Jihad in the Bastion of “Moderation”: Understanding the Threat of ISIS in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Malaysia has long been hailed as a beacon of moderate Islam. Yet, at present, there is considerable support for ISIS amongst Malaysians, and it represents a unique articulation of contemporary violent Islamist extremism. Malaysians who joined ISIS in Syria and its supporters at home are characterized by a sense of Islamic righteousness. Also, they share distinctive features that differentiate them from the old jihadi generation: a diverse occupational background, the lack of either formal or informal religious training, and the growing nexus of criminality-radicalization. Malaysian support for ISIS can be historically and politically contextualized in relation to the Islamization race between the main political parties, the presence of Salafi-jihadi discourse and ISIS’s discursive construction of authentic Islam.     

Male workers in the female-dominated long-term care sector: evidence from England

Labor market changes, including growing opportunities to work in the long-term care (LTC) sector, may attract more men to this traditionally female-dominated occupation. Analyzing an English national workforce data-set we investigate whether men are remaining within traditional masculine jobs or crossing traditional boundaries into more emotional, and personal care work. We examine organization, local area effect, and service provision on the probability of attracting more men to the workforce. The analysis utilizes multivariate statistics and mixed-effect models. The findings highlight both horizontal and vertical segregation in the types of jobs undertaken by men in the LTC sector. A research agenda is identified.     

Communicating in the post‐truth era: Analyses of crisis response strategies of Presidents Donald Trump and Rodrigo Duterte

The rhetoric of then U.S. President‐elect Donald Trump and Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte had triggered a shift in global political discourse (Greene, 2016 ). This study examines their responses on three similar crises: disrespectful remarks towards women, associations with controversial political figures, and remarks threatening geopolitical relations. Data from prestige publications, Washington Post (U.S.) and the Philippine Daily Inquirer, were analyzed during the acute stage of each crisis. Findings showed that both men employed confusing strategy combinations in their crisis responses. Despite incoherent application and contradictory strategies, they survived threats to their image as evidenced by poll results. New strategies (diversion and logorrhea) and a strategy amplifier (machismo) were uncovered. These strategies tapped on ambiguity and were found to be successfully employed in a post‐truth landscape. This study builds on Benoit's ( 2006 ) argument that “any attempt by a president to repair a damaged image … clearly merits scholarly attention” (p. 138).     

Quantitative Determination of Cannabinoids in Cannabis and Cannabis Products Using Ultra‐High‐Performance Supercritical Fluid Chromatography and Diode Array/Mass Spectrometric Detection

Ultra‐high‐performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC ) is an efficient analytical technique and has not been fully employed for the analysis of cannabis. Here, a novel method was developed for the analysis of 30 cannabis plant extracts and preparations using UHPSFC /PDA ‐MS . Nine of the most abundant cannabinoids, viz . CBD , ?⁸‐THC , THCV , ?⁹‐THC , CBN , CBG , THCA ‐A, CBDA , and CBGA , were quantitatively determined (RSD s < 6.9%). Unlike GC methods, no derivatization or decarboxylation was required prior to UHPSFC analysis. The UHPSFC chromatographic separation of cannabinoids displayed an inverse elution order compared to UHPLC . Combining with PDA ‐MS , this orthogonality is valuable for discrimination of cannabinoids in complex matrices. The developed method was validated, and the quantification results were compared with a standard UHPLC method. The RSD s of these two methods were within ±13.0%. Finally, chemometric analysis including principal component analysis (PCA ) and partial least squares‐discriminant analysis (PLS ‐DA ) were used to differentiate between cannabis samples.     

Finding of Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna During the Autopsy Procedure: Forensic Issues

Hyperostosis frontalis interna is a common phenomenon, which may have been overrated in its significance in the past, and may, currently be underrated in its significance. We present three cases of hyperostosis frontalis interna found during medicolegal autopsies and discuss their forensic considerations. The patients were all middle‐aged women with metabolic and endocrine manifestations and psychiatric ailments; thickening of the inner table of the frontal bone of the skull was found during each autopsy. We describe the relationship between hyperostosis frontalis interna, metabolic manifestations, and neuropsychiatric symptoms as part of Morgagni‐Stewart‐Morel syndrome. There is still considerable disagreement in the scientific community as to whether this syndrome is a clinical entity. Nonetheless, awareness of Morgagni‐Stewart‐Morel syndrome can be of help in understanding the circumstances surrounding death. In some other cases, hyperostosis frontalis interna could be used by forensic pathologists as criteria for sexing and aging a skeleton.     

Kidnap for Ransom in South East Asia

Kidnapping for ransom is not a new phenomenon. According to the Control Risk Group, an international risk consultancy, kidnappings of foreign nationals globally have increased by 275% over the past 10 years. High profile incidents such as the tourist kidnappings in 2000 by the Abu Sayyaf group, operating out of the troubled southern region of the Philippines, show that South East Asia has its own regionalised kidnapping hotspots. It is suspected that a high proportion of kidnappings are perpetrated by economically motivated crime groups but it is not possible to estimate with any degree of accuracy what percentage can be attributed to organised crime. This article will provide an overview of the problem, drawing upon existing literature available in the public domain. A typological discussion will show the critical differences between the various categories of kidnapping. The reliability of existing statistics, categorisation and recording of kidnapping for ransom will also be scrutinised, in particular for their variability across the region, to see whether this presents a barrier to a better understanding of the size and seriousness of the problem. As kidnapping for ransom incidents are becoming increasingly transnational in character, the final section will highlight the desirability of formulating and agreeing upon regional standardised definitions and counting rules for kidnap.     

ICT,trade openness and economic growth in Tunisia: what is going wrong?

Economic Change and Restructuring - In the age of digital globalization, information and communication technologies (ICT) and international trade seem to have become the engines of economic growth....     

Further notes on information,corruption, and optimal law enforcement

We consider two important notes on optimal law enforcement with corruption. First, we analyze the role of asymmetric information on the emergence of collusion between criminals and enforcers. Second, our paper proposes that the optimal criminal sanction for the underlying offense is not necessarily maximal. We achieve this result by coupling the criminal sanction for the underlying offense with a criminal sanction for corruption, both imposed on offenders. A higher criminal sanction for the underlying offense implies that the government must spend more resources to detect and punish corruption (since the likelihood of collusion increases). Thus, the government could reduce this sanction, save on detection, and increase the criminal sanction for corruption (in order to offset the negative effect on deterrence). We are grateful to Mitch Polinsky and two anonymous referees for helpful suggestions. The usual disclaimers apply.