Electronic Decentralisation in China: A Critical Analysis of Internet Filtering Policies in the People's Republic of China

China is in the midst of an Internet revolution that appears to be accelerating. Despite Beijing's desperate attempts to control Web content, the flow of 'illegal' and 'undesirable' information continues to bypass the state's primitive regulatory system. This study examines the administrative and technical difficulties involved in Internet regulation in China, and concludes that digital censorship is unworkable. Not only are China's surveillance and bureaucratic arrangements inadequate, counter-filtering technologies have been implemented both in and out of China to ensure a relatively free flow of information. Anti-blocking software, mirror sites, remailers, secret Usenet groups, and anonymous e-mail services have all contributed to a noticeable breakdown in Beijing's enforcement mechanisms.     

Using ancient DNA analysis in palaeopathology: a critical analysis of published papers,with recommendations for future work

Despite an observable increase in the number of studies using ancient DNA analysis to diagnose disease in human remains, there remain issues to be addressed about the quality of the resulting publications. This paper describes the qualitative analysis of published papers that describe the detection of pathogenic DNA in human skeletal and mummified remains from archaeological sites. Its ultimate goal is to provide an overview of the main problematic issues in relationship to standards developed in molecular biology and to make recommendations for future work. Sixty‐five papers published between 1993 and 2006 were surveyed and the quality of each was assessed using 15 criteria. Interesting results emerged. Of particular note was the high number of papers that did not acknowledge the use of even basic contamination control (90%) or procedures to validate results independently (85%). This study illustrates that attention to contamination control and authentication of results is needed in future research, if confidence in aDNA analysis in palaeopathology is to be increased. Additionally, methods of analysis must be described in published papers to ensure transparency in processes utilised to generate the data. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Rebel, not a Rabbi: Jewish Membership of the Communist Party of Great Britain

This paper explores the relationship between Jews and communismin the twentieth century through a case study of the Jewishmembership of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Itexplains in particular why large numbers of Jews were attractedto the CPGB. The dynamics of integration into British societyof second-generation Anglo-Jewry provides an answer and offersan insight into the issues of Jewish identity and its relationshipwith extreme left-wing politics. The study of the personal reflectswider changes in the historiography of communism as the endof the communist bloc has led to new avenues of research notleast due to the opening of previously closed archives. Indeed,the sources used here have only recently been made availablefollowing the demise of the CPGB. This article concentrateson the one of the most important parts of this archive: thebiographical collection, a unique source providing an unparalleledopportunity to examine the lives of party members. This articlerepresents one of the first to be based on this material, andwith additional supporting research it also represents probablythe largest and most detailed biographical study of Anglo-Jewryto date.     

From “Thin” to “Thick” (and Back Again?): The Politics and Policies of the Contemporary US–Canada Border

Despite making modest progress on challenging management and security issues common to their shared border, the United States and Canada have, in recent years, slipped behind on advancing a progressive border agenda. The momentum unleashed under the 30-point Smart Border Action Plan, signed in late 2001, has slowed in the face of new regulations at the border, many of which were initiated by the United States. These include significant changes in US admission procedures under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), new border policing resources and protocols, as well as new customs and inspection fees. The much-heralded Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), designed to facilitate both trade and security between the two countries, has also lost momentum, with the last trilateral meeting of leaders resulting in little more than a press release. As a result of these and other developments, it appears that rather than “thinning,” the US–Canada border is “thickening” at precisely the time when greater economic and security cooperation is necessary to bolster North American competitiveness in an increasingly globalized economy and complex security environment. This article will investigate some of the key reasons behind these policy developments, exploring some of the early positions that frame approaches to border management in the Obama administration. It will also offer some thoughts on opportunities for improved border management policies by providing some specific recommendations, which may help advance solutions to pressing – and festering – bilateral security and trade issues.     

新西兰针对英国加入欧共体的政策

20世纪六七十年代,新西兰在英国回归欧洲并最终加入欧共体后陷入了严重的困境.由于没有充分认识到传统市场结构性断裂的不可逆转性,新西兰不仅未能及时从摆脱依附、变革自身经济方面寻求突破,更将主要的资源集中于围绕英国市场进行博弈,结果在传统市场变化、依附导致的产业结构失衡及石油危机打击下,陷入了较其他发达国家更为严重的综合性危机之中.     

George Weekes: Rogue Missionary to New England Indians, 1731–1755

During the mid‐1700s, an uneducated layman named George Weekes began preaching to Native Americans in the town of Harwich, Massachusetts. Weekes’ missionary activity triggered a passionate response from Nathaniel Stone, the local minister, and inaugurated a debate regarding ministerial qualifications within the community. Scholars who study English missionary activity in colonial New England tend to focus upon the careers of trained clergy, such as John Eliot or Josiah Cotton. Other individuals, who possessed questionable moral character and little education, also preached to New England Indians, however. In this instance, the career of George Weekes, a rogue missionary, reveals that contact with Native Americans could shape ecclesiastical life in colonial Massachusetts. It also suggests that Native Americans encountered popular, as well as elite, English religious culture when they interacted with English missionaries in early New England.     

THE DYNAMICS OF SUBCENTER FORMATION: MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, 1861–1906

Midtown Manhattan is the largest business district in the country. Yet only a few miles to the south is another district centered at Wall Street. This paper aims to investigate when and why midtown emerged as a separate business district. We have created a new data set from historical New York City directories that provide the employment location, residence, and job type for several thousand residents in the late‐19th and early‐20th centuries. We supplement this data with additional records from historical business directories. The evidence suggests that early midtown firms appeared there in order to be closer to local residential customers who had been moving north on the island throughout the 19th century. Once several industries appeared in midtown, it triggered a spatial equilibrium readjustment in the 1880s, which then promoted the rise of skyscrapers in midtown around the turn of the 20th century. This process occurred several years before the opening of Grand Central Station in 1913.