Politics and contemporary poetry

The paper is a Meditation (variant on the manner of Aurelius and Descartes) concerning the immediate situation, in the United States, of poetry as a discourse of political engagement. As such, the paper is a highly personal one. It means to offer an account of the peculiar limits within which contemporary poetry in the United States is forced to get carried on, as well as an explanation of the context in which those limits were defined. It also suggests possible ways to exploit the special resources of contemporary poetry (formally and socially conceived) for political discourse and social critique. The paper is most centrally concerned to illuminate the special kinds of critical reflection which contemporary poetry, by virtue of its marginal position, makes available. The paper's two main sections involve the author's own reflexive analysis of his encounters with certain texts by Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Theodor Adorno, and Carolyn Forche

Interpreting the Roman Squatting Tradition

This thesis addresses the rich tradition of urban occupations, also known as squatting , in Rome, Italy. I argue that Roman squatting had its origins mainly in the Social Center Movement of the late 1970s and a preceding wave of occupations aimed at garnering affordable housing. In order to provide a context for these social movements, I first briefly describe the urban development history of the city since the late 1800s. The Roman pattern of urban development favored private interests and land speculation in a manner that resulted in overconsumption and the marginalization of a large sect of the population. In recent times, new organizations have begun to practice variations of traditional Roman squatting in the face of increased international immigration and a lingering economic crisis

Nonaxisymmetric, multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium solutions

We describe a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) constrained energy functional for equilibrium calculations that combines the topological constraints of ideal MHD with elements of Taylor relaxation. Extremizing states allow for partially chaotic magnetic fields and non-trivial pressure profiles supported by a discrete set of ideal interfaces with irrational rotational transforms. Numerical solutions are computed using the Stepped Pressure Equilibrium Code, SPEC, and benchmarks and convergence calculations are presented.Comment: Submitted to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion for publication with a cluster of papers associated with workshop: Stability and Nonlinear Dynamics of Plasmas, October 31, 2009 Atlanta, GA on occasion of 65th birthday of R.L. Dewar. V2 is revised for referee

A study into the ageing and dating of blue ball tip inks on paper using in situ visible spectroscopy with chemometrics

This paper presents a study into the potential of visible spectroscopy with chemometrics as an approach to dating blue ball tip inks on paper documents. Analysis of six inks left under various conditions found that the majority of those kept in the dark could still be matched to the source pen after 32 months of ageing. Conversely, the majority of those exposed to light exhibited rapid spectral changes that continued throughout the 32 month period. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was used to generate dating models for inks aged with exposure to light. Evaluation using an external test set found absolute dating to be challenging for these ink deposits within the first 2-6 months of ageing. However, predictive accuracy was found to improve for long-term ageing, with two-year old samples yielding age estimates with a maximum error of 6 months. This rapid, non-destructive methodology could assist document examiners in the relative ageing or approximate age determination of questioned documents, as well as the identification of document alterations

A discernable and manageable standard for partisan gerrymandering

The case of Veith v. Jubelirer (2004) challenges us to find a standard for partisan gerrymandering that is judicially discernable and manageable. Without such a standard even the most egregious partisan gerrymanders cannot be effectively challenged. However, we argue that the way to find a suitable standard is not to embark on a quest for a “new” standard. Rather it is to take the existing valid measures that science gives us, and show that these can be grounded in constitutionally protected rights. Using recent results in social choice theory, we show that the existing partisan symmetry standard can be derived from an individual right to equal protection. We also show that the existing technology for measuring partisan symmetry can provide a judicially manageable test for partisan bias

Why the Republicans will retain the House in 2016...and 2018...and 2020

At this stage of the 2016 election cycle, which party will control the White House and the US Senate come January 2017 seems to be very much up in the air. The US House of Representatives on the other hand, is almost certain to remain in the hands of the Republican Party, a situation which is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Anthony J. McGann , Charles Anthony Smith , Michael Latner and Alex Keena argue that the GOP’s continued control of the House is down to the gerrymandering of Congressional districts by Republican-controlled state legislatures. They write that in certain states like Pennsylvania, this gerrymandering leads to an asymmetry between the number of seats the Democrats gain and their vote share, reducing their share of US House seats

Gerrymandering the Presidency: Why Trump could lose the popular vote in 2020 by 6 percent and still win a second term.

Donald Trump was the clear Electoral College winner in the 2016 election, despite losing the popular vote by a wide margin to Hillary Clinton. Anthony J. McGann, Charles Anthony Smith, Michael Latner and Alex Keena write that, unless the Supreme Court stops congressional gerrymandering, President Trump can guarantee re-election in 2020 – even if he loses by 6 percent

Maryland's electoral maps show how proportional representation could solve the problem of gerrymandering

This week the US Supreme Court hears a case concerning the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering in Maryland. Examining current, past, and alternative electoral maps, Alex Keena, Michael Latner, Anthony J. McGann, and Charles Anthony Smith find that by making districts more competitive, some redistricting plans can actually work against one party or the other. Only the introduction of proportional representation with multi-member districts, they argue, would mean a truly fair electoral system for Maryland