Observer determination of the make,model, and year of questioned vehicles

Often, criminal acts involving a vehicle are caught on digital video surveillance systems. While potentially useful for an investigation, the recording conditions are typically less than optimal for the extraction of key information for the identification of the perpetrator, such as a license plate. Providing the make, model and year of a questioned vehicle is a common request for examiners, to narrow the field of potential suspect vehicles. This study seeks to compare the performance of a nonpeer-reviewed make, model, and year determination between two separate groups, specifically, trained forensic image examiners and nontrained individuals. Results show that even with varied image capture conditions and quality, the trained forensic image examiners more correctly and completely identified the test group of questioned vehicles make, model, and year.     

An Honourable Profession: Public Employees and Identity Construction in Chile, 1880–1920

This paper analyses how public employees at two Chilean government offices constructed their occupational identities. In contrast to the vast majority of previous work, which took the 1920s as its starting point, this study focuses on the period between 1880 and 1920. Additionally, the construction of identity is analysed in direct relation to performance in the workplace. The paper asserts that public criticism of their performance prompted public employees to develop an image of themselves based on the concept of their honourability as competent and honest workers.     

Building socialism: from ‘scientific’ to ‘active’ Marxism

Abstract

Historical materialism envisages law-like tendencies (‘scientific’ Marxism) promoting the development of productive forces and, concurrently, a political praxis (‘active’ Marxism) requiring human intervention. These positions give rise to conflicting interpretations of Marxism: first to understand society, second to change it – to abolish economic exploitation. The twentieth century witnessed a shift in the locus of the contradictions of capitalism to the economically dependent territories of the imperial powers. Socialist parties, when in power and adopting a Leninist political praxis, furthered modernisation and were successful in reducing economic exploitation. The paper addresses the relationship between the scientific and praxis components of Marxism in contemporary global capitalism. It considers post-Marxist interpretations of the changing class structure, the rise of identity politics and the evolving nature of capital. Forms of domination, oppression and discrimination (bureaucracy, patriarchy, racism, militarism and credentialism) give rise to their own distinctive forms of power relations. It is contended that they should not be equated with Marx’s crucial insight into the nature of economic exploitation. Many current Marxist (and ‘post-Marxist’) writers adopt a ‘scientific’ position emphasising the inherent contradictions of capitalism. The author claims that without appropriate political praxis, the resolution of such contradictions is unlikely to transcend capitalism.     

工人阶级仍然是当代我国最先进的阶级

要回答中国工人阶级是否先进的问题,必须首先掌握先进性的衡量标准,并用其对中国工人阶级进行具体分析。     

提高课堂教学质量的几点体会

课堂教学效果直接关系到教学质量的高低,素质教育的大力提倡,对课堂教学提出了新的要求.如何在新的形势下提高课堂教学质量、教师综合素质、教师课堂角色、课堂引导、教法改革、教学艺术等方面起着十分重要的作用.     

论增强党的阶级基础、扩大党的群众基础的必要性

在新世纪 ,增强党的阶级基础、扩大党的群众基础是建设有中国特色社会主义事业的必然要求 ;是改革开放以来我国社会阶级、阶层发生深刻变化带来的新要求 ;是新世纪加强党的建设的根本要求。     

走向谈判的工会:党巩固阶级基础的政治架构

在社会主义条件下,工会作为无产阶级执政党联结工人阶级的纽带,是党实现执政使命的重要组织资源。然而,在市场经济条件下,受传统体制的制度约束,工会组织亟待摆脱“制度性弱势”,完成党巩固阶级基础的“传动装置”的再启动。因此,需要在党的推动下实现工会制度创新,不断完善工会维权机制,提高工会组织的代表能力,赢得职工群众的信任,这有利于增强党在代表最广大人民根本利益层面的政治合法性。     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Charles Bergquist, Ricardo Peñaranda, and G. Gonzalo Sánchez (eds.), Violence in Colombia 1990––2000. Waging War and Negotiating Peace
H. Kline, State Building and Conflict Resolution in Colombia, 1986–1994
N. Richani, Systems of Violence. The Political Economy of War and Peace in Colombia
Maxwell A. Cameron, and Brian W. Tomlin, The Making of NAFTA: How the Deal Was Done
Ben Fallaw, Cárdenas Compromised: The Failure of Reform in Postrevolutionary Yucatán
Aníbal González, Killer Books: Writing, Violence, and Ethics in Modern Spanish American Narrative
Valerie Boyle (ed.), A South American Adventure: Letters from George Reid, 1867–1870
Caroline Salvin, A Pocket Eden. Guatemalan Journals 1873–1874/Un paraíso. Diarios guatemaltecos 1873–1874     

论"劳模精神"的内涵和弘扬

"劳模精神"是中国工人阶级在我国社会主义建设各个历史时期不断凝聚传承的宝贵精神财富."劳模精神"与时俱进,不断丰富发展,是激励工人阶级投身社会主义现代化建设的强大精神动力.要以劳动模范为榜样,调动广大职工的劳动热情,充分发挥工人阶级在构建和谐社会中的主力军作用.     

试论案件侦查中的“习惯“

侦查人员要善于了解、掌握习惯的特性及种类,并为侦查活动所用。本文主要从习惯的特性、种类及意义三个方面对习惯进行了研究,对侦查实践具有一定的理论指导价值。