...Torture is a method of gathering information; it dates back to early medieval times where gruesome techniques were used. Throughout the years, the techniques have changed, but the method of torturing for information still survives. Some people encourage the use of torture for information, while others discourage it because they believe that it goes against human ethics. Human ethics are the rights that all humans have, and the big controversy over torture is whether torture goes against those ethics. In this paper the method of torture will be examined for both encouragement and discouragement based on the views each person has of human ethics. It is quite easy to look at worldwide news telecasts and know what kind of things that American...
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...Major Themes of Orwellian Imagine living in an environment under the surveillance of a big power, imagine being manipulated and controlled for every thought and action. The act of obeying orders from the big power leads to survival, and the rebellion for freedom leads to the most devastating punishment. Would you give in to the big power or would you fight? The novel Nineteen-Eighty Four written by George Orwell portraying through the view of the protagonist, Winston Smith, describing a nation called Oceania being under the ruling of the antagonist, a totalitarian Party or the Big Brother. In addition, it presented various methods such as constant surveillance, unending propaganda, distortion of language, historical revisionism, fear, torture, perpetual war, and lack of habeas corpus to characterize an oppressive and authoritarian government. The Party utilizes these methods to keep its citizens living in a state of fear, making them developing a feeling of dependency of the party. The novel Nineteen-Eighty Four has its significance today because all of the methods that characterize a totalitarian government are still presence, especially being currently utilized by the government of the United States. Once upon a time, the U.S used to be a land of unparalleled freedom. However, ever since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the U.S government, primarily under the management of the bush administration, has been taking numerous steps of becoming to a totalitarian state...
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...of shock treatment among citizens. The term “disaster capitalism” first pointed out in the book by economist Milton Friedman claims that “whenever government have imposed sweeping free-market programs, the all-at-once shock treatment or shock therapy has been the method of choice” (8). Friedman observed only a crisis actual or perceived produces real change and the new fundamental change was a permanent reform. The reason is simple capitalism has always needed disasters to advance and the prefer method to achieve goals from corporations utilizing a collective trauma engage in radical social and economic engineering. The shock therapy has helped America to become a corporative state where free market makes everything, it is the ultimate goal but hand with hand privatizing is what leads to corporations to a better success without of these disasters capitalism is not possible. Neoliberalism or globalization commonly named free trade is the way for the richer to get rich to expand their boundaries with other countries and get the biggest profit they could obtain. The corporations which main characteristic is huge transfer of public wealth to private hands or small group of people has the control. Every time a disaster happen these people...
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...Habeas Corpus and the War on Terrorism By Robert Hawkins POL201: American National Government Instructor: Russel Riggs March 18, 2013 The Term “Habeas Corpus” comes from the Latin term meaning "have the body". Habeas Corpus is considered to be one of the most fundamental guarantees of personal liberty. Its roots come from England and are found all throughout our history, such as the Civil War and currently the War on terrorism. The Writ of Habeas Corpus specifically refers to the right to challenge one's detention. It is also the state's ability to force someone to appear in court. By allowing an independent judge to review the basis of a person’s detention and order the detainee’s release if the grounds are unlawful, habeas corpus serves as a bulwark against arbitrary arrest, torture, and extrajudicial killings. This right, whose evolution was largely driven by historic struggles to impose limits on the power of the monarch, is today widely protected in domestic and international law. It was common in England, in the period of the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, to be held indefinitely in the Tower of London without trial. Political prisoners disappeared because they had not broken the law, but have opposed the crown's policies. When the term first came into widespread use in medieval England, a "writ of habeas corpus" was simply a subpoena. A king or local official could impose a "writ of habeas corpus" to force someone to appear and testify...
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...RUNNING HEAD: TERRORIST AND ASSASSINS Effie Cane ENG 122 Sophie Sills February 25, 2013 There is so much that we do not know or understand about terrorism and assassins. Many things that we may never figure out. This is a subject that I never worried about until that grave day on 9/11. This is when it all really hit me. I was 20 years old and I can remember RUNNING HEAD: TERRORIST AND ASSASSINS someone running into my college course screaming, “They have killed them. They flew the planes into the tower. Oh my God1” From that day on I knew that terrorism was real and we had all been affect. It has become one of the scariest things in American life. A lot of us are left wondering when, how, and why after a terrorist attack. It is my belief that most attacks are because of religious beliefs. I also belief that the affects that these attacks have on our society can be over whelming and devastating. It can cause people to loose love ones and suffer for the rest of their lives. In this paper I will attempt to understand what is going on in the mind of a person who commits such acts. I will also take a good look into the lives of the many people that they affect. Even though terrorism and assassination is not something that we worry about on a daily basis, the fact remains that it is very much real and can become a threat at any time. (Mueller 2006) I found this evident while reading an article written in September/October 2006 by John...
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...To what extent has the location of sovereignty in the UK changed in the recent years? Sovereignty is essential and there is nothing you can do to challenge it or take it away. In the UK sovereignty lies within parliament; Sovereignty was placed formally to parliament after the Bill of Rights Act in 1688 when the monarch’s powers were removed. Ultimate power lies in parliament due to the fact that the electorate vote for the members of Parliament in free, fair and regular elections. There are two types of sovereignty that exist, legal and political. Legal sovereignty is the principle that one body has the authority and right to change any law in anyway it wants to, legal sovereignty in the UK has been said to lie in Westminster Parliament. Political sovereignty is where power effectively and actively is used and implemented, in other words who holds political power and who has can influence it. For example, political sovereignty lies with the electorate at election time, but at other times lies with Parliament when debating legislation and constitutional statues. People argue that the EU undermines Parliament sovereignty because national sovereignty of the British ts citizens is the ability of the UK to decide matters for itself. Membership of the EU has meant there has been a loss of national sovereignty. There are now a lot of EU institutions which are also in power with the UK political institutions and sometimes a number of areas which the EU has had an impact on the independent...
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...Examine the use David Simpson makes of Ẑiẑek’s theoretical work in his study 9/11: The Culture of Commemoration. “The routines of commemorative culture, whether private or public, exist to mediate and accommodate the unbearably dissonant agonies of the survivors into a larger picture that can be metaphysical or national-political and is often both at once.” (Simpson 2) David Simpson’s study 9/11: The Culture of Commemoration published in 2006 focuses on a post-9/11 America wracked by fear and paranoia. The “war against terror” implacably positions the American nation against vengeful messianic Islamist “terrorists” who represent the other, the enemy, and are identifiable en masse as “the culture of terror”. The tragic events of the day known globally as 9/11 shattered any illusion Americans might have had about an ethic of tolerance operating both within and without their borders. But Simpson notes in his introductory arguments that while that day has been represented as a rupture with known reality it had a familiarity about it that can be traced over time to the influence of television and film, and was thus already embedded within American culture as a shocking explosive tragedy waiting to happen. Simpson states unequivocally that it’s time we turned to “those who speak for theory” to guide and lead us towards a new cultural understanding of 9/11, mentioning the Slovenian philosopher and cultural theorist Slavoj Ẑiẑek as part of a respected cohort of theorists: “The...
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...Motions: * Politics This House would grant politicians immunity from prosecution PROS Giving politicians’ immunity from prosecution allows them to focus on performing their duties The premier reason that most states, even those that allow for the prosecution of politicians, abstain from prosecuting them while they hold office is that being a politician is a job that requires one’s undivided attention. Especially for the holders of prominent national-level offices, writing legislation, responding to crises under one’s purview, consulting one’s constituents, and engaging in campaign work often lead to politicians working an upwards of 12 hour day, every day. To expect politicians cope with all of these concerns will simultaneously constructing a defense against pending charges would be to abandon all hope of them serving their constituents effectively. We are rightly aggravated when politicians take extensive vacations or other extracurricular forays. Being under indictment not only consumes even more of a politician’s time; the stress it causes will inevitably seep into what remaining time they do allocating to fulfilling their duties, further hindering their performance. The impeachment proceedings for Bill Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice were so intensive that they took tremendous resources away from not only the president himself, but all branches of the federal government for several months, amidst serious domestic and foreign...
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...Capital punishment, also called death penalty, is the execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. The practice of executing people for certain crimes is very old; in fact, the term itself dates to a Latin root, capitalis, which means “of the head,” a reference to a common execution method used in Roman times. Currently 58 nations actively practice it, 97 countries have abolished it, and the remainders have not used it for 10 years or allow it only in exceptional circumstances such as wartime. However, It is a matter of active controversy in various countries as it violates human rights. What Is Capital Punishment Capital punishment is a practice in which prisoners are executed in accordance with judicial practice when they are convicted of committing what is known as a capital crime or capital offense. In other words, capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. History Of Capital Punishment Early Laws The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C.'s Hittite Code; in the Seventh...
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...Discuss whether the death penalty in serves a relevant purpose in criminal proceedings in Malaysia. Over the centuries, laws and public attitudes relating to torture have evolved. It is no longer permissible to use thumbscrews or the rack as legally sanctioned means of interrogation and punishment. Attitudes toward the death penalty are also changing, and as more and more countries abolish capital punishment, the guillotine, the garrotte and the noose are being relegated to museums, alongside medieval instruments of torture. As we know, the death penalty is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for a crime. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally “regarding the head”. Hence a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing the head from the body. Capital punishment in Malaysia applies to murder, drug trafficking, treason, and waging war against Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the King). Recently, the law has been extended to include acts of terrorism. Any terrorists, and anyone who aids terrorists, financially or otherwise, are liable to face the death penalty. Only High Courts have the jurisdiction to sentence someone to death. Juvenile cases involving the death penalty are heard in High Courts instead of the juvenile court where other juvenile cases are heard. Appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court are automatic. The last...
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...Introduction Human beings as a rational animal set laws, rules and regulations which can enable them to maintain the smooth running of their associations and/or states. Members of a given society, however, may violate the law because of political, religious and ideological interests while others can act against it to satisfy their material and emotional needs. In this case, the state has the responsibility and the legal authority to punish the criminal or groups of criminals based on the given law. The punishment of the criminals may vary from simple fines and imprisonment to sever torture and the deprivation of life. Capital punishment or the death penalty has existed as part of the human justice system since ancient times. In these earlier periods people were sentenced to death as a punishment for crimes considered as first degree offenses by the state. These crimes were most of the time political as well as religious and the method of execution, in addition to different brutal ways, was mainly beheading. With additional types of crimes resulting in capital punishment and more sophisticated methods of execution, the death penalty has continued to be practiced in the 21st century. However, capital punishment, especially after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, has became an issue of greater debate among states, human right organizations and other nongovernmental organizations. Since 1948, the number of countries employing death penalty is decreasing and currently...
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...Contemplating Realities and Paradoxes in the Global War on Terror John B. Alexander, Ph.D. Introduction The approach of this monograph is to examine paradoxes encountered in the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The intent is to spark debate on disputatious issues. Clearly, many of the existing situations appear intractable given the emotional investment that has been made by the public, and exacerbated by political manipulation of elected officials. Also unavoidable are the fiscal constraints that are becoming increasingly binding. Examined in Section One are problematic premises related to the four fundamental approaches to countering terrorism; increased security, eliminating the terrorists, attacking the support infrastructure, and altering conditions that breed discontent. Despite trite, albeit politically popular, commentary proposing those methods, execution of those concepts is extremely difficult, often controversial, and sometimes counterproductive. Section Two of this monograph addresses several other policy decisions that generate problems that are difficult to resolve, but directly impact the forces involved. Among those topics are; roles of contractors, individual loyalties versus national interests, alliances of convenience, foreign response to our policy on preemption of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the consequences of our stated objective of spreading democracy, the impact of U.S. presence in the Gulf region, and quandary associated with defining...
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...Thought Control: The Case of the Middle East Part 2. Middle East Terrorism and the American Ideological System Part 3. Libya in U.S. Demonology Part 4. The U.S. Role in the Middle East Part 5. International Terrorism: Image and Reality Part 6. The World after September 11 Part 7. U.S./Israel-Palestine Notes Preface to the First Edition (1986) St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great, who asked him "how he dares molest the sea." "How dare you molest the whole world?" the pirate replied: "Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an Emperor." The pirate's answer was "elegant and excellent," St. Augustine relates. It captures with some accuracy the current relations between the United States and various minor actors on the stage of international terrorism: Libya, factions of the PLO, and others. More generally, St. Augustine's tale illuminates the meaning of the concept of international terrorism in contemporary Western usage, and reaches to the heart of the frenzy over selected incidents of terrorism currently being orchestrated, with supreme cynicism, as a cover for Western violence. The term "terrorism" came into use at the end of the eighteenth century, primarily to refer to violent acts of governments designed to ensure popular submission. That concept plainly is of little benefit to the practitioners of state terrorism, who, holding power, are in a position to control the system...
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...The Death Penalty Capital punishment is putting a condemned person to death. When one reads history of the world, it is seen that many people were sentenced to death because they raised a voice against the king. Ending a person’s life without giving him a chance to repent is not the best of the correctional methods. It might serve as deterrence for others but to what extent is that entirely true will be examined in the paper. The “cruel and unusual” clause in the eighth amendment states that “cruel and unusual punishment” such as torture or lingering death can not be inflicted on anyone as a form of execution. It is however permissible under the 8th Amendment to execute a convict by means of hanging, shooting, electrocution, and lethal gas. There is still confusion about what is actually constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment.” There have been several court cases of interest that have challenged and redefined this concept. In Louisiana ex. Rel. Francis v. Resweber, a convicted murderer was subject to a botched execution, and subsequently argued that a second attempt at execution would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment constituting cruel and unusual punishment. Previously the forms of execution were very painful. Many were beheaded while many were crucified. Crucifixion was the method used to execute Jesus according to Christianity. Such methods aimed at prolonging the pain before death. “Some may attempt to argue that there is scriptural authorization for the death penalty...
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...accused of using excessive and abusive force to achieve arrests. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter to the officers whether these people are guilty or not. In the United States Constitution, it reads, “innocent until proven guilty” but according to the New York Police Department these people are “guilty until proven innocent.” This happens in the smallest and largest of situations, from a simple traffic stop to the arrest of a so called “lifelong” criminal. In this paper, through specific examples of the New York Police Department’s infringement upon the public’s basic human rights, I will prove not only is the New York Police Department in violation of United States law, but international law as well; specifically the Convention against Torture. I will also explain why it is vital to the safety of all New Yorker’s that these power hungry parasites be stopped! From a very young age we all are brought up with the façade that all police officers, not just the NYPD, are there to “serve” and “protect” the public. For example, parents teach their children that when they are in trouble or they are scared, to try and find a police officer to help them. On television when children do this the police officers seem to be cordial and willing to help. In the real world, this is not the case. To the NYPD their badge seems to put in their head that the “power” they have, gives them the right to do whatever they want or however they want. A prime example of these officers not doing their job...
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