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Not Available ; The socio-economic outputs for the Gopalagiri Colony-2 micro-watershed (Basavapur sub-watershed, Gundlupet taluk, Chamarajanagar district) are presented here. Social Indicators;  Male and female ratio is 49 to 51 per cent to the total sample population.  Younger age 18 to 50 years group of population is around 59.1 per cent to the total population.  Literacy population is around 75.6 per cent.  Social groups belong to other backward caste (OBC) among the all sample households.  Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is the source of energy for a cooking among all households.  About 90 per cent of households have a yashaswini health card.  About 20.0 percent of farm households having MGNREGA card for rural employment.  Dependence on ration cards for food grains through public distribution system is around 90.0 per cent. 2  Swach bharath program providing closed toilet facilities among the all sample households.  Institutional participation is only 10.2 per cent of sample households.  Women participation in decisions making are around 60 per cent of households were found. Economic Indicators;  The average land holding is 0.6 ha indicates that majority of farm households are belong to marginal and small farmers. The dry land account for 63.9 % and irrigated land is 36.1 % of total cultivated land of the sample farmers.  Agriculture is the main occupation among 73.4 per cent followed by the agriculture is the main and government service is subsidiary occupation of 2.1 percent of the sample households.  The average value of domestic assets is around Rs.59791 per household. Mobile and television are popular media mass communication.  The average value of farm assets is around Rs. 129479 per household, about 60 per cent of sample farmers are owing plough.  The average value of livestock is around Rs. 19749 per household; all sample household are having livestock.  The average per capita food consumption is around 731.6 grams (1574.2 kilo calories) against national institute of nutrition (NIN) recommendation at 827 gram. Around 70.0 per cent of sample households are consuming less than the NIN recommendation.  The annual average income is around Rs 43153 per household. About 70 per cent of farm households are above poverty line.  The per capita monthly average expenditure is around Rs.1199. Environmental Indicators-Ecosystem Services;  The value of ecosystem service helps to support investment to decision on soil and water conservation and in promoting sustainable land use.  The onsite cost of different soil nutrients lost due to soil erosion is around Rs. 642 per ha/year. The total cost of annual soil nutrients is around Rs. 76428 per year for the total area of 576.5 ha. 3  The average value of ecosystem service for food grain production is around Rs 26640/ha/year. Per hectare food production services is maximum in onion (Rs. 68252) followed by turmeric (Rs. 52922), maize (Rs. 33910), beans (Rs. 30467), ragi (Rs. 13282), horse gram (Rs. 12725) and groundnut is negative returns.  The average value of ecosystem service for fodder production is around Rs. 3474/ ha/year. Per hectare fodder production services is maximum in groundnut (Rs. 5592) followed by maize (Rs. 2608) and ragi (Rs. 2223).  The data on water requirement for producing one quintal of grain is considered for estimating the total value of water required for crop production. The per hectare value of water used and value of water was maximum in beans (Rs.416385) followed by maize (Rs. 57387), turmeric (Rs. 35812), sunflower (Rs. 30236), horse gram (Rs. 22808), onion (Rs. 20155), groundnut (Rs. 19448) and ragi (Rs. 15092). Economic Land Evaluation;  The major cropping pattern is maize (27.7 %) followed by sunflower (25.4 %), turmeric (14.8 %), horse gram (11.4 %), ragi (10.3 %), groundnut (5.1 %) and onion (5.0 %),  In Gopalagiri colony-2 micro-watershed, major soil are soil of Annurkeri (ARK) soils are very deep and well drained soil depth covered around 9.7 % of area. On this soil farmers are presently growing maize. Honnegaudanahalli (HGH) soils are very deep and well drained soil depth cover around 7.7 % of area; the crops are maize (32.6%), ragi (32.6 %) and sunflower (34.6 %). Beemanabeedu (BMB) soils are very deep and moderately well drained, soil depth covered 2.7 % of areas, crop are beans (8.2 %), groundnut (6.7%), horse gram (6.3%), maize (20.9%), onion (6.3%), ragi (6.3%), sunflower (25.8 %) and turmeric (19.0%).  The total cost of cultivation and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in study area for maize ranges between Rs. 39630/ha in HGH soil (with BCR of 2.02) and Rs.27088/ha in BMB soil (with BCR of 2.36).  In sunflower the cost of cultivation range between is Rs.38023/ha in HGH soil (with BCR of 1.08) and Rs.30398/ha in BMB soil (with BCR of 1.32).  In ragi the cost of cultivation range between is Rs.21275/ha (with BCR of 1.87), and Rs.20086/ha in HGH soil (with BCR of 1.84).  In beans the cost of cultivation in BMB soil is Rs 25108/ha (with BCR of 2.40). 4  In groundnut the cost of cultivation in BMB soil Rs. 39793/ha (with BCR of 1.02).  In horse gram cost of cultivation in BMB soil is Rs.16915/ha (with BCR of 1.75).  In onion the cost of cultivation in BMB soil is Rs 79948/ha (with BCR of 1.85) and turmeric the cost of cultivation in BMB soil is Rs.106172/ha (with BCR of 1.51).  The land management practices reported by the farmers are crop rotation, tillage practices, fertilizer application and use of farm yard manure (FYM). Due to higher wages farmer are following labour saving strategies is not prating soil and water conservation measures. Less ownership of livestock limiting application of FYM.  It was observed soil quality influences on the type and intensity of land use. More fertilizer applications on deeper soil to maximize returns. Suggestions;  Involving farmers is watershed planning helps in strengthing institutional participation.  The per capita food consumption and monthly income is very low. Diversifying income generation activities from crop and livestock production in order to reduce risk related to drought and market prices.  Majority of farmers reported that they are not getting timely support/extension services from the concerned development departments.  By strengthing agricultural extension for providing timely advice improved technology there is scope to increase in net income of farm households.  By adopting recommended package of practices by following the soil test fertiliser recommendation, there is scope to increase yield in maize (38.0 to 55.3 %), groundnut (59.1 %), horse gram (24.1 %), onion (69.6 %), ragi (59.5 %), sunflower (45.5 %) and turmeric (7.2 %). ; Karnataka Watershed Development, Under Sujala-III project

 Watching students getting arrested and expelled was bad.  Watching them get pummeled by right wing assholes (Zionists or far right provocateurs) with the cops' permission and watching cops use "rubber" bullets that are super dangerous has been even worse.  I have many thoughts about all of this so let me spew a bit to figure some of this stuff out.Some really basic stuff about identity and anti-semitism:No individuals or groups are actually acting on behalf of entire ethnic groups despite, oh my, all of the assumptions and data I used when I was an ethnic conflict scholar.  This means:Not all allies of Israel are Jews.  Not all pro-Palestinians are Muslims.  Not all Jews are pro-Israel at this moment.  What is anti-semitism?  Hatred of Jews.  Criticism of Israel can be anti-semitic but is not necessarily.  Israel is a country, and it has a government.  All governments can and should be criticized when they abuse people and engage in bad policies.  Identifying Israel with all Jews can be anti-semitic because it is generalizing about an entire group.  Not all Arabs or Muslims are pro-Saudi Arabia AND criticism of Saudi Arabia is not always Islamophobic.  Are these various encampments and anti-Israel protests anti-semitic? It depends.  Sorry, but it is not clear--it depends on their demands, their statements, their treatment of Jews.  If they happen to have a bunch of Jews within them, then they are probably not anti-semitic. Back to basic stuff, this time about punishing students:Any punishment of students should involve some kind of due process.  No student should be evicted without a big hunk of due process.Students should not be suspended or expelled or evicted for engaging in collective dissent as long as it is not violent.  Universities are supposed to places where speech should be at its freest.  Such protests can be inconvenient and/or annoying--that is how they make themselves known. When I mentioned this on social media, someone raised the John Lewis line about good trouble.  What protests should not do and protestors can be punished for is threatening other students. But that raises two important distinctions:individual punishment, not collective punishment.  Entire groups of students should not be punished for the statements of individuals or actions of individuals especially if those folks happen to be off campus (see the non-students outside of Columbia)Saying negative things about Israel may hurt one's feelings but does not count as threats.  Again, not all criticism of Israel is anti-semitic.  The actual words and actions matter.  It may suck for Jewish students to be on campuses where there are protests against Israel as insults of those sharing one's identity does hurt one's own self-esteem.  But hurt feelings are not tantamount to violence or assaults.   No president of any university should be calling in the cops to arrest their students unless their students are engaged in or threatening to engage in violence.  Campuses need to be safe for all students, including those engaged in dissent.  Calling in the cops is an escalation that can and often leads to violence.  The students at many of these places have been harmed, way out of proportion to whatever their alleged crimes.  These universities have failed a very basic part of their mission--to protect their students.  Again, there are now cops on campus using rubber bullets and pepper spray.Everyone should have learned by now that no one controls the cops in North America AND they like to escalate AND infiltration is probably too benign of a word to address how deeply the far right is embedded in North American police forces.  So, calling the cops is worse than throwing gasoline on a fire because the latter has no illusion of deniability. Now, let's get to the far right bullshit of all of this: Republicans, Fox, and the rest of the far right apparatus complaining about "anti-semitic" students on college campuses is just bad faith bullshit.  These folks are not interested in protecting Jews, or they might have spoken up a bit with all of the anti-semitism whipped up by the far right.  Charlottesville?  Remember that?  Where were these folks who are so concerned with anti-semitism when the Nazis were yelling about Jews not replacing "us"?  Where were these folks when George Soros was being used to incite anti-semitism?  Oh wait, many of these folks were doing precisely that.  Fuck all of them.  Ok, one last thing: to put this into context, if Nazis have the right to march into Jewish neighborhoods, like Skokie, Illinois, then even if the students were all anti-semites, they have a right to protest.  So, again, why is it ok for far right anti-semites to protest but not far left?*  To be clear, I am not saying that the students are all anti-semites, but just making the point that if they were, they would still have a right to protest.  On college campuses?  I am not so sure since many have hate speech regulations.  All I do know for sure is that the college administrators have failed their students and have also abetted the far right in undermining higher education. The urge to do something should have been ignored  The semesters in these places were winding down--they could have easily outwaited the students.  Move graduate ceremonies if you must, but for fuck's sake, don't invite cops onto campus to beat your students and professors!* I fear far right anti-semitism more than far left.  Why?  First, the far right has far more power.  Second, if one did the math, I am pretty sure the far right anti-semites have killed far more Jews than the far left.  When Netanyahu and others hang out with ideological kindred anti-semites "since everyone out there is anti-semitic," they are just giving those with the greatest ability and the most violent history more deniability. 

Do Spew and 2 rhyme?  I sure hope so as I begin my review of the year that was.  The last time I blogged less than I did in 2022 was ... in 2008, when I didn't blog at all.  What explains the decline?  Partly exhaustion, partly a decline in imagination, partly other social media sucking up my time (the podcasts, now tooting as well as tweeting), and partly the reality that I have written enough stuff before that when the topic comes up, it is just easier to repost.  Maybe a look at this year's posts will tell me a bit about what inspires me to write here and what does not, although survivor and recency biases may mesh nicely with my confirmation bias to prevent me from learning that much.  Hmmm.JanuaryI started by pondering whether JK Rowling has utterly destroyed her legacy--whether I can still consume Harry Potter stuff.  While I concluded that I could still enjoy the world she created, even as she betrays damn near all of it, my behavior, my choices, says otherwise as I had multiple opportunities to watch HP movies while hanging out at my mother-in-law's over the holidays and dodged all of them.  Something I had not done in the past.  Later in the month, I returned to the theme of what kinds of stuff can I read and enjoy given the complex realities of our time.  I wrote about how it has become harder to watch and read cop shows given what we know about cops these days.  I am finishing the latest John Sandford book which features multiple cops, Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport, solving a serial murder spree by bitcoin assholes, and have found it fairly compelling (unlike the most recent Jack Reacher book).  So, maybe I am less affected by the topics than by the behavior of the artist?The month ended with the start of the occupation of Ottawa by extremists--far right white supremacists.  The year ended with an examination of whether the government should have invoked the Emergency Act.   Um, yeah, but because the emergency was that the provincial leaders were cowards who wanted the feds to own it.FebruaryThe extremists in Ottawa became a focus for me, as it did for most of my city, for most of the month with posts on: outbidding, explaining why the Conservatives were pandering to the extremistsanger, discussing how pissed off this made me, triggered indeed.policing, as I learned that Canadians think that the cops should not be directed by the politicians as if policing is not inherently political,my take on the Emergency Act.And then the past came back to bite Ukraine and me.  My previous work on irredentism became relevant again with Russia's invasion of yet more Ukrainian territory. In this post, I explained the basics of irredentism--that it is always bad for the country doing the invading even as it may or may not be bad for its leader, that domestic dynamics are key, and so on.March The focus of March was very much on the war in Ukraine.  I argued via a bit of screenwriting why a No Fly Zone was a bad idea. I elaborated about the disease of MOAR.  And, yes, I then invoked my work on irredentism to explain why Putin was willing to kill Russia's kin in order to "save" them.  I wrote about limited war, a topic that got new energy this week as some retired generals expressed much frustration at the unwillingness of the US to send deep strike weapons to Ukraine.I also blogged about my appearance before the House of Commons Defence Committee.AprilThis month had only a few posts, with nearly all focused on CDSN events.  The outlier was a post discussing the appearance of Minister of National Defence Anita Anand in my Civil-Military Relations class. That was super-cool--a great way to finish off that course.MayI marked my 300,000th tweet before twitter's death spiral... maybe I caused it?I discussed the two events organized by the CDSN Undergraduate Excellence Scholars--a conference and a hackathon.  I also went to Germany for another conference. Woot!My last post took a first look at the Arbour report, where a retired Supreme Court Justice assessed the Canadian Armed Forces and why it has fallen short, yet again, on reforming itself when it comes to sexual misconduct.  I took a quick tour of the 48 recommendations.  June I didn't write much in June, but two of my posts continued my examination of the Arbour Report: here and here.  In the first one, I pushed on a point that will become a key question in my next project--what is the proper rule of a defence department or ministry or agency?  Arbour says DND is to support the CAF, and, no, nope, nuh uh.  This does help to explain a big problem with this and previous reports--having a very limited view of what DND's job is.  I also focus on the lack of a recommendation for an Inspector General, which is now a topic of research of this year's Visiting Defence Fellow.I also marked my 10 years in Ottawa with this post. I am so glad that the tides of the academic job market washed me ashore here.  It was not my plan, but it has worked out wonderfully.JulyJuly was a month of ups and downs.  I started the month by pondering how long might the autocratic moment in the US last if Democracy were to give way.  The most pivotal building at my old summer camp burned down, but there was much resilience that day and beyond to give me hope for its future.One of the ups was the new season of Battle Rhythm.  I am forever grateful to Stéfanie von Hlatky for helping us launch our podcast, and I was sad to see her move to admin stuff at her university.  But we got re-energized by a new crew of co-hosts.  Artur, Anessa, Erin, and Linna have provided a variety of perspectives since they joined us.  I am most grateful to Melissa Jennings for doing most of the heavy lifting in this effort and to Carelove Doreus and Racheal Wallace for their carrying the rest of the load.  It has been a big year in Canadian civil-military relations, and one of the highlights was the decision to adjust the uniform standards to make the CAF more welcoming to more people.  I addressed these changes with some accidental foreshadowing of the awful Vimy speech by one of those responsible for the culture crisis that prevented the CAF from adapting sooner.The month, which started with COVID finally hitting me and Mrs. Spew thanks to a conference trip to Berlin, ended in an upswing with both Beulahfest as my mom celebrated her 90th birthday and, yes, Stevefest, as I did a heap of stuff to celebrate another year of me. AugustNot many posts this month as I was very busy organizing and then hosting the first in-person CDSN Summer Institute.  It was one of the original ideas animating the big grant application, and it was great to see it finally come to fruition with so many sharp people speaking and participating.  Plus it was an excuse to have a reception or three.  Just a great week worth all the effort by the CDSN team.Much news about classified documents thanks to Trump hoarding documents he should have had anymore, so I shared what I had learned during the year I had a top secret clearance and worked every day in a SCIF--secure compartmented information facility.Finally, I said goodbye to a key part of my life--ultimate frisbee.  I just kept getting injured and could not stay on the field.  I could still throw well, but that whole running thing proved to be too much.  I very much miss it, it gave me friends across North America, it gave me some level of fitness, it gave me heaps of silliness, and nothing can fill the hole it left behind, alas.  SeptemberAnother light month for blogging.  I wrote a guide for those visiting Montreal for the American Political Science Association meeting.  The focus of the month and of my career these days was/is civil-military relations.  I wrote about the retired generals and SecDefs providing advice on how to manage this relationship. And then I addressed a recurring challenge up here--should the Canadian military prioritize domestic emergency operations? Whether the CAF wants to or not (not), climate change is going to make this happen.  It already has.  I am getting more and more interested in studying domestic emergency ops in part because few defence scholars have done so.  Nothing like having a wide open field to pass the disk into.  Oh wait, that was last month's post about ultimate.One reason I didn't post more in September is that I was headed west to Disneyland and to visit my daughter (not necessarily prioritized that way?).OctoberI gave thanks for all kinds of stuff as Canada celebrates Thankgiving in October when Americans debate the role of Columbus.I spent the rest of the month preparing both the CDSN Midterm Report for one of our funders and a conference to mark the midway point in our SSHRC grant.  It was great to hear from the co-directors of the various research efforts--Civ-Mil Relations, Personnel, Security, and Operations.  We were once told that the CDSN was just me and my friends dong stuff, but, to be clear, when it started, many of those who joined as co-directors were not friends and some were barely acquaintances.  Now, we are friends, but isn't that how networking works when it works well?  I am very proud of what we have put together even if it put a major dent in my blogging.November Was the theme of the month commenting on other people's mistakes?  Seems like it with a post on twitter's dramatic decline thanks to Musk and then the craptastic speech by a retired general.  That post generated more hits than any other this year and is in the top five of my 13 years of blogging.  The related tweet was also the most tweeted/impressioned tweet of the year and then some.  It led to a post addressing "woke" and being "anti-woke," which helped me think about vice-signaling, the flipside of virtue-signaling. I got to put on my old NATO hat when some errant missiles from Ukraine's war with Russia landed in Poland.  I did much media as well to explain that NATO does not work the way may folks think--that there is nothing automatic about it, even if the attack had been deliberate.One reason I blog less is that I simply have not been writing that much about pop culture here.  Why?  Mostly due to lack of time.  One exception to this was thinking about the International Politics of the second Black Panther movie.DecemberThe year ended with much CDSN and much cookies!I went to Winnipeg for the first time for a CDSN workshop on Domestic Emergency Operations.  This is the focus of one of our four MINDS (DND) funded research projects.  I learned a great deal from sharp people both in and out of the government.  There is much work to do here, and I am glad we have made this one of our foci over the next three years. Once again, we held an end of the year conference, the Year Ahead, which addresses some of the issues on the horizon.  This year, we also launched the new CDSN Podcast Network at the event!  The CDSN Podcast Network brings together four podcasts--Battle Rhythm, Conseils de Sécurité, SecurityScape and NATO Field Report.  We are open to adding others down the road.  Along the way, we fixed our Apple podcast feed.  I am most excited not just for having a new home for BattleRhythm but connecting and amplifying some student-run podcasts.I finished the year with a heap of baking--cookies for friends around Ottawa.  The basic idea is this: I want to eat a lot of different kinds of cookies.  But then making so many different kinds means finding people who are willing to take most off my hands or else I will gain a heap of weight (winterfest did that anyway).  I enjoyed my first cookiefest in 2020, which was the first time I saw many people after months and months of quarantining.  So, I keep doing it, now armed with better equipment (kitchen aid stand mixer makes it much easier than the first cookie fest) and more recipes.  It is not just the baking and the eating.  I got to chat with a bunch of great people as I delivered the cookies.  If the cookies are joy (and, yes, they are), giving joy leads to receiving much joy.One of the interesting dynamics of 2022 was the re-emergence of blogging.   That many folks started writing on substack, which, to me, seems like blogging but with the chance of income.  I have not moved over there as I am pretty happy with this perch. It does not make me money, but I doubt that people would pay that much for my half-baked (semi-spewed) writings.  One of my New Year's Resolutions is to blog more.  My guess is that I will be more successful at that than the ones focused on dietary restraint.May you and yours have a terrific 2023!

"This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning…I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal…"And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true."Martin Luther King Jr." I have a dream speech" (March on Washington, August 28, 1963)On Wednesday August 27th, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, before a crowd of 20,000, Barack Obama became the first biracial man to be officially nominated as presidential candidate by a major party. When the turn came for the delegates from the state of New York to vote, Obama had received 1,549 and Hillary Rodham-Clinton 231. Hillary then made a motion to suspend the roll call vote and select him by acclamation:"With eyes firmly fixed on the future in the spirit of unity, with the goal of victory, with faith in our party and country, let's declare together in one voice, right here and right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president."The night before, Hillary had made a gracious and persuasive speech in support of Obama, calling on her supporters to vote for the man that would bring health care to all Americans and restore the country's standing in the world, thus tacitly acknowledging that their platforms are one and the same. She had also reminded the audience that the (presidential) "glass ceiling now had 18 million cracks", a reference at the number of votes she received and a reminder of how close women had come this time around to win the Presidency, a white male domain until now. That was her way to give comfort to her female supporters, some of which have avowed to vote for McCain in the Fall. Then on Wednesday night it came up to Bill Clinton to put the proverbial final nail in the coffin of the bitter conflict that had bitterly divided the party up to then. He did it with a masterful, authoritative speech, in which he reassured the audience that Obama was just as ready for the Presidency as he himself had been in 1992. The clarity of his ideas and the perfect delivery reminded us all of why he will go down as one of the greatest Presidents in this country's History.Already by Wednesday night there was a sense of fulfillment and relief, since the unification of the Democratic Party was perceived by most Democrats as the Convention's main objective. The party had been divided since the 1970s, when the moderate, blue collar workers and Southerners became disgruntled with McGovern's socially liberal platform and voted for Nixon. Ten years later they would become known as the Reagan democrats, and the label would stick. Bill Clinton was able to bring them all back to the fold by focused policies and his ability to connect both with white and black blue-collar workers. But in the last eight years the divisions have reappeared, as it became plain during the primary: Obama appeals strongly to the black community and to white college educated youth but has been unable to extend that appeal to older women and white workers. That is why Hillary got 18 million votes. That is also why Obama's choice of Vice President is a solid one. Senator Joseph Biden, with his Catholic, blue-collar background, his toughness and his 30 years of experience in the Senate, and his wisdom and knowledge of foreign affairs, has added weight and credibility to the ticket. The expectation is that this formula will reunite the fractured party once again.This has been a historic Convention in more ways than one: the first African-American to win the nomination, the first woman to come so close to winning it, the passing of the torch to a new generation of Americans by Ted Kennedy, the brilliant speech by Bill Clinton which by all measures restores his stature within the party. But more than anything else, this Convention is historic because, as Clinton said, Barack Obama is "the twenty first century incarnation of the American Dream", and a reaffirmation of Ted Kennedy's proclamation on the first day of the Convention, that "the Dream Lives on" in Obama.The climax came on Thursday night with Obama's long awaited acceptance speech at the closing of the Convention. It was a carefully choreographed affair, overlaid with symbolism. Delivered before a crowd of 75,000 at the INVESCO open-air stadium at Mile High, against a background evoking the pillars of the Lincoln Memorial, it was watched by a TV audience of around 40 million and ended with fireworks across the Colorado sky. Barack Obama is also the first candidate since John F Kennedy to choose an open-to-the public venue to deliver his acceptance speech. There were some risks to this venue, from security to climactic. But more than anything else, his greatest challenge on this historic night was to communicate to his huge audience and the American nation at large, that he is not just a great orator but that he understands their woes and has the fortitude to fight for them; that he is ready to battle ahead and bring about the change he so brilliantly articulates in his speeches, and that this young man standing before them, half preacher, half professor, is also a practical politician, able to back his ideas with concrete and feasible plans. As Richard Haas says in his latest article on the Foreign Affairs Journal, the next president must confront "the reality of the country's expectations" and he must do so by "identifying meaningful yet achievable goals and lay them out before the nation…and then achieve them through leadership skills that will be tested by pressures unimaginable to anyone who has not held he job." Obama passed this difficult test on the first two requirements. The third is awaiting him, if elected in November.By most accounts, the speech was an overwhelming success. Obama presented a complete blueprint on how he will govern if elected. He first listed all the issues Americans are dissatisfied with, starting with the economy and ending with Iraq. He then outlined his specific policies to solve these problems. He subsequently gave examples of how McCain is closely aligned with George W. Bush's failed policies, thus demolishing his opponent's claims of independence from the incumbent. Finally, he presented himself as open-minded and pragmatic, willing to find middle ground on the so-called culture wars issues (gays, guns, abortion) that are frequently framed as false choices to elicit emotions, not rationality, from the part of the voters. He re-introduced himself to the public as a common man, with personal accounts of his childhood as son of a single mother, who raised him with the help of her parents and at times had to use food stamps to take care of him; of his admiration for his grandfather, a WWII veteran who went to college on the GI bill and taught him hard work, pride and love of country. Looking straight into the cameras, he humanized his message and connected with people. He was able to turn the tables on John McCain, who he presented as elitist, out of touch and thus, less trustworthy. His move to the middle ground on cultural issues ("We can withhold the Second Amendment and still get AK 47s out of the hands of criminals") and his calls for greater civic and parental responsibility ("Government cannot replace parents in educating their children…") gave consistency to his claim of post-partisanship.By asserting that America is the best hope for the world, he rejected the notion that only Republicans are patriotic ("Democrats can own that, too."). He also defied the fallacy that Democrats are weak on foreign policy ("We are the party of FDR and JFK, so don't tell us Democrats that we cannot defend the country…and restore the moral standing for all who fight for freedom."). And he did all this not so much with the soaring rhetoric of his earlier speeches, but with a tone of strength and defiance. He took the fight to John Mc Cain, promising to debate him not on petty issues but on who has the "judgment and the temperament" to be Commander-in-Chief. He thereby injected the question of McCain's short temper into the Fall campaign. The speech ended with an evocation of Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech delivered on this same day forty-five years ago at the Lincoln Memorial, and a pledge to once more "March forward together."Memories of the Democratic National Conventions and the momentum created by this brilliant speech were not, however, destined to linger for long in the American psyche. They were shattered by two events, one man-made, one natural. On Friday, August 29th, John McCain made an announcement that caused quite a stir in the media and public alike. He chose as his Vice president Mrs. Sarah Palin, the little-known first-term female governor of Alaska, a no exceptions pro-lifer who believes that Creationism should be taught in the schools alongside Evolution, and whose thin political résumé is startling to most observers. After they recovered from the initial shock, some pundits were able to articulate the intriguing yet-to be-answered question: was this the brilliant decision of a crafty tactician or the insane choice of an impulsive, overly ambitious politician? Is this a masterful stroke or a risky gamble? Only time will tell.That same day, Mrs. Palin had to share the limelight with Gustav, an impervious hurricane that was making its way toward the Gulf Coast at vertiginous speed and strength. Plans for the Republican National Convention to start on Monday had to be scrapped, while McCain and Palin made their way to Mississippi, turning this into an opportunity to distance themselves early on from Bush's fiasco during hurricane Katrina two years ago. Most Convention events were suspended for Monday and Tuesday and replaced by a bare-bones schedule of committee meetings, while the crucial events (vice-presidential speech and nomination vote) start this Wednesday and culminate Thursday with McCain's acceptance speech. This could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Republicans. Courtesy of Gustav, now downgraded to a grade one hurricane, speeches by Bush and Cheney were cancelled. The President, who hastily made his way to New Orleans, may still speak for a short time via satellite on Wednesday, which will give him an opportunity to amend the terrible legacy of Katrina by replacing those images in the minds of the public with a much improved disaster relief response to Gustav.Palin is expected to give a good speech at the Convention. As a young political reformer who has fought corruption in her home state, she has energized the campaign. As a social conservative with deep convictions against abortion she has galvanized the conservative Evangelical base of the party. She is attractive and warm, and connects easily with the public, one of the few advantages of her political experience in Alaska, a sparsely populated state that requires extensive face-to-face contact with voters. An active hunter and life-long member of the NRA, she may be able to connect with the kind of independent blue-collar and rural voters that Obama has not been able to appeal to. But Palin has never been under the extreme national scrutiny that the next few months will bring, nor has she had to answer any unscripted questions about a wide variety of topics from the often vicious national press. Mc Cain picked her over men with extensive experience in economic matters (Mitt Romney) and in homeland security (Tom Ridge), both of whom had been extensively vetted. His choice of Palin as running mate is even more surprising if we consider that his main campaign theme against Obama was the latter's lack of executive experience. In contrast with Palin, Obama has had his trial-by-fire in the primary debates and through 18 months of campaigning. He has run against formidable candidates in the Primary, has been repeatedly tested by the media, and has emerged as the choice of Democratic voters. Palin, on the other hand, has one year of executive experience and a gaping lack of foreign policy knowledge. She is the choice of one man, John McCain, who has only met her twice. What will be the public's perception of Palin's credibility and readiness to step in as President should something happen to McCain? Did McCain, always the maverick, abdicate in his duty to the people by not choosing someone manifestly ready for the presidency? We may have some answers to these questions in a week or two.For those that expect Hillary's women to flock to the Republican side just because of McCain's Vice-presidential pick, think again. If there is one principle those women activists care about is the protection of the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision, so they would be loath to vote for a strongly anti-abortion candidate such as Palin. Nevertheless, Obama does need to worry about the white blue-collar workers' vote. He has been consistently ahead in the polls but the margin has narrowed somewhat. He is now 6 percentage points ahead in the polls (47% to 41%) but so far has been unable to break the 50% barrier. Given the byzantine workings of the Electoral College in a presidential election, even a sliver of independents and Reagan democrats here and there (especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan) can win this election for McCain. The long-awaited Autumn of Freedom would then become for many, the Winter of Discontent.Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science and Geography Director, ODU Model United Nations Program Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

This edition is the first issue of Dewa Ruci's Journal, in which all articles are in English. We deliberately changed the language of publication to English to facilitate information delivery to a wider audience. We realize that English is the official language for many countries rather than other languages in this world. The number of people who have literacy awareness and need scientific information about visual and performing arts regarding the archipelago's cultural arts is also quite large.The decision to change the language of publication to English does not mean that we do not have nationalism or are not in love with the Indonesian language. This change is necessary to foster the intensity of scientific interaction among writers who are not limited to Indonesia's territory alone. We desire that the scientific ideas outlined in Dewa Ruci's Journal are read by intellectual circles of the arts internationally. We also want to express our scientific greetings to art experts from countries in New Zealand, the USA, Australia, Europe, especially Britain, and other English-speaking countries such as the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Canada. Of course, a change in English will also benefit intellectuals from countries that have acquired English as a second language, such as Malaysia, Brunei, Israel, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. In essence, Dewa Ruci's Journal editor wants to invite writers to greet the scientific community at large.We are grateful that six writers can greet the international community through their articles. The first is Tunjung Atmadi and Ika Yuni Purnama, who wrote an article entitled "Material Ergonomics on Application of Wooden Floors in the Interior of the Workspace Office." This article discusses office interiors that are devoted to workspaces. The purpose of this study is to share knowledge about how to take advantage of space-forming elements in the interior design of a workspace by utilizing wooden floors like parquet. The focus is on choosing the use of wood by paying attention to the elements in its application. This research result has a significant meaning in the aesthetics, comfort, and safety of wooden floors in the workspace's interior and its advantages and disadvantages.The second writer who had the opportunity to greet the Dewa Ruci Journal audience was intellectuals with diverse expertise, namely Taufiq Akbar, Dendi Pratama, Sarwanto, and Sunardi. Together they wrote an article entitled "Visual Adaptation: From Comics to Superhero Creation of Wayang." This article discusses the fusion and mixing of wayang as a traditional culture with comics and films as contemporary culture products. This melting and mixing have given birth to new wayang creations with sources adapted from the superhero character "Avenger," which they now call the Avenger Wayang Kreasi. According to them, Wayang Kreasi Avenger's making maintains technical knowledge of the art of wayang kulit. It introduces young people who are not familiar with wayang kulit about the technique of carving sungging by displaying the attributes in the purwa skin for Wayang Kreasi Avenger. This creativity is an attempt to stimulate and show people's love for the potential influence of traditional cultural heritage and its interaction with the potential of contemporary culture.The next authors are Sriyadi and RM Pramutomo, with an article entitled "Presentation Style of Bedhaya Bedhah Madiun Dance in Pura Mangkunegaran." This article reveals a repertoire of Yogyakarta-style dance in Mangkunegaran, Surakarta, namely the Bedhaya Bedhah Madiun. The presence of this dance in Mangkunegaran occurred during the reign of Mangkunegara VII. However, the basic character of the Mangkunegaran style dance has a significant difference from the Yogyakarta style. This paper aims to examine the Bedhaya Bedhah Madiun dance's presentation style in Mangkunegaran to determine the formation of its presentation technique. The shape of the Bedhaya Bedhah Madiun dance style in Mangkunegaran did not occur in an event but was a process. The presentation style's formation is due to a problem in the inheritance system that has undergone significant changes. These problems arise from social, political, cultural, and economic conditions. The responses to these problems have shaped the Bedhaya Bedhah Madiun dance's distinctive features in Mangkunegaran, although not all of them have been positive.Hasbi wrote an article entitled "Sappo: Sulapa Eppa Walasuji as the Ideas of Creation Three Dimensional Painting." This article reveals Hasbi's creative process design in creating three-dimensional works of art, named Sappo. He got his inspiration from the ancient manuscripts written in Lontara, namely the manuscripts written in the traditional script of the Bugis-Makassar people on palm leaves, which they still keep until now. Sappo for the Bugis community is a fence that limits (surrounds, isolates) the land and houses. Sappo's function is to protect herself, her family, and her people. Sulapa Eppa means four sides, is a mystical manifestation, the classical belief of the Bugis-Makassar people, which symbolizes the composition of the universe, wind-fire-water-earth. Walasuji is a kind of bamboo fence in rhombus rituals. Eppa Walasuji's Sulapa is Hasbi's concept in creating Sappo in the form of three-dimensional paintings. The idea is a symbolic expression borrowing the Lontara tradition's idiom to create a symbolic effect called Sappo.Mahdi Bahar and his friends wrote an article entitled "Transformation of Krinok to Bungo Krinok Music: The Innovation Certainty and Digital-Virtual Contribution for Cultural Advancement." Together, they have made innovations to preserve Krinok music, one of Jambi's traditional music themes, into new music that they call Bungo Krinok. He said that innovation is a necessity for the development of folk music. In innovating, they take advantage of digital technology. They realize this music's existence as a cultural wealth that has great potential for developing and advancing art. The musical system, melodic contours, musical grammar, and distinctive interval patterns have formed krinok music's character. This innovation has given birth to new music as a transformation from Jambi folk music called "Bungo Krinok" music.Finally, Luqman Wahyudi and Sri Hesti Heriwati. They both wrote an article entitled "Social Criticism About the 2019 Election Campaign on the Comic Strip Gump n Hell." They explained that in 2019 there was an interesting phenomenon regarding the use of comic strips as a means of social criticism, especially in the Indonesian Presidential Election Campaign. The title of the comic is Gump n Hell by Errik Irwan Wibowo. The comic strip was published and viral on social media, describing the political events that took place. In this study, they took three samples of the comic strip Gump n Hell related to the moment of the 2019 election to analyze their meaning. From the results of this study, there is an implicit meaning in the comic strip of pop culture icons' use to represent political figures in the form of parodies.That is the essence of the issue of Volume 16 Number 1 (April Edition), 2021. Hopefully, the knowledge that has been present in this publication can spur the growth of visual and performing art science in international networks, both in the science of art creation and in scientific research of art in general. We hope that the development of visual and performing art science can reveal the various meanings behind various facts and phenomena of art life. Therefore, the growth of international networks is an indispensable need.Thank you.

The table of contents of the Proceedings is followed by an Introductory Note by John P. Robinson & Kurt Back which states that the 26th AAPOR Conference was held May 19-22, 1971 in Pasadena, Calif. 16 formal sessions & 8 luncheon round-table discussions were held under the general theme 'Public Opinion in a Society under Pressure.' The AAPOR Award for distinguished achievement was presented to Walter Lippmann. A brief history of the Award is given. Richard H. Baxter, A NEW GOAL FOR AAPOR: PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, discusses the relevancy of AAPOR as an org in the context of modern survey res & the increasing depersonalization & massive growth of the res community. The org has made 4 kinds of responses to recent developments of professional growth: (a) high-caliber annual conference programs; (b) the consistently dedicated activity of successive AAPOR Standing Committees on Standards; (c) the encouragement & development of young people having an interest in PO res through the Annual AAPOR Student Competition; (d) the establishment of an ad hoc committee chaired by Barbara Lee-on Soc Concerns. The role of individual AAPOR members as res ombudsmen in their communities is touched upon. The establishment of a professional consultation panel is proposed. ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS presents the following: (1) SOCIAL INDICATORS - Chairman: Raymond A. Bauer (Harvard U, Cambridge, Mass); Donald S. Shoup, 'Social Indicators: Some Possible Futures;' & Peter J. Henriot (Seattle U, Washington), 'Social Indicators: Some Practical Politics.' (2) IMPACT OF SOCIAL RESEARCH ON POLICY DECISIONS - Chairman: Hervert I. Abelson; John P. Robinson (U of Michigan, Ann Arbor), 'The Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior;' Nathan Caplan (U of Michigan, Ann Arbor), 'The National Commission on Civil Disorders;' Joseph T. Klapper (Columbia Broadcasting System, New York, NY), 'Observations on the Research Situation Faced by Commissions and Similar Bodies;' Sandar J. Ball-Rokeach (U of Western Ontarto,Toronto), 'The National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence.' (3) CONSUMERISM: DIRECTIONS AND ISSUES, Chairman: Robert Lavidge: Robert J. Lavidge, 'Introductory Remarks;' Raymond A. Bauer (Harvard U, Cambridge, Mass), 'Consumerism in Perspective;' John S. Coulson, 'A Response to Consumerists.' (4) ESTABLISHMENT ELITES IN A TIME OF CHANGE, Chairman: Robert E. Lee: Victor D. Beardsley, 'Local Leadership: Its Characteristics and Structure;' Ruth Clark, 'Top Corporate Leadership in a Time of Change.' (5) TRANSITIONS IN YOUTH CULTURE: A SPECULATIVE FRAMEWORK, Chairman: Luiz Simmons: Luiz Simmons, 'The Real Generation Gap: A Speculation on the Meaning and Implications of Youth Activism;' Elinor Luire (San Francisco Med Center, Calif), 'Son of the Silent Majority: Intergenerational Perceptions of Youthful Dissent;' David Gottlieb (Pennsylvania State U, University Park), 'Vista, Pepsi, and Poverty.' (8) PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH IN A SOCIETY OF CHANGE AND CRISIS: A METHODOLOGICAL REVIEW, Chairman: Hope Klapper (New York U, NY) & Fred H. Goldner (Queens Coll, City U of New York), 'Public Opinion and Survey Research: A Poor Mix;' Eric Marder, 'The Five Stages of Survey Research.' (7) MOBILIZING PUBLIC OPINION, Chairman: Daniel Yankelovich: a Discussion between Yankelovich, Lowell Beck, & William Ruder. (8) THE SILENT MAJORITY AND SOCIAL ISSUES, Chairman: Mervin D. Field, 'Noisy Pluralism vs the Silent Majority;' William E. Bicker (U of California, Berkeley), 'Welfare-the Transition Issue;' Robert A. Levine, 'The Silent Majority: Neither Simple Nor Simple-Minded.' (9) PUBLIC OPINION RESEARCH AND THE MEDIA, Chairman: Herbert E. Krugman: Herbert E. Krugman, 'The Television Generation and the New Research Needs;' Scott Ward (Harvard U, Cambridge, Mass), 'Television Advertising and Children: Two Studies.' (10) PRE-ELECTION SURVEYS: HINDSIGHT AND OUTLOOK, Chairman: Sidney Hollander: Sidney Hollander, 'Implications of the 1970 British Fiasco;' Paul Perry, 'The Turnout Problem in Election Surveys;' Charles Kinsolving, 'Political Polling in a Primary: Sample Attrition and Turnout Prediction;' Lawrence Bown, Charles K. Atkin, Kenneth G. Sheinkopf, & Oguz B. Nayman (U of Wisconsin, Madison & Colorado State U, Fort Collins) 'How Voters React to Electronic Political Advertising: An Investigation of the 1970 Election Campaigns in Wisconsin and Colorado.' (11) HOW CAN THE PUBLIC OPINION PROFESSION AND COMMON CAUSE WORK TOGETHER? Chairman: Barbara Lee: A discussion exploring the role res'ers could play vs soc action org's. (12) THE DRUG SCENE: CURRENT RESEARCH, Chairman : Donald L. Kanter (U of Southern California, Los Angeles): Donald L. Kanter, 'Some Aspects of the Broadcast Anti-Drug Program;' David Checkman, 'A Review of Research on the Causes of Drug Abuse or How Not to Get Turned On;' Lawrence H. Geiger, 'Age, Reported Marijuana Use, and Belief in Some Assumed Negative Effects of the Drug;' Glen D. Mellinger, 'Psychotherapeutic Drug Use Among Adults: A Model for Young Drug Users?' Eric Josephson, Paul Haberman, & Anne Zanes (Columbia U, New York, NY), 'High School Drug Behavior: A Methodological Report.' (13) NEW DIREC- TIONS FOR SURVEY RESEARCH METHODS, Chairman: Ronald Gatty (City U of New York, NY): Ronald Gatty, 'New Directions for Survey Research Methods;' William Belson (London Sch of Econ's, England), 'New Perspectives on Traditional Forms of Survey Research and Analysis;' R. Richard Ritt (Pennsylvania State U, University Park), 'Drawing Actionable Inference from Survey Data.' (14) CHANGING IDEALS, VALUES AND BE- LIEFS, Chairman: Emanuel H. Demby, 'The Shock of Future Shock;' Stephen Pittel, 'The Shock Is Now;' George Harris, 'Psychology Today.' (15) SOCIAL RESEARCH TECHNIQUES IN DEFINING HEALTH PROBLEMS, Chairman: Raymond Fink: Raymond Fink, Sam Shapiro, & Conrad Rosenberg, 'Social Research Techniques in the Study of Poverty and Non-Poverty Groups in Multiphasic Health Testing;' Gerald Sparer & Louise Okada, 'Differential Patterns of Health Service Utilization by Poverty Levels in Eight Urban Neighborhoods;' Jorge Segovia & Jack Elinson (Columbia U, New York, NY) 'What Physicians Think about Physicians in Argentina.' (16) STUDENT AWARD PAPERS, Chairman: Harold H. Kassrjian (U of California, Los Angeles): 1st Prize: Marcus Felson (U of Michigan, Ann Arbor), 'The Social Basis of Political Protest: The Wallace Vote in Districts Outside the South;' 2nd Prize: Ted Bradshaw (U of California, Berkeley), 'The Robustness of Correlation in Survey Research: A Data Simulation.' (17) LUNCHEON ROUND TABLES, Chairman: William L. Nicholls II (U of California, Berkeley): Gene N. Levine (U of California, Los Angeles), 'Research on Ethnic and Racial Groups;' Karen E. Page (U of California, Davis), 'The Changing Role of Women in Society: Research in Progress and Prospect;' Thomas S. Robertson (U of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia), 'Adolescent Consumer Socialization;' Joseph Zelan & Joseph Gusfield (U of California, Berkeley & U of California, San Diego), 'Equality and Authority in Higher Education: The Study of Student Power and Participation; Leo Crespi, 'Public Opinion and the Population Crisis;' Helen M. Crossley, 'Honesty with Respondents and Interviewers;' Matilda B. Paisley & William J. Paisley (Stanford U, Calif), 'Nonexperimental Causal Inference;' Francesco Nicosia (U of California, Berkeley), 'Buying Decision Processes by Consumers and Organizations.' Don Cahalan, ANNUAL ADVI- SORY AAPOR BUSINESS MEETING, concluded the convention. M. Maxfield.

PURPOSE: The primary aims are to (1) obtain representative prevalence estimates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) among college students worldwide and (2) investigate whether STB is related to matriculation to and attrition from college. METHODS: Data from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys were analyzed, which include face-to-face interviews with 5750 young adults aged 18-22 spanning 21 countries (weighted mean response rate = 71.4%). Standardized STB prevalence estimates were calculated for four well-defined groups of same-aged peers: college students, college attriters (i.e., dropouts), secondary school graduates who never entered college, and secondary school non-graduates. Logistic regression assessed the association between STB and college entrance as well as attrition from college. RESULTS: Twelve-month STB in college students was 1.9%, a rate significantly lower than same-aged peers not in college (3.4%; OR 0.5; p < 0.01). Lifetime prevalence of STB with onset prior to age 18 among college entrants (i.e., college students or attriters) was 7.2%, a rate significantly lower than among non-college attenders (i.e., secondary school graduates or non-graduates; 8.2%; OR 0.7; p = 0.03). Pre-matriculation onset STB (but not post-matriculation onset STB) increased the odds of college attrition (OR 1.7; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: STB with onset prior to age 18 is associated with reduced likelihood of college entrance as well as greater attrition from college. Future prospective research should investigate the causality of these associations and determine whether targeting onset and persistence of childhood-adolescent onset STB leads to improved educational attainment. ; The World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; R01 MH070884), the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Pfizer Foundation, the US Public Health Service (R13-MH066849, R01-MH069864, and R01 DA016558), the Fogarty International Center (FIRCA R03-TW006481), the Pan American Health Organization, Eli Lilly and Company, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, GlaxoSmithKline, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. None of the funders had any role in the design, analysis, interpretation of results, or preparation of this paper. The 2007 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. The São Paulo Megacity Mental Health Survey is supported by the State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) Thematic Project Grant 03/00204-3. The Bulgarian Epidemiological Study of common mental disorders EPIBUL is supported by the Ministry of Health and the National Center for Public Health Protection. The Chinese World Mental Health Survey Initiative is supported by the Pfizer Foundation. The Shenzhen Mental Health Survey is supported by the Shenzhen Bureau of Health and the Shenzhen Bureau of Science, Technology, and Information. The Colombian National Study of Mental Health (NSMH) is supported by the Ministry of Social Protection. The Mental Health Study Medellín – Colombia was carried out and supported jointly by the Center for Excellence on Research in Mental Health (CES University) and the Secretary of Health of Medellín. The ESEMeD project is funded by the European Commission (Contracts QLG5-1999-01042; SANCO 2004123, and EAHC 20081308), (the Piedmont Region (Italy), Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain (FIS 00/0028), Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain (SAF 2000-158-CE), Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBER CB06/02/0046, RETICS RD06/0011 REM-TAP), and other local agencies and by an unrestricted educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline. Implementation of the Iraq Mental Health Survey (IMHS) and data entry were carried out by the staff of the Iraqi MOH and MOP with direct support from the Iraqi IMHS team with funding from both the Japanese and European Funds through United Nations Development Group Iraq Trust Fund (UNDG ITF). The Lebanese Evaluation of the Burden of Ailments and Needs Of the Nation (L.E.B.A.N.O.N.) is supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, the WHO (Lebanon), National Institute of Health / Fogarty International Center (R03 TW006481-01), anonymous private donations to IDRAAC, Lebanon, and unrestricted grants from, Algorithm, AstraZeneca, Benta, Bella Pharma, Eli Lilly, Glaxo Smith Kline, Lundbeck, Novartis, Servier, Phenicia, UPO. The Mexican National Comorbidity Survey (MNCS) is supported by The National Institute of Psychiatry Ramon de la Fuente (INPRFMDIES 4280) and by the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACyT-G30544- H), with supplemental support from the PanAmerican Health Organization (PAHO). Corina Benjet has received funding from the (Mexican) National Council of Science and Technology (grant CB-2010-01-155221). Te Rau Hinengaro: The New Zealand Mental Health Survey (NZMHS) is supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Health, Alcohol Advisory Council, and the Health Research Council. The Nigerian Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHW) is supported by the WHO (Geneva), the WHO (Nigeria), and the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Nigeria. The Northern Ireland Study of Mental Health was funded by the Health & Social Care Research & Development Division of the Public Health Agency. The Peruvian World Mental Health Study was funded by the National Institute of Health of the Ministry of Health of Peru. The Polish project Epidemiology of Mental Health and Access to Care –EZOP Project (PL 0256) was supported by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through funding from the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. EZOP project was co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Health. The Portuguese Mental Health Study was carried out by the Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medical Sciences, NOVA University of Lisbon, with collaboration of the Portuguese Catholic University, and was funded by Champalimaud Foundation, Gulbenkian Foundation, Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and Ministry of Health. The Romania WMH study projects "Policies in Mental Health Area" and "National Study regarding Mental Health and Services Use" were carried out by National School of Public Health & Health Services Management (former National Institute for Research & Development in Health), with technical support of Metro Media Transilvania, the National Institute of Statistics-National Centre for Training in Statistics, SC. Cheyenne Services SRL, Statistics Netherlands and were funded by Ministry of Public Health (former Ministry of Health) with supplemental support of Eli Lilly Romania SRL. The US National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; U01-MH60220) with supplemental support from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF; Grant 044708), and the John W. Alden Trust. Liu's work was supported in part by a training grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (T32 MH017119). Mortier's work was supported by the Belgian Federal Fund for Fundamental Scientific Research (FWO; 11N0514N/11N0516N).

How might Ukraine's war effort go bankrupt? Developments over the past few weeks recall the words of Ernest Hemingway: "Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly."Should that prove true, it will spell bad news not only for those insisting on an unconditional Ukrainian victory, but also for those pressing for a diplomatic settlement of the conflict. The gradual part is already well underway. The U.S. Congress's decision to pass a "clean" stopgap spending bill over the weekend to fund our government for another 45 days — bowing to pressure from some GOP members to strip Ukraine aid from the bill — is the latest sign of how quickly the political tide has begun to turn. Such a vote would have been unthinkable last December, when Ukrainian President Zelensky addressed a televised joint session of Congress to fawning media reviews, and ceremoniously presented a flag signed by the determined defenders of the besieged city of Bakhmut. Ten months later, Bakhmut has fallen. Ukraine's counteroffensive has sputtered. A series of opinion polls has indicated that most Americans now oppose additional aid to Kyiv. When he arrived in Washington last month, Zelensky was treated more as an interloper than as an inspiring hero. House Speaker McCarthy blocked Zelensky from addressing a joint session of Congress, claiming that there was insufficient time. Signs of "Ukraine fatigue" are appearing in Europe, too. Amid a row over Ukrainian agricultural exports that hurt EU farmers, Polish President Duda compared Ukraine to a drowning victim submerging its would-be rescuers. Hungarian President Orban has said his country will no longer provide any support to Ukraine. Slovakia was the first country to deliver fighter jets to Ukraine after Russia's invasion, but in last weekend's parliamentary elections, its voters opted for the party of ex-prime minister Robert Fico, who had campaigned on ending aid. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Deutschland party, long opposed to breaking with Russia over the Ukraine war, has climbed to second place in German polls. These trends raise the prospect of a vicious circle of mutual intensification. Ukraine's stagnation on the battlefield prompts more Americans to wonder whether billions in aid are being wasted on an unwinnable war. Growing skepticism in Europe reinforces concerns in Washington that our NATO partners will not share the burden of supporting Ukraine. In Washington, the White House's failure to articulate an exit strategy feeds fears of yet another American "forever war," this time a proxy battle against a nuclear power. Worries over Western support undermine Ukraine's military morale and political resolve, leading to further erosion of its position on the battlefield. The combination could produce a tipping point at which the gradual erosion of Western support for Ukraine spills into an abrupt reduction or collapse. What might follow? It is unlikely that this would result, as many claim, in Russia's conquering all Ukrainian territory, incorporating it into the Russian Federation, and turning a resuscitated Russian military toward Poland and the Baltic States. The Kremlin almost certainly recognizes that attempting to conquer and govern the bulk of Ukraine, dominated by a well-armed and anti-Russian populace, would be a self-defeating ambition. Moreover, Russia has demonstrated neither the capability nor the desire to fight a war of choice with the NATO alliance. Rather, Moscow would be far more likely to turn Ukraine into a failed rump state. It would aim to capture the rest of the Donbass and perhaps the Ukrainian Black Sea coast. After creating an extended no-man's land separating Russian forces from Ukraine-controlled territory, it would then declare a unilateral cease-fire and build extensive fortifications against new attacks. Should Kyiv sue for peace under such duress, it could threaten Zelensky's rule. Should it refuse, it could destroy the Ukrainian state. In either case, funding and governing what remains of Ukraine would become the West's problem, not Russia's. Absent an agreed settlement of the war with Russia, few donors would contribute the hundreds of billions of dollars necessary for Ukraine's reconstruction. Prospects for democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine would diminish. Refugee flows into Europe would intensify, fueling more divisions within NATO and the EU. Washington would be racked by debate over who lost Ukraine. In these circumstances, Putin would have few incentives to seek compromise with either Ukraine or the West, leaving the broader East-West relationship in a dangerously unstable state of confrontation, lacking the arms control and conflict-management mechanisms that helped prevent the Cold War from turning hot. Europe would have to contend not with a new Iron Curtain, but rather with a gaping, Libya-like wound that could infect the West for years to come. Russian military cooperation with China, Iran, and North Korea would advance. All this is of course far from inevitable. But those tempted to believe that the United States could end the war by simply ending its aid to Ukraine should think hard about these possibilities. And those insisting that the West can simply double down on delivering aid to Ukraine should recognize that present trends bode ill for the Biden administration's "as long as it takes" strategy, either for winning the war outright or for turning Ukraine into a thriving fortress state, capable of holding off the Russians for many years to come. Avoiding such sobering possibilities will require compromise. The White House will have to compromise with domestic opponents of aid by making clear — at least behind closed doors — its plans for marrying military aid to a viable exit strategy. Opponents of aid will have to compromise with proponents to ensure that Ukraine does not collapse altogether, with all the attendant implications for the West and the world. The West and Russia will each have to compromise – not necessarily over territory, but certainly over the broader architecture of European security and Ukraine's place in it. Compromise is seldom possible unless both sides have cards to play in negotiations. The United States should not remove cards from its hand by ending aid to Ukraine unilaterally or playing them prematurely. But unless it moves quickly to complement aid with diplomacy, it may find that the opportunity to play its cards has suddenly disappeared.

This is a special guest post by Kal Munis, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia. Kal is a lifelong Montanan, and is an alum of both Montana State and the University of Montana. I expect to feature his work often here.



With the 2018
midterm elections just a little over seven months away, candidates have begun
to ramp up efforts to distinguish themselves from one another. In addition to
the various typical dimensions on which we might expect those aspiring to
represent us to stress their unique qualifications—such as prior political
experience, policy positions and past accomplishments—there is another
conspicuous characteristic upon which political candidates in Montana attempt
to out-maneuver one another: successfully conveying that they possess an
authentic Montanan identity.

 Typically, candidates try to signal to voters that
they share with them various attachments to the customs, values, and lived
experiences particular to their geographical constituency. They do so in
numerous ways including in video advertisements, mailers, press releases,
emails, social media postings and other campaign media. It should be noted that
these activities don't stop at election day—indeed, many politicians will
continue to cultivate their image of place-based authenticity as a component of
what political scientists refer to as their "home-style."

Candidates in
Montana and elsewhere clearly engage in this behavior cycle after cycle due a
belief in the campaign community that it is an effective practice. In a content
analysis of all video based advertisements that were paid for by campaigns
during the 2012 and 2014 U.S. Senate elections, I found that these types of ads
are widespread throughout the country, with the highest level of usage being
clustered in Western states such as Montana. Despite their seeming ubiquitousness,
it remains unknown whether campaigns' decisions to deploy these appeals are
evidence based or the product of folk-wisdom based inertia.

 Irrespective of their effectiveness, however,
some pundits (and voters—see
the comments on this
ad)
have remarked that excessive hand-wringing over which candidate is the most Montanan borders on xenophobic,
particularly when such concerns are tied to place of birth. At the same time,
however, it seems widely accepted that the success of many candidates in
Montana, particularly Democrats Senator Jon Tester and Governor Steve Bullock
(as well as former Governor Brian Schweitzer), has been largely predicated on
their ability to connect with voters on the basis of place.

In large part, the
mechanism through which this connection has been fostered in Montana, as well
as that upon which many campaign appeals based on place identity are made, is the
candidate's birthplace. For successful Democratic candidates in Montana, it
seems that part of the litmus test has been whether they're a native of the
state. For a recent example, look no further than Governor Bullock's successful
2016 reelection bid against then Republican gubernatorial candidate and current
U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte. In that race, the Bullock campaign was able
to successfully paint Gianforte as an outsider with deep connections to
California and New Jersey. So out of touch with Montana was Gianforte,
according to Bullock's campaign, that he was willing to try to run roughshod
over that which many Montanans hold to be most sacred: public lands. The
narrative was simple: Bullock, a native Montanan, respects and maintains
Montana values, whereas Gianforte—a Californian multi-millionaire by way of New
Jersey—does not. The result, meanwhile, was shocking, as returns revealed that
Bullock defeated Gianforte by 4 points, all while Gianforte's co-partisan in
the presidential race, Donald Trump, crushed his Democratic foe by a staggering
22 points.

As part of the
2018 midterm elections, Tester will defend his Senate seat and multiple
Republicans are competing in their party's primary to challenge him. Currently,
most observers regard Matt Rosendale as being the front runner among these
challengers. And, if recent advertisements are any indication, it would seem
that several left-aligned groups, including the Montana Democratic Party, consider
him to be the front-runner as well.

In a recent
advertisement,
the MTDP makes an overtly place identity charged indictment of "Maryland Matt" Rosendale,
namely that he is an outsider who "doesn't share our Montana values." In the
ad, the MTDP takes a 'don't just take our word for it' strategy by relying
mostly upon statements made by (or on behalf of) prominent Montana Republicans,
as well as upon a compilation of footage of Rosendale himself butchering the
pronunciation of the state he is running to represent in Washington. The statements
(which are attributed variously to current U.S. Senate primary opponent Russ
Fagg, former U.S. House primary opponent and current Secretary of State Cory
Stapleton, and to a PAC that supported Ryan Zinke in the 2014 Republican
primary for the U.S. House of Representatives) all suggest that Rosendale's
non-native born status should be viewed as a deficiency in the eyes of voters. Of
these statements, Stapleton's makes the case against Rosendale's non-native status
most powerfully, stating "we don't need that East Coast value here in Montana,
we don't need somebody from the East Coast representing us in Montana, we need a
Montanan representing us on the East Coast."

This theme, though
in decidedly less antagonistic tone, was on display yet again a few weeks ago in
Bozeman at the Republican U.S. Senate candidate
forum
(not a debate!) put on by the College Republicans at Montana State University.
The forum, which featured Rosendale and his three opponents, Troy Downing (a
fellow non-native from California), Albert Olszewski, and Russel Fagg, saw all
candidates take pains to stress their connections to Montana and demonstrate
their embrace of Montana values. Rosendale and Downing (the non-native
candidates) did so in decidedly apologetic fashion, with the following
statement by Downing being emblematic of the tone: "I've always been a
Montanan, it just took me 31 years to get here." Fagg and Olszewski (the native
candidates), meanwhile made their born and raised Montanan bonafides front and
center from the outset, with Fagg, for example, noting that he "has the Montana
roots, the Montana endorsements, (and) the Montana donations."

It was a portion
of Fagg's closing statement as well as Rosendale's that followed, however, that
really drew my attention. In his last appeal to the crowd in Bozeman that
night, Fagg made his case that his native Montana roots would be critical to
defeating native Jon Tester in 2018. "I'm a fourth generation Montanan…and (my
family) has live and loved Montana since before Montana was a state," he said "[…]
and the reason that's important, I appreciate everyone that has moved to
Montana because they love Montana, but the Democrats are going to unmercifully
beat up two of my opponents because they moved here nine years ago (Downing)
and fifteen years ago (Rosendale). It may not be fair, but it's the truth. If
you put me on that ticket, that takes that argument away from Senator Tester." Fagg
then went on to note that he has to date collected the lion's share of
endorsements from prominent Montana Republicans from well-known names such as
Marc Racicot and Denny Rehberg (Rosendale, meanwhile, has the support of
prominent national Republicans such U.S. Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee)
before passing the mic to Rosendale.

Fagg's point was
brought into stark relief just moments later when Rosendale mispronounced
"Montana" so badly that even I, a social scientist who studies the role of
place-based identities in politics, couldn't help but to find it grating. In my
defense, it was the contrast of Rosendale's mispronunciation and Fagg's ominous
message regarding the importance of Montana roots in eyes of Montana voters
that made the moment so powerful. And, apparently I wasn't the only one to
notice—the MTDP released the "Maryland Matt" ad just a few days later and
appeared to indirectly reference the forum in a short blurb accompanying the
ad's posting.

Do voters care
about where candidates were born? To begin to investigate this question, I draw
upon data from three different surveys that I have fielded (one in Autumn 2015,
one in Spring 2017, and another in early fall 2017) utilizing Mechanical Turk
samples. All respondents in these surveys reside in the United States. Within
each survey, I included a question asking whether and how important respondents
thought it was that candidates running for Congress in their state had been
born there. In the most recent two surveys, an additional question was asked
regarding whether respondents felt that candidates born in their state were
more likely to understand the values and needs of people in their state.



Table 1: How important do you think it is
for candidates running for Congress

in your state to have been born in your
state?













Fall 2015



Spring 2017



Fall 2017





Extremely Important



25

(5%)





200

(11%)





130

(11%)





Very Important



117

(25%)





368

(20%)





255

(22%)





Moderately Important



136

(29%)





496

(28%)





300

(26%)





Slightly Important



87

(18%)





320

(18%)





232

(18%)





Not at all important



111

(23%)



423

(23%)



229

(23%)





N



476



1,807



1,146







Results for the
first question are remarkably stable across all three samples, as can be seen
in Table 1. In the most recent sample, one third of respondents indicated that
they felt candidate place of birth to be highly important (including both the
"extremely important" and "highly important" categories). A little over a
quarter of respondents indicated candidate place of birth to be moderately important.
Meanwhile, a minority of respondents (41%) indicated that candidate place of
birth is only slightly important or not important at all to them.



Table 1: In general, do you think that
candidates born in your state are better

at understanding the values and needs of
people in your state?











Spring 2017



Fall 2017





Yes



853

(47%)





554

(48%)





No



287

(16%)





144

(13%)





Unsure



667

(37%)





450

(39%)





N



1,807



1,146







            As
for respondents' perceptions regarding whether native born candidates are more
likely to better understand the values and needs of their constituency, a large
plurality in both samples (an average of 47.5%) indicated that they felt this
was the case, with a small minority (an average of 14%) of respondents saying
this wasn't likely to be the case. A large number of respondents in both
samples indicated that they were unsure regarding this question (38%). These
results are presented in Table 2.

            To
further explore responses to these questions, I use various methods (including
ANOVA, OLS, and logistic regression) to model the relationship between
responses to these questions and respondents' partisanship.[1] First, I estimate the
association between how important respondents rated candidate birthplace and respondents'
partisanship while controlling for the influence of other background
characteristics. Results show that, on average, the place of birth of political
candidates is significantly more important to Republicans (by about 25%) than
it is for Democrats even after controlling for the influence of respondents'
level of educational attainment, gender, self-reported recent voting history,
and whether the respondent lived in a rural area. Moreover, further analysis
reveals that Republicans' average importance rating of candidate place of birth
is significantly higher than that of independents as well, though Democrats and
independents do not differ significantly from one another in this respect. Finally,
I model the association between partisanship and perceptions of whether being
born in state imparts upon candidates a special constituency related knowledge
(all while again controlling for a number of other related factors). Results
indicate that Republicans are 4.5 times more likely on average to indicate that
candidates born in their state typically better understand the values and
problems associated with that state.

            Taken
together, these results suggest that many Americans see candidate place of
birth as being an important attribute of political candidates. More
specifically, a majority of people in my sample indicated that it is at least
moderately important that candidates be born in the state that they seek to
represent in Congress, with a full third indicating that they feel it is highly
important. Moreover, a plurality of respondents indicated that they believe
that candidates born in the state they are running in are more likely to
understand the needs and values of their constituency. Results also indicate a
significant association between these considerations and partisanship, with
Republicans endorsing both to a greater extent than non-Republicans on average.
All of this is especially noteworthy considering that these results are derived
from a sample comprising survey respondents from all across the United States.
And, in terms of demographic characteristics, the sample skews slightly younger,
more liberal, and more educated than the American population as a whole—as well
as Montana. So, if anything, I would expect the patterns and statistical
associations described above to increase in magnitude if the sample were one
perfectly representative of Montana.

            Finally,
in relating all of this back to Montana politics, the results presented here
seem to lend some credence to Republican
candidate Russ Fagg's (as well as many others) warning to Republican primary
voters that (in)congruence between where candidates are born and the district
they hope to represent is important to voters—and, at least in this sample,
especially amongst self-identified Republicans. And, since Tester will almost
certainly have to win over a considerable percentage of voters who recently
voted for our Republican president, these results suggest that one fruitful
path for him to do so would be to continue to appeal to voters on the basis of shared
Montana values and identity (as Bullock did in his successful 2016 reelection
bid). Whether and to what degree he is able to do so could very well be
moderated by whether a native-born Republican, such as Fagg or Olszewski, is at
the top of the Republican ticket.

B.
Kal Munis is, amongst other things, a 6th generation Montana native
and alumnus of both Montana State University and the University of Montana. He
is currently a PhD candidate in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics at
the University of Virginia. You can follow him on Twitter @KalMunis.










[1] If you want more specifics on the
data and my analyses, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Britain's counter-terrorism policies do not work. They do not work for the British people, who wish to live free of terrorism. They do not work for the various communities in the UK whose experience of counter-terrorism has been one of stigmatisation and criminalisation. And they do not work for the people of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, whose human rights have been systematically violated in the War on Terror. Just over two decades ago, the Irish and UK governments signed the Good Friday Agreement, the culmination of a negotiated peace process involving Republican and Loyalist armed groups in Northern Ireland. Principles of human rights, community consent and peace were key to achieving a dramatic reduction in lives lost to political violence. Indeed, by that measure, the Good Friday Agreement was the most successful instrument of counter-terrorism policy-making in recent history. But the lessons of this success were not registered. The year after the Agreement was signed, Tony Blair's government introduced the first of the fifteen new Terrorism Acts that have been passed since then in what has become a near-annual parliamentary ritual. Each Act ratcheted up the powers available to the police and intelligence agencies, creating a shadow criminal justice system in which legal principles applicable in other spheres were dispensed with. Alongside this legislative agenda, norms shifted in other ways: the use of surveillance and propaganda was expanded and deepened; military force and extra-judicial killing as counter-terrorist methods became routine; and complicity with torturers was normalised. Intelligence agencies, police forces and the military doubled or tripled their counter-terrorism budgets and held onto this funding even as other sectors were ravaged by austerity measures. The logic of counter-terrorism was spread into every sphere of public life in Britain as workers across government services were expected to become the eyes and ears of national security surveillance. The definition of the threat was itself transformed: no longer simply a matter of individual acts of violence but a much broader danger, understood in terms of clashes of culture, ideology and values, and informed by the Islamophobic principle that Muslim political organisation and dissent should be cast as forms of extremism. Concerns for human rights, for avoiding the stigmatising and criminalising of communities, or for basing policy on clear statements of goals and evidence of effectiveness were ignored. The number of civilian lives lost in ostenisbly fighting "jihadist" terrorism were many times greater than those that have ever been lost or could have been lost due to "jihadist" terrorism itself. Even on the narrowest measure of success – the reduction of terrorism – the record of UK counter- terrorism over the last twenty years is a poor one. The relentless expansion and proliferation of this War on Terror apparatus was underpinned by a consensus across the political class from the late 1990s. Central to that consensus were the claims that the UK faced an exceptional threat from "jihadist" terrorism, that this threat was the expression of an ideological rejection of British values among a generation of young Muslims and that, in response, the normal principles of domestic and international law should be suspended. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's Chatham House speech on the War on Terror in the 2017 general election campaign was the first sign of a crack in that consensus. In the days after the killing of twenty-two concert-goers at the Manchester Arena, Corbyn argued that "the war on terror is simply not working" and opinion polls suggested a majority agreed.1 This report offers an account of the failures of current counter-terrorism policies, an analysis of the reasons why they do not work and an outline of a progressive alternative that we hope will be the basis for a future Labour government's approach. We recognise the difficulty and complexity of the issue of terrorism and the various barriers that stand in the way of a different approach. But we believe the time is right to critically assess the legacy of the last twenty years and change course. At the heart of our argument is a question of democracy. Counter-terrorism policy-making has failed because its development is unmoored from any substantial process of democratic accountability. Instead, the aims and means of current counter-terrorism policy have been set by a security establishment according to its own interests and values. This security establishment has not sought to provide a consistent and precise definition of terrorism or to seek to counter terrorism in an evidence-based way, based on academic studies of how terrorism comes into existence. It has not sought to ground security policy in the actual problems of political violence that communities in the UK face. And it has repeatedly placed loyalty to elite interests above the need to uphold human rights, especially with respect to Muslim populations, both within the UK and abroad. The Labour Party has a particular responsibility to address the harms resulting from counter- terrorism as it was the Labour government led by Tony Blair that incorporated the War on Terror into British policy-making and his successor Gordon Brown who continued and extended the paradigm. Labour's 2017 manifesto already contained policies that align with our argument and can be built upon, such as the call to review Prevent, to address civil liberties concerns with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and to hold public inquiries on past injustices. However, counter-terrorism policy has been one of the least discussed topics within the Labour Party, despite its deep impact on the lives of the over two million Muslims in the UK. We hope this report will help to initiate a more vigorous discussion. Clearly, any left-wing Labour government will be attacked by its opponents as weak on national security. The temptation will be to not rock the boat and allow counter-terrorism policy to remain unchanged, the better to secure political victories in the core economic policy areas Labour Party supporters are more focused on. We believe this would be a mistake. It would mean a Labour government failing to uphold principles of human rights and racial and religious equality. But as a political strategy, it would also likely be counter-productive. Conceding ground on security policy will not minimise the attacks from right-wing media organisations or Conservative politicians; and a Labour government would be left defending itself reactively and inconsistently within a policy framework not of its own choosing. In this way, a failure to develop a progressive approach to security could end up undermining the credibility of a Labour government's broader policy agenda. A better strategy, we believe, is to adopt from the outset a coherent, explicitly stated, progressive policy that can be defended consistently and confidently.

This article reviews new aspects of the interplay between fashion and advertising, says that advertising messages through text-description shows image of the advertised product, with marking does not have to link with the signified. The basic expression fashion trends are in advertising.At XXI century advertising is always looking for new forms of expression, it involves in their communicative space of various art trends, cultural studies and public opinion. One of its main sources is a formative fashion.Transformed from a simple craft into a developed industry, fashion is becoming popular and constantly debated phenomenon. An increasing of its value and relevance to modern society, it sets the necessary impression creates the desired image for a particular person or goods. Fashion simultaneously combines the stability of tradition and innovative tricks, such as creativity and commercial benefits. We can state that thanked to advertising and marketing professional, more people follow fashion trends and become "fashion victims".Despite the fact that there are a large number of works on the history of fashion, art and outstanding designers create clothes, marketing in the fashion industry and "fashion philosophy", some questions still left unattended researchers, in particular the problem of interaction of advertising and fashion in terms of post and post-post-culturewhich, in our opinion, needs detailed study.First of all it is worth to mention the work of F. Kotler "Principles of Marketing", which theoretically grounded relationship marketing in the traditional sense of the term, with the global fashion industry. In the theoretical work of T. Hines and M. Bruce "Fashion Marketing" describes the basic techniques of marketing in contemporary fashion, given the statistics. In this work analyzes the activity of representatives of fashion secrets revealed professional artists. Another theoretical work that reveals the direct sphere of modern fashion is a "Fashion world" of French journalist M. Tunheym, which is an actual example of fashion masterpieces.Particular note is the work of French semiotics, the philosopher R. Barthes "fashion system" in which theoretical stresses that modern fashion is the opposition of three systems: "clothes-image (photo or drawing that have only limited symbolic), 2) Clothing-description (text, commenting that image) and 3) real clothing" [1, 9]. The first and third system, by R. Barth, mostly exhausted its denotative message transmission or manual visual image for practical action, while ьsystem-describing saturated clothing connotations; it is located "between things and words". We cannot agree with the theoretical relative that description connects fashion with the outside world, but at the same time and tendentiously distorting the world.A similar opinion was expressed by the modern Swedish researcher L. Svendsen in the "fashion philosophy". The author considers fashion as a phenomenon that, on the one hand, promotes the aesthetic of human life, on the other; affect the identity of the human population, backgrounds. French sociologist and philosopher J. Baudriyar continues the idea R. Barth, and draws attention to the social side of the phenomenon of fashion. For him, in the centres of interest are human simulacra-world signs that are manifested in various spheres of culture – art, fashion, media, technology, sexual relations and others.As noted in our advertising time, as the description text, shapes the fashion, it can transmit not only information about products and services, but also on public opinion in general or the political preferences of the masses. In modern fashion the rules permissible limits and canons of beauty disappear. It is filled with stylistic eclecticism, with all possible variations and combinations simulacra. The most common fashion borders on art, using the principal components of the artistic image – cognitive, regulatory and communicative. Combining data elements, it creates a new dialogue between the thing and its customer, which is dominated by the same thing.To better promote products, specialists in public relations, PR managers developed "special" story of collection that told what had fascinated the designer during creating this collection, inspired and motivated him. This myth has a certain character and it can be both too romantic and compassionate-dramatic. Always available a certain mystery in the message you are composing. Press releases (summary of concepts) often served with a touch of a charitable cause. In some cases, even a fashion filled with mystical meaning, appeal to the "sublime Gothic". This trend can be seen in the collections of local designers, for example, in the same collection Valerie Kovalska called "13".Thus, the hallmark of fashion is its pragmatic direction. The main income is presented as such especially for promotion of a product created by the so-called seasonal "must-have" objects of desire, trends, the hit lists of the month. A limited collection created an illusory uniqueness. Permanent imposing certain image cannot remain indifferent consumer and sooner or later he/she still remembered the advertised product. We introduce a special system of discounts and bonuses which are not always true, for example, the price of the thing to the "sale" and after remain unchanged.The use of a large number of different prints, dominated by vivid images, deep colors with complex graphics are popular. As a starting point "lucky number" are the first letter of proper names or "sacred mantras", which will certainly bring happiness and prosperity. Apply all known kitsch images:, ironic, romantic images of fairy tales (imagine myself Oriental Beauty); optical illusion that the buyer is transferred into the mysterious world of fantasy; surreal prints that are associated with S. Dali masterpieces; drawings and abstract floral patterns, graphic lines and geometric shapes, all of these things come to mind. Nothing can stop contemporary designers to bring their collections.Thus, we can state that the fashion continuously marked clothing and a world. Advertising creates fashion, it predicts the desired information about a product and imposes other people's opinions and preferences. Advertisingcombines the perception of reality and creates its reality by itself. The public mood is formed by the artificial icons. It sets the style which all people must wish. Even if in imitation of a designed image difficulties appear (such as lack of money or social status)but due to the advertising (description text)a consumer still wants to to become the owner of the advertised product. ; В статье рассматриваются современные аспекты взаимодействия моды и рекламы. Отмечается, что в рекламных сообщениях благодаря описанию-тексту эксплицируется образ рекламированного товара, при этом означающее не обязательно имеет связь с означаемым. Наводятся основные проявления модных тенденций в рекламе. ; У статті розглядаються сучасні аспекти взаємодії моди та реклами. Зазначається, що в рекламних повідомленнях завдяки опису-тексту експліціюється образ рекламованого товару, при цьому позначаюче не обов'язково має зв'язок з означуваним. Наводяться основні прояви модних тенденцій у рекламі.

New House Speaker Mike Johsnon made good on a promise to bring a separate $14.3 billion Israel aid bill to the floor Monday, saying he'll pay for it by making cuts elsewhere in the budget. This sets up a fight with the Senate and the White House, the first test for the newly minted Speaker.The White House has proposed to combine $60 billion in aid for Kyiv with $14 billion for Tel Aviv — along with $14 billion for border security funding and $7 billion for the Indo-Pacific — into one emergency spending package, a plan that has received robust support from Senate leadership in both parties, but has created some controversy among House and Senate Republicans.Johnson's alternative is "a poison pill and non-starter. It's just not the way we're going to proceed," according to Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "It's got to be bipartisan. And the House has to realize they can't work on a bill just with Republicans."Johnson, who emerged from a messy battle for the speakership last week, has been a quiet opponent of every Ukraine funding bill since May 2022. But his more recent rhetoric suggests that he may be more open to bringing a standalone funding package over the opposition of some of the more outspoken aid opponents in his party. "We can't allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine because I don't believe it would stop there, and would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan," Johnson told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday, during his first interview as the leader of the House GOP. "We're not gonna abandon [Ukraine]."Johnson, however, stressed the need for accountability. "We want to know what the objective there is. What is the endgame in Ukraine? The White House has not provided that," he said. Because House Republicans are still "working through" the conditions they want to attach to future Ukraine funding, and aid for Israel is more pressing, Johnson emphasized that the issues should be kept separate, telling Hannity that he had informed the White House that it was "consensus" within his conference that Congress needs to "bifurcate" the two issues.Some in the Senate GOP conference agree, having urged Congress to split up the proposal. Nine Republican Senators wrote a letter to leaders McConnell and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) making the case, and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), one of the leaders of the effort, circulated a memo detailing what he sees as the five major areas differentiating the two countries. "The administration seeks to link Ukraine and Israel funding. This is a grave error that betrays a lack of strategic focus. Each conflict is distinct and represents a different claim on U.S. interests," the memo reads.Republicans in the Senate have largely been more supportive of Ukraine aid than their counterparts in the House, and McConnell has been a vocal advocate for Biden's plan. According to Politico, the minority leader has abandoned "his typically cautious style when it comes to aiding Ukraine, shrugging off potshots at his leadership and expending political capital for the embattled country despite a painful rift in the party." But Vance maintains that his colleagues agree that the question should remain separated from support for Israel."There's actually pretty wide consensus that we should separate Israel from the package," Vance told Politico. "Whether there are nine Republicans who are willing to break off and join the Democrats is an open question," he added, referring to the number of GOP votes that would be required to avoid a filibuster.As the Senate prepares to unveil its spending proposal, Johnson is moving ahead with funding for Israel. "We're gonna bring forward a standalone Israel funding measure," he said on Fox News. "We're gonna find pay fors in the budget, we're not just printing money to send it overseas. We're gonna find the cuts elsewhere to do that." As Punchbowl News put it, seeking such cuts for aid for Israel is "unheard of." The bill, which was released on Monday afternoon, contains $14.3 billion in money for Israel, offset by $14.3 billion in cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and the Inflation Reduction Act. By including these cuts, the House GOP is reportedly hoping to shore up Republican support and possibly push some Democrats to oppose the measure. Given the GOP's slim margin in the House, Johnson can only afford four defections if all Democrats oppose his legislation. Two Republicans have already said that will vote against funding for Israel. "I will be voting NO on all funding packages for the Ukraine war (as I have from the beginning) and now the Israel war," wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on the social media platform X on Sunday. "This week the House will vote on $14.5 billion foreign aid package for Israel, in addition to the $3.8 billion that already passed. I will be a NO vote," added Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). "Less than 1/3 of the 49,000 people who responded to my poll today support this additional funding. We simply can't afford it."Separating the two issues could eventually complicate efforts to pass Ukraine funding, even if Johnson proves more amenable than some of his colleagues. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) — an enthusiastic supporter of the new Speaker — has used the fact that a majority of Republicans voted in favor of an amendment that stripped $300 million in security assistance to Kyiv from the defense appropriations, as evidence that a GOP speaker would go against the majority of his party by bringing such legislation to the floor. "According to the Hastert Rule, which Speaker McCarthy agreed to in January, you cannot use Democrats to roll a majority of the majority," Gaetz said earlier this month, "certainly on something as consequential as Ukraine."

[eng] Food safety is an issue of vital importance in the world. It must be sustained so as to avoid pollution episodes in food, which subsequently could cause potential risks to health. The main approach of this thesis consist of the study of two particular food contamination cases: primary contamination of the aquatic media and the corresponding seafood with mercury, and direct contamination of beverages due to polyethylene terephthalate containers (PET) with antimony. To carry out these studies, the work was structured in three sections. The first one is the development of analytical methodology for the correct determination of mercury and antimony, in which atomic fluorescence spectrometry and inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry were used to know the total content, whereas the coupling of the liquid chromatography to these detector was used for speciation. Additionally, online preconcentration methods for the speciation of these elements were successfully developed to determine the trace amounts present in the matrices under study, comprising tap and PET-bottled waters. The second section deals with the application of the developed methodology in real samples. Antimony was determined in PET-bottled waters, juices, spirits and PET bottles, obtaining concentrations under the limits established for the European Union, and different species depending on the matrix: Sb(V) for waters, Sb(III) for juices and both for spirits and PET extracts. Mercury was determined in seafood, obtaining concentrations beyond the limits for four predator fish, being methylmercury the predominant species. The third section consists of the study of the mechanisms of antimony migration from PET to beverages. To know the main variables which enhances migration, studies with waters, juices and spirits were performed at different times and temperatures. Results demonstrated that high temperatures (60ºC) enhanced migration, as antimony concentration rapidly increased and the limit permitted was exceeded in waters and spirits. Differences among the matrices studied and the tendencies observed throughout time demonstrated that not only temperature, but also matrix characteristics and the type of PET had influence on migration. These facts were demonstrated with the performance of crossed migration experiments, using different types of PET bottles for the storage of the aforementioned matrices. ; [cat] La seguretat alimentària és un tema de vital importància en el món sencer. Aquesta s'ha de preservar per tal d'evitar episodis de contaminació en els aliments, els quals, a la vegada, poden provocar riscos a la salut humana, animal i mediambiental. La present tesi té com a principal enfoc l'estudi de dos casos particulars de contaminació dels aliments: la contaminació primària del medi aquàtic i dels peixos que hi viuen amb mercuri, i la contaminació directa de begudes deguda als envasos de polietilentereftalat (PET) amb antimoni. Per tal de realitzar aquests estudis, el treball s'ha estructurat en tres grans blocs: desenvolupament de metodologia analítica per a la correcta determinació de mercuri i antimoni, aplicació de la metodologia desenvolupada a mostres reals i la realització d'estudis per avaluar la potencial migració d'antimoni en diferents begudes embotellades en PET. El desenvolupament de mètodes per la determinació de mercuri i antimoni s'ha dut a terme mitjançant espectroscòpia de fluorescència atòmica (AFS) i plasma acoblat inductivament amb espectrometria de masses per conèixer el contingut total. Per l'especiació, s'ha acoblat la cromatografia de líquids a aquestes tècniques. Addicionalment, donat que les matrius a estudiar presenten concentracions baixes de mercuri i antimoni, s'han desenvolupat mètodes de preconcentració online per a la seva especiació utilitzant AFS com a detecció. Aquests s'han realitzat de manera sistemàtica estudiant diferents variables, com ara l'agent complexant o el volum de ruptura, entre d'altres. D'aquesta manera, s'ha aconseguit establir unes condicions òptimes d'anàlisi que proporcionen bones recuperacions, factors de preconcentració i reproductibilitat. Els mètodes s'han aplicat a mostres d'aigua d'aixeta i envasada, i s'han obtingut uns factors de 10, 70 i 30 per a Sb(V), Sb(III) i les espècies de mercuri, respectivament. Els mètodes esmentats s'han aplicat per determinar antimoni en aigües, sucs i licors envasats en PET, així com en el propi plàstic, i mercuri en peixos. En quant a l'antimoni, les concentracions trobades en les begudes no superen el límit màxim permès per la Unió Europea (5 µg L-1) en aigües. L'especiació, amb l'ajut de l'espectrometria de masses, va posar de manifest que la forma predominant en aigua és Sb(V) sense complexar, pels sucs és Sb(III) amb citrat i pels licors un complex orgànic de Sb(V). En el cas del plàstic, l'antimoni es pot extreure en qualsevol de les dues espècies inorgàniques, desconeixent la seva estructura en la superfície. En quant el mercuri, es van trobar concentracions superiors a les permeses (1 mg kg-1) en quatre mostres de peixos depredadors, sent el metilmercuri la forma predominant. Per tal de conèixer els mecanismes de migració d'antimoni del PET a la beguda i quines són les variables que més potencien el seu alliberament, s'han realitzat estudis en aigües, sucs i licors. Aquests s'han dut a terme a diferents temps i temperatures. Els resultats van demostrar per una banda que les temperatures altes (60ºC) afavoreixen la migració. Les aigües van superar els límits permesos al cap de 30 dies i els licors al cap d'una setmana, mentre que els sucs no el van superar. Les diferències entre matrius i les tendències observades al llarg del temps van demostrar que, a més de la temperatura, la migració pot dependre depèn d'altres variables, com ara la matriu o el tipus de PET de l'ampolla. Per estudiar aquest fet, es va realitzar un experiment de migració creuada a elevada temperatura amb aigües i sucs, en el qual es van envasar les matrius en ampolles diferents de les originals. Aquest experiment va demostrar que la migració d'antimoni també depèn de les característiques del PET així com de la matriu de la beguda.

Este artículo pretende aportar al conocimiento del teletrabajo para el caso argentino, prestando especial atención a la perspectiva de una multiplicidad de actores que tienen intereses distintos sobre él, incluso contrapuestos si se toma en consideración la dicotomía capital-trabajo. Con base en una metodología cualitativa se elaboró, por un lado, un análisis de fuentes para dar cuenta de lo que algunos actores específicos de la órbita estatal y de los medios masivos de comunicación sostienen sobre esta modalidad laboral. Por otro lado, se efectuaron once entrevistas en profundidad a teletrabajadores del Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (amba) entre el 2013 y el 2017. A partir del cruce de estas dos fuentes de información, se cotejaron discursos muy distintos que abren un serio interrogante sobre el optimismo con que la mayoría de las veces se considera a esta nueva modalidad laboral. Para aportar al conocimiento del teletrabajo, se muestra la manera como este es comprendido por el Ministerio de Trabajo, Empleo y Seguridad Social (mteyss) de Argentina a través del Programa de Promoción del Empleo en Teletrabajo (propet) y por algunos periódicos de circulación nacional como Clarín y La Nación. Este ejercicio evidencia que una mirada demasiado optimista aglutina sus puntos de vista. Flexibilidad, libertad, creatividad, horizontalidad son algunas de las características que, desde su perspectiva, constituye la realidad laboral de los teletrabajadores. Sin embargo, a partir de las entrevistas se encontró que existe una gran brecha entre lo que los actores mencionados afirman sobre el teletrabajo y lo que ocurre en el día a día laboral de los teletrabajadores. Pues estos reconocen algunos beneficios de esta modalidad laboral pero también muchos perjuicios: falta de referentes jerárquicos claros a quiénes dirigirse, objetivos de trabajo difusos, separaciones difíciles entre el ámbito laboral y el hogar son algunos de los más evidentes. Es necesario recalcar que este texto constituye una primera indagación exploratoria realizada con un grupo de entrevistas reducido, razón por la cual las conclusiones son de índole muy preliminar. ; The article contributes to the knowledge regarding telecommuting in the case of Argentina by paying special attention to the perspectives of a multiplicity of actors whose interests in the matter are different and even contradictory if one bears in mind the capitallabor dichotomy. Using a qualitative methodology, an analysis of sources was carried out in order to examine what some specific government and mass media actors have to say about this work modality. Furthermore, eleven in-depth interviews with telecommuters were carried out in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (amba, according to its acronym in Spanish) between 2013 and 2017. The comparison between these two sources of information revealed very different discourses, a fact that raises serious questions regarding the optimism with which this new labor modality tends to be considered most of the time. In order to contribute the knowledge regarding telecommuting, the article shows how this concept is understood by the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security (mteyss) of Argentina through its Program for the Promotion of Employment in Telecommuting (propet), as well as by certain national newspapers like Clarín and La Nación. This exercise makes evident that the latter share an excessively optimistic outlook. Flexibility, freedom, creativity, and horizontality are some of the features that, in their view, characterize the work reality of telecommuters. However, the interviews showed that there is a great gap between what the abovementioned actors say about telecommuting and what happens in the day to day work of telecommuters. Although the latter recognize some of the advantages of this work modality, they also point out many negative aspects: the lack of clear hierarchical referents to whom they can address their concerns; unclear work objectives; and difficult-to-establish boundaries between the work environment and the home are some of the most evident ones. It is necessary to emphasize that this text is an initial exploratory inquiry, based on a small number of interviews, for which reason its conclusions are preliminary. ; Este artigo pretende contribuir para o conhecimento do trabalho remoto (home office) para o caso argentino, enfatizando a perspectiva de uma multiplicidade de atores que têm interesses diferenciados sobre ele, inclusive contrapostos se for considerada a dicotomia capital-trabalho. Com base numa metodologia qualitativa, foi elaborada, por um lado, uma análise de fontes para mostrar o que alguns atores específicos do âmbito estatal e dos meios massivos de comunicação sustentam sobre essa modalidade de trabalho. Por outro lado, foram realizadas 11 entrevistas em profundidade com teletrabalhadores da Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (Amba) entre 2013 e 2017. A partir do cruzamento dessas duas fontes de informação, foram comparados discursos muito diferentes que abrem uma série questão sobre o otimismo com o qual se considera essa nova modalidade de trabalho na maioria das vezes. Para contribuir para o conhecimento do trabalho remoto, mostra-se a maneira como este é compreendido pelo Ministério do Trabalho, Emprego e Seguridade Social (mteyss) da Argentina por meio do Programa de Promoção do Emprego no Trabalho Remoto (Propet) e por alguns jornais de circulação nacional como Clarín e La Nación. Esse exercício evidencia que um olhar muito otimista aglutina seus pontos de vista. Flexibilidade, liberdade, criatividade, horizontalidade são algunas das características que, sob sua perspectiva, constituem a realidade organizacional dos teletrabalhadores. Contudo, a partir das entrevistas, constatou-se que existe uma grande brecha entre o que os atores mencionados afirmam sobre o trabalho remoto e o que ocorre no seu dia a dia organizacional. Eles reconhecem alguns benefícios dessa modalidade, mas também muitos prejuízos: falta de referentes hierárquicos claros a quem se dirigir, objetivos de trabalhos confusos, separações difíceis entre o âmbito organizacional e o lar são alguns dos mais evidentes. É necessário destacar que este texto constitui uma primeira indagação exploratória realizada com um grupo de entrevistas reduzido, razão pela qual as conclusões são de índole preliminar.

Esta investigación, orientada bajo un enfoque cualitativo-interpretativo, describe las concepciones de un grupo de setenta y ocho profesores de inglés de los niveles de Educación Media General y Educación Universitaria de la ciudad de San Cristóbal, Venezuela, sobre la expansión, uso y enseñanza del inglés como idioma internacional. Desde una perspectiva crítica y posestructuralista en la que se concibe al inglés como un fenómeno social cargado de ideologías y valores culturales, este estudio pretende dar cuenta de las conexiones existentes entre el inglés y las fuerzas económicas, políticas, sociales e ideológicas que subyacen detrás de su expansión, uso y enseñanza en el mundo (Holliday, 2005, 2006, 2013; Pennycook, 1994; Phillipson, 1992, 2010), y la forma en como estas conexiones son percibidas por los profesores de inglés de un contexto específico de la periferia (Canagarajah, 1999a). Para la exploración en profundidad del fenómeno se adopta en este estudio el método fenomenológico (Colás, 1998b) como propuesta metodológica para descubrir la forma en que los profesores de inglés de este contexto específico comprenden el fenómeno y conciben la expansión, uso y enseñanza del inglés como idioma internacional. Como instrumentos para la recolección de los datos se utilizan dos cuestionarios con preguntas abiertas y cerradas administrados por internet a los participantes, y entrevistas semi-estructuradas cara a cara en profundidad con nueve profesores seleccionados como informantes clave. Para el análisis de los datos se toma el proceso analítico de Strauss y Corbin (2002), proceso que apunta hacia la generación inductiva de teoría a través de la comparación constante de los datos para formar categorías. En este estudio, el análisis de los datos comprende un proceso integral y cíclico que toma en cuenta los datos provenientes de todos los participantes y de todos los instrumentos de recolección. También se hace uso técnico del software Atlas.ti versión 6.0 para el almacenamiento y xivmanipulación sistemática de las entrevistas semi-estructuradas en profundidad. Entre los hallazgos se devela una complejidad enmarcada en el estudio de las concepciones de los profesores de este contexto sociocultural específico que resultan ser fluidas y en oportunidades simultáneamente contradictorias entre sí sobre la expansión, uso y enseñanza del inglés como idioma internacional. En tal sentido, los resultados reflejan poca conciencia crítica de los participantes sobre la hegemonía del inglés en el mundo y su percepción del idioma como un asunto necesario y beneficioso para la comunicación internacional, de allí que consideren su enseñanza y aprendizaje como necesarios en todos los contextos del mundo. Este estudio también expresa una concientización de los participantes en algunos aspectos específicos como su sentido de propiedad del idioma y su percepción como hablantes y docentes competentes del inglés en un contexto específico. Asimismo, revela algunos asuntos sociopolíticos enmarcados en la dicotomía 'nativo' - 'no nativo' del inglés fundamentado en el concepto del 'native speakerism'. Al mismo tiempo, muestra la concepción de los participantes sobre la enseñanza del inglés como una actividad apolítica y neutral aunque simultáneamente refleja su inclinación hacia la promoción del pensamiento crítico y reflexivo de los estudiantes a través de sus clases de inglés ; This qualitative-interpretative research describes the beliefs of a group of seventy eight high school and university English teachers from San Cristobal, Venezuela, about the spread, use and teaching of English as an International Language. From a critical and poststructuralist perspective through which English is conceived as a social phenomenon linked to ideologies and cultural values, this study tries to show the connections between English and the economic, political, social and ideological forces hidden in its wide spread, use and teaching around the world (Holliday, 2005, 2006, 2013; Pennycook, 1994; Phillipson, 1992, 2010), and the ways these links are perceived by the English teachers in the periphery (Canagarajah, 1999a). For a deep exploration of the phenomenon, a phenomenological design is adopted (Colás, 1998b) to reveal how the English teachers in this specific context comprehend and conceive the spread, use and teaching of English as an International Language. Two online questionnaires with open and close questions are administered to the participants, and nine teachers are selected to participate in face to face in-depth semi- structured interviews. The Strauss and Corbin's (2002) analytical process is used to analyze the data. This process aims to create inductive theory though the continuous comparison of data to create categories. The data analysis is conceived in this study as a cyclical and integral process which includes information of all participants and all instruments. The software Atlas.ti 6.0 is used to systematically store and manipulate the in-depth semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal a complexity in the study of the teachers' beliefs in this specific sociocultural context, which are fluid and sometimes simultaneously contradictory about the spread, use and teaching of English as an International Language. Thus, the findings show participants' lack of critical awareness about the hegemony of English in the world and their perceptions of the language as a necessary and beneficial matter to the international communication. Due to this, they conceive the teaching and learning of English as a necessary process in all contexts of the world. This study also shows the participants' awareness about some specific aspects such as their sense of language property and their own perception as competent speakers and teachers of English in a specific context. It also reveals some sociopolitical issues related to the native and non-native dichotomy stated in the concept of native speakerism. At the same time, it expresses the participants' beliefs about the teaching of English as an apolitical and neutral activity, even though, it shows their simultaneously tendency to promote the students' critical and reflexive thinking through their English classes ; Fil: Moncada V., Belkys S. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina.