Medical aspects of capital punishment executions

Between 1976 and the middle of 2001, approximately 718 human executions occurred in the U.S. (a small segment of worldwide executions). Data regarding the medical aspects of these executions are not readily available. We searched all public domain data in the U.S. to obtain specific data for all persons executed in the U.S. since 1976. Of the five methods of execution used (lethal injection, lethal gas, electrocution, hanging, and firing squad), significant differences emerged as measured by rate of complications, duration of time spent by the condemned in the "death chamber," as well as duration of time from the onset of execution procedures to pronouncement of death. These data suggest that human executions are difficult to carry out. Human executions are associated with significant physical complications. These data may help inform future discussions on human executions.     

Employment among Social Security disability program beneficiaries, 1996-2007

We use linked administrative data from program and earnings records to summarize the 2007 employment rates of Social Security disability program beneficiaries at the national and state levels, as well as changes in employment since 1996. The findings provide new information on the employment activities of beneficiaries that should be useful in assessing current agency policies and providing benchmarks for ongoing demonstration projects and future return-to-work initiatives. The overall employment rate--which we define as annual earnings over $1,000--was 12 percent in 2007. Substantial variation exists within the population. Disability Insurance beneficiaries and those younger than age 40 were much more likely to work relative to other Social Security beneficiaries. Additionally, substantial regional variation exists across states; employment rates ranged from 7 percent (West Virginia) to 23 percent (North Dakota). Moreover, we find that the employment rates among beneficiaries were sensitive to the business cycle and persistent over time.     

Is China a safe haven for Asian Tigers?

This paper presents a number of noteworthy innovations that can be used to test the hedge and safe haven properties of Chinese stocks against stocks from four East Asian countries commonly referred to as the Asian Tigers. First and foremost, the hedge property of Chinese stocks was tested at different frequencies. Secondly, based on assertions of the Fractal Market Hypothesis, for the first time (to the best of our knowledge), turbulent periods in stock markets were identified by estimating the wavelet power spectra of stock returns. Thirdly, the safe haven property of stocks was analysed by estimating their coherence and phase angle during the identified turbulent periods. It is inferred that Chinese stocks can be used as both a weak hedge as well as weak safe haven against stocks of the Asian Tigers.     

IRAN’S STRUGGLE FOR STRATEGIC DOMINANCE IN A POST-ISIS IRAQ

Iran's influence and presence in Iraq have increased significantly in recent years. The collapse of the Saddam's dictatorship in 2003, after the US invasion, served to inflate Iran's influence in Iraq, particularly in the post-ISIS era. In this connection, Iran has used various means and tools to develop its strategy in Iraq. This article argues that Iran's current strategy in Iraq stems from a Realpolitik agenda rather than an ideological one, concerned more with political, economic, and security interests than pursuing revolutionary objectives per se. To this end, Tehran has largely relied on long-established relationships with several pro-Iranian political parties and militia groups. These relationships are often couched in religious ideological terms as a foundation and justification for its future strategy in post-ISIS Iraq. The questions that this paper will address are the following: what was Iran's role in defeating ISIS in Iraq? How has Tehran benefitted from its long-term relationships with Iraqi political parties and militia groups? What are the Iranian sources of power in Iraq and how do they help Iran gain strategic dominance in Iraq?     

Comments by Arif Dirlik,November 1987 Chinese socialism and problems of Marxism

Abstract

In the year since John Anglim's article was written, many events have affected the future of the island microrepublic. Although the new administrations in Koror and Washington began 1989 on a hopeful note, it rapidly became clear how much Palau's options had been limited by the United States. By the year's end, Palauans were scheduled to go to the polls once again to vote on the Compact of Free Association they have rejected six times in the last six years, with no change in the fundamental issues of land rights, nuclear materials, and sovereignty. Regardless of the outcome, which could go either way, Palau faces a difficult and uncertain future.     

Republican China: Chaos,Process, and Revolution*

A pivotal figure in the birth of Chinese cinema, Zheng Zhengqiu (鄭正秋 1889–1935) established an art of dramatic film integral to the creation of early Chinese motion pictures. His style incorporated unique cross-media perspectives, producing theatrical works fundamentally grounded in his experiences in graphic arts (illustrated news) and theater. This article focuses on crucial links between Zheng's films and his work for various illustrated newspapers, as well as between his stage plays and his own experience of family life. The author offers new approaches to and interpretations of Zheng's art, analyzing his emotional modes of narrative and provocative forms of engagement. These artistic traits are rarely discussed in contemporary scholarship on his contributions to Chinese cinema. Emerging during the 1911 Revolution, Zheng's sensational style of drama aimed to foster broad social and cultural reforms. For Zheng, art was never for art's sake alone; instead, art was always in the service of society.     

Spectres of the Third World: global modernity and the end of the three worlds

The three worlds configuration was a product of Eurocentric mappings of the world to deal with the postcolonial situation that emerged after World War II. Mortgaging Third World futures to either capitalism or socialism, which was a premise of this mapping, also pointed to a future dominated by alternatives of European origin. The situation I describe as ‘global modernity’ refers to a post-Eurocentric modernity that has scrambled notions of space and time inherited from modernity. It is a product of modernity, and of the struggles that the idea of three worlds sought to capture, but those struggles have led to unanticipated reconfigurations globally, including the reconfiguration of capitalism that has globalised following the fall of the Second World (the world of socialisms). This article discusses some of the problems attendant upon this situation.     

The Effects of Gender Faultlines and Distribution of Rewards on Intragroup Power Struggles and Group Performance

Social Justice Research - Despite the relevance and importance of distribution of rewards for group performance, especially groups with active faultlines, existing literature exploring these...