Explain the ethical significance of the Sermon Essay

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the key sections of the New Testament, in which Jesus builds upon the Decalogue to form the first blueprint of Christian ethics. Jesus was preaching in direct contrast to the Greek philosophy of stoicism, which sought to separate man from his emotions. Emotions, especially love, feature heavily in the Sermon on the Mount. It remains ethically relevant over 2000 years later for many reasons, the first of which is the underlying principles behind it. Jesus did not come to abolish Old Testament law, but to fulfil it. The Jews were trapped in a system of harsh legalism, where obedience was motivated by fear rather than love. The Pharisees made a grand display of holiness by keeping the law, but the Sermon on the Mount teaches that their hearts were empty. Jesus built on the Ten Commandments to create a system ruled by mercy, love and dedication to God. Even if the culture changes the basic ethical principles behind the sermon do not change. It is a moral code that focusses as much on inward moral disposition as it does our external actions: Jenkins wrote, â€Å"inner attention and attitude is crucial. † Even if a typically good action is performed with sinful thought then it becomes immoral. The most important thing to realise about the Sermon on the Mount is that it is impossible for anyone to keep it completely, as it demands perfection. Although they will never be free from sin in this life, Christians use the sermon in order to try and become more like Jesus, who was perfect. The Sermon is all about Christian sanctification. Jesus speaks not only on what Christians should do to be moral, but he also explains why it is important to be ethical in the first place. He states that Christians are the salt and light of the world. Salt is significant because it represents purity, preservation and flavour. Therefore we understand that Christians should maintain a good ethical code in order to set an example to society and to preserve it from total corruption. The image of the light is also key: in the Bible light always symbolises joy and blessing. A light is visible to all, and so the Christian should seek to make Christ visible to all through their actions. A light is also a warning, representing the Christian’s duty to lovingly warn their fellow-men about their sin. Further on in the Sermon Jesus admonishes that, â€Å"If the light then within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! † Furthermore, the Sermon on the Mount gives many specific examples of Christian ethics, the first of which is regarding murder. Jesus equates anger to murder, and speaks of the fires of hell. This is contrary to the contemporary universalist view of Jesus and his death which has led some scholars to claim that when he speaks of hell it is merely metaphorical. Regardless, Jesus is affirming that you cannot be right with God until you are right with your fellow men, which all relates to the salt-and-light reputation of a Christian. Jesus also teaches about adultery and sexual morality. Again he equates the inward sin of lust to the outward sin of adultery. He also declares that marrying a divorced woman counts as adultery, a part of the Sermon that even Christians have begun to disregard. This is contrary to the Old Testament where Moses permitted – but did not command – divorce due to the hard heartedness of the people. The close relationship between a husband and wife mirrors the relationship Christ shares with his Church, which is why sex features so highly in Christian ethics. Love, when fully understood. Is opening oneself to another completely and can succeed only where trust and fidelity are present. Subsequently, another part of the Sermon on the Mount that is ethically significant would be where Jesus deals with how we should relate to other people. The standards set by Jesus are so high it is easy for Christians to look down upon those that are struggling. Jesus, ever a carpenter’s son, uses the metaphor of the speck in your brother’s eye and the plank in your own. We are all sinners and it would be highly hypocritical to judge another when we are also flawed. We never know the whole story about someone and it is impossible to be impartial in our judgement. The Jews were familiar with the concept of loving your neighbour and not judging him, but they did not feel the same about their enemies. Jesus commanded us to show agape love towards our enemies. Such love does not naturally come from the heart, but is instead must be put into action through one’s own will. As Jesus was merciful and forgiving to sinners, so we should be. This is vital to Christian ethics. Another ethical aspect of how we relate to other people is how we treat those who are poorer than us. It is not enough to simply preach to them, but we must take care of their physical needs as well as spiritual. Jesus said, â€Å"Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. † Charitable giving was a fundamental part of Jewish life, but Jesus added another element: it was only ethical if done with the correct motivation. The Greek word translated as hypocrite in the Bible literally means ‘actor’. This is why Jesus commands us to give in secret, lest we become boastful. Moreover, there is a definite eschatological aspect to the Sermon on the Mount as it draws to a conclusion. This emphasises to the Christian how their ethics are eternally significant and will be considered on the Day of Judgement. Jesus states that few will enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that not all that profess to believe in him as Lord will be saved. He warns of false prophets who will come in sheep’s clothing; in this situation the ethics presented in the Sermon on the Mount are vital so a Christian can identify who is a true believer. We are not saved by works, but they are an important part of our Christian identity. The Sermon on the Mount also has certain evangelical tones throughout. It shows the unbeliever what is required of them if they follow Jesus, and the severe consequences if they do not. Spurgeon wrote of this passage, â€Å"The shepherd best discerns his own sheep, and the Lord, Himself alone knows infallibly them who are His. † To conclude, there are conflicting theories regarding the nature of the Sermon – certain theologians such as Calvin believe it is a compilation of many separate sermons. Others debate technical details, such as whether it was preached on a mount or a plain. However, something that every Christian will agree on is that the Sermon on the Mount is of the upmost important as a foundation for Christian ethics. Stott said, â€Å"The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, thought arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed. †

Differences Between the Wartime, Presidential, and Congressional Reconstruction Essay

There are similarities and differences between the Wartime, Presidential, and Congressional Reconstruction. Each had a purpose and plan. There was a major difference between the Republican President and Republican Congress that caused many conflicts. The Wartime Reconstruction actually started during the war. Lincoln in the beginning wanted settlement of blacks in countries or something known as repatriation. A major part of this Wartime Reconstruction was the Proclamation of Amnesty. What this did was offer a Presidential pardon to all Southern whites who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and accepted abolition of slavery. The only people that were excluded from this were Confederate official and high-ranking military officers. In states where ten percent of male population took the oath they would be able to reestablish a state government. This policy was carried out in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. This Wartime Reconstruction also included Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. This freed slaves in the states that were at war with the Union. Both President Lincoln and President Johnson wished to give back land to pardoned ex-Confederates. President Lincoln and Congress were similar in wanting to refute pardons to those who ill-treated or murdered captured black and white Union soldiers. They did agree on this matter. While President Lincoln only required ten percent of allegiance from past Confederates, Congress wanted the majority of white men in Confederate states to take the oath of allegiance. Lincoln was assassinated and Andrew Johnson took presidency. He favored harsh punishment for traitors. He issued two proclamations without help of Republicans. This was the Presidential Reconstruction. When he issued the two proclamations it caused a division. It covered official pardon for whites except Confederate officials and military officers worth more than twenty thousand dollars, and he names a provisional government for North Carolina. Only whites with amnesty could vote there. The South was disobedient and none of the state conventions enfranchised a single black. Johnson issued thirteen though sand five hundred Presidential pardons to those he earlier hoped to keep out. There were many ex-Confederates who were elected to Congress. Also the state legislatures in the south demoted blacks to a second class status, and this was known as the Black Codes. These codes states blacks were not allowed to vote, be on juries, testify against whites, could not interracially marry, and it was most unfair in Mississippi and South Carolina. Johnson like Lincoln wanted to restore the Union in as little time as possible. Congress comes in to play in December 1865. The Congress was made up mostly of Republicans and they refused to let past Confederates to take their seats in Congress at this time. This marked the beginning of Radical Reconstruction or sometimes known as Congressional Reconstruction. The president and the congress did not agree on many issues. Congress overrode President Johnson on the Civil Rights Act of 1866, The Fourteenth Amendment, and the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill. The Fourteenth Amendment spelled out rights of both black and white citizens as equal. It prolonged Federal powers for the enforcement of civil rights. States that approved the Fourteenth Amendment were considered reconstructed, and Tennessee did so. President Johnson advised other southern states to oppose doing this. Congress passed many laws to limit President Johnson’s powers. They passed the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 which set new procedures for readmission to the Union. Johnson did not agree with this act and resisted it. When President Johnson removed Edwin M. Stanton from the head of the War Departments Republicans were very upset. They charged Johnson with the Tenure of Office Act and Johnson was impeached. After President Johnson’s impeachment, the Fifteenth Amendmen t, which prohibited states from denying vote based on color, was ratified. This Radical Reconstruction was successful in passing the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteen Amendments. Congress also wanted married law affirmed in the South for the period of Reconstruction and they wanted to discipline ex-Confederates. President Lincoln and Congress did not agree with how many pardons President Johnson gave out. The Wartime Reconstruction, Radical or Congressional Reconstruction, and the Presidential Reconstruction all had their similarities and differences. Each was designed by someone different and had a specific plan and goal in mind. The differences between the president and congress caused many splits and problems. The Radical Reconstruction was most successful in my opinion.

Middle Age and Renaissance Art

Gothic Art is art of the Middle Ages. Early Middle Age art is also known as the Dark ages (410 AD-ADDED). After the Dark ages came the Medieval era (1066-1485) Then on to the Renaissance era. In the Middle Ages the Roman Empire was spilt into two sections, the Eastern and the Western part of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire fell, the Western part disintegrated, while the Eastern or Byzantium Empire stayed intact. The art reflects the differences between the development of Catholic Religion and the Byzantium Empire.Byzantium Art had characteristics of religious art, somber tones, flat, one dimensional, no shadows, narrow, and solemn faces. Medieval Gothic Art broke away from Byzantium Art and Romanesque styles. Changes included : Brighter colors, sculptures, metal work out of bronze, stained glass, use of shadows and light, use of symmetry, and depiction of animals and mythological scenes (middle-ages. Com, 2013). Ghetto did Bonnet's The Last Supper was a painting from this period. Renaissance Art began in Italy around the late 13th and early 14th entry and continued through the 17th century.Art from this period was mostly of religious nature. It was described as a period of rebirth. This was a time of greater prosperity and new technologies. There were three major phases of Renaissance Art, Early, High, and Late. In these phases inspiration came from antiquity, creating realistic figures that had portrayed personality and behavior (history. Com, 2013). Focus was on the laws of proportion for architecture, human body, and space. Experimentation with oil based paints allowed the artist to change his art as he shed for months as it didn't dry fast.Leonardo dad Vine's The Last Supper was a famous painting from this opened. ART 2 The Last Supper by Ghetto did Bonded and Leonardo dad Vinci both were based on the New Testament. In the Last Supper by Ghetto did Bonded, he did not attempt to imitate reality; there is no depth, and no light source. The goal was to teac h the Christian faith. The Last Supper by Leonardo dad Vinci was the first to depict reality, with each person displaying an emotion. This is what made his work remarkable (history. Mom, 2013). Both Middle Age art and Renaissance art had religion as common ground. The Middle Ages was a separation of the Western and Eastern Roman Empire. It reflected the difference between the development of the Catholic religion in the west and Byzantium Empire. Renaissance art was mostly religious stemming from the end of the Middle Ages. Renaissance art was more visually accurate and secular. It had more realistic backgrounds that indicated realism, creativity and appreciation of physical nature.The purpose was decoration and self-expression, not like the middle ages. By Renaissance art introducing realism, it allowed the common person to enjoy tales, and this tradition continues in today's society. As the Renaissance art went out, mannerism came in. It was a different kind of art. It showed more clashing colors, disquieting figures, emotion, and bizarre themes that combined classicism, Christianity, and mythology (about. Com, 2013)

Super Bakerys management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Super Bakerys management - Essay Example Job costing system is the most preferred by most medium-sized and small corporations, like the professional service such as legal and medical; advertising companies; shipbuilding; construction; manufacturing of furniture or custom equipment. The installation of the ABC system by the company was the best decision made, since with this system they were in a position of allocating overhead to several activity cost pool, consequently assigning activity cost pools to services and products by way of cost drivers (Drucker, 2006). The company decided to adopt this system since it wanted to be in a position of determining the costs of production as it was no longer involved in the direct production of its products. The job order costing would greatly fit into the structure of Super Bakery as its strategies can accommodate it very well. It would help the company in determining the costs that are associated with particular products (Drucker, 2006). This system will also enable the company to establish the production cost per unit without having to include the unrelated costs since it outsources its

Economic Comparison of China and USA Performance Research Paper

Economic Comparison of China and USA Performance - Research Paper Example This paper provides succinct economic comparative analysis of recent growth indicators of China and the United States. The result of economic comparison is essential in identify the right country for investing, as the behavior of the economic factors tends to predict political, social, and economic environment in this countries. The National Bureau of Statistics of China report indicates that from 2011 to 2013 the GDP growth rate averaged at 2 percent. This trend was higher in June 2011 at 2.50% and recorded low in March 2012 at 1.5%. Further, the report indicates that the Chinese economy is the second largest in the world after United States. The economic trends in China have changed in the past thirty years from market-oriented economy to a private sector economy. The Bureau of Economic Analysis report shows that United States is world largest national economy. It has a GDP of USD 16.66trillion, GDP per Capita of USD49, 601. The US A population living below the poverty line 14.8% and has workforce of 155.6 million out of which 11.26 million are unemployed. The GDP growth per sector shows that service industry is leading 79% whereas agriculture and industry trail at 1.2% and 19% respectively. The World Bank report indicates that the China’s economy is $10.1 trillion compared to $14.6 trillion for the U.S. based on the purchasing power parity. It appears that China is narrowing the gap fast and it might overtake U.S in the near future. In the past 10years, the China’s GDP averaged at 10.5% compared to the U.S 1.7%. ... Other factors which illustrate Chinese economic performance includes people living people the poverty line 13.1%, and average gross salary USD 457. USA The Bureau of Economic Analysis report shows that United States is world largest national economy. It has a GDP of USD 16.66trillion, GDP per Capita of USD49, 601. The US A population living below the poverty line 14.8% and has workforce of 155.6 million out of which 11.26 million are unemployed. The GDP growth per sector shows that service industry is leading 79% whereas agriculture and industry trail at 1.2% and 19% respectively (The World Bank, 2013). The average annual gross salary is USD 45, 790. In the year 2012, US spent USD 2.3trillion. The major import partners are China 19%, Canada 14%, Mexico 12%, Japan 6.4%, and Germany 4.7%. Largely, the consumer goods top the list of the US imports. On the other hand, US exports USD 1.56 trillion with the major export partners being Canada 19%, Mexico 14%, China 7%, and Japan 4.5%. Other economic factors defining the economic growth of United States are Education Cost whose GDP is 1%, health or social care 8%, and Federal Government including military spending 5%. Analysis of the Economic Performance The World Bank report indicates that the China’s economy is $10.1 trillion compared to $14.6 trillion for the U.S. based on the purchasing power parity. It appears that China is narrowing the gap fast and it might overtake U.S in the near future. In the past 10years, the China’s GDP averaged at 10.5% compared to the U.S 1.7% (The World Bank, 2013). This trend seems to suggest that China has many emerging opportunities that contribute to its fast economic growth as opposed to United States. A comparison between the US workforce and the China’s

Turism and Hospitality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Turism and Hospitality - Essay Example Information and Communication Technology (ICT) techniques are seen to be an answer to such a dynamic business environment. Five themes driving the future of international hospitality industry include information technology, assets and capital management, capacity control, safety and security, and management skills (Olsen in Olson and Connolly, 1999). With the example of airline reservation systems in the 60s to the Central Reservation Systems to the current Global Distribution Systems providing holistic tourism products such as information, reservations and linkages with stakeholders, ICTs have become indispensable. Further with the society changing into 'information knowledge society', business organizations are turning to newer information technologies for survival and competitiveness (Gratzer et. al, 2003). Go (in Buhalis, 1998) identifies some of attributes of ICTs acting as drivers of tourism globalisation. These include, 'cost drivers' in terms of increased efficiency, low distribution cost, low communication cost, low labour cost, minimisation of waste factor and facilitator of flexible pricing; 'market drivers' satisfying sophisticated demand, offering flexibility in operation, supporting specialization and differentiation, providing last minute deals and accurate information, supports relationship marketing strategies for frequent flyers / guests, there is quick reaction to demand fluctuation, multiple / integrated products can be offered and results in better yield management, corporate research and marketing research; 'Government and regulatory drivers' such as support from Government, deregulation and liberalisation and 'competitive drivers' as strategic tool, managing network of enterprises, value-added skill building, flexibility, knowledge acquisition and a barrier to entry . ICTs: Implications for Tourism Industry Poon (in Gratzer et. al, 2003) has described the implications for tourism industry caused by information and communication technologies (ICT). These include, change of rules in the industry; change in role of each player involved in the process of value-creation; facilitation of 'new, flexible, and high quality travel and tourism services that are cost-competitive with mass, standardized, and rigidly packaged options' and transformation of tourism from 'mass, standardized, and rigidly package nature into a more flexible, individual-oriented industry.' Marcussen (in Gratzer et. al, 2003) cites the example of European online travel market to be worth 14 billion Euros by 2006. Buhalis (1998) suggest a multi-dimensional strategic framework for use of information technology and illustrates the strategic implications of information technology for the tourism industry. Strategic Framework for Information Technology in Tourism (Source: Buhalis, 1998, pp. 417) Buhalis (in Buhalis, 1998) illustrates role of information technology in facilitating both intra- and inter-organisational communications and functions. Within a tourism organisation, information technology facilitates management functions such as 'strategic planning, competition analysis, financial planning and control, marketing research, marketing strategy and implementation, pricing

Case study on Zara Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Case study on Zara - Essay Example 67). Political Factors While considering the political aspect, apparel companies should have various interactions with the governments to understand the government policies for the intercession in the legal and economic aspects to aid the decision making process. Government bodies, especially those belonging to the emerging economises like India and China have welcomed foreign invest with open arms. However, there are different restrictions in various nations that need to be considered before making market entry. Add to that the trade policies in different countries may need certain adjustments on the part of the companies. E.g. China has a currency policy that results in imports to be higher than the market price. Economic Factors At present the northern American and the EU nations are looking to comeback from the shock-waves of the economic down-turn. Downward economic trend may have transformed regular clothing purchases into luxury purchases or ‘splurge’ as due to th e downturn there might have been a dip in the disposable incomes. Also the rise in the rates of personal saving may have had a negative impact on the consumer demand. However, the recent global growth went up to 3.6 percent in the 1st quarter of 2012. This likely to supplement the expansion strategy of the apparel companies as majority of the apparel companies are looking to enter emerging economies like India and China (Henry, 2008, p. 89). Social Factors As mentioned before due to the downward economic trend consumers are looking to spend more on education, leisure, travel, healthcare, electronics, etc and relatively less on clothing. Also the consumers have become a lot more environment conscious and look to do business with... Zara is one of the leading global fast-fashion brands. The organization has implemented both cost leadership and differentiation strategy as their business level strategy. They have effectively implemented vertical integration strategy in their supply chain network. Though Zara is one of the renowned and popular global brands, the organization may face several difficulties through their centralized manufacturing strategy. Their business model is cost-effective and they have set up business goals and objectives effectively basis on the model. It is feasible that the execution of determined strategies have bought success for Zara. Finally, it can be said the Zara should look to expand their business and adopt decentralize manufacturing process in the developing BRICK countries. Zara quickly develops the new feature and designs as the organization has the fast development option from the concept to point of sales. On an average, it takes 6 weeks. The positioning of Zara clearly address that it is not a luxurious fashion brand but the organization used to target the price sensitive people with the help of fashionable designs of clothes in reasonable price level. They have always differentiated their product line by the relentless introduction of latest and new designed clothes in less quantity at rapid speed and the affordable price level of the products is the evidence of the large scale customization necessity of the target audience.

Discuss the pros and cons of floating against fixed exchange rate Essay

Discuss the pros and cons of floating against fixed exchange rate regime using the Mundell-Fleming and the Dornbusch models - Essay Example With increased supply of money, people will transform that non interest-bearing asset, money into interest bearing assets, bonds. Therefore, the demand for bonds will rise. That will lead to an increase in bond price. (Obstfeld and Rogoff, 1984) Due to the inverse relationship between bond price and market rate of interest, the market rate of interest will fall. This fall in market rate of interest will be followed by a huge capital outflow. Now, same amount of domestic money will run after less amount of foreign currency resulting in domestic currency depreciation. To maintain the domestic currency at a fixed level, the central bank will have to sell its foreign currency reserve in exchange of domestic money. This phenomenon will lead to a contraction in money supply and it will continue till the market rate of interest rises to its initial level, that is, till the initial expansionary monetary policy gets fully crowded out. (Obstfeld, 2000) From the above, it is clear that the monetary policy will be fully ineffective under fixed exchange rate regime. Now, if the government chooses a fiscal expansion through a rise in government expenditure, then income rises. With a rise in income, transaction demand for money increases. With a rise in transaction demand for money, people will sell bonds in order to meet that increased transaction demand. So, bond supply will rise, bond price will fall and market rate of interest will rise. With the increase in market rate of interest a huge capital inflow will occur, resulting in a currency appreciation. In order to maintain the fixed exchange rate the central bank will purchase that extra supply of foreign exchange. It will result in an increase in money supply, increasing the demand for bond, which will eventually lower the initial rise in interest rate to its initial level. However income will be higher than the initial level. So fiscal policy will

Crop Insurance Proposal Could Cost U.S. Billions PowerPoint Presentation

Crop Insurance Proposal Could Cost U.S. Billions - PowerPoint Presentation Example Yet other farmers reflect that they should produce enough crop that is actually capable of supporting subsides since the crop market thrives because of subsidies itself. In order to compete in the international arena, the plains of Dakota and Montana are slowly being converted to crop fields while they once were the abode of birds. There is a gigantic increase in the prices of the land while the grasslands are being transformed to fields. The real estate business is thriving leaps and bounds, since, everyone is eager to purchase the land for farming. Farmers are guaranteed a profit even though the land is not so fertile and there is a definite risk of loss. It is also true that the government shows neutral approaches regarding taking the risk while the farmers prefer to be risk averse (Dinar 1994).According to a Government Accountability Office, the costs of the crop insurance programme have augmented since the raise in the value of the crops. Despite the cost issues attached to the insurance programme, it is still widely appreciated by the masses of

Global Assessment of Haiti Part 2 Research Paper

Global Assessment of Haiti Part 2 - Research Paper Example Pneumonia and Influenza are the major diseases that cause a lot of deaths of the Haitian population (World Fact book, 2013). The country is vulnerable to environmental impacts like harsh climatic changes and stressors of the environment like hurricanes and earthquakes. The country has presidential system and the national assembly is bestowed with law making processes. Use of voodoo doctrines is part and parcel of the Haitian population and the whole population is strong believers of the Roman Catholic. Lack of proper planning possesses a lot of challenge to the health sector of this country; because of the poor organization, most of the health care management is conducted by NGOs like Cuban Brigade and other bodies like MSF. Because of the natural calamities like earthquakes, the free medical services offered by the government had to stop because the government became bank craft and could no longer provide for the needs of the population. The old generation and the youngsters are the most susceptible members of the society based on outbreak of diseases like cholera. The case of cholera has been epidemic due to the poor hygiene and sanitation in the country. The vivid impact of the health issues is death among the vulnerable population. Due to the escalation of the health standards in the country, many international bodies have decided to offer a helping hand and some of such bodies are Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Partners in Health Organizations (PIH). These international bodies have embarked on vaccination programs against cholera to reduce its escalating effects. Another international body that has played a major role is UNICEF. This body has been engaged in vaccination programs to reduce the spread of cholera and other water-borne diseases. Haiti health concern with millennium development goals Some of the goals of the millennium development are eradication of extreme poverty rate and hunger, reduction of mortality rate among children below t he age of five years, improvement of maternal health care, and combating HIV/AIDS and malaria diseases (Adam et al., 2006). Based on the findings of Haiti case, nearly all the millennium goals have not been met. Haitian population still suffers from poverty since most of them live below the poverty line and this therefore, means that the first goal of eradication of poverty by millennium development has not been achieved. The second goal is reduction of mortality rate among children below the age of five years and this goal has equally not been achieved because the most vulnerable people in the Haitian population are the children below the age of five years. The country can be said to be far away from achieving the millennium goals because of their poor health organization and failure to eradicate water-borne disease like cholera. For the country to attain these goals then a lot of changes should be done on the health sector. The government should be able to contain the health situa tion and it should be able to give provisions to basic medical requirements and also cleaning drinking water for the citizens. Without these changes then the country will still be far away from achieving the highlighted goals. Three levels of prevention Levels of prevention can be broadly classified into three categories: primary, secondary, and

Watergate scandal Essay Example for Free

Watergate scandal Essay In 1972, five burglars tried to break into the Watergate office building but were arrested at the crime scene by the police. The burglars were planning to enter and bug the Democratic National committee offices which were the Democrats headquarters. After investigations it was later revealed that the burglars were employed by the campaign committee for re-election of President Nixon. Furthermore, it came to be known that the Watergate incident was one of the spying and sabotage political campaigns conducted by President Nixon and his campaign staff (Lewis, 1972). The President and his campaign team were spying on the activities of the Democrats who happened to be their major political opponent. By spying on them they might be able learn the tactics or the methods they were using in campaigning and this will enable them to adopt new and better ways than those of the Democrats. Similarly, if the Democrats campaigning methods were better of than theirs they could use them earlier before the Democrats had a chance to implement them. Later, in 1973, after investigations were done two former officials of President Nixons campaign team, Liddy and McCord, were arrested and arraigned in court and convicted of bugging, burglary and conspiracy. More than 60 witnesses testified and about 100 evidence pieces were collected and used in the court hearing. In accordance to the testimony from the one of the witnesses, Liddy was given more than $332,000 by the deputy campaign director to carry out a spying operation. Liddy was found guilty of burglary and conspiracy and was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment and fined $40,000. McCord was found guilty of burglary, conspiracy and attempted bugging and was therefore sentenced to 45 years imprisonment and fined about $60,000 (Meyer, 1973). The scandal led to the resignation of two White House aides and the attorney general. The President accepted their resignations and proceeded to fire the counsel of the White House. By accepting their resignations the President was attempting to conceal his involvement in the scandal and was trying to avoid the occurrence of another scandal by firing the Counsel of the White House. The president goes forward and creates a committee to investigate the Watergate scandal and prosecute the suspects (Stern Johnson, 1973). In a televised interview, President Nixon declared himself to be clean of any involvement in the Watergate scandal. He goes on to say that he never profited from the Watergate issue and did not obstruct justice in any way while performing his national duties. At the White House, the President recorded all his conversations in tapes and hence any information about Watergate scandal discussed in the White House must have been recorded and saved in the tapes. This therefore made him refuse to reveal the tape recordings since they might contain some information which could destroy his presidential career. However, in spite of him refusing to provide the tape recordings, to ensure his innocence, he promised to provide more evidence through documents and tapes and even give more details about his financial accounts. The President went forward to accuse the Democrats for conspiring to remove him from office because he had refused to boost their high support prices. Consequently, he admitted for not supervising his campaign staff adequately thereby leading to the Watergate scandal. During the televised speech, the President was noted to be nervous and was even misspelling some of his words but he still managed to control himself and plead his innocence (Kilpatrick, 1973). In spite of President Nixons plead for innocence, all activities done by his campaign team needed his consent, and hence they is no way his campaign team would get involved in an illegal activity without him knowing. In addition, his Chief Campaign Director must have been notifying him daily on the progress of the campaign and hence there is no way he was innocent. Students protest in the 1960s The needs and problems experienced by students are usually common in peer groups and communities. In campuses, the students of the same peer group are brought together to learn and hence gain knowledge. The campus environment provides a good place for the development and formation of organized groups since the students are given relatively much freedom and have enough time. In campuses, students use to participate in social activities depending on their culture or race. Groups were therefore formed according to race or culture. Students of the same culture will usually experience similar problems and thus have similar ways of solving the problems. By organizing themselves in cultural groups the students were therefore able to mobilize a large number of people for protest. During the years of 1960s there was racism, poverty and the war in Vietnam and this led to much student activism. Even though racism was not something new in America, the learning institutions perpetuated it thereby leading to protest by the black students since they could not tolerate it any longer. In colleges, the students are supposed to interact well with the learning environment for them to learn but with much racism they cannot interact well and this become a barrier to learning. For instance, in some cafeterias black students were not allowed to eat and in some colleges they were not allowed to vote (Churney, 1979). Furthermore, the war in Vietnam made students to form anti-war movements in order to stop the government from participating in the war. Because of the war many soldiers lost their lives and the newspapers were keen in reporting the number and even the names of the soldiers who had lost their lives. In addition, there was much poverty experienced by the community and the government was reluctant in solving the problem. Poverty was affecting the students adversely thereby becoming a barrier to learning. With education, the students acquired knowledge and were therefore able to find protest as a way of solving their problems. Reference List Churney L. (1979). Student protest in the1960s. Retrieved May 27, 2009 from http://www. yale. edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/2/79. 02. 03. x. html Kilpatrick C. (1973, November 18). Nixon Tells Editors, Im Not a Crook. Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved May 27, 2009 from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/articles/111873-1. htm Lewis A. E. (1972, June 18). 5 Held in Plot to Bug Democrats Office Here. Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved May 27, 2009 from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/05/31/AR2005111001227. html Meyer L. (1973, January 31). Last Two Guilty in Watergate Plot. Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved May 27, 2009 from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/05/31/AR2005111001234. html Stern L. and Johnson H. (1973, May 1). 3 Top Nixon Aides, Kleindienst Out; President Accepts Full Responsibility; Richardson Will Conduct New Probe. Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved May 27, 2009 from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/05/31/AR2005111001235. html

What Utilitarianism Is by Mill Essay Example for Free

What Utilitarianism Is by Mill Essay Mill, in his attempt to define what utilitarianism is, is also trying to defend the concept against wrong notions. Mill is correcting the wrong idea that utilitarianism could be equated happiness of any kind even as that of a swine or a beast. In asserting that utilitarianism or the greatest happiness principle should be viewed on higher ground than that of the beast, the author points out the comparison with the lower form of animals as degrading since human being’s faculties are higher that of the animal appetites.   Mill explains that by using the different level of happiness, as he points out the great advantage of being human over a satisfied fool or the advantage of dissatisfied Socrates over a satisfied or happy fool.[1]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  A wrong notion that utilitarianism is focused on the agent’s own happiness is also another point explained by Mill.   Thus in advocating the greatest amount of happiness altogether for a greater number of people over the agent’s own happiness, which may consists in having some pain, Mill also supports the cultivation of nobleness of character[2] if happiness will come out as result. This is of course with the premise that pleasures or happiness through the intellect or from moral sentiments are of higher value that those from mere sensation.   Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Mill’s emphasis of the primacy of mental pleasure over those bodily ones should be a strong way to emphasize the significance of the utilitarianism and to avoid comparison of the term with those which cannot have mental pleasures. Work Cited: Mill, John Stuart, Utilitarianism, Routledge, 1863 [1] Mill, John Stuart, Utilitarianism, Routledge, 1863 [2] Mill, John Stuart, Utilitarianism, Routledge, 1863

The Relationship between Drugs and Crime

The Relationship between Drugs and Crime Drugs: their use, misuse and connections with crime In this dissertation I would like to argue that the study of crime and drug use is complex. There are a number of diverse factors that lead people to misuse drugs; these are a mixture of social, psychological and economic factors. Age and gender are significant statistically but insufficient research has been carried out to explore these issues fully. In this dissertation we will consider how people acquire a physical and psychological dependence on drugs. We will look at the pressure that can be placed upon susceptible individuals by dysfunctional families and peer pressure. Other factors that will be explored are whether personality traits or hereditary factors play a significant role in drug misuse and any consequent criminal behaviour. It is also clear that there is a correlation between crime and drug taking but again this link is not clear-cut. It will be necessary to consider if there are factors that predispose people to deviant behaviour and drug misuse or if one factor leads to another, and if so in what direction. We will consider at some length what is being done to ‘police’ drug crime and conclude that although much is being done it is a difficult and growing area, needing the intervention of specialised crime agencies, such as the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). We will conclude by considering that a great deal more research needs to be done to help understand this complex issue but that there are a number of areas where useful investments could be made. The first is in the provision of more skilled people to act as drugs counsellors, in order to help lower demand for drugs; the second is to co-operate with international bodies in forming policy to fight the global drugs business and co-operate internationally with enforcement agencies; the third is for enforcement agencies in this country to act in partnership with each other and outside agencies to help disrupt the supply of drugs by removing its supplier and their money and reducing demand by helping drug-users to fight their addiction. Only when all these measures are acted upon will any significant headway be made in the ‘war on drugs’. Definitions Before we embark on our explorations, I would like to define how I will use the term drugs in this dissertation; I intend to define drugs as psychoactive drugs; this is any chemical that ‘alters perceptions and behaviour by changing conscious awareness’. However, I will exclude recreational drugs that are accepted by society, particularly alcohol. The reason for this is to enable me to achieve a tightly focused argument within the limits of the word count. There is a great deal of research on alcohol abuse; much of it mirrors the misuse of other drugs, however, there are some significant differences, which would broaden out the argument too much. In this dissertation we will restrict ourselves to drugs that are outside of society’s approval. The drugs we will consider in this work fall into four categories: depressants, stimulants, opiates and hallucinogens. The depressants include alcohol, barbiturates and solvents. Stimulants work by increasing the transmission of nerve impulses in the brain; they include cocaine, MDMA (better known as ‘ecstasy’), and amphetamines. The next group of drugs, opiates have been known since the time of the ancient Sumerians; in 4000BC they named the plant that produced resin from its unripe seedpods, the poppy. From this resin come the opiate drugs. These depress neural functioning, suppress physical sensation and responses to stimulation, which is why the codeine and morphine versions of this drug are used as substantial painkillers. Hallucinogens are the final group and contain LSD, PCP and cannabis. In this dissertation, once we have considered what leads initially to drug use and misuse, we will look at the link between drugs and crime. I have defined above what I mean by drugs, I’d now like to define what mean by crime. Such a definition is not easy to establish. There is perceivable difference between the definition made by a research psychologist and a lawyer; one has a highly conceptualised definition, the other a legal one. In this dissertation, I will use Glen Walters definition of crime. In his book Drugs and Crime in Lifestyle Perspective, he defines it as ‘a rule breaking behaviour that, if known to legal authorities, would result in the rule breaker’s being charged with a criminal offence punishable by law’. Size of drug problem It is not an easy task to accurately record how many people take these forms of drugs on a regular basis. A National Survey on Drug Use and Health, undertaken in the United States in 2003, revealed that an estimated 3.7 million people had used heroin at some point in their life. It also revealed that 119,000 had used heroin in the month before the survey. It is perhaps encouraging that the British Crime Survey reveals that drug taking in this country amongst 16 to 24 years olds has decreased since 1998, although it has increased in people form 16to 59. A United Nations report, published in 2005, estimated that 200million people, or approximately 5% of the world’s population, aged15-64, have used drugs in the last year. Whichever figure is correct, the number of people who abuse drugs is large. In terms of the criminal side of crime, this is an increasingly difficult problem to deal with. The illegal market for drugs is immense, which attracts the attention of large organised crime groups. It is likely that dealing with this problem will be a major part of the work done by the new Serious and Organised Crime Agency. A major area that will need to be looked at is how to disrupt the flow of drugs into the country; this will be a complex undertaking. Using Cocaine as an example, the drug originates in Latin America, principally Columbia. Its then taken first to a secondary country such as Spain, Portugal or West Africa, and finally funnelled into the UK via France, Belgium or the Netherlands. Although, Jamaica, the Caribbean Island closest to Latin America, which also has a significant immigrant community in England, provides a more direct route into this country for drugs. Clearly, this means that the Immigration and Customs and Excise departments also have an important part to play in policing this ‘industry’. The structure of the argument In chapter one we will look at the physical, psychological and environmental factors that lead to addiction of abusive substances. In chapter two I will consider whether there is a link between addiction and crime; we will also consider the implications of the illegal drugs market on policing. In chapter three I will discuss the prevention strategies that exist. Finally, I will conclude by explaining that although it is possible to come to some conclusions in our study, it is difficult to come to a definitive conclusion due to the amount of research material and its complex and often contradictory nature. Chapter 1: The road to drug use and misuse Introduction In this chapter we will consider the factors that lead to drug use and misuse. We will consider how attitudes in general concerning drug use have changed and how this has led to a greater acceptance of taking medication. We will also consider the psychological factors that could contribute to a person first falling prey to drug use. There is evidence that socioeconomic factors may be significant and we will explore this idea; we will include a consideration of the increasingly sophisticated ‘marketing’ methods used by the sellers of illegal drugs. Finally, we will conclude that although there is a great deal of information on the subject of why people begin taking drugs we will see that it is very difficult to draw a conclusion from the information available. We cannot offer conclusions only suppositions. Changing attitudes to drugs People have been using drugs for a great deal longer than it has been considered a problem. Tammy Salah suggests that drug use has been prevalent since ancient times (Salah, p6). However, significant major changes have occurred in the pattern of drug taking in the last four decades. In the 1950s very few people indulged in any form of drug, other than alcohol or cigarettes, however, this situation has gradually changed until we have become a drug using culture. A number of reasons have been suggested for this change. Some have suggested that the increase in taking drugs for medicinal purposes altered people’s general attitude towards taking drugs; as they acquired the perception that a pill could cure physical problems and mental illness, they accepted the possibility that a pill could be used to counter other problems; others advocated the idea that in the 1960sand 70s people, particularly Americans, were exploring new life-styles, many had an increased amount of leisure time and looked for new activities to fill them, one of those ways to fill the extra hours waste recreational use of drugs. Roads to addiction This increase in drug abuse led to problems with addiction as people acquired a physical dependence on these substances. Gradually, after taking the drug for some time, a person acquired a tolerance, so needed more and more of it to achieve the same effect. They also reached a stage where cessation of the drug in the system led to unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. At this stage they are said to have acquired physical dependency on the drug. However, this is not the only form of dependence that can arise; it is also possible to acquire a psychological dependence. This can occur particularly if a drug is used to reduce anxiety; even though no physical dependence occurs, the feeling of being without anxiety is addictive, which makes the drug addictive for psychological reasons. Dependence on alcohol can begin this way, the drink can acquire appositive reinforcement if it used to reduce stress, however, the more it is used the more the dependence becomes a physiological one. This is one of the most popular contemporary views of why humans self-administer potentially lethal drugs. It is believed that these chemicals activate the reinforcement system in the brain. Other natural-enforcers such as food, water, sex etc. also activate this system. It is possible to place drug users into at least two categories. One group of drug users take drugs for the effects they have on the senses; this group has been described as ‘novelty seekers’; the other group uses drugs to help them cope with other problems, they use drugs ‘as if they are anti-anxiety or anti-depressant substances’. One could conclude that this is the explanation for the apparent plethora of contradictory information as it would be counterintuitive to suggest that the same factors lead to these two models. Bio psychologists have done some of the most recent research into the development of an addiction. Their work is interesting because it is admix of physical and psychological scientific methods. It is important to consider their work, as it could have a significant effect on treatment and preventative programmes for the misuse of drugs. An article that appeared in the journal, Addiction, in 2001 suggests that addicts are not motivated to take drugs for the pleasure they provide, or the desire to avoid the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, but because once drugs have been used the person develops changes in the part of the brain that render the ‘rewards systems’ and it becomes hypersensitive. These are not the parts of the brain that deal with pleasure or the euphoric effects of drugs but a subcomponent of reward; the study renamed them incentive salience or ‘wanting’. This leads the drug addict to develop compulsive behaviours in relation to drug-seeking. The researchers suggest that this sensitization leaves addicts susceptible to relapse long after they discontinue their drug use. It is also clear that some people become sensitised very quickly but others much more slowly. Another interesting aspect of this research is that the self-administration experience plays a significant part in the process, so that if the context is repeated in the future, even after drug misuse has ceased, the person will experience the compulsion to take the drug. This can happen years after the person has ceased to take drugs. A number of interesting facts resulted from this study that could affect our understanding and treatment of drug misuse. One interesting factor is that it is not saying that drug addiction is caused by chemical changes in the brain, what it is saying is that environmental factors have an equally significant effect as pharmacological ones. This factor is important as it has an effect on how to treat addiction. Another interesting factor revealed is that the brain processes involved in addiction are those that determine wanting not pleasure. This makes nonsense of the theory that the reinforcing factor connected to drugs is pleasure; drugs can become addictive in the absence of pleasure at taking them. This means that an unconscious motivational process can promote the act of taking a drug; this would explain why addicts, who report they are ‘miserable, that [their] life is in ruins, and that even the drug is not that great anymore’ are still ‘bewildered by the intensity of their compulsive behaviour’. However, it is interesting to note that even the authors of this study recommend caution; they accept that studies carried out on animals may not give the same results in human addicts. A great deal of interest has been shown by researchers concerning what, if any, personality characteristics make an individual more susceptible to become addicted to drugs. No individual personality type has been shown to predispose a person to drug misuse; however, people who score highly in tests for social conformity are less apt to misuse drugs. On the other hand, those who as children were rated by their class-mates as being impulsive, inconsiderate, lacking in ambition, with poor work habits, as adults were more likely to smoke, drink alcohol or take drugs than children not described as having those characteristics. Glen Walters concurs with this conclusion. He suggests the only positive evidence he has seen relates to some forms of early anti-social behaviour that affect a person’s future chance of abusing drugs and that this isn’t enough to provide a conclusive link. However, as already mentioned one must exercise caution concerning the conclusions reached from these studies as most of this research has been conducted on people with pre-existing problems, so one cannot be entirely certain that the characteristic did not result from the addiction rather tamper-date it. An obvious area to consider, particularly bearing in mind that the majority of drug misuse is done by the young, is the influence of, and relationship with parents. A study by Baer and Corridor in 1974suggested that children whose parents had showed little interest in them, or had used excessive physical punishment during their early childhood, were more likely to misuse drugs. Glen Walters confirms this when he quotes studies that reveal children who suffered parental rejection, either physical or mental, are more likely to indulge in deviant behaviour, including drug abuse. He suggests that a lack of attachment leads to an inability to fully ‘empathize with and relate to others’. Another study undertaken in 1972 revealed that people from home with conservative, traditional values were less likely to misuse drugs, than those from a more permissive and liberal home. However, it is not necessarily the parent’s values that contributed to the misuse of drugs but the potentially easier access to them. Ironically, coming from a ‘disrupted’ family (one where divorce or death has interrupted ‘traditional’ family life) does not seem to be factor in drug abuse in individuals. Parents are not the only group to have a significant influence, person’s peers can be equally important as an encouragement to misuse. The more substances a person misuses, the more friends they are likely to have who misuse substances themselves. However, again, interpretation of this can be problematic. It is difficult to know if these people have more friends who misuse because they have influenced them, or that the explanation is that they prefer to socialise with people with ‘pastimes’ most like their own. Walters concurs that although it appears that people are strongly influenced by their peers, it is difficult to provide evidence to confirm this conclusion. It is also important to bear in mind that although some people may be affected by the relationship with their parents (or lack of it) and influenced by their peers to act in a delinquent manner, the majority of people, under these circumstances, do not become delinquent or drug abusers, so these reasons are not sufficient in themselves to explain this anomaly. There are many links between deprivation, social exclusion and drug misuse. Amongst the factors that predispose someone to misuse drugs: the use of legal drugs in early life, school non-attendance, unemployment, history of public care, parent criminality and substance misuse, use of illegal recreational drugs. It is difficult to ignore the fact that ‘impoverished urban areas’ have higher rates of crime and drug abuse than more affluent areas. It almost certainly comes as no surprise that drug abuse rates are higher in areas where drugs are easily available, generally run-down urban areas. It is not difficult to believe that bleak circumstances can lead people to seek ‘escape ‘through drugs. Crime is also highest in these areas and it is easy to jump to the conclusion that these are linked; however, this link cannot be directly proved. The age of drug users is statistically significant, they are predominantly young and male, and may be getting younger. In the Home Office survey referred to above, arrestees who were drug users were more likely to be 25 and over, however, amongst men the numbers testing positive in the 20-24 age group was seen to be increasing significantly over the period of the research. This finding is repeated in the British Crime Survey. This demographic trend is also seen in the USA. Survey in 2003 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse recorded that in the previous year 314,000 people had used heroin; of that number the largest group were over 26, however, the same report recorded that from1995 to 2002 the number of new users varied each year from 121,000 to164,000 and of these 75% were 18 or over. More worryingly, the American survey recorded significant and stable levels of heroin abuse amongst school age children. The However, drug use seems to ‘peak’ at the age of 20. As we have seen, most of the users of heroin in the American survey were young men. The gender balance amongst drug users in England is also predominantly male, however, things could be changing, a Home Office crime survey showed a higher proportion of women testing positive for opiates than men 43% of women arrestees compared to 34% of men. Although the British Crime Survey suggests that the number of women taking drugs has stabilised. Tam Stewart suggests that their partners often introduce women drug users to drugs; they take them to ‘please’ their man. It has been argued that drugs have been ‘radicalized’ and that the perception is that black men are more likely to be offenders, and, therefore, more likely to be stopped by the police, than white men. It’s true that cannabis is widely used by the Caribbean community. However, much lower proportions of black men take heroin. The question that hasn’t been raised thus far is the question of hereditary. Glen Walters reports that a number of research papers, using data from family, twin and adoption studies, have been studied that seem to suggest that there is a genetic link in drug abuse. However, he concedes that these studies are difficult to interpret because it is difficult to take into account whether environmental influences have made a bigger impact than genetics. Salah also concludes that genetics may be a factor but that external and internal stimuli are more likely to account for drug use and abuse. Tam Stewart challenges all these explanations of what makes someone abuse drugs. She claims, ‘Heroin respects no barriers of class, race, religion or profession. There are junkies of 14 and 40’. She concedes that the majority of drug users come from poor and inadequate backgrounds; however, the fact that there are abusers from all categories suggests that poverty and inadequate family background cannot be the whole explanation. She suggests that one of the initial factors for people who take drugs is curiosity. Another factor that must be taken into account is that drug sellers are becoming more sophisticated in their marketing techniques and use disturbing methods of introducing people to the misuse of drugs. A ‘traditional’ method, bearing in mind drugs addictive qualities, was for street sellers to give ‘free samples’ to people who had previously never used illegal drugs. They soon became addicted to the substances and the seller had created a new buyer for his goods. However, with the increasing use of the Internet new ways of selling and marketing products have arisen. Buying a drug over the net is a much ‘easier ‘route into the drug scene, particularly for the socially shy and/or conservative middle-class teenager; the drugs are just as addictive but seem almost ‘legitimate’ when bought in the same way they buy their books and music CDs. However, a person acquires an addiction to drugs, it is clear that when they do it is not just a personal problem but also a societal one. We’ve looked at some of the reasons that may predispose someone to use and misuse drugs. In the next chapter we will consider what, if any, links there are between drug misuse and crime. Chapter 2: The links between drugs and crime Introduction Numerous studies have shown a link between drug abuse and crime; there are high crime rates amongst drug abusers and high drug-use rates among offenders. In this chapter we will consider the evidence that suggests link between drug misuse and crime. We will see how there is a great deal of evidence that shows a correlation but a link showing exactly how the two factors are related is much harder to find. We will also consider the types of crime most related to this problem and consider ways that have been used to tackle the problem. Causal links Earlier in this dissertation we have discussed how drugs are addictive and it has been suggested that it is this addiction that leads to crime. Drug use leads to ‘compulsive drug seeking’ and use. This compulsion fuels three types of drug related crime: crimes of supply, crimes committed to obtain money to buy drugs, or where the effects of drugs lead the user to act in a criminal way, for example dangerous driving or acts of aggression. The suggested theories to understand why people take drugs also falls into three categories: the moral model; the disease model and the behavioural model. There is statistical evidence of a link between drug use and crime. An on-going survey financed by the Home Office records the link between the misuse of drugs and offending. During the study 3,064 arrestees were interviewed and tested for drug use at eight police custody suites in England and Wales. This was repeated at the same sites two years later. Approximately 50% of those arrested were included in the study; juveniles and those arrested for alcohol related offences were excluded. The majority of those interviewed were white males and 90% of these agreed to undergo urinalysis. Urinalysis can detect drug use over the previous few days; in this study they were tested for six types of drugs were tested: Cannabis, opiates (including heroin), cocaine(including crack), benzodiazepines, amphetamines and methadone. Clearly these percentages are significant. A major finding of the research was that 65% of those arrested tested positive for drugs, around a third tested positive for opiates and/or Cocaine; less than 10% were positive for amphetamines and just under50% had injected heroin. Clearly this reveals a link between drugs and crime but on this alone they cannot be said to cause crime. During the interviews, however, around 90% of those who tested positive for class ‘A’ drugs reported they had committed property crimes as a result of their addiction in the last twelve months. Research carried out in other countries show similar findings. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the US, 50% of the inmates in US prisons in 1991divulged that they had used illegal drugs in the month prior to their arrest and 30% admitted that they were under the influence of an illicit drug when they committed their offence. An interesting finding is that offenders who abuse both illegal drugs and alcohol commit more criminal activities that those who only abuse an illegal drug. It is hard not to conclude that criminal activity is linked to drug taking. There are no clear causal links, however, between drugs and crime, despite much research on the subject that has shown that there are links between drugs and offending. A briefing paper for the Criminal Justice Social Work Development Centre for Scotland argues that ‘hanging around’ with those that do risky things, may ‘encourage or require the passage into various forms of crime to generate funds for purchasing drugs’. The paper argues that a further problem is that drug misuse leads to further financial and social difficulties; these in themselves generate more crime. A survey done amongst a Scottish young offender’s institution revealed that 95% of its inhabitants admitted taking illegal drugs. Yet again this Scottish survey does not give satisfactory explanation for this result. It has been suggested that there are two explanations for this apparent correlation between crime and drug abuse. The first suggests that drug use adversely affects a person’s ‘mood, judgement and self-control’; the second we’ve already mentioned, that is that the high cost of drugs leads the user to commit ‘economically oriented crime’. However, even these explanations are not entirely satisfactory. In the case of the first it is true that drugs can affect people in the way mentioned, however, not all people who take drugs experience these effects uniformly; second not everyone who takes drugs and experiences these symptoms commit crimes; therefore it is not unreasonable to argue that another factor must be involved. The second argument also holds true for the idea that the need to keep oneself supplied with drugs leads to crime. Glenn Walters tries to resolve this conundrum with his ‘lifestyle theory of human decision’. The three ‘Cs’ defines life styles: conditions, choice and cognition. In this theory he concludes that drug abuse and criminal activity are interrelated lifestyles. Walters believes that conditions do not cause drug abuse or crime directly but they influence behaviour by increasing or decreasing a person’s options in life. Walters concludes that choice is a very important explanation of the link between drugs and crime; criminal drug users behave in the way they do because they have made a rational choice that it is in their best interest to do so. Although he does not conclude that thesis the only explanation. It is clear from current research that young offenders have particularly high risk for developing ‘problematic drug use’, this is partly due to their use of class ‘A’ substances and to taking drugs intravenously. A Home Office survey, published in 2004, records that injecting drugs escalates both the health risks to the user and the social problems that go along with it. Amongst the arrestees studied for this report, around 65% used heroin and these were the most persistent offenders. Interestingly, one study in the US has suggested that there is no real correlation between drugs and crime. It is argued that because drug abuse and crime are not evenly spread across age groups, it is possible that they are not directly connected. There are a number of potential arguments for this. Firstly, is that it is possible drugs and crime follow a similar but coincidental age progression; secondly, it is possible that that these problems arise because of an underlying pattern of general deviancy; a final explanation is that the statistics show that the supposed link is actually a manifestation of low self-control making the person more liable to contravene social norms. However, none of these explanations are verified by research. Michael Hough in his review of drug related literature for the Home Office suggests that a distinction should be made between drug users and people with a heavy dependency, it is the latter group that is most likely to be involved in crime. Policing the problem Regardless of the causal links between drugs and crime, it undoubtedly causes major problems for the police service, enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. A Home Office report published in 2003 on the subject of ‘Crack’ begins by pointing out that ‘uncontrolled crack markets have a propensity for violence and intimidation that affects whole communities’. The report goes on to suggest that this problem haste be dealt with on two fronts: the supply of drugs to the drug addict has to be cut off and the demand for them reduced. During the last decade much work has been done in partnerships between the police another agencies, as these are considered the most successful ways to deal with the problem. These strategies aimed at reducing the demand for drugs will be discussed in the next chapter; in this section we will consider the response of law enforcement agencies. It is necessary at this point to consider in more detail what types of crime is committed by people misusing drugs. Much drug-connected crimes non-violent, more concerned with acquiring the money to fund the misuser’s addiction; these would include crimes such as theft, forgery or prostitution. However, CJSW’s briefing paper suggests that drug’s misuse can lead to violent crime in one of two ways; these are, (1) the effects of the drug can lead to aggressive behaviour, and, (2) violence can be used when committing the acquisitive crimes mentioned above. The paper makes it clear that these links are very much dependent on what type of drug is being abused. A study from the United States suggests that cocaine, particularly in the form of crack, can lead to violence, as can the use of barbiturates and amphetamines. However, overwhelming evidence suggests that the mostly likely addictive substance that will lead to violent outbursts from the abuser is alcohol. The area that would produce the best ‘return for money’ would be to stop the arrival of drugs into the country in the first place. The raw ingredients for most traditional drugs are not produced in this country; therefore, they have to be imported from abroad. Increasingly, the enforcement agencies in this country are assisting the international fight against drugs. Government is also helping address these issues, offering to help disrupt the opium harvest in countries like Afghanistan. The new SOCA has announced plans to have agents stationed abroad to assist in this disruption. Clearly, this is a major issue that requires serious measures. Much of the response to drug motivated crime has been met with moral outrage and dealt with accordingly; we will look at this in more depth later in the dissertation. The drugs industry is large and profitable, which is what makes it necessary to respond to this problem from a number of different appropriate directions. An article in the Economist published in 2001,states that ‘if only it were legitimate, there would be much to admire

Biography of Hillary Clinton :: HIllary Clinton Politics Government Essays

Biography of Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham was born on October the 26th 1947 at Edgewater Hospital, in Chicago. Her parents Hugh and Dorothy married in 1942. When Hillary was still young she learnt to stand up for herself. She told her mom that Suzy was bullying her and her mom said "There's no room in this house for cowards. You'll have to stand up to her." Hillary later knocked Suzy to the ground and said "Mom, now I'm tough enough to play with the boys! " After this she became a natural leader " She wasn't just interested in having power, but to help people. She felt sorry for the Mexican migrant workers , and organised neighborhood sales to raise money for them. She was a vice president of her junior class. She spent four years at Wellesley High School. During the Vietnam war Hillary and her fellow student held a demonstration to stop the Americans bombing Vietnam. She majored in political science and also studied psychology. When she started at Wellesley she was a Republican but later became a Democrate. Hillary was a Grade A student always and went to Yale Law School, where she met William Jefferson Clinton. In the summer and fall of 1972 Bill and Hillary both moved to Texas to work for the Democratic presidential campaign of Senator George McGovern. In January 1974 she was part of the legal staff for the House Judiciary Committee. This was a very exciting time for her as they were investigating President Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal. After working in Washington DC , she decided to leave and go to Arkansas, where Bill was teaching at the University of Arkansas Law School. Her friends couldn't understand why she was throwing her life away to work in a dirt-poor state. But often her answer was simply. "I love him". In October 1975 Bill Clinton and Hillary got married. She continued to work as a lawyer and kept her family name of Rodham when she married. In 1980 they had a child named Chelsea. The first election at Arkansas in 1980 was not a triumph, and many people blamed it on Hillary with her thick glasses and baggy sweaters.

Slavery as the Cause of the American Civil War Essay -- Slavery Essays

The Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon. Economically, the chief and immediate cause of the war was slavery. Southern states, including the 11 states that formed the Confederacy, depended on slavery to support their economy. The North used a factory system for their agriculture, which they hired cheap labor. Southerners used slave labor to produce crops, e...

Imagery In John Donnes The Bro Essay -- essays research papers

Imagery in “The Broken Heart';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Donnes’ poem “The Broken Heart'; is full of imagery, used to portray his broken heart. Donne uses the imagery so we can get a visual picture of what love means to him. He uses the imagery because it’s necessary to see a picture of the pain he lives with. Donne uses several aspects of imagery, including death to show his grief and Donne also does uses despair to display his pain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The image of death was used throughout the poem. “…Love so soon decays,'; meaning that love so quickly dies. If you cut a flower and do not put it in water it will quickly wither and die. Another image of death would be the plague. A plague is a widespread disease that causes thousands of people to die. The plague is also synonymous with suffering. Donne writes that he has “had the plague a year,'; by writing this Donne has been deathly ill for what he thinks is a year. Love, to Donne is something that you think about for a long time so, therefore, it seems that you have loved someone for that long but in reality it is only a short period of time. According to Donne, love is very powerful and causes the widespread destruction to thousands.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Donne also uses the image of despair and depression. In the second stanza, he says “Ah, what a trifle is a heart, if once into lo...

Green Lantern and Mythology Essay

Green lantern is a long running comic book series. The early years the story of a prophecy that had been handed to Abin sur, an alien, who eventually dies from fear of this prophecy and his ring is given to a human the first human from earth to possess a power ring. This prophecy comes to be in the series called blackest night. It is a tale of evil trying to take over the universe. Black Hand is main Black lantern when a person is killed there body basically becomes a zombie possessing a black power ring. The green lantern corp is the original police forces of the universe there were created by a group of immortals that could be seen as gods possibly. The rings give normal beings great powers to create anything they can image with a solid light it is powered by their will power and lack of fear. But they are not the only heroes (lanterns) in the universe that is needed to stop this growing evil force. There is group for each of the colors of the spectrum. Each is powered by a different emotion. Red is rage, orange is greed, and green is will, blue is hope, indigo is mostly compassion, and finally violet is love. To destroy a Black lantern takes more than one colored power. So they have to learn to work together and give over their own personal differences. This shows how many cultures have to work together. But in a way it shows that you can’t allow only one emotion to rule over you because it will lead possibly your doom, because in the story to face the evil lantern alone is definite doom and you will be consumed by the evil and become that which you had been fighting against. It also shows that sometimes you just can’t do something’s alone that you need to rely on others to succeed. No matter how strong or smart you are that it can take more than one person to do the job right. I see it as a way of showing children that no matter how different we are, whether we are from different worlds or different countries no matter how different we look we can work together. Kids now days are very interested in comics or the movies based on comics so these stories are becoming the new myths of our time. These people are the heroes our children look to for role models nowadays. In the movie Green Lantern it shows the determination to show that no matter what others think of you if you have the strenght and determination you can prove that you can be a hero or anything you set your mind to.

Going to College Essay

Going to college really does open a new chapter in everyone life, the beginning of new friendships, opportunities and growth. As a college student, a new student will be introduced to new areas of interest, broaden his vision of possibilities, establish and accomplish goals, develop lifelong friendships and define him or her in ways that he can imagine. Anyone on Earth already asked, or will ask himself where he would be in 10, 20 or even 30 years down the road. It is hard enough imagining what his life is going to be like in a year or two. Questions like â€Å"Where do you want to be today, tomorrow and in the future? † might be hard ones for young teenagers, who just graduated from high school. Attending college will help anyone answer those questions, develop a realistic plan for accomplishing his goals, and equip him with the knowledge and skills he will needs to see his goals through to the end. We usually assume that a college degree is necessary when it is not actually. We can also noticed that, because we place so much emphasis on degrees, people who have not attended college think of themselves badly, and this lack of self-confidence can really impede their success. There are some people for whom the college is actually not the best way to learn. However, a college education is an opportunity for everyone to learn what he loves. A new student can actually take the time to enjoy learning what he is truly passionate about. If he is interested in a variety of things and he is not sure where to focus, he can take his time to try them all. Nobody should look at college as a long-term contract that he is not going to be able to get out of once he starts. Anyone should feel like he needs to decide on a major area of study before starting college. College is a time for everyone to test himself, explore his interests, see what the possibilities are, and to see what he can achieve. Most other students attending college are going to be in the exact same boat. There are also a variety of resources, provided by most universities, to help anyone through college, including academic advisors, professors accessible on campus, tutoring academic support, full-time counseling staff and more. While the prospect of attending college may seem a bit daunting and even suffocating, a graduated high school teenager should not forget that he will still get to live his life. He will be able to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities, social groups, maintain a job, or even pursue a career while completing his studies. He may even find that college ends up being much more enjoyable and fulfilling than he ever expected. There are additional reasons as to why it is important to go to college. When students experience a post-secondary education, they have the opportunity to read books and listen to the lectures of top experts in their fields. This stimulation encourages students to think, ask questions, and explore new ideas. So, â€Å"why should you go to college? † The reasoning does not begin and end with the job aspect. A good education is beneficial from many different viewpoints. If any teenager is still asking himself why he should go to college, it is important to remember the significant amount of opportunity available for college graduates. The global economy is becoming increasingly more competitive, and in order to give him the best chance for a well-paying job, he must first understand the importance of college education. Attending college provides students with the knowledge and experience they are unable to receive from a secondary education, and finding a way to fund a higher education now can pay off in a huge way in the years to come.

Role of Stakeholder Paper

Role of Stakeholder Paper Jasmine Zeno MGT/420 November 1, 2012 Dr. Allen Timmons Role of Stakeholder Paper Introduction The purpose of this paper is to identify who are the stakeholders in an organization and the importance they play within an organization. First I will identify what a stakeholder is and explain how important stakeholders are to the growth of the organization.Next I will explain how and identify the quality management process and how the stakeholders play an important role in the implementation quality management process. Finally I will conclude by using Federal Express as an example organization from our reading how they were able to involved different stakeholders within their organization to roll out a new process. Stakeholder and their importance with an Organization Stakeholder is someone who has an interest in the well being of the organization.A Stakeholder can be defined as a person, group, or organization that may have either a direct or indirect stake in a n organization and can be affected by the actions, objectives, and policies of the organization or have an effect on the actions, objectives and policies and organization may take (Business Dictionary, 2012). Stakeholders are essential to the growth of any organization because of the role each one of the stakeholders plays. Stakeholders can be internal; internal is someone who works for the organization who provides an important service for the organization.A stakeholder can also be external as well; external can be someone who invest money into the organization but is not involved in the day to day running of the organization. It is important to understand the roles and the influence that a stakeholder has in implementing a quality management process. For one to understand the importance a stakeholder plays in implementing the process one would have to understand and really what a stakeholder is and the role they play in the implementation of the quality management process. Quality management and its importanceThe culture of the organization plays an important part of the implementation in quality management process, and understanding how the stakeholder plays an important part in the implementation process is important. According to our reading the management processes that overarch and tie together the control and assurance activities make up quality management (S. Thomas Foster, 2007). It is important for an organization to have effective quality management. The reading states that a number of mangers, supervisors, and employees are all involved in quality management.Such as, planning for quality improvement, creating a quality organizational culture, providing training and retraining and providing leadership and support and the list goes on (S. Thomas Foster, 2007). Federal Express management evaluation system Federal Express doors open in 1973; there were eight small aircrafts at that time to handle the workload. Now today Federal Express is one of the w orld’s largest cargo fleet. FedEx’s philosophy guide management policies and actions were â€Å"People-Service-Profit (S. Thomas Foster, 2007). FedEx integrate all levels when implementing a policies within in their organization.Let’s take for example FedEx management evaluation system called SFA (survey, feedback, action) that involved a survey of employees, analysis of each group’s results by the work group’s manager, and a discussion between the manager and the work group to develop written action plans for the manager to improve and become more effective (S. Thomas Foster, 2007). Conclusion Stakeholders play an important role in the implementation and the affect that each one of the stakeholders has all depends on the type of control they have as a stakeholder.For the implementation to be successful it is important to know who the stakeholders are and each one of their needs. Stakeholder’s roles within the organization are vital to the growth and the successes of the organization. Involving stakeholders in the implementation in any process within the organization has proven to be a right decision.References S. Thomas Foster. (2007). Managing Quality. Integrating the Supply Chain. Retrieved from S. Thomas Foster, MGT/420 website. Stakeholder. (2012). In Business Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/stakeholder. html

Informative Speech Outline: bullying exactly

I, How many of you have been hearing about bullying? As you may hear on TVs or news or people are talking about the rates of bullying is going up from years to years.II, According to a research survey, bullying occurs once every 7 minutes in schools. Due to the National Youth Violence Prevention Center, almost 30% of adolescences in the USA (or over 5. 7 millions) are estimated to take part in bullying either bullying, being bullied or both. Also according to a 2007 nationally representative poll by The Workplace Bullying Institute, 37% of US workforce or 54 million employees have been bullied some time during their work time.III, Bullying can affect anyone, so you can gain something from this speech by being informed about bullyingIV, Today, I am going to explain the definition of bullying, what its effects are and how to prevent it. Body I, First of all, let’s explain in details what bullying means.A. What is bullying exactly and why?1. Firstly, bullying is intentional behav iors that are designed to hurt, harm, or damage the victims. It can take many forms like verbal, physical, social/relational/emotional, or cyber bullying – or any combination of these).Next, there must be an imbalance power involved (the bullies have power over the victims). Finally, it is often repeated periodically.2. So what do bullies want? The book â€Å"Talking about Bullying† says:a. Bullies want to feel important and big, create attention: dominate others or use others to get want they wantb. They want to feel like they are better than othersc. They want to hurt others and make them feel smallB. In order to know when bullying happens, we also need to know about ways and means of bullying1. Physicala.Typically, physical bullying involves: hair pulling, pinching, pushing, shoving, slapping, kicking, tripping, poking, stabbing, spitting, hitting, punching, head butting, choking, scratching, hiding or destroying someone’s property, etc.b. Example: pushing pe ers against the lockers to ask for money, or touching someone in a sexual way when it’s not wanted†¦2. Verbala. Ways bullies can use language or words to hurt others: name calling, taunting, swearing, spreading rumors, gossip, note writing, laughing at someone’s mistake, insulting nicknames, hate speech, mocking or imitating, threats, abusive remarks, etc.b. Example: Calling someone crybaby, trout mouth; saying nasty things about someone else†¦3. Emotional/ Relational:a. Nonverbal: pointing, staring, laughing, making faces, rolling their eyes, making loser signs, or sticking up middle fingers, etc.b. Psychological: excluding, isolating, ignoring or turning their back on someone such as leaving someone out of activities or game, purposely not talking to someone†¦ c. Another type of relational bullying is cyber-bullying is now very popular.Bullies can send emails spreading rumors, making vulnerable digital images of someone else, texting someone mean messa ges, online exclusion, videotape assault, etc.II, Bullying has extremely great effects on children so I will go into depth about children’s effects of bullyingA. Educational and mental fear always in the bullied’s minds.1. Keeping secrets and fears become phobia:a. Ashamed of being bulliedb. Afraid of retaliation if telling an adultc. Don’t think anyone can helpd. Don’t think anyone WILL helpe.Lie1. â€Å"The parent’s book about bullying† states the real effects are:a. skip schools ( In 2001, The journal of the American Medical association reported that > 160,000 students skip school every day because they are fearful of being bullied)b. don’t join in extracurricular activitiesc. carrying weaponsd. Avoiding peers and social group at schoole. reluctance to talk about what is happening at schoolf. sad and depressedg. Unexplainable drop in academic performance2. Being bullied can lead to commit suicide.1.Example: Jan 1999, Manchester, England, 8-year-old Marie Bentham hanged herself in her bedroom with her jump rope because she felt she could no longer face the bullies at school. She is considered Britain’s youngest bullycide.2. Example: June 29, 2005, a 15-year-old in Cape Coral, Florida, hanged himself after being repeatedly taunted online for 2 years by his classmates.III, Bullying is a life-death issue so we need to prevent it at home, school, or work.A. For parents1. intervene immediately with discipline2. create opportunities to â€Å"do good†3 . report the incident to school or child’s care4. teach friendship’s skill5. closely monitor children’s TV viewing, video game playing, computer activities, etc.6. engage in more constructive, entertaining, and energizing activitiesB. For teachers and school1. gathering info about bullying at school directly from students2. establishing clear school-wide and classroom rules about bullying3. training all adults on school to respond sensitively and consistently to bullying4. providing adequate adult supervision5. mproving parental awareness of and involvement in working on the problem C.For the bullied Tell the bullies to stop Speak to the school personnel, parents or adults outside of school Have your parents contact the school or school district Seek help for mental health issues if needed Anyone can become a victim of bullying but we can decrease our chances of being bullied of ours and others by being more informed on the concept, the effects of bullying and how to prevent it. Now, since you have more information about bullying, you may protect yourself and the ones you love!

Black Genocide Essay Example for Free

Black Genocide Essay Essay Topic: African American , Abortion â€Å"Black Genocide in the 21st century† also called â€Å"Maafa† is an anti-abortionist documentary made in 2009 that speaks about the relevance of birth control, White America and Black America, Planned Parenthood and how it was established, also, the conspiracy behind abortion. The movie also deeply discusses the argument between abortion being genocide and it specifically targeting African Americans. Black Genocide was a very intriguing and interesting piece of material that filled my knowledge with much more than I had intended it doing. Before watching this video, I knew a little about abortion but not about the black genocide part. You see, I knew that abortion was a way for the government to obtain legal rights to abort children who weren’t able to be cared for but I didn’t know the government was using abortion as a way to limit the black population. I also knew that African Americans were having a lot of abortions and there were, and still is a lot of abortion facilities but never put together the idea of how they were getting access to this information, furthermore, the connection between eugenics and genocide. During the film, I learned so much information that is disgusted me and changed many of my views toward abortion and other things. I learned that in the early 1800’s, Americans feared retribution and resurrection because slavery was supposed to have ended. Intermarriage also lead to the loss of international purity and for that, they had a plan of colonization. Colonization was an affect that took place, and caused African Americans to be sent back to Africa. After the colonization, the new philosophy was established and was called â€Å"eugenics†, the perfect solution to what was known as â€Å"negro dilemma.† I also learned that Eugenics believed that Africans were inferior and without guidance, they couldn’t make it. Margaret Sanger was the founder of the â€Å"American birth control league† and was successful for promoting abortion and birth control. After watching the 21st century of black genocide, I wanted to know more about the situation with the NAACP and why the government still hasn’t publicly announced the conflict between the protesters and there undercover targets. I’d also like to know more about the positive and negative eugenics and why White America was considered positive eugenics when it was used to try and dominate the black parts of America and used as a companion to exterminate African Americans. I’d also like to know more about Planned Parenthood and to see if the facilities were still being targeted in minority places. I’d also like to know more about White America and the Planned Parenthood meetings, and also if Planned Parenthood groups still targeted low poverty neighborhoods of different race, such as Caucasians. Black Genocide. (2016, Apr 12).

Market Analysis for Entry Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Market Analysis for Entry Strategy - Case Study Example This scenario was attributed to change in behaviour of the citizens of France and their attitudes towards alcohol product There was also evidence that the Wolf Blass wine, an alcohol brand that the company intended to export it to France could not perform better unless the company engages itself in advertising and other promotional tools especially marketing mix strategies that will give the competitive advantage over the other rival companies. The company should take advantage of globalization concept and engage itself in vigorous marketing strategies like the use of technology in exploring new markets within the target market in this case France. The use of on-line marketing will boost the chances of the company to explore more new and diverse markets within France. Also the company should emphasize on utilizing porter generic strategies in order to compete effectively with its rivals. The company should come up with ways of being overall low cost producer at the same time experiencing larger market share. Global events and competition affects almost all modern businesses and organisations are increasingly facing challenges as a result of the ever changing external and internal environments. The economic and political linkages involving the migration of money, products, and people across national boundaries together with ideas and values have increased the pace of change, ambiguity, uncertainty, and unpredictability. For companies to remain competitive and international in scope as well increasing there financial bases they need to embark on market entry strategies that will enhance good results in terms of exploring new markets 1.2 Company/product/market selected Wolf Company is an Australian company that deals with manufacturing and selling of a wide variety of alcohol products including Wolf Blass wine. Wolf Company is among the alcohol producing companies that have utilized the concept of globalization because of the saturated Australian market for alcohol