For many journalists, politicians and political scientists ministerial cabinets in Belgium equal political power. Moreover they argue that this power is, if not illegitimate, at least problematic, and so ministerial cabinets have become one of the most criticised institutions in the Belgian political system. Yet, the lack of empirical data on this controversial topic is striking, certainly when compared to the vast academic attention given to other political agents. There is an urgent need for empirical substance to the debate. This (...) incited us to set up an extensive political-sociological study on the Belgian and Flemish ministerial cabinets.In this article we present the first stage of our study: a classic insight in the composition of ministerial cabinets and - to a lesser extent - in the work environment offered by ministerial cabinets of the former government. A first descriptive analysis seems to underpin the commonly held idea of cabinets as networking, loyal, and flexible brain trusts. (shrink)

Summary This paper investigates the ties of the Statilius family to the Caesarian party and to Roman politics more generally during the last decades of the Roman Republic. After establishing the gens Statilia's origin and potential political position in Lucania, it contests earlier suppositions about what started the family's prominence in Rome proper. The paper argues that, instead of the Statilii catapulting into prominence at Rome during the time of the Augustan novus homo Titus Statilius Taurus, their involvement began earlier, (...) as part of the equestrian branch of the conspiratorial followers of Catiline, a datum which might provide enlightenment about the „missing clients“ of Julius Caesar's early career. (shrink)

This paper analyzes the relationship between public and private domains in contemporary Danish organizations by examining their increasing focus on the personal health situation of employees, and, more specifically, their body weight. This paper combines literature on identity and management with governmentality-inspired research on risk, morality and the body. The aim of this paper is to show that overweight people are perceived as “risk identities”, i.e. problem people who automatically call for personal management. The author demonstrates that besides the unintended (...) effect of categorizing overweight employees as problem people, this management goal also run counter to the declared value regarding respect for diversity in contemporary organizations. Based on in-depth interviews with managers and recorded talks between health consultants and overweight employees, this paper emphasizes processes that subordinate employees and restrict their autonomy. (shrink)

This article explores how the guidelines for personality assessments in two Danish rehabilitation organizations influence the actual evaluation of clients. The analysis shows how staff members produce institutional identities corresponding to organizational categories, which very often have little or no relevance for the clients evaluated. The goal of the article is to demonstrate how the institutional complex that frames the work of the organizations produces the client types pertaining to that organization. The rehabilitation organizations’ local history, legislation, along with the (...) structural features of the labour market and social work result in a number of contradictions that make it difficult to deliver client-centred care. According to the staff, this is one of the most important aims of “good” social work. (shrink)

Anonymous verse work on Indic philosophy and self-realization; with interpretive notes.

Theory of Computation -- Mathematical Logic and Formal Languages.

kerekh 1. Av-Hanaḳah -- kerekh 2. Haskamah mi-daʻat-Ṭeḥol -- kerekh 3. Ṭerefah-Milah -- kerekh 4. Mimun ha-refuʼah-Sodiyut refuʼit -- kerekh 5. Sikun ʻatsmi-Ḳaṭan -- kerekh 6. Reʼot-Torat ha-musar.

[Ḥeleḳ rishon] Or Torah, ʻavodat ha-tefilah, darkhe ha-Ḥasidut, ḥinukh ha-banim, maśa u-matan be-emunah, midot ṭovot -- Ḥeleḳ sheni. Miḳṿeh meṭaher, ʻavodat ha-tefilah, hanhagat ha-shulḥan, or Torah.