Energy, Technology, and Culture: The Paris Agreement, Social Conflict, and Cultural Evolution

In this essay, I will explore anthropologist Leslie White’s concept of cultural evolution and its relation to energy, technology, and social forces and conflicts

The Value of the Dead: The Commodification of Corpses in Western Culture

Since the 19th century, the deceased human body and its parts have been increasingly dehumanized, objectified, and commodified in Western culture. Thus, in a relatively short period of time, the corpse became, and continues to be, a highly valuable source of both economic and cultural capital for scientific and medical researchers, numerous industries, and much of society

Assistance to the Poor in a Federal System

This paper explores the roles of different levels of government in assisting the poor. Using a model with utility interdependence, the paper presents some theoretical results on how levels of poor relief vary with the extent of mobility of the poor under both centralized and decentralized systems of support. After surveying the relevant empirical work and the experience under the English Poor Laws, the paper argues for a basic role for central government in this function.

Observations on the Reproductive Behavior of the Black Bullhead (\u3ci\u3eIctalurus melas\u3c/i\u3e)

Two pairs of black bullheads, Ictalurus melas (Rafinesque), were observed spawning out of season in two 90-gal laboratory aquaria after the females had received injections of finely ground acetone-dried carp pituitaries. These fish had been collected in August 1966 and were maintained in the laboratory through the winter in a 75-gal aquarium at an approximate room temperature of 20°–25° C

Dread of Elder Titles : John Haywood and the Occult Origins of the Confederacy

This work unearths the dark work of John Haywood (1762–1826), an overlooked Tennessee historian and judge who provided foundational historical and legal arguments for the Confederate nation. Published in 1819, his apocalyptic Southern history, The Christian Advocate, simultaneously justified Indian Removal and simplified white Southerners’ claims of title to land. He thus became the first thinker to give Southerners a sense of place in the deep history of the South; the first to convince them they belonged where they lived. andrew Jackson, for example, memorized passages from the Christian Advocate to convince himself: Southern Indians are the armies of Gog and Magog mentioned in the Book of Revelation; their ancestors massacred the mysterious, slaveholding mound-builders who inhabited the South prior to European contact; and they are waiting on the frontier to annihilate emerging Christian plantations in the young states of Mississippi and Alabama. While writing The Christian Advocate, Haywood used his position on the Tennessee Supreme Court to weave its logic into the property laws that became models for those of Mississippi and Alabama. His rulings assured planters that they should not “dread” violating “elder titles” in their sleep, or fear having some future judge determine they did not have a right to their land. By removing demonic Indian murderers, planters were restoring civilization to the Devil’s wilderness, an act that would bring about a New Jerusalem. By 1861, Haywood had given historians such as William Gilmore Simms and politicians such as Alexander Stephens something vital: historical arguments justifying the Confederate nation and its slaveholding theocracy. In overlooking Haywood and his influence, historians have missed a bizarre (to us) but nonetheless crucial link between historiography and the emergence of the Confederacy

Comparison of various methods for adjusting weaning weights of calves to an age-constant basis

​​Weaning records of 18,393 calves from 395 Angus and Hereford herds participating in The Tennessee Beef Cattle Improvement Program were analyzed statistically to estimate the effects of age and sex of calf, age of dam, season of birth, management, breed and year of birth on preweaning rate of gain and weaning type score. Four methods of adjusting weaning weight to an age-constant basis were compared. The statistical analyses revealed that including unadjusted average daily gain alone in an equation predicting 205-day weight did not effectively remove the dependency of this weight on age. Weights of calves in the extreme age groups were overadjusted when 205-day weights were calculated as the product of unadjusted average daily gain multiplied by 205 plus birth weight. Adjustment of calculated 205-day weight using the coefficient of regression of this weight on weaning age and the calculation of 205-day weight by the intraclass regression or age-intercept methods reduce the dependency of this weight on weaning age. Adjustment of age-constant weights of calves within each management group with constants estimated within the groups was more effective in removing environmental variation than a single set of factors. Bull calves were heavier at weaning than heifer calves and steer calves were intermediate. Creep-fed calves born in March, April and May and non-creep-fed calves born between December and May weaned heavier than calves of the two groups, respectively, born in other months. Probably the most practical procedure for adjusting weaning weight for environmental effects was to use separate adjustment factors for creep- and non-creep-fed calves and to adjust the calculated 205-day weight using the coefficient of regression of that weight on weaning age

When (and Why) the Levee Breaks: a Suggested Causation Framework for Takings Claims that Arise from Government-Induced Flooding

In 1968, the United States Army Corps of Engineers finished constructing the seventy-six-mile Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) navigational channel. Congress authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to begin construction to create a shipping route between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. However, the MRGO also caused significant erosion and other environmental detriments that greatly increased the risk of flooding around its vicinity. The Army Corps of Engineers learned about many of these detriments and risks through numerous studies it conducted between 1998 and 2005, but never fully addressed them. Hurricane Katrina eventually showcased the MR-GO’s defects in violent fashion. The MR-GO severely worsened Hurricane Katrina’s effects and Louisiana landowners resultingly incurred catastrophic flood damages. To make matters worse, many injured landowners who sought compensation from the federal government for its construction of and failure to maintain the MR-GO instead experienced protracted and ultimately unsuccessful litigation. Unfortunately, an array of other powerful hurricanes and tropical storms in recent years have also brought devastation and repeatedly sounded the alarm on an uncomfortable scientific truth: sea levels are rising and causing substantial flooding. Though the federal government has attempted lofty infrastructure projects to address rising sea levels throughout the years, many of these projects have suffered from mismanagement and a dearth of basic maintenance. Indeed, some projects originally built to prevent flooding have instead intensified it. When an infrastructure project actually causes more severe flood damages than would have occurred without its construction, how might an affected property owner win compensation from the federal government? A property owner who sues the federal government in tort will almost certainly fail, considering that one cannot sue the federal government unless the federal government consents to being sued. With this in mind, some litigants have instead alleged that government- induced flooding amounts to a taking compensable under the Fifth Amendment. Variations of this recovery method’s theoretical underpinnings have received much scholastic attention in recent years. Nonetheless, in Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States, the Supreme Court asserted that due to “the nearly infinite variety of ways in which government actions or regulations can affect property interests,” lower courts may not categorically dismiss such claims via bright-line rules. Instead, courts must apply fact-intensive inquiries. Arkansas Game’s proscription against categorical dismissals means that litigants will likely continue to raise takings claims that arise from government-induced flooding. One essential element of these claims is causation. Causation can be especially difficult to calculate because the federal government has already completed a myriad of infrastructure developments and continues to undertake ambitious projects. Given that one project’s beneficial aspects might offset another project’s detrimental effects, how can a court best determine whether the federal government sufficiently caused a litigant’s property damages? This Note contends that federal courts adjudicating takings claims that arise from government-induced flooding should employ a fact-specific causation inquiry that weighs certain factors to decide “whether the totality of the government’s actions caused the injury.” To this end, this Note suggests that courts weigh (1) additional “risk-increasing and risk-decreasing government actions,” (2) their relation to the primary infrastructure project that allegedly induced flooding, and (3) the time that has elapsed between each additional project’s construction. To help explain why litigants bring such takings claims in the first place, Part I briefly reviews governmental tort immunity and Takings Clause jurisprudence. Part II reviews the Supreme Court’s 2012 Arkansas Game decision and the arguments it rejected. Part II concludes that litigants will continue to bring forth such claims due to the Supreme Court’s refusal to draw bright-line rules. Part III reviews the St. Bernard Parish Government v. United States litigation and the divergent causation approaches taken by the Court of Federal Claims and the Federal Circuit. Part IV first analyzes important policy implications that should underlie a causation calculus. Next, it looks to prior federal court decisions for guidance. Part IV then suggests a causation framework that gives courts flexibility to avoid unjust results and incentivizes the federal government to proactively combat global warming’s malicious effects. Part V addresses possible counterarguments and looks to some recent scholarship concerning the theoretical viability of similar recovery theories

Effects of season of birth, breed and age of dam on litter and pig performance traits

In Tennessee there is wide variation in the practices followed by swine producers with reference to the breed and age of the breeding animals used in their herds. Some swine producers use gilts almost exclusively, whereas others depend largely on mature sows. On most Tennessee farms, both gilts and mature sows are used to produce pigs, but the number of gilts or sows a farmer keeps varies from farm to farm. There is no definite plan used by many swine raisers in maintaining their herds of breeding sows, and there may be wide variation in the breeding of sows and gilts on the same farm from year to year. It is the practice of some farmers to use only one breed of gilts, breeding them to farrow their first and only litter when they are about 1 year old. When the litters are weaned, the gilts are marketed. To produce next year\u27s pigs, gilts are selected in the fall from the spring pigs on hand. Many sows are sold for slaughter before they reach their peak performance. One of the major elements contributing to profits in the swine enterprise is the size of litters sows and gilts produce. It requires on the average the gross returns from about six pigs to pay the cost of carrying the sow. The total cost of carrying a sow in the breeding herd remains practically constant whether she produces 2 or 10 pigs. With larger litters less feed is required to produce 100 pounds of marketable pork. A sow\u27s value in the herd is determined largely by the number and quality of pigs farrowed and raised. Performance in these traits is influenced by age and breeding of the sow and other genetic and environmental factors. Therefore, the swine producer who does not take advantage of all means available to maximize litter size, growth rate and efficiency may be robbing himself of extra profit