REVIEW: Vital exposé, but it would have been better with more context

Hit & Run, by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson. Nelson: Potter and Burton. 2017, 159 pages. ISBN ISBN 978-0-947-50339-0.HIT & RUN tells what happened when a small group of New Zealand SAS soldiers in Afghanistan decided to mount a revenge raid on two Afghan villages where they thought Taliban they believed had been responsible for the death of one of their own were staying. With Ministerial approval, relying on faulty intelligence and backed by American firepower, the SAS raided the villages of Naik and Khak Kuday Dad on the night of 22 August 2010. Their Taliban targets were nowhere to be found: They had slipped away into the mountains and were resting peacefully when the SAS arrived by helicopter in the middle of the night

REVIEW: The revolution still isn’t here

Journalism as Activism, by Adrienne Russell. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2016, 200 pages. ISBN 978-0-745-6712-6-0IN 1845 Marx wrote:The class which has the means of material production has control at the same time over the means of mental production so that… generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it… as they rule as a class and determine the extent and compass of an epoch, it is self-evident that they…regulate the production and distribution of the ideas of their age; Thus their ideas are the ruling ideas of the epoch

Presidential Signing Statements and Executive Power

A recent debate about the Bush administration\u27s use of presidential signing statements has raised questions about their function, legality, and value. We argue that presidential signing statements are legal and that they provide a useful way for the president to disclose his views about the meaning and constitutionality of legislation. In addition, basic tenets of positive political theory suggest that signing statements do not undermine the separation of powers or the legislative process and that, under certain circumstances, they can provide relevant evidence of statutory meaning. Although President Bush has raised many more constitutional challenges within his signing statements than prior presidents have, at least on their face these challenges are similar to challenges made by other recent presidents, such as President Clinton. Whether Bush\u27s views of executive power are significantly different from Clinton\u27s, and if so, whether they are inferior, remain open questions, but these issues are independent of whether signing statements are lawful

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo

REVIEW: Noted: Questions of great intricacy opened up to non-Arabic audience

Media and Political Contestation in the Contemporary Arab World, edited by Lena Jayyusi and Anne Sofie Roald. Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave MacMillan 2016. 327 pages. ISBN 978-1-137-5252-2-2.MEDIA and Political Contestation in the Contemporary Arab World explores the extremely complicated reality of the Arab media and its place in the political and cultural debates that are rarely recognised or understood in the west. In the Middle East, media of all kinds, from clothes to pop songs, carry heavily loaded political messages that simply cannot be avoided and which can cause political explosions