Cosmopolitan Subjects: An Anthropological Critique of Cosmopolitan Criminal Law and Political Modernity

This dissertation addresses the question of how we should understand the cosmopolitan power to punish the criminal embodied in the new global criminal courts, and whether cosmopolitan law can serve as the basis for what an earlier generation of anthropologists would have called a culturally-neutral global order? The present project, based on ethnographic fieldwork at the Yugoslavia Tribunal in The Hague, uses the case of Dusko Tadic, the first subject of a properly cosmopolitan law, as a lens to raise the questions of how we should understand the new cosmopolitan subjectivities being produced by the immanent institutionalization of a global criminal law and whether our historically-specific modern conceptualization of law is compatible with the maintenance of meaningful local political diversity and the rights of communities to live in a manner in keeping with their own history and traditions. It argues that, to get at the full implications of this process, we will need to take up the now largely neglected concepts of tradition and authority as a way to make sense of the legacies various pre-modern forms of authority continue to exercise in what is called modern law. The alternative genealogies here elaborated suggest that scholars would do best to try to understand law through the traditions of legal thought, disputation, and practice that preceded legal modernity, especially the classical republican and Roman law traditions in which virtually every aspect of modern legality (except the state and sovereignty) has a basis. It is argued that, with the first trial at the International Criminal Court, these historically-specific and local forms of authority are now the basis for the global legal system--pre-modern forms of authority which remain vital, even ascendant, in the age of cosmopolitan criminal law

Federalism to an Advantage: The Demise of State Blue Sky Laws Under the Uniform Securities Act

They come at an opportune time. They are the changes to the Uniform Securities Act. Although some of the changes are perfunctory, the significant changes have a fascinating common thread running through them. That fascinating thread is federalism. Changes in the Act could move regulation away from the hands of the states and make federal registration, more or less, a ticket for sales without state approval. The changes are not without opposition. This article will discuss the changes, the reactions of particular concerned groups and the perceived effects of such changes

From SMART to agent systems development

In order for agent-oriented software engineering to prove effective it must use principled notions of agents and enabling specification and reasoning, while still considering routes to practical implementation. This paper deals with the issue of individual agent specification and construction, departing from the conceptual basis provided by the SMART agent framework. SMART offers a descriptive specification of an agent architecture but omits consideration of issues relating to construction and control. In response, we introduce two new views to complement SMART: a behavioural specification and a structural specification which, together, determine the components that make up an agent, and how they operate. In this way, we move from abstract agent system specification to practical implementation. These three aspects are combined to create an agent construction model, actSMART, which is then used to define the AgentSpeak(L) architecture in order to illustrate the application of actSMART

Doubly Illegal: Qualitative Accounts of Underage Alcohol Access Through Theft

This study investigated sources of alcohol for underage drinkers. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were individually conducted with 47 youths, ages 15-18, who reported drinking within the last 12 months, to explore alcohol access. Theft was one method that some youths reported using to obtain alcohol. In addition to 9% of respondents who reported stealing alcohol from commercial outlets themselves, a total of 26% respondents reported occasions when their close friends stole alcohol. Our findings unveiled that teens had a body of knowledge that some drew upon for stealing alcohol. Youths revealed detailed knowledge about store layout, theft protection devices and store policies. In particular, respondents disclosed knowledge about which aisles have blind spots, how to remove security tops on bottles, and nochase policies. Theft of alcohol from commercial sources may be reduced by examining the weaknesses of existing theft prevention practices, and revising store policies

The Megasecond Chandra X-Ray Visionary Project Observation of NGC 3115 (II): properties of point sources

We have carried out an in-depth study of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) detected in the nearby lenticular galaxy NGC 3115, using the Megasecond Chandra X-Ray Visionary Project observation (total exposure time 1.1 Ms). In total we found 136 candidate LMXBs in the field and 49 in globular clusters (GCs) above 2\sigma\ detection, with 0.3--8 keV luminosity L_X ~10^36-10^39 erg/s. Other than 13 transient candidates, the sources overall have less long-term variability at higher luminosity, at least at L_X > 2x10^37 erg/s. In order to identify the nature and spectral state of our sources, we compared their collective spectral properties based on single-component models (a simple power law or a multicolor disk) with the spectral evolution seen in representative Galactic LMXBs. We found that in the L_X versus photon index \Gamma_PL and L_X versus disk temperature kT_MCD plots, most of our sources fall on a narrow track in which the spectral shape hardens with increasing luminosity below L_X~7x10^37 erg/s but is relatively constant (\Gamma_PL~1.5 or kT_MCD~1.5 keV) above this luminosity, similar to the spectral evolution of Galactic neutron star (NS) LMXBs in the soft state in the Chandra bandpass. Therefore we identified the track as the NS LMXB soft-state track and suggested sources with L_X7x10^37 erg/s as Z sources. Ten other sources (five are transients) displayed significantly softer spectra and are probably black hole X-ray binaries in the thermal state. One of them (persistent) is in a metal-poor GC.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, four online tables, accepted for publication in Ap

The Megasecond Chandra X-Ray Visionary Project Observation of NGC 3115 (III): luminosity functions of LMXBs and dependence on stellar environments

We have studied the X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in the nearby lenticular galaxy NGC 3115, using the Megasecond Chandra X-Ray Visionary Project Observation. With a total exposure time of ~1.1 Ms, we constructed the XLF down to a limiting luminosity of ~10^36 erg/s, much deeper than typically reached for other early-type galaxies. We found significant flattening of the overall LMXB XLF from dN/dL \propto L^{-2.2\pm0.4} above 5.5x10^37 erg/s to dN/dL \propto L^{-1.0\pm0.1} below it, though we could not rule out a fit with a higher break at ~1.6x10^38 erg/s. We also found evidence that the XLF of LMXBs in globular clusters (GCs) is overall flatter than that of field LMXBs. Thus our results for this galaxy do not support the idea that all LMXBs are formed in GCs. The XLF of field LMXBs seems to show spatial variation, with the XLF in the inner region of the galaxy being flatter than that in the outer region, probably due to contamination of LMXBs from undetected and/or disrupted GCs in the inner region. The XLF in the outer region is probably the XLF of primordial field LMXBs, exhibiting dN/dL \propto L^{-1.2\pm0.1} up to a break close to the Eddington limit of neutron star LMXBs (~1.7x10^38 erg/s). The break of the GC LMXB XLF is lower, at ~1.1x10^37 erg/s. We also confirm previous findings that the metal-rich/red GCs are more likely to host LMXBs than the metal-poor/blue GCs, which is more significant for more luminous LMXBs, and that more massive GCs are more likely to host LMXBs.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Integration of Energy Storage and Distributed Generation (DG) in Distribution Systems: Economic Analysis and Development Perspective

This paper sheds light on distributed generation (DG) and energy storage and their impacts on electricity distribution networks. The purpose is to consider the various technologies of DG and energy storage and their financial and dynamic influence on the distribution network performance. In this paper, some different business cases in the U.S. related to energy storage and DG are investigated. One of these cases is related to Hawaiian Electric CO. One of the goals of Hawaiian Electric Co. for 2030 is to provide at least 65 percent of its electricity from renewable resources and working on providing sufficient energy storage. The company is considering energy storage project proposals on Oahu in order to provide their services by 2017. The paper will provide a look inside the company and how they are managing their existing projects and their future plans

Integration of Energy Storage and Distributed Generation (DG) in Distribution Systems: Economic Analysis and Development Perspective

This paper sheds light on distributed generation (DG) and energy storage and their impacts on electricity distribution networks. The purpose is to consider the various technologies of DG and energy storage and their financial and dynamic influence on the distribution network performance. In this paper, some different business cases in the U.S. related to energy storage and DG are investigated. One of these cases is related to Hawaiian Electric CO. One of the goals of Hawaiian Electric Co. for 2030 is to provide at least 65 percent of its electricity from renewable resources and working on providing sufficient energy storage. The company is considering energy storage project proposals on Oahu in order to provide their services by 2017. The paper will provide a look inside the company and how they are managing their existing projects and their future plans

Aquilegia, Vol. 25 No. 4, May-June 2001: Newsletter of the Colorado Native Plant Society

https://epublications.regis.edu/aquilegia/1185/thumbnail.jp