Personal security

Empathy is both a trait and a skill. Here's how to strengthen it

Having empathy for other people goes a long way in fostering strong relationships. In fact, empathy is a fundamental building block for conflict resolution and understanding and bonding with others.

Psychological science has defined the term in many ways, but simply, it's "the ability to perceive accurately what another person is feeling," said Jennifer Lerner, a psychological scientist and the Thornton F. Bradshaw professor of public policy, decision science and management at the Harvard Kennedy School in Massachusetts. Her research examines human judgment and decision-making.

We need empathy because it motivates us to take action when we see that people are suffering, said Sarah Konrath, an associate professor of philanthropic studies at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

"Across time and situations, humans need empathic skills and empathy in order to make societal cooperation possible," said Lerner, also a former chief decision scientist for the US Navy. "As Charles Darwin [observed in 1872], the ability to recognize 'the expression of emotion in man and animals' plays a profound role in all societies, including nonhuman primate societies."

Personal security

6 Bad Habits That Are Ruining Your Credibility And Your Career

When you have big dreams, and a grand vision for your career, it’s the little actions, and the small details you prioritize that will set you apart. Sure, you can work on adding habits and incorporating new skill sets into your daily life. Nonetheless, it’s key to stop and ask yourself: what do you need to eliminate or change today?

It is easier to add a new habit than it is to break an old one because habits are comfortable and we are hardwired to want that safety. What if that one conversational habit you had was blocking you from the success you want to create in your networking efforts, or  what if the nervous tick to repeat “umm’” over and over was what didn’t get you that big break? 

The first step is recognizing that you have a habit that needs to be broken in the first place. Here are six of the most common habits I have seen ruin someone’s credibility without them even realizing it.

Personal security

Former FBI agent of 21 years: These are the 8 biggest ‘warning signs’ that reveal a dishonest person

Every person has a tell. Your friends, co-workers, family members, partner and boss may actually be revealing their true intentions, but shrouding them in clever disguises.

As a retired FBI special agent and former chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, I spent 21 years defeating people whose sole intention was deception and trickery. Through years of trial and error, I recognized certain key patterns and learned how to “size people up” — or predict what others will do, and trust them accordingly.

Here are the biggest warning signs that reveal a dishonest person:
1. They speak in absolutes, such as ‘always’ and ‘never.’

Absolutes are meant to support a point of view, but they’re rarely true and can easily incite denial and opposition.

When someone says, “You never compliment me,” for example, they’re just begging you to say: “That’s ridiculous! I remember giving you compliments!” Even when you know that someone is just exaggerating, it can be hard to tell if they know it...

Personal security

These Tools Can Save Your Life

The worst time to realize you need a piece of emergency equipment is when you are in the middle of an emergency. Buying detectors and escape gear isn’t fun, but it is part of being an adult human tasked with keeping oneself, loved ones, and pets alive. This is by no means a comprehensive list of stuff you need to have around—for that check out the National Safety Council—but rather stuff that our own staff has found a little too easy to overlook in the past. (Fortunately, not to the point of disaster.)

Carbon Monoxide Detector

When a carbon monoxide detector started screeching in my college group house, my roommates and I were confused—we’d never noticed the little white box before. Later, a firefighter who responded to our 911 call told us we were lucky our landlord had installed one. “You’ve got a lot of CO in there,” she told us, grimly, of the odorless, colorless, poisonous gas that was spreading through our home due to a furnace malfunction...

Personal security

Lost or stolen Android phone? Here's how to get it back

It can happen in a matter of seconds: You leave your phone on a counter in the store and walk away, or someone bumps into you on the street and takes your phone right out of a pocket or bag.
Losing a phone, be it from theft or an honest mistake, is a stressful experience. Not only does it cut off your access to the rest of the world, but your phone holds some of your most personal information.
In the event your phone goes missing, don't panic! There are tools built into every Android phone that makes it possible to lock and track down a lost phone with ease. But first, you'll need to take some steps to set yourself up for success.

Be prepared

Create a secure lock screen
Do yourself a favor and turn on passcode and fingerprint authentication. Do yourself another favor and don't use facial recognition on your Android device.
The technology used for facial recognition on most Android devices can be easily tricked with something as simple as a photo of your face. Facial authentication could get more secure if Android Q does indeed add official support for secure Face ID-like authentication to Android as reports have suggested...

Personal security

Number of Sexual Assaults at Military Academies Jumps by 50 Percent

A report released Thursday by the Defense Department and based on an anonymous survey found that the number of sexual assaults at three military academies had spiked by nearly 50 percent in the past two years, even as actual reports of those assaults remained low, a disheartening figure that undermined claims of progress since a national conversation about sexual assault and harassment in the military began two years ago.

According to the report, 747 cadets and midshipmen from the United States Military Academy at West Point, the United States Naval Academy, and the United States Air Force Academy responded that they had experienced unwanted sexual contact—a category that ranges from groping to rape—in the 2017–18 academic year. It marks a sharp increase from the 507 reported in the 2015–16 academic year.

According to the survey, about 16 percent of women and 2 percent of men at West Point had experienced unwanted sexual contact. Two years before, just 10 percent of women had said the same. The number of reports of sexual assault between those two years remained static, just over 110.

Personal security

A Former CIA Officer’s Tips for Avoiding Death, Prison, and Hospital While You Travel

There is something very appealing about packing a bag and hopping on the first flight out of town—maybe because we never quite grow out of our childhood desire to run away. However, taking the time to do some research and plan a little before you go will help make even the most experienced traveler safer. Here are a few tips from my time as a CIA officer that will help you avoid death, prison, and hospital on your travels.

Before you go…

1. Leave copies of your travel information with someone you trust. Print out a copy of your passport and forward your flight itinerary and hotel information to them. Having someone who can verify your identity and travel plans will give police a place to start if something happens to you. Also, scammers targeting your family will sometimes claim that they have taken you hostage and demand a ransom. Knowing where you are staying and when you are traveling will help your friends and family avoid these scams.

Take the time to memorize your own travel information, too, because you cannot always count on a working or fully charged phone, or reliable internet.  

Personal security

The 10 professions with the most psychopaths

Psychopaths are difficult to spot most of the time. They're not the "Jack the Ripper" caricatures you see in films or read about in books. Often, psychopaths appear normal, which makes them hard to identify.

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, someone with a psychopathic personality type is defined as having an inflated, grandiose sense of themself, and a knack for manipulating other people. But a diagnosis is rarely simple.

One thing psychopaths tend to have in common is the careers they go for. For example, you're likely to find a lot of them in leadership positions because of their ruthlessness, charisma, and fearlessness. They're very good at making snap decisions, but not so good at the empathetic professions like nursing or therapy.

Kevin Dutton, a British psychologist and writer, specialises in the study of psychopathy. In his book "The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success," he made a list of the types of jobs that attract the most psychopaths.

Personal security

Intelligence officials fear China's global 'kidnapping' program has reached America

Some U.S. intelligence officials fear that the Chinese government is conducting sophisticated "kidnapping" programs in the United States in order to spirit their nationals back to the mainland, where they face arrest and imprisonment on political and corruption charges. Beijing has openly admitted to repatriating more than 3,000 people "who had escaped overseas" since late 2012, Xinhua reports, although the U.S. intelligence community believes China's strategies in Western nations often involves pushing the definitions of coercion and kidnapping.

In one example cited in the report by Foreign Policy, a Chinese-Canadian billionaire was snatched from his hotel in Hong Kong in 2017 and was loaded — likely sedated — into a wheelchair and rolled out through the lobby with a sheet covering his head. Similar stories have also come out of Australia, a U.S. intelligence partner, including one about a man who was allegedly drugged by Chinese security forces and transported back to the mainland on a state-owned shipping vessel.

Personal security

10 travel safety tips you can learn from the CIA

Mathew Bradley spent more than 14 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, and now this former CIA agent is the Regional Security Director, Americas, for International SOS (a medical and travel security assistance company). I spoke to him via email to ask his top travel safety tips, both at home and abroad.

What travel safety tips does the CIA give to its employees?

1. Maintain a low profile. CIA employees don’t want to draw attention to themselves.

2. Research your destination before you go. Part of keeping a low profile is knowing the local customs and blending in. Act like you have been there before.

3. Plan your ground transportation and hotel arrangements in advance. We never leave home without contact details for every stage of our itinerary.

4. Stay aware of your surroundings. [Do] the research to know what fits in the location where you are.

What should tourists do in case of an emergency while traveling?

1. Have a plan before you go out. Know where you will meet if separated from your group following a terrorist attack, violent protest or other incident.


2. Make sure someone knows where you’re going and when you should be back. They should know who to call if you don’t check in...

Personal security

Over 70,000 military sexual assaults took place last year -- Congress must take action

Congress should act swiftly to approve long overdue legislation introduced Thursday to strengthen the prosecution of sexual assault in the military.

The Defense Department estimates that about 8,600 women and 6,300 men were sexually assaulted in our armed forces last year. Most victims were attacked more than once, resulting in over 70,000 sexual assaults in 2016 alone.

As a civil legal aid attorney representing women who are survivors of military sexual assault, I have seen the terrible suffering of far too many and the failure of the military to adequately punish attackers and help survivors deal with their trauma.

For example, one of my clients was raped by several men in a single incident when she was in the Army. She went to her commanding officer still covered in her own blood. After seeing her condition, his response was simply: “Can you soldier on?”

Personal security

Sexism on America’s Front Lines

...All three are accomplished national security hands in Washington, and until now none has spoken publicly about these experiences—and the broader culture of everyday sexual harassment and sexism that is still rampant in the national security world. They chose to do so now amid a rising national clamor over sexual harassment, for a special episode of The Global Politico podcast dedicated to the specific challenges faced by the very outnumbered women who help shape America’s place in the world but still routinely confront offenses that would stir outrage elsewhere.

Women in national security face one of most male-dominated professions there is, which is why we brought together Rosenberger, Shulman, Eoyang and several other veterans of high-ranking jobs in the White House National Security Council, Pentagon, State Department and Capitol Hill last week for a frank, thoughtful and at times deeply disturbing conversation.

Each has played a role in many of the key foreign policy debates of the past decade, from helping steer U.S. policy toward Russia or North Korea to overseeing the Pentagon’s strategic plans. These women have got the nuclear triad down cold, and they have taught me a lot over the years about what really goes on in the NSC or the Pentagon when a crisis hits. All of them said they see themselves as wonky Washington experts first, not feminist activists, but the explosion of sexual harassment stories in recent weeks has led each to think again about the unique problems of a national security world that remains very much in denial about how muchsex—and sexism—still shapes the Washington workplace.

Personal security

Louis CK: Five women accuse US comic of sexual misconduct

US comedian Louis CK's movie premiere has been cancelled hours before the screening as five women levelled sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Four of the accusers told the New York Times he had masturbated during interactions with them and a fifth said he had asked to do so.

The BBC has contacted the Emmy-winning comic's manager for a comment.

The distributor of his new film, I Love You, Daddy, said it was reviewing plans for its general release.

Four comediennes - Dana Min Goodman, Julia Wolov, Rebecca Corry and Abby Schachner - and a fifth woman who spoke on condition of anonymity made allegations about the entertainer in Thursday's New York Times report.

Personal security

Russian woman casually walks through explosions & fire to test armor suit (VIDEO)

A Russian tactical equipment producer showed off its cutting-edge armor by having a woman walk across a simulated battlefield as blasts detonated under her feet and she was lashed by flames.

The amor appeared to do its job, as model Viktoria Kolesnikova, clad in battle gear from top to toe, didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned at the chaos going on around her. Instead, she simply walked on determinedly until the ‘all clear’ call was given, allowing her to take off her mask. The worst thing that happened to Kolesnikova were the few smudges of soot left on her face.

Talking to excited journalists after her fiery exploits, Kolesnikova said performing stunts such as this gives her emotions unlike anything else.

“Standing inside a fire range is an amazing feeling. It’s beautiful and really just, ‘wow,’” she said.

Kolesnikova is a professional stuntwoman, but her task on Tuesday was unlike her usual jobs, since the hazards on the range were actually dangerous. Sergey Kitov, the head of the developer team at TsNIITochMash, says the walk was a demonstration of the company’s advanced aramid fabric, treated to withstand both kinetic threats and fire.

Personal security

EXCLUSIVE: CIA contractor who shot two Pakistani robbers then feared death at the hands of mob breaks silence to tell of real-life Homeland plot which became diplomatic crisis

A CIA contractor, a double killing in a hail of bullets on a crowded Pakistani street and a diplomatic crisis that set US-Pakistan relations back years.

It could easily be the plot line of Homeland - and in fact helped inspire a key incident in the CIA spy drama.

But for Raymond Davis - who shot two men in self-defense on a busy Lahore street on January 25, 2011 - it was a dramatic episode in his life that he's not likely to forget.

Now he is breaking his silence at last in an exclusive DailyMail.com interview. 

Speaking for the first time about the incident that made worldwide headlines and sparked a diplomatic nightmare for the U.S., Davis recounts his 'hell' of being jailed and 'tortured' in a Lahore prison for 49 days and how he was accused of being a spy and interrogated by agents from Pakistan's feared Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

Personal security

The New York Times Just Outed The CIA’s Top Iran Spy

In an article published Friday, The New York Times outed the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) top spy overseeing the organization’s efforts in Iran. The paper justified its outing of the undercover CIA spy and his role within the agency by saying it was necessary since the agent is “leading an important new administration initiative against Iran.”

Yes. That really happened.

In an article entitled “C.I.A. Names New Iran Chief in a Sign of Trump’s Hard Line,” the newspaper of record revealed that Michael D’Andrea, who previously led the hunt for Osama bin Laden, will now be in charge of the agency’s operations in Iran.

As the Times explained in its report, Iran is “one of the hardest targets” for the CIA to keep tabs on.

Personal security

Putin: 'I asked Fidel Castro how to survive assassination attempts'

The fomer KGB agent spoke to US film director Oliver Stone for an interview to be broadcast later this month.

The Wall Street director told the Kremlin leader he had heard of at least five occasions when he has successfully foiled an attempt on his life, a figure Mr Putin did not dispute. 

Mr Stone added: "Not as much as Castro... I think he must have had 50."

Mr Putin replied: "I talked to Castro about that. 

"And he said to me: 'Do you know why I'm still alive?' Because I always dealt with my security personally'."

The Russian president added: "I do my job and the security officers do theirs, and until now they've ben quite successful.

Castro, who died in November aged 90, is said to have been the subject of more than 600 assassination plots in his lifetime. 

Probably the most famous is the CIA's "exploding cigar" plan  - although whether or not this was a legitimate strategy is still disputed.

Personal security

2 journalists on ‘kill list’ sue Trump & US agencies

Two journalists added to the US' terrorist “kill list” under President Barack Obama are suing to be removed. They accuse the US of conspiracy to commit murder outside its borders and violating international law by targeting civilians in drone strikes.

On Thursday, Ahmad Zaidan, the former Al Jazeera Islamabad Bureau Chief, and Bilal Kareem, a freelance journalist, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Washington alleging they were erroneously placed on a kill list under former President Barack Obama’s administration, which they say, President Donald Trump has illegally continued. 

Zaidan was the first journalist to interview Osama Bin Laden in 1998 and Kareem is a US citizen who “narrowly avoided being killed by five separate air strikes,” according to the lawsuit  filed by UK-based human rights group Reprieve.

Personal security

8 Iraqi men jailed for gang-rape of German tourist in Austria

Eight Iraqi asylum seekers have been sentenced by an Austrian court to between nine and 13 years in jail for the brutal gang-rape of a 28-year-old German woman during New Year’s celebrations over a year ago.

TrendsEU refugee & migrant influx

A group nine Iraqi nationals, between 22 and 48 years, were arrested last summer in Vienna and two other Austrian provinces and charged with “abuse of a defenseless person and rape in a very humiliating and agonizing way for the victim.”

Charges against one suspect were dropped, as investigators found that he was asleep during the assault.

All members of the same family, the men came to Austria as migrants between May and December 2015. Five of them already had refugee status at the time of the assault, while the other four had their applications pending.

Personal security

Why Sweden is NOT the 'rape capital of the world'

Is Sweden really a 'rape capital' as repeatedly suggested by sections of the international media? The Local consulted experts to get to the bottom of the matter.

In short, the answer is no.
Evidence for the claim usually comes in the form of comparative international statistics suggesting for example that Sweden has 63.5 reported rape incidents per 100,000 citizens, compared to 27.3 per 100,000 in the US, or 27.9 per 100,000 in Belgium, the nearest European country based on those numbers.
But comparing the number of reported rapes from one country to another is a process vulnerable to inaccuracies, several experts have told The Local.
Enrico Bisogno is the chief of data development and dissemination at the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC). He says that variations in how different countries record different crimes can play a "huge role" in influencing the results of these comparisons.