Articoli di riviste sul tema "Yang Long Zhai Prison"

The purpose of this article is to analyze the torture victim suffered by the defendant in the ‘Korean Communist Party Incident’. The Korean Communist Party incident refers to the trial of the first arrest of the Korean Communist Party in November 1925 and the second arrest of the Korean Communist Party, which began during the preventive custody of June 10th National Movement in 1926. The defendant was tortured during the police investigation and preliminary hearing, and was imprisoned as an undertrial prisoner for a long time in a harsh prison. The defendant became increasingly exhausted physically and mentally. During this process, victims continued to emerge. Among the defendants, there were people who could no longer stand trial due to various illnesses. Seodaemun Prison tried to show through the diagnosis that it would be difficult for the defendant to appear in court or that bail was necessary. There were defendants who temporarily did not appear in court due to illness, defendants who applied for bail several times but were not granted bail, and defendants who were released from prison on bail. Park Gil-yang was granted release from prison on bail, but died just before he was released. Baek Gwang-heum died from aftereffects of torture shortly after being released from prison on bail. The court granted bail only when the defendant was in a critical condition.

A fact that can’t be avoided in the prison is the dominance of the drug case which is the largest contributor of prisoners in the institution, even other crimes can be lined with drug cases if the prisoner commits a crime under the influence of illegal drugs. Narcotics are considered as an outlet for someone who is experiencing mental stress such as depression, it is easy to be provoked by irresponsible individuals who offer solutions to be free in an illegal way. Not only adults, for the sake of the circulation of drugs continue to be sold, they use children as an intermediary for the action. If they have become drug addicts and consume them for a long time then special coaching is needed that is applied to all Penitentiary institutions throughout Indonesia. The government establishes detailed regulations for handling drug cases so that the recovery of prisoners from the crimes they have committed can be carried out effectively and thoroughly so that prisoners can be free from illegal drugs. This journal will explain the types of rehabilitation at the Narcotics Penitentiary in Indonesia and how they will be applied to prisoners while they are serving their time in prison. Suatu fakta yang tidak bisa dihindari di dunia pemasyarakatan adalah dominasi kasus Narkoba yang menjadi penyumbang terbesar narapidana di dalam lembaga, bahkan tindak kejahatan lainnya dapat berlapis dengan kasus narkoba apabila narapidana tersebut melakukan kejahatan di bawah pengaruh obat-obatan terlarang. Narkoba dianggap sebagai pelampiasan seseorang yang mengalami tekanan mental seperti stress dan depresi, sehingga mudah sekali terhasut oleh oknum tidak bertanggung jawab yang menawarkan solusi untuk terbebas dari tekanan tersebut dengan cara yang illegal. Tak hanya orang dewasa, demi peredaran narkoba terus lancar dijual maka para oknum menggunakan anak yang tak paham narkoba sebagai perantara aksinya. Mungkin akan mudah untuk dibina apabila narapidana bukanlah pecandu, tetapi jika sudah menjadi pecandu narkoba dan mengonsumsinya dalam jangka waktu yang lama maka dibutuhkan pembinaan khusus sebagai pendamping pembinaan biasa yang diterapkan kepada seluruh lembaga Pemasyarakatan di seluruh Indonesia. Untuk itu, pemerintah menetapkan regulasi terperinci untuk penanganan kasus narkoba sehingga kegiatan pemulihan narapidana dari kejahatan yang ia perbuat dapat terlaksana secara efektif dan menyeluruh hingga narapidana tersebut bisa terbebas dari obat-obatan terlarang yang seharusnya tidak mereka konsumsi. Pada jurnal ini akan dijelaskan jenis-jenis rehabilitasi pada Lembaga Pemasyarakatan Khusus Narkotika di Indonesia serta bagaimana penerapannya kepada narapidana selama mereka menjalani masa pidana di dalam penjara.

AbstractDeath Penalty is one of the controversial sanctions. In its application, there are some parties who refuse to be applied under the pretext of capital punishment contrary to basic human rights, namely the right to life. The Indonesian government is still implementing the sanction of capital punishment in its legal system. The application and implementation of capital punishment in Indonesia is inseparable from some formal regulations owned by Indonesia, one of which is SE Jampidum 3/1994. SE Jampidum 3/1994 said that the execution could only be carried out after the 30-day Death Setence. Even though in practice death row inmates are required to undergo a waiting period of decades in the prison. The waiting period for execution is not only about a long time but also arises due to the process of fulfilling the rights of the convicted person. This type of research is a Reformed Oriented Research by using the legal approach and conceptual approach. The purpose of this study is to find the right waiting time for death row inmates while waiting in the prison. Keywords: Death Penalty; Execution of Death Penalty; Waiting Time for Death Execution; Rights of Death Penalty. AbstrakPidana Mati merupakan salah satu sanksi yang kontrovesial. Dalam Penerapannya terdapat beberpa pihak yang menolak untuk diterapkan dengan dalih pidana mati bertentangan dengan hak dasar manusia yaitu hak untuk hidup. Pemerintah Indonesia sampai saat ini masih menerapkan pemberlakuan sanksi pidana mati dalam sistem hukumnya. Penerapan dan penjalanan eksekusi pidana mati di Indonsia tidak lepas dari beberapa aturan formiil yang dimiliki Indonesia, yang salah satunya yaitu SE Jampidum 3/1994. SE Jampidum 3/1994 menyatakan bahwa eksekusi mati barudapat dilaksanakan setelah lewat 30 hari putusan inkracht. Padahal dalam praktiknya terpidana mati diharuskan menjalani masa tunggu selama berpuluh-puluh tahun di dalam LAPAS. Masa tunggu eksekusi tidak hanya mengenai waktu yang lama namun juga muncul akibat proses pemenuhan hak-hak terpidana. Tipe penelitian ini adalah Reform Oriented Research dengan menggunakan metode pendekatan perundang-undangan dan pendekatan konseptual. Tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk menemukan waktu tunggu yang tepat bagi terpidana mati selama menunggu di dalam LAPAS.Kata Kunci: Pidana Mati; Ekeskusi Pidana Mati; Masa Tunggu Eksekusi Mati; Hak-Hak Terpidana Mati.

AbstractNarcotics is a very serious problem so that it raises very urgent attention from the Government. The increasing increase in narcotics users is not only for users but also other narcotic inmates such as addicts, dealers, and even narcotics dealers in narcotics prisons, especially in class II-A Narcotics Prisons in Pamekasan. The purpose of the guidance is to make the prisoners or inmates aware that what they are doing is prohibited by law and by their presence in the prison to improve themselves and not to repeat the crime so that they can be accepted again by the surrounding community. Reconstruction of the law on the separation of narcotics prisoners in terms of reducing the prevalence of narcotics users can actually minimize the level of relationship between traffickers and addicts. Which if there is no contact between them, information about narcotics and even the doctrine to abuse narcotics given by dealers or dealer class convicts will be avoided. Referring to the facts on the ground, namely in the Class II-A Narcotics Prison in Pamekasan, the results are still far from what the law aspires to. Narcotics convicts in the Narcotics Correctional Institution do not worsen the condition of prisoners in which these actions can actually have an impact on the wider community in a long time. AbstrakNarkotika merupakan masalah yang sangat serius sehingga hal ini menimbulkan perhatian yang sangat urgen dari Pemerintah. Peningkatan pengguna narkotika yang semakin tinggi tidak hanya bagi pengguna tetapi juga Narapidana narkotika lainnya seperti pecandu, pengedar, bahkan bandar Narkotika di dalam Lapas narkotika khususnya di Lapas Narkotika kelas II-A Pamekasan. Tujuan pembinaan bertujuan agar narapidana atau warga binaan Pemasyarakatan tersebut menyadari bahwa yang dilakukan adalah dilarang oleh hukum dan dengan adanya mereka di Lapas untuk memperbaiki diri dan tidak mengulangi tindak pidana sehingga dapat diterima kembali oleh lingkungan masyarakat di sekitarnya. Rekonstruksi hukum pemisahan narapidana narkotika dalam hal menekan tingkat prevalensi pengguna narkotika sejatinya dapat meminimalisir tingkat hubungan antara narapidana jenis pengedar dengan narapidana jenis pemakai atau pecandu. Yang apabila diantara mereka tidak terjadi kontak maka informasi tentang narkotika bahkan doktrin untuk melakukan penyalahgunaan narkotika yang diberikan oleh Narapidana kelas pengedar atau bandar akan dapat dihindari. Merujuk pada fakta di lapangan yaitu di Lapas Narkotika Kelas II-A Pamekasan maka hasilnya masih jauh dari apa yang di cita-citakan hukum yang apabila dikaitkan dengan berdasarkan pada teori tujuan pemidanaan dan teori kemanfaatan hukum maka seharusnya apa yang menjadi tujuan dan sasaran pelaksanaan proses pemulihan narapidana narkotika di Lembaga Pemasyarakatan Narkotika tidak memperburuk keadaan narapidana yang mana tindakan tersebut justru dapat berdampak pada masyarakat luas dalam waktu yang lama

AbstractThe memory of the Anti-Rightist Movement has long been a blind spot in Chinese debates, with historiography limited to elite politics and little engagement with the repercussions of the movement at grassroots level. However, the publication of Yang Xianhui's 2003 book,Chronicles of Jiabiangou, marked a turning point. Based on extensive oral history interviews, Yang's book makes a substantive connection between the Anti-Rightist Movement and the establishment of dedicatedlaojiaocamps such as Jiabiangou in Gansu province. Documenting what he claims was a policy of dehumanization, he suggests that intellectuals were far from the only victims of a movement characterized by its extra-legal procedures. Ordinary people were often drawn into it and were more able than intellectuals to resist the legitimizing discourse of loyalty to the Party to which many intellectuals continued to cling. For Yang, the testimonies of the Rightist victims in Jiabiangou provide a fruitful field in which to investigate the breakdown of elementary social trust in society during the Anti-Rightist Movement. Situated ambiguously between oral history and literary intervention, Yang's work has, together with other recent publications such asTombstone, contributed to reopening the debate on Maoism in Chinese society today.

Background: Yogyakarta Class IIA Correctional Institution (Wirogunan Prison) provides a place for inmates to get reading materials in the form of a library, which consists of a main library, a mosque library and a literacy angkringan which is a development of the main library available to date, but none of these are available yet. can describe the management carried out by the prison towards the library. Method: The research explanation will be described descriptively using a qualitative approach. Purpose: This research aims to find out in depth about library management carried out, as well as prisoners' responses to the presence of libraries in increasing their interest in reading. This research uses special library management theory from Luther Gulick and is strengthened by an explanation of library management from Lasa H.S. Findings: the results of this research found that management in the Yogyakarta class IIA correctional institution library is not yet structured, because the library does not yet have written management guidelines, but several components in library management have been carried out well, including staffing, coordination, reporting and budget components. The directing component is running quite well, while the planning and organizing component is not running well. Despite this, prisoners responded positively to the existence of the library in increasing their interest in reading, but they regretted that the collection of reading books was limited and took too long so they became bored with borrowing books from the library. Conclusion: Based on this, the researcher provides recommendations to the person in charge of the library to create structured management, so that the implementation of activities in the library will run following the library's objectives. Keywords: Correctional Institutions, Library Management, Reading Interest, Special Libraries. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRAK Analisis Manajemen Perpustakaan Lembaga Pemasyarakatan Kelas IIa Yogyakarta dalam Meningkatkan Minat Baca Narapidana Latar belakang: Lembaga Pemasyarakatan Kelas IIA Yogyakarta (Lapas Wirogunan) menyediakan tempat bagi narapidana untuk mendapatkan bahan bacaan berupa perpustakaan, yang terdiri dari perpustakaan utama, perpustakaan masjid dan angkringan literasi yang merupakan pengembangan dari perpustakaan utama yang tersedia hingga saat ini, namun belum ada yang dapat mendeskripsikan mengenai manajemen yang dilakukan oleh Lapas terhadap perpustakaan tersebut. Metode: Penjelasan penelitian akan dijabarkan secara deskriptif dengan pendekatan kualitatif. Tujuan Penelitian: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui secara mendalam tentang manajemen perpustakaan yang dilakukan, serta respons narapidana terhadap kehadiran perpustakaan dalam meningkatkan minat baca mereka. Penelitian ini menggunakan teori manajemen perpustakaan khusus dari Luther Gulick dan dikuatkan dengan penjelasan manajemen perpustakaan dari Lasa H.S. Temuan: hasil dari penelitian ini adalah ditemukan bahwa manajemen di perpustakaan lembaga pemasyarakatan kelas IIA Yogyakarta belum terstruktur, karena perpustakaan belum mempunyai pedoman manajemen secara tertulis, tetapi beberapa komponen dalam manajemen perpustakaan sudah dilakukan dengan baik, meliputi komponen kepegawaian, koordinasi, pelaporan dan anggaran. Komponen pengarahan berjalan dengan cukup baik, sedangkan untuk komponen perencanaan dan pengorganisasian belum berjalan dengan baik. Meskipun demikian, narapidana memberikan respons yang positif terhadap keberadaan perpustakaan dalam meningkatkan minat baca mereka, hanya saja mereka menyayangkan koleksi buku bacaan yang terbatas dan terlampau lama, sehingga ada kejenuhan bagi mereka untuk meminjam buku di perpustakaan. Kesimpulan: Berdasarkan hal tersebut, peneliti memberikan rekomendasi kepada penanggung jawab perpustakaan untuk membuat manajemen yang terstruktur, sehingga pelaksanaan kegiatan di perpustakaan akan berjalan sesuai dengan tujuan perpustakaan.

ABSTRAK Pembenaran untuk plot atau Pengertian kejahatan adalah perbuatan yang melakukannya. Setiap pelanggaran harus mengarah pada penuntutan terhadap pelakunya. Dasar dari pembebasan pidana adalah kategori imperatif yang membutuhkan kompensasi untuk setiap pelanggaran hukum. Keadilan dan pembayaran kembali yang sah merupakan kebutuhan yang mutlak, sepanjang tidak dapat dicabut pengecualian atau pembatasan yang semata-mata berdasarkan tujuan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menetapkan bagaimana ketentuan yang mengatur pidana Hukum pidana menggunakan hukuman seumur hidup dan bagaimana penerapannya dalam sistem hukum nasional. Pengaturan pidana seumur hidup yang berlaku saat ini secara de facto implisit dalam hukum yang berlaku di Indonesia, dapat disimpulkan dengan menerapkan pendekatan penelitian hukum normatif. Hukuman seumur hidup selalu merupakan alternatif dari hukuman mati dalam hukum Indonesia, seperti juga selalu merupakan alternatif dari hukuman penjara 20 tahun. Dalam rangka pengaturan pidana hukuman seumur hidup ke depan, aparat penegak hukum memberikan langkah di antara mereka: melakukan tindakan pembahuruan hukum (reformasi hukum).ABSTRACTThe justification for the plot or crime lies in the occurrence of the crime itself. Every crime must lead to prosecution of the perpetrator. The basis of criminal acquittal is the category of imperatives requiring compensation for any violation of the law. Justice and legal repayment is an absolute necessity, as long as there are no exceptions or limitations based solely on purpose. The purpose of this study is to determine how the provisions governing life imprisonment in criminal law and how life imprisonment will be applied in the national legal system. By using the normative legal research method, it can be concluded that in principle the current life sentence criminal regulation is de facto implicit in the applicable law in Indonesia. In Indonesia's criminal system, life imprisonment is always an alternative to the death penalty and is always an alternative to a twenty-year prison sentence. In the context of regulating life imprisonment in the future, law enforcement officers provide a step between them: carrying out legal reform actions (legal reform).

In criminal law there is no penalty if there is no wrongdoing, this basis is about the accountability of a person for the actions he has done. Therefore, in criminal law there are exceptions to such criminal liability, for example contained in Articles 48, 49, 50 and so forth. In addition, there are burdensome things that will be imposed on the accused for crimes committed, such as samenloop, recidive and so on. In the Muaro Sijunjung District Court there is one case concerning a combination of criminal acts, namely theft crimes accompanied by violence and moreover this theft is carried out among families (theft in the family). In this case the judge has decided the prison sentence for 6 (six) Years. But according to the analysis of the author there is no sense of justice for the victim because this perpetrator is the husband of the victim's child so that there is no deterrent effect for the perpetrator, the reason that there is no more theft in this family because no matter how small the crime committed by a person must be taken action in order to obtain justice and legal certainty. In principle, judges have the freedom to determine the measure of punishment to be imposed on the perpetrators of crimes, as long as it does not exceed the maximum provisions specified in the Criminal Code. Therefore, the sentencing of the accused for a combination of crimes committed by means of pure absorption Stelsel that is If a person commits several acts that are several delik each threatened with a different kind of criminal

AbstractThe release policy of prisoners and children in the context of preventing and overcoming the spread of Covid-19, raises the pros and cons in the community. For those who are contra, this policy is considered inappropriate because it is considered to be able to add to unrest in the midst of a community that is suffering from a pandemic. This research discusses the problem of the prisoner-based prisoner release policy, and will provide a solution to the main problem facing Indonesia today, which is over-capacity prison. The research method used is normative juridical using secondary data, in the form of primary and secondary legal materials, obtained through literature study analyzed descriptively analytically. Based on the research results, it is known that if there are still at least two additional conditions, assimilation and integration are applied; Provision of assimilation and integration must involve super­visory judges and observers to be asked for their consideration and Risk Assessment. Furthermore, in the long term, in anticipating overcapacity in community institutions, it will immediately pass the Criminal Code Bill that has the concept of Criminal and Criminal Individualization, which is expected to be able to provide protection and welfare for the community and still pay attention to the interests of criminal offenders AbstrakKebijakan pembebasan narapidana dan anak dalam rangka pencegahan dan penang­gulangan penyebaran Covid-19, menimbulkan pro-kontra di tengah masyarakat. Bagi kalangan yang Kontra, kebijakan ini dinilai kurang tepat karena dianggap dapat menam­bah keresahan di tengah-tengah masyarakat yang sedang terpuruk akibat pandemi. Penelitian ini membahas permasalahan tentang kebijakan pembebasan warga binaan pemasyarakatan, dan akan memberikan solusi terhadap permasalahan utama yang dihadapi Indonesia saat ini yaitu over kapasitas Lapas. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode yuridis normatif dengan meng­gunakan data sekunder, berupa bahan hukum primer dan sekunder, yang diperoleh melalui studi kepustakaan dianalisis secara deskriptif analitis. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian diketahui bahwa apabila tetap diber­lakukan asimilasi dan integrasi setidaknya ada dua syarat tambah­an yaitu; Pemberian asimilasi dan integrasi harus melibatkan hakim pengawas dan pengamat untuk dimintai pertimbangannya dan Risk Assessment (penakaran resiko). Selanjutnya untuk jangka panjang dalam mengantisipasi over kapasitas di lembaga pemasyarakat maka segera mengesahkan RUU KUHP yang mempunyai konsep Individu­ali­sasi Pidana dan Pemi­dana­an yang diharapkan mampu memberikan perlin­dung­an dan kesejahteraan masyarakat serta tetap memperhatikan kepen­tingan pelaku tindak pidana.

Penegakan hukum tindak pidana narkotika (war on drugs) sedang marak dilakukan di Indonesia. Mengingat perhatian terhadap bahaya narkotika bagi generasi penerus bangsa semakin meningkat. Peredaran narkotika seakan tidak dapat dibendung walaupun terpidana narkotika berada di penjara. Meski demikian, praktek penegakan hukum narkotika di Indonesia tidak selalu berjalan sesuai prosedur. Permasalahan rekayasa kasus kerap kali dilakukan untuk memenuhi target kinerja aparat kepolisian. Pengakkan hukum semacam ini tentu menciderai hak asasi manusia, khususnya orang yang direkayasa terlibat dalam tindak pidana narkotika dalam kapasitas apapun. Permasalahan yang diangkat dalam penelitian ini adalah mengenai keabsahan penyidik untuk bersaksi di persidangan atas kasus yang ia sidik sebelumnya, kemudian bagaimana kekuatan kesaksian tersebut mempengaruhi pertimbangan hakim dalam praktek. Penelitian diharapkan berkontribusi pada rancangan Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana (KUHAP) yang eksis sejak 1981. Pada akhirnya dapat disimpulkan bahwa secara normatif, kesaksian penyidik dapat didengarkan di persidangan selama memenuhi ketentuan Pasal 1 angka 26 dan 27, dan Pasal 168-171 KUHAP. Tetapi dalam kasus tindak pidana narkotika, yang dibenarkan untuk melakukan teknik penangkapan tertentu, kesaksian penyidik di persidangan tidak dapat dipertimbangkan oleh hakim karena mengandung konflik kepentingan, sehingga keterangan saksi penyidik tidak memiliki kekuatan hukum untuk dipertimbangkan hakim dalam memutus perkara.AbstractNow, Indonesia is forceful in law enforcement of narcotics crime (war on drugs). Remembering concern to the danger of narcotics for next generation more increasing. Its traffic is hard to be repressed despite convicts are in prison. Nevertheless, in Indonesia the practice of narcotics law enforcement have not carried out as procedure. The intrigue of cases often is made by police to meet performance targets. It will offend human rights, for one (victim) whom is conspired to get involved in a narcotic crime of any capacity. The problem of this research is about legality of investigator to witness in trial of case that has investigated before, then how strength of its testimony to influence the consideration of the judges, and some practices of narcotics trial in hearing testimony of witnesses come from investigators. This research is useful for restriction of witnesses meaning development as stipulated in the Criminal Law Procedure Code. It concludes that in normative, the investigator testimony can be heard in trial as long as meet provisions the article 1 figure 26 and 27, and article 168-171 of the Criminal Law Procedure Code. But, it can be right to arrest narcotics defendant by a certain technique, the investigator testimony could not be considered by the judges because it can be conflict of interests, so its testimony has not legal force to decide a case.

Abstract Background: Management of CML using TKIs is often constrained by treatment resistance, which portends a poor prognosis. Treatment failure may be due to therapeutic resistance (BCR-ABL1 mutation-dependent or independent), intolerance, and/or suboptimal adherence. The BCR-ABL1 T315I ("gatekeeper") genotype is insensitive to first- and second-generation TKIs, while compound mutations complicate management with all TKIs (including third-generation TKI ponatinib). HQP1351 (olverembatinib) is a novel, third-generation, orally active BCR-ABL1 TKI with evidence of antitumor activity against CML regardless of genotype (Ren X et al. Med Chem 2013;56:879-94) and a preliminary favorable safety profile in clinical trials (Jiang Q et al. Blood 2020;136:50-1). Methods: This Chinese, open label, multicenter, phase 1 trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of olverembatinib in adults with CML in chronic phase (CML-CP) or accelerated phase (CML-AP). Eligible patients have CML-CP or CML-AP that is resistant or intolerant to first- or second-generation TKIs. Patients with severe cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and pulmonary arterial hypertension were excluded. Olverembatinib is orally administered once every other day in 28-day cycles at 11 dose cohorts ranging from 1 to 60 mg. This study reports data on patients with long-term follow-up. Results: From October 26, 2016, through February 2, 2021 (data cutoff date), 101 patients with CP-CML (n = 86) and AP-CML (n = 15) were enrolled and treated with olverembatinib. Seventy-one (70.3%) patients were male, the median age was 40 (range, 20-64) years, and median (range) interval from diagnosis to initial olverembatinib treatment was 6.0 (0.3-15.2) years. Eighty-four (83.2%) patients received ≥ 2 prior lines of TKI-therapy, and 63 (62.4%) harbored T315I mutation. At baseline, compound mutations were detected in 11 (10.9%) patients, of whom 7 (63.6%) had the BCR-ABL1 T315Igenotype. A total of 20 (19.8%) patients had 2 (n = 13) or ≥ 3 (n = 7) mutations. The median follow-up was 30.8 (1.2-51.8) months. As of the data cutoff date, 81 (80.2%) of 101 patients continued on treatment and 20 (14 CP-CML and 6 AP-CML) discontinued because of disease progression, intolerance, or occurrence of a secondary cancer. The cumulative median (range) drug exposure was 13,635 (1,650-20,975) mg. Of 101 patients, 18 (17.8%) were treated for > 3 years and 5 (5%) for > 4 years. Of evaluable patients without baseline responses, 97.0% had complete hematologic responses (CHR), 62.1% complete cytogenetic responses (CCyR), and 51.0% major molecular responses (MMR). Most evaluable patients with T315I mutations experienced 100% for CHR, 83.7% for MCyR, and 71.2% for MMR among patients in CP-CML, as well as 80.0% for CHR and 54.5% each for MCyR and MMR in AP-CML. At 36 months, the PFS rate (95% CI) was 96.3% (89.1%-98.8%) in patients with CP-CML and 71.4% (40.6%‒88.2%) in those with AP-CML. Treatment responses were durable and unaffected by baseline BCR-ABL1 mutational status. Corresponding values in patients with > 4 years of treatment were 100% (CHR), 80% (CCyR), and 60% (MMR). The mean (95% confidence interval) PFS rate was 100% (100%-100%) at 36 months, 100% at 48 months, and not reached (NR-NR) at 60 months. Most treatment-related adverse events were grade 1 or 2. The most frequent nonhematologic adverse event was (mostly grade 1 or 2) skin hyperpigmentation (86.1%). Grade ≥ 3 nonhematologic AEs included hypertriglyceridemia (10.9%), pyrexia (6.9%), and proteinuria (5.0%). The most common hematologic treatment-related adverse event was thrombocytopenia in 78 (77.2%) patients, including 52 (51.5% of total population) with grade ≥ 3 and 6 (5.9%) with serious adverse events. Leukopenia was grade ≥ 3 in 21 (20.8%) patients but not serious, while anemia was grade 3 or higher in 16 (15.8%) patients and serious in 4 (4.0%). Conclusions: In patients with TKI-resistant CML-CP or CML-AP and long-term treatment, olverembatinib was efficacious and well tolerated. Internal study identifier HQP1351-SJ002. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Chen: Ascentage Pharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Niu: Ascentage Pharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Men: Ascentage Pharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Wang: Ascentage Pharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Yang: Ascentage Pharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Leadership and other ownership interests, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding. Zhai: Ascentage Pharma Group Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Leadership and other ownership interests, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Ascentage Pharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Leadership and other ownership interests, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding.

Abstract Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (NK/TCL) is one of the most common subtypes (10.4%) of peripheral T-cell lymphoma, which in turn accounts for 10% to 15% of all cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. NK/TCL occurs more frequently in Asia and Latin America than other regions, and although associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, NK/TCL has an unclear pathogenesis of genetic and molecular alterations. Asparaginase-based chemotherapy regimens are frequently used, typically with unsatisfactory outcomes. Novel targeted therapies, such as histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors and programmed death-1 antibodies, are reported effective either as single agents or in combination with other agents. Studies have also shown that EBV-positive NK/TCL cell lines are B-cell lymphoma-extra large (BCL-xL) dependent. Other preclinical experiments have shown that BH3-mimetic drugs targeting BCL-xL-induced cell death in NK/TCL cell lines were effective in NK/TCL xenograft models. BCL-xL inhibitors have shown narrow therapeutic windows in clinical trials because of dose-limiting on-target thrombocytopenia. Pelcitoclax (APG-1252) is a novel dual BCL-2/BCL-xL inhibitor under clinical development for solid tumors. As a result of its unique prodrug design, APG-1252 can overcome the undesired platelet toxicity. This study evaluated the potential antitumor effect of APT-1252 in preclinical models of NK/TCL. Cell-based antiproliferation studies showed activity of APG-1252 and its more potent metabolite APG-1252-M1 toward NK/TCL cell lines that overexpressed BCL-xL. Half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC 50) for APG-1252 in SNK-1, SNK-6, and SNK-8 (EBV-positive NK/TCL) cell lines were 2.652 ± 2.606 µM, 1.568 ± 1.109 µM, and 0.557 ± 0.383 µM, respectively. Corresponding values for APG-1252-M1 were 0.133 ± 0.056 µM, 0.064 ± 0.014 µM, and 0.020 ± 0.008 µM, respectively. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that APG-1252 and APG-1252-M1 disrupted the complex of BCL-xL/BCL-2-associated X protein (Bax) and BCL-xL/BCL-2 homologous antagonist killer protein (Bak) in SNK-6 cells, thereby liberating these proapoptotic proteins and further activating downstream apoptosis pathways by cleaving poly-ADP ribose polymerase-1 (PARP-1) and caspase-3. In an SNK-6 xenograft model, administration of APG-1252 at 65 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg either twice or once weekly resulted in significant antitumor effects, with tumor growth rate (T/C%) values ranging from 13.7% to 30.7%. Furthermore, the combination of APG-1252 with HDAC inhibitor chidamide or DDGP (dexamethasone, cisplatin, gemcitabine, and pegaspargase) chemotherapy demonstrated synergistic effects. Pharmacokinetic assessment in mice showed that APG-1252 had a long half-life in plasma (127 hours) and tumor tissues (25.2 hours), justifying intermittent dosing schedules used in vivo. Importantly, the transformation of APG-1252 to APG-1252-M1 was 16 times higher in tumor tissues compared to plasma (22% vs. 1.3%) after administration of APG-1252, thereby suggesting that APG-1252 can reduce platelet toxicity caused by APG-1252-M1 in plasma. In conclusion, APG-1252 has promising antitumor effects in NK/TCL, either as a single agent or in combination with an HDAC inhibitor or chemotherapy. These findings provide evidence to further evaluate APG-1252 as a potential treatment for NK/TCL. Disclosures Wang: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Shanghai: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Liang: Ascentage Pharma Group Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Ming: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Shanghai: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Rui: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Taizhou: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Tang: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Taizhou: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. LV: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Shanghai: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Ge: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Shanghai: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Zhang: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Taizhou: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Wang: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Taizhou: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Shang: Ascentage Pharma Co., Ltd., Shanghai: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company. Yang: Ascentage Pharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Leadership and other ownership interests, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding. Zhai: Ascentage Pharma Group Inc.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Leadership and other ownership interests, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Ascentage Pharma (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.: Current Employment, Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Other: Leadership and other ownership interests, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding.

Abstract:The existence of new thoughts rergarding on the fostering function which becomes more than an entrapment, but also functioned on social rehabilitation and reintegration of prison-assisted children, gives birth to a formation system, that has long been known, called a penal system. Protection of children in all activities carried out to guarantee and protect themselves and their rights, so they can live, grow, develop and participate optimally according to human dignity and get protection from violence and discrimination. Although various improvements have been made regarding the criminal arrangements for children in prisons, such as conditional criminal institutions, conditional release, and special prosecution institutions, but basically the nature of the penalties and child health services still departs from the principle and the prison system. For this reason, efforts should be made to ensure that youngsters behave according to the existed norms. To achieve this goal, those efforts are required to foster, maintain and improve the welfare of children. This study applied a qualitative research method with an empirical normative approach. The results of the study revealed that the system of imprisonment and carried out guidance based on Law Number 12 of 1995 concerning Penitentiary, which was accompanied by an institution "prison house", was gradually seen as a system and means that were no longer suitable to the concept of rehabilitation and social reintegration . Hence, the child prisoners cannot be directed to have an awareness for not commiting a crime, and back as a good citizen and responsible for themselves.Keywords: Child Criminal Justice System, Fostered Children's Health Services, Tangerang Abstrak:Adanya pemikiran-pemikiran baru mengenai fungsi pembinaan yang tidak lagi sekedar penjeraan, tetapi juga merupakan suatu usaha rehabilitasi dan reintegrasi sosial terhadap anak warga binaan pemasyarakatan yang telah melahirkan suatu sistem pembinaan yang sejak lama dikenal dan dinamakan dengan sistem pemasyarakatan. Perlindungan anak dalam segala kegiatan dilakukan untuk menjamin dan melindungi anak dan hak-haknya, agar dapat hidup, tumbuh, berkembang dan berpartisipasi secara optimal sesuai dengan harkat dan martabat kemanusiaan, serta mendapat perlindungan dari kekerasan dan diskriminasi. Walaupun telah diadakan berbagai perbaikan mengenai tatanan sel-sel pemidanaan terhadap anak di lembaga pemasyarakatan, seperti pranata pidana bersyarat, pelepasan bersyarat, dan pranata khusus penuntutan, namun pada dasarnya sifat pemidanaan dan pelayanan kesehatan anak masih bertolak dari azas dan sistem pemenjaraan. Untuk itu, perlu diusahakan agar generasi muda memiliki pola perilaku yang sesuai dengan norma-norma yang hidup dalam masyarakat. Guna mencapai maksud tersebut diperlukan usaha-usaha pembinaan, pemeliharaan dan peningkatan kesejahteraan anak. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian Kualitatif dengan pendekatan normatif empiris. Hasil penelitian menyatakan bahwa sistem pemenjaraan dan pembinaan yang dilakukan berdasarkan Undang-Undang Nomor 12 tahun 1995 tentang Lembaga Pemasyarakatan, yang disertai dengan lembaga “rumah penjara” secara beransur-ansur dipandang sebagai suatu sistem dan sarana yang tidak lagi sejalan dengan konsep rehabilitasi dan reintegrasi sosial. Sehingga narapidana anak belum dapat diarahkan untuk dapat sadar agar tidak melakukan kejahatan atau tindak pidana, dan dapat kembali menjadi warga masyarakat yang baik dan bartanggungjawab bagi dirinya sendiri. Kata Kunci: Sistem Peradilan Pidana Anak, Layanan Kesehatan Anak Asuh, Tangerang

Abstrac Tafsir fi Zhilal Quran was written in the range of 1952 to 1965. He had time to revise the first thirteen juz of his interpretation during his long detention1. This interpretation led Sayid Qutub to explore the various moral messages of Islam that were conveyed through Muhammad's treatises, which strengthened faith and could provide a perfect ideological foundation. It was so phenomenal that Sayid Qutub wrote a fi dzilal al-quran interpretation, with its unique methods and characteristics, rich in literary and social language in his dakwa, inviting and inviting in a beautiful language style.Sayid qutub can complete his Tafsir in prison with enthusiasm and enthusiasm in writing his tafsir, with the aspiration to provide the best legacy for future generatio Abstrak Tafsir fi Zhilal Quran ditulis dalam rentang antara tahun 1952 sampai tahun 1965. Beliau sempat merivisi ketiga belas juz pertama tafsirnya semasa penahanannya yang panjang.1 Tafsir ini membawa Sayid Qutub menjelajahi berbagai pesan moral Islam yang diemban melalui risalah Muhammad Saw, menguatkan Iman dan dapat menjadikan fondasi ideologi yang sempurna. Begitu fenomenalnya Sayid Qutub menulis tafsir fi dzilal al-quran, dengan metode dan karakteristiknya yang khas kaya akan bahasa satra dan social dalam dakwanya, menyeru dan mengajak dengan gaya bahasa yang indah. Sayid qutub dapat menyelesaikan Tafsirnya dalam penjara dengan antusias dan semangat dalam menulis karya tafsirnya, dengan cita-cita untuk memberikan waritsan yang terbaik untuk generasi yang akan datang. 1 Muhammad Zhirzin, Jihad menurut Sayid Qutub, (Solo, Ira Intermedia, 2001) h.134

Penelitian ini bertujuan mendiskripsikan urgensi penyusunan model pembimbingan kesehatan mental terpidana mati. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian hukum-empiris dengan pendekatan yuridis-psikologis. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, materi dan metode pembimbingan kesehatan mental terpidana mati dilakukan berdasarkan interpretasi masing-masing petugas pemasyarakatan, sepanjang tidak melanggar ketentuan hukum yang berlaku. Hal ini semata-mata dilakukan agar terpidana mati tidak melakukan perbuatan yang melanggar hukum di LAPAS/RUTAN, dan agar lebih siap dalam menghadapi eksekusi mati. Pembimbing berasal dari dalam maupun luar LAPAS. Prosesnya diintegrasikan melalui kegiatan pembinaan bidang keagamaan dengan metode caramah secara massal dan konsultasi individual. Konseling individual merupakan langkah positif untuk membimbing terpidana mati sesuai dengan kebutuhannya. Sayangnya, pembimbingan tersebut belum didasarkan pada hasil pemeriksanaan psikologis, prosesnya juga belum menggunakan prinsip-prinsip konseling sehingga hasilnya belum optimal. Jika pedoman tersebut ada, petugas pemasyarakatan dapat menyusun langkah-langkah pembimbingan secara sah, efisien dan efektif dalam bimbingan dan konseling, sehingga terpidana mati siap dieksekusi.<br /><br />This research aims at describing the urgence of designing model of sentenced-death prisoner health mental supervision. This research is empiric-law research with psychological- juridical approaches. Based on research result, the supervision is conducted based on the interpretation of each officers as long as it does not violate the rule. The aim of this sort of supervision is that the sentenced-death prisoner does not violate the rule and prepare for the death sentence. Supervisors may come from inside or outside the prison. The process is integrated through religious supervision activity with massive sermon and individual consultation. Individual counceling is a positive step to supervise sentenced-death prisoners based on their needs. Unfortunately, the supervision has been based on psychological test, the process has not implement counceling principles that the result can be optimal. If the prison has the guidence, the officers can make legitimate, effective and effficient supervison steps in supervising and counceling in order the prisoners are ready to be executed.<br /><br /><br />

Kasus pembunuhan berencana menjadi kejahatan yang tidak jarang terjadi di negeri ini. Narapidana pelaku pembunuhan berencana akan menjalani hukuman dalam waktu yang cukup lama yaitu terancam hukuman pidana mati atau pidana penjara seumur hidup atau selama-lamanya 20 tahun. Pidana penjara tersebut mengakibatkan perampasan kemerdekaan, dan menimbulkan akibat negatif terhadap hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan dirampasnya kemerdekaan itu sendiri. Berdasarkan pengalaman membunuh dan pengalaman masuk penjara, maka narapidana pelaku pembunuhan berencana akan mengalami rekosntruksi struktur eksistensi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah menganalisis fenomenologi eksistensi narapidana pelaku pembunuhan berencana di salah satu Lembaga Pemasyarakatan di Kalimantan Selatan. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada dua orang subjek narapidana pelaku pembunuhan berencana dengan menggunakan metode penelitian analisis fenomenologi eksistensi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kedua subjek dapat merekonstruksi eksistensi dan mewujudkan eksistensi dalam proses pembinaan di lembaga pemasyarakatan dengan caranya masing-masing. Rekonstruksi eksistensi pada penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa, manusia perlu melakukan penyesuaian terhadap dirinya sendiri untuk dapat menemukan eksistensi atau arti dari keberadaan dirinya di dunia ini dengan menjaga sikap yang optimis dalam menentukan pilihan hidup. Dalam melakukan penelitian ini, akan lebih baik jika peneliti terlebih dahulu menguasai keterampilan mengadakan analisis fenomenologi eksistensi dan mengguakan tekhnik-tekhnik pengumpulan data yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan agar hasil temuan lebih maksimal dan akurat. Kata kunci: eksistensi, pembunuhan berencana, narapidana Cases of premeditated murder become the most common crime in this country. Convicts of the murder perpetrators will be sentenced for a long time, namely under sentence of death penalty or imprisonment for life or for 20 years. Imprisonment results in deprivation of freedom, and negative impacts on matters relating to the deprivation of the freedom itself. Based on the experience of killing and experience of staying in jail, the convicts of murder perpetrators will experience reconstruction of existence structure. The purpose of this study was to analyze the phenomenology of existence in the convicts of of premeditated murder cases murder cases at the Correctional Institution. This study was conducted in two convicts of premeditated murder cases using an analysis of phenomenology of existence. The results showed that the two subjects could reconstruct the existence and made the existence in the process of correction in prison with their own way. Reconstruction of the existence indicated that humans need to make adjustments to themselves to be able to discover the existence or the meaning of their existence in this world to keep an optimistic attitude in determining the choice of life. In conducting this study, it would be better if the researcher first mastered the skills of conducting an analysis of phenomenology of existence and used the data collecting techniques in accordance with the requirements in order to maximize the results and the accuracy. Keywords: existence, premeditated murder, convict

ABSTRAK Kasus pembunuhan berencana menjadi kejahatan yang tidak jarang terjadi di negeri ini. Narapidana pelaku pembunuhan berencana akan menjalani hukuman dalam waktu yang cukup lama yaitu terancam hukuman pidana mati atau pidana penjara seumur hidup atau selama-lamanya 20 tahun. Pidana penjara tersebut mengakibatkan perampasan kemerdekaan, dan menimbulkan akibat negatif terhadap hal-hal yang berhubungan dengan dirampasnya kemerdekaan itu sendiri. Berdasarkan pengalaman membunuh dan pengalaman masuk penjara, maka narapidana pelaku pembunuhan berencana akan mengalami rekosntruksi struktur eksistensi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah menganalisis fenomenologi eksistensi narapidana pelaku pembunuhan berencana di salah satu Lembaga Pemasyarakatan di Kalimantan Selatan. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada dua orang subjek narapidana pelaku pembunuhan berencana dengan menggunakan metode penelitian analisis fenomenologi eksistensi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kedua subjek dapat merekonstruksi eksistensi dan mewujudkan eksistensi dalam proses pembinaan di lembaga pemasyarakatan dengan caranya masing-masing. Rekonstruksi eksistensi pada penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa, manusia perlu melakukan penyesuaian terhadap dirinya sendiri untuk dapat menemukan eksistensi atau arti dari keberadaan dirinya di dunia ini dengan menjaga sikap yang optimis dalam menentukan pilihan hidup. Dalam melakukan penelitian ini, akan lebih baik jika peneliti terlebih dahulu menguasai keterampilan mengadakan analisis fenomenologi eksistensi dan mengguakan tekhnik-tekhnik pengumpulan data yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan agar hasil temuan lebih maksimal dan akurat. Kata kunci: eksistensi, pembunuhan berencana, narapidana ABSTRACT Cases of premeditated murder become the most common crime in this country. Convicts of the murder perpetrators will be sentenced for a long time, namely under sentence of death penalty or imprisonment for life or for 20 years. Imprisonment results in deprivation of freedom, and negative impacts on matters relating to the deprivation of the freedom itself. Based on the experience of killing and experience of staying in jail, the convicts of murder perpetrators will experience reconstruction of existence structure. The purpose of this study was to analyze the phenomenology of existence in the convicts of of premeditated murder cases murder cases at the Correctional Institution. This study was conducted in two convicts of premeditated murder cases using an analysis of phenomenology of existence. The results showed that the two subjects could reconstruct the existence and made the existence in the process of correction in prison with their own way. Reconstruction of the existence indicated that humans need to make adjustments to themselves to be able to discover the existence or the meaning of their existence in this world to keep an optimistic attitude in determining the choice of life. In conducting this study, it would be better if the researcher first mastered the skills of conducting an analysis of phenomenology of existence and used the data collecting techniques in accordance with the requirements in order to maximize the results and the accuracy. Keywords: existence, premeditated murder, convicts

While exploring the virtual world Second Life one day, I received a group message across the in-world communication system – “there’s a griefer on the beach. Stay away from the beach till we catch him.” There was no need to explain; everyone receiving the message knew what a griefer was and had a general idea of the kinds of things that could be happening. We’d all seen griefers at work before – someone monopolising the chat channel so no one else can communicate, people being “caged” at random, or even weapons fire causing so much “overhead” that all activity in the area slows to a crawl. These kinds of attacks are not limited to virtual worlds. Most people have experienced griefing in their everyday lives, which might best be defined as having fun at someone else’s expense. More commonly seen examples of this in the real world include teasing, bullying, and harassment; playground bullies have long made other children’s free time miserable. More destructive griefing includes arson and theft. Griefing activities happen in all kinds of games and virtual worlds. Griefers who laugh at new users and “yell” (so that all players can hear) that they stink, have followed new users of Disney’s tween-popular ToonTown. Griefers pose as friendly, helpful players who offer to show new users a path through difficult parts of a game, but then who abandon the new user in a spot where he or she does not have the skills to proceed. In World of Warcraft, a popular massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) created by Blizzard with more than seven million registered, if not active, users, griefers engage in what is known as corpse camping; they sit by a corpse, killing it over and over every time the player tries to get back into the game. The griefer gets a small number of experience points; the player being killed gets aggravated and has to wait out the griefing to play the game again (Warner & Raiter). Griefing in World of Warcraft was featured in an award nominated episode of the television program South Park, in which one character killed every other player he met. This paper considers different types of griefing, both in online games and virtual worlds, and then looks at the actions other players, those being griefed, take against griefers. A variety of examples from Second Life are considered because of the open-structure of the world and its developing nature. Definitions and Types Griefing in online environments such as video games and virtual worlds has been defined as “purposefully engaging in activities to disrupt the gaming experience of other players” (Mulligan & Patrovsky 250). The “purposeful” part of the definition means that accidental bumping and pushing, behaviours often exhibited by new users, are not griefing (Warner & Raiter). Rossingol defines a griefer as, “a player of malign intentions. They will hurt, humiliate and dishevel the average gamer through bending and breaking the rules of online games. ...They want glory, gain or just to partake in a malignant joy at the misfortune of others.” Davis, who maintains a gaming blog, describes Second Life as being populated by “those who build things and those who like to tear them down,” with the latter being the griefers who may be drawn to the unstructured anything-goes nature of the virtual world (qtd. in Girard). Definitions of griefing differ based on context. For instance, griefing has been examined in a variety of multi-player online games. These games often feature missions where players have to kill other players (PvP), behaviour that in other contexts such as virtual worlds would be considered griefing. Putting a monster on the trail of a player considered rude or unskilled might be a way to teach a lesson, but also an example of griefing (Taylor). Foo and Koivisto define griefing in MMORPGs as “play styles that disrupt another player’s gaming experience, usually with specific intention. When the act is not specifically intended to disrupt and yet the actor is the sole beneficiary, it is greed play, a subtle form of grief play” (11). Greed play usually involves actions that disrupt the game play of others but without technically breaking any game rules. A different way of looking at griefing is that it is a sign that the player understands the game or virtual world deeply enough to take advantage of ambiguities in the rules by changing the game to something new (Koster). Many games have a follow option; griefers pick a victim, stand near them, get as naked as possible, and then just follow them around without talking or explaining their actions (Walker). Another example is the memorial service in World of Warcraft for a player who died in real life. The service was interrupted by an attack from another clan; everyone at the memorial service was killed. It is not clear cut who the griefers actually were in this case – the mourners who chose to have their peaceful service in an area marked for player combat or the attackers following the rules for that area and working to earn points and progress in the game. In the case of the mourners, they were changing the rules of the game to suit them, to create something unique – a shared space to mourn a common friend. But they were definitely not playing by the rules. The attackers, considered griefers by many both in and outside of the game, did nothing that broke any rules of the game, though perhaps they broke rules of common decency (“World”); what they did does not fit into the definition of griefing, as much as do the actions of the mourners (Kotaku). Reshaping the game can be done to embed a new, sometimes political, message into the game. A group named Velvet Strike formed to protest US military action. They went into Counter Strike to bring a “message of peace, love and happiness to online shooters by any means necessary” (King). They placed spray painted graphics containing anti-war messages into the game; when confronted with people from other teams the Velvet Strike members refused to shoot (King). The group website contains “recipes” for non-violent game play. One “recipe” involved the Velvet Strike member hiding at the beginning of a mission and not moving for the rest of the game. The other players would shoot each other and then be forced to spend the rest of the game looking for the last survivor in order to get credit for the win. Similar behaviour has been tried inside the game America’s Army. Beginning March, 2006, deLappe, an artist who opposes the U.S. government’s involvement in Iraq, engaged in griefing behaviour by filling (spamming) the in-game text channel with the names of the people killed in the war; no one else can communicate on that channel. Even his character name, dead-in-Iraq, is an anti-war protest (deLappe). “I do not participate in the proscribed mayhem. Rather, I stand in position and type until I am killed. After death, I hover over my dead avatar’s body and continue to type. Upon being re-incarnated in the next round, I continue the cycle” (deLappe n.p.). What about these games and virtual worlds might lead people to even consider griefing? For one thing, they seem anonymous, which can lead to irresponsible behaviour. Players use fake names. Characters on the screen do not seem real. Another reason may be that rules can be broken in videogames and virtual worlds with few consequences, and in fact the premise of the game often seems to encourage such rule breaking. The rules are not always clearly laid out. Each game or world has a Terms of Service agreement that set out basic acceptable behaviour. Second Life defines griefing in terms of the Terms of Service that all users agree to when opening accounts. Abuse is when someone consciously and with malicious intent violates those terms. On top of that limited set of guidelines, each landowner in a virtual world such as Second Life can also set rules for their own property, from dress code, to use of weapons, to allowable conversation topics. To better understand griefing, it is necessary to consider the motivations of the people involved. Early work on categorising player types was completed by Bartle, who studied users of virtual worlds, specifically MUDs, and identified four player types: killers, achievers, socialisers, and explorers. Killers and achievers seem most relevant in a discussion about griefing. Killers enjoy using other players to get ahead. They want to do things to other people (not for or with others), and they get the most pleasure if they can act without the consent of the other player. Knowing about a game or a virtual world gives no power unless that knowledge can be used to gain some advantage over others and to enhance your standing in the game. Achievers want power and dominance in a game so they can do things to the game and master it. Griefing could help them feel a sense of power if they got people to do their will to stop the griefing behavior. Yee studied the motivations of people who play MMORPGs. He found that people who engage in griefing actually scored high in being motivated to play by both achieving and competition (“Facets”). Griefers often want attention. They may want to show off their scripting skills in the hope of earning respect among other coders and possibly be hired to program for others. But many players are motivated by a desire to compete and to win; these categories do not seem to be adequate for understanding the different types of griefing (Yee, “Faces of Grief”). The research on griefing in games has also suggested ways to categorise griefers in virtual worlds. Suler divides griefers into two types (qtd. in Becker). The first is those who grief in order to make trouble for authority figures, including the people who create the worlds. A few of the more spectacular griefing incidents seem designed to cause trouble for Linden Lab, the creators of Second Life. Groups attacked the servers that run Second Life, known as the grid, in October of 2005; this became known as the “gray goo attack” (Second Life; Wallace). Servers were flooded with objects and Second Life had to be taken off line to be restored from backups. More organised groups, such as the W-hats, the SL Liberation Army, and Patriotic Nigas engage in more large scale and public griefing. Some groups hope to draw attention to the group’s goals. The SL Liberation Army wants Linden Lab to open up the governance of the virtual world so that users can vote on changes and policies being implemented and limit corporate movement into Second Life (MarketingVox). Patriotic Nigas, with about 35 active members, want to slow the entry of corporations into Second Life (Cabron, “Who are Second Life’s”). One often discussed griefer attack in Second Life included a flood of pink flying penises directed against land owner and the first person to have made a profit of more than one million United States dollars in a virtual world, Anshe Chung, during a well-publicised and attended interview in world with technology news outlet CNET (Walsh, “Second Life Millionaire” ). The second type proposed by Suler is the griefer who wants to hurt and victimise others (qtd. in Becker). Individual players often go naked into PG-rated areas to cause trouble. Weapons are used in areas where weapons are banned. Second Life publishes a police blotter, which lists examples of minor griefing and assigned punishment, including incidents of disturbing the peace and violating community standards for which warnings and short bans have been issued. These are the actions of individuals for the most part, as were the people who exploited security holes to enter the property uninvited during the grand opening of Endemol’s Big Brother island in Second Life; guests to the opening were firebombed and caged. One of the griefers explained her involvement: Well I’m from The Netherlands, and as you might know the tv concept of big brother was invented here, and it was in all the newspapers in Holland. So I thought It would be this huge event with lots of media. Then I kinda got the idea ‘hey I could ruin this and it might make the newspaper or tv. So that’s what set me off, lol. (qtd. in Sklar) Some groups do grief just to annoy. The Patriotic Nigas claim to have attacked the John Edwards headquarters inside SL wearing Bush ‘08 buttons (Cabron, “John Edwards Attackers”), but it was not a political attack. The group’s founder, Mudkips Acronym (the name of his avatar in SL) said, “I’m currently rooting for Obama, but that doesn’t mean we won’t raid him or anything. We’ll hit anyone if it’s funny, and if the guy I want to be president in 2008’s campaign provides the lulz, we’ll certainly not cross him off our list” (qtd. in Cabron, “John Edwards Attackers”). If they disrupt a high profile event or site, the attack will be covered by media that can amplify the thrill of the attack, enhance their reputation among other griefers, and add to their enjoyment of the griefing. Part of the definition of griefing is that the griefer enjoys causing other players pain and disrupting their game. One resident posted on the SL blog, “Griefers, for the most part, have no other agenda other than the thrill of sneaking one past and causing a big noise. Until a spokesperson comes forward with a manifesto, we can safely assume that this is the work of the “Jackass” generation, out to disrupt things to show that they can“ (Scarborough). Usually to have fun, griefers go after individuals, rather than the owners and administrators of the virtual world and so fit into Suler’s second type of griefing. These griefers enjoy seeing others get angry and frustrated. As one griefer said: Understanding the griefer mindset begins with this: We don’t take the game seriously at all. It continues with this: It’s fun because you react. Lastly: We do it because we’re jerks and like to laugh at you. I am the fly that kamikazes into your soup. I am the reason you can’t have nice things … . If I make you cry, you’ve made my day. (Drake) They have fun by making the other players mad. “Causing grief is the name of his game. His objective is simple: Make life hell for anyone unlucky enough to be playing with him. He’s a griefer. A griefer is a player bent on purposely frustrating others during a multiplayer game” (G4). “I’m a griefer. It’s what I do,” the griefer says. “And, man, people get so pissed off. It’s great” (G4). Taking Action against Griefers Understanding griefing from the griefer point of view leads us to examine the actions of those being griefed. Suler suggests several pairs of opposing actions that can be taken against griefers, based on his experience in an early social environment called Palace. Many of the steps still being used fit into these types. He first describes preventative versus remedial action. Preventative steps include design features to minimise griefing. The Second Life interface includes the ability to build 3D models and to create software; it also includes a menu for land owners to block those features at will, a design feature that helps prevent much griefing. Remedial actions are those taken by the administrators to deal with the effects of griefing; Linden Lab administrators can shut down whole islands to keep griefer activities from spreading to nearby islands. The second pair is interpersonal versus technical; interpersonal steps involve talking to the griefers to get them to stop ruining the game for others, while technical steps prevent griefers from re-entering the world. The elven community in Second Life strongly supports interpersonal steps; they have a category of members in their community known as guardians who receive special training in how to talk to people bent on destroying the peacefulness of the community or disturbing an event. The creators of Camp Darfur on Better World island also created a force of supporters to fend off griefer attacks after the island was destroyed twice in a week in 2006 (Kenzo). Linden Lab also makes use of technical methods; they cancel accounts so known griefers can not reenter. There were even reports that they had created a prison island where griefers whose antics were not bad enough to be totally banned would be sent via a one-way teleporter (Walsh, “Hidden Virtual World Prison”). Some users of Second Life favour technical steps; they believe that new users should be held a fixed amount of time on the Orientation island which would stop banned users from coming back into the world immediately. The third is to create tools for average users or super users (administrators); both involve software features, some of which are available to all users to help them make the game good for them while others are available only to people with administrator privileges. Average users who own land have a variety of tools available to limit griefing behaviour on their own property. In Second Life, the land owner is often blamed because he or she did not use the tools provided to landowners by Linden Lab; they can ban individual users, remove users from the land, mute their conversation, return items left on the property, and prevent people from building or running scripts. As one landowner said, “With the newbies coming in there, I’ve seen their properties just littered with crap because they don’t know protective measures you need to take as far as understanding land control and access rights” (qtd. in Girard). Super users, those who work for Linden Lab, can remove a player from the game for a various lengths of time based on their behaviour patterns. Responses to griefers can also be examined as either individual or joint actions. Individual actions include those that land owners can take against individual griefers. Individual users, regardless of account type, can file abuse reports against other individuals; Linden Lab investigates these reports and takes appropriate action. Quick and consistent reporting of all griefing, no matter how small, is advocated by most game companies and user groups as fairly successful. Strangely, some types of joint actions have been not so successful. Landowners have tried to form the Second Life Anti-Griefing Guild, but it folded because of lack of involvement. Groups providing security services have formed; many event organisers use this kind of service. (Hoffman). More successful efforts have included the creation of software, such as SLBanLink.com, Karma, and TrustNet that read lists of banned users into the banned list on all participating property. A last category of actions to be taken against griefers, and a category used by most residents of virtual worlds, is to leave them alone—to ignore them, to tolerate their actions. The thinking is that, as with many bullies in real life, griefers want attention; when deprived of that, they will move on to find other amusements. Yelling and screaming at griefers just reinforces their bad behaviour. Users simply teleport to other locations or log off. They warn others of the griefing behaviour using the various in-world communication tools so they too can stay away from the griefers. Most of the actions described above are not useful against griefers for whom a bad reputation is part of their credibility in the griefer community. The users of Second Life who staged the Gray Goo denial of service attack in October, 2005 fit into that category. They did nothing to hide the fact that they wanted to cause massive trouble; they named the self-replicating object that they created Grief Spawn and discussed ways to bring down the world on griefer forums (Wallace) Conclusion The most effective griefing usually involves an individual or small group who are only looking to have fun at someone else’s expense. It’s a small goal, and as long as there are any other users, it is easy to obtain the desired effect. In fact, as word spreads of the griefing and users feel compelled to change their behaviour to stave off future griefer attacks, the griefers have fun and achieve their goal. The key point here is that everyone has the same goal – have fun. Unfortunately, for one group – the griefers – achieving their goal precludes other users from reaching theirs. Political griefers are less successful in achieving their goals. Political creative play as griefing, like other kinds of griefing, is not particularly effective, which is another aspect of griefing as error. Other players react with frustration and violence to the actions of griefers such as deLappe and Velvet-Strike. If griefing activity makes people upset, they are less open to considering the political or economic motives of the griefers. Some complaints are relatively mild; “I’m all for creative protest and what not, but this is stupid. It’s not meaningful art or speaking out or anything of the type, its just annoying people who are never going to change their minds about how awesome they think war is” (Borkingchikapa). Others are more negative: “Somebody really needs to go find where that asshole lives and beat the shit out of him. Yeah, it’s a free country and he can legally pull this crap, but that same freedom extends to some patriot kicking the living shit out of him” (Reynolds). In this type of griefing no one’s goals for using the game are satisfied. The regular users can not have fun, but neither do they seem to be open to or accepting of the political griefer’s message. This pattern of success and failure may explain why there are so many examples of griefing to disrupt rather then the politically motivated kind. It may also suggest why efforts to curb griefing have been so ineffective in the past. Griefers who seek to disrupt for fun would see it as a personal triumph if others organised against them. Even if they found themselves banned from one area, they could quickly move somewhere else to have their fun since whom or where they harass does not really matter. Perhaps not all griefing is in error, rather, only those griefing activities motivated by any other goal than have fun. People invest their time and energy in creating their characters and developing skills. The behaviour of people in these virtual environments has a definite bearing on the real world. And perhaps that explains why people in these virtual worlds react so strongly to the behaviour. So, remember, stay off the beach until they catch the griefers, and if you want to make up the game as you go along, be ready for the other players to point at you and say “Bad, Bad Avatar.” References Bartle, Richard. “Players Who Suit MUDs.” Journal of MUD Research 1.1 (June 1996). 10 Sep. 2007 http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm>. Becker, David. Inflicting Pain on “Griefers.” 13 Dec. 2004. 10 Oct. 2007 http://www.news.com/Inflicting-pain-on-griefers/2100-1043_3-5488403.html>. Borkingchikapa. Playing America’s Army. 30 May 2006. 10 Aug. 2007 http://www.metafilter.com/51938/playing-Americas-Army>. Cabron, Lou. John Edwards Attackers Unmasked. 5 Mar. 2007. 29 Apr. 2007 http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/03/05/john-edwards-virtual-attackers-unmasked/>. Cabron, Lou. Who Are Second Life’s “Patriotic Nigas”? 8 Mar. 2007. 30 Apr. 2007 http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/03/08/patriotic-nigras-interview-john-edwards-second-life/>. DeLappe, Joseph. Joseph deLappe. 2006. 10 Aug. 2007. http://www.unr.edu/art/DELAPPE/DeLappe%20Main%20Page/DeLappe%20Online%20MAIN.html>. Drake, Shannon. “Jerk on the Internet.” The Escapist Magazine 15 Nov. 2005: 31-32. 20 June 2007 http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/19/31>. Foo, Chek Yang. Redefining Grief Play. 2004. 10 Oct. 2007 http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:1mBYzWVqAsIJ:www.itu.dk/op/papers/ yang_foo.pdf+foo+koivisto&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us&client=firefox-a>. Foo, Chek Yang, and Elina Koivisto. Grief Player Motivations. 2004. 15 Aug. 2007 http://www.itu.dk/op/papers/yang_foo_koivisto.pdf>. G4. Confessions of a Griefer. N.D. 21 June 2007 http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/features/42527/Confessions_of_a_Griefer.html>. Girard, Nicole. “Griefer Madness: Terrorizing Virtual Worlds.”_ Linux Insider_ 19 Sep. 2007. 3 Oct. 2007 http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/59401.html>. Hoffman, E. C. “Tip Sheet: When Griefers Attack.” Business Week. 2007. 21 June 2007 http://www.businessweek.com/playbook/07/0416_1.htm>. Kenzo, In. “Comment: Has Plastic Duck Migrated Back to SL?” Second Life Herald Apr. 2006. 10 Oct. 2007 http://www.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2006/04/has_plastic_duc.html>. King, Brad. “Make Love, Not War.” Wired June 2002. 10 Aug. 2007 http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2002/06/52894>. Koster, Raph. A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Scotsdale, AZ: Paraglyph, 2005. Kotaku. _WoW Funeral Party Gets Owned. _2006. 15 Aug. 2007 http://kotaku.com/gaming/wow/wow-funeral-party-gets-owned-167354.php>. MarketingVox. Second Life Liberation Army Targets Brands. 7. Dec. 2006. 10 Aug. 2007 http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2006/12/07/second-life-liberation-army-targets-brands/>. 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N.D. 10 Aug. 2007 http://www.opensorcery.net/velvet-strike/nonflame.html>. Walker, John. “How to Be a Complete Bastard.” PC Gamer 13 Mar. 2007. 10 Aug. 2007 http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=159883&site=pcg>. Wallace, Mark. “The Day the Grid Disappeared.” Escapist Magazine 15 Nov. 2005: 11. 20 June 2007 http://www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/19/11>. Walsh, Tony. Hidden Virtual-World Prison Revealed. 3 Jan. 2006. 10 Oct. 2007 http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?/clickableculture/entry/hidden_virtual_world_prison_revealed/>. Walsh, Tony. Second Life Millionaire Interview Penis-Bombed. 20 Dec. 2006. 10 Oct. 2007 http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?/clickableculture/entry/second_life_millionaire_interview_penis_bombed/>. Warner, Dorothy, and Mike Raiter. _Social Context in Massively-Multiplayer Online Games. _2005. 20 Aug. 2007 http://www.i-r-i-e.net/inhalt/004/Warner-Raiter.pdf>. “World of Warcraft: Funeral Ambush.” 2006. YouTube. 15 Aug. 2007 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31MVOE2ak5w>. Yee, Nicholas. Facets: 5 Motivational Factors for Why People Play MMORPG’s. 2002. 10 Oct. 2007 http://www.nickyee.com/facets/home.html>. Yee, Nicholas. Faces of Grief. 2005. June 2007 http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000893.php?page=1>. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Gregson, Kimberly. "Bad Avatar!: Griefing in Virtual Worlds." M/C Journal 10.5 (2007). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0710/06-gregson.php>. APA Style Gregson, K. (Oct. 2007) "Bad Avatar!: Griefing in Virtual Worlds," M/C Journal, 10(5). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0710/06-gregson.php>.

February 15, 1999 THE DIGITAL EXAM digital was such a sanitary hi-tech word until my urologist snuck up from behind and gave me the bird shocked and taken back I try to ignore the painful experience by pondering the conundrum of homosexuality there had to be more to it than that "You can get dressed now" was the good doctor’s way of saying "Pull up your pants, Dude, and I’ll see you back in my office." but his casual demeanor seemed to exude foreboding "There is a stiffness in the gland demanding further examination. I’d like to schedule a blood test, ultrasound and biopsy." the doctor’s lips kept moving but I couldn’t hear him through the sheet of white fear that guillotined between us CANCER! The big C! Me? I spent the rest of that day up to my genitals in the grave I was digging. Hamlet gazing full into the face of the skull "Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well, Horatio. Before scalpel took gland. Back when he sang in a bass baritone." desperate for encouragement I turn to the illustrated brochure the informative flyer detailing the upcoming procedure where in the ultrasound and biopsy probe resembled the head of a black water moccasin baring its fang "Dang!" says I jumping back relief came 36 hours later something about the PSA blood test the prostate specific-antigen results leading the doctor to now suspect infection prescribing an antibiotic of course five weeks from now the FOLLOW-UP APPOINTMENT! and as the date approaches tension will build like in those Mel Gibson Lethal Weapon films when you know there’s a snake in the grass and Danny Glover isn’t there to cover your ass *** April 2, 1999 As it turns out, at the follow-up appointment, things had worsened so the biopsy and bone scan were re-scheduled and it was discovered that I do have incurable metastatic advanced prostate cancer. Of course the doctor is most optimistic about all the new and miraculous treatments available. But before I go into that, I want you to know that I find myself experiencing a strange and wonderful kind of peace. Hell, I’ve lived 70 years already — done exactly what I wanted to do with my life. All worthwhile dreams have come true. Made my living since 1968 as a "Performance Poet" — Billie Barbara and I have been together for 47 years — growing closer with each passing day. We have four great kids, five neat and nifty grandchildren. All things considered, I’ve been truly blessed and whether my departure date is next year or 15 years from now I’m determined not to wreck my life by doing a lousy job with my death. LIKE HAROLD / LIKE HOWARD like Harold I don’t want to blow my death I don’t want to see a lifetime of pluck and courage rubbed out by five weeks of whiny fractious behavior granted Harold’s was a scary way to go from diagnosis to last breath the cancer moving fast but five weeks of bitching and moaning was more than enough to erase every trace of a man I have wanted to emulate his wife sending word that even she can’t remember what he was like before his undignified departure no — I don’t want to go like Harold like Howard let me come swimming up out of the deepening coma face serene as if seen through undisturbed water breaking the surface to eagerly take the hand of bedside well wishers unexpected behavior I must admit as Howard has always been a world class hypochondriac second only to me the two of us able to sit for hours discussing the subtle shade of a mole turning each other on with long drawn out organ recitals in the end one would have thought such a legendary self centered soul would cower and fold up completely like Harold but no — when my time comes let me go sweetly like Howard *** April 7, 1999 The treatment was decided upon. Next Monday, the good Doctor is going to pit my apricots. From here on the Sultan can rest easy when Masten hangs with his harem. Prognosis good. No more testosterone - no more growth. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking forward to giving up the family jewels. I must say that over the years they’ve done me proud and to be totally honest I don’t think Billie Barbara will be all that disappointed either. I’m told that Viagra will help in this area., However, I’m also told that the drug is very expensive. Something like twelve bucks a pop. But hell, Billie Barbara and I can afford twenty four dollars a year.. Some thoughts the morning of— Yesterday I did a program for the Unitarian Society of Livermore. About 60 people. I had a bet with the fellow who introduced me, that at least 7 out of the 60 would come up after the reading (which would include my recent prostate musings) and share a personal war story about prostate cancer. I was right. Exactly 7 approached with an encouraging tale about themselves, a husband, a brother, a son. I was told to prepare myself for hot flashes and water retention. To which Billie Barbara said "Join the club!" I ended the presentation with one of those inspirational poetic moments. A hot flash, if you will. "It just occurred to me," I said, " I’m going to get rich selling a bumper sticker I just thought of — REAL MEN DON’T NEED BALLS A couple of days after the event The Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula is referred to as CHOMP, and the afternoon of April 12th I must say this august institution certainly lived up to it’s name. The waiting room in the Out Patient Wing is an event unto itself. Patients huddled together with friends and family, everyone speaking in hushed voices. The doomed keeping a wary eye on the ominous swinging doors, where a big tough looking nurse appeared from time to time shouting: NEXT! Actually the woman was quite sweet and mild mannered, enunciating each patient’s name in a calm friendly manner. But waiting to have done to me what was going to be done to me - the chilling word "NEXT!" is what I heard and "Out Patient Wing" certainly seemed a misnomer to me. Wasn’t the "Out-Patient Wing" where you went to have splinters removed? Of course I knew better, because in the pre-op interview the young interviewer, upon reading "Bilateral Orchiectomy" winced visibly, exclaiming under her breath "Bummer!" I recently came across this haiku — bilateral orchiectomy the sound a patient makes when he learns what it is Our daughter April lives in New York and couldn’t join the Waiting Room rooting section so as her stand in she sent her best friend Molly Williams. Now, Molly works as a veterinarian in a local animal shelter and a when I told her my operation was supposed to take no more than half an hour, she laughed: "Heck Ric, I’ll do it in five minutes and not even use gloves." NEXT! My turn to be led through those swinging doors, pitifully looking back over my shoulder. Wife, family and friends, bravely giving me the thumbs up. Things blur and run together after that. I do remember telling the nurse who was prepping me that I was afraid of being put to sleep. "Not to worry" she said, I’d have a chance to express these fears to the anesthetist before the operation would begin. And as promised the man did drop by to assure me that I would get a little something to ease my anxiety before he put me under. When the moment finally arrived, he said that I might feel a slight prick as he gave me the relaxant. Of course, that is the last thing I remember - the prick! Obviously, I‘d been suckered in by the mask man’s modus operandi. On the other side of this I surface to begin the waiting. WAITING for the catheter to be removed — for the incision to heal — WAITING to see if the pain subsides and I can loose the cane — WAITING to learn if my PSA will respond to treatment. Waiting—waiting—waiting—and I’ve never been a cheerful waiter. *** May 7, 1999 The doctor tells me I must keep taking Casodex— one a day at eleven dollars a cap - for the rest of my life. And no more doctor freebees. No wonder the listed side effect of this pricey medication is depression. But the recent funk I’ve fallen into is much deeper than dollars and cents. In the past I’ve had my share of operations and illnesses and always during the recuperation I could look forward to being my old self again. But not this time .... Not this time. Funny bumper stickers can only hold reality at bay for a short while. And anyway Billie had me remove the homemade REAL MEN DON’T NEED BALLS bumper sticker from the back of our car — She didn’t like the dirty looks she got while driving around town alone. *** Eight months later BILATERAL ORCHECTOMY never could look up words in the dictionary in a high school assignment writing an autobiography I described my self as a unique person scribbled in the margin the teachers correction fairly chortled "unique" not "eunuch" how could he have known that one day I would actually become a misspelling backed against the wall by advanced prostate cancer I chose the operation over the enormous ongoing expense of chemical castration "No big deal." I thought at the time what’s the difference they both add up to the same thing but in the movies these days during the hot gratuitous sex scene I yawn…bored... wishing they’d quit dicking around and get on with the plot and on TV the buxom cuties that titillate around the products certainly arn’t selling me anything I realize now that although it would probably kill them the guys who went chemical still have an option I don’t philosophically I’m the same person but biologically I ‘m like the picture puzzle our family traditionally puts together over the holidays the French impressionist rendition of a flower shop interior in all it’s bright colorful confusion this season I didn’t work the puzzle quite as enthusiastically... and for good reason this year I know pieces are missing where the orchids used to be "So?" says I to myself "You’re still here to smell the roses." *** January 13, 2000 Real bad news! At the third routine follow-up appointment. My urologist informs me that my PSA has started rising again. The orchectomy and Casodex are no longer keeping the cancer in remission. In the vernacular, I have become "hormone refractory" and there was nothing more he, as a urologist could do for me. An appointment with a local oncologist was arranged and another bone scan scheduled. The "T" word having finally been said the ostrich pulled his head from the sand and began looking around. Knowing what I know now, I’m still annoyed at my urologist for not telling me when I was first diagnosed to either join a support group and radically change my diet or find another urologist. I immediately did both - becoming vegan and finding help on-line as well as at the local Prostate Cancer Support Group. This during the endless eighteen day wait before the oncologist could fit me in. *** IRON SOCKS time now for a bit of reverse prejudice I once purchased some stockings called "Iron Socks" guaranteed to last for five years they lasted ten! but when I went back for another pair the clerk had never heard of them as a cancer survivor… so far in an over populated world I consider the multi-billion dollar medical and pharmaceutical industries realizing that there is absolutely no incentive to come up with a permanent cure *** From here on, I’ll let the poems document the part of the journey that brings us up to the present. A place where I can say — spiritually speaking, that the best thing that ever happened to me is metastatic hormone refractory advanced prostate cancer. *** SUPPORT GROUPS included in this close fraternity... in this room full of brotherly love I wonder where I’ve been for the last 11 months no — that’s not quite right… I know where I’ve been I’ve been in denial after the shock of diagnosis the rude indignity of castration the quick fix of a Casodex why would I want to hang out with a bunch of old duffers dying of prostate cancer? ignoring the fact that everybody dies we all know it but few of us believe it those who do, however rack up more precious moments than the entire citizenry of the fools paradise not to mention studies showing that those who do choose to join a support group on average live years longer than the stiff upper lip recluse and while I’m on the subject I wonder where I’d be without the internet and the dear supportive spirits met there in cyber-space a place where aid care and concern are not determined by age, gender, race, physical appearance, economic situation or geological location and this from a die-hard like me who not ten years ago held the computer in great disdain convinced that poetry should be composed on the back of envelopes with a blunt pencil while riding on trains thank god I’m past these hang-ups because without a support system I doubt if this recent malignant flare-up could have been withstood how terrifying… the thought of being at my writing desk alone… disconnected typing out memos to myself on my dead father’s ancient Underwood *** PC SPES in the sea that is me the hormone blockade fails my urologist handing me over to a young oncologist who recently began practicing locally having retired from the stainless steel and white enamel of the high tech Stanford medical machine in the examination room numbly thumbing through a magazine I wait expecting to be treated like a link of sausage another appointment ground out in a fifteen minute interval what I got was an 18th century throw back a hands-on horse and buggy physician with seemingly all the time in the world it was decided that for the next three weeks (between blood tests) all treatment would cease to determine how my PSA was behaving this done, at the next appointment the next step would be decided upon and after more than an hour of genial give and take with every question answered all options covered it was I who stood up first to go for me a most unique experience in the annals of the modern medicine show however condemned to three weeks in limbo knowing the cancer was growing had me going online reaching out into cyberspace to see what I could find and what I found was PC SPES a botanical herbal alternative medicine well documented and researched but not approved by the FDA aware that the treatment was not one my doctor had mentioned (I have since learned that to do so would make him legally vulnerable) I decided to give it a try on my own sending off for a ten day supply taking the first dose as close after the second blood test as I could two days later back in the doctors office I confess expecting a slap on the wrist instead I receive a bouquet for holding off until after the second PSA then taking the PC SPES container from my hand and like a Native American medicine man he holds it high over his head shaking it "Okay then, this approach gets the first ride!" at the receptionist desk scheduling my next appointment I thought about how difficult it must be out here on the frontier practicing medicine with your hands tied *** PREJUDICE "It's a jungle out there!" Dr. J. George Taylor was fond of saying "And all chiropractors are quacks! Manipulating pocket pickers!" the old physician exposing his daughter to a prejudice so infectious I suspect it became part of her DNA and she a wannabe doctor herself infects me her son with the notion that if it wasn’t performed or prescribed by a licensed M.D. it had to be Medicine Show hoopla or snake oil elixir certainly today’s countless array of practitioners and patent remedies has both of them spinning in their grave but Ma you and Grandpa never heard the words hormone-refractory even the great white hunters of our prestigious cancer clinics don't know how to stop the tiger that is stalking me and so with a PSA rising again to 11.9 I get my oncologist to let me try PC SPES a Chinese herbal formula yes, the desperate do become gullible me, reading and re-reading the promotional material dutifully dosing myself between blood tests and this against the smirk of disapproval mother and grandfather wagging their heads in unison: "It won’t work." "It won’t work." having condemned myself beforehand the moment of truth finally arrives I pace the floor nervously the doctor appears at the door "How does it feel to be a man with a PSA falling to 4.8?" it seems that for the time being at least the tiger is content to play a waiting game which is simply great! Mother tell Grandpa I just may escape our families bigotry before it’s too late *** HELPLINE HARRY "Hi, how are you?" these days I'm never sure how to field routine grounders like this am I simply being greeted? or does the greeter actually want a list of grisly medical details my wife says it's easy she just waits to see if the "How is he?" is followed by a hushed "I mean… really?" for the former a simple "Fine, and how are you?" will do for the latter the news isn't great indications are that the miracle herbal treatment is beginning to fail my oncologist offering up a confusing array of clinical trials and treatments that flirt seductively but speak in a foreign language I don't fully understand so Harry, once again I call on you a savvy old tanker who has maneuvered his battle scared machine through years of malignant mine fields and metastatic mortar attacks true five star Generals know much about winning wars and such but the Command Post is usually so far removed from the front lines I suspect they haven't a clue as to what the dog-faces are going through down here in the trenches it's the seasoned campaigners who have my ear the tough tenacious lovable old survivors like you *** "POOR DEVIL!" in my early twenties I went along with Dylan Thomas boasting that I wanted to go out not gently but raging shaking my fist staring death down however this daring statement was somewhat revised when in my forties I realized that death does the staring I do the down so I began hoping it would happen to me like it happened to the sentry in all those John Wayne Fort Apache movies found dead in the morning face down — an arrow in the back "Poor devil." the Sergeant always said "Never knew what hit him." at the time I liked that... the end taking me completely by surprise the bravado left in the hands of a hard drinking Welshman still wet behind the ears older and wiser now over seventy and with a terminal disease the only thing right about what the Sergeant said was the "Poor devil" part "Poor devil" never used an opening to tell loved ones he loved them never seized the opportunity to give praise for the sun rise or drink in a sunset moment after moment passing him by while he marched through life staring straight ahead believing in tomorrow "Poor devil!" how much fuller richer and pleasing life becomes when you are lucky enough to see the arrow coming *** END LINE (Dedicated to Jim Fulks.) I’ve always been a yin / yang - life / death - up / down clear / blur - front / back kind of guy my own peculiar duality being philosopher slash hypochondriac win win characteristics when you’ve been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer finally the hypochondriac has something more than windmills to tilt with the philosopher arming himself with exactly the proper petard an anonymous statement found in an e-mail message beneath the signature of a cancer survivor’s name a perfect end line wily and wise quote: I ask God: "How much time do I have before I die?" "Enough to make a difference." God replies *** STRUM lived experience taught them most of what they know so MD's treating men diagnosed with androgen-independent advanced prostate cancer tend to put us on death row and taking the past into account this negativity is understandable… these good hearted doctors watching us come and go honestly doing what they can like kindly prison guards attempting to make the life we have left as pleasant as possible to be otherwise a physician would have to be a bit delusional evangelical even… to work so diligently for and believe so completely in the last minute reprieve for those of us confined on cell block PC doing time with an executioner stalking it is exhilarating to find an oncologist willing to fly in the face of history refusing to call the likes of me "Dead man walking." *** BAG OF WOE there are always moments when I can almost hear the reader asking: "How can you use that as grist for your poetry mill? How can you dwell on such private property, at least without masking the details?" well... for the feedback of course the war stories that my stories prompt you to tell but perhaps the question can best be answered by the ‘bag of woe’ parable the "Once Upon a Time" tale about the troubled village of Contrary its harried citizens and the magical mystical miracle worker who showed up one dreary day saying: I am aware of your torment and woe and I am here to lighten your load! he then instructed the beleaguered citizens to go home and rummage through their harried lives bag up your troubles he said both large and small stuff them all in a sack and drag them down to the town square and stack them around on the wall and when everyone was back and every bag was there the magical mystical miracle worker said: "It’s true, just as I promised. You won’t have to take your sack of troubles home leave it behind when you go however, you will have to take along somebody’s bag of woe so the citizens of Contrary all went to find their own bag and shouldering the load discovered that it was magically and mystically much easier to carry --- End ---