scholarly journals Existential Definition at the End of the American Road

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-141
Author(s):  
James J Ward
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
The Political ◽  
Vanishing Point ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Cultural Conflicts ◽  
The Road ◽  
American Cinema ◽  
The Law ◽  
American Society

This article discusses three films that helped landmark American cinema in the 1970s. Although differing in inception and reception, all three belong loosely to the genre of the road movie and are linked by protagonists whose stances of rebellion and alienation were characteristic of the counterculture of the 1970s and by the broader theme of existential self-definition that still influences moviemaking today. A critical and commercial failure on its release in 1970, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point has been revalorized as an ambitious attempt to represent the political and cultural conflicts that seemed to be fracturing American society at the time. In contrast, Richard Sarafian’s Vanishing Point soon overcame the disadvantage of studio disinterest and established itself as a cult favorite. Arguably the definitive anti-hero of 1970s cinema, the amphetamine-fueled renegade driver played by Barry Newman achieves iconic stature through an act of defiant self-destruction that still leaves viewers of the film stunned. Finally, Clint Eastwood’s The Gauntlet, in which the actor-director breaks with his ‘Dirty Harry’ persona to depict a burned-out cop who redeems a ruined career, and enables himself a new start, not by making his own law but by enforcing the law on the books, and against all odds. In all three films, the still unspoiled landscape of the American Southwest, crisscrossed by its skein of highways, provides the tableau for escapist fantasies that may in fact be real, for high-speed chases and automotive acrobatics that defy the laws of physics, and for vignettes of an ‘outsider’ way of life that was already beginning to perish.

scholarly journals Ethnic antagonism erodes Republicans’ commitment to democracy

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (37) ◽  
pp. 22752-22759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry M. Bartels
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Ethnic Conflict ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Political Cynicism ◽  
Cultural Conservatism ◽  
The Law ◽  
American Way

Most Republicans in a January 2020 survey agreed that “the traditional American way of life is disappearing so fast that we may have to use force to save it.” More than 40% agreed that “a time will come when patriotic Americans have to take the law into their own hands.” (In both cases, most of the rest said they were unsure; only one in four or five disagreed.) I use 127 survey items to measure six potential bases of these and other antidemocratic sentiments: partisan affect, enthusiasm for President Trump, political cynicism, economic conservatism, cultural conservatism, and ethnic antagonism. The strongest predictor by far, for the Republican rank-and-file as a whole and for a variety of subgroups defined by education, locale, sex, and political attitudes, is ethnic antagonism—especially concerns about the political power and claims on government resources of immigrants, African-Americans, and Latinos. The corrosive impact of ethnic antagonism on Republicans’ commitment to democracy underlines the significance of ethnic conflict in contemporary US politics.

scholarly journals The Sufi Ethics of Annihilation and Responsibility in Al-Jabri’s Critique of the Arabic Ethical Mind

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Issam Khirallah
Keyword(s):  
Modern Society ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Political ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Material Life ◽  
Central Value ◽  
The Law ◽  
Human Responsibility ◽  
Blind Obedience

The paper outlines the interpretation of Sufism formulated by Mohamed Abed Al-Jabri, a contemporary Moroccan philosopher and critic of the Arabic tradition. According to him, Sufism, unknown to Arabic culture until the advent of Islam, originated through a historical conspiracy whereby the Persians attempted to weaken their new Arabic colonisers. Sufism is viewed by him as an evasion and a detachment from life and its problems. It leads its adepts, through the mystical journey, to renounce material life. It plunges its adepts into a way of life where the annihilation of the self in God represents the central value. This annihilation of the self in deity is possible only through the blind obedience of the Seeker (Mureed) to his Master (Sheikh). Therefore, Sufism can only thrive by using tyrannical means. It demands that its adepts, through following a predestined path chosen by God, lose their own volition and freedom in favour of their Master. Breaking the law at the end of the Seeker’s mystical journey reflects, paradoxically, a spiritual accomplishment. Additionally, Sufi orders maintain a congenial relationship with political tyranny. Consequently, I argue, Sufism leads to a loss of human responsibility for oneself and other beings. I also claim that in a post-tyrannical Arabic society, where responsibility for oneself and one’s community should be the centralvalue, Sufi ethics are unable to play a role in the promotion of modern values. For this reason, it should be prevented from shaping the political and social choices of a modern society and constrained to the mystical realm.

scholarly journals The Sufi Ethics of Annihilation and Responsibility in Al-Jabri’s Critique of the Arabic Ethical Mind

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-90
Author(s):  
Issam Khirallah
Keyword(s):  
Modern Society ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Political ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Material Life ◽  
Central Value ◽  
The Law ◽  
Human Responsibility ◽  
Blind Obedience

The paper outlines the interpretation of Sufism formulated by Mohamed Abed Al-Jabri, a contemporary Moroccan philosopher and critic of the Arabic tradition. According to him, Sufism, unknown to Arabic culture until the advent of Islam, originated through a historical conspiracy whereby the Persians attempted to weaken their new Arabic colonisers. Sufism is viewed by him as an evasion and a detachment from life and its problems. It leads its adepts, through the mystical journey, to renounce material life. It plunges its adepts into a way of life where the annihilation of the self in God represents the central value. This annihilation of the self in deity is possible only through the blind obedience of the Seeker (Mureed) to his Master (Sheikh). Therefore, Sufism can only thrive by using tyrannical means. It demands that its adepts, through following a predestined path chosen by God, lose their own volition and freedom in favour of their Master. Breaking the law at the end of the Seeker’s mystical journey reflects, paradoxically, a spiritual accomplishment. Additionally, Sufi orders maintain a congenial relationship with political tyranny. Consequently, I argue, Sufism leads to a loss of human responsibility for oneself and other beings. I also claim that in a post-tyrannical Arabic society, where responsibility for oneself and one’s community should be the centralvalue, Sufi ethics are unable to play a role in the promotion of modern values. For this reason, it should be prevented from shaping the political and social choices of a modern society and constrained to the mystical realm.

The Political Economy of Power: Approaches to the Analysis of Relationships between the State and Business in Russia

2011 ◽  
pp. 19-33
Author(s):  
A. Oleinik
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Retail Trade ◽  
Business Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
The Road ◽  
Ruling Elites

The article deals with the issues of political and economic power as well as their constellation on the market. The theory of public choice and the theory of public contract are confronted with an approach centered on the power triad. If structured in the power triad, interactions among states representatives, businesses with structural advantages and businesses without structural advantages allow capturing administrative rents. The political power of the ruling elites coexists with economic power of certain members of the business community. The situation in the oil and gas industry, the retail trade and the road construction and operation industry in Russia illustrates key moments in the proposed analysis.

The New Terrain of International Law

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Alter
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Constitutional Review ◽  
Delegation Of Authority ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law

In 1989, when the Cold War ended, there were six permanent international courts. Today there are more than two dozen that have collectively issued over thirty-seven thousand binding legal rulings. This book charts the developments and trends in the creation and role of international courts, and explains how the delegation of authority to international judicial institutions influences global and domestic politics. The book presents an in-depth look at the scope and powers of international courts operating around the world. Focusing on dispute resolution, enforcement, administrative review, and constitutional review, the book argues that international courts alter politics by providing legal, symbolic, and leverage resources that shift the political balance in favor of domestic and international actors who prefer policies more consistent with international law objectives. International courts name violations of the law and perhaps specify remedies. The book explains how this limited power—the power to speak the law—translates into political influence, and it considers eighteen case studies, showing how international courts change state behavior. The case studies, spanning issue areas and regions of the world, collectively elucidate the political factors that often intervene to limit whether or not international courts are invoked and whether international judges dare to demand significant changes in state practices.

Tamils and the Haunting of Justice

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Willford
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Kuala Lumpur ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Land Use Patterns ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The Law ◽  
Law And Justice

In 2006, dejected members of the Bukit Jalil Estate community faced eviction from their homes in Kuala Lumpur where they had lived for generations. City officials classified plantation residents as squatters and questioned any right they might have to stay. This story epitomizes the dilemma faced by Malaysian Tamils in recent years as they confront the collapse of the plantation system where they have lived and worked for generations. Foreign workers have been brought in to replace Tamil workers to cut labor costs. As the new migrant workers do not bring their whole families with them, the community structures need no longer be sustained, allowing more land to be converted to mechanized palm oil production or lucrative housing developments. Tamils find themselves increasingly resentful of the fact that lands that were developed and populated by their ancestors are now claimed by Malays as their own; and that the land use patterns in these new townships, are increasingly hostile to the most symbolic vestiges of the Tamil and Hindu presence, the temples. This book is about the fast-approaching end to a way of life, and addresses critical issues in the study of race and ethnicity. It demonstrates which strategies have been most “successful” in navigating the legal and political system of ethnic entitlement and compensation. It shows how, through a variety of strategies, Tamils try to access justice beyond the law-sometimes by using the law, and sometimes by turning to religious symbols and rituals in the murky space between law and justice.

Property in Human Body Parts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine Pila
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Human Body ◽  
First Principles ◽  
The Political ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Cautionary Tale ◽  
Regulatory Approach ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
The Law

This chapter surveys the current legal position concerning property in bodies and bodily materials. Of especial relevance in the current age of advanced genetic and other bio technologies, it looks beyond property in bodies and their materials ‘as such’ to consider also (a) the availability of rights of personal and intellectual property in objects incorporating or derived from them, and (b) the reliance on quasi-property rights of possession and consent to regulate the storage and use of corpses and detached bodily materials, including so-called ‘bio-specimens’. Reasoning from first principles, it highlights the practical and conceptual, as well as the political and philosophical, difficulties in this area, along with certain differences in the regulatory approach of European and US authorities. By way of conclusion, it proposes the law of authors’ and inventors’ rights as simultaneously offering a cautionary tale to those who would extend the reach of property even further than it extends currently and ideas for exploiting the malleability of the ‘property’ concept to manage the risks of extending it.

scholarly journals RCVC: RSU-Aided Cluster-Based Vehicular Clouds Architecture for Urban Areas

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ben bezziane ◽  
Ahmed Korichi ◽  
Chaker Abdelaziz Kerrache ◽  
Mohamed el Amine Fekair
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Service Discovery ◽  
Cluster Head ◽  
Experimental Comparison ◽  
The Road ◽  
Road Side Unit ◽  
End To End Delay ◽  
End To End ◽  
On The Road

As a promising topic of research, Vehicular Cloud (VC) incorporates cloud computing and ad-hoc vehicular network (VANET). In VC, supplier vehicles provide their services to consumer vehicles in real-time. These services have a significant impact on the applications of internet access, storage and data. Due to the high-speed mobility of vehicles, users in consumer vehicles need a mechanism to discover services in their vicinity. Besides this, quality of service varies from one supplier vehicle to another; thus, consumer vehicles attempt to pick out the most appropriate services. In this paper, we propose a novel protocol named RSU-aided Cluster-based Vehicular Clouds protocol (RCVC), which constructs the VC using the Road Side Unit (RSU) directory and Cluster Head (CH) directory to make the resources of supplier vehicles more visible. While clusters of vehicles that move on the same road form a mobile cloud, the remaining vehicles form a different cloud on the road side unit. Furthermore, the consumption operation is achieved via the service selection method, which is managed by the CHs and RSUs based on a mathematical model to select the best services. Simulation results prove the effectiveness of our protocol in terms of service discovery and end-to-end delay, where we achieved service discovery and end-to-end delay of 3 × 10−3 s and 13 × 10−2 s, respectively. Moreover, we carried out an experimental comparison, revealing that the proposed method outperformed several states of the art protocols.

V. II principio dell’irretroattività della legge nell’esperienza giuridica romana dell’età repubblicana

2021 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 245-273
Author(s):  
Umberto Laffi
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Law ◽  
Criminal Legislation ◽  
Epigraphic Evidence

Abstract The Principle of the Irretroactivity of the Law in the Roman Legal Experience in the Republican Age. Through an in-depth analysis of literary and legal sources (primarily Cicero) and of epigraphic evidence, the author demonstrates that the principle of the law’s non-retroactivity was known to, and applied by, the Romans since the Republican age. The political struggle favored on several occasions the violation of this principle by imposing an extraordinary criminal legislation, aimed at sanctioning past behaviors of adversaries. But, although with undeniable limits of effectiveness in the dynamic relationship with the retroactivity, the author acknowledges that at the end of the first century BC non-retroactivity appeared as the dominant principle, consolidated both in the field of the civil law as well as substantive criminal law.

Experimental Study on Impact of Production Process Parameters on Rubber Asphalt Performance

2012 ◽  
Vol 204-208 ◽  
pp. 3629-3633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Hou
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Mixing Time ◽  
Rubber Powder ◽  
The Road ◽  
Molding Method ◽  
Production Temperature ◽  
Mixing Method ◽  
Asphalt Performance ◽  
Powder Content

In order to better master the production process and the road performance of rubber asphalt, the paper studied the influence law of mixing method, mixing temperature, mixing time and rubber powder content on the performance of rubber asphalt. The results show that all the indexes except the viscosity of rubber asphalt has little change with different mixing methods, and the rubber asphalt has the best performance under the high-speed stirring molding method but the worst performance under the high-speed shearing molding method. Meanwhile, the performance of rubber asphalt change visibly with different mixing temperatures, on which the excessively high or low production temperature has negative significance, so the optimal production temperature would be recommended as 180~200°C. Furthermore, the mixing time and the rubber powder content are the two critical factors which may greatly affect the performance of rubber asphalt, followed by the mixing temperature and the mixing method.

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