Drawing Boundaries

In “On Drawing Lines on a Map” (1995), I suggested that the different ways we have of drawing lines on maps open up a new perspective on ontology, resting on a distinction between two sorts of boundaries: fiat and bona fide. “Fiat” means, roughly: human-demarcation-induced. “Bona fide” means, again roughly: a boundary constituted by some real physical discontinuity. I presented a general typology of boundaries based on this opposition and showed how it generates a corresponding typology of the different sorts of objects which boundaries determine or demarcate. In this paper, I describe how the theory of fiat boundaries has evolved since 1995, how it has been applied in areas such as property law and political geography, and how it is being used in contemporary work in formal and applied ontology, especially within the framework of Basic Formal Ontology

France\u27s Financial Crisis: Analyzing the Role of the Finance Minister

The downfall of France\u27s Old Regime and the beginning of the French Revolution were largely caused by the financial crisis plaguing France. Since the Seven Year\u27s War, France\u27s finances had suffered and were spiraling out of control. The finances were kept largely by the country\u27s appointed finance minister. France would go through a host of these finance ministers up to the Revolution. The most notable was Jacques Necker who receives more detailed analysis. Tracing the administrations of these finance ministers helps explain an important factor leading to the French Revolution

Effects of Water Released From Stratified and Unstratified Reservoirs on the Downstream Water Quality

Water quality samples were collected from the Little River system in Pine Creek Lake, Oklahoma, and Gillham Lake, Arkansas, and their associated tailwaters during the winter (reservoirs unstratified) and summer (reservoirs stratified) of 1980. Downstream water quality was not affected by reservoir water releases while the reservoirs were unstratified. When the reservoirs were stratified water quality in the tailwaters was dependent on the release depth of the water. The practice of flushing out a tailwater following an extended low flow period should be examined on a site by site basis. Anoxic water released from a reservoir may contain high amounts of certain chemicals that may be detrimental to downstream aquatic life

Managing the Change of Cultural Resistance

The review of numerous Australian and International Transport and Health Safety cases has highlighted the detrimental effect of cultural resistance when engineers and regulators seek to improve transport safety. This paper will define culture and cultural resistance. It will review a number of cases and provide an overview of the effect of cultural resistance, demonstrating some common characteristics of these cases. A limited number of risk management disciplines will be reviewed as they apply to the problem, and demonstrate how expertise in these fields can be advantageous to the engineer and regulator. The paper will provide the reader with a number of resolution strategies to manage cultural change by reducing resistance using practical methods. This paper has specific relevance to transport safety initiatives in Australia. This paper is an extract of a full research paper "Making the Kingfisher Archipelago a Safer Place", Smith, D.B., 2005, available from the author upon request

Case Note: Criminal Law - Parole - State Board of Parole Must Issue Statement of Reasons for Denial of Parole. United States ex rel. Johnson v. Chairman, New York State Board of Parole, 500 F.2d 925 (2d Cir. 1974)

This Case Note analyzes the Second Circuit\u27s decision in United States ex rel. Johnson v. Chairman, New York State Board of Parole, which held that due process considerations required the Board to issue a statement giving its reasons for denial of parole, both as a guide for the prisoner\u27s rehabilitative efforts and as an enduring record for possible appellate review