Ecologically Sustainable Development in a ‘Quarry’ Economy: One Step Forward,Two Steps Back

An overview is presented of recent work on the environmental changes impacting on Australia and the policy responses of the State and Commonwealth governments, especially over the last ten years. This period has seen a remarkably stable phase of conservative government administration in Canberra and consistent resistance to a strong environmental policy agenda, both domestically and internationally. Attention is focused particularly on rural and regional Australia, rather than on urban areas. The paper discusses the role of environmental issues in recent elections and also details the results of relevant opinion polls charting changes in environmental attitudes. The problems posed by the federal system of administration are outlined as are recent analyses and counter‐analyses of the state of the Australian environment. A more fundamental problem with liberal democracy and environmental values is also addressed.     

The Barony and the Churches of Late Nineteenth Century Glasgow

The Barony Parish Church was one of the most important churches in nineteenth century Scotland partly due to its history, size, and location at the heart of the "second city" of the Empire and its Minister, Norman MacLeod. Its congregation represented every tier of Glasgow society in terms of social class and gender and as such, throws light on the more general debates on religion and society in nineteenth century Britain. When compared with other churches and denominations in Glasgow, it builds a more general picture of church and people in the city. The picture drawn reveals a complex pattern of adherence varying between individuals and families. An over emphasis on secular reasons for church membership ignores the important role of faith in determining patterns of adherence. Family letters, diaries, and journals often reveal a deep-seated faith and critical reflections on the preaching of the Word.     

The Russian social contract and regime legitimacy

The social contract in Soviet and post‐Soviet Russia has concerned not classical political rights but socio‐economic issues. Loyalty is accorded to the powers‐that‐be partly from fear of repression, but also in return for new opportunities of advancement—whether resulting from social upheaval or from educational expansion—and for modest improvements in living standards. The Soviet era ended when such benefits could no longer be delivered, on account of lower oil prices, arms‐race burdens and lagging productivity and innovation. After the turmoil of the 1990s, the contract was re‐established under Putin in the early 2000s. Public opinion accepts relatively authoritarian rule if economic stability appears guaranteed in return. Moreover, world events from 2008 onwards have dampened economic expectations. Nonetheless, the sustainability of the present contract is doubtful, with economic modernization likely to prove elusive in the absence of effective democratic institutions.     

ANALYSIS and PREDICTION OF ABNORMALLY COLD SPELLS IN SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN

The risk of departures of daily minimum temperatures at some prescribed level below the daily average can be estimated by the use of a combined deterministic/stochastic model. From a regional perspective the coefficients and parameters of the model are point observations containing information pertaining to both regional trends and local environmental conditions. Trend surface analyses, using latitude, longitude, and elevation, provide a means of identifying the relative importance of regional and local effects on cold spell risks. The derived surfaces indicate that the deterministic components filter out the regional characteristics and that the parameters of the stochastic model are more sensitive to local changes in elevation. The efficacy of the technique is illustrated by the prediction of cold spell risks at six test sites. Le risque d'écarts des températures journalières mini-males par rapport à un niveau prédéterminé se situant en-dessous de la moyenne journalière peut se mesurer au moyen d'un modèle à la fois déterministe et stochas-tique. Au plan régional, les coefficients et les paramètres du modèle sont des observ ations ponctuelles qui renfer-ment des informations se rapportant à la fois à des tendances régionales et à des conditions locales de I'envi-ronnement. Les analyses de tendance en surface, au moyen de latitude, longitude et altitude, constitutent une façon d'identifier l'importance relative des effets ré-gionaux et locaux sur les risques de vagues de froid. Les surfaces qui en dérivent révèlent que les composantes déterministes font ressortir les particolarités régionales et que les paramètres du modèle stochastique sont davan-tage sensibles aux changements locaux d'élévation. Des prévisions du risque de vague de froid, testées en six endroits, montrent I'efficacité de la technique.     

The chronology and regional context of late prehistoric incised arrowheads in southeastern Arabia

The typology, distribution and chronology of incised arrowheads is examined. A lower chronology than has hitherto been suggested for their occurrence is then argued. Evidence from other areas is used to illustrate the point that the examples from southeastern Arabia are unique and are chronologically unrelated to other ancient west Asian examples.     

A Trial PIXE/PIGME analysis of Pre-Islamic Arabian Coinage

Eight previously published (1) pre-Islamic coins minted in Arabia were subjected to non-destructive ion beam analysis by Proton Induced X-Ray (PIXE) and Gamma-Ray Emission (PIGME) at Lucas Heights. The results (2) were interpreted using Principal Components Analysis (PCA). The relative X-ray intensities of fifteen elements, supplemented with additional L alpha lines for two of the elements, were extracted for this analysis. PCA (results appended) was first carried out on the whole dataset where the distinctive high iron and nickel composition of two coins (331 and 335) resulted in their position as outliers. A second analysis of the subset of silver coins showed the compositional similarity between four coins (44, 222, 226, 359) and distinguished two separate outliers. One of these (369) has a high lead and tin content while the other (354) has a greater proportion of elements present as impurities (?) including iron and nickel. The two outliers and the relatively homogenous compositions of the group of four coins suggest that three compositional types of silver coinage are represented in the dataset: 1. a relatively silver-rich group of four coins; 2. silver coins debased with lead; and 3. silver coins debased with iron and nickel.     

COMMUNICATIONS AND NEWSMAKING BEFORE THE TELEGRAPH: THE STORY OF THE 1845 QUEBEC CITY FIRES

The press made the two huge fires which destroyed two-thirds of Quebec City in 1845 into one of the most important stories of the year. By studying how knowledge of it diffused, how editors in various places presented and interpreted it, and what interest they showed in the way the story was handled elsewhere, we can examine the process of news making in the days before the telegraph was in general use. The process of communications among editors was sophisticated and utilized a wide variety of methods. Innovations designed to speed the delivery of important information and to standardize its form were widely adopted, anticipating the telegraphic wire service. News was created in a fashion that is comparable with modern concepts of editorial management. By focussing on communications and their role in news making, rather than on the technology of dissemination, important parallels between practice in 1845 and modern understanding of news become apparent. ?on;attention portée par la presse aux deux incendies qui ravageèrent la ville de Québec en 1845 fut telle que ces evénements devinrent une des plus grandes affaires de ?on; année. á partir d'une étude qui sepenche sur la question des moyens de diffusion des informations sur ?on;affaire; c'est-à-dire, comment les rédacteurs de différentes régions ?on; ont interprétée et ? ont présentee au public, ainsi que ?on; intérêt qu'ils ont portéà la façon dont ?on; affaire a été traitée ailleurs, il est possible ?on; examiner les processus de la présentation des informations lors ?on; une période ole télégraphe n‘était pas encore en usage courant. Le processus de communications entre éditeurs était déjà sophistiqué et celui-ci employait une variété de differentes méthodes de communications. Une searie ?on; innovations avait été conçue non seulement pour accélérer la livraison ? informations importantes mais également, afin de standardiser la forme de celles-ci. Ces innovations anticipaient alors le service télégraphique. La fa?on dont les informations ont été“interprétées et présentées par la presse a ?on; epoque est comparable aux concepts modernes de la gestion des nouvelles. Une étude qui vise d'abord la communication et son rôle dans la création des nouvelles, et moins la téchnologie de la dissémination, permet de mieux soulever les parallèles importantes qui existent entre la pratique en 1845 et la compréhension contempo-raine des informations.