<p> This method contains an unsynchronized lazy initialization of a static field.
After the field is set, the object stored into that location is further accessed. 
The setting of the field is visible to other threads as soon as it is set. If the
futher accesses in the method that set the field serve to initialize the object, then
you have a <em>very serious</em> multithreading bug, unless something else prevents
any other thread from accessing the stored object until it is fully initialized.
</p>