Capital Punishment Essays (2840 words) - Sentencing, Free Essays

Capital Punishment Essays (2840 words) - Sentencing, Free Essays Capital Punishment Putting to death people who have been judge to commit certain extremely heinous crimes is a practice of ancient standing. But in the United States, in the latter half of the twentieth century, it has become a very controversial issue. Changing views on this difficult issue led the Supreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later turned to uphold it again in 1977, with certain conditions. Indeed, restoring capital punishment is the will of the people, yet many voices have been raised against it. Heated public debate has centered on questions of deterrence, public safety, sentencing equality, and the execution of innocents, among others. One argument states that the death penalty does not deter murder. Dismissing capital punishment on that basis would require us to eliminate all prisons as well because they do not seem to be any more effective in the deterrence of crime. Others say that states, which have the death penalty, have higher crime rates than those that do not. A nd that a more sever punishment only inspires more sever crimes. But every state in the union is different. These differences include population, the number of cities, and the crime rate. Urbanized states are more likely to have higher crime rates than states that are more rural. The states that have capital punishment have it because of their high crime rate, not the other way around. In 1985, a study was published by economist Stephen K. Layson, at the University of North Carolina, that showed that every execution of a murderer deters, on average of 18 murders. The study also showed that raising the number of death sentences by only one percent would prevent 105 murders. However, only 38 percent of all murder cases result in a death sentence, and of those, only 0.1 percent are actually executed. During the temporary suspension on capital punishment from 1972 - 1976, researchers gathered murder statistics across the country. Researcher Karl Spence of Texas A&M University came up wi th these statistics, in 1960, there were 56 executions in the United States and 9,140 murders. By 1964, when there were only 15 executions, the number of murders had risen to 9,250. In 1969, there were no executions and 14,590 murders, and 1975, after six years without executions, 20,510 murders occurred. So the number of murders grew as the number of executions shrank. Spence said: While some [death penalty] abolitionists try to face down the results of their disastrous experiment and still argue to the contrary, the...[data] concludes that a substantial deterrent effect has been observed...In six months, more Americans are murdered than have been killed by execution in this entire century...Until we begin to fight crime in earnest [by using the death penalty], every person who dies at a criminal's hands is a victim of our inaction. And in Texas, the highest murder rate in Houston (Harris County) occurred in 1981 with 701 murders. Since Texas reinstated the death penalty in 1982, H arris County has executed more murderers than any other city or state in the union and has seen the greatest reduction in murder from 701 in 1981 down to 261 in 1996 - a 63% reduction, representing a 270% differential. Also, in the 1920s and 30s, death penalty advocates were known to refer to England as a means of proving capital punishment's deterrent effect. Back then, at least 120 murderers were executed every year in the United States and sometimes the number reached 200. Even then, England used the death penalty far more consistently than we did and their overall murder rate was smaller than any one of our major cities at the time. Now, since England abolished capital punishment about released killers have murdered thirty years ago, the murder rate has subsequently doubled there and 75 English citizens. Abolitionists will claim that most studies show that the death penalty has no effect on the murder rate at all. But that's only because those studies have been focused on incons istent executions. Capital punishment, like all other applications, must be used consistently in the United States for decades, so abolitionists have been able to establish the delusion that it does not deter at all to rationalize their fallacious

Programming a Class to Create a Custom VB.NET Control

Programming a Class to Create a Custom VB.NET Control Building complete custom components can be a very advanced project. But you can build a VB.NET class that has many of the advantages of a toolbox component with much less effort. Heres how! To get a flavor of what you need to do to create a complete custom component, try this experiment: - Open a new Windows Application project in VB.NET.- Add a CheckBox from the Toolbox to the form.- Click the Show All Files button at the top of Solution Explorer. This will display the files that Visual Studio creates for your project (so you dont have to). As a historical footnote, The VB6 compiler did a lot of the same things, but you never could access the code because it was buried in compiled p-code. You could develop custom controls in VB6 too, but it was a lot more difficult and required a special utility that Microsoft supplied just for that purpose. In the Form Designer.vb file, you will find that the code below has been added automatically in the right locations to support the CheckBox component. (If you have a different version of Visual Studio, your code might be slightly different.) This is the code that Visual Studio writes for you. Required by the Windows Form Designer Private components _ As System.ComponentModel.IContainerNOTE: The following procedure is requiredby the Windows Form DesignerIt can be modified using the Windows Form Designer.Do not modify it using the code editor.System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough() _Private Sub InitializeComponent() Me.CheckBox1 New System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox() Me.SuspendLayout() CheckBox1 Me.CheckBox1.AutoSize True Me.CheckBox1.Location New System.Drawing.Point(29, 28) Me.CheckBox1.Name CheckBox1. . . and so forth ... This is the code that you have to add to your program to create a custom control. Keep in mind that all the methods and properties of the actual CheckBox control are in a class supplied by the .NET Framework: System.Windows.Forms.CheckBox. This isnt part of your project because its installed in Windows for all .NET programs. But theres a lot of it. Another point to be aware of is that if youre using WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), the .NET CheckBox class comes from a completely different library named System.Windows.Controls. This article only works for a Windows Forms application, but the principals of inheritance here work for any VB.NET project. Suppose your project needs a control that is very much like one of the standard controls. For example, a checkbox that changed color, or displayed a tiny happy face instead of displaying the little check graphic. Were going to build a class that does this and show you how to add it to your project. While this might be useful by itself, the real goal is to demonstrate VB.NETs inheritance. Lets Start Coding To get started, change the name of the CheckBox that you just added to oldCheckBox. (You might want to stop displaying Show All Files again to simplify Solution Explorer.) Now add a new class to your project. There are several ways to do this including right-clicking the project in Solution Explorer and selecting Add then Class or selecting Add Class under under the Project menu item. Change the file name of the new class to newCheckBox to keep things straight. Finally, open the code window for the class and add this code: Public Class newCheckBox Inherits CheckBox Private CenterSquareColor As Color Color.Red Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint( ByVal pEvent _ As PaintEventArgs) Dim CenterSquare _ As New Rectangle(3, 4, 10, 12) MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) If Me.Checked Then pEvent.Graphics.FillRectangle( New SolidBrush( CenterSquareColor ), CenterSquare) End If End SubEnd Class (In this article and in others on the site, a lot of line continuations are used to keep lines short so they will fit into the space available on the web page.) The first thing to notice about your new class code is the Inherits keyword. That means that all the properties and methods of a VB.NET Framework CheckBox are automatically part of this one. To appreciate how much work this saves, you have to have tried programming something like a CheckBox component from scratch. There are two key things to notice in the code above: The first is the code uses Override to replace the standard .NET behavior that would take place for an OnPaint event. An OnPaint event is triggered whenever Windows notices that part of your display has to be reconstructed. An example would be when another window uncovers part of your display. Windows updates the display automatically, but then calls the OnPaint event in your code. (The OnPaint event is also called when the form is initially created.) So if we Override OnPaint, we can change the way things look on the screen. The second is the way Visual Basic creates the CheckBox. Whenever the parent is Checked (that is, Me.Checked is True) then the new code we provide in our NewCheckBox class will recolor the center of the CheckBox instead of drawing a checkmark. The rest is what is called GDI code. This code selects a rectangle the exact same size as the center of a Check Box and colors it in with GDI method calls. The magic numbers to position the red rectangle, Rectangle(3, 4, 10, 12), were determined experimentally. I just changed it until it looked right. There is one very important step that you want to make sure you dont leave out of Override procedures: MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) Override means that your code will provide all of the code for the event. But this is seldom what you want. So VB provides a way to run the normal .NET code that would have been executed for an event. This is the statement that does that. It passes the very same parameter- pEvent- to the event code that would have been executed if it hadnt been overridden, MyBase.OnPaint. Using the New Control Because our new control is not in our toolbox, it has to be created in the form with code. The best place to do that is in the form Load event procedure. Open the code window for the form load event procedure and add this code: Private Sub frmCustCtrlEx_Load( ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs ) Handles MyBase.Load Dim customCheckBox As New newCheckBox() With customCheckBox .Text Custom CheckBox .Left oldCheckBox.Left .Top oldCheckBox.Top oldCheckBox.Height .Size New Size( oldCheckBox.Size.Width 50, oldCheckBox.Size.Height) End With Controls.Add(customCheckBox)End Sub To place the new checkbox on the form, weve taken advantage of the fact that there is already one there and just used the size and position of that one (adjusted so the Text property will fit). Otherwise we would have to code the position manually. When MyCheckBox has been added to the form, we then add it to the Controls collection. But this code isnt very flexible. For example, the color Red is hardcoded and changing the color requires changing the program. You might also want a graphic instead of a check mark. Heres a new, improved CheckBox class. This code shows you how to take some of the next steps toward VB.NET object oriented programming. Public Class betterCheckBox Inherits CheckBox Private CenterSquareColor As Color Color.Blue Private CenterSquareImage As Bitmap Private CenterSquare As New Rectangle( 3, 4, 10, 12) Protected Overrides Sub OnPaint _ (ByVal pEvent As _ System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs) MyBase.OnPaint(pEvent) If Me.Checked Then If CenterSquareImage Is Nothing Then pEvent.Graphics.FillRectangle( New SolidBrush( CenterSquareColor), CenterSquare) Else pEvent.Graphics.DrawImage( CenterSquareImage, CenterSquare) End If End If End Sub Public Property FillColor() As Color Get FillColor CenterSquareColor End Get Set(ByVal Value As Color) CenterSquareColor Value End Set End Property Public Property FillImage() As Bitmap Get FillImage CenterSquareImage End Get Set(ByVal Value As Bitmap) CenterSquareImage Value End Set End PropertyEnd Class Why The BetterCheckBox Version Is Better One of the main improvements is the addition of two Properties. This is something the old class didnt do at all. The two new properties introduced are FillColor and FillImage To get a flavor of how this works in VB.NET, try this simple experiment. Add a class to a standard project and then enter the code: Public Property Whatever Get When you press Enter after typing Get, VB.NET Intellisense fills in the entire Property code block and all you have to do is code the specifics for your project. (The Get and Set blocks arent always required starting with VB.NET 2010, so you have to at least tell Intellisense this much to start it.) Public Property Whatever Get End Get Set(ByVal value) End SetEnd Property These blocks have been completed in the code above. The purpose of these blocks of code is to allow property values to be accessed from other parts of the system. With the addition of Methods, you would be well on the way to creating a complete component. To see a very simple example of a Method, add this code below the Property declarations in the betterCheckBox class: Public Sub Emphasize() Me.Font New System.Drawing.Font( _ Microsoft Sans Serif, 12.0!, _ System.Drawing.FontStyle.Bold) Me.Size New System.Drawing.Size(200, 35) CenterSquare.Offset( CenterSquare.Left - 3, CenterSquare.Top 3)End Sub In addition to adjusting the Font displayed in a CheckBox, this method also adjusts the size of the box and the location of the checked rectangle to account for the new size. To use the new method, just code it the same way you would any method: MyBetterEmphasizedBox.Emphasize() And just like Properties, Visual Studio automatically adds the new method to Microsofts Intellisense! The main goal here is to simply demonstrate how a method is coded. You may be aware that a standard CheckBox control also allows the Font to be changed, so this method doesnt really add much function. The next article in this series, Programming a Custom VB.NET Control - Beyond the Basics!, shows a method that does, and also explains how to override a method in a custom control.

What is Relativism History of Relativism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

What is Relativism History of Relativism - Essay Example Relativism therefore essentially argues that different point of views which are argued against and in favor of are equally valid and the difference only arises due to different perceptions and considerations of individuals. Relativism however, comprises of a body of knowledge and different point of views with common theme that some central aspects of our existence are actually relative to some other things. Issues such as moral principles, justifications are considered as relative to other variables such as the language, culture as well as biological make-up. It also suggests that our own cognitive biases towards certain issues actually restrict our ability to view things objectively therefore this bias can be contained towards wherever we use our senses. As such, relativitism suggests that our existence is actually situated into our cultural and linguistic contexts therefore our perceptions about truth can be relative.( Wisman, 1990) Universalism, however, deals with one universal truth and has religious and theological foundations also. Different religions including Christianity and Islam endorse the concept of one universal truth and reality. Universalism therefore can be used to identify the particular doctrines concerning the formation of all people. This paper will focus upon describing and exploring relativitism in details while also arguing whether it is defensible and can be reconciled with universalism or not. History of Relativism It is suggested that there are no significant philosophers who ever can be considered as relativists. However, the history of relativism dates back to Greek era when Protagoras of Abdera believes to have put forward a simple version of relativism in his treatise Truth. Protagoras outlined that all human beings are measure of all things and to things they belong and to things they don’t belong they don’t. Apparently, Protagoras was of the view that human beings are creatures which can be associated with certain things and a person is a measure of how he associates with those things. Protagoras went on to say that to me a wind may seem cold or hot but to you it may be different.( Rorty,1991) It is critical to understand that Greek were aware of the cultural differences since 50 Century BCE and onwards. Herodotus even went on to discuss the cultural differences and biases people of India and Persia held and suggested that if you were to ask them what are the best laws, they would probably mention their own laws as the best. Similar, references are also made in other literature wherein it was critically outlined that no behavior can be shameful if it is not to the person who is practicing it. Further, arguments were also presented regarding different conceptions of God.( Lutz,1991) Protagoras was considered as the first official voice in relativism though very little is known about him. Most of his teachings are presented as reference in the works of Plato. Plato interpreted his most of the work wherein he argued that each thing appear to me so it as to me and each thing appear to you so it is to you. Protagoras also discussed about the truth and how it appears to others. It has been argued that during recent times, four important schools of thoughts emerged in rel ativism which have actually challenged the traditional view about It is suggested that relativistic motives appear almost everywhere in philosophy and that the relativists have been able to keep many thinkers captive of their ideas despite the fact that relativistic arguments often lead to implausible conclusions. Much of 20th century thought on the relativism has been focused upon presenting the issue more coherently rather than further refining its fundamental principles. The initial focus was on the diversity of the

Regal Movie Theaters (geographical distribution analysis) Essay

Regal Movie Theaters (geographical distribution analysis) - Essay Example These are discussed in detail below Selection of Particular state and city This is a bit like studying macro economics. The data required here shall be very broad in nature and a birds view will be taken of the state as a market on its own and whether it is advisable to enter it or not. Population, education index, earning index, human development index, per capital income, political stability and susceptibility to natural calamities are some of the factor which will need to be considered. The profitability will depend finally on number of people coming to Regal theatre, but that number of customer visits is determined by the above factors. Selection of particular district in selected city In each city there are various different segments which are not a formal division of city but still people identify them as different. A business district, a red light district, an eating area and an area popular with kids are few examples how a city can be broken down into for ease of decision mak ing process. Movie theatre business is a business of entertainment. Regal would specifically want to avoid schools, brothels or hospitals next door to avoid any conflict of interest.

Baz Luhrmans modern interpretation of the Shakespeare play Essay Example for Free

Baz Luhrmans modern interpretation of the Shakespeare play Essay This essay is based on Baz Luhrmans modern interpretation of the Shakespeare play; Romeo + Juliet. It will be focusing on the opening scene, and Prologue. I will be analysing how Baz Lurhman portrays the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets. I will also be discussing how the presentation of The Prologue helps the audience to understand the play. The film begins with a blank TV screen. The TV screen could represent the modern interpretation to the play. The screen the becomes occupied by a news-reader, who begins reciting the sonnet. The idea of the sonnet being read off the news, emphasises the how important the situation is. Once the news-reader has completed the sonnet, the TV transports you to the scene of the play; Verona. The establishing shot becomes apparent; a Montague building separated form a Capulet building, only by the statue of Christ. This emphasises the theme of religion, and the line in the sonnet: Both alike in dignity This is because each building belittles the rest of Verona, as well as the other. The camera then speeds up and shows a sequence of fast shots. This is known as mise en scene. This represents a degree of chaos, and highlights the conflict between the two families. The Prologue is then recited again, this time, by the Friar. As he reads, the words are reinforced by bold, white text, on a black background. The contrasting colours could be highlighting the two families differences. The use of colour; in this case black and white, are most likely an deliberate choice, as black and white are both immediate opposites, therefore helping the audience differentiate between text and background. This allows the audience to correlate the friars voice with the text, despite the short amount of time in which the text is shown. After the Friar has completed The Prologue, the camera focuses on a family tree, of each family; in turn. Almost as soon as it has shown the family trees, the shot becomes engulfed in flames. The flames could convey a message of hatred, rage and anger between the two families. From the flames, a newspaper heading appears, whilst the flames fade. The heading suggests re-occurring violence between both the Montagues and the Capulets, and could also show that the feud is still as strong as ever. We can then learn that the strongest of the families quarrel lies between the youth of each house. This becomes apparent when the camera focuses on a number of magazines, with the younger generation of each house on the cover. Baz Lurhman also incorporates the use of magazines, as opposed to tabloids, when referring to the youth, as younger people are usually more associated with magazines. In the next shot, the parents of each house are pictured, accompanied by the actors name and character. In turn, the same happens for every character. This is important, as it allows the audience to differentiate between the members of each family, and who the main roles are. The types of shots depicted are very solemn, except for a character named Paris. He is shown in a happy scene; as he is not involved in the feud, whilst every other character is affected, in some way, by the civil conflict. The Prologue concludes with a montage of shots, featured earlier in The Prologue, aswell as a repertoire of emotion-provoking shots, from later in the film. As the closing sequence is shown, shots of fireworks are merged in, to again, establish the theme of chaos. Finally, the title appears, and The Prologue finishes. The final aspect of Baz Luhrmans interpretation, is the Music. Without this particular piece (Carmena Burana), The Prologue would not provoke as many emotions within the audience. This is because; as the tempo, and volume rises beyond forte, Baz secrenises the action scenes to run along side this. He also utilises the piano-pianissimo parts of the piece to again, establish the sonnet. All together, the music adds the element of drama, and strong emotions to the opening scene.

Self-employment in Do the Right Thing Essay -- Working Films Movies Ca

Self-employment in Do the Right Thing Self-employment is often confused with capitalism. This is because the word capitalism has come to mean "free markets" and "free enterprise," rather than a specific type of economic system. However, the conflation of the term capitalism with these other terms reduces the concepts available for doing social scientific analysis. We need to be able to identify the traditional capitalist system: a system based on free wage labor creating products that are owned by capitalist directors who are distinct from these original wage laborers. Self-employment is then distinct from this capitalist economic system precisely because it is based on free independent labor creating products that are owned by the individual direct producers. In other words, a self-employed laborer is very different from a capitalist laborer. This difference is, without question, of great consequence and worthy of social scientific analysis. Most past conceptions of the self-employed direct producers have regarded this unique economic system as of only minor importance (if even that) in a world dominated by feudalism and/or capitalism. However, historically self-employment has played an important role in many societies, including the United States, and continues to do so today. The relative prevalence and particular types of self-employment in society influences other social processes, including political processes, cultural processes, and individual psychology. In a society where self-employment exists, it is simply not possible to adequately understand and explain social change in the absence of a concept of self-employment (and a concept that is clearly distinct from other types of production and distributio... ... way that is very different from the relationship between producer and product in other class processes. It is, therefore, all the more tragic in the film when the pizzeria is destroyed. It is not simply the destruction of a work place, but the destruction of Sal's identity as a self-employed producer (although this identity can, persumably, be resurrected in a new structure). For Mookie this is better than harm having been done to Sal, the person, and this is why he redirects the hatred of the crowd away from Sal and his sons to the building. But for Sal, it is difficult to take a great deal of solace in this diversion (although in the end, he seems to harbor no ill will towards Mookie, perhaps because he understands the context in which Mookie threw the garbage can through the pizzeria window) because some essential aspect of his identity has been destroyed.

Mystic Monk Coffee Essay

Father Daniel Mary, Prior of the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming, has a vision to expand his monastery by purchasing the Irma Lake Ranch property, which lists at $8. 9 million. The Carmelite Monks of Wyoming have a company called Mystic Monk Coffee. The monks sell different varieties of coffee, along with gift cards, T-shirts, and other material products on their website to raise money for purchasing the ranch property. Mystic Monks primary target market is other Catholics who love specialty coffee and want to spend their money helping their Catholic family. Father Daniel Mary does not have the best business strategy for accomplishing his long-term goal. My recommendations for him would be to set short-term and long-term goals, explore investment opportunities, and advertise to other Catholic dominated countries. Father Daniel Mary is the Prior of the Carmelite Order of monks in Clark, Wyoming. As of now the Carmelite monks consist of only thirteen monks. Father Daniel Mary has a vision to transform the Wyoming Carmelite small monastery into one that accommodates to thirty monks, a Gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns, a retreat center for lay visitors, and a hermitage. However, the ranch property he is hoping to gain for this new monastery costs $8. 9 million. His vision for Mystic Monk Coffee is that the operations will fund the purchase of the ranch. The mission of the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming is making certain that applicants understand the reality of the vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty and the sacrifices associated with living a cloistered religious life ( ). From reading this case it does not appear that Father Daniel Mary has set definite objectives or performance targets. He does have a goal of being ble to afford the ranch property, however that is a long-term goal. Having little experience in business matters, Father Daniel Mary hopes the Mystic Monk Coffee will be enough to reach the amount they need, along with a $250,000 donation and the New Mount Carmel Foundation ( ). For the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming, the best strategy in achieving goals is to set small, short-term goals that are attainable within a specific time frame. Father Daniel Mary’s strategy seems to be to make as much money as possible until they reach their goal. Mystic Monk Coffee’s strategy is to target the part of the U. S. Catholic population who drinks coffee and wishes to support the monastery’s mission. Consumers can only buy this coffee through its website. On the Mystic Monk website one may find the statement that Catholics should â€Å"use their Catholic coffee dollar for Christ and his Catholic church† ( ). This statement is a good strategy for their target market because Catholics will want to help other Catholics. Another strategy Mystic Monk has is having different products on the website. There are dark, medium, and lights roasts caffeinated and decaffeinated and in different flavors. Some of the popular flavors are Mystical Chants of Carmel, Cowboy Blend, Royal Rum Pecan, and Mystic Monk Blend. The website also features T-shirts, gift cards, CDs featuring the monastery’s Gregorian chants, and coffee mugs. Also, as an incentive to bring in more frequent customers, they are given the opportunity to join a â€Å"coffee club†, which offers monthly delivery of one to six bags of preselected coffee, as well as, free shipping for purchases of three or more bags ( ). The competitive advantage Mystic Monk’s strategy producing is that people are more likely to purchase something where the profit goes to benefit a charity or project, especially if the customer is of the Catholic denomination. Mystic Monk Coffee’s strategy is in the process of being a money-maker, I believe. As of just recently, the monks have expanded Mystic Monk’s business model to include wholesale sales to churches and local coffee shops. I think that expansion is the beginning of the process of being a money-maker. Marketing and advertising is a big missing part to how successful Mystic Monk Coffee can be. Instead of focusing on just the Catholics in the U. S. , Mystic Monk needs to reach out to other Catholicism dominated countries like Italy. Another business strategy the monks might consider is to accumulate investors, who will contribute to purchasing the ranch property. From what I have read, the strategy they are following now is not a winning strategy, but is on its way to becoming one. For this to become a winning strategy Father Daniel Mary needs to start setting short-term goals, for example, getting enough money to purchase a larger roaster or setting a monthly goal. He also needs to advertise to other Catholic dominated countries, where Mystic Monk could get the support from other monks and Catholic churches. At the end of the case I read that Father Daniel Mary realized his vision of purchasing the ranch property would require a lot of planning and execution. I also read that he will develop an execution plan that will enable Mystic Monk Coffee to â€Å"minimize the effect of its cloistered monastic constraints, maximize the potential of monastic opportunities, and realize his vision of buying the Irma Lake Ranch† ( ). The recommendations I would make to Father Daniel Mary would be set short-term and long-term goals, expand advertisements to other countries, and reach out to investors. I believe these changes will definitely help in Mystic Monk’s long-term direction. Another suggestion would be for Father Daniel Mary to evaluate and update Mystic Monk’s direction, objectives, strategy, and the execution of the strategy each year. Markets change all the time, therefore keeping up with what’s changing will only help reach the long-term goal.