moonbloom comments

Say what you want, a person with social clout taking a public stand for the environment isn't a bad thing.

Ooops.

[ [ Epstein's autopsy reportedly showed multiple broken neck bones, the Washington Post wrote Thursday, citing anonymous sources. But the curiosity surrounds one of the broken bones: The hyoid. 

Though the bone is small, it's been critical in several high-profile cases. The reason: The hyoid can break when a person dies by hanging, particularly when a person is older. But it can also provide tell-tale clues that a person was strangled.

Guards found Epstein unconscious after he had been taken off of a prison suicide watch. His death was called an "apparent suicide" by federal authorities. 

Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist, told USA TODAY that he's skeptical.

"Fractures of the hyoid bone are almost always associated with manual strangulation," Wecht said. "Because a hand gets up high underneath the chin of the victim."

Wecht said that multiple breaks or fractures in neck bones are rare to find in suicidal hangings. 

A fractured hyoid is possible from any blunt trauma to the neck. However, it is more common in a strangling than in a hanging, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. 

"Fractures of the hyoid bone in suicide hangings are rare and when you further keep in mind this was not a suicide hanging from stepping off a high ladder," said Wecht.

According to reports, Epstein had tied a bed-sheet to the bunk and kneeled on the ground and then leaned forward to kill himself.

That maneuver, Wecht said, is not conducive to breaking bones.

"In majority of those you don't see fractures because there is no great amount of force," said Wecht. "It's basic physics."

Death would likely come from pressure applied to the neck and cut off circulation of nerves, particularly the vagus nerve, which is the tenth cranial nerve and longest nerve in the body, Wecht said.

Questions surrounding Epstein's death, and any outstanding circumstances, such as his guards sleeping through checks, still fester.

And the bottom line, Wecht said, is that multiple fractures in suicide hangings are rare.

"This case right now has very strong odor to it," said Wecht. ]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/08/15/mystery-surrounds-hyoid-break-epstein-death-suicide-murder/2017579001/

The reality of "democratic" Taiwan-

[ Observers say the scandal surrounding Lo Fu-chu — who infamously attacked a female legislator during a live TV broadcast and allegedly had another lawmaker abducted, blindfolded, stripped naked, locked in a dog cage and dumped on the side of a road — is yet another embarrassing example of the confluence of organized crime, politics and big business in the island republic.

“Some criminal elements have turned themselves into elected politicians working inside the political institutions of Taiwan. It provides them with first-hand information on public works bids, land development and law enforcement,” says Lo Shiu-hing, a transnational crime expert at Hong Kong Institute of Education. “The government co-opts them, [but] tries to restrict their participation to the grassroots level so they can mobilize votes in support of their constituencies.”

Organized crime’s infiltration into politics is not unique to Taiwan. Hong Kong, Macau, Italy, the US and Russia all have well-documented histories of mobsters manipulating the political process. What makes the situation in Taiwan unique, however, is that gangsters here don't just bribe the politicians — they become them. ]

https://www.pri.org/stories/2012-06-08/taiwanese-politics-gangsters-paradise

Anyone who is interested in this issue should look into the background of Chiang K'ai-shek's (the founder of modern Taiwan) relationship with a criminal syndicate called the Green Gang.

Need more info, i.e. qualified teachers or "instructors" with little or no background / experience in education of the backpacker variety.

[ On Wednesday they visited the current Japanese leader, Shinzo Abe, at his office to inform him of the news. ]

Well wonderful just what we need another Abe follower.

What wonderfulness that Hollywood spreads across the globe

Didn't know Japanese people were so narrow-minded and mean-spirited to criticize someone for having dinner with a friend.