“Global Jihad”: The Canadian Experience

This study aims to address the relative lack of research examining the Canadian experience of terrorism relating to the “Global Salafi Jihad.” The fundamental research question was “What have people living in, or from, Canada been doing to support or advance violent jihad either at home or abroad?” Data were collected on individuals active from the 1980s through to the end of 2011 in an effort to be as exhaustive as possible. They were analysed according to three broad categories: background variables; operational variables; and investigations and outcomes. The sample was further divided into two and results compared according to whether individuals began offending before or after September 11, 2001, in order to assess change over time. The article begins with a brief history of terrorism in Canada, followed by the methodology, analysis of variables, and summary and conclusions. Cases included and excluded from the analysis are listed in Appendices A and B respectively.     

Patterns of Internet and Traditional News Media Use in a Networked Community

Abstract

International communication has come increasingly under the impact of at least three major technological, socio‐economic, and political forces: expanded channels of communication provided by technological developments, democratizing pressures that have brought new voices to be heard in international media and forums, and new but as yet weak mechanisms for the conduct of meaningful dialogue and negotiations. Power politics has been thus increasingly supplemented or supplanted by image politics, questioning traditional boundaries between domestic and international politics, and creating image fixations that have proved occasionally inimical to accommodation of real interests. The symbolic uses of images, on the other hand, have served at least three kinds of cognitive interests: national solidarity, and domestic instrumental and global community. The Iranian hostage crisis, among a number of other contemporary examples, illustrates how these interests were served, symbolically and actually, in domestic as well as international politics. Through a case study of the hostage crisis, me paper concludes with some warnings on the potentials as well as menaces of image politics.     

Satellite Industry Perspectives on Export Control Regulations

In 2013, the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) submitted public comments recommending changes to and requesting clarifications on U.S. government proposals to modify the export-control regulations governing satellite technology. The comments represented a final stage of the decade-long effort to reform the restrictive export-control policy put in place in the late 1990s. To assist in constructing a transparent and effective regime that protects national security and U.S. competitiveness, SIA’s comments contained detailed recommendations to the State Department and Commerce Department that addressed highly technical concerns, attempted to harmonize confusing definitions, and requested additional clarity on jurisdictional questions. Taken in context, the filing represents a perspective on export control policy shared by the bulk of the U.S. satellite industry.     

The effects of closed-circuit television on crime: meta-analysis of an English national quasi-experimental multi-site evaluation

This article reports results obtained in an English national quasi-experimental multi-site evaluation of 14 closed-circuit television (CCTV) projects in residential areas, town and city centers, a city hospital, and car parks (parking lots). Both police and victimization data were collected before and after the installation of CCTV in target, control and buffer areas, and police Divisions. The results showed that CCTV was effective in reducing crimes in train station car parks but not in city centers or residential areas, seemed to be effective in reducing vehicle crimes (but not other types of crimes), and was most effective when the degree of coverage by CCTV was high and when CCTV was combined with other interventions such as improved lighting. Implications for situational crime prevention theory are drawn. There was no evidence of displacement or diffusion of benefits. It is concluded that CCTV needs to be implemented more effectively, based on an analysis of the crime problem and its causes, and needs to be evaluated using a randomized experimental design.

Imaging electrostatic fingerprints with implications for a forensic timeline

The electrical charge deposited by contact electrification due to a finger touching a thin insulating surface is imaged using an electric field microscopy system. It is based on an ultrahigh impedance electric potential sensor used as a non-contact raster scanning probe to measure surface charge density with a spatial resolution of up to 5 μm. Preliminary results are presented which yield two principle findings. First, they indicate that the spatial resolution of the fingerprint image is sufficient for identification purposes. Secondly, that the decay of the surface charge may be considered as a candidate method for the dating or sequencing of these electrical charge fingerprints. The decay of surface charge with time is well defined, largely material dependent, and may take many days. This intrinsic decay rate for the material may be quantified using the charge imaging system described in this paper and a known test charge. The measurement technique described is non-destructive, may be repeated without degradation of the sample, and does not preclude the subsequent use of other techniques such as DNA analysis or conventional latent fingerprint development.     

Guidelines for the identification of unknown samples for laboratories performing forensic analyses for chemical terrorism

Since the early 1990s, the FBI Laboratory has sponsored Scientific Working Groups to improve discipline practices and build consensus among the forensic community. The Scientific Working Group on the Forensic Analysis of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Terrorism developed guidance, contained in this document, on issues forensic laboratories encounter when accepting and analyzing unknown samples associated with chemical terrorism, including laboratory capabilities and analytical testing plans. In the context of forensic analysis of chemical terrorism, this guidance defines an unknown sample and addresses what constitutes definitive and tentative identification. Laboratory safety, reporting issues, and postreporting considerations are also discussed. Utilization of these guidelines, as part of planning for forensic analysis related to a chemical terrorism incident, may help avoid unfortunate consequences not only to the public but also to the laboratory personnel.     

Differentiating fragmented human and nonhuman long bone using osteon circularity

Distinguishing between human and nonhuman bone is important in forensic anthropology and archeology when remains are fragmentary and DNA cannot be obtained. Histological examination of bone is affordable and practical in such situations. This study suggests using osteon circularity to distinguish human bone fragments and hypothesizes that osteons will more closely resemble a perfect circle in nonhumans than in humans. Standard histological methods were used, and circularity was determined using an image analysis program, where circularity was controlled for by Haversian canal measurements. Homogeneity was first tested for multiple variables within human and nonhuman samples. No significant differences were found between human sexes (p = 0.657) or among nonhuman species (p = 0.553). Significant differences were found among intraskeletal elements of both humans (p = 0.016) and nonhumans (p = 0.013) and between pooled samples of humans and nonhumans (p < 0.001). Results of this study indicate that osteon circularity can be used to distinguish between fragmented human and nonhuman long bone.     

Signature Profiling and Classification of Illicit Heroin by GC-MS Analysis of Acidic and Neutral Manufacturing Impurities

Abstract:  The illicit manufacture of heroin results in the formation of trace level acidic and neutral impurities. These impurities are detectable in illicit heroin and provide valuable information about the manufacturing process used. The isolation, derivatization, and semiquantitative analysis of neutral and acidic heroin manufacturing impurities by programmed temperature vaporizing injector-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PTV-GC-MS) is described. Trace acidic and neutral heroin impurities were isolated from basic fractions using liquid–liquid extraction. Extracted impurities were treated with N -Methyl- N -trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide followed by PTV-GC-MS analyses. Semiquantitative data were obtained using full scan mass spectrometry utilizing unique ions or ion combinations for 36 trace impurities found in crude and/or highly refined heroin samples. Minimum detection limits for acidic and neutral impurities were estimated to be at the 10⁻⁷ level relative to total morphine. Over 500 authentic heroin samples from South America, Mexico, Southwest Asia, and Southeast Asia were analyzed. Classification of illicit heroin based on the presence or absence and relative amounts of acidic and neutral impurities is presented.