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← Ett Sverige i förändring – Håller Sverige på att förvandlas till ett korrupt, kooptokratiskt välde?
Postat den augusti 11, 2018 av Erik Lidström
Notes: This is the English version of my previous post. For the definition of Cooptocracy, see [1].
Even the casual observer might have noticed that not all is well in the self-proclaimed humanitarian super-power of Sweden. For starters, our politicians appear to have been taken by surprise by the recent enormous influx of non-European immigrants, and by the ensuing consequences for society. At the time of writing, they are also at a loss as to what to do about the situation. However, a closer look will reveal that the situation with regard to the political class is even worse than it seems and that a substantial reason for this is inherent to the political system itself[2].
How bad is it? The Swedish Riksdag has 349 members. When early in 2012, Håkan Juholt was removed as the leader of the then opposition Social Democrats, the party had 111 additional members of parliament. Not one of them was deemed fit to become the new party leader. Instead, Stefan Löfven was chosen, a union boss who did not have a seat. The situation of an extreme dearth of political talent is similar for all of the other seven parties in the Riksdag.
Together with many other countries, Sweden has proportional representation where seats in parliament are allocated according to the percentage of the vote each party receives in the general election. This is in contrast to (for example) the US, France and British systems, where majority voting is practised and where only one individual is elected from each electoral district.
Democracy and some electoral history
Is Sweden still a democracy? Democracy means rule by the people. In ancient Athens, all free men took part in the rule of the city in what today is called direct democracy. The Athenians themselves would likely have called a representative democracy an "elective aristocracy", since the people does not rule directly, but indirectly, through elected representatives. It wasn't actually until the founding of the United States that some forms of representative government came to be considered to be democratic[3].
In a Germanic state, such as ancient Sweden, there used to exist a similar situation as in Greece. All free men, likely about 20 percent of the population, took part in decisions[4]. Women were then not allowed to vote, but they were mostly married to the men who did. To what degree they were therefore represented is a matter of debate. Given the high child mortality, and the ensuing broad-based population pyramid, there may have been about the same number of children below the age of 14-15 as there were adults. The age of maturity was 14 amongst the Franks and it was 15 in Sweden. Therefore, somewhere between 60 and 80 percent of the population had some political influence in halfway, direct democracies such as the ancient Nordic ones. In these Germanic societies, there was also the king, theoretically an elected official.
Torgny the Lawspeaker at the thing of Uppsala, Sweden, in 1018. (Christian Krogh)[5]. According to Snorri Sturluson, at the thing he is supposed to have upbraided the king Olof Skötkonung. A largely fictitious but illustrative example of direct democracy.
A united Sweden eventually emerged and became ruled by a king and for the most part, taxed by elected representatives, the four Estates. This is an area where Sweden was unique in that the Estates included the farmers, in addition to the nobility, the clerics and the burghers. Until 1544, the king was officially elected, although the possible list of pretenders was limited, and military power was a common means to decide the outcome. Through the parliamentary reform of 1865, from 1866 Sweden had a Riksdag with two chambers. The right to vote was at the time restricted by a census, and was only given to men.
Apart from within a direct democracy, the populace never rules itself; it is debatable whether direct rule is even possible, beyond a trivial small number of citizens. For these reasons, Popper[6] suggested that a better definition of democracy is a state of affairs where the people can get rid of those in power through peaceful means. One then does not always get the representatives one wants, but one can at least change to a different lot. With such a definition, Sweden has, to a degree, been a democracy for a considerable time, possibly for millennia. Finally, one must not forget that in times gone by, the threat of armed rebellion strongly restricted what rulers could and could not do.
One should carefully distinguish between being representative and to represent others. Amongst the Ancient Greeks, when it was impossible for a large gathering of citizens to be involved, and when it was not a question of such a critical role as a general in a war; people, who were to be representative, were designated by drawing lots[7]. In contrast, when one elects a leader or a member of parliament, he or she instead represents the electors. In such situations, one commonly does not want the person to be representative, but to be among the best suited available to fulfil a particular role. Sweden, for at least a thousand years and perhaps much longer, had up until the election of 1911 as a principle the election of more or less outstanding individuals, chosen to represent the others.
What is commonly called the final breakthrough of democracy changed all this. The party in power, what would later be called The Right ("Högern"), under the leadership of Arvid Lindman, introduced general suffrage for men during the years leading up to 1909. The Liberals, under Karl Staaff, and the Social Democrats, under Hjalmar Branting, wanted the French system with single-person seats, and majority elections in two stages, where a second round is called for if no one reached more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round (Britain instead has first-passed-the-post voting, where whoever has the most votes is elected in a single round of voting).
That the Liberals and the Social Democrats advocated this system was not only because they had tradition on their side. There were also self-serving reasons, since as a result they anticipated obtaining more seats in parliament. For the same reason, the Right wanted proportional representation to keep as many of their members of parliament as possible. Unfortunately, as we shall see, proportional representation won the day. What is abundantly clear is that the modern trope that "in Sweden, we vote for ideas, not for people" was invented after the fact. And it has never really been correct either.
Sweden moved to a single-chamber Riksdag in 1971, and until 1976 there were 350 seats in parliament; in 1976, they were reduced to 349. 29 geographical areas allocate 310 of these seats directly, from lists provided by the political parties, but only amongst those parties that receive at least 4 percent of the national vote, or at least 12 percent of the local vote (a special case that has never elected anyone to parliament). A further 39 mandates are allocated nationally from these same lists to ensure strict proportionality in the national vote, again excluding parties that receive less than 4 percent nationally.
Each party prints ballots with a list of 20-30 names in each area, and a voter picks one of these lists and puts it in an envelope. Since 1998 it is possible to put a tick in front of a name to attempt to change the ranking order determined by each party. In 2014, this only elected 12 people to the Riksdag other than those the parties would have preferred were given higher priority[8].
The passing of time, Swedish culture and proportional representation
Cultures are long-lived and also invisible affairs. For at least a millennium (likely for much longer), and until about 1850, the vast majority of Swedes lived clustered in small farming villages where everyone knew everyone else, and where everyone also knew what everyone else was doing. At the same time, the farmers were to a large degree self-owning and the villages were largely independent political entities. In such an environment, on the one hand, the farmers took decisions collectively; but on the other hand, and partly as a consequence, social conformity was ruthlessly imposed on anyone standing out from the crowd.
As a result, Swedes are known for their unusually strong "royal Swedish envy[9]", as well as for their often-desperate attempts to reach a consensus. Before the introduction of proportional representation, any aspiring politician had to overcome such mental hiccups. They had to be public speakers and they also had to demonstrate that they, personally, had achieved something in life, so that the electorate might consider them trusted representatives. One might say that they had to demonstrate that they were not representative, but that they stood out from the crowd. In Sweden, we have also had a tendency to appreciate our "chieftains". He or she who "is just like us", and who tries to stand out from the crowd, is often ruthlessly put down. But if someone appears to be exceptional, Swedes have no problem accepting them as potential leaders.
When proportional representation was introduced, instead of voting for individuals, Swedes were faced with only five sets of pre-packaged ideas to vote for, one for each of the then five parties in the Riksdag. The logic of this process leads to that within each party, for years on end, all members had to show a united front to the outside world. Conflicts of ideas and interests were handled as internal matters. But the Swedish political parties were nevertheless popular mass movements that depended on their members. Recruiting new members was essential for their existence, as was vigorous internal debate, and political and social activities for the tens or hundreds of thousands of members of each party.
For over 50 years, the consequences of proportional representation gradually changed the political culture of Sweden. To outsiders, each party was more or less represented by a single person, the party leader, heading a party that for the most part showed unfailing unity. Gradually, the Swedish national character also took its due, so that few openly criticised their party, or even openly competed for elected positions within the party. This is close to the opposite of the behaviour necessary within a system with majority elections for individual seats.
Sweden gets legalised political corruption
In Ancient Greece and Rome, it was considered such an honour to represent the city or the fatherland that it was done without financial compensation. For the same reason, the members of the upper chamber of the Swedish Riksdag were for a long time not remunerated.
However, many considered it wrong that only "the rich" would be able to represent the people. But as the parties, except for the communists, had over a hundred thousand paying members each, and large resources, in particular due to voluntary donations, this could hardly have been an insurmountable problem.
An alternative solution, which this author sometimes fantasises about, is the one that applied up until the dual-chamber Riksdag was voted through in 1865. Before then, parliament only convened every three or five years, giving the members of parliament ample opportunity to pursue a profession and pay themselves for much of their political activities. However, in Sweden all parliamentarians eventually obtained a substantial salary to complement the honour of representing the nation.
Our representatives rule over us. And they sit with ladles in their hands around troughs filled with the taxpayers' money. Beginning after the war, one by one a number of newspapers closed down. The political parties therefore began worrying about the "diversity" of the access to information, that is, that their own party might not be represented by a newspaper in all, or almost all localities. This worry was the most acute amongst the Social Democrats. At the same time, the "Folkpartiet" (social liberal), and the Center party (formerly the Farmers' party) had problems with the financing of their party activities.
Therefore, in 1965, these three parties together voted through a proposal that provided both public financial aid to the political parties, and financial support to newspapers. As a condition for receiving money, a limit of at least two percent in the national elections to the second chamber was included. Below that, no financial support was paid out. This way, parties outside of the Riksdag, such as MBS and the Christian Democrats, would be unlikely to receive any funds. When Sweden moved to a single-chamber parliament in 1971, the limit necessary was raised to 2.5 percent of the national vote. From 1969, the municipalities were also allowed to distribute financial aid to political parties.
I do not at all claim that politicians in Sweden personally are corrupt; only that they take part in a deeply corrupt system. An aspiring politician has no choice but to become part of this system. Those in power explicitly take money from the taxpayer to give to themselves so that they thereby can promote themselves and explain how important it is that the voters continue to elect them. Even though most politicians are probably able to convince themselves that this system, as they say, "safeguards democracy", it is nevertheless a case of legalised theft.
At the same time, the newspapers receive financial support, and thus, journalists are – to a degree – bought by those in power. To make matters worse, since the 1920s, Sweden has supposedly "independent" state radio and later also state television. These are, for obvious reasons, completely dependent on government, both with regard to funding and to oversight. Luckily, today there is the internet. But it is still illegal to start a nationwide private radio station.
Sweden becomes a juvenile cooptocracy
Today, Sweden has about ten million inhabitants. The public financial aid handed out to the political parties by the central government amounts to about 466 million kronor[10] ($54 million). This money is given to the political parties centrally, and is in practice at the disposal of the respective party leaders. The money from the counties amounted to 336 million kronor in 2007 ($39 million), and that of the municipalities to 450-500 million kronor ($52 to $58 million)[11]. The youth organisations of the parties receive a further close to $2 million[12]. 84 percent of the expenses of the municipal party organisations are covered by this support. At the county level, they finance 87 percent of the expenses. Thus, all in all, each year our rulers effectively steal 1,250-1,300 million kronor ($145 – $151 million), from us, their subjects.
An honest alternative could be that one million loyal party members each pay a yearly 1,250 kronor membership fee. But as it is, membership fees constitute only between 0 and 3.3 percent of the income of the various political parties[13], and the number of party members has fallen dramatically. Between 1962 and 2014/2015 the total membership of the parties shrunk by 80 percent[14], from 1.346 million to 274,000, all while the population increased from about 7.5 million to 10 million[15]. Another option for financing party activities are voluntary contributions. In 1949, between half and 90 percent of the funding of the various parties consisted of donations[16]. Today, that figure is only between 0 and 4.3 percent.
The result of the culture that proportional representation brought, combined with the Swedish national character on the one hand, and the fact that each political party today is largely financially independent of public opinion and of their members on the other, is the juvenile cooptocracy we see today. The end result of over 50 years of such a system is the appallingly low intellectual and personal qualities amongst the politicians that we are faced with today.
Only juveniles need apply
In 2014, the political youth organisations had 29,000 members (if "Young Pirate" are excluded), spread over what are today the eight parties that are represented in the Riksdag[17]. These members probably constitute about five percent of the relevant age cohorts, depending on for how many years on average people stay members. But if we assume that only one in ten reaches a position of influence, this means that they constitute only about half a percent of the relevant age cohorts, or about 2,900 people. Even this low number appears to be too large for the discussion that follows.
Regardless, the numbers are likely to shrink. Soon the youth organisation will hardly need to have any members at all, apart from a more or less designated set of political broilers. In some municipalities today, grants are paid out to the youth organisation based on how many mandates the mother parties have on the municipal council[18]. As is the case for the national elections, the parties receive the same proportion of representatives on the council as the proportion of votes obtained in the municipal elections. In theory, therefore, such a youth organisation hardly needs any members at all.
It is from this highly restricted and peculiarly chosen collection of individuals that future party leaders, ministers, junior ministers, and other leading representatives of the parties are then co-opted by the parties. You join the youth organisation of a party in your early teens, you are active for some years, maybe for a bit more than a decade. If you have behaved well, if you have toed the party line, if you have been loyal to the party in all your dealings with the outside world, and if you have not been the looser in an internal power struggle, you might one day become an influential politician on the national scene.
Others need not bother, apart from instances such as the one related above, when, due to a lack of suitable candidates in the Riksdag, a new party leader is chosen from outside of parliament, and for the same reasons, sometimes also originate from outside of the clique of former teenage politicians. Sometimes instead, the party leader is chosen from such former teenage politicians, who, for reasons to be discussed shortly, have decided not to sit in parliament.
It does happen that some well-known individuals are elected to the Riksdag as part of an effort to attract goodwill. Included on the lists of candidates are also some who are representative, but who commonly are people who few voters would select as their representatives. Only very rarely do members of either category of these outsiders gain any real power or influence.
The party leader or leadership controls virtually all of the resources of their party, including such things as committee assignments in parliament. Those who go against the party line lose their assignments. They commonly also lose the possibility of re-election to the Riksdag. If some plan not to vote as instructed by the party leadership, first pressure is brought on them in private. If this does not suffice, the whole parliamentary group may be assembled for an hours long bullying session to bring the lost sheep into line. As a result, backbench revolts within parties are commonly limited to at most a few people, every one or two years.
The title of a book on the matter may be translated as "The Button Pusher Brigade" ("Knapptryckarkompaniet[19]"), since most of what is required of the vast majority of parliamentarians is to simply push the button they have been instructed to push at each vote. For this reason, many of the most ambitious young politicians instead choose to work directly for the party leadership, without being elected to parliament.
As citizens of Sweden today, we may choose from eight pre-packaged political alternatives, consisting of people who often have never worked a day in their lives, only ever "worked" politically, on the dime of the taxpayer, possibly from the first moment they joined the youth organisation of a party in their early teens. These politicians have virtually no outside work experience, no outside life-achievements, no outside leadership experiences, and in general very little and very peculiar knowledge of the workings of the world outside of politics.
At the same time, as they have an almost complete lock on the political system, they are the only ones to possess political experience; they know how to present political façades around what is today some very anaemic content. Politics, like all professions, is a craft that requires experience, and as few others can gain it, starting a new party with some prospect of electoral success is all the more difficult.
The Swedish cooptocracy resembles the "democratic centralism" of the former Leninist Eastern bloc. In that bloc, there was only one party to vote for; in Sweden, there are eight. But these parties form a cartel[20]. They share a common interest in seeing to that the current system of financing continues and that no other parties manage to reach the Riksdag.
The system is not completely static. For many decades, there were only five parties in the Riksdag. Through incredible tenacity, support from independent Churches and the charisma of the party leader, Alf Svensson, KDS (now KD, the Christian Democrats) managed to enter the Riksdag. The Green party has the support of about 40 percent of newspaper journalists and just over half of the journalists of state radio and television[21]. The Sweden Democrats managed to enter the Riksdag when the gap between the official rhetoric regarding immigration, and the reality of it became too large for many to ignore.
Thus, by Popper's definition, Sweden is still to a degree a democracy, but the selection of political parties and of politicians is severely restricted. We can rarely vote for someone who has the prospect of becoming influential unless this person joined a party in his or her early teens. And if a Swede at age 25, 40 or 60 decides to embrace the ambition of becoming a politician, it is as a rule already far too late.
What should be done?
The question is whether anything can be done. The quality of the political class has become so abysmally low that many despair at the thought of voting for any party. Such despair will spread, in part because it is unlikely that the process outlined above has completely run its course; therefore, the quality will likely continue to fall even further. It is said that if something cannot go on forever, it won't, so maybe there is a way out. The present essay is my own modest attempt at a contribution to finding some kind of solution.
Not all aspects of the Swedish situation are unique. Both theoreticians and practitioners have struggled for a couple of centuries with the question of how to avoid that representative government becomes a form of party government where the incumbent political parties have a lock on the system[22]. But the Swedish system, that combines proportional representation with government funding of the parties, has created a situation far worse than what is commonly seen. It is a situation where not only the existing parties more or less remain the same, but where they also, to a higher degree than is commonly the case, have an almost complete control over who is accepted as a member with any real prospect of gaining power.
To address these problems, those who today hold power would need to remove much of the foundation they base it on. Very few of the politicians currently elected to the Riksdag could expect to be re-elected if they had to fight for individual seats. They commonly lack charisma, they are not decent public speakers, and they lack compelling life stories and accomplishments to attract voters. Some would survive of course, due to their talent and passion for politics. But they would have to express these traits somewhat differently, and most would probably have to wait until they become quite a bit older before they can aspire to elected office.
Although reform might be impossible, something along the following lines is roughly what ought to be done.
Abolish all public contributions to political parties. Abolishing the salaries for elected politicians is likely a dream too far.
Put no limits on private contributions. Money will allow a politician to gain exposure, but, no matter how counterintuitive it may sound, research from the US demonstrates that the amounts spent then hardly matter at all in deciding who gets elected[23].
Introduce majority voting for individual seats. Either first-passed-the-post as in Britain, or in two rounds as in France. This should be the sole way to gain a seat in parliament. Thus, there should exist no additional seats attributed through some form of proportional representation.
And, a bit outside of this, limit the number of parliamentarians to at most 149 in total, between one or two chambers. Dunbar's number[24], 150, is the largest number of people an individual can keep tabs on. And as voters, we should be able to keep tabs on our politicians. A country with only 10 million inhabitants certainly does not need 349 parliamentarians.
To make Sweden more democratic, one could also imagine adding the possibility of referendums by popular initiative, as in Switzerland and in many areas of the US. But I would argue that the most important step is to implement Popper's definition of democracy, the possibility to remove those who rule us by peaceful means. Referendums might later become an added bonus.
None of these measures will suddenly turn Swedish politicians into unselfish men and women, imbued with knowledge, wisdom and leadership skills. None of them will guarantee that the best possible decisions are taken, something that is anyhow impossible to determine. But with their warts and all, the politicians we would have would at least be far better than today's selection, and if we still do not like them, they would be far easier to swap out.
[1] In a cooptocracy, existing members of a political body select, i.e., co-opt those new members who replace departing members.
[2] For the general political history of Sweden, please see "Sverige efter 1900. En modern politisk historia" (1981 and several later editions) by Bengt Owe Birgersson, Stig Hadenius, Björn Molin and Hans Wieslander.
[3] See Bernard Manin's The Principles of Representative Government.
[4] See for example Michel Rouche' Clovis (in French).
[5] https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torgny_lagman#/media/File:Olav_den_helliges_saga_CK5.jpg
[6] In "The Open Society and its Enemies". Others may well have come up with the same idea long before Popper.
[7] David Van Reybrouk argues for a return to such a system in his book "Against Elections: The Case for Democracy".
[8] http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=3993&artikel=5973694
[9] Schoeck, Envy – A Theory of Social Behaviour. As Schoeck discusses, envy exists in all cultures, but to a highly varying degree.
[10] http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/sa-funkar-riksdagen/arbetet-i-riksdagen/sa-arbetar-partierna/#partistd
[11] http://web.archive.org/web/20090204173037/http://norran.se/nyheter/norrochvasterbotten/article240326.ece
[12] http://www.dagensopinion.se/ungdomsf%C3%B6rbunden-f%C3%A5r-16-miljoner-bidrag-fr%C3%A5n-ungdomsstyrelsen
[13] Oscar Hjertqvist, Det politiska bidragsberoendet – Finansieringen av Sveriges politiska partier, Timbro (2013), p. 4.
[14] https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riksdagspartiernas_medlemsutveckling
[15] https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sveriges_historiska_befolkning
[18] http://www.orebro.se/369.html
[19] http://www.atlantisbok.se/7683.Bok-Knapptryckarkompaniet
[20] Political cartels are also common in the rest of Europe. For a discussion, please see Klaus Detterbeck, "Cartel Parties in Western Europe?", Party Politics, vol. 11, no. 2, 2005 (173-191), https://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/undergraduate/module-outlines/ss/political-parties/PolP/DetterbeckPartyPols05.pdf
[21] http://www.jmg.gu.se/digitalAssets/1369/1369226_journalist-2011-journalistboken-kap-13.pdf
[22] See Bernard Manin's The Principles of Representative Government.
[23] Levitt and Dubner, Freakonomics (2006). A recent, rather spectacular example is the 2016 Republican primary of Iowa where Jeb Bush spent $5,200 per vote received, compared to $300 for Donald Trump, and $600 for Marco Rubio. In total, Trump received 45,400 votes, Rubio 43,100 votes, and Jeb Bush 5,200 votes, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/02/jeb-bush-has-spent-more-than-5000-per-vote-so-far/?utm_term=.48245b9aaff3
[24] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Many-Friends-Does-Person-Need/dp/0571253431/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1448518222&sr=8-2&keywords=robin+dunbar
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What Egyptians think. Knowledge, attitude, and opinions of Egyptian patients towards biobanking issues.Ahmed S. Abdelhafiz, Eman A. Sultan, Hany H. Ziady, Ebtesam Ahmed, Walaa A. Khairy, Douaa M. Sayed, Rana Zaki, Merhan A. Fouda & Rania M. Labib - 2019 - BMC Medical Ethics 20 (1):1-10.details
Biobanking is a relatively new concept in Egypt. Building a good relationship with different stakeholders is essential for the social sustainability of biobanks. To establish this relationship, it is necessary to assess the attitude of different groups towards this concept. The objective of this work is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and opinions of Egyptian patients towards biobanking issues. We designed a structured survey to be administered to patients coming to the outpatient clinics in 3 university hospitals in Egypt. The (...) survey included questions estimating the level of knowledge about the term "Biobank", together with questions about the attitudes and opinions about related issues. Two hundred and fifty-nine patients participated in the survey. Eighty-one percent of participants reported that they never heard about the term before. About 85% expressed that they would be willing to donate their samples for research and about 87% thought that sample donation did not contradict their religious beliefs. Fifty eight percent were willing to participate in a genetic research project, 27.8% supported sharing their sample with pharmaceutical companies, and 32.4% agreed to share their samples with institutions abroad. Although there is limited knowledge about biobanking among Egyptian patients, many had a positive attitude towards sample donation and didn't show religious concerns against it. However, they showed concerns regarding participation in genetic research and with sharing their samples across borders or with pharmaceutical companies. Public education about biobanking is possible, taking into consideration the specific cultural and legal framework in Egypt. (shrink)
Biobanks in the low- and middle-income countries of the Arab Middle East region: challenges, ethical issues, and governance arrangements—a qualitative study involving biobank managers.Henry Silverman, Rania Labib, Ehsan Gamel, Alya Elgamri, Maha Emad Ibrahim, Mamoun Ahram & Ahmed Samir Abdelhafiz - 2022 - BMC Medical Ethics 23 (1):1-16.details
BackgroundBiobanks have recently been established in several low- and middle-income countries in the Arab region of the Middle East. We aimed to explore the views of biobank managers regarding the challenges, ethical issues, and governance arrangements of their biobanks.MethodsIn-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of eight biobank managers from Egypt, Jordan, and Sudan. Interviews were performed either face-to-face, by phone, or via Zoom and lasted approximately 45–75 min. After verbal consent, interviews were recorded and then transcribed. (...) The authors performed a thematic analysis of the transcripts independently and then integrated the themes via a consensus process.ResultsBiobank managers discussed the main challenges in establishing their biobanks. These included the staff's lack of experience and training, limited funds, deficit awareness of biobanks, obtaining funding from different sources. Only four reported they were active in distributing biospecimens and health data to researchers. Six biobanks used a broad consent model, one used tiered consent, and another allowed participants to opt-out of being recontacted. Five managers avoided partnerships with pharmaceutical companies due to concerns with unfavorable reactions from the community. Five managers did not have clear policies for returning research results to the donors. Five expressed challenges with sample and data sharing with international collaborators; all five used material transfer agreements. The biobank managers revealed variable governance arrangements and activities with community involving awareness and educational efforts rather than active engagement. Several expressed the importance of transparency with the operations of their biobanks and gaining the trust of their stakeholders.ConclusionManagers of biobanks in LMICs in the Arab Middle East encounter financial, operational, and social challenges toward their sustainability efforts. Discussions with key stakeholders are warranted to manage ethical issues involving informed consent, privacy, data sharing, and the return of results. We recommend that biobank managers in the Arab Middle East form collaborative networks within the region and internationally, develop trusting governance relationships with their stakeholders, and pursue engagement activities with their communities to enhance trust. (shrink)
Perceptions, attitudes, and willingness of the public in low- and middle-income countries of the Arab region to participate in biobank research.Henry Silverman, Latifa Adarmouch, Nada Taha Mostafa, Manal Shahouri, Ehsan Gamel, Eman Elsebaie, Karima El-Rhazi, Zeinab Mohammed, Alya Elgamri, Maha Emad Ibrahim, Ahmed Samir Abdelhafiz, Samar Abd ElHafeez, Fatma Abdelgawad & Mamoun Ahram - 2022 - BMC Medical Ethics 23 (1):1-18.details
Population-based genomics studies have proven successful in identifying genetic variants associated with diseases. High-quality biospecimens linked with informative health data from diverse segments of the population have made such research possible. However, the success of biobank research depends on the willingness of the public to participate in this type of research. We aimed to explore the factors associated with the willingness of the public to participate in biobank research from four low- and middle-income countries in the Arab region (Egypt, Jordan, (...) Morocco, and Sudan). We used a previously validated questionnaire to assess several constructs that included the public's perceptions, attitudes, and willingness to participate in biobank research. We recruited 967 participants. More than half did not have prior awareness of biobanks. Participants' willingness to donate biospecimens and health data was less than 10%. Our results also showed that participants harbored concerns with trust, privacy, and with data-sharing involving international researchers. Predictors of willingness to participate in biobank research included no previous involvement in research and positive attitudes toward biobanks. Finally, our study showed several differences between the four countries regarding several of the investigated constructs. We conclude there should be additional efforts to raise public awareness and enhance perceptions of the public in biobanking research to enhance trust. We further recommend qualitative research to explore the underlying factors that contribute to the public's concerns with international data sharing that would enhance global health. (shrink)
Paradoxes of Existence: A Semiotic Reading of the Language of Race and Color in Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park.Ahmed S. M. Mohammed - 2014 - Semiotics:309-320.details
ahm's Aesthetic Experience and Its Presuppositions. [REVIEW]Morris Morris - 1948 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 9:765.details
Aesthetic Experience in Aesthetics
AHM'S The Artist as Creator. [REVIEW]Randall Randall - 1957 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 18:402.details
Ahmed S'fî'nin Sefînetü's-S'fî'sinde Mûsikî Bölümleri ve Ud'la İlgili Kısmın İncelenmesi.Mehmet Tıraşcı & Mustafa Özfidan - forthcoming - Cumhuriyet İlahiyat Dergisi:1249-1266.details
Shahab Ahmed's Contradictions: A Critical Engagement withWhat Is Islam?Ali Altaf Mian - 2020 - Der Islam: Journal of the History and Culture of the Middle East 97 (1):233-243.details
Philosophical Comments on Ahmed's Proposal.John Hare - 2013 - Studies in Christian Ethics 26 (2):184-185.details
Arif Ahmed's paper claims moral neutrality for game theory. This is not true, however, of much of classical game theory, for example Ken Binmore's Game Theory and the Social Contract. The field has changed comparatively recently. With respect to his own version, he claims that evolutionary explanation of cooperation is incompatible with theism, but this is because he thinks just about anything is compatible with it. It is important to see that this critique is the same as the logical (...) positivists' critique in the 1950s, for example in Antony Flew's parable of the invisible gardener. The logical positivists thought that a statement could only be meaningful if it is either a tautology or empirically verifiable or falsifiable. But a claim that God exists is not subject to empirical confirmation, because God is not that kind of being. To dismiss the claim on that basis is just to beg the question. (shrink)
Using temporal distancing to regulate emotion in adolescence: modulation by reactive aggression.S. P. Ahmed, L. H. Somerville & C. L. Sebastian - 2017 - Cognition and Emotion 32 (4):812-826.details
ABSTRACTAdopting a temporally distant perspective on stressors reduces distress in adults. Here we investigate whether the extent to which individuals project themselves into the future influences distancing efficacy. We also examined modulating effects of age across adolescence and reactive aggression: factors associated with reduced future-thinking and poor emotion regulation. Participants read scenarios and rated negative affect when adopting a distant-future perspective, near-future perspective, or when reacting naturally. Self-report data revealed significant downregulation of negative affect during the distant-future condition, with a (...) similar though non-significant skin conductance pattern. Importantly, participants who projected further ahead showed the greatest distress reductions. While temporal distancing efficacy did not vary with age, participants reporting greater reactive aggression showed reduced distancing efficacy, and projected themselves less far into the future. Fi... (shrink)
Emotion and Consciousness in Psychology in Philosophy of Cognitive Science
The Holy Qur'an: With English Translation of the Arabic Text and Commentary According to the Version of the Holy Ahlul-Bait: With Special Notes From Ayatullah Agha Haji Mirza Mahdi Pooya Yazdi on the Philosophic Aspects of Some of the Verses.Ahmed Ali & V. S. (eds.) - 1988 - Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an.details
Arabic and Islamic Philosophy in Philosophical Traditions, Miscellaneous
Islam in Philosophy of Religion
Emotional interference during conflict resolution depends on task context.S. P. Ahmed & C. L. Sebastian - 2020 - Cognition and Emotion 34 (5):920-934.details
ABSTRACTEvidence is currently mixed regarding the way in which cognitive conflict modulates the effect of emotion on task performance. The present study aimed to address methodological differences...
Ahmed S'fî Bey'in Kasîde-i Hamriyye Tercümesi.Murat Ak - 2016 - Journal of Turkish Studies 11 (Volume 11 Issue 17):1-1.details
Preparation and thermoelectric power of SnBi4Se7.S. A. Ahmed - 2006 - Philosophical Magazine 86 (9):1227-1241.details
Cognitive-Motor Dual Task Interference Effects on Declarative Memory: A Theory-Based Review.Phillip D. Tomporowski & Ahmed S. Qazi - 2020 - Frontiers in Psychology 11.details
A Review of Sara Ahmed's Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others. [REVIEW]Dai Kojima - 2008 - Phenomenology and Practice 2 (1).details
An Incremental Interesting Maximal Frequent Itemset Mining Based on FP-Growth Algorithm.Hussein A. Alsaeedi & Ahmed S. Alhegami - 2022 - Complexity 2022:1-20.details
Frequent itemset mining is the most important step of association rule mining. It plays a very important role in incremental data environments. The massive volume of data creates an imminent need to design incremental algorithms for the maximal frequent itemset mining in order to handle incremental data over time. In this study, we propose an incremental maximal frequent itemset mining algorithms that integrate subjective interestingness criterion during the process of mining. The proposed framework is designed to deal with incremental data, (...) which usually come at different times. It extends FP-Max algorithm, which is based on FP-Growth method by pushing interesting measures during maximal frequent itemset mining, and performs dynamic and early pruning to leave uninteresting frequent itemsets in order to avoid uninteresting rule generation. The framework was implemented and tested on public databases, and the results found are promising. (shrink)
The Poetics Of Bodies: Reflections On One Of Sara Ahmed's Philosophical Insights.Josh Dohmen - 2022 - Janus Head 20 (1):52-62.details
In this paper, I aim to articulate, at least in part, what makes Sara Ahmed's uses and analyses of metaphors fruitful for thinking about problems in the social world. I argue that Ahmed's these metaphorical concepts perform three functions. First, her analyses improve our understanding of the social world precisely because we already understand the world through metaphors. They draw out the metaphors we use to think about ourselves and others and, in doing so, allow us to think (...) more carefully about those metaphors. To support this claim, I will draw on the insights of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their seminal Metaphors We Live By. Second, one thing that Ahmed's analyses of metaphors often allow us to see is that the movement and arrangement of bodies in the social world can be analyzed in poetic terms. To be clear, it is not just that we linguistically express and understand bodies through metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and the like, but also that the movement, arrangement, and reactions of our bodies are themselves experienced as metaphorical and metonymical, and that they provide the foundation for understanding social reality in metaphorical terms. Finally, as a result of the first two functions, Ahmed helps us imagine ways to intervene so that we can change how we live and interact with others. Specifically, to work toward positive social change, we might both rework the metaphorical concepts we use to understand the social world and alter our practices of movement that, all too often, reify existing social boundaries and inequalities. (shrink)
A survey of community members' perceptions of medical errors in Oman.Ahmed S. Al-Mandhari, Mohammed A. Al-Shafaee, Mohammed AlAzri, Ibrahim S. Al-Zakwani, Mushtaq Khan, Ahmed M. Al-Waily & Syed Rizvi - 2008 - BMC Medical Ethics 9 (1):13.details
Errors have been the concern of providers and consumers of health care services. However, consumers' perception of medical errors in developing countries is rarely explored. The aim of this study is to assess community members' perceptions about medical errors and to analyse the factors affecting this perception in one Middle East country, Oman.
Deflationary Logic: Response to Sara Ahmed's `Imaginary Prohibitions: Some Preliminary Remarks on the Founding Gestures of the "New Materialism" '.Iris van der Tuin - 2008 - European Journal of Women's Studies 15 (4):411-416.details
The Politics of Location and Sexuality in Leila Ahmed's and Nawal El Saadawi's Life Narratives.Leila Aouadi - 2014 - International Studies. Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal 16 (1):35-50.details
This article explores Leila Ahmed's A Border Passage, and Nawal El Saadawi's Memoirs from the Women's Prison, A Daughter of Isis, and Walking Through Fire. It contrasts their works and argues that location and genderawareness play an important role in the writing of autobiographies. The focus is on showing how El Saadawi's positioning as a feminist activist in Egypt and Ahmed's location in the USA determine the texts' themes and shape the construction of the autobiographical "I.".
Aspects of Consciousness in Philosophy of Mind
Development and validation of an instrument to measure physician awareness of bioethics and medical law in Oman.Abdullah S. Al-Mujaini, Mohammed Al-Alawi, Nadiya S. Al-Kharousi, Nusaiba A. Al-Mawali, Maryam K. Al-Rawahi, Yahya M. Al-Farsi, Samir Al-Adawi, Anuradha Ganesh & Ahmed S. Al-Busaidi - 2021 - BMC Medical Ethics 22 (1):1-11.details
BackgroundA different ethos with respect to the perception of medical ethics prevails in societies in transition such as those in the Arabian Peninsula, which makes it difficult to apply international principles of bioethics in medical practice. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically test an instrument that measures physicians' awareness of bioethics and medical law and their attitudes towards the practice of medical ethics. Additionally, it examined physician correlates influencing the awareness of bioethics.MethodsFollowing a rigorous review of relevant literature by (...) a panel of experts, a 13-item instrument, the Omani physicians' bioethics and medical law awareness questionnaire was developed with the aim of assessing physicians' awareness of bioethics and medical law. The study tool's construct validity and internal consistency reliability were examined by exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha. In a cross-sectional study, the questionnaire was distributed among a random sample of 200 physicians at a tertiary hospital in Muscat, Oman. Participant characteristics that may influence awareness of bioethics and medical law were explored.ResultsThe EFA of the OBMLA questionnaire resulted in three well-loading factors: Physicians' bioethics practice subscale incentive related bioethics subscale and medical law awareness subscale. Internal consistency reliability ranged between Cronbach's α: 0.73–0.8. Of the total 200 participants, 52% reported that teaching medical ethics during medical school was inadequate. The overall mean of the bioethics awareness score and Omani medical law awareness were 27.6 and 10.1 respectively. The majority of physicians reported that they frequently encountered ethical dilemmas in their practice and 24.5% endorsed the view that unethical decisions tended to occur in their practice.ConclusionThe study provides an insight into the practice of bioethics, and the awareness of bioethics and medical law among physicians in a teaching hospital in Oman. The OBMLA questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable tool to assess a physician's awareness of bioethics and medical law. In this preliminary study, it appears that participants have suboptimal scores on the indices which measure practice and awareness of bioethics and medical law. (shrink)
Female Ruler Model And Queen Kaydafa In Ahmedı's "Iskendern'me".Melike Gökcan Türkdoğan - 2009 - Journal of Turkish Studies 4:760-773.details
The Promise of Affect: The Politics of the Event in Ahmed's The Promise of Happiness and Berlant's Cruel Optimism.Donovan Schaefer - forthcoming - Theory and Event 16 (2).details
Happiness in Normative Ethics
A Proposed Knowledge Based System for Desktop PC Troubleshooting.Ahmed Wahib Dahouk & Samy S. Abu-Naser - 2018 - International Journal of Academic Pedagogical Research (IJAPR) 2 (6):1-8.details
Abstract: Background: In spite of the fact that computers continue to improve in speed and functions operation, they remain complex to use. Problems frequently happen, and it is hard to resolve or find solutions for them. This paper outlines the significance and feasibility of building a desktop PC problems diagnosis system. The system gathers problem symptoms from users' desktops, rather than the user describes his/her problems to primary search engines. It automatically searches global databases of problem symptoms and solutions, and (...) also allows ordinary users to contribute exact problem reports in a structured manner. Objectives: The main goal of this Knowledge Based System is to get the suitable problem desktop PC symptoms and the correct way to solve the errors. Methods: In this paper the design of the proposed Knowledge Based System which was produced to help users of desktop PC in knowing many of the problems and error such as : Power supply problems, CPU errors, RAM dumping error, hard disk errors and bad sectors and suddenly restarting PC. The proposed Knowledge Based System presents an overview about desktop PC hardware errors are given, the cause of fault are outlined and the solution to the problems whenever possible is given out. CLIPS Knowledge Based System language was used for designing and implementing the proposed expert system. Results: The proposed PC desktop troubleshooting Knowledge Based System was evaluated by IT students and they were satisfied with its performance. (shrink)
Computer Science in Formal Sciences
Newcomb's Problem, Arif Ahmed (editor). Cambridge University Press, 2018, 233 pages. [REVIEW]J. Dmitri Gallow - 2020 - Economics and Philosophy 36 (1):171-176.details
Newcomb's Problem, Arif Ahmed (editor). Cambridge University Press, 2018, 233 pages.
Causal Decision Theory in Philosophy of Action
Evidential Decision Theory in Philosophy of Action
Newcomb's Problem in Philosophy of Action
Philosophy of Economics in Philosophy of Social Science
Energy Efficiency Prediction using Artificial Neural Network.Ahmed J. Khalil, Alaa M. Barhoom, Bassem S. Abu-Nasser, Musleh M. Musleh & Samy S. Abu-Naser - 2019 - International Journal of Academic Pedagogical Research (IJAPR) 3 (9):1-7.details
Buildings energy consumption is growing gradually and put away around 40% of total energy use. Predicting heating and cooling loads of a building in the initial phase of the design to find out optimal solutions amongst different designs is very important, as ell as in the operating phase after the building has been finished for efficient energy. In this study, an artificial neural network model was designed and developed for predicting heating and cooling loads of a building based on a (...) dataset for building energy performance. The main factors for input variables are: relative compactness, roof area, overall height, surface area, glazing are a, wall area, glazing area distribution of a building, orientation, and the output variables: heating and cooling loads of the building. The dataset used for training are the data published in the literature for various 768 residential buildings. The model was trained and validated, most important factors affecting heating load and cooling load are identified, and the accuracy for the validation was 99.60%. (shrink)
Information Science in Formal Sciences
Martin's Axiom, Omitting Types, and Complete Representations in Algebraic Logic.Tarek Sayed Ahmed - 2002 - Studia Logica 72 (2):285-309.details
We give a new characterization of the class of completely representable cylindric algebras of dimension 2 < n ≤ ω via special neat embeddings. We prove an independence result connecting cylindric algebra to Martin's axiom. Finally we apply our results to finite-variable first order logic showing that Henkin and Orey's omitting types theorem fails for $L_{n}$, the first order logic restricted to the first n variables when 2 < n < ω. $L_{n}$ has been recently studied as a many-dimensional modal (...) logic. (shrink)
Logic and Philosophy of Logic, Miscellaneous in Logic and Philosophy of Logic
Modal and Intensional Logic in Logic and Philosophy of Logic
Measuring the Dominant Pattern of Leadership and Its Relation to the Functional Performance of Administrative Staff in Palestinian Universities.Ahmed M. A. FarajAllah, Suliman A. El Talla, Samy S. Abu-Naser & Mazen J. Al Shobaki - 2019 - International Journal of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering 7 (5):13-34.details
The study aimed at measuring the dominant pattern of leadership and its relation to the performance of the administrative staff in the Palestinian universities. The study community consists of all the administrative staff from Al-Azhar University and the Islamic University, and through the census of the study society it was found to consist of (655) administrative staff. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers used the method of random sample in the study, and the study was (...) conducted on a sample of (221) administrative staff of the surveyed universities and the response rate was (82.35%). The study found that there is a high degree of satisfaction with the Dominant Pattern of Leadership in the Palestinian universities in Gaza Strip from the point of view of the administrative staff, which reached (71.67%). There is a high level of performance from the point of view of administrative staff, with a percentage of (82.53%). There is a direct correlation between the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff, the absence of differences between the sample according to the gender variable in their perception of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the age variable. There are differences of statistical significance according to the variable of scientific qualification in the Dominant Pattern of Leadership, while there were no differences in performance, the differences in the dominant pattern of leadership according to the scientific qualification were in favor of those who obtained the diploma degree compared to other practical qualifications, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the variable years of service, the absence of differences in the perception of employees of the dominant pattern of leadership and the functional Performance of Administrative Staff depending on the variable level of career (Director, Head of Department, and Administrative Officer). There were differences in the perception of workers to the dominant pattern of leadership depending on the variable of the workplace, where there were differences in favor of workers in deanships and colleges compared with the workers in the technical departments. While there were no differences in job performance according to the workplace variable, the existence of differences in the perception of workers to the dominant pattern of leadership depending on the university in which they work in favor of the Islamic University and the absence of differences in performance between the Islamic University and Al-Azhar University. The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that the interest of the managements of the Palestinian universities in improving the dominant pattern of leadership, to give universities the opportunity to participate in decision-making, the continued administration of universities interest and continuous improvement of the performance of its employees, enhance the periodic evaluation of job performance and to inform employees and express their opinion, solving workers' problems and giving them the opportunity to contribute to solving their own problems, the use of the staff rotation method periodically and strengthening the democratic the dominant pattern of leadership and empowering university staff. -/- . (shrink)
Human Computer Interaction Design of the LP-ITS: Linear Programming Intelligent Tutoring Systems.S. Abu Naser, A. Ahmed, N. Al-Masri & Y. Abu Sultan - 2011 - .details
The Nature of Work and Its Relation to the Type of Communication among Employees in Palestinian Universities - A Comparative Study between Al-Azhar and Al-Aqsa Universities.Ahmed M. A. FarajAllah, Suliman A. El Talla, Samy S. Abu-Naser & Mazen J. Al Shobaki - 2018 - International Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research (IJAMR) 2 (6):10-29.details
The study aimed to know the relationship between the nature of the work and the type of communication among the Employees in the Palestinian universities. A comparative study between Al-Azhar University and Al-Aqsa University. The researchers used the analytical descriptive method through a questionnaire that is randomly distributed among the employees of Al-Azhar and Al-Aqsa universities in Gaza Strip. The study was conducted on a sample of (176) administrative employees from the surveyed universities. The response rate was (85.79%). The study (...) reached a number of results, the most important of which is that there is a high degree of satisfaction with the nature of work prevailing in the Palestinian universities in Gaza Strip from the point of view of the administrative staff, where the percentage was (68.15%). There is an Mean level of communication from the point of view of administrative staff, with a percentage of (67.50%). There is a direct correlation between the nature of the work and the prevailing pattern of communication. There is an absence of differences between the sample according to the gender variable in their perception of the nature of work and the prevailing pattern of communication. There is an absence of differences in the perception of Employees nature of work and the pattern of communication prevailing depending on the variables (age, years of service, job level, and university). There are statistically significant differences between Al-Azhar University and Al-Aqsa University in favor of Al-Azhar University. The study reached a number of recommendations, the most important of which is that the interest of the management of the Palestinian universities in Gaza Strip in general, and Al-Aqsa and Al-Azhar Universities in particular should be provided with a good nature of work and communication. There is a need for continuing the management of universities to pay attention and continuous improvement of the performance of employees. There is an importance of solving the problems of Employees and giving them the opportunity to contribute to solving their own problems. Staff rotation should be used periodically and the need to strengthen the democratic leadership style and empower university Employees. (shrink)
Business in Professional Areas
Analysis of the Epidemic Biological Model of Tuberculosis (TB) via Numerical Schemes.S. Kanwal, M. K. Siddiqui, E. Bonyah, K. Sarwar, T. S. Shaikh & N. Ahmed - 2022 - Complexity 2022:1-13.details
Tuberculosis is caused by bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, a mathematical model of tuberculosis is analyzed. The numerical behaviour of the considered model is analyzed including basic reproduction number and stability. We applied three numerical techniques to this model, i.e., nonstandard finite difference scheme, Runge–Kutta method of order 4, and forward Euler scheme. NSFD scheme preserves all the essential properties of the model. Acquired results corroborate that NSFD scheme converges for each step size. While the other two schemes failed (...) to preserve some properties of the model such as positivity and convergence. A graphical comparison presented in this study confirms the numerical stability of the NSFD technique shown here is maintained over a large area. (shrink)
Freud's Other Theory of Psychoanalysis: The Replacement for the Indelible Theory of Catharsis.Ahmed Fayek - 2012 - Jason Aronson.details
Despite the persistence of the theoretical model of the cathartic theory in psychoanalysis, it is not what we practice clinically. Freud's Other Theory of Psychoanalysis deals with eliciting that other unarticulated theory from the Freudian text to replace the catharsis theory and open the theoretical impasse it created.
Arif Ahmed, ed., Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: A Critical G uide (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).François Bonhomme - 2010 - Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 31 (2).details
Ludwig Wittgenstein in 20th Century Philosophy
Ahmed, Arif, ed. 2010. Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. A Critical Guide. Cambridge Critical Guides. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ix þ248 pp.———. 2010. Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. A Reader's Guide. London: Continuum. vi þ167 pp. [REVIEW]David Macey - 2011 - Philosophical Review 120 (2).details
Avicenna's Deliverance Logic Translation and notes by Asad Q. Ahmed. [REVIEW]Paul Thom - 2014 - Journal of Islamic Studies 25 (1):55-56.details
Avicenna in Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
Maximum Likelihood Inference for Univariate Delay Differential Equation Models with Multiple Delays.Ahmed A. Mahmoud, Sarat C. Dass, Mohana S. Muthuvalu & Vijanth S. Asirvadam - 2017 - Complexity:1-14.details
New Materialism and Feminism's Anti-Biologism: A Response to Sara Ahmed.Noela Davis - 2009 - European Journal of Women's Studies 16 (1):67-80.details
In a recent article, Sara Ahmed castigates so-called new materialist theorists for their accusations of a biophobia evident in feminism. Biophobia is taken simply to be the claim that feminists do not engage with biological detail in their theorizations, which is demonstrably not the case. However, an elaboration of new materialist usage of biophobia reveals that they are proposing a particular conceptualization of what an engagement with the biological means. They theorize an entanglement and non-separability of the biological with/in (...) sociality, and what they criticize in much feminism is the conventional assumption that the biological and the social are two separate and discrete systems that then somehow interact. If the new materialist arguments are fully contextualized and then applied to the supporting examples given in the article, the new materialist critique is actually borne out. (shrink)
Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations: A Critical Guide.Arif Ahmed (ed.) - 2010 - Cambridge University Press.details
Published in 1953, Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations had a deeply unsettling effect upon our most basic philosophical ideas concerning thought, sensation, and language. Its claim that philosophical questions of meaning necessitate a close analysis of the way we use language continues to influence Anglo-American philosophy today. However, its compressed and dialogic prose is not always easy to follow. This collection of essays deepens but also challenges our understanding of the work's major themes, such as the connection between meaning and use, the (...) nature of concepts, thought and intentionality, and language games. Bringing together leading philosophers and Wittgenstein scholars, it offers a genuinely critical approach, developing new perspectives and demonstrating Wittgenstein's relevance for contemporary philosophy. This volume will appeal to readers interested in the later Wittgenstein, in addition to those interested in the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, metaphysics and epistemology. (shrink)
Published in 1953, Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations had a deeply unsettling effect upon our most basic philosophical ideas concerning thought, sensation and language. Its claim that philosophical questions of meaning necessitate a close analysis of the way we use language continues to influence Anglo-American philosophy today. However, its compressed and dialogic prose is not always easy to follow. This collection of essays deepens but also challenges our understanding of the work's major themes, such as the connection between meaning and use, the (...) nature of concepts, thought and intentionality, and language games. Bringing together leading philosophers and Wittgenstein scholars, it offers a genuinely critical approach and demonstrating Wittgenstein's relevance for contemporary philosophy. This volume will appeal to readers interested in the later Wittgenstein, in addition to those interested in the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, metaphysics and epistemology. (shrink)
Policy and Strategies for Quality Improvement: A Study on Chittagong City Corporation, Bangladesh.S. M. Abdul Quddus & Nisar Uddin Ahmed - 2019 - Intellectual Discourse 27 (S I #1):799-824.details
The overall policy and strategies of an organization i.e. employeepolicy or employee development strategies, resource management as well asmonitoring and control strategies characteristically have an effect on the qualitymanagement of the organization. These policies usually also have impact onthe stakeholders i.e. satisfaction of the wider community and employees ofthe particular organization. The aim of this paper is to examine the policyand strategies of the Chittagong City Corporation for quality improvementand how these policy and strategies impact on the needs of its (...) stakeholders.This paper is guided by the EFQM model as the theoretical underpinning thatprovides specific enabler criteria of quality management of organizations suchas employee policy, development of partnerships and resource management,and the monitoring of strategies. These enabler criteria help to explain the waysin which total quality management is implemented in any organization.Data for this study was collected from a total of 142 participants, includingselective officials of the Chittagong City Corporation, city dwellers,government officials and civil society representatives by using a structuredquestionnaire. The findings of this study reveal that the CCC has failed toconvey clearly its quality mission and objectives to its employees at all levels. (shrink)
Martin's axiom, omitting types, and complete representations in algebraic logic.Tarek Sayed Ahmed - 2002 - Studia Logica 72 (2):285 - 309.details
We give a new characterization of the class of completely representable cylindric algebras of dimension 2 #lt; n w via special neat embeddings. We prove an independence result connecting cylindric algebra to Martin''s axiom. Finally we apply our results to finite-variable first order logic showing that Henkin and Orey''s omitting types theorem fails for L n, the first order logic restricted to the first n variables when 2 #lt; n#lt;w. L n has been recently (and quite extensively) studied as a (...) many-dimensional modal logic. (shrink)
Mathematical Logic in Philosophy of Mathematics
Type-Theoretic Semantics in Philosophy of Language
Іслам, креаціонізм та еволюціонізм: теоретичне осмислення. Ahmed Malik, S. (2021). Islam and Evolution: Al-Ghazālī and the Modern Evolutionary Paradigm. London: Routledge. [REVIEW]Михайло Якубович - 2022 - Sententiae 41 (2):177-180.details
Review of Ahmed Malik, S.. Islam and Evolution: Al-Ghazālī and the Modern Evolutionary Paradigm. London: Routledge.
Evolutionary Biology in Philosophy of Biology
South Africa's Young Democracy, Ten Years On: Guest Editor's Introduction.Ahmed C. Bawa - 2005 - Social Research: An International Quarterly 72 (3):vii - xviii.details
Ethics in Value Theory, Miscellaneous
Islamic Thought in Development of Water Resources and Energy.S. Waqar Ahmed Husaini - 1996 - Institute for Islamic Sciences, Technology, and Development.details
What's the use?: on the uses of use.Sara Ahmed - 2019 - Durham: Duke University Press.details
In What's the Use? Sara Ahmed continues the work she began in The Promise of Happiness and Willful Subjects by taking up a single word--in this case, use--and following it around. She shows how use became associated with life and strength in nineteenth century biological and social thought and considers how utilitarianism offered a set of educational techniques for shaping individuals by directing them toward useful ends. Ahmed also explores how spaces become restricted to some uses and users (...) with specific reference to universities. She notes, however, the potential for queer use: how things can be used in ways that were not intended or by those for whom they were not intended. Ahmed posits queer use as way of reanimating the project of diversity work as the ordinary and painstaking work of opening up institutions to those who have historically been excluded from them. (shrink)
Utilitarianism in Normative Ethics
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Mental Disorders Among Elderly People in Baghdad, Iraq, 2017.Ahmed Abdulameer Ibrahim, Faris Ai-Lami, Riyadh Al-Rudainy & Yousef S. Khader - 2019 - Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing 56:004695801984596.details
Artificial Neural Network for Predicting Car Performance Using JNN.Awni Ahmed Al-Mobayed, Youssef Mahmoud Al-Madhoun, Mohammed Nasser Al-Shuwaikh & Samy S. Abu-Naser - 2020 - International Journal of Engineering and Information Systems (IJEAIS) 4 (9):139-145.details
In this paper an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was used to help cars dealers recognize the many characteristics of cars, including manufacturers, their location and classification of cars according to several categories including: Buying, Maint, Doors, Persons, Lug_boot, Safety, and Overall. ANN was used in forecasting car acceptability. The results showed that ANN model was able to predict the car acceptability with 99.12 %. The factor of Safety has the most influence on car acceptability evaluation. Comparative study method is (...) suitable for the evaluation of car acceptability forecasting, can also be extended to all other areas. (shrink)
Newcomb's Problem.Arif Ahmed (ed.) - 2018 - Cambridge University Press.details
Newcomb's Problem is a controversial paradox of decision theory. It is easily explained and easily understood, and there is a strong chance that most of us have actually faced it in some form or other. And yet it has proven as thorny and intractable a puzzle as much older and better-known philosophical problems of consciousness, scepticism and fatalism. It brings into very sharp and focused disagreement several long-standing philosophical theories on practical rationality, on the nature of free will, and on (...) the direction and analysis of causation. This volume introduces readers to the nature of Newcomb's Problem, and ten chapters by leading scholars present the most recent debates around the Problem and analyse its ramifications for decision theory, metaphysics, philosophical psychology and political science. Their chapters highlight the status of Newcomb's Problem as a live and continuing issue in modern philosophy. (shrink)
Decision-Theoretic Frameworks, Misc in Philosophy of Action
Prisoner's Dilemma in Philosophy of Action
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Energiekontor (www.energiekontor.de) is a renewable energy company based in the German city of Bremen. In addition to its headquarters in Bremen, Energiekontor has offices in Bremerhaven, Hagen im Bremischen, Aachen, Bernau near Berlin, Potsdam and Augsburg. The company also has branches in England (Leeds), Scotland (Edinburgh, Glasgow), Portugal (Lisbon), USA (Austin / Texas and Rapid City / South Dakota) and France (Toulouse, Rouen).
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The company is one of the pioneers in the industry and is today one of the leading project developers in Germany and Great Britain. The core business ranges from planning and construction to the operational management of wind farms in Germany and abroad and was expanded in 2010 to include solar energy. In addition, Energiekontor operates wind and solar parks with a rated output of 280 megawatts (MW) in its own portfolio.
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The Maccabi Haifa basketball team was one of the original eight teams to form the Israeli top division in the 1953-54 season. The club reached 4 Israeli cup finals, in 2008/09 and in 2013/14 the team finished as runner-up. in 2012/13 the club won his first historical championship.
Maccabi visited Rambam Hospital in honor of Chanukah.
Maccabi loses 82-73 to Kiryat Motzkin.


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Home Cricket World Cup ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: team previews – West Indies
ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: team previews – West Indies
Colin Henrys
Jason Holder of The Windies in action during The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier between The Windies and Scotland at The Harare Sports Club on March 21, 2018 in Harare, Zimbabwe (©ICC).
West Indies turn to master blasters in bid to upset form book at Cricket World Cup
From winning the first two editions of the Cricket World Cup, West Indies' stock has fallen so far since that they had to qualify for this tournament.
Even then, they almost did not make it – a defeat to Afghanistan and a near miss against Scotland almost costing them in the qualifier in Harare.
But Jason Holder's side lived to fight another day and arrive in England with a squad packed with big-hitting talent and explosive fast bowlers.
They also held England to a 2-2 draw in their ODI series in the Caribbean earlier this year – the first team to avoid ODI series defeat to the English since India in 2017.
Andre Russell has earned a place in the squad after his blistering form at the IPL, while Chris Gayle remains at the top of the order in what will be his final World Cup.
Shai Hope is in fine batting form too, meanwhile, and there are plenty of reasons for West Indies – playing without pressure – to be optimistic.
But, on the flip side, they have not won an ODI series since beating Bangladesh in 2014 – a team they suffered three defeats against in the Ireland Tri-Nation Series most recently.
They still appear uncertain of their best XI and, for all their talent, players like Evin Lewis have simply not hit top form consistently enough.
Individually, the likes of Gayle, Russell, Holder, Hope and Kemar Roach are among the best in the business – but can they make an impact at the World Cup to end their recent nadir?
Key player: Andre Russell
Named IPL 2019 Player of the Tournament, Andre Russell arrives at the World Cup in the form of his life.
Russell smashed 52 sixes on his way to 510 runs in 13 innings in India – finishing with a strike rate just shy of 205.
He was also Kolkata Knight Riders' top wicket-taker with 11, continuing the all-round form he had previously showcased in the Caribbean Premier League and Bangladesh Premier League.
In the former, Dre Russ smashed a 40-ball century and took a hat-trick in the same game, while in the latter he scored 299 runs and took 14 wickets in the tournament.
He may have only played one ODI since 2015 – due to injury, suspension and selection – but Russell simply had to be picked for this World Cup. He will be one of the stars of the show if he continues his current form.
Others to watch
Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle will retire from ODI cricket after this World Cup as one of West Indies' greatest players of the modern era.
The 39-year-old has hit 25 ODI centuries and passed 50 on a further 51 occasions. His 283 innings have brought 10,151 runs – including a double-century at the last World Cup.
An icon of the modern game, the growth of T20 cricket has ensured the Universe Boss has been at the forefront of limited-overs cricket and he is not going quietly into his twilight years.
He was the sixth-highest scorer at the IPL, with 490 from 13 innings, while he signed off from his domestic one-day career with a century for Jamaica.
While his tendency to start slowly before brutally accelerating into life has sometimes proved costly, if he is still at the crease ten overs into an innings then the opposition are going to be in big trouble…
Shai Hope
Back-to-back centuries at the start of the Ireland Tri-Nation Series put Shai Hope in exalted company in ODI cricket as it lifted his average in the format above 50.
After carrying such form into the final, finishing the series with scores of 87 and 74 against Bangladesh, Hope's batting was one of West Indies' high points of the series.
Hope finished the series with 470 runs in five innings, with an average of 94 and a strike rate just shy of 100.
With Gayle, Russell and co back for the World Cup too, after their post-IPL break, Hope can be the anchor to their firepower.
In troubled times for West Indies cricket, 25-year-old Hope could be the hero the Caribbean needs to lift this next generation.
Kemar Roach
Kemar Roach is not your typical West Indian fast bowler. The Bajan does not tower over his team-mates, hammering the ball into the surface from a great height.
Instead, 5'8" Roach boasts a skiddy pace which, in test cricket at least, has proved very fruitful. In this year's series with England, Roach claimed 18 wickets in three games.
Injury ruled him out of the subsequent ODI series against the English tourists, and his return to fitness for the Ireland Tri-Nation Series was less spectacular.
But he heads to the World Cup with 117 ODI wickets, from 84 innings. If he can get some consistency back, he remains a threat in every format.
West Indies squad for ICC Cricket World Cup 2019
Name Age Role
Jason Holder (c) 27 All-rounder (RMF)
Chris Gayle 39 All-rounder (OS)
Carlos Brathwaite 30 All-rounder (RMF)
Darren Bravo 30 Batsman
Sheldon Cottrell 29 Bowler (LFM)
Fabian Allen 24 Bowler (SLA)
Shannon Gabriel 31 Bowler (RF)
Shimron Hetmyer 22 Batsman
Shai Hope 25 Wicket-keeper-batsman
Evin Lewis 27 Batsman
Ashley Nurse 30 Bowler (OS)
Nicholas Pooran 23 Wicket-keeper-batsman
Kemar Roach 30 Bowler (RFM)
Andre Russell 31 All-rounder (RFM)
Oshane Thomas 22 Bowler (RF)
Key fixture
July 4 – West Indies vs Afghanistan (Headingley, Leeds)
While there may end up being nothing riding on this game in terms of the World Cup, West Indies' final fixture is still an important one for Jason Holder's team.
Already faced with the ignominy of having to qualify for a tournament they were once heavyweights in, West Indies lost twice to Afghanistan in the qualifier in Harare.
Cricket's fallen giants take on the sport's rising stars again at the end of the group stage – and West Indies have plenty to prove at Headingley. Indeed, Holder has already stoked the fire ahead of their re-match.
West Indies Cricket World Cup 2019 fixtures
May 31 Pakistan Trent Bridge, Nottingham
June 6 Australia Trent Bridge, Nottingham
June 10 South Africa Rose Bowl, Southampton
June 14 England Rose Bowl, Southampton
June 17 Bangladesh County Ground, Taunton
June 22 (D/N) New Zealand Old Trafford, Manchester
June 27 India Old Trafford, Manchester
July 1 Sri Lanka Riverside, Chester-le-Street
July 4 Afghanistan Headingley, Leeds
Happy to avoid
Ultimately, the record books record that West Indies beat Scotland in Harare to confirm their place at the 2019 Cricket World Cup. But that does not tell even half the story.
Scotland bowled West Indies out for 198 and were 125/5 – needing 74 runs from 88 balls – when the rain curtailed their innings.
They were behind the DLS par score, however – not helped by an incorrect LBW decision against Richie Berrington a few overs earlier. West Indies sneaked through, but they will be glad not to be facing Scotland at this World Cup.
West Indies have not won an ODI series since 2014, when they beat Bangladesh. Multiple defeats against every cricketing nation have followed.
They looked to have turned a corner when they halted England's winning streak in February – bowling the tourists out for 113 in the final ODI to claim a 2-2 series draw.
But that was only a brief respite as they failed to overcome Bangladesh at the Ireland Tri-Nation Series.
Shai Hope was in outstanding batting form and Shannon Gabriel claimed eight wickets, but three defeats to the Tigers meant West Indies had to settle for second place.
West Indies are in poor form in ODI cricket but they do at least have a few aces up their sleeves – Chris Gayle and Andre Russell returning for the World Cup.
Even with those two, however, they have a big task ahead of them if they are to make any mark on this tournament.
The form book and the world rankings instead point to the fact West Indies will be battling at the wrong end of the table.
Jason Holder
Scotland Cricket
Shannon Gabriel
Previous articleICC Cricket World Cup 2019: team previews – England
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Freelance sports journalist with a wide interest in a number of sports. My batting average does not reflect my passion for cricket.
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Our Right To Bear Arms
America's Founding Fathers believed that the right to bear arms was important enough to be an Amendment in the Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights which reads: A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. Our long-standing 2nd Amendment right to bear arms in the 21st century has become a battleground which is fierce, emotional and controversial.
First, I would like to say, our heart-felt prayers are with the many families of those who have lost loved ones, due to the horrendous crimes committed by unstable individuals who have used their guns to murder the innocent. All of us have seen and heard about the terrible atrocities committed in our schools' campuses, restaurants, malls, camping sites, movie theaters, churches, hospitals and even care facilities. Just recently, Jarrod W. Ramos, disgruntled over a published story that he believed defamed him, shot and killed five people at Maryland's Capital Gazette Newsroom. Over the years, we have grieved the lives lost. Each time the news channels show the faces of innocent victims, we are left horrified, thinking to ourselves, How can someone be so cruel and calculating in their actions to kill?
Second, although I am now an American citizen, I came from England, where citizens are not allowed to carry guns, and neither is the local Bobby––policeman. Looking at the controversy over gun control, as a former outsider from British and as a Christian, I would like to share my thoughts, in which I understand that some people may or may not entirely agree.
As Christians, we know that the Bible tells us the heart of man is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). God, who knows the heart of man is sinful, commanded: Do not murder (Exodus 20:13). Without the Lord and His Spirit dwelling in us, we are left in our own fallen state, and, as such, are capable of the most heinous of crimes––including murder. Instead of stricter gun control, man needs to be controlled by God and His Spirit.
Considering this, if we think taking away guns is the answer, we are gravely mistaken. Why? In England it is against the law for its citizens to carry guns. Instead of murdering people with guns, they use knives. The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has declared intense, new knife control polices in England to stop the epidemic of stabbings. Since the beginning of 2018, London's murder rate every month has surpassed the rates in New York City! The UK has one of the highest rates of acid attacks, which are used to maim or kill mainly women. It has been recorded that from 2011-2016 there were 1,464 crimes involving acid or other corrosive substances in London alone. The city has become known as the "Acid City of Britain."
I am making the point that if someone is bent on murder, they will commit murder. If not a gun, they will use a knife; if not a knife, then a rock; if not a rock, then their bare hands, because murder is in the heart of the individual.
Even before God gave the command do not kill, Cain had already killed Abel (Genesis 4:8).
Franklin Graham reasoned:
"You can take all the guns in America and put them in a pile on the Mall in Washington DC, and those guns will stay there and will eventually rust and decay. Not one gun will crawl out of that pile and shoot or harm anyone. It takes a human being, and a human heart bent on evil, to pick up a gun, load it, and pull the trigger. The problem we have in this country is sin. We have a government that has taken God out of society."
Franklin's father, the late, great evangelist Billy Graham, gave a compelling biblical solution:
This is why moral, heartfelt transformation is really the only solution to the deadly and dangerous ills that are plaguing our nation. The Scripture says we need a new heart, not new legislation or regulations. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezekiel 36:26).
New hearts are made as men and women respond to the preaching of the Gospel of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. The Holy Spirit opens hearts and minds to believe in the Savior, and with repentance from sins people become new creations in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). Moral reformation can then happen because there has been spiritual transformation.
However, in society, we especially need laws to keep guns out of the hands of those who are mentally ill, or those who have a background of violent crime. It is only common sense. Anyone deemed unstable or found to be posing a threat to society should have their weapons confiscated. Background checks? Yes, of course! But law abiding citizens should not have their 2nd Amendment rights infringed upon because of those acting irrationally or willfully to cause others harm.
What about restrictions placed at a certain age? Our young men and women can go to war and fight and die for our county at the age of 18. They should be able to own a weapon on their own land, and, if necessary, fight to defend their country.
We, too, need to be able to protect our homes and families. How many times has a mass shooter at large or a home invasion suspect been stopped by law abiding citizens carrying a gun? The bad guys will always manage to get guns illegally. LA Country investigators recently raided the home of Manuel Fernandez, a convicted felon living in Los Angeles, and seized more than 500 firearms. So, I ask you, "Do we become sitting ducks?"
In the Bible, during the time of Queen Esther, the Jews were able to arm and defend themselves against their enemies:
…the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar (Esther 8:11-12).
What about America and the threat of invasion from another country? We live in very uncertain times. Perhaps those who wrote the 2nd Amendment, after seeing the colonies fiercely fighting off the British for their independence, knew how necessary it was to keep the people armed and ready. As Americans, we need to learn from our history. I believe another nation would think twice about invading a country whose citizens were armed. America would not go down without a fight.
Claire Wren


Day after tomorrow i am taking my father for the monthly check up). Its been long and toughest year for our family.Last April My father was detected with cancer IVA of Pyriformafossa from then long 8 months suffer continued(Chemo, radiation then surgery on october and after surgery complications continued for 3 months after surgery). Now i am haapy that my father is doing well and he is eating without the Feeding tube(which he has used for almost 8 months). He has gained weight. He is doing all his stuff by himself. I would like to thank all the inspiring people here who has give me courage during this tough time and i want to tell those who are still struggling that we can beat this ******* Beast.Have courage and fight dnt loose hope.Exercise as much u can and have sufficient nutrients.
It has been a very tough year for him and your whole family to say the least. But what was accomplished is amazing.It is a very hard roat to travle and fight the beast, but you all went down it and your Father fought the beast with all your help. Now the yearly check up and he is eating and gaining some weight as well. You had to go one day at a time, but now you can and will see the tomorrows that lay ahead. Be proud of all of your family, it is not easy to go through this.
May all his tomprrows be N.E.D. and much peace with less pain.
hope, i'm so happy your father is doing well and that you found help with this group. cancer is not easy to go through for anyone and i truly believe in support groups like this one. now you and your father can have some real quality time. Enjoy and here's to many, many good years to come to you both.
Congratulations for the journey so far. Get you second wind and keep moving forward.
Thank You all.We had the Checkup, Doctor was very happy to see my father in such a better condition and told Everything is fine and has scheduled a Contrast CT scan next month.Hope everything comes fine. I will always pray to god for all of the members here.