Discussion Topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Discussion Topic - Essay Example The rise in technological advancement and the sophistication of the war crimes simply means that some of the principles of war adapted in the ancient warfare will certainly become obsolete. Thus, principle 4: Economy of force is one of the principles of war that is likely to change. This is because, this principle was formulated based on the ancient conditions of warfare which emphasized more on combat than unconventional warfare, thus requiring that minimum essential combat power should be allocated to secondary efforts (Paret, et al., 1986). However, owing to the technological changes and the sophistication of the networking of the enemy, there is a need to allocate more resources and combat power on the secondary efforts. This would become an effective deterrence strategy, which will serve the current warfare situation better than the battlefront confrontations with the enemy. Thus, new principles could appear that are aligned to the technological sophistication of the modern warf are. However, it is never possible that war will become obsolete since social conflict is a constant occurrence through

Civil Rights After Civil Rights Essay Example for Free

Civil Rights After Civil Rights Essay Brown versus Board of Education, and the 1964 civil rights act, was major milestones in the civil rights movement, but they did not end segregation, and did not eliminate the need to talk about race in today’s culture. The civil rights act itself was a law that allowed loopholes to be exploited, and was not an act that ended the need to continue to fight civil rights. Brown versus Board of Education outlawed segregation in public schools, but the fight to desegregate proved difficult. Today segregation exists in schools, but it exists from different methods. A prime example of how the Jim Crow South was lied in St Louis, a border city. Today, segregation of housing still exists in Cities and it resembles the Jim Crow south more than one might think. Maybe the biggest accomplishment of the Civil rights movement was the drifting away from the deep seeded racism common throughout the country, not just in the south. But the past must be understood to understand the current problems faced in this country regarding race. The race problem has not gone away, and not acknowledging is not going to solve it. The Civil rights movement and the acts seen as its milestones changed the way race is viewed in this country, but it did not eliminate it as an important feature of the way this country exists today. The 1964 Civil rights act was passed, but not before its language had to change so congressmen from southern states in particular would vote for it. It changed voting requirements, but kept the Literacy test, which was a major factor preventing blacks from voting. It outlawed discrimination in public places, but left out private places, without defining what private meant. It outlawed employment discrimination, but enforcement of this law was considerably weak. Its two biggest features were the provisions outlining desegregation, and the employment cause. The biggest thing, however, that the law did was to do something to protect the rights of African Americans. When looking at this law, it seems that it was almost more symbolic in nature, and it was a major stepping-stone for African Americans in getting Washington to back the rights they were fighting for. In the Jim Crow South, schools were segregated, and they were not separate but equal. The schools denied black students a future in which they could choose. They were taught a different curriculum; the buildings were much more run down, and teachers were given less of a reason to work hard at their jobs African Americans did not live in luxury either. Students often had to leave school to help the demand for sharecropping, and to help their families survive in poverty. As a result, students only went to school around 70 days a year with a limited curriculum. It was a vicious cycle, as a lack of education forced students to stay poor, and their children would continue as they did with little opportunity to grow from it. Brown versus Board of Education outlawed segregation in public schools, but it was only a step, and very little was done early on to enforce it. Barack Obama talked about in one of his presidential campaigns of the education gap between today’s students. He mentions how over hundreds of years of drastically different access to education as well as poverty problems today, todays students have slightly different levels of achievement in the classroom. Ways of addressing this solution have come up to â€Å"solve† this. A process called â€Å"Tracking†, which sort’s students into different levels based off perceived academic skill, has been developed. The argument for this is that it allows students with less â€Å"ability† to not compare himself or herself to better students, and allow more freedom to learn at their own pace. The problem with this is that academic achievement is often associated with upbringing and poverty. So, in turn, an argument against this is that it educates based off the persons social class. Most scholars agree that it in fact negatively affects disadvantaged students to go to separate schools based off of Tracking. It affects teacher’s expectations, lowers the curriculum, gives fewer resources, and denies many students the opportunity to progress past a certain level of learning. Many of the same problems of the Jim Crow South are repeated here, but this time it is not technically based off of race. Despite not being based off of race, African Americans have a much higher poverty rate, resulting in less access, which results in African Americans being put in schools often separated from white students. It is not completely the same as Jim Crow, but it puts African Americans at a disadvantage they cannot escape from unless there is equal opportunity to learn as the richer white kids do. St Louis is a city that lies on the border between north and south. When it came to after reconstruction, Jim Crow had its effect on the city due to this, and it is a good representative of what Jim Crow did to African Americans. During the great migration, there was a massive movement of blacks into cities like St Louis. A nice feature of St Louis was the prevalence of white hostility. Whites did not want blacks moving into their neighborhoods. So through politicians, neighborhood organizations, real estate groups, and fear, Blacks moved into a separate part of town, forming overcrowded black communities in small neighborhoods. Around the same time as migration, Jim Crow laws, creating separate public facilities for blacks and whites came into effect. To keep them separate, people used lynching’s, economic depravity, political oppression to keep them in their part of town. Black men were often used for labor-intensive jobs, or as servants, while black women often did not work at all. Due to overcrowding, there was little access for a lot of people, so people suffered in poverty that they could not escape. St Louis had unevenly applied segregation; meaning parts of the town were more representative of the North than the South. St Louis was a good representative for inequality in both North and South for African Americans. Barack Obama addressed poverty for black as well as schools. He talked about â€Å"concentrated pockets of poverty†, meaning that African Americans live in separated, overcrowded, and poor communities. He talked about the inability to amass wealth due to discrimination from property, exclusion from unions, from past generations affecting future generations. His point is that over many years African Americans have been subjected to slavery and segregation, and that has led to a huge wealth gap between blacks and whites. African Americans continue to face problems rooted in slavery and social barriers Segregation exists today, and blacks continue to resist desegregation due to familiarity and control over themselves. Whites resist integration into their neighborhoods, because they fear it would upset their social assets. There has also been a greater increase in the spread of jobs to cities. While blacks tend to stay close to home, they also move around more than they once did, allowing for greater integration into the workplace. With residential segregation staying the same, and workplace integration increasing, the jobs a white and a black man take are often still separated due to the unfamiliarity of private lives. A black man is still inferior, and often there are reports of men feeling like they do not belong. Over time, however, intermingling in the work place can only lead to a greater familiarity, and thus more opportunity to prove ones self. In South Central Los Angeles, blacks do disperse to jobs far away, but many have to stay close. There is less opportunity closer to home for blacks, and many are forced to stay close. Martin Luther King talked about rapid changes in the experience of segregation, which meant that a life for blacks in a segregated community was inconsistent and often unfair. While these communities see a greater increase in better jobs for blacks, there still remains many unsolved problems from the civil rights era. So what is the meaning of the legislation of Brown, and 1964, when today there still exists inequality in schools and in work? Did those acts do nothing for the good of the country? Following the civil rights movement, the south became the stronghold for republican presidential candidates. Ironically, Republicans, especially in the south, felt civil rights violated southern peoples freedom to choose. They felt that the southern way of life was compromised. So upon the passing of legislation, southern politicians fought tooth and nail to keep their way of life. It must be stated again that it was not the legislatures intent to solve civil rights, but only to strengthen African American protection of law. It did increase rights of African Americans, in the voting booth in 1965, and it empowered them when fighting for further civil rights. For the first time since reconstruction, African Americans had won rights they thought were given once the 14th amendment was passed. While not under the public eye, civil rights continued until 1973, as people drew strength from the law. If one thing can be gained from the civil rights movement, it is that it was no longer common to think of Blacks as less than human. John L Jackson came up with the idea of â€Å"Racial Americana† which means that ace returns to our everyday lives whether we want it to or not. Looking at the past problems, and current problems, are necessary for advancements to be made. Looking at the language of Jim Crow signs is helpful to understanding the past. In a book like â€Å"Getting Mothers body†, by Suzan Bri Parks, you can understand exactly what they say. In books like this, one can take away that the signs can be read, and understood today, but it must not define. What this means is that the problems of today can only be understood by the problems of yesterday, but the problems of yesterday cannot become the problems of today. Jim Crow no longer invades the south, but their still exists discrimination all over the place, and the greater problems of that time must be understood so the current problems can advance. It is like if a person has not eaten for several days, then he or she must understand that they must eat to survive, and understand that not eating for a few days is the primary factor of the hunger pains. Apart of learning from the past is to understand that race differences are not a problem that has disappeared in American society. Audre Lorde styles herself as a black, lesbian, feminist, socialist mother of two in â€Å"I am your sister† written in 1984. She talks about how white â€Å"woman† define woman as what they see, hear, and touch. They use all of their experiences and use that to define what they think is a woman. They completely ignore black woman, and the differences that contribute to their sense of what a woman is. They do not see a black woman as being woman and being black, they only see a woman. She argues that there must be a distinction stating† refusing to recognize differences makes it impossible to recognize different problems and pitfalls as women. Refusing to acknowledge a difference means there can be no understanding of who a black woman is, and how that is important in understanding women as a whole. She also uses that same context in talking about being a Lesbian, and that how being a lesbian is also an important identifier for her and the understanding of her attitudes and practices. It is these identifiers and acknowledgment of differences that help people understand one another. She states â€Å" The future of our Earth may depend on the ability of all women to identify new definitions of power and new patterns of relating across difference. Along similar lines to Audrey Lorde, Assata Shakur talks about the need for black women to be strong. 95% of the women in this prison are black or Puerto Rican, imprisoned for shoplifting, robbery, pick pocketing and Prostitution. Most of these crimes were committed by desperate women trying to survive and feed their children. This prison was actually a place under command of guards who did not punish, and where conditions were much better than in normal, more drastic prisons for black men. The guards tell the ladies to be â€Å"Ladylike† and to â€Å"always ask the officer. † The guards are also Black women and they generally feel like they should try to be like good white men and women. But Shakur argues that they need to know who they are, and stay strong as black women. There must be a separation of their identity to be citizens of this country. The words of Audrey Lorde and Assata Shakur apply to the race problem in general. Refusing to acknowledge the existence of a difference between races is the same as being fearful of the unknown. When someone fears the unknown, the unknown controls them, and actions toward the unknown are out of fear and generally harm what it is they fear. Separated schools, separated communities, a black man and a white man who have to work together, are all going to be hostile when confronted if they do not acknowledge differences. Not acknowledging means there will be a surprise when confronted with the differences, and that will lead to fear and hostility. Pretending everybody is the same does not solve anything, as people do not live in an ideal world. A black man or woman trying to conform, as in Shakur’s case, will lead to a loss of identity. By acknowledging differences, and keeping strong separate identities, people can understand each other better, and only then can the lives of African Americans in the United States of America improve. After the end of the civil rights movement, the issue of race came to its forefront, but did not end segregation, and the issue of race continues to be something that all Americans must not ignore. The civil rights act outlawed segregation, but it did not end segregation and the problems that come with it completely. The school systems improved from desolate to marginally better for blacks with integration, but recently there has been a trend, which seems to lead back to more segregation in schools. St Louis was a place of Jim Crow and Northern problems. Today, segregation exists in cities still, and it brings to mind many of the same problems under Jim Crow. The civil rights movement was significant in that it brought race to the forefront of our minds, decreased the inherent hatred with racism, and gave African Americans a chance to speak out against the wrongs the had plagued them for centuries. Today, America has a black president, and wealthy black T. V personality with a huge influence, and many other black men and woman who have been allowed to influence the masses. But it is vital also to understand that the movement brought forth the fact that race is a problem that can never be ignored in this country. It did not solve a problem that may never be totally solved, so therefore the issue cannot be ignored. Ignoring the issue will bring people to where it started, where there is a fear of the unknown and no good way of solving it unless it is understood.

The Middle East During The Cold War

The Middle East During The Cold War The impact of the rivalry between Soviet Union and United States in the Cold War distorted internal politics and exacerbated or complicated regional conflicts. Indeed, the grafting of the USA/USSR competition over pre-existing Middle Eastern rivalries in several cases intensified them. At the same time, though, and in some cases, the Middle Eastern political à ©lites themselves made use of the Cold War to pursue their own interests of hegemony, security or colonial emancipation. Following Khalidi (2009) in assuming that during the Cold War the level of penetration of the Soviet and American influence was proportional to the degree of the strategic importance of the region, I will first discuss the strategic and geopolitical features of the Middle East. Secondly, I will describe some significant historical events, in order to show how the Cold War logic affected the area and how it shaped the regions political reality, both from a regional and a domestic point of view. The cold War and the Middle East The Cold War dominated world politics from the end of the WW2 to the collapse of Soviet Union. On 5 March 1946, when Churchill pronounced its famous speech at Westminster University, in Fulton, Missouri, describing Europe as divided by an iron curtain, with eastern Europe subjected to the Soviet sphere and the West under American influence, the Cold War was already on going. For more than forty years, superpowers competed ideologically, militarily, technologically and diplomatically. The effects of the rivalry extended all over the World, generating high degree of polarization and aggravating pre-existing conflicts. Although there were no wars fought directly by the two superpowers, proxy confrontations occurred in Southeast Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Middle East. The Middle East was a primary area of contention (Khalidi, 2009). Since WWII, superpowers were aware of its importance, in terms of its strategic geographic location and its vast oilfields and gas deposits. In fact, from a geopolitical point of view, the region lays at the junction of three continents, immediately south to the border of Russia and the Caucasus and it is surrounded by four major seas, namely the Mediterranean, the Black and the Caspian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Before the end of the war, both United States and Soviet Union were already strategically interested in the Middle Easts oil reserve. In fact, not only at the time were the great powers the Worlds major oil producers (Khalidi, 2009), but also the war made them increasingly aware of the strategic role oil had acquired in warfare. Their motorised forces, in fact, were crucially dependent on oil for their propulsion, as were their navies and air forces (Khalidi, 2009). Consequentially, they become intensely concer ned about the risk of their supplies being denied by their enemies and about preserving them. Nonetheless, the regions importance in terms of military strategy and oil supply further established throughout the Cold War. In the late 1950s and until the Cuban missiles crisis of 1962, American missiles launching submarines were based in Turkey; in the 1960s and for about a decade, when a longer range missiles technology became available, American submarines were in Spain, with Soviet antisubmarine naval forces and air units based in Egypt and Turkey. During the 1970s, the military and strategic territorial concern of both powers moved to the Arab Peninsula and the region bordering the Indian Ocean, where the new generation American missiles launching submarines were positioned (Khalid, 2009). Anyway, in the aftermath of the WWII, United States and Soviet Union were already militarily and diplomatically engaged in the region, respectively in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Iranian Azerbaijan and Kurdistan. The Middle East, thus, became a major theatre of bitter rivalries between the great powers, the effects of which would deeply influence and shape its politics and historical dynamics. Conflicts, alliances, nuclear threats and the complex events which occurred in the Middle East during the Cold War were determined by the following underlying forces: fear of the superpowers of being excluded from the control over the region; their attempt to replace Britains power in the Middle East; anti-colonialism and the struggle of Middle Eastern states for the emancipation, which led to their alliances with the superpowers; the emergence of Arab nationalism and the diffusion of the communist ideology. Ideology, indeed, played a fundamental role. It was adopted both in terms of appeal made to potential allies and in terms of economic, political and social models they offered to them (Halliday in Sayigh and Shlaim, 1997). One of the events which reveal the pervasive effects of the international competition in the Region is The Arab cold war of 1958-1970, as Malcolm H. Kerr (1965) has called it. In the aftermath of the Suez crisis, in which both superpowers have supported Egypt and the Arab states against Israel, French and Britain, the pre-war Saudi-American relationship was cemented by the Eisenhower Doctrine and Saudi adherence to it. In his famous speech of January 1957, Eisenhower admitted the strategic importance of the area and denounced the Communist threat in the Middle East and Soviet Unions interest in power politics, which have become clearer with its involvement in the Suez crisis. Soviet political, economic and military aids were depicted by President Eisenhower as International Communisms instruments of domination (Eisenhower, 1957), apparently harmless means to manipulate local instability for Soviet power-purpose. Thus, he authorized the employment of the armed forces of the United Sta tes to secure and protect the territorial integrity and political independence of such nations, requesting such aid, against overt armed aggression from any nation controlled by International Communism (Eisenhower, 1957). The Saudi-American relation exacerbated Saudi relations with Nassers Egypt, a former non-aligned state which was moving closer to the Soviet Union. At the same time a heterogeneous agglomerate of political forces supported by the Soviet Union was formed, including not only communist and radical parties, but also nationalist, pan-Arab, anti-colonialist and bourgeois-democratic groups. In order to balance the secular and radical wave of Arab regimes, as Khalidi (2009) pointed out, Saudi Arabia and its ally United States adopted Islam and religious propaganda as ideological counter-weapon. In this way, Islam became a crucial tool of the American intelligence during the Cold War. The result was a high degree of polarization in the Region, with the Soviet Union aligned with authoritarian nationalist regimes and USA supporting absolute monarchies in Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Arab Gulf States and authoritative regimes in Pakistan, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco. Another instance of the superpowers influence over regional politics in the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although the origin of the conflict has little to do with superpowers rivalry (Halliday, the Cold War competition generated polarization around the issue, fuelling arms race and leading several times to the risk of a nuclear strike. In the first phase of Israel life, namely from its birth in 1948 to the Suez Crisis of 1956, superpowers competed in supporting Israel. Polarization occurred after 1956, with USA supporting Israel and Soviet Union supporting Arab States. The competition took place in terms of armaments supply and economic aids, with the stakes escalating and culminating with the 1968-1970 and the 1973 wars, when Washington declared nuclear alert for the last time in the history of the Cold War. Internally, cold war rivalries distorted economic decisions, domestic policies, social, military and political balances, with the superpowers being responsible of or supporting coups and internal rebellions (Khalidi, 2009). Religion and ideology have been instrumentalised in order to pursuit the Cold War logic of balance of power, with some impacts also on the growth of democracy. Indeed, there was no stress by the United States to promote democracy or Human rights in the area. USA itself covered or supported actions to subvert Middle Eastern democracies such as the American-Britishs coup in Iran, which brought down the elected Mossadeq government and reinstalled the autocratic Mohammad Reza Shah in 1953. This behaviour was coherent with the American security tasks to preserve the Middle East from Communism and export the capitalist logic of free market; tasks which could be effectively pursued by aligning with the wealthy and conservative local elites. Soviet Union, instead, work ed attentively to encourage the development of socialism and distributive logic in the area, trying to appeal to the working classes and local communist parties (Khalidi, 2009). An instance of the pervasive effect of rivalry at the domestic level is the case of Iran. Due to geographical contiguity, Iran felt continuously menaced by the Soviet Union. In the aftermath of the war, though, communism was not perceived by the à ©lites as good option for the development of the country. Thus, at the beginning of the Cold War, United States security interests, coincided with the Iranian ones (). US supported Shah, whose conservative government led to absolutism, corruption and to political stagnation, which, combined with fast modernization and social disruption, contributed to the rise of the Islamic Revolution. USSR also played a role in undermining the power of the Shah. As Rubinstein tells us, although Soviet Union did not directly interfere in the fall of the Shah, communist agents played an important role in spreading discontent in the Iranian oilfields, contributing to the economic paralysis, which undermined the pro-American government. However, concerning the case of Iran, two considerations must be done, which, to different extents, could be applied to several other cases in the region. First, the Cold War did not represent the first case of influence and penetration by a hegemonic power in Persia. In fact, for example, both Russia and Britain had great security and economic interest in the Persian Gulf and intervened several times in the country, both militarily and not. In 1907, in order to balance their influence, the two states agreed to divide Iran; 1942, unsatisfied of its neutrality, they agreed to invade it. Secondly, not only the rivalry logic diverted Iranian domestic policy, but also Iranian (and not only) à ©lites made use of the Cold War and of USA support in order to pursue their security goals and keep itself independent from the Soviet threat, which, as previous events show, had worried them long before the beginning of the USA/USSR competition. Finally, as Halliday (1997) pointed out, the Cold War competition had also another role in the region. It worked as a distraction, diverting attention from domestic problems, which could otherwise be earlier observed and solved. What emerged from the end of the competition and the victory of the West, thus, is just a not distorted and more grasping picture of the region and its pre-existent complexities. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1957eisenhowerdoctrine.html (Eisenhower doctrine)

Negotiation and Decision Making: A Professional and Personal View Essay

Negotiation and decision-making offers you a powerful new perspective, a specialized language and a set of tools that you can use to address the most stubborn problems in your everyday life and work. Negotiation and decision-making is a way of understanding reality that emphasizes the relationships among a system's parts, rather than the parts themselves. This is based on a field of study known as system dynamics. Negotiation and decision-making has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing problems as part of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific parts, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. The rationale behind negotiation and decision-making is critical to an organizational survival. Why is Negotiation and decision-making critical? It can assist you in designing smart and enduring solutions to problems. In its simplest sense, negotiation and decision-making gives you a more accurate picture of reality, so that you can work with a system's natural forces in order to achieve the results you desire. It also encourages you to think about problems and solutions with an eye toward the long view. For example, how might a particular solution you're considering play out over the long run? What unintended consequences might it have? Negotiation and decision-making is founded on some basic universal principles that you will begin to detect in all areas of life once you learn to recognize your emergent issues. Here are a few questions that can be considered when attempting to solve a problem. What is the underlying problem? Is the issue interacting, interrelated, and interdependent component that forms a complex and unified whole. Many... ...whole for the results of our future and to get it, we need to think differently, manage differently, and organize differently. Once people accept that a homogeneous change can provide new opportunities and possibilities, the change is well on its way to successful implementation. The ability to reach an uniformed decision can create stronger values both professionally and personally for this is crucial in an increasingly turbulent world. Therefore, negotiation and decision-making will become critical for survival. Works Cited Scott, C. & Jaffe, D. (1995). Managing Change at Work: Leading people through. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications. Randers, J. (1980). â€Å"Guidelines for Model Conceptualization† in Elements of the System Dynamics Method. J. Randers, ed. pp. 117-139. Waltham, MA: Pegasus Communications. (Randers, 1980). (Scott & Jaffe, 1995). Negotiation and Decision Making: A Professional and Personal View Essay Negotiation and decision-making offers you a powerful new perspective, a specialized language and a set of tools that you can use to address the most stubborn problems in your everyday life and work. Negotiation and decision-making is a way of understanding reality that emphasizes the relationships among a system's parts, rather than the parts themselves. This is based on a field of study known as system dynamics. Negotiation and decision-making has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing problems as part of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific parts, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. The rationale behind negotiation and decision-making is critical to an organizational survival. Why is Negotiation and decision-making critical? It can assist you in designing smart and enduring solutions to problems. In its simplest sense, negotiation and decision-making gives you a more accurate picture of reality, so that you can work with a system's natural forces in order to achieve the results you desire. It also encourages you to think about problems and solutions with an eye toward the long view. For example, how might a particular solution you're considering play out over the long run? What unintended consequences might it have? Negotiation and decision-making is founded on some basic universal principles that you will begin to detect in all areas of life once you learn to recognize your emergent issues. Here are a few questions that can be considered when attempting to solve a problem. What is the underlying problem? Is the issue interacting, interrelated, and interdependent component that forms a complex and unified whole. Many... ...whole for the results of our future and to get it, we need to think differently, manage differently, and organize differently. Once people accept that a homogeneous change can provide new opportunities and possibilities, the change is well on its way to successful implementation. The ability to reach an uniformed decision can create stronger values both professionally and personally for this is crucial in an increasingly turbulent world. Therefore, negotiation and decision-making will become critical for survival. Works Cited Scott, C. & Jaffe, D. (1995). Managing Change at Work: Leading people through. Menlo Park, CA: Crisp Publications. Randers, J. (1980). â€Å"Guidelines for Model Conceptualization† in Elements of the System Dynamics Method. J. Randers, ed. pp. 117-139. Waltham, MA: Pegasus Communications. (Randers, 1980). (Scott & Jaffe, 1995).

Debate Team paper on Obamacare

Our team’s debate topic covers a controversial issue within the Affordable Care Act in America, known as Obamacare. Obamacare is the universal health care in the United States that provides Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance, with a goal of reducing growth in healthcare spending. This universal health plan is technically a mandate or tax, in which non-compliers may be penalized through their federal return. Our topic debates whether Americans should be forced to pay this ‘shared responsibility fee’ for not complying with Obamacare. Arguments for Pro’s The United States of America is a rich and powerful country.The way we handle political, social, and ethical issues are closely watched by the entire world. We are a free democratic society who has entrusted our government to make the best, most appropriate decision for each individual in this country, even if that means we have to pay a little more. Obamacare is one of many policies that illustrate the American people’s willingness to help one another.According to â€Å"Obamacare Facts† (2013), Health and Human Services (HHS), the department in charge of implementing and overseeing the Affordable Care Act, reported that in the first two months of open enrollment nearly 1.2 million Americans had selected a health plan. With so many people utilizing these policies, it sends a positive message to other countries demonstrating how, through democracy the American people’s concern for and willingness to help one another is evident. In countries like Japan, the government has been working together with its citizens to help with healthcare costs without any hesitation. According to â€Å"The Lancet† (2011), â€Å"In healthcare the government overtime succeeded in changing the basis of medical practice from Chinese to Western medicine.Moreover the transition was achieved without minimal cost and limited social disruption [ The same social compli ance can be achieved through Obamacare, even with the tax mandate in place. Throughout history, the American people has overcome tremendous social hardships (9-11 and Sandy Hook/Connecticut to name a few), by coming together and supporting one another, exemplifying our tenacity, resilience and dedication to each other] Arguments for Con There is another side of the coin that should be addressed.With the tax penalty and the implementation of Obamacare not being as smooth as our government would have liked, many Americans who were in favor of Obamacare are quickly rethinking their stance. For Americans to fully utilize the Obamacare healthcare system, Americans must accept responsibility and pay the tax for non-compliance. Obamacare offers healthcare packages specific to ones’ needs along with many added benefits. Due to a significant amount of Americans who need or want to obtain health insurance, the cost of these plans must be covered.For Americans who are experiencing an in crease in healthcare expenses due to the unacceptable regulations of insurance companies and the rising costs of prescription medications, Obamacare seems to be a perfect solution. Yet, some Americans insist that the tax is unfair and feel they should not be forced to pay anything. According to the â€Å"ARC† (2007), â€Å"Observe that all legitimate rights have one thing in common, they are rights to action not to rewards from other people. The American rights impose no obligations on other people, merely the negative obligation to leave you alone.The system guarantees you the chance to work for what you want not to be given it without effort by somebody else. † Ethical, Moral, Legal, and Technical Issues There are many ethical, moral, and legal issues that lie within the Affordable Care Act. Ethical issues like younger American’s being relied upon to cover the benefits of the older, sicker Americans. The moral issues like the fact that other countries with uni versal healthcare- Japan for example, strictly regulates cost to keep insurance affordable yet, Obamacare does not guarantee affordability for its citizens; and legal issues like the â€Å"fix† on grandfathered health plans.Americans who will consume healthcare less frequently are â€Å"needed to subsidize the cost of older sicker ones† (Oliphant, 2013). In order to achieve affordable health insurance and include the benefits of the packages, not only must Americans actively participate in the healthcare law but younger Americans especially. â€Å"In theory, the law would create large pools of younger, healthier participants whose premiums would help offset the cost of providing care for older policyholders who use the health care system more† (Cohen, 2013).As the  deadline approaches for Americans to shop and purchase healthcare packages, the desperate need for compliance by young Americans has increased and has been communicated to the People. According to C NN News reporters, President Obama encouraged young supporters to recruit their peers to sign up for healthcare on Wednesday December, 4th 2013 (Cohen, 2013). Americans who will be depending on their healthcare more, will also depend on Americans who are healthier, to comply and pay into the plan as an attempt to maintain affordability in Obamacare.Affordability in Obamacare is not however guaranteed. â€Å"The ACA was enacted with the goals of increasing the quality and affordability of health insurance [and] lowering the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance coverage† â€Å"Wikipedia/Affordable Care Act† (2013). As Americans shop, some are experiencing significant rate increases. Obamacare offers many rights, protections and benefits including, â€Å"improvements to women health services†, â€Å"better care and protection for seniors†, â€Å"no annual or lifetime limits† (Obamacare Facts, 2013), and acceptance of pre-existing c onditions.In order to include these essential additions, some Americans are facing increases in their premiums or, for Americans who were not covered before, experiencing higher than expected insurance costs. â€Å"Several studies on insurance premiums expect that with the subsidies offered under the ACA, more people will pay less (than they did prior to the reforms) than those who will pay more, and that those premiums will be more stable (even in changing health circumstances) and transparent, due to the regulations on insurance† â€Å"Wikipedia/Affordable Care Act† (2013).Even though many Americans will notice a discount, when compared to health care in Japan, Obamacare communicates a stance of quality over affordability. The Japanese Government strictly regulates health care to ensure its consumers are paying as little as possible out of pocket. The affordability of Japanese healthcare may be a factor in utilization that is 4x that of the United States. This govern ment regulation guarantees affordability for the Japanese causing an increase of usage of health care.Not to mention,â€Å"people who live in Japan can expect to remain in good health longer than anybody else in the world, according to the World Health Organisation(WHO)† (BBC news, 2000). Legal issues like the â€Å"grandfathered plan† fix have impacted the roll-out of Obamacare. Confusion raised when already insured Americans experienced significant increases in costs of current premiums. This confusion was due to the promise of President Obama to Americans, â€Å"if you like your plan you can keep it†; that Americans who were already insured would experience no change in premium costs.After further review, Grandfathered plans (plans in effect before March 23, 2010) now remain effective until 2015. President Obama’s statement â€Å"if you like your plan you can keep it† still stands. Previously insured Americans can take advantage of their current plans that â€Å"don't have to follow ObamaCare's rules and regulations or offer the same benefits, rights and protections as new plans† (Obamacare Facts, 2013). The issues that exist within the healthcare law require the American people to develop skills that aid in the execution of complying with Obamacare guidelines.Despite these issues, all Americans share a responsibility to obtain the means and abide by the healthcare law Career Competencies Obtaining health insurance requires many Americans to develop a skill-set of research, evaluation, critical thinking, decision making, and also coping with pressure due to the many inconsistencies of the roll-out and progression to deadline. Too short paragraph. One’s competence in assessing and shopping for plans provides him or her (or business) the incentive to choose the package that fully covers all specific needs.Creating an understanding of information on plans and details within the package, along with applying these expertise to shop and choose the perfect plan, allows consumers to take an active role in achieving health insurance. Whether you are shopping for individual, family, or employee coverage, paying attention to the qualifications, offers, and costs of each package will allow one to find quality health insurance while remaining aware of the benefits of Obamacare. Americans who choose not to shop for healthcare packages must also achieve competence in evaluating fees.â€Å"The individual mandate goes into effect January 1st, 2014. The penalty will be applied to your annual taxable income for each month you do not have health insurance. The fee for not having insurance in 2014 is $95 per adult and $47. 50 per child or 1% of your taxable income (up to $285 for a family), whichever is greater† (Obamacare Facts, 2013). For employers who have over 50 fulltime equivalent employees and wish not to provide insurance, competence in calculating the fee is also important.â€Å"The annual fee is $2,000 per employee if insurance is not offered. The fee is a per month fee due annually on employer federal tax returns starting in 2015. So the per month fee is 1/12 of the $2,000 or $3,000 per employee† (Obamacare Facts, 2013). Americans who choose to shop, as well as those who make the decision not to comply must obtain the necessary skill-set to remain informed and be prepared of how Obamacare will affect their finances and life beginning January 1st, 2014.In times of non-compliance, web-site flaws, the need to become familiar with new information, and fighting the clock to deadline, Americans must also cope with pressure. Maintaining a positive outlook and working productively to choose a plan, despite the circulating flaws that may arise, will promote healthy mental processes that will guide one to successful decision making. Keeping emotions under control during difficult situations will help individuals, families, and businesses obtain quality health insurance while remaining stress free and open-minded.Making the decision to pay tax rather than comply with standards of Obamacare may also increase stress. Americans making this tough decision must think critically on the matter yet remain level-headed to ensure valid and sound arguments against the insurance of their health. Conclusion American’s may feel stripped of their â€Å"freedom of choice† when forced to either pay more taxes on private health insurance or enroll in the Affordable Care act, better known as Obamacare.Many years Americans have gone without having health insurance which has increased the cost of insurance, as well as increased the cost of hospitals, medications, health insurance premiums, and other medical related costs. Over the past few decades, health in American people had deteriorated due to lifestyle choices. One of the initiatives of Obamacare is geared towards young people also known as â€Å"get covered†. â€Å"It also seeks to nudge you ng adults into action by portraying insurance as a social responsibility, and encouraging peers and parents to put pressure on the uninsured† (Bohan,2013).After many years of this continued practice and still increasing costs, we are indirectly paying for the people who go to receive treatment and do not pay their medical bills. It could be argued that Obamacare will force Americans to reassess and accept responsibility of their healthcare. Obamacare allows Americans to make a conscious decision to carry the cost for being provided quality health insurance, whether it is choosing to pay the â€Å"penalty tax† or enrolling in a healthcare plan.Life expectancy has increased over the past decades and unfortunately, this means more people have utilized Medicaid over a longer period of time. Instead of being reactive when diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes, or other long term conditions which are very costly over time, Obamacare will make Americans proactive in awareness of their health by having set parameters of the requirements in coverage, i. e. , â€Å"requiring a physical†. Having a healthy nation that helps young Americans understand the importance of health is something we all must contribute to.The mentality of why Americans must pay penalties, follow requirements, and how freedom of choice will change is the first reaction to the unknown. Obamacare provides access to a market of quality and affordable health insurance for Americans. Obamacare mandates that anyone who can afford it must provide themselves, family, or employees with quality health insurance. To ensure a more healthy nation and align with the notion of shared responsibility and a willingness to help each other, Americans must abide by the mandate or pay the shared responsibility fee.

Forensic Pathology

Forensic Pathology Forensic pathology has given us the ability to discover almost anything about someone using the smallest clues. A hair, tooth, or even tissue from a bullet hole can uncover the answers to a crime scene. It has become so advanced that the accuracy is 1 in 37 trillion. The new testing that's coming out is supposed to be even more accurate. One pathologist says that it could be compared to a computer; with the new developments you're paying the same price (about $2,000 per DNA scan) and getting a lot better data.It can also be used to prevent deaths and detect harmful drugs in someone. Beacause of the advancements in forensic pathology it has become one of the most helpful contributions to humankind.Fingerprinting is the easiest, most popular form of identity, but dental X-rays and CAT scans can help a tremendous amount. Charles Wetli, a forensic pathologist was able to identify every victim in an airplane explosion using these techniques.Micah's DNAHe can tell if it was a set up suicid e or really a homicide by studying injuries that could have resulted from gunshots, poisoning, or a forceful blow. All this info is very expensive to generate though.Without polymerase chain reaction procedures, capillary gel electrophoresis, or the ABI sequence analyzer DNA tests couldn't even take place. All these tests is how information is found. It used to take 2 to 4 weeks, but now it only takes 2 to 3 days. It all begins when police give specimens to the laboratory where pathologists discover evidence as they run the tests. The technologists search DNA for genetic markers by amplification and run the amplification on a sequence analyzer. If they find DNA, they try to find the genotype, and then of course they double-check their results. The results are...