Tuesday, November 21, 2006 By Pat Shellenbarger CHRONICLE NEWS SERVICE

Theresa Vaughn hoped learning what caused her son's death would ease her grief.

It didn't.

Her 21-year-old son, Timothy Joe Souders, a mentally ill prison inmate, died Aug. 6 from hyperthermia and dehydration after he was shackled to a bed for most of four days during a heat wave, an autopsy confirmed.

Oakland County Medical Examiner Ruben Ortiz-Reyes, who conducted the autopsy for the Jackson County medical examiner, said Souders died from the heat and related complications, including dehydration, while confined in a segregation cell in the Jackson prison complex. Souders had a large open sore on his back, Ortiz-Reyes noted, apparently caused by lying in his own urine.

"Truthfully, it was a big disappointment to know it was such a completely avoidable death," Vaughn said. "I thought there would be some kind of peace, that just having answers could relieve some of the pain, but it doesn't. Every night when I go to bed, I see Timothy. Every morning, he's the first thing I think of."

Vaughn, of Adrian, said Gov. Jennifer Granholm called her Monday to express her condolences.

When she urged Granholm to reform prison conditions to avoid future deaths, the governor said she will await the results of an independent investigation she ordered before deciding if changes are needed, Vaughn said.

"I don't see how at this point anybody can say 'if needed,"' said Vaughn, who has been a proponent for prison reform since her son's death.

Granholm's spokeswoman, Liz Boyd, confirmed the governor will await the investigation of prison health care before deciding "what shape those reforms will take.

"Certainly, the governor is committed to assuring prisoners are treated humanely," Boyd said.

The investigation, ordered in August, has not begun. State Corrections Department spokesman Russ Marlan said an independent organization, which he declined to name, has been selected to conduct a broad examination of health care in the prisons.

That investigation is one of three prompted by Souders' death. The Corrections Department's internal probe determined a prison nurse was derelict of duty for failing to send Souders to the hospital and allowing the inhumane treatment. That nurse has been suspended since Aug. 12, Marlan said, and could face further discipline, including termination.

A second employee, a physician's assistant at the Duane Waters Hospital inside the prison, was cited for failing to record information about Souders on his medical chart, but that employee remains on the job, Marlan said.

A third investigation is being conducted by Michigan State Police at the Jackson post, now that the autopsy report has been completed. Post Commander Lt. James Shaw said such an inquisition is routine when an inmate dies, and it does not necessarily mean criminal charges will be filed.

U.S. District Judge Richard Enslen, in issuing an order this month prohibiting the Corrections Department from using four-point restraints as punishment, suggested someone should be charged criminally for Souders' death.

The autopsy confirmed Souders "received the death penalty for the crime of being mentally ill in the Michigan prison system," said Elizabeth Alexander, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project, which represents the inmates in the federal lawsuit. "No other prisoner should suffer his fate."
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-5/116412394336740.xml&coll=8

Please read and sign the following two petitions, if you agree:

No more Tortured Americans in US Prisons:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/993275606
Justice and parity for mentally and/or physically ill prison inmates:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/577496396

For my friend JoAnn and her son Donald

Donald Bradish went to a motel one day to get his girlfriend out of a dangerous situation. The manager at the motel hired teens to steal things for him, and Donald used to work for him. However, after being put on parole for stealing things for this man he refused to allow himself to be sucked into that world again, and he did not want his girlfriend to go through the same things he did.

He arrived at the motel and began to talk to his girlfriend in the motel's parking lot. There were a lot of kids in and around the motel who also worked for the manager. All of a sudden gunshots were heard from inside the motel. Donald started running. He was on parole and did not want to get into any more trouble. He got a ride to his mother's house, which was outside of county limits. This was against his parole rules, but he did not know where else to go. He was sick with anxiety.

Eventually his parole officer came to take him to jail for breaking parole. He served an entire 15 months. Right before he was to be released the cops questioned him about the shooting at the motel. Donald did not say anything. The day he finally was allowed to go home, the policemen arrested him and charged him for the crime of murdering the motel manager. He and another boy were charged. A drug dealer gave the D.A. Donald's name in order to get out of being charged for bomb manufacturing.

During the trial numerous problems arose. At first they were told the trial wouldn't be held due to "possible bias." When the family of the manager came forth with the murder weapon, the courts refused their help. They disclaimed their statements because they were "trying to mislead the investigators." One person on the witness stand, who was in the room at the time the manager was shot, was asked to tell the court if the shooters were either of the two boys being charged. She said she "didn't know them," and that the shooters were two light-skinned African Americans. Probably the same two boys who had been threatening the manager of the hotel earlier the day of the shooting and scared away the maid on duty.

Then things became outright unbelievable. One of the jurors was being harassed so much that she became very upset in court during the trial and said she "would rather go to jail than finish out as a juror." Soon after two more jurors refused to finish for unknown reasons. Here's where it becomes downright wrong. One of the replacement jurors was the aunt of the victim. When she was selected as juror she sated that she did not know the victim, but the truth was later brought to light. The police department refused to remove the aunt off the jury. They said, "it will be OK."

Over fourteen of Donald's rights, according to the local laws, were broken and tossed aside. He did not receive a fair trial. He was clearly guilty until proven innocent, and no one made the attempt to find him innocent. His sentence is to serve 25 years or for the rest of his life.

Please sign the petition to free Donald. By signing the petition you are saying that Donald's trial was unfair and the ruling should be thrown out. He's already served 5 years, and he shouldn't have to stay there one day longer.

Donald Bradish had an unfair trial in which over 14 of his rights were violated. The result of this trial was the conviction of murder, his sentence is for 25 years to life. Some of the mistakes were:

• tampering with evidence
• tampering with the jury
• deliberately ignoring facts
• deliberately ignoring eye witness testimony
• and entrapment
  

This is atrocious and should NOT be allowed in a court of law. Donald has already served 5 years, and he should not have to stay a day longer. Tell congressman Wally Herger that this is unfair and wrong!

If you agree, please sign the petition and send it on to a friend.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/845007622?z00m=6853425

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

~ Max Ehrmann

A discovery by American Free Press that nearly half of the recently returned soldiers in one unit from Iraq have “malignant growths” is “critical evidence,” according to experts, that depleted uranium weapons are responsible for the huge number of disabled Gulf War vets – and damage to their DNA.

A growing number of U.S. military personnel who are serving, or have served, in the Persian Gulf, Iraq , and Afghanistan have become sick and disabled from a variety of symptoms commonly known as Gulf War Syndrome. Depleted uranium (DU) weapons have been blamed for causing many of the symptoms.

“Gulf War vets are coming down with these symptoms at twice the rate of vets from previous conflicts,” said Barbara A. Goodno from the Dept. of Defense's Deployment Health Support Directorate.

A recent discovery by American Free Press that nearly half the soldiers in one returned unit have malignant growths has provided the scientific community with “critical evidence,” experts say, to help understand exactly how depleted uranium affects humans – and their DNA.

One of the first published researchers of Gulf War Syndrome, Dr. András Korényi-Both told AFP that 27-28 percent of Gulf War veterans have suffered chronic health problems, more than 5 times the rate of Viet Nam vets, and 4 times the rate of Korean War vets.

Korényi-Both said his son had recently returned from Iraq , where he had been part of the initial assault from Kuwait to Baghdad . From his unit of 20 men, 8 now have “malignant growths,” Korényi-Both said.

Dr. Korényi-Both is not an expert on DU, but has written extensively about how the fine desert sand blowing around Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula provides a ideal vehicle for toxins, increasing the range and effect of biological and chemical agents, such as DU, that attach themselves to the particles of sand.

Korényi-Both described how, during the 1991 Gulf War, he and others had inhaled large quantities of sand dust that could have been laden with chemical or biological agents. The sand “destroyed our immune systems,” he said.

FULK'S THEORY

Marion Fulk, a former nuclear chemical physicist at Lawrence Livermore lab, is investigating how DU affects the human body. Fulk said that 8 malignancies out of 20, in 16 months, “is spectacular – and of serious concern.”

The high rate of malignancies found in this unit appears to have been caused by exposure to DU weapons on the battlefield. If DU were found to be the cause, this case would be “critical evidence” of Fulk's theory on how the DU particulate affects DNA.

Such quick malignancies are caused by the particulate effect of DU, according to Fulk:

When DU (Uranium 238) decays, it transforms into two short-lived and “very hot” isotopes – Thorium 234 and Protactinium 234. As it transforms in the body, the DU particle is firing off faster and faster “bullets” into the DNA, Fulk said, or wherever it is lodged. Because uranium has a natural attraction to phosphorus, however, it is drawn to the phosphate in the DNA.
As the Uranium 238 decays, it releases alpha and beta particles with millions of electron volts. When a DU particle makes this transformation in the human body it releases “huge amounts of energy in the same location doing lots of damage very quickly,” Fulk said.

Thorium 234 has a half-life of 24 days and emits a beta particle of .270 million electron volts as it transforms into Protactinium 234, which has a half-life of less than 7 hours. Protactinium then emits a beta particle of 2.19 million electron volts as it transforms into the more stable Uranium 234.

The chemical binding energy in the molecules of the human cell is less than 10 electron volts. One alpha particle from U-238 is over 4 million electron volts, which is like “nuking a cell.”

Leuren Moret, a scientist who is opposed to the use of DU, compared it to sitting in front of a fire and putting a red-hot coal in your mouth. “The nuclear establishment wants us to believe that it is like sitting in front of the fire and warming the whole body evenly – and that no harm is done, but that is not the reality,” she said.

“We can expect to see multiple cancers in one person,” Moret said. “These multiple unrelated cancers in the same individual have been reported in Yugoslavia and Iraq in families that had no history of any cancer. This is unknown in the previous studies of cancer,” she said. “A new phenomenon.”
The Pentagon's Goodno questioned Dr. Korényi-Both's report that 8 of 20 recently returned soldiers from one unit had experienced malignant growths. Goodno and Korényi-Both did agree, however, that Iraqi chemical and biological agents had not played a role in the 2003 invasion.

This is significant because three factors have generally been blamed for causing Gulf War Syndrome: Iraqi chemical and biological weapons, the cocktail of vaccinations given to coalition soldiers, and depleted uranium. The absence of any detectable chemical or biological agents during the 2003 invasion of Iraq reduces the number of potential factors for the malignancies in the veterans to pre-war vaccinations and DU.

Statistics published in Encyclopedia Britannica's 2003 Almanac indicate that 325,000 Gulf War vets were receiving compensation for service-related disabilities in 2000. The almanac lists 580,400 combatants in the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91, yet only 467 U.S. personnel were actually wounded during the conflict. The 325,000 disabled Gulf War vets are equivalent to 56 percent of the number of military personnel “serving in the theater of operation.”

Furthermore, in 2000, nine years after the three-week war in Iraq had ended, the number of disabled vets from the Gulf War was increasing yearly by more than 43,000. While the number of disabled vets from previous wars is decreasing by about 35,000 per year, since the “War on Terror” began in 2001, the total number of disabled vets has grown to some 2.5 million.

MORE DISABLED VETS

“More than ever before,” Brad Flohr of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs said about the total number of disabled vets. Asked if there are more disabled vets now than even after World War II, Flohr said he believed so.

Terry Jemison of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs told AFP that current statistics indicate that more than half a million veterans of the 14-year-old “Gulf War era” are now receiving disability compensation. During this period, some 7,035 soldiers are reported having been wounded in Iraq .

With 518,739 disabled “Gulf-era veterans” currently receiving disability compensation, according to Jemison, the number of veterans disabled after the war is more than 73 times the total number of wounded, in and out of combat, from the entire 14-year conflict with Iraq.

DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS

Last December, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a nuclear medicine expert who has conducted extensive research on depleted uranium, examined nine soldiers from the 442nd Military Police Company of New York and found that four of the men had absorbed or inhaled depleted uranium (U-238).

Several of the men had traces of another uranium isotope, U-236, which is only produced in a nuclear reaction process. U-236 is a man-made isotope of uranium.

“These men were almost certainly exposed to radioactive weapons on the battlefield,” Durakovic said.

“Due to the current proliferation of DU weaponry, the battlefields of the future will be unlike any battlefields in history,” Durakovic, then Chief of Nuclear Medicine for the Veterans Administration said after the first Gulf War, in which he served.

Since 1991, the U.S. military has used DU in munitions as penetrating rods, which destroy enemy tanks and their occupants, and as armor on U.S. tanks. When DU penetrating rods strike a hard target some of the radioactive and chemically toxic DU is vaporized into ultra-fine particles that are easily inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

According to a survey of 10,051 Gulf War veterans, conducted between 1991 and 1995 by Vic Sylvester and the Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm Association, 82 percent of veterans reported having entered captured Iraqi vehicles. “This would suggest that 123,000 soldiers have been directly exposed to DU,” Durakovic said.

“Since the effects of contamination by uranium cannot be directed or contained, uranium's chemical and radiological toxicity will create environments that are hostile not only to the health of enemy forces but of one's own forces as well,” Durakovic said.

“Because of the chemical and radiological toxicity of DU, the small number of particles trapped in the lungs, kidneys, and bone greatly increase the risk of cancer and all other illnesses over time,” Durakovic, an expert of internal contamination of radio-isotopes, said.

According to Durakovic, other symptoms associated with DU poisoning are: emotional and mental deterioration, fatigue, loss of bowel and bladder control, and numerous forms of cancer. Such symptoms are increasing showing up in Iraq 's children and among Gulf War veterans and their offspring, he said.

“Although I personally served in Operation Desert Shield as Unit Commander,” Durakovic said, “my expertise of internal contamination was never used because we were never informed of the intended use of DU prior to or during the war.”

“The numbers are overwhelming, but the potential horrors only get worse,” Robert C. Koehler of the Chicago-based Tribune Media Services wrote in his March 25 article on DU weapons, “Silent Genocide.”

“DU dust does more than wreak havoc on the immune systems of those who breathe it or touch it; the substance also alters one's genetic code,” Koehler wrote. “The Pentagon's response to such charges is denial, denial, denial. And the American media is its moral co-conspirator.”

As AFP reported last week, the smallest particles of DU, when inhaled, are capable of moving throughout the human body, passing through cell walls and affecting the person's Master Code, according to Fulk, and the “_expression of the DNA.”

Four years after the Gulf War of 1991, Life magazine published a photo-essay entitled “The Tiny Victims of Desert Storm,” which focused on the numerous cases of severe birth defects that had occurred in families of veterans from that war.

Life reported, “Of the 400 sick vets who had already answered [Don Riegle's Senate Banking] committee inquiries, a startling 65 percent reported birth defects or immune-system problems in children conceived after the war.”

AFP asked the Dept. of Veterans Affairs if they kept records of the birth defects occurring among the families of veterans, and was told they do not.

by: Christopher Bollyn
 

A guy is driving around Tennessee and he sees a sign in front of a house:

"Talking Dog For Sale." He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees a Labrador retriever sitting there.

"You talk?" he asks.

"Yep," the Lab replies.

"So, what's your story?"

The Lab looks up and says, "Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA about my gift, and in no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running."

"But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security wandering near suspicious characters and listening in."

"I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals.
I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired"

The guy is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.

"Ten dollars," the guy says.

"Ten dollars? This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?"

"Because he's a liar. He never did any of that shit."

The International Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (IAHRA) is a
non-governmental, organization dedicated to the promotion and
protection of internationally recognized human rights. With the help
of the active volunteers who contribute their time, Human Rights
Advocates documents human rights abuses, advocates on behalf of
individual victims, educates on human rights issues, and provides
training and technical assistance to address and prevent human
rights violations.

Every day all across the world fundamental human rights are being
violated. In America laws and procedures are being tossed aside and
in Russia and Africa people are being abused. In the Middle East
Iraq is undertaking a huge shift to become democratic, but
nationally defined human rights are still being violated without
punishment.

Our goal is to help. Help the people who feel lost and alone in
society. Help the people lost in the system. We will provide advice,
resources, a community, and much more to those in need. It's a scary
place out there in the world, and we will help you make sense of it.
The insurance of your rights are our concern.

I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me and we all could use a little more calmness in our lives. By following the simple advice I heard on the Dr. Phil show, I have finally found inner peace.

Dr. Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started and never finished."

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Bristol Cream, a bottle of Kahlua, a bottle of Gray Goose, a package of Oreo's, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some saltines and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel.

Please pass this on to those you feel might be in need of inner peace.

For my friend, Sonja and her daughter.

This picture was taken of me and of my youngest daughter with my son at The Division of Family Services by my other daughter while we were on our just one hour visit with my youngest daughter. After the visits were over, my daughter and son, including myself, were allowed to leave together and go home, while the Social Worker would transport my youngest child back to Foster Care.

I was allowed to keep two of my other children ( age's 7 and 15 ) in my care and custody with out any demands by the same individuals who terminated my rights to my youngest daughter who was age (5).

Should this be allowed in the United States to use these reasons to terminate a non-offending divorced Mothers parental rights of her child?

Read listed items that were used by the State Officials to terminate my parental rights from one child, while allowing me to keep my other two children in my care and custody.

1; Due to the amount of time the child has been in the system, the bond has slowly diminished, leaving no reason to return the child to the Mother.

2; There was no evidence presented that the Mother suffers from a mental condition which cannot be reversed which renders the Mother unable to knowingly provide the child the necessary care, custody and control.

3; There was no evidence presented that the Mother suffers from a chemical dependency which cannot be treated and which prevents her from consistently providing the necessary care, custody and control for the child.

4; There was no evidence presented that the Mother has committed any severe or recurrent acts of physical emotional or sexual abuse toward the child or any other child in the family.

So I guess you're wondering, then why did they terminate my rights?

The answer for that question is simply because they can, and because there are no laws that require any one group entity to oversee the activities of the court officials, which leaves a non-offending parent at their mercy.

The state of Missouri's Child Protection Services failed as they continued to allow a disgruntled ex-spouse use their hot line as a means of harassment.

The St. Louis Family Court, Guardian Ad Litems, and Child Protection Services all failed my daughter, by placing her with the offender, while allowing the offender to make false hotline calls on a daily basis.

The St. Louis Family Court and the Child Protection Services removed her from the offender's custody after leaving her there long enough to cause damage.

Child Protection Services violated my Child's rights even more so, by placing her in foster care immediately after rescuing her from the offenders care, denying her the love and care that she needed from her natural mother.

The St. Louis Family Court, Child Protection Services, the Court Appointed Guardian Ad Litems, and the CASA Advocacy Group of the St. Louis Family courts, did the ultimate damage to her, denying her from her own mother, sister, and brother who still remained to together as a family unit.
She was lined up and instructed to stand up against the wall with the other children, while standing in a long line, as she watched the court officials take two children in to a room where they would be adopted two at a time.

My rights were terminated based on the time law, and the bond, not the false allegations that were made by the father.

Child Protection Services stated that the bond was severed due to the amount of time the child was in the system, which was their fault in the first place, plus the bond was never severed.

The Court Officials and Child Protection Services had to find other reasons to terminate my rights, because I was the non-offending parent.

I am willing to share the false allegations that were made against me, by the father, because I want you to see how Child Protection Services allows ruthless attacks by way of a false hot line caller, with repeated offenses, over and over again, allowing themselves to be used by angry ex-spouses who are seeking a revenge tactic.

If Child Protection Services returns the child to the non-offending divorced/single parent, what kind of financial incentive is there for the state? There are no financial incentives for giving a child back to the divorced/single non-offending parent, that's why my little girl is not with her family today.

Please help us to return her back into her own home, with her real Mother, brother and sister who love and miss her.

We are grateful for your signatures!

Mother of three, still have two, while missing one,

Sincerely,

Sonja



If you agree with the above, please sign this petition and tell a friend.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/559465691?ltl=1155312268  

Cathe

Consider the possibility of physical abuse when the child:

• Has unexplained burns, bites, bruises, broken bones, or black eyes;
  
  
• Has fading bruises or other marks noticeable after an absence from school;
• Seems frightened of the parents and protests or cries when it is time to go home from school;
• Shrinks at the approach of adults; or
• Reports injury by a parent or another adult caregiver.

Consider the possibility of physical abuse when the parent or other adult caregiver:

• Offers conflicting, unconvincing, or no explanation for the child's injury;
• Describes the child as "evil," or in some other very negative way;
• Uses harsh physical discipline with the child; or
• Has a history of abuse as a child.

 

SIGNS OF NEGLECT
Consider the possibility of neglect when the child:

• Is frequently absent from school;
• Begs or steals food or money from classmates;
• Lacks needed medical or dental care, immunizations, or glasses;
• Is consistently dirty and has severe body odor;
• Lacks sufficient clothing for the weather;
• Abuses alcohol or other drugs; or
• States there is no one at home to provide care.

Consider the possibility of neglect when the parent or other adult caregiver:

• Appears to be indifferent to the child;
• Seems apathetic or depressed;
• Behaves irrationally or in a bizarre manner; or
• Is abusing alcohol or other drugs.

SIGNS OF SEXUAL ABUSE
Consider the possibility of sexual abuse when the child:

• Has difficulty walking or sitting;
• Suddenly refuses to change for gym or to participate in physical activities;
• Demonstrates bizarre, sophisticated, or unusual sexual knowledge or behavior;
• Becomes pregnant or contracts a venereal disease, particularly if under age fourteen;
• Runs away; or
• Reports sexual abuse by a parent or another adult caregiver.

Consider the possibility of sexual abuse when the parent or other adult caregiver:

• Is unduly protective of the child, severely limits the child's contact with other children, especially of the opposite sex;
• Is secretive and isolated; or
• Describes marital difficulties involving family power struggles or sexual relations.

 
SIGNS OF EMOTIONAL MALTREATMENT
Consider the possibility of emotional maltreatment when the child:

• Shows extremes in behavior, such as overly compliant or demanding behavior, extreme passivity or aggression;
• Is either inappropriately adult (parenting other children, for example) or inappropriately infantile (frequently rocking or head-banging, for example);
• Is delayed in physical or emotional development;
• Has attempted suicide; or
• Reports a lack of attachment to the parent.

Consider the possibility of emotional maltreatment when the parent or other adult caregiver:

• Constantly blames, belittles, or berates the child;
• Is unconcerned about the child and refuses to consider offers of help for the child's school problems; or
• Overtly rejects the child.

 
Physical abuse:

The four major types of child abuse are:

• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Emotional abuse
• Neglect
  

In the year 2006, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said, "Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans."

He gave Noah the blueprints, saying, "You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark.

"Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed a building permit. I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system. My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning lawsby building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations and had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision.

Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.

Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls -but no go!

When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood.

I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I'm supposed to hire for my building crew.

Immigration and Naturalization is checking the green card status of most of the people who want to work.

The trade unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark building experience.

To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.

So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark."
 
Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky.
 
Noah looked up in  wonder and asked, "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."