Thai premier will ride out pandemic-related criticism

Significance The move is ostensibly designed to strengthen Prayut’s ability to manage the country’s third wave of COVID-19 infections, but the government’s opponents fear that it will give the premier greater latitude to clamp down on dissent. A protest movement challenging Prayut’s administration and the monarchy has lost momentum in recent months. Impacts Plans to reopen popular tourist destinations under a special scheme will probably face delays due to the surging coronavirus caseload. The government will step up pandemic-related stimulus measures, including cash handouts for households and soft loans for small businesses. Prayut will likely use his new powers to increase governmental surveillance and censorship.

Religion Unleashed

Building on the previous chapter, this chapter argues that religious innovation among student activists has also been enabled by the fall of Suharto’s New Order regime in 1998. Unlike life during authoritarianism, democracy meant that religious identity is no longer subject to the same degree of microscopic governmental surveillance. People are able to try on different religious identities as they join various ideological groups at once, or move between them, and pursue different strategies to deal with the enlargement of secular liberal ideals in this context. The flurry of religious improvisation produces the counter-intuitive patterns of Islamists emerging from secular schools and liberal Muslims from madrasas.

Surveillance and Privacy Protection in Latin America

This chapter covers surveillance and privacy protection in Latin America providing examples, principles, and suggestions. The first part offers an overview of governmental surveillance regulation through an analysis of existing legislation in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. It should be noted that this analysis merely seeks to identify trends in legal frameworks, rather than provide a comprehensive account of existing laws. Regulating state surveillance and creating a precedent of rights protection both off- and online is critical. To provide a more nuanced and updated understanding of how human rights should be protected online, the second part of this chapter examines several sets of principles that have been created by civil society actors, technical experts, and human rights specialists. The chapter compares those principles with the actual legislation in the four countries surveyed. Finally, the chapter concludes with some suggestions for future policymaking concerning communications interceptions and surveillance in Latin America.

Governmental surveillance system of healthcare-associated infection in Brazil

Objective: This study aimed to describe the structure of governmental surveillance systems for Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) in the Brazilian Southeastern and Southern States. Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive and exploratory study, with data collection by means of two-phases: characterization of the healthcare structure and of the HAI surveillance system. Results: The governmental teams for prevention and control of HAI in each State ranged from one to six members, having at least one nurse. All States implemented their own surveillance system. The information systems were classified into chain (n=2), circle (n=4) or wheel (n=1). Conclusion: Were identified differences in the structure and information flow from governmental surveillance systems, possibly limiting a nationwide standardization. The present study points to the need for establishing minimum requirements in public policies, in order to guide the development of HAI surveillance systems.

Perspectives on Privacy, Information Technology, and Company/Governmental Surveillance in Japan

The purpose of this study was to explore Japanese notions of privacy and perspectives on electronic surveillance carried out by companies and the government. Prior research has suggested fundamental differences between Eastern and Western viewpoints on privacy. Theoretical-based arguments have been put forward that in Eastern nations such as in Japan, culture plays a major role in downplaying the significance of privacy. Given the increasing usage of technology for surveillance purposes, this study hoped to shed light on whether or not such theoretical arguments are reflected in or diverge from the perspectives expressed by members of the Japanese public.

Böhmische Skizzen: Reflections on Social Space and Nationhood in Nineteenth-Century Prague

Shortly before the Christmas of 1860, the major bookstores in Prague put on display a German-language booklet entitledBohemian Sketches: By a Native Writer.Although the book was published anonymously, its author soon became well known: he was Jan Palacký, the son of the prominent historian and leading Czech politician Frantis̆ek Palacký. But even his famous name did not spare the young man from stormy, harsh criticism that followed after the publication of the book. For weeks the newspapers both in Prague and in Vienna scrutinized the rhetorical nuances of the book, pointing out the author's national and political biases. Surprisingly, neither of the Czech-language newspapers,Národní listynorC̆as, that had recently entered into the public arena, stepped forward in defense of the author. The critical response in the press raises one's curiosity: what was wrong with Jan Palacký's arguments? How could someone so closely connected with Czech national leaders write such a controversial account? Moreover, considering the censorship practices and vigilant police supervision of the time, it is also worth asking how the publication could have escaped the attention of governmental surveillance.