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Topic Review
European Court of Auditors
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) (French: Cour des comptes européenne) is the fifth institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management.
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Topic Review
Marikana Killings
The Marikana massacre, which took place on 16 August 2012, was the most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since 1976. The shootings have been described as a massacre in the South African media and have been compared to the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. The incident took place on the 25-year anniversary of a nationwide South African miners' strike. The killings took place at two locations, roughly 500 metres away from each other, with 17 people fatally wounded at each of these locations. The vast majority of those killed were killed by fire from the R5 assault rifle used by the South African Police Service (SAPS). The official figure for strikers injured during the shooting is 78. The strike was considered a seminal event in modern South African history, and was followed by similar strikes at other mines across South Africa, events which collectively made 2012 the most protest-filled year in the country since the end of apartheid. The Marikana massacre started as a wildcat strike at a mine owned by Lonmin in the Marikana area, close to Rustenburg, South Africa in 2012. The event garnered international attention following a series of violent incidents between the South African Police Service, Lonmin security and members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) on the one side and strikers themselves on the other. The first incidents of violence were reported to have started on 11 August after NUM leaders opened fire on NUM members who were on strike. Initial reports indicated that it was widely believed that two strikers died that day; however, it later turned out that two strikers were seriously wounded, but not killed, in the shooting by NUM members. During the period from Sunday 12 August to Tuesday 14 August, 10 people were killed including 6 mine workers, 2 Lonmin security guards and 2 SAPS members. Three of the mine workers, and the two SAPS members, were killed in a clash between strikers and SAPS members on the afternoon of 13 August. The remaining 5 people are also known to or believed to have been killed by strikers. In response to the Lonmin strikers, there were a wave of wildcat strikes across the South African mining sector.
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Topic Review
Risk Aversion (Psychology)
Risk aversion is a preference for a sure outcome over a gamble with higher or equal expected value. Conversely, the rejection of a sure thing in favor of a gamble of lower or equal expected value is known as risk-seeking behavior. The psychophysics of chance induce overweighting of sure things and of improbable events, relative to events of moderate probability. Underweighting of moderate and high probabilities relative to sure things contributes to risk aversion in the realm of gains by reducing the attractiveness of positive gambles. The same effect also contributes to risk seeking in losses by attenuating the aversiveness of negative gambles. Low probabilities, however, are overweighted, which reverses the pattern described above: low probabilities enhance the value of long-shots and amplify aversion to a small chance of a severe loss. Consequently, people are often risk seeking in dealing with improbable gains and risk averse in dealing with unlikely losses.
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Topic Review
Separatist Feminism
Separatist feminism is a form of radical feminism that holds that opposition to patriarchy is best done through focusing exclusively on women and girls. Some separatist feminists believe that men cannot make positive contributions to the feminist movement and that even well-intentioned men replicate the dynamics of patriarchy. Author Marilyn Frye describes separatist feminism as "separation of various sorts or modes from men and from institutions, relationships, roles and activities that are male-defined, male-dominated, and operating for the benefit of males and the maintenance of male privilege – this separation being initiated or maintained, at will, by women". In a tract on socialist feminism published in 1972, the Hyde Park Chapter of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union differentiated between separatism as an "ideological position" and as a "tactical position". In the same document, they further distinguished between separatism as "personal practice" and as "political position".
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Topic Review
Pervasive Developmental Disorder
The diagnostic category pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), as opposed to specific developmental disorders (SDD), is a group of disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and communication. The pervasive developmental disorders include autism, Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS, i.e., all autism spectrum disorders [ASD]), childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), overactive disorder associated with mental retardation and stereotyped movements, and Rett syndrome. The first four of these disorders are commonly called the autism spectrum disorders; the last disorder is much rarer, and is sometimes placed in the autism spectrum and sometimes not. The terminology PDD and ASD is often used interchangeably and varies depending on location. The two have overlapping definitions but are defined differently by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-V), and the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10). DSM-V removed PDD as a diagnosis and replaced it with ASD and the relative severity of the condition. ICD-10 on the other hand labels ASD as a pervasive developmental disorder with the subtypes previously mentioned. The onset of pervasive developmental disorders occurs during infancy, but the condition is usually not identified until the child is around three years old. Parents may begin to question the health of their child when developmental milestones are not met, including age appropriate motor movement and speech production. There is a division among doctors on the use of the term PDD. Many use the term PDD as a short way of saying PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified). Others use the general category label of PDD because they are hesitant to diagnose very young children with a specific type of PDD, such as autism. Both approaches contribute to confusion about the term, because the term PDD actually refers to a category of disorders and is not a diagnostic label.
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Topic Review
Dominickers
The Dominickers are a small biracial or triracial ethnic group that was once centered in the Florida Panhandle county of Holmes, in a corner of the southern part of the county west of the Choctawhatchee River, near the town of Ponce de Leon. The group was classified in 1950 as one of the "reputed Indian-White-Negro racial isolates of the Eastern United States" by the United States Census Bureau. Few facts are known about their origins, and little has been published about this group.
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Topic Review
Remarriage
Remarriage is a marriage that takes place after a previous marital union has ended, as through divorce or widowhood. Some individuals are more likely to remarry than others; the likelihood can differ based on previous relationship status (e.g. divorced vs. widowed), level of interest in establishing a new romantic relationship, gender, race, and age among other factors. Those who choose not to remarry may prefer alternative arrangements like cohabitation or living apart together. Remarriage also provides mental and physical health benefits. However, although remarried individuals tend to have better health than individuals who do not repartner, they still generally have worse health than individuals who have remained continuously married. Someone who repeatedly remarries is referred to as a serial wedder.
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Topic Review
Ahiṃsā
Ahimsa (also spelt Ahinsa) (Sanskrit: अहिंसा IAST: ahiṃsā, Pāli: avihiṃsā) ("nonviolence," although see Etymology below) is an ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues of Jainism, where it is first of the Pancha Mahavrata. It is also the first of the five precepts of Buddhism. Ahimsa is a multidimensional concept, inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy; therefore, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself. Ahimsa has also been related to the notion that any violence has karmic consequences. While ancient scholars of Hinduism pioneered and refined the principles of Ahimsa, the concept also reached an extraordinary development in the ethical philosophy of Jainism. lord Parsvanatha, the twenty-third tirthankara of Jainism, revived and preached the concept of non-violence in the 8th century BCE. Mahaviraswami, the twenty-fourth and the last tirthankara further strengthened the idea in the 6th century BCE. Perhaps the most popular advocate of the principle of Ahimsa was Mahatma Gandhi. Ahimsa's precept of 'cause no injury' includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts. Classical Hindu texts like the Mahabharata and Ramayana, as well as modern scholars, debate principles of Ahimsa when one is faced with war and situations requiring self-defence. Historical Indian literature has in this way contributed to modern theories of Just War and self-defence.
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Topic Review
Russia under Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin has served three terms and is currently in a fourth as President of Russia (2000–2004, 2004–2008, 2012–2018 and May 2018 to present) and was Acting President from 1999 to 2000, succeeding Boris Yeltsin after Yeltsin's resignation. Putin was also Prime Minister for three months in 1999 and served a full term from 2008 to 2012. During Putin's presidency, he has been a member of the Unity party and the United Russia party. He is also affiliated with the People’s Front, a group of supporters that Putin organized in 2011 to help improve the public's perception of United Russia. His political ideology, priorities and policies are sometimes referred to as Putinism (Russian: путинизм). Putin has enjoyed very high domestic approval ratings and in 2007 was Time magazine's Person of the Year. In 2015, he was designated No. 1 in Time 100, Time magazine's list of the top 100 most influential people in the world. In 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, he was designated No. 1 on the Forbes list of The World’s Most Powerful People. The Russian economy and standard of living grew rapidly during the early period of Putin's regime, fueled largely by a boom in the oil industry. However, lower oil prices and sanctions for Russia's annexation of Crimea led to recession and stagnation in 2015 that has persisted into the present day.. Political freedoms have been sharply curtailed, leading to widespread condemmnation from human rights groups.
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Topic Review
Criticisms of Electoral Politics
This article discusses criticisms of political systems, specifically representative democracy and direct democracy, that use elections as a tool for selecting representatives and/or deciding policy through a formal voting process as well as the act of voting itself. While representative democracy (and electoral systems in general) have become the modern civics global-standard, many of the below criticisms describe alternatives that existed before and/or independently of electoral systems. This includes but is not limited to the actions and political movements that stem from anti-electoralism, which describes activism around encouraging people not to vote for ethical or ideological reasons. It is also important to differentiate between criticisms of representative government and elections. Several of the following criticisms can be applied to both; however, the election of representatives and the consequences of the process on accountability of elected officials are the main focuses. This article does not address criticisms of neither "electoralism", the term coined by Terry Karl nor voter suppression, which is the act of discouraging or preventing people from voting in order to influence the outcome of an election in your favor. Criticisms of electoral politics range from cons of specific electoral mechanisms such as legislating by elected officials, initiative, referendum and recall to theoretical opposition to voting. These criticisms are relevant to discussions around electoral reform in both democratizing countries in the less developed world as well as most developed countries that espouse some form of electoral democracy.
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