The Father of Digital Technology

The Father of Digital Technology

Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing in the Imitation Game

(Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Nokia, Blackberry

Ericsson, Motorola, HTC, etc, etc…)

If one were to take a survey by stopping 100 people at random in any, and for that matter all of the world’ major cities and ask the following question:

“who do you think is the real inventor behind the

technology of the computer and digital phone?”

My bet will be less that 1 or 2 percent will answer: Alan Mathison Turing.  Yes I have no doubt that it is the very little known genius Alan Mathison Turing.  Why very little known? In a nutshell Turning was ostracized because he was gay at a time when homosexuality was a crime in the UK in 1952.  Instead of serving prison sentence Turing accepted the alternative option of treatment with female hormones, alternative better known at the time as chemical castration. Thanks to the humiliation of this genius Turing committed suicide by cyanide poisoning before his 42^nd birthday in 1954.  It took the British Government, current Prime Minister Cameron, close to 60 years to pass a motion annulling Turn 1952 homosexual conviction in late 2013.  I wonder how Turning bones, spirit and soul reacted to this news! 

Am sure that when one looks at Turing’s academic accolades and World War II contribution to Britain war effort little, if any doubt, be left in crowning Turing as the father and patriarch of modern day ‘miracles’ of digital technology that permanently  changed mankind’ understanding and quality of life to a scope and destiny yet to be determined.  Before embarking on specific explanation of Turing’s inventions I want to briefly raise the question of copyright.  Can one imagine if Turing were to copyright his inventions and his estate claimed royalties from the likes of current Apple, Samsung,   and their predecessors in the digital technology industry.  There is no doubt that the entity and the beneficiaries of that entity would have been materially the richest known to the current civilization of mankind.

Academic accolades of Alan Mathison Turing

If one were to search for a hereditary root of Turing’ mathematic genius the figure that stands out is his grandfather from his mother side being chief engineer of the Madrass Railway.  His grandfather from his father’s side was a clergyman.  At the age of 13 he was a student at Sherborne School Manchester better known for humanities than mathematics. In a letter to his parents a teacher wrote: ‘I hope he will not fall between two stools.  If he is to be scientific specialist he is wasting his time…’  After Sherborne Turing After Sherborne, Turing studied as an undergraduate from 1931 to 1934 at King’s College Cambridge from where he gained first-class honours in mathematics. In 1935, at the young age of 22, he was elected a fellow at King's on the strength of a dissertation in which he proved the central limit theorem. From King’s College he went to Princeton University where he did PhD on the subject of the Systems of Logic based on ordinals.

I will stop at this stage and leave the more interesting and better known work and contributions of Turing that took place at on 4 September 1939, the day after the Britain  declared war on Germany on which date Turing reported to Bletchley Park, the wartime station  better known as Government Code & Cypher School.

King’s College Cambridge where the computer room is named after Turing, who became a student there in 1931 and a Fellow in 1935

A complete and working replica of a bombe at the National Codes Centre at Bletchley Park Britain wartime station

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Dissertations on Justice - What is Justice ? Part 1

Dissertations on Justice

What is Justice?

Part I 

 If I were to stand at the centre of any busy landmark of a major city anywhere in the world and were to ask a randomly selected sample of 10 people each one individually to define his or her perception of Justice, I am sure I will get 10 different answers that may vary from one extreme to the other.  This is understandable and may indeed be universal.  However, if I were to ask the same question to 10 victims of crime or civil wrong (tort) again I will more likely than not get 10 different answers, but this time these answers will be qualified in accordance with the severity of the impact that civil wrong or crime had on the individual, his or her family, close friends, and his and her world at large especially financial well-being.

Where do we go to get justice?  In criminal law, strange as it may sound that justice is not given to the victim of the crime!  Neither is it given to his or her family.  By definition any crime is a crime against the State, the Country, or the reigning King or Queen (Regina) not the victim or victims of crime.  Notionally that justice is given to the governmental authorities of the State, Province of the Country in which the victim resides or where the crime is committed.  The act or acts committed by the offender constituting the crime (offence/s) are generally legislated by Parliaments and slotted into Consolidated Acts with accompanying Legislation, Schedules, Procedures and Rules which the Minister of Justice in the State, Province, or Country had introduced and after whatever amendments is voted and legislated.  These Acts are part and parcel of law school courses and form the tools of trade of legal practitioner practicing or specializing in criminal law.  
On the other hand if the wrong committed is civil the individual can sue in his or her own capacity as a plaintiff.  The wrong doer (tortfeasor) which could be individual, a company, or governmental entity is named the defendant.  In some rare cases the offence in question could fall into a category of strict liability which means that in order to succeed the plaintiff does not have to prove fault or negligence by the defendant.  More often than not torts falling into this category are legislated and likely to involve governmental or semi governmental institutions.

The burden of proof in criminal and civil wrongs varies considerably.  In civil wrongs that burden is said to be:  on the balance of probability.  Imagine for a minute the blindfolded Goddess Themes carrying the evenly balanced Scale of Justice in her right hand.  If you or I were to put 100 grams of gold on each side of the scale neither side tips the scale and the scale remains evenly balanced.  If you were a plaintiff you will succeed in your claim but you may not get the full monetary compensation you thought.  Why? The chances are in such situations you as a plaintiff carried significant share of the blame for the tort.  If the tort involved and relied upon is negligence by the defendant you the aggrieved plaintiff have probably not kept proper lookout to avoid that negligence whether it be car accident or slipping on oily surface or banana skin in a supermarket.  If one were to read books about award of compensation or specialized books on damages for torts the general guiding principles are based on the notion of putting the plaintiff back to the position as if that tort had not taken place.  Regardless of nobleness of this thought in this guiding principle and theory more often than not that nobleness fades in practice.  How does one put a monetary value on a loss of limb, sight, or bodily function?  Regardless of the monetary compensation the quality of life can never be the same.  In such cases a component of the monetary award will be to cover costs for provision of special help, be it machine, residential modifications such as for lift or wheelchair access or personal help.  
Regardless of the totality of the monetary award the quality of the aggrieved plaintiff’ life can never be the same.  I guess one aspect of relief that equates to Justice is knowledge of the fact that if that very same tort had happened to anyone in the society in which the plaintiff resides, but for the amount of monetary compensation the relief or justice is the same.  

Ask any aggrieved plaintiff after settling or winning his or her case whether the amount of monetary compensation awarded had put him or her in the same position as if the tort had not taken place significant number will say NO and most likely make other comments not befitting mention in this blog.  Needless to say the chances are that plaintiff had to wait years before he or she had their day in the Court.  Did the process involve revelation of the truth or is the truth the quantum sum of monetary compensated?  I guess what I am asking here, is: whether truth has any place in justice where money compensation is awarded.

How about a plaintiff who had lost his or her case and was ordered to pay the defendant’s legal costs?  What justice did this individual plaintiff received?  A legal stuff up or lack of resources to commence legal proceedings is tantamount to denial of legal justice for wronged or aggrieved plaintiff.  If that plaintiff was a passenger in a train and had strained his or her back muscles, torn ligaments and developed a permanent limb as a result of the train coming to a sudden stop in which he or she fell what does justice mean to this plaintiff who had lost his or her case against the railway and is left with permanent disability?  Facts and words that had been modified and slotted into legal jargons and uttered before listening and sympathetic ears tipped the scale in favour of the defendant.  Is such a case tantamount to denial of justice?  Clearly the railway is insured and clearly the insurance can afford to pay for the cream de le cream of the legal profession to use their élan, golden jargons and art of persuasion. 

What chance does the impecunious plaintiff who cannot afford legal representation has?   Buckley’s at best.  Is justice denied in this situation?  All plaintiffs in like situation will say a loud YES.  The defendant will have you believe that the plaintiff had his or her chance and fairly and squarely lost.  From the defendant’s point of view justice had been done!   Really, does aggrieved plaintiff who had flinched and swore delivered justice to the corporation or the governmental entity he or she had sued?

The burden of proof for criminal offences is much higher than that of civil wrongs.  Instead of ‘balance of probabilities’ it is ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.  What does that means and why?  In theory, and in practice, if the accused (defendant) can raise doubt he or she cannot be and should not be convicted. Why?   The well established notion, quotation and belief are: ‘better to have 100 felons walk free than have 1 innocent accused convicted’.  Is that so?  Think of a jury deciding the guilt or the innocence of the accused.   That jury of 12 is picked from a pool of potential jurors selected at random.  Think of that jury as being 6 men and 6 women.  The pool of knowledge and experience of 12 members of society in which the accused defendant lives presumably will level the playing field of prejudices.  But does it really or do we care if it does not?  Remember the victim of the crime is not the family of the person who is killed, maimed and deprived of any enjoyment of life or indeed permanently scared.  It is Regina, yes it is Queen Elizabeth, the richest woman in the world sitting in Buckingham Palace or it is the King or the Country that had suffered.  So the justice for the victim, if he or she is still alive, is the knowledge that the accused is convicted and will be slotted behind bars!

Appointments of Magistrates, Judges, Justices, and Chiefs to the highest Courts in the land are generally done by Parliament in consultation with Bodies having control of the legal profession in that land.   Those Bodies make recommendations that Parliament generally accepts.  The nominated candidate would have had years of experience practicing either for plaintiffs or defendant or if he or she had specialized in criminal law he or she would be either for defendant or prosecutor for Regina, yes Queen Elizabeth II.  The presiding Magistrate, Judge, or Justice is now supposed to be impartial.  He or she supposed to forget all his training and experience and art of persuasion the insurance company that had retained him or her as counsel or his or her fixed views about certain legal principles, precedents, case law, counter arguments etc … Does a jury removes the judges’ prejudice and brings the scale of blindfolded Goddess Themes to equilibrium?  I suggest NO! I will take up that argument in pursuit of justice in the next blog in this series.

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Neural Atrophy & Synaptic Disconnect

Neural atrophy

&

Synaptic disconnect

Am writing this blog in the hope that it will act as a wakeup call, cause a stir, or if not a stir trigger a revolution! Yes a revolution at the instigation of the medical profession, more specifically by the specialty of neurology by that profession.  If the medical profession choose, deliberately, ignorantly, or otherwise to ignore the problem then by major debate, by those capable of undertaking that debate – perhaps select committee by the United Nation.  Left unchecked the modern iphone, the Apple and Samsung versions 5 & 6 and planned advances on those versions are exceedingly advancing the yet to come sudden epidemic of aphasia (atrophy and death of neural connections in areas of the brain responsible for speech).  Hello those who are awake, neurologists and others, take notice of the following facts and observations which are becoming universal worldwide, if not yet worldwide then the so called ‘west’.

Facts & Observations

Each day for the last 6 months whilst waiting at the platform to catch train in the morning and late in the afternoon I made a point of counting the number of commuters who were either exploring their iphones and had earplugs connected to their iphone, those talking, those playing games, and others who appear to be simply fascinated exploring the various applications, facebook and whatever else on offer. On average less than 5% of commuters were either reading newspaper or talking.  This percentage dropped to 3% or less on the return journey late afternoon.  I am talking about average of 100 people in the morning and 300 people late afternoon.   How strange my late father would feel out of place if he were to board a train is Sydney today?  To see in a carriage that seats 70 plus people each person carrying hand held gadget plugged to his or her ears and talking in the air in total ignorance to everybody not the least to the person sitting next to him or her.   A scene and reality that is not only strange, to the likes of my father, but to us mere ten years ago.  The greater worry to humanity and the human race is the attachment and reliance of the young of the iphone.   I do mean the really young the 4 and 5 years old to the delight and encouragement of their parents are quickly becoming competent users of the iphones especially in downloading games.  What effect will that knowledge and reliance on the iphone have on a young developing brain, the interconnecting pathways and the developing synaptic connections upon which the normal health and functioning of the said pathway is dependent?  It cannot be anything but deleterious.

In the next blog I will look at normal neurology of speech, the area in the brain responsible to deciphering the neural message to speech and the atrophy that could result in aphasia that one sees in patients who had suffered moderate to severe stroke.  I will also look at possible solutions that address the medical and legal aspect of the forthcoming aphasia tsunami.  

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Human Dignity and The Market Part II

HUMAN DIGNITY AND THE MARKET

Part II

There is very old Arabic proverb that says: ‘money will buy you your favourite ice cream and desert whilst you are roasting, or being roasted, in hell’.  In other words there is nothing that money cannot buy even in the celestial or hell as envisaged in Dante’s inferno.  In a competitive market the price is determined by the forces of supply and demand or so we are thought in tertiary courses, and read in books.  We are also thought that the utility of a commodity subject to market forces is the ability of that commodity to satisfy want.  Therefore when the impoverished sells his or her kidney there is no question that want is not satisfied the real question: is he or she selling that transplantable kidney for its true market value?  In this setting that market value is inseparable from the market value of the longevity to the life of the recipient and presumed ultimate source of that transplantable kidney and presumed purchaser.  One’s immediate reaction is that surely such a sale cannot equate to or be comparable with one selling his or her car or used washing machine or fridge.  The simple and morally painful answer is that the two sales are inseparable in the amoral eye of the market! To further erode the issue of morality and the sacrosanctity of human values instead of an individual being identified as the purchaser of the impoverished sellers’ kidney a corporate entity - totally amoral like the market - can be used to do the purchasing.  In other words the recipient of the kidney need not think about the donor.  The transaction is simply commercial regardless whether the donor is a prisoner, or a missing person, or an impoverished individual in the Philippine, India, or Egypt.   

More and more these days corporate entities are becoming sponsors of major sporting events and the CEO’s of those companies set up their own private boxes watching those events in the comfort and luxury of nippling on caviar, and drinking champagne whilst the rest of the spectators, some of whom stood in a long line to buy ticket, sit or stand on rotting benches and get drenched!  Instead of being a get together of communities to watch and cheers for their favourite team sport is becoming amoral just like the market and the corporate entity. This is especially so when we all can bet on teams and watch the odds fluctuate up to the half time break! Nowadays we can do all the betting through our iphone from the luxury of our lounge room.  

In a discussion of this kind where the market is being used as means of eroding the moral fiber and ethical sanctity of human values one is reminded of the past, present and continual history of the slave trade.  This trade had been, and regrettably continues to be, the hallmark of every human civilization including the 21^st century.  In recent months the question of slave trade had been worldwide news item.  The Charitable Australian mining magnate, John Andrew Forrest (Twiggy), decided to setup some foundation/trust committee to monitor and hopefully reduce the volume of human slave trade market.  Human slave trade was a feature of Medieval Europe that peaked in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when European powers were colonizing Africa.  Between the twelfth and fifteen centuries Florence and Genoa flourished on slave trade from Africa to the Arabs.  Those slaves became known as the Mamlukes (owned) and after the decadence of the great Arab Empires of Umayyad and Abbasid took over as Caliphate until the last of whom, was defeated by the Ottoman in 1516.  Forrest’s grandiose initiative was welcomed and warmly supported by the Vatican and the Imam of El Azhar Mosque in Cairo. A smiling, Forrest was shown with his wife signing the anti slavery document at the Vatican with Saint Peter’s Church in the background. 

No discussion of slave trade (topic for next blog) is ever complete without a mention of   Abraham Lincoln, and the American Civil War of 1860.  Whilst to most historians the cause of the war was the desire by the Northern States to abolish slavery that ‘cause’ may well be one of many, if indeed the main cause.  I guess one can take comfort in the fact that the medical profession in mid 19^th century America and Europe had not even dreamt of organ transplant.

In the last two years Slavery had been the topic of new breed of Hollywood directors with major films by Quentin Tarantino Django Unchained and 12 Years a Slave by Steve McQueen.

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HUMAN DIGNITY AND THE MARKET Part I

HUMAN DIGNITY AND THE MARKET

Part I

For long time I had planned to write a blog about this subject matter but after watching the Four Corners program on ABC1 some weeks ago about trade in human organs (mainly kidneys) I said to myself its now or never.

Source: HBO

In brief the ABC program focused on two prominent nephrologists, one in Istanbul Turkey and the other in Tel Aviv Israel.  The kidneys were purchased from the impoverished in various towns in the Philippine through agents.  The agents, normally middle aged women with iphone awaiting message specifying the required matching particulars of the recipient’s either in USA, Canada, Australia, or Western Europe.  The program also focused on all the players involved in the game resulting in the kidney transplant industry.  One transaction involved young married man with two children aged five years or under both bare footed.  This man said that he was told he will get $2,000 for his kidney and showed the scars from the operation telling the interviewer that he had sold his kidney for $2,000 which he thought he will get.  Unbeknown to this man was the cut of the agent‘s fees of some $600 leaving him with $1,400 for which he appeared grateful.  Another man who sold one of his kidneys for similar amount said his other kidney was now failing and he was in moderate state of renal failure. Neither the Turkish nor the Israeli nephrologists had any compunction with either the transaction or the fees they received undertaking the operations.  To quote the Israel nephrologists: ‘one puts a price on human life and death?’ Perhaps not but officially the trade in human organs is illegal.  Despite the fact both nephrologists were arrested they walked out of court unscathed and both were continuing their busy profession.

Is there any aspect of humanity that distinguishes a human being from God’s other creatures that is still sacred or sacrosanct not caught up with market forces and can not be purchased with money?  Such things as cherished memories, community values, friendship, neighborhood, believes, secrets other things that distinguish us human?  Probably not!  If someone sees the dollar sign ($), a dollar to be made he or she will either get the story through the written or visual media now days transmitted globally through the iphone.  Oscar Wilde once said: ‘one may know the price of everything but the value of nothing’.   That comment is resoundingly true in 21^st Century. 

What's a life worth? Who determines this?

If one leave it to market forces one is taking out the judgmental argument as the market is neutral.  How could market forces put a value on a house in a village or a farm in which one’s ancestors were born and worked, ancestral inheritance - walls, ceilings, doors and window that saw generations after generations of the same family imprint their individual stamps on them?   The obvious answer is the last bid on the fall of the auctioneer’s hammer! The bones, or whatever left of them, of the great, great grandparents will writhe in their resting place.

In the next blog I will deal with the question of market forces, supply and demand, and whether any spot left for human values and dignities that distinguish the human race from other animals and plants whose sustenance is dependent on sun, water, air and soil.

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Post Mortem Conception - Life after Death...

Post Mortem Conception

Life after Death

It is common experience that significant number of human at some stage in their life they either hear about, become aware of or knew someone or some family that shared the scourge and tragic experience of newly married son or relative all of the sudden diagnosed with terminal illness.   Illness that in matter of weeks starts a chain of metastasis ravaging the new husband immune system and turns the lives of the newly married and their family into living hell.  There are number of cancers and blood disorders that once diagnosed it is literally impossible to treat or significantly arrest their progress to give the patient any meaningful remission to enjoy semblance of quality of life.   The suffering is not of the patient but also that of the immediate family and close relative and friends.  The myth that needs to be dispelled is the often held belief that the terminal blood disorder, cancer, or disease started all of the sudden without warning.  Like plants those diseases take time and often grow silent or with minimal disruption to daily living.  Often a salient feature of such insidious diseases is subtle enlargement of lymph nodes in the neck, under the armpit, groin, and a patient that had been feeling unwell for while. Such features are more often than not missed in routine medical check ups and visit to busy general practitioners who allocates 10 or 15 minutes to the consultation.

What is often ignored and rarely thought about is that sperms in a male testis and spermatic cord survive up to 36 hours after that male officially declared dead.  Most major hospitals in densely populated areas and cities do have fertility clinics.  If the will of the newly married and now widowed wife (and possibly others) is to fall pregnant to the love of her life there is a real chance she can do so.  The sperms from the testis of the deceased can be surgically harvested and cryogenically frozen.  Thereafter it is a matter for the fertility clinic and the widowed wife to make the arrangement and attempt/s that leads to conception.  If that conception is successful a widowed wife can have as many children from her departed husband as the circumstance allows.  Bizarre as it may seem at first glance the cryogenically frozen sperms of the newly wed deceased husband can, at least in theory, as a donor fertilize and give hope to many women and childless couples.

Lives for 32 hours after

More often than not it is the will of the newly married deceased to have children and the chances are that he would have discussed this with his wife. Off springs that carry his name and memory.  For the deceased’ parents it is a gift befitting the adage: ‘nothing more greater precious than a son but grandson’.     

When we think about it the genetic material that we as human carry and that distinguish us as individuals, the RNA and DNA (ribonucleic acid and deoxyribonucleic acid) are present in the nuclei of cell of all living species including plants and animals.   Cutting edge research in cellular biology and genetics is now being undertaken in many laboratories around the globe.  It is not beyond the realms of possibility, and more likely probabilities that species long extinct such as dinosaurs can be brought back to life.  These advances raise very interesting parallel and highly controversial question both ethically and religiously that, to my knowledge, none of the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) had specifically or subtly addressed. 

The parallel:

“Christianity tells us that on the Day of Judgment the dead will be resurrected back to life. The newly married and deceased husband whose sperms are harvested and cryogenically preserved is ‘resurrected’ through his offspring albeit a later generation”. There is no issue that both events fit the definition of resurrection.  Needless to say on the Day of Judgment the newly married and deceased husband will be brought back to life.

Resurrection....

Current day advances in genetic understanding and genetic engineering led to the production of cross breeds and modifications of plants and grains.  Whilst it may sound and read like science fiction it is by no mean farfetched to think that within the foreseeable future long extinct animals such as dinosaurs could be brought back to life.  

Possible...

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Dissertation on Capital Punishment

Dissertation on Capital Punishment

Part 1

As a general matter of principal the Civil Law adjusts competing claims between litigants by award of compensatory damages aimed at restoring an aggrieved Plaintiff to a position - as far as money can restore - as if the tort or cause or causes of action complained of whether covered by statute or precedent or otherwise did not take place. 
Criminal Law, on the other hand, is based upon judicial finding of criminal guilt and adjudication on punishment.  That punishment can be retribution based on religious philosophy “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” which is often the rationale behind mandatory penalty for murder.  Out of the 52 States that makes the Union of the United States of America, 32 States still have and practice the death penalty.  For a good century and half the practice of putting convicted felons (presumably after exhausting all avenues of appeal) to death was either by firing squads or gas chambers.  That was before the European multinational pharmaceutical companies saw the opportunity to cash in and make a deal with prison authorities to supply them with the “humanely correct injectable mix of drugs”.  The correct injectable mix that would do the job as painlessly as possible, according to the chief medical examiner of the State of Oklahoma, Jay Chapman, is sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride all in higher doses then what is normally used for general anesthesia. 

This correct injectable mix formula was never tested, or given the nod by pharmacological review panel, or medically monitored or commented upon.  After the introduction and use of the injectable mix by Oklahoma, all 32 States followed the example of the State of Oklahoma.  All wanted to be seen equally compassionate letting convicted felons breath last gulp of air as humanely as a cocktail combination of drug would allow.  That was up until the European Commission raised its eyebrows on the multinational pharmaceutical companies in 2011 and cut of supply to the prison authorities and those acting on their behalf.   What followed was haphazard rush to seek substitute from drug manufacturers in developing countries with little, if any control of their compounding pharmacies.  The humanly correct injectable mix became experimental and subject to the whims of the Governors of prisons in the 32 American States and those advising them – medicos, pharmacists, charlatans, or otherwise.   For good 2 years, between late 2011 and December 2013, we know little about the last moments in the lives of those who walked to the execution chamber of the various prisons, strapped to the gurney and injected with the substitute generic humanely correct injectable mix formula.  However, from what we now know the last moment of those convicted felons could not have been much better than the last moments of Michael Lee Wilson, injected in Oklahoma on 9 January 2014, Dennis McGuire injected in Ohio on 16 January 2014, and Clayton Lockett injected in Oklahoma on 29 April 2014. 

Michael Lee Wilson

The supposedly correct injectable mix used on Wilson and McGuire was combination of phenobarbital, vecuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.  That used on Lockett was midazolam, verconium bromide, and potassium chloride.  For considerable number of minutes after being injected Wilson said "I feel my whole body burning".

In the case of McGuire some 5 minutes after being injected he tried to get free and for considerable number of minutes later he kept making attempts to get free and made loud sounds and gurgling noises as if drowning in his own fluid.  Being generic copy of the original formula the midazolam was supposed to cause unconsciousness. It did not. Lockett opened his eyes and started mumbling and thrashing against the gurney.  Shocked in disbelief the warden sought to have the execution stayed and resumed at a later date. But before the formalities of such a procedure could be put into legally binding effect some 45 minutes after being injected with the humanely correct injectable formula Lockett died of a heart attack!  When the media got hold of these barbaric executions there was outcry throughout the USA, even President Obama calling the execution “deeply disturbing”.

The Eighth Amendment to theConstitution of the United States of America bans cruel and unusual punishments.  Whether the cases of Wilson, McGuire, and Lockett find their way to the Supreme Court to test the Eighth Amendment is at best a moot point. Nevertheless these inhumane and cruel executions – and presumably countless other death row prisoners executed between late 2011 and December 2013 – presents rare opportunity to humane lawyers, thinkers and advocates of human rights to mount a case that could ultimately results in the abolition or stay of the death penalty.

In Part II I will take a closer look at the pharmacology of the various humane injectable formula used by the 32 US States and applicable case law decided by the Supreme Court of the United States of America dealing with the Eighth Amendment and Capital punishment.

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Cowra celebrates 70th Anniversary = Biggest Prisoners Breakout In WWII

Cowra celebrates 70^th Anniversary

Biggest Prisoners Breakout In WWII

On 5^th August 1944 at Cowra, a country town in Central West New South Wales 1,100 Japanese prisoners of war armed with knives and sticks, and baseball bats stormed their way out of the lightly guarded prison camp a kilometer or so from the town’s center.  Suicidal act it may be but to the minset and training of a Japanese soldier, sailor, or pilot it is better to die honourably for one’s country and sacrifice one’s self to the Emperor then be a prisoner.  On that note and with Pearl Harbour in mind, one should remember that instilled in the training and mindset of a kamikaze pilot is the notion and belief that when he and his airplane crash on a destroyer or carrier it is an act comparable to the Divine’s manna from heaven offered to the Emperor, the likes of that sustained the Jews during their 40 years journey through the Sinai desert.     The ensuing melee of the breakout resulted in the death of 231 Japanese prisoners and the injuring of 108 others.  After few days the remaining 761 prisoners were recaptured.  To their credit, training, and culture none of Japanese escapees harmed any civilian either in Cowra or surrounding towns.  The Australian casualties list was four dead.  There are tales of Japanese prisoners walking into farms and being offered tea and scones in traditional country hospitalities.

To celebrate the occasion the remaining sole survivor of the breakout, 94 years old Teruo Murakami flew from Japan for the occasion to pay his respect and thank the people of Cowra.  To commemorate the occasion the casts of a special play produced by Tokyo based theatre company Rinkogun supported by the Japanese and Australian governments called No Hancho Kaigi (Hancho’s Meeting in Cowra) flew to Cowra on 1 August.  Five Australian stage actors will perform in the play one of whom is Matthew Crosby who plays the role of Private Ralph Jones one of the four Australian killed during the breakout. One interesting aspect of the play focuses on the Imperial Japanese Military Regulation at the time requiring a Japanese serviceman to die rather than being captured.   To what extent the writers, directors and those involved in the play are subtly or otherwise suggesting modern men and women serving in present day Japanese armed forces should abandon 1944 Imperial Japanese Military Regulations is a question to the audience to judge.  The play which started in Cowra on 1 August will make its way to Canberra and Sydney. 

It is worth noting that in recent weeks the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, visited Australia and addressed both Houses of the Australian Parliament before signing Free Trade Agreement between the two countries.  It is also worth noting that in recent weeks, despite the chagrin and protest of countries that suffered at the hands of Japanese occupation in 1930’s and WWII such as South Korea, and China, Shinzo Abe removed the shackles imposed by the allies on Japan’s armed forces after WWII.  Japanese armed forces can now venture and take part in drills and maneuvers outside Japan.

In the next blog I will look at the forgotten massacre of Australian POW’s by Japanese army on the island of Ambon in 1942.

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"Chefs"...... Ad Nauseam

"Chefs" .....Ad Nauseam

Masters – Judges - Kitchen Rulers

In recent weeks and months it would have been hard and challenging times for any television viewer to flick his or her remote control between the commercial stations - the Seven, Nine, Ten networks and their affiliated stations to avoid watching hapless contestants trying to cook a meal in view of ticking clock and cheering observers.  The final cooked meal is to be assessed by the taste buds and smell of  self crowned chefs acting in their purported capacity either as masters, kitchen rulers, or fellow contestants.   In the case of the latter it is normally a competitor of the hapless cook deliberately chosen for his or quality to be rude, arrogant, disgusting and nasty.  

 

That said one should keep in mind the fact that commercial television stations are in the business to make money and they make their money by sponsoring shows that attract viewers and commercial sponsors.  The sad and unfortunate fact is that the society that we live in had been conditioned to appreciate nastiness, rudeness, and ill manners.  So the nastier the contestant on the cooking shows the higher the rating!

It is common enough experience for all of us that when we suffer from cold or flu our ability to taste, smell, and appreciate good food or drink greatly diminishes.  Why? Because swelling, mucous, bacteria, viruses, and floating air particles that collects in our nose and mouth plus our hygiene status blocks the sensory nerve attached to our taste buds and olfactory bulb.  Whilst this blog is not a lesson in sensory human anatomy of taste it is nevertheless important for the purpose of judging those presiding and making decisions on taste or otherwise on those unavoidable cook shows to ask when they last cleansed their taste buds and olfactory bulb.

Brief Anatomy of Taste

There are three basic taste buds papillae: vallate, foliate, and fungiform.  The vallate are 8 to 10 in number lying in row with the fungiform in a V arrangement at the back of the tongue. The foliate are smaller and are at the side of the tongue.  The sensory organ of taste are scattered over the muscous membrane of the mouth and are especially numerous in and around the vallate papillae.

The olfactory nerve is the first of the 12 cranial nerves that is responsible for smell.  It is purely sensory nerve that is responsible for our sense of smell.  Its sole sensory distribution is the mucous membranes of the nose where the message is carried to the olfactory bulb in the brain to give us our appreciation of smell.

From this brief anatomy of taste and smell it stands to reason and common sense that anyone judging the food cooked by those hapless men and women contestants cooking against the clock that he or she must have cleansed their taste buds and cleared their nose and respiratory passages and preferably had passed independently conducted taste and smell test.  

Accordingly I, Michael Abdul-Karim, will never watch any cooking and judging show on commercial and non commercial television station unless and until that show makes it abundantly clear that those judging or adjudicating in accordance with their skills and training had last especially cleansed their taste buds and nasal mucosa 24 hours before coming on the show.   Passing taste and smell test will definitely attract my attention and gets me riveted to the set.

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Current Turmoil’s of Middle East Part II

Current Turmoil’s of Middle East

Part II

In late April 2014 one of the prominent international news items was the USA refusal to grant visa to Hamid Abdutalebi, a senior political advisor to President Hassan Rouhani.   Mr Abdultalebi was to be Iran’s newly appointed permanent United Nation representative.  Whilst it is true that the United Nation building is in New York on US soil two questions needs to be addressed.  He first of these is what legal right or rights does the US relies upon for such a refusal?  The second question is the scope and width of the US’ alleged right to setting dangerous and politically based precedent that affects  sovereign countries nominated representatives to set foot in the US and the UN?  

The stated reason for the US’ action is Mr Abdultalebi’ alleged involvement in the student storming of the US Iranian embassy in Tehran in 1979 after Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran and took power in 1979.  The hostages were held for 444 days and were released immediately after Ronald Regan was elected as President and took office in 1980.  Mr Abdultalebi’ reply to the allegation is that he was acted as interpreter to the students on couple of occasions.  The US posted a picture showing Mr Abdultalebi in 1979 outside the US Tehran embassy.

In the last blog on the topic (Part I) I made the point that the Iranian still holds significant grudges and anxiety about the CIA role and involvement in the coup that toppled prime Minister Muhammad Massadegh in 1953.  Those grudges came into open in the storming of the US Tehran embassy.  The reality is that the so called ‘students’ who stormed the embassy were seasoned Iranian secret agents.  They grilled the embassy staff about secretive operations and accused them of being spies.  The Iranian interrogators wasted no time reminding the staff of the US involvement in the coup that toppled Muhammad Massadegh in 1953 and installed the Shah.  The US was helpless and saw this as humiliation that became exceedingly more bitter by failed attempted rescue mission when two helicopters crashed head on in the desert killing and injuring some 15 commandos.  Political observers saw this botched rescue mission as the reason for President Jimmy Carter loss to Ronald Regan.

How can the US legally justify refusing Mr Abdultalebi visa? A rushed Bill that was passed by Congress that would bar anyone from entering the US as a member country representative to the UN was presented to President Obama to sing and became a law.  President Obama did sign the Bill.  The relevant section of the Bill that will bar Mr Abdultalebi setting foot on US soil is aimed at barring anyone who had engaged in espionage or terrorist activities and still pose a threat to national security from entering US.  No prizes to those guessing who decides this threat to US.

US needs to forget and perhaps forgive the 1979 storming of its Iranian Embassy and Iran needs to forget and forgive the US role in the toppling of Muhammad Massadegh painful as this may be to both countries.  Beside this still existing angst there is nothing preventing normal and healthy respectful diplomatic relationship between the two countries.  The alternative is for a move to relocate the UN to another country perhaps in the Middle East!

Current Turmoil’s of Middle East

Current Turmoil’s of Middle East

Part I

In this blog am putting forward the proposition that substantial, if not all the turmoil which the Arab Middle East had painfully experienced, and continues to experience especially over the last two decades including the recent so called Arab Spring, that is still causing running battles and wars especially in Egypt, Iraq, and disastrous war in Syria could be substantially traced back to the overthrow of Muhammad Massadegh, Prime Minister of Iran in 1953.  One may well say that am stretching longbow and credulity to the limit.  However, discerning students of history who follow events and look for immediate and simmering causes may well agree with me.

In an earlier blog headed: ‘Drawing Lines in the Sand’ I made the point that the Versailles Treaty signed after the First World War (WW1) that let the victorious powers, Britain and France, get away with drawing random lines in the sand and making hidden and secret promises is/are the real and continuing cause/causes of the ills currently witnessed in  the Middle East.   My proposition is that the toppling of Muhammad Massadegh in 1953 by the joint operation of British and American intelligence spy networks unleashed chain of events that led to the dictatorial rule of the Shah until his toppling in 1979 by the Imam Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini.  The West’ reaction to this development was to strengthening Saddam Hussein in neighbouring Iraq and the immediate outbreak of hostilities that led to the Iran-Iraq war of 1980.  Despite initial Iraqi success by 1983 the tide of war was turning in Iran’s favour.  However, a final peace agreement was not signed between the two countries until 1988. 

Assured that USA would not interfere or be indifferent if Saddam were to redraw and correct one of the lines in the sand drawn by Britain in 1918 separating Iraq’s nineteenth (19^th) province as Kuwait and installing the Sabah Family which had been the dominant Bedawen tribe since 1756 as its rulers.  A year or so after signing peace treaty with Iran Saddam sent his troops to occupy Kuwait and claiming it as the nineteenth province of Iraq.  Despite assurances of indifference the mighty USA had a change of heart and launched what was to become the catastrophic First Gulf War in 1991.  American war machinery mercilessly savaged Iraqi troops, tanks brigades and civilians even after surrendering.  They clearly meant and lived up to the saying: ‘take no prisoners’. That war savagery was followed by crippling sanctions and restrictions causing severe hardship to the Iraqi population including the death of hundreds of thousands of children from malnutrition and at the same time clipping Saddam’s wings.  George Bush, the father, was the President of the USA at the time.  The USA was still and remains to this day planet earth’ sole remaining Superpower.

The 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in 1981 saw the incumbent President, George Bush (Junior), the son, label Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan as the Axis of Evil.  Within matter of months of the attack relentless bombing of Kabul commenced followed by invasion and war that is still raging some 13 years later and saw significant military contribution from many European countries including sizeable contribution from Canada and Australia.  Although the purported mastermind, Usama bin Laden, was killed in 2011, the Taliban are as strong, if not stronger than they ever were prior to 1981.

    

Despite the irrefutable and credible evidence of Iraq not possessing Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) the son’s penchant for war was unstoppable. In March 2003 American warplanes bombarded Baghdad with relentless ferocity. Within matter of weeks Saddam Hussein and his government were toppled and went into hiding.  Saddam was captured in late 2003 and three years later found guilty of Crimes against Humanity and hanged. 

The elimination of Saddam Hussein created massive power vacuum in Iraq and saw the rise of fundamentalist jihadist groups throughout the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Africa. This rise changed the landscape of security alertness throughout the world and made the Mighty USA more vulnerable to insidious external and internal terrorist attacks many folds to its pre Twin Tower vulnerability.

The savagery and brutality of the current war in Syria, the continuing slaughter and daily car bombing in Iraq, the turmoil in Yemen, the aftermath of the toppling of Muammar al-Gaddafi in Libya, and the unrest in Egypt are all arguably directly attributable to the fall of Saddam Hussein and indirectly to the toppling of Muhammad Massadegh in 1953. 

It is my opinion that if the intelligence services of Brittan and the USA had visionary and learned men who understood the cultural and real history of the Middle East the destiny of Iran would have been entirely different.  It would not be in the least farfetched to say Iran today would have arguably been a beacon of rich cultural democracy setting examples for modern day democracies to emulate including that of USA, Britain,  Western Europe and infectiously the rest of the Middle East.

As far as Israel is concerned the Jews will never forget that it was King Cyrus who allowed those willing to go back to the Holy Land to do so.  Significant number of Jews remained in Iran.  They did in big numbers and build the Second Temple which the Roman destroyed in 70 AD.

In the next blog (Part II) I will look at the relationship between Iran and USA and how this relationship can be mended and solidified if visionary learned men from both sides look at the facts to do with the years 1953 and 1979 and the stigma that still simmers. It is in the long term interest of both countries to bury the hatchet.

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Speed Cameras, Radars & The Law - Part II

Speed Cameras, Radars

&

 The Law

PART II

Taree Local Court NSW

The first of the speeding fines on the way to the Gold Coast occurred some 40 kilometers before the Queensland border.  That matter was listed for hearing at Murwillumbah Local Court.  The client flew to the Gold Coast 2 days before the hearing.  I took the first flight from Sydney on the day of the hearing that landed at 8:45 am and was met at the Gold Coast Airport by the client.  He drove me in his rental car to the Court mere half hour drive.  After having coffee in a cafeteria next to the Court I went inside the Court and spoke to the Police Prosecutor.  In view and consideration of the fact that I had flown from Sydney the matter which was number 12 on the List of contested matters was given priority and became number 3.  The Prosecutor informed me that he was having difficulty contacting the Constable involved.  The Magistrate stood the matter in the List till after morning tea break in other words close to 12 noon.  I drove with the client to Jupiter Casino on the Gold Coast and we both had good hearty breakfast.  At 12 noon I was back in Court.  The Prosecutor was still having difficulty contacting the Constable.  The Magistrate gave the Prosecutor until 1 pm indicating that if the Constable was not located and in Court He will be mindful of hearing an application for dismissal.  By 12:50 I applied for summary dismissal the application was granted without opposition.  Three demerit points dismissed!

The hearing in Taree Local Court was coming up in three weeks.  At 5 am on the day of the hearing I drove with the client to Taree arriving just before 9 am.  A vintage experienced prosecutor had conduct of the two matters and the two Police Constables involved were ready and well rehearsed to give their evidence.  Each of the two speed cameras and their tuning fork had valid calibration certificate within the 3 months period prior to the infringement notices.  I thought of raising unique legal argument and a challenge:  Whether Australia’s conversion from the Imperial to the Metric System of measure required sanctioning by the Australian Constitution and whether the conversion was in fact legally valid!  The jaws of the Prosecutor and that of the Magistrate together with the majority, if not all of the other present in Court dropped at the same time.  Both Constables shook their heads in amazements and my client was all smiles and gave me the thumb up.  

‘You can’t be serious’ said the Magistrate. 

‘It’s ridiculous’ said the Prosecutor.  

‘The Australian Constitution adopted the British  Imperial System of Measure, ie, miles per hour instead of kilometers per hour and that section of the Constitution dealing with the Imperial System of Measure had never been formally amended’.   

‘You well know the limited jurisdiction of the Local Courts Mr Abdul-Karim.  But what I am prepared to do is to stay the three demerit points and stay the hearing of the next matter against your client’ said the Magistrate to the chagrin and objection of the Prosecutor.  

My client stood up and said:  ‘I will fund and mount the challenge from the Imperial to the Metric System’.  For a while it appeared like my jaw had dropped!  There was momentary silence in the Court till the Magistrate said:  ‘do you seek anything else Mr Abdul-Karim?’ Trying to collect my thoughts I stood up and said:  ‘no thanks you your Worship’.

The client was ecstatic and started asking question of people outside the Court trying to find the best restaurant in Taree to eat lunch!

Needless to say I did not receive any instructions to mount a challenge in the Federal Court.  On reflection such a challenge was attractive if only for the sheer intellectual argument and may have had some sympathetic ears of some Justices.  But on reflection Australia’s conversion from the Imperial to Metric System of measure may well have offended the Constitution and allowed the Full Court the opportunity to ventilate opinions of how to deal with rectification of the transition rather than striking out that transition. 

That opportunity may well be still open!