The Unconstitutionality of Capital Punishment Essay -- Argumentative P

The Unconstitutionality of Capital Punishment Capital punishment is one of the most popularly debated topics in the nation today. Since colonial times, more than 13,000 people have been legally executed. A large percentage of these executions occurred during the early 1900's. In the 1930's, as many as 150 people were being legally executed every year. However, the number of executions started to decrease as public outrage became apparent. In 1996, thirty-seven states, including New Jersey, legalized the death penalty. Of the other thirteen states, Michigan abolished the death penalty in 1847, Minnesota in 1853, and Alaska and Hawaii never had the death penalty. Today, there are over 2,000 people on "death row." Almost all are very poor, and a significant number of them are mentally retarded or disabled (ACLU 1). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) dictates that, "In all circumstances, the death penalty is unconstitutional under the Eight Amendment, and that its discriminatory application violates the Fourteenth Amendment" (1), and therefore, capital punishment violates the Constitution. Capital punishment should be illegal throughout the nation for many reasons. Capital punishment has many supporters. One of the major arguments that these supporters express is that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime. They argue that if the death penalty is legalized and practiced, it will discourage others from committing a crime. However, by comparing the data of the states with the death penalty and the states without the death penalty, one can easily see that the death penalty has no effect in deterring crime. According to the National Research Council in 1976, "the available studies provide no useful evidence on th... ...deterrence, it is incapacitation(Kaminer) C. Human judgment is not infallible 1. The risk of executing the innocent is too high. 2. The death penalty is final-no way to reverse. 3. Death Penalty and Sentencing Information study. D. Unconstitutionality 1. Violates the Eighth Amendment-"prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment(Litardo). 2. Violates the Fourteenth Amendment-"guarantees of equal protection of the laws and due process"(Litardo). E. Discrimination 1. Gender discrimination(Bedau). 2. Racial discrimination(Bedau). 3. Socio-economic level discrimination(Bedau). III. Conclusion A. Capital punishment is not an effective way of approaching the crime problem. 1. Capital punishment has many different difficulties as an attempt to decrease and prevent crime 2. Capital punishment should be illegal throughout the nation.

Plutarchs Aims and Achievements as a Biographer Essay -- English Lite

A critical study of a significant aspect or aspects of Plutarch's aims and achievements as a biographer -To what extent does Plutarch achieve his aims for the lives of Marius and Caesar? We are able to establish Plutarch's aims in creating his biographies by looking at his background and influences. Plutarch was born in Greece to a wealthy established family. He was well educated, studying rhetoric in Athens, and then travelled to Rome where he established connections with some important political figures. Despite being an outsider (a Greek), Plutarch accepted Roman aristocratic tradition as well as the moralising of some key Roman figures. This is reflected in the 'Lives' which in effect provide moral guidelines, prescribing how one should live a virtuous life. He viewed himself as an artist or moraliser rather than a historian, believing, "It is not so much history that we are writing but lives."[1] Plutarch was deeply into the platonic approach to ethics, and therefore was also influenced by Socrates. Plato was a pupil of Socrates who claimed that the most important thing in life was to know how one should live; an emphasis on moral conduct was therefore passed down to Plutarch. He is fascinated not only by great deeds and battles but, "often a little matter, like a saying or a joke,"[2] which can be more revealing in terms of character and virtue. Plato's philosophy was about the search for absolute standards of truth and moral certainty and almost all of his works are about ethics, or moral philosophy. His aim was therefore to create a, "revelation of virtue or vice,"[3] intending to "shape the life of each man"[4] in terms of moral not financial or political stature, and hopes the reader gains... ...against him but achieved less (although still a few) of his aims in the 'Life of Caesar'. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Plutarch, Fall of the Roman Republic, Alexander, 1.1-3, Penguin [2] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3, [3] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3, [4] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3, [5] Russell, p105 [6] Russell, Plutarch quote, p80 [7] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3 [8] Plutarch, Marius [3] [9] Plutarch, Marius [7] [10] Plutarch, Marius [9] [11] Plutarch, Marius [2,5] [12] Plutarch, Marius [10] [13] Plutarch, Marius [45] [14] Plutarch, Marius [46] [15] Plutarch, Marius [7] [16] Plutarch, Marius notes by Robin Seager [17] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3 [18] Plutarch, Marius [6] [19] Plutarch, Marius [46] [20] Plutarch, Caesar [1] [21] Cicero [22] Plutarch, Caesar [69]

The Secret of Ella and Micha Epilogue

Ella I've been back in Vegas for almost two weeks now and things are good. I signed up for some summer art classes and my internship at the museum is great, even though I spend most of my day cleaning up after people and running errands. I also started counseling. As much as I'd like to believe I was getting better, when I'm alone and lost in my own thoughts, the darkness sometimes gets to me. But my therapist is nice and the visits seem to be helping. Lila is letting me borrow her car for the weekend, so I can drive back home and meet up with Dean and my dad. I'm glad to be making the drive alone, that way I'll have twelve hours to mentally prepare myself. Although, deep down, I wish Micha was going with me. â€Å"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you,† Lila asks as I snatch the handle of my suitcase and scan the room for forgotten items. I shake my head. â€Å"I'll be fine and you have classes and your math tutor thing.† I stop at the doorway, needing to get something off my chest. â€Å"Lila, thank you for letting me borrow your car and for just being there for me.† Her smile is bright. â€Å"Don't get all weepy on me. You're only going to be gone for a couple of days, silly.† We laugh, exiting the building and head down the stairs. Our apartment is right by the campus and we keep Lila's car in the parking lot most of the time. When we reach the grass that reaches across the campus, my phone starts to sing inside my pocket, a sad turned happy song. â€Å"God, again?† Lila throws her head back dramatically. â€Å"Can't you two go five minutes without talking to each other?† â€Å"No.† I smile and answer the phone as Lila scoots away, giving us some privacy. â€Å"So how's the weather in Seattle?† â€Å"Pretty sunny, actually,† Micha says and I can hear the smile in his voice. I jerk on my roll away bag as it gets caught in a hole in the lawn. â€Å"That's funny, because I thought it was supposed to be rainy there.† â€Å"Nope, I got a blue sky and a hell of a lot of sunshine over my head,† he says. â€Å"And I'm really enjoying the view.† â€Å"Good, I'm glad,† I tell him, missing him like crazy. â€Å"Are you still driving out here next weekend?† â€Å"Actually there's been a slight change of plans,† he answers. â€Å"And I can't come out next weekend.† I stop in the middle of the grass, pouting. â€Å"Oh. Okay.† He laughs softly into the phone. â€Å"You know, you're beautiful when you pout like that.† â€Å"How do you know I'm pouting?† I wonder. â€Å"The same way that I know you have a sexy pair of shorts on and your hair is done up,† he says and I start to glance around the campus at the people walking around in the quad and on the sidewalks. â€Å"Your ass looks really good, by the way.† I let my suitcase go and spin in a circle with the cell phone still to my ear. Then I spot him in the parking lot, standing next to a SUV in black jeans, a tight-fitted grey tee, and eyes as blue as the sky. I drop my phone and run to him, not caring that people are staring at me like I'm insane. I don't slow down when I reach him and he catches me as I run into his arms. He picks me up and I secure my legs around him, kissing him with so much passion his lip ring cuts into my lip. Finally we pull back, panting with raw wildness in our eyes. He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. â€Å"You didn't think I was going to let you go back home on your own, did you?† â€Å"But you said you had to play this weekend.† â€Å"They can do one performance without me. This is more important.† I almost start to cry and he begins to panic. â€Å"Ella May, what's wrong?† he asks. â€Å"This is a good thing, isn't it?† â€Å"Yes, it is† I say, staring into his eyes. â€Å"I love you.† He smiles and whispers, â€Å"I love you, too,† before reconnecting his lips with mine. We kiss each other deeply, not caring that people are watching and whispering about us. To them we're just two people making out in the parking lot, creating a scene. They'll never really know what it took to get here. How many years were invested, but that's okay. It's a secret between us.

Magic Toyshop Essay

The Magic Toyshop is the second novel of the feminist writer Angela Carter. It is one of the most popular of her early books. In Carter’s works mythological and Biblical themes often appear, and The Magic Toyshop is a good example of that. This essay is intended to discuss the introductory chapter of The Magic Toyshop, in which Carter rewrites a major Biblical story. The Magic Toyshop follows the story of a teenage girl, Melanie. She is one of three children, her younger brother is Jonathon and her five year old sister is Victoria. They live in the English countryside in a middle class family. Their house is spacious; they all have their own bedrooms. Their parents are rich, successful and the children have everything they need. The children have a middle aged governess Mrs. Rundle. She is overweight, was never married, only added the Mrs. title to her name a few years ago as a present to herself. Melanie has a fear of becoming someone like Mrs. Rundle. She does not believe in God but she prays that she would marry and have sex in her life. She is worried about her weight because she thinks she is too thin, but she would not eat too much either because then she might become fat and never marry. She already sees herself as someone’s wife; she looks at herself as a male would do. (Gamble 69) The novel tells the story of the children becoming orphans and having to leave their home. Their parents are killed in a plane crash and the three children must leave the countryside to live with their uncle in London. Uncle Phillip owns a toyshop and is a toymaker himself. The orphans do not know anything about him; Melanie’s only memory of him is that when she was a little girl he made her a jack in the box which was very scary. They do not know that the world they are about to enter is radically different from the one they lived in until now. At the beginning of the novel Melanie is a happy fifteen year old girl who is starting to discover herself. She explores her body, discovers it as a colonizer discovers the unknown land. She likes to pose in front of her mirror; she plays the roles of the characters of paintings (by male painters naturally). The novel uses the terminologies of explorers thus making us believe there is a male voice behind the words. Melanie’s only wish is to marry well. She is already getting ready for married life, she is making herself ready for a husband. She believes that marriage is the only way to have inancial and emotional security, the only way to be a respectable woman and to have a happy life. This is the only way she knows. This is what the culture, the social background of the age indoctrinated her to believe. She is dreaming of a perfect husband who is handsome, gentle, amiable, who has a good job and adequate financial background. Although she is a little worried about not getting this perfect life, not having sex, she genuinely believes that things are going to work out for the best. Melanie is planning to spend her adolescence preparing for the life that comes after. However soon enough she will realize that life is not a fairytale. She will meet and fall in love with a boy that does not fit in the image of the perfect husband she pictured for herself, a boy that she would have never thought to fell for under normal circumstances. She will realize how these circumstances can make her grow up in a few days – or even a few hours as on the train ride to London she realizes she has to be the mother of her little brother and sister – , and how they can suddenly take away all of her dreams and principles. However there is another way to interpret the beginning of the first chapter, the scene where she is exploring her body. Melanie is not only preparing herself for her future groom, but she is exploring her own sexuality too. She is in the age when she realizes that she is a woman, that she has not only grown mentally but physically too. â€Å"In Carter’s own words, Melanie ‘is very conscious of desire, she is filled with it. And that gives her power’. † (Gamble 69-70) One night Melanie decides to go further then posing in her own bedroom. Her parents are not home, they are in America. In the darkness of the night, when everyone in the house is asleep, she goes to her parent’s bedroom. She looks at their wedding photograph and starts thinking about her parents. How she cannot imagine her mother naked, as she never saw her that way – she even jokes about her mother being born with clothes on -, and how her father always wears the same suit. She wonders if her parents had sex before their wedding – this makes her believe she really is growing up if thoughts like this occur in her mind. She notices Uncle Phillip in the picture and thinks about the old jack in the box she was so afraid of. Then she goes over to her mother’s dressing table and looks into the mirror. She starts posing there too and feels that she looks different in her mother’s mirror. This moment can be understood again as a flesh of transition between childhood and becoming a woman. Being in her parent’s room is like pretending to be an adult just like they are. Posing in her mother’s mirror Melanie is trying to imagine how she will look like and feel as an adult, married woman. This moonlit night is the one when the fall happens†¦ Looking at her parent’s wedding picture Melanie decides to try on her mother’s wedding dress. She finds the dress and puts it on but it is too big. She is a little disappointed but still thinks she looks beautiful in it. She feels like a bride. â€Å"A bride. Whose bride? But she was, tonight, sufficient for herself in her own glory and did nor need a groom. † (Carter 16) Melanie decides to go out to the garden. She first feels free and excited; the night was so different from the one she imagined. The moonlit garden was like the Garden of Eden. â€Å"She was alone. In her carapace of white satin, she was the last, the only woman. † (Carter 17) This realization of loneliness soon turns into panic. She truly feels alone and feels what happening is too much. Crying she runs back to the front door but it is closed†¦ She forgot her keys. Suddenly the sweet, dark night turns into a scary land. Melanie realizes what she did was forbidden. She is frightened, she thinks there is something in the dark. After Mrs. Rundle’s cat appears in the garden, Melanie feels a little more comfortable. She starts to pull herself together and decides she will climb up the apple tree to her window. (The apple tree can be a symbol of Eden again). But she cannot do that in the wedding dress. The cat gives her so much comfort that she can take the dress off. Then something happens: she realizes her own nakedness as never before. â€Å"She was horribly conscious of her own exposed nakedness. She felt a new and final kind of nakedness, as if she had taken even her own skin off and now stood clothed in nothing, nude in the ultimate nudity of the skeleton. (Carter 21) This scene might be interpreted as the happenings in the Bible right after the Fall. The serpent deceives Eve so she and Adam both eat from the forbidden tree. â€Å"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. † (New International Bible, Genesis 3:7) The naked Melanie puts down the dress and the cat climbs on it. It scratches the dress. Melanie starts climbing up the tree, she does not know how long it takes but she finally gets to her room. She bleeds form â€Å"hundreds of cuts† but does not mind the pain. She honestly regrets what she had done that night, but cannot take it back. She ate from the forbidden fruit and knows that she deserves the consequences. Right now pain seems to be the punishment. The morning has come and when Mrs. Rundle, Jonathon and Victoria leave the house Melanie is alone in the house with her sin. Somebody is knocking on the door. It is a messenger boy with a telegram in his hand. â€Å"As soon as she saw him, she knew what the telegram contained, as if the words were printed on his forehead. (Carter 24) She runs to the bathroom and vomits. She reads the telegram and realizes what she already guessed was true. Her parents were dead. Melanie’s childhood, her fairytale life ended in this moment. She committed a sin last night and now was expelled from Eden. â€Å"This ‘wedding dress night when she married the shadows’ (Carter 77) exiles her and her younger brother and sister from their comfortable, liberal, middle-class home in the country to live in a dark, narrow house above Uncle Phillip’s toyshop in south London. (Sage 15) And what was Melanie’s fault really? As Lorna Sage says it was the â€Å"stepping over the boundary between reality and fantasy† (Sage 15) Melanie, Jonathon and Victoria are taken to their Uncle Phillip’s house. Melanie soon realizes she will have to live there in terror, in constant fear of her uncle. She has to say good bye to the magical life she had in the countryside and has to grow up sooner then expected. We can understand Uncle Phillip’s house as Purgatory. She goes through a grueling rite of passage into the state of being a woman. Whatever way she might once have grown up is simply cancelled after she arrived at Uncle Phillip’s. † (Day 25) Melanie goes through hell until one day Uncle Phillips ends this story. When he learns that his wife has a sexual relationship with her own brother, he sets the house on fire. â€Å"In the end only Melanie and Finn are left standing amongst the wreckage staring at one another in wild surmise, Adam and Eve at the beginning of a new world. †

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 156

Summary - Essay Example These promotional activities range from the use of fliers, direct mail, newspapers and magazines, billboards, TV, social media, strategic advertisement and the use of a website among others. The business plan has emphasized the importance of creating awareness about the existence of the restaurant if customers are expected to come to the restaurant. For this reason, strategic advertising has to be done so that the most number of potential customers can be reached at one go. This business plan has also highlighted the objectives of the new business, as well as outlined the strategy and plan of action meant to achieve each objective. The costs, measures, and ranges have also been outlined in the business plan. Finally, the timings of each marketing activity have been clearly outlined. All promotional activities from January to December, together with the specific dates that these activities will be carried out have also been given in this business plan. The commuters represent a significant portion of expected consumers as well as customers from nearby businesses. There are at present approximately 15 other businesses in this shopping area including 2 banks, NSLC, Sobeys, a pharmacy and fitness center. Statistics Canada shows that the average Canadian spends about 17% of their yearly earnings eating outside the house. Each of these local businesses represents a consistent number of employees working each day with only a few options for restaurants. There are more restaurants that require a short drive but that may be less convenient for an employee who only has an hour for lunch or wants enjoy a nice meal after work with coworkers. Convenience will play a large role in attracting customers. We will send a mail and gift card which worthies $5 plus our food menu with price for each item and telephone number to every people who lives within 2 kilometers to let them know we are in your neighborhood. Since we are close to highway, we are going to build

Natural Disaster and Economic Growth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Natural Disaster and Economic Growth - Essay Example This essay provides an comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of earthquakes on the performance of the country`s economy, both in the long and in the short run. Natural disasters are detrimental to the economic growth of the countries that face the disaster. The extent and severity of the effect of natural disasters vary across countries, but, the basic impact is not heterogeneous. The great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake hit Japan and it had brought tremendous damage to the country in terms of economic growth of the economy and the social structure. The city of Kobe was the worst sufferer in this disaster. Japan was already a developed nation when the disaster had stricken the country. Research by scholars acknowledges that the disaster had caused â€Å"devastating damage to the economic landscape of southern-central Japan† But, at the same time the results of investigation show that the earthquake made people realize the fact that capital formation is an important element of economic growth in the country. In the long run, level of well being of the survivors of the disaster depends on the rate at which capital is accumulated in the economy. Research results show that the impact of the disaster fades with time and the rate of development of the economy plays a major role in the standard of living of its people Although natural disasters are occurring with increasing frequency and are creating potentially devastating impact on the economies that face it, the economic cause of the disaster has not yet been accurately deciphered. ... Victims show the tendency to adapt with the new circumstances with the passage of time. A subsequent research shows the result of investigation into â€Å"the extent to which the earthquake enhanced the investment in social capital through participation in community activity† (Yamamura, 2013, p. 1). After facing the huge loss to life and property as a result of the earthquake, the people of Japan expressed greater consciousness regarding the importance of social capital. Comparing the data collected between the years 1991 and 1996, it has been found that people were more inclined to make investment in social capital in 1996 than they were in 1991 (Skidmore and Toya, 2002). This significantly increased the rate of investment in social capital by the residents of Kobe. However, rate of investment by the people living in the cities near Kobe did not show any noteworthy change. From this phenomenon the author has inferred that the impact of the disaster decreases with distance; th e effect of the disaster is lesser in the minds of the people that stay far away from the origin of disaster (Yamamura, 2010). Although natural disasters are occurring with increasing frequency and are creating potentially devastating impact on the economies that face it, the economic cause of the disaster has not yet been accurately deciphered. There have been several studies on the medium and long term impact of the disasters on the prospects of development of the countries. According to the works by Cavallo, Powell and Becerra (2010) long term effects of natural disasters from the economic point of view are not understood well. In general, literature existing in this sphere of research shows lack of theory and empirical evaluation of the mechanisms that

The Corporate Citizenship of Avon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Corporate Citizenship of Avon - Essay Example According to James Post, corporate citizenship does not merely involve good acts. One central requirement of citizenship is the promotion of social harmony. A company should, therefore, ensure that its social activities are those that are directed to the building and sustaining of a harmonious society. A company and its operations should also have a harmonious existence with the society in which it operates under because it cannot promote harmony if it is the first to rub shoulders with its stakeholders and the community (Post 146). AVON Company has achieved this to a good level by speaking violence and ensuring that its operations do not cause disputes with the society of operation. AVON Company has sustained and even increased its public social works as they continue with their own private business. This means they have met the key corporate citizenship requirement that businesses are supposed to re-connect private work and public work. As corporate citizens, multinational companie s are required to take responsibility for the impacts that the company’s activities have on the environment and its stakeholders (Wood and Logsdon 53). AVON Company participates in and focuses its environmental protection and rehabilitation activities in opportunities and places that will achieve the greatest impact hence it is a corporate citizen. Another requirement for a corporate citizen is to voluntarily extend its social activities beyond those that are required by the country’s legislation (Post 145). As a demonstration to this, AVON Company has been actively involved in helping women affected by cancer by donating approximately $700 million towards breast cancer programs. It also participates in emergency relief and has awarded millions of US dollars to women affected by natural disasters.  Ã‚