Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
 
USM Forum -- Message Board -> AAUP-USM MESSAGE BOARD -> OT: Cruel & Unusual
Post Info TOPIC: OT: Cruel & Unusual
Southern Justice

Date:
OT: Cruel & Unusual
Permalink Closed

The US Supreme Court granted a stay of execution while it considers a convicted murderer's claim that the chemicals in FL's lethal injection chamber cause pain, constituting cruel and unusual punishment. Hill was convicted of killing a police officer and wounding that officer's partner.

Too bad they can't take him across the state line to AL and hook him up to Yellow Mama. I bet neither victim felt any pain immediately after they were shot by Hill.

__________________
Summer of George

Date:
RE: OT: Cruel & Unusual
Permalink Closed

It's interesting that his appeals don't really have to do with his guilt or innocence, rather technicalities regarding the execution process.

I have sympathy for those who have a case regarding DNA evidence, new evidence, etc., but this is not along those lines.

__________________
Ephriam B. Anderson

Date:
RE: OT: Cruel & Unusual
Permalink Closed

All this is a natural evolution in today's liberal society.We need to get Bill O'Rielly on this one. He has been putting in alot of time on the screwball judge in Vermont who doles out 60 days in jail for child rape.

__________________
The Numbers Game

Date:
RE: OT: Cruel & Unusual
Permalink Closed

Recently I've begun questioning how much confidence we can place in some of the most simplistic"scientific" evidence that is sometimes presented to the public as "fact." Yesterday I saw an article that suggested soy does not have the benefits we previoulsy accepted as fact.  The day before just about the same thing was said for fish oil. I've been seeing about one such reversal each week. I even saw a recent article that held coffee to be beneficial. I'm not referring to prescription drugs. I'm referring to vitamins, supplements, and other non- prescription items. We're paying through the nose for health advice that may or not be valid. Some of the "research" seems more like a Sophomore's term paper than an article in a peer reviewed and rigorous scientific journal. My guess is some of the health care "researchers" are not properly trained in research design and data interpretation. Either that, or those doing the "research" are on the payroll of the manufacturer or supplier. What does this have to do with this thread? Well, it wouldn't suprise me if one day data appeared questioning the reliability and validity of DNA evidence.  



__________________
manova

Date:
Permalink Closed

The Numbers Game wrote:

Recently I've begun questioning how much confidence we can place in some of the most simplistic"scientific" evidence that is sometimes presented to the public as "fact." ...Some of the "research" seems more like a Sophomore's term paper than an article in a peer reviewed and rigorous scientific journal. My guess is some of the health care "researchers" are not properly trained in research design and data interpretation. Either that, or those doing the "research" are on the payroll of the manufacturer or supplier....
I don't doubt the research as much as I doubt how the mass media likes to jump on a single, exciting research paper.  That is why most scientist are much more conservative/cautious in talking about research findings until there is a critical mass of evidence supporting or not supporting a topic.  You also have to remember that better ways to test questions are continuously being developed (especially in the bio-medical sciences) so we can give more precise answers than before.  Remember your basic statistics, you will always have a certain percentage of studies that will have false results, that is why you never completely rely on a single study.

__________________
The Numbers Game

Date:
Permalink Closed

manova wrote:

Remember your basic statistics, you will always have a certain percentage of studies that will have false results, that is why you never completely rely on a single study.
manova, what you say makes lots of sense. But the vast majority of laypersons who seek health care are not aware of the necessity of replication.  For them, statistics pertains to baseball (or to Miss America measurements) and not to a technique used in science.  Most laypersons don't know the difference between a Chi-Square and a T-Square; between a t-test and a T-bone; or (and please excuse me for getting  personal here) between a manova and a kimono.  All they know is what the doc tells them. The doc  gets some of the information from a drug detail representative who possibly never took even took an undergraduate course in statistics or research design.

__________________
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
USM Forum -- Message Board -> AAUP-USM MESSAGE BOARD -> OT: Cruel & Unusual
Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us


Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse 		Powered by ActiveBoard