Commentary: Challenging Three Electoral College Indictments

On the day the Electoral College met and elected Donald J. Trump the 45th president of the United States, the New York Times editorial board published a scathing attack on the Electoral College as an antiquated mechanism which overwhelming majorities of Americans would prefer to eliminate in favor of a direct national popular vote. [excerpt

Commentary: California Secessionists Channel Logic of Southern Slaveholders

\u27Thursday night the streets were filled with excited crowds. No one talks of anything but the necessity for prompt action. . . . It is hardly prudent for any man to express his opinion adverse to immediate secession, so heated are the public passions, so intolerant of restraint is the popular will. You would probably assume that this report came from California in the wake of the 2016 election, right? After all, Alex Padilla, the California secretary of state, has now authorized the Yes California Independence Campaign to begin collecting signatures for a state referendum on California\u27s secession from the United States. [excerpt

In Defense of the Electoral College

There is hardly anything in the Constitution harder to explain, or easier to misunderstand, than the Electoral College. And when a presidential election hands the palm to a candidate who comes in second in the popular vote but first in the Electoral College tally, something deep in our democratic viscera balks and asks why the Electoral College shouldn’t be dumped as a useless relic of 18th century white, gentry privilege. Actually, there have been only five occasions when a closely divided popular vote and the electoral vote have failed to point in the same direction. No matter. After last week’s results, we’re hearing a litany of complaints: the Electoral College is undemocratic, the Electoral College is unnecessary, the Electoral College was invented to protect slavery — and the demand to push it down the memory hole. (excerpt

MEASURING VALUES FOR WETLANDS PROTECTION IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY FROM DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL CITIZEN GROUPS

Because of pressures to convert natural areas to commercial economic development uses, protecting natural areas in developing countries is a major challenge. A developing country may desire to protect natural areas, but relatively high out-of-pocket and opportunity costs of protection may pose considerable hurdles. To help protect natural areas in a developing country, the international community often gets involved; for example, providing funds to purchase and preserve natural areas such as rain forests, river corridors and wetlands. Thus, to determine the economic feasibility of protecting a particular natural area in their country, decision-makers in a developing country may be interested in measuring the economic value (e.g., willingness-to-pay) of protection on the part of both residents and nonresidents of the country. The overall purpose of this study was to test a common methodology for measuring both domestic and international citizen groups' values (willingness-to-pay) for protecting a natural area in a developing country. The natural area studied was a wetland area called the Nariva Swamp located in the developing country of Trinidad. A common contingent valuation survey was conducted both in Trinidad and the State of Georgia, USA. The survey instrument worked well in both countries demonstrating the feasibility of administering a common valuation methodology to very different citizen groups living in developing and developed countries. The Nariva Swamp in Trinidad is one of the largest freshwater wetlands in the Caribbean, supporting a diverse population of flora and fauna, including waterfowl, anacondas, and manatees. The swamp also supports recreation in the form of hunting, fishing, and ecotourism. Furthermore, subsistence rice and vegetable farming and subsistence fishing of cascadura fish and conchs occur in the swamp. However, some commercial rice production by local residents, who do not have legal ownership of land, is causing serious environmental damage to the swamp. Overuse of water due to commercial rice production with itinerant irrigation canals has increased the influx of sea water into the swamp, thereby increasing salinity of water in the swamp. If this continues, it could be devastating for flora and fauna in the swamp, local subsistence farming and fishing, and future ecotourism benefits. In order to avoid a worst-case scenario, human activities in the swamp should be balanced to provide economic benefits while protecting the ecosystem functions and services that support these benefits. Attaining such a balance requires knowledge of Nariva Swamp values and benefit-cost analyses of swamp use and management. The contingent valuation method can be applied to measure use and nonuse values of protecting natural areas. The contingent valuation survey instrument for measuring values of protecting the Nariva Swamp to Trinidad and Georgia, USA citizens was developed jointly by researchers at the University of the West Indies and the University of Georgia. The survey instrument collected data on qualitative attitudes and preferences for Nariva Swamp protection, and quantitative data to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for protecting the swamp. The survey instrument was administered to a sample of general public citizens in both countries. From these data, a common valuation model was estimated and used to calculate mean WTP for Nariva Swamp protection on the part of Trinidad and Georgia citizens. The valuation model generated theoretically consistent and expected results. Trinidad respondents show a higher WTP than Georgia respondents due to greater familiarity and proximity with the Nariva swamp. In this case study, the valuation results suggest that monetary support from USA citizens for protecting the Nariva Swamp may be relatively low. Thus, the economic feasibility of protecting the swamp would likely depend mostly on a domestic analysis that compares benefits (e.g., aggregate willingness-to-pay) and costs to Trinidad citizens of protecting the swamp. Whether or not benefits to the international community should even be considered in a developing country's benefit-cost analysis of protecting a domestic natural area is open to debate and discussion. If benefits of protecting a natural area to the international community are considered by decision-makers in a developing country to be relevant and important, a question for discussion remains as to whether a different natural area in a different developing country would generate more interest and WTP for protection on the part of the international community. To obtain more insight on the causes of differences in preferences and values between developing and developed country citizens for protecting a natural area in a developing country, survey responses to a series of environmental values and attitudes questions were also analyzed. Responses to environmental value questions indicate the relative weight Trinidad and Georgia citizens place on use and nonuse values of Nariva Swamp protection. We were interested to learn if nonuse values of Nariva Swamp protection are important to Trinidad citizens, and if use values are important to Georgia citizens since part of the purpose of the overall study was to gauge the potential of the Nariva Swamp as an international ecotourism destination. Results suggest that relatively few Georgia citizens would be interested in visiting the Nariva Swamp, but very many Trinidad citizens would like to visit the swamp. Nonuse values appeared to represent a small portion of Trinidad citizens support for Nariva Swamp protection. We also compared responses from Trinidad and Georgia citizens to questions designed to assess their general environmental ethics and attitudes towards natural area protection. Research literature suggests that, generally, respondents from more economically developed countries should show a greater interest in environmental issues and natural area protection. This is due to a shift from focus on physical sustenance and safety to a broader understanding and appreciation for quality of life, based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. However, more recent research suggests this approach could be inaccurate. The survey results provide evidence of consistent environmental ethics and natural area protection attitudes on the part of Trinidad and Georgia citizens, with some notable differences that would provide for interesting debate and discussion.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Commentary: Will the Courts Make Trump\u27s Presidency Less Imperial?

Nearly three months ago, Donald Trump assumed a presidency that, for more than a century, had grown seemingly endless discretionary powers. And he did so in company with Republican majorities in Congress and in 32 state legislatures -- all of which should have made his decisions unassailable. Instead, he has been stymied and embarrassed by resistance from a federal judiciary that has twice halted executive orders on the most prominent issue of his presidential campaign. So, will the federal judiciary become the wall against which Trump bleeds away the power not just of his own presidency but of the “imperial presidency” we have watched a-building since the days of Teddy Roosevelt? [excerpt

Noncontact true temperature measurement, 2

A laser pyrometer was developed for acquiring the true temperature of a levitated sample. The reflectivity is measured by first expanding the laser beam to cover the entire cross-sectional surface of the diffuse target. The reflectivity calibration of this system is determined from the surface emissivity of a target with a blackbody cavity. The emissivity of the real target can then be calculated. The overall system constant is obtained by passively measuring the radiance of the blackbody cavity (emissivity = 1.0) at a known, arbitrary temperature. Since the photosensor used is highly linear over the entire operating temperature range, the true temperature of the target can then be computed. The latest results available from this on-going research indicate that true temperatures thus obtained are in very good quantitative agreement with thermocouple measured temperatures

Noncontact temperature pattern measuring device

Laser pyrometer techniques are utilized to accurately image a true temperature distribution on a given target without touching the target and without knowing the localized emissivity of the target. The pyrometer utilizes a very high definition laser beam and photodetector, both having a very narrow focus. The pyrometer is mounted in a mechanism designed to permit the pyrometer to be aimed and focused at precise localized points on the target surface. The pyrometer is swept over the surface area to be imaged, temperature measurements being taken at each point of focus

Results from the LSND Neutrino Oscillation Search

The Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility sets bounds on neutrino oscillations in the appearance channel nu_mu_bar --> nu_e_bar by searching for the signature of the reaction nu_e_bar p --> e^+ n: an e$^+$ followed by a 2.2MeV gamma ray from neutron capture. Five e^{+/-} -- gamma coincidences are observed in time with the LAMPF beam, with an estimated background of 6.2 events. The 90\% confidence limits obtained are: Delta (m^2) < 0.07eV^2 for sin^2 (2theta) = 1, and sin^2(2theta) < 6 10^{-3} for Delta (m^2) > 20 eV^2.Comment: 10 pages, uses REVTeX and epsf macro