Working for the Living and the Dead

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soren Blau
Keyword(s):  
Forensic Science ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Human Identification ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Personal Identification ◽  
The Political ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
The Dead

Forensic science and medicine play a critical role in human identification, with the underlying premise being that ‘the truth’ can be empirically and objectively obtained. This chapter explores some of the approaches to exhumation and identification undertaken in Timor-Leste and discusses some of the complexities associated with scientific reason and the notion of the construction of ‘forensic truth’. The difficulty of establishing personal identification from skeletal remains in Timor-Leste is discussed in the context of large numbers of missing persons, the fact that atrocities took place in multiple locations over a 24-year period, and the fact that there is limited local forensic capacity. In addition, the ways in which the process of identification is understood is discussed in light of different notions of ‘truth’, highlighting the political, social, and ethical complexities at play.

Using forensic science to care for the dead and search for the missing: In conversation with Dr Morris Tidball-Binz

2017 ◽  
Vol 99 (905) ◽  
pp. 689-707
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South America ◽  
Forensic Science ◽  
International Committee ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Doctor Who ◽  
Missing Persons ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Disappeared

Dr Morris Tidball-Binz is a forensic doctor who joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2004 and has since worked for the organization in numerous contexts, helping to develop its novel forensic capacity. Having begun his career with forensic and human rights organizations, he helped pioneer in his native South America the application of forensic science to human rights investigations, particularly the search for the disappeared. He helped create the ICRC's Forensic Unit, of which he was the first Director until early 2017; he then headed the forensic operation for the Humanitarian Project Plan. He is currently the Forensic Manager for the ICRC's new Missing Persons Project. He spoke with the Review to share his insights on the development of humanitarian forensic action and its role in protecting the dead and clarifying the fate of missing persons.

The Fratricidal Hasmonean Conflict and the Murder of Onias

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vered Noam
Keyword(s):  
Dead Sea Scrolls ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Original Version ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Babylonian Talmud ◽  
Political Stance ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Temple

This chapter examines the story of the internecine struggle between the two Hasmonean brothers, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, which brought the Hasmonean commonwealth to its end. Only in Josephus is the story of the murder of a righteous man, Onias, juxtaposed to the central tradition regarding the siege of the temple during this war, although this too was clearly an early Jewish tradition. In the rabbinic sources, the story of the siege and the sacrificial animals underwent multiple reworkings, and it is the Babylonian Talmud that reflects the more original version and message of the story. If in Chapter 2, we saw the “rabbinization” of the figure of John Hyrcanus, here the story itself underwent this process and its original moral message was replaced by multiple halakhic implications. In both corpora, this dissension between brothers is seen as the leading cause of the downfall of the Hasmonean dynasty. This was in contradistinction to the political stance represented in the Dead Sea Scrolls, which interpreted the Roman occupation as proof of the sinfulness of the Hasmonean state from its very inception.

Cardinal Cullen, Early Fenianism, and the MacManus Funeral Affair

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 549-563
Author(s):  
Oliver P. Rafferty
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Government ◽  
John Mitchel ◽  
The U.S ◽  
The Phoenix

The political threat posed by the growth of Fenianism in Ireland in the late 1850s and early 1860s has generally been underplayed by much present-day historiography. Even contemporaries were not disposed to see American Fenianism as much of a danger to the constitutional stability of Ireland. The Dublin police authorities decided to recall sub-inspector Thomas Doyle from his surveillance work in America in July 1860. By that time Doyle had sent dozens of reports on Irish-American revolutionary activity. On the basis of his reports the authorities knew that John O'Mahony and Michael Dohney, both of 1848 notoriety, were prominently involved in Phoenix and Fenian conspiracy. They also knew the general points of the ‘phoenix theory’ that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity, that men were being recruited and drilled in large numbers in the U.S. for a possible invasion of Ireland, that ‘O'Mahony's theory [was] … to root out the Government, to cut down the landlords, and to confiscate the land of Ireland’, and that John Mitchel had gone to Paris as an agent for the ‘phoenix confederacy’ in the U.S.

Historical Contingencies in the Evolution of States and Their Militaries

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-161
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bendor ◽  
Jacob N. Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Law Of Large Numbers ◽  
International System ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Selection Environment ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Key Players ◽  
Chance Events ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Do So

AbstractHistorians and some scholars of international relations have long argued that historical contingencies play a critical role in the evolution of the international system, but have not explained whether they do so to a greater extent than in other domains or why such differences may exist. The authors address these lacunae by identifying stable differences between war and other policy domains that render the evolution of the international system more subject to chance events than those other domains. The selection environment of international politics has produced tightly integrated organizations (militaries) as the domain’s key players to a much greater degree than other policy domains. Because there are few players, no law of large numbers holds, and because militaries are tightly integrated, microshocks can reverberate up to macro-organizational levels. The anarchic character of the international system amplifies the impact of these shocks. The authors explore these phenomena in a range of historical examples.

scholarly journals Politics is making us sick: The negative impact of political engagement on public health during the Trump administration

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0262022
Author(s):  
Kevin B. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Political Left ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Significant Health ◽  
Trump Administration

Objectives To quantify the effect of politics on the physical, psychological, and social health of American adults during the four-year span of the Trump administration. Methods A previously validated politics and health scale was used to compare health markers in nationally representative surveys administered to separate samples in March 2017 (N = 800) and October 2020 (N = 700). Participants in the 2020 survey were re-sampled approximately two weeks after the 2020 election and health markers were compared to their pre-election baselines. Results Large numbers of Americans reported politics takes a significant toll on a range of health markers—everything from stress, loss of sleep, or suicidal thoughts to an inability to stop thinking about politics and making intemperate social media posts. The proportion of Americans reporting these effects stayed stable or slightly increased between the spring of 2017 and the fall of 2020 prior to the presidential election. Deterioration in measures of physical health became detectably worse in the wake of the 2020 election. Those who were young, politically interested, politically engaged, or on the political left were more likely to report negative effects. Conclusions Politics is a pervasive and largely unavoidable source of chronic stress that exacted significant health costs for large numbers of American adults between 2017 and 2020. The 2020 election did little to alleviate those effects and quite likely exacerbated them.

scholarly journals THE FUNCTION OF INFORMAL GUANXI CIRCLE IN ANCIENT CHINA POLITICAL STRUCTURE

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-87
Author(s):  
Ruihui Han
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
Political Structure ◽  
Previous Researcher ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Common

Guanxi circle play a critical role in ancient China politics. Based on guanxi, two kinds of guanxi groups formed: formal guanxi circle and informal guanxi circle. The former refers to the group centered the emperor; the latter refers to the groups with the powerful and charismatic figures as the core, except for the emperor. In order to consolidate the political power, the emperors in different periods would try to prevent the informal guanxi circle in political structure. Besides, various scriptures also denounce the informal guanxi circle, deeming such circle as harmful. The judgement of informal guanxi circle appeals to research, as there is no previous researcher has address such problems. This study set out to examine whether the informal guanxi circle is harmful to the whole political structure. Results show that the informal guanxi circle, in the antecedent of satisfactory communication, can be extremely meaningful to the whole political structure. This study implies that the fact of informal guanxi circle is on the contrary of the common sense derived from the scriptures and the superficial ancient political activities, such as the emperor’s order to prevent the informal guanxi circle. The findings can contribute a better understanding of the ancient informal guanxi circle in ancient political structure in China.

scholarly journals CORRELATION BETWEEN CROWN LENGTH OF PERMANENT MAXILLARY ANTERIOR TEETH, FACIAL HEIGHT AND LENGTH OF HAND DIGITS WITH THE STATURE OF AN INDIVIDUAL.

2020 ◽  
pp. 42-46
Author(s):  
Thatchani G V ◽  
S.Babukuttan Pillai ◽  
Heera R
Keyword(s):  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Body Height ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Personal Identification ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Mass Casualties ◽  
Crown Length ◽  
Anterior Teeth ◽  
Facial Height ◽  
Right Hand

BACKGROUND: Personal identification is defined as establishing the identity of an individual. One of the objectives of the medicolegal investigation is to estimate stature or height from various skeletal remains and body parts brought for examination. Teeth can be considered as an exceptional resource material for forensic investigations because of its high resistance capacity to withstand high temperatures in disasters during natural or manmade calamities. Teeth play a vital role in individual identification for medicolegal circumstances and identification of unknown skeletal remains during mass casualties. We did a pioneer study to correlate anatomical crown length of maxillary anterior teeth, facial height and right-hand digits length with the stature of an individual for personal identification in Southern Kerala population by formulating an equation. METHODS: A total of 250 volunteers participated in this study. The stature and anatomical crown length of maxillary anterior teeth, facial height, length of right-hand digits were measured. Statistical analysis was performed using computer software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 for Windows Operating System. Correlation between anatomical crown length of maxillary anterior teeth, facial height, length of right-hand digits with the stature of an individual was analyzed by Pearson correlation test. Regression analysis was used to get equations for estimation of stature from these parameters. CONCLUSION: The present study is possibly the first in Southern Kerala population that has attempted to estimate stature from anatomical crown length of permanent maxillary anterior teeth, facial height, and right-hand digits length by formulating a regression equation. We found some positive correlation between facial height and right-hand digits length with the stature of the individual. But there was no significant correlation between anatomical crown length of permanent maxillary anterior teeth with the stature of an individual. Although no definitive correlations could be established between anatomical crown length of permanent maxillary anterior teeth and stature or body height, the use of the established parameters will be helpful in the fields of forensic odontology and anthropology.

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