Punishing Crimes of Terror in Article III Courts

The United States is at war against al Qaeda, an international terrorist organization. Over the past decade, the United States has invested substantial resources fighting the War on Terror. Terrorism prosecutions in Article III courts have factored prominently in America\u27s unconventional war with al Qaeda and its affiliated extremist networks. In this rather unprecedented way, the executive branch has enlisted the third branch-the judiciary-to pursue its war aims

An International Law Response to Economic Cyber Espionage

Cyber threats have emerged as one of the most serious dangers to U.S. and global security. Increasingly, malicious actors—some private, but others that appear to be state-sponsored—seek to advance their strategic aims through violent or non-violent cyber-attacks. This Article considers the problem of non-violent, yet still destructive, economic cyber espionage, which targets the intellectual, industrial, and information property of major global powers like the United States. The Article argues that the international community’s reticence is owing to a stale set of international legal norms. The Article explains how existing principles of international law—such as state sovereignty, non-intervention, and state responsibility—should evolve to address the current threat of economic cyber espionage. The Article also discusses how norms against economic cyber espionage could also be interpreted to exist within the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements that deal with intellectual property. These WTO rules together with the relevant (and modernized) customary norms arguably provide WTO member states recourse to the Dispute Settlement Body to assert their claims of economic cyber espionage. The Article urges victim states to channel their legal complaints through this economic body and its dispute resolution mechanism. It concludes with a realist perspective on why the WTO would be the most effective institution to ensure compliance with these norms

Cancelling Capitalism?

Grow the Pie’s defense of capitalism is a tremendous contribution, albeit one which Edmans himself downplays. While the author largely bills his work as one aiming to correct the factual record about profitmaximization— while providing pointers for managers and policymakers—Edmans reaffirms the validity and viability of corporate capitalism as an ideology that, in practice, advances human welfare. Injecting this viewpoint into the academic debate is critically important at a time when voices of stakeholderists seem the loudest. Sociological research long ago confirmed that societal expectations (as often shaped by academic discourse) have real impact on our social systems and institutions. Popularly, the phenomenon is recognizable as the “Oedipus effect.” Renowned economist George Soros translated that concept into economics, giving us good reason to think that what people are told about capitalism from the so-called experts will, in turn, dictate the shape of our markets and economy for many years to come. These are not petty stakes. Souring on capitalism prematurely, or based on factual inaccuracy, risks discarding decades of economic institution building. Between the lines, one could read Grow the Pieto admonish its readers not to forget that capitalism has raised standards of living globally and fuels the innovation that enables human progress. The main goal of this Review is to highlight what I see as Edmans’s most important contribution in writing Grow the Pie—to explain why profits are prosocial—and then to expand the connection between his analysis to law and macroeconomic policy. The Review thus urges that Grow the Pieprovides a compelling foundation for considering why our existing legal frameworks should support the status quo, as enabling free-market capitalism, and proposals for radical reform should be abandoned. Ultimately, and ideally, this Review will draw attention to the ways in which Edmans’s data synthesis provides a compelling defensive of a free-market corporate law landscape, influencing the trajectory of U.S. corporate law and financial regulatory reform in the next few years

Central Bank Activism

Today, the Federal Reserve is at a critical juncture in its evolution. Unlike any prior period in U.S. history, the Fed now faces increasing demands to expand its policy objectives to tackle a wide range of social and political problems—including climate change, inequality, and foreign and small business aid. This Article develops a framework for recognizing and identifying the problems with “central bank activism.” It refers to central bank activism as situations in which immediate public policy problems push the Fed to aggrandize its power beyond the text and purpose of its legal mandates, which Congress has established. To illustrate, this Article provides in-depth exploration of both contemporary and historic episodes of central bank activism, thus clarifying the indicia of central bank activism and drawing out the lessons that past episodes should teach us going forward. This Article urges that, while activism may be expedient in the near term, there are long-term social costs. Activism undermines the legitimacy of central bank authority, erodes central bank political independence, and ultimately renders a weaker central bank. In the end, this Article issues an urgent call to resist the allure of activism. And it places front and center the need for vibrant public discourse on the role of a central bank in American political and economic life today

Elucidating coral reef predator trophodynamics across an oceanic atoll

Ph. D. Thesis.Coral reef food webs are complex, vary spatially and temporally, and remain poorly understood. Predators on reefs may play major roles linking ecosystems and maintaining ecosystem integrity. In addition, there is increasing evidence of inter - and intra-specific variation in marine predator resource use. Given the high biomass and diversity of predator populations on coral reefs, sympatric predators may vary in their resource use to facilitate coexistence. Knowledge of predator trophodynamics and resource partitioning is important for predicting how reef communities will respond to environmental change and fluctuations in available prey. Using a combination of underwater visual census and baited remote underwater video survey methods, reef predator (e.g. Carangidae, Lutjanidae, Serranidae) populations were quantified across North Malé Atoll (Maldives), which includes outer edge forereefs as well as inner lagoonal reefs. Bulk δ13C, δ15N and δ34S stable isotopes revealed that predators’ isotopic niches varied substantially spatially and interspecifically, with minimal overlap in isotopic niches among species. Furthermore, within populations, there was evidence of intraspecific variation in resource use. Bayesian stable isotope mixing models revealed that all predators were heavily reliant on planktonic production sources, and this planktonic reliance extended to predators inside atoll lagoons. Compound-specific δ13C stable isotope analysis of essential amino acids further indicated that the planktonic subsidies that played an important role in sustaining both outer forereef and lagoonal reef grouper biomass likely originated from mesopelagic plankton communities rather than nearshore plankton communities. Various statistical modelling techniques (e.g. distance-based linear models and structural equation models) highlighted the importance of live coral and reef structural complexity in driving reef predator assemblages. Lagoonal and forereef predators are equally at risk from anthropogenic and climate-induced changes, which may impact the energetic linkages they construct. This highlights the need for management plans that employ a multiscale seascape approach by integrating findings and strategies across disciplines and ecosystem boundaries.Newcastle University Faculty of Science, Agriculture & Engineering Doctoral Training Awar

Drug interactions may be important risk factors for methotrexate neurotoxicity, particularly in pediatric leukemia patients

Purpose: Methotrexate administration is associated with frequent adverse neurological events during treatment for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Here, we present evidence to support the role of common drug interactions and low vitamin B12 levels in potentiating methotrexate neurotoxicity. Methods: We review the published evidence and highlight key potential drug interactions as well as present clinical evidence of severe methotrexate neurotoxicity in conjunction with nitrous oxide anesthesia and measurements of vitamin B12 levels among pediatric leukemia patients during therapy. Results: We describe a very plausible mechanism for methotrexate neurotoxicity in pediatric leukemia patients involving reduction in methionine and consequential disruption of myelin production. We provide evidence that a number of commonly prescribed drugs in pediatric leukemia management interact with the same folate biosynthetic pathways and/or reduce functional vitamin B12 levels and hence are likely to increase the toxicity of methotrexate in these patients. We also present a brief case study supporting out hypothesis that nitrous oxide contributes to methotrexate neurotoxicity and a nutritional study, showing that patients. Conclusions: Use of nitrous oxide in pediatric leukemia patients at the same time as methotrexate use should be avoided especially as many suitable alternative anesthetic agents exist. Clinicians should consider monitoring levels of vitamin B12 in patients suspected of having methotrexate- induced neurotoxic effects

Reply: Methotrexate neurotoxicity due to drug interactions: an inadequate folinic acid effect

No abstract available