacting.  Friday I knew that Tom Anderson would treat us with respect - he was a graduate student of mine long ago and I've kept in contact with him after his trial.   (There's too much stuff to write about the whole political corruption trial and aftermath to fit in here, to fit in any blog post.  The facts are out - at least in terms of trial results and prison sentences - but the best interpretations of what it all means are yet to be written. )  But I wasn't sure about the callers.

Tom now has a talk radio show and Brent Scarpo needs to get the word out about his talk next Monday at East High at 7pm.  So he called in from California and Tom asked if I'd come to the studio.  But I was just Brent's backup here.  This was about Brent and his work against hate and bullying and he was the main focus.

Chris, the technician who did all the work

I thought Brent was an interesting guest and he clearly knows a lot about the topic of hate and bullying.  Tom was a gracious host, but also conscious of trying to make things more interesting by being provocative in his questions.  There were no calls.  Because it was drive time?  (5-6pm)  Because it was boring for this audience?  Because people are shy about bullying an anti-bully expert?  Because no one was listening?  Because Tom wasn't antagonistic toward his guest?  Or maybe it's just because it's hard to stand up for bullies and hate.  At one point, Brent said he'd come to realize that bullies essentially were people who didn't like something about themselves and took it out on others.  And some take it out on themselves.  I asked where someone like that, who hears this and realizes Brent was talking about him or her, could go to get help.




Help for Bullies?

As I look online now, there's lots of stuff for victims of bullies, but it's hard to find stuff for bullies who want help.

Here's part of an article by Charles R. McAdams, III and Christopher D. Schmidt from the Journal of School Counseling on how to help bullies, but this is aimed at counselors, not at bullies:

Bullying is one of the most widely practiced forms of aggression in American schools. It is broadly defined as the actual or attempted infliction of injury or discomfort by one student on another student that is intentional, abusive, and based on an imbalance of power between bully and victim (Olweus, 1994; Sullivan, Cleary, & Sullivan, 2004). According to the National Center for Education Statistics--2002, almost one third of public schools have reported daily to weekly occurrences of student bullying (Hall, 2006). Research suggests that nearly half of today's students will experience some form of bullying during their education; however, rates of bullying as high as 81% for school-aged males and 72% for school-aged females have been reported in some studies (Casey-Cannon, Hayward, & Gowen, 2001; Charach, Pepler, & Ziegler, 1995; Farrington, 1993, as cited in Sanders, 2004). In a survey by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 1.7 million children (one in five) in grades 6 through 10 admitted bullying their classmates (Cole, Cornell, & Sheras, 2006). On the basis of current statistics, Hall has concluded that school climates nationwide have been dramatically altered by the actions of bullies.

It goes on to distinguish between reactive aggression and proactive aggression.  

Reactive aggression is characterized as a "hot-blooded," automatic, defensive response to immediate and often misperceived threat (Hubbard, Dodge, Cillessen, Coie, & Schwartz, 2001; Wood & Gross, 2002). Youth exhibiting reactive aggression are characterized as seeking but lacking close interpersonal relationships with significant adults such as parents--relationships they need to learn how to effectively attend to, understand, and take into account others' intentions (Dodge, 1991).  .  .

Unlike reactive aggression, proactive aggression does not characteristically occur as an emotion-laden, defensive response to immediate threat. Instead, it is described as organized, purposeful, and often premeditated rather than automatic (Galezewski, 2005). Aggression for proactive aggressors has, over an extended time, become an internalized means of achieving personal security, competence, and control in their lives (Cottle, 2004; McAdams & Lambie, 2003). In the real or perceived absence of affirmation from significant others (parents, in particular), they have come to derive a sense of self-efficacy from their ability to succeed without, and often at the expense of, others. The propensity of proactive aggressors toward generalized hostility and antisocial behavior appears to have two origins: one being an overt manifestation of internalized resentment and anger over frustrated needs for security, and another being a mechanism by which they keep others far enough at bay so as not to endanger their desired autonomy and self-sufficiency (Arsenio & Lemerise, 2004; McAdams, 2002).   [emphasis added]

Here's an article titled "Help for Bullies and Victims"  but I didn't see where it offered help for bullies.

Here's a piece by a clinical psychologist, Karen Cairns, who, after giving a list of statistics (ie 160,000 kids who stay home from school due to bullying every day!) and programs being set up for victims of bullies, goes on to say that bullies are usually victims of bullies themselves.

But, I would like to see this issue treated at the root of the problem: Bullies are bullied. With the exception of mental illness, bullies are usually victims of bullying. The cycle of violence usually goes back generations. If you were beaten or verbally abused, it becomes an option for you to become the aggressor. I’ve worked with offenders who think there are only 2 choices: be the victim, or be the bully. They feel strong and in control while bullying others. They hate the abuse they have suffered, but feel no compassion for their own victims. I would like to see programs that address the reason they became bullies. Anger management is effective, but it doesn’t protect the bully from the abuse they may be receiving at home or elsewhere. Bullies are abused, and sometimes they become abusers. Then they get punished for their behavior. We need to intervene at the beginning of this cycle. I would like to suggest that if a student is accused and proven to be a bully, he or she should be referred for a psychological evaluation to determine the root of the cause. Bullies need help. Without help, without intervention, the cycle will continue.

Near the end of page 2 of my google search, I found this, apparently new (oldest entry is Oct. 29, most recent is Oct. 31) website offering Help for Bullies.  But there isn't too much there yet.  The header says:

This is a site for bullies! I am a school counselor. There are hundreds of websites and resources for victims of bullies. That's a good thing. But there are few resources for bullies. That's NOT a good thing! Bullies ae human too–bullies need help, just as their victims need help. If you are a bully, or if you sometimes find yourself engaged in bullying behaviors, then this site is for YOU! If you are a victim of bullying, this site will help you understand your offender.

Bully Free Kids is aimed at parents, teachers, and employers.   But not at kids.


I went through google page seven with the search words "Help For Bullies".  I'm sure there must be more out there than the two - Karen Cairns' piece and Help For Bullies.  But if I were a bully looking for a way out, I'd have to work pretty hard to find it on line.

J and I watched the Shawshank Redemption Friday night.  Brent Scarpo was one of the casting directors on the film and there's plenty of bullying in there.  I can see how it got Brent's wheels spinning on this topic.  

I hope readers will get a chance to see or hear Brent at one of his events.  The main public event is Monday Nov. 7 at 7pm at the East High Auditorium.  It's free.

There's a workshop for trainers, teachers, supervisors and others who want more detailed work on how to stop bullying in their sphere of influence.  That's Tuesday, 5:30-9 at Credit Union 1 in Mt. View.  It's limited to 30, so reserve a space by emailing Healing Racism in Anchorage.