THE DEATH PENALTY Essay

THE DEATH PENALTY Essay THE DEATH PENALTY Essay Death Penalty in the United States University of Phoenix Human Lifespan Development BSHS/342 Death Penalty in the United States The death penalty has been around since the 13 colonies. The abolishment of death penalty is different for each state. Many states still believe in the death penalty, however; the individuals who receive the death penalty usually sit on death row for a long period of time prior to the execution being carried out. At this time there are 17 states that have abolished the death penalty. Throughout history the death penalty has been carried out by many methods. There are supporting views and opposing views depending upon each state and each individual. The death penalty in the United States is punishable for many different crimes. Some individuals believe the death penalty is a crime itself because it is viewed as murder for murder. History of the Death Penalty Early American settlers brought with them a sense of right and wrong strongly based on British law, which focused on personal retribution. Americans held fast to the notion that humankind was naturally licentious which allowed the barbaric nature of the death penalty at the time to flourish. During the Middle Ages establishing guilt before inflicting punishment gained popularity. Battle, Ordeal, and Compurgation were the influential ways this was determined. However, â€Å"since humans are fallible the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated (Amnesty 2012). Soon the government realized that these methods were ineffective. Trial by jury became the most accepted and effective way of establishing guilt between the eighth and eleventh century AD. Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria published a book which had a strong impact on the views of the American society and the death penalty. In the United States the colonies while holding onto the British influence gained ind ependence from each other as they grew, and the began to adopt subset lists of crimes that qualified for the death penalty. By 1791 The Bill of Rights reflected that capital punishments were not to be inflicted in ways deemed cruel and unusual. This left much open to interpretation. By the beginning of the nineteenth century America was effectively torn on capital punishment. It came down to seeing the world differently. Half believed that criminals were a product of their environment and even genetic defects which elicited sympathy, and the other half believed that criminals made choices based on their inability to escape some deeply engrained need and desire to do wrong therefore, society was better without them. Soon the death penalty became privatized and the ritualistic act of revenge was no longer as personal. New ways of inflicting the death penalty were created that reflected societies ever-growing need to reduce the barbaric nature of the penalty. The civil rights movement of the 1960’s was not effective in dismissing the death penalty altogether, however the movement did allow states to rewrite what acts should be considered for the penalty. As of today many states still exercise, the right to inflict the death penalty for acts deemed worthy of the punishment. Where the Death Penalty is Legal and Not Legal The death penalty is allowed in more than 50% of the United States. There are only 17 states that have abolished the death penalty at this time. Of those 17 states, within the last five years, five states have recently decided against the death penalty (Death Penalty Information Center, 2012). The most recent state abolishing the death penalty is Connecticut, which abolished the death penalty on April 25, 2012 by Connecticut’s governor. However with the abolishment of the death penalty in only 17 states, the states that do allow the death penalty do not usually carry out the executions timely. Many of the individuals waiting for his or her execution remain locked up on death row. Recently, the time

Tips on Measuring Distance on a Map

Tips on Measuring Distance on a Map A map represents a portion of  Earths surface. Because an accurate map represents a real area, each map has a scale that indicates the relationship between a certain distance on the map and the distance on the ground. The map scale is usually located in the legend box of a map, which explains the symbols and provides other important information about the map. A map scale can be printed in a variety of ways. Words Numbers Map Scale A ratio or representative fraction (RF) indicates how many units on Earths surface are equal to one unit on the map. It can be expressed as 1/100,000 or 1:100,000. In this example,  1 centimeter on the map could equal 100,000 centimeters (1 kilometer) on Earth. It could also mean that 1  inch on the map is equal to 100,000 inches on the real location (8,333 feet, 4 inches, or about 1.6 miles). Other common RFs include 1:63,360 (1 inch to 1 mile) and 1:1,000,000 (1 cm to 10 km). A word statement gives a written description of map distance, such as 1  centimeter equals 1 kilometer or 1 centimeter equals 10 kilometers. Obviously, the first map would show much more detail than the second, because 1 centimeter on the first map covers a much smaller area than on the second map. To find a real-life distance, measure the distance between two points on the map, whether inches or centimeters- whichever scale is listed- and then do the math. If 1 inch on the map equals 1 mile and the points youre measuring are 6 inches apart, theyre 6 miles apart in reality. Caution The first two methods of indicating map distance would be ineffective if the map is reproduced by a method such as photocopying with  the size of the map modified (zoomed in or reduced). If this occurs and one attempts to measure 1 inch on the modified map, its not the same as 1 inch on the original map. Graphic Scale A graphic scale  solves  the shrink/zoom  problem because it is simply a line marked with the distance on the ground that the map reader can use along with a ruler to determine scale on the map. In the United States, a graphic scale often includes both metric and U.S. common units. As long as the size of the graphic scale is changed along with the map, it will be accurate. To find a distance using a graphic  legend, measure the legend with a ruler to find its ratio; maybe 1 inch equals 50 miles, for instance. Then measure the distance between the points on the map and use that measurement to determine the real distance between those two places.  Ã‚   Large or Small Scale Maps are often known as large scale or small scale. A large-scale map refers to one that shows greater detail because the representative fraction (e.g., 1/25,000) is a larger fraction than a small-scale map, which would have an RF of 1/250,000 to 1/7,500,000. Large-scale maps will have an RF of 1:50,000 or greater (i.e., 1:10,000). Those between 1:50,000 to 1:250,000 are maps with an intermediate scale. Maps of the world that fit on two 8 1/2-by-11-inch pages are very small scale, about 1 to 100 million.

Pros and Cons of Tariffs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pros and Cons of Tariffs - Essay Example It is evident from the study that tariffs help governments reduce competition from foreign companies to allow more opportunities for the growth of domestic industries and increased employment opportunities. As the government imposes a tax on imported goods, the foreign suppliers find it hard to supply to the locals. Thus, domestic producers receive a favorable price for their products and services since the market is unsaturated with goods. The local producers also produce and sell large quantities since the demand is high among the local market. Consequently, they become motivated to provide more products and services, thereby leading to economic growth and loyalty to domestic products. Tariffs may thus enable job retention and creation since local businesses will grow to an extent of employing more people to handle their goods and services. Governments also impose tariffs on imported and exported products as one of the sources of revenue. The taxes help the government to support it s many activities and functions. In fact, approximately 2% of the total government revenue comes from customs duties and taxes. Hence, imposing duties on exports and imports allow the government to fund economic developmental projects. Such projects include building of infrastructures like roads, maintaining social amenities, establishing and maintaining institutions, and paying public workers. Consequently, local businesses and foreign companies will find it easy to set up and conduct business operations in the country. They enable the country to spearhead the economic development and attract investments both from within and outside.

Benjamin franklin, testimony against the stamp act Essay

Benjamin franklin, testimony against the stamp act - Essay Example Instead, here it is possible to see that the way diplomacy was handled between the two before the revolution and before the United States was formed. The transcript is the biggest part of the document, and in it Benjamin Franklin answers questions with honesty, and seems to be treated with respect. He says that the colonies â€Å"objected only to direct taxes,† which apparently was not understood in England, and claims that people in the Americas would only pay the stamp duty â€Å"unless compelled by force of arms,† basically meaning that England would have to go to war with them. While this seems like something that is obvious today, presumably the people in England genuinely did not have any idea about how the colonies felt. It is easy to see from the cleverness and straightforward quality of Franklins answers why the author of the summary included with the transcript says that securing the repeal of the act â€Å"greatly enhanced his reputation both in England and

The European Enlightenment Essay Example for Free

The European Enlightenment Essay The scientific revolution is more of a new or modern way of thinking about nature. While science already had a presence prior to the 16th century, the teachings were based more on practical applications, rational thought and magic. s of science, 3elements permeated it – empirical practice, magic and rational thought which continued for thousands of years until the 16th and 17th century. With the scientific revolution, rational thought was enhanced through methods which can be the sole explanation for any phenomena of nature. Refute with reason but overwhelm by experiment. (Hall xvi). We think of Galileo as the first of the moderns because he broke the strangling hold of the traditional authorities – Aristotle, Ptolemy and Galen – upon scientific thought. He supported the Copernican hypothesis. He boldly countered errors of traditionally accepted beliefs and appealed to something new through the evidence of experiments. His system was enhanced by philosophers such as Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes who called their subject natural philosophy in an attempt to give a systematic explanation to the natural. With the entry of Sir Isaac Newton and the â€Å"invisible colleges†, discoveries and inventions came one after the other. Whereas religion used deductive reasoning in the arrival of its conclusions, the revolution brought on inductive reasoning which begins with a hypothesis that were tested using quantifiable data and methodical experimentation. By 1690, science had developed a philosophy – experimental and a method – mathematical and a goal – the improvement of the lot of mankind. (Baker ix, x). There came a paradigm shift in how the physical world was investigated. Reason slowly robbed magic of its power as it is an element of the irrational. Reason is initially used but compounded by experiment. The widely-believed Ptolemy system was anthropocentric based with an immobile earth is the center of the universe. While it was being discarded through deductive reasoning, i. e. , the world is vile and corrupt and therefore not worthy to be the center, the rational thinkers using the Copernicus hypothesis as reference and with observed facts and physical using reason, terrestrial mechanical phenomena, qualitative observation and quantitative observation by recalculating orbits went on to prove their heliocentric theory that the earth is only one of several planets that revolve around the sun. It also killed the Greek animism of appetites, natural tendencies, sympathies and attractions. Instead, explanation must be in terms of description of processes, mechanisms, interconnection of parts (Hall xvi, xviii). For Aristotle and his followers, bodies continually move so as to fulfill their natures. All matter is goal-oriented. They are of a teleological nature, which makes them animistic as they attributed soul-like properties. Modern natural philosophy used the machine metaphor, i. . the inner workings of a being are like the mechanism of a clock. They refer to their practice as mechanical philosophy. The development of mechanism gave rise to the view of matter-as-passive and is central to mechanical natural philosophy (Shapin 24-44). Traditional philosophies had been integrated into the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church which was the only Christian religion at that time. The Copernican theory was said to be contrary to the Holy Scripture and utterly heretical. It ran contrary to a decree in 1616 which was issued after the burning of Giordano Bruno for teaching the plurality of worlds or universes outside our own. As well, the present academe were slow in accepting that they have given their lives blindly to the defense of errors. The attitude in the middle ages was that where reason was incompetent to decide, faith should pronounce and that in many instances faith must prevail over reason. (Hall 74-75, 103-105). The medieval church had originally set its feet against and systematic scientific enquiry on the grounds that man was not intended to know the mind of God as interpreted by himself. Even Protestants stressed that all knowledge must come form the Bible. Bacon popularized that God actually intended man to recover its mastery over nature. In his text Instauratio Maga (The Great Instauration), the Book of Daniel was quoted in its cover, â€Å"Many shall pass to and fro and science shall be increased† (Shapiro 120). Thus, scientific enquiry became legitimate and prepared the way for scientific revolution. Later, there came about a new religious fervor in Deism, a name for the rationalized faith leading to the worship of the â€Å"divine clockmaker† which distrust anything mystical. It is based on the reasoning that if the universe was created by God, and the universe is a rational place then God was rational. (Baker x). Sir Isaac Newton in 1687 presented fundamental arguments of the mechanical universe in his book Principia Mathematia which basically summarizes the conceptual change brought about by the scientific revolution and the path it would take: mathematical models are accurate descriptions of the universe the universe moves rationally and predictably one need not appeal to revealed religion or theology to explain any aspect of physical phenomena\all planets and other objects move due to a physical attraction called gravity The universe concept is based on Inertia: every object remains at rest until moved by another object and stays in motion unless stopped or redirected by another object (Hooker).

Warren G. Harding, President Essay -- Politics

Warren G. Harding, President (1865-1923) Harding was born on November 2, 1865, in Corsica (now Bloomington Grove), Ohio. He was eldest of eight children. His father, George Tryon Harding, was a farmer and a doctor. His mother, Phoebe Dickerson Harding, was a "gentle, pious" woman who devoted herself to her children. As a boy Warren helped his fater on the farm. In the summer he worked in a sawmill that made brooms, and he drove a team of horses for the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroaad. His father was later quoted as saying , "Warren was always willing to work hard if there was any money in it." Later Warren would become a printers apprentance, and office boy on the Caledonia Argus, a local newspaper. There he learned how to set type and gained his first newspaper experience. In 1879, at the age of 14, Harding entered Ohio Central College in Iberia. After graduating in 1882 he took a job as a schoolteacher. But he gave it up after one term, calling it the hardest job he ever had. The following year the Hardings moved to Marion, Ohio. Harding studied law for a few months, bu...

Coffee Industry Essay

People usually drink coffee to stay up while awake at night, besides that many people rely on coffee to get their day started. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, â€Å"Drinking coffee can lead to a longer life†; however, many consumers have no idea of the impact of habits on their coffee and coffee farmers around the globe, ethical issues of consumers with the industry is not fair; but to coffee farmers, the issues are human rights violations and use of child labor issues need to be addressed. To remedy this situation, the fair trade will hopefully improve the living conditions of some of the poorest people in the world through certified value and the change in the consumer’s choice. Coffee is one of the most valuable commodities in the world, most of the farmers in the form of small retail and come from developing countries, although the majority of coffee sales are in the America and Europe many people around the world rely on coffee to work and have a better life; however, to producing quality coffee, farmers have to work very hard though farmers receive very little money and the inequity of the coffee producing companies when they sell coffee. Working conditions of farmers in the plantations are very different, although they work hard , but it paid for exploitation, for example , in Guatemala , coffee pickers to harvest 100 pounds to get the minimum wage $ 3 per day (The Problem with Fair Trade Coffee 2010),farmers have to work overtime and do not earn extra money, so farmers use child labor for the production of coffee to save money and use these chemicals effect of the human body in order for a fast development of coffee sale on the market. Moreover, using the chemicals and the development of the coffee industry adversely affect habitat and species decline. In addition, forests are cut down to coffee production affects the environment and soil erosion. According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), â€Å"converting forest to tea and coffee agriculture can also create erosion and soil loss† (WWF 2010) ; Yet the farmers have no choice and/or the opportunity to change. According to the International Coffee Organization or ICO â€Å"Coffee production in 2012 was 144 611 000 bags, mostly from less developed countries such as, Brazil 50 826 000 bags ,Vietnam 22 000 000 bags and Indonesia 12 730 000 bags â€Å" (ICO 2013), though coffee production is highly ranked in the world, but farmers still do not get enough money to pay for life, for example. Vietnam in 2012, producing nearly 30 % of world coffee production but the turnover is only 10 % of the total trade value obtained from the global industry, the main reason is due to their ability to improve processing of value and coffee products are limited, coffee roasting plants in countries with rates lower than 10%, when farmers sells 1kg of coffee beans, farmers gets about 2 dollars or an average price of one cup of coffee oversea, yet 1 kg of coffee can make 50 cups. In addition, the links between farmers and enterprises are not strong, the lack of information on farmers markets, so farmers often extorted. Moreover, the risk of crop failure is the fear of the coffee growers. Most of the profits from coffee for export processing enterprises, coffee farmers only enjoy a small percentage. That has caused insecurity for farmers. Solution to this problem is the fair trade. According to Wikimedia, Fair trade coffee is coffee that is certified as having been produced and marketed to a stated set of standards. Many Customers pay a higher price when buying coffee with the certification logo or brand in the Belief Furniture , by doing so, they are helping farmers in the Third World . In particular, the fair trade coffee movement gives a reasonable price to the Farmers who were being a low – wage labor exploitation. However, achieve certification of fair trade, farmers must meet several conditions of production as farmers have to meet a large variety of production standards : there are limits on the use of child labor , pesticides , herbicides , genetically modified products , etc. With these standards met, both consumers and farmers can benefit, with farmers getting the sufficient amount of money for their products, and the consumers getting their product knowing it’s safe to consume and has no effect on the producers financially or ethnically. These farmers must cooperate with businesses to produce the certified products, such amounts received will be higher and the lives of the farmers would be better. In addition, consumers should choose certified products in the supermarket or the market as this will support and will be helpful for farmers. In conclusion, fair trading is the way for farmers and coffee producers to get a higher amount, and will change lives for the better. Therefore farmers should choose fair trade to ensure benefits and consumers should choose products that have been certified to support the farmers. Reference * The problem with Fair Trade Coffee. * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://www. ssireview. org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_fair_trade_coffee * Coffee Production and Labor. * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://www. organicconsumers. org/starbucks/coffeelabor. htm * Fair Trade Coffee * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Fair_trade_coffee * International Coffee Organization- EXPORTING COUNTRIES: TOTAL PRODUCTION * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://www. ico. org/prices/po. htm. * Health and effect of Coffee * Retrieved August 30, 2013, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Health_effects_of_coffee * Environmental Impacts of Coffee and Tea Production * Retrieved September 2, 2013 from http://www. hellogreentomorrow. com/blog/2010/11/environmental-impacts-of-coffee-and-tea-production.