capital punishmant Essays - Penology, Capital Punishment, Murder

Capital Punishment Capital Punishment Capital punishment is a very controversial topic because of all the different perspectives it could be viewed by. Over 4,000 prisoners in the United States have been executed between 1930 and 1989. It does not seem like the best way to detter violent crimes and the courts should decide on alternative methods of punishment for serious types of offences. Politically it may seem like the right thing to do for various reasons including overcrowding of the jails; the system in the US is steadily increasing in population and the number of people that go through it. So as an effective solution to this problem, capital punishment may seem fitting. Another reason may be as a show of great authority on the government's behalf. They try to show other potential murderers what will happen to them if they commit a similar crime. This is not the way to do it though. Murder is defined as the killing of an individual intentionally and unlawfully. With every murder there is a trigger that provoked an uncontrollable anger in the aggressor. Capital punishment therefore is also murder. The murder of the convict is allowed because what he did aggrevated society. On this standpoint it does not seem that justice is being served. From a moral standpoint, using a violent method of punishment to deter violent crimes doesn't seem to fit properly. It is the same as reprimanding a child who hit someone by giving him/her a smack in the mouth. This te...

Juan Rulfo essays

Juan Rulfo essays Juan Rulfo was born in Apulco, a small village in the province of Jalisco (Mexico), the 16th of May in 1917. His family was prosperous and owned extensive land in the region. In the late 1920s, however, his life was deeply affected by the Cristero revolt (1926-1929), a series of religious uprisings in Western Mexico by members of the Roman Catholic Church against the Mexican federal government, led by President Plutarco Elias Calles; and the governments secularization measures. The conflicts exposed Rulfo to the horrors of war and destroyed his familys wealth. Rulfos mother died of a heart attack. His father was murdered. After his parents died during the revolt, he was sent to an orphanage in Guadalajara. Though much of his childhood was filled with tragedy and sorrow he would later become one of the major novelists and short-story writers of his time. Rulfos career as a writer began in 1945 with the publication of his short stories in the literary review Pan. This first collection of short stories was later to be known as El llano en llamas (1953). Another book, a novel Pedro Paramo followed soon after (1955). Unlike many of his more prolific contemporaries, Rulfos reputation is based on just two literary works. His writing became important to the genre of magic realism, a discipline that incorporated techniques such as interior monologue, flash backs, the voice of the dead, and a stream-consciousness style of writing. Rulfos literary works have a connection with his personal life. He spent most of his childhood in the town San Gabriel, which later became the setting for his novel Pedro Paramo and many of his stories, and where he attended elementary school (Juan Rulfo-Pagina Oficial). The novel Pedro Paramo originated from a story about a trip Rulfo took concerning the personal significance of deruralization in Mexico; this journey was to a town from his own rural past.(I...

Legislation on Cost Containment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legislation on Cost Containment - Essay Example This aspect is particularly relevant to state-level policymaking. No universal cost containment measure is adopted in the United States and, instead, states were free to pursue their own models, tailored according to their specific needs, targets and circumstance (e.g. political and economic). This is not really surprising because: 1) states have been active players in health reform; and, 2) the health reform law is full of state obligations as well as opportunities for state innovation (Teitelbaum, and Wilensky, 2012, p.180). Back in 2003, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Standing Committee released a white paper outlining possible cost saving ideas that state legislators could enact. These were composed of many possible ideas classified into nine categories, which include: direct cost containment; prescription drug ideas; cost shifting ideas; workforce expansion; health insurance reform; subsidy and uninsured care; medical error and medical malpractice; preventive and public health ideas; and, Medicaid ideas. The ideas were numerous and many states, thereafter, adopted an idea, a part of some or a combination of ideas for their own cost containment initiatives. One of the most important of these ideas, in my opinion, is that framework that seeks to cut cost by addressing medical errors and medical malpractice. In the NCSL (2003) compilation, initiatives within this cost containment classification include the legislation of laws that will ensure the regulation of the payment for damages (VII-1); the elimination of frivolous lawsuits (VII-2); as well as the establishment of mechanisms to ensure quality and compliance to health and safety standards (VII-4, VII-5, V-II-6). The NCSL has provided a lean list of ideas in this particular area. But I think that this is one of the most viable models that could easily pass the process of legislation. In policymaking, public opinion is

Sustainable Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sustainable Development - Essay Example This paper seeks to discuss how the potential impacts of climate change affect approaches to development and sustainability. Climate change and sustainable development relate in that; climate change is a natural science, driven process while sustainable development is a social and political science, driven process. The impacts of climate change have interfered with the approach towards sustainable development; this is because the discussions on the global context features issues of adaptation concerns while the impacts of climate change take place at the local level. Communities from different geographical areas, which experience drastic effects of climate change, should participate in the implementation process of international policy that is directed towards development and sustainability. Understandably, enough the impact of climate change, which essentially brings about social inequalities, can only be addressed if equity and justice are observed when implementing remedial measur es. An immediate mobilization of political and financial wills, to address climate change is not possible since the impacts of climate change are not readily felt or experienced. ... The above issues are problems in developing countries because of their â€Å"climate sensitive economies and concentrations of urban poor† (Osbahr 3). The impact of climate change affects the natural resources, which developing countries rely on for survival, and thus hinders the approaches geared towards development and sustainability. The impact of climate change has made livelihoods come up with multiple ways that would aid in bringing about sustainable development. A further analysis reveals that the autonomous adaptation designed to instigate sustainable development is inhibited with issues of â€Å"poverty, poor infrastructure and market opportunities†, these are impacts of climate change. It is important for national government eyeing to implement adaptive strategies that will enhance sustainable development to learn from local experiences. Additionally, impacts in climate change call for studies to be conducted with the objective of establishing how best adaptiv e strategies would work. The study is conducted by asking the question â€Å"is it possible to characterize successful adaptation actions that reduce livelihood and community vulnerability to climate-related disaster and climate change and variability?† (Osbahr 8). The extent to which a livelihood will cope and adapt depends on the vulnerability of the livelihood to the climate change. Furthermore, the results realized from the adaptive projects should reduce the impact on climate change, not reduce the chances of sustainable development. For instance, â€Å"success should reduce risks, not reduce future options, and build livelihood resilience† (Osbahr 8). Sustainable

Proliferation of Date Rape Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proliferation of Date Rape Drugs - Essay Example Sex must be consensual by two rational beings, yet society has long since muddied the reality of this point. As a result, it is important to now understand the proliferation of date rape drugs that are rampant in society. In so doing, we need to better comprehend how the drugs are most often delivered into the body, understand the current trends in rape being committed in such a manner. and work to eliminate this threat from much of larger of society. That is the focus of this paper. Drug Delivery Methods To comprehend what types of delivery methods are employed for date rape drugs, one must first understand the nature of the concept in the first place. The more technical term for date rape is drug facilitated sexual assault. Such assaults take place primarily because of the ingestion of one of many substances into the body that alters an individuals ability to make wise and rational choices, particularly when it comes to sexual activity. There are numerous ways that a predator might accomplish this in his or victim. Perhaps the most common delivery method is through the use of alcohol. Alcohol is both legal and readily available. As such, it presents itself as the perfect way to get a victim to become uninhibited and become an easy target of sexual abuse. For these reasons, and others, alcohol is believed to be the most common form of date rape ‘drug’ used in such forced sexual encounters. The typical sequence of events for such an occurrence would be the encouraging of a women to continue drinking far past what would be considered safe limits. Over time, the victim will tend to lose consciousness, and then the rape will be much easier to perpetuate. In nearly all legal jurisdictions, sexual intercourse with someone who is unconscious is considered to be rape. The use of various forms of tranquillizers are are also becoming an increasingly common delivery vehicle. Such drugs typically come in the form of Valium, Librium, Xanax, or Ativan. A predat or using this particular delivery mechanism will typically slip the drug into the victim’s drink without them being aware. The effects can of taking the drug will be noticed within 15 to 20 minutes. Within two hours, the victim will become very relaxed and sleepy, and their reaction times will be severely diminished (Weir, 2001). As such, their ability to make sound decisions is severely hampered, causing them to submit to sexual actions that they would never agree to when not under the effects of a date rape drug. Current Trends Many predators committing date rape today have gotten so advanced at the practice that the victims often do not realise what has happened to them until it is far too late to prove any allegations. Recent studies have indicated that more than 38% of individuals who believe they have been victims of date rape test positive for excessive alcohol in their system, even hours after the attack. A full 8% test positive for some form of drug being administere d into their blood stream, while 40% actually have no noticeable date rape drug in their system at all (Peatfield and Villalon, 2013). It is disturbing to note that many people who believe that their drinks have been spiked test negative for any date rape drugs. This indicates that the current trend in this area is towards a more crafty predator that can quickly overpower the victim, cause them

Opium Trade Between British India China History Essay

Opium Trade Between British India China History Essay Opium use dates back to the seventh century. It was grown in Asia and used for its medicinal properties to cure diarrhoea and relieve dysentery and cholera pains. China was introduced to this drug by the Arabs in the ninth century. (Feige, 2008) Its medicinal properties were clearly known in the thirteenth century. Its consumption started changing from medicinal to recreational purposes during the seventeenth century. It became a threat when people started smoking it as a mix of tobacco and opium. This is when the first policy banning the smoking of opium was passed by the Chinese emperor. During the same period in India, the Mughal dynasty was extensively growing opium poppy and doing profitable trade with China and East Asia. This trade was a large source of revenue for the Mughal dynasty. As the downfall of the Mughal Empire started in 1658, the British through the East India Company took over the major cultivation and production of opium. Economics of trade The British formally started illegal trade with China in 1673. A form of triangular trade started between British, China and India where in commodities such as silver, tea and opium were bartered between the countries. This trade strategy was a smart scheme by the British to gain personal benefits. During this trade, India was merely an instrument for the British to produce the opium that they intended to sell to china in return for tea and silver which was exported to Britain. China played a major role in this trade as it was the sole producer and consumer of tea and opium involved in the trade. The East India Company occupied the Indian states of Bihar and Bengal and expanded trade through the port of Calcutta. (Zhong,2010, 86-105) Even though opium smoking was banned except use for medical reasons with licence in 1729 by the Chinese government, illegal smuggling continued. Despite these efforts opium use was increasing significantly and gradually spread from the coasts to the centre of the country. The Chinese officials had become corrupt and excepted bribes from the traders. The British took advantage of this situation and occupied the port of Canton and Macao. After this sudden increase in the use of opium, in 1796, the port of Canton was banned for trade. But this did not last for long as the British did not withdraw. The British started selling opium at the port of Calcutta to local merchants from China who illegally traded the opium into China. During 1830-1839, the entire southern coast of China was under the British monopoly. The Chinese emperor kept reiterating the policies regarding import of opium, smoking and illegal trade throughout the period from 1821 to 1838. During the later periods, death pena lties were also imposed on the illegal drug traders. (Wakeman, 1978) In Britain during this time, the parliament decided to control the trade with China directly through the Crown and not through the East India Company. Representatives from the crown went to convince the Chinese emperor to open trade at Canton and make opium trade legal. The emperor denied this and further in 1839, released a 39- article statute. This stipulated at banning opium at the ports and arresting the consumers to get to the illegal traders. It was a stricter edict that aimed at punishment of the smokers and the traders both locally or internationally. This plan failed as all the informers and officials were associated with the trade and werent ready to surrender. After many failed attempts to control the trade, the Emperor decided to send Lin Zu-xe to control the trade in the ports of canton. Lin Zu-xe took extreme steps to stop the illegal trade by burning the British opium and trying to destroy the British ships. This led to the First Opium War which lasted from 1839 to 1842. This war resulted in the defeat of Lins army and the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing. This treaty was a successful attempt by the British to take advantage of Chinas weakness and demean them further. The treaty opened various ports to the British, Chinese monopolies were removed and ultimately China was completely opened to the west. (Wakeman,1978) By 1853, the exports from china surpassed the imports by the British. The British had to look for strategies to balance out the trade in the triangular trade. They took tea, spices, silk and silver from the Chinese and in return increased the amount of opium imported. The British stressed on promoting the use of opium to increase its demand. Slowly the relations between the Chinese government and the British became extremely coarse and this led to the Second Opium War (1856-1857). The successors of the Chinese emperor also opposed this illegal trade and fought the British but in vain. The joint army of British and French fought this war and defeated the Chinese. The Chinese, humiliated again, had to sign the Treaty of Teintsin. This treaty opened some more ports to the west and also asked china to pay the victory allies silver for their victory. The Chinese protested and denied this payment. The British and French forces marched into Peking and attacked the palace. The Chinese were d efeated and signed the Treaty of Peking which finally legalized opium. (Sheng, 2007) Worst affected victim- China The Chinese government was incapable of protecting its country from this social menace and from the influence of the west which ultimately led to legalizing a dangerous drug. The fundamental forces that led to this include Chinas own weaknesses that worsened during this time and to the major influence from the British. Firstly, China as a country was devastated during the 18th century. The Chinese emperors were against foreign trade from the beginning and were true supporters of Chinese culture. They opposed any kind of trade and barter of goods with the so call western barbarians. (Sheng, 2007) But they were unsuccessful in imposing strict state policies against opium. Even though many serious edicts were issued, the illegal trade continued till it became legal in 1860. Every time the Chinese government retaliated to this kind of illegal trade, the British fought the opium wars and retained its trade monopoly by forcing the Chinese government to open its ports. Also the trade was depleting China of all its resources of silver and spices. The incapacitated Chinese government was economically and financially not able to support itself and the finances of the war that they had to legalize opium to collect taxes that would help pay for the war losses. Also, the country had to deal with floods and comm unal unrest during the same period. There was a vast difference between the rich and the poor in China during this time. The population on the coasts of china was getting richer due to the illegal trade as they sold the goods for trade at extremely high prices. On the other hand, labour class was extremely poor. They were morally and financially very weak to support themselves. They were the major proportion of population that resorted to opium use and became addicts. This addiction increased as opium was very cheap and easily available in the markets. This was when opium was used merely to forget the reality and not for any medical reasons. Even though there were various policies against opium, none of them actually worked because along with the locals, the government and military officials were also corrupt and part of this illegal trade. (Sheng,2007) Secondly, the black-market trade by the British was a driving factor for the spread of this drug. Tea had become a serious commodity for the English and they wanted to increase the imports of Chinese tea. The British captured the port of Calcutta that made it easy to exchange goods between China and India. Initially, the British took tea from china in return for opium. Later their demands were silk and spices in exchange of more opium. The British bribed and bullied china to continue and strengthen their new illicit enterprise. Whenever they sensed resistance from china they fought them to sign one sided treaties. Their major motive was to increase their revenue. The British had already occupies India and wanted complete trade monopoly with China. If they could accomplish that then they would dominate East Asia. One key ethical issue of this trade was that the British had ignored the fact that this dangerous drug was being banned in their own country even when they were illicitly trading it into China to make as much money was they could from this trade. Their visible intention was to exploit this trade in a way to gain maximum profits from it regardless of its affects on the other nation. All the opium from India was being dumped into China. Therefore, opium was a commodity for the Chinese but later it became a forced commodity which was being forced by the British. Therefore, China was facing a severe opium problem which had to be addressed internationally. It was the responsibility of the countries that had deposited tonnes of opium into China and degraded the countrys economy and culture, to amend the mistakes made over the years. The issue deserved an international response through world-wide laws on production and consumption of opiates. International conventions were finally set and laws were formulated in a global context to finally control the narcotic drugs.

Impact of Technology on Family Life Essay example -- Sociology Essays

Impact of Technology on Family Life I think that technology has had both positively and negatively impacted the family life in our society. But I think the positive effects out way the negative ones. In this term paper I will focus on how cell phones, internet, and home security systems. These are only a few of the technology that has affected family life. I will first talk about the positive effects then I will explain the negative effects. Communication has had a big impact on family life in our society. Cell phones have become very popular in the past few years. One big cell phone that has been very popular with younger generations is the Nextel cell phones. One reason for this is because the Nextel phone has two way radios built into them. This makes it very easy for someone to talk to another person, you don’t have to dial up their number you just find their name and then push the button and then talk to them. Everyone in my family owns a Nextel phone. My parents got my brother’s and me phones so that they could get a hold of us easier when we went away. When I was in high school they were nice because I could call my parents and tell them where I was going and let them know when I was going to be home. Since cell phones are made smaller these days they are easier to carry around and much more convenient then trying to find a pay phone and then worrying if you have money for the pay phone. The internet has a positive impact much like cell phones. By this I am mainly talking about email and instant messenger. Email has had a huge impact on family life because it allows families to write each other that might not be able to talk to each other very often. Most email are free this is ... ...lso many other sites on the internet that are dangerous such as online gambling sites that say you can win lots of money. With these types of sites and many other sites that want you to give up personal information such as credit cards numbers, pin numbers, or social security number you have to be very careful and make sure that the site is a creditable site. There really isn’t too many things that I can say are negative about having a home security system because it will keep your family safe. The only ones that I can think of would be maybe the headache of insulting it. Another one is that it now a days people have to get home security systems. These are just a few ways technology has affected the family life in our society, but there are many more then the one that I have told you about in this paper. And there are many more to come in the future. Impact of Technology on Family Life Essay example -- Sociology Essays Impact of Technology on Family Life I think that technology has had both positively and negatively impacted the family life in our society. But I think the positive effects out way the negative ones. In this term paper I will focus on how cell phones, internet, and home security systems. These are only a few of the technology that has affected family life. I will first talk about the positive effects then I will explain the negative effects. Communication has had a big impact on family life in our society. Cell phones have become very popular in the past few years. One big cell phone that has been very popular with younger generations is the Nextel cell phones. One reason for this is because the Nextel phone has two way radios built into them. This makes it very easy for someone to talk to another person, you don’t have to dial up their number you just find their name and then push the button and then talk to them. Everyone in my family owns a Nextel phone. My parents got my brother’s and me phones so that they could get a hold of us easier when we went away. When I was in high school they were nice because I could call my parents and tell them where I was going and let them know when I was going to be home. Since cell phones are made smaller these days they are easier to carry around and much more convenient then trying to find a pay phone and then worrying if you have money for the pay phone. The internet has a positive impact much like cell phones. By this I am mainly talking about email and instant messenger. Email has had a huge impact on family life because it allows families to write each other that might not be able to talk to each other very often. Most email are free this is ... ...lso many other sites on the internet that are dangerous such as online gambling sites that say you can win lots of money. With these types of sites and many other sites that want you to give up personal information such as credit cards numbers, pin numbers, or social security number you have to be very careful and make sure that the site is a creditable site. There really isn’t too many things that I can say are negative about having a home security system because it will keep your family safe. The only ones that I can think of would be maybe the headache of insulting it. Another one is that it now a days people have to get home security systems. These are just a few ways technology has affected the family life in our society, but there are many more then the one that I have told you about in this paper. And there are many more to come in the future.