The Utoeya Shootings and the Price of Legal Leniency

It is needless to repeat the details of the Utoeya shootings in Oslo. As I write, 93 people, mostly teenagers, have died and as many again are nursing injuries, of varied degrees of severity. The shooter, a far right white terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik, age 32, was apparently – and bizarrely – motivated by an anti-Islamic, anti-multiculturalist, anti-left ideology. He is a Christian fundamentalist.

Now, I am not going to delve into Anders Behring Breivik’s motivations, in this post, nor, even, his sanity, which is clearly questionable – no, I wish to address a problem, in Norway, external to Anders Behring Breivik, himself. You see, in one very real sense, Norway’s legal system made Anders Behring Breivik’s act palatable to Mr. Breivik, himself. You see, I understand that the maximum penalty under Norway’s legal system is just 21 years in prison. That stunned me, for it has a very real implication: people like Anders Behring Breivik, driven by extremist ideologies may consider 21 years in prison a fair price to pay, for committing their atrocities. They may say to themselves: “I have killed 93 people, and counting…for which I shall pay 21 years of my life: that is a fair exchange.”

The consequences of committing appalling crimes, in Norway are not severe enough to deter motivated people from committing them. Under the law, as it stands, Anders Behring Breivik, could quite easily have thirty years of life and freedom left to him, after paying the price for his crimes. This strikes me as both wrong, and abhorrent. In a way, it is as much a crime to punish Anders Behring Breivik so lightly, as the crime he is to be punished for.

The first principle of an effective legal system should be that there should be penalties commensurate to all degrees of crime. Clearly, that is not the case in Norway. Twenty-one years in prison is too little a price to pay for quite a few categories of crime, in my view. Norway needs to reform its whole penal system, in response to this crime. At the very least, they should bring in true life prison sentences, which last for the entire life, no matter how long, of the criminal. That, in itself, would deter quite a few potential criminals, from committing the crimes that carry such a sentence. Other countries have the death penalty - but, in some ways, life in prison can be a lot worse than death, particularly if the prisoner is consistently ill treated by the other prisoners – as Anders Behring Breivik is likely to be.

Any country which is soft on crime – as Norway is seemingly – can expect to learn some pretty hard lessons.

It is possible that 93 Norwegians would be alive today, if Norway had full life prison sentences for murder, as an option. It is clear that Anders Behring Breivik considers 21 years a price worth paying, to further his “vision”, of the future of Norway. It is up to legal systems everywhere, to institute penalties that as few people as possible, would ever consider worth paying for their crimes. Maximal crimes, deserve maximal punishments – the more severe the punishment, the less likely the crime will occur (for all but the irrational).

Then again, if Anders Behring Breivik is not placed in solitary confinement, for the duration of his sentence, it is very likely that another prisoner will kill him, instituting an effective death penalty, that Norway does not have. Perhaps Anders Behring Breivik didn’t consider that. Or perhaps, like the Islamic fundamentalists he oddly resembles, in his deeds, if not in his beliefs, he doesn’t really care. Either way, the fact remains that Norway’s legal system seems rather naïve as to the motivations of men. Can they not understand that the punishment must be great enough to deter the crime?

Anders Behring Breivik was not deterred. It is now up to legal systems everywhere, to ensure that they have a sufficiently deterrent punishment on their statute books, so as to dissuade as many Anders Behring Breivik’s as possible, from becoming known to us, by their atrocious deeds.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

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Underestimating nature: Japanese hubris.

Nature should never be underestimated, nor human prowess overestimated. The Japanese are guilty of both. Indeed, their hubris may yet lead to a kind of disaster and human tragedy that has not befallen a developed nation in modern memory.

The Japanese mistake comes, in a very deep way, from their national personality. Their own mythology and culture, so evident in their manga comics, is that technology can triumph over all. They seem to believe that not only is there a technological solution for all problems, but that the Japanese are themselves equipped to deliver it. This attitude has led to some successes in certain fields of engineering and electronics, but it has also led to foolish decisions on a national level. One of those is the placement of 55 nuclear reactors, in Japan, within the influence of the “Ring of Fire”, seismically active zone.

Japanese decision makers, rather puzzlingly, from an objective point of view, ignored the fact that Japan is one of the most seismically active places on Earth, and ordered a dense network of nuclear reactors to be built. They believed that their engineers could make their reactors entirely earthquake proof, eliminating the dangers of having fission reactors in a seismic zone. Indeed, they planned for earthquakes of a particular seriousness – but this particular quake seriously surpasses their design limits. In short, the Japanese underestimated nature.

There is a lesson for all nations here and all politicians. The Earth is entering a time of ever greater extremes in natural phenomena, such as weather. This means that events once thought rare, will become increasingly common and, unfortunately for us (and the world’s insurers) ever more savage. Those planning against such eventualities, should try their best to OVER-estimate the seriousness of events. They should plan for the worst possible imaginable circumstances – and then some. The only safety, in the face of the “natural” disasters to come, will be in what may seem like excessively cautious preparation. However, when the time comes, it will not seem excessive at all. It will seem like the wisdom it is.

So, let not the world make the Japanese mistake. Plan ahead for the worst of all possible scenarios, in all areas of natural disaster. Overengineer everything that needs to be protected. Such preparations are the only measures that can reduce the impact of the many disasters to come, which we shall all see in our lifetimes.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html
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If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

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Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Japanese earthquakes and nuclear disasters

Japan is a nuclear bomb that ticks away, unbeknownst to the world. I say this because of a peculiar and rather dumb circumstance. Japan, one of the most seismically active places in the world, is also home to one of the greatest densities of nuclear power stations. That situation strikes me as not particularly bright or foresighted. In fact, in my title I was going to say “nuclear accident”, but decided against it, because there is nothing accidental about nuclear “accidents” in a nation so prone to earthquakes that actually builds nuclear reactors. In a very real way, Japan is asking for nuclear meltdowns on its soil.

In the wake of the Japanese earthquake on Friday, 10 out of 54 of Japan’s nuclear power stations, have been shut down. One of them, Fukushima Daiichi Plant Unit 1 is showing radiation levels in its control room of 1,000 times normal. Some reactors are running hot, because of failures of their cooling systems, whose power generators have been knocked out by the tsunami. Should emergency cooling efforts fail, these reactors could heat up so much, that they meltdown, releasing vast amounts of radioactive material into the surrounding territory. Indeed, Japan could face multiple Chernobyls, at once, if things go badly.

Japan planned for earthquakes, by building its nuclear plants on solid bedrock. Clearly, however, this precaution is not enough and has given a false sense of security.

Now, 30 per cent of Japan’s electricity comes from nuclear power. That percentage should be zero. It is irresponsible of Japan to build nuclear power stations when their nation is so seismically active. Not only that, but Japan is endangering much of Asia, with its nuclear policy. Should any of its reactors actually meltdown, radiation could be spread far afield, just as it was with Chernobyl. The only thing between the world and disaster, will be the nuclear reactor’s containment vessel: will it hold? There is no knowing.

It seems to me that a nation like Japan, so endangered by earthquakes, should not be permitted to build nuclear reactors of the conventional fission variety. Only in some future time, when fusion reactors become possible (which cannot meltdown), should they be allowed to have nuclear reactors. Japan may consider the implementation of nuclear power a sovereign decision, but it is one with potential effects on many other countries. So, it would seem reasonable, and foresighted, for the international community to require Japan not to build nuclear reactors, and to decommission those it has. Japan will have to find other ways to make electricity – or safer designs of nuclear reactor, that cannot meltdown, should those be possible.

The Japanese earthquake and its consequent nuclear problems is a stark reminder that a nation has not only a responsibility to its citizens, but to the world outside its borders. Japan, in having nuclear reactors, in an earthquake zone, is not fulfilling those responsibilities. I think it is time to have a word with Japan about its nuclear power generation. If none of the reactors melts down this time, nothing might be done. Yet, a lucky escape is not something that can be expected every time an earthquake strikes. Japan should be put on notice that its nuclear power facilities are a danger to the world, and should be phased out, in favour of safer alternatives. If they do wish to have nuclear power, I understand that pebble bed reactors are a safer design – so that might be considered. Whatever is decided, it should be done, immediately, for one thing is sure: one day, Japan will have a nuclear meltdown, if it insists on maintaining conventional fissile reactors, in its earthquake prone borders.

After all the clearing up is done and the losses in people and infrastructure totaled, it will be time to prepare for the next earthquake – and that means making Japan’s nuclear power programme either a whole lot safer – with new designs of plant – or abandoning it altogether.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Singapore's love of lying.

You can tell how much is wrong with a nation, by how often it lies. So, by that measure, Singapore must be one of the worst nations on Earth...because it tells among the most lies.

This week, Singapore has told a lot of lies about Ainan and about us. This is what they do when someone turns around, as we have and walks out, because the nation has got to be one the most negligent on Earth where its homegrown talents are concerned. We left - and, instead of admitting that their approach, their rather careless approach, was mistaken, they decide to LIE about it.

There are so many lies in the Singaporean papers about Ainan that I don't know where to begin - or when to stop. Also I am tired of reading them, tired of listening to them, tired of being harrassed by them.


One of the more common lies is that we refused the offer of help from the MOE. This is not true. At the time major decisions were made to walk out on the MOE/GEP there was NO offer of help on the table...absolutely NOTHING. What happened is that we walked out because the GEP refused to arrange practical classes for Ainan, in Chemistry; they refused to let him take classes in any other subject at a higher level; they refused to give him maths support to aid his sciences; they refused to offer any more than one hour a week of theory classes at NUS High (which we didn't ask for...he was able to do the theory at home and the classes they offered were, contrary to the lies being told, BELOW HIS ABILITY at the time). We walked out because there was nothing on the table. However, Singapore, with its lying national tongue, is saying that we walked out on an offer of science workshops at the Science Centre. What crap. That offer came about 6 months after we had ceased all contact with the GEP. How could we walk out when we had ALREADY done so??! The offer is not what it seems either. It was an offer for us to PAY FOR classes at PUBLIC workshops that ANYONE could attend. There was nothing special about this offer. Also, it came after we had made arrangements with Singapore Polytechnic to have practical classes there. We were therefore unable to attend the workshops, in any case, because our son's time was already committed. So, the Singaporean media have created this lie that we walked out on help offered by the GEP to make us look difficult, when the facts are that they were OFFERING NOTHING at the time we walked out. That is WHY we walked out. Their account makes no logical sense, because it is a lie.


Another lie was told by Singapore Polytechnic. They said that they had kept to their commitment to us. How funny. Now is the time to tell the story of SP. Ainan went to classes at SP twice a week for a year. He enjoyed them very much and learnt a lot of laboratory chemistry. We were very grateful for the support. However, SP suddenly went silent and no-one answered emails anymore. The classes stopped. Months passed. Finally we contacted someone else and were told that Dr. Ng Kok Chin, Ainan's mentor there had had a stroke and fallen into a coma. He did not recover. After he was out of action, not ONE person at SP was willing to step and take his place and help support Ainan. It was very telling. You see, Dr. Ng Kok Chin is NOT Singaporean, he is a Malaysian Chinese man (and a very nice man too). However, the staff that remained in charge after he had gone, ARE Singaporean. How interesting, then, that none of them was interested in supporting Ainan once Dr. Ng's influence had vanished.

By the way, Ainan did NOT apply for admission to either NTU or NUS. Neither is, in our opinion, suitable, since both specialize in being uncreative. We sounded out NUS three years ago, about how Ainan could be admitted, and they said they would never accept Ainan unless he took three A levels in one session. NTU said he was too small for lab classes (all we ever asked about). We never asked NTU about admission. So, the Singaporean papers are lying about this one, too.

There is much I could say, but it would make a long and probably boring post. Let just this be said, however: almost all that has been said about Ainan and our conduct with respect to the MOE and his education is UNTRUE, in the Singaporean media. The truth is very simple: the MOE was unwilling to help Ainan in any concrete way, so we gave up on them. That is all. All their self-justifying lies are just attempts to save face and discredit us. Singapore totally neglected Ainan...but that is OK, because the rest of the world won't.

There are two main reasons why we left Singapore. Firstly, by suddenly dropping support of Ainan, Singapore Polytechnic left us with no educational intervention for Ainan at all. Thus, we had no further reason to stay in Singapore and much cause to leave. Secondly, the Singaporean media, in the shape of the New Paper, had begun to tell many lies about the MOE and us, and Ainan's schools and us. We felt we could no longer stay in a country that was actively trying to discredit us and diminish us in the media. So, we left.

Had Singapore Polytechnic not dropped all support of Ainan, without notice or explanation (they refused to answer emails about why they had done it...they just ignored us) and if the Singaporean media had been honest about us and the MOE, we would still be in Singapore.

So, one can only conclude that Singapore values its right to lie and save face, more than it does the need to retain homegrown talent. So, too, we can conclude that there is no genuine interest in educating Singaporeans to the best of their ability, within the education system (otherwise SP would not have vanished, so unexpectedly).

We are, however, happy to have left. So far, Malaysia looks a much better place to be, in every way but one. The only blemish is that the public transport system is rudimentary. Apart from that, as far as I can see, Malaysia is a much superior place to live, than Singapore.

So, Singapore, please keep on lying - and your citizens will keep on leaving. Well done on persuading us to leave. We are happier for it. Our lives have improved so much, I don't even know how to tell you. Thank you.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)