While the crisis proceeds: A world redistribution of economic power?

The crisis has drawn attention to the fact that not only emerging powers but other regions of the world as well may be offering different development models and may constitute into alternative, in some dimensions more positive agents, in the conduct of the present stage of globalisation. Notwithstanding, the traditional western powers have not lost a large amount of control of the world economy. And the crisis proceeds, reallocating world power as in a Hobbesian anarchy. It is difficult to foresee smooth developments in the near future. On the contrary, multilateralism seems to be losing ground to unilateral action or bilateral arrangements. More or less disguised currency wars may lead to serious disequilibria, and turf wars may become more frequent, with motives ranging from securing captive markets to control of specific commodities and energy goods, or targeted regulatory frameworks. As economic policy becomes even more involved with defence and security affairs, the feedbacks from each side to the other seem likely to keep dissent and animosity high, rather than contributing to peaceful and constructive approaches. A more trouble-prone world may be easily expected. JEL codes:

When Angels Cry Tears of Moonshine

When Angels Cry Tears of Moonshine is a collection of non-fiction essays exploring and reflecting on specific experiences as a military police patrolman over the course of the author’s enlistment in the United States Marine Corps. Between the years of 2007 and 2009, more specifically, the author was exposed to multiple experiences related to masculinity, trauma, alcoholism, community and leadership that shaped his understanding of the Marine Corps as an institution. Through these personal essays, readers will identify elements of trauma, comradery, faults in leadership and alcoholism from the perspective of a Marine who did not have any combat experience at the time

Exploring How Latinx Gender and Sexually Diverse Youth in the Rio Grande Valley Experience and Confront Homophobia: A Qualitative Study of Alumni Community Leaders/Advocates

Framed by queer theory, this qualitative study seeks to better understand the unique experiences of homophobia that occur amongst Latinx gender and sexually diverse youth (GDSY) in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). Latinx GSDY in the Rio Grande Valley are less likely to be in schools that adopt affirming policies and are therefore more likely to experience homophobia. It is also likely that their social, emotional, physical, and academic wellbeing are impacted negatively. The study collected written journal responses from nine Latinx gender and sexually diverse alumni of RGV schools (including the researcher) that presently serve as community leaders and advocates. Findings suggest that homophobia is experienced as trauma and that participants employed positive trauma responses to confront their experiences. Future research is warranted to understand the role that Latinx intergenerational trauma may play in trauma response for Latinx GDSY in the RGV. Moreover, additional research is needed to develop tailored professional development for RGV educators that identifies and sustains affirming policies and practices that mitigate how Latinx GDSY experience and confront homophobia

Funding Terror: An Analysis of Financing Methods for Terror Groups Based in the Middle East

Terrorism in the Middle East has plagued the United States for over a decade and groups, like ISIS, show that terrorism can be well organized and financed. From a homemade bomb to a small army, each act of terrorism requires funding to turn hateful speech into an action. In the Middle East, funding for terrorism falls into three major categories: criminal, legal, and charity from like-minded individuals. Despite public disdain for global terror there are still some individuals, both foreign and domestic, who seek to fund terrorist attacks. Finding the sources of this funding is essential in order to stem terrorism, but doing so is not always easy. Those who fund terror do so through many mediums such as: black markets, offshore accounts, phony companies, and illegal shipments; which can make it very hard to track. By looking at past investigations on terrorism in the Middle East to see what patterns emerge, investigators can be pointed towards places where they can most effectively use their resources to stop future terrorist funding

Academic Leadership in Advancement Activities: A Dimension of the Dean\u27s Role in American Higher Education

In an atmosphere of declining support, rising costs, and an increasing emphasis on quality education, the need for effective fund-raising is important to American higher education. During the past decade, institutions of higher education, both public and private, faced difficult financial problems with no apparent end in sight. A growing number of colleges and universities have been threatened by the unstable economy and shrinking applicant pools and are faltering under this threat. Private higher education seems to be especially vulnerable to financial difficulty and has been historically dependent upon philanthropic support to complement traditional revenues in an effort to remain financially viable. As a result of this changing environment, the identification and development of enhanced and more diversified fund-raising strategies have emerged as one of the most significant and far-reaching needs presently confronting American higher education. This study investigated and analyzed academic leadership and management of advancement activities in American higher education with particular attention given to schools of dentistry. It focused on how American schools of dentistry may organize and manage their fund -raising programs to maximize voluntary financial support. With the prospect of declining support and rising costs, an aggressive and effective fund-raising program is arguably crucial to their survival. The study addressed the predominant organizational structure and management practices in the area of fund-raising at American schools of dentistry; the perceptions held by the deans and senior development officers in these same institutions as to the effectiveness of certain practices relating to fund-raising sources and constituencies, and methods and techniques used in their fund-raising programs; and the emerging pattern which might serve as a model for development programs at American schools of dentistry or other institutions of higher education. The study is composed of the entire population - a census of American schools of dentistry. Forty-five institutions (45/55) in thirty states, including Puerto Rico (30/34), participated in the survey and thirty-five deans (35/55) and thirty-five development officers (35/55) responded to the survey . The questionnaire is the principal means of data collection with a structured personal interview limited to the deans and development officers of the five California schools of dentistry. The deans and development officers cooperating in this survey give evidence that their major development-related functions are consistent with trends toward greater specialization in fund-raising. A high percentage (87.5 percent) of the dean respondents acknowledge affirmatively to making use of strategic planning as a management tool for the school\u27s advancement activities. The dean respondents characterized the alumni as the most important giving constituency and the annual fund as the principal funding source. They also regard personal visits as the most effective method of soliciting funds for their institutions. The development officer respondents emphasized ideas, goals, and directions of their school\u27s advancement program while being most aware of the specific mechanics of fund-raising. The guiding outlines of a model development program for American schools of dentistry appear to emerge from this exploratory study

Funding Terror: An Overview of Financing Methods

Terrorism in the Middle East has plagued the United States for over a decade and groups, like ISIS, show that terrorism can be well organized and financed. From a homemade bomb to a small army, each act of terrorism requires funding to turn hateful speech into an action. In the Middle East, funding for terrorism falls into three major categories: criminal, legal, and charity from like-minded individuals. Despite public disdain for global terror there are still some individuals, both foreign and domestic, who seek to fund terrorist attacks. Finding the sources of this funding is essential in order to stem terrorism, but doing so is not always easy. Those who fund terror do so through many mediums such as: black markets, offshore accounts, phony companies, and illegal shipments; which can make it very hard to track. By looking at past investigations on terrorism in the Middle East to see what patterns emerge, investigators can be pointed towards places where they can most effectively use their resources to stop future terrorist funding

Forecasting Salinity in the Laguna Madre Using Deep Learning

Salinity is an important metric in the Laguna Madre for establishing the long term health of the local ecological population. By utilizing Deep Learning (DL) techniques, the predicted and forecasted salinity in the Laguna Madre is generated from data provided by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Aqua satellite. Currently, only one other DL model has been used to forecast Sea Surface Salinity (SSS), being a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). However, the RNN model requires the prediction of a full area of salinity to function. As such, several model architectures were tested, with the best one, being a Multi-input MPNN, utilized to evaluate the feasibility of forecasting utilizing simpler DL models. The results show that a one-day forecast is plausible, while three and five-day forecasts would require a data-rich environment, unlike that of the Laguna Madre

The Pen Must Calm the Sword: A Call to Promote South Sudanese History for Peace

The Republic of South Sudan is the world’s youngest nation and its birth has been marred by horrific acts of tribal and ethnic strife that have been characterized by brutal attacks on women and children by both rebels and government forces and the destruction of its ability to feed and provide basic services for its citizens. South Sudan’s first few years of statehood have been heartbreaking especially when considered against the promise that existed only a few years ago. Working towards a peaceful and successful future will inevitably be founded, in part, on understanding the history of the diverse peoples of South Sudan and educating its future generations on the strength of their culture and people

NGC 2782: a merger remnant with young stars in its gaseous tidal tail

We have searched for young star-forming regions around the merger remnant NGC 2782. By using GALEX FUV and NUV imaging and HI data we found seven UV sources, located at distances greater than 26 kpc from the center of NGC 2782, and coinciding with its western HI tidal tail. These regions were resolved in several smaller systems when Gemini/GMOS r-band images were used. We compared the observed colors to stellar population synthesis models and we found that these objects have ages of ~1 to 11 Myr and masses ranging from 10^3.9 to 10^4.6 Msun. By using Gemini/GMOS spectroscopic data we confirm memberships and derive high metallicities for three of the young regions in the tail (12+log(O/H)=8.74\pm0.20, 8.81\pm0.20 and 8.78\pm0.20). These metallicities are similar to the value presented by the nuclear region of NGC 2782 and also similar to the value presented for an object located close to the main body of NGC 2782. The high metallicities measured for the star-forming regions in the gaseous tidal tail of NGC 2782 could be explained if they were formed out of highly enriched gas which was once expelled from the center of the merging galaxies when the system collided. An additional possibility is that the tail has been a nursery of a few generations of young stellar systems which ultimately polluted this medium with metals, further enriching the already pre-enriched gas ejected to the tail when the galaxies collided.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA