bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Excluding possible sites of high-energy emission in 3C 84
Authors: Linhoff Lena , Sandrock Alexander , Kadler Matthias , Elsässer Dominik , Rhode Wolfgang
Published: November 2020

The FR-I galaxy 3C 84, that is identified with the misaligned blazar NGC 1275, is well known as one of the very few radio galaxies emitting gamma-rays in the TeV range. Yet, the gamma-ray emission region cannot be pinpointed and the responsible mechanisms are still unclear. We calculate the optical absorption depth of high-energy photons in the broad-line region of 3C 84 depending on their energy and distance to the central black hole. Based on these calculations, a lower limit on the distance of the emission region from the central black hole can be derived. These lower limits are estimated for two broad-line region geometries (shell and ring) and two states of the source, the low state in 2016 October–December and a flare state in 2017 January. For the shell geometry, we can place the emission region outside the Ly α radius. For the ring geometry and the low flux activity, the minimal distance between the black hole, and the gamma-ray emission region is close to the Ly α radius. In the case of the flaring state (ring geometry), the results are not conclusive. Our results exclude the region near the central black hole as the origin of the gamma-rays detected by Fermi–LAT and Major Atmospheric Gamma-Ray Imaging Cherenkov. With these findings, we can constrain the theoretical models of acceleration mechanisms and compare the possible emission region to the source’s morphology resolved by radio images from the Very Long Baseline Array.
Birth Control
Authors: Sundstrom Beth L. , Delay Cara
Published: November 2020

Birth control offers women the opportunity to prevent pregnancy, plan and space their births, or have no births at all. And yet, in the United States, half of all pregnancies remain unintended, and access to birth control is beset by inequities in education, access, and coverage. Research indicates that women are familiar with the range of contraceptive methods available today. But the persistently high rates of unintended pregnancy, combined with common dissatisfaction and discontinuation, suggest that women’s contraceptive needs continue to be unmet. Birth Control: What Everyone Needs to Know will offer more than a user’s guide to available means of contraception: it will examine how supported family-planning infrastructure impacts society as a whole. Through reviews of policy, scientific literature, and supplemental interviews with women, it will uncover women’s concerns and apprehensions about contraception, as well as the ways birth control empowers women and increases access to educational and professional opportunities. It will provide an overview the history of birth control, the risks and benefits of contraception, the role of menstruation, and the future of birth control. The goal of this book is to provide accurate, unbiased scientific information about contraception in the context of women’s lived experiences and the realities of how individuals make decisions about birth control.
Birth Control Today
Authors: Sundstrom Beth , Delay Cara
Published: November 2020

Birth control? Family planning? Contraception? What is the difference?

Talking about family planning, birth control, and contraception can be challenging.

Often confusing, the terminology also has changed over time. Some people even today find it difficult to use clear and direct language relating to...
How Do We Know If Birth Control Is Safe?
Authors: Sundstrom Beth , Delay Cara
Published: November 2020

Hormonal contraceptive options are among the most well-studied medicines available today. Decades of research and experience show that they are safe. For more than 50 years, millions of women have taken “the pill” safely. Although hormonal birth control is safe for almost all women,...
How Do Attitudes and Policies Impact Access to Birth Control?
Authors: Sundstrom Beth , Delay Cara
Published: November 2020

What attitudes and beliefs affect access to birth control in the United States?

The vast majority of the American public believes birth control is a fundamental right that all people should have access to. This consensus has persisted for years: in 1937, 61%...
Conclusion
Authors: Sundstrom Beth , Delay Cara
Published: November 2020

Beyond women?

As we have discussed in this book, an analysis of birth control encourages us to privilege the experiences and voices of women. It also, however, suggests that we need to move beyond viewing birth control as something exclusively for women. Researchers...
America and Its Guns
Authors: Cook Philip J. , Goss Kristin A.
Published: November 2020

What Is a Gun?

A more precise term for the subject of this book is firearm, which is a portable weapon that shoots projectiles from a metal tube, propelled at high speed by expanding gas that is generated by the explosion of gunpowder in...
The Harm Done by Guns
Authors: Cook Philip J. , Goss Kristin A.
Published: November 2020

How Many Americans Are Killed or Injured by Gunfire?

Approximately 1 million Americans have died from gunshot wounds in homicides, accidents, and suicides during just the last three decades—more than all combat deaths in all wars in US history. In 2017, the National Center...
Causes of Gun Violence
Authors: Cook Philip J. , Goss Kristin A.
Published: November 2020

Who Can Be Trusted with a Gun?

A simplistic but common understanding of crime is that the population can be divided neatly into two groups, good guys and bad guys. In this view, the bad guys commit crime unless they are locked up, and...
Effectiveness of Firearms Policy
Authors: Cook Philip J. , Goss Kristin A.
Published: November 2020

With So Many Guns Out There, Is There Any Point to Gun Control?

Yes. The evidence suggests that certain regulations have been effective in reducing gun use in crime. And even in the United States, guns are not as readily available as some commentators...
The Gun Violence Prevention Movement
Authors: Cook Philip J. , Goss Kristin A.
Published: November 2020

What Is the Gun Violence Prevention Movement?

Like the gun rights movement, the gun violence prevention movement includes national, state, and local organizations. Some are single-issue organizations, spending all their time on gun violence prevention, while others are multi-issue allies from the women’s, religious,...
Is There a Way Forward for Gun Policy?
Authors: Cook Philip J. , Goss Kristin A.
Published: November 2020

Every question about guns, gun violence, or gun policy is contentious. Basic facts—the annual number of gun transactions, or even the number of guns in private hands—are not known with any precision. Estimates of the costs and consequences of our nation’s gun laws are...
Introduction
Authors: Deamer David W.
Published: November 2020

I’ll begin with a challenging question: Why should anyone want to know about the origin of life? The answers will vary from one person to the next, but the simplest answer is curiosity. Anyone reading this introduction is curious because they wonder how life could...
What We Still Need to Discover
Authors: Deamer David W.
Published: November 2020

The title of this book is The Origins of Life: What Everyone Needs to Know. Well, everyone needs to know not just the answers we have found so far but also the questions that remain. This is because the cutting edge of science...
The Pornography Industry
Authors: Tarrant Shira
Published: November 2020

Although pornography has existed for centuries, the pornography industry has not. As described in the previous chapter about the history of pornography, development of the porn industry has gone hand in hand with changes in technology and economics. Shifting moral concerns and...
Who’s Watching Porn?
Authors: Tarrant Shira
Published: November 2020

Myths and stereotypes about sexuality are common. This misinformation also applies when it comes to questions about who is watching porn—and why. There is a lot of research exploring these issues; but as for solid conclusions, the jury is still out.

The question about...
Pleasure and Danger in Pornography
Authors: Tarrant Shira
Published: November 2020

From the figures on revenue and use rates, to considerations about pornography’s impact on viewers, the experts do not quite agree about what is going on with patterns and trends. Research about whether porn causes harm and measures of how much violence appears in...
Medical Issues
Authors: Tarrant Shira
Published: November 2020

Are Porn Performers at Risk of Contracting STIs or HIV?

In any job, there is a risk of injury or health impact. In highly physical jobs, this danger can be higher. Whenever there is exposure to body fluids, there is a possibility of exposure...
Children and Teens Using Pornography
Authors: Tarrant Shira
Published: November 2020

The issue of children and teens accessing pornography is often fraught with distress and debate. There are those who worry that easy access to porn causes harm among today’s youth. Will children who see porn grow up to be sexist? Will they make dangerous...
The Future of Porn
Authors: Tarrant Shira
Published: November 2020

The pornography industry is known to be an early adopter of technology that helps drive change across broader society. Pornography is also known for ensconcing racist, patriarchal stereotypes in a sexy package. It can promote pleasure, or even progressive change, in terms of body...
The News Media
Authors: Anderson C.W. , Downie Leonard , Schudson Michael
Published: November 2020

The business of journalism has an extensive, storied, and often romanticized history. Newspaper reporting has long shaped the way that we see the world, played key roles in exposing scandals, and has even been alleged to influence international policy. The past several years have seen the newspaper industry in a state of crisis, with Twitter and Facebook ushering in the rise of citizen journalism and a deprofessionalization of the industry, plummeting readership and revenue, and municipal and regional papers shuttering or being absorbed into corporate behemoths. Now billionaires, most with no journalism experience but lots of power and strong views, are stepping in to purchase newspapers, both large and small. This addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know® series looks at the past, present and future of journalism, considering how the development of the industry has shaped the present and how we can expect the future to roll out. It addresses a wide range of questions, from whether objectivity was only a conceit of late twentieth century reporting, largely behind us now; how digital technology has disrupted journalism; whether newspapers are already dead to the role of non-profit journalism; the meaning of “transparency” in reporting; the way that private interests and governments have created their own advocacy journalism; whether social media is changing journalism; the new social rules of old media outlets; how franchised media is addressing the problem of disappearing local papers; and the rise of citizen journalism and hacker journalism. It will even look at the ways in which new technologies potentially threaten to replace journalists.
Introduction
Authors: Anderson C. W. , Downie Leonard , Schudson Michael
Published: November 2020

It might seem presumptuous to write a book promising readers “what everyone needs to know about the news media” in the year 2016.After all, it seems to many outside observers that the last two decades have transformed the news from something solid and understandable to...
History
Authors: Byman Daniel
Published: November 2020

What Was the Impact of the Anti-Soviet Jihad on the Jihadist Movement?

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, it set in motion a chain of events that would eventually lead to the creation of Al Qaeda. The Soviet occupation of, and eventual...
Suggestions for Further Reading
Authors: Byman Daniel
Published: November 2020

Al Qaeda is over 25 years old, and the broader jihadist movement is older still. Especially after 9/11, the appetite for books that could explain this group and the overall jihadist phenomenon was voracious, and many notable works appeared. Work is scant on the...
Key Attacks and Plots
Authors: Byman Daniel
Published: November 2020

Why Were the 1998 Embassy Attacks So Important?

The bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on August 7, 1998, killed 224 people—12 Americans and 212 Africans—and wounded thousands more. These bombings were a turning point in Al...
Ideas and Influences
Authors: Byman Daniel
Published: November 2020

What Are the Key Schools of Thought That Influence Salafi-Jihadism?

Al Qaeda and the broader Salafi-jihadist movement it seeks to lead are influenced by several overlapping schools of thought within Islam that have millions of adherents. However, few of these adherents embrace terrorism.
Beyond the Al Qaeda Core
Authors: Byman Daniel
Published: November 2020

What Are the Key Al Qaeda Affiliates?

In his May 23, 2013, speech on counterterrorism—perhaps his most important public statement on this issue so far—President Obama contended, “Today, the core of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on a path to defeat.” However,...
Introduction
Authors: Byman Daniel
Published: November 2020

Al Qaeda became a household name on the morning of September 11, 2001. But the terrorist organization that shocked the world and unleashed a whirlwind of controversial counterterrorism measures and two major wars had been on the scene long before that bloody day. I...
A Revolutionary Wave?
Authors: Gelvin James L.
Published: November 2020

What is the Arab world?

The phrase Arab world might be defined in two ways. First, it refers to a geographical expanse that stretches from North Africa to the western border of Iran (west to east), and from the southern border of...
The Beginning
Authors: Gelvin James L.
Published: November 2020

What characteristics do Tunisia and Egypt hold in common?

At first glance, it would seem that no two countries in the Arab world differ from each other more than Tunisia and Egypt. Egypt is the Arab world’s most populous country, with an official population...
The Regional and Global Meanings of the Arab Uprisings
Authors: Gelvin James L.
Published: November 2020

Did the Arab monarchies dodge the bullet during the uprisings?

There are more monarchies in the Arab world (eight) than in any other region, save Europe (in which there are twelve, if one includes the Vatican): Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar,...
How Widespread Is It?
Authors: Hinshaw Stephen P. , Ellison Katherine
Published: November 2020

How Prevalent is ADHD in the United States Today, for Both Children and Adults?

Before we answer this question, let’s be clear about the difference between a condition’s actual prevalence and its diagnosed prevalence. Prevalence of ADHD is just what it sounds...
What Causes It?
Authors: Hinshaw Stephen P. , Ellison Katherine
Published: November 2020

What is the Most Common Cause of ADHD? (Spoiler Alert: It Runs in Families)

ADHD can be caused by one or more of several different factors that we’ll list and explain in this chapter. But by far the single most common way to get...
How Does Adhd Change Over the Lifespan?
Authors: Hinshaw Stephen P. , Ellison Katherine
Published: November 2020

What Does ADHD Look Like in the Earliest Years of Life?

No one ever said it was easy to raise toddlers and preschoolers under the best of circumstances. Most parents quickly understand why the third year of life is known as the Terrible Twos....
How Much Does It Matter Who You Are and Where You Live?
Authors: Hinshaw Stephen P. , Ellison Katherine
Published: November 2020

How Do ADHD Rates Vary Between Males and Females?

An enduring myth about ADHD is that it affects only or mainly boys. For much of the twentieth century, five to as many as 10 boys for every girl were diagnosed with the disorder. More...
What Other Strategies May Be Helpful in Treating ADHD?
Authors: Hinshaw Stephen P. , Ellison Katherine
Published: November 2020

What Do We Know About the Value of Daily Exercise?

The evidence is solid and plentiful on this question: Regular, intense physical exercise is good for everyone’s brain and particularly helpful for the brains of people with ADHD. Scientists have known the basic truth...
What Do You Need to Know About the “ADHD Industrial Complex”?
Authors: Hinshaw Stephen P. , Ellison Katherine
Published: November 2020

What Do We Mean by the “ADHD Industrial Complex”?

We use this term to refer to the vast and mostly unregulated marketplace of touted but unproven treatments for ADHD. A few of these may be useful for some people, but most risk costing needless...
Conclusions and Recommendations
Authors: Hinshaw Stephen P. , Ellison Katherine
Published: November 2020

Can America’s Rate of ADHD Diagnoses Continue to Grow?

Indeed, it can. Even as, currently, a shocking one in five American boys has been diagnosed with ADHD, we believe this rate could escalate to one in four, or—in a worst-case scenario—even one in three...
The Colonial and Imperial Past
Authors: Roett Riordan
Published: November 2020

Who were the original Brazilians?

When the Portuguese discovered what is today Brazil, they encountered an Amerindian population living along the coast and in the basin of the Paraná and Paraguay Rivers. From early chronicles, the population was linguistically and culturally relatively homogeneous. While there...
From the Republic to the Estado Novo
Authors: Roett Riordan
Published: November 2020

Did the creation of the Republic contribute to the modernization of Brazil?

The overthrow of the empire redefined the political contours of Brazil. The two traditional parties of the empire imploded and were replaced with a national Republican Party. Decentralization of political power became a...
The Military in Power
Authors: Roett Riordan
Published: November 2020

Did the first phase of the military government (1964–1967) offer any hope of a return to electoral democracy?

First and foremost, from the perspective of the military, Brazil’s slide into a communist state had been stopped—and just in time. The task at hand, given the...
Foreign Affairs
Authors: Roett Riordan
Published: November 2020

Why are diplomatic relations between the United States and Brazil so unpredictable?

Although Brazil is a large country, it is not a powerful country. The asymmetries between the United States and Brazil are an important irritant in the bilateral relationship. For more than a century,...
Personalized Medicine
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

What is personalized medicine?

The practice of medicine has always been personal. Doctors use extensive personal information about a patient—including medical history, physical exam, vital signs, family history, laboratory measures, and imaging tests—to determine a patient’s risk for certain diseases and to make diagnoses....
Genome Fundamentals
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

When we visit the doctor, we are commonly asked to fill out a questionnaire about our family medical history, including major diseases such as cancer and heart disease experienced by our parents, siblings, and children. This is a rough way of gauging our risk...
Solving Mystery Diseases
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

What is a mystery genetic disease?

Diseases of genetic origin might cause symptoms at birth or manifest later in life. By age 25, more than 5% of the population has a disorder that has an important genetic component. Thus approximately 16 million people in...
Genomics for the Healthy Person
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

Would knowing your genome affect the disease you might get, the job you choose, the sports you play, and the food you eat? Here we explore the role of knowing your genome sequence if you are healthy.
Prenatal Testing
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

How are genome sequencing technologies changing prenatal testing?

One area where genomics is revolutionizing current practice is prenatal DNA testing. Prenatal DNA testing is a common practice used to monitor whether fetuses may have abnormal chromosome numbers (aneuploidy), which occurs about once in every...
Other ‘Omes
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

What other ‘omes are useful for medicine?

Although the genome and epigenome can provide substantial information about our health, they do not give a complete picture of a disease and how it should best be treated. Other detailed molecular “omic” analyses also can provide...
The Personal Microbiome
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

What is the microbiome?

Although your body comprises an enormous number of cells (10-30 trillion), there are even more—in fact, five to ten times as many cells in and on you that are not you: they are bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. These single-celled...
Your Immune System and Infectious Diseases
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

How does your immune system protect you?

You likely have heard of “bubble kids,” namely, children who lack an immune system and are forced to live in a sterile environment. If they encounter a pathogen, a virus, or bacteria that can harm them, they...
Delivery of Genomic Information
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

“As more genomic applications become relevant to patient care, inherent tensions arise between the status quo in health care practice and potentially transformative approaches.”
Privacy
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

Can people be identified solely from their genome sequence?

Identify theft is a significant concern in the financial sector as compromise of the privacy of financial data can create personal havoc. Is this a significant concern for genomic information? Genomic sequencing has the potential...
Paying for Personalized Medicine
Authors: Snyder Michael
Published: November 2020

Who pays for genome sequencing in treating disease?

Although it can be easily argued that genome sequencing can be used beneficially, probably the biggest detriment to implementing genomic medicine is: Who pays? Presently, many insurance companies will reimburse for sequencing the tumor genomes of...
Introduction
Authors: Kreps Sarah E.
Published: November 2020

Not a day goes by without another spectacular story about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones: Amazon announces it will deliver packages via drones, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) worries that drones given as holiday gifts will become safety hazards as...
Armed Drone Technology
Authors: Kreps Sarah E.
Published: November 2020

Over the last decade, the United States went from having unarmed surveillance drones to sophisticated armed drones capable of conducting prolonged surveillance and then killing the target. This chapter will take stock of those developments by answering a number of questions that provide context...
Proliferation of Drones to Other Countries
Authors: Kreps Sarah E.
Published: November 2020

As earlier chapters suggest, the United States has been, by far, the country leading the use of armed drones. Having used drones first in Afghanistan in 2001, in Yemen in 2002, then in Pakistan in 2004, the United States has come to rely on...
Drones for the Ground and Sea
Authors: Kreps Sarah E.
Published: November 2020

Until this point, the discussion has focused on drones as unmanned aerial technology. This is consistent with how the term “drone” is conventionally used. It is also consistent with the way many countries have channeled their unmanned resources. The United States’ unmanned...
The Future of Drones: Nano, Autonomous Systems, and Science Fiction
Authors: Kreps Sarah E.
Published: November 2020

The next phase of development in unmanned technologies is likely to take place in micro/nanoscale technologies or autonomous systems, both of which stand to change the way drones are used and which each present a new set of debates. As Vice puts...
Are We Heading Back to the Victorian Age?
Authors: Galbraith James K.
Published: November 2020

In his important book published in 2014, Capital in the Twenty-first Century, Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics has argued that, as a matter of fundamental tendency, capitalist systems produce rising inequalities in income and especially in wealth.1...
A Note on Wealth and Power
Authors: Galbraith James K.
Published: November 2020

“Wealth, as Mr. Hobbes says, is power.” Adam Smith wrote that, and I’ve already quoted it. It is the beginning and end of economic comments on the subject of wealth. And power.

We have only touched lightly on wealth so far in this volume,...
What is Chronic Pain?
Authors: Foreman Judy
Published: November 2020

What is pain?

The official definition of pain is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” This comes from the International Association for the Study of Pain, the world’s top pain research...
The Opioid Mess in the United States
Authors: Foreman Judy
Published: November 2020

What is the “opioid mess”?

It’s the fact that we have two colliding epidemics: the epidemic of chronic pain, which receives almost no media coverage, and the epidemic of opioid abuse, which receives a lot.

A 2014 report from a workshop on opioids and chronic...
The Opioid Mess Worldwide
Authors: Foreman Judy
Published: November 2020

On June 1, 2014, in India, the parents of an eight-year-old boy watched in horror as he writhed in pain from a severe genetic disorder. The hospital, like most other hospitals in India, had no morphine. Eventually, the parents did the only thing they could...
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments for Chronic Pain
Authors: Foreman Judy
Published: November 2020

What is “complementary,” “alternative,” or “integrative” medicine?

The names are confusing, but people now use the terms “complementary” and “integrative” to refer to acupuncture, massage, herbs, guided imagery, hypnosis, meditation, yoga—the list goes on and on—to convey the idea that these techniques are used along...
The Way Forward
Authors: Foreman Judy
Published: November 2020

In the past few decades, people with AIDS, breast cancer, disabilities, and other conditions have managed—by banding together, shedding their shame, and taking to the streets—to put their diseases on the world’s radar screen.

Haggard men with AIDS hung quilts in cities around the world...
Health Care Reform and American Politics
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence , Skocpol Theda
Published: November 2020

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama in March 2010 is a landmark in U.S. social legislation, and the Supreme Court's recent decision upholding the Act has ensured that it will remain the law of the land. The new law extends health insurance to nearly all Americans, fulfilling a century-long quest and bringing the United States to parity with other industrial nations. Affordable Care aims to control rapidly rising health care costs and promises to make the United States more equal, reversing four decades of rising disparities between the very rich and everyone else. Millions of people of modest means will gain new benefits and protections from insurance company abuses - and the tab will be paid by privileged corporations and the very rich. How did such a bold reform effort pass in a polity wracked by partisan divisions and intense lobbying by special interests? What does Affordable Care mean-and what comes next? In this updated edition of Health Care Reform and American Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Lawrence R. Jacobs and Theda Skocpol-two of the nation's leading experts on politics and health care policy-provide a concise and accessible overview. They explain the political battles of 2009 and 2010, highlighting White House strategies, the deals Democrats cut with interest groups, and the impact of agitation by Tea Partiers and progressives. Jacobs and Skocpol spell out what the new law can do for everyday Americans, what it will cost, and who will pay. In a new section, they also analyze the impact the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the law. Above all, they explain what comes next, as critical yet often behind-the-scenes battles rage over implementing reform nationally and in the fifty states. Affordable Care still faces challenges at the state level despite the Court ruling. But, like Social Security and Medicare, it could also gain strength and popularity as the majority of Americans learn what it can do for them.
Why Now? Broken Health Care and an Opportunity for Change
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence R. , Skocpol Theda
Published: November 2020

Major reforms such as Social Security, Civil Rights, or Medicare are enacted in American democracy only when the stars align just right. Problems such as elderly poverty or racial oppression can fester for a very long time before reforms are even attempted—and attempts can...
The Year of Pitched Battles: Who Fought for What, Why, and How
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence R. , Skocpol Theda
Published: November 2020

Few Americans closely follow legislation as it inches through Congress. Life is too short and we have other important things to do. Headlines float by; talking heads yell at each other on TV; our Senator or Representative sends a newsletter explaining his or her...
How the Scott Brown Upset Strengthened Health Reform
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence R. , Skocpol Theda
Published: November 2020

Conventional wisdom in U.S. politics can turn on a dime—and turn again. It happens all the time, yet the winter of 2010 will go down in history for especially dizzying gyrations. First health care reform was a nearly done deal; the boring business of...
Will Health Reform Succeed?
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence R. , Skocpol Theda
Published: November 2020

“It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” The wisdom of Yogi Berra obviously applies in his own world of sports, where shocking reversals—sudden or protracted—can undo seemingly inevitable victories, not to mention certain defeats. Driving toward the end zone in the final seconds of a...
Introduction: A Turning Point for U.S. Health Care and Politics
Authors: Jacobs Lawrence R. , Skocpol Theda
Published: November 2020

On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, several hundred people crowded into the East Room of the White House to witness President Barack Obama sign into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The mood was exultant, and the President was interrupted “repeatedly with cheers,...
Introduction
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

Should marijuana be legalized?

If you picked up this book in search of a clear yes or no answer, consider putting it back on the shelf. We won’t tell you how you should vote. We instead want to help you reach your own informed...
What Is Marijuana?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

What does “marijuana” mean?

“Marijuana” is the common (and legal) American term for the dried flowers and leaves of the plant Cannabis sativa, and for the plant itself. The flowers contain concentrated amounts of psychoactive (mood-​altering) chemicals known as cannabinoids (produced only...
Who Uses Marijuana?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

How many people use marijuana?

Marijuana is the world’s most widely used illicit substance. Around the world, between 125 million and 225 million people use marijuana in the course of a year; that’s 3–​4 percent of the population aged 15 to 64. The amphetamine-​type...
What Are the Risks of Using Marijuana?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

Why is it difficult to measure the consequences of marijuana use?

Marijuana use carries risks. Some are well established; some are probably real; some turn out to be mostly imaginary. Measuring the extent of marijuana-​related damage to users, their families, their neighbors, and the...
What Is Known About the Nonmedical Benefits of Using Marijuana?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

Astoundingly little. Much is claimed, but little is known.

One thing is certain: people across the globe have enjoyed it for thousands of years, and more than 100 million do so today. Users report that getting high is relaxing and pleasurable, and that it...
What Are the Medical Benefits of Marijuana?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

Is marijuana medicine?

Marijuana products used for medical purposes range from conventional cannabis flowers to synthetic cannabinoids produced in a lab. Even among plant extracts, there’s a contrast between boutique oils made by individual farmers and processors (e.g., Charlotte’s Web, which is discussed in...
What Are the Pros and Cons of Legalization Generally?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

What does it mean to legalize a drug?

Legalization means allowing production, distribution, and selling of a drug. Possession and use would be legal for all or most adults, albeit subject to the general rules governing any form of commerce—​for example, the prohibition on...
Between Marijuana Prohibition and Commercial Legalization: Is There Any Middle Ground?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

Are there options in between prohibition and commercial legalization?

Yes. It’s possible to move a meaningful distance away from prohibition without jumping all the way to the sort of alcohol-​style commercial availability described in ­chapter 9.

Discussions of marijuana policy in the...
Where Are We, and How Did We Get Here?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

How many states have legalized or decriminalized marijuana?

Many states have liberalized their marijuana laws; the exact count depends on the definitions one uses.

As of the fall of 2015, four states have legalized commercial for-​profit industries to produce marijuana for general adult use,...
What’s Really Happening in Medical-Marijuana States?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

When did medical-marijuana get started in the United States?

Marijuana has been used for therapeutic purposes for thousands of years (see ­chapter 5). However, in medicine as in other uses, marijuana had been largely replaced with newer substitutes even before it became...
What Is Happening in Colorado and Washington?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

If Uruguay, Alaska, and Oregon have all legalized, why focus on Colorado and Washington?

As of this writing, five major jurisdictions have legalized large-​scale production and retail sale for nonmedical purposes: Colorado and Washington State in 2012, Uruguay in 2013, and Alaska and Oregon...
What Is Happening in Alaska, Oregon, Jamaica, and Uruguay?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

As noted in Chapter 14, five major jurisdictions have legalized large-​scale production for nonmedical purposes: Colorado and Washington State in 2012, Uruguay in 2013, and Alaska and Oregon in 2014. And there is Jamaica, whose 2015 law theoretically allows large-​scale production only...
What Might the Future Hold?
Authors: Caulkins Jonathan P. , Kilmer Beau , Kleiman Mark A.R.
Published: November 2020

As both Yogi Berra and Werner Heisenberg pointed out, it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future. Many of the forecasts below are likely to turn out to be wrong. But there can still be value in trying to think systematically about the...
Introduction
Authors: Mahoney Richard D.
Published: November 2020

In no more than 20 years during the first part of the 16th century, a few hundred Spanish conquistadores crushed three Indian empires, ultimately delivering 25 million new subjects from the New World to the Spanish king, along with a realm stretching...
The Drug War II
Authors: Mahoney Richard D.
Published: November 2020

Why did threat of extradition to the United States cause the drug lords to engage in mass bloodshed in the 1980s?

In the mid-1980s, the Medellín drug lords were at the peak of their power. By this time, Escobar’s million-dollar payoffs to politicians and...
In Search of Peace
Authors: Mahoney Richard D.
Published: November 2020

What happened to the peace accord between the FARC and the Colombian government?

The national plebiscite to approve the peace treaty seemed like a shoo-in. On September 26, 2016, six days before the vote, in an atmosphere of national celebration, there was a theatrically-staged...
The Liberal Revolution and the Conservative “Regeneration”
Authors: Mahoney Richard D.
Published: November 2020

What changes did independence bring?

Independence had torn through Spanish America like a great storm, in the telling metaphor of John Lynch, “sweeping away the lines of attachment to Spain and the fabric of colonial government, but leaving intact the deeply rooted bases of...
Enhancement, Technology, and Fairness in Competitive Sport
Authors: Simon Robert L.
Published: November 2020

What are the key issues raised by advances in technology and pharmacology in sports? What other areas raise issues about safety in sports, and how should they be addressed?

In the 2008 Olympics and Short Course Championships, as well as the 2009 World Championships,...
Competitive Sport: Education or Mis-Education?
Authors: Simon Robert L.
Published: November 2020

Is there an historical connection between sport and education?

In the West at least, organized competitive sport goes back beyond the founding of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, probably around 776 B.C.E. Athletic contests surely are likely to be even older. As philosopher...
Sports, Equity, and Society
Authors: Simon Robert L.
Published: November 2020

Should sports be independent of politics? Shouldn’t politics be kept out of sports?

If sport is an activity involved with what we have called a mutual quest for excellence, shouldn’t it occupy its own world in which, as in the arts, we focus on...
Concluding Comment: The Two Sides of the Force, or Are Sports So Great after All?
Authors: Simon Robert L.
Published: November 2020

Are the core values of sport always morally good ones?

The mutualist presents sports as ethically defensible and even as promoting human flourishing. Some wonder: doesn’t this perspective ignore less attractive core values of sport that are not ethically defensible? These questions can be...
What Is The Campaign Finance Problem?
Authors: Mutch Robert E.
Published: November 2020

This is the most basic question about campaign finance, and it is where differences of opinion begin. The disagreement is between those who think there is a problem that should be solved by passing reform laws, and those who think that the real problem...
Watergate and Buckley V. Valeo
Authors: Mutch Robert E.
Published: November 2020

Congress passed the 1974 FECA amendments in response to the Watergate scandal. The amendments were the most comprehensive revision of campaign finance law in history, but they incorporated most of the laws that had been on the books since the Tillman Act in 1907....
Disclosure and the Federal Election Commission
Authors: Mutch Robert E.
Published: November 2020

The point of disclosure is to let voters see who is financing election campaigns. That was why the Supreme Court upheld the disclosure law in Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United, and that was the purpose of the law when...
Political Action Committees
Authors: Mutch Robert E.
Published: November 2020

Non-party organizations form political action committees (PACs) to make the campaign contributions the FECA bans them from making themselves. The FEC defines every PAC as belonging to one of two broad categories: connected and nonconnected. Nearly all connected PACs were formed by corporations, trade...
Super Pacs
Authors: Mutch Robert E.
Published: November 2020

Super PACs are independent expenditure committees that can take contributions of any size from any American individual, corporation, or labor union, and spend without limit. They made a huge splash when they were first formed in 2010, turning candidates’ attention away from the merely...
Conclusion
Authors: Mutch Robert E.
Published: November 2020

Even a week can be a long time in politics, so predictions about longer periods should be made, and read, with caution. That said, it does not feel like much of a risk to say that the future looks bright for opponents of reform....
Chronology
Authors: Mutch Robert E.
Published: November 2020

1907

An Act To prohibit corporations from making money contributions in connection with political elections (Public Law 59-36, Tillman Act)

http://legisworks.org/congress/59/session-2/publaw-36.pdf Chap. 420

This was the first federal campaign finance law. The original bill was drafted and introduced by Senator William E. Chandler (R-NH)...
What is a Vaccine and How do Vaccines Work?
Authors: Feemster Kristen A.
Published: November 2020

A vaccine is a substance that is given to a person or animal to protect it from a particular pathogen—a bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease. The vaccine prompts an immune response in the body that produces antibodies, which are proteins that...
A Brief History of Vaccines
Authors: Feemster Kristen A.
Published: November 2020

The conceptual foundations of vaccination were first documented in ancient Greece, where physicians observed that getting infected with a virus could prevent reinfection with that same virus. In 900–1000 a.d., early forms of the modern vaccine were developed in China when physicians first noted that...
Vaccine Safety
Authors: Feemster Kristen A.
Published: November 2020

“Are vaccines safe?” has become one of the most hotly contested and politically charged questions in contemporary culture, fueled in no small part by voracious online debates, peer-to-peer influence, and source information of varying degrees of quality and accuracy. Along with questions related to possible...
The Vaccine Schedule
Authors: Feemster Kristen A.
Published: November 2020

The centerpiece of any immunization program is its immunization schedule, a national standard of practice for which vaccines are administered and when. The governmental groups that create immunization schedules consider a range of factors in doing so, including the vaccine’s potential to improve the country’s...
Vaccine Hesitancy
Authors: Feemster Kristen A.
Published: November 2020

Questions regarding the benefits of vaccines and their safety have persisted since vaccines were first introduced during the 18th century. As widespread vaccination has caused the prevalence of vaccine-preventable diseases to decrease, public concern for the threat of these diseases has decreased, too. This has...
What is Corruption?
Authors: Fisman Ray , Golden Miriam A.
Published: November 2020

Before we can consider the causes and consequences of corruption, or what to do about it, we need to have a common understanding of what we mean when we talk about corruption. This necessarily precedes our discussion of how we measure the extent of corruption...
What are the Consequences of Corruption?
Authors: Fisman Ray , Golden Miriam A.
Published: November 2020

In the previous chapter, we took an agnostic view of whether corruption causes poverty, poverty causes corruption, or if some other factor—call it general dysfunction or poor governance—causes a society to be both corrupt and impoverished. On the basis of cross-country data alone, it’s hard...
Who is Involved in Corruption, and Why?
Authors: Fisman Ray , Golden Miriam A.
Published: November 2020

In laying out the corruption-as-equilibrium concept that serves as our book’s primary framework, we emphasize that citizens, companies, and public officials take bribes because they are better off individually by doing so, even if their actions are collectively harmful to society. In this chapter, we...
What are the Cultural Bases of corruption?
Authors: Fisman Ray , Golden Miriam A.
Published: November 2020

For social scientists, the term “culture” evokes a particular meaning: it’s a combination of values and norms that defines how individuals in a society behave and interact. We’ll see that the “norms” part of this definition of culture aligns nicely with the idea of equilibrium...
How should we think about death and dying?
Authors: Sumner L. W.
Published: November 2020

How do we tell when death has occurred?

The answer to this question might seem straightforward: you are dead when you have stopped breathing and your heart has stopped beating. It’s actually a little more complicated than that since both respiration and circulation can stop...
What is end-of-life care?
Authors: Sumner L. W.
Published: November 2020

What is the end of life?

The short answer to this question is pretty obvious: death. But we can be a little more relaxed about it. Patients who die of chronic diseases such as cancer usually enter a phase in the latter stages of their...
What is the ethical case in favor of physician-assisted death?
Authors: Sumner L. W.
Published: November 2020

What is the argument from well-being?

We now begin our inquiry into the ethical status of physician-assisted death, stating the case in favor in this chapter and the case against in the next. The former task is relatively straightforward since the principal arguments for the...
What is the ethical case against?
Authors: Sumner L. W.
Published: November 2020

What is the right to life?

Making the case in favor of physician-assisted death was a relatively straightforward exercise. Whether it took a consequentialist or a deontological form, the argument appealed to the two basic values of patient well-being and patient autonomy, the same values...
What is the history of legal physician-assisted death?
Authors: Sumner L. W.
Published: November 2020

Is it legal for patients to refuse life-sustaining treatment?

Earlier (Chapter 2) we encountered the doctrine of informed consent as a cornerstone of biomedical ethics and noted how it entails the patient’s right to refuse treatment. In addition to its ethical status, however,...
What are the options for a legal regime?
Authors: Sumner L. W.
Published: November 2020

Must the illness be terminal?

The historical sketch in the previous chapter should make it clear that policies of legal physician-assisted death can come in various shapes and sizes. The legal regime in place in Switzerland differs in many respects from that of the Benelux...
What might lie further down the road?
Authors: Sumner L. W.
Published: November 2020

What is nonvoluntary physician-assisted death?

We have now surveyed all of the ethical and legal issues concerning physician-assisted death, with one major exception. Thus far we have confined ourselves to PAD that is voluntary, meaning that it is freely chosen by the patient at the...
Mexico’s Political Development
Authors: Ai Camp Roderic
Published: November 2020

When did Mexico become democratic?

When countries begin a process of changing from one political model to another, the transition can occur quickly or slowly and can be brought about peacefully or violently. Mexico evolved under a political model that can be described as having...
Mexico’s Democratic Consolidation
Authors: Ai Camp Roderic
Published: November 2020

Politics of Democracy

Why was the 2000 presidential race essential to Mexico’s democratization?

Democratic theorists argue that one of the ultimate political tests of a democratic model is whether national elections result in an alternation of those in power, especially in the executive branch, where...
What Lies Ahead?
Authors: Ai Camp Roderic
Published: November 2020

It is clear from the answers to the questions in this book that Mexico faces many difficult challenges. Some of these are long term, others more immediate. Regardless of which issues one considers to have top priority, most will be affected directly or indirectly by...