‘Somewhere on the border of credibility’: the cultural construction and contestation of 'the border' in white South African society

South Africa’s Border War had profound implications for the social and political organisation of white society. Indeed, maintaining the credibility of South Africa’s presence in Namibia and the prosecution of the Border War was an important political project for the National Party (NP) government. The discourse of ‘the border’ became a powerful cultural sign in white society and underpinned a mythology that sustained and intensified South Africa’s militarisation. As a cultural mythology, ‘the border’ was not a complete fabrication of reality (there was indeed a war conducted on and close to the Namibian border), but white society attached political and social meanings to ‘the border’ that appeared to be ‘common sense’ and self-evident and yet were partial and contingent on the existence of a number of socially constructed discourses. It seemed, however, self-evident to the majority of white people that the border between Namibia and Angola had to be militarily defended if the Republic and all that was familiar were to survive. It is, therefore, unsurprising that dissent or criticism of the Border War emanating from within the community was met with rhetorical vitriol from NP and military leaders and punitive legal sanctions. This chapter will focus on the cultural construction of ‘the border’ and its contestation by a small group of white men who refused to serve as conscripts and their supporters in the End Conscription Campaign (ECC). The analysis reveals that gender norms were central to the operation of ‘the border’ as a cultural sign in white society and the most effective means for critiquing ‘the border’ were also gendered. Changing political and military circumstances, the realities of the effects (both psychological and physical) on white men returning from ‘the border’ and the discursive spaces opened by anti-conscription activists in South Africa, all challenged the credibility of the Border War and helped to hasten the end of the conflict in 1988

Sutured Floer homology, sutured TQFT and non-commutative QFT

We define a "sutured topological quantum field theory", motivated by the study of sutured Floer homology of product 3-manifolds, and contact elements. We study a rich algebraic structure of suture elements in sutured TQFT, showing that it corresponds to contact elements in sutured Floer homology. We use this approach to make computations of contact elements in sutured Floer homology over $\Z$ of sutured manifolds $(D^2 \times S^1, F \times S^1)$ where $F$ is finite. This generalises previous results of the author over $\Z_2$ coefficients. Our approach elaborates upon the quantum field theoretic aspects of sutured Floer homology, building a non-commutative Fock space, together with a bilinear form deriving from a certain combinatorial partial order; we show that the sutured TQFT of discs is isomorphic to this Fock space.Comment: v.2: 49 pages, 13 figures. Improved and expanded exposition, some minor corrections. Sections on torsion, annuli, and tori moved to a separate pape

FTC vs. Toysmart

Last summer, Toysmart agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission concerning use of its customer information database. Under the terms of the settlement, the defunct Internet toy retailer was permitted to sell customer information without either providing its former customers notice or giving them an opportunity to block the sale or use of their personal information. This issue ignited a privacy-rights maelstrom, but ended anti-climatically for Toysmart; in January, Buena Vista Internet Group, a Disney subsidiary and 60% majority shareholder of Toysmart, agreed to compensate the company\u27s creditors $50,000 for the privilege of destroying the database. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Carol Kenner approved this plan, subject to the limitation that Toysmart attorneys must retain the list and destroy it (rather than physically transfer it to Buena Vista) when all creditor claims are satisfied

Flux of water vapor in the terrestrial stratosphere and in the Martian atmosphere

A summary of the terrestrial satellite data is presented. The observations indicate that at equatorial latitudes, relatively dry air is introduced at the tropopause and carried to the upper stratosphere. At that altitude, any methane present in the ascending air mass is oxidized photochemically into water vapor. This vapor is eventually transported to high latitudes, where it is carried to the lower stratosphere by the descending leg of the diabatic circulation. The Pressure Modulator Infrared Radiometer instrument aboard the Mars Observer should provide a comparable picture of vapor transport in the martian atmosphere

Infinitely many hyperbolic Coxeter groups through dimension 19

We prove the following: there are infinitely many finite-covolume (resp. cocompact) Coxeter groups acting on hyperbolic space H^n for every n < 20 (resp. n < 7). When n=7 or 8, they may be taken to be nonarithmetic. Furthermore, for 1 < n < 20, with the possible exceptions n=16 and 17, the number of essentially distinct Coxeter groups in H^n with noncompact fundamental domain of volume less than or equal to V grows at least exponentially with respect to V. The same result holds for cocompact groups for n < 7. The technique is a doubling trick and variations on it; getting the most out of the method requires some work with the Leech lattice.Comment: This is the version published by Geometry & Topology on 11 July 2006 (V2: typesetting correction

On Three-Dimensional Space Groups

An entirely new and independent enumeration of the crystallographic space groups is given, based on obtaining the groups as fibrations over the plane crystallographic groups, when this is possible. For the 35 ``irreducible'' groups for which it is not, an independent method is used that has the advantage of elucidating their subgroup relationships. Each space group is given a short ``fibrifold name'' which, much like the orbifold names for two-dimensional groups, while being only specified up to isotopy, contains enough information to allow the construction of the group from the name.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figure

Seed Yield Prediction Models of Four Common Moist-Soil Plant Species in Texas

Seed production by moist-soil plant species often varies within and among managed wetlands and on larger landscapes. Quantifying seed production of moist-soil plants can be used to evaluate wetland management strategies and estimate wetland energetic carrying capacity, specifically for waterfowl. In the past, direct estimation techniques were used, but due to excessive personnel and time costs, other indirect methods have been developed. Because indirect seed yield models do not exist for moist-soil plant species in east-central or coastal Texas, we developed direct and indirect methods to model seed production on regional managed wetlands. In September 2004 and 2005, we collected Echinochloa crusgalli (barnyard grass), E. walterii (wild millet), E. colona (jungle rice), and Oryza sativa (cultivated rice) for phytomorphological measurements and seed yield modeling. Initial simple linear and point of origin regression analyses demonstrate strong relationships (P \u3c 0.001) among phytomorphological and dot grid methods in predicting seed production for all four species. These models should help regional wetland managers evaluate moist-soil management success and create models for seed production for other moist-soil plants in this region

CLIMATE CHANGE’S EFFECTS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY IN ICELAND

Iceland’s energy comes almost completely from renewable resources, with 76% of it being hydroelectric energy, and the remainder being geothermal energy and wind power (Landsvirkjun, 2018). For several months we conducted secondary-source research on Iceland\u27s renewable energy resources, and the effect climate change will have on them throughout the next century. Most importantly, we researched how the Icelandic Government plans on responding to these changes. The Earth\u27s rising temperatures are causing a shrinkage of Iceland’s glaciers, and changing the water runoff rates from these glaciers at an alarming rate. The rates are currently increasing, but over time, will decrease until the glaciers have completely melted. In order to discover more about the repercussions of climate change, we travelled to Iceland, and conducted in-person interviews with both industry professionals, and common Icelanders to examine their opinions on the issue

The Effects of Climate Change on Iceland\u27s Renewable Energy Sources throughout the 21st Century

Iceland’s energy comes almost completely from its renewable resources, with the majority being hydroelectric energy, and the remainder being geothermal energy. For several months, researchers from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) conducted secondary-source research on the effect climate change will have on Iceland’s renewable resources throughout the next century. Most importantly, the researchers emphasized the importance of the Icelandic Government’s plans on responding to these upcoming changes. The Earth\u27s rising temperatures are causing a shrinkage of Iceland’s glaciers, and changing the water runoff from these glaciers at an alarming rate. The rate of glacial decay is currently overflowing Iceland’s dams, but will soon peak, then begin to decrease within the century until the glaciers have completely melted. In order to discover more about the repercussions of climate change, the researchers from ERAU travelled to Iceland, and conducted in-person interviews with both industry professionals, and common Icelanders. Using secondary-source research, combined and cross-referenced with primary source interviews with professionals from Landsvirkjun, citizens from age groups varying between their twenties to their fifties, and other professional workers that came to Iceland from foreign nations, the conclusion was drawn, that the recession of the Icelandic glaciers will render a multitude of Iceland’s hydroelectric power stations inert within the next century, and Iceland’s response to this energy reduction will be defined by their actions taken within the next decad