From Ninevite to Comtsotsi: Township gangs, divided communities and urban violence in twentieth century South Africa

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 18 May 1998. Not to be quoted without the Author's permission.Despite the unprecedented level of public concern with violent crime in the "new South Africa", surprisingly little effort has been made to explore the historical roots of urban gangsterism. Since their establishment, the segregated black residential areas commonly referred to as townships have proved a fertile breeding ground for criminal gangs. Moving beyond the standard approaches which characterise gangs as either social bandits or destructive predators, this paper suggests that gang/community relations were fluid and ambiguous and that to understand why gangs have been (and remain) such a prevalent presence in the townships we need to appreciate the fragmented nature of township society and the ways in which gangs reflected, exploited and exacerbated urban fault lines. Finally, a comparison between criminal violence on the Rand in the 1940-1980 period and the more recent political conflict between supporters of the ANC and Inkatha will attempt to demonstrate how divided communities are vulnerable to gang violence

Spectral and temporal studies of accretion and ejection processes around supermassive black holes

In the centre of every major galaxy is a supermassive black hole. Some of these power an active galactic nucleus (AGN) in which the black hole is growing by accreting the luminous disc of material around it. As well as consuming matter, AGN can eject it in the form of powerful jets travelling at relativistic velocities. I present detailed studies of two narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies which exhibit powerful jets and high-energy gamma-ray emission. I explore the relationship between the disc and jet in these sources and suggest that their jets are relatively underpowered. Although AGN are too small and distant to be spatially resolved, temporal studies can reveal information about the processes occurring within the central engine. I conduct a temporal spectroscopic study of a hypervariable AGN which dimmed and rebrightened by a factor of three over four years. I demonstrate that the event is due to an intrinsic change within the accretion disc, and is not due to obscuration by an external body. Such dramatic variability poses a challenge to our current models of accretion discs. I draw attention to some new models which confront this problem. Finally, I place my findings in the context of the current literature and discuss some of its limitations and open questions. I highlight how future, planned observatories will help us to address these issues and deepen our understanding of AGN

Appreciation units in United States history.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

RecallM: An Architecture for Temporal Context Understanding and Question Answering

The ideal long-term memory mechanism for Large Language Model (LLM) based chatbots, would lay the foundation for continual learning, complex reasoning and allow sequential and temporal dependencies to be learnt. Creating this type of memory mechanism is an extremely challenging problem. In this paper we explore different methods of achieving the effect of long-term memory. We propose a new architecture focused on creating adaptable and updatable long-term memory for AGI systems. We demonstrate through various experiments the benefits of the RecallM architecture, particularly the improved temporal understanding of knowledge it provides.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, Our code is publicly available online at: https://github.com/cisco-open/DeepVision/tree/main/recall

Structure and management issues of the emerging ornamental fish trade in Eritrea

Following independence from Ethiopia in 1993, Eritrea resumed exploiting Red Sea and Arabian fish species for the ornamental trade in 1995 as a means to earn foreign exchange from sparsely exploited marine resources. This paper describes the findings of research conducted in 1997, in collaboration with the Eritrean Ministry of Fisheries. The capture, transport and export of aquarium fish were reviewed and potential impacts and the status of management were investigated through liaison with stakeholders and researchers. From 1995 to 1997 two companies exported approximately 60,000 fish per year, mainly to the USA, worth US$65,000 (export value). Seventyfive species (from 22 families) were exported. Damselfishes made up two-thirds of total exports but more valuable families (angelfishes and butterflyfishes) were more economically significant. To earn revenue for Eritrea, a 20% export tax was imposed, although this was calculated from declarations by the operators. The emerging nature of the trade allowed detailed monitoring by the Ministry of Fisheries. However, management efforts were constrained by a lack of capacity for enforcement and baseline research. Several potential effects of the trade exist but other, land-based impacts may be more pressing concerns for Eritrea’s reefs. Research priorities for management are discussed as well as the implications of mariculture of Eritrean species by other nations

No. 21: Cross-Border Raiding and Community Conflict in the Lesotho-South African Border Zone

Movement backwards and forwards across borders for work is often considered to be the primary form of unauthorized movement in Southern Africa. In southern Lesotho, a new and particularly dangerous form of two-way cross-border movement has become entrenched. This situation warrants the label “crisis”; a crisis which is devastating parts of the countryside in both Lesotho and the northern Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Media and official attention has focused on the extreme violence which accompanies cross-border stock raiding. This paper seeks to understand the social and economic roots and impacts of cross-border stock theft. Such an analysis is a vital first-step towards the resolution of the conflict since it shows not only why the violence occurs but who stands to benefit from its perpetuation. The analysis is also helpful to understanding the extent to which the existence of an international border is implicated in the cycle and counter-cycle of violence. This paper concludes with an assessment of official reaction, or inaction, on the crisis. The findings are based upon wide-ranging interviews with 147 respondents in 10 villages in southern Lesotho. A complementary study is now recommended on the South African side of the border. The stock theft epidemic is characterized by the following features: Although stock theft is not new to this border zone, it became more widespread, organized and violent in the 1990s. Some 71% of the Basotho stockowners reported having had stock stolen since 1990, many more than once. Over 40% of nonstockowners say they are without animals because of stock theft. Since 1990, 85% of stockowners in the border villages have lost animals to thieves as compared with 49% from non-border villages. Shepherds from border villages also report a higher rate of victimisation (83%) than those further removed from the border (50%). Most cattle and sheep are stolen from cattle posts where they are guarded only by shepherds. Stock is also taken from village kraals and, on occasion, whole villages have been attacked and all the stock driven off. Villagers in all ten villages rate stock theft as a serious problem. Stock thieves come from within Lesotho as well as across the border in South Africa. Basotho stock thieves also carry out raids in South Africa and vice-versa. Gun use is widespread, although South African raiders seem to have greater access to arms. Much of the theft appears to be coordinated by well-organised criminal gangs but reliable information on their composition and organization is difficult to access. Criminal networks in Lesotho and South Africa also cooperate to dispose of stolen animals in the lowlands of Lesotho and as far afield as Port Elizabeth, Durban and Welkom The upsurge in stock theft is clearly related to growing poverty in the region. On both sides of the border, mine retrenchments have hit hard, sending experienced miners home and denying young men access to wage employment. Not only has this exacerbated household and community poverty, but it has provided willing foot-soldiers for stock thieves. Stock raiding produces further impoverishment, insecurity and suspicion, fuelling the escalating cycle of theft and counter-theft. Though not itself in dispute or a source of conflict per se, the Lesotho-South African border plays an essential role in the organization and impact of stock theft. There are significant differences in vulnerability and impact between villages close to the border and those further inland. The international border leads to a distinctive pattern of stock theft. In the simplest scenario, raiders from one side steal from border villages on the other and vice-versa and drive the stock back over the border. The situation becomes more problematic when Basotho stock thieves use the border as a refuge, stealing from Basotho and driving the animals across the border into South Africa to sell or exchange with South African thieves. Cross-border counter-raids to retrieve lost stock and revenge attacks are also common on both sides of the border. South African victims then target Basotho border villages for revenge raids, resulting in great tension and friction between ordinary Basotho and South Africans. The only Lesotho village reporting harmonious cross-border relations borders a white South African farming area. However, white border farmers are not aloof from the conflict. Lesotho police and villagers are adamant that some white South African farmers are implicated in cross-border theft. Stock raiding has major negative impacts on households, communities and cross-border interaction. The impacts also extend to the national economy. In Qacha’s Nek and Quthing districts, production of wool and mohair has fallen significantly in the last 5 years. Livestock holdings have dropped and the numbers of stockless households has increased. Farmers are reluctant to invest in breeding cattle as households debate the merits of getting rid of their cattle. One prominent stock-owner recently lost M200,000 of stock. Stock theft has also had a deleterious effect on agriculture, reducing the availability of oxen for ploughing fields. No one is immune from small-scale and organized raiding. Stock theft, coupled with decreasing agricultural production and increasing unemployment, deepens poverty and desperation. At the household and community level, the research found the following: Nearly 90% of respondents state their household economies have been negatively affected by stock theft. A household’s entire wealth and livelihood can be wiped out in one attack. Escalating stock theft and related violence have profound social consequences, bringing fear and insecurity to ordinary people. People are abandoning their villages and migrating to town and to South Africa to look for work. Community relations have become fraught with tension and suspicion. Nearly half of all stockowners interviewed suspect specific individuals within their own village are involved in the theft of animals – acting either as informants or actual thieves. Invariably it is the poor who are fingered and stigmatised. Communal cooperation such as livestock loaning for ploughing and mafisa (sharing of products) is in steep decline, as are cultural activities and celebrations which involve the slaughter of animals. Cross-border cooperation, activities and initiatives have collapsed and there is considerable animosity and hatred between the communities on either side of the border. Even casual visiting and shopping have all but ceased. Prevention efforts have involved some cross-border cooperation between villages to apprehend thieves and return cattle but these efforts are sporadic and make little dent on the problem. They often also lead to vicious reprisals from stock-theft syndicates. Vigilantism is on the rise in the face of widespread perceptions that the police and the courts on both sides of the border are either ineffectual or corrupt. This paper examines the inadequacies of the policing of the crisis, highlighting the low rates of arrest and prosecution. The difficulties of geography and inadequate resources which hamper effective policing are highlighted. Only in areas where the army is stationed or soldiers patrol the border has there been any marked decrease in theft. The situation is bound to deteriorate further unless there is effective national-level attention and intervention. The low-level civil war in the nearby Tsolo district of South Africa in 1997 was fuelled by a potent mix of poverty, mine retrenchments and stock theft. This conflict could well pale in comparison with the volatile situation building in the southern Lesotho border zone. Here, the same combination of factors are compounded by ethnic and national difference, and the strategic manipulation of borders by stock thieves on both sides. Both governments need to recognize that this local crisis could escalate into a major conflagration and intervene to defuse the situation, calm tensions and work towards effective policing and a political solution. Within Lesotho, the passage of a new Stock Theft Act promises heavy penalties for the shadowy figures involved in organized raiding, provided they can be caught. The institution of a national stock register also seems a step in the right direction though its likely effectiveness is debated. Both the Lesotho and South African governments should acknowledge that a crisis situation exists and that this is a regional problem. Only when national governments, working together with local stakeholders, take the problem seriously and begin cooperating can workable initiatives to halt this devastating social and economic plague be implemented

Seasonal changes in the movement rates and activity patterns of Canada lynx

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023An animal's temporal niche, or when it is active during the 24-hour day, is a fundamental aspect of its overall niche and ecology. Animals are confined to a temporal niche to maximize energetic gains while avoiding agonistic encounters with predators or intraguild competitors. An animal's temporal niche can be influenced by a variety of biotic and abiotic factors, and the temporal niche of predators is often established through a careful balance of prey behavior and the predator's physiological adaptations. This study examined the seasonal change of patterns of activity in Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in Northern Alaska using both GPS transmitters and triaxial accelerometers. The distance between consecutive GPS locations, or step length, is a common metric used to assess how movement rates vary across space and time and is often used to examine activity patterns of free ranging terrestrial animals. However, activity can only be examined at a high resolution for a short period of time, as fix rate inversely affects battery life of the GPS transmitter. Further, animal activity includes a range of behaviors that are not always discernable by spatial displacement alone (e.g., grooming, eating, some hunting behaviors), thus GPS transmitters can sometimes lead to underestimation of activity. Triaxial accelerometers can be used in addition to GPS transmitters to record activity in the presence or absence of spatial displacement, therefore theoretically providing a more accurate index of activity of free ranging animals. Both GPS and accelerometers separately indicated that lynx were most active near twilight and maintained a bimodal crepuscular-like activity pattern in spring and fall, but they switched to a unimodal pattern of activity during mid-day in winter. Hourly GPS data alone was insufficient in detecting diel activity patterns in 6 of 12 instances. We also found that step length and vectorial dynamic body acceleration (VeDBA), an index of body acceleration, were correlated in a positive curvilinear fashion in all individuals. However, there were times when step length was disproportionately lower than acceleration. These intervals of high activity, but short spatial displacements, could be indicative of hunting in a patch of habitat. Consistent with this interpretation, animals that exhibited this dichotomy had an increased likelihood of rest in the next hour. We also found that mean VeDBA and mean step length were not correlated at a seasonal scale, and mean step length and other GPS derived metrics were much more variable between individuals than VeDBA. We conclude that there are multiple ways accelerometers can provide additional information that can supplement GPS location data to provide a more complete picture of animal activity and behavior, including using the relationship of acceleration and spatial displacement data to shed light on space use patterns that may not be apparent using GPS data alone.UAF Department of Biology and Wildlife, the Institute of Arctic Biology, and the Bonanza Creek LTE