Ecological Disaster & Jacques Ellul’s Theological Vision

This paper will focus Jacques Ellul’s insights onto the manner in which our modern technological society is deeply ingrained in the subordination of both humanity and nature to efficient use. Ellul maintains that our way of life is characterised by structural instrumentalism, which is in turn underpinned by a distorted theological outlook. The paper asserts that these aforementioned factors together form the key drivers that propel us towards environmental desolation. This paper asserts that no adequate fine tuning of our present way of life will be possible to address issues such as climate change. What is needed instead is the comprehensive sociological and theological conversion of our society. This paper will conclude by tentatively exploring ways in which the church might proclaim and embody a prophetic message of repentance and conversion in this and other socio-cultural matters

Ecological Disaster & Jacques Ellul’s Theological Vision

This paper will focus Jacques Ellul’s insights onto the manner in which our modern technological society is deeply ingrained in the subordination of both humanity and nature to efficient use. Ellul maintains that our way of life is characterised by structural instrumentalism, which is in turn underpinned by a distorted theological outlook. The paper asserts that these aforementioned factors together form the key drivers that propel us towards environmental desolation. This paper asserts that no adequate fine tuning of our present way of life will be possible to address issues such as climate change. What is needed instead is the comprehensive sociological and theological conversion of our society. This paper will conclude by tentatively exploring ways in which the church might proclaim and embody a prophetic message of repentance and conversion in this and other socio-cultural matters

Architecture for Provenance Systems

This document covers the logical and process architectures of provenance systems. The logical architecture identifies key roles and their interactions, whereas the process architecture discusses distribution and security. A fundamental aspect of our presentation is its technology-independent nature, which makes it reusable: the principles that are exposed in this document may be applied to different technologies

An improved boundary force method for analyzing cracked anisotropic materials

The Boundary Force Method (BFM), a form of indirect boundary element method, is used to analyze composite laminates with cracks. The BFM uses the orthotropic elasticity solution for a concentrated horizontal and vertical force and a moment applied at a point in a cracked, infinite sheet as the fundamental solution. The necessary stress functions for this fundamental solution were formulated using the complex variable theory of orthotropic elasticity. The current method is an improvement over a previous method using only forces and no moment. The improved method was verified by comparing it to accepted solutions for a finite-width, center-crack specimen subjected to uniaxial tension. Four graphite/epoxy laminates were used: (0 + or - 45/90)sub s, (0), (+ or - 45)sub s, and (+ or - 30)sub s. The BFM results agreed well with accepted solutions. Convergence studies showed that with the addition of the moment in the fundamental solution, the number of boundary elements required for a converged solution was significantly reduced. Parametric studies were done for two configurations for which no orthotropic solutions are currently available; a single edge crack and an inclined single edge crack

Impacts of Ageing Population on Monetary and Exchange Rate Managements in Singapore

This paper finds that the ageing of the population in Singapore will cause a reversal of the current net Central Provident Fund (CPF) contribution into a substantial net CPF withdrawal from 2025, with a peak occurring at 2035. The result is qualitatively robust to changes in the underlying assumptions of the projection. The paper then highlights the implications of this change on the exchange rate and monetary managements in Singapore. First, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s ability to influence Singapore’s exchange rate will be greatly hampered. Second, the net CPF withdrawal will mean sustained liquidity injection into (instead of the usual liquidity drain from) the economy. To avoid unnecessary inflation, the MAS has to find a sustainable way to mob up the excess liquidity due to the sustained liquidity injection. As a simple reversal of MAS’s current foreign exchange market operation will result in substantial shrinkage of foreign reserves, the paper proposes the issuance of government bonds to achieve the dual objectives of mobbing up the excess liquidity and avoiding the shrinkage of foreign reserves. This measure will also help the bond market development in Singapore. Finally, the paper proposes two other measures that can help maintain MAS’s influence on Singapore’s exchange rate to a reasonable level in the longer future.Ageing Population, Central Provident Fund, Exchange Rate System, Monetary Policy, Singapore.

Who Holds the Real Veto: Use of Force and the Trusteeship Analogy

It is a well-known fact that except when a country is defending herself from an armed attack, all recourse to force must be authorized by the Security Council. In early 2003, when President Bush became frustrated at the reluctance of the UN Security Council to authorize the use of force against Iraq for stalling on the weapons inspections regime, he told the world in no uncertain terms that America would attack Iraq alone if necessary. What I want to explore in this article is the question of whether countries retain a residual right to act outside of such authorization on the basis of what I call the trusteeship analogy

The New, Old United Nations - Proposal of an Interpretative Model

On the anniversary of the unilateral strike against Iraq, we are no closer to a definitive understanding of whether the attack is or is not legal. Many critics have, with much eloquence, made arguments for and against preventive self-defense as a normative concept, and others have scrutinized the text of the relevant Security Council resolutions and the United Nation’s Charter with much care to ascertain the technical merits of both claims. While both approaches have shed much light on this particular debate, it has done little to place it within its larger context. Iraq (and many conflicts before) should have been an occasion on which to figure out the only relevant question: how should the Charter be interpreted? If we accept the premise that the Charter is of constitutional value in international law, then the legality of any act must not be ultra vires the Charter. This determination can only be made upon a proper construction of the Charter. While indeterminacy is inevitable, international law could benefit from some common framework within which such interpretative choices could be generated and made. It could benefit from a common methodology of interpretation that places the immediate controversy within the larger architecture of text, institutional history, practice and – most importantly – the aspirational values that the UN stands for. It is only this cumulative approach that affords a more holistic standard against which to evaluate individual acts by states. It is also this approach that promises to bridge fundamental gaps in ideology – particularly the dispute over the so-called doctrine of mitigation – and allow us to focus on a way of interpreting the Charter consistent both textually and morally