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#GivingTuesday is a global day of generosity taking place on November 29. It was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Since then, this idea has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
US Chess is proud to be a part of this global celebration of giving that empowers people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. #GivingTuesday is an opportunity for members of the chess community to stand united and make a positive change in the lives of others.
Our mission: Empower people, enrich lives, and enhance communities through chess.
With more than 90,000 members, US Chess facilitates connection among clubs, scholastic programs, and individuals across the nation. We are the official governing body and charitable organization for chess players in the United States.
An estimated 70 million chess enthusiasts in the United States have yet to join — or hear of — US Chess. We want to reach out, extend an invitation, and ensure that chess is fully recognized nationwide for its benefits as an invaluable tool for education, recreation, and rehabilitation.
Make a donation of any amount by clicking here.
The game for all
Few organizations can match the diversity of our community and the gratifying sense of inclusion that comes with it. While the cognitive benefits of chess have long been recognized, its unique power to bring together disparate groups of people has not been fully appreciated until recently. Walk into most chess clubs today and expect to see children playing adults, men playing women, and many other matches that cross ethnic and social divides.
That's because the chessboard is a level playing field. While skill is essential for winning, anyone can play and improve. Advancing in chess is based purely on merit. Age, ethnicity, gender, race, religion, income, background, physical disability — even common language — are all irrelevant.
Much like playing the game, being a member of the US Chess community isn't conditional on what you have, where you live, or your physical abilities. An affinity for chess is the qualifying factor.
Everyone can have a seat at the chess table. And everyone is welcome in the US Chess Federation. We believe the culture of inclusion is our unique strength and advantage.
Calling Women and Girls to Claim Their Place in Chess
In the past, playing chess has been predominantly a man's world. We're pretty sure that says more about the past world than it does about chess. That was then.
In 2015, US Chess established the Women In Chess Initiative to proactively invite females into the game.
Chess is beneficial for girls and women for all the reasons it's beneficial for boys and men. It's valuable as a gateway to STEM fields and as a model for life skills. It fosters focus, critical thinking, self-confidence, and the importance of hard work.
We're looking forward to the day when women fully claim their place in the game and know that all the benefits of chess are theirs for the taking.
Make a donation of any amount by clicking here.
Building Minds
The reputation of chess for enhancing cognitive skills makes it a natural fit as a collaborative tool in education.
Chess develops a capacity for concentration, the ability to reason, and an aptitude for problem solving — all transferrable skills that can benefit students for a lifetime. By playing chess, kids learn the cause-and-effect element of logic, and this helps them to see that their choices have consequences.
Playing chess enhances emotional intelligence
Belonging to a chess community can give kids a safe, friendly environment with caring adults and mentors.
Built into chess culture is the opportunity for learning to win and lose well — in a supportive setting. While winning makes children feel proud of themselves and builds their confidence, learning to lose well means being able to cope and move on successfully when things don't go their way. Both contribute to success in life. Additionally, many educators have reported behavior improvements in kids who spend time learning to play chess in the classroom.
Many schools across the nation have extracurricular chess clubs and, in some cases, chess coaches and teachers are an integral part of the curriculum. Supporting existing programs and casting the vision for more ways school-aged people can experience the benefits of the game is a top priority of US Chess.
Make a donation of any amount by clicking here.
Seniors and Chess: A Great Match
While modern research substantiates the importance of mental and social activity for seniors, chess has been the loyal facilitator of both all along.
Playing chess is calisthenics for the mind. It actively engages the brain and has been shown to strengthen reasoning and retention in aging adults. Additional research has linked chess to lower rates of dementia in active players. Chess is also a social game. It offers a ready excuse to get together with others, and it can provide opportunities for tournament competition and travel as well.
But not only is chess good for seniors, seniors also are good for chess. Seniors remember Bobby Fischer and the 1972 World Championship match that captured the nation's attention. They were there when chess moved to the forefront in popular culture, and they have comprised a significant demographic of US Chess membership through the years.
Their dependable, loyal support lends stability as we continue to evolve into an organization that welcomes everyone into the community, and their skills, experience, and wisdom remain fundamental to the identity of US Chess.
Help Support US Chess
Between now and November 29, please consider how you'd like to participate in #GivingTuesday by advancing our collective mission to "Empower people, enrich lives, and enhance communities through chess."
Perhaps there's a US Chess program or event you'd like others to enjoy. Or maybe you'd like to give someone a US Chess membership.
If you would like more information about making a gift to US Chess, please contact us by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com or calling 1-800-903-8723, extension 5. Make a donation of any amount by clicking here.
All photos courtesy of Saint Louis Chess Club.
Please support chess in the United States. Make a tax-deductible donation to the US Chess Federation today. Donate online:
Or send a check to:
US Chess Federation
PO Box 775308
St. Louis, MO 63177
US Chess Federation is a 501(c)(3) organization.


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Rihanna still has a lot of ill feelings towards Chris Brown but she is still proud of him trying to be a good father to his daughter Royalty.
Over the last few weeks Chris Brown has taken time out his busy schedule from touring and recording to bond with his 10-month-old daughter.
SEE ALSO: Chris Brown Wants His Name On His Daughter Birth Certificate
The "Loyal" hitmaker has been posting several photos on videos on Instagram of the adorable toddler and in the process winning over the hearts of a lot of fans. One person that Brown is having a positive impact on is Rihanna.
Sources connected to the Bajan pop star told Urban Islandz that she is very proud of Chris Brown.
"Rihanna has always see Chris as someone who would be a good father but to actually see him taking on the role of fatherhood makes her feel very proud of him irregardless of the circumstances," our source told us. "She is genuinely happy for him and wish him always the best because being a parent is not easy especially in his situation."
Urban Islandz sources also confirmed that Rihanna and Chris Brown has no plans to rekindled their romance even though Karrueche Tran is out of the picture.
"There are no plans to rekindle any relationship, right now Rihanna is fully focused on her career and is way too busy to be a step mom," our sources said.
Chris Brown is also moving to have his name placed on Royalty's birth certificate. The singer is locked into a bitter feud with Nia Guzman's boyfriend King Ba, who is listed as the toddler's father on her birth certificate.
Brown also want to move his baby mama and his daughter to Los Angeles to live closer to him so that he can spend more time with his daughter.
A new Rihanna and Chris Brown collaborative single "Put It Up" was leaked online recently. It's still unclear if the new track will be appeared on Rihanna's upcoming eight album.

subset: commoncrawl


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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
Visit www.youtube.com/activate and then enter your code to start the process.
YouTube is an American video-sharing platform headquartered in San Bruno, California who is owned by Google Alphabet.
The activation process is super easy and should take less than 2 minutes to complete.
YouTube.com/Activate Customer Service Support
- Google LLC, D/B/A YouTube 901 Cherry Ave. San Bruno, CA 94066 USA
- Fax: +1 650-253-0001
- Email: Not Found
- Online: www.youtube.com/t/contact_us
Submit Additional Content to Google
See all opportunities to distribute your content for free across Google including gadgets, product searches, local business centers, and books.
Read More
- MyInstantOffer.com: Get a loan in 2 days
- Walmartacademycard.com/login: WalmartAcademyCard.com comes in the Walmart Academy Prepaid Visa Card and the Walmart Academy Prepaid MasterCard.
- PayPal Biz Loan: Apply for a loan from PayPal
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Other Streaming Options
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- Apple TV
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YouTube Advertising
Whether an AdAge 100 advertiser or a local retailer, everyone can broadcast their ad campaign on YouTube and tap into the world's largest online video community. Learn the basics to advertising on YouTube.


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With rising star Felicity Jones playing Ellen Ternan and the ever-charming Ralph Fiennes at her side in the role of Charles Dickens, the invisible woman is becoming highly visible these days. Fiennes's movie The Invisible Woman, based on a 1990 book with the same title by the British literary biographer Claire Tomalin, is very belatedly turning Dickens's once-secret mistress into a new historical celebrity.
Nelly, as she was known, was 18 when the most famous writer in the world, a man 27 years her senior, fell in love with her. Exactly when and how she became his mistress has been, since the 1940s, a matter of increasing speculation and debate. Meanwhile, Catherine Dickens, his wife of 22 years and mother of his 10 children, has remained largely in the shadows.
Both women, however, are fascinating case studies in Victorian social history, their lives bursting with telling evidence about gender relations, sexual hypocrisy, fertility and morality. Ternan's existence first came to light after the death of Katey Dickens, one of the few of the writer's many children who matured into an emotionally and professionally successful adult. Katey had confided in a friend, Gladys Storey, some hard truths about her parents' notorious separation in 1858 and Storey finally went public with her 1939 book Dickens and Daughter. According to Katey, Ternan was her father's mistress and gave birth to a boy who died.
More information about Ternan came out in the 1950s but the world was very slow to accept the idea that the great Dickens, a man closely associated with the idealized Victorian home – and with social justice for those deprived of its comforts – had so clearly violated its code. As recently as 1990, writer Peter Ackroyd, in his magisterial biography, Dickens, would argue the relationship with Ternan was probably not sexual as Dickens set her aside as a real-life version of the idealized Nell or Little Dorrit of his imagination, or more sadly the unobtainable Estella. Tomalin's ground-breaking book made an asexual relationship seem highly unlikely but it also showed that it would not really have made much difference to Nelly: She was a fledgling actress but also a middle-class girl who could have expected to make a respectable marriage, as both her sisters did, when Dickens condemned her to a kind of social twilight, hiding her away in discreet houses where he would regularly visit her while still maintaining his original family home.
It was a home without a mother, presided over by Dickens's sister-in-law Georgina Hogarth, who stuck with him despite his treatment of her sister, giving way to unfounded rumours about their relationship that persist in the public imagination to this day. While Fiennes's film is fairly honest about how badly Dickens treated Catherine, including his notoriously public repudiation of her in letters to newspapers, it stops following Catherine's story there. What is probably most shocking to contemporary sensibilities was that, in an age when fathers had the legal right to sole custody of their children, Dickens not only banished Catherine from their house but also cut off her regular contact with their nine surviving children, the youngest of whom was 6 at the time. The eldest, Charley, had reached the age of maturity and elected to live with his mother, but she saw the rest infrequently.
Dickens's biographers have tended to dismiss Catherine as dull, fat and suffering from deep postpartum depressions, an unfit companion who sank into lonely obscurity after the separation. In a powerful act of revisionist history and impressive feat of social science, English professor Lillian Nayder has done something to redress the balance with her 2011 book The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth. She reveals Catherine as a well-educated, witty woman and highly competent housekeeper sometimes brought low by the physical toll of childbirth but never separated from a love of family, which also sustained her in her later years. Dickens, the man forever marked by the experience of the blacking factory, was sadly ambivalent about his many dependents, complaining about Catherine's pregnancies as though he did not have much to do with them and sending his sons out into the world at painfully young ages. But Nayder points out that most middle-class Victorians saw large families not as heavy burdens but as proof of long, loving marriages: She uses fertility statistics and the gaps between Catherine's various pregnancies to calculate that the Dickenses were having sex anywhere from once a week to every other day for most of their marriage.
Perhaps because they were the less talented offspring of a demanding and highly successful father or perhaps because the pain of their parents' ugly separation cast a shadow over their lives, the Dickens children did not fare well. Last year, writer Robert Gottlieb complied the sad and rather Freudian catalogue of their destinies in Great Expectations: The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens.
What is intriguing about the Dickens-Ternan story in 2014 is the way the man was hoist on his own morality, unable to live openly with the woman he loved because he staked so much on a public image built around an imprisoning respectability and a Manichaean view of female sexuality. In the end, the spunky Nelly managed to have it both ways: After his death in 1870, she simply cut 12 years off her age, pretended only to have known Dickens as a child, and resumed the life she might otherwise have led, marrying a young divinity student and raising two children. Still, as Tomalin points out, she could only be appalled that her shameful secret was now so public.
Globe arts writer Kate Taylor is working on a novel about cancer, fidelity, Scheherazade and Charles Dickens.


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Kuala Lumpur (4 October 2013) – WD®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company, today announced the availability of its My Passport® Slim™ line of portable hard drives, the first thin drives to offer up to 2 TB capacity, a metal enclosure, and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. The included WD SmartWare Pro data protection software allows users to back up their data to their My Passport Slim and keep an extra copy in their Dropbox[1] account for peace-of-mind. The software also lets users back up their Dropbox account to the My Passport Slim. These features make the My Passport Slim an ideal choice for protecting, storing, and enjoying digital content on the go.
Available in 1 TB and 2 TB capacities, the My Passport Slim measures a scant 4.33 x 3.14 x 0.48-inches*, giving mobile consumers an easy and convenient way to transport their favorite music, movies, photos and documents. (*Measurement for 1 TB. 2 TB measures 4.33 x 3.14 x 0.7-inches)
The My Passport Slim also incorporates super-fast USB 3.0 connectivity for quick transfer speeds of high resolution digital files.
"WD's My Passport Slim drives are setting a new industry standard for portability, capacity, and file protection," explained Scott Steffens, general manager of WD's consumer storage solutions group. "Its beautiful metal exterior, combined with up to 2 TB of storage, hardware encryption, and WD SmartWare Pro backup protection make it the only storage device today's mobile consumers will ever need to bring with them."
Pricing and Availability
My Passport Slim portable hard drives are protected by a 3-year limited warranty and will be available from selected retailers. In Malaysia, My Passport Slim hard drives are distributed by Amble Action Sdn Bhd and Eternal Asia Sdn Bhd. My Passport Slim 1 TB has a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of RM309.00, and the My Passport Slim 2 TB[2] is RM489.00.


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In early May, Tedeschi Trucks released a new album I Am The Moon. Amazingly, it was announced that Moon would be released as four albums.
The Fall
Susan Tedeschi and I had a great talk about the genesis of the albums.
Starting with playing the entire Eric Clapton Layla album in concert and discovering that the storyline came from a 12th-century poem by Nazimi Ganjavi: Layla and Majnun. But seen through Majnun's eyes. What IF – TTBand redid the storyline through Layla's character?
They wrote so many songs it became a four-album set.
I asked Susan in May if we could talk about the entire four-album set when they had released them all. Here we are.
The complete interview can be heard on the Mulligan Stew Podcast and seen on tdm YouTube Channel.
|Mulligan Stew (Guest – Susan Tedeschi)
|Terry David Mulligan
|Hey Joe
|Jimi Hendrix
|are you experienced
|Ramble on
|Led Zeppelin
|LZ Two
|all roads
|dan mangan
|all roads
|Night Shift
|Bruce Springsteen
|Only the strong survive
|Find yourself
|Lukas Nelson and Promise of the real
|New roots blues
|Mulligan Stew
|Special Guest Susan Tedeschi
|Tedeschi Trucks Band
|Bonnie light Horseman
|Someone weep for me
|Our Guest – Susan Tedeschi
|Tedeschi Trucks Band I am the Moon
|Long may you run
|Still Young Band
|Stills YUoung Band / Long may you run
|What I had in mind
|Ron Sexsmith
|in my own dream
|Paul Butterfield Blues Band
|Golden Butter
|Nick of time
|Lake Street Dive
|Fun Machine – The Sequel
|Remembering Ellie Greenwich
|The songs of Ellie Greenwich
|Born Oct 22 1940
|be my baby
|the ronettes
|best of
|then he kissed me
|the crystals
|greatest hits
|i can heard music
|The Beach Boys
|Greatest hits
|The songs of Ellie Greenwich
|Mulligan Stew
|River Deep Mountain high
|Ike and Tina Turner
|Best of
|HOUR TWO of The Stew
|NEXT – Susan Tedeschi – Tedeschi Trucks Band
|4 New albums – I am the Moon
|Susan Tedeschi – Tedeschi Trucks Band
|Interview with TDM
|I am the Moon
|Take me as I am
|Tedeschi Trucks Band
|I am the Moon – The Fall (3)
|Susan Tedeschi – Tedeschi Trucks Band
|in conversation with TDMulligan
|The albums – I am the Moon
|Last night in the Rain
|Tedeschi Trucks Band
|I am the Moon – Farewell (4)
|VSusan Tedeschi – Tedeschi Trucks Band oice Track
|complete interview – Mulligan Stew Podcast
|I am the Moon
|Another Day
|Tedeschi Trucks Band
|I am the Moon – The Farewell (4)
|Susan Tedeschi – Tedeschi Trucks Band
|complete interview on mulligan stew podcast
|and tdm channel on youtube
|Playing with my emotions
|Tedseschi Trucks Band
|I am the Moon – Ascention (2)
|Mulligan Stew
|Complete interview on Mulligan Stew Podcast
|and tdm youtube channel
|Gone gone gone
|Robert Plant and Allison Kraus
|Raising Sand
|It takes a lot to laugh, It takes a train to cry
|Leon Russell
|Leon Russell and the Shelter People
|I don't need no Doctor (live)
|John Mayer
|Where the light is Nokia LA
|Hang Loose
|Alabama Shakes
|Boys and Girls
|Mulligan Stew
|Year 26
|Check on ckua on demand
|One step ahead
|Jack Johnson
|Meet the Moonlight
|when you were wild
|Blue Rodeo
|Many a Mile
|Thank You for listening and donating
|We are Donor Supported CKUA
|Next week – Live in Calgary with Allison Brock


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Chef Elizabeth Falkner is a tour de force in the culinary world. Not only is she a talented chef, she's also a fitness fanatic and active with many causes to support women, health awareness and more. We gained some insights about what inspires her, her favorite ways to use peanuts and peanut butter in the kitchen and what she has planned for future.
You consider yourself a "culinary instigator." What does that mean?
I am always looking ahead and get tired of everyone making food with trending ingredients or techniques and push myself to approach my food making and anything else I do with flavors of intention, presence and originality.
What do you enjoy most about competing in and judging culinary competitions?
I love sports and to me, the cooking competitions are a combination of how good of a cook someone is combined with sport.
What are your earliest memories of peanuts or peanut butter?
When I was younger, I was allergic to chocolate and my mom would make me peanut butter cupcakes, which I loved. I have constantly enjoyed unsweetened peanut butter on sourdough bread. It's one of my favorite things to eat since I was a little kid.
What are some of your favorite ways to use peanuts in cooking and baking?
I put peanut butter in smoothies with dates; I poach them in fish sauce caramel for Vietnamese fish tacos; I use them in carrot top pesto; I use them in all kinds of desserts. One of my all time favorite ice cream sundaes is the Tin Roof, which is chocolate sauce on vanilla ice cream with salted red skin peanuts. My favorite snacking peanut is the crisp Virginia peanut.
You're active with many causes, from breast cancer awareness to supporting women chefs. What motivates you to be an advocate for these issues?
Cooking brings people together and when we cook and dine together we can remember we are one giant family and can help each other do amazing things.
What projects are you currently working on?
I am editing my manuscript/memoir. I am collaborating on a project that involves food/art/theater that we hope to launch in New York and other cities around the world.
I cook at all kinds of Food and Wine festivals, charity events, do recipe development constantly and am training for the NY Marathon (Nov. 6)


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Alex Cwiok
Staff Writer
Wondering why you've seen a lot of purple across campus this past week? It's all from a small group of students trying to raise awareness for domestic violence and animal abuse for a business project.
Purple for Peace, a small business designed to raise funds for the SPCA and the Peace River Center, was on campus last week selling homemade chocolates for $1. The name comes from the domestic violence awareness purple ribbon.
Erica Bitting, Darby Frankfurth, Chris- tine Kline and Conor Huey-Berns, parked themselves in Badcock Garden on week- day afternoons to spread the word through social media and poster advertisements by selling candy.
The group members proposed the philanthropic project because domestic violence is a cause that they are all passionate about.
"We originally just had the idea of Purple for Peace, being for the Peace River Center and during Valentine's Day," Bitting said.
They wanted to expand their opportunity and add another event to their project, leading them to raise funds for the SPCA as well.
"We are all against animal and human abuse and we highly value the success of the two organizations," Frankfurth said. "The means of getting donations changed as we looked further into prices, products and labor."
The philanthropy is something that all of the members are passionate about for one reason or another. Frankfurth and Kline are members of Alpha Chi Omega, whose national philanthropy is domestic violence awareness and whose local philanthropy is the SPCA.
Bitting supports Peace River Center because of what it provides for a variety of people, including victims of domestic abuse. Bitting is a member of Kappa Delta, whose national philanthropy is child abuse prevention.
The project began with selling the chocolate lollipops, and it has raised over $200 so far. Next month, the group plans to host a benefit concert with Huey-Berns and Bitting as the musical talent. They will sell wristbands to continue the fundraising. The SPCA will be at the concert with animals to show donors where their money is going.
Principles of Management professor Michael Knudstrup is impressed with the project so far.
"I thought they were a very ambitious group with a lot of ideas for running their business/project," Knudstrup said. "I bought one of their Valentine's Day chocolate lollipops and it was quite good."
According to Knudstrup, this project is to help them bridge the gap between the classroom and the world of work.
"This is part of our focus on engaged learning. They get to choose their focus but all student groups must create, design and manage their own projects," Knudstrup said.
Frankfurth said that she has "learned a lot about how running a small business works, along with how these two very important organizations run off of much needed donations."
"Purple for Peace has every indication of being a high performing group with a project they can look back upon someday with pride," Knudstrup said.
The benefit concert and further fundraising will take place sometime in March.


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A nurse practitioner initiated model of service delivery in caring for people with dementia
Borbasi, Sally, Emmanuel, Elizabeth, Farrelly, Brona, and Ashcroft, Jayne (2010) A nurse practitioner initiated model of service delivery in caring for people with dementia. Contemporary Nurse, 36 (1-2). pp. 49-60.
PDF (Published Version)
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Restricted to Repository staff only
The increasing number of people with dementia in aged care facilities is reported to have a high burden of care among staff. The nurse practitioner role can be beneficial in the provision of dementia care particularly when difficult and aggressive behaviour is being displayed. The model of service described in this paper is designed in such a way to make the outreach team contribute to staff sustainability. Such a service is different to other outreach services and focuses on a number of key deliverables. In practice, the service ensures that recommendations made by the team at the initial assessment are implemented. In addition, they work with the staff in managing the resident's behaviour, train and model suggestions for practice in interventions. Evaluation of the service is a work in progress and will highlight important aspects about the workforce for the improvement of quality of life for residents with dementia.
|Item ID:
|Item Type:
|Article (Research - C1)
|nurse practitioner; dementia; nursing staff; training
|Related URLs:
|Date Deposited:
|01 Dec 2010 05:39
|FoR Codes:
|11 MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES > 1110 Nursing > 111099 Nursing not elsewhere classified @ 100%
|SEO Codes:
|92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920209 Mental Health Services @ 50%
92 HEALTH > 9202 Health and Support Services > 920210 Nursing @ 50%
Total: 1
|More Statistics


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I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful service you gave my wife and I in buying lots on Taveuni Estates.
You contacted me when lots became available that you knew I would want and helped with the process from beginning to end. You were very professional to deal with and kept in touch at all times during the process. I look forward to more dealings with you in the future.
Phillip Temo (Buyer)


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Duluth, MN (OpEdNews) March 13, 2011: Regarding religion, we in Western culture today live in interesting times. James Carroll, a self-described practicing Catholic, has done his part to keep our public discussion of religion in Western culture interesting, most notably with his critical views of religion in his books CONSTANTINE'S SWORD: THE CHURCH AND THE JEWS: A HISTORY (2001) and JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM: HOW THE ANCIENT CITY IGNITED OUR MODERN WORLD (2011).
I do not necessarily agree with all of Carroll's critical views, but I certainly agree with his conclusion in his new book that we should discuss and debate what is good religion and what is bad religion. Through the text of his new book and through the text of CONSTANTINE'S SWORD, Carroll has called attention to bad religion. In the conclusion of his new book, he steps back a bit and tries to generalize about what might constitute good religion and bad religion. He is issuing a call to arms to liberals and to the Democratic party.
I agree with Carroll that this is the way that we in the United States today should focus the public debate about religion. Time and again, surveys have shown that more than 80 percent of Americans say that they believe in God. For this reason, religion is not likely to disappear from American culture in the near future.
Let's take stock of where the public discussion of religion in the United States stands today and of how the public discussion of religion has influenced our American political life in recent times. Briefly, the Republican party has benefited enormously from public debate about cultural issues involving religion. By contrast, the Democratic party has not.
In recent decades the Christian right has emerged as a religious coalition that has helped elect conservative Republicans. The Christian right coalition includes a large number of Carroll's fellow Catholics who are concerned about legalized abortion in the first trimester, and a large number of Protestant Evangelicals who are concerned not only about legalized abortion in the first trimester but also about the teaching of evolutionary theory in public secondary education.
Generally speaking, political liberals and secular humanists in academia have supported both legalized abortion in the first trimester and the teaching of evolutionary theory in public secondary education. However, by virtue of being a practicing Catholic, Carroll is not a secular humanist; he is a theistic humanist. But he is a political liberal, as his columns in the BOSTON GLOBE show. Also see Carroll's excellent book HOUSE OF WAR: THE PENTAGON AND THE DISASTROUS RISE OF AMERICAN POWER (2006).
Secular humanists are generally non-religious or anti-religion. For this reason, certain conservative Christians like to rail against secular humanism, or secularism, for short. Oddly enough, the estimable German philosopher Jurgen Habermas has recently urged his fellow secularists not to be too strongly anti-religion. His attitude seems to be to live and let live. However, thus far, his attitude has probably not had much influence in the United States, despite the fact that he has a fair number of followers among American academics.
Even though the Christian right has been active in helping to elect conservative Republicans, push-back has emerged in recent years from the so-called "new atheists" such as Richard Dawkins. In their view, the sooner that religion fades away, the better. They are anti-religion. For this reason, the so-called "new atheists" are made for the media. The media devote far more effort to covering new books by the so-called "new atheists" than they do to covering new books by Habermas or Carroll. But for all the media attention the so-called "new atheists" have received, how many Democrats have they helped elect in the United States? None that I know of.
If secular humanists who are anti-religion wanted to compile a bibliography of books that are critical of religion, they would probably include James Carroll's new book JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM and his earlier book CONSTANTINE'S SWORD (2001). But Carroll is not a secular humanist. He claims that he is a practicing Catholic, and he has even published a book titled PRACTICING CATHOLIC (2009).
Despite being critical of religion, Carroll is not yet ready to join the ranks of anti-religion secular humanists, even though his critical views of religion could be used to help advance the anti-religion cause. But in the conclusion of his new book, he tells us that we need to learn how to distinguish good religion from bad religion, and he offers some guidelines for doing this kind of sorting out. But within the three monotheistic religions that Carroll discusses, people have been trying to do this kind of thing for centuries. In the Roman Catholic tradition, for example, all of the debates about so-called heresies can be understood as debates about good religion and bad religion.
Let me briefly recapitulate my observations so that I can sharpen the focus of my thought. The Christian right has helped elect Republicans in recent decades. During the same decades the Democratic party has lost elections to Republican candidates because the Democrats could not turn out the voters as effectively as the Republicans could. Now, polls have consistently shown that 80 percent or more Americans say they believe in God. For this reason, the Democratic party would be well advised not to appear to be anti-religion.
The Democratic party would be well advised to take a hint from Carroll and start thinking about good religion and bad religion. Like Carroll, Democrats could be critical of bad religion but without being anti-religion.
Political liberals who are secularists should take a hint from Habermas and temper their anti-religion fervor. Secularists should just hold their noses because they are not likely to see the demise of religion in the United States in the near future.
If political liberals who are secularists want to read critical views of religion, then they should read Carroll's books, and many of the books he cites. In my estimate the most cogent critical views of religion are being written today by authors who are themselves steeped in religion and religious history, not by the so-called "new atheists."
I have no hard data about how many fat-cat Republicans have held their noses as the Christian right helped elect conservative Republicans in recent decades. Fat-cat Republicans want to advance the causes of lower taxes for the rich and of deregulation. They are not as concerned about cultural issues as the Christian right is, but fat-cat Republicans have welcomed the votes of the Christian right in helping elect Republicans dedicated to lowering taxes on the rich and to deregulation.
But what are the larger causes, if any, that liberals want to help advance? Do liberals want to increase taxes for the super-rich? Do liberals want to grow the federal government and its regulatory powers
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).


text:
As el Peruano reported in September, here, General Juan Pablo Ramos Espinoza argued in favor of this expansion and the need to allocate more resources to Peruvian military courts before the Budget Committee of the Peruvian Congress. With additional funding, new projects would be executed; among them, implementation and/or improvement of courtrooms, as well as the modernization of technological tools, equipment, and training programs, and the construction of new headquarters in Cusco and Lambayeque.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Strengthening military and police courts in Perú
As el Peruano reported in September, here, General Juan Pablo Ramos Espinoza argued in favor of this expansion and the need to allocate more resources to Peruvian military courts before the Budget Committee of the Peruvian Congress. With additional funding, new projects would be executed; among them, implementation and/or improvement of courtrooms, as well as the modernization of technological tools, equipment, and training programs, and the construction of new headquarters in Cusco and Lambayeque.
Posted by Míriam Juan-Torres at 5:05 PM No comments:
Outgoing IDF MAG in the news
|Maj Gen Danny Efroni, IDF
Friday, October 30, 2015
Egad! permanent commissions for women officers in the Indian Navy!
The government is seeking review by the Supreme Court of India of a Delhi High Court decision that requires the Indian Navy to offer women permanent commissions, as is true in other branches of the Indian armed forces. Details here.
Interestingly, the appeal claims that the order would affect the seniority of personnel and their opportunities for promotion in the Navy. But it also believes the order is discriminatory because no male officer who has been recruited under the SSC has been offered permanent commission.
Another contention of the appellants is that the Delhi HC has assumed the role of 'decision maker for the Indian Navy'. The Navy has claimed intrusion into its policies, saying the HC 'nullified its policy without any cogent reason or basis'.
The Delhi HC had observed that since all three arms of the military - Army, Navy and Air Force - come under the government, they cannot have different laws. The Navy opposes this , stating that "there are wide variations between the functions of all three services and each service is given the liberty to choose the policies conducive to meet service-specific standards."
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Female guards and male prisoners at Guantánamo
here, thanks to the Miami Herald's Carol Rosenberg, dean of the Guantánamo press corps. The Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Southern Commander commander, and several senators have criticized the ban, which is the subject of pending equal opportunity complaints against the judge, Col. James L. Pohl. Is this now-- on top of everything else -- a case of unlawful command/congressional influence? The Herald reports:
"These men have been subjected by the U.S. government to documented, systematic sexualized attack on their Islamic identity," Marine Maj. Derek Poteet, [Khalid Sheik] Mohammed's detailed military counsel, told the Miami Herald. "So forced touching by guards of the opposite sex is extremely inappropriate."
Poteet also called it "also extraordinarily inappropriate for these respected military and civilian leaders to inject themselves into the matters that are currently in litigation in a military commission by a military judge, raising the specter of unlawful command influence."Postscript: Human Rights First's Daphne Eviatar has this commentary on Huffington Post. Excerpt:
In this case, it's not clear what Judge [James L.] Pohl will do. Now that the defense secretary has publicly criticized Pohl's ruling, it could look like he's submitting to command influence if he reverses his earlier decision. If he refuses, he'll have to respond to the pending female guards' discrimination complaints against him. In the past, he's been reluctant to do anything that suggests he's trying to control the guard force or micro-manage the detention center.
The issue of command influence would not come up if the case were in a civilian federal court because those federal judges have life tenure, specifically to shield them from potential political or other influence from government officials. Although President Obama and his then-attorney general Eric Holder originally wanted the case brought in federal court, they ultimately yielded to political pressure to bring it at Guantanamo, and Congress has since imposed restrictions on moving any Guantanamo detainees to the United States, even for trial. Unless new legislation changes that, the case will remain stuck in Cuba.
The judge heard testimony from Guantanamo guards involved with the complaints Friday afternoon, but is not expected to rule on the claim of unlawful command influence before hearing additional arguments and testimony, possibly at the next set of hearings in the case, scheduled for December.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Federal Court of Canada remands grievance case to CDS
There has been an important decision at the Federal Court of Canada. In Ouellette v. Attorney General of Canada, 2015 FC 1185, the court, per St-Louis J., granted a Canadian Forces colonel's application and overturned a decision of the Chief of the Defence Staff denying the colonel's grievance. The basis for the grievance was that he had been unfairly removed from command while serving in Haiti. In court, however, the issue was the narrower and somewhat technical one of whether the grievance process had functioned properly. Col. Ouellette was supported by the Military Grievances External Review Committee, which intervened (remarkable in itself) and expressed serious misgivings about the processing of the grievance. The court did not reach the merits but quashed the decision of the Chief of the Defence Staff on the grievance and remanded for further proceedings, awarding $6000 in costs.
The National Post has this report. Excerpt:
The Canadian Forces Grievance Board, in a December 2011 report, said it was "shocked" by the way Ouellette was treated and said his removal was unjustified.
The board found that the military's strict non-fraternization code didn't apply because the policy deals with personal relationships between Canadian Forces members, DND employees and allied force members. Ouellette's assistant was a UN employee. The board further stated that offering her accommodations in his house was not unreasonable given the circumstances.'He's damaged goods'
Further, evidence of an affair never amounted to more than "unconfirmed allegations" and "innuendos" and there was no evidence to support the notion th[at] morale problems were threatening operations.
The board concluded Ouellette was never privy to all the allegations or given an opportunity to respond.
It recommended creating a "public affairs plan" to restore Ouellette's reputation and character.
Just a little chat at the precinct house
This just in from Thailand, land of lèse majesté:
The editor of a pro-democracy news website was summoned by the junta over a recent infographic it deemed overly broad in describing the kingdom's strict law against defaming the monarchy.
Thaweeporn Kummetha, editor of Prachatai English, said 10 officers from the military, police and other law enforcement agencies asked Prachatai to be more careful in how it presented information, particularly in regards to the law, which is known as lese majeste. They told her the graphic was too vague and might cause misunderstanding.
"The military officer insisted it was not an attitude adjustment but a talk for better understanding," Thaweeporn said, adding she was not asked to sign any agreement.
Four soldiers arrived at her home Monday to summon her to appear. Thaweeporn declined to say where the meeting was held but said the president of the Thai Journalists Association was also present.
The infographic published Wednesday represented 14 actions that could be considered illegal under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes anything damaging to the reputation of the Royal Family and is punishable by 15 years in prison for each offense.
The graphic identified the different penalties for activities, such as writing graffiti and sending SMS messages, which have resulted in convictions on the charge.
Its language was sparse, however, to be short and simple in an infographic format. The examples for each type of offense included links to relevant stories describing the details.
The meeting lasted about 90 minutes, she said. The 10 officers present were from the military, police, Ministry of Justice and the Department of Special Investigation. Thai Journalists Association chairman Wanchai Wongmeechai was present as a witness.
Reached for comment, a representative from the association said Wanchai would not discuss the meeting.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Stay away from this demonstration?
here that serving personnel have been told not to participate in a demonstration in support of the convicted noncom. Excerpt:
Servicemen have been banned from joining a rally for a Marine jailed for killing a Taliban fighter in the heat of battle.
More than 1,300 supporters are expected to gather in Westminster tomorrow to demand justice for Alexander Blackman.
But top brass warn of disciplinary action against any troops caught attending the 'political' event.
'This is pure cowardice from the MoD,' said a serviceman last night. 'They have tried to sweep the case under the carpet from the word go.'
Sergeant Blackman, 41, was convicted two years ago of killing a Taliban fatally wounded attacking a British base in Afghanistan.
He admits making a split-second mistake on a 'tour from hell' that saw comrades tortured and their body parts hung from trees. But he believes his court martial was a cover-up for commanders' failings.
John Davies, a former Marine helping organise tomorrow's event, said serving personnel had confirmed an MoD ban was in place.What if they attend out of uniform?
Do military courts violate international human rights law?
On November 20, 2014, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights rendered its judgment in the case of Arguelles et al. v. Argentina. (See my previous blog on the Court's public hearing in this case of May 28, 2014.) Regrettably, due to lack of funds and the lack of any native English- speaking judges on the Court, the Court still has not issued an official English translation of this judgment.
This case is interesting because, for the first time, the Inter-American Court considered a fact situation in which military officers were judged for a crime that was appropriately tried in a military court given the law in Argentina at the time. The military officials were tried for military fraud in proceedings that they alleged violated their human rights to liberty and a fair trial because they were held in preventive detention for approximately 7-8 years before being tried and they were defended by individuals who had no training in law. The proceedings began in 1980 (while Argentina was still under military rule) and the plaintiffs (members of the military) alleged violation of their human rights in the judicial proceedings that were conducted before both military and civilian courts.
This case is interesting because, for the first time, the Inter-American Court considered a fact situation in which military officers were judged for a crime that was appropriately tried in a military court given the law in Argentina at the time. The military officials were tried for military fraud in proceedings that they alleged violated their human rights to liberty and a fair trial because they were held in preventive detention for approximately 7-8 years before being tried and they were defended by individuals who had no training in law. The proceedings began in 1980 (while Argentina was still under military rule) and the plaintiffs (members of the military) alleged violation of their human rights in the judicial proceedings that were conducted before both military and civilian courts.
The Inter-American Court's jurisprudence has traditionally involved cases where members of the military are judged in military courts instead of civilian courts for human rights crimes. The Inter-American Court's constant jurisprudence has repeatedly affirmed that military courts should be limited to dealing with offenses that affect military discipline and military interests and that only civilian courts should try members of the military for human rights crimes.
Consequently, the Arguelles case was the first case to question whether military trials, per se, violated international human rights law. The judicial proceedings involved members of the military who were being judged for offenses that were appropriately before a military court. The Commission argued that the special status of military courts was at issue, given their lack of independence and impartiality, and the fact that they did not form part of the Judicial branch of government. When Argentina returned to democratic rule in 1984, however, a law was adopted whereby members of the military were able to appeal their convictions to civilian courts. In this case the plaintiffs appealed to the National Cassation Court and the Argentine Supreme Court, both civilian courts, which prevented the Inter-American Court from finding a violation of the American Convention based on the existence of military courts. In para. 157 of the judgment the Court noted that the failure of the petitioners to question the independence of the military tribunal (the process of appointment, length of their mandate and the qualifications of the members) before the domestic courts rendered it incapable of issuing a decision on the matter. The Court did set out, however, what needs to be done in a subsequent case.
The Inter-American Court did find a violation of the right to liberty due to the extensive preventive detention, as well as violation of the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial (due to the length of the proceedings) and the right to be assisted by legal counsel of one's choosing. Since the defender before the military court was not a lawyer, there is a certain contradiction in the Court's reasoning (in para. 180 of the judgment) that it was not proven that the legal defense in the military court caused any prejudice to their rights (since they were afforded the obligatory civilian court review), when in para. 157 the Court noted that the petitioners failed to raise certain issues that one would assume would have been raised had they been afforded proper legal counsel.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
On this day in 1760, at age 22, . . .
Disparate military sentencing faulted by federal judge
|Hon. Frank D. Whitney
Federal district judge Frank D. Whitney of the Western District of North Carolina has spoken out about the fact that court-martial panels may adjudge widely disparate sentences for factually similar sex offenses. Judge Whitney has sat as a reserve military judge even after becoming a district judge. For a video interview with him, click here.
"In the federal system, because the Supreme Court has told us so in United States v. Booker, the sentencing guidelines are not only appropriate, but they must be used in the process of sentencing," Judge Whitney said, explaining that the system of using guidelines in Article III courts "actually helps us avoid disparate sentencing."
"That simply is nowhere to be found in the sentencing process of the military," Judge Whitney said.
Instead, the military judicial process calls on expert panels of military officers to serve as the fact-finders and hand down sentences without the use of such guidelines, but panels face an "overwhelming amount of instructions" under the "Military Judges' Benchbook."
"It can be so many factors that it can just be daunting to them and they don't have any baseline," Judge Whitney said.Judge Whitney's comments came in video teleconference testimony to the Pentagon's Judicial Proceedings Panel.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Is this court-martial necessary?
This post concerns a case from a few months ago. An Air Force officer has been convicted of accessing child pornography by a federal district court. His sentence could be 20 years and a quarter-million-dollar fine. He is also being prosecuted in a court-martial:
Lt. Col. Scott Meakin, 39, a combat systems officer with the 563rd Rescue Group of the 23rd Wing at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, faces charges that he communicated indecent language and an image on the Internet.
"During 2013 and 2014, Meakin entered multiple internet chat rooms and discussed graphic sexual abuse of children with other individuals," said a statement from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, where Meakin had been assigned.
Meakin also sent a picture of male genitals to other chat room users, according a Davis-Monthan spokesperson who referenced official charge records.Plainly the charges are different in the two forums, so no concern arises about double jeopardy even though it's the same sovereign. And the Air Force has an interest in wanting to separate the officer. But is a second trial necessary? Could he be boarded out for misconduct or dropped from the rolls if he is confined as a result of his federal conviction? Perhaps he is retirement eligible, and could therefore thwart a mere separation by retiring voluntarily (presumably at a lower pay grade). And perhaps he will not be jailed for his civilian federal offense, thus preventing the government from dropping him from the rolls due to confinement. Hence there may be a need to obtain a dismissal.
Additional information or insights, anyone? (Real names only, please.)
More on that closed court-martial in Nigeria
Here is the latest report from Leadership:
The army yesterday broke its silence over the sentence of the General Court Martial passed on Brigadier-general Enitan Ransome-Kuti for the crimes, he allegedly committed in the operations against the Boko Haram terror group in the North-east.
Since the army stopped the media coverage of the General Court Martial, where soldiers and officers are being tried for some criminal offences allegedly committed in the on-going operation against the Boko Haram terrorists, the media has been relying on reports from the lawyers, officers and soldiers who attended it.
In a statement titled, "A Response to Media Enquiry on Judgement of General Court Martial," issued and signed by the acting director, Army Public Relations, Col Sani Kukasheka Usman, the army confirmed the two sentences passed on him.
"In reference to media enquiry on the judgement passed by a General Court Martial yesterday at Army Headquarters Garrison refers. I wish to confirm that one of the accused persons, Brigadier-general EA Ransome-Kuti was awarded the following punishments on the various count charges against him as follows:
"The first count charge which was 'Cowardly Behaviour' was struck out but he was found guilty on count charge number two which was 'Failure to Perform Military Duties' and was dismissed from the Nigerian Army.
"He was equally found guilty on count charge number three, which was 'Miscellaneous Offences Relating to Service Property' and was awarded six months imprisonment.Judging by this account, it would seem that sentencing is done on a per-charge basis rather than a single sentence being adjudged for all offenses. And what happened to the other accused?
Civilians dominate among the accused in Ugandan court-martial
Here is an article about a Ugandan general court-martial where the major general who chairs the court has had to deal with delays due to the repeated absence of civilian defense counsel for the 14 accuseds. Excerpt:
The General Court Martial chairman, Maj. Gen Levi Karuhanga gave the warning on Wednesday after Jude Mbabaali failed to turn up in court again.
"I am giving a final warning. If the lawyer does not appear in court again, then the accused will look for another advocate to represent them," he warned.
This prompted Karuhanga, who appeared to be frustrated at the pace of the court proceedings to advise the accused persons to get a new lawyer.
"The public are not seeking adjournments but it is the lawyer delaying justice and the accused persons are suffering," he said.
The accused persons were charged with two offences related to security and aiding the commissioning of the offence contrary to the UPDF Act.
The court chairman sent back the accused persons to Luzira Prison and Makindye military police headquarters respectively until November 10, when they will re-appear in court for the hearing of their case.
That is certainly newsworthy, although one wonders why the case was adjourned for so long, rather than, say, one day. Only far down in the story does the fact emerge that nine of the accuseds are civilians. Shouldn't that have been the lede? Or has the exercise of military jurisdiction over civilians become business as usual in Uganda?
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Thumbs down on military courts according to this commentator
A strong and perceptive dissent on military courts is registered here by Pakistani observer Ejaz Haider. Excerpt:
My objection to the creation of military courts was/is more fundamental and relates to creating 'exception'. As I have noted previously, the act of creating an exception itself is a problematic proposition. While jurists like Carl Schmitt consider it the basic trait of the sovereign, many others, notably Giorgio Agamben and Jacques Derrida, refer to an exception as a force that lies outside of law and is legal fiction.
My intention here is not to go further into that debate but to simply flag the point that while extraordinary circumstances might force a state and society's hand into using law to denote its own absence for a certain period of time, it is, nonetheless, problematic.
In the case of military courts we are not just talking about creating an exception once by allowing the standard legal system to interpret law differently or ignore some of its finer points and settled axioms, but, by going outside that system, we are creating yet another exception.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Law and order in Pakistan
This article has the data:
131 cases of terrorists have been referred to military courts. Number of hangings has reached 246 after the death penalty was restored. President Mamnoon Hussain has rejected appeals of 54 persons, reported Dunya News.
According to latest statistics of National Action Plan (NAP), up to 131 cases of terrorism have been referred to military courts in the aftermath of restoration of death penalty. 246 persons have been hanged out which 62 were tried under Anti-Terrorism Act while 184 persons have been tried under Penal Code. The concerned persons were handed death penalties as they were involved in heinous crimes such as killing, kidnapping for ransom among others.
Nearly 6000 applications have been filed to stop the implementation of the death penalties. As per sources, after 21st amendment, 131 cases have been sent to military courts for which courts are working on a daily basis. More than 20 terrorists involved in various incidents of terrorism have been convicted and hanged while some of them have been given life sentences. Army Chief has ratified the sentences passed on by the military courts.Editor's comment: These data seem not to demonstrate why military courts with power to try civilians were necessary.
"Combatting injustice and reforming the Law". Justice (retired) Gilles Létourneau's Memoirs:
Canada's premier publisher of French-language legal literature, Wilson & Lafleur, is launching the biography of the Honorable Mr. Justice (ret'd) Gilles Létourneau, formerly of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada.
Its title, Combatting injustice and reforming the Law, captures the essence of Justice Létourneau's long and distinguished career.
Its title, Combatting injustice and reforming the Law, captures the essence of Justice Létourneau's long and distinguished career.
British military law should apply to Libyan troops?
Our esteemed editor spotted this article in The Herald Scotland relating to Libyan troops being trained by the British Army in Cambridgeshire. For those of you who missed the story, full details are here. In short, the trainees ran amok through the local village and two of their number then raped a passerby in Cambridge. They were swiftly arrested, tried in the (civilian) Crown Court and jailed for 12 years each. Following the attacks the rest of the trainees were sent home in disgrace and local media demanded to know why they had not been kept confined to barracks throughout their stay.
Enter Miss Eagle . . .
Maria Eagle was formerly a minister under the last Labour Government in the UK and in September 2015 she was appointed shadow defence secretary. During the second reading of the Armed Forces Bill (the legal framework which allows the UK to maintain a standing army in peace time) which included some minor changes the Military Justice System in the UK Miss Eagle called for Libyan soldiers to be brought under British Military Law whilst serving in the UK.
Ok, well maybe this might work?
If we accept Miss Eagle's argument at face value, what would have changed? Under a forces agreement the Royal Military Police investigated the offence (probably much more slowly as they have far less experience of such offences) before passing the matter on the the Service Prosecuting Authority who, having reviewed the file, would have directed the commanding officer to charge the soldiers. Then, following a delay, the matter would have been tried before the Court Martial (which currently has limited witness care facilities) and presumably the defendants would have been convicted and sentenced. They would then serve their sentence (as it would be more than two years) in a civilian prison. Oh, we're back where we started . . .
How would this affect the British Army?
The British Army trains its soldiers all over the world, in Kenya, Belize, Saudi Arabia and Canada, amongst others. Additionally there is (and will be until 2020) a substantial garrison in Germany. Although matters are slightly different in Germany where ever in the world the British Army are they are subject to service law. Surely if Miss Eagle's plan went through there would be calls for British troops to be subject to Saudi service law? As Colonel (Rtd) Bob Stewart MP put it,
Surely this is what any government would want when it sends their forces abroad either for training or for combat?
A question for Miss Eagle . . .
How should this matter have been dealt with? 'UK soldier jailed for rape of six-year-old girl in Austria'
|Maria Eagle, MP
Maria Eagle was formerly a minister under the last Labour Government in the UK and in September 2015 she was appointed shadow defence secretary. During the second reading of the Armed Forces Bill (the legal framework which allows the UK to maintain a standing army in peace time) which included some minor changes the Military Justice System in the UK Miss Eagle called for Libyan soldiers to be brought under British Military Law whilst serving in the UK.
Ok, well maybe this might work?
If we accept Miss Eagle's argument at face value, what would have changed? Under a forces agreement the Royal Military Police investigated the offence (probably much more slowly as they have far less experience of such offences) before passing the matter on the the Service Prosecuting Authority who, having reviewed the file, would have directed the commanding officer to charge the soldiers. Then, following a delay, the matter would have been tried before the Court Martial (which currently has limited witness care facilities) and presumably the defendants would have been convicted and sentenced. They would then serve their sentence (as it would be more than two years) in a civilian prison. Oh, we're back where we started . . .
How would this affect the British Army?
The British Army trains its soldiers all over the world, in Kenya, Belize, Saudi Arabia and Canada, amongst others. Additionally there is (and will be until 2020) a substantial garrison in Germany. Although matters are slightly different in Germany where ever in the world the British Army are they are subject to service law. Surely if Miss Eagle's plan went through there would be calls for British troops to be subject to Saudi service law? As Colonel (Rtd) Bob Stewart MP put it,
"We want our military law to extend to our servicemen wherever they are in the world."
A question for Miss Eagle . . .
How should this matter have been dealt with? 'UK soldier jailed for rape of six-year-old girl in Austria'
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Kunduz fallout?
Readers will be aware of the horrible event--the bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, A U.S. investigation is underway, which some, including Doctors Without Borders say, is inadequate. This is not the first time Kunduz has been bombed in a manner that led to political repercussions, especially in Germany, due to a high civilian death toll.
The question becomes who was responsible, why, and was any criminal misconduct the cause or significant factor. Here, I'm thinking of gross negligence or dereliction of duty which could be punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for U.S. military personnel involved.
Experts predict Kunduz bombers won't get jail time.
The article notes several past incidents of significant civilian casualties from military operations in which no or only administrative actions were taken. The article notes for example the Ashby case.
Check United States v. Ashby, No. 200000250, 2007 CCA LEXIS 235 (N-M. Ct. Crim. App. June 27, 2007) (unpub.), 68 M.J. 108 (C.A.A.F. 2009). He and his navigator [and here] did get in trouble for destroying potential evidence--it's the cover-up, not the crime. There was some significant litigation about command influence affecting the case, à la Bergdahl.
The question becomes who was responsible, why, and was any criminal misconduct the cause or significant factor. Here, I'm thinking of gross negligence or dereliction of duty which could be punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for U.S. military personnel involved.
Experts predict Kunduz bombers won't get jail time.
The article notes several past incidents of significant civilian casualties from military operations in which no or only administrative actions were taken. The article notes for example the Ashby case.
Check United States v. Ashby, No. 200000250, 2007 CCA LEXIS 235 (N-M. Ct. Crim. App. June 27, 2007) (unpub.), 68 M.J. 108 (C.A.A.F. 2009). He and his navigator [and here] did get in trouble for destroying potential evidence--it's the cover-up, not the crime. There was some significant litigation about command influence affecting the case, à la Bergdahl.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Ex-military judges on trial in Bulgaria
|Veselin Pengezov
The Sofia City Court on Monday is expected to launch the trial against former Sofia Appellate Court chair Veselin Pengezov and other ex-officials over their alleged involvement in a EU funds fraud.
Last spring, while still in office, Pengezov was initially charged with four counts of embezzlement, over irregularities in EU-funded projects which prosecutors allege are tantamount to a fraudulent scheme.
A month later charges were also brought against Maria Divizieva, at that time Chief of Staff of Bulgarian PM (2013-2014) Plamen Oresharski, who allegedly facilitated the presentation of false statements in a report under the same operatinal program.
In April of this year, the Sofia District Military Appellate Prosecutor's Office pressed charges against Pengezov (head of the Sofia Military Appellate Court at the time of the scheme) and Divizieva, who was then head of the Finance Ministry Directorate in charge of the operational program Administrative Capacity.
Others charged included the former Chair of the Sofia Military Appellate Court Petko Petkov (at the time deputy to Pengezov), the former Deputy Chair of the Military Appellate Court Vladimir Dimitrov, and several other officials including Atina Mavridis, Petya Gergova, Lyudmil Simeonov, and Krum Simeonov.
Prosecutors' actions in that case were related to the selection of contractors for public procurement launched under Operational Program Administrative Capacity - the one under which the scam is thought to have operated.Query: why was a military prosecutor, instead of a civilian official, handling the earlier cases?
Upheaval in Algerian military justice
here on the retirement of 14 Algerian colonels who had been serving as prosecutors and judges in the military courts. The retirements would have happened sooner or later in any event, but sources say they are connected to an incident in which shots were fired at a presidential residence and a lieutenant was sentenced to three years in prison for violating military orders and wasting ammunition and six other soldiers were released. In addition, the chief of military justice was recently sacked and replaced by a senior gendarmerie official. Heads are rolling, presumably because harsher steps were not taken.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Lebanon's military courts at it again
here. Excerpt:
Bravo to HRW for continuing to stand watch on these issues.
Under international law, governments are prohibited from using military courts to try civilians when civilian courts are functioning. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has stated in its General Comment on the right to a fair trial that "the trial of civilians in military or special courts may raise serious problems as far as the equitable, impartial and independent administration of justice is concerned."
Prosecuting people for allegedly defaming the army or other state institutions is incompatible with Lebanon's obligations under article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In 2011, the Human Rights Committee issued guidance that emphasized the high value international law places upon freedom of expression in "public debate concerning public figures in the political domain and public institutions," adding specifically that governments "should not prohibit criticism of institutions, such as the army or the administration."Say, wait a cotton-pickin' minute: wasn't Lebanon just discussing cutting back on the military court's jurisdiction?
Bravo to HRW for continuing to stand watch on these issues.
Old News Department
Righting Military Injustice: Addressing Uganda's Unlawful Prosecutions of Civilians in Military Courts. Excerpt (footnotes omitted):
Military courts should ideally serve as a disciplinary mechanism for military personnel, and their jurisdiction should be limited to offenses—provided for in law—committed by military personnel while they are subject to military law.
International legal standards deem the trial of civilians in military courts, in principle, to be incompatible with the right to a fair trial, and in particular the right to be tried before an independent and impartial tribunal. Trials before military courts are often incompatible with international standards due to the lack of independence of judges, who tend to be serving members of the military who remain in the military chain of command, and often offer reduced due process safeguards.
While international law does not prohibit limited use of military courts to try civilians in times of armed conflict, the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the expert body that monitors state compliance with the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights], has held that "as certain elements of the right to a fair trial are explicitly guaranteed under international humanitarian law during armed conflict, the Committee finds no justification for derogation from these guarantees during other emergency situations."
UN human rights bodies have on numerous occasions studied the challenges that military justice raises, including the problem of trial of civilians before military courts. The "Draft Principles Governing the Administration of Justice Through Military Tribunals," an expert document submitted to the UN in 2006, provides that "military courts should, in principle, have no jurisdiction to try civilians. In all circumstances, the State shall ensure that civilians accused of a criminal offence of any nature are tried by civilian courts." This principle reflects the practice of UN treaty bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and the Committee Against Torture, which have repeatedly called on states to ensure that military court jurisdiction is restricted to offenses of a strictly military nature committed by military personnel. In May 2011, the Human Rights Committee in a case involving Cameroon, explicitly affirmed that military tribunals should not in principle have jurisdiction to try civilians.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
General officer jailed in Nigeria
|Femi Falana SAN
A brigadier general has been dismissed and sentenced to six months' confinement by a Nigerian general court-martial sitting behind closed doors. The Associated Press reports:
Brig. Gen. Enitan Ransome Kuti — a nephew of Afrobeat music legend Fela Ransome-Kuti — was sentenced to six months' jail for losing weapons to Boko Haram, said army spokesman Col Sani Usman. He was dismissed from the military for "failure to perform military duties."
A court-martial sitting in secret Thursday found Ransome-Kuti not guilty of cowardice and found he was right to withdraw his men in the face of Boko Haram's superior numbers and firepower.
Not part of the case was the civilian deaths at the Jan. 2 battle for Baga, which was headquarters for a multinational force. The government said 150 people were killed but witnesses put the number as high as 2,000.
Defense lawyer Femi Falana said the military is discriminating since it has dismissed other courts-martial. Dozens of rank-and-file troops sentenced to death for offenses including running away from Boko Haram have received reprieves in recent months.
"Since the other courts-martial have been dissolved ... it is discriminatory, inequitable and illegal to continue with the trial of Brigadier-General Ransome-Kuti," Falana said, according to the Premium Times newspaper.
Friday, October 16, 2015
In camera proceedings uphold secret military court
this article in The Express Tribune.
* We are not making this up.
* We are not making this up.
Was it abuse of authority or domestic violence?
The Spanish Supreme Court decided that a civilian court should investigate the possible crime of domestic violence (violencia machista) in a complaint denouncing ill treatment presented by a female soldier against her partner, a corporal, instead of processing the case as abuse of authority in a military court.
The Chamber of the Supreme Court that resolves conflict of jurisdiction issues settled the dispute between the civilian court in the Grand Canary Islands and Military Court No. 52.
The events occurred on October 17, 2014 at Gando Air Base. On that day, the female soldier complained that when she was in her home, a corporal from the same base, broke into her room, insulting her and asking for explanations about her personal life, and then he attacked her.
For military jurisdiction the acts could be interpreted as the crime of abuse of authority under the Military Penal Code, constituting inhuman and degrading treatment.
But for civilian jurisdiction, what occurred should be investigated as a case of domestic violence, because the environment in which the alleged aggression took place was that of a couple, not that of hierarchical respect owed by a subordinate to a superior.
The Supreme Court accepted the latter reasoning although it recognized that "the hierarchical relation between the members of the military is of a permanent character and it is maintained with independence from any conditioning, with independence from the moment or the situation." But the general rule has exceptions in those situations in which the special relation or affection between people emerges with intensity. Personal relations have to trump strict military relations, wrote the author of the decision, Judge Benito Galvez Acosta.
The Weirick & Joyner on Civilianization II
|LtCol James W. Weirick, USMC (Ret)
The thrust of Dunlap's argument centers on retaining the status quo because that is how we have always done it. While the military justice system has served the U.S. military well in the past and generally continues to do so, that does not render the system beyond improvement.
How many cases are we willing to sacrifice to maintain the commander-centric form of military justice? This is an argument of degrees. Our position remains that we have crossed into an intolerable category due results in recent sexual assault causes. The time has come for removing commanders from the most serious military offenses.Comments welcome. (Real names only, please.)
What did the French Army know, and when did it know it?
The plot continues to thicken in the case of sexual misconduct by French peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. The New York Times reports here that French military authorities were advised within a month that soldiers had been buying sexual favors from children. Excerpt:
[UN] official, Gallianne Palayret, a human rights investigator who led the first inquiries into suspected abuse, said in a Skype interview that she had informed the French peacekeepers' commanding officer and the unit's legal affairs officer about the allegations in May 2014. This was the same month that she started interviewing children who might have been victimized and two months before the French authorities have said they first heard about the matter.
Ms. Palayret first went public with her assertions Oct. 1 in the French news media. There has been no response so far from France's Defense Ministry, and her account has not been publicly corroborated by others directly involved.
Nonetheless, Ms. Palayret's assertions, if accurate, would shed new light on a scandal that is the subject of investigations by two United Nations panels and by the French government, and they would raise fresh questions about when the French authorities first learned of the abuse and what action they took.
* * *
. . . Ms. Palayret said that she met the colonel in charge of the French peacekeepers in May and June 2014, requesting extra patrols where abuse was suspected to prevent any recurrence. She informed her superiors in the human rights office in Bangui of those meetings, she said.
The French officers reacted with shock and disbelief, Ms. Palayret said. "They told me: 'This is hardly possible because if one soldier did this, the other soldiers would kill him. This is not accepted in our ranks,' " she recalled.
"They said they would take this very seriously, that they would inform Paris, that they would do as I asked to put more patrols and controls" around locations where children said the abuse had occurred, Ms. Palayret said, although she never ascertained whether they had done so.This story has been unfolding in bits and pieces for months, with separate responses from UN Headquarters in New York and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. One subplot concerns a short-lived effort to retaliate against an OHCHR employee.
More than a year after the French government said it first learned of the allegations and 16 months after Ms. Palayret says she brought the issue to the attention of French military authorities in Bangui, no charges have been brought.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
The times are changing and military justice in Spain is modernizing, says the President of the Supreme Court
For the first time, on October 15, 2015, Carlos Lesmes, the President of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), presided over a public ceremony to mark the beginning of the judicial year in military jurisdiction. He called for a collaboration among institutions for strengthening the rule of law and "peaceful coexistence."
The official opening of the judicial year in military jurisdiction coincided with the publication in the Official Gazette of the new Military Penal Code, which together with the recent reforms of the Organic Law of the Judiciary, further integrate military jurisdiction into the ordinary judiciary of the State. Article 3.2 of the amended Organic Law identifies, for the first time, "military jurisdiction as part of the Judicial Branch of State."
Article 344 bis of the new law gives the General Council of the Judiciary an important role in the appointment of judges to the Military Chamber of the Supreme Court. The CGPJ will now propose which judges from the Military Legal Body (Cuerpo Juridico Militar) should be appointed rather than the Ministry of Defense, as was the practice until now. In addition, the CGPJ will have a decisive role in the appointment of other posts relevant to military justice.
No more squinting
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Special promotion for General Zafeiropoulos
|Lt. Gen. Dimitrios Zafeiropoulos
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Government appeal rejected in Singapore Armed Forces wrongful appropriation case
here. The government had asked the court to add detention to the adjudged sentence of a $5000 fine. The five-member court was headed by a judge of the High Court.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Which national courts should try international crimes?
The International Center for Transitional Justice has issued this report on a program they recently sponsored in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
In cooperation with the High Judicial Council, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) held a seminar today with senior representatives of the Congolese military and civilian judiciary and prosecutor's office to discuss the dual jurisdiction of military and civilian courts over international crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The event brought together judges from the High Judicial Council, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Office of the Attorney General of the Supreme Court, as well as judges from the courts of appeals, military courts, attorney general offices and military prosecution offices from North and South Kivu and Orientale Province.
Despite the official end of war, the DRC continues to be plagued by violence, with high rates of killing, rape, and forced displacement of civilians by armed groups. So far, the Congolese courts have faced a number of obstacles in prosecuting these crimes.
Following the adoption of Organic Law N. 13/011-B in 2013, civilian courts, namely the Courts of Appeals, were granted jurisdiction over serious crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, committed in the DRC.
Previously, only Congolese military courts could prosecute these crimes, since the adoption of the Military Justice Code of 1972. As a result, military judges have developed a certain expertise in prosecuting these crimes.
While international crimes are now under a dual jurisdiction of both the military and civilian courts, only a very limited number of such cases have been initiated before the Courts of Appeals.
Seminar participants discussed the importance of sharing their experiences in order to overcome the institutional, political and legislative challenges and obstacles faced by civilian courts in investigating and prosecuting international crimes. They also analyzed the role of the High Judicial Council in supporting and facilitating cooperation between civilian and military courts in prosecuting cases.
"'Experience sharing' between civilian and military jurisdictions is essential to overcoming the current technical and operational obstacles faced by civilian courts when investigating and prosecuting international crimes," said Anna Myriam Roccatello, ICTJ Deputy Program Director.
Participants discussed the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the law on international crimes to be applied by the civilian courts, as well as criteria for the direct application of Rome Statute provisions by military courts.
"Although the 2013 law on court organization and functioning grants the Courts of Appeals jurisdiction over genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, it does not explicitly outline the applicable legal provisions. The (civilian) Criminal Code does not include provisions on international crimes, or their definition," explained Myriam Raymond-Jetté, ICTJ's Criminal Justice Program Officer in the DRC.
Reflecting on the progress, challenges and obstacles of the dual jurisdiction system, participants issued a set of recommendations, addressed to Congolese institutions, regarding: the legislative reforms needed to harmonize national law with the Rome Statute; the monitoring of cases of international crimes initiated before military courts; the initiation of investigations and prosecution of international crimes by the civilian courts; and needed coordination between civilian and military courts in the implementation of their dual jurisdiction.
The seminar was organized by ICTJ, in cooperation with the High Judicial Council and the United Nations Development Programme, with the financial support of the European Union.
Amending the Geneva Conventions to account for the technology age
A post on The Register asks: Cyberwar rules of engagement: Military, law bods mull update. Is 'wartime metadata collection' a human rights violation?
The Tallinn Manual 2.0 is on track for publication in the second half of 2016, following a drafting conference of legal experts in the Estonian capital this week. The original manual provided a handbook on how principles of international law could be applied to conflict in cyberspace, which military strategists consider to be the fifth dimension of warfare (land, air, sea and space being the other four).
The original Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare ruled that the Stuxnet worm may have been "armed attack", as previously reported. Victims of similar future attacks would be legally clear to retaliate proportionately in the immediate aftermath of an assault as an act of self-defence, in order to frustrate follow-up assaults.
Plans are underway to update a putative Geneva convention for cyberwar, put together by experts in international law and backed by an Estonian-based NATO-run military think tank.
The Tallinn Manual 2.0 is on track for publication in the second half of 2016, following a drafting conference of legal experts in the Estonian capital this week. The original manual provided a handbook on how principles of international law could be applied to conflict in cyberspace, which military strategists consider to be the fifth dimension of warfare (land, air, sea and space being the other four).
The original Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare ruled that the Stuxnet worm may have been "armed attack", as previously reported. Victims of similar future attacks would be legally clear to retaliate proportionately in the immediate aftermath of an assault as an act of self-defence, in order to frustrate follow-up assaults.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
We're not Bolivia, for God's sake
A British general has warned that newly-elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn could face "a direct challenge" from the army if he becomes prime minister, it was reported in the Sunday Times in London on September 20, 2015. The unidentified general said Corbyn, who opposes Britain's Trident program and supports withdrawal from NATO, would face "direct action" if he tries to downgrade the army. The general added that a Labour victory under Mr Corbyn in 2020 would result in "mass resignations at all levels" and there would be the "very real prospect of an event which would effectively be a mutiny". While Labour publicly refused to comment on the views of what it described as an "anonymous general", in private senior sources described the remarks as "pretty outrageous". "You can't have serving officers effectively threatening a coup against an elected government," they said. "This general seems to have forgotten that we live in a democracy." A Ministry of Defense source said it was unacceptable for a serving officer to make political comments about a potential "future government."
Even some Conservatives expressed disquiet. The right-wing Tory Member of the European Parliament, (who by the way, happens to have been born in Peru) Daniel Hannan, described the general as an "idiot" memorably stated: "We're not Bolivia, for God's sake."
Le courage de ses convictions
Il n'est pas toujours facile d'avoir le courage de ses convictions, surtout dans le domaine de la justice militaire. Le Service canadien des avocats de la défense conteste par voie de requêtes devant une cour martiale permanente la constitutionnalité des articles 60(2) et 69(1) de la Loi sur la défense nationale (Loi) dans le dossier Wade Pear and Her Majesty The Queen et les articles 101.1 et 158.6 de cette même Loi dans le dossier 2Lt Caicedo, C.W. and Her Majesty The Queen. Les deux requêtes sont rédigées en anglais.
Les articles 60(2) et 69(1) permettent à la justice militaire de poursuivre un civil pour une infraction militaire qu'il a commise alors qu'il était membre de la force militaire. Dans le cas présent il y a plus de deux ans que M. Pear a quitté les Forces armées canadiennes et les infractions ont été commises il y a près de trois ans. Il ne s'agit que d'un seul événement survenu lors d'un diner régimentaire. L'accusé se serait retrouvé en état d'ébriété, aurait tenu un langage offensant à l'égard de deux officiers supérieurs. Son comportement lui a valu trois chefs d'accusations mineures.
Les arguments des procureurs de M. Pear sont intéressants. Ils se réfèrent à la décision de la Cour Suprême du Canada dans l'arrêt R. c. Généreux (1992) 1 RCS 259, dans lequel la Cour justifie l'existence du système parallèle de justice militaire canadien pour des questions se rapportant directement à la discipline, à l'efficacité et au moral de la force militaire et par la nécessité de sanctionner rapidement les manquements à la discipline. Ils soutiennent que, dans le cas présent, non seulement les infractions en cause sont mineures, mais que la poursuite d'un civil devant un tribunal militaire 4 ans après le manquement disciplinaire n'a plus de lien direct avec la discipline militaire et plus d'impact direct sur la discipline ou l'efficacité opérationnelle de son unité ou d'autres unités.
En conséquence, les articles 60(2) et 69(1) ont une portée trop large, excessive, qui viole le droit constitutionnel à la liberté et à la sécurité de la personne garanti par l'article 7 de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés (Charte).
Dans le deuxième dossier, l'accusé fait face sous l'article 101.1 à 4 accusations d'avoir fait défaut de respecter les conditions de remise en liberté imposées par son Officier Commandant. Encore là la contestation prend sa source dans l'article 7 de la Charte qui stipule qu'une personne ne peut être privée de sa liberté qu'en conformité avec les principes de justice fondamentale qui requièrent une audition devant un juge indépendant et impartial. Or l'article 158.6 prévoit une révision des conditions de remise en liberté par le supérieur de l'Officier Commandant, donc par la chaîne de commandement qui n'offre pas les garanties constitutionnelles d'indépendance et d'impartialité.
L'article 31 du projet de loi C-15 voté, mais non encore en vigueur, prévoit que les conditions de remise en liberté imposées par la chaîne de commandement pourront être révisées par un juge militaire. Pour l'instant l'accusé dans ce dossier qui ne bénéficie pas de cette disposition législative demande une déclaration d'inconstitutionnalité de l'article 158.6 et le rejet des 4 chefs d'accusation portés contre lui. À suivre....
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Centers for Disease Control Director Thomas Frieden, MD, wants more physicians to screen patients for risky alcohol consumption. From a public health viewpoint, this makes great sense. Even at levels of consumption well below what are common among people whom we think of as "alcoholic," heavy drinking is a risk factor for injuries, accidents and assaults. Ethanol can also interact dangerously with medications a doctor may prescribe (e.g., ibuprofen and other pain relievers, sleeping pills).
But historically, three barriers have stood in the way of physicians screening more patients for risky drinking:
- Knowledge: There's an old joke that using metal detectors to stop people from carrying guns (e.g., into schools) seems like a great idea up until the moment the detector goes off. If you screen for something, you'll find it at least some of the time and be expected to respond. Some doctors don't screen for risky drinking because they wouldn't know what to do if they found it. Fortunately, over the past 20 years a brief counseling intervention has been developed and proven effective in multiple clinical trials. It's an easily learnable technology that physicians find they can use across a range of patient health behaviors. But still, like any other clinical practice, it takes a long time to make these effective interventions a routine part of medical education and front line care
- Reimbursement: Primary care doctors typically have a lot of work to do with each patient in a short amount of time. It was therefore hard to persuade them for many years to address risky drinking by patients, particularly as it was not a compensated activity. That has now completely changed with the creation of billable codes for screening and brief intervention for heavy drinking, the provision of a problem drinking screening benefit in Medicare and the Affordable Care Act's inclusion of these interventions as an essential preventative healthcare benefit.
- Psychological discomfort: The late Barry Rosen, MD, an outstanding addiction specialist and teacher, once listened to a psychiatric resident in my addiction medicine course say that asking patients about how much they drank was "too invasive, even rude." Barry responded, "You think that's invasive and rude when we are both part of the one profession that tells total strangers to 'go into that examination room and take off all your clothes?'" Medical training should help doctors overcome their reticence by pointing out that if you can give a stranger a digital-rectal exam, draw their blood, tell them to take powerful medications and ask them about their safe sex practices, you can also ask them how much alcohol they drink.
In the future, as medicine becomes a team sport, doctors may oversee the care of risky drinking patients but not provide it directly themselves. One potential model of primary care is to have the team include a "habit specialist" who would use motivational counseling, behavioral change planning and monitoring to help patients with health behavior problems. This would certainly include heavy drinkers trying to cut consumption, but would include people attempting to lose weight, quit smoking and adhere to their diabetes care regimen. The VA is using psychologists in this role; Geisinger Health is using nurses. Both models seem a promising way to manage heavy alcohol consumption and other problematic health behaviors; it remains now to see whether they reduce the need for the acute care sufficiently for them to be economically viable across the entire health care system.
Addiction expert Keith Humphreys, PhD, is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford and a career research scientist at the Palo Alto VA. He recently completed a one-year stint as a senior advisor in the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington. He can be followed on Twitter at @KeithNHumphreys.
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Would the declaration of independence have been just as valuable if the founders had simple wrote to the king "**** you guys, we want our own country" (in the popular dialect of the time of course) and left out the justification brought about by the idea of natural rights? Would the revolutionary war and the founding of the country been as justified?
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