1.Which selection(s) should be taken off?
2.What selection(s) would you consider as your favorite?
3.What else do you think should be included in our selections?
4.Any other activities in addition to online discussions?
5.Do you think the course load is appropriate?
6.Do you think you have written a reasonable number of reader’s responses?
7.Should there be more tests or fewer tests? Are they too difficult, too easy, or should they be kept the same?
8.What is your suggestion of the proportion between multiple-choice questions and short essay questions?
9.Do you think the grading is consistent? Do you think the comments on your responses help explain your grades?
10.Do you think the online lectures are helpful? Any suggestions?
11.How would you evaluate the difficulty level of the course? (Hint: 1 = a piece of cake; 10 = as challenging as rocket science)
12.Any suggestions, comments?
The Ramayana has enchanted generations of Indians, and this ancient epic continues to fascinate modern readers. Through the centuries it has been retold in the major language of India and Southwest Asia and has been interpreted through theater, dance, and other performance traditions. Valmiki’s telling, written in Sanskrit, is the oldest extant version of the Rama story. In Valmiki’s account, King Dasaratha proclaims his son Rama, son of the senior Queen Kausalya, heir apparent. The jealous Queen Kaikeyi, wishing her own son to rule Ayodhya, demands that Rama be exiled to the forest for fourteen years. Dasaratha is forced to comply because, Kaikeyi reminds him, he once vowed to grant her two favors of her choosing. Out of a sense of filial duty, the noble Rama unflinchingly accepts his exile. His faithful wife Sita and brother Laksmana accompany him to the forest, where they undergo many sufferings and adventures. Disaster strikes when Ravana, the evil demon-king of Lanka (Sri Lanka), abducts Sita. Rama and Laksmana travel the length of India in search of Sita. With the help of the monkey chief, Sugriva, his hordes, and above all, the brave and loyal monkey Hanuman, they eventually locate the princess on the island of Lanka, where Ravana keeps her prisoner. Rama and the monkey armies kill Ravana and his demon armies in combat, and Sita is freed. The triumphant prince returns with his wife to reclaim his throne in Ayodhya. In the last book of the Ramayana, not included in the anthology, Valmiki describes his own role as poet-bard in recording the heroic life of Rama and concludes the epic with a narrative of the events that followed Rama’s coronation: Sita’s exile, her withdrawal (after she has restored Rama’s twin sons to their father) to the arms of her mother, the goddess Earth, and the last days of Rama. Book 2, the Book of Ayodhya, presents the most dramatic portion of the Rama story, the events surrounding Rama’s banishment.
Suggested Answers to Manyoshu and Kokinshu Discussion Questions:
1) Discuss how the natural imagery creates both a scaffolding and a narrative sequence, with spatial and temporal overtones in “135-137.”
The first section of the poem (lines 1-12) is unified by sea imagery (rockweed of the deep, reefs, and seaweed). In the second section (lines 13-27), we move on to land, where the imagistic progression is toward increasing height (vines, leaves, and mountains), yielding to the celestial imagery of the third section (lines 28-41)—moon, clouds, sun, and heavens—before ending in tears and thus returning us to the water imagery with which the poems began.
The imagery of the first two sections bears the connotations of home and daily life (the seas as a familiar part of the landscape, a source of sustenance) and especially how seaweed and ocean have sexual implications, while the sea also suggests the uncertainties of travel (rocky shores, the vastness of the deep), in turn evoking the unknown in life.
It is also worth noting that in the second section the move to land imagery prepares the way for the journey by horse mentioned in the first envoy and sets up a distinction between land and sea that functions as a metaphor for the protagonist’s first being with and then separated from his wife. The symbolic function of the falling leaves should be evident, but their falling just at Mount Watari, “Mount Crossing,” is particularly evocative. Here the protagonist has his last chance to glimpse his wife.
In the third section, the temporal sequence of the poem (day, night, dusk) suggests the passing of an indeterminate number of days, carrying the protagonist even farther from his wife.
The two envoys act as a reprise of the entire choka while also adding new elements. The first envoy builds on the celestial imagery of the third section, emphasizing the metaphor of moon for wife. By introducing the movement of the horse it underscores both the speed and distance of the separation. The second envoy takes the reader back to the beginning of the poem. It is as though the protagonist had obtained a second chance to change things, when he utters the request for the scarlet leaves to cease falling so that he might see his wife once more.
2) In “892-893: Dialog of the Destitute,” excluding the envoy what are the concerns of the two parts in the poem respectively? Discuss the poet’s development of imagery. Why does the poem close with an envoy containing only a single image?
The poem breaks into two halves. The first twenty-nine lines form the soliloquy of a man who is poor enough, followed by the response of one who is truly destitute. As we saw with the complex imagistic structuring of the Hitomaro poems, here too the straightforward heartfelt simplicity is achieved through tight artistic control.
The poet’s development of imagery established a contrast between indoors and outdoor, and in the second half (beginning with line 30) the remarkable sweep of Heaven and earth, sun and moon before the poet’s lens zooms in on the interior of the humble hut, where the destitute man sits in his tattered rags, mother and father huddled at his pillow, wife and children shivering at his feet. The use of domestic images underscores the desperation of this family (the fireless stove, the pot with cobwebs, and so forth). And note how their suffering is made even more acute and more graphic by the proverb, the whip, and the menacing screams of the tax-collector at the end.
The reason why the poet closes the poem with an envoy containing but a single image is that he speaks directly and categorically, and the sole image of the bird that cannot fly seems to emphasize the oneness, or universality, of human suffering.
3) In poem 747, one of the most famous poems in The Kokinshu, what has really changed? The moon, the springtime, or the poet’s body? Discuss the meaning of the poem.
The poem develops in three waves of increasing length. The parallelism between line one and lines two and three shows that line one must mean, “Is not this moon the same moon as the one of the past?” The last two lines, however, show that the first three reverberate in three movements in the speaker’s mind: the moon and the spring have violated natural laws by being different this year; but natural laws do not change, so they must really be the same; then I must be what has changed, since they do seem different. This succession of subjective states is immensely complicated by what implicitly follows. I alone remain the same; but I cannot remain the same, since time has elapsed; therefore nothing is what it seems, and all I know is that something extraordinary has happened to make every natural law seem so completely reversed. So intense is the poet’s love and his present misery that all else seems unreal.
4) Discuss the rhetorical device of Jo (Preface) in Kokinshu 471 and 478.
In 471, the last three lines (the first three in the original) form a jo, establishing a metaphorical link with the main statement. Both the speakers’ emotions and the surging river flow swiftly, and the river simile underscores the turbulent sensation of falling in love.
Poem 478 is almost all jo—the first four lines of the original, the last four lines of the translation. It is a good example of how the secondary, or comparative, lines of a tanka can assume greater import (or heft, at least) than the main statement. It also exemplifies one of the problems of translating Japanese poetry. In the original, the jo is always anticipatory, establishing a metaphor whose significance is suspended until its juncture with the main statement. You can read the last four lines of this poem first and alter the first line (moved to the end) to something like ‘that is all I saw of you!” and you will approximate the way the poem works in Japanese: No more than of the grasses beginning to sprout between the patches of snow on the plain of Kasuga— that is all I saw of you!
It takes the speaker four lines to describe his fleeting glimpse of the first hint of spring; he has only one line left to compare this to his momentary glimpse of a woman who has stirred his interest. The syntax of the original, then, sets up a fine irony: his glimpse of the woman is even more fleeting than the ephemeral evidence of spring.
Suggested Answers to Don Quixote Discussion Questions:
1) What are the meanings of the terms “parody” and “satire”? Are they adequate for describing Cervantes’s tone in the novel?
Parody is ordinarily a magnification of the characteristics of a particular style to the point at which its absurdity becomes unmistakable—in the case of Don Quixote, the inflated highfalutin style of the chivalric romances. Yet apart from the early quotations from Quixote’s readings, obviously inserted to parody that style, his own speeches in the course of the story and the general nature of his eloquence move increasingly away from parody toward a speech that registers both his delusion and the idealism that feeds it. The term “satire” is equally inadequate for describing Cervantes’s tone. Satire, in its usual sense, aims to expose an object or a person to ridicule and censure with implicit reference to a higher standard of conduct. In Cervantes the case is more complex. The argument can be made that Quixote, far from being an object of satire, unconsciously becomes the satirist—of, say, crooked innkeepers or aristocratic pranksters—by exposing their cruelty, childishness, and vulgarity. In addition, and more generally, Cervantes’s complex attitude toward the world of medieval chivalry can hardly be considered unmitigated satire. The serious interest and the underlying importance of Quixote’s actions and speech can be demonstrated by observing their effect on other characters, particularly Sancho, whose warm response to Quixote’s genuine chivalry of heart should correct any tendency to identify the two men with a superficial polarity between idealism and realism.
2) Discuss episodes in your own experience that suggest how much of the way we feel—or think we ought to feel—derives from what we read (or see on TV or in the movies). In societies like ours, heavily influenced by the media that are the contemporary equivalent of the books that drove Don Quixote, can we have “authentic” emotions?
This question has no definite answer and you can argue either way. As long as your argument is supported by your discussion with examples, you will get the credit.
CRIMINAL LAW DISCUSSIONS LEFT
8. After reviewing Chapter 10, discuss your thoughts on whether or not you believe some vice crimes should be legalized, if so discuss which ones. Consider prostitution. One person gets paid and the other receives a service. In theory, this is a win-win situation. Consider the legalization of marijuana. Are we wasting resources prosecuting these offenses? However, do we want society reduced to rampant prostitution? Is this the value system we want our society to reflect? What are your thoughts? Please respond, and then respond to at least one classmate's posting.
9. After reviewing Chapter 11, discuss the following: Where smoking is prohibited by law in workplaces, restaurants, and bars, should violations be treated as civil or criminal infractions? What, if any, exceptions should be provided in such laws? Respond to at least one classmate's posting
10. After reading Chapters 12 & 13, please answer the following questions: What did you find most surprising or informative about the material in these two chapters? Label your answers 1 (for 12) and 2 (for 13) Respond to at least one classmate's posting.
11. After reading Chapter 14, Criminal Responsibility and Defenses, please discuss the following: Consider the non-traditional defenses listed in the chapter. Which ones would you seriously consider? Which do you not find to be a plausible defense to criminal activity?
Assignment information
FDA in rem Seizures
When FDA has a preponderance of evidence that a regulated product is in violation of the Food Drug & Cosmetic Act (FDCA), the agency has the authority to seek (through the U.S. Department of Justice) a court ordered seizure of the affected products. FDA seizures are implemented through a civil trial in a federal court. Only under very limited circumstances (certain criminal enforcement authorities) can FDA seize something without instituting a court action or at least a seizure warrant.

FDA Administrative Detention (not import detention)
FDA has the authority to administratively detain certain products (human and animal foods and medical devices) while they are in commerce. This administrative action is designed to prevent the owner or possessor from distributing the goods for a limited period of time while an administrative hearing is held respecting the merchandise. These actions are relatively rare and ordinarily only occur if there is a concern that the affected products may be distributed prior to FDA initiating a seizure. Administrative detentions occur pursuant to an administrative hearing and do not occur in a federal court.

FDA Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) and Civil Injunctions
Occasionally, FDA will seek intervention from a federal judge restraining certain conduct by a person that is believed to be in violation of the FDCA. When the FDA seeks and obtains a TRO, it does so ex parte, which means the private party does not appear at all, but the FDA (through the U.S. Department of Justice) makes an entirely one-sided argument as to why the TRO should issue. Because the private party is not present, TROs are effective for relatively short time frames and are routinely followed up with a Preliminary Injunction hearing before a federal judge. At the preliminary injunction hearing, the person who has been restrained by the TRO has to opportunity to show why he should not now be enjoined by the court until further proceedings can be undertaken against the person. The FDA must demonstrate by preponderance of the evidence that the private party is violating the FDCA, the government is likely to prevail during a full trial seeking to permanently enjoin the party, and the government (or the public) will be harmed if the court does not step in and preliminarily restrain the private person. Permanent Injunctions are trials in federal court and the FDA has the burden of proof.

FDA Criminal Prosecution
The FDCA contains dozens of "prohibited acts," which if committed can result in serious criminal sanctions. The FDCA is a "strict-liability" criminal misdemeanor statute. Persons who commit prohibited acts can be criminally convicted notwithstanding their intentions (or lack thereof) to commit a crime.

•FDA Criminal Misdemeanors:If convicted for a strict liability misdemeanor crime, the defendant, if an individual, could be incarcerated for up to one year. Any defendant could be forced to pay very hefty criminal fines and penalties and in certain circumstances "disgorgement" is available (where the defendant is ordered by the sentencing judge to "disgorge" itself of profits and gains obtained through criminal conduct). The FDA, through the U.S. Department of Justice, must demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, the FDCA violation occurred and the defendant was the person responsible for it having been committed. FDA need not demonstrate that the defendant intended to perpetrate any fraud in order to obtain a misdemeanor conviction.
•FDA Criminal Felonies: If a person commits a prohibited act with the intent to defraud or mislead, that person can be convicted and sentenced under the felony provision of the FDCA. A person so convicted could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison (depending upon the legal provision violated). A person could defraud or mislead the FDA preventing the agency from conducting its statutorily mandated mission to regulate foods, drugs, cosmetics, devices, etc., and be convicted under the felony provisions of the statute.
FDA Consent Decree
Sometimes the U.S. Government and persons it alleges have violated the FDCA will enter into an agreement to settle a case and avoid taking the case to trial. Private parties often will enter into a consent decree with the FDA, agreeing not to participate in certain conduct of market activity. If a consent decree is too broadly worded (something FDA would like to accomplish) it can unnecessarily restrict otherwise legal and unrelated activity that was never at issue in the dispute with the FDA. FDAImports.com, LLC consultants and affiliated attorneys assist clients in protecting their rights while negotiating consent decrees on their behalf.

FDA Debarment
When certain criteria are met, FDA may seek to debar an individual from participating in a particular industry, from filing certain applications with the agency, or from appearing before the agency on behalf of another. The result of debarment is the person is functionally prohibited from engaging in any business involving the relevant product (or even industry). These actions are administrative in nature and occur pursuant to an administrative hearing. FDAImports.com, LLC can assist persons challenging a debarment action. FDA has explicit authority to debar individuals from submitting or participating in the submission of a new drug application. It also can debar a person from importing food into the US. These are severe administrative enforcement actions.
Congress has granted to FDA the authority to inspect any establishment that manufacturers, processes, packs, or holds food, drugs, devices, tobacco products, or cosmetics for interstate distribution (subject to some limitations related to pharmacies). A company must allow an inspection if FDA has arrived to conduct it at a reasonable time, within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner. A company violates the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act if it does not permit an inspection that comports the requirements. However, the company has the right to receive a written notice regarding the inspection, verify that the person conducting the inspection is an FDA employee and to have FDA explain any issues of concern that arise during the inspection. In addition, companies can (and should) make corrections as soon as they are identified by FDA, even during the inspection, and have those corrections noted in the FDA file.

FDA can require a company to provide documents during the inspection, but not all documents – only those expressly authorized by statute. The law explicitly permits record inspection in specific instances; yet, FDA has a long history of imaginatively asserting new power to inspect records beyond the clear statutory grants. If your facility is subject to FDA inspection, FDAImports.com, LLC consultants and affiliated attorneys can assist you in protecting their rights during the inspection. Even if your facility has not been inspected by FDA, it is wise to have someone, like FDAImports.com, LLC, with knowledge of what FDA will look for help prepare your facility for such an inspection. FDAImports.com, LLC can show the way through a successful FDA inspection.
When FDA conducts a facility inspection, it will conclude the inspection by having a meeting with the facility’s management discussing the inspector’s observations. During this discussion, the FDA Inspector may identify a series of objectionable conditions observed during the inspection and the inspected firm has the ability to ask questions regarding the observations. Depending upon the severity of the problems FDA identified, the Inspector may issue an FDA Form 483, outlining the most objectionable observations. FDA expects the inspected facility to respond to an FDA Form 483 in writing identifying the steps taken (or that will be taken) to adequately address the observations identified in the form.

If FDA is not satisfied with a facility’s 483-response, or if the violations are of a significant nature relating to consumer safety, the FDA may issue a “Warning Letter” to the firm regarding the violations. Although anyone can request a copy of a 483 from FDA and receive it, FDA Warning Letters are public documents from the point they are issued and are published on FDA’s Internet site. FDA’s Warning Letters will always recite the fact that the violations noted in the letter are not intended to be an all inclusive list of problems discovered at the facility. In addition, FDA will set a time within which the facility must respond to the warning letter in writing.

Under other circumstances, where violations FDA observed are noteworthy, but there is less clear authority for the FDA to regulate a specific aspect of a firm’s processes, FDA may issue an Untitled Letter.

FDA will expect a written response to FDA 483s and FDA Warning Letters and Untitled Letters. These responses must address the agency’s concerns and should include any changes the facility has implemented in its manufacturing, storage, or operating processes based upon the inspection.

FDAImports.com, LLC assists FDA-regulated manufacturers, importers and distributors assess the validity of FDA 483s and FDA Warning Letters and Untitled Letters and helps in correcting FDA’s observations and drafting responses to FDA’s concerns. FDAImports.com, LLC can also place highly qualified former FDA inspectors and compliance officers inside of a client’s facility to assist with corrections or assess whether FDA’s objections are even warranted.
The FDA does not prosecute its own criminal cases. Rather the U.S. Department of Justice must bring the criminal case to court. FDA does, however, investigate many criminal cases under certain limited federal criminal enforcement jurisdiction related to counterfeit drugs. Under this authority, FDA has established the Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI), which conducts the majority of criminal investigations related to the FDCA. OCI obtains and executes search warrants, arrest warrants, conducts physical surveillance, obtains and serves grand jury subpoenas, obtains and reviews telephone toll records, bank records, etc., in order to try to build a case against an individual, company, or conspiracy.

FDAImports.com, LLC founder and supervising attorney, Benjamin England, was one of the first FDA OCI Special Agents to ever enforce the criminal provisions of the FDCA during his tenure at FDA (OCI-Miami Field Office, 1992- 1998).

FDA Criminal Investigation/Defense Experience: FDAImports.com, LLC affiliated attorneys have participated in investigating or prosecuting (as former Governmental Agents or Attorneys) and defending (in private practice) federal criminal cases involving counterfeit drugs, substitute drugs and biological products, prescription drug diversion, prescription device diversion, smuggling of foods, cosmetics, and other FDA-regulated products, and importation contrary to law of dietary supplements and electronic emitting products. Additionally, they have worked with other attorneys on matters involving money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud, obtaining products by fraud, conspiracy to commit violations against the government or against private persons or companies, and other factual scenarios.

American Govt: Unit Three
What Government Does
President George W. Bush invoked executive privilege in response to congressional questions pertaining to actions of the Office of Homeland Security. Read the brief history of the Doctrine of Executive Privilege at http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20020206.html and then answer the following questions:
Post your answers in the U3 What Government Does Response area.
Did President Bush have the authority to refuse to answer congressional inquiries pursuant to the doctrine of executive privilege? Why?
What are some arguments for invoking the doctrine of executive privilege in the aftermath of September 11, 2001?
What are some arguments for refusing to recognize the doctrine of executive privilege in the aftermath of September 11, 2001?
Are there situations where the use of executive privilege should be granted? Explain.
Unit Three: Get Involved
President George W. Bush nominated his White House Counsel, Harriet Miers, to the United States Supreme Court on Oct. 3, 2005. Miers had extensive experience as a professional litigator, but she had never served as a judge, and her opinions about (and qualifications to interpret) United States constitutional law were unclear. Bush's nomination was controversial from the beginning, not only among liberal critics of the White House, but also among many traditional supporters. Several prominent conservative scholars and think tanks expressed reservations with the selection.
Pressure on the White House did not only come from inside the Washington, D.C. beltway. Many conservative activists and grassroots bloggers argued that a Supreme Court nomination should be filled by an established, known conservative candidate. For weeks, conservative activists throughout the country debated the Miers nomination by email, text message, and in popular online forums like Free Republic. They let their elected officials in the United States Senate hear their concerns. Gradually, public opinion turned against the Miers nomination, both within D.C. and outside the corridors of power. By the end of October, Miers had withdrawn her nomination.
It is difficult to estimate how much influence the conservative grassroots had on the Miers nomination, just as it is difficult to measure the influence of public opinion on the Supreme Court. Unlike the Congress or the presidency, the Supreme Court does not base its decisions on the popular will. Judges interpret the Constitution, using previously existing case law and precedent. But the Internet has been a useful tool for shedding light and insight onto a branch of government whose workings often seem secretive and mysterious to everyday Americans.
Do the following small project and then go to the U3 Get Involved Response area to post your answers.
One of the most useful websites for studying the past and present Supreme Court is the Oyez Project: www.oyez.org
Within Oyez, you can find information about past and present Supreme Court justices, and take virtual tours of the Court. Most valuable, you can access years of online oral arguments, listening to actual debates as they took place between the justices and lawyer advocates.
a. Go to Oyez and click on the "Cases" link, and click on the most recent year. What is one of the cases the Supreme Court has recently heard? What is the controversy at stake?
b. On Oyez, click on "Justices" and examine the biographies of the current Supreme Court justices. Who is currently the youngest sitting member of the Supreme Court? Who is the oldest?

Criminology
8. After reading Chapter 8, discuss the following: Is conflict inevitable in all cultures? What can be done to reduce the level of conflict in our society? Explain your answer fully.
9. After reading Chapter 9, and the PPT for Chapter 9, please answer the following questions: (1) Review the General Theory of Crime suggested by Gottfredson and Hirschi. Do you agree that crime can be attributed to a person's level of self-control? What do you understand the idea of "self-control" to be? Explain your answer fully.
10. After reading Chapter 10, and reviewing the PPT for Chapter 10, please discuss the following: Should hate crimes be punished more severely than crimes that may be motivated by greed, anger, revenge, or some other feelings? Should crimes be distinguished by the motivations of the perpetrator? Why or why not?
11. After reading Chapter 11, and about the numerous property crimes, make suggestions on how citizens can reduce their risk of loss and risk of victimization. Also, assume that your community was experiencing a rash of burglaries. What suggestions would you make to citizens specifically about reducing the risk of a burglary?