Oh, please don't get me wrong. Croupier is still an enjoyable movie its just that I found it a bit too much of a character study and musings on luck versus a movie that really dealt with a casino caper. Its more a character study with the trappings of gambling. The lack of film-noir lighting and film-noir camera angles may give us pause to consider the "neo-noir" tag but the characters conform to a traditional film-noir role. All streets are blind alleys, all females are gin-soaked temptresses that lead a man to his doom
We all knew why the dark glasses were being worn and that the shiner was probably her artfully applied make up. We all knew there was a bandaged wrist but probably a totally uninjured one. We knew it was to be a ploy to ensnare him into aiding a lady in distress. We knew the shoe would drop that very night. And it did.
Its a duality of human nature movie (he rapes Bella but her mind consents almost as quickly as her body does) yet he winds up with her. He does get the second installment on his services for being an inside man, but he gets it from an unlikely source that he had utter contempt for. Clearly the people closing in on him in the casino are there for a reason rather than being the random chance-happenings that his writer persona imagines them to be. His persona is that of a morally and emotionally detached but superior observer of the foolishness of gamblers yet in reality he is the one who has clearly been a poor observer of those around him. And although he has observed and even raised some questions about the activities at the casino and the involvement of casino personnel, it is he who has focused on a tree or two but entirely missed seeing the forest. All the while he was having contempt for the naive gamblers, he himself was the most naive gambler.
So its bemused and detached observer being revealed as a duped patsy but not truly an unhappy victim. And this makes him identical to the sorry gamblers he has been observing all the while.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Do you think French plastic surgeons have never heard?
Its an oft-repeated phrase: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
French surgeons found the man's prices to be unbeatable and his firm grew to be the third largest supplier of breast implants, but no one ever asked how he could possibly have such unbeatable prices. He closed down his butcher shop to become a manufacturer of breast implants and his prices were low because he used industrial grade rather than medical grade silicone. As a further testament to his character he had been banned from several poker rooms and casinos.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078269/Interpol-launches-manhunt-breast-implant-butcher.html#ixzz1hbA6GjwB
French surgeons found the man's prices to be unbeatable and his firm grew to be the third largest supplier of breast implants, but no one ever asked how he could possibly have such unbeatable prices. He closed down his butcher shop to become a manufacturer of breast implants and his prices were low because he used industrial grade rather than medical grade silicone. As a further testament to his character he had been banned from several poker rooms and casinos.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078269/Interpol-launches-manhunt-breast-implant-butcher.html#ixzz1hbA6GjwB
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Davina Lindgren
Davina Lindgren, 21. Found dead in her cabin aboard the M/Y Lauren L off Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand.
RIP
RIP
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Extremely rare events can still be unacceptable.
The Quantas A330 uncommanded dive from FL37 which propelled dozens of unrestrained passengers into the overhead three years ago has been blamed on a computer glitch and the various press releases are stressing the overall reliability of the sensors and the fly by wire computer system. Yes, its a rare event but the computer code that allowed action based on inputs from one of three sensors without doing any data validation first was an unacceptable programming error. The malfunctioning sensor's data should be compared with immediately prior values and with values from other sensors before being acted upon. And a prior warning to the cockpit of sensor disagreement should be sent. Its truly rare, but it happens and a computer that automatically accepts and acts upon such errors is not safe. All those millions of miles flown and thousands of hours of operation without incident were lucky, but not safe.
The algorithm compared two angle-of-attack indicators. If the readings were close, it averaged the two values and declared that the value to be passed on to further flight control systems. If the two values differed greatly the algorithm did not enter into any evaluation mode to determine reliability or data quality it simply discarded each angle of attack indicator's data and defaulted to the angle of attack determination that had been made 1.2 seconds previously. Unfortunately one of the two angle of attack indicators starting releasing spurious values every 1.2 seconds and the algorithm defaulted to erroneous values that made the flight control computer think the plane was at a very high angle of attack and that a stall would take place if the nose were not lowered immediately.
The pilots were not able to counteract the error since the fly by wire system over rides any pilot input that is unsafe.
The algorithm compared two angle-of-attack indicators. If the readings were close, it averaged the two values and declared that the value to be passed on to further flight control systems. If the two values differed greatly the algorithm did not enter into any evaluation mode to determine reliability or data quality it simply discarded each angle of attack indicator's data and defaulted to the angle of attack determination that had been made 1.2 seconds previously. Unfortunately one of the two angle of attack indicators starting releasing spurious values every 1.2 seconds and the algorithm defaulted to erroneous values that made the flight control computer think the plane was at a very high angle of attack and that a stall would take place if the nose were not lowered immediately.
The pilots were not able to counteract the error since the fly by wire system over rides any pilot input that is unsafe.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Shirley McKie receives apology ...Public receives pablum!
Shirley McKie received a brief, pro-forma apology as the Forensic Services and Strathclyde police bask in whitewash. The official party line is now that fingerprint comparisons are merely the opinions of scientists and scientists are prone to disputes and conflicting opinions innocent of any underlying improper motivations.
The truth is simple.
Detective Constable Shirley McKie never entered the premises she had been guarding and therefore knew she could not have left her fingerprint on the jamb of the bedroom doorway. Her arrest and prosecution was almost certainly police retaliation for her having informed the defense lawyer of probable evidence contamination in a case that was embarrassing to the Strathclyde police. This was undoubtedly viewed by the police as a treasonous act of betrayal.
As to the two prints, it is now and always has been perfectly clear to anyone with the slightest training and experience in fingerprint examination that the impression made on Shirley McKie's official index card and the impression taken from the door jamb at the crime scene could not possibly have been made by the same finger. There is no valid basis for making any contrary claim and any expert who makes such a contrary claim does indeed do so on a basis other than a regard for the truthful reporting of his interpretations.
A photograph of Mike Tyson, a black male boxer, and a photograph of Paris Hilton, a white female media twit, bear several points of similarity but no matter how many such points of similarity are considered or what weight they are given no one would ever say that there is a forensic "match". And any Scottish inquiry that soft-pedals their questioning on such a matter does the Scottish public no good.
Shirley McKie was dragged thru the courts and railroaded into the poorhouse and the nuthouse by the Strathclyde Constabulary. She never entered the premises, she never had sex on the premises, she never lied about the case at all.
There is no question that the Shirley McKie case was a political one right from the start. As four Scottish experts testified that Shirley McKie had left the crime scene print there were five Scottish experts who were prevented from testifying that the crime scene print was not made by Shirley McKie and that any expert opinions to the contrary were clearly unsupportable. When the issue became an international one that extended to the entire fingerprint examination field, hordes of experts proclaimed that the crime scene print was definitely not from Shirley McKie. Many experts were also willing to add that anyone expressing an opinion that the crime scene print was that of Shirley McKie were not competent examiners.
Ian McKie: "We now have 13 experts proved to have made two misidentifications in the one case because of human error and frailty which they were able to sustain for nearly 14 years and in some cases still sustain. Throughout these years they were given countless opportunities to right the wrongs and accept their mistakes. Because of human error and despite having the most up to date identification tools available they were unable to do this and we must conclude innocently persisted with their provably flawed conclusions.
That not all these experts came from the same jurisdiction where it could be argued that the same culture, procedures and supervisory structures were in place only goes to reinforce the seriousness of the challenge fingerprinting faces from this report. We must assume that some of these conclusions were independently reached and did not result from some conspiracy, collective cultural arrogance or flawed organisational procedures. These were ordinary experts, many with a proven track record of excellence, who were able to get it wrong and persist in their erroneous conclusions."
The truth is simple.
Detective Constable Shirley McKie never entered the premises she had been guarding and therefore knew she could not have left her fingerprint on the jamb of the bedroom doorway. Her arrest and prosecution was almost certainly police retaliation for her having informed the defense lawyer of probable evidence contamination in a case that was embarrassing to the Strathclyde police. This was undoubtedly viewed by the police as a treasonous act of betrayal.
As to the two prints, it is now and always has been perfectly clear to anyone with the slightest training and experience in fingerprint examination that the impression made on Shirley McKie's official index card and the impression taken from the door jamb at the crime scene could not possibly have been made by the same finger. There is no valid basis for making any contrary claim and any expert who makes such a contrary claim does indeed do so on a basis other than a regard for the truthful reporting of his interpretations.
A photograph of Mike Tyson, a black male boxer, and a photograph of Paris Hilton, a white female media twit, bear several points of similarity but no matter how many such points of similarity are considered or what weight they are given no one would ever say that there is a forensic "match". And any Scottish inquiry that soft-pedals their questioning on such a matter does the Scottish public no good.
Shirley McKie was dragged thru the courts and railroaded into the poorhouse and the nuthouse by the Strathclyde Constabulary. She never entered the premises, she never had sex on the premises, she never lied about the case at all.
There is no question that the Shirley McKie case was a political one right from the start. As four Scottish experts testified that Shirley McKie had left the crime scene print there were five Scottish experts who were prevented from testifying that the crime scene print was not made by Shirley McKie and that any expert opinions to the contrary were clearly unsupportable. When the issue became an international one that extended to the entire fingerprint examination field, hordes of experts proclaimed that the crime scene print was definitely not from Shirley McKie. Many experts were also willing to add that anyone expressing an opinion that the crime scene print was that of Shirley McKie were not competent examiners.
Ian McKie: "We now have 13 experts proved to have made two misidentifications in the one case because of human error and frailty which they were able to sustain for nearly 14 years and in some cases still sustain. Throughout these years they were given countless opportunities to right the wrongs and accept their mistakes. Because of human error and despite having the most up to date identification tools available they were unable to do this and we must conclude innocently persisted with their provably flawed conclusions.
That not all these experts came from the same jurisdiction where it could be argued that the same culture, procedures and supervisory structures were in place only goes to reinforce the seriousness of the challenge fingerprinting faces from this report. We must assume that some of these conclusions were independently reached and did not result from some conspiracy, collective cultural arrogance or flawed organisational procedures. These were ordinary experts, many with a proven track record of excellence, who were able to get it wrong and persist in their erroneous conclusions."
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
At first glance...
Oh what a mess. Wisconsin to accept voter signature of Mickey Mouse and Adolph Hitler. What a terrible tidbit of news to come across while slurping my morning coffee. However, later examination of the issue clarified the matter a bit. Each candidate can challenge the signatures but the commission only looks at whether it is a valid address within the state of Wisconsin.
At first I thought it was that Adolph Hitler and Mickey Mouse were being accepted as lawful citizens entitled to vote in Wisconsin elections.
At first I thought it was that Adolph Hitler and Mickey Mouse were being accepted as lawful citizens entitled to vote in Wisconsin elections.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Kimberley Ultramarathon ...
Those who recall my September fifth posting about an ultramarathon in the Kimberley that I felt should have lead to criminal negligence charges, may wish to donate to the recovery fund for the two most-injured runners, Kate Sanderson and Turia Pitt.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Sanderson-Turia-Pitt-Donation-Page/290185740994771
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Sanderson-Turia-Pitt-Donation-Page/290185740994771
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Billable Hours and the Brock Husted murder case.
The defense lawyers for Joshua Graham, security guard and motorcycle enthusiast, who killed Brock and Davina Husted and her viable fetus brought a motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that one of the grand jurors was so closely associated with the prosecution as to amount to bias requiring the court to dismiss the murder indictments.
In fact, the grand juror received, logged and stored physical items delivered to an inter-agency high tech task force. It was a mere clerical job of logging the cell phones and computer drives that would later be subjected to analysis by forensically trained personnel.
No bias proven. Yet, alot of billable hours logged by the defense team.
In fact, the grand juror received, logged and stored physical items delivered to an inter-agency high tech task force. It was a mere clerical job of logging the cell phones and computer drives that would later be subjected to analysis by forensically trained personnel.
No bias proven. Yet, alot of billable hours logged by the defense team.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Luke Mitchell: Final Word from the Supreme Court
Wednesday November 23, 2011: The Supreme Court(UK) backed judges in the High Court(Scotland)who had previously refused Mitchell the right to appeal again.
Maggie Scott QC said the Crown had relied on evidence of Mitchell’s comments and demeanor during the lawyer-less police interview, resulting in “a fundamental unfairness amounting to a denial of justice”.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that evidence taken from a police interview where a suspect was not first offered access to a solicitor was unreliable and could not be used in court.
However, in the instant ruling it respected the “finality” of the rejection of Mitchell’s appeal against conviction in May 2008 and did not believe there were any live matters that would lead the court to re-open his case.
At appeal in 2008, the justices criticized the “overbearing and hostile interrogation” by police of the teenager during the investigation in an attempt to gain a confession. However, the justices noted Mitchell had not been cowed nor submitted to the pressure.
The Supreme Court said that verdict marked the end of the case.
Maggie Scott QC said the Crown had relied on evidence of Mitchell’s comments and demeanor during the lawyer-less police interview, resulting in “a fundamental unfairness amounting to a denial of justice”.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that evidence taken from a police interview where a suspect was not first offered access to a solicitor was unreliable and could not be used in court.
However, in the instant ruling it respected the “finality” of the rejection of Mitchell’s appeal against conviction in May 2008 and did not believe there were any live matters that would lead the court to re-open his case.
At appeal in 2008, the justices criticized the “overbearing and hostile interrogation” by police of the teenager during the investigation in an attempt to gain a confession. However, the justices noted Mitchell had not been cowed nor submitted to the pressure.
The Supreme Court said that verdict marked the end of the case.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Learning from mistakes? Or making worse ones!
ADDENDUM: In the forenoon of November 25, 2011, police discovered human remains near the place indicated by Adrian Prout. Neither recovery nor forensic identification has begun.
...........................................................................
The latest situation with Adrian Prout is that his long-suffering fiancee insisted he take a polygraph test. The examiner informed him that he had clearly failed the polygraph examination whereupon Adrian Prout made statements acknowledging that the test results were not incorrect. The polygraph examiner immediately contacted both prison and police officials as well as his client, the prisoner's fiancee.
Adrian Prout was taken from the prison to the farm on which he and his "missing" wife had been living and has indicated certain areas which will be subjected soon to extensive forensic excavation.
During these trying times, the Wrongfully Convicted Persons forum in the UK dealing with the innocence of Adrian Prout and the possible intention of his wife to have Adrian subjected to a false prosecution for her murder has been removed.
Although I understand the need for tact at distressing times, the over riding concern should be the truth. The truth is that Adrian Prout was not a wrongfully accused person but was instead a rightfully accused person and rightfully convicted of the murder of his wife. The views held by Adrian Prout's many supporters were incorrect. The diary entries made by the wife were not intentionally misleading. Her actions were not indicative of an intent to disappear and have the authorities wrongfully charge Adrian with murder.
There comes a time for things to be properly analyzed and classified and for such proper regard to be publicly acknowledged. This proper respect for the truth is not aided by an advocacy group attempting to sweep a mistake under the rug. No later acknowledgement in the dead of night can make up for the advocacy group's shameful attempt to avoid the limelight.
All those who reviewed the facts and reached certain conclusions have a right to read their statements from the past and see where and why they went wrong. No one will deny that the fiancee will soon be receiving distressing news from the police in charge of the forensic dig. No one denies that those who supported Adrian Prout will be upset. If those supporters are men of courage who wish to have respect in their community, then those supporters will be the first to say let the truth be known. Those who seek some respectful pause and then an official white-wash ceremony in the dead of night are not people with tact, they are simply cowards with an excuse.
I posted there. I thought the diary entries seemed suspiciously concocted. It seems I was wrong. She did not "go missing". She was murdered. I mean no offense in saying this and I seek no shelter from criticism for my having believed she had intentionally gone missing.
...........................................................................
The latest situation with Adrian Prout is that his long-suffering fiancee insisted he take a polygraph test. The examiner informed him that he had clearly failed the polygraph examination whereupon Adrian Prout made statements acknowledging that the test results were not incorrect. The polygraph examiner immediately contacted both prison and police officials as well as his client, the prisoner's fiancee.
Adrian Prout was taken from the prison to the farm on which he and his "missing" wife had been living and has indicated certain areas which will be subjected soon to extensive forensic excavation.
During these trying times, the Wrongfully Convicted Persons forum in the UK dealing with the innocence of Adrian Prout and the possible intention of his wife to have Adrian subjected to a false prosecution for her murder has been removed.
Although I understand the need for tact at distressing times, the over riding concern should be the truth. The truth is that Adrian Prout was not a wrongfully accused person but was instead a rightfully accused person and rightfully convicted of the murder of his wife. The views held by Adrian Prout's many supporters were incorrect. The diary entries made by the wife were not intentionally misleading. Her actions were not indicative of an intent to disappear and have the authorities wrongfully charge Adrian with murder.
There comes a time for things to be properly analyzed and classified and for such proper regard to be publicly acknowledged. This proper respect for the truth is not aided by an advocacy group attempting to sweep a mistake under the rug. No later acknowledgement in the dead of night can make up for the advocacy group's shameful attempt to avoid the limelight.
All those who reviewed the facts and reached certain conclusions have a right to read their statements from the past and see where and why they went wrong. No one will deny that the fiancee will soon be receiving distressing news from the police in charge of the forensic dig. No one denies that those who supported Adrian Prout will be upset. If those supporters are men of courage who wish to have respect in their community, then those supporters will be the first to say let the truth be known. Those who seek some respectful pause and then an official white-wash ceremony in the dead of night are not people with tact, they are simply cowards with an excuse.
I posted there. I thought the diary entries seemed suspiciously concocted. It seems I was wrong. She did not "go missing". She was murdered. I mean no offense in saying this and I seek no shelter from criticism for my having believed she had intentionally gone missing.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Getting paid to play poker!!
The "TI" as Treasure Island is now known as will be paying starting January 1st:
40 hours is ten dollars an hour in addition to the usual two dollars an hour in food comps. So that is 480.00 a week with 400 of it in cash.
40 hours is ten dollars an hour in addition to the usual two dollars an hour in food comps. So that is 480.00 a week with 400 of it in cash.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Megan Kalajzich murder
My initial thoughts upon learning that there may be a post-Christmas release of the ailing Andrew Kalajzich to his family's custody: It has been my experience that self-made multimillionaires are rarely so incompetent as to bungle such a job themselves and rarely associate with others who are of such incompetence.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Megan Kalajzich was shot twice through the head as she slept beside her husband, Andrew in Fairlight, Sydney, Australia, at about 1am on 27 January 1986. Her husband Andrew Kalajzich is currently serving a 28 year jail sentence for conspiracy to murder. He maintains his innocence.
11-12 January 1986
Megan Kalajzich is assaulted in her carport. Four more attempts on her life are made in the following 2 weeks.
27 January 1986
Megan Kalajzich is murdered at her Fairlight home.
14 February 1986
Andrew Kalajzich, Bill Vandenberg, Warren Elkins and Kerry Orrock are arrested. Kalajzich is charged with the murder of Megan Kalajzich and conspiracy to murder. Vandenberg is charged with the murder of, conspiracy to murder and feloniously assaulting Megan Kalajzich on 11 January 1986 with intent to murder. Mr Elkins and Mr Orrock are charged with conspiracy to murder Megan Kalajzich.
7 July 1986
Committal hearings begin for the four accused murderers including Andrew Kalajzich.
At first police believed Megan had been the victim of a bungled robbery, but this was soon discounted, as there were no signs of forced entry to the house. An exhaustive investigation fails to come up with any leads until an informant told police he had been offered a contract to kill Megan but had turned it down.[2]
Bill Vandenberg confessed to being the "Triggerman" and subsequently committed suicide in prison. In his confession, Vandenberg claimed he fired two bullets into Megan's head and then two bullets into Andrew's pillow a few centimetres from his head. He claimed he deliberately missed, so that it would look as if Andrew had also been a target.
ADDENDUM: While the above related to my initial thoughts concerning the several attempts on the death of his wife, it is now my opinion that wealthy, self-made millionaire businessmen indeed do commit crimes in an obscenely foolish manner and do indeed make decisions to associate with the most unwisely selected companions.
The verdict was just. The sentence, under Australian law, was just. Guilty! Guilty of murder! Guilty of greed! Guilty of utter stupidity!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Megan Kalajzich was shot twice through the head as she slept beside her husband, Andrew in Fairlight, Sydney, Australia, at about 1am on 27 January 1986. Her husband Andrew Kalajzich is currently serving a 28 year jail sentence for conspiracy to murder. He maintains his innocence.
11-12 January 1986
Megan Kalajzich is assaulted in her carport. Four more attempts on her life are made in the following 2 weeks.
27 January 1986
Megan Kalajzich is murdered at her Fairlight home.
14 February 1986
Andrew Kalajzich, Bill Vandenberg, Warren Elkins and Kerry Orrock are arrested. Kalajzich is charged with the murder of Megan Kalajzich and conspiracy to murder. Vandenberg is charged with the murder of, conspiracy to murder and feloniously assaulting Megan Kalajzich on 11 January 1986 with intent to murder. Mr Elkins and Mr Orrock are charged with conspiracy to murder Megan Kalajzich.
7 July 1986
Committal hearings begin for the four accused murderers including Andrew Kalajzich.
At first police believed Megan had been the victim of a bungled robbery, but this was soon discounted, as there were no signs of forced entry to the house. An exhaustive investigation fails to come up with any leads until an informant told police he had been offered a contract to kill Megan but had turned it down.[2]
Bill Vandenberg confessed to being the "Triggerman" and subsequently committed suicide in prison. In his confession, Vandenberg claimed he fired two bullets into Megan's head and then two bullets into Andrew's pillow a few centimetres from his head. He claimed he deliberately missed, so that it would look as if Andrew had also been a target.
ADDENDUM: While the above related to my initial thoughts concerning the several attempts on the death of his wife, it is now my opinion that wealthy, self-made millionaire businessmen indeed do commit crimes in an obscenely foolish manner and do indeed make decisions to associate with the most unwisely selected companions.
The verdict was just. The sentence, under Australian law, was just. Guilty! Guilty of murder! Guilty of greed! Guilty of utter stupidity!
South Point Casino Latest Las Vegas Room Offer
South Point Hotel and Casino just sent an email offer of 49.00 Rooms with 20.00 Resort Credit, Free-upgrade to mid-view rooms and their usual free Fun Book.
Although reservations have to be booked online by Dec 12th, there are several weeks of such available dates available over the next few months including the famed Dead Week before Christmas and the week that precedes Dead Week. Of course the unofficially named "Dead Week" is a time of bargains generally being available in Las Vegas on airline flights, rooms, shows, etc. The casinos tend to be noticeably less crowded and comps tend to be particularly generous in virtually all casinos during Dead Week.
Although reservations have to be booked online by Dec 12th, there are several weeks of such available dates available over the next few months including the famed Dead Week before Christmas and the week that precedes Dead Week. Of course the unofficially named "Dead Week" is a time of bargains generally being available in Las Vegas on airline flights, rooms, shows, etc. The casinos tend to be noticeably less crowded and comps tend to be particularly generous in virtually all casinos during Dead Week.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
How cops get the proper suspect ...
Police actions (or perhaps more properly inactions):
Focused immediately on the missing woman's husband who stated he was on a walkway at the time and passed a surveillance camera. The police waited over six months and then reported that the film for that day had been either lost or recorded over. The only real problem is that the surveillance camera was on the exterior of their own police station and could have been obtained by them in two minutes flat. The police also seized his shoes and after cleaning them, pronounced them to be insufficiently muddy for him to have taken the path that he claimed to have taken.
Conducted three forensic examinations of a motor vehicle but despite it being a major case with over forty officers assigned to it, they claim they never photographed the process and thus the unprecedented fourth forensic test just happened to find an inculpatory blood stain in a highly suggestive location. Of course the reagent used was luminol which is only a presumptive field test never to be relied upon without further serology work at the lab but the police felt there was no need for more detailed serology work. Anyone remember the Dingo Baby case from Australia wherein Luminol reacted with the underlying rust proofing in the automobile and was declared to be indicative of arterial spray?
Discovered the missing woman had withdrawn large sums from a number of banks then visited a man who knew of the withdrawals and shortly thereafter the woman went missing but the police never viewed him as a suspect or investigated his whereabouts even though what little he did tell police was proven to be lies. Despite his attempts to thoroughly clean his car later examination did find traces of blood. Witnesses who came forward to report the boyfriends car in close proximity to the victim's car were ignored. Witnesses who reported seeing the victim alive the day after the husband was supposed to have killed her were ignored despite one of them having known the victim for ten years.
Is it any wonder how the cops get the proper suspect? It is because they are the ones who choose who should be viewed as a suspect.
Focused immediately on the missing woman's husband who stated he was on a walkway at the time and passed a surveillance camera. The police waited over six months and then reported that the film for that day had been either lost or recorded over. The only real problem is that the surveillance camera was on the exterior of their own police station and could have been obtained by them in two minutes flat. The police also seized his shoes and after cleaning them, pronounced them to be insufficiently muddy for him to have taken the path that he claimed to have taken.
Conducted three forensic examinations of a motor vehicle but despite it being a major case with over forty officers assigned to it, they claim they never photographed the process and thus the unprecedented fourth forensic test just happened to find an inculpatory blood stain in a highly suggestive location. Of course the reagent used was luminol which is only a presumptive field test never to be relied upon without further serology work at the lab but the police felt there was no need for more detailed serology work. Anyone remember the Dingo Baby case from Australia wherein Luminol reacted with the underlying rust proofing in the automobile and was declared to be indicative of arterial spray?
Discovered the missing woman had withdrawn large sums from a number of banks then visited a man who knew of the withdrawals and shortly thereafter the woman went missing but the police never viewed him as a suspect or investigated his whereabouts even though what little he did tell police was proven to be lies. Despite his attempts to thoroughly clean his car later examination did find traces of blood. Witnesses who came forward to report the boyfriends car in close proximity to the victim's car were ignored. Witnesses who reported seeing the victim alive the day after the husband was supposed to have killed her were ignored despite one of them having known the victim for ten years.
Is it any wonder how the cops get the proper suspect? It is because they are the ones who choose who should be viewed as a suspect.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Elderly couple die holding hands ...
By now its all over the news about the couple in their 90s who died an hour apart holding hands in the hospital.
The media do not seem to be mentioning that the 94 year old driver was facing revocation of his driving privileges when he failed to yield at a stop sign and that the woman he struck has massive internal injuries and a broken neck.
Loss of mobility has severe economic and psychological impact. His victim suffered severe impact too. He was rich enough to have hired personal assistants. He didn't. He chose to continue to drive at age 94.
Politicians in the very "grey" states such as Florida will probably be silent on this issue too as will the AARP.
The media do not seem to be mentioning that the 94 year old driver was facing revocation of his driving privileges when he failed to yield at a stop sign and that the woman he struck has massive internal injuries and a broken neck.
Loss of mobility has severe economic and psychological impact. His victim suffered severe impact too. He was rich enough to have hired personal assistants. He didn't. He chose to continue to drive at age 94.
Politicians in the very "grey" states such as Florida will probably be silent on this issue too as will the AARP.
Friday, October 14, 2011
AF447 Transcript and Pilot Error orientation...
Its well known that the French investigation is focused on avoiding any allocation of blame. With all the inter-linkages between Airbus, Air France and the French government it is clear that the BEA is actually investigating the French government. The level of disclosure tolerated by the French is abysmally low in comparison to what the NTSB would be revealing.
The above paragraph from an earlier posting on this blog is being repeated in response to some inquiries I've had regarding the recent publication of more complete transcripts in a book that focuses clearly on pilot error and pilot standards.
The French view is that only pertinent conversations get published. The American view is that everything, including the final expletives, get published. It is a question of openness and a dedication to seeing that absolutely nothing is to prevent the deaths that have taken place from being deaths that contribute to future air safety.
There are serious issues as to whether the initial climb was the result of pilot commanded inputs or not. The book fails to address this issue. The fact that irrelevant conversations were taking place is meaningless. The plane was not at an altitude where rules impose a "sterile cockpit" devoid of non-pertinent conversations or activities.
The pilots were suddenly confronted with a situation where the computer suddenly said "your plane". As young pilots with an instructor beside them they've heard that phrase a zillion times but suddenly they are "hearing" it without warning and they are no longer in some small two-seated training aircraft. The computer gave up when limits were exceeded and dumped them into alternate law amidst a flurry of warning messages and loss of instruments coupled with loss of any sense that remaining instruments were or even might be reliable. Its pure hell when a complex system cuts out.
Other, non fatal, incidents indicate a serious likelihood that that initial climb of a few thousand feet was not selected by pilot initiated control inputs. After that the cascade of events proceeds with confusion and unreliable information. The start of the fatal event was that initial climb. Blame the pilots for it? Not yet!!!
The above paragraph from an earlier posting on this blog is being repeated in response to some inquiries I've had regarding the recent publication of more complete transcripts in a book that focuses clearly on pilot error and pilot standards.
The French view is that only pertinent conversations get published. The American view is that everything, including the final expletives, get published. It is a question of openness and a dedication to seeing that absolutely nothing is to prevent the deaths that have taken place from being deaths that contribute to future air safety.
There are serious issues as to whether the initial climb was the result of pilot commanded inputs or not. The book fails to address this issue. The fact that irrelevant conversations were taking place is meaningless. The plane was not at an altitude where rules impose a "sterile cockpit" devoid of non-pertinent conversations or activities.
The pilots were suddenly confronted with a situation where the computer suddenly said "your plane". As young pilots with an instructor beside them they've heard that phrase a zillion times but suddenly they are "hearing" it without warning and they are no longer in some small two-seated training aircraft. The computer gave up when limits were exceeded and dumped them into alternate law amidst a flurry of warning messages and loss of instruments coupled with loss of any sense that remaining instruments were or even might be reliable. Its pure hell when a complex system cuts out.
Other, non fatal, incidents indicate a serious likelihood that that initial climb of a few thousand feet was not selected by pilot initiated control inputs. After that the cascade of events proceeds with confusion and unreliable information. The start of the fatal event was that initial climb. Blame the pilots for it? Not yet!!!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Jo Yeates Murder Case. Trial evidence.
This was a strange case. A very young and attractive female whose movements were confined to a narrow time frame and a geographically limited area containing intensive surveillance camera coverage. Although some items became of particular interest only after the initial reports it appears that the Avon and Somerset Constabulary made some very significant errors early on in the case.
The boyfriend who returned from his out-of-town family visit reported what was essentially a missing persons case but which clearly had overtones of missing under highly unusual circumstances indicative of violence since she was missing from her apartment yet her coat and cell phone were in the living room indicating at the very least an abrupt departure and most likely indicating an involuntary departure.
It seems that the police made two crucial errors. They did not empty the trash bins in the immediate area and thus failed to discover a pizza box that was in the killer's trash bin. It was sometime after the crime was reported that surveillance film revealed her purchasing the pizza. It also seems that the police concluded virtually immediately that the apartment was too neat to have been the scene of a violent struggle. Later evidence indicated a series of screams and the sound of a brief struggle took place promptly after her entry into her home and the presumed inadvertent discovery of her next door neighbor's presence in her apartment.
In any situation such as this any situation involving a hasty departure is to be explored. A neighbor stopping over for a moment, a knock on the door that is a ruse, or anything else wherein the missing woman's evening is suddenly interrupted by a person who is known to her and perceived as non-threatening. Similarly, any telephone message or answering machine message or notepad in the area is normally explored for any indication of a reason why she might have made an abrupt departure from home but left behind her cell phone and coat on a cold night.
All manner of garbage bins inside the home and in the general area would normally be investigated. Weapons, clothing, blood, anything someone had an urgent need to dispose of may at trial become crucial evidence. These are customary steps and hardly need explaining.
As yet unreported in the press, the ability of the Dutch engineer to enter via a common door in a refurbished wall is of unknown ease and the presence of that door is unknown to someone viewing the wall from the victim's flat.
The victim's landlord who was briefly of interest in the case mainly due to his eccentric reputation will be giving evidence in the separate phone hacking inquiry.
ADDENDUM: So far the trial has been the usual cowardly stance of She let me in, I misinterpreted her signals and never having had any intent to rape or kill simply panicked and tried to keep her quiet thus making it manslaughter not murder. Of course after this sudden panic he quietly ate a pizza and disposed of her corpse.
I do so hope the jury sees through all that utter nonsense and makes it premeditated murder with malice aforethought.
It seems that 10 out of the 12 jurors did see it as premeditated murder. The sentence is life with a mandatory 20 years in custody.
As is often the case, there was a post-conviction revelation of the defendant having had dozens of images of women being strangled on his computer.
The boyfriend who returned from his out-of-town family visit reported what was essentially a missing persons case but which clearly had overtones of missing under highly unusual circumstances indicative of violence since she was missing from her apartment yet her coat and cell phone were in the living room indicating at the very least an abrupt departure and most likely indicating an involuntary departure.
It seems that the police made two crucial errors. They did not empty the trash bins in the immediate area and thus failed to discover a pizza box that was in the killer's trash bin. It was sometime after the crime was reported that surveillance film revealed her purchasing the pizza. It also seems that the police concluded virtually immediately that the apartment was too neat to have been the scene of a violent struggle. Later evidence indicated a series of screams and the sound of a brief struggle took place promptly after her entry into her home and the presumed inadvertent discovery of her next door neighbor's presence in her apartment.
In any situation such as this any situation involving a hasty departure is to be explored. A neighbor stopping over for a moment, a knock on the door that is a ruse, or anything else wherein the missing woman's evening is suddenly interrupted by a person who is known to her and perceived as non-threatening. Similarly, any telephone message or answering machine message or notepad in the area is normally explored for any indication of a reason why she might have made an abrupt departure from home but left behind her cell phone and coat on a cold night.
All manner of garbage bins inside the home and in the general area would normally be investigated. Weapons, clothing, blood, anything someone had an urgent need to dispose of may at trial become crucial evidence. These are customary steps and hardly need explaining.
As yet unreported in the press, the ability of the Dutch engineer to enter via a common door in a refurbished wall is of unknown ease and the presence of that door is unknown to someone viewing the wall from the victim's flat.
The victim's landlord who was briefly of interest in the case mainly due to his eccentric reputation will be giving evidence in the separate phone hacking inquiry.
ADDENDUM: So far the trial has been the usual cowardly stance of She let me in, I misinterpreted her signals and never having had any intent to rape or kill simply panicked and tried to keep her quiet thus making it manslaughter not murder. Of course after this sudden panic he quietly ate a pizza and disposed of her corpse.
I do so hope the jury sees through all that utter nonsense and makes it premeditated murder with malice aforethought.
It seems that 10 out of the 12 jurors did see it as premeditated murder. The sentence is life with a mandatory 20 years in custody.
As is often the case, there was a post-conviction revelation of the defendant having had dozens of images of women being strangled on his computer.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Amanda Knox Acquittal and Release order
I'm glad things may be drawing near an end for Amanda Knox and her unfortunate and much-undeserved ordeal. She just didn't understand Italian courts are primarily theatrical venues.
She is indeed innocent of any involvement in or knowledge of the murder. The Kercher family maintains an internet tattoo of "the parents publicity campaign of sweet innocence prevents Amanda Knox from acknowledging her dark side of violence and murder". In many respects, the massive publicity campaign of the Kercher family is far more troublesome than the nonsense that emanated from the Italian prosecutor, Italian press and UK press.
Its not that I don't have sympathy for the Kercher family, I do, but they should realize some low-level burglar and dope dealer burst into the home, raped and killed their daughter alone and unaided and then fled to Germany. Instead they have an almost pathological need to support every absurdity that makes Amanda Knox or her boyfriend appear as if they were either present at the time or involved in any way.
I still think all the emails that would show a friendly relationship between Amanda and the victim didn't disappear from the hard drive by accident but were instead intentionally erased while it was in the custody of Italian forensic "experts".
She is indeed innocent of any involvement in or knowledge of the murder. The Kercher family maintains an internet tattoo of "the parents publicity campaign of sweet innocence prevents Amanda Knox from acknowledging her dark side of violence and murder". In many respects, the massive publicity campaign of the Kercher family is far more troublesome than the nonsense that emanated from the Italian prosecutor, Italian press and UK press.
Its not that I don't have sympathy for the Kercher family, I do, but they should realize some low-level burglar and dope dealer burst into the home, raped and killed their daughter alone and unaided and then fled to Germany. Instead they have an almost pathological need to support every absurdity that makes Amanda Knox or her boyfriend appear as if they were either present at the time or involved in any way.
I still think all the emails that would show a friendly relationship between Amanda and the victim didn't disappear from the hard drive by accident but were instead intentionally erased while it was in the custody of Italian forensic "experts".
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Hans Reiser wants new trial.
Hans Reiser ultimately received a 15-to-life sentence, after having declined a 3 year plea deal prior to trial. The case began with no body, no crime scene, no reliable eyewitness and virtually no physical evidence. There were allegations of theft from his company that although weakly supporting a plot against Reiser could have persuaded the jury. It ended with Reiser convicted of killing Nina, his 31-year-old wife, after he took the stand and proceeded to slowly hang himself over the course of 11 days of testimony much of it so ludicrous that jurors were observed laughing.
His very experienced criminal defense lawyer did not want him to take the stand at all. Yet after taking the stand Reiser now asserts that his lawyer coerced him to do so for some vague reason.
His very experienced criminal defense lawyer did not want him to take the stand at all. Yet after taking the stand Reiser now asserts that his lawyer coerced him to do so for some vague reason.
Friday, September 16, 2011
South Point casino features Poker Tournament
To lure away players from various Station Casinos, South Point is holding a $125,000 Christmas Freeroll poker tournament at 7:00pm on December 13th and 14th with the final round being at noon on December 18th.
Play 100 hours of cash games now through November 30th to receive qualifying entry and T2000 chips (pay the usual $10 into the gratuity fund for T1000 more). For every 50 hours of additional play, receive T1000 chips.
One can also gain additional chips by playing at South Point more often:
500 hours will get you T2000 more chips.
Play a tournament and get T50 more chips.
Play 25 tournaments and get T500 more chips.
The player who plays the most hours will get $1000 cash.
Tournament will generally have 30-minute levels and a $5 knock-out bounty.
Chip leaders on the 13th and 14th will receive 500.00.
The top fifty players will win at least $300. First place wins $35,000, second place wins $15,000, and third wins $10,000. No chopping until 10 players or Final Table.
As usual, players are responsible for signing in and out at the podium so that their qualifying hours may be logged. South Point's usual comp rate of one dollar per hour will continue.
Please note: Since most of the prize money if not all of the prize money will be going to South Point (a/k/a Sweat Point) loyalists the tournament is really being deceptively touted but considering the usual lack of forthrightness in disclosing the truth to casino patrons in Las Vegas this is rather a minimal issue.
Play 100 hours of cash games now through November 30th to receive qualifying entry and T2000 chips (pay the usual $10 into the gratuity fund for T1000 more). For every 50 hours of additional play, receive T1000 chips.
One can also gain additional chips by playing at South Point more often:
500 hours will get you T2000 more chips.
Play a tournament and get T50 more chips.
Play 25 tournaments and get T500 more chips.
The player who plays the most hours will get $1000 cash.
Tournament will generally have 30-minute levels and a $5 knock-out bounty.
Chip leaders on the 13th and 14th will receive 500.00.
The top fifty players will win at least $300. First place wins $35,000, second place wins $15,000, and third wins $10,000. No chopping until 10 players or Final Table.
As usual, players are responsible for signing in and out at the podium so that their qualifying hours may be logged. South Point's usual comp rate of one dollar per hour will continue.
Please note: Since most of the prize money if not all of the prize money will be going to South Point (a/k/a Sweat Point) loyalists the tournament is really being deceptively touted but considering the usual lack of forthrightness in disclosing the truth to casino patrons in Las Vegas this is rather a minimal issue.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
MI-6: A Life and A Death in the Shadows. Gareth Williams.
I realize there is never going to be much information available regarding the murder of any MI-6 agent, but I wonder about this thousands of pounds worth of ladies undergarments involved in the Gareth Williams murder. A peculiar hobby? An interest in fashion design? An undercover assignment? I don't know. I do wonder, however, why they were all new. If it were a hobby such as wood working, you could go into his garage and find new tools and old tools. An artist would have a mixture of new paints or brushes and old ones and so on. No hobbyist sinks several grand into anything at once. He builds up over a period of time. He has favorite items and momentos that he hangs on to even though they are past their prime as to usefulness. Nothing about the questionable items the decedent had amongst his effects rings true. Something is quite terribly amiss. And the truth is being suppressed.
With all those bras and panties being brand new, there has to have been some ulterior motive involved. He may indeed have had an unusual lifestyle, but if he had an interest in ladies underwear why is it the items in his possession were all brand new and there was not one that was old. Most hobbyists of any sort acquire various items related to their hobbies over an extended period of time, yet when he was murdered the MI-6 agent had a host of unusual items but each and everyone was suspiciously brand new. I am informed that news reports using the term "new" may have meant apparently unworn but I am also informed that the items in question were in fact new, that is they were both unworn and also of a recent style and recent manufacture. So if the presence of the garments is meant to indicate he possessed certain interests it would seem strange that these interests only arose in the few months prior to his murder.
The evidence indicates rather strongly that the purchases were to be gifts to his sister who had the intention of starting a fashion business.
The intense heat of the apartment indicates someone wanted decomposition to be accelerated which of course suggests a murder rather than death by misadventure.
Recent allegations of working on tying Putin to financial transfers may indeed be correct but are unsupported by any evidence.
With all those bras and panties being brand new, there has to have been some ulterior motive involved. He may indeed have had an unusual lifestyle, but if he had an interest in ladies underwear why is it the items in his possession were all brand new and there was not one that was old. Most hobbyists of any sort acquire various items related to their hobbies over an extended period of time, yet when he was murdered the MI-6 agent had a host of unusual items but each and everyone was suspiciously brand new. I am informed that news reports using the term "new" may have meant apparently unworn but I am also informed that the items in question were in fact new, that is they were both unworn and also of a recent style and recent manufacture. So if the presence of the garments is meant to indicate he possessed certain interests it would seem strange that these interests only arose in the few months prior to his murder.
The evidence indicates rather strongly that the purchases were to be gifts to his sister who had the intention of starting a fashion business.
The intense heat of the apartment indicates someone wanted decomposition to be accelerated which of course suggests a murder rather than death by misadventure.
Recent allegations of working on tying Putin to financial transfers may indeed be correct but are unsupported by any evidence.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Pirates release Danes seized from S/V ING.
Somali pirates release Danish family and crew from yacht ING.
AFP September 07, 2011
"The seven Danes have been released and brought to safety," the Denmark foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that all were well and would return to Denmark soon.
Denmark gave no details of their release but Ecoterra International said a ransom was dropped by aircraft, and local Somali sources claimed up to four million US dollars had been paid for their release.
Jan Qvist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie and their three children aged 13 to 17 left Denmark in August 2009 on a round-the-world trip by yacht and had been sailing about 500 kilometres off the coast of Somalia when they were seized by pirates on February 24.
"Mediation was going on between the pirates and individuals working on their release in the past two weeks," said Abduwahab Ali, an elder in the coastal village of Bandarbeyla, close to pirate bases in the northern Puntland region.
The couple were criticised in Denmark after their abuduction, accused of acting irresponsibly by taking their children into pirate-infested waters.
"We... set up an anti-piracy plan to know what to do if we are attacked, and each day we send our position" to an international naval force monitoring the Indian Ocean, father Jan posted on the blog on February 19.
..........
In reality, the yacht ING seemed to have taken very sensible measures considering the time of year and the weather reports. Their only mistake may have been over reliance on the inclination of EUFOR to react to any distress calls. Of course the fact that EUFOR requires yachts to report their positions on an open frequency and to activate their AIS equipment is absurd since it is well known that pirate mother ships are equipped with AIS receivers, satellite phones and night vision equipment. EUFOR is tasked to protect commercial shipping rather than private yachts. It would often take thirty minutes for a EUFOR helicopter to arrive on scene and two hours for a naval vessel to arrive. Usually a naval vessel that is on scene will not intervene in any hijacking attempt that is in progress for various political and economic reasons.
I am informed that the air-dropped ransom did not originate with any insurance company. As always, the Somali clans and sub-clans involved in piracy are well known and nothing ever happens to them nor to the wealthy businessmen who run the piracy operations conducted by poverty stricken peasants.
Piracy in the Indian Ocean is very profitable. Just as it was very profitable for American merchants to supply the Madagascar pirate vessels it is very profitable for Middle Eastern nations to keep the pirates well supplied. Modern day piracy in the Indian Ocean will not stop until we start using Q-ships and take immediate and effective action against them as well as against the entire sub-clans known to be involved.
AFP September 07, 2011
"The seven Danes have been released and brought to safety," the Denmark foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that all were well and would return to Denmark soon.
Denmark gave no details of their release but Ecoterra International said a ransom was dropped by aircraft, and local Somali sources claimed up to four million US dollars had been paid for their release.
Jan Qvist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie and their three children aged 13 to 17 left Denmark in August 2009 on a round-the-world trip by yacht and had been sailing about 500 kilometres off the coast of Somalia when they were seized by pirates on February 24.
"Mediation was going on between the pirates and individuals working on their release in the past two weeks," said Abduwahab Ali, an elder in the coastal village of Bandarbeyla, close to pirate bases in the northern Puntland region.
The couple were criticised in Denmark after their abuduction, accused of acting irresponsibly by taking their children into pirate-infested waters.
"We... set up an anti-piracy plan to know what to do if we are attacked, and each day we send our position" to an international naval force monitoring the Indian Ocean, father Jan posted on the blog on February 19.
..........
In reality, the yacht ING seemed to have taken very sensible measures considering the time of year and the weather reports. Their only mistake may have been over reliance on the inclination of EUFOR to react to any distress calls. Of course the fact that EUFOR requires yachts to report their positions on an open frequency and to activate their AIS equipment is absurd since it is well known that pirate mother ships are equipped with AIS receivers, satellite phones and night vision equipment. EUFOR is tasked to protect commercial shipping rather than private yachts. It would often take thirty minutes for a EUFOR helicopter to arrive on scene and two hours for a naval vessel to arrive. Usually a naval vessel that is on scene will not intervene in any hijacking attempt that is in progress for various political and economic reasons.
I am informed that the air-dropped ransom did not originate with any insurance company. As always, the Somali clans and sub-clans involved in piracy are well known and nothing ever happens to them nor to the wealthy businessmen who run the piracy operations conducted by poverty stricken peasants.
Piracy in the Indian Ocean is very profitable. Just as it was very profitable for American merchants to supply the Madagascar pirate vessels it is very profitable for Middle Eastern nations to keep the pirates well supplied. Modern day piracy in the Indian Ocean will not stop until we start using Q-ships and take immediate and effective action against them as well as against the entire sub-clans known to be involved.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Kimberley Ultramarathon: Possible murder charges!
Kimberley Ultra-marathon, a charity race known as Racing The Planet with 41 entrants is cancelled after four runners were trapped in a flaming gorge and received up to 80 percent burns and suffered for three hours without medical attention. The arson investigation by the Australian Fire Services is underway and race organizers have refused to comment on why the events transpired when the fire had been burning for five days prior to the start of the race and the organizers had knowledge of it. If its determined to be arson that is bad enough, but I don't see how the race organizers could have allowed this to happen irrespective of the nature of the origin of the fire. The fire is thought to have been natural in origin and as with most such fires in a remote area on privately owned land was left to run its course. The involvement of an arson investigator is not necessarily indicative of any belief that arson was involved.
Yes, the area is prone to bush fires and it is quite clear that some move exceptionally fast but it seems incomprehensible that race organizers did not monitor the situation more closely and did not have any ambulances pre-positioned even though the ultra marathoners are excellent runners and know they are in a rugged and remote area. There has been at least one prior death involving an entrant in the races organized by Racing The Planet.
A fire that has been burning for five days simply can not be considered an unanticipated event. Fires grow in strength and change direction. A 24 year old model from Ulladulla is fighting for her life in the hospital now but her income is surely gone. No "safe harbor" for her. (Ulladulla is aboriginal for Safe Harbor).
ADDENDUM: Race organizer has returned to Hong Kong without answering questions as to why local police and rescue services were never notified of the race that was to be held, why the race started with smoke clearly visible and why there were only non-English speaking personnel available when rescue services arrived. It should probably be noted that the daring helicopter rescue of the burn victims was performed by a pilot who happened to be near the area but was not a part of any organized rescue effort or trained for such extremely hazardous flying. It does seem that smoke on the horizon visible to race organizers would also have been visible to race entrants but I would think the organizers would be the ones most responsible for making a specific inquiry as to current conditions. The organizers had made previous mention of a variety of "cybertents" that would be set up to facilitate blogging about the event so it is clear that despite the event taking place at a geographically remote location access to weather information, satellite imagery and emergency services would have been unimpeded. No showing has been made who the non-English speaking persons were or why non-English speaking race officials would have been brought into an English speaking country for the race.
Correction: It appears that police in Western Australia were notified that the event was to be taking place but were not asked to provide any advice or assistance. The event is a privately staged event taking place on privately owned land. I don't know if anyone in Western Australia was specifically informed of a death involving a 31 year old runner in the Gobi Desert race involving Racing The Planet but certainly internet search services were available to them.
ADDENDUM: As expected the police determination is that the fire was not arson. The police investigation looked solely at origin of the fire and not at management of the event.
Yes, the area is prone to bush fires and it is quite clear that some move exceptionally fast but it seems incomprehensible that race organizers did not monitor the situation more closely and did not have any ambulances pre-positioned even though the ultra marathoners are excellent runners and know they are in a rugged and remote area. There has been at least one prior death involving an entrant in the races organized by Racing The Planet.
A fire that has been burning for five days simply can not be considered an unanticipated event. Fires grow in strength and change direction. A 24 year old model from Ulladulla is fighting for her life in the hospital now but her income is surely gone. No "safe harbor" for her. (Ulladulla is aboriginal for Safe Harbor).
ADDENDUM: Race organizer has returned to Hong Kong without answering questions as to why local police and rescue services were never notified of the race that was to be held, why the race started with smoke clearly visible and why there were only non-English speaking personnel available when rescue services arrived. It should probably be noted that the daring helicopter rescue of the burn victims was performed by a pilot who happened to be near the area but was not a part of any organized rescue effort or trained for such extremely hazardous flying. It does seem that smoke on the horizon visible to race organizers would also have been visible to race entrants but I would think the organizers would be the ones most responsible for making a specific inquiry as to current conditions. The organizers had made previous mention of a variety of "cybertents" that would be set up to facilitate blogging about the event so it is clear that despite the event taking place at a geographically remote location access to weather information, satellite imagery and emergency services would have been unimpeded. No showing has been made who the non-English speaking persons were or why non-English speaking race officials would have been brought into an English speaking country for the race.
Correction: It appears that police in Western Australia were notified that the event was to be taking place but were not asked to provide any advice or assistance. The event is a privately staged event taking place on privately owned land. I don't know if anyone in Western Australia was specifically informed of a death involving a 31 year old runner in the Gobi Desert race involving Racing The Planet but certainly internet search services were available to them.
ADDENDUM: As expected the police determination is that the fire was not arson. The police investigation looked solely at origin of the fire and not at management of the event.
Drug interdiction and prison visitors.
Prison visitors.
Let's face it. Sure prison visitors occasionally smuggle in contraband such as drugs or cell phones. Yet let us be realistic in such matters too. Most of the drugs sold in prisons is smuggled in by the guards, not the visitors.
This may be one reason why guards are so vigilant about interdicting drug trafficking by visitors. The use of these ion-related non-invasive drug testing devices to scan prison visitors is absurd. The false positive rate in some trials has been 17 percent with some substances such as chocolate or gasoline residue believed to be particularly prone to causing false positives. Those tests that include waving the detection wand near the visitor's shoes are hardly testing the visitor but are more likely to be testing the cleanliness of a city's sidewalks.
The US Bureau of Prisons dropped the testing long ago but individual states still use the devices despite an absurdly high false-positive rate. After all, its entertainment for those prison guards who pocket the drug money they themselves make while chortling There Is No Constitutional Right To Prison Visitation. A lengthy drive to visit a relative in prison? Pretty sure that these days it will involve a stop at a gas station. Yet gasoline residue is likely to set off those testing devices. Eat a candy bar enroute so as to avoid stopping for a full meal? Great idea but the chocolate will likely cause a false alarm. Protecting the public? Punishing the drug users? Or simply protecting the guard's own drug selling monopoly? Which do you really think is more likely?
Let's face it. Sure prison visitors occasionally smuggle in contraband such as drugs or cell phones. Yet let us be realistic in such matters too. Most of the drugs sold in prisons is smuggled in by the guards, not the visitors.
This may be one reason why guards are so vigilant about interdicting drug trafficking by visitors. The use of these ion-related non-invasive drug testing devices to scan prison visitors is absurd. The false positive rate in some trials has been 17 percent with some substances such as chocolate or gasoline residue believed to be particularly prone to causing false positives. Those tests that include waving the detection wand near the visitor's shoes are hardly testing the visitor but are more likely to be testing the cleanliness of a city's sidewalks.
The US Bureau of Prisons dropped the testing long ago but individual states still use the devices despite an absurdly high false-positive rate. After all, its entertainment for those prison guards who pocket the drug money they themselves make while chortling There Is No Constitutional Right To Prison Visitation. A lengthy drive to visit a relative in prison? Pretty sure that these days it will involve a stop at a gas station. Yet gasoline residue is likely to set off those testing devices. Eat a candy bar enroute so as to avoid stopping for a full meal? Great idea but the chocolate will likely cause a false alarm. Protecting the public? Punishing the drug users? Or simply protecting the guard's own drug selling monopoly? Which do you really think is more likely?
Friday, August 26, 2011
Choppergate. Brisbane, Australia.
Kudos to Channel Nine in Brisbane. A 25 year veteran employee has been allowed to resign and three reporters were fired for their involvement in filing news reports regarding a police search of remote rugged terrain when the news helicopter was actually in the air near the station's headquarters and sitting on the station's helipad in another incident.
The reports related to developments in a massive forensic search for evidence relating to the murder of a young lad abducted in 2003 at age 13. Normally Australian law would not allow the naming of the arrested murder suspect since he had been a witness at a prior coroner's inquest but the court has lifted the restriction on publishing his name in order to aid the ongoing investigation.
Revised and extended comments:
The Courier Mail reports that the Nine and Seven channels have been rivals locked in a five year struggle for ratings and that Choppergate started when some Seven personnel who were aviation enthusiasts noticed the helicopter was orbiting their neighborhood but no major story was then taking place locally. Channel Seven decided to monitor the actual location of Channel Nine's helicopter and twice caught the Nine Channel switch "live" to the reporters in a helicopter that was described as being over the scene of the Daniel Morcombe forensic search when it clearly was not anywhere near it at or about that time.
The Courier Mail reports that the 25 year veteran who fell on his sword was actually pushed. We never really had much doubt about that.
It seems a Channel Nine employee had twittered that "they would be "LIVE from Beerwah with the latest at 6. Just after 6pm, seemingly true to their word, Nine crossed "live" to young reporter Melissa Mallet hovering "near Beerwah" where police were hunting for the body of the murdered teenager..."
The Courier Mail reported that Channel Nine initially claimed air traffic controllers had ordered the chopper to land due to bad weather and the producer had not been promptly informed of this.
"Management in Sydney were notified and an on-air apology was issued. Following a series of closed-door meetings the axe fell for Price, Mallett and producer Aaron Wakeley at about 6.30pm. Nine news director Lee Anderson promptly fell on his sword."
..........
There are now reports that the three reporters have taken to Twitter to present an alternative viewpoint about a tempest in a tea pot.
.........
Audience reaction: It seems the viewing audience has had an initial reaction. Channel Nine lost an average of 1,000 viewers whereas Channel Seven which had exposed the situation lost an average of 15,000 viewers as all Brisbane stations combined lost a total of 30,000 viewers, as reported in news.com.au. Of course the dip in viewership may have been due solely to the public's "burnout" over what may have been viewed as excessive coverage of the Morcombe forensic search and the Slacks Creek fire.
Addendum: Mellisa Mallet sacked by Channel Nine due to the investigative actions of Channel Seven has now been hired by Channel Seven.
The reports related to developments in a massive forensic search for evidence relating to the murder of a young lad abducted in 2003 at age 13. Normally Australian law would not allow the naming of the arrested murder suspect since he had been a witness at a prior coroner's inquest but the court has lifted the restriction on publishing his name in order to aid the ongoing investigation.
Revised and extended comments:
The Courier Mail reports that the Nine and Seven channels have been rivals locked in a five year struggle for ratings and that Choppergate started when some Seven personnel who were aviation enthusiasts noticed the helicopter was orbiting their neighborhood but no major story was then taking place locally. Channel Seven decided to monitor the actual location of Channel Nine's helicopter and twice caught the Nine Channel switch "live" to the reporters in a helicopter that was described as being over the scene of the Daniel Morcombe forensic search when it clearly was not anywhere near it at or about that time.
The Courier Mail reports that the 25 year veteran who fell on his sword was actually pushed. We never really had much doubt about that.
It seems a Channel Nine employee had twittered that "they would be "LIVE from Beerwah with the latest at 6. Just after 6pm, seemingly true to their word, Nine crossed "live" to young reporter Melissa Mallet hovering "near Beerwah" where police were hunting for the body of the murdered teenager..."
The Courier Mail reported that Channel Nine initially claimed air traffic controllers had ordered the chopper to land due to bad weather and the producer had not been promptly informed of this.
"Management in Sydney were notified and an on-air apology was issued. Following a series of closed-door meetings the axe fell for Price, Mallett and producer Aaron Wakeley at about 6.30pm. Nine news director Lee Anderson promptly fell on his sword."
..........
There are now reports that the three reporters have taken to Twitter to present an alternative viewpoint about a tempest in a tea pot.
.........
Audience reaction: It seems the viewing audience has had an initial reaction. Channel Nine lost an average of 1,000 viewers whereas Channel Seven which had exposed the situation lost an average of 15,000 viewers as all Brisbane stations combined lost a total of 30,000 viewers, as reported in news.com.au. Of course the dip in viewership may have been due solely to the public's "burnout" over what may have been viewed as excessive coverage of the Morcombe forensic search and the Slacks Creek fire.
Addendum: Mellisa Mallet sacked by Channel Nine due to the investigative actions of Channel Seven has now been hired by Channel Seven.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Following some links in the wee hours of the morning.
Sometimes we see a headline and promptly click on a link. Sometimes we see the headline and are hesitant to read the story despite the headline being fascinating.
I just saw a headline about a millionaire making a fortune selling virtual land and virtual fashions.
The world has changed and I simply refuse to click on that link and read the story. People selling real land are often struggling financially whereas people selling non-existent land are doing well.
Strange. Too strange to contemplate.
I just saw a headline about a millionaire making a fortune selling virtual land and virtual fashions.
The world has changed and I simply refuse to click on that link and read the story. People selling real land are often struggling financially whereas people selling non-existent land are doing well.
Strange. Too strange to contemplate.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Boonton shooting: Who Are The Foreigners?
Who are the foreigners? Who are the idiots?
In a developing case involving people in Brooklyn, NY, Boonton, NJ and Billerica, MA, its hard to discern who played what role.
The shooting took place when the husband and wife went for a stroll near the NJ home of the wife's relatives who are on welfare in Boonton. The husband received four minor bullet wounds, the wife received a fatal bullet wound. Obviously police were quite suspicious about an attack supposedly carried out by three assailants supposedly yelling epithets about terrorists yet unable to seriously wound the male while being able to kill the wife. What such a team of attackers would be doing lurking in a residential neighborhood until this particular couple wandered by seemed strange also.
It seems the wife and her family knew from the start that the Brooklyn raised man of Pakistani heritage was a liar. He lied about his educational achievements and met the wife's family at a Dunkin' Donuts establishment yet there was a very prompt marriage that lasted for six years and produced two children. During the marriage the wife apparently expressed fears of her husband's violent tendencies and homicidal potential but made no attempt to leave the marriage.
The husband had at least two extra marital affairs and the wife had discovered some internet page featuring her husband and other women. Apparently the husband was taking some court ordered anger management classes and the wife feared his violence and suspected an attempt on her life, but took absolutely no evasive or protective measures.
A recent relocation by the husband to East Boston was supposedly so the husband could attend Harvard, an unlikely educational endeavor for someone of his intellect and unlikely for anyone choosing to live in the very geographically inconvenient, East Boston area. Apparently the wife and the wife's family had long tolerated his rather obvious lies.
A traffic camera caught a darkened vehicle fleeing the scene of the shooting and said vehicle may be the car owned by the mother of the Boston area mistress. Text messages between the mistress and the husband show the husband had planned the location and timing of the event and that he trusted the mistress to shoot him several times but not seriously injure him.
Its strange. It was a voluntary marriage, not an arranged one. The wife remained in the relationship despite the infidelity and violence. The husband was clearly a suspect almost right from the start since an attack by three men of different heritage taking place on a quiet residential street seemed absurd. The participants had some fears about cell phone evidence but text messages clearly show a murder plot. The husband was a long time resident of the USA so it seems it was not a cultural values related murder situation, yet there appears little reason for the wife to have stayed in such a vulnerable situation.
No information regarding insurance is available at this time, however, the husband was in the process of receiving two million dollars from the sale of a nine million dollar real estate transaction involving property owned by an older gay man with whom the husband had a lengthy relationship of an unspecified nature.
It seems absurd how either the Massachusetts mistress or the husband of Pakistani heritage could possibly have considered the police would fall for the story. Three men yelling about terrorists and apparently attacking the strolling couple on a quiet residential street? Also three such disparate men? What were they doing together. The mistress is a clerk at a Best Buy store and does not seem all that bright but she did plan her activities by borrowing a car and using a cell phone cautiously as well as determining the response time of the police vehicles. She also it seems was sensible enough to get paid in advance although the amount of the money that was deposited by the husband in her account has not been revealed. It has not been shown if the actual shooter knew of the two million dollar real estate interest.
Ofcourse, the aftermath of all this is custody of the two minor children who were the issue of the marriage. Watch everyone start using words such as piety and cultural values soon. At least two mistresses and a decade long relationship with an older, wealthy homosexual male. Piety? Cultural values? Welfare?
In a developing case involving people in Brooklyn, NY, Boonton, NJ and Billerica, MA, its hard to discern who played what role.
The shooting took place when the husband and wife went for a stroll near the NJ home of the wife's relatives who are on welfare in Boonton. The husband received four minor bullet wounds, the wife received a fatal bullet wound. Obviously police were quite suspicious about an attack supposedly carried out by three assailants supposedly yelling epithets about terrorists yet unable to seriously wound the male while being able to kill the wife. What such a team of attackers would be doing lurking in a residential neighborhood until this particular couple wandered by seemed strange also.
It seems the wife and her family knew from the start that the Brooklyn raised man of Pakistani heritage was a liar. He lied about his educational achievements and met the wife's family at a Dunkin' Donuts establishment yet there was a very prompt marriage that lasted for six years and produced two children. During the marriage the wife apparently expressed fears of her husband's violent tendencies and homicidal potential but made no attempt to leave the marriage.
The husband had at least two extra marital affairs and the wife had discovered some internet page featuring her husband and other women. Apparently the husband was taking some court ordered anger management classes and the wife feared his violence and suspected an attempt on her life, but took absolutely no evasive or protective measures.
A recent relocation by the husband to East Boston was supposedly so the husband could attend Harvard, an unlikely educational endeavor for someone of his intellect and unlikely for anyone choosing to live in the very geographically inconvenient, East Boston area. Apparently the wife and the wife's family had long tolerated his rather obvious lies.
A traffic camera caught a darkened vehicle fleeing the scene of the shooting and said vehicle may be the car owned by the mother of the Boston area mistress. Text messages between the mistress and the husband show the husband had planned the location and timing of the event and that he trusted the mistress to shoot him several times but not seriously injure him.
Its strange. It was a voluntary marriage, not an arranged one. The wife remained in the relationship despite the infidelity and violence. The husband was clearly a suspect almost right from the start since an attack by three men of different heritage taking place on a quiet residential street seemed absurd. The participants had some fears about cell phone evidence but text messages clearly show a murder plot. The husband was a long time resident of the USA so it seems it was not a cultural values related murder situation, yet there appears little reason for the wife to have stayed in such a vulnerable situation.
No information regarding insurance is available at this time, however, the husband was in the process of receiving two million dollars from the sale of a nine million dollar real estate transaction involving property owned by an older gay man with whom the husband had a lengthy relationship of an unspecified nature.
It seems absurd how either the Massachusetts mistress or the husband of Pakistani heritage could possibly have considered the police would fall for the story. Three men yelling about terrorists and apparently attacking the strolling couple on a quiet residential street? Also three such disparate men? What were they doing together. The mistress is a clerk at a Best Buy store and does not seem all that bright but she did plan her activities by borrowing a car and using a cell phone cautiously as well as determining the response time of the police vehicles. She also it seems was sensible enough to get paid in advance although the amount of the money that was deposited by the husband in her account has not been revealed. It has not been shown if the actual shooter knew of the two million dollar real estate interest.
Ofcourse, the aftermath of all this is custody of the two minor children who were the issue of the marriage. Watch everyone start using words such as piety and cultural values soon. At least two mistresses and a decade long relationship with an older, wealthy homosexual male. Piety? Cultural values? Welfare?
Monday, August 1, 2011
Refresh Rate Programming Error
Okay folks. Here is a lesson in how we learn from our past mistakes.
Decades ago programmers made a dangerous and often fatal "refresh rate" error in programming the control system for a powerful machine that aimed x-rays at a patient's tumors. It took a long time to discover the error and a long time to correct it.
A refresh rate error was detected at a dealerless electronic roulette game and players were making some really good money at a variety of casinos but when the casinos got suspicious the game was shut down and the programmer error detected promptly and corrected promptly.
Decades ago programmers made a dangerous and often fatal "refresh rate" error in programming the control system for a powerful machine that aimed x-rays at a patient's tumors. It took a long time to discover the error and a long time to correct it.
A refresh rate error was detected at a dealerless electronic roulette game and players were making some really good money at a variety of casinos but when the casinos got suspicious the game was shut down and the programmer error detected promptly and corrected promptly.
Dateline August 5th 2011 Ryan Ferguson case.
A two-hour Dateline special on Friday August 5, 2011, entitled The Mystery of Halloween Night will cover the Ryan Ferguson case wherein an 18 year old slightly built youth was convicted of murdering a 300 pound athletic sports editor during a lengthy fight based on the dreams of an alcoholic drug addicted schizophrenic.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Media and Motives re: Phone Hacking.
Phone hacking came to prominence during the News of the World affair, in which the British tabloid had been involved in the interception of voicemail messages of the Royal Family, other public figures, and the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
What appears not to be quite so readily apparent is that all this was old news and apparently of no great interest to anyone at all until such time as Rupert Murdock was trying to buy a British television network and become an economic threat to the BBC.
Then the revelations about hacking a missing school girl's cell phone seems to have become a story with legs. Now the great attack is on. A paper folds? So what? They are all losing money to the online news agencies. Hacking a missing teen age girl's phone and deleting some messages to make room for more became a great rallying cry for an anti-murdoch campaign but most of the cellular hacking had already taken place and was well known.
What appears not to be quite so readily apparent is that all this was old news and apparently of no great interest to anyone at all until such time as Rupert Murdock was trying to buy a British television network and become an economic threat to the BBC.
Then the revelations about hacking a missing school girl's cell phone seems to have become a story with legs. Now the great attack is on. A paper folds? So what? They are all losing money to the online news agencies. Hacking a missing teen age girl's phone and deleting some messages to make room for more became a great rallying cry for an anti-murdoch campaign but most of the cellular hacking had already taken place and was well known.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Good for the Jury and the Jury System!!
The question is not is she guilty but is she guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based upon the evidence presented.
I have no idea what weight the jury gave to the fact that the duct tape is usually a great source of fingerprints and that the defendant's father was forensically aware. I have no idea what weight the jury gave to the father's evasiveness and belligerence, but it did seem he was not frank and forthright. He certainly can not claim to both recognize the smell of a human death based on his police work and to have driven away and kept silent without the jury wondering about the weight of those actions.
I doubt there was any sort of unknown nefarious kidnappers acting in cahoots with the meter reader and I imagine the jury was not swayed by that either.
The question is not whether she killed the kid but whether the prosecution proved it beyond a reasonable doubt.
Congenital liar? Yes, but the indictment did not charge her with that.
Wonderful roommate? Yes. Did she kill the kid to go nightclubbing or was the nightclubbing no more significant to her than the favors she performed for her other roommates by doing their laundry and ironing. Based on her interaction with the child there was no reason to assume that the nightclubbing meant anything more to her than the ironing did. Sure it more enjoyable but nothing showed a particular motive.
The jury of "twelve good men and true" may now contain women as well but I still maintain that the "good" and "true" remain applicable. In olden days a jury would be kept without light or heat and without food or water until they rendered a verdict. It took courage in those days. Now in our modern times jurors often have it much easier, but even this jury which had been sequestered knew they would be under great scrutiny and they bore up very well.
I have no idea what weight the jury gave to the fact that the duct tape is usually a great source of fingerprints and that the defendant's father was forensically aware. I have no idea what weight the jury gave to the father's evasiveness and belligerence, but it did seem he was not frank and forthright. He certainly can not claim to both recognize the smell of a human death based on his police work and to have driven away and kept silent without the jury wondering about the weight of those actions.
I doubt there was any sort of unknown nefarious kidnappers acting in cahoots with the meter reader and I imagine the jury was not swayed by that either.
The question is not whether she killed the kid but whether the prosecution proved it beyond a reasonable doubt.
Congenital liar? Yes, but the indictment did not charge her with that.
Wonderful roommate? Yes. Did she kill the kid to go nightclubbing or was the nightclubbing no more significant to her than the favors she performed for her other roommates by doing their laundry and ironing. Based on her interaction with the child there was no reason to assume that the nightclubbing meant anything more to her than the ironing did. Sure it more enjoyable but nothing showed a particular motive.
The jury of "twelve good men and true" may now contain women as well but I still maintain that the "good" and "true" remain applicable. In olden days a jury would be kept without light or heat and without food or water until they rendered a verdict. It took courage in those days. Now in our modern times jurors often have it much easier, but even this jury which had been sequestered knew they would be under great scrutiny and they bore up very well.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Darlie Routier
I've been informed that just prior to the July 4th holiday weekend, Darlie Routier's husband filed divorce papers in Lubbock, TX while his wife is on death row.
I don't know if the husbands contemplation of insurance fraud brought unsavory characters around his home or not. Many criminals do learn that bringing a weapon with them proves premeditation and that therefore it is better to use a weapon acquired at the scene.
I do believe the medical testimony that originally found the wounds were not self inflicted.
It is Texas however and defendants in Texas are generally found guilty, particularly in death penalty cases.
I don't know if the husbands contemplation of insurance fraud brought unsavory characters around his home or not. Many criminals do learn that bringing a weapon with them proves premeditation and that therefore it is better to use a weapon acquired at the scene.
I do believe the medical testimony that originally found the wounds were not self inflicted.
It is Texas however and defendants in Texas are generally found guilty, particularly in death penalty cases.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Jodi Jones, RIP
Murdered June 30, 2003.
Her fourteen year old boyfriend in prison for life.
The three men whose DNA was at the crime scene, never considered suspects, much less arrested or charged. Usually males whose DNA is found on, in or somewhat inconveniently close to the corpse of a raped and murdered fourteen year old girl are considered to be suspects in that rape and murder, but the Lothian and Borders Constabulary maintains that this was not a sex crime. Right from the start, the cops focused solely on the boyfriend whose DNA was not found on, in or near the corpse and who was spotted by two separate individuals to be sitting on a fence in a calm, composed manner with no scratches on his face or blood on his clothes.
Her fourteen year old boyfriend in prison for life.
The three men whose DNA was at the crime scene, never considered suspects, much less arrested or charged. Usually males whose DNA is found on, in or somewhat inconveniently close to the corpse of a raped and murdered fourteen year old girl are considered to be suspects in that rape and murder, but the Lothian and Borders Constabulary maintains that this was not a sex crime. Right from the start, the cops focused solely on the boyfriend whose DNA was not found on, in or near the corpse and who was spotted by two separate individuals to be sitting on a fence in a calm, composed manner with no scratches on his face or blood on his clothes.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Death at the Met.
As a PC at The Met he killed a puppy. As a Sergeant at The Met he killed two highly trained police dogs by leaving them in a hot (29 degree Celsius) car with all the windows closed up tight. I wonder how many dogs he will kill as an Inspector.
There is something wrong at the London Metropolitan Police.
There is something wrong at the London Metropolitan Police.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Luke Mitchell to be released by Supreme Court
Amidst much crying and carrying-on by Scottish politicians, the Supreme Court, an English court, will order the release from custody of Luke Mitchell, convicted of murder under Scots Law which at the time allowed initial interrogation without counsel. Under the Cadder decision allowing counsel at initial interrogation in accordance with the European Commission on Human Rights, Luke Mitchell was deemed to have been denied a fair trial.
Of course, why on earth a 14 year old boy whose dna was not found at the crime scene was tried when the three males whose dna was found at the crime scene were never considered suspects was not considered by the court. Nor did the court consider the massive press coverage about Luke Mitchell's supposed Satanism or fascination with Marilyn Manson simply because a Manson CD given to him a week after the murder was found in his house.
Amidst all the palaver about an English court being allowed to undermine Scots Law it should perhaps be remembered that if the Luke Mitchell case is an example of what Scottish police, Scottish prosecutors, Scottish judges and Scottish juries can do, then I submit that at long last Scots Law should indeed be undermined.
For those of you requiring an introduction to the Luke Mitchell case suffice it for me to say that the Lothian and Borders Constabulary promptly decided that fourteen year old Luke Mitchell would be considered the sole suspect in the murder of his fourteen year old girlfriend. The police did not seem at all troubled by Luke Mitchell having no scratches and having left no dna at the crime scene. The police therefore decided to ignore the three males whose dna was left on, in or inconveniently close by the corpse despite the fact that the three males had chosen to adopt various actions such as leaving the area, giving rather unusual explanations for their scratches and altering their appearance.
Soundly condemned by the press, termed a devotee of Satan and Marilyn Manson and banned from attending school Luke Mitchell endured hours of police questioning without benefit of counsel. After trial under circus-like conditions wherein he was denied the use of dna experts, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to a minimum term of confinement of twenty years even though it was clear that the notoriety of his case meant that he would serve the full life sentence without ever being allowed parole. Countless appeals to the Scottish Courts availed him naught. Even his petition of Nobile Officium presented at the Court of Inner Sessions fell on deaf ears.
Finally, the English Supreme Court will be ordering his release since his being denied counsel at the initial interrogation has been ruled to be a denial of fundamental human rights protected by the European Union. While Scottish politicians are bemoaning the destruction of Scots Law, it is perhaps time that we should all rejoice that at long last common sense seems to be prevailing.
For those of you who find such matters to be of interest, there appears to have been no comment made by the sister of the homicide victim who soon thereafter married one of the men whose semen was found on the victim’s tee shirt and underwear.
An earlier posting on this case is herewith set forth for the convenience of the readers:
A Final Incompetence …
Their Lordships, the five Justices of the High Court of Criminal Appeals, formally severed Luke Mitchell’s appeal from the proceedings since he was not then represented by counsel. This was done so as to give him additional time with which to seek the advice of counsel but the justices formally advised Luke Mitchell they would expect any such advice of counsel to be consonant with a recognition that the present proceedings as continuing against appellant Nat Fraser declared the grounds of the appeal to be legally incompetent.
Oh what a fine nicety of the law! We are not now denying your appeal because you don’t have a lawyer and we are giving you time to go get a lawyer but its obvious you will never be able to actually get a lawyer since we are now formally announcing your appeal to be legally incompetent.
What an awful mess. At age 14, Luke Mitchell gallantly set forth in the night to search for his overdue 14 year old girlfriend. Each and every member of the small search party stated to police that Luke’s dog created a ruckus at a small cleft in the wall and only then did Luke Mitchell proceed to discover the naked and woefully bloody corpse of his girlfriend. After extensive and persistent police questioning the witnesses changed their recollections as to the dog having located the corpse rather than Luke Mitchell having done so. This of course gave the police, the prosecutor and the press the opportunity to repeatedly point out that Luke Mitchell had guilty knowledge of the corpse’s location.
The press repeatedly harped on the fact that the injuries to the corpse bore a resemblance to the injuries suffered decades earlier in the Black Dahlia case that was oft mentioned by rock star Marilyn Manson. The press informed the public that Luke Mitchell was an obsessed fan of Marilyn Manson but failed to point out that there was not one reference on Luke’s computer to the Black Dahlia and that the only Marilyn Manson CD found in Luke’s home was one that was purchased after the murder. The press repeatedly described Luke Mitchell as a devotee of Satan but failed to point out that the school book scribbling they repeatedly described as satanic was in fact a quotation from a very popular computer game.
His girlfriend had struggled valiantly suffering extensive defensive wounds and almost total exsanguination but Luke Mitchell had nary a scratch nor a single drop of blood on him.
Although it was publicly announced that the crime was murder not rape semen was found on the girlfriend’s body yet it was not from Luke Mitchell.
Meanwhile the police, prosecutor, press and public show not the slightest interest whatsoever in a male known to have been fond of the location where the body was found, known to have appeared disheveled at the time, known to have borne the next morning facial scratches for which there were absurd and ever-changing explanations and known to have penned an essay about having killed a girl within a week of the murder.
Ah the ever so fine niceties of the law: we will give you additional time to try to get a lawyer to represent you in a futile appeal but we won’t even question much less arrest or prosecute the facially scratched violence-prone druggie and sex-offender whose dna was found on the corpse.
What is the use of having dna databases if such evidence as semen found on a murder victim is ignored? What is the use of having advanced forensics if a corpse is allowed to remain out in the woods unprotected from overnight rains and morning dew that will clearly wash away evidence deposited by the attacker? What is the use of having juries if they accept ownership of a Marilyn Manson CD as proof of murder? What is the use of having guidelines for the questioning of a 15 year old youth if all judges do is mildly rebuke the police for their obvious excesses?
Clearly, the one lesson to be learned is that when the police want you they will not shift their focus elsewhere. Obtaining counsel may availeth naught but going without counsel is utterly absurd. The police, prosecutor and press have all railroaded Luke Mitchell and allowed a known sex offender to go un-prosecuted.
Of course, why on earth a 14 year old boy whose dna was not found at the crime scene was tried when the three males whose dna was found at the crime scene were never considered suspects was not considered by the court. Nor did the court consider the massive press coverage about Luke Mitchell's supposed Satanism or fascination with Marilyn Manson simply because a Manson CD given to him a week after the murder was found in his house.
Amidst all the palaver about an English court being allowed to undermine Scots Law it should perhaps be remembered that if the Luke Mitchell case is an example of what Scottish police, Scottish prosecutors, Scottish judges and Scottish juries can do, then I submit that at long last Scots Law should indeed be undermined.
For those of you requiring an introduction to the Luke Mitchell case suffice it for me to say that the Lothian and Borders Constabulary promptly decided that fourteen year old Luke Mitchell would be considered the sole suspect in the murder of his fourteen year old girlfriend. The police did not seem at all troubled by Luke Mitchell having no scratches and having left no dna at the crime scene. The police therefore decided to ignore the three males whose dna was left on, in or inconveniently close by the corpse despite the fact that the three males had chosen to adopt various actions such as leaving the area, giving rather unusual explanations for their scratches and altering their appearance.
Soundly condemned by the press, termed a devotee of Satan and Marilyn Manson and banned from attending school Luke Mitchell endured hours of police questioning without benefit of counsel. After trial under circus-like conditions wherein he was denied the use of dna experts, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to a minimum term of confinement of twenty years even though it was clear that the notoriety of his case meant that he would serve the full life sentence without ever being allowed parole. Countless appeals to the Scottish Courts availed him naught. Even his petition of Nobile Officium presented at the Court of Inner Sessions fell on deaf ears.
Finally, the English Supreme Court will be ordering his release since his being denied counsel at the initial interrogation has been ruled to be a denial of fundamental human rights protected by the European Union. While Scottish politicians are bemoaning the destruction of Scots Law, it is perhaps time that we should all rejoice that at long last common sense seems to be prevailing.
For those of you who find such matters to be of interest, there appears to have been no comment made by the sister of the homicide victim who soon thereafter married one of the men whose semen was found on the victim’s tee shirt and underwear.
An earlier posting on this case is herewith set forth for the convenience of the readers:
A Final Incompetence …
Their Lordships, the five Justices of the High Court of Criminal Appeals, formally severed Luke Mitchell’s appeal from the proceedings since he was not then represented by counsel. This was done so as to give him additional time with which to seek the advice of counsel but the justices formally advised Luke Mitchell they would expect any such advice of counsel to be consonant with a recognition that the present proceedings as continuing against appellant Nat Fraser declared the grounds of the appeal to be legally incompetent.
Oh what a fine nicety of the law! We are not now denying your appeal because you don’t have a lawyer and we are giving you time to go get a lawyer but its obvious you will never be able to actually get a lawyer since we are now formally announcing your appeal to be legally incompetent.
What an awful mess. At age 14, Luke Mitchell gallantly set forth in the night to search for his overdue 14 year old girlfriend. Each and every member of the small search party stated to police that Luke’s dog created a ruckus at a small cleft in the wall and only then did Luke Mitchell proceed to discover the naked and woefully bloody corpse of his girlfriend. After extensive and persistent police questioning the witnesses changed their recollections as to the dog having located the corpse rather than Luke Mitchell having done so. This of course gave the police, the prosecutor and the press the opportunity to repeatedly point out that Luke Mitchell had guilty knowledge of the corpse’s location.
The press repeatedly harped on the fact that the injuries to the corpse bore a resemblance to the injuries suffered decades earlier in the Black Dahlia case that was oft mentioned by rock star Marilyn Manson. The press informed the public that Luke Mitchell was an obsessed fan of Marilyn Manson but failed to point out that there was not one reference on Luke’s computer to the Black Dahlia and that the only Marilyn Manson CD found in Luke’s home was one that was purchased after the murder. The press repeatedly described Luke Mitchell as a devotee of Satan but failed to point out that the school book scribbling they repeatedly described as satanic was in fact a quotation from a very popular computer game.
His girlfriend had struggled valiantly suffering extensive defensive wounds and almost total exsanguination but Luke Mitchell had nary a scratch nor a single drop of blood on him.
Although it was publicly announced that the crime was murder not rape semen was found on the girlfriend’s body yet it was not from Luke Mitchell.
Meanwhile the police, prosecutor, press and public show not the slightest interest whatsoever in a male known to have been fond of the location where the body was found, known to have appeared disheveled at the time, known to have borne the next morning facial scratches for which there were absurd and ever-changing explanations and known to have penned an essay about having killed a girl within a week of the murder.
Ah the ever so fine niceties of the law: we will give you additional time to try to get a lawyer to represent you in a futile appeal but we won’t even question much less arrest or prosecute the facially scratched violence-prone druggie and sex-offender whose dna was found on the corpse.
What is the use of having dna databases if such evidence as semen found on a murder victim is ignored? What is the use of having advanced forensics if a corpse is allowed to remain out in the woods unprotected from overnight rains and morning dew that will clearly wash away evidence deposited by the attacker? What is the use of having juries if they accept ownership of a Marilyn Manson CD as proof of murder? What is the use of having guidelines for the questioning of a 15 year old youth if all judges do is mildly rebuke the police for their obvious excesses?
Clearly, the one lesson to be learned is that when the police want you they will not shift their focus elsewhere. Obtaining counsel may availeth naught but going without counsel is utterly absurd. The police, prosecutor and press have all railroaded Luke Mitchell and allowed a known sex offender to go un-prosecuted.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Casey Anthony and Experts
In today's testimony the prosecution inquired as to a forensic pathologists prior knowledge of the case and I think it is proper that the defense be permitted to employ experts who will have no preconceived notions. The failure of the defense attorneys to inform their expert of a possible drowning is not a fit matter of inquiry and the judge should never have allowed a question that implies lack of a belief in the client's version of events.
Compulsive liar who simply does not face the truth? Perhaps. She never revealed her being a half credit short of high school graduation to her family. Did this start at age 8 as a result of sexual molestation? I have no idea! So far, I've heard simply that she was a good mother when she was with her daughter, a good roommate, and a good sport who joined in the festivities when the turnout at her boyfriends club-night event was rather sparse. I've not heard any motive to rid herself of her daughter or take up a lifestyle of booze, boyfriends and nightclubs.
A compulsive liar is just as likely to leave a child in a hot car as any other harried mother. A compulsive liar is just as likely to be forgetful about a swimming pool ladder as any other harried mother. The defendant's father may indeed have misguided his daughter by playing on her fears of criminal prosecution for the drowning incident. Or she simply may have left the child in a hot car and gone just as blithely along ignoring reality of that as she did when she allowed her parents to plan a graduation party that would not be taking place.
Compulsive liar who simply does not face the truth? Perhaps. She never revealed her being a half credit short of high school graduation to her family. Did this start at age 8 as a result of sexual molestation? I have no idea! So far, I've heard simply that she was a good mother when she was with her daughter, a good roommate, and a good sport who joined in the festivities when the turnout at her boyfriends club-night event was rather sparse. I've not heard any motive to rid herself of her daughter or take up a lifestyle of booze, boyfriends and nightclubs.
A compulsive liar is just as likely to leave a child in a hot car as any other harried mother. A compulsive liar is just as likely to be forgetful about a swimming pool ladder as any other harried mother. The defendant's father may indeed have misguided his daughter by playing on her fears of criminal prosecution for the drowning incident. Or she simply may have left the child in a hot car and gone just as blithely along ignoring reality of that as she did when she allowed her parents to plan a graduation party that would not be taking place.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Section 8 Compliance Raids in Antelope Valley
The NY Times has an article today on the black activists suing in Los Angeles over the Section 8 Housing raids in the historically lily white Antelope valley wherein their is popular sentiment that the Section 8 housing assistance program is simply a block busting tool used to by the government to turn neighborhoods.
Whether it be fraud in section 8 housing applications in the Antelope Valley or excessive enforcement of building codes in Paducah, Kentucky to convert minority owned crack houses into homosexual owned art galleries all regulations and all enforcement programs will have effects on elements of the population deemed undesirable.
Being poor and black is not an excuse to commit fraud in a government housing program. Being a black owner of a crack house is not an excuse to be without running water and a sewage connection. A heterosexual crack dealer is deemed undesirable when the Paducah program favors homosexual property owners on the theory that homosexuals are traditionally more oriented to having home-based businesses and an active street life that enhances the community.
Paducah used housing regulations to get rid of crack dealers that happened to be heterosexual; Antelope Valley residents want to use Section 8 fraud detection raids as a way of getting rid of poor criminals who happen to be black. The goal is always the same, its the excuses that are always changing.
Whether it be fraud in section 8 housing applications in the Antelope Valley or excessive enforcement of building codes in Paducah, Kentucky to convert minority owned crack houses into homosexual owned art galleries all regulations and all enforcement programs will have effects on elements of the population deemed undesirable.
Being poor and black is not an excuse to commit fraud in a government housing program. Being a black owner of a crack house is not an excuse to be without running water and a sewage connection. A heterosexual crack dealer is deemed undesirable when the Paducah program favors homosexual property owners on the theory that homosexuals are traditionally more oriented to having home-based businesses and an active street life that enhances the community.
Paducah used housing regulations to get rid of crack dealers that happened to be heterosexual; Antelope Valley residents want to use Section 8 fraud detection raids as a way of getting rid of poor criminals who happen to be black. The goal is always the same, its the excuses that are always changing.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
AF 447 The real causes...
Sure one can blame the bean counters for throwing up roadblocks to the replacement of the pitot tubes but no one really knows if the new pitot tubes had they been installed would not have iced over also.
One can blame a pilot for taking a rest break but I'd sure prefer an well rested pilot be at the controls during the later and more demanding portions of the flight. It is certainly clear that the pilots in the cockpit for fully qualified and experienced.
The real cause is that the pilots were simply not capable of deciding which instruments to rely on and which to mistrust. The pilots were simply too dependent on a mind set of trusting their instruments and relying on a computer to keep the airplane from stalling. Once it went into Alternate Law they lost Angle of Attack protection.
The airspeed was indicated as very low. They should have rejected that data but didn't. However, that is forgivable. They added power and with the engines slung low under the wings of course they shot up real fast into a nose up position and gained altitude.
The pilot may have become distracted by a non-silenceable stall warning horn. Well, its a critical situation and its probably good that it can't be turned off. The trouble is that any pilot knows to get the nose down instantly and to add power in or near a stall attitude. Yet the pilot kept the nose up and allowed it to go even higher and higher and although power was initially set to TOGA, they quite promptly lowered it to flight idle and although it takes time for a jet engine to spool down, they were soon at fifty-five percent power when they should have stayed at Take Off/Go Around power.
Even when the airspeed suddenly indicated a more comforting value of 215 they were keeping the nose up and lowering power.
Its simple. Pilots who've done nothing but input commands into a computer were unable to suddenly start flying the plane. They didn't know what to accept and what to reject. They didn't know that buffeting in a low speed stall and high speed stall is pretty much the same thing. They didn't know to lower the nose and add power. They were overwhelmed by a flurry of error messages and unreliable instruments when the static air port was iced over and the computer put the nose up but soon detected too great a discrepancy between the data from the two pitot tubes and suddenly turned the plane over to the pilots without warning.
Pilots who deal only with computers and don't learn to actually fly the airplanes become too reliant on instruments and don't know how to actually fly the airplane themselves. They had three minutes to learn how to fly, but they seem to have forgotten the lesson every student pilot learns on his third flight: lower the nose immediately and add full power immediately.
One can blame a pilot for taking a rest break but I'd sure prefer an well rested pilot be at the controls during the later and more demanding portions of the flight. It is certainly clear that the pilots in the cockpit for fully qualified and experienced.
The real cause is that the pilots were simply not capable of deciding which instruments to rely on and which to mistrust. The pilots were simply too dependent on a mind set of trusting their instruments and relying on a computer to keep the airplane from stalling. Once it went into Alternate Law they lost Angle of Attack protection.
The airspeed was indicated as very low. They should have rejected that data but didn't. However, that is forgivable. They added power and with the engines slung low under the wings of course they shot up real fast into a nose up position and gained altitude.
The pilot may have become distracted by a non-silenceable stall warning horn. Well, its a critical situation and its probably good that it can't be turned off. The trouble is that any pilot knows to get the nose down instantly and to add power in or near a stall attitude. Yet the pilot kept the nose up and allowed it to go even higher and higher and although power was initially set to TOGA, they quite promptly lowered it to flight idle and although it takes time for a jet engine to spool down, they were soon at fifty-five percent power when they should have stayed at Take Off/Go Around power.
Even when the airspeed suddenly indicated a more comforting value of 215 they were keeping the nose up and lowering power.
Its simple. Pilots who've done nothing but input commands into a computer were unable to suddenly start flying the plane. They didn't know what to accept and what to reject. They didn't know that buffeting in a low speed stall and high speed stall is pretty much the same thing. They didn't know to lower the nose and add power. They were overwhelmed by a flurry of error messages and unreliable instruments when the static air port was iced over and the computer put the nose up but soon detected too great a discrepancy between the data from the two pitot tubes and suddenly turned the plane over to the pilots without warning.
Pilots who deal only with computers and don't learn to actually fly the airplanes become too reliant on instruments and don't know how to actually fly the airplane themselves. They had three minutes to learn how to fly, but they seem to have forgotten the lesson every student pilot learns on his third flight: lower the nose immediately and add full power immediately.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
AF447 Circumstances but not causes:
The French have announced the information to be released tomorrow will give "Factual elements on the operation of the flight that will establish the circumstances of the accident but not the causes" to correct "The partial and contradictory information published in the media".
I am all in favor of establishing circumstances and certainly think it should be done prior to laying any blame. However, dealing with forty to fifty major alarms in a four minute sequence is inherently dangerous particularly at night near turbulence in a situation that is neither taught nor simulated during the pilot's training. Pilot Error is one term that should often be prefaced with the phrase Design Induced. In the case of AF447 it should be Design Induced and Training Re-inforced Pilot Error.
The French announcement implies that the plane had already entered turbulent air prior to the throttle being reduced and the nose pitching up based on instructions derived from the pitot tube data. This has not necessarily been established. Partial and contradictory information is often the fault of the authorities, not the journalists.
...
What fools these journalists are! The press statement was just more incomplete data with obvious omissions.
Why do journalists keep discussing the fact that the chief pilot was on a rest break. So what? Each of the two pilots in the cockpit was a fully qualified and experienced pilot. The Chief Pilot arrived back in the cockpit about one minute after the event commenced but wisely did not immediately assume command of the aircraft.
Today's statement focused on actions taken by the Pilot Flying but never once compared those actions as to whether they were proper for what the instruments displayed or what was actually happening. A pilot immediately adding full power when he thinks there is a stall is fine and dandy. Student pilots learn that by their third lesson. Yet the pilot simultaneously commanding a nose-up pitch increase? In a stall? Of course the essential point is that a pilot for Air France is only trained on low altitude stalls at low power. Yet any pilot should know to get the nose down not up. Perhaps it was a question of which instruments to believe and which to disregard but soon each pilot agreed that they had "no indications" (of speed). They never escaped a deep stall and it seems never went to a sixty degree bank in an attempt to escape the deep stall. They were doing what they had been trained to do if they were "low and slow" and inadvertently stalled the aircraft. Everything in their training revolves around the FlyByWire system that will not allow the pilot to stall the aircraft but once the wildly divergent pitot sensor data caused the computer to trip out, the plane was in Alternate Law mode and while some protections are in place, stalls are quite possible. Computer control over the stabilizer trim tab is lost upon entering Alternate Law but pilots appear not to have known that which is understandable since they never really train for Alternate Law.
So weather really played no role in this as they made a simple deviation around the weather, it was the non-turbulent icing that was a problem for them. They had erroneous indications of dangerously slow speed and then no reliable indications of speed at all. The initial climb of several thousand feet was due to the added thrust when they went to TOGA power, this also increased the severe nose-up attitude due to the pilot's failure to consider stabilizer settings being now manually controllable but not computer controllable.
The first incident was icing of the pitot and static air sources. Soon thereafter the computer became aware of unreliable data. The problem is that at the point in time wherein the static air source became iced and therefore the airplane's speed supposedly fell from 275 to 60, it is clear that such an event could not have taken place without some sort of deceleration forces having been applied. Prior to sending a series of critical warnings to the pilot, how about a critical warning to the computer: airspeed is clearly erroneous so make no immediate adjustments.
The pilot seeing such an abrupt air speed change should have known it was erroneous and probably related to static air data and the pilot hearing the stall warning should not have assumed that it was already a stalled aircraft. The FlyByWire system had pitched the nose up but not gravely, speed was decaying but not gravely.
I am all in favor of establishing circumstances and certainly think it should be done prior to laying any blame. However, dealing with forty to fifty major alarms in a four minute sequence is inherently dangerous particularly at night near turbulence in a situation that is neither taught nor simulated during the pilot's training. Pilot Error is one term that should often be prefaced with the phrase Design Induced. In the case of AF447 it should be Design Induced and Training Re-inforced Pilot Error.
The French announcement implies that the plane had already entered turbulent air prior to the throttle being reduced and the nose pitching up based on instructions derived from the pitot tube data. This has not necessarily been established. Partial and contradictory information is often the fault of the authorities, not the journalists.
...
What fools these journalists are! The press statement was just more incomplete data with obvious omissions.
Why do journalists keep discussing the fact that the chief pilot was on a rest break. So what? Each of the two pilots in the cockpit was a fully qualified and experienced pilot. The Chief Pilot arrived back in the cockpit about one minute after the event commenced but wisely did not immediately assume command of the aircraft.
Today's statement focused on actions taken by the Pilot Flying but never once compared those actions as to whether they were proper for what the instruments displayed or what was actually happening. A pilot immediately adding full power when he thinks there is a stall is fine and dandy. Student pilots learn that by their third lesson. Yet the pilot simultaneously commanding a nose-up pitch increase? In a stall? Of course the essential point is that a pilot for Air France is only trained on low altitude stalls at low power. Yet any pilot should know to get the nose down not up. Perhaps it was a question of which instruments to believe and which to disregard but soon each pilot agreed that they had "no indications" (of speed). They never escaped a deep stall and it seems never went to a sixty degree bank in an attempt to escape the deep stall. They were doing what they had been trained to do if they were "low and slow" and inadvertently stalled the aircraft. Everything in their training revolves around the FlyByWire system that will not allow the pilot to stall the aircraft but once the wildly divergent pitot sensor data caused the computer to trip out, the plane was in Alternate Law mode and while some protections are in place, stalls are quite possible. Computer control over the stabilizer trim tab is lost upon entering Alternate Law but pilots appear not to have known that which is understandable since they never really train for Alternate Law.
So weather really played no role in this as they made a simple deviation around the weather, it was the non-turbulent icing that was a problem for them. They had erroneous indications of dangerously slow speed and then no reliable indications of speed at all. The initial climb of several thousand feet was due to the added thrust when they went to TOGA power, this also increased the severe nose-up attitude due to the pilot's failure to consider stabilizer settings being now manually controllable but not computer controllable.
The first incident was icing of the pitot and static air sources. Soon thereafter the computer became aware of unreliable data. The problem is that at the point in time wherein the static air source became iced and therefore the airplane's speed supposedly fell from 275 to 60, it is clear that such an event could not have taken place without some sort of deceleration forces having been applied. Prior to sending a series of critical warnings to the pilot, how about a critical warning to the computer: airspeed is clearly erroneous so make no immediate adjustments.
The pilot seeing such an abrupt air speed change should have known it was erroneous and probably related to static air data and the pilot hearing the stall warning should not have assumed that it was already a stalled aircraft. The FlyByWire system had pitched the nose up but not gravely, speed was decaying but not gravely.
Casey Anthony Trial
They are off and running.
Right out of the gate, the defense plays the Sex Abuse card which quite frankly is the proper time to play it if he is ever going to play it. No 31 days. The kid drowned in the pool. The mother reacted badly due to a lifelong habit of dysfunctional performance and denial. Oh and by the way the Defendant's Father started right away screaming at her about lifetime in jail and cowed her into not calling 911 or proceeding properly. No allegation, however, that the drowning incident which was unwitnessed by the defendant was actually an unlawful act by the grandfather.
Prosecution of course simply proceeds as if the defense had not said a word, hoping the jurors will pick up on their attitude and adopt a similar stance. This is sort of similar to the way the prosecution keeps saying The Defendant instead of using her name, they hope the witnesses and the jurors will shortly depersonalize her too.
So far the evidence is simply that of a very amiable young woman who was a good mother and who after her circumstances changed was a cheerful roommate and helpful companion who went to her boyfriend's events and adopted a "den mother" attitude towards the otherwise vulnerable half-naked shot girls who might have been continually pawed by over-eager and overly lubricated young males. Nothing evil, vile or cruel shown at all.
The prosecution hopes the jury will view it as "she preferred nightclubs to wet diapers" and she liked "hot body contests" instead of she helpfully joined in a hot body contest to round out the field when only a few women were there for the event.
Well, I'd like to hear more about this Kronky Korpse guy who had just too many versions of what he saw and too much of a coincidence in where he wanted to take a leak.
I'd also be a bit curious to talk to that Grandfather who is a former police detective inhaling an unmistakable odor of death but who doesn't drive to a police station or forensics unit and makes no report of it, he simply drives home.
Prosecution wanted the jury to hear about "shovel" and "corpse" for its emotional value. It was to brief a time to have buried the corpse and the shovel was not returned in any sort of soiled condition, its hardly significant but for its emotional appeal to the jury.
That opening statement alluded to incest but it failed to definitively state whether the victim's dna established that incest had in fact taken place.
Today's testimony seemed to be a parade of friends and acquaintances who had no reason to think ill of Casey Anthony. One witness seemed to look askance on a little white lie being uttered in a social situation.
That grandfather was giving lectures, questions, comments, etc., just about anything other than a direct and responsive answer.
Commentary on Friday's testimony: Not really all that impressive. Lee Anthony's fiancee thought the mother-daughter interaction was amazingly loving. A tow truck driver claims to have smelled decomposition when the car was parked in the strip mall but the manager of the loan company it was parked at stood near the trunk to read the license plate and smelled nothing unusual.
Several videotapes introduced to show the defendant is of bad character even though she has not taken the stand and put her character into evidence. The tapes are supposedly introduced solely to disprove her contentions during police questioning that she was searching for Cayley and negotiating with kidnappers during the time period of her shopping in stores. I don't see why buying some beer is viewed as bad character.
Right out of the gate, the defense plays the Sex Abuse card which quite frankly is the proper time to play it if he is ever going to play it. No 31 days. The kid drowned in the pool. The mother reacted badly due to a lifelong habit of dysfunctional performance and denial. Oh and by the way the Defendant's Father started right away screaming at her about lifetime in jail and cowed her into not calling 911 or proceeding properly. No allegation, however, that the drowning incident which was unwitnessed by the defendant was actually an unlawful act by the grandfather.
Prosecution of course simply proceeds as if the defense had not said a word, hoping the jurors will pick up on their attitude and adopt a similar stance. This is sort of similar to the way the prosecution keeps saying The Defendant instead of using her name, they hope the witnesses and the jurors will shortly depersonalize her too.
So far the evidence is simply that of a very amiable young woman who was a good mother and who after her circumstances changed was a cheerful roommate and helpful companion who went to her boyfriend's events and adopted a "den mother" attitude towards the otherwise vulnerable half-naked shot girls who might have been continually pawed by over-eager and overly lubricated young males. Nothing evil, vile or cruel shown at all.
The prosecution hopes the jury will view it as "she preferred nightclubs to wet diapers" and she liked "hot body contests" instead of she helpfully joined in a hot body contest to round out the field when only a few women were there for the event.
Well, I'd like to hear more about this Kronky Korpse guy who had just too many versions of what he saw and too much of a coincidence in where he wanted to take a leak.
I'd also be a bit curious to talk to that Grandfather who is a former police detective inhaling an unmistakable odor of death but who doesn't drive to a police station or forensics unit and makes no report of it, he simply drives home.
Prosecution wanted the jury to hear about "shovel" and "corpse" for its emotional value. It was to brief a time to have buried the corpse and the shovel was not returned in any sort of soiled condition, its hardly significant but for its emotional appeal to the jury.
That opening statement alluded to incest but it failed to definitively state whether the victim's dna established that incest had in fact taken place.
Today's testimony seemed to be a parade of friends and acquaintances who had no reason to think ill of Casey Anthony. One witness seemed to look askance on a little white lie being uttered in a social situation.
That grandfather was giving lectures, questions, comments, etc., just about anything other than a direct and responsive answer.
Commentary on Friday's testimony: Not really all that impressive. Lee Anthony's fiancee thought the mother-daughter interaction was amazingly loving. A tow truck driver claims to have smelled decomposition when the car was parked in the strip mall but the manager of the loan company it was parked at stood near the trunk to read the license plate and smelled nothing unusual.
Several videotapes introduced to show the defendant is of bad character even though she has not taken the stand and put her character into evidence. The tapes are supposedly introduced solely to disprove her contentions during police questioning that she was searching for Cayley and negotiating with kidnappers during the time period of her shopping in stores. I don't see why buying some beer is viewed as bad character.
Monday, May 16, 2011
AF447 FDR and CVR data readable.
The data from the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder is readable.
I'm sure that as the French finally get around to releasing transcripts more precise information will emerge and much of the speculation will have been proven to be baseless. A good deal of it, however, will have been shown to be quite sensible.
Its well known that the French investigation is focused on avoiding any allocation of blame. With all the inter-linkages between Airbus, AirFrance and the French government it is clear that the BEA is actually investigating the French government. The level of disclosure tolerated by the French is abysmally low in comparison to what the NTSB would be revealing.
The fact that controllers in Senegal and also Air France lost track of the flight entirely and that therefore Air France was woefully late in launching any search effort has absolutely nothing to do with the cause of any difficulties the plane suffered but it is a clear example of the differences in the type of investigation that is being conducted. The BEA will make no statement critical of Air France or commenting on the elapsed time prior to the initiation of search efforts.
I do so hope the French attitude changes and that the BEA will adopt a more open and informative orientation.
ADDENDUM: After the initial downloading and review of the FDR and CVR data, Airbus has sent a No Immediate Issuance of Any Service Bulletin telex to the aviation community. All the telex really means is that there is no immediately discernible indication of a design fault that would require immediate or extremely prompt servicing. Le Figaro appears to be encouraging the viewing of this Airbus action as some sort of determination that it was pilot error and nothing but pilot error. This is not the proper viewpoint. It will probably be next year before we learn a more complete sequence of events. The computerized flight control system detected a severe difference in pitot indications and dumped the pilots into Alternate Law. What the pilots did as far as attitude, throttle and angle of attack adjustments becomes critical. What the weather impact on the plane was will be critical. Probably the most important question is whether the CVR will reveal a reason for a lack of storm related course deviations. Also of interest will be any indications of whether the radar was operational. The important thing to remember at this point in the process is that the action recently taken by Airbus simply indicates no immediately discernible indication of a design fault that must be attended to immediately. It is not an accusation against the pilots and it is not a declaration that a design defect or deficiency may not later appear.
I remind everyone of the Gimli Glider incident in Canada. An airliner full of passengers suddenly became a glider. Most airline pilots today could not deal with that situation because they not only are not glider pilots they are button pushers who don't really have much "hands on" experience in flying an airliner. The don't know the "feel" of the controls in normal situations much less in emergency situations. The pilot of the flight that suddenly ran out of fuel in mid-air near Gimli happened to be glider pilot. He flew unpowered planes for fun. He suddenly found himself flying an unpowered airplane full of passengers. It was not fun, but he knew what to do and could do it. If Airbus dumps you into Alternate Law mode there no time to figure out what to do and get into Direct Law mode by pressing the overhead buttons. You know how to do it instinctively or you don't. Most pilots don't fly airplanes, they push buttons yet when it comes to the computer having given up and the pilots being forced to fly the plane out of a thunderstorm's downwash you can't call out "checklist", you can't grab for a manual and madly flip pages to find the directions, you can't break open the safe and find the secret code numbers to enter. You have to know what overhead buttons to press and where they are. You have to be able reach them in an unusual attitude with annoying alarms going off, you have to be able to fly the plane when you have to suddenly fly the plane. A simple act of leaving one altitude and climbing to another is done by pressing buttons because it saves fuel for a computer to make hundreds of extremely minute control inputs than to have some heavy-fisted human pilot actually try to level out precisely at a certain altitude. The problem is that when the pilots only have the experience of pressing the buttons and don't have any experience in flying the aircraft, they have no time to learn how to fly. When the computer gives up, they have to know how to get into direct law mode and fly the darn plane by feel even if its the dead of night and they suddenly find themselves in a super cell. The real problem is that any passenger selected at random probably has an much experience actually flying the plane as any of the pilots do. All the pilots have done is push buttons on a computer panel. The pilots do not really get any experience in flying the darn aircraft.
ADDENDUM: One item I've been considering for quite some time is the concept of latency of state. If ice accretion on the pitot tubes did send wildly disparate data to the computers and a program therefore cut out and dropped the pilots into Alternate Law, what happens if the fluctuations in the various readings have moments wherein the coincide within the accepted reference range. Is there a resumption of a Fly By Wire state wherein pilots are restrained from certain control inputs? Even in Alternate Law mode there are some systems working and a tendency to have a pronounced pitch-up. Its night, its stormy, the pitot condition may not have been noticed until there was the sudden cut-out and the computers that had been trying to deal with the speed signals suddenly realized the signals were spurious. Pitch and throttle settings had been changed to deal with the erroneous data during the time such erroneous data was well within the acceptable parameters, but once the data discrepancy exceeded the established parameters the pilots were in Alternate Law mode and in an unusual attitude with an unusual power setting.
Further ADDENDUM: A formal announcement is expected near the end of this week that will reflect a preliminary statement regarding the pilot's failure to react to a stall indication as automatic adjustments to pitch and thrust were made pursuant to erroneous pitot data prior to the computer declaring the pitot data to be unreliable and putting the plane in Alternate Law mode. Essentially its an instantaneous mental overload for the pilots who don't know that there has been a dangerous pitch up due to declining static pressure and the iced-up erroneous pitot readings. That reduced thrust and high angle of attack situation needs immediate attention and the pilots were probably so overwhelmed with a flurry of error messages and unreliable instruments that they just didn't have time to sort things out before they simply totally ran out of time and altitude. When you train people to push buttons on a computer rather than really flying the airplane its difficult for them to do what is right when that computer suddenly turns itself off. Increasing thrust with underslung engines and a somewhat aft center of gravity won't help the situation much. If they didn't realize what had happened immediately going into alternate sixty degree banks should have worked but it would take time. They had 35,000 feet to sort things out. It turned out not to be enough.
I'm sure that as the French finally get around to releasing transcripts more precise information will emerge and much of the speculation will have been proven to be baseless. A good deal of it, however, will have been shown to be quite sensible.
Its well known that the French investigation is focused on avoiding any allocation of blame. With all the inter-linkages between Airbus, AirFrance and the French government it is clear that the BEA is actually investigating the French government. The level of disclosure tolerated by the French is abysmally low in comparison to what the NTSB would be revealing.
The fact that controllers in Senegal and also Air France lost track of the flight entirely and that therefore Air France was woefully late in launching any search effort has absolutely nothing to do with the cause of any difficulties the plane suffered but it is a clear example of the differences in the type of investigation that is being conducted. The BEA will make no statement critical of Air France or commenting on the elapsed time prior to the initiation of search efforts.
I do so hope the French attitude changes and that the BEA will adopt a more open and informative orientation.
ADDENDUM: After the initial downloading and review of the FDR and CVR data, Airbus has sent a No Immediate Issuance of Any Service Bulletin telex to the aviation community. All the telex really means is that there is no immediately discernible indication of a design fault that would require immediate or extremely prompt servicing. Le Figaro appears to be encouraging the viewing of this Airbus action as some sort of determination that it was pilot error and nothing but pilot error. This is not the proper viewpoint. It will probably be next year before we learn a more complete sequence of events. The computerized flight control system detected a severe difference in pitot indications and dumped the pilots into Alternate Law. What the pilots did as far as attitude, throttle and angle of attack adjustments becomes critical. What the weather impact on the plane was will be critical. Probably the most important question is whether the CVR will reveal a reason for a lack of storm related course deviations. Also of interest will be any indications of whether the radar was operational. The important thing to remember at this point in the process is that the action recently taken by Airbus simply indicates no immediately discernible indication of a design fault that must be attended to immediately. It is not an accusation against the pilots and it is not a declaration that a design defect or deficiency may not later appear.
I remind everyone of the Gimli Glider incident in Canada. An airliner full of passengers suddenly became a glider. Most airline pilots today could not deal with that situation because they not only are not glider pilots they are button pushers who don't really have much "hands on" experience in flying an airliner. The don't know the "feel" of the controls in normal situations much less in emergency situations. The pilot of the flight that suddenly ran out of fuel in mid-air near Gimli happened to be glider pilot. He flew unpowered planes for fun. He suddenly found himself flying an unpowered airplane full of passengers. It was not fun, but he knew what to do and could do it. If Airbus dumps you into Alternate Law mode there no time to figure out what to do and get into Direct Law mode by pressing the overhead buttons. You know how to do it instinctively or you don't. Most pilots don't fly airplanes, they push buttons yet when it comes to the computer having given up and the pilots being forced to fly the plane out of a thunderstorm's downwash you can't call out "checklist", you can't grab for a manual and madly flip pages to find the directions, you can't break open the safe and find the secret code numbers to enter. You have to know what overhead buttons to press and where they are. You have to be able reach them in an unusual attitude with annoying alarms going off, you have to be able to fly the plane when you have to suddenly fly the plane. A simple act of leaving one altitude and climbing to another is done by pressing buttons because it saves fuel for a computer to make hundreds of extremely minute control inputs than to have some heavy-fisted human pilot actually try to level out precisely at a certain altitude. The problem is that when the pilots only have the experience of pressing the buttons and don't have any experience in flying the aircraft, they have no time to learn how to fly. When the computer gives up, they have to know how to get into direct law mode and fly the darn plane by feel even if its the dead of night and they suddenly find themselves in a super cell. The real problem is that any passenger selected at random probably has an much experience actually flying the plane as any of the pilots do. All the pilots have done is push buttons on a computer panel. The pilots do not really get any experience in flying the darn aircraft.
ADDENDUM: One item I've been considering for quite some time is the concept of latency of state. If ice accretion on the pitot tubes did send wildly disparate data to the computers and a program therefore cut out and dropped the pilots into Alternate Law, what happens if the fluctuations in the various readings have moments wherein the coincide within the accepted reference range. Is there a resumption of a Fly By Wire state wherein pilots are restrained from certain control inputs? Even in Alternate Law mode there are some systems working and a tendency to have a pronounced pitch-up. Its night, its stormy, the pitot condition may not have been noticed until there was the sudden cut-out and the computers that had been trying to deal with the speed signals suddenly realized the signals were spurious. Pitch and throttle settings had been changed to deal with the erroneous data during the time such erroneous data was well within the acceptable parameters, but once the data discrepancy exceeded the established parameters the pilots were in Alternate Law mode and in an unusual attitude with an unusual power setting.
Further ADDENDUM: A formal announcement is expected near the end of this week that will reflect a preliminary statement regarding the pilot's failure to react to a stall indication as automatic adjustments to pitch and thrust were made pursuant to erroneous pitot data prior to the computer declaring the pitot data to be unreliable and putting the plane in Alternate Law mode. Essentially its an instantaneous mental overload for the pilots who don't know that there has been a dangerous pitch up due to declining static pressure and the iced-up erroneous pitot readings. That reduced thrust and high angle of attack situation needs immediate attention and the pilots were probably so overwhelmed with a flurry of error messages and unreliable instruments that they just didn't have time to sort things out before they simply totally ran out of time and altitude. When you train people to push buttons on a computer rather than really flying the airplane its difficult for them to do what is right when that computer suddenly turns itself off. Increasing thrust with underslung engines and a somewhat aft center of gravity won't help the situation much. If they didn't realize what had happened immediately going into alternate sixty degree banks should have worked but it would take time. They had 35,000 feet to sort things out. It turned out not to be enough.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
AF447 Recovery of corpses from seabed.
It seems the families are divided as to attempts to recover corpses. It would be difficult but one has already been recovered so it is certainly not impossible. I doubt the corpses have much evidentiary value. The Brazilian mortuary was overwhelmed but would not permit the French doctors to perform autopsies. The Brazilian medical examiner made comments and drew conclusions well beyond his sphere of expertise even suggesting that the passengers had assumed crash positions prior to impact. Given the large number of passengers who were not belted-in and the fact that the galley had not been secured it was quite likely that there had been no instructions to even fasten seat belts much less an instruction concerning severe turbulence and certainly no instruction to assume crash positions.
The damage and injuries on the earlier recovered corpses all show major impact forces on the underside of an intact fuselage. Nothing reflects instructions to cabin crew or passengers regarding imminent impact.
There has been alot of discussion regarding overspeed conditions and underspeed conditions. At 35,000 feet that "coffin corner" is still a pretty wide window. And a stall could begin at six or seven degrees at that altitude. Presumably the iced-up pitot tubes would create a differential airspeed reading that was well beyond the computer's parameters. Error messages would be sent as the flight director computers cut out and placed the plane in Alternate Law mode. If speed either decayed too far or increased to far, a stall would take place but it seems crew awareness and crew actions should have been able to deal with it. Surely from 35,000 to 0 would have taken some time. Initially the French searchers felt they should estimate continued flight along intended course for some time beyond the Last Known Position. Although this may have taken place and then been followed by a course reversal that was either commanded or most likely uncommanded, it is quite possible that descent was rapid and largely devoid of forward motion. I can only envision direct flight into a powerful supercell as doing that.
I look forward to the CVR showing us why there were no WX related course changes to thread the plane around the intense storms. I look forward to the FDR analysis even more, but I don't see the corpse recovery as providing critical information.
The damage and injuries on the earlier recovered corpses all show major impact forces on the underside of an intact fuselage. Nothing reflects instructions to cabin crew or passengers regarding imminent impact.
There has been alot of discussion regarding overspeed conditions and underspeed conditions. At 35,000 feet that "coffin corner" is still a pretty wide window. And a stall could begin at six or seven degrees at that altitude. Presumably the iced-up pitot tubes would create a differential airspeed reading that was well beyond the computer's parameters. Error messages would be sent as the flight director computers cut out and placed the plane in Alternate Law mode. If speed either decayed too far or increased to far, a stall would take place but it seems crew awareness and crew actions should have been able to deal with it. Surely from 35,000 to 0 would have taken some time. Initially the French searchers felt they should estimate continued flight along intended course for some time beyond the Last Known Position. Although this may have taken place and then been followed by a course reversal that was either commanded or most likely uncommanded, it is quite possible that descent was rapid and largely devoid of forward motion. I can only envision direct flight into a powerful supercell as doing that.
I look forward to the CVR showing us why there were no WX related course changes to thread the plane around the intense storms. I look forward to the FDR analysis even more, but I don't see the corpse recovery as providing critical information.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
AF447 CVR located and recovered.
The Cockpit Voice Recorder has been both located on the sea floor and successfully recovered from it by a robotic vehicle.
The device is under BEA seal and the data, if any, will be available to the BEA in about two weeks, though its release will surely be several months at the earliest.
The CVR will provide us with information regarding whether the lack of WX related course deviations was truly due to crew fatigue. There are many who believe this is not a WX related event and who interpret the ACARS data as showing two pilots present and alert in the cockpit. There seems little to indicate a malfunctioning or non-functioning WX radar aboard the aircraft and it would seem that if any such event took place the crew would not have engaged in continued flight into the ITCZ but would have returned and landed. It is likely that had there been any such non-functioning onboard radar system the crew would have at the very least issued a turbulence warning to passengers and crew. This would have resulted in an activation of the seat belt sign and the securing of the galley. Yet damage inspection and autopsy reports indicate that the galley was not secured and a high number of passengers did not have their seat belts fastened.
The device is under BEA seal and the data, if any, will be available to the BEA in about two weeks, though its release will surely be several months at the earliest.
The CVR will provide us with information regarding whether the lack of WX related course deviations was truly due to crew fatigue. There are many who believe this is not a WX related event and who interpret the ACARS data as showing two pilots present and alert in the cockpit. There seems little to indicate a malfunctioning or non-functioning WX radar aboard the aircraft and it would seem that if any such event took place the crew would not have engaged in continued flight into the ITCZ but would have returned and landed. It is likely that had there been any such non-functioning onboard radar system the crew would have at the very least issued a turbulence warning to passengers and crew. This would have resulted in an activation of the seat belt sign and the securing of the galley. Yet damage inspection and autopsy reports indicate that the galley was not secured and a high number of passengers did not have their seat belts fastened.
Monday, May 2, 2011
AF447 FDR's Data Module recovered.
The Data Module that apparently was dislodged from the Flight Data Recorder upon impact was located and roboticly recovered. It appears to be intact based upon gross examination but it is likely to be two weeks before it is known if data can be recovered from it. It is likely to be considerably longer, however, before any recovered data is released to the aviation community or the public. Shear forces on the bolts of the data module and the ultrasonic pinger are unknown but separation of the data module from the chassis of the FDR has taken place in prior crashes involving impact with water. The BEA has not released definitive data on the pinger but it is believed that signals were recorded by the French submarine involved in the search but not detected at the time by sonar operators. Later data scrubbing is said to have provided a computerized detection of the pings.
There are so many questions as to why the plane went into an unusual attitude and most particularly as to why there was no recovery despite there being 35,000 feet in order for their to be recovery from a stall. It is possible that a pilot's attempt to re-establish computerized flight control created an additional upset since there is a difference between the plane's attitude and the computer systems processing of the attitude information. Essentially it would be a physical recovery from the stall followed by a systems induced control input that re-established the stalled condition as an unrecoverable deep stall.
There has been much ado about extreme turbulence and the plane's presumed entry into a supercell whose location was masked by a radar detection of a smaller but nearer cell. The trouble with all this turbulent weather assumptions is that other planes transited the area without incident and nothing in the wreckage or bodily injury data indicates that the plane ever encountered severe weather. Galley equipment was not secured and dogged-down as it would be had there been a severe turbulence warning nor was there any indication that all passengers had seat belts securely fastened.
The ACARS system indicates pitot icing problems causing a discrepancy in the speed data the flight computers were receiving. As the computer put the plane into Alternate Law mode and therefore no computer would override pilot input, there would have to have been prompt and proper action by the crew. I can not envision a pilot attempting to re-engage computer controlled flight until the plane itself was known to have recovered from any stalled situation. There was massive loss of data to the pilots and massive cognitive overload as whatever data that was available was unreliable.
As yet, there has been no word concerning the other "black box", the Cockpit Voice Recorder.
There are so many questions as to why the plane went into an unusual attitude and most particularly as to why there was no recovery despite there being 35,000 feet in order for their to be recovery from a stall. It is possible that a pilot's attempt to re-establish computerized flight control created an additional upset since there is a difference between the plane's attitude and the computer systems processing of the attitude information. Essentially it would be a physical recovery from the stall followed by a systems induced control input that re-established the stalled condition as an unrecoverable deep stall.
There has been much ado about extreme turbulence and the plane's presumed entry into a supercell whose location was masked by a radar detection of a smaller but nearer cell. The trouble with all this turbulent weather assumptions is that other planes transited the area without incident and nothing in the wreckage or bodily injury data indicates that the plane ever encountered severe weather. Galley equipment was not secured and dogged-down as it would be had there been a severe turbulence warning nor was there any indication that all passengers had seat belts securely fastened.
The ACARS system indicates pitot icing problems causing a discrepancy in the speed data the flight computers were receiving. As the computer put the plane into Alternate Law mode and therefore no computer would override pilot input, there would have to have been prompt and proper action by the crew. I can not envision a pilot attempting to re-engage computer controlled flight until the plane itself was known to have recovered from any stalled situation. There was massive loss of data to the pilots and massive cognitive overload as whatever data that was available was unreliable.
As yet, there has been no word concerning the other "black box", the Cockpit Voice Recorder.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Ryan Ferguson: Jurors still absolutely certain.
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/may/01/ferguson-jury-rethink-decision
Although some jurors are doubtful it seems many of those country bumpkins still think that their interpretation of Charles Erickson's facial expression during a brief glance at the trial of Ryan Ferguson constitutes sufficient evidence on which to base a verdict of guilty. The interrogators provided all the facts about the crime to schizophrenic junkie, Chuck Erickson, but the jurors believed Erickson's clearly bogus confession of a slightly built 17 year old Ryan Ferguson attacking a 300 pound ex-football player and winning a long, drawn-out fight but sustaining no bruises during the encounter. No forensic evidence linked Ryan Ferguson to the crime. Considerable evidence pointed towards the co-worker.
Police never treated the last known person to see the victim, Kent Heitholt, alive even though that coworker is a large and powerful man with police training in unarmed combat. The police never viewed him or noted any bruises on him after the crime, since they thought a telephone call was adequate. The police never seemed worried about his ever changing stories about which car he drove and where he parked it. The police never compared the lug nuts on the coworkers car with the dents on the victims skull.
Chuck Erickson dreamed about the killing and the police latched onto a willing confessor despite the absurdity of the situation. It wasn't as if the cops had never learned basic interrogation techniques. It wasn't as if the DA didn't know how to evaluate evidence. This was no glitch in the system. It was all intentional.
ADDENDUM: AG, running true to form, files responsive pleading at end of final day allowed. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/may/03/state-files-response-to-ferguson-appeal
Although some jurors are doubtful it seems many of those country bumpkins still think that their interpretation of Charles Erickson's facial expression during a brief glance at the trial of Ryan Ferguson constitutes sufficient evidence on which to base a verdict of guilty. The interrogators provided all the facts about the crime to schizophrenic junkie, Chuck Erickson, but the jurors believed Erickson's clearly bogus confession of a slightly built 17 year old Ryan Ferguson attacking a 300 pound ex-football player and winning a long, drawn-out fight but sustaining no bruises during the encounter. No forensic evidence linked Ryan Ferguson to the crime. Considerable evidence pointed towards the co-worker.
Police never treated the last known person to see the victim, Kent Heitholt, alive even though that coworker is a large and powerful man with police training in unarmed combat. The police never viewed him or noted any bruises on him after the crime, since they thought a telephone call was adequate. The police never seemed worried about his ever changing stories about which car he drove and where he parked it. The police never compared the lug nuts on the coworkers car with the dents on the victims skull.
Chuck Erickson dreamed about the killing and the police latched onto a willing confessor despite the absurdity of the situation. It wasn't as if the cops had never learned basic interrogation techniques. It wasn't as if the DA didn't know how to evaluate evidence. This was no glitch in the system. It was all intentional.
ADDENDUM: AG, running true to form, files responsive pleading at end of final day allowed. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/may/03/state-files-response-to-ferguson-appeal
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
When gadgets betray us?
A New Zealand chain of no-frills supermarkets had its computer turn on the lights and unlock the doors of one of its stores at the normal opening time of 8:00am on Good Friday, a holiday on which there were no employees present. Apparently someone called the police at 9:20am reporting that truckloads of groceries were being removed but several shoppers simply went to the self-scan checkout lane and proceeded in a normal fashion until one shopper happened to scan alcohol and the scanner automatically stopped functioning while it awaited managerial confirmation of the purchaser's age. It appears that some shoppers who entered the store simply left when they realized something was amiss. Apparently there were those who took advantage of the situation though and prompted the calls to the police. Police in New Zealand are of course not armed but had no trouble dealing with the situation and the store's manager intends to take no action during a period of time in which he trusts the various shoppers will voluntarily do the right thing by coming in and paying for their groceries now that the store is open and properly staffed.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Luke Mitchell
Yeah folks, more bad news from the courts for Luke Mitchell. His appeal to have the Cadder decision regarding a suspects right to counsel during police questioning was denied.
You all remember Luke Mitchell don't you. Arrested for the murder of his 14 year old girlfriend despite his dna not being at the crime scene and there being no forensic evidence linking him to the scene at all. He was observed shortly after the murder sitting on a fence in a calm manner and bearing no scratches, blood or disarranged clothing.
Yet, three males whose DNA is either on, in or inconveniently close to the corpse were never arrested or even questioned as suspects despite their attempts to alter their appearance, the scratches they bore following the murder and the ever-changing stories they related.
Luke Mitchell was promptly booted out of school, termed a Satanist for some scribbling on his schoolbook that was a quotation from the best selling video game at the time, depicted as a devotee of the Black Dahlia murder despite the fact that he had never heard of it.
Life with minimum confinement of twenty years. And as they say in UK prisons, the guards are constantly seeing to it that he is "shaking it rough" which means doing what in the USA would be referred to as very hard time.
While the UK tabloids carry the usual mouthings about the over one hundred thousand pounds the appeals have cost there does not seem to be any comparison of that amount to a forensic tarp which might have covered the body on rainy night and thus preserved forensic evidence.
You all remember Luke Mitchell don't you. Arrested for the murder of his 14 year old girlfriend despite his dna not being at the crime scene and there being no forensic evidence linking him to the scene at all. He was observed shortly after the murder sitting on a fence in a calm manner and bearing no scratches, blood or disarranged clothing.
Yet, three males whose DNA is either on, in or inconveniently close to the corpse were never arrested or even questioned as suspects despite their attempts to alter their appearance, the scratches they bore following the murder and the ever-changing stories they related.
Luke Mitchell was promptly booted out of school, termed a Satanist for some scribbling on his schoolbook that was a quotation from the best selling video game at the time, depicted as a devotee of the Black Dahlia murder despite the fact that he had never heard of it.
Life with minimum confinement of twenty years. And as they say in UK prisons, the guards are constantly seeing to it that he is "shaking it rough" which means doing what in the USA would be referred to as very hard time.
While the UK tabloids carry the usual mouthings about the over one hundred thousand pounds the appeals have cost there does not seem to be any comparison of that amount to a forensic tarp which might have covered the body on rainy night and thus preserved forensic evidence.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Owen Rooney. Canada. Grand Forks, BC
I will be posting shortly on the situation involving the Rooney Family and the events of August 2010 following the Shambala Music Festival and the disappearance of Owen Rooney from Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada after having received a vicious beating in nearby Christina Lake, BC.
Addendum:
I've posted before about the ever-present tension between the authorities conducting a search and the family members of those who are missing. This is common and understandable. John Ramsey wanted the roads and airports closed. One Texas family wanted to venture into rugged territory and do it so prematurely that any scent clues would be destroyed before searchers and search dogs arrived. In the United States, it is usually the county sheriff who is charged with balancing the safety of the searchers with the likelihood of the mission's success.
I've posted about the natural desire of family members to seek an alternative that allows them an emotionally acceptable situation. In my analysis of the Fifth Estate segment on Owen Rooney I contrasted the Fifth Estate's award winning segment on Eric Wilson from decades earlier. The former cop who was extremely blunt with the Wilson family was indeed on the right track. He was not tactful but neither was he prone to give false assurances or instill a false hope.
In the Fifth Estate segment Sharon Rooney is quoted as saying "when we've done all that we can do". It would seem that the family is likely to soon acknowledge that they have reached that point. The Horsemen have not been totally inactive but their focus has been relatively local. We wish them good luck, but they will earn no rousing cheers on this case. The cheers will go to the close-knit loving family and the friends of Owen Rooney.
Addendum:
I've posted before about the ever-present tension between the authorities conducting a search and the family members of those who are missing. This is common and understandable. John Ramsey wanted the roads and airports closed. One Texas family wanted to venture into rugged territory and do it so prematurely that any scent clues would be destroyed before searchers and search dogs arrived. In the United States, it is usually the county sheriff who is charged with balancing the safety of the searchers with the likelihood of the mission's success.
I've posted about the natural desire of family members to seek an alternative that allows them an emotionally acceptable situation. In my analysis of the Fifth Estate segment on Owen Rooney I contrasted the Fifth Estate's award winning segment on Eric Wilson from decades earlier. The former cop who was extremely blunt with the Wilson family was indeed on the right track. He was not tactful but neither was he prone to give false assurances or instill a false hope.
In the Fifth Estate segment Sharon Rooney is quoted as saying "when we've done all that we can do". It would seem that the family is likely to soon acknowledge that they have reached that point. The Horsemen have not been totally inactive but their focus has been relatively local. We wish them good luck, but they will earn no rousing cheers on this case. The cheers will go to the close-knit loving family and the friends of Owen Rooney.
Nicole Ryan: Bad Cases Make Good Laws?
I will prepare a more detailed post shortly but I just want to mention that I will indeed be posting a comment on the Nicole Ryan appeal in Canada.
The law often allows the use of deadly force when it is necessary and escape from the home is impossible. Usually any escape route must be taken, not merely a desired or convenient one. Usually the law only looks at the possibility of a physical escape from immediate danger and does not concern itself with the ultimate success of such an escape. This means that a Battered Wife defense may be claimed only if physical escape was not possible. The fact that such escape would be futile due to the persistent malfeasance of the local police and welfare personnel is not usually an acceptable defense to the use of deadly force in the home.
A good many of the facts are in dispute and as is often the case the truth probably lies somewhere in between the assertions of the parties involved. The trial judge expanded the concept of Battered Wife defense to apply to a situation wherein a wife could make the decision based on her knowledge that an effective escape was not available to her even if she was aware that a temporary but futile escape was available to her.
The law often allows the use of deadly force when it is necessary and escape from the home is impossible. Usually any escape route must be taken, not merely a desired or convenient one. Usually the law only looks at the possibility of a physical escape from immediate danger and does not concern itself with the ultimate success of such an escape. This means that a Battered Wife defense may be claimed only if physical escape was not possible. The fact that such escape would be futile due to the persistent malfeasance of the local police and welfare personnel is not usually an acceptable defense to the use of deadly force in the home.
A good many of the facts are in dispute and as is often the case the truth probably lies somewhere in between the assertions of the parties involved. The trial judge expanded the concept of Battered Wife defense to apply to a situation wherein a wife could make the decision based on her knowledge that an effective escape was not available to her even if she was aware that a temporary but futile escape was available to her.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
AF447 Search: Phase 5.
The FDR was found but only the chasis was located the Data Memory Module was not attached and is thought to have separated at impact. There are some other crashes wherein this separation has taken place. 04/27/11.
..................................................
The final phase of the search for the "black boxes" will be getting underway. The Alucia considered its mission complete and departed the area on April 9th. Any delay in getting the successor search vessel on scene was due to the high level of breaks in submarine cables after recent seismic activity.
The debris field is very close to the Last Known Position despite all the earlier reliance on mathematical modeling of winds and currents.
The tail section has been located. It is thought that this presently contains the FDR and CVR that would normally be found there. Recovery of the black boxes is highly probable, recovery of information from them is less certain but there is a generally high expectation that data will be recovered. Its not yet known just why the ultrasonic pingers were not detected during earlier searches.
So it becomes the usual: wait and see.
Addendum: I've been informed that the initial attempt will be tomorrow April 22nd. BEA representative is aboard even a psychologist to deal with ships crew who have difficulties dealing with the images.
..................................................
The final phase of the search for the "black boxes" will be getting underway. The Alucia considered its mission complete and departed the area on April 9th. Any delay in getting the successor search vessel on scene was due to the high level of breaks in submarine cables after recent seismic activity.
The debris field is very close to the Last Known Position despite all the earlier reliance on mathematical modeling of winds and currents.
The tail section has been located. It is thought that this presently contains the FDR and CVR that would normally be found there. Recovery of the black boxes is highly probable, recovery of information from them is less certain but there is a generally high expectation that data will be recovered. Its not yet known just why the ultrasonic pingers were not detected during earlier searches.
So it becomes the usual: wait and see.
Addendum: I've been informed that the initial attempt will be tomorrow April 22nd. BEA representative is aboard even a psychologist to deal with ships crew who have difficulties dealing with the images.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Packer guilty: 1 Felony, 2 Misdemeanors.
Former security guard and sole suspect in the Brock Husted murder case in Ventura County was tried in a closed courtroom due to the chief witness suffering from extreme agoraphobia. The jury convicted him of one felony and two misdemeanors. The felony conviction will have an effect on his sentencing after his trial on three murder counts for the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Husted and the viable fetus.
It is thought that the crime was a spur of the moment robbery after he drank beer down on the beach but was trapped by the incoming tide and was escaping via the private staircase through the gated community of expensive houses. Packer's DNA was found on a motorcycle helmet's faceplate left at the scene but there was no match in the database at the time.
It seems all his crimes have been impulsive behavior and were often accompanied by alcohol consumption. He didn't learn his lesson on the more minor offenses. Perhaps he has learned now but its too late for the Husteds.
It is thought that the crime was a spur of the moment robbery after he drank beer down on the beach but was trapped by the incoming tide and was escaping via the private staircase through the gated community of expensive houses. Packer's DNA was found on a motorcycle helmet's faceplate left at the scene but there was no match in the database at the time.
It seems all his crimes have been impulsive behavior and were often accompanied by alcohol consumption. He didn't learn his lesson on the more minor offenses. Perhaps he has learned now but its too late for the Husteds.
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