Monster Breivik complains about “inhumanity”

November 10, 2012

I find most things about the monstrous behaviour of Anders Behring Breivik almost inexplicable. Now the killer of 77 people complains about the inhumanity of having to use a “bendy” pen!

Considering his rather luxurious incarceration for 21 years (extendable) for killing 77 people, his 27 page complaint about the inhumane conditions he is being held in ought to be dismissed out of hand. But instead it will probably waste a lot of people’s time and a lot of public money.

The Guardian: Anders Behring Breivik, who is serving a 21-year sentence for killing 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage last year, has complained that he is being held in inhumane conditions and is being denied freedom of expression, his lawyer has said.

….. The Norwegian tabloid, VG, which said it had acquired a copy of the letter, quoted Breivik as saying he was allowed to use only a soft and bendable safety pen described by its manufacturer as “stab-resistant” because it yields at the slightest pressure and cannot be used as a weapon.

Living cell at Ilas Secure Department FOTO: ILA FENGSEL OG FORVARINGSANSTALT/GLEFS AS

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Posted in Behaviour, Norway | 1 Comment »

Out of Africarabia

November 9, 2012

There has been a gap of 50-65,000 years between the genetic time-line of the Out-of-Africa theory and archaeological indications of the earlier presence of anatomically modern humans outside of Africa. But the genetic evidence is now going back in time and approaching the archaeological time-line. “Out-of-Africa” is beginning to look much more like “Out-of-Africarabia”.

“Out-of-Africa” is morphing into “Out-of Africarabia” as genetic and archaeological time-lines converge

Out of Africarabia

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“Peak Oil” vanishes and even OPEC bows to shale fracking technology

November 9, 2012

The various catastrophe scenarios based on the depletion of a limited resource (peak-oil, peak-gas, peak-energy, peak-food……….) have a fundamental weakness – they fail to account for human ingenuity and technological advance. History has shown that such Malthusian scenarios just do not come to pass. New discoveries change the availability of the resource, innovation and technology find alternatives and economics changes pricing and the supply/demand dynamics.

Moving peaks

In February this year I posted:

In recent times the development of fracking technology and the discovery of huge deposits of gas-bearing shales together with the discovery of new deep-sea sources of natural gas have pushed the “peak” for gas production beyond the visible horizon and into the distant future (a few hundred years). When – rather than if – methane hydrates become available for gas production, the “peak” will shift further into the future.

Reuters now reports on Opec’s latest World Oil Outlook 

OPEC acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that technology for extracting oil and gas from shale is changing the global supply picture significantly ……

In its annual World Oil Outlook, OPEC cut its forecast of global oil demand to 2016 due to economic weakness and also increased its forecast of supplies from countries outside the 12-nation exporters’ group.

“Given recent significant increases in North American shale oil and shale gas production, it is now clear that these resources might play an increasingly important role in non-OPEC medium- and long-term supply prospects,” the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in the report.

OPEC has been slower than some to acknowledge the impact that new technologies such as hydraulic fracturing – known as “fracking” – may have on supply.

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Swedish judicial system looks amateurish as recusal of lay judges is sought again

November 8, 2012

The Swedish judicial system is looking increasingly amateurish. The criminal Södertälje network – found guilty in Sweden’s most expensive trial – first succeeded in getting a retrial by claiming that one of the lay judges had a conflict of interest and should have been recused and is now delaying the retrial by fresh claims of bias against the new lay judges and even against the judge who approved their appointment to the trial bench!

After one of Sweden’s most expensive trials and criminal investigations ever, 16 of 20 defendants received prison sentences, two were ordered into juvenile detention, and two were found not guilty. They were accused of crimes including murder, kidnapping and extortion.

Sverigesradio 5th October: 

The most costly court case in Swedish legal history which has been called Sweden’s biggest criminal gang case, and lasted six months at a cost of more than SEK 200 million, is to be retried. The Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that one of the lay judges from the trial had a conflict of interest.  

“We have found that a lay judge on the court, who was also a member of the Police Board in Södertälje, had a conflict of interest in the issue and is therefore disqualified,” says Court of Appeals judge Sven Jönsson.

Sverigesradio 31st October:

All witnesses in a high-profile murder case in Södertälje must testify again when the case gets retried in the district court next week, according to a decision Wednesday.

The murder case – involving the so-called “Södertälje Network” – is the most expensive in Swedish legal history. A retrial was ordered after a lay judge was found to have a conflict of interest, having sat on the police board.

The new trial started again today in a farcical manner as the new lay judges were again accused by the defence lawyers for having conflicts of interest. It did not help matters that the professional chairman of the judges seemed completely unprepared to handle arguments about conflicts of interest (Svenska Dagbladet). To make matters worse, the two professional judges were unable to make a ruling about the conflicts of interest of the lay members because they were themselves accused of having conflicts of interest because – wait for it – they had approved the appointment of the lay judges accused of bias to the bench!!

Svenska Dagbladet:

Even two of the new lay judges should be recused for bias, claimed lawyers. Instead of a trial a confused discussion about conflicts of interest arose.

An already frustrated crowd of defendants, lawyers, prosecutors and paralegals on Thursday saw the case being delayed again in an almost farcical form.

 Jan Karlsson, lawyer for one of the defendants submitted late on Wednesday a motion for recusal for bias. He claimed that two of the new lay judges could also be biased because they had participated, in a meeting  of the Association of Lay Judges where the head of the police operation talked about organized  crime. ….

When the motion was taken up in a courtroom packed with close to a hundred people the two professional judges, Lars Lindhe and Jan-Erik Oja, were to take a decision regarding the conflict of interest. But then it came to a stop again. The lawyers now claimed that the judges could not take such a decision because they were themselves disqualified.

It does look as if the Södertällje criminal network and their lawyers are having a field day in exploiting the weaknesses of the Swedish judicial system. Certainly the judiciary – and by inference even the prosecution –   are looking decidedly amateurish.

The Swedish system of using lay judges, who are often local politicians, has been getting some very bad press lately for incompetence and the entire handling of this case does not impress.

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Do not resuscitate! A case of an “institutionally mandated execution”?

November 6, 2012

In the light of the recent criticisms of the Care Pathways in the UK, this case of the “Do Not Resuscitate” orders by doctors – against the patient’s wishes –  and Janet Tracy’s subsequent death  is more than a little disturbing. She was suffering from terminal cancer but her death was surely accelerated by the DNR.

When a patient’s death is apparently deliberately caused – by inaction and prematurely – by the “policies” of a hospital (and its doctors), we are entering into the murky realm of institutionally mandated executions.

I don’t live in the UK but the National Health Service is held up as a model in so many other countries that what is practised at hospitals in the UK today will be quickly justified and adopted in many other places.

The Independent:

Doctors twice placed ‘do not resuscitate’ orders on medical notes of Janet Tracey, against her and her family’s wishes

A dying woman was “badgered” by doctors so much about agreeing to a do not resuscitate order that she was reduced to terrified tears, her husband said today.

Janet Tracey, 63, had been determined to fight cancer but within days of being admitted to hospital after a car crash, she became “anxious and distressed”.

“At one point she told me they were trying to get rid of her and I told her not to be silly, which proved to be a mistake. She was panicked. They were questioning her all the time about a DNACPR (do not attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation order),” her widower David Tracey told the High Court today as he explained that he and his daughters asked for the order to be removed.

Days later, on 7 March last year, Mrs Tracey died after second DNR was placed on her files, explicitly against her family’s wishes. ….. 

Something is not quite right if the death of a patient – even a terminally ill patient – is caused deliberately and prematurely – whether by action or by inaction – against the patient’s wishes. This comes perilously close to  an execution being mandated by an institution’s “policies”.

Related articles

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Posted in Ethics, Medicine, UK | 1 Comment »

Idle thoughts: Disciplines, sciences and pseudosciences

November 4, 2012

There is virtually nothing in the physical universe around us that is not worthy of study. Most study begins with observations. We can term any such area of study where observations are made and knowledge accumulated as being a “discipline”. The social “sciences”, environmentalism and even astrology and palmistry could be considered disciplines.

But when does a discipline become a science?

Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted in Philosophy, Science | 3 Comments »

By 2100 a world population decline and a shortage of a “productive population” will be the problem

November 3, 2012

There are still alarmists and Malthusians who believe that the world will face catastrophe due to overpopulation. They believe that the carrying capacity of the earth has been exceeded, that there will be food shortages, energy shortages and resource shortages in every field; that – in short – the population will not be able to sustain itself let alone to maintain growth.

But like so many alarmist theories (be it global warming or peak oil or peak gas or GM crops) the overpopulation meme builds on beliefs and ignores evidence. The environmentalists are increasingly taking faith-based and anti-science positions. Alarmism invokes political correctness and “consensus beliefs” rather than evidence to silence criticism . Even hard-core environmentalists are beginning to question this myopic adhesion to ideology (Environment360).

Just taking the overpopulation myth as an example, the data and projections in the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2011): World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision. New York (Updated: 15 April 2011) are pretty unambiguous and revealing. Within 100 years world population will be declining. The majority of children being born today in the developed world will live to be over 100 years old. There will begin to be a shortage of  the required “productive population” relative to the “supported populations of the young and the retired” – a problem already evident in Japan and other developed countries. In Sweden (and some other European countries) for example, this proportion is being maintained only by means of immigration and the slight consequent increase in average fertility rates. The “productive population” in Germany would be below the required level were it not for the “guest workers”. The 11 million or so “illegal immigrants” who are nearly all part of the “productive population” in the US  are a vital part of maintaining this balance.

The challenge in 2100 will be to maintain the balance between those “producing” to those “supported” in a declining and aging population. Perhaps immigration or population migrations or  productivity increases by the use of robots and an increase in the age one joins the “supported” population will be parts of the solution. I have no doubt that solutions will be found, but the “overpopulation problem” would have left the stage.

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Posted in Aging, Alarmism, Demographics | 4 Comments »

Cut out one hour of watching TV and you can smoke two extra cigarettes!

November 2, 2012

An Australian group of scientists have published the results of a new study in the October issue of The British Journal of Sports Medicine.

This then passes for “scientific research”!!!

From the New York Times:

…. Every single hour of television watched after the age of 25 reduces the viewer’s life expectancy by 21.8 minutes.

By comparison, smoking a single cigarette reduces life expectancy by about 11 minutes, the authors said. ……

Ah well! They are scientists, probably wear white coats and could not possibly be idiots.

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UK embraces being “cared to death”

November 1, 2012

I have posted earlier about the disturbing ethical questions with the “Care Pathways” in the UK  which operate in the grey zone between euthanasia and execution.

But it is more than just disturbing when UK hospitals run by NHS trusts apparently get financial benefits if they increase the number of terminally-ill patients who are put onto the so-called “Care Pathways”. Once someone is “put on a Care Pathway” they are effectively written off. Medication may be withdrawn, water and food may be withheld and any chance of continuing to live or of any recovery are removed – intentionally – from the equation.  “Care” is provided but now with the intention of causing death. The sooner such patients die the better the use of resources!

I cannot see how any “Care Pathway” where there is an incentive to ensure that a patient dies and dies quickly can be anything other than an intentional termination of life. But is it euthanasia or is it murder or is it an execution?

Where the patient truly wishes to die it is effectively euthanasia. But where the patient would wish to live if he could only get better we get into a dangerous zone between euthanasia and execution. Can all attempts to “make the patient better” be abandoned by a hospital because someone other than the patient has decided that the patient cannot get better? When it is relatives who are pushing to get the patient onto a “Care Pathway” it comes close to murder. And when it is the hospitals or the hospital staff who are “incentivised” to get the patient onto the “Care Pathway” it gets close to being an execution. The decision to put someone onto a “Care Pathway” is itself then an irrevocable sentence of death. Why not – having passed sentence –  just give them a quick, quiet lethal injection after putting them on a “Care Pathway”? Why go through the charade of care while ensuring the patients rapid demise? The 33 hours these patients survive on average after being put on a “Care Pathway” could be reduced to zero. Why not provide incentives to hospitals to

  • maximise the number of patients put onto a “Care Pathway”, and then
  • minimise the amount of time spent on such a Pathway?

This could get rid of many hundreds – if not thousands – of problematic and elderly patients who only absorb resources, no longer provide any useful contribution to society and are just a pain for their relatives. It would not be a very large step to converting the corpses to Soylent Green.

The Telegraph: 

The majority of hospitals in England are being given financial rewards for placing terminally-ill patients on a controversial “pathway” to death…

Almost two thirds of NHS trusts using the Liverpool Care Pathway have received payouts totalling millions of pounds for hitting targets related to its use, research for The Daily Telegraph shows.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the full scale of financial inducements for the first time.

They suggest that about 85 per cent of trusts have now adopted the regime, which can involve the removal of hydration and nutrition from dying patients.

More than six out of 10 of those trusts – just over half of the total – have received or are due to receive financial rewards for doing so amounting to at least £12million. 

At many hospitals more than 50 per cent of all patients who died had been placed on the pathway and in one case the proportion of forseeable deaths on the pathway was almost nine out of 10.

Last night the Department of Health insisted that the payments could help ensure that people were “treated with dignity in their final days and hours”.

But opponents described it as “absolutely shocking” that hospitals could be paid to employ potentially “lethal” treatments. ……

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Posted in Behaviour, Ethics, Medicine, UK | 2 Comments »

So, once upon another time, I closed my Twitter account

November 1, 2012

Once upon a time I opened a Twitter account.

I found

  1. I followed nobody and nobody followed me
  2. I had no messages – of 140 characters or less – that I desired to paste indiscriminately and with no defined recipient on the Twitter noticeboard.
  3. When I wished to just write something – not specifically directed to anybody – it was easier to do it on my blog where I was not constrained to 140 characters
  4. I had no desire to let the world in general know what I was doing. Where I desired someone or some people to be informed about my activity – or inactivity – email and mobile phone texts were sufficient to my needs and were not constrained to 140 characters.
  5. I found my blog to be my extended space which provided an open access to the world but where I didn’t much care whether anybody read what I had written or not. What was important to me was clearly the writing of the post. The reading of the post by others was an incidental consequence of no great significance (to me).
  6. I found I used communication primarily as a tool to mobilise actions or to induce desired behaviour in others. Here the transmission of an information package was necessary but  the transmission had to be well directed. Indiscriminate transmission of information was ineffective, irritating to the unintended reader and wasteful. To be effective the information package needed direction and needed to be complete for the intended purpose.
  7. Transmission of truncated and incomplete information led – more often than not – to misunderstandings and invoked unwanted responses
  8. Transmission of information without any purpose was not of interest to me
  9. Reading tweets written by twits did not seem to provide any value to me

Twitter is just another medium. The message inherent in this medium is that the tweeter is so obsessed by his own ego that he must broadcast his indiscriminate, purposeless, directionless, 140 character snippets about his life to the whole world. In short that the tweeter is a twit. Perhaps the medium has its uses. But the medium encourages a general “dumbing-down” of transmitted information. It uses “black and white” when “full colour” is available. It downgrades the quality of the information transmitted.

Bad information leads to bad communication which gives bad actions.

It does not seem to add any value for me.

So, once upon another time, I closed my Twitter account.

Essence of a Manager

Chapter 4: Communication: Hearing What Isn’t Said

Communication is the tool that a manager must make use of to mobilise actions from his chosen actors. Communication is a process and not a singular event. It extends from the meaning that he selects and then through all the subsequent steps of converting the meaning into a message which he transmits as information making up a communiqué directed at a particular recipient. The process continues till it is received, interpreted and reconverted into meaning in the recipient’s mind. But the process is not complete until the manager gets the feedback confirming that his intended meaning has been successfully transferred. The manager retains responsibility throughout the entire process. Language and culture enable communication and are not barriers. Focusing on the recipient leads naturally to the process required to generate the desired meanings in his mind. Any manager can make himself into a good communicator. Some will have to work harder at it than others. But being aware of the steps contained within a communications process is where the learning starts.

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