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PR Tips for Tech Companies of All Size and Reputation
by Chris Lundquist
Technology is reshaping our world faster than most of us can keep up. Advancements like artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, the internet of things and big data analytics have immensely improved our productivity and introduced countless conveniences into our lives. Meanwhile virtual and augmented reality, smart home technology and pocket-sized supercomputing mobile devices are starting to make it seem as though we really are living in a futuristic sci-fi film.
Yet despite all these positive developments, there is also a parallel current of consumer distrust toward new technology. Whether driven by product failures, data privacy breaches, unethical employee behavior, a lack of transparency when it comes to company motives and values or even just a sense that the "next big thing" is really just a short-lived fad, consumers have plenty of potential reasons to be skeptical about new tech on a macroscale.
As the bell curve below illustrates, certain customers are more willing to try a new product than others. Another way to look at this graph is the level of skepticism among the public. "I wonder if this product or service is better than what I already use?" would be a thought from people who skew more to the left. Those who say, "I can't imagine why I would want or need this in my life," skew much further to the right.
When it comes to managing public relations in the technology sector, the goal is to move your product or service from left to right on this curve as quickly as possible, capturing each group of users along the way. Whether you're an industry giant like Apple or Google or a no-name start-up, there are always challenges to making this happen. Here is a guide to helping your company break through consumer skepticism.
With little skepticism, a sincere desire to try new things and a demand for a specific product, innovators might seem like the easiest group to convince to try new technology. The difficulty with innovators is that they don't tend to have the strongest sense of brand loyalty — they'll give a product a try, but if a better option (in their mind) comes along, they're going to go with the one that works better for them. They tend to be younger, more affluent, and rely on technical sources, along with their network of innovators, for guidance.
At this stage, the best thing you can do is spread information about your product and get it in the hands of as many users as possible. To keep these users from jumping ship to a competitor, many companies will reward early users with exclusive or discounted merchandise and transparent product updates. A small token of appreciation can go a long way to stand out to the users who form the foundation of your userbase.
Early adopters are similar to innovators, but can be less open to adopting new technology if they already have a system or tool that performs the task adequately.
One of the best strategies companies can use is a "freemium" business model. Users can access the platform and its basic features at no cost, but exclusive and premium services are available for a fee. There's no better feature than "free" and companies can use that leverage to attract early adopters without costly traditional marketing campaigns. The biggest challenge, however, is deciding what should be free.
Whether it's the New York Times limiting the number of free articles you can read, video games like Fortnite limiting customization options or Spotify incorporating ads and forced shuffle to its free subscription option, freemium options are everywhere and highly effective.
Early/Late Majority
These groups get lumped together because their rate of adoption has the most variance, but in general they roughly reflect the average consumer when it comes to trying new technology. They may be skeptical of "buzz" or "hype," but they are likely to follow the consensus established by opinion leaders (i.e. early adopters) in their social circles.
Thought leaders, influencers, authority figures — we have created many buzzwords for those who sway public opinion. We have also boxed ourselves into thinking that these trendsetters are only social media stars with thousands to millions of followers. But a new trend of micro-influencers is slowly taking over.
Typically defined as those with fewer than 30,000 followers, these people tend to have higher engagement and take part in more conversations — enticing traits for companies looking to recruit new users. Additionally, these opinion leaders tend to be more active in the niche aspects of a specific field. While that makes them a bit harder to find, they'll reach people who will actually be interested in using your product, ultimately driving more conversions.
Laggards
By the time you're trying to win over the laggards, the early adopters and innovators have likely already begun to move on. At this stage, the technology has almost reached market saturation and there are just a few people who are holding out due to significant skepticism or a very fundamental lack of interest (like those who refuse to use a smartphone). They tend to be older, grounded in tradition and have smaller or more tightly-knit social circles.
Convincing this group to adopt new technology is almost always a futile endeavor. Marketing campaigns or influencers can seldom persuade them to reconsider their reservations — generally, time and ubiquitous presence alone can prod them into accepting new technologies that fit with their tradition and way of doing things.
What do your current consumers look like? What stage is your product in?
Does your brand have a trustworthy reputation? How badly do your potential customers need the function of this technology? Are they in a financial position to accept the risk of trying new technology?
There are so many variables that determine where an individual or innovation falls on this bell curve, and the curve doesn't always have a normal distribution. Most companies will find themselves in the range of innovators to early adopters, and most individuals will find themselves in the range of the early to late majority.
The most important part is to be honest with your assessment — it doesn't do start-ups any good to compete for the majority before they've had the opportunity to solidify their reputation among innovators, just as its redundant for established products to seek the validation of early adopters.
Just remember to keep a long-term view and a foot on the gas pedal.


DALLAS, TX — If you go to war based on what's later shown to be a lie, how does a museum dedicated to your legacy address it?
That's the overarching question as you set foot into the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which opened last month on Southern Methodist University's campus.
In at least eight separate instances, the library offers displays, audio, or video designed to give the impression that Saddam Hussein either possessed weapons of mass destruction, or was on the verge of getting them. It's the Beetlejuice approach: say "weapons of mass destruction" enough times and they will appear.
To refresh, one of the primary rationales the Bush administration used to go to war with Iraq was that country's supposed possession of weapons of mass destruction. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations Security Council that "the facts and Iraq's behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction." White House Press Secretary said WMDs were "what this war was about and it is about." Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz agreed, calling WMDs the "core reason" for going to war. Bush himself made the case in an October 2002 speech, stating, "If we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today — and we do — does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?" After none were found, the debate has been whether or not the Bush administration deliberately misled about WMDs in order convince the public and go to war.
But you won't see any hint of that debate walking through Bush's presidential museum. In fact, unless you were a news junkie in the mid-2000s or a foreign policy aficionado, you could be forgiven for thinking that Iraq had either possessed WMDs that were simply never found, or were about to produce them had the U.S. not gone to war.
Even in the instances where the museum concedes that WMDs didn't exist in Iraq, it still uses an asterisk approach to leave visitors with the impression they did, or were about to. One interactive panel tells users that, although there were "no WMD found," the chief U.S. weapons inspector found that Hussein "had a large number of WMD program-related activities" and "never gave up its ambition to obtain WMD".
Finally, a document in the interactive detailed the WMD situation in Iraq, telling users that "Saddam wanted to recreate Iraq's WMD capability" because he saw significant "value" in possessing WMDs.
To be sure, one wouldn't necessarily expect that a museum dedicated to President Bush would be highly critical of his decision to go to war. That having been said, the museum goes out of its way to muddy the water over the existence of WMDs in Iraq and leave visitors with the impression that the war was based on a justifiable truth, not a verifiable falsehood. Indeed, in the decade since 2003, GOPers have been so successful at obfuscating the issue that a pollearlier this year found that 2-in-3 Republicans still believe that Iraq possessed WMDs prior to the war. Were any of that 63 percent of Republicans to visit the museum in Dallas, they would likely walk away still believing that Saddam had WMDs and Bush was right to take us to war.


Advance your understanding of the complex globalised economy through studies in an international classroom environment. Learn about modern business themes, such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), establish international relationships and prepare to enter a dynamic international job market.
You will take core courses in how CSR and Knowledge Management are relevant for marketing, human resources and accounting before specialising in one of these three areas of study. The capstone of your 10-month study period will be a thesis project in which you examine how a specific real-world research problem relates to one of the focus areas of the programme.
Building on your previous academic studies in the field of Business (or related field), this master programme, which is taught in English, will give you the knowledge, critical-thinking and communication skills, and intercultural understanding that employers of today seek. By the time you graduate, you will have developed the abilities needed to launch or upgrade your career as a Human Resources Specialist, Marketing Manager or Accountant.
(From October 16th) Click on the blue "Apply" button to create a user account and add the programme to your account in the online application portal.
Completed a bachelor's degree majoring in Social Sciences or a bachelor's degree in technology with Social Science focus comprising at least 180 credits (60 credits = 1 academic year full-time study), or an equivalent degree or currently completing the final year of studies leading to such a degree. The applicant's education must also include at least 30 credits in Business Administration (for example, accounting, marketing, organization theory) including a minimum of 7.5 credits in research methods applicable to social science or business, or equivalent knowledge.
Tuition fees are paid in one-semester installments and the first payment (43 500 SEK) must be paid no later than June 1. This allows for reasonable processing time for a residence permit application.
There are a number of scholarships available for successful applicants to the Business Studies Programme who are not EU/EEA citizens.
The programme is a one-year master's degree in Business Studies. All courses are taught in English.
After passing all courses, including the thesis work, you will be awarded the degree of Master of Science with a major in Business Administration and Management. The programme comprises 60 credits (1 credit = 1 ECTS) and commences in the end of August, which is the start of the autumn semester.
The Master's Thesis course will develop your research and academic writing abilities. The following master's level theses were presented and defended at the end of this one year master's programme. You can write a thesis on your own or with one other student (this is recommended). Students decide on a topic themselves in consultation with their teachers and fellow students.
To present an accurate picture of what students have to say about the Business Studies Programme, we have published their comments from the end-of-programme evaluation.
Student-centred approach (teachers who guide you), which stimulates student's critical thinking.
The skills that they developed as a result of the programme being research-oriented.
The programme also prepares you for further academic studies in a wide range of PhD programmes in Business Studies.


I two questions about designation of UT techniques.
Should I designate the "one-and-a-hal- skip" in paper if I need it???
2. Also I have doubts how to designate technique attached in file.
Is it pitch-and-catch mirror-echo techique?


Brief Description: Non-profit fundraising events.
Thank you for your recent letter. You represent the XXXX Chapter of XXXX ("the chapter"). The chapter is a non-profit entity that holds an annual fundraising event. Part of the fundraising event is an auction. The chapter buys guns, which are then sold at the auction. You how Kansas sales tax applies to these activities.
Most Kansas non-profit organizations, including the chapter, are not exempt from the requirements of the Kansas retailers' sales tax act. This means that most of these organizations, including the chapter, must pay sales tax on its purchases and charge sales tax on its taxable sales. Generally, if an organization holds a recurring annual fundraising event, the organization must register and collect sales tax on the taxable sales made at the event. Accordingly, since the chapter holds an annual fundraising banquet, it is considered to be making recurring sales and must register for and collect sales tax on the sales of admission tickets to the banquet and on any customer charges for food and sales-taxable drinks.
(j) "Isolated or occasional sale" means the nonrecurring sale of tangible personal property, or services taxable hereunder by a person not engaged at the time of such sale in the business of selling such property or services. Any religious organization which makes a nonrecurring sale of tangible personal property acquired for the purpose of resale shall be deemed to be not engaged at the time of such sale in the business of selling such property. Such term shall include: . . . (2) any sale of tangible personal property made by an auctioneer or agent on behalf of not more than two principals or households if such sale is nonrecurring and any such principal or household is not engaged at the time of such sale in the business of selling tangible personal property. (emphasis added).
Here, the chapter is engaging in what is considered to be recurring sales, because it holds an annual fundraiser. In addition, the guns are being acquired for the purpose of resale. Therefore, the underlined portion of K.S.A. 79-3602(j) means that the exception for isolated or occasional sales does not apply to the auction sales since the sale is not "nonrecurring." In addition, the chapter is engaging at the time of the sale in the business of selling tangible personal property, and the guns are being acquired with the intent of reselling them.
What this means on a practical basis is that the chapter may claim a resale exemption when it buys the guns that will be auctioned off at the fundraiser. Sales tax must be collected when the guns are sold at the fundraising auction. The chapter may also claim resale exemption when it buys food that is prepared for banquet meals if sales tax is being charged and collected on sales of the banquet tickets.
I hope that I have answered all of your questions. If you have any more, please call me at 785-296-3081. This private letter ruling is based solely on the facts provided in your request. If it is determined that undisclosed facts were material or necessary to make an accurate determination by the department, this ruling is null and void. This private letter ruling will be revoked in the future by operation of law without further department action if there is a change in the statutes, administrative regulations, or case law, or a published revenue ruling, that materially affects this private letter ruling.


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The NRA issued an alert in May to advise our Colorado members that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) had announced its intent to amend the management plan for the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests (ARNF) to address recreational shooting. The USFS received over 300 comments regarding its announcement, including the letter sent by the NRA and 29 other national sportsmen's organizations.
Based on the comments, the USFS is proposing a direction for managing recreational shooting in the ARNF and is inviting comments until August 10.
Approximately 1.1 million acres (80%) of the ARNF are proposed as suitable for shooting. Approximately 287,000 acres (20%) are not considered suitable. Two designated shooting areas have been identified; one at Allenspark in Boulder County and one at Devils Nose in Clear Creek County. Additional designated shooting areas may be identified within the ARNF in other counties.
It is critical to the future of recreational shooting in the ARNF that shooters take the time and make the effort to engage in this planning process. Shooters and hunters who shoot on the ARNF are in the best position to chart the future of recreational shooting on over 1.3 million acres of forest lands.
The first step is to review the map to see whether and to what extent the proposed closure of 287,000 acres will affect your enjoyment of recreational shooting. Does the 80% of the ARNF that would remain open to shooting provide good public access? What other areas besides Allenspark and Devils Nose should be set aside and designated specifically for shooting?


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Motorcycle run honors local father killed in random act of violence
by: Jacqui Gomersall
Posted: Aug 1, 2021 / 10:50 PM EDT / Updated: Aug 1, 2021 / 10:50 PM EDT
SMITHFIELD, R.I. (WPRI) — Hundreds came out on Sunday for a fundraising event honoring a local father of four whose life was taken too soon.
The "Ride for Rambo" motorcycle run kicked off from the Thirsty Beaver on Cedar Swamp Road.
Funds raised go towards the Brian Cervini Aid for the Trade Scholarship Fund.
Cervini was stabbed to death by a stranger at a Cumberland Farms in North Providence in May.
12 News spoke with his children last month, who said he loved to ride and that's why they chose a bike run to honor his memory.
"That smile he had when he was on that bike when he would pull up. He'd pull up to the house in like December scarf wrapped around the neck, the winter gloves on," Anthony Cervini said.
Scholarship money will go to students hoping to attend New England Institute of Technology to study the automotive trade.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


For most of us, it's work harder, smarter, faster. We're expected to acquire more skills and hone those we've always had. We've got to learn more, keep up or get left behind. Broadening the talents of today's workers--from C-level executives to sales staff to cubicle-dwelling knowledge workers--is absolutely mission-critical. As the digital age comes in like a lion, it's getting harder and harder to push paper and pass the buck.
E-learning and training was spawned in the IT revolution--and it's roots probably started forming with simple "help" functions in the earliest versions of the software we now take for granted. Although IT still accounts for more than half of the e-learning space, the space grows every day, says Pam Stanford of IBM MindSpan. "Lots of people are coming at the market from their own perspective--traditional content providers and trainers. And then there are the firms that create, publish and package the content. They're trying to come up with new business designs to transform the way that they get value for their content." Further, she estimates, "88% percent of institutions of higher education have some sort of e-learning initiative."
So, as traditional training declines, "distributed learning" (satellite, video, Web, etc.) is growing about 34% annual, according to IBM studies; and the Web component of that figure is growing at 90% a year. And though the technology is becoming more sophisticated and pervasive, the market is highly fragmented. IBM Learning Services has the lion's share with 2%, says Stanford. Customers find the market is, if fact, confusing. They tend to want an integrated solution rather hassle with different software platforms. There is tremendous pressure to develop an e-learning initiative up and running quickly.
There are two fundamental classes of e-learning buyers, she says. One group, which represents about 80% of the market, is focused on improving training or getting increased efficiency and may simply want to save money on travel. The other concentrates on transforming business processes. They see e-learning as a true competitive advantage.
Typically, the latter group has two things in common. First, they have very short product lifecycles--the product or service they offer turns over and get more and more complex with each introduction. A good example would be the wireless industry, in which a company will introduce a new every three months. Compounding matters is employee turnover and multiple locations. Companies can't bring all those people in, train them, send them back and repeat the process 12 weeks later.
The pharmaceutical industry is another one in which e-learning proves to be of real value when it comes to introducing new products. Companies invest heavily in research and getting approval, and there is a fixed period of time before the drug goes generic. The sooner they get more people aware of the drug's benefit, the sooner they can fill their pipelines.
One arena that is sure to grow will be customer-focused e-learning. Already, software providers are seeing profits coming in from its corporate customers. According to Clark Aldrich, a senior research analyst with the Gartner Group, SAP see 11% of its revenue from training and it recently introduced an online training course that enables it to deliver real-time training without the travel.
But employees won't be the only "students" to derive the benefits of the new teaching paradigm. Consumers of high-tech devices are just beginning to get their feel wet--and savvy manufacturers should jump at the opportunity to service them. The Gartner Group estimates that by 2003 one in 10 buyers of high-technology products will have learned how to use them before purchasing them, so the customer-focused e-learning space will be huge. Aldrich figures it will garner 40% of the market within three years.
*** Online education destination Bigchalk.com has signed a $750,000 agreement with Excalibur Technologies, integrating RetrievalWare WebExpress into Bigchalk.com's line of e-library products. WebExpress provides an advanced search and retrieval component to eLibrary, enabling researchers to find information on a topic by searching through a database drawn from hundreds of magazines, journals, newspapers and reference works, plus thousands of TV and radio transcripts, photographs and maps.
An education site for the K-12 learning community, Bigchalk.com enables students to conduct research, access curriculum and collaborate with peers. The site gives teachers access to research and instructional tools for curriculum integration and a large collection of staff development information available on the Internet. It provides parents with communication tools to feel connected to their children's schools, and information on how they can best participate in their children's education. Currently, Bigchalk.com's core learning products are used in more than 40,000 schools across the country.
*** In what it calls a $3 billion e-learning market, Cenquest provides accredited, web-based business courses and graduate degrees, working with corporations to provide employees with educational opportunities that are easier and cheaper than traditional brick-and-mortar classes. Cenquest takes traditional courses from accredited institutions and breaks them down into short (typically two-week), one-credit or more classes, which are offered on a rolling schedule throughout the calendar year. Classes are targeted to meet specific learning objectives and designed to be taken individually or applied to a certificate or degree program.
Rather than simply slapping content up on the web, Cenquest's classes and content are redesigned specifically for a student to learn online.
*** JCPenney adopted a distance learning program in 1996 but needed additional support for training, because its satellite classes still used text-based material. The company decided to use Centrinity's FirstClass Intranet Server (FCIS) to build the online learning community it wanted. FirstClass provides network communities for centralized digital data sharing via wireless and wireline telephony, e-mail, fax and Internet.
FCIS was adopted as the core complement to other distance learning elements that JCPenney had in place, providing the retailer with enhanced educational programs, as well as a knowledge management system.
*** Corpedia, a web-based, corporate e-learning company, has released Dr. Peter F. Drucker's second e-learning course suite, "Business Strategies Essentials." In May, Corpedia announced that Drucker had joined its faculty under an exclusive agreement to develop a series of e-learning management suites. Drucker is a widely known business thinker whose 31 books have been translated into more than 20 languages.
The second in the Drucker's Executive Management Series, the suite focuses on the strategic challenges facing the modern executive. Each course features a different aspect of how organizations must change their strategies to prosper in today's business climate. The courses included in this suite are: The Successful Acquisition, Alliances: The Rules for Successful Partnerships, The Five Deadly Business Sins, In Permanent Cost Control: Beyond Simple Cost Cutting, and Entrepreneurial Strategies.
*** E-learning solutions provider DigitalThink and KPMG Consulting recently announced a contract with GE Capital to create the "GE e-Awareness Curriculum," which will provide a worldwide audience of GE employees with a common understanding of e-commerce and e-business models. The curriculum is being delivered via the Internet in four languages to 40,000 employees worldwide. GE Capital will use DigitalThink's hosted e-learning environment, and KPMG is working with DigitalThink's Learning Solutions team to create the curriculum content, and is providing curriculum planning, instructional design and project management services. DigitalThink and KPMG will work together to create curriculum content. The initial phase of the training was successfully deployed in 30 days. The companies expect to complete the entire curriculum deployment in 120 days.
"The curriculum is an exciting new tool our employees can use to fully understand how the Internet can improve everything from supply chain coordination to customer interactions," said Denis Nayden, president and CEO of GE Capital.
*** EdShop.com, a new online store and education complex, offers HR professionals the option of either web- or computer-based training for employees. The store has more than 4,500 training titles, from Microsoft Office 2000 to advanced programming languages such as Java. EdShop Education Complex features customizable training courses based on student or company needs, as well as the ability to web-enable in-house training procedures.
EdShop.com allows students who know the basics of a computer program to use that knowledge as the foundation from which to learn; they don't waste time and energy relearning what they already know.
Students learn at their own pace, and courses are automatically bookmarked, allowing them to stop and start as often as necessary, without the frustration of manually skipping through the program to find where they were.
*** Geo Learning Center is a new 3-D concept in online learning delivery, designed like a multistory building. Users can move around and visit the various levels, seminar halls and classrooms; check out the resource center or stroll into the student lounge to chat.
GeoLearning University offers hundreds of Internet-based courses in a variety of areas, including computer and soft skills. Courses are priced for individual subscription by credit card or can be purchased in bulk. Many are also available for intranet installation. Companies can also customized their own learning universities.
Among the offerings is Geo3System, a performance tool for leaders, combining evaluation, expertise and education, which is sold as a hybrid CD-ROM/Internet product.
*** gForce Systems has released eLearnCentral, a software suite that allows a company to create a custom e-learning portal with its own training materials, courseware and corporate materials, and also gives employees the ability to publish at the desktop. According to the developer, the software can be installed more quickly than traditional e-learning software and builds on the promise of "just enough learning, just in time."
With gForce Author, and gForce Studio, a company's "experts" can write and add content to the portal, including high-quality multimedia presentations. gForce Publisher is a content management system for tailoring knowledge to diverse learner groups. gForce Manager helps business executives assess learning material use and employee performance against corporate objectives and programs.
*** By developing hybrid programs that use web links, CD-ROM and live instructors, Electronic Learning Facilitators says it has created e-learning with a media richness conducive to learning. The company maintains that few e-learning programs capture the essence of live instructors, and that users are not completing such programs because they are confusing, boring or take forever to download.
ELF invites potentials users to test its e-learning design and techniques at its web site.
*** Arizona State University has licensed e-learning solutions from KnowledgeNet to provide training to its faculty, students and staff.
"We've been conducting training for several years in the traditional instructor-led format," says the ASU Vice Provost for IT, Dr. William Lewis, "but realized that technology-delivered training solved several problems: Our students couldn't always find the three-hour blocks of time demanded by classroom training and wanted to pursue classes in a time- and place-independent format; classroom space is at a premium; and we couldn't cost-justify the time commitment to send people offsite to a training provider."
According to Lewis, one reason that ASU chose KnowledgeNet was because its technology is designed from the ground up for web-based delivery.
Some of the company's offerings include KnowledgeNet Live, which features a team of instructors and mentors who deliver real-world scenarios and hands-on applications; Express, a web-based training system that combines personalized, expert-led instruction with the anywhere, anytime access capabilities of the Internet; Interactive, a self-paced learning program that allows the user to obtain technical skills through the convenience of the Internet; Custom, which updates existing training methods to web-based training, or designs a customized e-learning program from scratch; and Campus, an online community of students, instructors and subject matter experts.
*** Mentergy represents the merger of three e-learning companies: Gilat Communications, Allen Communication and LearnLinc, offering clients a large range of e-learning tools and expert services. Those include live e-learning, video-rich broadband delivery, custom courseware development, step-by-step consulting and an integrated suite of e-learning development and delivery tools.
Designer's Edge is an instructional tool for trainers with a visual, task-driven interface to help determine learning needs, analyze the target audience, establish clear goals, outline content and select learning strategies.
Through NetSynergy, developers can distribute cross-platform learning through a web browser across the Internet or intranet.
Quest is a 32-bit authoring system that provides a visual authoring environment for novice and expert learning developers.
Manager's Edge helps trainers organize and deliver e-learning activities and collect critical performance data.
I-Discover capitalizes on the power of e-learning to deliver information at the precise point of need.
*** The New York Institute of Finance has launched NYIF Online, web-delivered financial knowledge for professionals. The courses have been developed by the NYIF in conjunction with experienced instructors, many of whom are also out in the financial market daily.
In the totally interactive lessons, flashcards flip, animations illustrate complex points and real-life instructors provide support and feedback. Information is "chunked" into small, usable pieces, and quizzes and final exams test comprehension.
The courses are developed from the latest findings about how financial professionals learn, and are designed to help the self-directed learner tackle and grasp solid financial concepts and information.
"We are seeing more people from more industries and countries who need to be financially savvy to do their job and get ahead," says Robert W. Gulick, NYIF president. "It used to be that our financial training was almost exclusively for Wall Street. "The web is where these students are and where the New York Institute of Finance is going."
NYIF Online also has developed programs that can be delivered through intranet connections or externally hosted sites to complement corporate internal training programs.
Four courses are now available on NYIF Online: Fundamentals of the Securities Industry, Brokerage Operations, Equities and Fixed-Income. Other courses will include Derivatives, E-Commerce, Financial Statement Analysis, Wealth Management, Hedge Funds, Short-Term Trading and T+1.
*** Peer3 provides software and services for building enterprise knowledge and learning systems. Its eLearning Solution supports open standards for data exchange and interoperability of educational content, providing flexibility for business application integration and e-commerce transaction capabilities.
Key components of the eLearning Solution are: reusable learning object library, adaptive web-based course delivery, component-based authoring, scheduling and reporting tools, progress tracking and skills inventories and flexible implementation options.
Booz Allen & Hamilton recently evaluated e-learning software products that could support the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) initiative sponsored by the Department of Defense. According to Dianne Jordan, senior associate at BA&H, "Peer3 has a commercially available authoring system that could quickly meet version 1.0 of the Shareable Courseware Object Reference Model (SCORM) specification."
The goal of SCORM is to standardize XML-based learning objects and metadata so that e-learning content can be indexed, searched, retrieved, assembled and reused in other contexts.
*** Saba provides an e-learning infrastructure that consists of Internet-based learning management systems, business-to-business learning exchanges and related services.
Saba says its Learning Enterprise automates the learning provider business process with simple administration and easy implementation of sophisticated features like business rules and security, and provides a complete solution for managing extended enterprise learning. Its applications automate all aspects of the learning provider business processes so organizations can concentrate on developing content rather than on administration.
Saba Learning Enterprise includes learning management, competency and certification management, simple web-based access, financial and HRIS system integration, and access to Saba Learning Exchange, a global business-to-business marketplace..
*** SmartForce e-Learning provides a learning environment that integrates everything from career planning to Internet-delivered courseware, instructor-led workshops and mentoring. It leverages the web and immerses e-learners in a continuously updated learning environment with access to a variety of events and resources, including online seminars, mentoring, news, white papers and peer-to-peer collaboration. It also proves users with access to the company's library of IT titles, business and interpersonal skills offerings, and learning interventions from other vendors. User experience is personalized to interests, career objectives and job profiles.
Recently, SmartForce signed a multiyear agreement with Humana, a large managed healthcare organization, to provide e-Learning. The solution will include IT and related skills training for as many as 5,000 Humana employees.
Through MySmartForce.com, workers can access a multitude of e-Learning events including SmartCourses; 24/7 live, online SmartMentoring from certified professionals; skills assessment; business simulations; online discussion groups and other resources.


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Congress Program
Resolution and Video of the Teleconference "COVID-19: Clinical Discussion of Disease Syndromes"
Almost 15 000 health care specialists have registered to participate in Online Teleconference "COVID-19: Clinical Discussion of Disease Syndromes". The practical format of the Teleconference was assured by involvement of key specialists who have been treating the patients with COVID-19 from the very first days.
Teleconference agenda consisted of several topical units of reports: "Leading experts' view of the COVID-19 problem", "The strategy for treatment of patients with neurological and pulmonary complications of COVID-19", "Practical experience of a comorbide patient management", "Microcirculation disorders".
Interdisciplinary format of the Teleconference was assured by speakers from different special fields: anesthesiologists, neurologists, cardiologists, endocrinologists, infectious disease specialists, family doctors, pulmonary specialists, and allergologists.
Fifteen main reports were offered to the participants for review and discussion and they were dealing with the following issues:
Comprehensive treatment of patients with severe forms of COVID-19
Methods for correction of neurological disorders of patients with COVID-19
COVID-19 and diabetes mellitus – an ideal storm in a context of ICU
Practical experience of treatment of patients with pneumonia
Inhaled steroids for treatment of СOVID-19. Why the response is like that and what should we know?
Clinical cases and practical recommendations
Interdisciplinary discussion of recent problems
Conclusions and decisions based on discussion of reports:
1.	Rhythm disturbance in case of COVID-19 became one of challenges for specialists in all fields. The etiology of such disturbances is comprehensive and requires individual approach to their treatment. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) mentions that despite of politological origin application of beta-blockers of ultra-short action for rhythm stabilization is a first line therapy. The preference should be given to Esmolol among other beta-blockers. It has the following features: fast onset of action - 2 minutes, short half-life – withdrawal within 9 minutes. Esmolol is a first line therapy for patients with supraventricular and ventricula rhythm disturbances.
2.	Redundant and uncontrolled release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines is the main reason for multiorgan lesion and death of patients with severe forms of COVID‑19. So direct impact on an aggressive inflammatory response can potentially decrease mortality, and lesion of organs and systems. In such a case antioxidants are important medicines as far as reactive oxygen intermediates play an important role in an inflammatory reaction and cytokine storm. In case of acute diseases related to high concentration of reactive oxygen intermediates, mitochondrial antioxidants should be applied at an early stage of disease. Edaravone is an ischemic cascade blocker, a low-molecular antioxidant penetrating through cell membranes thanks to passive diffusion and actively removing peroxy radicals through the mechanism of electron donation. It absorbs and neutralizes free radicals and in such a way it suppresses development of cytokine storm and ischemic processes of cerebrovascular disorders.
3.	An increased frequency of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, pulmonary artery thromboembolism and other thrombotic complications are observed in case of COVID-19. The most promising directions of acute ischemic stroke therapy are perfusion pressure improvement in brain vessels by means of reasonable infusion therapy and impact on the glutamate cascade stages, achieved by the use of cytoprotective drugs. Edaravone, citicolinum and electrolytes were used to optimize the treatment of cerebrovascular complications in patients with COVID-19. The study analyzed the clinical and paraclinical data of 34 patients. It is proved that the abovementioned combination of drugs helps to reduce neurological deficits, increase the frequency of favorable functional recovery on the MRS scale and is recommended for widespread use in medical practice.
4.	Cytokine storm does not pass without consequences for target organs. SARS-CoV-2 binds to type 2 angiotensin converting enzyme receptors (ACE-2) which is in the vessels and heart. Lesions are due to additional disregulation of the RAAS/ACE-2 system due to coronavirus infection, resulting in cardiovascular damage.
5.	Neurological manifestations are typical for a new coronavirus disease. The frequency of definite neurological features (alteration of consciousness, headache, anxiety, uneasiness, depression) used to depend on severity of COVID-19 and was usually observed in patients with severe disease. Use of edaravone, combination of L-arginine and L-carnitine, and hyperosmolar balanced solution as a complex therapy for patients with COVID-19 contributes to the regression of clinical manifestations and normalization of laboratory performance in comparison with standard pathogenetic therapy.
6.	The third wave of COVID-19 has brought new challenges. Mutations of the virus accelerate the lung phase. While previously the cytokine storm symptoms appeared on the 5-7th day, now the cytokine storm develops faster and appears on the 2nd-3rd day. So the pathogenic and syndromic treatment should be used right after hospital admission: addition of three drugs of the "Breakwater" scheme to the basic treatment (edaravone, fixed combination of L-arginine and L-carnitine, and hyperosmolar balanced solution subject to low volume infusion therapy regime).
7.	According to the international studies, one in three carriers of the virus suffers from the impact of COVID on the nervous system condition. Therefore, strokes are not rare. Such patients need additional therapy. The results of combined usage of drugs with powerful antioxidative and cytoprotective action (edaravone and balanced solution of Ringer's lactate with citicoline) have demonstrated quite high efficiency in the schemes for treatment of ischemic stroke in patients with COVID-19, in comparison to a standard scheme that reduces neurological deficit, increases the frequency of favorable functional recovery.
8.	Respiratory failure development, changing of blood rheological and fibrinolytic properties, excessive thrombus formation, cardiovascular and nervous system damage, and increased fibrosis formation in lungs are the processes taking place in the body of patients with coronaviral infection. An additional pathogenic treatment with edaravone, L-arginine and L-carnitine, and Reosorbilact resulted in better blood oxygen saturation, drop in body temperature and reduced patient stay in the in-patient facility.
9.	At a time when etiotropic drugs that directly affect virus SARS-CoV-2 have not been developed yet, a pathogenic and syndromic approach to treatment of patients with severe COVID-19 is extremely important, as far as it considers individual characteristics and provides maximum support to the body. In this context use of combined therapy consisting of edaravone, combination of L-arginine and L-carnitine, and Reosorbilact is very promising, as far as it helps to improve the state of patients with COVID-19-associated pneumonia and to prevent disability and loss of patients' quality of life after the disease.
10.	Damaging of pancreatic cells by coronavirus leads to the development of diabetes mellitus in patients who have not previously contracted it, leading to further disabling of such patients. First, the virus enters the endothelium of pancreatic vessels, and then directly into pancreas cells. L-arginine, which provides a protective and restorative effect on endothelium, is used for protection of the endothelium – the first barrier the virus faces. Restoration of the endothelium is the way to protect the pancreas gland.
11.	Use of pentoxifylline to intensify treatment of patients with COVID-19 is quite promising as far as:
-	it suppresses synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines (tumour necrosis factor α, IL-1, IL-6);
-	it prevents activation, proliferation, adhesion, polarization and chemotaxis of T-cells and neutrophils;
-	it counteracts inhibitory effect of TNF-α, depressing surfactant synthesis with type II pneumocytes, that is a key mechanism for ARDS pathogenesis;
-	it inhibits platelet aggregation and promotes fibrinolithic activity, which can reduce the risk of thrombosis;
-	it has hemoreologic, antiplatelet and anti-inflammatory effect.
12.	Lung damage with further development of respiratory failure and the spread of pathological processes to other body systems is one of the main reasons of complicated progression of COVID-19 and further death. Acetylcysteine is used for treatment of patients with respiratory distress syndrome to reduce and prevent lung damage. Acetylcysteine counteracts oxidative stress and reduces inflammatory reaction in respiratory epithelium, which forms a pneumoprotective effect. The ability to prevent the death of the respiratory system epithelium is a basis of acetylcysteine's pneumoprotective properties. Parenteral administration of acetylcysteine ensures maximum bioavailability of the drug and the development of a pneumoprotective effect.
13.	Many countries of the world have noticed lack of high incidence of COVID-19 among patients with asthma. Such phenomenon is explained by permanent use of inhaled corticosteroids by such patients. It was proved that inhaled steroids have 3 effects:
•	Reduced enrichment of membrane proteins of ACE-2 receptors, ACE-2 and ТMPPSS2, directly participating in entry of SARS-CoV-2 virus into the cells.
•	Inhibiting of SARS-CoV‑2 replication in infected epithelium cells.
•	Reduced production of cytokines, including IL-6 and IL-8.
•	The protective action of inhaled glucocorticosteroids in case of COVID-19 decreasing the viral load and hyperinflammatory immune reaction is considered.
•	The study conducted in Great Britain with participation of 146 patients demonstrated high efficiency of use of dry powder budesonide 1600 mcg in case of mild COVID-19. Good clinical effect was proved: reduction of hospital admissions by 90%, higher level of saturation in patients using budesonide, reduction of symptoms and fever, 3 days faster recovering of patients, reduction of residual effects of СOVID-19 on the 14th and 28th day.
•	Use of inhaled glucocorticosteroids during COVID-19 for reduced risk of hospital admission and alleviation of symptoms has demonstrated first positive results and is a promising method for reduction of hospital admission and COVID-19 severity. Dry powder budesonide is represented by Easyhaler inhaler in Ukraine.
14.	Insulin resistance leads to hyperglycemia, decreases the uptake of glucose, cells suffer from energy deficiency. It's a pathogenic cause of asthenic syndrome. The pathogenic approach to the treatment of patients with hyperglycemia and asthenic syndrome is the energy support of cells. Under insulin resistance conditions, a substance with an insulin-independent mechanism of action, such as xylitol, may operate. Therefore it is necessary to use xylytol-containing solutions for pathogenic treatment of asthenic syndrome.
15.	Hypercoagulation, thrombosis and microcirculation disorders are among the most dangerous conditions in patients with COVID-19. They are direct consequences of damage to the endothelial system by SARS-CoV-2 virus and result in damage to target organs. In conjunction with drugs that prevent thrombus formation (heparins), it is necessary to provide endothelial protection and protection of organs with L-arginine and L-carnitine.
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Home Articles posted by Jure Vidmar
Palestine v United States: Why the ICJ does not need to decide whether Palestine is a state
Published on November 22, 2018 Author: Jure Vidmar
Palestine's institution of proceedings against the United States before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has already drawn much attention on this blog (see here and here) and elsewhere. A great deal has already been said on Monetary Gold and admissibility. My post will focus on the Article 34(1) ICJ Statute requirement that '[o]nly states may be parties in cases before the Court'. Contrary to some arguments that have been made on this blog and elsewhere, I will argue that for the purposes of Article 34(1) the ICJ does not need to decide whether Palestine is a state, let alone weigh the Montevideo criteria. An entity may be a 'state' for the functional purposes of certain treaties and procedures created by those treaties, but such procedures have no implications for the substantive legal status of the entity under general international law. I will also argue that Palestine's access to these procedural treaty mechanisms is UNESCO membership and not the status of a non-member observer state in the UN.
When a treaty uses the word 'state'
The ICJ proceedings are only open to states. But this does not mean that the legal status of an entity can be determined as a side-effect of the ICJ's procedural rules. The logic of such an argument would go as follows: the ICJ can only hear cases between states, so if the ICJ exercises its jurisdiction, the parties in the proceedings must be states. This would be an implicit reading of the requirement contained in an international treaty that an entity be a state. Such implicit readings are not uncommon in international legal scholarship. We indeed often read in leading textbooks that since UN membership is only open to states, this is the ultimate confirmation that a UN member indeed is a state. Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under: EJIL Analysis, International Court of Justice, Jurisdiction, Palestine, States and Statehood, Territorial Disputes, Treaty Law
Tags: Monetary Gold, Palestine
Catalonia: The Way Forward is Comparative Constitutional Rather than International Legal Argument
Published on October 24, 2017 Author: Jure Vidmar
On 10 October 2017, Catalonia issued and then immediately suspended its declaration of independence, and urged Spain to negotiate. Spain does not want to negotiate. Rather, it sought clarification as to whether or not Catalonia's manoeuvre indeed was a declaration of independence. Such clarification was needed, according to Spain, in order to decide on an appropriate response. Subsequently, Spain announced its plan to remove certain political leaders of Catalonia and impose direct rule on the region. The recent situation in Catalonia has already been addressed on this blog (see here and here). What is striking – or perhaps not – is how little international law actually has to say on secession and indeed even on statehood. Statehood is quite simply a politically-created legal status under international law. Catalonia is yet another proof that statehood is a complicated nexus of law and politics which cannot be explained by legal rules alone. International law merely delineates the field for a political game. Just as studying football rules cannot tell us which team is going to win – Barcelona or Real – studying the law of statehood alone cannot tell us how states emerge. We need to see the game played within certain rules. In this post, I will explain the international legal framework that defines the rules of the political game and argue that the game itself may be much more influenced by comparative constitutional rather than international legal argument.
Unilateral secession between Kosovo para 81 and Quebec para 155
In the modern world, new states can only emerge at the expense of the territorial integrity of another state (see here for details). The emergence of a new state is then a political process of overcoming a counterclaim for territorial integrity. Sometimes states will waive such a claim – the United Kingdom was willing to do that with regard to Scotland. Where the parent state does not waive its claim to territorial integrity, an attempt at secession is unilateral.
The international law on unilateral secession is determined by the Kosovo Advisory Opinion para 81 and the Quebec case para 155. It follows from Kosovo para 81 that unilateral declarations of independence are not illegal per se, i.e. merely because they are unilateral, but illegality may be attached to them in situations similar to Northern Cyprus and Southern Rhodesia. This is not the case with Catalonia. Pursuant to Quebec para 155, the ultimate success of unilateral secession depends on recognition by other states. This pronouncement may sound somewhat problematic in light of international legal dogma that recognition must always be declaratory. Where independence follows from a domestic settlement (e.g. had Scotland voted for independence in 2014), recognition indeed plays little role. But the Supreme Court of Canada was quite right that recognition is much more instrumental – even constitutive – where a claim for independence is unilateral.
The Kosovo and Quebec doctrines lead us to the conclusion that where the Northern Cyprus or Southern Rhodesia type of illegality is not attached to a declaration of independence, the obligation to withhold recognition under Article 41 ARSIWA does not apply, and pursuant to Quebec para 155 foreign states may grant recognition, taking into account the legality and legitimacy of a claim for independence. This means that foreign states could recognise Catalonia, but they are under no obligation to do so. Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under: Comparative Law, EJIL Analysis, Non-State Actors, Self-Determination, States and Statehood
Tags: Catalonia, secession
Excusing Illegal Use of Force: From Illegal but Legitimate to Legal Because it is Legitimate?
Published on April 14, 2017 Author: Jure Vidmar
The US missile strikes on Syria have, inter alia, revived the debates on humanitarian intervention, the argument of 'illegal but legitimate' and more generally on the exceptions to the prohibition of the use of force. For some examples see here, here and here. Some contributors have pointed out that the US did not even try to bring this action within the ambit of the Charter rules on the use of force, and that the absence of Charter-based arguments may even be a good thing as it preserves the strength of Article 2(4). Others have cautioned that the strength of the rules on the use of force might nevertheless be undermined, as singular 'exceptional' cases result in a pattern.
This post argues that, analogous to the concept of defences in municipal legal systems, international law on the use of force should adopt a systematic distinction between justifications and excuses. As responses to the US missile attack in Syria demonstrate, the two concepts are conflated. The result is that legality is often assessed on the basis of excuses. If the trend of conflation continues, the controversial doctrine of 'illegal but legitimate' will move toward an even more controversial doctrine of 'legal because it is legitimate'.
Justifications are legally-warranted exceptions to the general prohibition. As such, they are a way out of illegality. Excuses, on the other hand, are not a way out of illegality, but act as mitigating circumstances that preclude responsibility for an otherwise illegal conduct. Under some circumstances, breaching the law may indeed be the choice of a lesser evil. As noted by Vaughan Lowe in his 1999 EJIL article, a legal system may wish to provide a defence for emergency drivers who breach the speed limit on the way to hospital. There are two ways of achieving this goal. One way is to give them an explicit authorization to breach the speed limit. The other one, however, does not authorize speeding, but rather ensures that emergency drivers are not prosecuted upon such a breach of traffic rules. The first (justification) relaxes the norm itself and may well result in wider disobeying of the speed limit than the second, which merely provides for a carefully weighed excuse of culpability where the norm was doubtlessly breached. In other words, it is better if the general norm is strong and 'catches' more violators whose excuses are then considered on a case-by-case basis. I elaborate on these issues in more details in this 2015 concept paper. In the present context, might the 'emergency driver logic' apply to the US strike in Syria? Even if it did, it would not make this action legal. Possibly, the US could only escape responsibility for this internationally wrongful act. Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under: State Responsibility, Syria, Use of Force
Tags: humanitarian intervention, Syria
Crimea's Referendum and Secession: Why it Resembles Northern Cyprus More than Kosovo
Published on March 20, 2014 Author: Jure Vidmar
On 16 March 2014, Crimea held a referendum on its future legal status. Reportedly, the choice to join Russia was supported by an overwhelming 95.5 per cent of all votes cast, with the turnout of 83 per cent. A day earlier, Russia vetoed a draft Security Council resolution which sought to declare the referendum as 'having no legal validity' and urge the international community not to recognise its results. The draft resolution was otherwise supported by 13 members of the Security Council, with China abstaining. On 17 March 2014, the Crimean parliament declared independence and applied to join Russia. This contribution explains that while the referendum itself was not illegal in international law, the shift of territorial sovereignty would be illegal. Moreover, in the legal circumstances underlying the situation in Crimea, even the declaration of independence violated international law. As a result, the obligation to withhold recognition of the effective situation is applicable under general international law. No Chapter VII Resolution is required. This is not because international law would see territorial integrity of states as an absolute norm, but because the effective situation was created by Russia's use or threat of force. Although parallels have been drawn to Kosovo (see the discussion in Christian Marxsen's post) and even Scotland, in terms of international law Northern Cyprus would be a more accurate comparison.
Secession and neutrality of international law
Groups seeking independence usually present self-determination as an absolute entitlement. Conversely, states countering secession usually present territorial integrity as an absolute entitlement of states. Neither camp is right. As follows from the General Assembly's Declaration on Principles of International Law (GA Res 2625), the Quebec case (Supreme Court of Canada) and partly also from the Kosovo Advisory Opinion (ICJ), international law is actually neutral on the question of unilateral secession. This means that unilateral secession is neither prohibited nor an entitlement. Furthermore, for the purposes of international law, it does not matter whether or not secession is explicitly prohibited under domestic law. As noted by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Quebec case, an entity may declare independence extra-constitutionally and yet nevertheless become independent if other states are willing to recognise it (the Quebec case, para 155). This further confirms that unilateral secession unto itself does not trigger an obligation to withhold recognition. [I explain this further here].Yet states are very rarely willing to grant recognition on a widespread basis to entities seeking independence unilaterally. By holding a referendum and declaring independence, such an entity in most circumstances does something that remains legally ineffective, yet not internationally wrongful. The burden of changing the territorial status quo lies on the secession-seeking entity and this exercise is very rarely successful if the parent state does not agree. However, a declaration of independence may be given effectiveness through foreign military assistance. This is where neutrality of international law ends. International law is neutral only with respect to a declaration's unilateral character, but not in general, where territorial illegality is attached to the situation.
When are declarations of independence illegal?
Territorial illegality arises under a serious breach of certain fundamental norms of international law, in particular jus cogens. Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under: Kosovo, Self-Determination, States and Statehood, Unilateral declarations, Use of Force
Tags: Ukraine
The Importance of Legal Criteria for Statehood: A Rejoinder to Dapo Akande
Published on August 9, 2013 Author: Jure Vidmar
I would like to thank Dapo for his response to a particular claim I make on the statehood criteria. It is a twofold claim that I make in the book. First, the emergence or non-emergence of states cannot be explained by the Montevideo criteria. Secondly, the Montevideo criteria should not be seen as a rule of customary international law. I sense that Dapo could partly and qualifiedly agree with the first part of the claim. He certainly disagrees with the second part.
Dapo's proposition essentially preserves the centrality of Montevideo by accommodating the process of state creation within these criteria. In so doing the proposition overcomes the deficiencies of Montevideo and the solution indeed looks very appealing at first sight. But it is problematic, as it makes the relationship between state creation and statehood criteria circular.
Territorial integrity and Montevideo
In a world where virtually every territory is a state territory and thus subject to a legitimate claim to territorial integrity, this claim can only be overcome by a political process which creates a new legal status. I think that Dapo and I agree up to this point. We diverge on the question of the place of this process and its relationship to the statehood criteria. Dapo accommodates the process within Montevideo, I place it outside; Dapo subordinates the process to Montevideo, I subordinate Montevideo to the process.
Dapo's explanation reconciles the traditional Montevideo-centric approach in the law of statehood with its main criticism – the inadequacy of the criteria. By incorporating the process of state creation within Montevideo, the criteria are no longer an inadequate static checklist and can actually answer difficult questions, such as why Somaliland is not a state. By holding that the fourth criterion may compensate for deficiency in meeting others (meaning that some Montevideo criteria may be more important than others), it can even be explained why Bosnia was a state in 1992. The trick that makes Montevideo work is to bring what I treat as extra-Montevideo within the ambit of Montevideo. Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under: EJIL Analysis, EJIL Book Discussion, Self-Determination, States and Statehood
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Democratic Statehood in International Law: A Rejoinder to Jean d'Aspremont and Brad Roth
I am pleased that Professors Jean d'Aspremont and Brad Roth both seem to approve of my proceduralised approach to state making which, inter alia, degrades the Montevideo criteria from customary law to a mere under-labourer of a political process. Their criticism is politely measured but if I had to identify one core word to capture the gist of their remarks, that word would be 'objectively', albeit in two different meanings.
First, there is the issue of the theoretical underpinnings of my work and the question of whether statehood can be objectivised. Do I indeed take a schizophrenic position on that? Secondly, synthesising international practice requires analysing and interpreting history. Whose story should an international lawyer choose to tell? In the context of the present debate, was the Badinter Commission interpreting, misinterpreting or developing the law?
The nature of the state
If I try to eliminate Prof d'Aspremont's proverbial politeness, in blunt language he is telling me: "You are crusading against objectivism in the law of statehood, yet you are an objectivist yourself, albeit you get there only after a detour." D'Aspremont is right, while claiming that states do not emerge objectively and self-evidently, it underlies my writing that at some point statehood is achieved and then it becomes objectivised vis-à-vis the international community as a whole. In my defence, let me say something on that 'detour'.
My anti-objectivism is limited to the statehood criteria; it does not extend to the statehood status. I use that 'detour' to separate the two. States do not emerge simply by meeting the statehood criteria, be it Montevideo or however extended addition. D'Aspremont correctly notes that I proceduralise the law of statehood. It is this (internationalised) process which leads to a new legal status. There are no objective criteria for statehood in international law that could automatically make a state. Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under: EJIL Book Discussion, Self-Determination, States and Statehood
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Democratic Statehood in International Law
In the book Democratic Statehood in International Law, I develop an argument that state creation is a political process of overcoming a competing claim to territorial integrity. The emergence of a new state is not an automatic or factual occurrence upon meeting the statehood criteria. The process requires some democratic procedures to be followed. It often also runs in parallel with an internationalised attempt at imposition of a democratic political system.
The post-Cold War practice and the effects of the right of self-determination have led some writers to proclaim that under contemporary international law a newly-emerged state needs to be democratic. Others have rejected this view by holding that democracy has not b ecome a statehood criterion. My argument is that the first statement is exaggerated and the second one wrongly-focused. Non-democratic states can emerge in contemporary international law, but so can states that do not meet the statehood criteria.
In the process of state creation, the adoption of democratic institutions is equally as relevant or irrelevant as 'Montevideo'. Considerations for democracy may impact state practice in relation to claims for independence but do not have any direct legal effects. The same can be said of the Montevideo criteria. Via the right of self-determination, state-creation nevertheless does require a democratic process. This is a requirement for independence referenda, not a requirement for a particular political system. The right of self-determination should not be conflated with democracy.
State creation as a political process of overcoming a counterclaim to territorial integrity
Acquiring statehood is not an international legal entitlement. Existing states are protected by the principle of territorial integrity. While this principle does not generate an absolute prohibition of secession, the consequence of its operation is that states cannot emerge automatically, as a matter of objective fact. States can only emerge in the legal circumstances where the claim to territorial integrity is either overcome or becomes inapplicable. Read the rest of this entry…
EU–UK–Scotland: How Two Referenda Created a Complicated Love Triangle
Published on February 18, 2013 Author: Jure Vidmar
Jure Vidmar is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Oxford Law Faculty, and Research Fellow, St Johns College, University of Oxford. His book Democratic Statehood in International Law: The Emergence of New States in Post-Cold War Practice will be published in March 2013.
As has already been noted on this blog (here and here) Professors Alan Boyle and James Crawford recently drafted an opinion on the international legal consequences of the Scottish referendum on independence. The Boyle/Crawford argumentation is very straightforward and, in my view, a conventional and uncontroversial account of the applicable international legal framework. However, I see one potential problem which was not (or could not) be considered in the Opinion drafted in December last year. In January 2013, Prime Minister Cameron announced another referendum; this one would be on the UK exiting the EU. Which UK would exit – the one with or the one without Scotland?
It is true that this referendum is not a legal reality at this stage and is merely a political pledge to be fulfilled should the Conservatives win at general elections. But with this possibility on the table, it is not entirely possible to separate the two referenda. Given the special nature of the EU, it is arguable that Scots now no longer know for what kind of an arrangement they are voting if they choose to stay in the UK. Or to put it differently, Scots do not know whether a vote for the UK is also vote to stay in the EU. And this may well be problematic under international law which requires that terms of a referendum on independence should be clear and unambiguous.
What if you are a Scottish voter who does not care about the UK but would vote against independence mainly (or only) because you do not want Scotland to be out of the EU and you do not want to lose your EU citizenship? How do you vote? If you support the UK, you might be out of the EU in the very near future anyway – because of the other referendum. What is more, if the UK eventually leaves the EU, it is quite likely that a vote for Scottish independence would have been a vote for the EU. Indeed, it is more likely that Scotland would join in due course than that the UK, if it left, would re-enter any time soon. So, if you are a Scottish voter and motivated by Scotland staying in the EU; how should you vote in 2014? Assuming you are not a fortune teller and cannot predict what would happen in 2017, you do not know. In 2014, Scots might be asked to go off the deep end without being assured that there is water in the pool. This is precisely what the clarity standards regarding independence referenda try to prevent. Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under: Self-Determination, States and Statehood
Tags: Scottish Independence
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Does General Assembly Resolution 67/19 Have Any Implications for the Legal Status of Palestine?
Published on December 4, 2012 Author: Jure Vidmar
Jure Vidmar is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Faculty of Law, and Research Fellow at St Johns College, University of Oxford. He has written widely on the process of State creation (see SSRN page here), including: 'Explaining the Legal Effects of Recognition' (2012) International and Comparative Law Quarterly 361.
On 29 November 2012, with 138 votes in favour, nine against and forty-one abstentions, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 67/19, which, inter alia, "accord[ed] to Palestine non-member observer State status in the United Nations…" This post considers whether the vote in the General Assembly objectively confirms that Palestine is a state and/or whether the General Assembly on 29 November 2012, in fact, created a new state (a matter considered briefly by Dapo at the end of his post on the Resolution). In essence, did the Resolution change anything in terms of legal status and did Palestine on 29 November become more of a state than it was on 28 November? The post thus narrowly focuses on the implications of Resolution 67/19; it does not intend to clarify Palestine's legal status in general.
In this instance, Palestine's legal status could be implicitly clarified in two ways. One way would be if the Resolution meant admission to the international organisation, which prescribes statehood as a prerequisite for membership. The other possibility is that by voting for the Resolution which accords "to Palestine non-member observer State status" [emphasis added], those states voting in favour implicitly recognised Palestine as a state. Indeed, the Resolution here says that Palestine is a state. What is the legal significance of this phrasing and of the fact that 138 states are happy with it? Did the 138 states voting in favour thus create a state by (implicit) recognition or at least confirm Palestine's legal status?This post will argue that the General Assembly resolution itself and the voting behaviour of states neither altered nor clarified the legal status of Palestine. On 29 November 2012, Palestine did not become more or less of a state than it was before. The Resolution may well be a significant step in an internationalised political process which could ultimately clarify and settle Palestine's legal status. But the Resolution of 29 November 2012 does not have any direct legal implications for Palestine's statehood. Read the rest of this entry…
Filed under: EJIL Analysis, Palestine, States and Statehood
Published on June 15, 2018 Author: Jure Vidmar
Published on June 5, 2018 Author: Jure Vidmar


Zoltán Vidnyánszky, Viktor Gál, István Kóbor, Lajos Kozák, John Serences; Attentional suppression spreads throughout the visual field. Journal of Vision 2007;7(9):787. doi: 10.1167/7.9.787.
Visual attentional selection enhances the neural response to relevant features and suppresses the response to competing irrelevant features. Feature-based enhancement is known to operate across the visual field, and here we use fMRI in human observers to determine if attentional suppression is restricted to the currently attended spatial location or if attentional suppression also operates in a spatially global manner. On one side of fixation, two moving-dot apertures were presented (e.g. one to the upper right and one to the lower right of fixation) and each aperture contained two orthogonal directions of motion (e.g. leftward and upward motion in one aperture, rightward and downward in the other). Observers monitored the speed of the dots moving in one direction in one of the two apertures (e.g. monitor leftward motion in the upper aperture). We then measured the BOLD response evoked by an additional to-be-ignored unidirectional motion stimulus presented on the other side of a fixation. Consistent with previous reports, the BOLD response was larger when the ignored stimulus matched the currently attended direction compared to when it matched any of the unattended directions. However, the BOLD response was lowest when the ignored stimulus matched the irrelevant direction of motion that was presented in the same aperture as the target compared to one of the other unattended directions. We suggest that the presence of irrelevant features within the focus of spatial attention triggers an attentional suppression mechanism that attenuates the response to the suppressed feature across the entire visual field.


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SAL notes: Bichette keeps battling
RiverDogs third baseman managing expectations, adversity
By Bill Ballew / Special to MLB.com | August 16, 2012 8:23 AM
When a son has the same name as his father who happened to make a name for himself in the Major Leagues, the expectations can be excessive at times. That's understandable for Dante Bichette Jr., whose dad was one of the big bats of the Colorado Rockies' Blake Street Bombers.
"I've always had people putting that kind of pressure on me," Bichette said. "Even as a 12-year-old in travel ball, you'd be surprised what people say. But my parents raised me to not worry about that kind of stuff. Honestly, the way I look at it, if it works out, that's great, but if it doesn't, it wasn't supposed to happen."
So far, Bichette has had success similar to that of his father, at least at this point in his young career. After hitting at a .640 clip in high school in Orlando, Fla., he became the top pick of the New York Yankees in 2011, going in the supplemental first round with the 51st overall selection. His initial plans centered on going to the University of Georgia before the Yankees came calling on Draft day.
"The reason I chose Georgia was I loved Dave Perno and the rest of the coaching staff," Bichette said. "So it was going to be real easy to go to school if I wanted to. Right before the Draft, I was on the phone with Coach Perno, and I told him if I was drafted on the first day, I was going to sign. If not, I was going to be a Bulldog. He was the first guy to call me and say congratulations."
Bichette signed quickly with the Yankees for a reported $750,000 and went to the Gulf Coast League. He overcame a slow start to hit .342/.466/.505 and lead his team to the championship while garnering Most Valuable Player recognition. That performance helped earn the 19-year-old a promotion to Charleston and the South Atlantic League to open the current campaign.
In his first full professional season, Bichette has encountered the highs and lows associated with the low Minors. He has played well at third base, displaying a strong arm, above-average athleticism and soft hands. He also has lightning-quick hands at the plate, impressive discipline and power that should develop as his body matures. Through Aug. 14, he was hitting at a .241 clip with 20 doubles, three triples, two homers and 37 RBIs.
"The biggest thing has been handling the adversity," Bichette said. "This is not a real hitter-friendly league, and it's a real mental grind with the travel and everything. I had a few guys in the organization come down and talk to me and that really helped me out."
Perhaps the greatest help to Bichette has been the guidance of his parents. He talks often with his father, who has worked with him on the physical aspects of the game for as long as Dante Jr. can remember. As far as the mental part is concerned, Bichette credits his mother, Mariana. Bichette also played tennis while growing up and says that experience has contributed to his success from a mental perspective as well as with his hand-eye coordination.
"The big thing my dad has always said is it was going to be a grind and at a certain point it's going to be the guys who are tougher mentally and not so much physically that are going to succeed," Bichette said. "That's proven to be right based on everything I've seen this year."
Knocking on wood: Rome left-hander Alex Wood continued his spectacular pitching Aug. 14 when he scattered six hits over five shutout innings to help guide the R-Braves to a 5-0 victory at Greenville. In his last six starts, the 2012 second-round pick out of the University of Georgia has allowed two earned runs, 14 hits and five walks while striking out 23 batters in 27 innings.
Fourteen for Foltynewicz: Lexington's Mike Foltynewicz notched his league-leading 14th victory after throwing seven shutout innings in the Legends' 10-1 victory over Savannah on Aug. 14. Buoyed by Justin Gominsky's four RBIs, Foltynewicz is one win shy of the Lexington single-season franchise record established by Mike Nannini in 2001.
Giants, 'Jackets renew vows: The Augusta GreenJackets and San Francisco Giants renewed their Player Development Contract, extending the agreement for two years through the 2014 campaign. The teams have had an affiliation since 2005.
Bill Ballew is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.


Let your imagination run wild this week! Each day we will pose questions that are silly, outrageous and maybe even serious. Imagine if you could sprout wings and fly. Imagine if you could create your own amusement park. Imagine if you lived on Mars. Join in the fun to draw, paint, sculpt and print to create a variety of 2-D and 3-D projects based on your imagination. Imagine if YOU could change the world with the stroke of a brush!
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'Grey's Anatomy': We've never met Jackson Avery's father before & he's nothing we expected
Emily Bicks March 17, 2017 March 20, 2017
On Thursday night (March 16), "Grey's Anatomy" introduces us to Jackson Avery's (Jesse Williams) father for the very first time. Not much has ever been revealed about him, but we know he's been out of the picture for quite a long time. And after getting to know the formidable Dr. Katherine Avery (Debbie Allen) over so many years, we expected to meet an equally confident and intimidating kind of man… Not an extremely polite, amiable diner owner in the middle of snowy Montana.
The episode entitled "Who is He? (And What is He to You?)," dubbed by fans as "Japril: The Sequel," has April (Sarah Drew) joining Jackson on this trip after Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) has to stay home to tend a sick Zola… Or at least that's what Katherine says, and the will-they/won't-they, officially divorced, but still living together and co-parenting exes get on the Avery family's private plane and jet off to middle America to perform a complicated transplant surgery.
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Jackson keeps his ulterior motive of the trip, meeting his biological father, a secret. But April soon figures it out. Making matters worse, while Jackson drinks himself silly at his father's restaurant, trying to work up the courage to say his prepared speech, April is left to do all the dirty work back at the hospital. After telling one boy's dad that surgery can't save his son's life, she's essentially alone telling a young girl's parents that her planned transplant won't be possible… And Jackson knew his dad was here, the whole time.
"Your father, Jackson," April says. "Your long-lost deadbeat dad. The distinguished hippie/former surgeon Dr. Avery, who slings hash at the local diner. He's the whole reason we're here."
April's anger is understandable, but when Jackson finally opens up to her, she softens. While Japril talk the situation out, delving into why he needs to finds a way to talk to his father, Jackson has a "Eureka!" moment that is, while a little on the nose, such a success in practice that it gives him the courage to finally speak to his Dad (Eric Roberts).
Now, Mr. Avery is a tricky soul. He talks so jovially that it's easy to miss that what's he's actually saying is incredibly hurtful, and completely self-serving. "It wasn't my thing," Mr. Avery says, in regards to why he ended his surgical career. "I was born into this life, and [Katherine] was born for it. You know your mother. Her expectations are crushing." Sure, but quitting an occupation and leaving one's family are two totally separate, unrelated things? Mr. Avery could've stayed in contact with his son, sent a card on his birthday, came to town for one of his graduation ceremonies… But he didn't.
Yet Mr. Avery is still genuinely excited when Jackson mentions his daughter Harriet, exclaiming, "I have a granddaughter!" And that's when Jackson draws the line: "No, you don't." Because no, he doesn't.
Nor does he have the right to talk about Katherine that way, to be honest: While she may have her faults, Katherine was actually there for him, she's a doting grandmother to his daughter, a ruthlessly brilliant business woman, and at least partially responsible for the incredible surgeon Avery is today. Robert gets none of those points; the two part on amiable terms, but their relationship seems irreparable.
(…Well, except that every time Meredith has done this with one of her eighteen parents, they inevitably show up at Grey-Sloan the next week with some kind of terminal condition and three new half-siblings who also happen to be surgeons, so never say never.)
However, the door for reconciliation is more than left open for Japril. April reinforces to Jackson that he's nothing like his dad: Jackson is a fantastic father in whom she has full confidence — and once that emotional victory is digested, Japril has once again come back together. It's obvious — and acknowledged by both parties — that Katherine's fingerprints are all over this. We doubt Zola even had the flu. Katherine knew, as mothers tend to just know things, that Jackson was going to Montana to reach out to his father, and made sure April was there for moral support.
This isn't lost on Japril, but they're also not mad at it, which is in a strange way a sign of growth — as manipulative and overbearing as Katherine can be, Avery tends to invite it and almost revel in rebelling against it, so in the end we have a situation where Avery is more able to see both of his parents as simple flawed human beings, which is the key to success in all areas of life, especially on this show. So it's more than acceptable that, for now, Japril the Sequel has a happy ending.
"Grey's Anatomy" airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Category: TelevisionTV Shows: Grey's AnatomyCelebrities: Debbie Allen Eric Roberts Jesse Williams Sarah DrewTV Network: ABC
Posted by:Emily Bicks
Freelance writer in LA. Sometimes, I'm on camera. And sometimes I'm not. Twitter: @missbicks
Email Emily Bicks
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