Terrorism by media: Coverage of the Ahmed Zaoui affair

Last year [2003], in a supremely hypocritical editorial, The New Zealand Herald laid into the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) for its ‘farcical level of research’ on Ahmed Zaoui.1 Zaoui is an Algerian national who turned up at Auckland International Airport in early December 2002, and asked for political asylum. He was immediately imprisoned. Relying on classified NZSIS information, the Minister of Immigration has declared Zaoui a threat to national security and issued a Security Risk Certificate against him, allowing his continued detention. The Herald pointed to the just-released decision of the Refugee Status Appeals Authority 2, which had found no credible evidence that Zaoui was a terrorist

Book Review: Media Law in New Zealand

This article is a book review of John Burrows and Ursula Cheer Media Law in New Zealand (5 ed, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 2005) (655 + Ixxvii Pages). The book is a lucid and comprehensive compilation of the disparate laws affecting the media in New Zealand, and some significant steps toward making sense of media law as a whole. Price argues that the emergence of media law as a legitimate field of study in New Zealand owes much to this book. The authors elucidate the law rather than evaluate it, as they are designed to help journalists and media lawyers navigate their way around legal pitfalls by providing practical advice. Price expresses weariness over the fact that the book contains dozens of examples of vexed statutory and common law issues whose resolutions ought to be informed by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 ('BORA'), and that a burgeoning BORA jurisprudence will oblige the authors to include more on the BORA right to freedom of expression in later editions of the text. Until the law becomes more principled and coherent, however, Price concludes that the book's guidance remains indispensable.&nbsp

Understanding the Biology of Clover Root Curculio and Improving Their Management Using Biofumigation in Alfalfa

Clover root curculio (CRC) is a pest of alfalfa where larvae feed belowground damaging alfalfa roots. Regional knowledge of CRC activity and biology is limited making the development of pest management strategies difficult. One potential management technique for soil-dwelling pests is the use of biofumigant containing cover crops. Biofumigation can affect the survival and behavior of pest insects. However, biofumigant crops have not been evaluated against CRC or as a rotational crop compatible with alfalfa. The goals of this research were to determine 1) phenology, population sizes, and root damage severity of CRC occurring in the Intermountain region and 2) the direct and indirect suppressive effects of biofumigant cover crop incorporations on CRC and its agronomic compatibility in rotation with alfalfa. First, I observed that larval activity occurred from mid-spring to mid-summer and local larval densities were generally lower than those reported in the eastern U.S. Adult CRC began emerging from the soil in mid-summer having two population peaks. After the second fall peak of adults was when most eggs were deposited which continued through early winter. CRC damage to taproots was cumulative, increasing as stands age, with most damage occurring in the first few years of stand life and mostly occurring in the top 20 cm of roots. While the incorporation of biofumigant crops appeared to be compatible with alfalfa and did not negatively affect yield, in field trials, biofumigation did not suppress CRC, disrupt egg laying, or decrease feeding damage. In one greenhouse trial, biofumigants significantly suppressed adult feeding rates more than non-biofumigant plants but the effect was not consistent. Biofumigant incorporation timing, for field trials in particular, may have contributed to the lack of CRC suppression. Overall, my research provides a better understanding of CRC phenology and activity in northern Utah and will assist in improving the timing of management approaches in alfalfa

A Study of Adobe Wall Moisture Profiles and the Resulting Effects on Matched Illumination Waveforms in Through-The-Wall Radar Applications

In this dissertation, methods utilizing matched illumination theory to optimally design waveforms for enhanced target detection and identification in the context of through-the-wall radar (TWR) are explored. The accuracy of assumptions made in the waveform design process is evaluated through simulation. Additionally, the moisture profile of an adobe wall is investigated, and it is shown that the moisture profile of the wall will introduce significant variations in the matched illumination waveforms and subsequently, affect the resulting ability of the radar system to correctly identify and detect a target behind the wall. Experimental measurements of adobe wall moisture and corresponding dielectric properties confirms the need for accurate moisture profile information when designing radar waveforms which enhance signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) through use of matched illumination waveforms on the wall/target scenario. Furthermore, an evaluation of the ability to produce an optimal, matched illumination waveform for transmission using simple, common radar systems is undertaken and radar performance is evaluated

[Review of] Charles A. Eastman. Indian Boyhood

Following his mother\u27s death shortly after his birth, Charles A. Eastman acquired the name Hakadah -- the pitiful last. Not until age four, when his band of the Santee Sioux defeated their friendly rivals in lacrosse, would he he honored with his second name, Ohiyesa -- winner. This name bears importance, for Eastman retains it as the signature to his autobiography, Indian Boyhood. First published in 1902, the work represents one of the earliest examples of Native American biography as it details the life of Eastman from his native birth to his entrance into the white world at the age of fifteen. To the events of his childhood, Eastman adds ancestral stories passed on to him by, among others, his stronghearted grandmother, Uncheedah. The author\u27s unique perspective -- he lives within two worlds destined not to coexist -- also allows him to discuss the influence white settlers had on his people. Without animosity, appearing more concerned with educating his reader than with exacting revenge, Eastman describes the Sioux \u27s forced exposure to soldiers, to trappers, and to the loss of their land that once stood as the central focus of their culture. Through his anecdotes and commentary, Eastman offers his reader a portrait of the midwestern Santee Sioux not found in any conventional textbook

The Power...to Alter and Amend : Textual Production and Editorial Actions in Samuel Richardson\u27s Clarissa .

This dissertation is a study of texts, focusing on how texts are constructed (through both words as well as physical attributes) and how they are edited after their initial composition. The scope of this dissertation is limited to Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) and his rare 1750 third edition of Clarissa and to the characters in Clarissa and their familiar letters. I argue that the altering of a text is a negotiation of power between the editor and the author, and that editors advance their personal agendas by undermining the intentions of the author. In Chapter 1, I explain the relevancy of textual studies to literary criticism. In Chapter 2, I examine how Richardson, master printer as well as author, constructs Clarissa as a material text, meaning that he builds plot, characterization, and his didactic message through the text\u27s linguistic as well as physical features. In Chapter 3, I address the familiar letters constructed by characters within Clarissa. Although the material details of these fictional letters--including handwriting and seals--cannot be seen by readers of the novel, they can still be conceptualized in the mind and interpreted for their visual meaning. In Chapter 4, as a transition to the editing of texts, I summarize the eighteenth- and twentieth-century editorial theories most relevant to Clarissa. In Chapter 5, I evaluate Richardson\u27s role as editor of Clarissa, focusing on the textual apparatus he constructs around his novel. Richardson exploits the editorial role in a manner not seen in other eighteenth-century novels, using the apparatus to control readers\u27 interpretations. In Chapter 6, I discuss the characters in Clarissa as editors, showing how they frequently alter and even forge/rewrite letters after their initial composition. These editorial actions, which I refer to as fictional editing, expand the narrative beyond the initial act of writing and complicate the issues of characterization, gender, and subjectivity inherent in the familiar letter. In Chapter 7, I conclude by suggesting additional concerns for textual/literary critics, including the implications of lost physical details in electronic texts

Extending the Latent Multinomial Model with Complex Error Processes and Dynamic Markov Bases

The latent multinomial model (LMM) model of Link et al. (2010) provided a general framework for modelling mark-recapture data with potential errors in identification. Key to this approach was a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) scheme for sampling possible configurations of the counts true capture histories that could have generated the observed data. This MCMC algorithm used vectors from a basis for the kernel of the linear map between the true and observed counts to move between the possible configurations of the true data. Schofield and Bonner (2015) showed that a strict basis was sufficient for some models of the errors, including the model presented by Link et al. (2010), but a larger set called a Markov basis may be required for more complex models. We address two further challenges with this approach: 1) that models with more complex error mechanisms do not fit easily within the LMM and 2) that the Markov basis can be difficult or impossible to compute for even moderate sized studies. We address these issues by extending the LMM to separately model the capture/demographic process and the error process and by developing a new MCMC sampling scheme using dynamic Markov bases. Our work is motivated by a study of Queen snakes (Regina septemvittata) in Kentucky, USA, and we use simulation to compare the use of PIT tags, with perfect identification, and brands, which are prone to error, when estimating survival rates

Beneficial Predators: Syrphid Flies

This fact sheet describes Syrphid flies, a diverse family of insects which can provide both biocontrol and pollination services. While not available for purchase, natural populations can be conserved through wise insecticide use practices and enhancing floral resources. Beneficial insects, including syrphid flies, are a useful tool for home gardeners and commercial agriculturalists alike to keep damaging pest populations to a minimum

Tiling strategies for optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers by wide field of view telescopes

Binary neutron stars are among the most promising candidates for joint gravitational-wave and electromagnetic astronomy. The goal of this work is to investigate the strategy of using gravitational wave sky-localizations for binary neutron star systems, to search for electromagnetic counterparts using wide field of view optical telescopes. We examine various strategies of scanning the gravitational wave sky-localizations on the mock 2015-16 gravitational-wave events. We propose an optimal tiling-strategy that would ensure the most economical coverage of the gravitational wave sky-localization, while keeping in mind the realistic constrains of transient optical astronomy. Our analysis reveals that the proposed tiling strategy improves the sky-localization coverage over naive contour-covering method. The improvement is more significant for observations conducted using larger field of view telescopes, or for observations conducted over smaller confidence interval of gravitational wave sky-localization probability distribution. Next, we investigate the performance of the tiling strategy for telescope arrays and compare their performance against monolithic giant field of view telescopes. We observed that distributing the field of view of the telescopes into arrays of multiple telescopes significantly improves the coverage efficiency by as much as 50% over a single large FOV telescope in 2016 localizations while scanning around 100 sq. degrees. Finally, we studied the ability of optical counterpart detection by various types of telescopes. In Our analysis for a range of wide field-of-view telescopes we found improvement in detection upon sacrificing coverage of localization in order to achieve greater observation depth for very large field-of-view - small aperture telescopes, especially if the intrinsic brightness of the optical counterparts are weak.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 10 pages, 10 figure

Monopolies and the Constitution: A History of Crony Capitalism

This article explores the right of the people to be free from government granted monopolies or from what we would today call Crony Capitalism. We trace the constitutional history of this right from Tudor England down to present day state and federal constitutional law. We begin with Darcy v. Allen (also known as the Case of Monopolies decided in 1603) and the Statute of Monopolies of 1624, both of which prohibited English Kings and Queens from granting monopolies. We then show how the American colonists relied on English rights to be free from government granted monopolies during the Revolutionary War period as, for example, when American colonists protested against the East India Company\u27s trade monopoly by holding the Boston Tea Party. We show that hatred of trade monopolies led in part to the American Revolution. During the drafting and debates on the federal Constitution, Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, as well as several Antifederalists, expressed grave concern about government grants of monopoly power. The new federal government was thus only given the enumerated power to create monopolies in the patent and copyright areas, and the Framers at Philadelphia deliberately chose not to give Congress the power to charter corporations which might be used to grant monopolies. During the Jacksonian era, it was a hatred of government grants of monopoly that helped to lead to President Jackson\u27s killing of the federally incorporated Bank of the United States. The same sentiment led as well to the Supreme Court\u27s narrowing of the Contract Clause in the Charles River Bridge case. Many state laws were struck down during the Jacksonian era for being monopolies, class laws, or grants of special privilege. By the 1850s, the Abolitionists themselves had begun to borrow the antimonopoly idea to argue that slavery was a constitutionally forbidden monopoly by slave owners of the labor of African Americans. By 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, the Reconstruction Congress was firmly opposed to all forms of class legislation, grants of special privilege, or of monopoly. Concerns about the evils of government granted monopolies were thus central to the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. We argue that Americans have a constitutional right to be free from government grants of monopoly and other forms of class legislation because of: 1) the rich English and American colonial history with respect to the right to be free from monopolies; 2) the state constitutional law bans on monopolies, class legislation, and special grants of privilege; 3) the limiting of federal enumerated power to grant monopolies to the patent and copyright context; and 4) the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. We think that the Slaughter-House Cases were wrongly decided, and we argue against rational basis review in economic liberties cases. We provide historical and legal arguments that defend the classical liberalism of John Tomasi in his new book defending economic liberty, Free Market Fairness