Between Colonial Violence and Socialist Worldview: The Conversions of Ernst Daumig

In 1900, Ernst Däumig (1866–1922) wrote to Karl Kautsky of his ‘bitter experiences’ of violence in the French Foreign Legion and then in the Prussian military that had led to his recent ‘conversion’ to the socialist worldview. This article takes up Däumig's letters, articles and travelogues, and a drama, to explore how he recast his experiences of colonial and military violence twice, first as a writer for a German soldiers’ journal and then as an aspiring socialist journalist. As well as a burden that pushed him to critique his past, Däumig's military and colonial experiences are shown to have been his starting capital in the world of journalism and politics. The article gives particular attention to the process of conversion, through which Däumig forged a new life narrative out of the moral tales offered by the adopted worldview and the events of his own past. In addition to providing a case study of worldview conversion, this article demonstrates how biographical research can challenge assumptions about the impact of colonial violence on German metropolitan culture. At the same time, this biographical analysis sheds light on the early career of one of the key figures in the German Revolution of 1918 to 1921. As co-chairman of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), Däumig led the USPD into union with the Communist Party in 1920.

The Liedertheater of Wenzel and Mensching: Subversive Use of the Agitprop and Clowning Tradition in the GDR

The East German poet-clowns Hans-Eckardt Wenzel and Steffen Mensching rose to prominence during the GDR's (German Democratic Republic; Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR) Peaceful Revolution of autumn 1989 with their cabaret production Letztes aus der Da Da eR. A film adaptation of the production was made by Jörg Foth in 1990, which was finally released on DVD with English subtitles in the United Kingdom and North America in 2009 (Latest from the Da-Da-R). In light of this long-overdue interest in Wenzel & Mensching, this article will attempt to put the work of the duo in historical and aesthetic context. Their use of character, masks, music, and philosophy combined to create the distinctly grotesque world that constituted their Liedertheater performances.

Instituting order: the limitations of Nasser’s post-colonial planning visions for Cairo in the case of the indigenous quarter of Bulaq (1952–1970)

This paper investigates the limitations of postcolonial planning practices that aimed to modernise Cairo’s urban spaces during Gamal Abdel Nasser rule (1952–70). Following the Free Officers revolution of 1952, ambition to display urban order through forceful change in the city’s built environment was in action. Nasser’s visions of modernity were explicit in a series of attempts to reshape several prime locations in central Cairo, which included the old traditional waterfront quarter, in Bulaq Abul Ela. An analysis of the Bulaq planning scheme drafted in 1966 reveals insights into how notions of order were spatialised to integrate with Cairo’s complex urban fabric. The official plans to regularise Bulaq also strongly demonstrates how this was a top-down, centralised process in terms of governance, with full utilisation of state resources, namely the military and the media. From a wider perspective, planning practices under Nasser demonstrated an evident break with the past to eliminate memories of colonisation and disorder. Drawing on original resources, archival material, meeting minutes and maps of this historical but dilapidated quarter of Cairo, this paper gives an insight into how Nasser’s government attempted to convey a sense of order in a revolutionary country without, however, having an understanding of order as a coherent, multilayered and sequential process of change.

Diclofenac residues in carcasses of domestic ungulates available to vultures in India

Gyps vulture populations across the Indian subcontinent are declining rapidly and evidence indicates that veterinary use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac is the major cause. Exposure of vultures to diclofenac is likely to arise from the consumption of livestock carcasses that have been treated shortly before death, however, detailed information regarding the prevalence and residual levels of diclofenac in carcasses available to vultures in India remains unreported. Here, we present data on diclofenac residues in 1848 liver samples taken from carcasses of dead livestock sampled at 67 sites in 12 states within India, between May 2004 and July 2005. Diclofenac residues were detected in carcasses in all states except Orisa, where only one site was sampled. The overall prevalence of detectable diclofenac (>10 microg kg(-1)) across all states was 10.1% and varied significantly among states, with up to 22.3% prevalence determined in Bihar. The geometric mean concentration of diclofenac found in samples in which the drug was detected was 352 microg kg(-1). The prevalence of carcasses containing diclofenac is similar to that previously proposed to be required to have caused the observed Gyps vulture declines in India. On the 11th of May 2006, the Drug Controller General (India) ordered the withdrawal of all licenses granted for the manufacture of diclofenac for veterinary use within India. However, if Gyps vultures are to be protected, potentially substantial existing stocks now need to be quickly and effectively removed from the Indian veterinary market.

José Saramago e os jornais: os anos de 1968 a 1975

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Comunicação Social como parte dos requisitos para obtenção de grau de mestre em Jornalismo.

O Poder Tributário das Autarquias

Dissertação de Mestrado em Solicitadoria

Stock Market reaction to the CSR announcements of American fast food companies

The purpose of this study is to examine whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) announcements of the three biggest American fast food companies (McDonald’s, YUM! Brands and Wendy’s) have any effect on their stock returns as well as on the returns of the industry index (Dow Jones Restaurants and Bars). The time period under consideration starts on 1st of May 2001 and ends on 17th of October 2013. The stock market reaction is tested with an event study utilizing CAPM. The research employs the daily stock returns of the companies, the index and the benchmarks (NASDAQ and NYSE). The test of combined announcements did not reveal any significant effect on the index and McDonald’s. However the stock returns of Wendy’s and YUM! Brands reacted negatively. Moreover, the company level analyses showed that to their own CSR releases McDonald’s stock returns respond positively, YUM! Brands reacts negatively and Wendy’s does not have any reaction. Plus, it was found that the competitors of the announcing company tend to react negatively to all the events. Furthermore, the division of the events into sustainability categories showed statistically significant negative reaction from the Index, McDonald’s and YUM! Brands towards social announcements. At the same time only the index was positively affected by to the economic and environmental CSR news releases.

A View of the Fort and Harbour of Oswego from Lake Ontario, from the American Magazine March 1816

An image within the American Magazine, March 1816 Vol. I, No. 10. Page 369. A View of the Fort and Harbour of Oswego from Lake Ontario. Below the image it reads: "T. H. Wentworth del." Below the title it reads: "Representing the Attack by the British on the 6th of May 1814" Conducted by Horatio Gates Spafford, A.M. F.A.A.

National intelligencer, 22 May 1813 (vol. 13, no. 1977) - Newspaper

Volumes of interest were published between 1812 and 1815 with articles about the War of 1812. Issue for May 22, 1813 includes a letter of May 9th from Gen. W. H. Harrison to the Sec. of War, stating that the enemy had begun removing their artillery.

Instrument of Protest from Edward Barrori Palmer

Instrument of protest from Edward Barrori Palmer, Notary Public of Oakville regarding a protest by Samuel Sutherland, Master of the schooner Elizabeth and Charles McEacherin, mate. The schooner belonged to the Port of Niagara. It set sail from Port Credit to the Port of Niagara. On the 15th day of May there was a violent storm. On the 16th day of May, part of the deck and cargo consisting of lumber went overboard. The mainsail was lost and the jib was split due to the wind. All losses and damages should be borne by the merchants and whomever else it concerned and not by or through the insufficiency of the schooner of neglect by the officers and mariners. This is a 2 ½ page handwritten document, May 16, 1837.

Histoire de l'interprétation de la transition néolithique : évolution des théories, modèles et hypothèses

Ce mémoire reconstitue l’histoire des théories, modèles et hypothèses qui ont été formulés, principalement en archéologie, afin d’expliquer la naissance de l’agriculture qui correspond, du point de vue chronologique, à la transition (ou révolution) néolithique. Ces schèmes explicatifs sont décrits chronologiquement depuis la naissance de l’archéologie préhistorique, dans la première moitié du XIXe siècle, jusqu’à maintenant. Ils sont classifiés en fonction des principales écoles qui ont joué un rôle prédominant en archéologie préhistorique depuis son origine, soit : l’évolutionnisme multilinéaire, l’école culturelle-historique, le processualisme, le néodarwinisme et le postprocessualisme. Les théories spécifiques (dites de « niveau mitoyen » ou « régionales ») qui ont été avancées par ces écoles sont présentées dans leur ordre chronologique, soit (principalement) : les théories de la dessiccation ou de l’oasis, des flancs de colline, de la périphérie, du stress démographique, du festin compétitif, de la révolution des symboles, etc. Ce mémoire pose enfin les jalons d’une théorie multifactorielle qui intègre ou synthétise les principaux facteurs qui ont pu influer sur la naissance de l’agriculture et sur la transition néolithique.

Entre modernité et tradition : le cas du yoga du Cachemire à Montréal

Le yoga est une pratique ancestrale qui a connu une effervescence phénoménale ces quarante dernières années. S’insérant dans un monde en changement où l’individu et son rapport à son environnement ne sont plus perçus de la même manière, le yoga est une pratique qui véhicule un concept flexible et malléable, ajustable à une société occidentale en changement. Le Québec, et plus spécifiquement Montréal où s'est effectuée notre ethnographie, porte une histoire religieuse encore fortement présente où l’on découvre une effervescence de nouvelles pratiques depuis la Révolution tranquille des années soixante. C’est dans ce cadre que nous avons découvert le yoga cachemirien qui se base sur la tradition du sivaïsme tantrique non-duel du Cachemire. Cette pratique est encore peu connue dans le monde du yoga, bien qu’elle soit déjà bien installée comme objet d’étude dans les milieux académiques (Inde, France, Angleterre, Italie, États-Unis et Canada). Ce yoga se dit « traditionnel » à cause de son orientation non-duelle qui fait écho à l’enseignement délivré dans les tantras de cette tradition. Par ailleurs, cette pratique, majoritairement basée sur le senti et l’exploration tactile, ne porte pas les caractéristiques des yogas type ashtanga, Iyengar ou hatha, disponibles sur le marché. Notre exploration ethnographique s’est donc portée sur le vécu des membres de ce groupe et sur la pratique et le discours de l’enseignant. Les membres, majoritairement d’origine québécoise, appréhendent cette approche et cette sotériologie avec un vécu religieux culturel spécifiquement identifiable, que ce soit au niveau du corps, des idées ou de la formulation qu’ils en font. L’enseignant, quant à lui, présente la pratique comme l’application directe et vécue de la doctrine délivrée dans les tantras de la tradition du sivaïsme cachemirien. La pratique du yoga cachemirien se veut donc traditionnelle tout en s’acculturant au contexte contemporain dans lequel l’enseignement se délivre. Il est alors pertinent de comprendre la dynamique qui se génère dans ce processus de transposition traditionnelle au sein d’un contexte contemporain. C’est donc ce processus de construction/ transformation que nous allons tenter d’expliquer; celui-ci semble s’établir entre continuité traditionnelle et rupture d’éléments redéfinis et réinventés. Nous verrons que dans cette dynamique, observée tant dans le discours que la pratique, les limites ne sont pas aussi hermétiques qu'il n'y paraît : les concepts d’identité culturelle et de temporalité s’entrechoquent, se construisent les unes sur les autres dans un mouvement incessant et vivant.

Studies on the Quality of Rainwater at Various Land Use Locations and Variations by Interaction with Domestic Rainwater Harvesting Systems

The present study focused on the quality of rainwater at various land use locations and its variations on interaction with various domestic rainwater harvesting systems.Sampling sites were selected based upon the land use pattern of the locations and were classified as rural, urban, industrial and sub urban. Rainwater samples were collected from the south west monsoon of May 2007 to north east monsoon of October 2008, from four sampling sites namely Kothamangalam, Emakulam, Eloor and Kalamassery, in Ernakulam district of the State of Kerala, which characterized typical rural, urban, industrial and suburban locations respectively. Rain water samples at various stages of harvesting were also collected. The samples were analyzed according to standard procedures and their physico-chemical and microbiological parameters were determined. The variations of the chemical composition of the rainwater collected were studied using statistical methods. It was observed that 17.5%, 30%, 45.8% and 12.1% of rainwater samples collected at rural, urban, industrial and suburban locations respectively had pH less than 5.6, which is considered as the pH of cloud water at equilibrium with atmospheric CO,.Nearly 46% of the rainwater samples were in acidic range in the industrial location while it was only 17% in the rural location. Multivariate statistical analysls was done using Principal Component Analysis, and the sources that inf1uence the composition of rainwater at each locations were identified .which clearly indicated that the quality of rain water is site specific and represents the atmospheric characteristics of the free fall The quality of harvested rainwater showed significant variations at different stages of harvesting due to deposition of dust from the roof catchment surface, leaching of cement constituents etc. Except the micro biological quality, the harvested rainwater satisfied the Indian Standard guide lines for drinking water. Studies conducted on the leaching of cement constituents in water concluded that tanks made with ordinary portland cement and portland pozzolana cement could be safely used for storage of rain water.

Impact of sward type, cutting date and conditioning temperature on mass and energy flows in the integrated generation of solid fuel and biogas from semi-natural grassland

Energy production from biomass and the conservation of ecologically valuable grassland habitats are two important issues of agriculture today. The combination of a bioenergy production, which minimises environmental impacts and competition with food production for land with a conversion of semi-natural grasslands through new utilization alternatives for the biomass, led to the development of the IFBB process. Its basic principle is the separation of biomass into a liquid fraction (press fluid, PF) for the production of electric and thermal energy after anaerobic digestion to biogas and a solid fraction (press cake, PC) for the production of thermal energy through combustion. This study was undertaken to explore mass and energy flows as well as quality aspects of energy carriers within the IFBB process and determine their dependency on biomass-related and technical parameters. Two experiments were conducted, in which biomass from semi-natural grassland was conserved as silage and subjected to a hydrothermal conditioning and a subsequent mechanical dehydration with a screw press. Methane yield of the PF and the untreated silage was determined in anaerobic digestion experiments in batch fermenters at 37°C with a fermentation time of 13-15 and 27-35 days for the PF and the silage, respectively. Concentrations of dry matter (DM), ash, crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), acid detergent ligning (ADL) and elements (K, Mg, Ca, Cl, N, S, P, C, H, N) were determined in the untreated biomass and the PC. Higher heating value (HHV) and ash softening temperature (AST) were calculated based on elemental concentration. Chemical composition of the PF and mass flows of all plant compounds into the PF were calculated. In the first experiment, biomass from five different semi-natural grassland swards (Arrhenaterion I and II, Caricion fuscae, Filipendulion ulmariae, Polygono-Trisetion) was harvested at one late sampling (19 July or 31 August) and ensiled. Each silage was subjected to three different temperature treatments (5°C, 60°C, 80°C) during hydrothermal conditioning. Based on observed methane yields and HHV as energy output parameters as well as literature-based and observed energy input parameters, energy and green house gas (GHG) balances were calculated for IFBB and two reference conversion processes, whole-crop digestion of untreated silage (WCD) and combustion of hay (CH). In the second experiment, biomass from one single semi-natural grassland sward (Arrhenaterion) was harvested at eight consecutive dates (27/04, 02/05, 09/05, 16/05, 24/05, 31/05, 11/06, 21/06) and ensiled. Each silage was subjected to six different treatments (no hydrothermal conditioning and hydrothermal conditioning at 10°C, 30°C, 50°C, 70°C, 90°C). Energy balance was calculated for IFBB and WCD. Multiple regression models were developed to predict mass flows, concentrations of elements in the PC, concentration of organic compounds in the PF and energy conversion efficiency of the IFBB process from temperature of hydrothermal conditioning as well as NDF and DM concentration in the silage. Results showed a relative reduction of ash and all elements detrimental for combustion in the PC compared to the untreated biomass of 20-90%. Reduction was highest for K and Cl and lowest for N. HHV of PC and untreated biomass were in a comparable range (17.8-19.5 MJ kg-1 DM), but AST of PC was higher (1156-1254°C). Methane yields of PF were higher compared to those of WCD when the biomass was harvested late (end of May and later) and in a comparable range when the biomass was harvested early and ranged from 332 to 458 LN kg-1 VS. Regarding energy and GHG balances, IFBB, with a net energy yield of 11.9-14.1 MWh ha-1, a conversion efficiency of 0.43-0.51, and GHG mitigation of 3.6-4.4 t CO2eq ha-1, performed better than WCD, but worse than CH. WCD produces thermal and electric energy with low efficiency, CH produces only thermal energy with a low quality solid fuel with high efficiency, IFBB produces thermal and electric energy with a solid fuel of high quality with medium efficiency. Regression models were able to predict target parameters with high accuracy (R2=0.70-0.99). The influence of increasing temperature of hydrothermal conditioning was an increase of mass flows, a decrease of element concentrations in the PC and a differing effect on energy conversion efficiency. The influence of increasing NDF concentration of the silage was a differing effect on mass flows, a decrease of element concentrations in the PC and an increase of energy conversion efficiency. The influence of increasing DM concentration of the silage was a decrease of mass flows, an increase of element concentrations in the PC and an increase of energy conversion efficiency. Based on the models an optimised IFBB process would be obtained with a medium temperature of hydrothermal conditioning (50°C), high NDF concentrations in the silage and medium DM concentrations of the silage.

La pelota no se mancha: Un estudio histórico sobre el desarrollo y la política en FIFA

Esta investigación se centra en la Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) como organización política. Intenta responder dos interrogantes primordiales: 1) ¿cómo la FIFA ha constituido el poder que tiene actualmente y, así, hacerse del monopolio indiscutido del fútbol? Y 2) ¿cómo ha cambiado en el tiempo la política interna de FIFA y su vínculo con la política internacional? Para lograr esto, se realiza un estudio histórico, basado principalmente en documentos, que intenta caracterizar y analizar los cambios de la organización en el tiempo. Se enfatizan las últimas dos presidencias de FIFA, de João Havelange y Joseph Blatter, como casos de estudio.