(Im)possible citizens: Canada's ‘citizenship bonanza’ and its boundaries

This article discusses a recent amendment to the Canadian Citizenship Act, which retroactively restores or gives Canadian citizenship to ‘hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting foreigners, most of them Americans’ (P. Dvorak, 2009. Canada issues a wake-up call: you may be a citizen. The Wall Street Journal, 17 April. Available from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123993183347727843.html) while also restricting the inheritance of Canadian citizenship to the first-generation born abroad. Aiming to redress past discriminations based on gender, marital status and dual citizenship while simultaneously curtailing modern citizenship's dubious ius sanguinis provision, the new law might be interpreted as perpetuating Canada's reputation as a world leader in interethnic relations and human rights. A contextual analysis of the new law, by contrast, shows that the opposite is the case: the boundaries that are being drawn by Canada's new citizenship regime follow the now common trend of re-ethnicization and securitization. Specifically, they conflate kinship and Whiteness, thereby leading, on the one hand, to the construction of possible citizens whose authenticity and loyalty to the nation are unquestioned. On the other hand, within the logic of the new laws and their surrounding discourses, non-White, non-Christian ‘impossible citizens’ emerge, whose lack of loyalty and instrumental use of their Canadian passport are said to be eroding the value of citizenship from within.     

The modern trends in alcohol, drugs and driving research

Research on alcohol, drugs and driving can be broadly separated into experimental and epidemiological studies. Every approach has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. Experimental studies can result in an interpretation by single cause, but can only identify potential risks, and the results can sometimes be of limited value because of the use of non-realistic doses or because of the drug use history or inter-individual differences of the volunteers. Recent studies have used higher, more realistic doses and paid more attention to the combination of alcohol and drugs and have shown that the chronic use of illicit drugs can be associated with some cognitive and/or psychomotor impairment, and can lead to a decrease in driving performance even when the subject is no longer intoxicated.Epidemiological studies include roadside surveys, studies in a subset of drivers, accident risk studies, responsibility analyses, surveys and pharmaco-epidemiological studies. Between studies, results may be incomparable due to testing different populations, different kinds of samples, etc. More large-scale roadside studies are conducted now.Advances in analytical toxicology have also contributed to a better understanding of the risks associated with driving under the influence. While older studies measured the inactive metabolite THC-COOH and did not show an increased risk in cannabis-positive drivers, more recent studies measured the active THC in blood and did show a concentration dependent increase in crash risk. The use of LC–MS/MS has allowed more broad-range screening as this technique can measure many different drugs in a small sample volume. While some older studies used saliva but had many analytical problems (including an insufficient sample volume in up to a third of the cases), newer methods of saliva sampling and analysis give better results. The use of saliva for roadside surveys allows non-invasive sampling, but the lack of correlation with the concentrations in blood makes interpretation of results difficult.The results of both epidemiological and experimental studies should be combined to obtain a good estimate of the impact of certain drugs on driving performance and accident risk. In 2006–07 a committee of international experts drafted guidelines for future research into drugs and driving. These have been taken on board by the DRUID project, a large-scale EU funded project on driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol and medicines.     

Symptom Overreporting and Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse

The authenticity of recovered memories is a much debated issue. Surprisingly, no study has systematically looked at symptom overreporting in people claiming recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). In a first sample we administered the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) to individuals who said they had recovered CSA memories (n=66), individuals who said their CSA had always been accessible (continuous CSA memory group; n=119), and controls who said they had no CSA experiences (n=83). In a second sample individuals reporting recovered (n=45) or continuous (n=45) CSA memories completed the Morel Emotional Numbing Test (MENT). Our aim was to compare these groups with regard to their tendency to overreport symptoms. The results indicate that people with recovered memories do not score higher on the SIMS and the MENT than other CSA survivors suggesting that symptom overreporting is not typical for people reporting recovered memories.     

Gesellschaftskritik und soziologische Aufklärung

Berliner Journal für Soziologie - Differenz versus Vermittlung, beobachtete, polykontexturale versus monokontexturale, falsche Realität — mit dieser Formel lassen sich die...     

New horizons in forensic radiology: the 60-second digital autopsy-full-body examination of a gunshot victim by multislice computed tomography

The goal of this study was the full-body documentation of a gunshot wound victim with multislice helical computed tomography for subsequent comparison with the findings of the standard forensic autopsy. Complete volume data of the head, neck, and trunk were acquired by use of two acquisitions of less than 1 minute of total scanning time. Subsequent two-dimensional multiplanar reformations and three-dimensional shaded surface display reconstructions helped document the gunshot-created skull fractures and brain injuries, including the wound track, and the intracerebral bone fragments. Computed tomography also demonstrated intracardiac air embolism and pulmonary aspiration of blood resulting from bullet wound-related trauma. The "digital autopsy," even when postprocessing time was added, was more rapid than the classic forensic autopsy and, based on the nondestructive approach, offered certain advantages in comparison with the forensic autopsy.     

The Right to Compensation for Victims of an Armed Conflict

The individual is a bearer of rights under international humanrights law, international humanitarian law and domestic law.If an individual's rights are infringed during an armed conflict,he/she is entitled to get compensation for the loss resultingfrom the violation. In the absence of a permanent enforcementmechanism at the international level, claims for compensationshould be recognized before national courts.     

Forensic veterinary radiology: Ballistic-radiological 3D computertomographic reconstruction of an illegal lynx shooting in Switzerland

The lynx, which was reintroduced to Switzerland after being exterminated at the beginning of the 20th century, is protected by Swiss law. However, poaching occurs from time to time, which makes criminal investigations necessary. In the presented case, an illegally shot lynx was examined by conventional plane radiography and three-dimensional multislice computertomography (3D MSCT), of which the latter yielded superior results with respect to documentation and reconstruction of the inflicted gunshot wounds. We believe that 3D MSCT, already described in human forensic-pathological cases, is also a suitable and promising new technique for veterinary pathology.     

Zur Rechtmäßigkeit der Zwangsvereinigung in Jagdgenossenschaften

Eigentümer von land-, forst oder fischereiwirtschaftlich nutzbaren Grundflächen unterhalb der Mindestgröße eines Eigenjagdgebietes werden in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Jagdgenossenschaften vereinigt. Die Grundstücke der Mitglieder einer Jagdgenossenschaft bilden einen gemeinschaftlichen Jagdbezirk, der meist durch Verpachtung genutzt wird. Nicht wenige Grundstückseigentümer lehnen jedoch die Jagd auf ihrem Grund und Boden sowie die Zwangsmitgliedschaft in einer Jagdgenossenschaft ab. Die Thematik wird im Folgenden aus dem Blickwinkel der Erwägungen des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte (EGMR) im Urteil vom 29. 4. 1999 ¹ im Fall Chassagnou und andere gegen die Republik Frankreich erörtert. Während der Luxemburger Verwaltungshof ² eine Zwangsvereinigung in Jagdsyndikaten im Hinblick auf die Entscheidung des EGMR für unzulässig erklärte, urteilte das OVG Koblenz ³ abschlägig über die Klage eines die Jagd ablehnenden Grundstückseigentümers, der die Feststellung begehrte, nicht Mitglied in einer Jagdgenossenschaft zu sein. 1) EGMR (Große Kammer), Urt. v. 29. 4. 1999—25088/94; 28331/95; 28443/95, NJW 1999, 3695.2) Tribunal administratif du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, Urt. v. 13.7. 2004.3) OVG Koblenz, Urt. v. 13. 7. 2004—8 A 10216/04.