Darlo

NSW Police “the best that money could buy”.

Christine Nixon assigned to Darlo in October 1976.

1977, six officers in gang rape of a woman in Darlinghurst’s padded cell. (Nixon: 50)

‘Raped by police, say two women’
Thursday 3 February 1977 SMH p. 4.
December 1976 in two separate incidents.
Commissioner Merv Wood puts CIB Det-Insp M [?] Kelly in charge of investigations.

Rogerson transferred to Darlo in 1981. Suspended in 1984. Dismissed 1986.

“Cash, gash and bash.” City detectives’ motto.
- Deborah Locke, NSW Police 1984-96

Drury case, second acquittal

Justice Allen, Bench Central Criminal Court, Darlinghurst.
Greg James, QC for Rogerson.
Graham Valentine “Val” Bellamy, Solicitor.

Sallie-Anne Huckstepp

“I will tell you everything … I have the following criminal record: I have 31 convictions for prostitution. I have a conspiracy to defraud conviction which occurred shortly after I left Harry Bailey’s tender care at “Chelmsford”. I then had two further marijuana convictions. A heroin conviction when I was loaded up by Detectives Peter and Tomich at the Lido bar. I have a further “use” charge in which Detectives Peter George and Jungblut were involved. In both the latter offences significant sums of money were paid to the police to effect the outcome … While operating as a prostitute I made regular payments to members of the Vice Squad over ten years. I have been involved in a number of transactions which I referred to in my statement which have involved substantial payment to members of the Drug Squad and other detectives relating to drug matters. I believe that the New South Wales Drug Squad and the Armed Hold-Up Squad are both totally corrupt and that they feed on the very activities which they are supposed to stop.” (15 July 1981)
*
“In an interview with writer John Dale, Smith claimed that Huckstepp was murdered because she kept “bugging Roger, ringing him up and leaving messages that he was a dog…The reason they didn’t bury her or dispose of the body was Roger wanted her left floating in the pond as a message. The bloke who killed her has never been arrested and is not in jail.”
*
Visiting Ned in Long Bay
By John Dale

http://newmatilda.com/2005/03/02/visiting-ned-long-bay

(2 Mar 2005)

End of Des

Okay, if the world does end in 2012 as per the tin-foil hat brigade, it will more likely be the result of the H5N1 virus escaping from some underground lab. I confess to being a tad freaked out by this possibility – albeit my misanthropic side does see some benefit in the world’s human population being reduced by 50 per cent.

Bird flu research worries WHO

The World Health Organization says it is worried about recent studies showing how the H5N1 virus could be adapted, making it more transmissible between animals and potentially, humans.

It issued a statement Friday indicating that it is concerned about the potentially negative consequences of this type of research into avian influenza, should it be misused.

On Dec. 20, the U.S government asked scientific journals and two research teams not to publish details of controversial studies on the bird flu virus over fears the data could fall into the wrong hand and have dire consequences. Scientists had mutated the H5N1 avian flu virus to the point where it became highly transmissible in ferrets and were set to publish their results.

WHO concedes that this type of research, though potentially dangerous, is necessary. “WHO also notes that studies conducted under appropriate conditions must continue to take place so that critical scientific knowledge needed to reduce the risks posed by the H5N1 virus continues to increase,” it said in a release. “Such research should be done only after all important public health risks and benefits have been identified and reviewed, and it is certain that the necessary protections to minimize the potential for negative consequences are in place.”

WHO also encourages scientists to abide by the rules of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework, which, established in May 2011, aims to encourage virus sharing between countries, collaborative research and best scientific practices in pandemic research. It acknowledged that although the scientists whose research made headlines last week begun their study prior to the establishment of the framework, it hopes they will abide by its new guidelines.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/12/30/who-birdflu-data.html

Ethics of organ donation

Obviously donating your body to science in the interest of research would in theory be a good thing. However, until institutions, in particular education institutions, put in place procedures for guaranteeing the respectful treatment of the cadaver I can see why a person would not agree to become an organ donor.

Case in point from 2007:

Police are investigating claims that human bodies donated to a Sydney university have been shamefully mistreated, NSW Health Minister John Hatzistergos says.

The University of NSW’s school of anatomy’s licence to conduct anatomy classes was revoked in November, after an audit found improper labelling and storage of human remains. Documents later also revealed allegations that body parts had been interfered with sexually and piled together in coffins.

The school’s head of medical sciences Denis Wakefield says the mistreatment allegedly included the fondling of breasts and vaginas and using the head of a torso for “inappropriate and degrading purposes”, Fairfax reports.

Professor Wakefield said a former employee had also allegedly failed to place the cadavers and their parts back in the proper coffins for burial.

“These are appalling and deeply concerning allegations,” Mr Hatzistergos said today.

“The generosity of people who donate their bodies for medical research benefit us all in the training of our doctors and the advancement of medical research.

“These people, and their families, deserve to know their remains are being treated with dignity and respect.

“We have taken what action we can and the matter has now been referred to police.”

Mr Hatzistergos said NSW Health was the regulator of the laboratory, but it did not have jurisdiction over staff misconduct and potentially criminal matters.

AAP

Factoid #934

The burning of a tonne of coal produces 3.67 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Bail out list

ProPublica’s bailout project.

We the state

“One can throw away a chair and destroy a pane of glass; but those are idle talkers and credulous idolaters of words who regard the state as such a thing or as a fetish that one can smash in order to destroy it. The state is a condition, a certain relationship between human beings, a mode of behavior; we destroy it by contracting other relationships, by behaving differently toward one another. One day it will be realized that Socialism is not the invention of anything new, but the discovery of something actually present, of something that has grown…. We are the state, and we shall continue to be the state until we have created the institutions that form a real community and society of men.”
Gustav Landauer

Hackintosh II (Audio)

CPU
Intel Core I3 550 I3 3.20GHZ 3.20GHZ, 4MB CACHE, LGA1156
megabuy.com.au/intel-core-i3-550-320ghz-4mb-cache-p187342.html
$135.40

Intel BX80616I3550 CORE i3 550/ 3.2GHz/ 4MB CACHE/ LGA1156
www.spotit.com.au/buy/69573_Intel_BX80616I3550_CORE_i3_550__3.aspx
$139.00

CPU Cooler
^

Motherboard √
GA-P55M-UD2
P55, 4DDR3, 4VRM, PCIEx16, GbLAN, DES2, 8SATA, 2X1394a, mATX

Graphics Card √

Power Supply √
Enermax PRO87+ 600 watt ATX power supply 600W CrossFireX, 87 PLUS, EPG600AWT
www.spotit.com.au/buy/68620_Enermax_PRO87__600_watt_ATX_power.aspx
$139.00

Memory
G.Skill 2GB (1GB x 2) PC3-12800 (DDR3-1600) NQ 9-9-9-24
www.spotit.com.au/buy/29980_G_Skill_2GB__1GB_x_2__PC3_12800__DDR3.aspx
$30.00

Case √

Hackintosh (Video)

CPU
Intel Core i7 860, 2.80GHz, Quad Core, Socket LGA1156, 95W TDP, 4x256KB L2 Cache, 8MB L3 Cache, Boxed, Lynnfield (BX80605I7860)
$369.00

Motherboard
GA-P55M-UD4, P55,4DDR3,12VRM,PCIEx16,GbLAN,DES2,8SATA,2X1394a,mATX
$204.73

Graphics Card
ASUS GeForce GTX285 Video Card, 1024MB 512-bit DDR3 RAM, 648MHz / 2.484GHz Clock, PCIe 2.0, Dual DVI, HDCP, VGA & HDMI (via adaptor), Fansink (ENGTX285-2DI-1GD3)
$431.80

CPU Cooler
Noctua, NH-U12P-SE2. NH-U12P Special Edition 2
$95.61

Power supply
750W “Corsair” TX-750 ATX Power Supply, 80 PLUS Certified, 4x 6+2 PCI-E
$157.81

Memory
(2X) OCZ3G1600LV4GK PC3-12800 2GX2 GOLD XTC
$309.54 ea

Case
Antec Dark Fleet DF-30 Mid Tower Black Gaming Case – 11 Drive Bays – 7 Expansion slots – 2x USB 2.0 & Audio Front Ports (DF-30)
$129.00

SSD
Kingston 30G SSD V-Series SATA2 2.5″
$132.00

HDD
(2X) Samsung SpinPoint F1 Desktop Class – Hard drive – 1 TB – internal – 3.5″ – SATA-300 – 7200 rpm – buffer: 32 MB ( HD103UJ / HD103SJ )
$86.00 ea

DVD Burner
Sony AD7240SGB Dual Layer DVD+RW/+R
$30.33