Targeting, rhetoric and the failure of grassroots jihad

In this paper I examine the apparent failure of Al Qaeda ideologues, not for want of trying, to incite a widespread campaign of ‘individual jihad’. Not only are instances of genuinely ‘leaderless’ jihadist violence rare, they also tend to be more discriminate and less lethal in their targeting than the operations which Al Qaeda expresses a discursive preference for, and which it attempts to carry out. I argue that an explanation for the rather constrained nature of grassroots jihadist violence can be found, rather paradoxically, in the logic of collective action, which seems to underlie the rhetorical attempts of jihadist ideologues to incite violence. I then briefly examine the possible implications of this for understanding what makes for a successful ‘leaderless’ terrorist campaign.Publisher PD

'Terrorist' Use of the Internet: An Overblown Issue

The role of the Internet in promoting transnational recruitment for armed groups, particularly "terrorist" organisations, is often taken for granted. In reality, the evidence is far from clear-cut. Research on how contemporary armed groups use the Internet suggests that they themselves view the Internet with considerable suspicion. Such accounts, however, fail to take account of an arguably more important question: whether those groups which make extensive use of the Internet have actually been more effective in causing violence than groups which have either chosen not to use it, or which were operating before it came into existence

Consuming the jihad : an enquiry into the subculture of internet jihadism

Recent years have seen a great deal of interest in phenomena such as Al Qaida ‘terrorism’, Islamic ‘radicalism’ or, increasingly, ‘jihadism’ - on the Internet. However, as I argue in this thesis, much work in these areas has been problematic for a number of reasons. Much literature has been narrowly focused on the security issues which it pre-judges the content to raise, and has therefore taken some aspects too literally while ignoring others. Conversely, where authors have addressed ‘jihadi’ content or ‘electronic jihad’ as a phenomenon unto itself, they have had difficulty making sense of it within religious studies or political communication frameworks. In this dissertation, I propose an alternative approach. Deliberately eschewing frameworks based on pre-existing conceptions of religion or politics, I draw, instead, on the academic literature on fandom and subcultural media consumption. Using this conceptual lens, I attempt to analyse jihadism on the Internet (which I define in terms of online consumption of, and identification with self-described ‘jihadi’ content) as a subcultural phenomenon on its own terms. I argue that, without necessarily denying the role that beliefs and ideals expressed in ‘jihadi’ content may sometimes have in sustaining the physical violence of the ‘global jihad’, the cultural practices which constitute Internet jihadism have a tactical logic of their own which may not always coincide with the ‘strategic’ interests of ‘global jihad’. By better understanding what ‘ordinary' jihadis, most of whom will never participate in violence, get out of their practices, and how they negotiate the apparent contradictions of their situation, I suggest that we may be better placed to understand not only why some jihadis ‘fail’ to negotiate these contradictions, but also, perhaps, to raise questions about how popular media consumption works more generally

Dehumanisation in religious and sectarian violence : the case of Islamic State

It is often taken more or less for granted that perpetrators of mass killings and other acts of violent atrocity dehumanise their victims in order to justify killing them. Drawing on the past decade of developments in psychological theories of dehumanisation, and on representations and explanations of killing provided by Islamic State, this paper argues for a more complex understanding of the role of notions about humanity and inhumanity in the legitimation of violence.PostprintPeer reviewe

Automatic yield-line analysis of practical slab configurations via discontinuity layout optimization

The yield-line method provides a powerful means of rapidly estimating the ultimate load that can be carried by a reinforced concrete slab. The method can reveal hidden reserves of strength in existing slabs and can lead to highly economic slabs when used in design. Originally conceived before the widespread availability of computers, the yield-line method subsequently proved difficult to computerize, limiting its appeal in recent years. However, it was recently demonstrated that the discontinuity layout optimization (DLO) procedure could be used to systematically automate the method, and various isotropically reinforced, uniformly loaded slab examples were used to demonstrate this. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the DLO procedure can also be applied to a wide range of more practical slab problems, for example involving orthotropic reinforcement, internal columns, and point, line, and patch loads. The efficacy of the procedure is demonstrated via application to a variety of example problems from the literature; for all problems considered solutions are presented that improve upon existing numerical solutions. Furthermore, in a number of cases, solutions derived using previously proposed automated yield-line analysis procedures are shown to be highly nonconservative

Is Breast Asymmetry Present in Girls with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis?

Study Design Cross-sectional descriptive study. Objectives To characterize breast asymmetry (BA), as defined by breast volume difference, in girls with significant adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Summary and Background BA is a frequent concern among girls with AIS. It is commonly believed that this results from chest wall deformity. Although many women exhibit physiological BA, the prevalence is not known in adolescents and it remains unclear if it is more frequent in AIS. Breasts vary in shape and size and many ways of measuring them have been explored. MRI shows the highest precision at defining breast tissue. Methods Thirty patients were enrolled on the basis of their thoracic curvature, skeletal and breast maturity, without regard to their perception on their BA. MRI acquisitions were performed in prone with a 1.5-Tesla system using a 16-channel breast coil. Segmentation was achieved using the ITK-SNAP 2.4.0 software and subsequently manually refined. Results The mean left breast volume (528.32 ± 205.96 cc) was greater compared with the mean right breast volume (495.18 ± 170.16 cc) with a significant difference between them. The mean BA was found to be 8.32% ± 6.43% (p < .0001). A weak positive correlation was observed between BA and thoracic Cobb angle (0.177, p = .349) as well as thoracic gibbosity angle (0.289, p = .122). The left breast was consistently larger in 65.5% of the patients. Twenty patients (66.7%) displayed BA ≥5%. Conclusions We have described BA in patients with significant AIS using MRI. This method is feasible, objective, and very precise. The majority of patients had a larger left breast, which could compound the apparent BA secondary to trunk rotation. In many cases, BA is present independently of thoracic deformity. This knowledge will assist in counseling AIS patients in regards to their concerns with BA.CIHR / IRS

Kapsula

This experimental exhibition catalogue was created in collaboration with Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photograpy in Toronto, Canada to document their twenty-first annual exhibition of emergent photography, Proof. The Magazine would like to extend a special thanks to Noa Bronstein, Head of Exhibitions and Publications at Gallery 44, both for her contributions to the document itself and for making this special issue possible

Comorbid chronic diseases, discordant impact on mortality in older people: a 14-year longitudinal population study

Objectives: To determine the impact of comorbid chronic diseases on mortality in older people. Design: Prospective cohort study (1992e2006). Associations between numbers of chronic diseases or mutually exclusive comorbid chronic diseases on mortality over 14 years, by Cox proportional hazards model adjusting for sociodemographic variables or KaplaneMeier analyses, respectively. Setting: Population based, Australia. Participants: 2087 randomly selected participants aged $65 years old, living in the community or institutions. Main results: Participants with 3e4 or$5 diseases had a 25% (95% CI 1.05 to 1.5, p¼0.01) and 80% (95% CI 1.5 to 2.2, p<0.0001) increased risk of mortality, respectively, by comparison with no chronic disease, after adjusting for age, sex and residential status. When cardiovascular disease (CVD), mental health problem or diabetes were comorbid with arthritis, there was a trend towards increased survival (range 8.2e9.5 years) by comparison with CVD, mental health problem or diabetes alone (survival 5.8e6.9 years). This increase in survival with arthritis as a comorbidity was negated when CVD and mental health problems or CVD and diabetes were present in disease combinations together. Conclusion: Older people with $3 chronic diseases have increased risk of mortality, but discordant effects on survival depend on specific disease combinations. These results raise the hypothesis that patients who have an increased likelihood of opportunity for care from their physician are more likely to have comorbid diseases detected and managed.G E Caughey, E N Ramsay, A I Vitry, A L Gilbert, M A Luszcz, P Ryan and E E Roughea

Kapsula

This experimental exhibition catalogue was created in collaboration with Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photograpy in Toronto, Canada to document their twenty-first annual exhibition of emergent photography, Proof. The Magazine would like to extend a special thanks to Noa Bronstein, Head of Exhibitions and Publications at Gallery 44, both for her contributions to the document itself and for making this special issue possible