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Got
to plug Ben Goldacre's BAD PHARMA - I'm listening to the audiobook
and it is a fascinating and well measured journey through the rather
horrific landscape of the drug trial, regulation, and marketing
process with shocking twists at every turn! Well worth a read /
listen, and it helps raise awareness of the tricks that are out
there, the main culprits who let us down, and what we can easily do
to protect ourselves.
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On
why Pistorius' actions make no sense, even if he's telling the
truth
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21522673
What goes through the mind of someone who shoots through a locked door into a toilet? What did he think - burglar in the loo? Right. That's where they always go to find the valuables. Yeh, because there's a huge correlation between burglars and weak bladders.
Whatever happened to the obligation to apprehend? "Come out with your hands up!" Or at least, warn first and try to apprehend? You can't just shoot anyone who comes into your house. Surely only Special Forces or Jack Bauer types would actually rely on bullet penetration to hit an unseen target through wooden panelling. Or did he have a fibre-optic snake cam?! This is like something out of Tom Clancy. The fact that the target was unseen, effectively rules out the possiblilty that he could have known he was about about to be fired upon himself, which is the only real defense to shooting someone.
I don't see how he can come out of this dreadful situation well. Whatever hapens, this is another shocking example of the logical fallacy of keeping loaded guns in the house for self defense. And yet again, a woman is the victim.
I'll close with a strange reminisence: in the video game "Farcry 2" (incidentally, set in a fictional African republic), the protagonist would sometimes come across enclosed, restricted areas in the wilderness with signs which warned: "Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again". I kid you not. This was ironic at the time - but how chilling that effectively the same result has now come to pass in a real case.
-----http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21522673
What goes through the mind of someone who shoots through a locked door into a toilet? What did he think - burglar in the loo? Right. That's where they always go to find the valuables. Yeh, because there's a huge correlation between burglars and weak bladders.
Whatever happened to the obligation to apprehend? "Come out with your hands up!" Or at least, warn first and try to apprehend? You can't just shoot anyone who comes into your house. Surely only Special Forces or Jack Bauer types would actually rely on bullet penetration to hit an unseen target through wooden panelling. Or did he have a fibre-optic snake cam?! This is like something out of Tom Clancy. The fact that the target was unseen, effectively rules out the possiblilty that he could have known he was about about to be fired upon himself, which is the only real defense to shooting someone.
I don't see how he can come out of this dreadful situation well. Whatever hapens, this is another shocking example of the logical fallacy of keeping loaded guns in the house for self defense. And yet again, a woman is the victim.
I'll close with a strange reminisence: in the video game "Farcry 2" (incidentally, set in a fictional African republic), the protagonist would sometimes come across enclosed, restricted areas in the wilderness with signs which warned: "Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again". I kid you not. This was ironic at the time - but how chilling that effectively the same result has now come to pass in a real case.
Actually, one more thing on that above. Another "journalism" rant - The Sun's handling of the case was woeful and shocking, capped by their despicable objectification of the victim Reeva Steenkamp the following day on their front page. Such lack of respect really shows why we need better press regulation. Go here to support complaining about it, I did.
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