Organic-industrial complex or herbal remedy? A case near Seattle and Vancouver

This report was presented at the UK Organic Research 2002 Conference. Organic conversion can help maintain property and lifestyle. But organic is not always local. Based on long-term contacts this poster notes market, global and policy implications of an American family farm which converted to organic herbs with a multinational partner. Is the family’s affiliation with corporate macro-actors the happy human face of globalisation? Or does it support Pollan’s (2001) warning that an ‘organic-industrial complex’ will dominate organic movements in the US, UK and world-wide

Philosophy at the Beginning of the 21st Century

À la dernière moitié du 20 e siècle, la postmodernité a rejeté entièrement la notion de réalité objective et celui de vérité. On doit s'en souvenir que la vérité en dépend de ce qu’il montre et s'il n'y avait aucune réalité objective il n'y avait aucune vérité non plus. Mais aujourd’hui, au commencem ent du 21 e siècle, est survenue une nouvelle vue appelée la post post -modernité qui est un retour subtil à la modernité et qui tende trouver des choses fermes dans la réalité et des certitudes dans la pensée. Ainsi, ce courent reconnaît que notre expérien ce nous enseigne qu'il y a un monde réel qui existe indépendamment de nous, indépendamment de nos expériences, de nos pensées et de notre langue. À ce moment il semble qu'il y a une opportunité de revenir à une position réaliste, qui a du sens tant dans la science que dans la théologie. Elle fournit une vision du monde qui se veut correspondante à la réalité, cohérente en lui -même et capable à répondre systématiquement aux questions de la vie

Questions concerning matrix algebras and invariance of spectrum

Let $A$ and $B$ be unital Banach algebras with $A$ a subalgebra of $B$. Denote the algebra of all $n\times n$ matrices with entries from $A$ by $M_{n}(A)$. In this paper we prove some results concerning the open question: If $A$ is inverse closed in $B$, then is $M_{n}(A)$ inverse closed in $M_{n}(B)$? We also study related questions in the setting where $A$ is a symmetric Banach *-algebra.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, no table

Should There Be a Specialized Ethics Code for Death-Penalty Defense Lawyers

State ethics codes based on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct address lawyers\u27 work in advocacy but do not target lawyers\u27 work in particular areas of advocacy or in other specialized practice areas. For more than forty years, critics have asserted that existing ethics rules are too superficial and should be supplemented by specialized rules. This article examines the utility of specialized ethics rules for one particular sub-specialty-death-penalty defense practice. After identifying arguments for and against a specialized ethics code for death-penalty cases, the article analyzes the arguments in the context of a particular ethics dilemma that some death-penalty defense lawyers have encountered-namely, whether to pursue post-conviction relief on behalf of an ambivalent or unexpressive mentally-ill death-row inmate. The article finds persuasive reasons for courts to develop specialized rules that would provide death-penalty defense lawyers more clarity in how to address this and other ethics dilemmas. Recognizing that courts will likely remain indifferent to the idea of developing specialized ethics rules, however, the article concludes by identifying other ways for courts to mitigate the uncertainties that specialized rules would address