Torture Laid Bare

AbstractTorture, while internationally sanctioned, is not well-defined. This paper sets out a Minimal English definition of the crime of ‘torture’ in international law. The four elements of torture are: (1) infliction of severe pain and suffering (2) acting with intent (3) for a purpose (4) by the state. The connection between intention and outcome is considered in the light of presumptions. I then briefly consider the concept of ‘lawful sanctions’ and the UN Standard Minimum Rules that apply to the treatment of prisoners to establish a baseline against which allegations of torture can be measured. Finally, I argue that current regimes of British benefit sanctions, whereby social welfare payments are stopped, may in some cases constitute torture. This argument considers the effects of sanctions and the discourses and ideologies attached to social welfare claimants.</jats:p

A fool and his money are soon parted:A critical examination of credit card websites

This paper critiques the idea that a fool and their money are soon parted by using multimodal analysis to explore one of the ways in which people are parted from money: credit cards. I analyse the homepages of two products, the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ as rated by UK consumer organisation Which? In order to understand the range of communication used in these websites, I employ a multimodal analysis of their language, choice of colour, typeface, layout and images (Kress &amp; van Leeuwen 2006; van Leeuwen 2005, 2011). Together, these show that the individual is constructed in different ways by the two products. For the card rated best, the viewer is constructed as a trustworthy consumer who is rewarded for this with further opportunities for consumption. For the card rated as worst, the viewer is positioned as a failed, but redeemable, consumer. The different constructions of the consumer also suggest that ‘credit’ is desirable but ‘debt’ is not. Taking into account the moral complexity of debt, I suggest that the lexical item credit card would be better changed to debt token. I argue that the real foolishness is the system itself, the one that credit cards (‘debt tokens’) index and exemplify. Taking the two sites together, I show that consumption is constructed as both desirable and risky. As credit cards construct the individual as an (isolated) person with few rights and great responsibility (Henry 2010), I suggest that these sites index the central role of the individual as a consumer. A good citizen is parted from their money.© 2019, The Author(s). This is an author produced version of a paper due to be published in RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF LINGUISTICS uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self- archiving policy. Some minor differences between this version and the final published version mayremain. We suggest you refer to the final published version should you wish tocite from it.</p

An ecological framing of HIV preventive intervention: a case study of non-government organizational work in the developing world

The work that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) perform in terms of HIV and AIDS is wide-ranging. Financial resources are available from government and other agencies if NGOs can frame their work in alignment with their interests. We take the particular case of Disha Foundation, an NGO working in Nasik, in the state of Maharashtra in India, whose clients are migrant workers. Drawing upon a broad notion of frame, we focus on the way in which activities such as ‘intervention’, ‘prevention’, ‘empowerment’ and ‘community’ in the HIV field can differ radically from articulation (at a government level) to practice (of NGOs). Disha’s interventions can be described as ecological, in so far as they map and change root causes. Thus, Disha can be seen as doing HIV prevention. Further, we argue that framing HIV funding calls primarily in terms of ‘quality of life’ would facilitate the work of NGOs, especially of ecological interventions

Terms of use and abuse: the recruiting rhetoric of cults

Cults are negatively regarded. The way in which they persuade people to join their movements is particularly criticised by, for example, the anti-cult movement. Cults do use language in specific ways to recruit new members. There are, however, other groups who use language similarly, for recruitment purposes, but without stigmatisation. A new framework for rhetorical analysis, incorporating both classical tradition and contemporary work in text analysis, is particularly useful at demonstrating this. This thesis develops such a framework and uses it to analyse the rhetoric of three cults, Scientology, The Jehovah's Witnesses and the Children of God, showing that cults' distinctive negative profile in society is not matched by a linguistic typology. Indeed, this negative profile seems to rest on the semantics and application of the term 'cult' itself. Not only does this analysis increase our understanding of rhetoric, it paves the way for new questions to be asked about the pejoration of cults

Trolling in asynchronous computer-mediated communication: From user discussions to academic definitions

Whilst computer-mediated communication (CMC) can benefit users by providing quick and easy communication between those separated by time and space, it can also provide varying degrees of anonymity that may encourage a sense of impunity and freedom from being held accountable for inappropriate online behaviour. As such, CMC is a fertile ground for studying impoliteness, whether it occurs in response to perceived threat (flaming), or as an end in its own right (trolling). Currently, first and secondorder definitions of terms such as im/politeness (Brown and Levinson 1987; Bousfield 2008; Culpeper 2008; Terkourafi 2008), in-civility (Lakoff 2005), rudeness (Beebe 1995, Kienpointner 1997, 2008), and etiquette (Coulmas 1992), are subject to much discussion and debate, yet the CMC phenomenon of trolling is not adequately captured by any of these terms. Following Bousfield (in press), Culpeper (2010) and others, this paper suggests that a definition of trolling should be informed first and foremost by user discussions. Taking examples from a 172-million-word, asynchronous CMC corpus, four interrelated conditions of aggression, deception, disruption, and success are discussed. Finally, a working definition of trolling is presented

Long-term cellular immunity of vaccines for Zaire Ebola Virus Diseases

Recent Ebola outbreaks underscore the importance of continuous prevention and disease control efforts. Authorized vaccines include Merck’s Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) and Johnson & Johnson’s two-dose combination (Ad26.ZEBOV/MVA-BN-Filo). Here, in a five-year follow-up of the PREVAC randomized trial (NCT02876328), we report the results of the immunology ancillary study of the trial. The primary endpoint is to evaluate long-term memory T-cell responses induced by three vaccine regimens: Ad26–MVA, rVSV, and rVSV–booster. Polyfunctional EBOV-specific CD4+ T-cell responses increase after Ad26 priming and are further boosted by MVA, whereas minimal responses are observed in the rVSV groups, declining after one year. In-vitro expansion for eight days show sustained EBOV-specific T-cell responses for up to 60 months post-prime vaccination with both Ad26-MVA and rVSV, with no decline. Cytokine production analysis identify shared biomarkers between the Ad26-MVA and rVSV groups. In secondary endpoint, we observed an elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines at Day 7 in the rVSV group. Finally, we establish a correlation between EBOV-specific T-cell responses and anti-EBOV IgG responses. Our findings can guide booster vaccination recommendations and help identify populations likely to benefit from revaccination