From Grass to Grace, - My Family's American Dream Success Essay

From Grass to Grace, - My Family's American Dream Success - Essay Example The constant fear of the safety of the families and friends they left behind in the war zones gave him sleepless nights. My grandfather especially had a very rough time accepting that all he had worked for all his life was destroyed by the civil war. This was a bitter pill for him to swallow at first and he still has those memories fresh in his mind since he hardly skips a day without mentioning it. Having lost all his life savings in the war, the money he had made from a laborer job in a coal mining firm in Nigeria. Since he had been brought up in a poor family he had to struggle in his youth doing manual jobs. All along he had a dream of re-establishing his father’s blacksmiths business which had been shattered by the war, but as time lapsed his dreams became more and more unachievable. Son, the ugliness of the war became a blessing in disguise. As the opportunity to leave behind the dead zone with his young family for the United States was like a dream come true. To them th is was a second chance to start afresh since the United States was described as a land of milk and honey. Getting a visa was difficult at the time when racial discrimination was still high in the US and despite all these to them it was better than living in the war zone. They came into the country with great optimism like the other immigrants, who had heard stories of individual opportunity and the possibility of achieving upward mobility in America. They counted on these promises of paradise on earth, a land that would yield to them all the good things they had lacked in their home country. Their notion towards individual opportunity can be attributed to many rag-to-riches stories of 18th century. Furchtgott-Roth et.al in their book ‘To make World Anew; A history of African Americans’ focused on a young man’s progress from a poor background towards fame and fortune (2009). This was a perfect comparison with my grandfather’s life, he grew from a poor and w ar ravaged neighborhood and struggled to achieve a better life for him and his family. His life was full of struggles from childhood to his adulthood; he had to endure so much to become successful. Although this story was written centuries ago its legacy has been resilient, passing from one generation to another. Unaware of the unflinching anxiety that triggers from societal expectations they started life in a foreign country where they knew nothing about but only the success myths they had heard. Since they had little knowledge of the foreign land they had to face many challenges before they start their lives afresh. It was difficult to get a well paying job and because my grandparents did not have enough education they had to work in several jobs but still the pay was not enough to sustain them. As time went along they started to realize that the actualization of their dreams might be further than they had thought. With every promise of individual opportunity dangling with high pr ize, those factors that would demean prospects surfaced. Having left their country with virtually nothing, they had a tough time ahead and if they were to make it they had to struggle with multiple jobs. I remember my dad telling me that my grandparents left Nigeria with only 75 dollars as their savings. With no job at hand, finding a job to sustain their lives was the greatest challenge; they could not afford house rent and had to live in a shelter home in Alabama. At this time they relied on

I.R.S. Plan to Uncover Companies Tax Strategies Essay

I.R.S. Plan to Uncover Companies Tax Strategies - Essay Example t September the call for the regulations regarding overhauling the ruling and making those practices transparent started and those regulations became effective for the 2010 tax year effective December 15. The new law affects corporations (foreign and domestic) and insurance companies with assets in excess of $500 million, gradually reduced to $10 million by 2014. Kocieniewski seems to side with the corporations, but there are at least two valid reasons why the Government is justified in ending this money pit. (Kocieniewski) The one major argument the IRS uses to support the new â€Å"transparency† ruling is that its tax agents spend far too much time researching these claims as to their legitimacy and the agents’ time could be better spent going after tax cheats and proprietary information would not be shared. Of course the companies and their accounting agencies cried foul, counteracting that agents already â€Å"find an issue and try to extract some kind of payment for its nuisance value†. (Lear) The IRS’s position is a valid one. Let the average taxpayer try that one. If one owed X dollars in taxes for a household of his wife and him and yet paid taxes on four exemptions because his brother and sister-in-law stayed in the guest room for a few weeks, setting the rest in an account, the man would quickly be in jail! True corporations get tax advantages people don’t, on the premise of creating more jobs. However, if their deductions are legal they will find out soon enough, although most already know those questionable deductions would fail an audit. Their major problems are these huge reserves for possible taxes they used to pocket after the time limits. Another major problem is that during these austere times and Federal budget cuts, Congress is pressuring the tax people to collect more revenue and with more and more US jobs going overseas the bolstering the economy and creating jobs arguments of the major companies is flimsy at best. There is

Cebu Pacific Essay Example for Free

Cebu Pacific Essay A. Economic Forces Generating billions in revenues and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. In recent years, the global aviation industry has been through many ups and downs. From skyrocketing fuel prices to pandemics to recent financial crisis, aviation industry has confronted a very rough weather in last ten years or so. Consolidation in mature markets, higher ticket prices, modernization of airports, policies to reduce emissions and tremendous growth prospects in emerging economies have been some of the trends during the decade. According to recent industry reports, the global aviation industry is on the path of recovery and future looks optimistic and would present ample opportunities for the stakeholders. The airline industry is inextricably tied to the overall economy – even minor recessions result in reduced demand and increased sensitivity to prices for leisure as well as business travellers. Changes in the economy have a big affect on the airline industry. The elasticity of demand, externalities, wage inequality, and monetary, fiscal, and federal policies all have an impact on this industry. The airline industry is constantly changing due to today’s market and today we will be looking at the reasons behind it. By successfully managing opportunity cost, and adapting to an ever changing economic environment, airline industries can have economic success.However, the well-being of the nation’s economy will have a direct impact on the level of success experienced in the airline industry. During economic shortfalls in the nation’s economy, travellers will have fewer resources available to travel for pleasure. Contributing to the negative economic influences in the airline industry, future and existing policies targeting the airline industry will continue to hinder the industry’s ability to recover losses in periods of economic hardships. The launch of low cost airlines in Philippines has provided a boost for the  industry. Airlines that have been part of this trend are Asian Spirit and Southeast Asian Air, offering affordable fares to local and even international destinations. The public seems to have embraced this, as the rate of flying passengers has increased. This increased not only accounts for new fliers but also regular flying passengers who were on a budget and now have a choice to choosing budget over luxury. There are quite a few negative externalities in the airline industry. Another thing that the economy is affecting the airline industry is the competing airlines. The bigger airlines can afford lower fares which make it hard for the smaller airlines to compete. Different airlines have plans to expand but will not be able to until the cost of fuel is under control. For the low fare carriers who allow advanced booking, they will need to work on a plan to avoid bankruptcy. This will make the airline industry continue to boost prices due to the fact that oil prices are expected to continue rising due to the supply. B. Political Forces In 1973, from the Letters of Instruction (151 and 151A) the airline industry in the Philippines was monopolized by Philippine Airlines (PAL). The monopoly lasted for more than twenty years until the Executive Order 19 in 1995 which liberalized the airline industry establishing the domestic and international civil aviation liberalization policy in the country. The E.O 219 stipulates the removal of restrictions on routes and flight frequencies, as well as government control on fares and charges. Following the liberalization, the industry attracted new entrants such as Cebu Pacific, Air Philippines, Grand Air, and Mindanao Express. Unfortunately, Grand Air and Mindanao Express were unsuccessful, and then SEAir and Asian Spirit come to birth. Today, airline industry in the Philippines is under the regulations of Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) under the civil aviation sector. The Civil Aviation sector is composed of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Mactan Cebu International Airport  Authority (MCIAA), Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation (PADC), Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) (formerly known as ATO). The Department continuously upgrades and improves the international and domestic airport facilities to meet international standards and to provide better service to the commuters. On the other hand, our airline regulatory boards also recognize the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The ICAO has several regulations that the local boards are following. Last March 19, 2009, the ISO 9001:2000 Certificate for NAIA terminal 1 was awarded by Anglo Japanese American (AJA) Registrars, Inc. after passing the Phase 1 Audit of the Passenger Facilitation Processes. On May 21, 2009 MIAA was given the upgraded ISO 1991:2008 Certification making the Authority and the NAIA Terminal 1 one of the very few institutions in the country that have passed this upgraded level of certification. Today, airline industry in the Philippines is facing a big issue in international safety standard. Early this year, the European Union banned airlines from Angola and vowed to block carriers from Sudan and the Philippines from starting flights to the 27-country bloc. The European Transport Commissioner SiimKallas said that they cannot accept airlines fly into EU if they do not fully comply with international safety standards. The Philippine authorities and airlines mad efforts to resolve this issue but still Philippines would be banned from the EU precaution. C. Socio-Cultural Forces Obesity One controversy surrounds the issue of airline companies tightening their seat restrictions for obese passengers. Some companies have gone as far as to charge an overweight individual the cost of two seats because of their size. This has created a stir, as it brings up the question of discrimination. As indelicate as this issue is, airline companies contend that it simply costs more to fly those more portly passengers. According to Newsweek, â€Å"A study concluded that the 10 pounds Americans gained on average during the 1990s required an additional 350 million gallons of fuel a year.†Ã‚  So it would seem that this issue has less to do with discrimination and more to do with simple arithmetic. Security Airline companies have undergone a dramatic shift in the safety precautions they take, upping the ante in security measures due to recent terrorist attacks. And while the increase in security may, on some level, ease the mind of the pilots, passengers and their families, it also increases the anxiety and frustration with the amount of time and effort it takes to get from the airport ticket counter to the terminal gate. Because of the few successful breaches in security that have occurred over the past decade, airlines will never again have the luxury of being so lax in terms of their security. Ethnicity Perception is a major factor in how we view the world. It is also one of the oldest studies in psychology. How we perceive ethnicity, as it relates to air travel, has much to do with September 11, 2001. Since then the eyes of the world have grown increasingly sensitive to the ethnicity of passengers travelling on airplanes. It has created something of a negative perception for particular races and religions. Bloomberg Business week reports, â€Å"Airline experts and executives say it’s important not to exaggerate the effects of terrorism fears.† However, because airline companies have had to exercise increased security measures because of terrorism, and because passengers have grown increasingly aware of possible threats, those perceptions are not easily dismissed. D. Technological Forces Internet as a way to book flights, check in, and check flight status – Before, ticketing offices were often jam-packed by people who wants to book flights, and most of the time, they are becoming irritated of the situation. Now, with the dawn of the Internet and Cebu Pacific Air’s entry to the world wide web, customers can now book flights without going to a ticketing office, pay their billings securely using Credit/Debit card, they can even change their flight details without bothering to go personally to CEB office, and check flight status that will be a much-used during storm  seasons and other obstacles that might hinder the the flight. Always new and improved software for airlines Acquiring and continuously upgrading its software is a very big positive impact for the company. It is a way of telling your customers and prospective customers that your airline will not cause them any hassles and troubles in the near future. Aside from having it as an impression of promising greatness, generally, all will follow to the good lead. New technology for airline employees Airline employees should be introduced with new technologies to avoid having problems in the future. The airline had purchased new equipments, machines to shorten the queue, but if they have no idea of how it operates, you will not obtain your objective. So every employee must be knowledgeable of technologies for we are now in the 21st century. New pilot training courses Finishing a course to become a pilot is not enough. Even if you have become one of the airline’s pilot, you still have to go through series of training courses and seminars to keep on track. Learning does not stop. Therefore as Cebu Pacific Air’s vow to excellence and safety, they are launching several training courses to avoid a doubt, if there is, for a customer to think whether the pilot is competent enough. By this, passengers can seat safe and sound. New security technology Website hacking is like an infectious virus that was troubling many people nowadays. But with the new security technology, customers will not have any bad thinking about paying securely using their Credit/Debit card. Cebu Pacific Air’s paying system was verified by Visa, MasterCard and VeriSign. It is a big sign that the airline has a very strong security technology that no hackers can destroy. E. Environmental Forces Contrails short for â€Å"condensation trails† or vapour trails are artificial clouds that are the visible trails of condensed water vapour made by the  exhaust of aircraft engines. As the hot exhaust gases cool in the surrounding air they may precipitate a cloud of microscopic water droplets. If the air is cold enough, this trail will comprise tiny ice crystals. The wingtip vortices which trail from the wingtips and wing flaps of aircraft are sometimes partly visible due to condensation in the cores of the vortices. Each vortex is a mass of spinning air and the air pressure at the centre of the vortex is very low. These wingtip vortices are not the same as contrails. Depending on atmospheric conditions, contrails may be visible for only a few seconds or minutes, or may persist for many hours which may affect climate. The main by-products of hydrocarbon fuel combustion are carbon dioxide and water vapour. At high altitudes this water vapour emerges into a cold environment, and the local increase in water vapour can push the water content of the air past saturation point. The vapour then condenses into tiny water droplets and/or deposits into ice. These millions of tiny water droplets and/or ice crystals form the vapour trail or contrails. The vapour’s need to condense accounts for the contrail forming some way behind the aircraft’s engines. At high altitudes, super cooled water vapor requires a trigger to encourage deposition or condensation. The exhaust particles in the aircraft’s exhaust act as this trigger, causing the trapped vapour to rapidly turn to ice crystals. Exhaust vapour trails or contrails usually occur above 8000 metres (26,000 feet) and only if the temperature there is below −40  °C (−40  °F). Engine Emissions Over the years, increasing attention has been paid to the sustainable development of the aviation sector. It is now widely recognised that the costs of these externalities must be internalised and paid for by the aviation industry and its users. Of all the externalities generated from commercial flights, aircraft engine emissions have extensive impacts on human health, vegetation, materials, ecosystem and the climate. Currently, only around 10 airports have applied engine emissions surcharges, which are in Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. However, the impacts of aircraft engine emissions are a world-wide issue and have drawn significant attention in the global community. This research aims to evaluate the impacts of aircraft engine emissions  charges, based on the estimation of social costs, on airlines operating costs. The paper firstly presents the methods of assessing the social costs of aircraft engine emissions. The environmental impacts of aircraft engine emissions include both aircraft landing and take-off and the cruise stage. The social costs of aircraft emissions vary by engine type and aircraft category, depending on the damages caused by different engine pollutants on the human health, vegetation, materials, aquatic ecosystem and climate. Nine Asian airlines, covering both network full service carriers and low cost airlines, are selected for empirical analysis. The implications of aircraft engine emissions charges on the selected airlines and the corresponding effects on operating costs were measured, involving five existing intra-Asian flight routes. It was found that the aircraft engine emission charges would range from 3-12% of the airlines ¡Ã‚ ¦ operating costs, depending on the route distance, aircraft types and the nature of airline operating characteristics. Airport noise Aircraft noise is noise pollution produced by any aircraft or its components, during various phases of a flight: on the ground while parked such as auxiliary power units, while taxiing, on run-up from propeller and jet exhaust, during takeoff, underneath and lateral to departure and arrival paths, over-flying while en route, or during landing.Aerodynamic noise arises from the airflow around the aircraft fuselage and control surfaces. This type of noise increases with aircraft speed and also at low altitudes due to the density of the air. Jet-powered aircraft create intense noise from aerodynamics. Low-flying, high-speed military aircraft produce especially loud aerodynamic noise. The shape of the nose, windshield or canopy of an aircraft affects the sound produced. Much of the noise of a propeller aircraft is of aerodynamic origin due to the flow of air around the blades. The helicopter main and tail rotors also give rise to aerodynamic noise. This type of aerodynamic noise is mostly low frequency determined by the rotor speed. Much of the noise in propeller aircraft comes equally from the propellers and aerodynamics. Helicopter noise is aerodynamically induced noise from the main and tail rotors and mechanically induced noise from the main gearbox and various  transmission chains. The mechanical sources produce narrow band high intensity peaks relating to the rotational speed and movement of the moving parts. In computer modelling terms noise from a moving aircraft can be treated as a line source. Aircraft Gas Turbine engines (Jet Engines) are responsible for much of the aircraft noise during takeoff and climb. However, with advances in noise reduction technologies the airframe is typically noisier during landing. The majority of engine noise is due to Jet Noise although high bypass-ratio turbofans do have considerable Fan Noise. The high velocity jet leaving the back of the engine has inherent shear layer instability (if not thick enough) and rolls up into ring vortices. This of course later breaks down into turbulence. The SPL associated with engine noise is proportional to the jet speed (to a high power) therefore; even modest reductions in exhaust velocity will see a large reduction in Jet Noise.

Overview of Domestic Violence in the UK

Overview of Domestic Violence in the UK Domestic violence is very real and common in the UK, and indeed internationally In the UK domestic violence accounts for a quarter of all crime, despite these figures it is recorded that only 5 per cent of recorded cases of domestic violence end in conviction, less than 20 per cent of rapes and sexual assaults are reported to the police, and less than 6 per cent of rapes result in conviction. Wells points out as a comparison, the number of women that are in prison, and the seemingly trivial reasons for there incarceration. There are now over 4,500 women in prison, an increase of 194 per cent in the last ten years. Most women are convicted of non-violent offences, such as shoplifting. One woman out of 12 judges in the House of Lords, 5 women out of 43 police Chief Constables, 18 women out of 42 Chief Officers of Probation, 7 women out of 42 Chief Crown Prosecutors, 31 women out of 138 Prison Governors. There was evidence of sexual harassment and discrimination experienced by women working in the system. Domestic violence is not discriminatory and occurs between people of all social classes, amongst all racial and religious groupings and in all age groups. Crime and other statistics can only provide us with a taster of the real picture. The nature and extent of the suffering which is endured by families behind closed doors is very much something that is kept private. Victims of domestic assaults often do not complain of violence, either through fear of being further assaulted, or because they are too embarrassed and ashamed to reveal their plight to professionals who might be able to assist them. Although the traditional perspective is that victims of domestic violence are predominately women, this is not always the case, men, children and the elderly are vulnerable to domestic violence too. This said there is an abundance of evidence to show that it is women and children who are the main victims. Children who themselves suffer violence at the hands of a parent are in the main protec ted by the state though child protection procedures. The remedies provided by the civil law are therefore generally used to obtain protection for an adult victim. As Subedi points out There are several causes of violence against women. These range from historical unequal power relations between men and women to cultural perceptions, womens sexuality, inaction on the part of the agents of the State to the traditional perception in law and practice that matters within the family and between a husband and wife are basically private matters in which outside or State involvement should be kept to a minimum. Unlike other forms of crime, the problem with domestic violence has been that even the law itself is not well- developed and the law that is there on this issue has not been enforced as vigorously as possible. It is from this premise that efforts have been made in the recent past both at national and international level to strengthen the law on traditional patterns of violence and to expand the scope of the law to cover new forms of violence. While the problem often encountered in this process at national level is the doctrine of privacy and the concept of the sanctity of the family, the dichotomy of the public/private sphere is the problem at international level. In the UK, domestic assaults are criminal offences and a man who attacks his wife can be prosecuted for his actions. He may be charged with one or more of various offences against the person included the offence of rape. The Protection From Harassment Act 1997 introduced strong measures to assist those who are victims of a course of conduct, which amounts to harassment and made such conduct a crime. However, victims of domestic violence and harassment may be reluctant to become involved in the prosecution process for a number of reasons. These include the realisation by the victim that the matter is no longer under her control once she has reported an attack to the police. It will be up to the police to decide whether and how they wish to investigate her complaint, and it will be the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service whether or not to go ahead and press charges. This loss of control acts as a disincentive to women to report incidents of violence, as they may well fear the consequences of their action if the police and Crown Prosecution Service fail, as they see it, to respond in an appropriate fashion. In the past the police have been unwilling to intervene in cases of domestic violence, and to prosecute offenders. This perception of the police as unwilling to come to the assistance of victims of domestic assaults is still evident today, even though domestic violence is taken much more seriously by the police than in the past, and even though police practices in many areas have changed radically in favour of the victim. Figures from British Crime Surveys suggest that domestic violence forms the largest single category of violent crime. In a survey carried out by Davis and Gretny revealed that of a total of 448 assaults, all of which were referred to the CPS, there were 243 (54 per cent) non-domestics and 205 (46 per cent) domestics. If the British Crime Survey finding that domestic violence comprises 20 per cent of all assaults can be believed, and if the Bristol police files that they surveyed can be taken to be representative of the current position, it would appear that domestic assault is significantly more likely to be prosecuted than is assault in other contexts. This is remarkable given the widely accepted picture of domestic violence as a crime both under-reported and under-recorded. In such situations a victim of domestic violence, may apply for an injunction under the Davis G Cretney A, (1996) Prosecuting Domestic Assault, Criminal Law Review Mar 162 174 or a non- molestation order under s42 of the Family Law Act 1996. The statutes have somewhat differing aims although both statutes do aim to prevent harassment and can be compared and this will be discussed. Only associated persons can apply under the FLA 1996; anybody can apply under the PHA 1997. There are wider remedies available under the FLA 1996, including the power to make occupation orders. Damages can be awarded only under the PHA 1997. This is an important point. Domestic violence/harassment knows no social boundaries and therefore an award of damages can be a salutory lesson. It can also be an important remedy for those who are scared to report, for fear of financial hardship. Such damages can, of course, if not promptly paid, be enforced in all the usual ways including execution, attachment of ear nings or a charging order on land if necessary followed by an order for sale. Presently, a power of arrest can be attached to FLA 1996 orders but not to PHA 1997 orders. However, although the power of arrest is retained for occupation orders it is to be abolished for non-molestation orders. A warrant of arrest can be issued under either statute. Breach of an injunction under s 3 of the PHA 1997 is an offence breach of a non-molestation order is made an offence by s 42A of the FLA 1996.(7) District judges have full jurisdiction under both statutes to make orders, issue warrants and deal with contempt of court proceedings for breach of orders. Applications under the FLA 1996 are family proceedings governed by the Family Proceedings Rules 1991 and must be issued in a family proceedings court, a divorce county court, family hearing centre, care centre or in the Principal Registry or Lambeth Shoreditch or Woolwich County Courts.Applications under the PHA 1997 are civil proceedings governed by CPR 1998 Part 65 and can be issued in the High Court (Queens Bench Division) or in the county court for the district in which either the claimant or the defendant re sides or carries on business. Exceptionally, concurrent proceedings under both statutes are appropriate. They should be consolidated and tried together. A person arrested and brought before the court pursuant to the FLA 1996 can be remanded in custody or on bail. There is no power to remand a person arrested and brought before the court pursuant to the PHA 1997. Punishment for contempt of court under either statute is subject to the maximum of 2 years imprisonment provided by the Contempt of Court Act 1981. The sentence must be proportionate to the seriousness of the contempt. Conviction for breach of an injunction under s 3 of the PHA 1997 or for breach of a non-molestation order under s 42A of the FLA 1996 both carry a maximum sentence of 6 months and/or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum on summary conviction, and a maximum sentence of 5 years and/or fine on conviction on indictment. Both statutes provide that a person cannot be both punished for contempt of court and prosecuted in respect of the same incident. The PHA 1997 also creates offences (ss 2 and 4) not dependant on a civil injunction; the FLA 1996 does not. By s 1 of the PHA 1997, a person must not pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another and which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of another. By s 7(3) a course of conduct must involve conduct on at least two occasions and by s 7(4) conduct includes speech. Section 7(3A) was inserted by the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 and provides: A persons conduct on any occasion shall be taken, if aided, abetted, counselled or procured by another: (a) to be conduct on that occasion of the other (as well as conduct of the person whose conduct it is); and (b) to be conduct in relation to which the others knowledge and purpose, and what he ought to have known, are the same as they were in relation to what was contemplated or reasonably foreseeable at the time of the aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring. The phrase course of conduct has caused difficulty. In R v Hills held that assaults in April and October 1999 were not a course of conduct, particularly since the parties had been reconciled in the interim. In Lau v Director of Public Prosecutions quashed a conviction on the grounds that two incidents 4 months apart were not a course of conduct. The fewer the number of incidents and the wider the time lapse between them, the less likely that they give rise to a course of conduct. On appropriate facts, a charge of assault should be preferred. Indeed, many cases justify both a charge of assault and of harassment. The definition of harassment (and assault) is the same in civil and criminal proceedings, and thus arguments on whether or not there was a course of conduct can arise in both civil and criminal courts. In civil cases, where they may be doubt on whether there is a course of conduct then, as in crime, where appropriate, assault can also be alleged. In June 2003 the Home Office published a consultation paper setting out proposals to tackle domestic violence. The paper indicated the Governments strategy was based on three elements: to prevent domestic violence occurring or recurring; to increase support for victims; and to ensure improved legal protection and justice for domestic violence victims. This led to the enactment of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 which came into force in March 2005. DVCVA 2004 closely links the civil and criminal processes through new police powers, and through a new criminal offence of breach of a non-molestation order. It also creates a new offence of causing or permitting the death of a child or vulnerable person. It also requires the adoption of a code of practice and a victims fund, to be financed by surcharges on fines and some fixed penalties. It creates the power for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to recover money from offenders, and makes a variety of other changes to criminal procedure, powers and sentencing. Non-molestation or occupation orders are key tools in providing protection for those who fall within the category of associated persons. Prior to the enactment of the DVCVA 2004 eligibility extended to those living together as man and wife (cohabitants), or former cohabitants, and those who live or have lived in the same household (except if they are employees, tenants or boarders, or a lodger). DVCVA 2004 extends the category of associated person to include cohabitants in a same-sex relationship living in an equivalent relationship to that of husband and wife. The power to attach a power of arrest to a non-molestation order is removed by this act. Instead, common assault becomes an arrestable offence under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and breach of a non-molestation order becomes a criminal (arrestable) offence. If, for whatever reason, no prosecution is mounted, perhaps because of the wishes of the victim, that does not prevent an application to the civil court to commit for breach of the order. Nothing prevents the commencement of civil proceedings while criminal proceedings are pending, following arrest, though arguably a family court should await the determination of the criminal process. A new criminal offence is created under s42A will be punishable on conviction on indictment by a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine, or both, and on summary conviction by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months, or a fine not exceeding the statutory minimum, or both. The prosecution will need to prove the existence and terms of the order; the fact that the defendant was aware of the order; conduct that amounts to breach of that order, provided the breach is relevant only to sentence and not to guilt or innocence; and the lack of reasonable excuse. Minor changes are made to occupation orders under the DVCVA 2004 these require a court, in proceedings for an occupation order, to consider whether or not to make a non-molestation order. Other changes include changes to reflect cohabitation as opposed to marriage. Nothing in the new Act removes the right of the court to attach a power of arrest to an occupation order. This may cause some difficulties where a court makes both a non-molestation order and an occupation order, particularly if a court has attached a radius clause, for example not to come within a specified distance of the applicants home. Restraining orders under PHA 1997 form an integral part of the machinery for the protection of victims of domestic violence. DVCVA 2004, s 12, will extend the courts power to make a restraining order under s 5 of PHA 1997.Under s 5, when a court is sentencing or otherwise dealing with a person who is convicted of an offence under s 2 or s 4 of that Act, then as well as sentencing him or dealing with him in any other way, it may make a restraining order. The restraining order is particularly useful, as it provides for the continued safety of the victim but can only be made in cases where a conviction had been obtained for a s 2 or s 4 offence. As Wells points out: A vignette of current concerns suggests that much has changed in the last few decades. There is a ministerial group on domestic violence headed by Home Office minister, Baroness Scotland. The Solicitor General, a woman, has made tackling domestic violence a policy priority. She has talked to the President of Family Division, a woman. The Law Commission has recommended the abolition of the partial defence of provocation for reasons largely to do with its differential impact on male and female partner killers. The psychological trauma associated with rape and other forms of sexual harassment has been acknowledged, much attention has been given to improving police practices, and the offences themselves have been reconfigured around the concept of trust. It is difficult to believe that these changes would have come about without the influence of feminism in general and feminist legal commentators in particular. These changes also fit into a much wider pattern in which victims have moved very much centre stage along with the associated restorative justice movement. Internationally moves are being made to improve the situation for women. There have been international efforts to strengthen womens rights. This perception has contributed to the reluctance on the part of many countries to adopt either a protocol to CEDAW providing for individual petition or a protocol on violence against women with similar remedies for women. Moreover, the perception of States towards certain types of violence seems to be different in developed Western countries from that of certain developing countries. While widespread dissemination of pornographic material and use of women as sex objects by the media has been viewed as violence against women by women in certain developing countries, the same does not necessarily hold true in certain Western countries such as the Netherlands and the United States, which opposed the inclusion of this type of violence in the definition of violence in the draft UN declaration on violence against women. This type of activity cannot be violence for those women who voluntarily allow themselves to be used as sex objects by the media. But it may be seen as a psychological violence against women in general by those who disapprove of such treatment of women by the media. The protest campaigns organised recently by grass-root womens groups in India against the world beauty competition in Bangalore is an example of such differences of opinion. So is British law sufficient? Does it protect women adequately? There is generally are much greater awareness of domestic violence, and the criminality and culpability has increased some what over the last decade. Awareness has been heightened, although it can be argued that the piece meal legislation is unacceptable and there needs to be some joined up thinking insofar as this area of law is concerned. Whilst the new legislation is a move in that direction, it is a wasted opportunity as it is certainly desirable that the law on domestic violence should be consolidated.

Golfing Happiness Essay -- Happiness Essays, Essay About Myself

For someone who claims to be a golfer, shooting a score in the mid 90's is not something to tell my friends about. Golf is a sport of honor, and to alert your friends to such a poor round would be like admitting your girlfriend dumped you, and it wasn't a "mutual decision." However, there is a single instance in which I don't care what the scorecard reflects: playing with Nick. Though some golfers prefer playing in tournaments with new, shiny drivers and caddies at their beck and call, I'll take a round of golf with Nick, on perhaps the worst golf course known to man, Hillcrest Golf Club, over playing in any country-club tournament. Now, you've got to understand my friend Nick. He already scored perfectly on the PSAT Math section his sophomore year, has a workaholic lawyer for a dad, and recently informed his parents that in lieu of attending college he wants to become a postman...he already owns the perfect vehicle for the job: a broken-down 1982 Jeep CJ5. His meteoric rise from hapless hacker at the local par-3 course to All-Region Golf Team honors is also noteworthy. One must also take into account the misery that is Hillcrest Golf Club. Only here can someone find golfers so drunk they spin doughnuts on the 14th green and crash their cart into the lake. As a tractor pulled the cart from its watery grave, one of the men was heard to say to his rescuers, "Hey, I don't see my driver in my bag, ya'll better find it." Nor would you find male golfers over two hundred fifty pounds with no shirt on wearing cutoff jean shorts at many other golf courses. As you can see, it is no light claim to say I would rather play here than a well-groomed country club. Almost every summer morning at the crack of dawn, Nick rolls up our b... ...ame I can neither pronounce nor spell. Our conversation at T.J.'s is not restricted to golf, as it would be in fancy clubhouses after tournaments, but rather open to any subject we care to discuss, from Chemistry class next year to the best Steve Miller Band song. Finally, the experiences and times Nick and I share together are more valuable to me than any golden trophy. Some of the funniest and most relaxing times in my life have come out on the links with Nick. We don't care about the score, our shots, or even the round. Nor do we care if the course has only two cuts of grass: rough and green. So even though I'll never win one of those shiny first place trophies playing with Nick, the first call I make every summer I go home is the same number, and when I hear Nick's familiar voice, I smile just anticipating the sound of his CJ reverberating up the driveway.

The High Enlightenment and the Low-Life of Literature Essay -- Literar

Today, as historians look at the enlightenment they look at it through the eyes of the great thinkers.â€Å"The philosophic spirit itself took refuge in the writings of some great men†(D’Alembert,7).They helped create knowledge in how it is viewed today. However, the question remians what is the category that these men fall into. There are many different names and definitions of what these men can be called and who qualifies to fit in this group. It is said that many of the men that were classified in the category were not actual philosopher thinkers that expanded the mind and challenged thought. In the essay â€Å"The High Enlightenment and the Low-Life of Literature† by Robert Darnton he discuses the status of these philosophes that were being produced during the High Enlightenment. He argues that â€Å"the summit view of eighteenth-century intellectual history has been described so often and so well that it might be useful to strike out in a new direction, t o try to get to the bottom of the Enlightenment, and try to penetrate into its underworld...from below†(Darnton,57). He decides to look at the status of the enlightenment thinkers during this time to see the social standing that they had and the influence upon the world around them, not from the overall philosophes. Not from their works that were produced or the social responses to them; from the actual men of letters themselves.Darnton criticizes other historians for having looked at the Enlightenment â€Å"only through the eyes of this elite and proposes that, instead, we examine it from the perspective of those who failed to break into this closed elite of ‘literary aristocrates’†(Who were the Philosophes, 44). Darnton discusses, in his essay, the stance of the men of letters during the ... ... impoverished. The members of Grub Street now needed the change that was happening in thought during the Early Enlightenment. â€Å"It would seem to be necessary, therefore, in looking for the connection between the Enlightenment and the Revolution, to examine the structure of the cultural world under the Old Regime, to descend from the heights of metaphysics and to enter Grub Street†(Darnton, 65). These ideas of the old Enlightenment were seeping down into the lower classes because of what was happening to the Men of Letters. These members needed a change. â€Å"[W]hile they grew fat in Voltaire’s church, the revolutionary spirit passed to the lean and hungry men of Grub Street, to the cultural pariahs who, through poverty and humiliation†(Darnton, 66). This is what was happening in France during the High Enlightenment that led down into the Revolution for further change.

Compare and Contrast at least three of Fanthorpe’s poems Essay

Fanthorpe’s poems: Half-past Two, Dear Mr Lee, and You will be hearing from us shortly offer us an insight into the views and thoughts of Fanthorpe, as well as making the reader think about their own preconceptions. She does this by making quirky and sometimes satirical poems, which seem almost like prose. Fanthorpe’s aims are unmistakable; her way of inviting the reader to look at life through her tongue-in-cheek writing makes people question their belief on the matter(s) that the poem explores. For example in Half-past Two the poet queries the strange idea of time. Adults see time as a number organised into a sequence that continues through out the day with out stopping. However in this poem Fanthorpe shows that children develop a different sense of time, almost like a dream world where time, as we know it, stops to exist. She also delves into the way that children see time as an event not a number, for example ‘timeformykisstime’. Likewise, in Dear Mr Lee, the poet disputes the way of teaching English, stating that the way teacher deconstruct and analyse poems makes it impossible for the piece to be appreciated for its face values. Similarly, You will be hearing from us shortly dissects the truth about interviews and the way that pressure in an interview can make the interviewee feel looked down on and prejudged. The poem is slightly satirical towards the end, but this only exaggerates the point that Fanthorpe is trying to convey. While under pressure, interviewees can hallucinate in a surreal manner. For example, ‘And you were born-? Yes pity’. Overall, the aims of all three poems suggest that Fanthorpe has some strong views about things we don’t really see as serious issues but do affect people. Technique plays a big role in all of Fanthorpe’s poems, especially You will be hearing from us shortly, where the text aligned on the right indicates what the interviewer is thinking at that point in the interview. This is unique to Fanthorpe’s poems. Likewise in Dear Mr Lee irregular and haphazard line endings and even a P.S. in the poem contributes to the idiosyncratic nature of it. However in Half-past Two there are well-organised stanzas, typical of the common types of poem. Capital letters are used to exaggerate or highlight an important idea that Fanthorpe wants to be recognised, for example ‘on Her desk’ represents the way the child imitates something said to him. Another variant from the norm in all three poems is the use of brackets or italic writing to represent either private thoughts or another voice. During the three pieces various voices are regularly used; the poet will do this to show either a different viewpoint or the words of a narrator. In the poem Half-past Two voices are used extensively to represent what the child was thinking, what the teacher said and also the narrating. During Dear Mr Lee there seems to be no arrangement in the text at all, however it does resemble a prose letter. However, looking more closely, the poem seems to represent the child’s feelings about teaching methods. Voices in this poem seem to consist of the child’s thoughts and her teacher’s remarks. However in You will be hearing from us shortly the only voice is of the interviewer(s). I imagine Fanthorpe does this so that the reader can add in his or her own response to the observations of the interviewer. Fanthorpe’s style is very prose-like and the colloquial nature invites the reader into a new dimension of humour. The register in all three poems is varied, for example in Dear Mr Lee goes from, ‘you’d know it’s lived with me, stained with Coke and Kitkat’ too, ‘good at terse and cogent’. This varied approach to the poem may be due to the different voices that Fanthorpe puts in. All three poems especially contain a satirical and sarcastic tone, and towards the end of You will be hearing from us shortly there is an almost surreal and dreamy feel to the tone. However all the poems, as well as having humour and tongue-in-cheek style, also harness a serious intention. For example in You will be hearing from us shortly, even though it is quite funny, the way you can be looked down on in as an interviewee is a prejudice. For example the interviewer says ‘And now a delicate matter: your looks. Do you appreciate this work involves contact with the actual public?’ This is clearly is meant to be a realistic event so that Fanthorpe can insight the reader to believe that prejudice does happen. Generally all the poems are very well written, however close analysis reveal even more about the poet’s way with words. In Half-past Two the last stanza is a brilliant description of the way that a child can slip into ‘the clockless land of ever, and time hides waiting to be born’. This end fraction of the poem portrays the child’s dream world and how there is ‘no time’ until the child is taught how to read time and it is then that time, as adults know it is ‘born’. In You will be hearing from us shortly the poet could not only be referring to the way that interviewers look upon interviewees, but how candidates assume surreal events will occur in the interview. For example it is very unlikely that an interviewer would comment on the very existence of an interviewee. During Dear Mr Lee Fanthorpe takes on the role of a child and doesn’t tell the reader she has done this but instead writes like one. She achieves this by having no indents, no punctuation, random line lengths, no rhythm or rhyme and no paragraphs. For example there is not one full stop until the forty-ninth line. Writing like a child makes the reader think that the poem is being told by a child. To conclude, the three Fanthorpe poems looked at in the Essay help us to understand the way that Fanthorpe regards incidents happening in the world today. It also uses a colloquial tone that provides a jovial piece to read as well as getting a serious point through. All in all the prose-like texts let the reader enjoy an idiosyncratic and meaningful set of poems.