[Review of] Jennifer S.H. Brown and Robert Brightman. The Orders of the Dreamed :George Nelson on Cree and Northern Ojibwa Religion and Myth, 1823

This text addresses the complex challenge of comprehending religious otherness. Brown and Brightman present a previously unpublished 1823 letter journal of fur trader George Nelson in which he reflects on his struggle to understand the Cree and Ojibwa people he knew at first hand. While he constantly wondered at the strangeness of Algonquian religion, he also expressed his admiration as frequently. The Cree and the Ojibwa were thoroughly religious and, paradoxical as it seemed to Nelson, he did admit that their religion worked

[Review of] James A. Clifton. The Prairie People: Continuity and Change in Potawatomi Indian Culture, 1665-1965

Until very recently, Indian history existed in the doldrums of guilt and ethnocentric misunderstanding. Since Indians were preeminently the great American obstacle to the inexorable process of United States expansion and progress, they have been relegated to the quiet, but nasty, fringes of Euroamerican history. Indians were destroyed or degraded in national chronicles. Sorry remnants of once proud peoples, reservation Indians, the story line goes, remained obstinately and hopelessly beyond the winds of change

China-U.S. Trade Issues

[Excerpt] U.S.-China economic ties have expanded substantially over the past several years. Total U.S.-China trade, which totaled only $5 billion in 1980, rose to$387 billion in 2007. China overtook Japan to become the third largest U.S. export market, and overtook Canada to become the largest source of U.S. imports. With a huge population and a rapidly expanding economy, China is a potentially huge market for U.S. exporters. However, U.S.-China economic relations have become strained over a number of issues, including large and growing U.S. trade deficits with China (which hit $256 billion in 2007), China’s failure to fully implement its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments (especially in regards to protection of intellectual property rights), its refusal to adopt a floating currency system, its use of industrial policies and other practices deemed unfair and/or harmful to various U.S. economic sectors, and failure to ensure that its exports to the United States meet U.S. health and safety standards. The Bush Administration has come under increasing pressure from Congress to take a more aggressive stance against various Chinese economic and trade practices. In response, it filed a number of trade dispute resolution cases against China in the WTO, including China’s failure to protect IPR and afford market access for IPR-related products, discriminatory regulations on imported auto parts, and import and export subsidies to various industries in China. In addition, the Administration reversed a long-standing policy that countervailing cases (dealing with government subsidies) could not be brought against non-market economies (such as China). In December 2006, the Administration began a “Strategic Economic Dialogue” (SED) with China to discuss major long-term economic issues between the two countries; the latest SED talks were held in December 2007. In response to growing concerns in the United States over the health, safety, and quality of certain Chinese products, the Administration in 2007 concluded agreements with China on toys, food and feed, drugs and medical devices, and tires. Numerous bills have been introduced in Congress that would impact U.S.-China economic relations. H.R. 321, H.R. 782, H.R. 1002, H.R. 2942, S. 364, S. 796, S. 1607, and S. 1677 seek to address China’s currency policy. H.R. 388 would prohibit U.S. imports of Chinese autos as long as Chinese tariffs on autos are higher than U.S. tariffs. H.R. 708, H.R. 1229, and S. 974 would apply U.S. countervailing laws to China. H.R. 1958 and S. 571 would terminate China’s permanent normal trade relations status. H.R. 275 would prohibit U.S. companies from aiding regimes that restrict Internet access. S. 1919 would limit the president’s discretion on Section 421 investigations on import surges from China. H.R. 3273 would expand U.S. export promotion programs to boost exports to China. Finally, numerous bills have been introduced to address concerns over unsafe imports (including from China). This report examines major U.S.-China trade issues and will be updated as events warrant

Journal of another plague year

Recent years have seen a catalogue of plagues and sundry other contagions. Hard on the scaly heels of avian flu follows global warming, swine flu, obesity, and now the economic plague. This litany of woes has affect’d me deeply, as these few entries from my diary this past year shew. Rose early to enjoy reading the latest bill of mortality of estate agents in the Parish of St Giles, which show’d again a monthly increase. The Bankers, too, have this past year been struck low, and it transpires that their understanding of the term "Bank" has left much to be desired; they have been sinking our shillings in miscellaneous crackpot schemes in the Colonies that few understand, and fewer profit from: to wit, hedge funds, subprime mortgages, Ponzi schemes, plans to build golden stairways to the moon, and God knows how many other feeble minded schemes

Socio-economic inequalities in survival of patients with prostate cancer: role of age and Gleason grade at diagnosis

In the United Kingdom, survival of prostate cancer patients has improved since the 1990s. A deprivation gap in survival (better survival for the least deprived compared with the most deprived) has been reported but it is not known if differential distribution of earlier age or lower grade disease at diagnosis might explain such patterns. We therefore investigated the impact of age and Gleason grade at diagnosis on the deprivation gap in survival of prostate cancer patients over time. Incident cases of prostate cancer (ICD-10 C61) from the West of Scotland were extracted from the Scottish Cancer Registry from 1991 to 2007. Socio-economic circumstances were measured using the Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation 2004 (SIMD). Age and deprivation specific mortality rates were obtained from the General Registrar Office for Scotland (GRO(S)). The survival gradient across the five deprivation categories was estimated with linear regression, weighted by the variance of the relative survival estimate. We examined the data for 15,292 adults diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1991 and 2007. Despite substantial improvements in survival of prostate cancer patients, a deprivation gap persists throughout the three periods of diagnoses. The deprivation gap in five year relative survival widened from −4.76 in 1991–1996 to −10.08 in 2003–2007. On age and grade-specific analyses, a significant deprivation gap in five year survival existed between all age groups except among patients' age ≥75 and both low and high grade disease. On multivariate analyses, deprivation was significantly associated with increased excess risk of death (RER 1.48, 95% CI 1.31–1.68, p-value<0.001) independent of age, Gleason grade and period of diagnosis. The deprivation gap in survival from prostate cancer cannot be wholly explained by socio-economic differentials in early detection of disease. Further research is needed to understand whether differences in comorbidities or treatment explain inequalities in prostate cancer outcomes

China’s Currency: An Analysis of the Economic Issues

[Excerpt] This report provides an overview of the economic issues surrounding the current debate over China’s currency policy. It identifies the economic costs and benefits of China’s currency policy for both China and the United States, and possible implications if China were to allow its currency to significantly appreciate or to float freely. It also examines proposed legislation in the 111th Congress that seek to address China’s currency policy

Impact of trail-side interpretive signs on visitor knowledge

Interpretive signs provide an important tool for enhancing visitor knowledge and understanding during a natural area experience. The Tree Top Walk (TTW) site in Western Australia adopted a minimal approach to interpretive signs to reduce distractions and allow the site to speak for itself. A 1999 pilot visitor survey indicated that many visitors were frustrated at this approach and wanted more signs installed along the walk trails despite the presence of information displays around the visitor kiosk. An interpretive sign trial was carried out in 2001 to assess the impact on visitor knowledge of the natural aspects of the site. While the trail-side interpretive signs provided no additional improvement in visitor knowledge, there appeared to be a positive increase in the perception of the site as providing a learning experience. The addition of trail-side interpretive signs also provided a point of interest for repeat visitors already familiar with the unique experience of the Tree Top Walk