Grading the Quality of ISIS Videos: A Metric for Assessing the Technical Sophistication of Digital Video Propaganda

Abstract

This article offers a method for systematically grading the quality of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) videos based on technical production criteria. Using this method revealed moments when ISIS production capacity was severely debilitated (Fall 2015) and when they began to rebuild (Spring 2016), which the article details. Uses for this method include evaluating propaganda video output across time and across groups, and the ability to assess kinetic actions against propaganda organizations. This capacity will be critical as Islamic State media production teams will be pushed out of its territory as the State collapses.     

The Continuing Evolution of Medicare Hospice Policy

This case study traces the creation and evolution of Medicare hospice policy. The Medicare hospice benefit, created in 1982, emphasizes palliative rather than curative care. It focuses on quality of life for the dying patient and family and encompasses medical, psychological, and spiritual care. Because no standard hospice care practices existed before this benefit was implemented, Medicare rules almost exclusively dictated the structure and delivery of services. Despite initial concerns about low use, spending averaged 17 percent per year between 1991 and 2001, largely driven by increased enrollment, covered days, services provided, and inflation. A rich accumulation of research studies and analyses of specific aspects of the hospice program provides an opportunity for a retrospective analysis of the program's genesis, impact on health care delivery, and implications for future policy decisions.     

Book reviews

American Journal of Criminal Justice -     

One perspective on sentencing reform in the United States

Summary and Conclusion The most difficult part of constructing a system of criminal sentencing is to be able to give a rationale for each sentence. Historically, this has been an unsurmountable hurdle because it required reformers to resolve the irresolvable conflict between utility and desert as sentencing goals and to measure the immeasurably complex relative utility of the alterative utilitarian strategies of deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. The good news is that we need not try to leap these insurmountable hurdles: the greatest utility is found in a desert distribution of liability and punishment. By following desert, the criminal law can establish its moral credibility with the public and thereby harness the real sources of social control—the power of social sanctions and internalized norms. In the context of criminal sentencing, this means the system must establish a reputation for giving offenders the precise amount of punishment they deserve. Despite the utilitarian importance of desert, however, nondesert concerns can govern the selection of the sanctioning method. As long as the total punitive bite of all aspects of an offender’s sentence is what the offender deserves, judges otherwise can be left free to construct the sentence they think will best avoid future crime. With a system of punishment units and punishment equivalencies, a desert-based determination of the amount of punishment can co-exist with a selection of sanctioning methods looking to nondesert, utilitarian considerations, such as the need for deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. This essay is based upon lectures given at the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute (UNAFEI) for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan. B.S., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1970; LL.M., Harvard University 1975; J.D., University of California-Los Angeles 1973; Dip. Leg. Stud., Cambridge University 1976.     

实施环境准则:外交和司法途径

自 1972年联合国人类环境会议以来 ,各国已经建立了地球环境保护工作的准则和框架。本文首先阐述了执行环境准则的意义 ,然后阐述了在国际和国内层面上实施环境法律准则的框架以及奥尔胡斯协定 ,最后阐明了跨国实施环境法准则的含义