Capital punishment Essay Example for Free

Capital punishment Essay Capital punishment, also dubbed the death penalty, is the pre-meditated and planned taking of a human life by a government in response to a crime committed by that legally convicted person. Passions in the US are sharply divided, and equally strong among both supporters and protesters of the death penalty. Arguing against capital punishment, Amnesty International believes that The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to lifeIt is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There can never be any justification for torture or for cruel treatment. Arguing for capital punishment, the Clark County, Indiana Prosecuting Attorney writes that there are some defendants who have earned the ultimate punishment our society has to offer by committing murder with aggravating circumstances present. I believe life is sacred. It cheapens the life of an innocent murder victim to say that society has no right to keep the murderer from ever killing again. In my view, society has not only the right, but the duty to act in self defense to protect the innocent. And Catholic Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, writes the death penalty diminishes all of us, increases disrespect for human life, and offers the tragic illusion that we can teach that killing is wrong by killing. Death Penalty in the U.S. The death penalty has not always been practiced in the U.S. although ReligiousTolerance.org states that in the U.S., about 13,000 people have been legally executed since colonial times. The Depression era 1930s, which saw a historic peak in executions, was followed by a dramatic decrease in the 1950s and 1960s. No executions occurred in the US between 1967 to 1976. In 1972, the Supreme Court effectively nullified the death penalty, and converted the death sentences of hundreds of death row inmates to life in prison. In 1976, another Supreme Court ruling found capital punishment to be Constitutional. From 1976 through June 3, 2009, 1,167 people have been executed in the U.S. Latest Developments The vast majority of democratic countries in Europe and Latin America have abolished capital punishment over the last fifty years, but United States, most democracies in Asia, and almost all totalitarian governments retain it. Crimes that carry the death penalty vary greatly worldwide from treason and murder to theft. In militaries around the world, courts-martial have sentenced capital punishments also for cowardice, desertion, insubordination and mutiny. Per Amnesty Internationals 2008 death penalty annual report, at least 2,390 people were known to have been executed in 25 countries and at least 8,864 people were sentenced to death in 52 countries around the world: Executions in 2008, by Country †¢China 1,718 †¢Iran 346 †¢Saudi Arabia 102 †¢United States 37 †¢Pakistan 36 †¢Iraq 34 †¢Vietnam 19 †¢Afghanistan 17 †¢North Korea 15 †¢All others 66 Source Amnesty International As of October 2009, capital punishment in the US is officially sanctioned by 34 states, as well as by the federal government. Each state with legalized capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods, age limits and crimes which qualify. From 1976 through October 2009, 1,177 felons were executed in the U.S., distributed among the states as follows: Executions from 1976 Oct 2009, by State †¢Texas 442 (38%) †¢Virginia 103 †¢Oklahoma 91 †¢Florida 68 †¢Missouri 67 †¢Georgia 46 †¢Alabama 44 †¢North Carolina 43 †¢South Carolina 42 †¢Ohio 32 †¢Louisiana 27 †¢Arkansas 27 †¢All others 149 Source: Wikipedia States and U.S. territories with no current death penalty statute are Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. New Jersey repealed the death penalty in 2007, and New Mexico in 2009. Background The case of Stanley Tookie Williams illustrates the moral complexities of the death penalty. Mr. Williams, an author and Nobel Peace and Literature Prizes nominee who was put to death on December 13, 2005 by lethal injection by the state of California, brought capital punishment back into prominent public debate. Mr. Williams was convicted of four murders committed in 1979, and sentenced to death. Williams professed innocence of these crimes. He was also co-founder of the Crips, a deadly and powerful Los Angeles-based street gang responsible for hundreds of murders. About five years after incarceration, Mr. Williams underwent a religious conversion and, as a result, authored many books and programs to promote peace and to fight gangs and gang violence. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize and four times for the Nobel Literature Prize. Mr. Williams was a self-admitted life of crime and violence, followed by genuine redemption and a life of uniquely and unusually good works. The circumstantial evidence against Williams left little doubt that he committed the four murders, despite last-minute claims by supporters. There also existed no doubt that Mr. Williams posed no further threat to society, and would contribute considerable good. The case of Stanley Tookie Williams forced public reflection on the purpose of the death penalty: †¢Is the purpose of the death penalty to remove from society someone who would cause more harm? †¢Is the purpose to remove from society someone who is incapable of rehabilitation? †¢Is the purpose of the death penalty to deter others from committing murder? †¢Is the purpose of the death penal

A Vendetta :: English Literature

A Vendetta A Short Story will typically contain only a few characters. The Plot will usually be concerned with just one theme. These short stories are written by a very famous author, Guy de Maupassant. Guy de Maupassant was born in France in 1850.Maupassant developed to be one of the most famous short story writers of all time. In the short story 'A Vendetta' the title is a glimpse into the plot of the story, telling us that that there is a vendetta involved but doesn't reveal the nature of the vendetta and its aims. There are 3 main characters in the story, they are, Widow Saverini, Frisky the dog, and Nicolas Ravolati. The story is about, an assassin Nicolas Ravolati kills Widow Saverini's son Antoine during a quarrel and over the dead body of her son Widow Saverini swears vengance. She is unable to sleep until she has an idea. She trains her dog Frisky to attack a dummy, by starving her of food and hiding sausage inside the dummy's torso. The widow takes the dog to Nicolas' Sardinian hideout and at the widows' word the dog kills Nicolas Ravolati. The moral of the story is that revenge can become destructive and obsessive if we allow it to do so. Maupassant expresses this moral when, In the story he talks about the Widow Saverini being unable to sleep or make peace until she can complete this vendetta of when she sleeps soundly. During this story Guy de Maupassant uses several different literary techniques to help express his views and to help explain and tell the story. He uses personification when describing the wind and sea on the coast of Bonifacio. He uses the sentence "The wind harasses the sea remorselessly." The words 'harasses' and 'remorselessly' are both human characteristics it is as if Guy de Maupassant is saying the wind has no conscience. Maupassant uses detailed description of the town 'Bonifacio', where the story is set, to get across the brutality and evil to come later on in the story. He also uses symbolism and imagery like "A gash in the cliffs," This represents the gashes in the body of Antoine after the first assassination, as does the simile used at the start of the story," Patches of whitish foam round the black tips of the countless reefs, look like torn sheets drifting on the surface of the water." This to me is the most important simile in the whole story because it sets the mood and the scene of the horrific events to come, to continue the scenery being set as an inhospitable place Maupassant uses the word

International Bussiness an Asian Perspective Chapter 9-11

CHAPTER 9 9. 1)  Ã‚  The interest rate on South Korean government securities with one-year maturity is 4% and the expected inflation rate for the coming year is 2%. The  US  interest rate on government securities with one-year maturity is 7% and the expected rate of inflation is 5%. The current spot exchange rate for  Korea  won is $1 = W1,200. Forecast the spot exchange rate one year from today. Explain the logic of your answer. Drawing on what we know about the Fisher effect, the real interest rate in both the  US  and  South Korea  is 2%.The international Fisher effect suggests that the exchange rate will change in an equal amount but in an opposite direction to the difference in nominal interest rates. Hence since the nominal interest rate is 3% higher in the  US  than in  South Korea, the dollar should depreciate by 3% relative to the South Korean Won. Using the formula from the book:  Ã‚  (S1  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ S2)/S2  x 100 = i$  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ iWon  Ã‚  Ã‚  and substituting 7 for i$, 4 for iWon, and 1,200 for S1,  yields a value for S2  of $1=W1,165. 9. 3) You manufacture wine goblets.In mid-June you receive an order for 10,000 goblets from Japan. Payment of ? 400,000 is due in mid-December. You expect the yen to rise from its present rate of $1 = ? 130 to $1 = ? 100 by December. You can borrow yen at 6 percent a year. What should you do? The simplest solution would be to just wait until December, take the ? 400,000 and convert it at the spot rate at that time, which you assume will be $1=? 100. In this case you would have $4,000 in mid-December. If the current 180-day forward rate is lower than 100? $, then a forward contract might be preferable since it both locks in the rate at a better level and reduces risk. If the rate is above ? 100/$, then whether you choose to lock in the forward rate or wait and see what the spot does will depend upon your risk aversion. There is a third possibility also. You could borrow money from a ba nk that you will pay back with the ? 400,000 you will receive (400,000/1. 03 = ? 388,350 borrowed), convert this today to US$ (388,350/130 = $2,987), and then invest these dollars in a US account.For this to be preferable to the simplest solution, you would have to be able to make a lot of interest (4,000 – 2,987 = $1,013), which would turn out to be an annual rate of 51% ((1,013/4000) * 2). If, however, you could lock in these interest rates, then this method would also reduce any exchange rate risk. What you should do depends upon the interest rates available, the forward rates available, how large a risk you are willing to take, and how certain you feel that the spot rate in December will be ? 100 = $1. 9. ) You are the CFO of a Philipine firm whose wholly owned subsidiary in Mexico manufactures component parts for your Philipine assembly operations. The subsidiary has been financed by bank borrowings in the United States. One of your analysts told you that the Mexican pes o is expected to depreciate by 30 percent against the dollar on the foreign exchange markets over the next year. What actions, if any, should you take? Your financing and operating capital are in dollars, yet many of your costs (labor) must be in peso.Your hard assets are all in peso, and their value will decline. On the other hand, if the peso depreciates, then your dollars will go further. So perhaps doing nothing is the best approach. If you are pretty sure that the peso will depreciate, then you may want to avoid any major peso-denominated costs that you can until after devaluation. That may mean holding back on shipments if possible, and you may want any dollar-denominated purchases made before the devaluation.You may want to move any peso-denominated major accounts into dollars before the devaluation. CHAPTER 10 1. Why did the gold standard collapse? Is there a case for returning to some type of gold standard? What is it? The gold standard collapse for the reason it would not allow for a nation's economic expansion. When times of war or acts of the like required for a economy's government to spend above the limits of its gold supply in turn the government would print extra money into circulation to compensate the excessive expenditures.This would cause a problem when these times of crisis would end and the extra printed money caused rapid inflation with in that nation. That nation would then try to re-establish it's rate hold per ounce of gold, yet not being able to internationally maintain that rate which would cause failure in this system. This is just one good reason I see as the collapse of the gold standard. I would say not. The problem is presented when a nation has the desire and ambition to grow yet there is only a set amount of gold and silver to be removed from the earth to back monetary value.When you have a limited amount of backing it kind of limits your growth and expansion. I could foresee a problem with any system if the players are too i nconsistant and change the environment of the game too often. I currently have faith in our floating exchange rate system because it acommidates human inconsistancy and allows for frequent change with the ability to stabilize. 2. What opportunities might current IMF lending policies to developing countries create for international businesses? Most of these developing countries are consumer countries.IMF usually focuses on areas that will be improved by the specific kitty. You can therefore look into these areas and seek to be an exporter to them, whether of services or of goods. These countries are also seeking to stabilize balance of trade. If they seek to import, there is still business for anyone who is aligned to hit at the right time. The fact also, that they have simplified cost and maturity means that it can create sustainability of any business that starts due to ease of re-borrowing. 3.Do you think the standard IMF policy prescriptions of tight monetary policy and reduced g overnment spending are always appropriate for developing nations experiencing a currency crisis? How might the IMF change its approach? What would the implications be for international businesses? Critics argue that the tight macroeconomic policies imposed by the IMF in the recent Asian crisis were not well suited to countries that were not suffering from excessive government spending and inflation, but instead from a private-sector debt crisis with inflationary undertones.Anti-inflationary monetary policies and reductions in government spending usually result in a sharp contraction of demand, at least in the short run. In the longer term, the policies can promote economic growth and expansion of demand, which creates opportunities for international business CHAPTER 11 CLOSING CASE 1. Why did China Mobile feel it was necessary to issue equity in markets outside of its home base in Hong Kong? What are the advantages of such a move? Maybe it’s because China Mobile wanted to tak e advantage of international exchange rates.Since the company wanted to achieve maximum competitive advantage, one way of assuring itself that it will always have adequate capital funding is by seeking external currencies as sources for tapping and hedging against any local market conditions that may have a negative impact on its local stocks. The advantages of such a move are the fact that other major world currencies such as the U. S. dollar tend to be more stable against most world currencies and the fact that being cross listed easily can be a use of additional funding to the company in the future should the need arise. 2.Why did China Mobile price the bond issue in U. S. dollars instead of Hong Kong dollars? Pricing the bond issue in U. S. dollars instead of Hong Kong dollars is to safeguard the stability of the price of its bond. Since the capital markets within the American market is also the most vibrant in the world, pricing the bond in U. S. dollars will ensure that for pu rposes of trading, there is a more vibrant, ready and willing market that can assure China mobile's bond to have a fair value and upon expiration, market values will most likely be much higher than those of the local market. . Can you see any downside to China Mobile's international equity and bond issue? I don’t see any downside issues that should discourage China Mobile's international equity and bond issue. Probably, there would be more of a challenge in the socialist culture of China. By pricing its equity and bond internationally, the local market may shun from the company on their capital markets since it’s perceived to be more attractive in international players. Although China Mobile’s international†¦

Civil Disobedience Martin Luther King David Thoreau LA...

Civil Disobedience On April 29, 1992, the City of Los Angeles was surrounded in a riot in response to the quot;not guiltyquot; verdicts in the trial of four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers accused of unlawfully beating Rodney King. Six days later, when the fires were finally extinguished and the smoke had cleared, â€Å"estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion, 54 people had been killed, more than 2000 injured, in excess of 800 structures were burned, and about 10,000 people were arrested.†(Khalifah 89) The 1992 riots in the City of Los Angeles were arguably the most devastating civil disturbance in the history of the United States. Anyone can say that a law is unfair and†¦show more content†¦Thoreau also peacefully served his time. Both men knew the consequences for their actions yet went along and committed the crime. Their crimes were not vengeful or harmful against a living soul. While LA Riot often been characterized as a race riot, involving mass law-breaking, including looting and arson. â€Å"The riot was as much about empty bellies and broken hearts as it was about police batons and Rodney King.†(97 Davis) However, their crimes were statements stating that the government cannot make anyone goes against his or her beliefs. Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau both believed that one should stand up for what he believes in, as wells as accepting the consequences for his actions. Even though they also had different views about what makes law just or unjust. First of all, â€Å"Martin Luther King believed that a law that is just should be square with the moral law or the law of God.†(____) This basically means a law should pertain to the Ten Commandments according to the bible. He also thought â€Å"an unjust law was one that was inflicted on to a minority who did not even have the right to vote for this law in the first place.†(____) Thoreau is basically rallying for the absence of government in the lives of the citizens. He believed that everyone should govern himself. He also believed that â€Å"no one should have to ride on the shoulders of the government, but inste ad rely on himself.†(____) He thought people should treat other people the way theyShow MoreRelatedCivil Disobedience Martin Luther King David Thoreau La Riot1146 Words   |  5 PagesCivil Disobedience On April 29, 1992, the City of Los Angeles was surrounded in a riot in response to the not guilty verdicts in the trial of four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers accused of unlawfully beating Rodney King. Six days later, when the fires were finally extinguished and the smoke had cleared, estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion, 54 people had been killed, more than 2000 injured, in excess of 800 structures were