Thursday, October 31, 2019

Commission of the European Communities v. Italian Republic Essay

Commission of the European Communities v. Italian Republic - Essay Example However, the Italian government responded by their letter of 08 July 1997 and denied that it was necessary to amend their national legislation and free movement in all Member States was guaranteed only for the products which complied with Article 30. The European Commission disagreed with the response of the Italian government and sent the Italy a formal notice on 22 December 1997asking it to comply with its obligation under Article 30 of the EC Treaty within two months. However, the Italian government stood its ground and refused to oblige. The legal issue is that chocolate products containing vegetable fats other than cocoa butter up to a maximum of 5% of the total weight of the product is manufactured as chocolate in Member States such as Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, Finland and the United Kingdom, and it is accepted under this name in all the Member States except Spain and Italy. The Commission also takes the view that the obligation under the Italian legislation to market cocoa and chocolate products containing vegetable fats other than cocoa butter under the name chocolate substitute significantly obstructs their access to the Italian market. The court's answer to the issue is based on the principle of law.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

How Effective Is Police Stop and Search Essay Example for Free

How Effective Is Police Stop and Search Essay This assessment will focus on Section 1 of The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Stop and Search powers). I will look at the use of stop and search before the Macpherson report and after the Macpherson report and compare how it has changed. The use of stop and search powers allow the police to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, and to prevent more serious crimes occurring generally in public places like a Football match. A police officer can ask what you are doing, why you’re in an area and/or where you’re going. They also have the power to stop and search you if they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect you’re carrying; illegal drugs, a weapon, stolen property or something which could be used to commit a crime, such as a dangerous weapon. You can only be stopped and searched without reasonable grounds if it has been approved by a senior police officer. This can happen if it is suspected that; serious violence could take place, you are carrying a weapon or have used one or you are in a specific location or area. However, you don’t have to answer any questions the police officer asks you. The Police officer will note down seven details these include; Ethnicity, Objective of search, Grounds for search, Identity of the officer carrying out the stop and search, Date, Time and Place. However being searched does not mean you have been arrested, unless any of these factors apply. Sir William McPherson carried out an inquiry in 1999 following an investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The 18-year-old A-Level student was fatally stabbed in an unprovoked attack as he waited for a bus in Eltham, south London, in April 1993. Nobody, at the time was convicted of his murder. However in 2006 the Metropolitan Polices Acting Deputy Commissioner, ordered a cold case review that led to the convictions of Gary Dobson and David Norris in 2011 they were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury after a trial based on forensic evidence. Scientists found a tiny bloodstain on Dobsons jacket that could only have come from Mr Lawrence. They also found a single hair belonging to the teenager on Norriss jeans. Both men have had previous run-ins with the law; Dobson was jailed for five years in 2010 for drugs trafficking. He is among a small number of men to have been tried twice for the same crime (double jeopardy) after the Court of Appeal quashed his 1996 acquittal for the murder. Norris was convicted in 2002 of a separate allegation of racially threatening behaviour. Allegations of incompetence and racism against Metropolitan police officers that were in charge of the case sparked the original inquiry as did two internal police inquiries which acquitted the Metropolitan itself. In relation to the stop and search there is no actual change in the stop and search powers for the police. However records of all stop and search operation have to be published, and a copy of the record can also be given to the person involved if requested therefore there can be no discriminative reason to stop someone as the police have to provide written reason to the suspect and the police force. The 1981 Brixton riots and the subsequent Scarman report were key factors in the passage of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). It provides the core framework of police powers and safeguards around stop and search, arrest, detention, investigation, identification and interviewing detainees. The aim of PACE has always been to establish a balance between the powers of the police in England and Wales and the rights of members of the public. Literature Review The immediate effect of Macpherson saw a decline in the use of stop and search. In London, stop and searches fell from 180,000 in 1999/00 to 169,000 the following year. Nationally, the number of stop and searches fell by 21% and then a further 16% from 1998 to 2000. By December 2000, representatives of rank and file officers were saying that Macpherson had damaged morale. Officers, they said, were unprepared to use stop and search out of fear of being labelled racist. So William Hague called for there to be a rise in the use of Stop and Search. This was evident in 2001 when Mr Hague linked a rise in violent street crime in some areas to a drop in stop and searches of black people because police officers feared being called racist. However, this can be argued as many black and Asian people including Stephen Lawrences father, Neville, who filed a complaint after being stopped last year said they were still being unfairly targeted. And in January figures from the Home Office showed that the fall in searches was greatest for white suspects with black people still ive times more likely to be stopped in London than white people. The Equality Act 2010 makes it prohibited for police officers to discriminate against, harass or victimise any person in relation to age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation, marriage, civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity when using their powers on the ground of protected characteristics (Home Office 2011). This shows they have tried to control the situation of racism in the force and tried to put a stop to it. However racism within the force goes back decades as before 1984 police were allowed to stop and search whoever they wanted therefore it became easier and more of a habit to target people who fit ‘criminal persona’. This laid back approach to stop and search caused problems because police became discriminative to the public which can be shown in the Home office statistics (Police and Criminal Evidence Act, The 1984). Research shows this is still happening today even though the Equality Act 2010 was put forward this is evident in (justice 2010). Black people are 8 per cent more likely than whites to face stop and search. In relation to the McPherson report the Committee said that since the introduction of the report the police have made tremendous strides in the service they provide to ethnic minority communities and in countering racism amongst its own workforce. This is evident in the fact that sixty-seven of Macpherson’s 70 recommendations have been implemented fully or in part in the ten years since his report was published. However the statistics show that there is still racism in the force therefore were McPhersons recommendations needed or could he have focused more on the problem in hand? Many people see that that racist persona of the forces comes from the idea that police officers are hard, tough, and will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour. This is called cop culture which is hard to define as it has moved from discussing about one culture to discussing different cultures such as ‘subculture’, ‘street culture’, ‘patrol culture’, ‘canteen culture’ (It can be defined as where the police share the same sense of identity which evolves around work, hard play and hard drinking), ‘headquarters culture’ and the ‘cardigan squad’ (the soft and fluffy culture). Cop culture can be seen as many different things depending on how you view the police themselves. In Britain the Scarman report in 1981 riots in Brixton was influential and raised the importance of stop and search on young black men who felt they had been unfairly targeted due to their colour. Rowe argues that while not all findings were the ‘militaristic style of policing, with poor public engagement t established recommendations relating to policing for example on training, the role of community policing, lay visitors at police stations, discipline and stop and search’. Rowe also mentions that the recommendations mentioned in the Scarman report were reiterated in the McPherson report almost 20 years later suggests that the recommendations were not effectively implemented in the Scarman report (Rowe 2007:155). However McPherson was more forthright using the term ‘institutional racism’ that Scarman shied away from, making the problem more visible to the public. This is evident when the metropolitan police mishandled the Stephen Lawrence case due to a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers’ (McPherson 1999). In terms of police culture, institutional racism was said to incorporate racist stereotyping of black people as potential criminals or troublemakers (McPherson 1999). Taking this into account a racist officer can be seen as an incompetent officer as it is finding a lack of understanding of cultural diversity illustrated in the existence of cultural crisis in the metropolitan police therefore they should be retrained or dismissed. Many people of been very critical of the McPherson report one main criticism is that although McPherson made 70 much needed recommendations for the force he did little to bring justice for the family of Stephen Lawrence which was the reason he originally conducted the inquiry. However 11 years after the inquiry was completed justice was in fact served for the Lawrence family but not due to McPherson’s recommendations. This shows the failings of which the Macpherson Report draws attention too, is in relation to the police investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence which is important, but the explanation as to how and why the problems occurred is somewhat limited which needed to be noted as well. This means that he noted the problem of racism but didn’t recommend to put the case back on retrial. The problems identified by McPherson are not only unique to this case or other racial murders; but rather they are related to the social, legal and organisational environments in which this sort of police work should be undertaken at all times. The stop and search has been proven to be a success for the police, the power to stop and search people who they suspect of being involved in crime is an important tactic. It provides a means to confirm or allay suspicions about individuals without exercising their power of arrest. Where the stop and search is employed appropriately and proportionately, it could increase community confidence in the police force and make a positive contribution to reducing the fear of crime. Stop and search has been very successful in relation to knife crime. For example October 2009, more than 380,000 stops and searches have been conducted; 14,700 people have been arrested; and more than 7,500 knives have been recovered. However the stop and search has seen negative attitudes in relation to law-abiding people who feel they have been unjustifiably targeted. These people are less likely to trust the police and co-operate with them when they have a problem, therefore conducting effective policing, becomes much more difficult. There are still concerns in relation to stop and search and through this the equality and human right commissioners are continuing to monitor how the police are using their stop and search powers. They want to see: a reduction in the national figures for race disproportionality in the use of stop and search powers. A reduction in the number of excess stops and searches carried out on black and Asian people. Also forces with high excesses, in particular the Metropolitan Police, taking action to ensure that the powers are being used in a non-discriminatory and lawful manner. They are also monitoring and concentrating on forces that currently have particularly high rates of disproportionality, in particular some southern rural forces, taking action to reduce their race disproportionality ratios. And finally the forces with race disproportionality collaborating and sharing good practice with their neighbours. The lack of ethnic contact outside law enforcement and in the law enforcement needs a clear transformation. The criminal justice system can in no way be prejudice, discriminative, racist or sexist. They are there to keep the public safe and the public has to trust them otherwise the system would fail, the public have to be extremely open-minded. One way to do this is to focus on race awareness training for all police officers in and joining the force. However this strategy has been used before and after the Scarman report and unfortunately made little impact over the decades since. Macpherson is aware of this but fails to adopt a more radical policy agenda directed at the structure and organisation of policing and the relationship between police and ethnic minorities in the law-enforcement situation itself therefore the race problem is still occurring. To conclude many will argue that not much is different before the McPherson report during and after. The statistics show that being of ethnic origin walking the streets you are more likely to be stopped then if you are white, this stereotype needs to be changed and then the force will be less inclined to stop people of this description with little or lack of reason. However there has been a decline in the amount of black and Asian people stopped but also a decline in the amount of officers that use stop and search on regular basis in fear that they will be labelled a racist. The police need to find a balance between being labelled and doing their job to maximise the trust from the public and minimise fear of crime. Therefore the public and force can come together to make the community the safest place possible.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

A Look At Macbeth Tragic Hero English Literature Essay

A Look At Macbeth Tragic Hero English Literature Essay In the play Macbeth, the plot focuses around a war hero who becomes greedy for power, which leads to his ultimate coronation as King, and demise. At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare displays Macbeth as a war hero, back from his latest campaign, and given a new title. At first, he is shown as a good person, however, after the influence of witches and his wife; he reluctantly gives into evil. After becoming King, he slowly becomes darker, as he seeks to ensure his position as King. This leads to him to becoming a tyrant ruler of Scotland, and eventually we find the war hero has become a truly evil person, who is then killed as a result of his own actions. By showing that Macbeth is a tragic hero, Shakespeare shows a character that initially starts off as a good and basically heroic person who will go to his downfall through the events of the play. The concept of a tragic hero is that instead of the stereotypical concept of a hero that succeeds in their adventure, the hero is a ch aracter that suffers tragedy and ultimately fails in what he has done. This is often due to a tragic flaw or because of an event that happens. Oedipus is an example of a tragic hero that features as a main protagonist but meets his untimely demise. I shall analyse the character of Macbeth and see if he was always a villain or just a hero who failed in his pursuits, due to how Shakespeare pushes him to that fate. Shakespeares language can be quite complicated in understanding in the first scene, where is introducing the witches: Fair is foul and foul is fair. This means the good is bad and bad is good, an example of an anti-thesis, which gives a darker image to the witches. However, when Macbeth makes a statement later with similar words as an oxymoron: So fair and foul a day I have not seen, it becomes clearer that the meaning refers to the fact the day itself was pleasant but the events of the day were foul. Macbeths use of similar words also ties him to the witches, which adds an eerie feel to the words. The use of witches in this way and what they say immediately links Macbeth to them and their image, as witches were believed to be daughters of the devil, and this casts doubts over Macbeth. In Act 1 Scene 3, Macbeth is seen for the first time. His first sentence incorporating foul and fair already ties this noble man, as he is described in the second scene, with the witches. After walking someway with his friend Banquo, they encounter the three witches who speak of prophecies of Macbeth, about his soon becoming Thane of Cawdor, and then saying All hail Macbeth, King of Scotland, this being the prophecy made about him from the witches. This scene is vital to the plot, as it sets the ball rolling for Macbeths conversion from a hero into a villain. This prophecy is soon re-told to Lady Macbeth, who will be the one who convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan for his throne. This scene also has the effect of making Macbeth seem quite gullible, as he is ready to believe the prophecy of becoming King rather than doubting how unlikely it is that he should ever become King. This shows that Macbeth takes language at face value, rather than exploring the deeper meaning or fully unde rstanding what is being said. We must also remember that witches would supposedly have divination qualities, so it is suggested that this is Macbeths destiny. This may be another reason why Macbeth is quick to accept what they say, as he is attracted to these stories of a good destiny. Banquo is not affected with any desire to believe them, perhaps because it is not his fate. Perhaps Macbeths ambition has been dormant until now, and these fantastic stories are playing on his deep desire to achieve greatness. This may be the first signs of a tragic flaw. The character of Lady Macbeth is interesting, in the way that she seems to be a powerful figure in her relationship with Macbeth, and how she pushes Macbeth to murder the King. Unsex me here. Her unusual lines like these give the impression that Lady Macbeth is not the average wife, and it is also shown that Lady Macbeth is prepared to go against nature just to get what she wants. This is vital to the story, as it is this that pushes Macbeth from hero to villain. However, despite Lady Macbeths first actions in the first few acts that display her as an un-natural person willing to do anything for power, she is slowly eaten away from guilt. This is shown because after King Duncans death she is un-fazed by it, but later suffers hallucinations of cleaning her blood-stained hands, which is imagery used for guilt after murder: Heres the smell of blood still. This is in contrast to Macbeth, who was opposed to killing King Duncan, and was afraid of the guilt of killing him, but after doing s o slowly loses is inhibitions of killing innocent people for power, when he decides to have his friend Banquo killed to secure his position as King, and when he decides to kill the wife and child Macduff out of pure revenge. This singular act is the final event to show people that Macbeth has indeed become an evil person. When Macbeth is convinced by Lady Macbeth to murder Duncan, he is at first very opposed to it. He is reluctant because of the moral implications and how against nature it is: Nature seems dead. This shows that Macbeth is fully aware of the consequences of his forth-coming actions, and he desperately doesnt want to commit the deed. However, he reluctantly proceeds to murder Duncan, after being pushed by his wife. This is an example of an external act causing Macbeth to meet a tragedy, but it is in this way that Shakespeare has used the wife to create Macbeth. After the murder, Macbeth experiences more guilt of the crime, due to the fatherly nature given to him by Duncan: I am his kinsman and his subject. However, this does not prevent him from ordering the murder of his friend Banquo, to secure his position as King. This indicates the degeneration of Macbeths nature as he sheds the qualms of betrayal, but he still experiences guilt which is indicated by the apparition of Banquos ghost to Macbeth only. Surprisingly, this is done without him informing his wife, meaning that he has decision to do this was his own choice and was not pushed to do the deed again. This shows Macbeths growing independence from Lady Macbeth, due to his degenerating morals. However, the consequences soon catch up with him as he sees the ghost of Banquo: Avaunt and quit my sight. The ghost of Banquo is not seen by everyone at the table, so this implies that the ghost may be a figment of Macbeths imagination. However, witches are real in the play, so the ghost could be real. In any case, it appearance and Macbeths reaction show that he still has a moral conflict within him. However, afterwards he says that he cannot try to be morally conscience anymore: I am in blood; steppd in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as to go oer. Macbeth also decides to return to the witches to seek more knowledge: I conjure you by that which you profess, Howeer you come to know it, answer me. This meeting shows that Macbeth has begun to fraternize with evil for knowledge, and so is going against the natural order of things. The theme of going against the natural order of things is present throughout to play, from the use of witches, to killing of the King. To Shakespeares audience it would have been something of a horror play. There are also descriptions of Macbeth going against the natural order; Macbeth hath murder sleep, which destroys the normality and the nature of this world. The audience of the time would certainly find comments like this haunting as they are shown a world that is akin to a nightmare by their standards. As Macbeth seeks to ensure his position as King, he slowly loses his feelings of guilt and for inhibitions. When he decides to have the child and wife of Macduff murdered because Macbeth has fled to England, the audience is now convinced that Macbeth has indeed become a truly evil person, and it is ironic that this action also has the effect of bringing about his downfall, as it makes Macduff strive to kill Macbeth even more. The irony is that another heinous crime for Macbeth finally is his un-doing, as he continues to cross the line, and his nature to continue with these crimes brings about his own punishment: he brings it upon himself. Also, in Macbeths desire to keep hold of his throne, he ensures his losing of it. After this event, Macbeth is shown to have lost every ounce of moral conscience he had in him at the start, as his temper has changed to one of anger and he becomes ruthless. However, he realizes that an end to his reign is near as the Birnam wood has drawn closer to h is castle; I gin to be aweary of the sun, and wish thestate othworld were now undone which is a sign from the apparitions from the witches that his reign would soon end. He decides to die in battle, which is shown through imagery: At least well die with harness on our back. By this time, Macbeth has realized his loneliness, and that he has lost all of his friends and honour and no longer has a reason to live. In his Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow soliloquy he sees life as a story, and because of all the death and pain he has caused, he has become numb to it. This shows Macbeth has regained some moral conscience, but has lost all reason to carry on and now is happy to face his death. In a way, in this final stand, he reflects the story of Oedipus in that he chooses to face the punishment of his wrong-doings and the series of unfortunate events. The audience may relate to the tragedy of this, but also the fact that he shows one last bit of heroism, fulfilling the criteria of a tra gic hero. When understanding how Macbeth is portrayed as a tragic hero, it is important to remember that it is Shakespeare who actually created the character of Macbeth, as the play is only loosely based on historic events. In fact, Shakespeare is using the historical story as a vehicle for the character, basing Macbeth on a historical figure but dressing him with the tragic flaw, wife and ambition to . This means the Shakespeare could create Macbeth how he liked to within some degree, and so Shakespeare had free reign to portray Macbeth as a tragic hero or as just another villain. Shakespeare is also writing the play specifically about Macbeth, so the purpose of the characters is to help describe Macbeth himself, and to expand on his character. Shakespeares basis for Macbeth as a tragic hero could have followed the classical tradition e.g. the story of Oedipus, who is shown as a tragic hero in his own story, and also many other stories of famous tragic heroes. This is also done by showing Mac beth as a normal hero at the start e.g. brave and noble, but is truly shown to be very different from the standard conventions of a hero, and ultimately his being a tragic hero. Shakespeare uses many of the basic traits of a tragic hero, namely the downfall of the hero through mistakes and evil, but shows how what may seem like a hero at first, has dark desires: Let not light see my black and dark desires. One must also be aware that modern interpretations of the play will be different to what an audience in the Globe in Shakespeares time would have thought of it. In modern times, we may not consider the murder of a King as such a sin that goes against the core of social morality, as we may understand that people may have such a desire to be King as to murder the current King, or at least we may understand the lust for such a position more than the people in Shakespeares time, who would have been concerned over the religious implications. Although we may still relate to the audience of the time with the act of actually killing a man to gain what he has, like a low-level thief. However, in their times it would be considered as one of the greatest sins ever committed as the King would have his power because of divine right, and his murder is an affront to God more than anything else. Characters like the witches and ghosts also do not shock us as much as they would have done in Shakespear es time when they were believed to exist and very dangerous. Macbeths ties with these bad things have a much larger effect on Shakespeares audience than a modern audience and would help make the play seem a lot more evil to his original audience. Also, there would have been a difference in view points between the educated, the un-educated and the women of his audience. Un-educated people in the audience would, in general, be more interested in the more violent aspect of the play, as that would have been there general interest at the time. Also, un-educated people would have been intrigued by the witches and ghosts as they were considered to be real and dangerous, and would have added an element of horror to the play. Educated people would have been interested in the main plot of the story, the use of witches and ghosts, and the story behind the play, mainly that the story was based on a real event many years ago, and that the King was a descendent of one of the characters. Women would have related to the actions of Lady Macbeth, who was shown as a powerful figure in the play, yet not powerful by gender socially. Women would also have been touched by the murders of the wife and child of Macduff, and may have rejoiced in the pu nishment of Macbeth, as this horrid act consequentially leads to his demise. Shakespeare uses stagecraft to make sure that the audience knows what is going on in the minds of the characters, as the psychological aspects of the play are important. Shakespeare uses the appearance of Banquos ghost to show the reader the thoughts that are eating away at Macbeths sanity, as no-one else can see the ghost. Also, instances like Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and showing that she cannot help but share the guilt of the crime, or the use of the witches to inject the eerie and dark manner to the play right from the beginning shows how Shakespeare has written a play that has a large psychological effect on the characters and the audience. In this way, he is able to create characters like Macbeth in new ways that can have so much more depth rather than what they physically show. Throughout the play, Shakespeare developed the character of his Macbeth. As Shakespeare has progressed through the play, we have seen Macbeth take a fateful step into evil that leads him very deep. One could say that Lady Macbeth pushed Macbeth over a cliff, and that he fell into a very deep chasm. We see that Macbeth has grabbed a tree on his way down and stays there for a moment, but after losing his will to carry on, lets go and falls to his death. Ultimately, like so many tragic heroes, it is Macbeths hubris to what he should or shouldnt do, and how his hubris develops through the course of the play to turn him into a completely different person. Shakespeare has in many plays like Hamlet and Otherllo displayed tragic heroes, but in Macbeth he has strayed from the typical Hellenistic stories of tragic heroes by creating such depths to Macbeth in his own way that the audience are enraptured against their better nature to a story of a noble man and his demise.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Woodrow Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles :: League of Nations

Woodrow Wilson was born in 1856. He became America’s 28th president. His father was a strict Christian minister and Woodrow Wilson was brought up in a household associated with such beliefs. He was educated at Princeton and then at the University of Virginia and John Hopkins University. In 1890, he was appointed a professor at Princeton, a position he held until 1902. From 1902 to 1910, Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton. In 1910, Woodrow Wilson was elected governor of New Jersey for the Democrats. He swiftly got national fame for his social reforms in New Jersey and in 1912 won the presidential election. From 1914 to 1917, he observed a strict neutrality in the Great War but the activities of German U-boats forced his hand especially with the sinking of the ‘Lusitania’ in 1915 which killed 128 American citizens. On April 6th 1917, America entered the war as an "associated power" rather than as an ally of France and Britain. Ironically, Woodrow Wilson had won the 1916 national election on the slogan "He kept us out of war". During the peace talks at Versailles, Woodrow Wilson presented a moderate voice. He had no doubts that Germany should be punished, but he wanted those in power punished - not the people. On January 1918, Woodrow Wilson had issued his ‘Fourteen Points’ as a basis for peace. He also had an idea for a League of Nations to maintain world peace. In international affairs, Woodrow Wilson proved somewhat naà ¯ve. He wanted to place the trust for future world peace in the hands of the League of Nations, yet America refused to join it. By refusing to join the League, the American political structure had seriously weakened the forerunner of the United Nations. Woodrow Wilson spent time after 1919 criss-crossing America trying to ‘sell’ the idea of the League. On September 26th 1919, he collapsed and his political career ended suddenly. He was an invalid for the rest of his life and died in 1924. Woodrow Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles :: League of Nations Woodrow Wilson was born in 1856. He became America’s 28th president. His father was a strict Christian minister and Woodrow Wilson was brought up in a household associated with such beliefs. He was educated at Princeton and then at the University of Virginia and John Hopkins University. In 1890, he was appointed a professor at Princeton, a position he held until 1902. From 1902 to 1910, Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton. In 1910, Woodrow Wilson was elected governor of New Jersey for the Democrats. He swiftly got national fame for his social reforms in New Jersey and in 1912 won the presidential election. From 1914 to 1917, he observed a strict neutrality in the Great War but the activities of German U-boats forced his hand especially with the sinking of the ‘Lusitania’ in 1915 which killed 128 American citizens. On April 6th 1917, America entered the war as an "associated power" rather than as an ally of France and Britain. Ironically, Woodrow Wilson had won the 1916 national election on the slogan "He kept us out of war". During the peace talks at Versailles, Woodrow Wilson presented a moderate voice. He had no doubts that Germany should be punished, but he wanted those in power punished - not the people. On January 1918, Woodrow Wilson had issued his ‘Fourteen Points’ as a basis for peace. He also had an idea for a League of Nations to maintain world peace. In international affairs, Woodrow Wilson proved somewhat naà ¯ve. He wanted to place the trust for future world peace in the hands of the League of Nations, yet America refused to join it. By refusing to join the League, the American political structure had seriously weakened the forerunner of the United Nations. Woodrow Wilson spent time after 1919 criss-crossing America trying to ‘sell’ the idea of the League. On September 26th 1919, he collapsed and his political career ended suddenly. He was an invalid for the rest of his life and died in 1924.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Journey of the Magi Essay

Journey of the Magi has been penned down by Nobel prize winner TS Eliot an is a contrast of experiences based on the nativity of Christ. The monologue describes the journey of the Magi to Bethlahem in search of spiritual pacification and is an account of Eliot’s own conversion to Anglican faith, making the journey and objective correlation for Eliot. As per the Gospel story, the Magi were the three wise men namely Balthazar- King of Chaldea, Gaspor – King of Ethopia, Melchoir -King of Nubia who belonged to the priestly class of magicians and had come to Bethlahem to pay homage to infant Christ presenting him with gifts of gold, myrrh, and frankincense. They symbolise wandering human souls in search of spirituality, the eternal spiritual quester. The poem, ‘Journey of the Magi’ opens with the nativity sermon of Lancelot Andrews preached in 1622 which describes the hardships Magi faced due to deep ways, sharp weather, meeting snow and hostile conditions which were hard to combat : ‘ A cold coming we had of it/ Just the worst tme of the year’ in ‘the very dead of winter’. The Magus admits that there was introspection promoted for ‘there were times we regretted’ as they had given up materialistic pleasures and sensuality of ‘Summer places on the slope’ and ‘silken girls bringing sherbet. ’ Besides wondering whether it was worth the effort, their major issue of search was ignored and the day to day difficulties bogged them down with ‘camelmen cursing and grumbling’, ‘night fires going out’ and ‘villages, dirty and charging high prices’. and they admitted, ‘A hard time we had of it’. The Magi now ‘preferred to travel all night’ and faced agonising moments of self doubt : ‘voices singing in our ears saying that this was all folly’ before they finally reached a temperate valley. The second half of the poem abounds in symbolism with the temperate valley signifing the change in their lives that followed the ardous journey. They come across a ‘ running stream’ depicting the timelessness of their journey; ‘watermill beating the darkness’ continuing the image of extinction and renewal; ‘three trees signifing three crosses at calvary; ‘an old white horse’, a metaphor for rebirth of Christ, the Savior and the defeat of paganism; ‘Vine leaves over the lintel’ again symbolic of the vine that christ metamorphosed into his blood; ‘Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver’ refers to betrayal of christ by Judas and lastly ‘feet kicking empty vine skins ’is symbolic of the worn out forms and rituals of the old dispensation. The Magus describes their destination as : ‘Finding the place, it was ( you may say) satisfactory’. Such a deliberate understatement reflects the turmoils in the minds of the Magi as an outcome of the clash of their old dispensation and new beliefs. The last twelve lines describe the psychological change in Magi as they wore caught in confusion and perplexity and claimed that ‘This birth was hard and bitter agony for us like Death’. The journey marked the end of their old dispensation but didnot give them satisfaction of faith for the Magus claims, ‘I should be glad of another death’ so that he may be born into a new faith. The poem can be studied at three levels : The actual journey of the Magi; Eliot’s journey from doubt to faith while his conversion to anglicanism, and journey of any individual in spiritual quest. belonging to the Ariel poems, the journey traces Eliot’s own spiritual quest and his yearing for sublime peace. The monologue reconfirms the universal truth that the brave and the dauntless who embark upon journies with conviction are graced with divinity but it is sensual jdesires and temptations that need to be overcome.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Bahama Mama

Bahama Mamma Some people consider me very lucky, but I just see it as a trip to Grandma’s house. Yes, that’s right†¦my Grandparents live in Bahamas. Others may give their right hand to go there, but to me it’s just a plane ticket away. That’s where I went this summer†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and the summer before that†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and the summer before that. But what made it special this time around was that I got to bring my friend, Courtney, with me and there were no parents! Imagine that†¦a whole week without parents. It was just my brother, Kyle, Courtney, and I together all week. I’ve never had so much fun before. To clue you in, my week went a little something like this†¦ We arrived in the main harbor of Abaco, Bahamas on Sunday afternoon. From there, my Grandparents took us to their tiny island of Hopetown. Hopetown is a place where everyone knows everyone, and the houses have names such as â€Å"Rocky Bay†, instead of numbers. Their town consists of the maximum of about 20 stores and people get around the island by cruising in the golf cart. It’s like a little taste of heaven you could say. We got everything settled in by Sunday night and Grandma made her famous dish of delicious homemade spaghetti (my brothers favorite). We were all exhausted from the plane trip, so we called it a night and went to sleep, preparing for our exciting tomorrow. Monday morning, I was awoken by the sound of the exhilarating ocean at my ears. I turned and smiled at Courtney and said, â€Å"Are you ready for this?† and she replied â€Å"More than you know!† Grandma cooked us some bacon, eggs, and homemade cinnamon bread for our breakfast. We couldn’t wait to get out there, so Grandma took us on a trip of the town and showed us around. The hurricane that came through their island last year destroyed everything, so they had to almost start over from scratch. The town lo... Free Essays on Bahama Mama Free Essays on Bahama Mama Bahama Mamma Some people consider me very lucky, but I just see it as a trip to Grandma’s house. Yes, that’s right†¦my Grandparents live in Bahamas. Others may give their right hand to go there, but to me it’s just a plane ticket away. That’s where I went this summer†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and the summer before that†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and the summer before that. But what made it special this time around was that I got to bring my friend, Courtney, with me and there were no parents! Imagine that†¦a whole week without parents. It was just my brother, Kyle, Courtney, and I together all week. I’ve never had so much fun before. To clue you in, my week went a little something like this†¦ We arrived in the main harbor of Abaco, Bahamas on Sunday afternoon. From there, my Grandparents took us to their tiny island of Hopetown. Hopetown is a place where everyone knows everyone, and the houses have names such as â€Å"Rocky Bay†, instead of numbers. Their town consists of the maximum of about 20 stores and people get around the island by cruising in the golf cart. It’s like a little taste of heaven you could say. We got everything settled in by Sunday night and Grandma made her famous dish of delicious homemade spaghetti (my brothers favorite). We were all exhausted from the plane trip, so we called it a night and went to sleep, preparing for our exciting tomorrow. Monday morning, I was awoken by the sound of the exhilarating ocean at my ears. I turned and smiled at Courtney and said, â€Å"Are you ready for this?† and she replied â€Å"More than you know!† Grandma cooked us some bacon, eggs, and homemade cinnamon bread for our breakfast. We couldn’t wait to get out there, so Grandma took us on a trip of the town and showed us around. The hurricane that came through their island last year destroyed everything, so they had to almost start over from scratch. The town lo...

Monday, October 21, 2019

7 Different Types of Crimes

7 Different Types of Crimes A crime is defined as any act that is contrary to legal code or laws. There are many different types of crimes, from crimes against persons to victimless crimes and violent crimes to white collar crimes. The study of crime and deviance is a large subfield within sociology, with much attention paid to who commits which types of crimes and why. Crimes Against Persons Crimes against persons also called personal crimes, include murder, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery. Personal crimes are unevenly distributed in the United States, with young, urban, poor, and racial minorities both more often affected by these crimes and arrested for them  than white, middle- and upper-class people are. Crimes Against Property Property crimes involve the theft of property without bodily harm, such as burglary, larceny, auto theft, and arson. Like personal crimes, young, urban, poor, and racial minorities are arrested for these crimes more than others. Hate Crimes Hate crimes are crimes against persons or property that are committed while invoking prejudices of  race, gender or gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. The rate of hate crimes in the U.S. remains fairly constant from year to year, but there have been a few events that have caused surges in hate crimes. In 2016, the election of Donald Trump was followed by an uptick in hate crimes. Crimes Against Morality Crimes against morality are also called victimless crimes because there is no  complainant or victim. Prostitution, illegal gambling, and illegal drug use are all examples of victimless crimes. White-Collar Crime White-collar crimes are crimes committed by people of high social status who commit their crimes in the context of their occupation. This includes embezzling (stealing money from one’s employer), insider trading, tax evasion, and other violations of income tax laws. White-collar crimes generally generate less concern in the public mind than other types of crime, however, in terms of total dollars, white-collar crimes are even more consequential for society. For example, the Great Recession can be understood as in part the result of a variety of white-collar crimes committed within the home mortgage industry. Nonetheless, these crimes are generally the least investigated and least prosecuted because they are protected by a combination of privileges of race, class, and gender. Organized Crime Organized crime is committed by structured groups typically involving the distribution and sale of illegal goods and services. Many people think of the Mafia when they think of organized crime, but the term can refer to any group that exercises control over large illegal enterprises (such as the drug trade, illegal gambling, prostitution, weapons smuggling, or money laundering). A key sociological concept in the study or organized crime is that these industries are organized along the same lines as legitimate businesses and take on a corporate form. There are typically senior partners who control profits, employees who manage and work for the business, and clients who buy the goods and services that the organization provides. A Sociological Look at Crime Arrest data show a clear pattern of arrests in terms of race, gender, and class. For instance, as mentioned above, young, urban, poor, and racial minorities are arrested and convicted more than others for personal and property crimes. To sociologists, the question posed by this data is whether this reflects actual differences in committing crimes among different groups, or whether this reflects differential treatment by the criminal justice system. Studies show that the answer is â€Å"both.† Certain groups are in fact more likely to commit crimes than others because crime​ often looked to as a survival strategy, is linked to patterns of inequality in the United States. However, the process of prosecution in the criminal justice system is also significantly related to patterns of race, class, and gender inequality. We see this in the official arrest statistics, in treatment by the police, in sentencing patterns, and in studies of imprisonment.