The new ethnicity: Old wine in new bottles

Nathan Glazer and Daniel P. Moynihan, eds. Ethnicity: Theory and Experience. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976. 531 pp. Tables and index. $5.95 paper.

Abdul A. Said and Luis R. Simmons, eds. Ethnicity in an International Context. New Jersey: Transaction Books, 1976. 241 pp. $12.95.     

Kites — new discoveries and a new type

The stone structures known as kites and found widely in ‘Arabia’, are one of the more intriguing archaeological traces in what are often arid and bleak landscapes. They were first reported from the air in 1927, and by 1995 — largely through interpretation of old aerial photographs — c.500 had been identified. Now (2012), remote‐sensing techniques of various kinds have produced a huge increase, to over 3000. Recent work has also extended the geographical spread of kites in ‘Arabia’, from south‐eastern Turkey and north‐western Iraq to central Yemen. Much detailed work will be required to develop and refine a typology for kites as a whole and to digest and present data from remote sensing on which specialists may build interpretations and explanations. Current tabulation and mapping, however, already reveal patterns, and the discovery of an unusual form in the desert between Damascus and Palmyra in Syria deserves special attention.     

The new Hippocratics

In this guest editorial the authors look at the association of four blood types with four Hippocratic personality types in Japan and in matching lovers through dating services in the West.     

The new antievolutionism

Nelkin, D. The Creation Controversy. Science or Scripture in the Schools. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 1984. 242 pp. including chapter references, appendices, and index. $9.95 paper.

La Follette, Marcel Chotkowski, ed. Creationism, Science, and the Law. The Arkansas Case. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1983. vii + 236 pp. including chapter references, two appendices, and two indices. $9.95 paper.     

The new Siberia

This paper assesses relationships between Scottish ice climbing and daily weather conditions between 1961 and 1990. Synoptic air flow and instrumental climate data from Braemar and Fort Augustus were analysed in relation to first ascents of ice climbs in the Cairngorms, and on Ben Nevis and Creag Meagaidh. Lagged weather variables were calculated and stepwise logistic regression was used to estimate optimum models for both areas. Significant variables are anticyclonicity, low minimum air temperature and northerly or easterly airflow (Cairngorms, P = 0.0006); and northerly or easterly airflow, low minimum air temperature and low precipitation (Ben Nevis and Creag Meagaidh, P < 0.0001). A five‐day cold spell is optimum for Ben Nevis and Creag Meagaidh. A week with relatively little precipitation is beneficial in both areas. Air flow direction is more influential than vorticity, the optimum predictors of ice conditions using synoptic data alone are a persistent easterly component (beneficial), and a persistent southerly and westerly component (detrimental), P < 0.0001.     

Brave new world

This article asks if China can develop a truly creative economy and follow the lead of South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. If the benefits flowing from the creative economy (and creative industries) are so strategic to government, we need to ask what impact this re‐evaluation of creativity will have on a country often identified as having an overly regulated cultural sector. While there is ample evidence to support the idea of a dormant and often parasitic cultural sector, this article points to some areas where creativity is emerging as inputs into production, distribution and consumption.     

2014,旅行新能量

<正>美国波士顿公园绿道系统有个很美的名字——翡翠项链。它被公认为世界城市史上第一条真正意义上的绿道,像一条串连着波士顿的公园、林地、水景、野生动物栖息地的绿色项链。"绿道",顾名思义就是绿色的田园道路,没有城市道路中汽车尾气的污染,也没有普通乡间小道的崎岖难行。它融绿色、休闲、生态、低碳于一体,是与人为开发的景观相交叉的一种自然走廊。     

Iran's new strategic entity

This article focuses on the two political factions in Iran, the Jihadi (traditionalist combative) and the Ijithadi (creatively interpretive) and their competition and accommodation since the Revolution. The author argues that US-policy and developments in the region have favoured the Jihadis and enabled President Ahmadinejad to act more intransigently and assertively than would otherwise been the case. At a time of profound shift in the sectarian and strategic balance in the region, the challenge for the US and its allies is to widen the arena for Ijithadis within Iranian politics.     

Singing the new Nepal

Nepal's adoption of a new national anthem in 2007 reflected a decision to establish a new social and political order that was republican, federal and inclusive of the country's many minority communities. It came after a ten‐year internal conflict, and was followed by the abolition of the Shah monarchy that had ruled the country since the late eighteenth century. This article describes the historical and political context of the decision to replace the old anthem, the selection of the new anthem, and the debates that arose in the Nepali media and public sphere after its lyrics and the identity of its author were made known. The discussion refers to arguments made by Karen Cerulo about the relationship between the syntactic structure of national anthems and the stage reached in the process of political modernisation of the nation‐state in question, and provides some comparative perspectives on the Nepali case.     

The trial of the new woman: citizens-in-training in the new Soviet Republic

This essay examines the texts of Soviet plays from the 1920s known as agitation trials that deal with issues of women's emancipation and participation in the public sphere. It argues that, far from showing women to be men's equals (the ostensible purpose of the plays), the trials give a shocking portrayal of their heroines' faults, from passivity and meddling to gossip and lack of discipline. Given these weaknesses, the women delegates are supposed to recognise their need for tutelage from the new authorities. Their citizenship is thus held, at best, on contingent approval from those authorities.     

Material and cultural consumption in Cuba: new reference groups in the new millennium

Reference groups serve as markers for citizen-consumers to determine tastes and preferences about work and material and cultural consumption. These groups have evolved slowly in socialist Cuba, mostly during the post-Soviet era. This paper examines the symbolism, roles, and meanings of three such groups: the Cuban Diaspora, Cuban Gen-Yers or Millennials (survivors), and entrepreneurs. A combination of these groups is changing values about a new consumption taking hold across the island and offers insight into material and cultural consumption.     

A new era and new themes in Italian politics: The case of Padania

Abstract

By calling for the independence of Padania from the rest of Italy, the Lega Nord has recently drawn a great deal of attention to itself. In support of this campaign the Lega has actively introduced mythical and Utopian models onto the Italian political scene, combining a degree of cultural innovation with a certain political adventurism. This article focuses on these elements, beginning with the events of the autumn of 1996 when the Lega organized a ‘grande festa’ along the banks and in the towns of the River Po aimed at marking the birth of the new nation of Padania. The principal events of the festival were dominated by the many performances of the League's founder and leader, Umberto Bossi, whose speeches were full of pseudo‐religious or pseudo‐prophetic elements. Though the festival ended in Venice with a unilateral declaration of independence by the Lega and its followers in the north, it did not lead to any immediate political consequences. Nevertheless, the situation in Padania is marked by a complex mixture of identities. The Lega has not just introduced new methods of political opposition, it has also brought many subjects (local cultures, regionalism, the right to self‐determination) into the Italian political debate. Furthermore, it has used the language of the sacred and of ‘origins’ to create new characters, new calendars and new sacred sites.     

New Indians,new edition

Wendell H. Oswalt. This Land Was Theirs: A Study of the North American Indian, Second Edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1973. xx + 617 pp. Illustrations, maps, bibliography, and index. $13.00.     

银器处理的一种新方法

巯基苯基四氮唑(PMTA)是近年来发现的优良的防银变色剂。本文采用了甲酸并添加了少量的 PMTA 对银器表面的锈垢进行了处理,效果较为满意。从一批墨西哥银元的试验中可以证明,这种处理方法对银器具有抗变色作用,其效果 PMTA 比苯骈三氮唑(BTA)好,因 BTA 与银形成的配合物膜是呈线型或网状型的结构,而 PMTA 与银形成致密的配合物膜,这膜具有面型的结构,它能更有效地阻断各种腐蚀介质与银的反应。