Boom and Bust Budgeting: Repetitive Budgetary Processes in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana

One of the least studied topics in comparative budgeting is how governments budget during economic and boom and bust cycles. Theory and past evidence suggest that national budgets of poorer countries are made and remade continuously over these periods. Case material from Nigeria as well as supplemental information from Ghana and Kenya illustrate the principal features of the persistence, types, and sequence of such repetitive budgeting. The experience of the three countries in boom and bust budgeting has considerable implications both for a theory of comparative budgeting and for national budget management and policy in Subsaharan Africa specifically.     

SIR ROBERT PEEL AND AUSTRALIA

It seems to me that the occupation and colonization of New Holland and the other islands of Australia is one of those vast schemes of national policy into which Great Britain has been drawn by the current of events and with little human foresight to direct us, but which like the peopling of North America and the conquest of India must be regarded as amongst the most impressive movements of divine providence in the government of this world.
Sir James Stephen, Minute of January, 1842, in Colonial Office, New South Wales Series, 201/329.     

Factors related to suicide in New York state prisons

OBJECTIVE: Examine factors related to prison suicides to aid prevention. METHOD: Review the mental health records of all 76 suicides that occurred between 1993 and 2001 in New York State Department of Correctional Services (NYSDOCS) prisons that had some contact with mental health services during their incarceration. (This represented 84% of all NYSDOCS suicides.) Extract data from the psychological autopsies for a sample of 40 of these suicides. RESULTS: Of the suicide victims with some mental health contact, 95% had a substance abuse history, 70% displayed agitation or anxiety prior to the suicide, and 48% had a behavioral change. Common stressors preceding the suicide were inmate-to-inmate conflict (50%), recent disciplinary action (42%), fear (40%), physical illness (42%), and adverse information (65%) such as loss of good time or disruption of family/friendship relationships in the community. Forty-one percent had received a mental health service within 3 days of the suicide. Compared to the about 7200 inmates actively receiving mental health services in state prison, African-Americans and patients with a Major Mood (Bi-polar or Major Depression) were under-represented. Adjustment Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Personality Disorder diagnoses were over-represented. Suicide victims were more likely to have been incarcerated for a violent crime. CONCLUSION: Mental illness, anxiety/agitation, behavior change, stressors, history of substance abuse, and non-African-American were important risk factors.     

Exclusion of methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery from patent protection

The exclusion of methods for treatment of the human or animalbody by surgery found in Article 52(4) of the European PatentConvention (EPC) will be subject to clarification by the EnlargedBoard of Appeal pursuant to a referral by a recent decisionof a Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office.     

Employment law

This article attempts to trace the history of the award of ‘vindicatory’ damages under Commonwealth Caribbean constitutions, to determine, first, why the courts were hesitant to grant damages for breach of constitutional rights; second, the circumstances and the principles that informed the decision of the courts to accept that an award of damages was an acceptable form of redress under Commonwealth Caribbean constitutions; third, the manner in which these principles have evolved over the past decades in Commonwealth Caribbean human rights jurisprudence; and fourth, examine the principles that underlie the award of the recently‐coined, ‘vindicatory damages’ for infringements of the Constitution.     

Employment equity in Canada: Making sense of employee discourses of misunderstanding,resistance, and support

Employment equity initiatives – redressing past inequities or discrimination by promoting the hiring of members of underrepresented groups – are controversial and divisive. Although a national Gallup poll (1993) indicated 74 % of Canadians felt a person's qualifications should solely determine hiring decisions, many have little knowledge and understanding of the issue. Adopting a discourse analytic framework, this research explores employees’ understandings and perceptions of an employment equity initiative in a mid‐sized Canadian organization. Employment equity was seen as problematic and not well understood, and individuals eligible for employment equity initiatives were marginalized. This study contributes to identifying the misunderstandings and underlying sources of tensions with employment equity principles, legislation and administrative regimes.     

Motivating Substance Abusing Parents in Dependency Court

To engage in recovery from addiction, most addicts need consequences and external structure. Although dependency courts routinely order substance abusing parents into treatment, the compliance rate is as low as 20%. While some parents will never participate, others may become motivated by court orders that apply the addiction treatment principles of simple steps and immediate consequences. The model proposed below presents one such approach.