Testing It Up

Amanda Knox became a household name following her arrest and conviction for the murder of her British flatmate, Meredith Kercher, in Italy. She was just in her early 20s then and should have beeen enjoying her life, instead, the exchange student ended up serving at least three years in prison for a crime she didn’t have anything to do with.

Now 25, Knox is releasing a memoir titled Waiting to be Heard in which she details, for the first time, the harrowing experiences she went through with the Italian justice system.

Knox says she was ordered to strip and stand spread-legged at an Italian police station after she was arrested. A doctor measured her vagina and photographed her private parts in full view of several female police officers, reports the New York Daily News which managed to obtain an early copy of the book.

But the humiliation didn’t stop there. At the Capanne prison, where Knox was detained during the four-year trial, she also experienced lewd harassment from a prison official, Vice-Comandante Raffaele Argrio.

Knox reveals Argrio had repeatedly engaged her in conversations about sex and at one point told her: “Promise me you’ll have sex with me.”

With friends and family miles away, Knox had more than once considered suicide. She talks about how she was tormented by anxiety waiting for the verdict and how panic attacks would leave her gasping for air.

“I imagined cutting both my wrists and sinking into oblivion in a calm, quiet, hot mist,” Knox writes.

On October 3, 2011, an Italian appeal court cleared Knox of her murder conviction, allowing her to fly back to her family in the U.S. But just last month, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the acquittal of Knox and ordered a re-trial.

Even though, Knox had at once received sour treatment from Kercher’s family, she has nothing to say but good words about her slain flatmate.

“We developed a comfortable familiarity in a short time . . . I treated Meredith as my confidante. Meredith treated me with respect and a sense of humor,” Knox narrates.

The 480-page Waiting to be Heard will be published by HarperCollins and is set to hit the bookshelves on April 30.

With recreational marijuana now legal in Colorado, who knows what other pot-related businesses might soon open in the state. But one thing’s for sure; Amendment 64 has given two Denver entrepreneurs the inspiration to establish the nation’s first marijuana tourism company.

My 420 Tours will arrange pick up of tourists at the airport, connect them to marijuana-friendly accommodation, set up hash-making demonstrations and dispensary-grow tours, and provide them with tickets to cannabis-themed events and concerts. The business will not provide visitors with marijuana, but it will help clients gain access to events where pot is likely to be shared freely, according to the Denver Post.

“If somebody flies out here,” said James Walker, one of the company’s owners, “we take care of the whole adventure for them.”

The company’s first tour package is built around April 20, or more popularly known as 4/20 for cannabis enthusiasts. Matt Brown, Walker’s business partner, said about 160 people have so far signed up for the tour. He noted that April is among Colorado’s slowest tourism months, and their 4/20 tour could help re-energize a vacation dead spot.

Although creating a marijuana-tourism industry wasn’t the goal of Amendment 64, Christian Sederberg — one of the measure’s authors — said the new law is likely to give rise to all sorts of side businesses.

For Walker and Brown, however, their latest venture is more than just serving cannabis enthusiasts. They see their business as similar to wine-country tours. If all goes well, they could set up programs aimed at prospective business owners who are seeking ideas about how the industry works. Additionally, they could organize visits about medical marijuana for people who live in states that don’t authorize it.

Let’s face it — it’s annoying when children get angry and unreasonable over certain things. But is that behavior enough to handcuff a child and take him/her into police custody?

For Alton school officials and Alton Police, it seems it was the only resort to restrain an 8-year-old girl who reportedly threw a tantrum while in school.

Jmyha Rickman, a student at LoveJoy Elementary School, was handcuffed behind her back and taken to the police station on Tuesday afternoon.

Rickman’s family said the child is dealing with anxiety problems, including separation anxiety. Nehemiah Keeton, Jmyha’s uncle, told KMOV that the child is now too afraid to go back to school after the incident. He also added that while in the police station, Jmyha asked to use the restroom several times only to be ignored by police officials.

Meanwhile, both police authorities and school officials maintained they handled the situation the right way.

“As a last resort, we sometime have to involve law enforcement,” said Alton School District’s Assistant Superintendent Kristi Baumgartner, “They take the student into protective custody when the parent refuses to pick up the child.”

As the debate surrounding Obama’s proposed gun control regulations continues to heat up, a new shooting spree has occurred in one of the neighborhoods of New Mexico. This time the gunman is a 15-year-old and the victims were his own family members.

Nehemiah Griego, described as “bright and incredibly talented young man” by a relative, killed his father, mother, brother, and two sisters over the weekend using two different rifles, the CNN reports.

Investigators said the teenager also planned to proceed “at a Walmart” store to randomly shoot people and die in a shootout with police. Nehemiah also confessed that he was “frustrated with his mother,” but did not give further explanations.

According to the arrest affidavit, Nehemiah first shot his mother, Sara Griego, while sleeping with his 9-year-old brother Zephania who was awakened by the incident. The teenager showed Zephania the bloody face of their mother, after the latter refused to believe that their mother was dead. Zephania apparently got upset which prompted Nehemiah to shoot him as well. He then went to his sisters’ bedroom and shot both in the head. All four victims were killed using a .22-caliber rifle.

The teen used an AR-15 rifle in killing his father Greg Griego, a former pastor at Calvary Church.

Police said Nehemiah will stand trial as an adult on charges of murder and child abuse resulting in death.

Here is Part 2 of our article about the myths and facts surrounding the gun control debate. If you missed part one, visit Gun Control Myths & Facts (Part 1).

Myth 5: The NRA will remove politicians from office who support stronger gun laws.

FACT: The NRA’s ability to influence electoral outcomes has been exaggerated by the media.

The media watchdog group Media Matters reviewed election spending from both the NRA Institute for Legislative Action and the NRA Political Victory Fund for the 2012 U.S. presidential election from information they received from the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation. Media Matters determined that less than five percent of money spent by the NRA went toward victorious candidates in the 2012 elections. The NRA spent more than $18 million during the election, $12 million of that in their failed attempt to defeat Obama. Less than 5% of the total $18 million was spent on victorious candidates.

FACT: The NRA-backed candidate was not elected in six of their top seven targeted senate races.

According to Media Matters, despite heavy spending by the NRA, the only general election senate race where their preferred candidate won was in Arizona. The spending breaks down as follows:

Arizona - $323,474

Florida - $629,553

Maine - $117,612

Missouri - $343,299

Ohio - more than $1 million

Virginia – $688,802

Wisconsin – $571,811

FACT: Out of 26 incumbents in the House of Representatives defeated on election day, 18 were endorsed by the NRA. 

A great majority of U.S. Representatives were reelected in 2012, but among those who were defeated, the majority of them were NRA-baked candidates who received financial backing from the gun organization.

Myth 6: Assault weapons are essentially the same as firearms used for hunting and other sporting purposes.

FACT: Assault weapons, by design, are more lethal than hunting and sporting firearms.

A Violence Policy Center report from June 2011 outlined a trend in firearm manufacturing where civilian firearms are intentionally being made to be more military-like, enabling the shooter to deploy a high volume of fire over a wide swath. These military design features make rapid spray-firing easy and distinguish assault weapons from traditional sporting firearms.

• High-capacity detachable ammunition magazines that hold as many as 75 rounds of ammunition.
• A rear pistol grip (handle), including so-called “thumbhole stocks” and magazines that function like pistol grips.
• A forward grip or barrel shroud.  Forward grips (located under the barrel or the forward stock) give a shooter greater control over a weapon during firing.

A report by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research released in October 2012 noted that many of the most recent mass shootings were done using assault weapons and/or a high capacity magazine. They include:

• Virginia Tech massacre – April 16, 2007 – 32 victims dead and 17 wounded
• Fort Hood shooting – November 5, 2009 – 13 dead and dozens wounded
• Assassination attempt on former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords – January 8, 2011 – 6 dead and 13 wounded
• Aurora, Colorado shooting – July 20, 2012 – 12 dead and 58 wounded

Since the publication of that report, a gunman used an assault rifle to kill 20 children and 6 teachers in Newtown, Connecticut.

In addition to that report, the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City has identified, in a report, 30 mass shootings since 1984 where the shooter used a high-capacity magazine.

Myth 7: There is no such thing as a private sales loophole for buying a firearm.

FACT: Private sales without a background check, which are often conducted at gun shows, are extremely common.

Gun purchases from licensed dealers have required a background check since the Brady Act took effect in 1994. Federally licensed dealers have to verify that a purchaser has not been convicted of a serious crime or declared to be mentally incompetent or has been banned from purchasing a firearm for a number of other reasons. This is usually done online and takes only about a day.

But according to a Politifact.com report stemming from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s statement on a July 2012 appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation that 40 percent of guns are purchased without a background check, only licensed dealers must perform these checks, as the Brady law does not apply to private sellers at gun shows, flea markets or people who sell firearms over the internet. If a private seller suspects that a purchaser might be banned from buying a firearm under these regulations, they are obligated to stop the sale. However, no background check need be done during these sales and nobody needs to file any paperwork for these sales, making them essentially untraceable.

A 1997 study by the National Institute of Justice estimated that about 40% of all firearm sales took place through people other than licensed dealers. They based their conclusion on a random survey of more than 2,500 households.

In 1999, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released a report on gun shows that found that a quarter of the vendors were private sellers, not licensed dealers, and that “felons and other prohibited persons who want to avoid Brady Act checks and records of their purchase buy firearms at these shows.”

These two reports, although over a decade old, are the most recent data on the subject.

Also, undercover investigators working for New York City found that 77 out of 125 sellers on 10 websites that allow unlicensed sellers to list firearms for sale agreed to go forward with a firearm sale even after the purchaser said that he could not pass a background check.

Myth 8: Closing the private sales loophole would prohibit private citizens from selling firearms.

FACT: Gun Show Loophole Legislation allows for private sales to continue, so long as a background check is performed on the buyer.

Some states require a background check for all gun sales, including private sellers who sell their firearms to other individuals, and according to a summary of state law from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, these sales are perfectly legal providing the buyer undergoes a background check conducted by a licensed firearms dealer or a law enforcement agency.

Myth 9: The Obama administration will use executive order to override The Second Amendment.

FACT: Executive order proposals on gun violence have not involved restricting weapons that law-abiding Americans can purchase.

Vice-President Joe Biden told Democrats in the House of Representatives, according to a January 15 Politico article, that the White House has identified 19 executive actions for Obama to move unilaterally on gun control and those actions could include giving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authority to conduct national research on guns, more aggressive enforcement of existing gun laws and pushing for wider sharing of existing gun databases among federal and state agencies, all of which focus on enforcing existing law.

Source: www.mediamatters.org

Barely a week after President Obama proposed a new set of gun control regulations, gun sales have reportedly soared in Maryland and South Carolina, and firearm prices began to climb steeply.

“Everybody is panicking. Every day has been absolutely crazy for the last three weeks,” Henry Calvert, president of Calvert Firearms, Inc. in North East, Maryland, told Cecil Daily. “It’s a bear market. Everyone is purchasing everything that comes in.”

According to gun shop owners in Maryland, the strong gun sales started in October as discussions of new gun control regulations intensified during the presidential debates, followed by the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Connecticut in December. The increase continued into January and they are expecting firearm sales to go up as lawmakers debate new gun control measures which include universal background checks for gun purchases.

From Nov. to Dec. 2012, the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System processed more than 36,000 background checks for gun purchases in Maryland. The number is significantly higher compared to the 24,376 background checks processed in Nov. to Dec. 2011 for gun purchases in the state.

In South Carolina, residents have resorted into “panic buying” for fear of the impact of Obama’s gun control proposals.

“It’s not about the shootings though,” Brad Reece, co-owner of James Firearms in Greer, told Patch. “It’s about the threat of gun control. People are scared they won’t be able to buy things later. We have also seen a huge increase in CWP (concealed weapons permit) class attendance.”

 

In the wake of President Barack Obama’s announcement that he will ask Congress to pass legislation requiring universal background checks for anyone attempting to buy a gun, restore a ban on military-style assault weapons, and limit magazines to seven bullets, a lot of myths have been popping up (mostly in right-wing media circles).

Here are some myths and truths about the proposed gun control legislation.

Myth 1: The public does not support stronger gun laws.

FACT: The assault weapons ban and requisite for background checks on every gun purchase have strong public support.

A poll conducted December 19 – 22, 2012 by USA Today and Gallup found that 92% of respondents were in favor of a background check on every gun purchase and 62% approved a plan to ban the sale and possession of high-capacity magazines.

Seventy-four percent of National Rifle Association (NRA) members and 87% of non-NRA gun owners also support background checks on every gun sold, according to a survey conducted by Republican pollster Frank Luntz, the results of which were released July 24, 2012 by the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

A January 14 report on a Pew Research Center poll that surveyed 1,502 adults over the phone from January 9 – 13 shows that 85% of Americans — regardless of being Republican or Democrat — were in favor of making background checks on gun buyers universal and 80% of Americans were in favor of preventing people with mental illness from buying guns. These proposals were backed by about nine out of 10 guns owners surveyed, who made up about 1/3 of the people surveyed in the poll.

A CNN poll conducted December 17 – 18, 2012 found that 62% of Americans favored an assault weapons ban; a Public Policy Polling survey conducted December 18 – 19, 2012 found that 63% of people polled were in favor of an assault weapons ban and a poll conducted by Time magazine in June of 2011 found 62% of Americans favor assault weapons ban.

Myth 2: The recent gun control measures proposed by the government will lead to gun confiscation.

FACT: An assault weapons ban would allow current owners to keep their weapons.

An assault weapons ban proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein would allow current legal owners of assault weapons to keep their firearms provided that they pass a background check and register the serial number of their weapons under the National Firearms Act.

In addition to the assault weapons ban and universal background checks for potential gun owners, according to a January 5 article in the Washington Post that cited sources in the White House, other options under consideration to help curb gun violence include tracking the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthening mental health checks, making stiffer penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors.

Myth 3: All Gun Violence Prevention Proposals Are Infringements On The Second Amendment

FACT: The United States Supreme Court has stated that guns can be regulated while still adhering to the Second Amendment.

In the 2008 Supreme Court case, District Of Columbia v. Heller, Justice Antonin Scalia, on behalf of the majority, wrote that the Second Amendment is not unlimited and that several courts at all levels have explained that the right to bear arms was not a wholesale right to keep and carry any weapon of a person’s choosing in any manner of a person’s choosing for any purpose.

Justice Scalia also wrote that there should be no doubt cast on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive areas like schools or government buildings. And no doubt should be cast on laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of firearms.

The Supreme Court, he wrote, also recognized that the Second Amendment protects people’s right to carry weapons that were in common use at the time it was written and it fairly prohibits the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons.

Myth 4: Gun Violence Prevention Proposals Are Ineffective Because More Guns Equal Less Crime

FACT: The “More Guns, Less Crime” theory and its main proponents have been discredited.

The main proponent for the theory that allowing more freedom to carry firearms means a reduction in crime is John Lott, who wrote the “More Guns, Less Crime” thesis. This thesis calls for more Right to Carry (RTC) laws and claims that if more of these laws were in place, there would be a reduction in crime.

However, a report released on October 25, 2012 by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research cited a panel of experts from the National Council of Research who said that Lott’s thesis has serious flaws in it.

The report goes on to say that much research has been done about the effect of RTC laws on violence and that research consistently shows that RTC laws are actually linked to increases in aggravated assaults.

Ian Ayres and John J. Donohue III have also explained, in a Stanford Law Review article titled “The Latest Misfires in Support of the ‘More Guns, Less Crime’ Hypothesis,” that Lott’s research is further undermined by errors in handling the data by his co-authors Florenz Plassmann and John Whitley.

FACT: More firearm availability is linked to higher rates of homicide and suicide.

Economist Mark Duggan found that changes in homicide and gun ownership are positively related. Furthermore, the relationship between increased gun ownership and increased homicide is driven by the relationship between lagged changes in gun ownership and current changes in homicide, meaning that people are not simply purchasing more guns because of an increase in crime.

Duggan reported his findings in the Journal of Political Economy in 2001.

Harvard Injury Control Research Center Director David Hemenway published a study in the health journal Injury Prevention that found that guns were used far more to threaten or intimidate people than to protect.

And, lastly, in a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that people who had firearms in their homes were more likely to be victims of firearm related homicides and suicides than people who did not have them in their homes.

Source: www.mediamatters.org

Two huge medical trade shows took place over the weekend in Dusseldorf, Germany. The 2012 MEDICA  Trade Fair ran from Nov. 14 – 17 and the COMPAMED trade show ran from Nov. 14 – 16.

MEDICA is billed as the world’s leading forum for in-patient and out-patient medicine, boasting around 4,500 exhibitors from around the world displaying their products throughout almost two dozen exhibit halls spanning nearly 1.3 million square feet of space.

COMPAMED, meanwhile, is the international trade fair for suppliers’ products in medical manufacture. It offers a comprehensive range of parts and components, raw materials, precursor products, equipment and technologies for medical instruments, as well as packaging and services for the medical technology industry.

Together, these two trade shows are the biggest events in the healthcare industry in the world.

Normally, I would be checking the Twitter feeds for these types of events to see what participants were excited about. And while that works well with a conference, most trade show tweets were in the form of; ‘We are at MEDICA, come to our booth at this location …’ Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course. That’s the whole point of MEDICA.

Fortunately, the folks at Messe Dusseldorf, the company that puts on both MEDICA and COMPAMED, have comprehensive websites up for both events.

I am still going to try and work some tweets in here, like a tweet from SP Services UK Ltd., an international supplier of first aid, medical, ambulance, paramedic and emergency rescue equipment from Telford Shropshire in the UK, that said “Busy first hour at #Medica2012 so far. The stand is looking good & lots of foreign visitors heading straight to the British half of our hall.”

One of the biggest stories out of MEDICA this year (and that’s saying something considering how big the event is) was the participation of new countries, particularly Arab countries that were in Germany to form partnerships with German medical manufacturers.

“It’s interesting to see that we have some new countries here at MEDICA for the first time, countries which normally are not expected to be active in the field of medicine and health,” Horst Giesen, project director of MEDICA and COMPAMED said. “For example, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand. These are countries that are here are MEDICA and it’s interesting to see what these countries are presenting and how they are in a certain position to be active in the medical sector.”

This sentiment was echoed by a Twitter feed that goes by the handle Qatar is Booming, which tweeted; “A first for Qatar at world’s largest medical conference and exhibition” along with a link to a story that said Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, in partnership with three leading players from Qatar’s medical science and healthcare industry, is for the first time participating in the world’s largest medical conference.

Giesen also said he was very satisfied with how the trade shows turned out this year, pointing out that with over 70 countries participating this year, it seemed like the whole world was there learning from each other.

MEDICA did have a strong presentation component to it, with dozens of lectures going on in both German and English throughout the event. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like anyone was tweeting about these presentations (but there was some).

But that’s okay. The real focus of MEDICA and COMPAMED is the trade show itself and the networking that it facilitates.

One company that tweeted from the trade show, for example, was ZOLL Medical Corporation from Massachusetts with its Pocket CPR device. This small device fits in a person’s pocket and can be used during an emergency where CPR is required. The device, when used during CPR, provides real-time feedback and a step-by-step guide for giving proper CPR. The device provides both audio and visual feedback about the rate and depth of chest compressions to ensure you’re giving the best possible CPR to the patient in an emergency.

And it’s multilingual.

“ZOLL speaks 26 languages in PocketCPR Real-time audio-visual CPR feedback” the company tweeted from MEDICA.

The Pennsylvania Center for Trade Development certainly took advantage of the networking opportunities, tweeting on the last day; “Last day of #MEDICA 2012. PA companies report sales, high-quality leads & contacts as a result.”

The Pennsylvania Center for Direct Investment was also tweeting from MEDICA. Way to go Pennsylvania! Lots of representation.

And because I’m a San Diego girl, I have to mention Qualcomm Life from San Diego, which bills itself as the global pioneer in wireless health innovation and solutions.

The company was tweeting some interesting tidbits, like a tweet from MEDICA’s Health IT Forum that said there’s a shift from sick care systems to health maintenance systems with eHealth tools for consumers.

And also from the Health IT forum; “it takes people 24 hours/day to realize they lost their wallet & only 60 mins for the smartphone.”

Qualcomm Life’s Clint McClellan, who leads strategic marketing with the company, spoke at the Health IT Forum.

Another company that seemed to have a good run at MEDICA was Intersurgical, based in Wokingham, UK and which states that it is Europe’s leading designer and manufacturer of high quality respiratory care products for hospitals.

The company tweeted that it had a full house at its Oral Care and TrachSeal product workshop.

One thing I couldn’t help but notice amongst the tweets were a lot of mentions of drinks (both wine and beer) available at the booths during certain times.

Katie Andrews with Buy BBI, a reagent ordering resource for life science and research customers, invited people via tweet to the company’s booth for drinks on more than one occasion. I would have joined you if I was there, Katie!

Lest I give Katie a bad name, I should also mention that she invited people to the Buy BBI booth to learn about the company’s complete solution for assay development, too.

So there is just a snippet of a snippet of what went on at MEDICA and COMPAMED over in Germany this November. I urge you to check out the MEDICA and COMPAMED websites to get a better picture of the scope of these events at http://www.medica-tradefair.com and http://www.compamed-tradefair.com respectively.

Just how big were they? Well, just ask Mat Packer from Newcastle, Australia, who tweeted; “I’m almost embarrassed to admit I’m not sure what day it is..been a big/long week away from home. #Medica2012.”

Don’t be embarrassed Mat. MEDICA is enough to make anyone lose track of time.