The Belgammel Ram,a Hellenistic‐Roman Bronze Proembolion Found off the Coast of Libya: test analysis of function,date and metallurgy,with a digital reference archive

The Belgammel Ram was found off the coast of Libya in 1964, and examined during 2008–9. The following techniques were used: surface non‐contact digitizing using a laser scanner, reflectance transformation imaging using polynomial texture mapping and hemi‐spherical harmonics, digital photogrammetry with dense surface modelling, structured light optical scanning, and X‐ray fluorescence analysis. For internal structure the ram was examined by X‐radiography and 3‐D X‐ray tomography. Metallurgical composition was studied by micro‐drilling and subjecting the samples to scanning electron microscope X‐ray micro‐analysis, micro X‐ray fluorescence and X‐ray backscatter. The lead isotope composition was analysed. The alloy has average percentage composition Cu = 86.9, Sn = 6.3, Pb = 6.6, and Zn = < 0.10. The Belgammel Ram is probably a Hellenistic‐Roman proembolion from a small military vessel or tesseraria. The archived data are at the Faculty of Engineering and Environment, Engineering Sciences, Material Data Centre, University of Southampton ( muvis@soton.ac.uk ).     

An early Miocene ant (subfam. Amblyoponinae) from Foulden Maar: the first fossil Hymenoptera from New Zealand

Kaulfuss, U., Harris, A.C., Conran J.G. & Lee, D.E., 2014. An early Miocene ant (subfam. Amblyoponinae) from Foulden Maar: the first fossil Hymenoptera from New Zealand. Alcheringa 38, 568–574. ISSN 0311-5518.

The ant subfamily Amblyoponinae is presently represented in New Zealand by one endemic species in the cosmopolitan genus Stigmatomma and an introduced Australian species of Amblyopone. The fossil record of the group is restricted to two species of Stigmatomma from late Eocene Baltic Amber. Here, we describe the third fossil record, an Amblyopone-like specimen from the early Miocene of Otago, southern New Zealand, based on a winged male that resembles the extant A. australis Erichson in size, general habitus and characters of wing venation, but also shares features with the African amblyoponine genus Zymmer. This represents the first fossil record of Amblyoponinae from the Southern Hemisphere and the first example of Hymenoptera among the few pre-Quaternary insect fossils known from New Zealand. It suggests a long history of Amblyoponinae in New Zealand and Australia.

Uwe Kaulfuss [uwe.kaulfuss@otago.ac.nz] and Daphne E. Lee [daphne.lee@otago.ac.nz], Department of Geology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand; Anthony C. Harris [anthony.harris@otagomuseum.govt.nz], Otago Museum, PO Box 6202, Dunedin 9059, New Zealand; John G. Conran [john.conran@adelaide.edu.au], ACEBB & SGC, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Benham Bldg, DX 650 312, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia. Received 18.3.2014; revised 15.5.2014; accepted 23.5.2014.     

Obituary—The Rev. Robert Mackenzie,M.A.

Abstract

This paper examines how CCTV-assisted bird-watching mediates people's relationship with a particular representation of an animal world. By focusing on people's interpretations and responses to CCTV camera technology at three bird-watching sites around Scotland, it is argued that the use of CCTV technology represents a qualitatively different mode of engaging with birds which has bearing on how this mediated animal world appears in and to people's everyday lives. It is asserted that the spatial relations invoked in the act of looking at birds through a CCTV lens inscribe a conceptual hyper-separation between see-er and seen that serve to normalise a vision of humanity inherently separate from and dominant over the wildlife on screen. As a technologically mediated way of seeing, the paper explores the use of CCTV cameras as inscribing particular ‘ways of being’ that serve to define and limit people's conduct towards the birds on view. By drawing attention to the conservation discourses that support, and are supported by the use of CCTV-assisted bird-watching, it is argued that the notion of ‘keeping an eye on nature’ is embedded in a cultural agenda that assists with the construction of nature as tele-visual commodity.     

Just War or Ethical Peace? Moral Discourses of Strategic Violence After 9/11

Against the commonly held view that morality implies a critique or restraint of strategic violence, this article analyses a range of moral discourses that have been deployed to support the war on terror, including its extension to Iraq. It analyses the ambiguity between legal and extra-legal responses in Bush administration rhetoric and policy, and critically surveys the humanitarian costs–in civilian life, instability and suffering–sustained during the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
This article places just war theory, in particular, under extended critical scrutiny, and finds its formalized system of moral rules and concepts–particularly civilian immunity and proportionality–deeply flawed in the light of actual US war-fighting strategies. By insisting on the acceptability of unintentional killing (as opposed to an alternative concept such as avoidable harm) just war theory may actually expose civilians to mortal danger and liberate war rather than morally restrain it. In the light of the flaws of current moral discourses on strategy, the article concludes by developing 'ethical peace' as an alternative conceptual framework that seeks to create a genuinely universal moral community in which it is never, in principle, legitimate to secure one group of citizens by placing others in moral danger.     

Brazil's Bolsa Família: A Double‐Edged Sword?

In common with most Latin American countries, as governments embrace safety nets to attack poverty, conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes have become part of mainstream social policy in Brazil. Under president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002), and especially since Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2003, targeted assistance in education, health and nutrition, now united under Bolsa Família, have expanded rapidly to benefit forty‐four million (24 per cent of the total population), absorbing almost two‐fifths of the social assistance budget earmarked for the poorest sectors. Despite its operational problems, Bolsa Família appears to have been effective in providing short‐term relief to some of the most deprived groups in Brazil. Yet it could prove to be a double‐edged sword. There is a risk that, due to its popularity among both the poor and Brazil's politicians, Bolsa Família could greatly increase patronage in the distribution of economic and social benefits and induce a strong dependence on government handouts. There are also early signs that it may be contributing to a reduction in social spending in key sectors such as education, housing and basic sanitation, possibly undermining the country's future social and economic development.     

The Politics of Judicial Selection

Some of Stuart Nagel's earliest work has a continuing significance to research on the selection of state court judges. His research provides answers to why partisan election of judges, in spite of the flaws of this selection system, remains a major system for selecting state court judges. And Nagel's early research offers important insight about contemporary issues in the selection of judges such as the differences between elected and appointed judges and the role of race and ethnicity in judicial decision-making.