Why Fast Trains Work: An Assessment of a Fast Regional Rail System in Perth, Australia

Perth’s new 72 km long Southern Rail System opened in 2007. With a maximum speed of 137 km/hr and an average speed of almost 90 km/hr this system acts more like a new high speed rail than a suburban rail system, which in Australia typically averages around 40 km/hr for an all-stops services. The Southern Rail Line was very controversial when being planned as the urban areas served are not at all typical of those normally provided with rail but instead were highly car dependent and scattered low density land uses. Nevertheless it has been remarkably successful, carrying over 70,000 people per day (five times the patronage on the express buses it replaced) and has reached the patronage levels predicted for 2021 a decade ahead of time. The reasons for this success are analyzed and include well-designed interchanges, careful integration of bus services, the use of integrated ticketing and fares without transfer penalties and, crucially the high speed of the system when compared to competing car based trips. The Southern Rail Line in effect explodes the current paradigm of transfer penalties, exposing this as a myth. The lessons for transport planning in low density cities are significant, and are explored further in the paper.

The Institutionalization of One Man Rule and the Politics of Succession and Patronage in Zimbabwe

This paper interrogates the issues of leadership and succession in Zimbabwe and how a political culture of institutionalized power have played in sustaining one man rule in Zimbabwe in both the ruling party and in opposition political parties. Robert Mugabe has been the leader of both Zimbabwe and his party, the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front （ZANU PF）, for more than three decades. Morgan Tsvangirai has been at the helm of the Movement for Democratic Change （MDC） for the past 15 years. Calls for leadership change have divided the MDC and a splinter party MDC Renewal, has been formed as a protest to Tsvangirai＇s grip on power in the main opposition party. The purging of the voices of dissent in Zimbabwe＇s two main political parties resembles a revolution devouting its own children, or the case of a hen eating its own eggs. In ZANU PF, different factions are wrestling each other to succeed Mugabe but they have not been open about their struggles for power for fear of backlash from Mugabe. The main question is： Why is there a culture of one man rule in Zimbabwe？ How has the Zimbabwean political culture of neo-patrimonialism played a part in long term leadership in Zimbabwean political parties？ Is the one man leadership in the MDC an offshoot from the ZANU PF culture of one man rule？ What is the relationship between the civilian leadership and the military？ The main focus of this paper is on how Mugabe has entrenched an authoritarian system of rule through the manipulation of state structures and a political culture of intolerance, patronage and plunder of national resources.

The Use of Sectarian Ties Inside Syrian Modern Political System

This article explores the concept of sects as social formations and the process of secularization sects has been undergone in the modern era, implying their exposition to political manipulation by various internal and external actors. We analyse this subject in the context of the modern Syrian State and, in particular, with reference to the political system established by President Hafez al-Asad in the 70’s. The use of sectarian ties appears as part of the regime patrimonial features, being a political strategy used in order to bind particular society’s groups to the regime. In this sense, sectarianism has nothing to do with religion and it requires to be analysed as a socio-political phenomenon. This kind of analysis permits also to confute the identification between the Asad regime and the Alawite community and to understand the complexity of the relation between the President and the community he originated from.

The Manipulation of Power Discourse on Religious Translation Both in the West and in China

As a cross-lingual, cross-cultural, cross-time-and-space communication, religious translation has inevitably been stamped, from the very beginning, with the brand of ideology and has, more or less, been restrained by political factors there and then. The translated version, very often, cannot truly mirror the essence of the source text mainly because translation is manipulated by the power discourse in the target culture.

＂Trades＂ and ＂Social Membership＂ into the Context of Feudal Friulian Society during Late Middle Ages （13th Century- 1511）

It is a very hard job for historians to keep themselves neutrals in from of the events they find during their studies. It is also difficult to notice the correlations among the different times of the history without falling in anachronistic mistakes. In fact, it is well-known that a historian must be wise and rational when he finds those correlations, because every society has its own characteristics, structures, and mentality. This brief essay focuses on the social structures in a north eastern italic region, which is called Friuli, between the 12th and 16th centuries. In the above mentioned centuries, it is possible to notice an evolution from a feudal ecclesiastical principality, ruled by prince-patriarchs, ecclesiastical institutions and nobility, to a more fluid and dynamic constitution formed by new classes which rose up in times of urban and economic development. But this development struggles to delete the old system, which persisted until the end of 18th century with the arrival of Napoleon. The transition from the Patriarch＇s power to Venice＇s dominion seems to have created two main consequences： by one hand a more bureaucratic and modem structure of the State, by the other hand a consolidation of the old connections between patrons and clients, consequence of the ＂modem＂ feudal system that consolidated its roots in the Late Middle Ages centuries.

A Comparative Study on Two English Versions of "Cai Wei" From the Perspective of Lefevere's Manipulation Theory

"Cai Wei",an ancient Chinese poem from a poetry collection called Shi Jing,has been translated into English by many people,while those English versiom differ.According to Andre Lefevere's Manipulation Theory,the three main factors that manipulate translation are patronage,ideology,arid poetics.This translation theory can be well applied in the analysis and appreciation of English versions of"Cai Wei".The factors that manipulate the two versiom,respectively translated by Xu Yuanchong and Ezra Pound,can be located through detailed analyses and comparison between the chosen versions from the perspective of the Manipulation Theory.More specifically,it is Xu's readers,personal experiences,traditional Chinese philosophy and ideology,as well as the theories of the former Chinese translators that constitute the major manipulating factors that influenced his Chinese-oriented translation;for Pound,his English-oriented translation was affected by his avantgarde readers,Ernest Fenollosa and imagism.

Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, Allegories of Love： Emblematic Ardor

Giovanni Antonio Bazzi （1477-1549）, also known as I1 Sodoma, was a Milanese painter who developed his mature style in Siena during the early Cinquecento. Between 1505 and 1510, under the tutelage of the Chigi and Petrucci families, Bazzi depicted mythological paintings focusing on the personifications of love both terrestrial and celestial. This paper looks at two such works. In one, there hangs on a sycamore tree a classical cartello with the Latin inscription Celestes, meaning celestial or heavenly, providing the title for the painting Amore Celeste （Celestial Love, Figure 3）. A woman, as the personification of love, stands in front of two altars. She ignites one urn with fire and at the same time pours water over another burning fire. In the second work, a tondo with the theme of Terrestrial Love and Celestial Love, Bazzi considered the mischievousness of Venus＇ children Eros and Anteros （Figure 12）. These paintings are mythological and poetical delights with complex symbolism, here analyzed in terms of their iconography in relation to classical influences and Renaissance Neoplatonic love or furor divinus. The paradoxical quest of Renaissance Neoplatonic love was to fuse pagan love with Christian love. For the humanists of the time （Bembo, Colonna, Poliziano, Ficino and Pico） this moral dilemma was a philosophical puzzle, but for artists （Botticelli, Nicoletto da Modena, Pinturicchio and Bazzi） the theme was a pictorial challenge.

Empirical Study of Parameters of Airlines Sustainability in Nigerian Domestic Network

Sustainability was investigated in the ability to reliably anticipate airline market share, which is critical for effective business strategy. As a result, a model was created to address the issue of airline market share across all Nigerian airport routes. The model took into account the explanatory variables average fares paid by various airlines passengers, number of competitors at each route, frequency of flight, and the total number of enplaned passengers. The model illustrated how it may be used to determine an airline’s sustainability. It was observed that all of the parameters in the model were statistically significant and exhibited the predicted signs. As a result, the market share of Nigerian airlines can assess the sustainability of Nigerian airlines. As a result, it is proposed that the federal government and aviation regulatory bodies provide a level playing field to all commercial airline operators, without any kind of protectionism. Airlines’ services should be completely deregulated, and the forces of perfect market competition should drive the airline’s overall health. The government should provide a fair and supportive climate for airline operators as soon as possible. The ease of doing airline business must be implemented honestly and competitively. The degree of competition has a detrimental impact on the airline’s market share, especially if the airline operates in a regulated market. As a result, perfect competition for the airline should be promoted.

Patronage and Community in Medieval China:The Xiangyang Garrison,400-600 CE.(Andrew Chittick,New York:State of New York Press,2009)

Andrew Chittick先生的Patronage and Community in Medieval China:The Xiangyang Garison,400-600 CE.(《中古中國的庇護制與共同體:公元4-6世紀的襄陽地區》)一書,出版於2009年,是英文學界第一部系統研究4—6世紀南朝史的著作。~①作者並不諱言自己在理論上的野心。

Poetry Translation as Rewriting:A Case Study of Zhang Zhizhong’s Reading English Literature to Translate Classical Chinese Poems

In the summer of 2023,Zhang Zhizhong’s Reading English Literature to Translate Classical Chinese Poems got published as one of the“Comparative Literature and World Literature Research Series”edited by Cao Shunqing.It presents Zhang’s latest theory and praxis of translating classical Chinese poems.As a kind of rewriting,Zhang’s translations are similar to modern English poems—with creative expressions in contemporary English,the enjambments from free verses,the form of concrete poetry,and the artistic conceptions of classical Chinese poetry,but without the rhymes in original works.How this poetry translation as rewriting generates in the constraints of ideology,poetics,and patronage is to be analyzed in the light of AndréLefevere’s rewriting theory.By examining the non-textual factors related to Zhang’s rewriting,it aims to reveal how this rewriting,as an experimental approach to poetry translation,can shed light on the global circulation of Chinese poetry.

The politics of anti-corruption reforms and reversals in Uganda’s changing political terrain

The article discusses the increasing levels of public sector corruption despite the NRM government’s pursuing of accountability reforms and anti-corruption policy strategies.It asserts that having an impressive legal and institutional framework in place to enhance accountability and control corrupt tendencies may not be enough if political factors are ignored.In the absence of exemplary political leadership and support to institutions that enforce compliance,fighting corruption will remain a far cry.The article further argues that in circumstances where the political terrain ascribes to patron-client and neo-patrimonial instruments to consolidate and retain power,curbing public sector corruption will be elusive.The article insists that fighting public sector corruption largely depends on political commitment and less on the semblance of laws,institutions and technocrats.