SpanishTreasure Gold

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 This story continues to show us the real need for an internationaltreaty that allows treasure hunting to be made viable. The outcomehere is a tragedy for the investors and worse for Spain since everyfurther recovery is simply going to be grabbed and tossed directlyinto a smelter.
A correct solution is to outright recognize discoverer's right andthen apply a transfer price for recovered material. I may needarbitration to settle it but that is common anyway. The point isthat any transfer price must recognize fair market value andlegitimate costs including a reasonable allowance for archeologicaloversight not to be abused either.
The right to pay can even be transferred on as institutions aroundthe world can then directly participate.
It is easy to establish a melt price for a gold coin that is easilyhonored. It is also quite worthless if it cannot be transferred inits present condition.
That is the easy problem. Way more important we want archeologicalartifacts to also be identified as to provenance and the way to dothis is to establish a fair market for provenance and again torecognize discovery as ownership. Do that and the discoverers willmore anal than any archeologist. That way the institutionsautomatically have first dibs and a healthy market establishes valueand this then leads to artifacts already out there resurfacing.
As I learned a long time ago in the mining exploration business, onlythe owner will show up on a property choked with thorny vegetation ina howling wind storm raining horizontally to help you channel samplea hungry looking rock face. If governments and archeologist can everlearn to trust the people we will be buried in fresh data, artifactsand detailed information matching the best work of indifferentstudents any day.


Spain shows off$500M shipwreck treasure

A worker of theministry holds up for photographers a silver coin from the shipwreckof a 1804 galleon, on its first display to the media at a ministrybuilding, in Madrid, Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 [Credit: AP/Daniel Ochoade Olza]


A block of encrustedsilver coins from the shipwreck of a 1804 galleon, on its firstdisplay to the media at a ministry building, in Madrid, Friday, Nov.30, 2012. Spanish cultural officials have allowed the first peep at16 tons (14.5 metric tons) of the shipwreck, 'Nuestra Senora de lasMercedes' a treasure worth an estimated $500 million that a U.S.salvage company gave up after a five-year international ownershipdispute [Credit: AP/Daniel Ochoa de Olza]


http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.ca/2012/12/spain-shows-off-500m-shipwreck-treasure.html
Spanish culturalofficials allowed a first peek Friday at some of the 16 tons ofshipwreck treasure worth an estimated $500 million that a U.S.salvage company gave up this year after a five-year ownershipdispute.
Only a tiny portion ofthe haul from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a galleon that ankoff Portugal's Atlantic coast near the straits of Gibraltar in 1804,was shown to the media: 12 individual silver coins, a block ofencrusted silver coins stuck together after centuries underwater, twogold tobacco boxes and a bronze pulley.

Authoritieswho have been inventorying the treasure since it was flown fromFlorida to Spain in February said it will be transferred later thisyear from Madrid to the National Museum of Underwater Archaeology inthe Mediterranean city of Cartagena. Displays are expected to startnext year, with some items put on rotating temporary displays atmuseums across the country.

Thoughprevious estimates have put the value of the treasure at $500million, Spanish officials said they weren't trying to determine anamount because the haul is part of the nation's cultural heritage andcan never be sold under Spanish law.

"It'sinvaluable," said Elisa de Cabo, the Culture Ministry's deputydirector of national heritage. "How would you put a price on theMona Lisa?"
Spain tookpossession of the treasure after courts rejected arguments thatFlorida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration was entitled to all or mostof the treasure. De Cabo said Spanish authorities are still trying toconvince a judge in Tampa that the American company should also beforced to pay Spain's legal costs.

Officials said Fridaythat the weight of the treasure was not the 17 tons reported duringthe legal fight because that included a ton of sea water used to helppreserve many of the silver coins in storage containers.
The inventorycounted 574,553 silver coins and 212 gold coins.

Odyssey hadargued that the wreck was never positively identified as theMercedes. And if it was that vessel, the company contended, then theship was on a commercial trade trip — not a sovereign mission —at the time it sank, meaning Spain would have no firm claim to thecargo. International treaties generally hold that warships sunk inbattle are protected from treasure seekers.

Odyssey lostevery round in federal courts as the Spanish government painted thecompany as modern-day pirates. The company has said in earningsstatements that it has spent $2.6 million salvaging, transporting,storing and conserving the treasure.

The metalswere mined and the coins minted in the Andes, from places that arenow in Bolivia, Chile and Peru.

Spain overcamea last-minute effort by the Peruvian government to block the transferof the treasure back to Spain. Peru did not gain its independenceuntil 1824, but the country's lawyers argued it was more than asimple colony at the time because it was the local seat of theSpanish crown when the ship sank.

Spain's QueenSofia promised in a visit to Bolivia several months ago that some ofthe treasure would be lent to the country for display in museums.
Author: AlanClendenning | Source: Associated Press [December 01, 2012]

Shell Housing?

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 I am not sure just what they are thinking here but then what of it.What we really need is internal thin wall insulation along with baseboard heating or its equivalent. I would also think out heatexchangers able to vacate an empty room and drop the temperature tofive degrees.
Other wise the precocious human monkey will fill up every spaceavailable to it with its acquisitions. Which of course why this lineof research is a waste.
No one wishes to step out into the barn.
RYERSON UNIVERSITYRESEARCH EXPLORES FEASIBILITY OF “HOUSE WITHIN A HOUSE” DESIGN
New findings suggestthat changes to home construction design could result in 80% energysavings
December 03, 2012
http://www.ryerson.ca/news/media/General_Public/20121203_rn_richman.html

Ryerson professorRussell Richman (left) with his research partners Ekaterina Tzekovaand Kim Pressnail, in front of the Toronto home that will beretrofitted with their nested thermal envelope design this winter.
As temperatures fallthis winter, heating costs will inevitably rise. In response,Canadians will pull out their slippers, light the hearth andvigilantly monitor their thermostats, but what more can be done?According to collaborative research led by Ryerson University, asimple change in the way we live in our homes, and the introductionof a heat pump, could save up to 80% on energy consumption.
Russell Richman, aprofessor in the Department of Architectural Science atRyerson University, is the co-principal investigator of an on-goingresearch project that explores the practicality of Nested ThermalEnvelope Design, a home construction design that employs zonalheating.  Space heating is the largest single contributor toresidential energy use in Canada at 60% of the total. Minimizingenvelope heat losses is one approach to reducing this percentage.Thanks to a construction research grant including $200,000 and$100,000 cash contributions from the Ontario Power Authority'sTechnology and Development Fund and the University of Toronto, thenested thermal envelope design will soon be implemented in a home indowntown Toronto.
“In the winter, youcould get savings by living in a smaller space, period,” saysRichman. “But you can’t just heat one room, because there is noinsulation between one room and the outside or other rooms. To do itreally well, you need to insulate the room and then insulate thewhole house. As we explain it, zonal heating is just a house within ahouse, or a box within a box.”
The nested thermalenvelope design has two key components.  First, the home must bedivided into two different zones; the perimeter and the core. Thecore is the home’s main living area, for example, the kitchen, theliving room and bedrooms. The perimeter is those less often usedrooms, such as a formal dining room, sunrooms and secondarybathrooms. Secondly, the home must have a small heating unit thatcycles heat from the perimeter into the core during the winterseason. The heat pump funnels heat lost to the perimeter back intothe core of the home, before it escapes the perimeter and is lost tothe exterior of the home. 
To take full advantageof the design, the home’s core must be set at a reasonabletemperature, for example 21 degrees, while the perimeter stays at 5degrees. It is important to note that living in the core of the homeis only necessary during the colder months, when the desire to savemoney on heating costs is at its height and when the disparitybetween indoor and outdoor temperatures is greatest.
This nested thermalenvelope design was originally conceived by Richman and hiscolleague, University of Toronto professor Kim Pressnail, following adiscussion between the pair on the heat loss they were experiencingin their own homes. After considering the practicality of simplyliving in fewer rooms, the researchers experimented with the practiceof living in a smaller space while also recycling heat from withintheir homes. Along with Ph.D. candidate Ekaterina Tzekova, also fromthe University of Toronto, the team has been evaluating variations onnested thermal envelope designs since 2007.
After drafting theoriginal design, the research team tested it using a building energysimulation program, called EnergyPlus.  Calculations revealed upto 80% in energy savings.
This winter, theresearchers are moving into the next stage of the project. The nestedthermal envelope design will be implemented into a home in downtownToronto.  The team will elect test subjects to live in the home,beginning with a student and, later on, the home will become aresidence for visiting professors. The research team will trackbehaviour patterns and get feedback from the occupants themselves.
“The question is, isit worth the additional effort of installing a heat pump? The pumpneeds to be servicing a lot of energy in order to validate thisdesign,” says Richman.  “There are so many researchquestions to be answered with the house. It’s always exciting totake theoretical research and turn it into practice.”
Richman and hiscolleagues hope to collect data from the home and its inhabitantsover the next five years, after which time they will continue theirresearch with a custom built home.
The group’spreliminary findings were published in the November 2012 issueofEnergy and Buildings.
Ryerson University isCanada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education and auniversity clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societalneed, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community,Ryerson offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs.Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university ishome to more than 28,000 students, including 2,300 master's and PhDstudents, nearly 2,700 faculty and staff, and 140,000 alumniworldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success andgrowth: externally funded research has doubled in the past fiveyears. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education isCanada's leading provider of university-based adult education. Formore information, visitwww.ryerson.ca.

Argentine Mom Rescues 900 Sex Slaves

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This one woman shows us the way forward. Sex slavery existseverywhere and is a profoundly criminal activity in its operation andorganization. It is one thing for the willing to participate and forthem legalization is necessary to avoid direct exploitation. That isstill insufficient to satisfy supply so long as it is criminalized.
Yet long before the laws are ever rationalized, here is the way. Onewomen has gone out and rescued nine hundred with no help. Nowsuppose this activity became church sponsored and suppose brothelswere confronted with a group of women demanding access and the timeto interview the victims. A dozen women on your doorstep soonchanges the political dynamic with the authorities. If one woman canaccomplish this much, how much can be accomplished by a volunteerfemale swat team.
The publicity alone will end most of the worst abuse quickly.
Argentine momrescues hundreds of sex slaves during long, failed hunt for kidnappeddaughter
By Emily Schmall,
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/argentine-mom-rescues-hundreds-sex-slaves-during-long-165510490.html

LA PLATA, Argentina -Susana Trimarco was a housewife who fussed over her family and paidscant attention to the news until her daughter left for a doctor'sappointment and never came back.After getting littlehelp from police, Trimarco launched her own investigation into a tipthat the 23-year-old was abducted and forced into sex slavery. Soon,Trimarco was visiting brothels seeking clues about her daughter andthe search took an additional goal: rescuing sex slaves and helpingthem start new lives.
What began as aone-woman campaign a decade ago developed into a movement andTrimarco today is a hero to hundreds of women she's rescued fromArgentine prostitution rings. She's been honoured with the "Womenof Courage" award by the U.S. State Department and was nominatedfor the Nobel Peace Prize on Nov. 28. Sunday night, PresidentCristina Fernandez gave her a human rights award before hundreds ofthousands of people in the Plaza de Mayo.
But years of exploringthe decadent criminal underground haven't led Trimarco to herdaughter, Maria de los Angeles "Marita" Veron, who was 23in 2002 when she disappeared from their hometown in provincialTucuman, leaving behind her own 3-year-old daughter Micaela.
"I live forthis," the 58-year-old Trimarco told The Associated Press of herongoing quest. "I have no other life, and the truth is, it is avery sad, very grim life that I wouldn't wish on anyone."
Her painful journeyhas now reached a milestone.
Publicity overTrimarco's efforts prompted Argentine authorities to make ahigh-profile example of her daughter's case by putting 13 people ontrial for allegedly kidnapping Veron and holding her as a sex slavein a family-run operation of illegal brothels. Prostitution is notillegal in Argentina, but the exploitation of women for sex is.
A verdict is expectedTuesday after a nearly yearlong trial.
The seven men and sixwomen have pleaded innocent and their lawyers have said there's nophysical proof supporting the charges against them. The allegedringleaders denied knowing Veron and said that women who work intheir brothels do so willingly. Prosecutors have asked for up to 25years imprisonment for those convicted.
Trimarco was theprimary witness during the trial, testifying for six straight daysabout her search for her daughter.
The road to trial wasa long one.
Frustrated by seemingindifference to her daughter's disappearance, Trimarco began her ownprobe and found a taxi driver who told of delivering Veron to abrothel where she was beaten and forced into prostitution. The driveris among the defendants.
With her husband andgranddaughter in tow, Trimarco disguised herself as a recruiter ofprostitutes and entered brothel after brothel searching for clues.She soon found herself immersed in the dangerous and grim world oforganized crime, gathering evidence against police, politicians andgangsters.
"For the firsttime, I really understood what was happening to my daughter,"she said. "I was with my husband and with Micaela, asleep in thebackseat of the car because she was still very small and I had no oneto leave her with."
The very first womanTrimarco rescued taught her to be strong, she said.
"It stuck with meforever: She told me not to let them see me cry, because theseshameless people who had my daughter would laugh at me, and at mypain," Trimarco said. "Since then I don't cry anymore. I'vemade myself strong, and when I feel that a tear might drop, Iremember these words and I keep my composure."
Micaela, now 13, hasbeen by her grandmother's side throughout, contributing to publicitycampaigns against human trafficking and keeping her mother's memoryalive.
More than 150witnesses testified in the trial, including a dozen former sex slaveswho described brutal conditions in the brothels.
Veron may have beenkidnapped twice, with the complicity of the very authorities whoshould have protected her, according to Julio Fernandez, who now runsa Tucuman police department devoted to investigating humantrafficking. He testified that witnesses reported seeing Veron at abus station three days after she initially disappeared, and that apolice officer from La Rioja, Domingo Pascual Andrada, delivered herto a brothel there. Andrada, now among the defendants, denied knowingany of the other defendants, let alone Veron.
Other Tucuman policetestified that when they sought permission in 2002 to search La Riojabrothels, a judge made them wait for hours, enabling Veron's captorsto move her. That version was supported by a woman who had been aprostitute at the brothel: She testified that Veron was moved justbefore police arrived. The judge, Daniel Moreno, is not on trial. Hedenied delaying the raid or having anything to do with thedefendants.
Some of the formerprostitutes said they had seen Veron drugged and haggard. Onetestified Veron felt trapped and missed her daughter. Another saidshe spotted Veron with dyed-blonde hair and an infant boy she wasforced to conceive in a rape by a ringleader. A third thought Veronhad been sold to a brothel in Spain — a lead reported to Interpol.
Trimarco's campaign tofind her daughter led the State Department to provide seed money fora foundation in Veron's name. To date, it has rescued more than 900women and girls from sex trafficking. The foundation also provideshousing, medical and psychological aid, and it helps victims sueformer captors.
Argentina outlawedhuman trafficking in 2008, thanks in large part to the foundation'swork. A new force dedicated to combating human trafficking hasliberated nearly 3,000 more victims in two years, said SecurityMinister Nilda Garre, who wrote a newspaper commentary saying thetrial's verdict should set an example.
Whatever the verdict,Trimarco's lawyer, Carlos Garmendia, says the case has already made adifference.
"Humantrafficking was an invisible problem until the Marita (Veron) case,"Garmendia said. "The case has put it on the national agenda."
But Trimarco wantsmore. "I had hoped they would break down and say what they'ddone with Marita," she said.
"I feel here inmy breast that she is alive and I'm not going to stop until I findher," Trimarco said. "If she's no longer in this world, Iwant her body."

How to Prevent Mass Shootings

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 I do not know what will come forth from the recent tragedy but I amcertain that if no change takes place, then this will be followed byan even more spectacular outcome. This article is excellent andclearly shows us our real options.
To start with, mental health management and therapies are all farless than any hoped for ideal. The trend lines are positive in termsof developing protocols, but management of the victims has beenthrown back on the families who are generally overwhelmed andnaturally inept at working with the problem if only because they lackdistance. In fact it surely worsens the risk.
Effective gun control protocols are necessary. The correct way is toinsist on a high level of weapons training oriented to the weaponbeen licensed and ongoing refresher training in order to maintain thelicense. This is tough, but it satisfies the personal need to packwith societies need to have the weapon handled by highly trainedindividuals. It says nowhere in the constitution that the price ofcarrying a weapon will be free of responsibility. It is theresponsibility that we enforce.
In the recent case, the training program by experienced third partieswho would be expected to vouch for the trainee is quite capable toslap a hold on such a kid. Even better, the mother needed a seriousindependent perspective in her life. If you do not understand whatis flowing through a person's mind, then it must be simple sense tosecure the weapons. That did not happen here.
A turn down by an experienced third party could have led directly tomandatory supervision of the weapons at a secure site.
My core point is that weapons use like car use is a jealouslyprotected privilege and not a right.


How to Prevent MassShootings
Wednesday, 19 December2012 00:00By James L Knoll IV, Truthout
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13351-how-to-prevent-mass-shootings-a-case-in-point
Psychiatry alonecannot solve the tragic problem of mass murder. Careful reflection ongun control laws, responsible media reporting and heroic reporting byintimates of potential perpetrators could help.
"Thankfully wehad a responsible family member or we might have had a differentoutcome."
- Bolivar, MissouriPolice Chief
Each time another massshooting happens in the US, the response is entirely predictable.After the media coverage subsides a bit, a familiar sequenceunfolds:Who is this person? How did the "mental health system"fail him? How did he get his hands on such a powerful arsenal? Ifonly the actual tragedy was so predictable beforehand.
Mass murderpredictable? Not likely. Preventable? Well, here is where I believewe have a bit of a chance. But it depends. How much do we really wantto prevent mass murder? And by "how much" I mean: How muchresponsibility are we willing to take on in an effort to make ameaningful difference? We can talk about it for a few more decades,and in the meantime we will likely have a few more Sandy Hooks,Auroras, Virginia Techs or Columbines. I cannot mount an argumentagainst those who proclaim these tragedies are impossible to predictor prevent solely with psychiatric efforts. I can't and I won't,because I agree with them. But I do believe there are other ways thatare far more effective, and ultimately, far more beneficial forsociety.
It turns out thatrecently, Bolivar, Missouri narrowly avoided becoming the nextAurora. How? The mother of a potential mass murderer contacted policebecause she was worried that her son, Blaec Lammers, had intentionsof shooting people during the opening of the final film in thepopular Twilight vampire movie series. Predictably, themother was right to be concerned. When Tricia Lammers' son wasquestioned by police, he said he had already bought tickets and"planned to shoot people inside the theater." Uponinvestigation, police found that Lammers "did have the weapons;he did have the ammunition ... and then he made the statements to theofficer about what his plans were."This leads me to oneof my first suggestions on how to prevent mass murder. The mayor ofBolivar, or better yet the governor of Missouri, should give TriciaLammers a medal. In fact, if neither party will do this, I willpersonally have one made and sent to her. The medal will be engravedwith the words: "For Brave, Humane and Lifesaving Action."
How many can say thatthey saved potentially dozens of lives, while also saving the lifeand mental health of a family member? Tricia Lammers - I applaud you,and others should as well. Am I making too big a deal out of thismother's actions? I do not believe so. I think her act represents oneof the strongest methods of prevention available. Third parties,particularly family members, are the most likely tohave pre-offense knowledge or significant concerns.2 Inother words, potential mass murderers often "leak theirintent"3 to third parties who, in turn, remainquiet for various reasons.4 But it is important for familymembers to know that help and resources exist. Tricia Lammers wasable to rely on some of these resources, most notablythe National Alliance for Mental Illness, which has offices allover the country.
In contrast to Ms.Lammers, the silence of third parties seals the fate of both theirloved one and scores of innocent people. Need another example? Theyare not difficult to find. Take the relatively recent case of AndersBehring Breivik who, on July 22, 2011, obliterated more than70 innocent people in Oslo.7 Breivik's sister had beenconcerned enough to warn her mother at least two yearsprior to the tragedy.
At this point in time,most authorities agree that preventing mass murder requires measureswell above and beyond the "mental health system."9 Forexample, after Jared Loughner perpetrated the tragic mass shooting inTucson, mental health experts concurred that "homicidesperpetrated with firearms against strangers by individuals withmental disorders occur far too infrequently" to predict orprevent with mental health efforts alone.10 Yet after the Tucsontragedy, there was still the familiar media refrain: "Didthe system fail Jared Lee Loughner?"[emphasis added]
The "MentalHealth System?"
When the inevitablehuman tragedy recurs, point not at the system - for youwill be pointing at nothing at all. An apparition. A fiction createdsome 50 years ago, which only returns as a ghost in the night. And soit goes - American society seems comfortable to periodically point atand condemn the ghost every now and then whenever a serious hauntingtakes place. But many are not likely in a position to see the cyclespsychiatrists see due to their permanent residence near thegraveyard. We see the perpetual tragedies, followed by the hauntingincantations: "The system ... the system failed him...."
It is my contentionthat there exists no legitimate "system" in the US when itcomes to mental health treatment. Despite this, we most certainlywant to believe in one, particularly so that when tragedies occur, wewill have something to cast our outrage upon. For example, when askedin a poll where they placed blame for the Tucson shooting, a majorityof Americans said in a USA Today/Gallup Poll that they placed a"great deal of blame on mental health system failures."Since it is possible that the term "mental health system"may be thrown about loose and fast, let us consider it with a bitmore precision.From a literalperspective, one might define a system as: an organized, regularlyinteracting set of principles forming a network - especially fordistributing something or serving a common purpose. Even moregermane, the Surgeon General's report on mental health14 givesus the following definition: "[D]iverse, relatively independent,and loosely coordinated facilities and services - both public andprivate - that researchers refer to, collectively, as the defacto mental health service system" (emphasis not added). Sincea particular legal term has been invoked, let us examine thedefinition of de facto. Here we discover both a lay and a legaldefinition respectively:
1. Exercising power orserving a function without being legally or officiallyestablished;
2. Used to characterize... a state of affairs thatmust be accepted for all practical purposes, but is illegal orillegitimate.16
Thus, per the SurgeonGeneral's own definition, the "system" is at best,unofficial and at worst illegitimate. Why might it be that in 2012,we have no "legal or legitimate" mental health system?Returning to the Surgeon General's report, we are told that:"Effective functioning of the mental health service systemrequires connections and coordination among many sectors.... Withoutcoordination, it can readily become organizationally fragmented,creating barriers to access. Adding to the system's complexity is itsdependence on many streams of funding, with their sometimes competingincentives."
So it appears thatboth lack of coordination and funding inconsistencies confound thesystem. But as it turns out, these are problems that have never beenadequately addressed since the time of their inception -deinstitutionalization. Deinstitutionalization was the term used todescribe the rapid emptying out of state mental hospitals beginningin the 60s and 70s due to a number of factors, including: thepatients' rights movement, financial reasons, early hopes for a"magic bullet" in the form of antipsychotic medications andthe never-realized hopes for adequate community mental healthservices. Thus, deinstitutionalization became"trans-institutionalization" - also referred to as the"criminalization" of mentally ill persons.17, 18 Extremelylaudable efforts have been made to divert persons with serious mentalillness away from corrections (e.g., jail diversion and mental healthcourts).19, 20,21 But the fact remains that there are largenumbers of persons with serious mental illness in the correctionalsystem, and the trend shows no signs of reversing itself.
In Virginia, jails nowhouse more persons with SMI than do Virginia psychiatrichospitals.22 The Los Angeles correctional system has beenreferred to as America's largest psychiatric facility.23 Itis now jails that serve as the "predominant settings forproviding acute psychiatric inpatient treatment."24 Duringthis era of retribution, corrections facilities earned theirdesignation as "the new asylums." Correctionaladministrators readily concede that their facilities are being usedas "dumping grounds for many individuals who could be betterserved through early intervention in noncustodial environmentsbecause other options are just not available."26 But alas,"interventions in noncustodial environments" are in shortsupply in 2012.
Couldn't this havebeen foreseen? Quite unlikely I believe, for a variety of reasons,including: "The fact that most deinstitutionalized peoplesuffer from various forms of brain dysfunction [which] was not aswell understood when the policy ofdeinstitutionalization got underway." Indeed, it was poorly planned deinstitutionalizationthat created our present illusion of a system "by dischargingpeople from public psychiatric hospitals without ensuring that theyreceived the medication and rehabilitation services necessary forthem to live successfully in the community."30 The mental healthsystem has failed no one, simply because there is no system to speakof. Thus, we must look elsewhere for solutions to violent outburstsby mass murderers, most of whom have never accessed mental healthcare to begin with.
Mass Murder - Whatis it?
Mass murder is norecent phenomenon. It has occurred since well before the CharlesWhitman shooting in 1966 at my alma mater, the University of Texas atAustin. However, access to powerful, automatic firearms, mediaattention and a possible glorification of the phenomenon amongcertain vulnerable, disaffected individuals are factors makingpresent day mass murders unique.
Mass murder, strictlydefined, is the killing of four or more victims at one locationwithin one event.28 It is both a rare and catastrophic event that isusually carried out by a single individual. Mass murder isdistinguished from both spree and serial murder. In the case ofserial murder: There have been at least two victims, the victims arekilled in a non-continuous fashion (i.e., there is an emotional"cooling off" period between murders), and the murdersusually involve a sexual component.29 In contrast, a spree murderinvolves killings at two or more locations with very little time inbetween murders and no cooling off period.31 The type ofmass murder discussed here involves those carried out by a single,heavily armed individual who is very likely to expect to die as aresult of the event. This further distinguishes it from gang-relatedmass murder, in which the perpetrators do not typically expect todie, and their motive involves various forms of profit, drug trade orterritorial disputes.33
At the present time,it is typically the high-profile cases that are most heavily coveredby the media; yet these are the least representative. In many cases,the precise number of victims may be arbitrary. Research has beenslow in the area of mass murder, and there is not yet an officiallyaccepted typology. However, it is clear that not all mass murderersare alike in their motivations and psychology. Some may be driven bystrong feelings of revenge born of social alienation or a perceivedinjustice. Others may also suffer from severe depression or, rarely,psychosis. Still others may resemble terrorists with idiosyncraticpolitical beliefs. Such was the case with a Polish chemistryprofessor who was recently arrested before he could blow up aparliament building. Dr. Brunon Kwiecien openly supported Breivik,and wished to carry out a similar attack, but on a largerscale. His wife alerted authorities after he asked her how he couldmake a biological "dirty bomb." When he was apprehended, hewas found to be in possession of high-powered, military-gradeexplosives, bomb-making equipment, several hundred rounds ofammunition, a bulletproof vest and a pistol.
The majority ofresearch indicates that there are factors common to mass murdererssuch as: extreme feelings of anger and revenge, the lack of anaccomplice (in adult mass murder), feelings of social alienation andplanning/organizing the offense. In a detailed case study of fivemass murderers who were caught before they were killed, a number ofcommon traits and historical factors were found.35 The subjectshad all been bullied or isolated as children, turning into loners whofelt despair over being socially excluded. They were described assuspicious, resentful, grudge-holders who demonstrated obsessive andinflexible thinking.
Not surprisingly, theywere also narcissistic and coped with personal problems by blamingothers. Their worldview was characterized by seeing most others asrejecting and uncaring. As a result, they spent a great deal of timenurturing their resentment and ruminating on past humiliations. Theruminations evolved into fantasies of violent revenge. They did notsee their own violent death as a deterrent, particularly because theyperceived it as bringing them fame with an aura of power. Carefulstudy of individual cases of mass murder often reveals that theoffender felt compelled to leave some type of finalmessage.36,37 These messages may be written, videotaped orposted on the internet or social media networks.38
In sum, the factorsassociated with, and contributing to, mass murder are complex andmulti-determined. Biological factors may include possiblebrain pathology, as well as psychiatricillnesses. Psychological factors include a negative orfragile self-image, a strong sense of entitlement, and vulnerabilityto humiliation. Social factors include socialisolation/alienation, being bullied and marital or financial loss.
Mass Murder - Canit be Prevented?
Mass murder is quiterare, and depends on the fluid vicissitudes of an extremelydistraught and nihilistic individual who has access to firearms andammunition. This must be kept firmly in mind when attempting toformulate preventive solutions. The reality is that mass murdercannot be "predicted" as such, particularly by personsoutside the perpetrator's social circle.39 Any hopes ofprevention must rely on various approaches acting together to providea widely-cast safety net.40
How much does societytruly wish to tackle this problem? Yes, it's rare, but the fallout isprofound, devastating and long-lasting. I conclude that it is societythat must first decide if it cares enough to take meaningful action.I will forever advocate for better mental health services andimproved access to care. However, at the present time, measures suchas screening for prior psychiatric treatment (often in the distantpast) among individuals who want to legally purchasefirearms represents no meaningful intervention.41, 42, 43 HereI refer to the Brady Act and relevant portions of the NationalInstant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Not only does thepresent patchwork of inconsistent NICS procedures across the countrydo nothing to solve the problem, but it is also wasteful of preciousresources.
Experience has shownus that, at this point in time, the higher yield interventionsare:
1. Third-partyreporting of concerns or leaked intent2. Sensible guncontrol laws3. Mediaresponsibility
Having alreadyaddressed the issue of third-party reporting with the example ofLammers' mother, I now turn to the perennial and contentious subjectof gun control in the US. It turns out that countries with lessstringent gun control laws have been observed to have a higher riskof mass murder than countries with stricter laws.44 In contrast,consider an Australian observational study done in the wake of ahighly publicized 1996 mass shooting in Tasmania.45 The studycompared mass murders before and after Australia enacted gun lawreforms that included removing semiautomatic firearms, pump-actionshotguns and rifles from civilian possession. In the 18 yearsbefore the gun laws, there were 13 mass shootings in Australia. Inthe 10-and-a-half years after the gun law reforms, there were none.
Dr. Allen Frances,chairman of the DSM-IV, has framed the situation a bit more bluntly.He believes we have only two choices: "Accept mass murder as apart of the American way of life ... [or] get in line with the restof the civilized world and adopt sane gun controlpolicies."46 But Dr. Frances' latter option seems difficultfor many to consider, let alone accept. Others, such as MichaelMoore, have speculated that it is our deep seated,long-standing fear that keeps us clutching at our guns. 48 Iwill not lay out here all of the debate, but would only point outthat there is "no other democracy on the face of earth thatexperiences this type of gun violence. We are the only free societythat has yet to address this problem."49
Our rates of gunviolence far exceed that of other countries. In a piece on gunviolence in the US, Fareed Zakaria noted that: "The gun-homiciderate per capita in the US is 30 times that of Britain and Australia,10 times that of India and four times that of Switzerland. Whenconfronted with such a large deviation, a scholar would ask, 'DoesAmerica have some potential cause for this that is also off thechart?' I doubt that anyone seriously thinks we have 30 times as manycrazy people as Britain or Australia. But we do have many, manymore guns."
Given theseassociations, and the fact that at the present time, psychiatry islargely impotent to "stop" or "predict" massmurder, what can be done? Perhaps confronting gun-relatedviolence as a serious public health issue is a start. For example,adopting sensible restrictions "such as eliminating thesale of semi-automatic weapons."51This is an approach that hasalready been advocated by both the American Psychiatric Associationand the International Association of Chiefs of Police. But of course,it must ultimately be society that decides to take this path. If andwhen it does, it will be critical for the regulations to be appliednationally, or otherwise be doomed to failure: "A piecemealapproach to firearms regulation that affects only some cities orstates cannot be expected to produce a robust effect on gun-homicidesor mass shootings."
The issue of mediaresponsibility in helping to prevent mass murder has been highlightedsince the Columbine and Virginia Tech tragedies. It became clearafter these events, that some perpetrators were, in part, motivatedby the infamy they saw past mass murderers receive via news coverage.Although some news media may be disinclined to admit it, they mayoften be in the business of searching for "the right sort ofmadness" to capture the public's imagination.52 This mayinvolve exploiting violent and tragic acts carried out by mentally oremotionally disturbed individuals. In reality, it is a difficult taskto report the occurrence of a mass murder in such a way that thepublic is adequately informed, yet certain details (e.g., numbers ofvictims, whether the offender was killed, etc.) are not reported.Efforts to develop a universal reporting code have been recommendedthat would appropriately cover the tragedy and reduce the impact ofthe copycat effect.53 Most recommendations involve ensuring thatthe perpetrator is neither glorified nor demonized. In fact, avoidingmuch emphasis on the perpetrator seems to be a good general rule.Rather, media should emphasize victim and community recovery efforts.
As a psychiatrist, Idesperately wish that improved psychiatric care and access totreatment could save the day. I have little doubt that over theyears, unsung mental health heroes have averted possible mass murdertragedies. Yet it seems all too clear to me that this is simplynot a problem that psychiatry can solve on its own. No one shouldexpect psychiatry to do the impossible - it already has its handsfull with the possible. Therefore, I am suggesting threeadditional methods of prevention that should be seriously consideredif we wish to confront the tragic phenomenon of mass murder: carefulreflection on gun control laws, responsible media reporting, andfinally - acknowledging the heroism of Tricia Lammers in the hopesthat more will follow her example.

Aging Boomer's Blog

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Hey, a short entry today to plug my relatively new website where I'm blogging on a regular basis about getting older and all the trappings that come with it.

I named the site cleverly...

AgingBoomersBlog.com

Okay, so that's not so clever. But it was an available domain name that more-or-less reflected what it was going to be about.

Anyway, if you're an aging boomer, surf on over and bookmark my new site. Then spend some time there reading the many posts already up and then spending some more time commenting and moving the discussions forward.

I promise my AgingBoomersBlog.com will never be dull or boring or politically correct!

Chet "Aging Boomer" Day
Editor, The Natural Health Circus
http://chetday.com/blog

The Next Twenty Years

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 It is easy to project visible trends into the future and assume thatthey matter. It is generally a flawed methodology. New trendsemerge and grow exponentially until they achieve equilibrium. Recallthat twenty years ago that the internet was not even imagined. Twenty years before, the core protocols of the computer age werestill been test driven and Exxon was advertising how they had driventhe price of oil down for years. Twenty years before that we hardlyunderstood labor saving devices and lived with the tyranny ofyouthful sexuality and the necessary early pregnancies.
Let me make a couple of bold suggestions.
1 In twenty years the entire global population will live what weunderstand to be a modest middle class lifeway in modest communitiesdesigned to provides a full spectrum of services and support for allits members and tightly tied to the land. That is the objective ofthis blog and its implementation this quickly is feasible and likely. We are helping set these exponential trends in motion here.
2 Energy will be universally available from either geothermal, safethermal or fusion powered. The system will be hyper-efficient andlose little. Personal transportation will be universally electric. The oil industry will be a shadow of itself while coal will beextinct. It will change over that quickly.
3 Centralized political power will be waning except to focus globalefforts on Space development.
4 Global military power will be hugely diminished and be set up inthe form of crusader corps able to confront any remnant belligerence.
5 Huge nuclear powered air-cushioned icebreakers will dominate globalcontainer traffic and huge airships will dominate long distance landhaulage. Air cushion rail will begin to emerge to handle bulkhaulage.
6 The Holodec will become available.
7 The Magnetic Field Exclusion Vessel will be well on the way toreality allowing easy operations in the Solar System. (Google MFEV myblog)
8 Our diets will convert to a protocol that effectively eliminatescancers and chronic heart disease allowing a natural lifespan toreach 100. Access to telomere protocols will begin extending thoselifespans for the worthy.
9 The global internal growth rate will mature at around 3 to 4 % by2050. We will all master the art of happiness.
The really big change though will be the slow disappearance of Statepower as an end in itself. We are reaching a tipping point here andI hope that it does not become too bloody before a global resolutionasserts itself.




Intel report seesU.S. losing superpower status by 2030
Doug Stanglin, USATODAYShare
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/10/us-global-trend-intelligence-report-superpower-2030/1758465/


It predicts no countrywill have hegemonic power in a shift to "networks and coalitionsin a multipolar world."

11:29AM EST December10. 2012 - A report by theNational Intelligence Council predictsthat the United States will lose its superpower status by 2030, butthat no country -- including China -- will be a hegemonic power.
Instead, the reportsays, power will shift to "networks and coalitions in amultipolar world."
The council, whichwrote Global Trends 2030, was established in 1979. It supportsthe U.S. director of National Intelligence and is the intelligencecommunity's center for long-term strategic analysis.
The council'sintelligence officers are drawn from government, academia and theprivate sector.
"The world of2030 will be radically transformed from our world today," thereport concludes. "By 2030, no country -- whether the U.S.,China, or any other large country -- will be a hegemonic power."The report also findsthat the empowerment of individuals and a diffusion of power amongstates -- and from states -- to informal networks will have a"dramatic impact."
This development, thereport finds, will largely reverse the historic rise of the Westsince 1750, "restoring Asia's weight in the global economy andushering in a new era of 'democratization' at the international anddomestic level."
The report furtherexpects the rapid aging of the world population to continue as wellas a growing demand on resources, which might lead to scarcities offood and water.
Among its assessment,the report looks at plausible worst-case and best-case scenarios overthe next two decades.
In the formercategory, it sees the risk of interstate conflict increasing and theU.S. "draws inward and globalization stalls."
In the best-casescenario, China and the U.S. collaborate on a range of issues,leading to a broader global cooperation.


The world of 2030:U.S. declines; food, water may be scarce
By Olivier Knox,
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/world-2030-u-declines-food-water-may-scarce-162757458--politics.html

Sorry, everyone, butflying cars don't appear in the "Global Trends 2030:Alternative Worlds"report that the director of nationalintelligence's office made public on Monday.
Instead, the NationalIntelligence Council paints the picture of a world in which the U.S.is no longer the unquestionably dominant global player; individualsand small groups may carry out devastating cyber or bioterrorattacks; oh, and food and water may be running short in some places.
The 160-page report isa great read for anyone in the business of crafting the script forthe next James Bond movie, a treasure trove of potential scenariosfor international intrigue, not to mention super-villainy. But thecouncil took pains to say that what it foresees is not set in stone.The goal is to provide policymakers with some idea of what the futureholds in order to help them steer the right economic and militarycourses.
"We do not seekto predict the future—which would be an impossible feat—butinstead provide a framework for thinking about possible futures andtheir implications," the report cautioned.
Other ideas thefuturists reported: Global population will reach "somewhereclose to 8.3 billion people," and food and water may be runningscarce in some areas, especially regions like Africa and the MiddleEast.
"Climatechange will worsen the outlook for the availability of these criticalresources," the report said. "Climate change analysissuggests that the severity of existing weather patterns willintensify, with wet areas getting wetter, and dry and arid areasbecoming more so."We are not necessarily headed into a world ofscarcities, but policymakers and their private sector partners willneed to be proactive to avoid such a future."
What about America in2030? The report predicts that the U.S. "most likely will remain'first among equals' among the other great powers." But "withthe rapid rise of other countries, the 'unipolar moment' is over andPax Americana—the era of American ascendancy in internationalpolitics that began in 1945—is fast winding down."
Also, "Asia willhave surpassed North America and Europe combined in terms of globalpower, based upon GDP [Gross Domestic Product], population size,military spending and technological investment," the reportsaid.
It also suggests thatIslamist extremism may be a thing of the past in 2030. But thatdoesn't mean small groups won't try to wreak havoc.
"With morewidespread access to lethal and disruptive technologies, individualswho are experts in such niche areas as cyber systems might sell theirservices to the highest bidder, including terrorists who would focusless on causing mass casualties and more on creating widespreadeconomic and financial disruptions," said the report.
Four "megatrends"shaping the world were cited: growing individual empowerment;diffusion of power; major shifts in demographics; and rising demandfor food, water and energy.
The report also seesthe potential for "black swan" shocks to the system. Theseinclude: a severe pandemic; faster-than-forecast climate change; thecollapse of the European Union; the collapse of China (or its embraceof democracy); and a reformed Iran that abandons its suspectednuclear weapons program. They also include a conflict using nuclear,chemical, or biological weapons, or a large-scale cyber-attack; solargeomagnetic storms that may knock out satellites and the electricgrid; or a sudden retreat of the U.S. from global affairs.
So what about theflying cars, a staple of science fiction? The report is mum on thatfront, but it does raise the intriguing possibility that"self-driving cars could begin to address the worseningcongestion in urban areas, reduce roadway accidents, and improveindividuals' productivity (by allowing drivers the freedom to workthrough their commutes)."
And the cool cats overat Wired magazine's "Danger Room" national security bloghave underlined how the report sees the growth of other technologies,including "superhumans" potentially roaming thelandscape.

Greenland Ice Loss up Five Fold in Two Decades

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So what has reallychanged? The data has been adjusted better this time around? Antarctica is presently at maximum ice extent or pulse.
Of course the Northernhemisphere remains half a degree warmer and this allows a blanketloss of ice. Could someone explain just what part of Greenland ispresently losing more ice than snow is adding and the reverse? Howfar has this boundary retreated?
Historically, these warmperiods usually are good for a couple of decades at least before theyreverse. Since it has become clear that CO2 is not a driver, itremains to the historical record to inform us.
What would really ruin myday is to see an abrupt return to conditions of two centuries ago.

Polar Ice Loss Increased‘Five-Fold’ in 20 Years
Researchers say study is mostaccurate to date

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/polar-ice-loss-increased-five-fold-in-20-years-320224.html
Over the past twodecades, ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica caused an11-millimeter rise in the world’s sea levels, according to a newstudy compiled by researchers who say it is the most accuratemeasurement of ice loss to date.
“Both ice sheetsappear to be losing more ice now than 20 years ago, but the paceof ice loss from Greenland is extraordinary, with nearly a fivefoldincrease since the mid-1990s,” stated Erik Ivins ofNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who helped lead the study. “Incontrast, the overall loss of ice in Antarctica has remained fairlyconstant, with the data suggesting a 50 percent increase inAntarctic ice loss during the last decade.”[? - arclein]
Published in thejournal Science on Thursday, led by scientists at the Universityof Leeds, and involving 47 researchers, the study used aircraftand 10 different satellites to measure the ice and its rate of melt.The research was backed by the European Space Agency and NASA.
The 11.1-millimeter,or 0.47-inch rise in sea levels from the polar ice sheets makes up afifth of the total rise over the survey period. The remaining sealevel rise was caused by ice melt in other places, such as glaciersand ice caps, the expansion of the warming oceans, and by groundwatermining, according to the release.
The overall rate ofmelting of the ice sheets in both Greenland and Antarctica hasincreased over time. They are now shedding more than three times asmuch ice—contributing to 0.95 mm rise in sea level per year—thanin the 1990s, when both were losing the equivalent of 0.27 mm peryear.Advertisement
Together, the two areas lose around 344 billion tons of iceeach year, researchers estimate, and of that, Greenland’s share isaround 263 billion tons, which was about what they expected. Theremainder was lost in Antarctica.
In previous years,there was a disagreement about the amount of ice lost, especiallyin Antarctica. Some studies showed massive ice loss and others evenshowed a gain in ice.
In this latest study,researchers were able to “reconcile the differences” amongnumerous previous studies on the matter, a release from LeedsUniversity states.
One of the issues withmeasuring ice loss is the remoteness of the locations—Greenland ismostly uninhabited and Antarctica is entirely uninhabited, save a fewscientists—and the massive size of the ice sheets. Scientists alsohave to differentiate between snow and ice.
The scientists saidthe newest study’s data is consistent with climate changepredictions laid out in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange. However, the latest data offers clarity that the 2007 studydid not.
“Without theseefforts, we would not be in a position to tell people with confidencehow Earth’s ice sheets have changed, and to end the uncertaintythat has existed for many years,” said professor Andrew Shepherd,head of the study.