| Obama stem cell regulations temporarily blocked By PETE YOST 2010-08-24T15:29:43ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration's expansion of stem cell research has suffered a significant setback with a judge's ruling that blocks important work on treating life-threatening conditions, say private groups pushing for scientific breakthroughs in medicine.... hosted.ap.org |
From the archive, 14 September 1955: Murderers sleep well and eat heartily Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 14 September 1955FROM OUR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENTMurderers in the main sleep well in Brixton Gaol. They also, it appears, eat heartily and tend to put on weight. These facts derived from a study of the habits of fifty consecutive murderers confined to the prison were presented at the third International Congress on Criminology in London yesterday as tending to support the view that murderers are remarkably free from care.In describing the emotional reactions of arrested murderers, Dr J.A. Hobson, of the psychiatric department at the Middlesex Hospital, said that although the murderers he had seen had been of very varied personality types and suffering from different forms of mental illness, they had had little in common, apart from the fact that each had killed someone, beyond their freedom from anxiety.Two or three volunteered the information that they had never enjoyed such calm and peace of mind as they had experienced in prison. In pondering the possible reasons why the majority of men awaiting trial for murder are so remarkably lacking in emotion, Dr Hobson suggested that in some cases the very act of killing someone could of itself be therapeutic in removing tension from unconscious conflict.Dr Hobson did not overlook the murderer whose unconcern might be explained by a pathological love of the limelight. The idea of execution and the notoriety had a certain glamour for some of those accused of murder, who might prefer to be hanged in preference to the comparative ignominy of Broadmoor.Dr Hobson, who was the only defence witness at the trial of John Reginald Christie, who was hanged in 1953 for the murder of his wife, said: "I am quite sure, that if we had been successful with Christie he would have been even more critical of me and his counsel than he was. Also, I think it is quite likely that if Christie had been reprieved, he would in some way have felt that he had been cheated of what was his due."Of all murderers I have seen Christie was a hysteric par excellence and dissociated with the greatest facility. He wept crocodile tears in the witness-box, but I think he was less concerned and less moved by his crime than anyone else in court."Towards the end of the case there was one very dramatic moment at the end of the Judge's summing-up. Just at this moment Christie threw over a little piece of paper to me, sitting at the solicitor's bench, which said: 'I trust you did get a few cigs for me. I am absolutely out of stock. I feel O.K.'" Prisons and probationPsychologyMental healthguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
The lure of Antarctica attracts an intrepid woman Rachael Robertson was working as a park ranger when an advertisement in the paper caught her eye. abc.net.au |
New crew arrives at space station A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut docks with the International Space Station. bbc.co.uk |
Astronomers say they've found oldest galaxy so far By SETH BORENSTEIN 2010-10-20T21:17:28ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- Astronomers believe they've found the oldest thing they've ever seen in the universe: It's a galaxy far, far away from a time long, long ago.... hosted.ap.org |