Problems with the Maastricht Treaty and its Goal to Unify Europe :: European Europe History

Problems with the Maastricht Treaty and its Goal to Unify Europe My position is in opposition of the unification of Europe as proposed under the Maastricht Treaty, as being beneficial to Europe. We will prove beyond a reasonable doubt the uselessness of the treaty. The main principal of the Maastricht Treaty is European Unity. Unity is a nice warm hearted word which infers working towards a goal in harmony. The Maastricht Treaty sounds like an ideal proposal on paper, but in reality it can't work. In order to adopt the treaty several countries will have to make sacrifices. No body likes to make sacrifices. Countries with advancing economies like Germany will have to slow down to accommodate country's with poorer economic systems. Nations like England will have to merge their high currency rate with country's such as Italy, whom are infamous for their treasured currency the Lira. No one likes to get the short end of a stick - Why should these countries give up some of their prosperity to help others? Sure it will be quite an honourable effort but greed is an undisputable human characteristic (and we are talking about the merger of former economic rivals now in full cooperation!) Ultimately, these countries concerned with their own interests in mind will disregard the treaty. For example, during the last several weeks in defiance of the treaty Britain lowered it interest rates while Germany raised theirs. Both to accommodate their own separate economies! This sort of unity does not seem to me to set an example from which to abide by in the future. Under the Maastricht Treaty one body will govern and regulate both economic and political concerns. I find it hard to comprehend how one governing body can do the work of twelve individual governments in a continent whose culture and society are so diverse. If the nations now are incapable of settling their internal problems how can shifting the immense burden to a smaller less experienced group do anything but further complicate the situation. Sure it may be easier to decide upon a coarse of action - but controversial issues may only intensify or multiply if not carefully and appropriately addressed. The proof of such a failure between various ethnic groups and a detached government is the current intensifying conflict between different ethnic group in Yugoslavia, right next door to Greece. The Maastricht treaty also provides for the joint creation of a

Capital Punishment Essay -- Justice Law Government Morals Ethics Essay

Capital Punishment Should we kill killers is the question to answer regarding the controversial subject of capital punishment. There is strong support for both sides and many people have offered their opinions in writing for all of us to examine. John M. Olin, the Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University, gave us his Pro-Capital Punishment opinion in the Harvard Law Review in 1986. Although his article was written more than a decade ago the argued topics have not changed. In his work The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense Mr. Olin addresses why he feels capital punishment is necessary in our society and across the world. According to Olin retribution is the number one reason for capital punishment. He goes on to say that the retributive notion of punishment in general is that as a foundational matter of justice, criminals deserve punishment and punishment should be equal to the harm done. What counts as â€Å"punishment equal to harm†? Olin refers to lex talionis commonly known as â€Å"an eye for an eye†. This idea was drawn from the Babylonian Law of Hammurabi from the 18th century. It states: If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death. If it kills the son of the owner, then the son of that builder shall be put to death. Besides being totally absurd there are a couple of points to make. First, retribu tion cannot be uniformly applied to every harm committed. What about rapist? Should they be raped? What about those who commit mass murder? How can we make their punishment proportional? The answer is we can not. Killing one person who killed another serves no practical... ...ntly, especially if death is involved, then we need to stop, back up and say â€Å"what is going on here?† Criminals no doubt deserve to be punished, and punished with severity appropriate to the harm they have caused to the innocent. But severity of punishment has its limits, both by justice and basic human dignity. Too many studies have shown that a lengthy sentence of 20 to 30 years of a murderer has been proven to be sufficient. After this period of time most individuals have proven to be constructive, worthy members of society and have lived prosperous lives after being released. I do however; recognize the fact that many individuals should stay in prison for the rest of their lives for the safety of all as well as retribution. For a Nation that is supposed to be founded on Christian morals and beliefs I have to wonder how they justify much of what they do.

Jean-Paul Sartre Essay

Existentialism is a philosophy about life that says being is more important than the indispensable everyday occurrences. It acknowledges an individuals freedom to choose and says with this knowing there comes an immense sense of responsibility. Despair, hopelessness and anxiety are characteristic of a person struggling with existential thoughts. Nihilism sums up this condition by stating that all values are baseless, nothing is foreseeable and that life itself is meaningless. The characters in A Clean Well Lighted Place and A Day’s Wait show signs of being both aware and unaware of these elements of existentialism. In the first story, A Clean Well Lighted Place, the old drunk man represents someone who realizes he has no actual plan or fate. His despair is over the realization that theoretically the afterlife does not exist. The drunken man and older waiter share this despair not only because they both realize a man’s need for a clean, well-lighted place but also because they both struggle to fill a void. The older waiter’s acknowledgement of nothingness in life is evident when he recites the prayer but fills in the perceived nouns God and heaven with nada or nothing. He feels a void with this realization that keeps him awake at night. His assumption that others share his insomnia is somewhat correct but what they, the drunken man and the waiter, actually share is a void. The young waiter has a wife to go home to and a bed, the old drunken man has a bed to go to and a niece that looks after him. However, the young waiter has a connection with his wife, a perceived similar view of life while the old drunk bares his anxious perception of the world alone because he is well aware that no one can share his world with him. His peculiarity reinforces his aloneness because the more he tries to understand himself and his own choices the farther out of reach he is from another person. The old drunken man serves as a catalyst for the older waiter, who himself is also alone in his thoughts. The young waiter cannot understand why the old man feels despair if he has wealth. He is not aware of the statement that existence precedes essence. To him having money and all the other propaganda of a well-lived life are what is important not mere existence itself. The two older characters seem aware of this notion, yet they seem to struggle because they are uneasy with the void felt after having life’s propaganda and no meaning. The young waiter’s daily disturbances block him from reaching this realization because he does not have the secured survival that would leave him to question existence. People who have their food, shelter and clothing taken care of like say the elite are able to delve into more thought concerning the afterlife and life’s meaning. Edna, our character in The Awakening, never worked nor worried about survival and so faced existential anxiety. Children, usually the more sensitive and observant types, may find the time amidst their carefree playing to wonder why they are here and what may come afterwards. The boy, in A Day’s Wait, becomes ill and he takes the illness as a threat to his immortality. He seems upset yet oddly mature about this perceived fate. His mature handle on the possibility that he might die is, in my opinion, a sign that he has thought about the afterlife. His maturity is obvious when he tells his father he does not mind if he leaves the room and when he would not allow anyone to come near him for fear that the illness will spread. The boy has little fight in him and he seems aware that dying is out of his control. His morbid attitude affects his father who shares his son’s anguish over the acknowledgement that afterwards there is nothingness. The father laughs at his son’s misconception about the temperature but in his walk, I sense he knows what his son is dealing with. When he is pleased to find the covey near the house after killing two birds, I think Hemmingway is hinting towards the father’s sensitive mood. The boy may not exactly coin his thoughts as â€Å"existential†, though he more or less may have an instinctual knowing of the meaninglessness in existential thought.

4th Amendmant and Probable Cause

In the United States, the police must, whenever practicable, obtain advance judicial approval of searches and seizures through the appropriate warrant procedure. In most instances, failure to comply with the warrant requirement can only be excused by exigent circumstances. There should be circumstances sufficient to warrant a prudent man to believe that the person stopped had committed or was committing an offense. Intrusions upon constitutionally guaranteed rights must be based on more than unarticulated hunches, and simple good faith on part of the officer is not enough. The facts should prove reasonable inferences derived from unusual conduct. A person may assert violation of his Fourth Amendment rights in connection with search or seizure only if he can demonstrate a legitimate expectation of privacy in the area searched or items seized. To establish, for Fourth Amendment purposes, a legitimate expectation of privacy in area searched or items seized, defendants must demonstrate: (1) subjective expectation of privacy; and (2) that this expectation is one that society is prepared to recognize as objectively reasonable. Under Fourth Amendment, police are authorized to conduct a warrantless protective pat-down of individuals they encounter in the field so long as their concerns are justified by reasonable suspicion of possible danger. Under the Fourth Amendment, police may execute warrantless searches incident to a lawful arrest, as it is reasonable for authorities to search an arrestee for weapons that might threaten their safety, or for evidence which might be destroyed. The United States Supreme Court has explicitly determined that a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in an automobile belonging to another. Though the passenger does not have a standing to challenge the search of car that he does not own, he can still challenge the lawfulness of his own detention when the car is stopped at a drug interdiction checkpoint, and therefore, he can seek to suppress any evidence seized as fruit of his allegedly illegal detention. Even assuming that drug interdiction checkpoint was legal, such that the officers did not violate the passenger’s Fourth Amendment rights by stopping the vehicle in which he was riding, a passenger’s detention was held to be independent and separate from officers’ discovery of drugs during the search of the vehicle’s driver/owner consensual search of the vehicle. The stop and search of a moving automobile can be made without a warrant but, automobile or no automobile, there must be probable cause for the search. Probable cause to search exists when there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place. Standards of â€Å"reasonable suspicion† and â€Å"probable cause,† as used to evaluate constitutionality of investigative stops and searches, are not readily, or even usefully, reduced to a neat set of legal rules but rather are common sense, non- technical conceptions that deal with factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent persons, not legal technicians, act. Standards are fluid concepts that take their substantive content from particular contexts in which standards are being assessed. The United States Supreme Court held that brief, suspicion-less seizures at highway checkpoints for the purposes of combating drunk driving and intercepting illegal immigrants were constitutional. The Fourth Amendment requires that searches and seizures be reasonable. A search and seizure is ordinarily unreasonable in the absence of individualized suspicion of wrongdoing. When officers have reasonable suspicion that occupants of a vehicle are engaged in criminal activity, they may briefly stop the vehicle to investigate. Police may make an investigative stop of a vehicle when they have reasonable suspicion of an ongoing crime, whether it be a felony or misdemeanor, including drunk driving in jurisdictions where that is a criminal offense. Police may also make a stop when they have reasonable suspicion of a completed felony, though not of a mere completed misdemeanor. The court in various cases held that for purposes of determining whether an investigatory stop is justified by reasonable suspicion, the following instances may be taken in to account, as the traffic violation of failure to stay within lanes, a driver’s slowing down, stiffening of posture, and failure to acknowledge a sighted law enforcement officer might well be unremarkable in one instance, such as a busy San Francisco highway, while quite unusual in another, such as a remote portion of rural southeastern Arizona. But a brief veering out of a lane of travel on a windy day does not give probable cause to the police to stop the vehicle. In making reasonable-suspicion determinations, reviewing courts must look at the totality of the circumstances of each case to see whether the detaining officer has a particularized and objective basis for suspecting legal wrongdoing. â€Å"Totality of the circumstances† approach to making reasonable-suspicion determinations allows officers to draw on their own experience and specialized training to make inferences from and deductions about the cumulative information available to them that might well elude an untrained person. Although an officer’s reliance on a mere â€Å"hunch† is insufficient to justify an investigatory stop, the likelihood of criminal activity need not rise to the level required for probable cause, and it falls considerably short of satisfying a preponderance of the evidence standard. Although the concept of reasonable suspicion required to justify an investigatory stop is somewhat abstract, the United States Supreme Court has deliberately avoided reducing it to a neat set of legal rules. In determining whether individualized suspicion is required to support a stop of a motorist’s vehicle, the United States Supreme Court considered the nature of the interests threatened and their connection to the particular law enforcement practices at issue. The Court is particularly reluctant to recognize exceptions to the general rule of individualized suspicion where governmental authorities primarily pursue their general crime control ends. While subjective intentions on the part of police officers play no role in ordinary, probable-cause Fourth Amendment analysis, checkpoint stops may be relevant to the validity of Fourth Amendment intrusions undertaken pursuant to a general scheme without individualized suspicion. The United States Supreme Court determined that checkpoints set up for general crime prevention, including drug interdiction, do not pass constitutional muster under the Fourth Amendment. The United States Supreme Court noted that checkpoint cases only limited exceptions to the general rule that a seizure must be accompanied by some measure of individualized suspicion. An Anatomy of a Criminal Trial Most criminal trials follow a uniform set of procedures. The many rituals associated with modern trials have developed over centuries. America’s common law heritage makes it possible for all states and the federal government to follow a largely uniform set of procedures. Assuming that the trial is carried out to completion, those procedures are as follows: Decision on judge or jury. The defense decides whether it wants the case tried by a judge or a jury (the prosecution can’t require a jury trial). Jury selection. If the trial will be held before a jury, the defense and prosecution select the jury through a question and answer process called â€Å"voir dire. † In federal courts and many state courts, the judge carries out this process using questions suggested by the attorneys as well as questions that the judge comes up with on his or her own. Evidence issues. The defense and prosecution request the court, in advance of trial, to admit or exclude certain evidence. These requests are called motions â€Å"in limine. † Opening statements. The prosecution and then the defense make opening statements to the judge or jury. These statements provide an outline of the case that each side expects to prove. Because neither side wants to look foolish to the jury, the attorneys are careful to promise only what they think they can deliver. In some cases the defense attorney reserves opening argument until the beginning of the defense case. Prosecution case-in-chief. The prosecution presents its main case through direct examination of prosecution witnesses by the prosecutor. Cross-examination. The defense may cross-examine the prosecution witnesses. Redirect. The prosecution may re-examine its witnesses. Prosecution rests. The prosecution finishes presenting its case. Motion to dismiss (optional). The defense may move to dismiss the charges if it thinks that the prosecution has failed to produce enough evidence — even if the jury believes it — to support a guilty verdict. Denial of motion to dismiss. Almost always, the judge denies the defense motion to dismiss. Defense case-in-chief. The defense presents its main case through direct examination of defense witnesses. Cross-examination. The prosecutor cross-examines the defense witnesses. Redirect. The defense re-examines the defense witnesses. Defense rests. The defense finishes presenting its case. Prosecution rebuttal. The prosecutor offers evidence to refute the defense case. Settling on jury instructions. The prosecution and defense get together with the judge and craft a final set of instructions that the judge will give the jury. Prosecution closing argument. The prosecution makes its closing argument, summarizing the evidence as the prosecution sees it, and explaining why the jury should render a guilty verdict. Defense closing argument. The defense makes its closing argument, summarizing the evidence as the defense sees it, and explaining why the jury should render a not guilty verdict — or at least a guilty verdict on a lesser charge. Prosecution rebuttal. The prosecution has the last word, if it chooses to do so, and again argues that the jury has credible evidence that supports a finding of guilty. Jury instructions. The judge instructs the jury about what law to apply to the case and how to carry out its duties. (Some judges â€Å"preinstruct† juries, reciting instructions before closing argument or even at the outset of trial. ) Jury deliberations. The jury deliberates and tries to reach a verdict. Most states require unanimous agreement, but Oregon and Louisiana allow convictions with only 10 of 12 votes. Post-trial motions. If the jury produces a guilty verdict, the defense often makes post-trial motions requesting the judge to override the jury and either grant a new trial or acquit the defendant. Denial of post-trial motions. Almost always, the judge denies the defense post-trial motions. Sentencing. Assuming a conviction (a verdict of â€Å"guilty†), the judge either sentences the defendant on the spot or sets sentencing for another day. To read and printout a copy of the Form please link below. Checklist: Documents Your Attorney Will Need Be Sociable, Share! Twitter Facebook email StumbleUpon Delicious Google Reader LinkedIn BlinkList Digg Google Bookmarks Myspace Post to Twitter

Learning from Mistakes

I don’t remember anyone ever telling me how important school was. Maybe they did and I just chose to ignore it. Instead, I focused all of my energy on my friends, and â€Å"extra-curricular activities† that had nothing to do with academics. I remember thinking I already knew all there was to know about the real world. But, as a teenager, I guess you don’t really know anything. So, I continued to have fun with my friends without thinking of what the future had in store for me. Now here I am at the age of thirty-three and I realize how much easier my life would have been if I listened to the wise words being told to me by my mom, dad, and mostly from my grandmother. High school should be a time to spread teenage wings, growing up from children into young adulthood. To start preparing for the dreaded â€Å"C† word, College. When most kids were shuffling themselves from class to class, taking notes, flipping through pages of boring text books, I was nowhere to be found. Instead I was hanging out in the parking lot. My activities included swapping gossip from other delinquents. Instead of learning the periodic table of elements, I learned the basic chemistry of illicit drug use. When others were learning the miracles of internal combustion, I learned how to scope out unlocked parked cars that allowed me access to â€Å"OPP† Other People’s Property. I earned my unofficial degree in General Education by majoring in Street Smarts. However, one can’t write that on a resume. During this time, my family raised their efforts in trying to encourage me to go back to school. My parents were informed by the truancy department of my 30 day personal leave of school and my mom was being threatened to go to jail for my actions. My mother had had enough and dragged my know-it-all behind back into school following into each room and sitting with me to ensure I actually attended class. She was my faithful but unwilling lunch partner. As upset as I was that she followed me around like an angry mother bear, my friends enjoyed their free lunch. Midway through my sophomore year in high school I dropped out and focused my time on losing myself in the fog of drugs. Days melted into weeks, which then melted into months. One day I woke up and realized I was nineteen years old. It wasn’t too long after that I found out I was pregnant with my oldest daughter Christal. All of a sudden education became important to me. I enrolled into Serremonte Del Rey Adult education. Going back to school with an infant child was harder then I could imagine. Diapers and bottles became routine and somewhere in the middle of raising a baby I had to find time to do my homework. It was hard but I was able to graduate with my G. E. D. A few years later my second daughter, Jennel, soon came along. Somewhere between the birth of my first and second child, I realized I had to get a job. I was twenty-three at the time. My first job was at a jewelry kiosk called â€Å"Impressions By The Inch. † Working as a single mom took up most of my time and energy. If I wasn’t at work, I was home taking care of kids. The hangouts in the High School parking lot were things of the past. As those fun days disappeared I realized that I had wasted my time having fun and not preparing for me or my daughters future. After working in the jewelry store, I started working as a manager in the retail store called Aeropostale for three years. It was exhausting, raising two daughters and accommodating a hectic schedule was near impossible. I found myself at times sleeping overnight in the back room because it was easier than going home in between work shifts. Soon I found a job working for the Marriott Hotel chain where I’ve been for five years. Working for the Marriott was a blessing in disguise as far as my path back to education. Had it not been for the constant breakdown of office equipment and computer failures, I would not have realized how much I enjoy the inner workings of computers. Recently, my hours at work were reduced giving me an opportunity to go back to school. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was to go back to school to get my degree. Going back to school added other difficulties, but I am glad to accept them because I know I am working towards a goal that will one day make my future better and brighter. Looking back, I have to ask myself, â€Å"Do I regret the choices that I made in my adolescent days? † I can definitely say that I don’t regret a thing! My experiences made me the strong, independent, hard working woman that I am today. My only wish now is that when my children look at me and the life I lived then and live now they will see their mom, a woman that despite my many mistakes, I learned important lessons along the way. Even though I had a rough start in school, I had the courage to go back. Education is an important key in making a better life. It is never too late to go back to school. Street smarts are important to have, but to have a well rounded education means getting a degree. They can use the lessons I learned to help them prepare themselves for a career and not just a job. That is how they can make a better life for their children. I hope they take my experiences and use them to make themselves better women. As far as education, I want them to know what they learn in school helps them make a better future.

Petitions of African Chiefs Essay

1. When the slave trade was abolished in certain regions of Africa, the Africans were forced to find other alternative sources of livelihood such as entering in a legitimate trade of shipping various products.     Ã‚  Instead of selling human beings as merchandise, the Africans accepted the timber trade when it was introduced by the Europeans.   However, when   the timber trade did not succeed, they turned to growing and exporting ground nuts and when this too did not come through, the Africans resorted to palm oil trading – the subject of King Ockiya’s letter to the Earl of Derby. 2. Since the abolition of the African slave trade, Africans having been trying to find other sources of income and livelihood.   Among such is the valued palm oil which they collected from the hinterlands.   However, greedy British traders wanted to bypass them and go directly to the source of these valued commodity.   Hence, the African leaders were asking the British to let them have their own source of livelihood, free of intervention from the Europeans who were already encroaching on their trading posts thereby stopping the African trade completely. The petitions and demands of the African leaders show how powerful the Europeans are that even building huts or places of abode are considered taxable.   Nonetheless, these ruthlessness of the Europeans paved the way for the Africans to wake up and saw all of these as an assault to their customs, livelihood and traditions. Lin’s Letter to Queen Victoria 1. The rise of the opium trade in China according to Lin has poisoned and injured its people.   The laws of the country have been disregard in lieu of the temptations and addiction of the opium drug. 1. Lin tries to convince Queen Victoria to stop the opium trade by appealing to their conscience and strict morality. He tries to emphasize that since opium is forbidden in Britain and brings harm to the British people, the Queen must condemn it as well especially its importation.   As Lin proudly said, China has only exported things that are beneficial to the people and opium is not one of them. By giving the impression that China only exports things that are beneficial, from which the world has undoubtedly benefited, Lin thinks that Queen Victoria and the rest of Britain might be convinced of his argument.   However, the tone of Lin’s letter is also threatening whereby he gives the appearance that China in consonance with its laws will not hesitate to execute anyone caught selling and using the prohibited drug. Hence, the response of the British will naturally be to disregard Lin and his contention, even get angry at such preposterousness.

Career Management Program Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Career Management Program - Article Example To have a clear concise and succinct career management program, it is recommended to the top management of the Vision Plus Limited to initiate certain measures that would reduce the employee turnover ratio and would enhance the quality of work .De-stressing of the pressurized and frustrated employees is the immediate need. The company should prepare its work force for the challenge that it sets for them. So, a dedicated module of training and development is highly recommended. The employees should also have clear view of their career path and so more career oriented workshops are highly essential. The company can also seriously consider the options like decentralization and more levels of hierarchies as it would have two fold objectives, more career prospects for front line executives and reduced work pressures for the higher levels of supervisors. The Vision Plus Limited has been deeply affected by the high employee-turnover ratio along with the falling market share and the reducing profitability. The company has the turnover ratio at 60% where as the market share has reduced by 20% in last four years. There have been repeated complaints against the organization and has been making the newspaper headlines for all the wrong reasons time and again. The morale of the employees are at all time low and most of the better performers have already left or on the verge of leaving (serving the notice period). Also, it has failed to recruit the best of the lots in spite of numerous campus drives in the trying times of job cuts and financial slowdown and has been remarked as one of the leading worst employers in one of the surveys. The company named ‘Vision Plus Limited’, established in 1995, has been one of the leading sales firm of financial products within few years of its incorporation. But since the year 2005, the acquired market share of the company is on the decreasing side. The prime reason identified for such falling