In Analysis of Computer Games for Violence Potential, forensic psychology expert

Dr. Julie Armstrong writes:

The psychological processes at work are called projection and sublimation. First, projection. When an individual is using projection “…affective and ideational components are attributed to another, while that other actual person is controlled.” {This was taken from Reid Meloy’s The Psychopathic Mind.} In the case of the computer game, the person who is heavily into playing the game, called a gamer, puts his ideal personality, as well as his affective or emotional state, into the characters, which by the very nature of game playing, he can now control. He becomes the superhero with the big gun, and tries to annihilate the enemies that represent his tormentors.

Sublimation is the other psychological process at work here, and is the process that makes these games so popular. In sublimation, the emotions experienced by a person are acted out in the context of the game. Every one of us has aggressive and violent feelings that get resolved through the coping strategies we use on a day-to-day basis. For some, the violent computer game may actually serve as a pressure release valve, and prevent someone from acting out their rage. I want to be clear here: Computer games don’t make people act out their violent feelings, they are a socially appropriate place to put those feelings. When anger, violence and hostility overwhelm a person, he may become obsessed with playing these games. They become a sort of an obsession.

In Conservation Easements, the Good, the Bad and the Greedy, real estate expert Charles B. Warren, A.S.A. writes on three dimensions in the process of sorting out the good from the bad and the greedy.

Now let us consider rights in property. Generally the “whole property” includes all private rights; the right to transfer, to borrow against, to inherit, to rent, to mine, to plant, or to build upon for example. Public rights include police power, to regulate private activity using land, taxation, condemnation for public use (or purpose?), and escheat. There is a continual change in the actual boundaries of the private and public rights. At one point, conveying mineral rights in a property allowed the owner of those rights to mine in a manner that ultimately caused the surface of the ground to collapse. Generally police power now prohibits that, tipping the scale from the owner of the underlying mineral rights to that of the surface. A century ago urban development was left to private contract, CC&Rs, rather than public planning. In Houston it still is. At Lake Tahoe there was a dramatic shift in the late 1970’s where land which had previously been planned, zoned, developed, and sold to the public for construction of detached homes was declared to be unsuitable for that purpose. This was an expression of what was termed “The Police Power Revolution”. The affected Tahoe landowners recently lost on part of their claim for compensation. Last year (Kelo) the U.S. Supreme Court validated government use of eminent domain to transfer property from one private owner to another. But while the government has moved the boundary of rights in its favor in some cases, Oregon recently passed a law requiring compensation to property owners if land is “downzoned”, limiting its development. And in Kelo the Supreme Court noted that states could restrict eminent domain to public use, rather than public purpose, and many have or are in the process of doing so.

In Analysis of Computer Games for Violence Potential, forensic psychology expert

 Dr. Julie Armstrong writes:

When psychologists evaluate an individual, they use external data, such as school, military and hospital records, personal diaries, and drawings in addition to interviewing the person directly. In fact, there are several tests used that ask a person to draw specific figures, which are evaluated as products of his mind, and as a reflection of his inner world. With the advent of computer technology we have a new data set to be evaluated during the course of an investigation. Computer games are wildly popular, and yet have been overlooked. After all, “…it’s only a game…”

Well, these games represent an important glimpse inside the mind of the suspect. The games can be a direct product of an individual’s thinking, of his state of mind. Just as we would use drawings, diaries or other personal products, we should be using personal computer game information, whenever available, to add to our body of knowledge about a suspect.

In Conservation Easements, the Good, the Bad and the Greedy, real estate expert Charles B. Warren, A.S.A. writes on three dimensions in the process of sorting out the good from the bad and the greedy.

The first is a perspective of the broad tapestry of land economics, focused down to the question of conservation rights. The second is a brief review of value and price in this area. The third is a look at motivations in particular transactions. So, first, let us consider land and its value. Basically, land is valuable based on the sort of income it can generate. In the urban core, land zoned for high rise development is generally more valuable than lower density. In the suburbs the land values are more uniform, particularly if police power has tipped the scales against, say, detached single family residential. Purely market forces tend to value industrial more highly than agricultural, with exceptions, of course. Detached residential is next, followed by multi-family residential and commercial, in ascending order. This schema is deliberately simplistic.

More to follow.

Dr. Dipak Desai, the majority owner of two endoscopy centers linked to a hepatitis C outbreak, is claiming incapacity from a July stroke.  A Nevada State Board of Medical Examiner hearing officer has ordered the doctor to undergo an independent physical examination.  A medical expert will determine whether Desai is still suffering residual effects of a July stroke or is able to participate in his medical malpractice defense.

Health officials have linked nine cases of hepatitis C to two clinics owned by Desai.  The complaints allege that Desai directly worked on three patients who were infected with hepatitis C.  Desai's license has been suspended pending the outcome of disciplinary hearings.

For more, see LasVegasReviewJournal.com. 

A federal judge Thursday stripped class-action status from the "Vista Capable" lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. but will allow the plaintiffs to continue to sue the company separately. ComputerWorld.com reports: 

Not surprisingly, Microsoft applauded the news. "We're pleased that the court granted our motion to decertify the class, leaving only the claims of six individuals," said Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster in an e-mail late Wednesday. "We look forward to presenting our case to the jury, should the plaintiffs elect to pursue their individual claims."

U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman said the plaintiffs' economics expert witness, University of Washington Dr. Keith Leffler, did not, or was unable to, come up with any data to support the price inflation theory. Leffler had estimated that Microsoft would have to come up with as much as $8.5 billion to settle accounts with the customers affected by its 2006 "Vista Capable" marketing program.

In Report questions science, reliability of crime lab evidence, LATimes.com writes:

The National Academy of Sciences says many courtroom claims about fingerprints, bite marks and other evidence lack scientific verification. It finds forensics inconsistent and in disarray nationwide. 

The National Academy of Sciences report called for a wholesale overhaul of the crime lab system, which has become increasingly crucial to American jurisprudence.  Many experts said the report could have a broad impact on crime labs and the courts, ushering in changes at least as significant as those generated by the advent of DNA evidence two decades ago.

Recommendations from the scientific panel included requiring that expert witnesses and forensic analysts be certified by the new agency, and that labs be accredited. 

Dr. Jayant Patel won't know whether he will face a trial until at least the middle of next month and possibly as late as May. The inquiry into Dr. Patel's alleged malpractice at Australia's Bundaberg Hospital has linked him to as many as 87 patient deaths. Prosecutor David Meredith said the committal hearing would run until February 27 because three medical expert witnesses could not give evidence until that date. A forensic nursing expert may be called to collect evidence and investigate the case.  One nurse has already testified that "All the nurses in intensive care were seeing these patients dying every day and we couldn't do anything." Ms. Hoffman also told the inquiry in March "We'd taken to hiding patients. We just thought 'What on earth can we do to stop this man."

After studying medicine in India, Dr Patel moved to New York, where the first complaints against him were made in 1984, when he was found not to be examining patients adequately before surgery. Dr Patel has also been accused of fraud for allegedly falsifying his application to practice medicine in Australia, by removing any mention of his previous blemished record in the US.  He fled Australia in April, and while Queensland state authorities want to seek his extradition, his current whereabouts remain unknown.

In Construction Delay Analysis Methods, construction expert Jamil Soucar writes on the challenges and the various delay analysis methods:

Below is a list of common delay causes encountered on construction projects. One of the complications of a delay analysis is that the delays can be caused by few of these listed causes or a complex mix of these causes. The time of their occurrence and who caused what delay add to the difficulty of the analysis.

Errors and omissions in the contract documents:

• Missing information.
• Not having a phasing plan in the bid documents when the site work has to be done in phases.
• Conflicting information that need design revisions.

Contractor caused delays for reasons under their control:

• Not having enough labor force on site.
• Contractual problems between the prime contractor and subcontractors.
• Cash flow issues.
• Lack of proper planning and management of the project.

Delays for reasons beyond the contractor or owner’s control:

• Strikes
• Out of state manufacturer’s shut down.
• A subcontractor going out of business in the middle of the project.
• Unusual weather conditions.

Owner caused delays for reasons under their control:

• Scope changes.
• Limiting contractor’s access to parts of the site.
• Cash flow.
• Late processing of contractor’s requests for clarifications and change orders.
• A higher level political factor that impacted the project’s progress.

Personality conflicts between the project’s team.

• Unfortunately, sometimes this factor results in the team making things difficult on site that cause delays. In this case each party blames the other for the delay.

The Sacramento area's largest health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, runs a special, doctor-to-doctor call operation that has become a target of legal actions alleging malpractice and failure to pay claims. The doctors' telephone hub has drawn legal criticism at the same time the state is investigating allegations that Kaiser's much larger customer call center lets unlicensed staffers make medical decisions. Sacramento Bee.com reports:

Both are examples of streamlining medical care in ways some Kaiser members defend for keeping their health expenses down, but others criticize as callous or dangerous.  A Shingle Springs couple contend the doctors' call center played a role in the death of their 19-year-old daughter by making it difficult to get the young woman quickly to the first available neurosurgeon.

"She was sitting while a business meeting was being carried out to determine what was best for a large corporation and not for the patient," said Dr. VanBuren Lemons, a Sacramento neurosurgeon, who acted as a medical expert for the family in its claim against Kaiser. Kaiser declined comment on the case, which has been settled. The family's lawyer said the amount Kaiser paid is confidential.

Investors have pummeled insurance and financial stocks lately, but a University of Iowa finance professor is actually making money trading them. Insurance expert Ty Leverty is  assistant professor of finance and Tristar risk management fellow at Tippie College of Business.  He has been experimenting since last fall with a strategy of trading only the stocks of well-managed property and liability insurance companies. Although his test portfolio is extremely volatile, its value shows an increase of about 10 percent, as opposed to a broader market loss of about 30 percent during the same time.  Press-Citizen.com reports:

Leverty noticed last fall that when bad financial news is released, the stocks of property and liability insurers take their hits along with life insurance companies and other businesses in the financial services sector. However, he noticed that solid, well-managed property and liability companies usually bounced back the next day.

Leverty suspects that investors unload all insurance stocks on bad news days, assuming that all of them are widely exposed to the failed financial products that led to the credit crisis and brought down so many financial services companies.  However, he said property and liability stocks hold mostly short-term assets to match their mostly short-term, low risk policies, minimizing their exposure to the crisis.  "Those companies aren't as exposed to collateralized debt obligations or some of the other toxic assets like banks and life insurance companies are," said Leverty College's Tristar risk management fellow. The next day, he said investors realize that and buy the stocks back, and the price rebounds.

A judge will rule on whether defense attorneys can hire an expert on false confessions for the March trial of Frederick Anthony Robinson, an Apollo, PA, man who is accused of setting a house fire that killed four people.  Attorney Chuck Pascal wants a forensic psychology expert to explain to a jury the pathology of false confessions.  The expert would discuss "why

people may falsely confess, how mental illness impacts that or may impact that," Pascal said.

Psychiatrists have diagnosed Robinson with schizoaffective disorder and say he has a history of psychiatric disorders and low intelligence. The expert, Allison D. Redlich of New York, is nationally known in the field and has agreed to testify next month on Robinson's behalf.

Excerpted from PIttsburghTribune.com.

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld a claim against a medical doctor for the disclosure of mammography films to an expert witness hired by his patient’s former physician. The patient, in a prior suit, had sued her former doctor for failing to diagnose her breast cancer. The patient lost her case against her former doctor, the defendant in the medical malpractice case arising from an alleged failure to diagnose breast cancer.

The patient then filed a malpractice action against a radiologist who released her mammogram x-rays to an expert witness for the former doctor in connection with the prior malpractice action. The only claim against the defendant radiologist who released the mammogram x-rays to the expert witness was that he released these x-rays without authorization. There was no allegation that the radiologist committed any malpractice in connection with his performing medical services for the patient. The trial court had dismissed the claim against the radiologist. The patient appealed to the North Carolina Court of Appeals which upheld the claim.

Excerpted from InjuryBoard.com.

The best a business owner can do in today's ever-changing business environment is try to assess the most reasonable business risks upfront and then plan accordingly. Risk management experts offer preventive steps to help protect businesses from possible threats. 

Some risks can be mitigated by making sure the business owner has proper insurance coverage, explains Robert E. Underdown, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based risk management consultant and insurance expert witness.  "You want to have the general bases covered," the expert says.  Risk categories can broken down into environmental (i.e. natural disaster/weather); financial (i.e. financial market risk); management (i.e. labor disputes); and supply (i.e. supply-chain issues).

Excerpted from Newsday.com.

More than one arsonist would have been responsible for several of the blazes which erupted in Victoria over the weekend, says fire expert and Australian National University research fellow Dr. Damon Muller. About half of all bush fires in Australia are deliberately lit by fire bugs and given that up to 400 fires hit Victoria over the weekend at varying locations across the state, the expert believes more than one arsonist was at work. HeraldSun.com also reports:

"Without putting a figure on it, it would be surprising if some of them were not deliberately lit, just by virtue of the significant number,'' Dr Muller said.  "And by virtue of the diversity of locations there is probably a number of perpetrators.''  Federal Attorney General Robert McClelland said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's description of arsonists as "mass murderers'' in the circumstances was warranted and any offenders would be pursued with relevant murder charges.

Automotive experts at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in 2007, 54 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic accidents were not wearing seat belts. Now cash-strapped states want to give law enforcement officers the authority to pull over motorists just for not wearing their seat belts.  More than a dozen states that are considering making the switch to primary seat-belt enforcement laws need to do so before July to be eligible for millions in federal money.

One of those states is Ohio, which would get $26.8 million if it changes its law. Currently, officers in the state must first have some other reason to stop drivers over before issuing seat-belt citations.  Congress adopted the federal incentive program in the 2005 federal transportation bill as a way to encourage states to adopt the primary enforcement law. The goal was to save lives, reduce insurance costs, and cut medical bills.

For more, please see WashintonPost.com.

Accidents and safety experts report that Colorado has seen a drop in roadway fatalities for 2008.  The number of people killed is down 2% from 2007 when the state reported 554 deaths on the state's roads.  County Sheriff Jim Alderden said law enforcement is aggressively enforcing the state’s drunk and drugged-driving laws.  According to Colorado Department of Public Safety statistics, crashes involving alcohol and drugs have twice the number of injuries and deaths as crashes where alcohol and drugs are not involved. “I’m convinced in my own mind that aggressive DUI enforcement saves lives,” Alderden said.

Alderden says drivers can help increase their safety by obeying speed limits and stopping at stop signs, but drunken or speeding drivers pose a danger that even the most cautious driver might not be able to avoid.

 

Arkansas poultry companies want a judge to bar the use of a scientific article by an environmental health and safety expert in a lawsuit claiming chicken litter caused cancer in Prairie Grove.  Dr. Rod O'Connor used a formula designed for determining the amount of lead exposure in air from dust samples and applied it to arsenic. Washington County Circuit Judge Kim Smith rejected the formula, saying it should not have been used to determine arsenic levels because other scientists had never used the formula. It had not been tested or peer-reviewed, was not generally accepted by the scientific community, and there was no supporting literature. Judge Smith also said the expert simply threw out some variables that didn't support his conclusions rather than using them to reach an average.

There are many other ways to protect yourself when renting cars, says insurance expert Robin Ingle.  Call your own insurance company before leaving home to see if you have, or can add, coverage for rental cars.  If you are relying on your credit card, make sure you are clear, before leaving home, about what kind of coverage you have and exactly how much.  If a call to the credit card company still leaves you confused, ask for details in writing. Take car rental staff very seriously when they ask you to check the rental car for scratches and damage before leaving the lot. Otherwise, you risk being charged for dings you might not have made and they can end up on your credit card even after you've arrived home, warns Ingle.

The expert also says to call your credit card company's 1-800 line as soon after an accident as possible. They will take you, step-by-step, through what documents are needed as part of the claim. Ingle warns that he's seen cases where it can take a year to get some key documents, so get copies of as many as possible before getting on your plane home. Past rental agreements can be obtained through the websites of major rental companies such as Hertz and Avis, if you rented the car within the last six months.

Excerpted from TheStar.com.

A three-judge panel granted Larry Ray Swearingen a stay of execution one day before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection for the 1998 murder of 19-year-old Montgomery College student Melissa Trotter. Swearingen maintained his innocence from the beginning and his appellate attorneys have filed numerous appeals based on forensic evidence that suggests Swearingen was actually locked up in jail on an unrelated charge when Trotter’s body was left in the Sam Houston National Forest. U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit Judge Jacques L. Wiener Jr. writes there’s a very real possibility the lower court to which Swearingen’s case was returned “could view the newly discovered medical expert reports as clear and convincing evidence that the victim in this case could not possibly have been killed by the defendant.”

Swearingen’s attorney, James Rytting, has presented evidence from several forensic scientists and physicians, including the former Harris County medical examiner whose original testimony helped convict him, who all agree that Trotter’s body was left in the woods well after Swearingen’s arrest.

Excerpted from Chron.com.