Politics And Society Essays - Campaign Finance In The United States

Politics and Society Media, money, and the First Amendment are three key influences in a successful political run. Media coverage is important to familiarize the public with the candidate and to show where he stands on certain issues. Money is needed to buy television and radio time. The First Amendment guarantees everyone the freedom of speech, but how can this be reasonably defined. One possible solution would be restrictions on the amount of money that individuals can donate to support their candidates. Modern media has influenced and possibly altered the history of politics. As stated by Washington Post reporter Dan Morgan, "The most valuable commodity in American politics today is advertising time on TV." The problem with this statement is that only the people with money have access to this option. Republican campaign chairman, Mark Hanna, was quoted saying, "There are two things that are important in politics. The first is money and I can't remember what the second is." In support of this quote, millions of dollars are spent on political campaigns in one week. One example of this problem is demonstrated by Ralph Nader, the candidate for the Green Party, who is not as well-known as George W. Bush or Al Gore. His popularity has lagged because he does not have the funds to buy as much television time as the other, more funded, candidates. When Nader, ran for Presidency in 1996, he only spent $5,000 of his own money and received only one percent of the votes. Also, on October 3, 2000, he was denied access into the third and final debate at Washington University, and as a result, he filed a lawsuit against the Commission of Presidential Debates. Even though all the necessary passes were presented, the CPD security still would not let him enter onto the Washington University campus, where he had a previously scheduled interview with the campus television station. In contrast, when multimillionaire Ross Perot ran for presidency as a third party in 1992, he received almost a fifth of the votes because he could communicate with the public through p aid media and debates. Unlike Ralph Nader however, Ross Perot was leading the race up until July, when he dropped out of the race because of negative media that his family was receiving. When he reentered in October he spent over $37 million of his own money for campaign ads and infomercials in the final month of campaign. Perot was allowed to participate in the presidential debates, a privilege that Nader was denied. The appearance of a candidate on public television is very important. If a person is able to identify the face of a politician and what he has said in campaigns, then that candidate has a better chance of winning. The physical appearance of a candidate can be a decisive subject in an election. During the election of 1960, Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy were contrasted as two completely different people. Nixon was depicted as "Nixon-of-the-five-o'clock-shadow" and Kennedy was described as "handsome and youthful." The result: a new youthful president. Also, in 1984, Ronald Reagan appeared to be in a confused state of mind during a debate and the thoughts of old age affecting the candidate's ability to fully function as President seeped into the minds of many people. During the second debate, asked if he would be able to fully function in a foreign policy crisis, he responded by saying, "I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purpos es, my opponent's youth and inexperience." This one statement allowed the candidate to survive the talk of the media about his age. Media is the only way most of the population of the United States finds out what happens in politics. Television is unique in the sense that it is "free" media because of the Communications Act of 1934, which was created to serve "the public interest, convenience and necessity." The media concentrates on making the most interesting stories, but instead, they should concentrate on informing the public about issues that are being discussed in debates and conventions because the majority of the general public does not know enough about politics to understand what is being

Tyranny in Colonial America essays

Tyranny in Colonial America essays There are many ways to define tyranny. The Websters New Collegiate Dictionary defines tyranny as an arbitrary, despotic government; esp: rigorous, cruel and oppressive government. Many people tend to associate the British with tyranny in relation to the Revolutionary War but perhaps that assumption needs a second glance. The British, up until 1763, governed the colonies through a policy of salutary neglect. Although they had strict trading laws in place, it was not until this time period of necessity and debt that they truly enforced these laws. In fact, the internal colonial government was just as much of, if not more, a tyranny then the British. The colonial ruling class was made up almost solely of the wealthy and educated upper class that governed the colonies in a virtual tyranny. The distribution of wealth in the colonies was extremely uneven, creating huge class divisions. In the early 1770s the top 5% of Bostons taxpayers controlled 49% of the citys taxable assets. The growing resentment of these vile conditions is demonstrated in the way in which the poor colonists, sometimes known as the mob went about protesting their condition and grievances. Instead of merely making a point of protest, the colonists would smash and destroy any sign of wealth in their way in an attempt at leveling. This worried the upper-class colonials such as Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson. They realized that although for the moment the mobs hatred was turned towards the British-elite, it could soon be turned toward them. As protests grew to be more and more violent the rich set up armed patrols for their own protection. In North Carolina a powerful group of white farmers known as the Regulators formed in protest of wealthy and corrupt officials presiding over them. The Declaration of Independence itself is a huge violation of the very principles for which it is ...

The principle of non-refoulement. Practical usage of the Essay

The principle of non-refoulement. Practical usage of the non-refoulement principle - Essay Example Non-refoulement principle approved in 1951 is being widely discussed by scholars and scientists for determination of the boundaries of its relevant application in the modern international judicial paradigm. This principle belongs to a customary international law and prohibits â€Å"the expulsion, deportation, return or extradition of an alien to his state of origin or another state where there is a risk that his life or freedom would be threatened for discriminatory reasons† Therefore, in accordance with Article 33 of the 1951 Convention: â€Å"No Contracting State shall expel or return (â€Å"refouler†) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his [or her] life or freedom would be threatened on account of his [or her] race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion†2. This principle is one of the basic pillars of refugee and immigration law.   There is one special aspect in this principl e in accordance with which an alien should not be sent to his country where he can be tortured. This is so-called â€Å"jus cogens rule† and this aspect is obligatory for all countries of the international society. Practical usage of the non-refoulement principle The British legal system has been also shaped under the influence of non-refoulement. Judicial bodies and other competent organs act with regards to this principle and regulating system of immigration and asylum is worked out with regards to the influence of this principle3. ... The main advantage available for all persons is the fact that even no valid legal travelling document is required in order to appeal for the country concerning non-refoulement principle. What is required from a person is his ability to prove a danger of a potential persecution, punishment or any other form of human rights degrading in his home country. Moreover, in case his liberties and freedoms are in danger or he may be subjected to an inhuman treatment at home, he should prove it to the country able to protect him in accordance with the non-refoulement principle. A system of proof in comparison with the one applied in criminal law cases is more tolerant. Thus, a principle of proof â€Å"beyond reasonable doubt† is discarded and a principle working in the civil law system â€Å"balance of probability† is not efficient as well6. Thus, the House of Lords rejected application of â€Å"balance of probability† norm in considering refugee cases. Currently, it is eno ugh to prove the slightest possibility for a person to be come through severe punishment or a serious harm. For example, a person may correlate a potential harm with the discriminatory grounds described in the Refugee Convention. Thus, on a discriminatory racial, religious or nationality or any other â€Å"membership of a particular social group†7 basis a person may be persecuted. In case a person managed to prove his fair basis for application for the non-refoulement principle, the country would provide him with relevant norms described in the Refugee Convention. Every country may interpret the basic principles of the Refugee Convention basing on its own particular ideas, but still, the main trends are strictly followed by the international community8. Therefore, the

Sale of goods and agency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sale of goods and agency - Essay Example In the given case, Kangaroo Developments entered into a contract of sale with Libby’s wines on 20th January. The delivery of 200 bottles of Queensland Plonk was to be on 1st February by Libby’s wines on the premises of Kangaroo Developments. Libby’s wine had 700 bottles in their stock from which 200 bottles had to be separated to be delivered to Kangaroo Developments. The 200 bottles, while not separated, were general goods. In order to become ascertained goods, they had to be separated. The agreement was made on 20th January but the transfer of property had not yet been made. According to Sale of Goods Act, 1979, S.18 (Rule 2), â€Å"Where there is a contract for the sale of specific goods and the seller is bound to do something to the goods for the purpose of putting them into a deliverable state, the property does not pass until the thing is done and the buyer has notice that it has been done.† According to the given facts, Libby’s wines had sepa rated 200 bottles on 20th January and marked them to be delivered to Kangaroo Developments. There is no information in the given facts whether Kangaroo Developments had the knowledge that 200 bottles had been separated; hence ascertained. The manager put the bottles back after two hours of their separation. By the 1st of February, Libby’s wine had been liquidated. Assuming that Kangaroo Developments had no knowledge of the separation of 200 bottles, it would mean that the goods were never ascertained. Therefore, no transfer of property had taken place and the risk in them remained with Libby’s wines. In this case, since Kangaroo Developments had already paid the price of bottles to Libby’s wines, they would be entitled to recover the price. They would not be entitled to recovery of 200 bottles since the title was never shifted. On the other hand, if Kangaroo Developments had the knowledge that the goods were separated to be delivered to them, the goods would hav e been said to have ascertained and the transfer of property would have deemed to be made. In this case, Kangaroo Developments would have been able to recover the bottles if the courts were convinced that despite the liquidation of Libby’s wines, the delivery of 200 bottles was possible. It is because the title of the bottles and the risk in them had been transferred when they were separated. If the liquidation of Libby’s wines had made the delivery impossible, then Kangaroo Developments would only have been able to recover the price. In Underwood Ltd v Burgh Castle Brick and Cement Syndicate, the plaintiffs made an agreement to sell a horizontal tandem condensing engine to the defendants. The engine had to be dismantled. After it was dismantled but before it could be delivered, the bed plate of the engine was broken accidently. The defendants refused to accept the engine. The plaintiffs sued. It was held that the defendants were entitled to reject the engine because t he engine was not ascertained as the defendants did not have the knowledge about that fact. Therefore, the title was not transferred. Therefore, by the application of S.18 of Sale of Goods Act, 1979 and Underwood Ltd v Burgh Castle Brick and Cement Syndicate, Kangaroo Development would only be able to recover the price if they did not have the knowledge of 200 bottles being separated. The property in goods and the risk in them would remain with Libby’s wines. Against William and Sons According to the given facts, Kangaroo Developments contracted to purchase 500 branded coffee mugs from William and Sons. Each mug was required to be printed with Kangaroo Development’s logo. In this case, the subject matter is future goods. According to S.18 of Sale of Goods Act, 1979, the property in goods would transfer to Kangaroo Developments when the printing of logos is done and they have the notice of it. Here, again, the transfer of property hinges on the affirmation of the fact w hether Kangaroo

The Europeans and their settlements in North America Essay Example for Free

The Europeans and their settlements in North America Essay In the ice age people moved to America, walking on ice or by boats, they came in groups of 15 to 20 people called band. Not a lot of people lived in North America as in central and South America, they spread unevenly. The Native American people were peaceful type of people they believed in nature they did not fight each other or destroyed anything. They hunted for food and feed on plants. They lived a basic life. Native American had never thought of themselves as individual or single people. Only after European arrived and emphasized the differences between themselves and indigenous people did the term â€Å"Indian† come into usage. That term came originally with Columbus, who thought that he could find a short way to India by going around the sea from the opposite direction instead of going around Africa, Columbus Idea had couple issues, his maps was wrong, and no one have ever went from that way, therefore, no one knows that America was in the way. Columbus landed in the America thinking that he landed on India back in 1492. He did four trips back and forth to America, and died without realizing that he is not in India. While poverty and diseases were spreading in the crowded European cities, Columbus had discovered America or India as he thought, and started his first slave trader; therefore, people started to immigrate to the Americas and brought all the diseases with them. Searching for gold and silver, they forest the Native American people to mine gold and supply them with food. A lot of Native American died off many imported diseases. In West America, the population went from 1 million, to five hundred in a half century, because of all the diseases the European brought with them. Whole villages perished at once, with no one left to bury the dead. The Americas had witnessed the greatest demographic disaster in world history; in 1519, North America population was between 13 and 25 million. By 1600, the European ways and all the weapons they brought with them and the small overpower army that they formed; the population had shrunk to about seven hundred thousand. Meanwhile as a part of the Columbian Exchange, the circular economic trade that everybody used Europe, England, and France. The European world brought a few benefits to the Native people of North America, they introduced horses, cattle, sheep, swine, chickens, wheat and other grains, coffee, sugar, numerous fruit and garden vegetables, and many species of weeds, insects, and rodent to America. In the next century, the enslaved Africans carried rise and yams with them to America. The European also brought all the supplies and made farmers from the Native American people. They gave the bible to the Native American, but the Native people did not know what was that, they tried to eat it. The Spanish was spreading there language, and the Christian religion to the Native American as part of the civilization. The European mixed with the Native American and married them. Therefore, today in America, a large number of people speak in Spanish, especially in North America, Inanition, many cities in America have a Spanish names. The List of American gifts to Europe and Africa was equally impressive compare to the European gifts, corn, many varieties of beans, white and sweet potatoes, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, peanuts, vanilla, cacao, avocados, pineapples, chilies, tobacco, and turkey. By 1625, Spain had advanced only so far North America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, French, English, and Dutch colonists focused on less spectacular resources. New France and New Netherland existed primarily to obtain furs from Indians, while the English in Virginia and Plymouth cultivated field recently belonging to Native Americans. All those colonies depended for their success on maintaining stable relations with at least some Native Americans. When the English came to America, they settled on the cost and massacred many of the Native American people although they were peaceful. There were a lot of stress between the English and Native because of their differences in cultures believes, religions, and even the way they dress or look. They looked at the native as savages. The English colonies were by far the most populous. They needed many slaves to work on tobacco and rice field, therefor many black people, or slaves as they was at the time lived in the North Carolina. The political settlement that followed England’s Glorious revolution further bound the colonies to the empire and at the same time provided the foundation for representative government in the colonies. Native Americans responded to the arrival and expansion of the settlement of European invaders by resisting, trying to cope, or immigrating to the West. Whatever their response, however, the Indians found their world fundamentally changed.

Divorce in Todays Society Essay -- Marriage Family History Essays Pape

Divorce in Todays Society The Impact of Non-Traditional Families in the Twenty-First Century The image of the American family looks and functions very differently than families of the past few decades. Men and women raised in the 1950’s and 1960’s when programs such as â€Å"Ozzie and Harriet† and â€Å"Father Knows Best† epitomized the average family, are likely to find themselves in situations that have changed dramatically. Research claims that many family structures are common: single-parent families, remarried couples, unmarried couples, step families, foster families, multi-generational families, extended families, and the doubling up of two families within the same home. Marriage, divorce, and patterns of childbirth are some of the factors that have contributed to these significant changes in families. With these changes comes the possibility of remarriage and the creation of new families which bring together parents and children without blood ties. These are called â€Å"blended families† and are more prevalent today than thirty yea rs ago because divorce rates are rising and remarriages are much more common (Mahoney 40). These issues are the major factors that have had an impact on the structure of the American family. Significant changes are occurring in marriage patterns in the United States. Individuals are postponing marriage until later in life and more people are choosing not to get married. Current statistics indicate that the marriage rate between 1970 and 1990 fell almost thirty percent (Ahlburg and DeVita 24). Compared with the 1960’s marriages have a shorter average duration. A smaller portion of a person’s life is actually spent in marriage, despite gains in life expectancy. In their research, Dennis Ahlburg and Carol DeVita describe an explanation for these facts: While these facts often lead to speculation that the institution of marriage is crumbling, the number of marriages that occurred throughout the 1980’s was at an all time high. Roughly 2.4 million marriages were perfo rmed each year during the past decade. A careful look at marriage trends reveals how marriage patterns are creating new lifestyles and expectations. (21) Another issue which reflects a change of the American family is the trend of divorce. While 2.4 million marriages occurred in 1990, 1.2 million divorces occurred during that same year (Andrew 51). The trend of divorce i... ...aunched a new line of cards devoted entirely to non-traditional families. The cards never use the word â€Å"step† but most of the â€Å"Ties That Bind† cards are clearly aimed at people that have come together by remarriage. All are aimed at the vast and growing group of people who don’t identify with the old definitions of family, and who are finding ways to make their new families work. Bibliography Ahlburg, Dennis and Carol J. DeVita. â€Å"New Realities of the American Family.† Population Bulletin. Aug. 1992: 20-28. SIRS. Family, 4, 96. Andrews, Jan. Divorce and the American Family. New York: Library of Congress Catalog, 1978. Boyd, Monica and Doug Norris. â€Å"Leaving the Nest? The Impact of Family Structure.† Canadian Social Trends. 15 Oct. 1995: 14-17. SIRS. Family, 5, 58. Feifer, George. Divorce: An Oral Portrait. New York: The New Press, 1995. Herbert, Wray. â€Å"When Strangers Become Family.† U.S. News and World Report 29 Nov. 1999: 59-67. Mahoney, Rhona. â€Å"Divorce, Non-traditional Families and Its Consequences For Children.† Leland Stanford. mahoney@leland.stanford.edu. 20 Nov. 1997: 40-42. Stewart, Gail B. Teens and Divorce. San Diego: Lucent Books Inc., 2000.

Wegmans Swot Analysis

Wegmans Strength Wegmans is not only strong in its presence for exciting shopper's eyes with its great food emporium, but also a company that shows that they care a lot about their employees. It recently early the title of being one of the top Fortune 100 companies to work for due to its great assistance programs and employee benefits. From overseas training in wine, cheese, etc, for department managers to scholarships for their young people.These also apply to the way they serve customers. Other perks received while working for Wegmans include job sharing, compressed workweeks, and telecommuting; thus, offering more flexibility in employee lifestyles. The lesser publicized strengths are their demographic research to build in the right locations,a strong Store Brands program, and their health & wellness initiatives.Wegmans also has a strong and efficient supply chain system, in which it uses the â€Å"farm to market† system thus reducing the company’s inventory holding costs and getting the produce into the stores as quickly as possible. Weakness Still a large amount of people have a preconceived notion that Wegman's prices are consistently higher than those of other chains. Knowing this, Wegmans tried hard to overcome this for the last 10 ten years to acheive the â€Å"everyday low price† seal in many of its high volume products.A strong private label program has accelerated Wegman's effort to keep the prices to low; however, this has ignited an outcry from manufacturers and suppliers who compete for shelf space and claim Wegmans’ house brand is overextended in some areas; thus, causing frustration among customers about the lack of a national brand options. Other internal challenges that Wegmans need to overcome is its pricing policy and margin requirements that creates strained relationship with vendors OpportunityWegmans see an increaseing market potential to meet the growing demand for organics and health food products. The incre ase in square feet of its â€Å"Nature market place† section reflects Wegman's nimble efforts to become the food emporium showcasing the hottest natural food trends in the industry. Another large Wegmans opportunity is business expansion in the U. S, since it still regionally compact and limited to 75 units in the Mid-atlantic and the Northeast coast. Threat There is increasing competition from two fronts: high-end (Whole Foods) and price competitive (Wal-Mart, and Aldi).Giant Foods is also a regional competitor that is currently doing a complete renovation of its stores. Other external threats include an economic downturn that affect core shopper spending habits. With the increasing trend towards convenience, ecommerce giants such as Amazon is also a big contender in competing consumer spending. In this highly competitive low margin grocery industry, Wegmans need to understand their core competencies and focus on what they deliver best: high customer service, strong store br and program, and exciting dining and shopping experience.