...first bill to legalize euthanasia in America was introduced in the Ohio legislature. For several years, legislatures have been turning down bills aimed at the legalization of euthanasia in the United States. In 1937, the Nebraska legislature voted down a bill legalizing voluntary active euthanasia in the U.S. Only two years later, the New York legislature rejected a bill that was also aimed at the legalization of euthanasia in the United States. “In 1991 the Washington State Initiative Bill legalizing voluntary euthanasia was narrowly defeated.” (6) In 1994, Oregon passed a law to allow doctors to prescribe lethal drugs, but an injunction prevented it from taking effect. As of today, euthanasia is illegal in almost every country. In fact, it is only legal in the state of Oregon and the Netherlands. These are the only two places in the world where laws specifically permit euthanasia or assisted suicide. Oregon permits assisted suicide while the Netherlands permits both euthanasia and assisted suicide. In 1995, Australia’s northern territory approved a euthanasia bill which went into effect in 1996, but it was overturned by the Australian Parliament in 1997. “Also, in 1997, Columbia’s Supreme Court ruled that penalties for mercy killing should be removed.”(4) This ruling will not go into effect though until guidelines are approved by the Columbian Congress. In Belgium, lawmakers have agreed on the provisions of a key article in a draft proposal to legalize euthanasia. “The...
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...Introduction If one is big enough to do the crime, then he should be indeed big enough to take the punishment that follows. “Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for a crime.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment) Basically Capital Punishment is the country’s major punishment, for what they consider to be the most major crimes. It is a subject of active disagreement and controversy in various countries and positions in the argument can vary with a single switch in political hierarchy. To count there are about fifty eight countries that still recognizes Capital Punishment. Surprisingly most of the European and Asian Countries are the ones prohibit the use of Capital Punishment. And oddly even though most of the world physical land masses rebukes Capital Punishment, most of the world’s population still resides in countries that still strongly agree with the use of Capital Punishment. But here in The Bahamas, our situation is quite a special one. We are a free independent country, our laws say that we recognizes the use of Capital Punishment in the country, it obvious that a country cries for it, but the dilemma is that it is not being carried out. But the question raised is why? What is the hold up, and how do the Bahamian people feel about the whole situation? Chapter 1 “Capital Punishment in the Bahamas; Gone but not forgotten” Capital Punishment in The Bahamas has been...
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...from players when they get hurt. This can put the athlete’s career or present life in danger because it is very hard for many to pay for school, campus living, meal plan, tuition, transportation, etc. Specially for the players who have a good opportunity to go to the pros, their whole life can be ruined from one hit or one neck twist. A man named Stanley Doughty was signing with the Kansas City Chiefs with a $400,000 contract in the NFL plus endorsements and he was in a practice with the University of South Carolina in 2004. He got severely hit with a “helmet to helmet illegal hit” and was temporarily paralyzed and felt a tingling in his arms that would come back over and over. He had to get surgery which cost about $20,000, his college would not pay for it and therefore, they let him go a pro football player going to the NFL, he also had no money, no job, no degree, no insurance, and his fate of going to the NFL was crushed ( theatlantic.com ). This was an example of colleges not paying athletes and the severe consequences that can occur to them. Stanley was only a junior in college and he forfeited his last year to go pro, there was a risk of getting injured as well, and it hit him and then his dreams of becoming pro vanished because of his university not paying for surgery or just not paying him ( theatlantic.com). The NCAA reports there are about 20,718 football injuries a year( theatlantic.com). A majority of them are career ending or a very long time recovering path for the...
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...they are, therefore, beyond our control ("Why Legalize Drugs? | LEAP"). It is LEAP’s belief that by eliminating prohibition of all drugs for adults and establishing appropriate regulation and standards for distribution and use, law enforcement could focus more on crimes of violence, such as rape, aggravated assault, child abuse and murder, making our communities much safer ("Why Legalize Drugs? | LEAP"). Another positive aspect of the legalization of drugs is financial gains. According to the International Business Times in a study for the Cato Institute, Jeffrey A. Miron, senior lecturer on economics at Harvard University and a senior fellow at Cato, and Katherine Waldock, professor of economics at New York University, estimate that legalizing drugs would save the government approximately $41.3 billion annually on expenditures related to the enforcement of prohibition (Ghosh, 2010). Of those savings, $25.7 billion would accrue to state and local governments, while $15.6 billion would accrue to the federal government (Ghosh,...
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...Table of Contents · Introduction · Homosexual Marriages Should Have the Same Rights as Heterosexual Marriages. · Comparisons to Other Countries · Europe · Africa · Background · First Argument with Gay Marriage · Changes in the Ability to Get Married · Hate Crimes · Identification of Policy Alternatives · Legalizing Gay Marriage Amongst All States · Legalizing Gay Marriage Amongst All States, but Naming it “Civil Unions” · Legalizing Gay Marriage/Civil Unions Against Some States, Recognizing it in All · Recommendation · References INTRODUCTION: Same Sex Marriages Having Same Rights as Heterosexual Marriages Gay marriage has been an active debate amongst politicians, religious figures, and the public. The debate has spanned over a decade with little change for either side. The issue of gay marriage is not just about the name of what the union is called, but the right to be able to legally join as homosexual couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples. Reasons for someone to be in favor of this topic are that there should be a separation of religion and politics, it deprives homosexuals of their natural rights, and this issue has escalated to violent hate crimes towards homosexuals. As it stands, currently 9 million adults are homosexuals, representing 4 percent of the 18 and over population in the United States with no signs of diminishing. Public administrators have done little...
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...Lavida Wilson Intercultural Communications July 4, 2014 The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado The three main topics that I plan to cover are the economic benefits, decrease in crime, and medical benefits of legalizing marijuana in Colorado. The legalization of the drug marijuana has been a very hot topic within the past decade. Marijuana was first made illegal in 1937. The United States government gave marijuana a bad name many years ago by putting it in the same category as heroin and cocaine. For many years the government has provided inaccurate information about the effects of marijuana and as a result, the drug was labeled as a schedule one drug. Over the last few decades especially in the 70’s, marijuana became more common and socially accepted by society. This past year Colorado voted on legalizing marijuana for recreational use. “Focusing on Colorado, Amendment 64 passed on November 6th, 2012 which would legalize the possession of up to an ounce of the plant. Amendment 64 was passed in Colorado with the winning vote of about 55% of the Colorado population. They chose to make marijuana legal for those 21 and over in Colorado such as alcohol is legal everywhere else.” (Ferner 2014) Of course this whole legalization in Colorado comes with a whole list of stipulations such as users can only grow up to six plants at a time and only three of them can have flowers. The most a user can have in their possession one ounce. The marijuana laws are very similar to the...
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...EUTHANASIA: The intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his alleged benefit. (If death is not intended, it is not an act of euthanasia) ARGUMENTS FOR EUTHANASIA: It provides away to relieve extreme pain It provides a way of relief when a person’s quality of life is low Frees up medical funds to help people It is another case of freedom of choice ARGUMENTS AGAINST EUTHANASIA: Euthanasia devalues human life Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment Physicians and other medical care people should not be involved in directly causing death There is a “slippery slope” effect that has occurred where euthanasia has been first been legalized for only the terminally and later laws are changed to allow it for other people or to be done non-voluntarily. Opposition overcomes 48 point deficit to defeat assisted suicide - Ballot Question 2 in Massachusetts 1 1 0 Google BOSTON, Nov. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In a stunning upset, the voters of Massachusetts soundly defeated Ballot Question 2 on Election Day. Dealing a significant setback to the expansion of the assisted suicide movement throughout the United States by Compassion & Choices (the organization formerly known as the Hemlock Society), a diverse coalition of disability rights organizations, medical associations, nurses' groups, community leaders and faith-based organizations united in this effort. "Tonight was a huge victory for those of us in the...
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...[Name of Institute] [Law] Capital Punishment Introduction Capital punishment that also known as the death penalty or sentence has been one of the most widely debated and contentiously oriented topic in countries and diverse societies in terms of its promulgation, legitimacy, conformity towards humanitarian principles and norms and its abolishment. Argument regarding the topic has been segregated on the basis of its advocacy and opposition. Since we all constitute an integral part of a democratic system where people are provided the autonomy to voice their opinion and perspectives irrespective to the nature of the issue and hence being a part of the system I could cast my vote in favor and advocacy of capital punishment. (Hodgkinson and Rutherford, 1996) The Dual Analysis of Capital Punishment There are a number of reasons behind my perspective related to the advocacy and support of capital punishment. One of the simple and straight forward reasons for voting in favor of this form of punishment which is viewed as discordant and diabolical by many is my strong adherence towards the famous quotation which says ‘One thief dead, is one thief less’ it is a self-evident fact that a dead criminal does not possess the tendency of committing any more crime and hence the fear and the intimidation that he has created will cease to exist with his death. It is worth mentioning here that sometimes the implementation of this saying is taken in a negative sense through which...
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...marijuana be legalized is often heavily debated. For many years the use of marijuana was forbidden and outlawed in the United States, but in more recent years marijuana seems to be becoming accepted. Scientist has found many useful applications for marijuana. Recently, here in the United States, many states have approved legislation for marijuana for medical purposes. Most recently, two states Colorado and Washington have passed referendums that will allow people over the age of 21 recreational use of marijuana without the penalty of a criminal offense. These two states will oversee the use of marijuana for its constituents similar to how alcohol is controlled. Whereas, the government at the state level in Colorado and Washington is in favor for the legalization and passed legislation for the legalization of marijuana, the federal government has not. This causes legal, moral, and ethical issues and begs that questions; should marijuana be legalized? Pros of Legalization One benefit of the legalization of marijuana would be the ability for state and local governments to tax the legal production and sale of it. Currently, because marijuana is illegal the sale of it is not taxed so the local, state, and federal governments do not reap any of the benefits of this “$10.5 billion dollar industry” (Miron, 2005, p.4). In a report written by Jeffrey A. Miron, Miron states that “marijuana legalization would yield tax revenue of $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other...
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...a mainstream issue. Some people use marijuana to ease their pain and treat their illnesses. Many others use it because of it mood-altering effects. Laws have been passed to regulate both of these uses of the drug. Those who advocate legalization favor easing or overturning laws against the possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes, medical use, or both. In general most proposals for legalization fall into one of three categories: decriminalization for recreational use, legalization for recreational use, or legalization for medical use. In opposition to these three choices is the option to keep marijuana illegal for both recreational and medical purposes. The purpose of this paper is to explore the facts, pros and cons, regarding the legalization of marijuana. The information for this paper was obtained from scholarly and peer reviewed journal articles, books, and online sources. The research questions answered are as follows; * Could the legalization of marijuana rescue our struggling economy or could it provide much need relief to the overcrowded prison system? * Will the legalization of marijuana lead to a regulation nightmare…can it even be regulated? * Could the legalization of marijuana ease the suffering of so many Americans suffering from debilitating diseases? The legalization of marijuana, whether for medicinal use or recreational use, has caused much legal confusion as well as polarizing social and political debate...
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...ESSAY FOR SBI DESCRIPTIVE TEST CYBER CRIMES Millions of people around the world use computers and the internet every day. We all use it in school, work even at home, computers have made our lives easier it has brought so many benefits to the society but it has also brought some problems and cybercrimes with them. Today, the world is moving towards a point where everything from banking stock exchanges, are traffic control, telephones to electric power, health care, welfare and education depends on software. This exponential growth, and the increase in the capacity and accessibility of computers coupled with the decrease in cost, has brought about revolutionary changes in every aspect of human civilization, including crime. As a result, the increased capacities of information systems today come at the cost of increased vulnerability. Information technology has begun to produce criminal opportunities of a variety that the brightest criminals of yore could not even begin to dream about. The term “Cyber Crime” has nowhere been defined in any statute or Act passed or enacted by the Indian Parliament. Any criminal activity that uses a computer either as an instrumentality, target or a means for perpetuating further crimes comes within the ambit of cyber crime. It is rapidly evolving from simple e-mail mischief where offenders send obscene e-mail, to more serious offences like theft of information, e-mail bombing to crashing servers etc.There are various forms of cyber crime like...
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...Essay 1: Some people believe that marriage is a sacred institution that should only be between a man and a woman, and that it's immoral for marriage to exist between same sex couples, implying inferiority of love between same sex couples. But who are they to stop one’s inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness? I believe marriage should be legal for any two individuals who truly love each other and who have intentions to spend their lives together and be granted legal recognition of their union. Only 5 of the 50 states in the United States of America grant the right of same sex marriage. Under the United States constitution, the 14th amendment specifies equality for all men saying that state cannot “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Though this doesn’t specifically address the topic of gay marriage, it does give a constitutional basis to the belief in equal rights to marriage between people, regardless of sexual orientation, just as marriage is a right to people regardless of their race. It is not fair for some to have the benefits of marriage while others cannot. All individuals should have the same rights in society, and to me personally the idea goes against our constitution when these rights are denied. People all have their reasons for rejecting or accepting this lifestyle. I believe that one significant influence to a person’s acceptance of different sexual orientations is religion, which is often sited as a reason to deny...
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...INTRODUCTION LGBT rights have been a hot topic in India during the last few months due to the Supreme Court of India‘s decision of recriminalizing gay sex. The issue of gay rights is very cloudy in our great nation. Most of this is due to the problems with the issue, the reasons for controversy, and the pros and cons of the issue. First of all, both sides have too many problems with gay rights for there to be a common ground on the issue. The biggest problem we find with the whole thing is the problem is not just fought by words, but also by physical means. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people frequently face violence motivated by their sexuality or gender identity. Violence may be executed by the state, as in laws prescribing corporal punishment for homosexual acts or by individuals engaging in intimidation, mobbing, assault, or lynching. Violence targeted at people because of their perceived sexuality can be psychological or physical and can extend to murder. These actions may be motivated by homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and may be influenced by cultural, religious, or political biases. Currently, homosexual acts are legal in almost all Western countries, and in many of these countries violence against LGBT people is classified as a hate crime, which such violence being often connected with conservative or religious leaning ideologies which condemn homosexuality, or being perpetrated by individuals who associate homosexuality to being weak...
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...FREAKONOMICS A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Revised and Expanded Edition Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner CONTENTS AN EXPLANATORY NOTE In which the origins of this book are clarified. vii PREFACE TO THE REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION xi 1 INTRODUCTION: The Hidden Side of Everything In which the book’s central idea is set forth: namely, if morality represents how people would like the world to work, then economics shows how it actually does work. Why the conventional wisdom is so often wrong . . . How “experts”— from criminologists to real-estate agents to political scientists—bend the facts . . . Why knowing what to measure, and how to measure it, is the key to understanding modern life . . . What is “freakonomics,” anyway? 1. What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common? 15 In which we explore the beauty of incentives, as well as their dark side—cheating. Contents Who cheats? Just about everyone . . . How cheaters cheat, and how to catch them . . . Stories from an Israeli day-care center . . . The sudden disappearance of seven million American children . . . Cheating schoolteachers in Chicago . . . Why cheating to lose is worse than cheating to win . . . Could sumo wrestling, the national sport of Japan, be corrupt? . . . What the Bagel Man saw: mankind may be more honest than we think. 2. How Is the Ku Klux Klan Like a Group of Real-Estate Agents? 49 In which it is argued that nothing is more powerful than information,...
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...THE ARMCHAIR ECONOMIST by Steven E. Landsburg Praise: "Witty economists are about as easy to find as anorexic mezzo-sopranos, natty mujahedeen, and cheerful Philadelphians. But Steven E. Landsburg...is one economist who fits the bill. In a wide-ranging, easily digested, unbelievably contrarian survey of everything from why popcorn at movie houses costs so much to why recycling may actually reduce the number of trees on the planet, the University of Rochester professor valiantly turns the discussion of vexing economic questions into an activity that ordinary people might enjoy." —JOE QUEENAN, The Wall Street Journal "The Armchair Economist is a wonderful little book, written by someone for whom English is a first (and beloved) language, and it contains not a single graph or equation...Landsburg presents fascinating concepts in a form easily accessible to noneconomists." —ERIK M. JENSEN, The Cleveland Plain Dealer "...enormous fun from its opening page...Landsburg has done something extraordinary: He has expounded basic economic principles with wit and verve." -DAN SELIGMAN, Fortune "An ingenious and highly original presentation of some central principles of economics for the proverbial Everyman. Its breezy tone conceals the subtlety of the analysis. Guaranteed to puncture some illusions and to make you think." —MILTON FRIEDMAN CONTENTS Introduction I. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT The Power of Incentives: How Seat Belts Kill - 3 Rational Riddles: Why the Rolling Stones...
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