The right to democratic entitlement: Time for change?

The right to democratic entitlement is well documented in international law. Numerous universal and regional constitutional treaties are premised on it and reverend it. National constitutions of most States espouse themselves to it. International civil society champions it. It is a right that resides at the core of the United Nations' originating vision for a secure and peaceful world - steered on the twin rails of social justice and respect for human rights. The current Zimbabwe crisis that came to a head at the 2002 Presidential election suggests that mere institutionalisation of this right under international law, regional law and national constitutional laws is not in itself sufficient to ensure its enjoyment. For this right to pass from enchanting rhetoric to practice that promotes and upholds the dignity of human beings everywhere in the world, procedural and other accounting strategies need to be developed so that impunity for its breach is stopped. This article examines the possibilities of enjoyment of this right in transitional States under present international arrangements. It concludes that for this to happen the international community needs urgently to demonstrate its commitment to the enjoyment of this right through (1) consistent application of interventionist mechanisms such as the SHIRBRIG initiative in situations where the right is at issue and, (2) development of efficient international, regional and national election audit systems with power effectively to strike down elections that breach the said right

Then-now A guide to the radio programme

This guide to the ‘radio-poem’ – ‘Then-Now’ includes the complete text of Seán Street’s poetic narrative used in the programme and a short commentary on the thinking behind the production of this experimental feature. You certainly don’t need to follow this guide to enjoy the ‘radio-poem’ it merely attempts to explain some of the ideas behind the production of the programme and how the recorded minutes were used. And, of course, it might help all the people who recorded a minute of their day at 6pm on November 9th last year to find their own recording within the layers of sound. Without all those wonderful volunteers this programme would not have been possible – many, many thanks to you all. When all the ‘minutes’ started to arrive at the Soundscape Productions office by email, post and by hand I began to hear a highly eclectic mix of recordings, both in terms of content and audio quality, but I was determined to use every recording submitted - a total of 120 minutes. With such a diverse range of material there were hundreds of ways in which I could have combining the sounds – I could have made many different programmes out of the same material. [Having heard the programme on transmission tonight there are many things I could/would change!] Initially I divided the material into various themes – based on what people were doing at that time of day – working, commuting, cooking, playing and socialising/meetings. I like to think that making a radio feature is rather like composing a piece of music – you introduce ideas, develop them add new opinions develop these and see how all the various views interact with one another. I decided that the ‘radio-poem’ should have a musical structure – a ‘symphony of sound’ in seven movements with an ‘overture’ and a ‘coda’. Seán’s poem was written at the same time as I was listening and editing and we became increasingly excited about the project through a series of long-distance phone conversations – bouncing ideas off one another. We gave ourselves a self-imposed deadline of 9th December to complete the process of editing and record the linking poetic narrative. This meant that the programme was recorded on the 9th, compiled on the 9th and transmitted on the 9th of three consecutive months. And that’s the only reason we chose the 9th November as the recording date. We did think about the idea of recording on a significant date – Bonfire night, Halloween etc. but, as Seán said, that would have made the recordings like posed photographs and not snap-shots of life – which was what we wanted. The poem and the whole of Seán’s introduction to the programme [the script of which can also be downloaded] was recorded and mixed at Gemini Audio Productions in London by Lance England and most of the editing and final mastering was completed by Warwick Pilmer at Clipstore in Leeds. So thanks are also due to them for their patience and understanding. Again thanks to everyone in involved in the project from BBC Radio 4 to all our contributors who gave a minute of their day to be part of this radio-experiment – ‘Then-Now

Permanent Employment-Based Immigration and the Per-country Ceiling

[Excerpt] The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) specifies a complex set of categories and numerical limits for admitting lawful permanent residents (LPRs) to the United States that includes economic priorities among the admission criteria. These priorities are addressed primarily through the employment-based immigration system, which consists of five preference categories. Each preference category has specific eligibility criteria; numerical limits; and, in some cases, distinct application processes. The INA allocates 140,000 visas annually for all five employment-based LPR categories, roughly 12% of the 1.1 million LPRs admitted in FY2017. The INA further limits each immigrant-sending country to an annual maximum of 7% of all employment-based LPR admissions, known as the per-country ceiling, or “cap.” Prospective employment-based immigrants follow two administrative processing trajectories depending on whether they apply from overseas as “new arrivals” seeking LPR status or from within the United States seeking to adjust to LPR status from a temporary status that they currently possess. While some prospective employment-based immigrants can self-petition, most require U.S. employers to petition on their behalf. In both cases, the Department of State (DOS) is responsible for allocating the correct number of employment-based immigrant “visa numbers” or slots, according to numerical limits and the per-country ceiling specified in the INA. This report reviews the employment-based immigration process by examining six pools of pending petitions and applications, representing prospective employment-based immigrants and any accompanying family members at different stages of the LPR process. While four of these pools represent administrative processing queues, two result from the INA’s numerical limitations on employment-based immigration and the per-country ceiling

The Value of Existence

One does not read Beating Hearts passively. I found myself agreeing often, disagreeing often, and sometimes doing both at the same time. Just as frequently, the book made me reexamine my views from a perspective I had not considered before. For example, prior to reading the book, I had not explored the basis for my belief that causing the death of a living being is a morally significant act. The authors (with a post-mortem assist from Epicurus) have seen to that deficiency. This forum seems an ideal place to push that discussion a bit further

Environmental Games and Queue Models

This paper considers a pollution and control game which uses a queuing framework. This framework allows an accounting of pollution events, environmental pollution quality and the application of controls to maintain a desirable quality of the environment. A number of examples are used to highlight the approach and demonstrates both its theoretical and practical usefulness.Environment; Control; Quality; Queuing

Demonetization Anniversary - One year of Love Hate Story

No Abstrac