We have examined the mechanism by which growth factor-mediated induction of the Ras pathway interferes with signaling via the second messenger cAMP. Activation of cellular Ras with insulin or NGF stimulated recruitment of the S6 kinase pp90RSK to the signal-dependent coactivator CBP. Formation of the pp90RSK-CBP complex occurred with high stoichiometry and persisted for 6-8 hr following growth factor addition. pp90RSK specifically recognized the E1A-binding domain of the coactivator CBP. In addition, like E1A, binding of pp90RSK to CBP was sufficient to repress transcription of cAMP-responsive genes via the cAMP-inducible factor CREB. By contrast with its effects on the cAMP pathway, formation of the pp90RSK-CBP complex was required for induction of Ras-responsive genes. These results provide a demonstration of cross-coupling between two signaling pathways that occurs at the level of a signal-dependent coactivator.

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Within the context of family law mediation, the author explores the issue of giving advice and performing related interventions that mask a similar intention. It does so by examining some codes of conduct and professional standards from Australia, Canada, and the United States and also by drawing on recent literature concerning mediator intervention, particularly on the subjects of impartiality and neutrality, reframing, mediator pressure, ethics, and the concept of the mediator as “folkloric trickster.” The author concludes that mediator intervention (such as creating doubt, reframing, and applying pressure to respond to a mediators concern) and selective facilitation obviously do not fit the definition of giving advice in the narrow sense by recommending a specific course of action. Nevertheless, they also are not simply an intervention of process (rather than one of content), for they are intended to redirect a party's attention to a hitherto unthought of or unarticulated substantive possibility. Thus the mediator may be seen, in broad terms, as an advocate for fair and effective use of the process of mediation to safeguard or enhance party self determination. To forward this aim, he or she may use an intervention intended to impart advice while still respecting party autonomy.

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This article reviews Loic Wacquant's (2009) book Punishing the Poor, arguing that critical race or intersectional feminist theory and scholarship on the state provides important insights on social policy developments that are overlooked or under-theorized by Wacquant. We draw heavily from our own research on welfare state restructuring and grassroots welfare rights activism in the USA and Great Britain, but we also review other relevant scholarship on welfare and criminal justice policies. We conclude with both a research agenda for further critical race and feminist analysis of recent transformations in the state, and a political agenda informed by critical race feminism for those interested in challenging the punitive trends in policies towards the poor.

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