...Death of a Nation The 18th, 19th and 20th centuries were a time of great colonization in Africa. European explorers sieged the African continent, trying to acquire the most African land possible. These European explorers brought with them missionaries, who tried to convert the indigenous populations of Africa from their tribal religion to Christianity. Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, describes the white man’s transformation of the Igbo culture. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, exhibits an ineffective thinking process shown through his violent actions, Umofia’s negative reactions to his actions, and unnecessary dialogue between him and other Umofian citizens; this ineffective thinking process makes changing lifestyles impossible for Okonkwo, who, because of these events, commits suicide. Aggressive actions of Okonkwo present the extent of this ineffective thinking, which come to cause his death. Okonkwo performs one of his most thoughtless actions during the Week of Peace, a week in which any violence is prohibited. However, Okonkwo breaks the Week of Peace when “he beats [his first wife] heavily” for not returning early enough to cook his afternoon meal (Achebe 29). Failing to think about the ramifications of his decision, he acts on impulse and performs the most violent action possible. Not only does he just beat his wife, but he also does it heavily, showing how he cannot change from his normal personality in the slightest. Inability to change from his normal...
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...The death penalty has been an inalienable part of human society and its legal system for centuries, regarded as a necessary deterrent to dangerous crimes and a way to liberate the community from dangerous criminals. However, later on this type of punishment came to be regarded as a crime against humanistic ideals by many, and its validity in the legal system has been questioned. Until now, the debate rages on. This resulted in a wide discrepancy of laws on this issue. Some nations including China, the US, Iran, Belarus, and others preserve the death penalty as an option, while others like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and almost all European nations have abolished capital punishment. Still others keep the norm in their legislation’s, but have de facto suspended execution of criminals sentenced to capital punishment. This paper will seek to prove that death penalty has to be preserved as a valid means of prevention serious crimes. It will examine the effect of death penalty on society and its relevance to the protection of interests of common citizens. The history of death penalty is almost as old as the history of mankind. Various means of capital punishment involved burning, hanging, drowning, crucifixion, breaking on the will, boiling to death, electrocution, firing squad, gassing - the list can be continued. The choice of a particular method in Europe in the Middle Age, for instance, depended on the social status of the condemned. Painless and respectable ways were reserved...
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...Death Penalty Murder is wrong. Since childhood we have been taught this indisputable truth. Ask yourself, then, what is capital punishment? In its simplest form, capital punishment is defined as one person taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is the definition of murder. There are 36 states with the death penalty, and they must change. These states need to abolish it on the grounds that it carries a dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical and barbaric, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole. Capital punishment is the most irreparable crime governments perpetrate without consequence, and it must be abolished. “We’re only human, we all make mistakes,” is a commonly used phrase, but it is tried and true. Humans, as a species, are famous for their mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous a risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government should be enough to abolish capital punishment. According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims.” If there is any chance that error is possible (which there always is), the drastic measure of capital punishment should not be taken. Also, it is too final, meaning it does not allow opportunity for th accused to be proven innocent, a violation of the Fifth Amendment which...
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...with the death penalty, and they must change. These states need to abolish it on the grounds that it carries a dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical and barbaric, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole. Capital punishment is the most irreparable crime governments perpetrate without consequence, and it must be abolished. “We’re only human, we all make mistakes,” is a commonly used phrase, but it is tried and true. Humans, as a species, are famous for their mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous a risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government should be enough to abolish capital punishment. According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims.” If there is any chance that error is possible (which there always is), the drastic measure of capital punishment should not be taken. Also, it is too final, meaning it does not allow opportunity for th accused to be proven innocent, a violation of the Fifth Amendment which guarantees due process of law. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan argued against the death penalty: “In brief, the Court found that the best available evidence indicates that, on the one hand, innocent people are sentenced to death with materially...
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...Texas Death Penalty – Deterrent or Not Extra Credit Essay GOVT 2306-21402 Autherene E. Webster November 26, 2013 Throughout the history of time the death penalty has always been a hotly debated topic. At one point every state in the nation banned it through a federal mandate but later dismantled the ban and state by state began bringing it back. The state of Texas is well known for being the state which has executed more people than anyone in the history of the nation. Texas, known for its penchant for enforcing laws and carrying out sentences has long since had the reputation for executions that are done more swiftly and more often than anywhere else in the nation. When the nation reinstated the death penalty in 1976 each state determined whether or not they wanted to reinstate it. Since its reinstatement there have been 1335 executions. The state of Texas was responsible for 507 of those executions. Prior to 1976 the death penalty had been made illegal in every state. The 1972 United States Supreme Court banned death penalty executions because it felt there had been many years of racial bias and other procedural faults within the capital punishment system (Nolen 2000). Interestingly enough, that is still the feeling surrounding death penalty executions today. The punishment was banned until 1976, when the court ruled that applying capital punishment to first degree murder was not a violation of...
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...WIKIPEDIA Dowry death From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Dowry deaths refers the deaths of young women who are murdered or driven to suicide by continuous harassment and torture by husbands and in-laws in an effort to extort an increased dowry. Dowry death is considered one of the many categories of violence against women, alongside rape, bride burning, eve teasing, and acid throwing. It is widespread in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal. Sri Lanka and some regions of Africa. Pakistan has the highest reported rates of dowry-related deaths per 100,000 women in the world. India[edit] Most dowry deaths occur when the young woman, unable to bear the harassment and torture, commits suicide. Most of these suicides are by hanging, poisoning or by fire. Sometimes the woman is killed by setting her on fire; this is known as "bride burning", and sometimes disguised as suicide or accident. Suicide and murder are two causes of fatalities in dowry deaths. Death by burning of Indian women have been more frequently attributed to dowry conflicts.[1] In dowry deaths, the groom’s family is perpetrator of murder or suicide.[2] According to Indian National Crime Record Bureau, in 2010, 8391 dowry death cases were reported across India[3] This means a bride was burned every 90 minutes, or dowry issues cause 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India.[4][5] For contextual reference, United Nations reports a worldwide average female homicide rate of 3.6...
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...in the late 18th century, when all murder in the United States was punishable by death, Pennsylvania pioneered in dividing murder into two categories. The state enacted laws that authorized punishment of first-degree murder by death, while second-degree murder was punishable by imprisonment only. Elsewhere, penal codes uniformly required death for certain serious crimes. In these jurisdictions, discretionary powers to commute death sentences gradually expanded. (A commutation substitutes a lesser penalty for a more severe one—for example, replacing execution with a life sentence.) Today in many nations, including Turkey and Japan, the death penalty remains legal but the number of executions has declined over time. Although many jurisdictions limited imposition of the death penalty, no government had formally abolished capital punishment until Michigan did so in 1846. Within 20 years Venezuela (1863) and Portugal (1867) had formally eliminated the practice as well. By the beginning of the 20th century the death sentence had been abolished in a handful of nations, such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Norway, and The Netherlands. Although not formally eliminated, it had fallen into disuse in many others, including Brazil, Cape Verde, Iceland, Monaco, and Panama. The defeat of the Axis powers provided a foundation for the elimination of the death penalty in Western Europe. Some of the nations involved in the war saw abolition of capital punishment as a way to disassociate...
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...2012, p. 817). Prior to his achievements Malcolm X was once a drug addict and a pimp who served time in prison. He soon joined the Nation of Islam, which was once an obscure black nationalist group. Malcolm X was one of the most notable civil rights activist. Among his many contributions to the civil rights movement, were instilling that African Americans and White Americans were no different and gave African Americans the courage to protect themselves and what they believed “by any means necessary” (The Learning Network, 2012). The Nation of Islam had a great impact on Malcolm X, he quickly climbed the latter in this organization and began preaching the word Black Muslims. Later on, he began to disagree with the leader of the Nation of Islam over the direction of the organization. In 1964, Malcolm X parted ways with the Nation of Islam and converted to traditional Islam. The organization he once cared and spoke for was what caused his tragic death. At 39 years old, on February 21 1965, “Malcolm X was shot to death inside the Audubon Ballroom in New York by assassins identified as members of the Nation of Islam” (The associated Press, 2014). His death affected many of his believers and the people who stood by him. It was a sad day to see such a man that dedicated his life to the freedom of African Americans see his life taken. In 1965, “before his death Malcolm X was working on a book with...
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...process by which a nation/country moves from high birth rate and high death rates to low birth and low death rates as the growth population in the interim (Weeks, 2005). Some of the nations that have gone through this transitions are; Canada, Germany, United States and England. The demographic transition to an industrialized society is harmful to the environment. Industrialized countries also have the largest ecological and carbon footprint comparative to developing/non-industrialized nations. Nevertheless, demographic transitions have some notable advantages. Countries that have gone through demographic transitions have low birth and death rates. Citizens in industrialized nations have fewer children thus it is easier to control the population size (Dyson, 2010). The following is the demographic and environmental timeline of Germany between 1800 to date. STAGE YEAR SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY Stage 1 1800 Major Historical Changes: The country is resisting Napoleon, who wants to take control of Germany and cities such as Austria. Prussia provides military education to its military before it defeats Austria and France in the war. The country is under Ottoman Bismarck who improves it by introducing Liberal measures and welfare policies such as insurance for workers against illness and accidents. Changing Population Size: There is a decrease in population due to such wars between Napoleon and other cities, Prussia and France, Prussia and Austria. Birth and Death Rates: There higher...
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...Abstract There are various declarations, conventions, treaties, and judgments of legislation dating back to the early eighteen hundreds established to justify a war or hold individuals accountable for cruel and inhumane treatment during a time of war, but not always adhered to by countries. The United Nations established international laws such as the Nuremberg Principles and the Genocide Convention to hold individual responsible for crimes against humanity. Countries have engaged in war crimes for thousands of years in violation of the established laws and customs of war. Torture, rape, massacres, genocide, and atrocities documented over centuries continue today. This paper will discuss some of the heinous crimes committed during War World II Holocaust and the Hutu massacre of the Tutsis. War Crimes the Executioners and the Victims of Genocide Military powers around the world inflict some of the most atrocious crimes against humanity, and in each case, there are executioners and victims of these crimes that never get fair justice. “ The German concentration camps of World War II, the horrors of the Vietnam War, the prolific rape and brutality during the break- up of the former Yugoslavia and the Hutu massacres of the Tutsis in Rwanda,” ("20th Century," n.d., p. 5) are just a few named conflicts that displayed devastating atrocities. The executioners in the World War II Holocaust and the Hutu Massacres in Rwanda caused terrible massacre to the human race more...
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...in the late 18th century, when all murder in the United States was punishable by death, Pennsylvania pioneered in dividing murder into two categories. The state enacted laws that authorized punishment of first-degree murder by death, while second-degree murder was punishable by imprisonment only. Elsewhere, penal codes uniformly required death for certain serious crimes. In these jurisdictions, discretionary powers to commute death sentences gradually expanded. (A commutation substitutes a lesser penalty for a more severe one—for example, replacing execution with a life sentence.) Today in many nations, including Turkey and Japan, the death penalty remains legal but the number of executions has declined over time. Although many jurisdictions limited imposition of the death penalty, no government had formally abolished capital punishment until Michigan did so in 1846. Within 20 years Venezuela (1863) and Portugal (1867) had formally eliminated the practice as well. By the beginning of the 20th century the death sentence had been abolished in a handful of nations, such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Norway, and The Netherlands. Although not formally eliminated, it had fallen into disuse in many others, including Brazil, Cape Verde, Iceland, Monaco, and Panama. The defeat of the Axis powers provided a foundation for the elimination of the death penalty in Western Europe. Some of the nations involved in the war saw abolition of capital punishment as a way to disassociate...
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...dangerous work of journalists in conflict zones where they are vulnerable to kidnappings, death by crossfire or by murder. Since the onset of the U.S. led war on terror, no one has been spared by print, radio and television news accounts of the many local and international journalists being physically harmed and gruesomely killed, with Iraq contributing the most to the general increase in media deaths worldwide (Taback & Coupland 2006). Though arguably true, descriptive accounts of antipress violence, in particular murders have not been completely absent. In the early 1990’s, African journalists worked under turbulent environments, where nations such as Angola and Rwanda, nations plagued by civil war, reflected the situation of many other nations in the continent at that time (Matloff 1995). However, there is little attention in academic and mainstream media discussion on the targeted homicide of journalists in democratic nations. Murders of journalists affect many new and or transitional democracies-- “peace time” nations such as the Philippines, Mexico, India, Brazil and Russia 1 (CPJ 2009). One case in particular has garnered international attention, that of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, famed for her investigative reports on Chechnya (Chivers 2006). She was killed in 2006, gunned down in her own apartment building (ibid.). 1 Whether a nation is a peace-time democracy or not is considered in relation to several factors. First...
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...Death Penalty Death penalty or capital punishment is the killing person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offenses. People have different opinion about this issue. Some people support death penalty and some people are against death penalty. It is very hard to decide what is right thing with this issue, but both sides have good reasons why should and why we should not have death penalty. In “The Federal Death Penalty as a Safety Valve” the author asserts that “Fifteen states do not have a death penalty, and yet the federal government can federally prosecute capital cases on historically state-prosecuted violent crimes”(Mysliwiec 255). The author thinks that government has to much power when it comes to the death penalty. In U.S. states have power to decide do they want to have death penalty or not. This depends on who is majority in government. Usually republicans are for death penalty and democrats are against death penalty. In “Death penalty views in China, Japan and U.S” the author shows us the study where we can see the level of death penalty support and views on capital punishment among college students from China, Japan and U.S. (Jiang 1). This study is very interesting because we can see how young people from these countries are thinking and what is they opinion about this issue. It was found that Chinese respondents reported the highest level of death penalty support, followed...
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...Infectious diseases are now the world's biggest killer of children and young adults. They account for more than 13 million deaths a year - one in two deaths in developing countries. Over the next hour alone, 1 500 people will die from an infectious disease - over half of them children under five (WHO, 1999). The main causes of these deaths from infectious diseases occur in developing countries - the countries with the least money to spend on health care. Instead of this, in wealthy countries people are suffering from non-communicable diseases, just because of their illness related behaviour.Non communicable diseases are the top cause of death worldwide, killing more than 36 million people in 2008. Cardiovascular diseases were responsible for 48% of these deaths, cancers 21%, chronic respiratory diseases 12%, and diabetes 3% (WHO, 2011). This health inequality effects not just how people live, but often dictates how and at what age they die. In this essay I would like to reflect upon the main causes, preventions about all diseases whether it is infectious or lifestyle related diseases, and my response to the global health inequalities that is existing. According to Willi (2004) the sociological imagination consist of four interrelated parts:1) Historical factors, 2) Cultural factors, 3) Structural factors, and 4) Critical factors. I would like to explain historical factors in relation of my topic. I am born and grew up in Asian region, there People are likely to try native...
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...look down on the garden green, Down on the roof so brown-- Up in the air I go flying again, Up in the air and down! Robert Louis Stevenson Because I Could Not Stop for Death( personification) Top of Form Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away My labour, and my leisure too, For his civility. We passed the school where children played, Their lessons scarcely done; We passed the fields of gazing grain, We passed the setting sun. We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound. Since then 'tis centuries; but each Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses' heads Were toward eternity. The poem by Emily Dickinson "Because I could not stop for Death" is know to be one of the best poems in English. Every image extends and intensifies each other. But there are some pro and cons in this poem. The poem helps us to characterize and bring death down to a more personal level. It shows a different perspective of death that the more popular views of death being brutal and cruel. Emily Dickinson makes death seem more passive and easy. The theme of this poem being that death is natural and unstoppable for everyday but, at the same time giving comfort that it is not end of the a Soul's journey. She uses different words to symbolize the stages of life...
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