Hispanics and foreign policy

Difficulties abound in any attempt to generalize about the role of ethnicity in foreign policy-making in the United States. First, some ethnic groups have become more iduential than others. Second, those that have succeeded have seen their influence rise and fall, depending on multiple factors and circumstances. Still other groups, despite their increasing numbers, have yet to attempt to influence foreign policy.

The Hispanic experience in iniluencing foreign policy belongs to the last category. Several factors account for the limited Hispanic influence in foreign policy, such as their fragmentation and their lack of clout in domestic issues. Other factors are more specifically political and have to do with the fact that active involvement by Hispanics in politics has yet to come.

The end of the Cold War has displaced security issues from the top of the foreign policy agenda of the United States. The overarching rationale granted by anti-communism is no longer available.

Simultaneously, the Summit of the Americas, of December 1994, has recognized that economic issues, such as trade and investment, have gained ascendancy in the Hemispheric agenda.

The primacy of economics in Hemispheric relations furnishes an opportunity for Hispanic businesses to participate more actively in trade and investment relations in the Hemisphere.

However, as revealed by the debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), trade and investment have proven to be very divisive issues for Hispanics. Consequently, the Hispanic business community, particularly those small and medium size companies that are already active in international trade and investment, will have to act deliberately to benefit fiom the opportunities that are emerging.     

When functionality is not fatal

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that, under both UK and EuropeanCommunity law, functional designs can be protected by unregistereddesign right provided that there exist other means of achievingthe same purpose.     

A growing field

Ten years ago, you would have been hard-pressed to find a legaltextbook, even in the IP field, specifically referring to brands,branding, or brand protection. Today, however, the shelves ofspecialist legal booksellers contain a wide variety of booksrelating to branding covering the spectrum, from academic analysisof the differences between brands and trade marks to so-calledpractitioner guides on strategic protection issues. The growthin this field reflects the spread of IP rights generally inthe commercial arena and its strategic importance to businesseslarge and small. Like      

Citizens’ Readiness to Adopt and Use E-government Services in the City of Harbin,China

This study applied the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to investigate the factors that would influence adoption and use of e-government services by citizens of Harbin in China. A total of 382 respondents took part in the study. The findings of this research revealed that Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Service Quality, and Citizen Trust have significant positive impact on citizens’ intention to adopt and use e-government services while Perceived usefulness was found not to have any significant positive impact on citizens’ intention to use e-government services in Harbin, China. The implications of this study is further discussed.     

A Unique Type of Birth Trauma Mistaken for Abuse

Pediatric abusive head trauma is a challenging subject across many disciplines. Of particular importance is the identification of mimics of abuse, so cause and manner of death can be properly assigned. We present the case of suspected child abuse involving an infant who presented unresponsive to the hospital with hypoglycemia, hypothermia, and bilateral parietal fractures. An autopsy revealed fractures associated with organizing scalp hemorrhage and gross leptomeningeal congestion and hemorrhage. The fractures were circular with external displacement, rounded margins, and subperiosteal new bone formation indicative of healing. Birth records revealed vacuum assist and cesarean section delivery. Although vacuum extraction‐related injuries are typically cephalohematomas and/or linear fractures, the outbending and circular morphology of the fractures are consistent with vacuum extraction. Moreover, microscopic neuropathological examination revealed hemorrhagic purulent leptomeningitis. This unique case demonstrates the importance of considering birth trauma in the determination of cause and manner of death of an infant.