On Tue, 20 Mar 2001, Reese wrote:
more fuel for the fire - Britain may ban toys: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk_politics/newsid_1207000/1207355.stm
Doesn't anyone besides myself know how to use a search engine, or check numbers before posting?
Sure, but I wanted to know why the earlier url I posted DID NOT mention murder rates, along with all the violent crime it did list. Anyone can find out what the numbers are, but will those numbers tell the story of why the most violent of violent crimes was elided from that story?
Anyone can find out what the numbers are? A British doctor was jailed recently for murdering patients he believed shouldn't continue to live. I don't recall how many murders he was convicted of, but it doesn't matter: estimates of the total number killed are in the hundreds and climbing. Very few of these murders will enter any official statistics. Since this came to light people in the UK have become much more skeptical about health professionals; police are investigating other cases where death rates differ widely depending upon which staff are on duty. These cases involve what is agreed to be murder. It is certain that the deaths of infants at the Bristol Royal Infirmary won't be counted. At BRI doctors kept on operating on children and were allowed to do so even though they had an extraordinarily high death rate. Colleagues warned them that their surgical procedures were ill-advised and they were widely known to be incompetent. This went on for years. Years. A doctor joining the team in 1988 noticed the problem and reported it, to no effect. He began collecting evidence in 1992-3. In 1993 he contacted the Department of Health and was told that they had known about the problem before he joined. In June 94 he requested a review of the results; this took seven months. It was agreed that no more operations should be performed - but they continued to be performed until May 1995, when a new doctor took over operations of this type and the death rate plummeted. An offical inquiry started in October 1997. 29 deaths, 4 survivors with brain damage out of 53 operations. Three surgeons found guilty, including the chief executive of the trust. Two struck off, one suspended for three years. The men involved knew that what they were doing was causing death. They didn't care. Other people knew the same. They did nothing - for years. The results won't be counted as murder. Then we have mass slaughter. In Europe in the 20th century many tens of millions have died in wars. Most of these deaths were calmly ordered by governments who fully understood what the effect of their orders would be. Murder on this scale is simply incomprehensible from a North American prospective. And keeping deaths of this type out of the murder statistics is what makes America look like a dangerous place to live. -- Jim Dixon VBCnet GB Ltd http://www.vbc.net tel +44 117 929 1316 fax +44 117 927 2015