How democratic was Andrew Jackson? Essay

Andrew Jackson may have been the most popular president in the history of United States. Andrew Jackson was elected as a president for his democracy and he was still getting votes from electors fifteen years after he died. But was Andrew Jackson democratic at all? He didn’t democratically act in a lot of circumstances like being partial to the poor, not paying attention to the Native Americans or not listening to Van Buren that caused a big scandal in society. Jackson was born in 1767 on the border between North and South Carolina. He was a kid with a wild streak that grew up in a poor family. His childhood was so dramatic and full of events that they made him be brave and experienced in situations. Jackson was voted for the presidency in 1828 and was reelected in 1832. He was said to create a new era of real democracy in America. But like other men, Jackson was not democratic at all and he was also claimed as behaving more like the king. First of all, Andrew Jackson was not democratic because he gave more power to the poor and seemed to be partial to them. While it was democratic that he tried to balance the power between the rich and the poor but in this circumstance, he totally took down the rich. In Document 3 which is a political cartoon, Jackson holds a veto in the left hand and a scepter in the right and tramples on the Federal Constitution and The United States Bank. It was said that Jackson was fear on the rich and powerful who may cheat the acts of government to their own selfish benefits so he vetoes the Congress’s bill to recharger the Bank in July in 1832 and removes the deposit. In fact, Jackson was doing more damage to the bank and he biased against the wealthy men in command. He may have little or no trust in what the Congress and government had deemed to be in the country best interest. In Document 5, Jackson â€Å"inflame the poor against the rich†, The rich and powerful are also People but Jackson didn’t listen to and follow their wishes. That was not democratic. In Document 2, Daniel Webster compliments that Andrew Jackson was democratic. It seemed to be contrary to his reply to Andrew’s Bank veto that Daniel totally criticizes Andrew for turning against the rich. But we can see that Webster claimed that: â€Å"Jackson was the hero of the dirt farmer.† It supported that Andrew Jackson is so partial to the poor and just stand for their sides. Jackson did have democratic ideas but his ideas didn’t actually benefit all people. This was undemocratic as it didn’t benefit all people that he took the rich down and just cared for the low class. Additionally, Jackson also acts undemocratically that he didn’t include the Native Americans. In Document 3, Andrew looks like a king although he is president because of not taking care of the Native Americans and some tribes. Since a president takes to care for all people, Jackson just cares of part of them and abuse for his power and acts only in his best interests. Based on Document 8, Jackson persuaded the Native American but actually forced them and some tribes to west of the Mississippi. It means that he kicked them out of U.S. Jackson was not democratic because he moves them to such useless land as the land was ruined and poor. Despite looking to the citizens of U.S. well, Jackson wasn’t paying attention to the suffering that he was inflicting on Native Americans. This one side shows that Jackson was not a democratic president as many people think he was. The pinnacle of being undemocratic of Jackson was in Document 7, â€Å"Jackson refused to listen. He liked Swartwout because he had been an early supporter.† Jackson appointed Samuel to the office of the collector of Port of New York instead of Buren because Swartwout was offered by people more than Van. It is contrary to his democracy of following people’s wishes that he didn’t listen to Buren. Andrew went against all reason and showed a great lack of good judgment when he appointed one of his homies who is a notorious thief. Since Samuel was in office, there was a scandal that â€Å" Swartwout absconded with $1222705.09. It was a monumental theft†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This ended up hurting the country economically and totally affected the common goods. This selfish act was a foolish one. Although Andrew Jackson, as I stated, was an undemocratic president, he was still kind and compassionate and still has little democracy. Based on Document 11, Jackson adopted a child and took care of him. He wrote letters to his wife that he would adopt an Indian son, Lynconya, â€Å"I send him to my little Andrew and I hope he will adopt him as one of our family. And the letter on December 28th, 1823, Jackson wrote that â€Å"Tell Lyncoya to read his book and be a good boy and obey you in all things.† We can see, Jackson was still democratic as he adopted an Indian boy and also buried him in the family cemetery when he died at age 14. Throughout Jackson’s life and his presidency and with the above evidence, Andrew Jackson was not a democratic president at all. He unfairly acted in several circumstances but he was also democratic and kind of adopting an Indian boy. I conclude Andrew Jackson was not as democratic as many people thought he was. His action towards people didn’t benefit everyone.

Practice Midterm

This is an example of how a thumb-sized device and ever-smaller digital technology is heightening security risks. Included among the records on the tiny storage vice were 11 years worth Of names, addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, doctor information, school and child-care information. Also on the stick were 142 PHI numbers. The records were from the Ontario Infant Hearing Programs, administered by the Middlesex London Health unit at the H. A. Leper Speech and Hearing Clinic at the University of Western Notation's Lovelorn College.The Ontario Infant Hearing Program (IPP) is a province-wide program of the Ministry of Child and Youth Services designed to identify all infants with permanent hearing impairment and provide the services accessory to maximize family communication and language development in the child. The missing records are from 1999 to 2010. Staff at the clinic realized the USB key was missing early in February' 2011 after space was â€Å"rearranged,† said Janic e Decking, LOW'S provost and vice-president academic.Required: A) Discuss two ethical issues raised in the article related to the missing data. (2 marks) 2. B) Describe three types of controls that could have been used to prevent this security breach. For each Pope of control, provide a specific example of how it could have been used in this case. 6 marks) Describe the type of IS control Specific example of how the control could have been used to prevent the security breach 1. 3. C) Identify four behavioral actions that one could take in case of identity theft. (4 marks) 4. D) Health clinics collect a wide variety of data.Define the following terms and provide one example related too health clinic. (6 marks) Description Of the term Example that pertains to a health clinic Entity Attribute Data model Question 2 (1 6 marks – 58 minutes) Canada Bread Company is a leading manufacturer and marketer of atrocious fresh bakery products and artisan breads to large and small retail gro cery stores and foddering customers. The company also manufactures frozen unbaked, partially baked and fully-baked breads, rolls, bagels and specialty baked products for the same market.Canada Bread employs more than 8,700 people in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. The Company operates 22 bakeries across these countries and employs approximately 5,200 people across Canada. The Canada Bread promise is that they will take extra care in preparing and levering their products to ensure they are safe, nutritious, and of superior quality. A) Define each of the following business pressures and discuss each could be affecting the Canada Bread Company. 4 marks) Definition of the term Specific example of how they could be affecting the Canada Bread Company Technological innovation and obsolescence: Social responsibility: B) For the following competitive forces, define the competitive force, and provide an example of how that force could affect Canada Bread Company. (6 marks) D efinition Of competitive force Example that affects Canada Bread Company Bargaining power of customers Threat of entry of new competitors Threat of substitute products C) A large organization such as Canada Bread needs to be selective about the type of Information technology it implements.A business should turn to IT planning to address this situation. Define the following concepts that are part of the IT strategic planning process and describe their purpose. (2 marks) Definition of concept IT strategic plan IT steering committee D) With 22 bakeries located throughout Canada, the US and the United Kingdom, Canada Bread would need network technology. Define the allowing types of network technologies and provide examples of how they could be used at Canada Bread.

The influence of senior management involvement on the effectiveness of Essay - 1

The influence of senior management involvement on the effectiveness of management training in selected Saudi Arabia (KSA) SMEs - Essay Example rpose of this study the effectiveness of the transfer of training within organization is defined by factors such as consensus between training participants and their senior management, better communication, team work, high spirit, move involvement of their work and faster decision making and problem solving. These factors are used as indicators of the effectiveness of the transfer of learning, because they are the ultimate aims of the management. It is important to note however that this research is based on the effectiveness of training in the workplace and effectiveness is not measured with a cost effective approach. Factors given above are used to define the effectiveness of training. From a cost effectiveness point of view, a counter argument will arise: will the senior management attending training program lead to reduced efficiency and effectiveness in their job, as they have less time to devote to their other roles. Some may suggest analyzing the cost-and-benefit of the action taken by the senior management. However this research is to study the effectiveness of training programs with or without the senior management participation. The reasons for the researcher to leave out cost-and-benefit factor are: firstly, the aim of the research is to study the human behavior after attending training; secondly, the researcher presumes the cost incurred by the whole group members of an organization is probably larger than the cost incurred by the senior management. Further complementary research could be conducted into a full cost-benefit analysis. This research concerns the relationship between the senior management and the transfer of management training effectiveness to the workplace of selected small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia (KSA). In this country, â€Å"SMEs† mean manufacturing companies provide manufacturing related services with annual sales revenue not greater than Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) 25 million and with full-time employees

Subprime Housing Loans Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Subprime Housing Loans - Case Study Example The data sources will come from six sets of data. The aim of the data is to construct a set of borrower characteristics, loan characteristics, property characteristics, lender characteristics and macroeconomic variables. The first data series is the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data from 2000 to 2007. The aim is to obtain individual loan level data (such as whether a loan is being accepted or rejected, loan amount, income, race and gender of the borrower, etc). The HMDA data is also used to derive measures of lender characteristics, the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index of the Census tract and whether the lender is a bank. The second data set is the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) list of lenders that specialize in the subprime market to code each loan as being subprime or not. The thirda data set is the U.S. Census data to derive Census tract level demographic, property and borrower characteristics. The Census data is matched to HMDA by state, county and Census tract number. The fourth data set is from a major credit bureau for tract median FICO score (MEDFICO) and debt-to-income ratio (DTI), which are widely accepted borrower risk variables used by mortgage bankers and brokers in their lending decision. The credit bureau data is also matched to HMDA data by state, county and Census tract number. ... The first data series is the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data from 2000 to 2007. The aim is to obtain individual loan level data (such as whether a loan is being accepted or rejected, loan amount, income, race and gender of the borrower, etc). The HMDA data is also used to derive measures of lender characteristics, the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index of the Census tract and whether the lender is a bank. The second data set is the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) list of lenders that specialize in the subprime market to code each loan as being subprime or not. The thirda data set is the U.S. Census data to derive Census tract level demographic, property and borrower characteristics. The Census data is matched to HMDA by state, county and Census tract number. The fourth data set is from a major credit bureau for tract median FICO score (MEDFICO) and debt-to-income ratio (DTI), which are widely accepted borrower risk variables used by mortgage bankers and brokers in their lending decision. The credit bureau data is also matched to HMDA data by state, county and Census tract number. Fifth, I match the House Price Index (HPI) data from the Office Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) to HMDA data by year and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). This data is used to construct neighborhood house price appreciation rate, which is used to calculate the loan-to-value ratio (LTV). The sixth data set is the macroeconomic data from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to control for macroeconomic risk.The methodology to be used is the single equation Probit regression.

The Essentials of Genomics and Genetics for Nurses Assignment

The Essentials of Genomics and Genetics for Nurses - Assignment Example While genetics refers to the â€Å"study of individual genes and their impact on relatively rare single gene disorders† genomics includes the â€Å"study of all the genes in the human genome together, including their interactions with each other, the environment, and the influence of other psychosocial and cultural factors† (Consensus panel, 2008, p. 8). Genomics takes into account the environmental factors and clearly demonstrates how these contribute to human health and illness. While genetics focuses on single gene disorders, genomics â€Å"takes a holistic view of genetics† (Ward, 2011, p. 2). Genomics and genetics knowledge, as well as competencies have been proved to be essential prerequisites in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of various chronic diseases. Similarly, with the advancements made in genetic and genomic research genetic testing is now being widely employed for the diagnosis and prognosis of many common diseases like cancer. As such, gen etic and genomic competencies have become integral to the professional nursing practice today. This paper seeks to explore the essentials of genomics and genetics for nurses, and in doing so, it will look at genetic and genomic knowledge, competencies, professional responsibility, assessment and application of genomics and genetics to healthcare. ... For him, the genomic era of health care is a paradigm shift for the nurses and they need to â€Å"consider the collective influence of multiple gene variations and the cumulative effects of all manner of environmental factors on an individual‘s health, risk for disease, response to therapies, even behaviors† (Ward, 2011, p. 4). Usually, nurses need to interact with the patients much more than other health care professionals and therefore it is imperative that they possess ample genomic literacy so as to prepare, administer and explain various genomic applications to the patients. Studies and researches in the realms of genomics have opened new horizons of clinical care to the patients. The applications of genomic discoveries are visible in many areas of the health care industry. As Jenkins, Grady and Collins (2005, p. 98) have observed, â€Å"the applications of genomic discoveries in clinical care are expanding diagnosis, treatment, and prevention at an accelerating pa ce, and that knowledge will continue to improve the health of people throughout the world.† This growing importance of genomics and genetics services has increased the professional responsibility for nurses as well. Genomics has also prompted nurses and other health care professionals to think in terms of the health of the individual rather than his/her disease. Another significant impact of genetics and genomic research is that it has given way for more comprehensive personalized healthcare. Genetic and genomic services facilitate more individualized approaches to treat one’s illness or disease. Lea & Calzone (2010, p. 15) have rightly pointed out that â€Å"the influence of genetic and genomic factors in health and disease is creating opportunities for earlier diagnosis, more effective

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Living Assignment

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Living - Assignment Example There is still no cure for the virus that causes AIDS. However antiretroviral treatments that suppress the HIV virus are available. Some patients have been known to regain strong immune systems as a result of antiretroviral therapy. The therapy not only helps prolong lives but also prevents people infected by the virus from developing AIDS. Celebrities like Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, and Arthur Ashe who died of the disease have given a face to it ensuring that it is known to one and all. They have also helped to educate, empower and raise public awareness. Some have funded organizations that financially help AIDS patients. The challenge is to spread awareness of the ways in which the virus is transmitted to prevent the infection. As former US president Bill Clinton remarked: â€Å"new data from 51 countries suggests 70 percent of HIV-related deaths could have been prevented.† Numerous initiatives have been launched to lower prices of life-saving antiretroviral drugs in order to improve access to treatment. Scientists the world over are working overtime to find a cure for the disease. There are a whole host of organizations working to combat the disease, find cures and help and educate those communities that do not have the means to help themselves. Bill Clinton at the world AIDS conference in Melbourne observed, â€Å"The AIDS-free world that so many of you have worked to build is just over the horizon. We just need to step up the pace.†Ã‚  

The Achievement of Desire by Richard Rodriguez Essay

The Achievement of Desire by Richard Rodriguez - Essay Example Both parents were unable to assist him in his assignments. They have no knowledge to share with. They cannot relate to his unexplainable desire to learn and succeed. They were even the source of his humiliation in school for not being able to write, much more speak in clear and grammatically-correct English. They did not even have the idea of the nature of his accomplishments, his trophies and awards . . . but they were surely proud of him though Richard was not. Despite this, his parents were truly supportive of him and his endeavors. They never complained of his lack of participation in the household chores, his diminishing respect towards his parents during short conversations, his increasing expenses brought about by his refusal to stop reading even during nighttime that required additional electrical expenses, and so on. Richard on the other hand seemed to grow more impatient about his parents’ situation and their behavior. He felt ashamed upon hearing his parents talk in a way that his teachers in school totally abhor. There were times when he felt compelled to directly teach (or preach) his parents in his frustrating attempt to correct their attitude, more so their grammar. Richard seemed to forget that his parents were not Americans, thus, their mistakes in grammar and diction. He also seemed to forget that his parents did not receive higher education, not because of their own fault, but because their parents failed to give them the opportunity to attend formal school at the proper time. What Richard had in mind during the early part of the essay was that it was shameful to have them as parents and they will never contribute to his dream of success. The Achievement of Desire 2 Contrary thereto, Richard looked up to his teachers as his idols. He appreciated his teachers’ manner of communicating, their seemingly endless flow of ideas, their educated manner of presenting themselves, and almost everything about them. Thus, at an early age, Ric hard came to a conclusion that the easiest way to succeed is to mimic his teachers. He listened to them carefully, tried to understand and memorize their statements, and used exactly the same sentences in class. He did everything to get his teachers’ appreciation and approval. Every small achievement that he made, whether it was mere reading of a good book, or a citation in a competition, he proudly and timely reported to his teachers, with the expectation that they would complement and appreciate him, to the dismay of his classmates. On the contrary, he never made the same effort toward his parents. Despite his awareness that his parents will surely be proud of any achievement he had, he underestimated their capacity to understand the nature of his accomplishments. He never regarded his parents’ appreciation as something to be proud of. What was more important to him was the appreciation of his learned and educated teachers. Richard took every opportunity to learn. He did not stop learning in school. Even when he was home, he would bring books with him and read them. In the same way that he appreciated his teachers, Richard took note of the ideas he got from his readings. And as expected, he made use of these lines in his recitations and reports. Truly, the lessons he learned from his teachers and books were reflected in his writings. However, it is disheartening to learn that Richard came to realize the true meaning of success and knowledge quite belatedly. He was already in his thirties when he learned to confront himself and accept his negative side. Although quite late, Richard accepted the fact that he was not a good student after all. He had lots of ideas, but none of them were original. They The

Financial Institutions and Instruments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Financial Institutions and Instruments - Essay Example An investment strategy has more to do with responsibly, and often conservatively, managing an investment portfolio in order to maximize gains with a minimum of maintenance, a low number of transactions (and their attendant costs), and a minimum of risk. This paper will explore the investment strategy approach for the most part, whilst also exploring some of the more simplified and well-tested technical strategies of the trading approach. A simplified investment strategy is the one most likely to be employed by an ordinary person with a modest portfolio, a minimum amount of time to devote to managing that portfolio, and limited ability, desire, and/or resources to devote to the use of sophisticated analysis tools. In other words, the kind of person who has a day job as opposed to being a fulltime day trader, and needs a strategy that includes a fair degree of automatic execution and pre-determined portfolio protection devices. Finding a consistent strategy that meets these requirements would be useful to a great number of people who are currently disadvantaged in the area of maximizing their investment gains by lack of financial resources, time, and expertise, whilst at the same time they may be very dependent on their investment pe rformance for their future financial security needs. Much work has been done in pursuit of a system that would consistently provide excess returns, with mixed results. The very existence of technical analysis seems to belie the Efficient Market Hypothesis. Some researchers have concluded that "technical rules do not earn excess profits over a simple buy-and-hold strategy," (Beechey, Gruen, and Vickery, 2000). However, there are aspects of market performance that are not completely explained by EMH, and the available evidence suggests that "financial market returns are partly predictable, in ways that sometimes conflict with the Efficient Market Hypothesis" (Beechey, et al, 2000). Other discordant findings regarding the EMH versus actual stock performance include evidence that in the stock market, "shares with high returns continue to produce high returns in the short run (momentum effects). In the long run, shares with low price-earnings ratios, high book-to-market-value ratios, and other measures of 'value' outperform the market (value effects)." Further, "at times, asset prices appear to be significantly misaligned, for extended period," (Beechey, et al, 2000). Whenever inefficiencies such as misalignments or mispricings occur, an opportunity for excess returns also occurs - if someone with a technical analysis filter is watching for them and knows when and how to act on them. At best it would seem the EMH semi-strong or weak version best describes what is observed in the markets. Therefore it would seem that there may, after all, be something to be gained from at least a cursory investigation of the technical analysis tools that are most readily available to the average investor, and that are easy to understand and use, and that is the criteria that was used when choosing technical analysis tools for inclusion in the investment strategy that will be outlined herein. St. George's Bank has been traded on the Australian exchange since 1992, and is currently the fifth largest bank in Australia. It shares with the banking sector a 100%

International Business - Global Marketplace Case Study

International Business - Global Marketplace - Case Study Example Going international at times looks logical when we look at these pull factors. Economists are not in agreement as to a common definition of multinational or transnational enterprises (MNE/TNC). Multinational corporations have many dimensions and can be viewed from several perspectives (ownership, management, strategy and structural, etc.) (Root. 1994, Hill, 2007). According to Hill (2007), a global enterprise (or transnational corporation) is a corporation or enterprise that manages production establishments or delivers services in at least two countries. Most multinationals have budgets that exceed those of many countries (Hill 2007). This paper is aimed at analyzing and discussing the potential impacts of globalization on a chosen multinational. The first part of the paper presents activities of Tesco, the second part looks on the positive impact of globalization on Tesco, the third sections focuses on the negative impact of gobalisation on Tesco while the last section presents the conclusion. 1.1 Overview of the Company in Question-Tesco Founded by Jack Cohen in 1919, Tesco Plc has come a long way and has established itself as the largest super store in Europe. At the turn of the century, Tesco became very proactive in coming up to the requirements of the new ear and tesco.com was launched, followed by aggressive entry into international markets like Malaysia, Japan & Turkey, China & the US. Today, the international operations of Tesco yield more profit as compared to the profits in the Europe market. More than half of Tesco's selling space is in markets outside Europe (Tesco Review 2007). The Tesco Plc website states "shareholders. Today the Group operates in 12 markets outside the UK, in Europe, Asia and North America. Over 160,000 employees... As the report declares recent changes in the international market scene, politics and environment have forced companies in the quest and optimisation of various options. With the rational ranging from optimisation of resources, being more responsive with the various stakeholders and keeping the pace of learning and employees development in their world wide operations. According to the report findings it is clear that moving global, shouldn’t be an overnight decision in multinational enterprises. Such a move should be carefully given a second thought, as it involves not only a total strategic reorientation but a major change in an organisations capabilities, resources and challenges. Companies going global should be able to face the challenges of thinking globally and implementing locally. There is no doubt operating internationally rather than domestically presents organisations with many new opportunities. From access to new markets, tactical and strategical positioning to a pool of information for subsequent product development. Going international at times looks logical when we look at these pull factors. Tesco denotes its success to an aggressive global strategy of geographic diversification. In its attempt to renew the brand and keep it in sync with changing customer tastes and keeping up the growth figures in future, Tesco follows various strategies including international diversification, providing value to customers, product diversification, innovation, and umbrella branding.

Decreasing agitation in demented resident in nursing home Assignment

Decreasing agitation in demented resident in nursing home - Assignment Example Keywords: agitation, dementia, nursing home, nurse leader, evidence based practice Decreasing Agitation in Demented Patients Living in Nursing Home Behavioral and emotional disturbances, particularly agitation, are the major problems commonly observed in impaired elderly people dwelling in nursing homes, particularly those who are suffering of dementia. According to Tariot, Daiello and Ismail (2002, p. 2), behavioral symptoms affect a large population of dementia patients in the United States, where â€Å"as many as 90% of patients with dementia develop significant behavioral disorders at some point.† Based on a clinical research conducted by Bartels, et al. (2003, p. 236), the condition of patients with dementia is â€Å"complicated by mixed agitation and depression accounts for over one-third of complicated dementia†. Compared with other subgroups, elderly patients with dementia which are also experiencing bouts of agitation have the â€Å"highest rate of hospitaliza tion, the greatest number of medical diagnoses, and the greatest medical severity, and they receive the greatest number of psychiatric medications (Bartels, et. al. 2003, p. 234)†. As such, there is a great need to decrease agitation in dementia patients especially in the nursing home settings. Studies on psychiatric disorders recommend that agitation symptoms in patients with dementia should be efficiently treated through proper diagnosis and medication, together with the efficient management of the nurses and caregivers in enhancing the clinical outcomes according to evidence based practices (Salzman, et al., 2008). Cohen-Mansfield, Marx and Rosenthal (1990, p. 3) defined agitation as â€Å"inappropriate verbal, vocal, or motor activity that is not a necessary by-product of the needs or confusion of the agitated individual.† Agitated behavior may be manifested as an appropriate behavior executed with inappropriate rate of recurrence or it may be inappropriate based on social standards for the particular situation, as exemplified by the three syndromes such as aggressive behaviors, physically non-aggressive behaviors, and verbally agitated behaviors. The abusive or aggressive behavior of a patient may be directed towards him or others and are often apparent in the advanced stages of dementia. Physically non-aggressive behaviors are observed as adaptive to nursing home residents during their deteriorated stage of dementia, where their bodies need to be stimulated or undergo physical exercise. Verbally agitated behaviors are regarded as a form of help-seeking behaviors by patients that are experiencing depression and physical diseases (Cohen-Mansfield, Marx and Rosenthal, 1990). In addition, agitation may be brought by various physical and emotional factors like fears, insecurity, frustrations, and false beliefs brought about by impaired hearing, sight, or aphasia, most commonly observed in persons with cognitive impairment (Cohen-Mansfield, Marx a nd Rosenthal, 1990). There are also reports that nursing home staff frequently misapprehends symptoms of cognitive impairment as agitation instead of thoroughly checking if the said behavior stems from other reasons such as pain, hunger, boredom, fatigue, environmental chaos, or consequence of medical issues or medications. Sedatives and atypical antipsychotic drugs are usually administered to patients exhibiting dementia-associated agitation and

Contracts Business Law Essay Example for Free

Contracts Business Law Essay Contracts are often viewed as unnecessary in the eyes of the public. Most people think that they live their lives doing what they want, when they want with little regard for contractual law. In reality, contracts bind the decisions that most people make on a regular basis. By writing this article I will demonstrate the usefulness of contracts and how they relate to everyday life. I also intend to provide a reasonable idea of what would happen if we did not have contracts guiding decisions made. Because without contracts, the law would not know who to rule in favor of should the need arise, which happens on a daily basis all around the world. The basic definition of a contract is an agreement between two or more parties. This definition encompasses a great many things. If you take a look at the life of an average consumer, from the beginning of their day to the end of it, they make decisions based on factors that have been put in place by contracts. Our consumer wakes up in his home, which was bought from K. Hovnanian, a company that is well known for the designing homes and making people’s dream homes come to life. That house was built by contractors. By definition a contractor is a person or firm who contracts to build things. Electricians, carpenters, stonemasons, plumbers, home audio technicians, Sheet-rockers, painters, and floor specialists are all examples of contractors that were involved in making the consumers dream home come to life. However, K. Hovnanian does not have a contract with each of these types of contractors. Instead, they have a contract with a general contractor, who has agreed to hire each of the other types of contractors to complete the work necessary to make the house come to life. Our consumer works out a deal with K. Hovnanian for a certain price, which becomes the binding contract that K.  Hovnanian agrees to build the house for. The trademarks that K. Hovnanian uses to define who they are, is bound to them by a trademark agreement with the United States. According to the Legal Information Institute of Cornell University, A trademark is defined as â€Å"Any word, name, symbol, or design, or any combination thereof, used in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from those of another and to indicate the source of the goods. † By registering this trademark our consumer is able to safely say that it is K. Hovnanian they are dealing and not someone who is pretending to be them. Once the home is completed then, the consumer would then bring in a third party, to the agreement: Bank of America. Bank of America has entered into an agreement with our consumer to pay K. Hovnanian for the home built. In turn, the consumer must pay back Bank of America over the next twenty years at a fixed interest rate the amount of money borrowed. This becomes a mortgage contract. According to the Legal information institute at Cornell University, â€Å"A mortgage contract, involves the transfer of an interest in land as security for a loan or other obligation. this is the most common method of financing real estate transactions. The mortgagor in this case K. Hovnanian is the party transferring the interest in land. The mortgagee, Bank of America, is the providing the loan given in exchange security. â€Å"Normally, a mortgage is paid in installments that include both interest and a payment on the principle amount that was borrowed. † Now that our consumer has bought his home and is moving in, a decision is made to buy items for the home that will be necessary for the consumer to live comfortably. Our consumer goes to Kmart and uses their Visa credit card to pay for a number of items such made by brand name companies such as Martha Stewart Living or Craftsman, the bill of sale, otherwise known as the receipt, is an agreement to pay the store for the amount of goods purchased. However, that is only the basics of the idea. The long process of agreements that we do not see and probably do not think about is there is a contract for every minor detail, allowing this transaction to happen. The consumer uses their Visa to purchase these goods up to a pre-determined dollar amount. Therefore, a request was made by the consumer to purchase the merchandise being sold by Kmart using Visa and, in turn an agreement was made with Visa to pay back in due time the amount for the goods purchased, plus interest of course. In turn, Kmart has agreed to honor Visa as per their contract with Visa. They worked out an agreement before hand to accept Visa, which would increase their sales and Visa would be allowed to keep a small percentage of the sale for the ability to use their services. However, to use the services provided by Visa, Kmart must have an agreement with a company that allows them to go beyond their store via electronic communications. The use of services through a company such as Verizon would be necessary. Verizon provides high speed internet as well as telephone services to companies like Kmart to allow them to access outside of the walls of the business. Therefore, Kmart enters into a binding contract with Verizon, for a pre-determined amount of time and a pre-determined amount of money allowing Kmart to use the services Verizon provides. Now that Kmart has the means to reach the outside world, they must purchase equipment, such as MagTek equipment, that would allow Kmart to use the Visa card allowing consumers to make a purchase on credit for goods that Kmart Provides. According to MagTek’s Website, â€Å"MagTek is a manufacturer of electronic devices and systems for the reliable issuance, reading, transmission and security of cards, checks, PINs and other identification documents. † Among the electronic devices, is a magnetic strip reader allowing consumers to use Visa credit cards to make purchases. Kmart also has an agreement with Omnimedia, the owning entity of the Martha Stewart living products, and Craftsman, a company that makes tools for everyday use. This type of agreement is known an exclusive dealing arrangement. According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University, â€Å"Exclusive dealing arrangements are, essentially, requirement contracts in which a seller agrees to sell all or a substantial portion of its products or services to a particular buyer, or when a buyer similarly agrees to purchase all or a portion of its requirements of a product or service from a particular seller. This means that Kmart buys all of its tools from craftsman or all of its household items from Omnimedia. The reverse to this, is that Craftsman or Omnimedia may have an exclusive dealing arrangement in which they agree not to sell their products to competing companies or franchises. As you can see, there is much more going on in behind the curtains of a typical day, so that the consumer is able to live their life. These are only a handful of examples of what parts of our lives contracts have an impact on. There are many more out there. The opposite of having a life filled with contracts, is having one without them, which would likely be a life filled with chaos. Imagine the same scenario in the last few pages, but without contracts binding the many parties involved. Our consumer would set out to buy a home which they decide to do business with K. Hovnanian. On a handshake and a smile K. Hovnanian agrees to build the home, but changes things that the consumer specifically said he wanted to alter the price of the home. After a couple of weeks K.  Hovnanian contacts our consumer to let them know that they were able to secure the land, but the price will be higher. Reluctantly, the consumer agrees, after all this is a dream home that is being built. Another two weeks goes by, and K Hovnanian calls and says construction is right on schedule and that the house will be completed within the next couple of weeks. K Hovnanian and our consumer come to an agreement of money and the consumer has his bank give the money to K. Hovnanian as agreed. After a couple of Months of communication silence, the consumer gets agitated and goes to the lot where his house was being built. There is no house and no construction crew. He goes to the location where K. Hovnanian was only to find out they have closed their doors and left. After contacting some sources to find out the whereabouts of K. Hovnanian, the consumer finds out that the company he has been dealing with was not K. Hovnanian at all, just someone taking advantage of people using the K. Hovnanian name to get money for free. The one contract in all of this that our consumer did setup was with Bank of America for his Mortgage, which is now legally binding. The consumer cannot pay the mortgage and therefore his credit gets destroyed because of a failure to pay and a foreclosure on a home he never saw, which makes it so he never had a Visa card to pay for the purchases from Kmart. Because there was no contract, there was no crime. The company doing business as K. Hovnanian was not wrong because there is no copyright or trademark contract protecting the K. Hovnanian name. The consumer gave them money even though nothing had been in writing and no formal contract was made. In the end, this consumer was taken advantage of because contracts for the situation did not exist. The United States has placed many laws to protect the rights of companies and the trademark they possess. â€Å"Section 1127 Construction and definitions; intent of chapter,† is the chapter in US Code that defines the parameters in which a company may define or lose definition of their trademark. In turn, â€Å"The Lanham Act† protects the owner of a federally registered trademark from anyone not authorized, to use it (http://www. gpoaccess. gov/uscode/). Also under United States Code under section 1454, is the protection of consumer’s rights when making purchases of land by obtaining a mortgage. These rights are put in place to protect the Bank issuing the mortgage, as well as, the consumer. All in all, Contracts are a part of our everyday lives whether we want it to be or not. They may not always be seen nor the effects of it so obvious, but they are there, and their purpose is to protect all parties involved from entering an agreement without understanding and respecting the rights of the other parties of the contract.

Incest Abuse: Effects And Prevention On Children

Incest Abuse: Effects And Prevention On Children Incest abuse is an issue that is prevalent among family members including children. There are various short-term and long-term effects that children encounter throughout and after their abusive experience. These effects are extremely traumatic and cause stressors for children and within families. Incest can occur between any two family members regardless of age and gender. There has been a lot of research that has been conducted regarding incest, but it is often difficult to draw conclusions from research. This is because of vague definitions and unclear restrictions and guidelines. With everything considered, prevention is the most important step that society can take to try to reduce the number of incest cases. Incest is a horrifying and tragic issue between family members typically involving one person of higher power and one of lesser power. In addition, it is extremely traumatic for children that do not know any different or that are still too young and naÃÆ' ¯ve to understand what is going on. This topic is extremely important in the fact that more research needs to be gathered to understand why this is occurring within the family. This issue is more prevalent that many people realize. Therefore this paper is going to discuss issues relating to incest and sexual child abuse within families. It will include research and studies that relate to family incest and abuse. The paper will cover an analysis of research that has been conducted on the relating topic of incest including short term and long-term effects of incest. There are many different forms of incest, but extensive research findings have only been implemented on a few of the forms. There are also factors such as certain age ranges and gender that are more likely to encounter incest abuse. As more research is being conducted regarding incest and abuse, there also needs to be more prevention implementation. Research is important because it allows researchers to find the reasons and causes of why this is happening. However, this issue of incest will not go away without some sort of prevention tactic. Prevention is an extremely important method to help reduce the prevalence of incest and abuse within families. Incest can be a stressor and traumatic event that often causes short term and long-term effects on victimized children. There are issues such as chemical dependence, mental illness, and numerous psychosocial stressors that these victims can encounter (Courtois, 1997). In addition, the family can face disturbances within relationships and dynamics (Courtois, 1997). These issues include parental discord and immaturity, parent-child role reversals and triangulation, boundary violations, double-bind communications, and entrenched patterns of denial, secrecy and rigidity (Courtois, 1997). These are just a few of the effects that incest can produce among families. Short-term effects of incest consists of, those effects that the victim experiences or displays during and/or immediately after the incest and/or its disclosure (the most consistent include emotional) (Vander Mey Neff, 1986, p. 67). The victim can display a variety of emotions and feelings that are typically associated with short-term effects. These can include shame, guilt, fear, anger, in addition to feelings of being trapped, used, confused, betrayed, and humiliated (Vander Mey Neff, 1986, p. 67). Not every victim will experience these short-term effects, but most often victims will experience one these emotional effects from incest abuse. On the contrary, Long-term consequences for the victim are those behaviors, attitudes, or opinions that the victim has or displays years after the incident(s) of incest: effects that are due directly or indirectly to the incest (Vander Mey Neff, 1986, p. 67). These effects go beyond emotional issues; they extend to larger deviant, antisocial, and/or illegal behavioral effects of the victims (Vander Mey Neff, 1986, p. 67). Often times these behaviors include one or more of the following: promiscuity, inability to assume a wife/mother role, alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution sexual dysfunctioning, delinquency, depression and suicide (Vander Mey Neff, 1986, p. 67). There seem to be many negative effects on children involved in incest abuse. There is also much controversy among research regarding the effects on the victims. There appears to be no definite absolute answers that tell us exactly what will happen to a child who is the victim of incest abuse. However, there is enough consistent data to conclude that incest is a major risk factor for a variety of serious aftereffects (Courtois, 1997). The studies done in regards of victim effects seem to display a fairly strong variety of possible outcomes. As there is no definite solution to effects of children who experience incest abuse, there is a range of common potential results. There seemed to be little or no research regarding the lasting effects of the long-term consequences among victims. However, there was an overall consensus between research studies that each child is an individual and no two cases/situations are the same, and no two victims will walk away the same. Within a family, each individual takes on different roles. There are common roles that characterize a perpetrator of incest. The most common is the authoritarian father who has absolute authority over the entire family (struggle of a power imbalance) (Blume, 1990, p. 34). In this situation the rest of his family fears the father (Blume, 1990, p. 34). He displays control and power and his wife and kids are on a constant guard trying to never upset him (Blume, 1990, p. 34). The father takes advantage of the power he has by sexually abusing his child(ren) and possibly his wife as well. There is also another type of father that is referred to as the timid father (Blume, 1990, p. 34). This dad is not able to stand up to another adult and express his feelings and is often considerd a push-over (Blume, 1990, p. 35). Since he seems to have no control within the family, he seeks his control elsewhere by sexually abusing a son or daughter of his. There are many people who say that victims of child abuse will grow up to become abusers. However, Blume (1990) states that, One is responsible for ones adult acts; ones past does not cause one to do violence to another (p. 37). In addition, if it were true that these victims of abuse turn into abusers, then shouldnt there be more women as perpetrators since women are more likely be seen as the victims? However, this is not the case because most incest survivors are female, and David Finkelhor says, there is a male monopoly on child molesting (Blume, 1990, p. 37). It is important to remember that young girls are not the only victims of incest and that fathers are not the only perpetrators either. Perpetrators can include mothers, brothers, sisters, and extended family (Sloan Porter 1984). Similarly, victims can consist of sons, daughters, cousins, etc (Sloan Porter, 1984). There may be more prevalence in certain situations, but incest is incest no matter who the victim is or who the perpetrator is. Researches have said that it is very difficult to accumulate research on the issue of incest. There are a variety of reasons for this with the foremost reason being defining incest (Blume, 1990, p. 26). There is no one definition of incest; there are various views on what constitutes as incest. Some are more restrictive than others. For example, some include touch as incest abuse, and others include step-parents/siblings as perpetrators of incest abuse. (Blume, 1990, p. 27). In addition, some say that any age under eighteen years old constitutes as incest abuse; however, there are other researchers other things (Blume, 1990, p. 27). Prevention is the key to diminishing this issue. Just as it is important to have treatment centers and therapy for those who have experienced incest abuse, it is also important to implement preventative measures. Sloan and Porter discuss a prevention plan that was created and implemented by community health nurses into a public school. First, there was an emphasis on the importance that children are aware that teachers and school administrators are available to discuss nonacademic problems (Sloan Porter, 1984). Second, the focus was to present as much information as possible to the children without frightening those who had not had these kinds of experiences (Sloan Porter, 1984). Third, the community health nurses wanted to provide children with a problem solving technique that could be used in a number of situations (Sloan Porter, 1984). There was success in this program in the fact that they were able to present intense information to young kids without frightening or creating anxiety for them (Sloan Porter, 1984). There were also only positive comments received from teachers and school officials (Sloan Porter, 1984). However, the positive feedback that was received was only obtained through school administration and community health nurses who worked together to achieve their goal (Sloan Porter, 1984). As this study seems very encouraging, there needs to be more aspects that are examined in order to determine the actual effects of the program. It is great that this particular program focused on children because it allows them to understand what incest and abuse is about, but there also needs to be a program that helps the adults as well. The studies and information presented has, for the most part, seemed to follow in the same direction and correlate with each other. There is the basic overall conclusion of the idea that incest abuse is more prevalent than many people think and that prevention is the key to reducing the issue. All of the studies seemed to express how difficult incest research is due to various factors. These factors covered a wide range, while some research focused on victims lack of report and others emphasized the definition of incest. The overall research seems to highlight the extremely sad situations and traumatic experiences that victimized children encounter. There are many short-term and long-term effects that children can experience due to incest abuse. The implications that are drawn from these issues is that there needs to be not only therapy for victims, but also prevention programs implemented to help decrease the issue of incest. Profielwerkstuk terrorisme: Westerse wereld Islamitische wereld Profielwerkstuk terrorisme: Westerse wereld Islamitische wereld Inleiding: Het eind van vorig schooljaar stond in het teken van het zoeken van een onderwerp voor het profielwerkstuk. Al snel kwam ik tot de conclusie dat terrorisme mijn onderwerp zou worden. De belangstelling voor het fenomeen terrorisme leeft over de hele wereld. Een recenter onderwerp bestaat bijna niet. Na de terroristische aanslagen op Amerika, Spanje, Engeland en zelfs ons eigen land is deze belangstelling alleen maar toegenomen. Dit vond ik interessant en besloot ik mijn profielwerkstuk over terrorisme te houden. Maar hoe ga ik mijn onderzoek uitvoeren? Terrorisme is een heel breed onderwerp. Dus moest ik bepalen waartoe ik mijn onderwerp ging beperken. Terrorisme is iets van alle tijden. In eerste instantie is het gericht tegen het gevestigde bemind daaronder verstaan we de koning of president. Later ook tegen de overheid (revolutie, burgeroorlog, guerrilla). Maar wat nieuw is in de 2e helft van de 20e eeuw is dat terroristische groepen zich heel modern gaan organiseren dan hebben we het over de modernste wapens en de nieuwste en beste communicatie apparatuur. Door het nieuws te kijken, de krant te lezen en informatie van internet te halen heb ik mijzelf georià «nteerd. Vervolgens besloten om de ontwikkeling in het terrorisme tegen de Westerse wereld centraal te stellen. Onder de Westerse wereld verstaan wij de VS, West-Europa en Australià «. Ook beschouwen we Israà «l deels tot de Westerse wereld, dit land wordt namelijk gesteund door de Westerse wereld. Ik ben tot de volgende hoofdvraag en deelvragen gekomen: Hoofdvraag: Wat is de belangrijkste ontwikkeling in het terrorisme tegen de Westerse wereld? Deelvragen: Wat zijn de belangrijkste Islamitische terroristische gebeurtenissen geweest vanaf Mà ¼nchen 72? Wat is de kern van het conflict tussen de Westerse wereld en de Islamitische wereld? Wat is er gedaan aan de bestrijding van terrorisme sinds 11-09-01? In welke richting moeten we de oplossing voor terrorisme bestrijding zoeken? De hoofdvraag wilde ik helder houden, maar tegelijkertijd wilde ik ook de mogelijk hebben om hem uitgebreid te behandelen. Bij de deelvragen wilde ik meer over de geschiedenis van terrorisme te weten komen, maar dan heb ik het beperkt tot de afgelopen 38 jaar. Verder was ik ook erg genteresseerd in wat nou eigenlijk de kern van het conflict is tussen de Verenigde Staten en de westerse wereld. En ook de bestrijding van terrorisme wilde ik aan bod laten komen in dit profielwerkstuk. Vandaar deelvraag twee en drie. Tenslotte leek het mij ook een goed idee om een probleemstellende vierde deelvraag te maken zodat ik daarin ook nog een stukje eigen mening kon geven. Daardoor werd het ook mogelijk om mijn eigen visie naar voren te laten komen. Veel leesplezier! Voorkennis Voordat je begint met het lezen van mijn profielwerkstuk is het misschien handig om eerst even uit te leggen wat terrorisme nou eigenlijk is. Terrorisme is het uit ideologische motieven dreigen met, voorbereiden of plegen van op mensen gericht ernstig geweld, dan wel daden gericht op het aanrichten van maatschappij-ontwrichtende zaakschade, met als doel maatschappelijke veranderingen te bewerkstelligen, de bevolking ernstige vrees aan te jagen of politieke besluitvorming te benvloeden. Nederland hanteert bij de bestrijding van terrorisme een zogenoemde brede benadering. Niet alleen de geweldsdaden zelf aanpakken, maar ook het traject dat vooraf gaat aan deze daden. Deze definitie is wettelijk vastgesteld. Het komt erop neer dat onschuldige burgers het slachtoffer zijn van terreuracties. *http://www.nctb.nl/onderwerpen/wat_is_terrorisme/ Het is moeilijk om het begrip terrorisme goed te duiden want wat voor slachtoffer(s) een ongerechtvaardigde aanslag is wordt door de dader vaak gezien als een gerechtvaardigde actie. Terreuracties vinden meestal plaats in situaties die door de plegers van daad van legitiem verzet of van principià «le uiting wordt gezien. Wat voor de à ©Ãƒ ©n een terrorist is, is voor de ander een vrijheidsstrijder. Bij terroristische acties worden onschuldige burgers betrokken. Het kan gaan om à ©Ãƒ ©n of een paar onschuldige burgers, maar soms ook om tientallen,honderden, of misschien wel duizenden onschuldige burgers. In de 2e wereld oorlog werden tegen de Duitse bezetters wel aanslagen beraamd; dat waren geen terroristische acties maar verzetsdaden tegen de bezetter. Individualisme en collectivisme zijn 2 belangrijke begrippen voor het verschil tussen de westerse wereld en de Islamitische wereld het zijn 2 uitersten. Vrijheidsstrijders in het Westen treden vaak in organisaties op, zoals de IRA in Noord Ierland en de ETA in Spanje. Radicale moslimfundamentalisten plegen soms in hun eentje een terroristische aanslag; soms met inzet van hun eigen leven. Die laatste vorm van terrorisme is nogal nieuw in de geschiedenis. Hoofdstuk 1 Wat zijn de belangrijkste Islamitische terroristische gebeurtenissen geweest vanaf Mà ¼nchen 72? De hele wereld zat aan de buis gekluisterd. 11 september 2001. Een datum die bij iedereen in zijn geheugen staat gegrift als een dag vol haat en verdriet. De wereld heeft natuurlijk al langer te maken met terrorisme maar 11 september 2001 kan wel als terroristisch hoogtepunt, of liever gezegd dieptepunt, worden gezien. Deze dag was voor George W. Bush (toenmalige president van de Verenigde Staten) ook de aanleiding om terrorisme de oorlog te verklaren. Om even terug in de tijd te gaan. Bijna 38 jaar geleden, 5 september 1972. Ook deze dag zit een groot deel van de wereld vol ongeloof naar de tv te kijken. Een gijzelingsdrama tijdens de Olympische spelen in Mà ¼nchen. Ook deze dag is niet het officià «le begin van het terrorisme, dit is eigenlijk al vele jaren bezig, maar 5 september 1972 wordt door veel mensen wel als een soort startsein gezien. Nu is het menens, het was duidelijk dat na vandaag er nog veel aanslagen over en weer zouden volgen en dat wereld vanaf nu onafscheidelijk verbonden zal zijn met terrorisme. Omdat zon groot wereldwijd evenement als de Olympische spelen werd uitgekozen werd het duidelijk dat de gevoerde strijd tussen Israà «lià «rs en Palestijnen nu wel eens een wereldwijde strijd zou kunnen gaan worden. De strijd tussen Israà «lià «rs en Palestijnen is al lang bezig. Al aan het einde van de 19e eeuw zijn er veel joden die streven naar een onafhankelijke staat in Palestina als uitweg voor de onderdrukkingen in Europa. In de jaren zullen er nog veel Joden volgen, vanaf 1930 vluchtten er bijvoorbeeld veel joden naar Palestina vanwege het antisemitisme in Duitsland. Tussen 1936 en 1939 vindt de Grote Opstand plaats. Dit is een opstand van Arabieren die protesteren tegen de Joodse immigratie. De Britten die op dat moment de macht hebben in Palestina treffen strenge maatregelen wat betreft de immigratie, maar dit leidt alleen maar tot meer conflicten met de joods-palestijnse bevolking. Na de Tweede Wereldoorlog, in 1947, stemt de Algemene vergadering van de Verenigde Naties in met een plan van de Britten om Palestina in twee delen te verdelen. De joden accepteren dit besluit, maar de Arabieren absoluut niet. Er volgt onmiddellijk een burgeroorlog tussen de Joden en Palestijnen. De joden slagen er in om met geweld een groot deel van de Arabische bevolking te verdrijven en op 14 mei 1948 roept David Ben-Gurion de staat Israà «l uit. Een dag later vallen ruim 30.000 Arabieren uit verschillende Arabische landen de nieuwe staat in en de Israà «lische Onafhankelijkheidsoorlog (ook wel de Arabisch-Israà «lische Oorlog van 1948 genoemd) volgt. Vanaf dan zullen de conflicten tussen de Israà «lià «rs e n Palestijnen doorzetten tot op de dag van vandaag. In dit hoofdstuk zullen verder de belangrijkste Islamitische terroristische gebeurtenissen vanaf Mà ¼nchen 1972 worden besproken. Dit was een dag waarop bij de strijd tussen de Israà «liers en Palestijnen de wereld werd betrokken. Wat eerst een conflict was tussen twee volken werd nu een conflict op wereldwijd niveau. Vooral door de steun die de Verenigde Staten geeft aan Israà «l breidt het conflict zich uit. Terrorisme is natuurlijk niet iets van de laatste jaren maar het is onmogelijk alle gebeurtenissen van de afgelopen eeuwen te betrekken in dit hoofdstuk. Daarom heb ik gekozen voor een periode van ongeveer 35 jaar. Op deze manier kunnen kan ik een beter gedetailleerd beeld geven en ook duidelijk de verschillen en overeenkomsten tussen de aanslagen uitlichten. Reacties van verschillende partijen zullen ook worden toegelicht. Mà ¼nchen 1972: Het was de bedoeling om van de Olympische Zomerspelen 1972 vooral vrolijke spelen te maken. Op deze manier probeerde Duitsland de dubieuze spelen van 1936 in Duitland waarin Adolf Hitler zijn fascistische ideologie probeerde uit te dragen, te vergeten. Maar vrolijk werden de spelen zeker niet. Op 5 september vallen Palestijnse terroristen van de organisatie Zwarte September het onderkomen van een aantal Israà «lische atleten binnen. Twee leden van het Israà «lisch Olympische team worden hierbij direct vermoord en 9 andere werden gegijzeld. Na lang onderhandelen wordt duidelijk wat de eis van de Palestijnse terroristen is. Het vrijlaten van 234 Arabische gevangenen. Daarbij willen ze een vrije aftocht en een vliegtuig tot hun beschikking. Golda Meir, de premier van Israà «l laat via de Bondskanselier van Duitsland, Willy Brandt, weten dat zij onder geen enkele voorwaarde onderhandelt met terroristen. Het hoofd van de politie van Mà ¼nchen, Manfred Schreiber, beslu it vervolgens dat er dan een reddingsoperatie, zonodig met geweld, moet volgen. Er volgt op zijn bevel een reddingsoperatie op het vliegveld, maar die mislukt. Er waren pantserwagens onderweg om de gijzelaars van het vliegveld af te voeren, maar omdat een groot deel van de mensen die de gebeurtenissen op tv heeft gevolgd massaal naar het vliegveld gaan, is het onmogelijk voor de pantserwagens om het vliegveld te bereiken. Verder waren er op het dak scherpschutters gestationeerd maar toen zij het vuur openden, ging er van alles mis. De meeste terroristen konden op tijd dekking zoeken en als reactie op de scherpschutters gooit à ©Ãƒ ©n van de terroristen een handgranaat in de eerste helikopter met gegijzelden en een andere terrorist begint te schieten op de tweede helikopter waardoor vervolgens alle 9 gegijzelden overlijden. Als reactie op 5 september 1972, volgen er in de tijd erna heel wat terroristische aanslagen over en weer. Eind Oktober 1972 bijvoorbeeld al, als de leden van de Zwarte September beweging een vliegtuig kapen van de Duitse luchtvaartmaatschappij Lufthansa met als eis om 3 terroristen vrij te laten. Onder zwaar protest van Israà «l gaat Duitsland hierop in. Als reactie op deze kaping bombardeert Israà «l vervolgens vier Palestijnse trainingskampen bij Damascus. In principe is dit een strijd tussen Israà «lià «rs en Palestijnen. Bomaanslagen op scholen in Israà «l of gegijzelden Palestijnen zijn het gesprek van de dag. Er is sprake van een soort patroon want beide partijen reageren op elkaars aanslagen door er vervolgens zelf een te plegen. Ook Frankrijk wordt deels in de strijd betrokken want er volgen in de jaren na 1972 verschillende bomaanslagen in Frankrijk, gepleegd door Islamitische groeperingen. Opvallend is hoe weinig de Verenigde Staten worden betrokken bij deze strijd. Op 8 september 1974 vind er wel een bomaanslag plaats op een vliegtuig van TWA (Trans World Airlines, een Amerikaanse luchtvaartmaatschappij) met als eindbestemming JFK International Airport. Op deze bomaanslag volgt echter geen directe reactie of volgende aanslag. Deze bomaanslag is mogelijk een reactie van de Palestijnen op de steun van de Amerikanen aan Israà «l. Een persoon die bij vrijwel de meeste van Palestijns afkomstige aanslagen is betrokken, is de Palestijnse terrorist Aboe Nidal (1937 2002). Hij was toentertijd à ©Ãƒ ©n van de meest gezochte en gevreesde Palestijnse terroristen ter wereld en wordt verantwoordelijk gehouden voor 90 aanslagen in 20 verschillende landen. Aanslag op Amerikaanse marinebasis: Op 23 oktober 1983 wordt er een bomaanslag gepleegd op het hoofdkwartier van de Amerikaanse mariniers bij het vliegveld van Beiroet. De aanslag wordt even later opgeà «ist door Sjiitische extremisten. Er komen in totaal 241 Amerikanen om het leven. De explosieve lagen vermoedelijk in een vrachtwagen, die door Sjiitische extremisten bestuurd werd. Er raakten bovenop de 241 doden ook nog 80 mensen gewond en er was ook grote materià «le schade. De mariniers waren in Beiroet omdat ze daar heen waren gestuurd door president Reagan om te helpen bij het beà «indigen van de burgeroorlog. Later op die dag volgde er ook een bomaanslag op het hoofdkwartier van Franse parachutisten. Er komen bij deze aanslag 58 Franse soldaten om het leven. Deze aanslag wordt opgeà «ist door dezelfde Sjiitische extremistische groep. Boeing wordt gekaapt: Op 14 juni 1985 wordt er een Boeing 727 van TWA met 153 inzittenden door Sjiitische extremisten gekaapt. Het vliegtuig wordt gedwongen om naar Beiroet te vliegen waar zij 39 Amerikanen gegijzeld houden. Het doel van de kaping en gijzeling is de invrijheidstelling van 700 Arabieren door Israà «l. De gijzeling duurt tot 1 juli en in die tijd blijven alle gijzelaars in leven, behalve à ©Ãƒ ©n, de Amerikaanse marinier Robert Stretham, hij wordt terplekke geà «xecuteerd. Israà «l geeft toe aan de eisen waardoor vervolgens het vliegtuig wordt teruggevlogen naar het vliegveld van Frankfurt en de gijzelaars vrij worden gelaten. De Lockerbie ramp: Op 21 december 1988 vind er een terroristische aanslag plaats in een Boeing 747 van de Amerikaanse luchtvaartmaatschappij Pan Am. Het vliegtuig was vanuit Frankfurt op weg naar New York en had net een tussenlanding gemaakt in Londen. Rond 7 uur s avonds verdwijnt het vliegtuig van de radar. Het bevind zich dan nog op 10 kilometer hoogte boven het Schotse Lockerbie. Even later vind er een explosie plaats in het bagageruim waardoor het vliegtuig volledig uiteen wordt gescheurd. Een deel van het vliegtuig komt neer in een woonwijk waardoor behalve alle 259 inzittenden ook 11 mensen op de grond om het leven komen. Uit het Schotse onderzoek wat volgt komt als eerste naar voren dat deze aanslag een reactie was op 3 juli 1988 waarbij de VS een Iraans burgervliegtuig zouden hebben beschoten met als gevolg dat alle 290 inzittenden daaruit omkwamen. Dit spoor loopt uiteindelijk echter dood en na verder onderzoek wordt er gewezen op twee Libische geheim agenten, Abdel Basset Ali Mohammed el-Megrahi en Al-Amin Khalifa Fhima. Zij zouden er voor hebben gezorgd dat de koffer waarin de bom zat aan boord was gekomen en dus de explosie hebben veroorzaakt. Zij zouden dit hebben gedaan omdat zij bepaalde Libische gevangenen vrij zouden willen krijgen. Rijtje huizen in LockerbieDe Verenigde Staten houden ook Libià « verantwoordelijk, maar volgens hen was deze aanslag een vergeldingsactie omdat de dochter van de Libische leider Muammar Ghadaffi bij een Amerikaans vergeldingsbombardement op Tripoli (hoofdstad van Libià «) om het leven was gekomen. Het Amerikaans vergeldingsbombardement had plaatsgevonden omdat zij Libià « verantwoordelijk hielden voor een aanslag op een disco in West-Berlijn in 1986. De aanslag boven Lockerbie was volgens hen dus uit wraak van Muammar Ghadaffi gepleegd. In augustus 2003 erkende de Libische regering de verantwoordelijkheid voor de aanslag boven Lockerbie en gaf daarbij toe bereid te zijn om een schadevergoeding te betalen aan de nabestaanden. 11 september 2001: De dag begon voor al die duizenden werkende mensen als elke andere dag. Niemand had aan zien komen dat vandaag de wereld wel eens zou kunnen veranderen. Toch gebeurde het en zorgde wereldwijd dan ook voor ontzettend veel ophef en ongeloof. Om kwart voor negen s ochtends lokale tijd begon het allemaal. Het eerste vliegtuig, een passagiersvliegtuig van American Airlines, vliegt in het bovenste deel van de noordelijke WTC toren. Omdat het vliegtuig pas kort daarvoor was opgestegen zaten de tanks nog vol kerosine en volgde er een gigantische explosie. Om 5 minuten over 9 volgde het tweede vliegtuig, een vlucht van United Airlines, die zich in de zuidelijke toren boord. Een paar uur later storten beide torens volledig in en alle mensen die op dat moment nog in het gebouw aanwezig zijn komen om het leven, net zoals 349 brandweermannen en 62 mensen van de politie. Een half uur nadat het tweede vliegtuig in de zuidelijke toren was gevlogen, boord er een vliegtuig, tevens een vlucht van American Airlines, in het Pentagon, het Amerikaanse ministerie van Defensie in Washington D.C. Ook een vierde vliegtuig werd die ochtend gekaapt. Dit stortte echter neer in een veld net buiten Pittsburg. De FBI heeft kunnen aantonen uit de transcriptie van geheime opnames uit de cockpit dat à ©Ãƒ ©n van de kapers de piloot verplichtte het vliegtuig te laten neerstortten om daarmee te voorkomen dat de passagiers verder zouden gaan met het vliegtuig heroveren. Er is aangenomen dat het doel van de kapers in eerste instantie was om met dit vliegtuig een aanslag op het Capitool of het Witte Huis te plegen. Tijdens de kapingen hebben passagiers door middel van hun mobiele telefoon aan bekenden informatie over de kapers weten door te spelen waardoor op 12 september 2001 door de FBI een lijst naar boven kwam met de vermoedelijke kapers. Osama bin Laden, à ©Ãƒ ©n van de leiders van Al Qaida, wordt vanaf het begin verantwoordelijk gehouden voor de aanslagen op 11 september. Verschillende onderzoeken wezen in zijn richting. Onder andere een videoboodschap waarin Osama bin Laden gezegd zou hebben dat de aanslagen beter zijn verlopen dan hij had verwacht. Een tijdje na de aanslagen vraagt de VS aan Afghanistan om te uitlevering van bin Laden aan de VS. Nadat de VS een ultimatum stelde kwamen honderden leden van de Taliban bij elkaar en verzochten zij bin Laden om uit Afghanistan te vertrekken want zij wensten te onderhandelen met de VS. De VS ging daar echter niet op in en Osama bin Laden liet weten dat hij zich alleen zou laten berechten in een Islamitisch land. Hij erkende dus, zonder het letterlijk te zeggen, zijn verantwoordelijkheid voor de aanslagen. Later liet bin Laden via een videoboodschap weten dat er een jihad (betekent in het Islamitisch: strijd) van alle Moslims zal komen tegen het zionisme en de kruistochten en ook tegen de Verenigde Staten. 11 maart 2004: In de ochtend van 11 maart vinden er in vier verschillende forenstreinen in Madrid bomaanslagen plaats. Uiteindelijk werden er 13 bommen gevonden, waarvan er 10 tot explosie waren gebracht. Bij deze ergste terroristische aanslag in Europa, sinds de Lockerbie-ramp, komen er 191 mensen om het leven en raken ruim 1400 mensen gewond. De schuld wordt door de Spaanse overheid eerst geschoven in de richting van de Baskische afscheidingsbeweging ETA. De ETA ontkent echter elke betrokkenheid bij de aanslag. Later wordt een cassettetape met Arabische koranverzen gevonden en Al Qaida wordt hierdoor als vermoedelijke dader gezien. Spaanse autoriteiten blijven echter nog enige tijd bij hun standpunt dat de aanslag het werk is van de ETA. Maar een met Al Qaida verwante organisatie, Brigade Abu Hafs al-Masri, eist vervolgens de aanslag op en na het vinden van de cassettetape en uitgebreid onderzoek wordt Al Qaida dus als officià «le dader gezien. Als er naar de data wordt gekeken ka n ook geconcludeerd worden dat de aanslag toebehoord aan Al Qaida. De aanslag vind precies 30 maanden (2,5 jaar, 911 dagen) na de aanslagen op 11 september plaats. 911 is een veelgebruikte aanduiding voor de aanslagen van 11 september. Van toeval is dus niet meer te spreken. De aanslagen in Madrid zijn het geplande werk van Al Qaida. 7 juli 2005: In de ochtend van 7 juli 2005 kreeg Londen te maken met verschillende explosies. In een half uur vonden er drie ontploffingen plaats in de metro en even later werd een openbare bus het doelwit van een terroristische aanslag. Met 56 doden en ruim 700 gewonden was dit de meest ernstige terroristische aanslag op het Verenigd Koninkrijk sinds de ramp in Lockerbie (1988). Bij de explosies in de metros werd eerst nog uitgegaan van een ernstige stroomstoring maar toen even later een dubbeldekkerbus explodeerde, werd duidelijk dat het om een terroristische aanslag ging. Al Qaida werd al snel als schuldige gezien. Omdat er verschillende aanslagen vrijwel tegelijkertijd plaatsvonden, wezen experts erop dat het daarom als een klassieke Al Qaida aanslag kon worden gezien. Van klassieke Al Qaida aanslagen kan worden gesproken als de aanslagen de volgende kenmerken bezitten: de explosies vinden vrijwel tegelijkertijd plaats; er werden vooraf geen waarschuwingen gegeven door de terroristen; om de maximale aandacht van de media te trekken wordt een druk tijdstip uitgekozen, zoals de ochtendspits; de aanvallen vinden plaats op een druk tijdstip, met als doel om zoveel mogelijk burgers om te brengen. De aanslag werd ook vrijwel direct opgeà «ist door Al Qaida. De speciale tak van Al Qaida in Europa plaatst via internet een verklaring waaruit blijkt dat de aanslagen een vergelding waren voor de Britten in Irak. Een deel van de verklaring luidt: Wij hebben onze belofte gehouden en een succesvolle militaire operatie uitgevoerd. We waarschuwen eveneens de regeringen van Denemarken en Italià « om hun troepen uit Afghanistan en Irak terug te trekken. Motieven van Islamitische terroristen: Islamitische extremisten zien zichzelf natuurlijk niet als terroristen. Zij vinden zichzelf vrijheidstrijders en zeggen dat zij handelen uit naam van een hoger doel wat hen leidt. Ze geloven dat hun God van hen verwacht dat ze hun eigen godsdienst verdedigen door mensen van andere religies of geloofovertuigingen aan te vallen. Ze maken zich niet druk om het verlies van politieke steun omdat in hun gedachte hun God toch altijd aan hun kant zal blijven staan. Geweld en het ombrengen van burgers die onschuldig zijn is daarbij noodzakelijk om hun doel te bereiken. Zij proberen op deze manier politieke veranderingen er door te krijgen. De vier motieven voor Islamitische terroristen zijn daarom ook extremisme, separatisme, politiek idealisme of hun geloof in een goede zaak. Islamitische extremisten geloven in het feit dat als beloning voor daden als zelfmoordaanslagen zij als martelaren worden vereerd en dus in het paradijs terechtkomen. Als eis bij een terroristische aanslag wordt vaak de vrijlating van verschillende gevangenen geà «ist. Methoden van Islamitische terroristen: Het financieren van terroristische aanslagen kost vaak vele miljoenen euros. Er is geld nodig voor de training, uitrusting en reizen. Dit wordt vaak gefinancierd door bankovervallen, het losgeld van gijzelingen en valsemunterij. Uit onderzoek is gebleken dat Al Qaida ook een deel van hun geld doorgesluisd heeft gekregen van verschillende liefdadigheidsorganisaties, bedrijven en banken. De organisatie van islamitische terreurbewegingen gebeurt vaak in verschillende, kleine groepen (cellen). Elke cel bestaat daarbij vaak uit enkele leden. De cellen opereren vaak onder miljoenen mensen en het opsporten is daarom ook haast onmogelijk, verder is er ook zeer weinig of geen contact tussen de verschillende cellen onderling. Zo kunnen grote terreurorganisaties als Al Qaida nooit in à ©Ãƒ ©n keer worden opgespoord. Er zijn bij Islamitische terreuracties al verschillende technieken toegepast. Vliegtuigkapingen, schietpartijen in het openbaar, persoonlijke moordaanslagen, ontvoeringen en bomaanslagen. Bommen worden in autos, vliegtuigen, treinen of boten geplaatst en verschillende keren ook als raketten afgevuurd. Vaak is er ook sprake van zelfmoordaanslagen waarbij de terroristen zichzelf in een drukke omgeving tot ontploffen brengen. Hoewel er de laatste tijd veel te doen is geweest om massavernietigingswapens afkomstig van Islmatische extremisten als chemische zenuwgassen of biologische of nucleaire stoffen, wordt er ook vaak nog gebruikt gemaakt van veel simpeler materiaal. Kunstmest is een goedkope, zeer effectieve en vaak gebruikte springstof. Terrorisme in de media: Terroristische aanslagen bereiken vrijwel altijd de media. Logisch, vaak overlijden of raken er tientallen of zelfs honderden mensen gewond bij een aanslag. Er zijn op dit gebied echter wel twee verschillende soorten aanslagen te onderscheiden. Het kan gaan om een kleinschalige actie die gericht is op het executeren of ontvoeren van à ©Ãƒ ©n bepaalde persoon of een kleine groep mensen. Hierbij is het dan de bedoeling van de terroristen om mensen te laten zien dat zij het niet eens zijn met het beleid van deze persoon of het kan als waarschuwing gelden. Bij de gijzeling tijdens de Olympische Spelen werden bijvoorbeeld maar 9 mensen gegijzeld. Wel waren dit allemaal Israà «lià «rs waardoor duidelijk werd dat dit een aanslag was tegen het gehele Israà «lische volk. Het bereiken van de media is ook altijd het voornaamste doel van de terroristen. Op deze manier kunnen zij een veel groter deel van de mensen bereiken en duidelijk maken wat het doel van de aanslag was. Er worden daarom ook altijd grote gebouwen, drukke tijdstippen en grote evenementen gekozen voor een aanslag. Op deze manier proberen zij hun acties zo spectaculair mogelijk te laten overkomen bij de bevolking en hun boodschap zo duidelijk mogelijk te maken. De media is dus een belangrijk hulpmiddel van terroristen. Zo zou volgens de Israà «lische premier Benjamin Netanyahu terrorisme afnemen als er niet zoveel aandacht aan geschonken zou worden in de media. Het hoofddoel van de terroristen, namelijk publiciteit, valt dan weg. Hoofdstuk 2 Wat is de kern van het conflict tussen de Westerse wereld en de Islamitische wereld? De vele aanslagen tussen de Westerse en de Islamitische wereld zijn niet zomaar in hier terecht gekomen. Er heerst een conflict tussen deze werelden. Een conflict dat nog lang niet zal zijn afgelopen. Er is namelijk al zà ³ lang een conflict dat de werkelijk oorzaak hiervan moeilijk is vast te leggen. Het is van belang vast te stellen wat precies de kern is van dit conflict, om te kunnen kijken wat er zou moeten gebeuren om dit probleem tegen te gaan. Daarom is het ook van belang eerder samengestelde kernen van het conflict tegen elkaar af te wegen. In dit hoofdstuk zullen verschillende visies op het conflict tussen de Westerse wereld en de Islamitische wereld tegen over elkaar worden gezet. Op welke punten hebben ze gelijk en op welke niet. Er zijn 3 visies uitgekozen die worden vergeleken. In het westen is men van mening dat ieder individu mag kiezen hoe hij of zij leeft als dit maar binnen de wetsregels past. Welke religie, welke geaardheid of waar je vandaan komt horen in principe geen rol te spelen. De islam is anders. Toen de westerse invloed eind 19e eeuw de islamitische wereld bereikte, als gevolg van het kolonialisme is de islam in veel landen veranderd. Er was verdeeldheid over hoe de westerse invloed werd opgevat. Sommigen, die de westerse wereld accepteerden, probeerden te twee werelden samen te voegen en zeiden dat de islam goed samenging met de westerse wereld, anderen vonden de idealen helemaal niet zo vanzelfsprekend. De groep die zich afkeert van de westerse wereld wordt gezien als moslimfundamentalisten. Niet iedere fundamentalist zet zich af tegen het westen echter ieder die zich wel afzet is wel een fundamentalist. Het afzetten is een tegenreactie op de westerse wereld. Zo denkt Osama Bin Laden over zijn haat tegen de westerse wereld. De liberalen mos lims proberen juist de islam te vermengen met de moderne wereld. Zij willen weer terug naar een tijd waarin de sharia flexibeler was en regels ook minder streng waren. Het eerste punt is ontstaan toen de westerse wereld invloed kreeg in moslim landen en niet ieder dit accepteerde. Maar dit hoeft niet per se haat te creà «ren. De religie, de islam, schrijft dat de islam iets is van de hele gemeenschap. Vele streven dan ook naar à ©Ãƒ ©n wereldomvattende islamitische staat. Mensen die niet geloven worden ook wel kaffer genoemd. Het zijn deze gedachten, die aangeven dat de islam in principe niet open staat voor andere religies. De manier van interpreteren speelt hier natuurlijk een belangrijke rol bij. Fundamentalisten kunnen dit zien als rede voor geweld, terwijl liberalen dit geweldloos willen oplossen door een gemengde wereld te vormen. Het is ook deze verscheidenheid die er voor zorgt dat niet iedere moslim een terrorist is, maar wel de kans schept om terroristen, of vrijheidsstrijders, te laten voortkomen uit de islam. Want wat wij terroristen noemen, zien zij als vrijheidsstrijders die vrijheid willen zonder de westerse wereld. Radicale Imams: Ashfin Ellian, een (ex-) moslim en rechtsgeleerde is van mening dat het moslimterrorisme alleen te bestrijden is door een open en kritisch debat te voeren over de islam. Zo kunnen we van mekaar leren en vooroordelen verhelpen. Het echte probleem zit volgens hem bij de politieke islam. De aanhangers van de politieke islam zijn de grote vijand van de gewone moslims. Omdat die het imago van de islam negatief aantasten. Net zoals je de katholieken niet moet verwarren met het katholicisme, moet je moslims niet met de islam verwarren. Niet elke aanhanger van het katholicisme doet wat er precies staat in de bijbel of wat de paus zegt. Hetzelfde geldt voor aanhangers van de islam, daar zitten ook verschillen bij. De meesten zijn normale mensen, die hard werken om hun kinderen een toekomst te geven. Als aanhangers van de politieke islam de macht grijpen wordt het leven ondraaglijk, zoals we kunnen zien in Iran en Afghanistan. De politieke islam claimt de absolute waarheid en controle over het leven van alle mensen. Dit in tegenstelling tot de democratie van de Westerse wereld. Volgens Ashfin kan dit worden voorkomen door ervoor te zorgen dat jongeren zich niet bij hun zoektocht naar de islam opsluiten in de politieke islam. Deze jongeren worden benvloed door radicale imams, en dat moet worden tegengegaan. Eigenlijk geeft Ashfin de schuld aan de radicale imams die er voor zorgen dat jongeren aanhangers worden van de politieke islam, en dat is de basis voor een conflict. De politieke islam laat geen plaats over voor mensen die anders denken. Dit terwijl de vrijheid van meningsuiting bij velen zo belangrijk is. Ashfin Ellian zoekt de oplossing bij de nieuwe generatie radicale moslims, en het opkomen daarvan probeert hij te voorkomen. Het zijn inderdaad de radicale moslims die voor veel problemen zorgen, niet de doorsnee moslim. Ook zijn het inderdaad de radicale imams die deze boodschappen doorgeven. Echter om dit op te lossen is het houden van een open en kritisch debat geen oplossing. Want wie praten er dan op zon debat. Wie kijken ernaar, wie heeft de leiding. Het is een onrealistisch doel. Bovendien wordt een debat meestal gevoerd door mensen die bereid zijn erover te praten. Maar radicale moslims en imams zijn dat niet. Die willen niet omgaan met mensen die anders denken. Het is dus niet mogelijk dit debat te org

Human Genome Project: Legal, Ethical and Social Implications

Human Genome Project: Legal, Ethical and Social Implications In this dissertation we consider the human genome project in its wider context. We take a brief overview of the aims, the working and the sequencing techniques used together with the timeline achieved. The ability to sequence genes has given a greater understanding of the human genome. This understanding has thrown up a great many legal, social medical and ethical problems and dilemmas which clearly need tube both addressed and solved. This dissertation looks at many of the issues, analyses them, and considers some of the possible solutions. We primarily consider the situation in the UK, but comparisons are drawn with the arguably more litigious society in the USA, particularly in consideration of the legal implications of the subject. We make a consideration of the ethical position of researchers, medical professionals and also individuals whether they are considered as research subjects or simply as private citizens. We draw conclusions from our findings and present them. Introduction The Human Genome Project (HGP) was a vast and ambitious concept which was conceived in the 1980s and formally started in 1990, the main stated aim of which was to achieve the mapping of the entire human genome. It was originally anticipated that the process would take approximately 15 years and was therefore scheduled to be complete in2005/6 but the advances in technological hard and software improved sequencing ability to the extent that the entire undertaking was actually completed in 2003. The project itself involved over 1,000 principal scientists in over 200Universities, Government laboratories and private facilities. The stated and defined primary goals of the project were to: identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA, determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA, store this information in databases, improve tools for data analysis, transfer related technologies to the private sector, and address the ethical, legal, and social issues that may arise from the project. (after Collins FS et al 1998), Although the project was primarily about the sequencing of the human genome, part of the intrinsic preparatory work was carried out in the sequencing techniques of other organisms such as E Coli and Drosophila(the fruit fly) Brief description of the genome The genome of an organism is a term which relates to the sum total of the DNA of the organism. This is replicated in virtually every cell in the organism and it should be noted that it includes not only the nuclear DNA but the extra-nuclear DNA as well. It is the basic code for making all of the constituent proteins and thereby it is the ultimate determinant of the various processes that occur within the organism. The human genome has approximately 3 billion base pairs (abbreviated as A T G C). These are arranged in sequential style in the DNA double helix and are unique to an individual. There are large areas of repetition and large areas which appear to be â€Å"biologically silent† but we shall discuss this in rather greater detail later in this dissertation. (Nichols, E.K. 1998) Sequencing techniques used The eventual sequence derived in the human genome project does not represent anyone individual’s genome. The original samples were taken from multiple sperm and blood (from females) donations which were mixed and sent to labs across the world. The differences were comparatively insignificant as the vast majority (99.7+%) of the genomic sequence is identical in every individual.(Collins et al 2001) Sperm is used, as the DNA : protein ratio is higher in sperm than for other cells and is therefore easier to prepare. It should be noted that sperm contains both the male and female sex chromosomes (X Y) so equal numbers of each were added to the samples and the blood DNA was added to ensure that female derived DNA was also present. The original sequencing techniques (in the 1990s) were primarily those of gel electrophoresis, which is slow, labour intensive and expensive. It was reported that the entire human genome project team managed to sequence 200Mb of gene in 1998. Advances in technology and automotive processing allowed one participant (DOE Joint genome institute) to sequence 1.5 billion bases in one month in January 2003. (Soga, Kakazuet al 2004) It was the discovery and large-scale implementation of the capillary gel electrophoresis technique that was mainly responsible for these advances. One of the major advantages of the capillary tube method is that the comparatively larger surface area of the capillary tube allows for greater heat dissipation which was the rate limiting step for the older models as too much heat would melt the gel carrier. (Tsai et al.2004) The actual mechanism for sequencing is extremely complex but in essence each chromosome, which comprises between 50 and 250 million base pairs, is fragmented into more manageable size pieces. (the sub cloning step).Each piece is then set up as a template from which a set of smaller fragments are generated, each one is a base pair shorter than the parent (the template preparation and sequencing reaction steps). (Marsha et al 2004) The resulting fragments are separated by electrophoresis which is an ideal method because of their differing size (separation step). The end base of each fragment is then identified (base-calling step). Automated sequencers then can analyse the resulting patterns which will give representation of the base order which is then â€Å"reassembled† into blocks of about 500 bases each (for ease of handling the data) . Number of very sophisticated computer programmes then analyse the raw data for potential errors and can identify specific genes and silent areas (Krill P et al 2000) Once sequenced, the final details are placed in the public domain such as Embank for open access to all. We have made several references to the draft and final sequences. The explanation of the difference lies in the fact that there are both intrinsic errors in the processing and also in the variability of the genetic material used. The original draft sequence was published in June 2000. This was the result of each area being analysed at least 4-5times to minimise the errors. This original data was presented inspections of about 10,000 base pairs and the chromosomal locations of the genes were known at this stage. A higher quality â€Å"final† reference sequence was published in April 2003which represented a 8-9 fold sequencing of every chromosome to fill in gaps and to minimise errors which were quoted as being no more than one in 10,000 bases (Kaiser et al 2004) Human genome project timeline 1990 Official commencement of HGP work Apr. 1998 HGP passes sequencing midpoint March 1999 Target completion date for â€Å"Human genome Working Draft† accelerated to early 2000 Dec 1999 Human Chromosome 22 sequenced (first human chromosome ever sequenced) May 2000 Human Chromosome 21 sequenced March 2000 Drosophila genome completed April 2000 Draft sequences of Human Chromosome 5, 16 19 completed June 2000 Working draft of DNA sequence achieved Dec 2001 Human Chromosome 20 sequenced Dec 2002 Complete Mouse genome draft publication Jan 2003 Human Chromosome 14 sequenced June 2003 Human Chromosome Y sequenced July 2003 Human Chromosome 7 sequenced Oct 2003 Human Chromosome 6 sequenced March 2004 Human Chromosome 13 19 sequenced May 2004 Human Chromosome 9 10 sequenced Sept 2004 Human Chromosome 5 sequenced Oct 2004 Human gene count estimates changed from 20,000 to 25,000 Dec 2004 Human Chromosome 16 sequenced March 2004 Human Chromosome X sequenced April 2005 Human Chromosome 2 4 sequenced Legal issues Patenting The whole issue of patenting the genome and the offshoots of the project caused an enormous furore in medical, scientific and pharmaceutical circles. The opposing ends of the spectrum argued that, on the one hand, the benefits of such a fundamentally important piece of work should be freely available for the human race in general and the scientific community in particular, to the other who believed that the money to be made by the commercial exploitation of the genome could be used to finance other related projects. (Nuffield 2002) The culmination of the argument was that the genome was fragmented and patented piecemeal. In order to fully understand the implications of this we must explore the workings of the patent system. In the UK, patents are issued by the Patent Office. Applications must be received within 18 months of the discovery (it is 3 years in the USA). Once granted, they remain in force for 20 years from the date of issue. In order to be considered suitable for a patent to be issued a product must generally satisfy four criteria, namely: Useful – the patent application must be accompanied by some practical application of the invention (whether it has actually been applied or has been proposed in a purely theoretical sense) Novel – it must be a new, or previously unknown entity. Non-obvious –it must be a significant modification that is not simply a minor adjustment made by someone with appropriate skill and training in that particular area Detailed – the item must be described in sufficient detail to allow person who has appropriate training in the field to use it for the purpose for which it was designed. This is often referred to as the â€Å"enablement criterion† ( after Cochran and Cox. 1997) The academic argument referred to earlier was intensified by the knowledge that raw products of nature are not generally patentable. Special provision had to be made by the agencies on both sides of the Atlantic to allow for patents to be issued for genetic material. The general guiding principal in issuing patents is that they are issued on a â€Å"first to invent† basis. Where a specific application is not immediately obvious (as is the case with many pharmaceutical and bio-tech products), provisional patents can be applied for and enforced for up to one year after either discovery or publication of the findings. This is a mechanism to allow for the full implications of the finding to be worked out and patented.(Nickols F 2004) In specific reference to our considerations here, we should note that with bio-tech discoveries in general and DNA patents in particular, coincident with the application for a patent, the applicant is required to deposit a sample of their discovery in any one of 26 designated biological culture repositories which are distributed throughout the world. (Bjorn tad DJ, et al. 2002) It is a reflection of both the scale and importance of this work to appreciate that to date, there have been over 3 million separate genome-related applications for patents received on file throughout the world. The legal ramifications of this process are huge. In the UK, USA and Japan (where the bulk of the applications for genome-related patents are filed) the system requires that the details of the applications are kept completely confidential until the full patent is finally issued. As we have discussed, this process can take up to a year. (Brown,2000) The corollary of this fact is that those scientists and companies who utilise the data ( which is available on the Internet) to evaluate clinical or pharmaceutical applications of gene sequences risk the issuing of a future injunction if it transpires that those particular sequences have been the subject of a previous patent application which has subsequently turned out to be successful. (Morris AH 2002) The 3 million genome related patents include the genes themselves, gene fragments, tests for specific genes, various proteins and stem cells. To satisfy the Patent Office the four tests set out above are specifically modified to accommodate genetic material thus: (1) identify novel genetic sequences, (2) specify the sequences product, (3) specify how the product functions in nature i.e., its use (4) enable one skilled in the field to use the sequence for its stated purpose (after Caulfield 2003) Even this is not completely sufficient for the current needs of science. If we take the example of gene fragments. Their function is often not known although their structure almost invariably is. The practical applications can be extremely vague. A quoted utility of a gene fragment has been cited as â€Å"providing a scientific probe to help find another gene†. Clearly it could cause substantial practical difficulties if a patent were to be issued on such a basis, and the subsequent usage was found to be substantially different, it would not invalidate the patent. The significance of this can be fully appreciated if we consider that the typical gene fragment, comprising about 500 bases (known as expressed sequence tags or ESTs) actually represent typically about20-30% of the active chromosomal genetic material, the full chromosome may be about 40-60 times larger than this. The active chromosomal genetic material is often referred to as canal and typically only contains its information-rich (or exon) regions. The scientific importance of these gene segments are that they represent very useful tools for research as they can duplicate the actions of genes, can be synthesised in the laboratory, and remove the need for scientists to manipulate the entire gene. (HUGO 2000) It can therefore be clearly be appreciated that such gene fragments are very useful tools in genetic research and the granting of patents touch entities has sparked off another major controversy in the scientific community. There have been major representations to the various Patent Offices throughout the world not to grant such patents to these universally important entities to applicants who have neither determined the base sequence of the genes nor yet determined their function and possible uses. As a result of this, the UK and USA Patent Offices decided to issue more stringent guidelines (effective as from 2001) which required that an application for patent of a gene fragment must now specifically state how the fragment functions before a patent can be issued. The wording is specific and substantial utility that is credible, but is still considered by many to be too indeterminate. (Thompson 1992) The basis behind the objections stem from the two main arguments already put forward. Firstly the patenting of such a â€Å"bottleneck or gatekeeper† product can seriously hinder the eventual development or even the characterisation of more complex molecules. Secondly, scientists are obviously wary of utilising such entities because of the possible financial constraints and penalties that would be imposed if the particular entity that they were using subsequently was found to bathe subject of a provisional (and therefore initially secret) patent application. In essence the patent of the gene fragment could be taken out after a comparatively small amount of scientific work and exert totally disproportionate control over the possible commercial and scientific development of more advanced genome research. (Schwarz D teal 1997), There are also less obvious, but very practical, implications to this type of patenting. Let us consider the situation where patents have been separately applied for, and granted to gene fragments, the gene and various proteins that the gene expresses. Any scientist wishing to-do research in that area has not only to pay the various license holders for permission to use their patented entity, but there are also hidden costs in the research necessary to determine where (and whether)the patents have been granted. (Short ell SM et al 1998), Not all research has been hampered or driven by the restrictive practices that the issuing of patents inevitably promotes. Let us consider the case of the Welcome Foundation who, in collaboration with ten other smaller pharmaceutical concerns, agreed to form a non-profitmaking consortium whose stated goal was to find and map out an initial300,000 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). To date they have discovered nearly 2 million. In a truly philanthropic gesture they generated a publicly available SNP map of the human genome in which they patented every SNP found solely for the purpose of preventing others from making financial profit from them and making the information available to the public domain. The SNP is a single variation in the base sequence in the genome and they are found, on average, about one in every 500 base units. It can occur in an active or in a non-coding region. The effect will clearly vary depending upon the actual site of the variation but they are believed to be a fundamental cause of genetic variation which could give researchers important clues into the genetic basis of disease process or variations in responsiveness to pharmaceuticals. (Russell SJ1997) In addition it is believed that SNPs are responsible for variations in the way that humans respond to a multitude of potential pathogens and toxins. The SNP is therefore an invaluable tool in the research behind multifactorial disease process where complex environmental and genetic interactions are responsible for the overall phenotypic expression of the clinical disease state. (Santis,G et al 1994). We have referred in passing to the arguments that are currently raging relating to the issues on patenting genetic material. We should therefore consider the question of why patent at all? Would we be better off if the patent offices did not accept patents of genetic material? On first examination of the situation one might think that scientific investigation, in general terms, might proceed faster if all scientists had unlimited and free access to all information in the public domain. More careful consideration suggests however, the laws relating to intellectual property are built on the assumption that unless ownership and commercial profits can be reasonably secure (by means such as patents) few organisations would be willing to make the substantial investment that is typically necessary for development and research. The reasoning behind the mechanism of patenting intellectual property is therefore the marrying together of the need to secure a potential income from one’s work with the ability to allow the transparency of full publication of one’s discoveries which will therefore allow others to consider and utilise the information in their own research. (Berwick. 1996) Consideration of this point will suggest that the only other effective means of safeguarding the costs of one’s research would be total secrecy which clearly would not be in the general interest of the scientific community. If we add to the general thrust of this argument, the fact that, in general terms, the costs of development(post-invention) far outweigh the costs of research (pre-invention) we can see the economic sense in allowing innovative research-based firms the financial security of development by preserving the profit incentives by means of the Patent. (DGP 2002) In general terms we could view the patent mechanism as a positive development.(McGregor D 1965). Perhaps it is the breadth and number of the patents allowed in the field of genomic research that is the prime cause of unease in the scientific community. Special cases The arguments presented above can be broadened further if one of the natural extensions of the human genome project is the research into the possibility of cloning. We will not consider the (currently totally illegal) possibility of human cloning per se, but the therapeutic embryo cloning for the purposes of harvesting human stem cells. Such cells have immense potential for the study and therapy of a great number of disease process. As such they have enormous value as both intellectual and commercial property. The background to our discussion here includes consideration of the fact that courts in both the UK and the USA (Diamond v. Chakrabarty1980) have set precedents that single celled organisms (genetically modified bacteria) were intrinsically patentable. Legal argument then followed and shortly after there were similar rulings in favour of the patentability of simian stem cells. It logically follows that human stem cells should be afforded the same legal protection. The problem arises then that such a move would offend other legal principles such as technical ownership of another human being.(PGA 2001) Clearly there are enormous, and some would say insurmountable, difficulties in this region. We present this point simply to illustrate the potential difficulties surrounding ownership of the human genome. Broader legal issues Matters relating to the legal implications arising from the human genome project already fill countless volumes and we do not propose to make an exhaustive examination of the subject. There are however, number of major issues that arise either directly or indirectly from this project. They are largely interlinked with major social and ethical considerations and society, as a whole, has looked to the law to provide authoritative answers to some of them. (Stripling R et al.1992) One of the major problems associated with the potential ability to decipher the human genome is what to do with the information that it gives us. The ability to â€Å"read genes† brings with it the ability to discriminate with increasing degrees of subtlety. Discrimination is inevitably linked (historically, at least) with varying degrees of injustice. Whether it is the more obvious forms of discrimination such as insurance loading on the basis of predisposition to disease traits or more insidious and pernicious scenarios such as the ability to discriminate by genetic association with various ethnic groups, the ability is there. Will it become acceptable to refuse a mortgage application on the grounds that a person has been found to have a genetic disposition towards gastric cancer? Could health insurance premiums be based on an interpretation of various aspects of one’s genome? Some lawyers have already voiced their concerns about the ability of the law to provide genetic defences where it may be possible to challenge prosecutions on the ability to undermine the ethical principle of the validity of individual responsibility. The concept of free-will may be legally challenged in the prospect of discovery of various genetic traits that may predispose the individual to any one oaf number of behaviour patterns such as antisocial or thrill-seeking behaviour or violence. (Laurie G 2004) We currently accept that some manifestations of the human genome are now routinely enshrined in virtually unchallengeable law. DNA identification in criminal law is commonplace and scarcely questioned. Paternity suits are settled on the basis of genetic make-up. It doesn’t take a quantum leap of intuition to appreciate that there may soon be potential negligence cases brought against physicians and the like who fail to warn patients against the possibility of developing the ever increasing number of disease processes that are thought to have a genetic predisposition or component. The converse of that dilemma is should we expect physicians to suppress information found by genetic testing if there is no known cure? It follows that if we do not then people could be condemned to live with the knowledge that they are statistically likely to develop any one oaf number of diseases that they may very well, in other circumstances, have chosen to live in ignorance of. (Hyde, SC et al. 1993) Such cases have already surfaced, unsurprisingly in the USA. The estate of a colonic cancer victim unsuccessfully tried to sue a physician who failed to warn him about a genetic predisposition to colonic cancer from which he subsequently died. (Safer v Estate of Peck 1996) Some measures have been taken to try to protect exploitation of the genetic status of individuals where it is known. In the USA, some 16states have enacted laws to prevent both health and other insurance companies from using any form of genetic information to load premiums or to refuse cover. The initial reaction to these moves was one of delight, but it soon became clear that this was only of any potential value when the individual was asymptomatic. There was no bar to premium levels once the symptoms became apparent. To some extent, although the same level of legal prohibition does not apply in the UK, there is little difference. In this country, insurance companies will still load premiums or refuse cover once symptoms are apparent. (Rothstein MR1999) Social and medical considerations As we have implied earlier in this piece, the fundamental nature and importance of the human genome project to humanity as a whole means that its impact has great implications for the fields of law, ethics and social considerations. This is hardly surprising as, at the most basic level, all these three considerations are inextricably linked. Many of the social implications are also tied up with medical considerations and therefore we shall consider both of these elements together. Humans, as a race, have about 3 million pairs of bases that determine their genetic identity. Interpersonal differences between individual humans however, are determined by only one tenth of one present of our collective DNA. These three million base pairs are ultimately responsible for the physical and perhaps behavioural diversity that we observe in our species. (Erickson 1993) It is in the nature of inheritance that this variation has accumulated across the generations by small mutations or variations in the base sequences. These small differences are ultimately responsible for all human diversity including many overt disease process and predisposition or resistance to others. It is clearly important where these mutations take place as some have no functional effect, others may confer some form of advantage or benefit (and thereby the motive factor behind the evolutionary processes) others may cause disease or even be incompatible with life.(Griesenbach U et al 2002), It can be argued that all disease process have at least a genetic component. It can be completely due to a genetic malfunction such as the defect in the single gene for the cystic fibrosis transmembraneconductance regulator (CFTR) which results in an abnormal expression of one protein (the protein is still expressed, but due to one amino acid irregularity it folds in a different way) which results in the clinical situation of cystic fibrosis. (Piteous DJ et al 1997). Equally it may be due to a variation in the genetic code that modifies how the immune system responds to a particular pathogen (Yoshimura, K et al. 1992). As we understand how our genome influences literally every aspect of our health we will inevitably discover more ways to combat and tackle the diseases of mankind. Before we move on to discuss overtly social and ethical considerations we should logically extend the appraisal and examination of the medical issues, as they have a pronounced bearing on these other areas. With the advent of a greater understanding of the human genome and the cellular mechanisms of regulation and disease comes the prospect of gene therapy. On the one hand, the potential benefits for the sufferers of single gene mutation syndromes such as Tay Asch’s disease and Sickle Cell Anaemia are clear and undisputed, and yet the same technology has enormous social and ethical ramifications. There are thought to be about 4,000 single gene defect syndromes known to medical science at present (Termite, S et al 1998). These are the prime targets for the gene therapy researchers There are also an enormous number of more complex, but still primarily genetically determined disease process, such as Alzheimers Disease and schizophrenia, together with the commoner Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension variants which, although having a genetic component, are thought to be manifested after a period of interaction with environmental factors. It is quite possible that the techniques of gene therapy could ultimately be applied to these conditions as well.(Sikorski R et al 1998), Social and medical benefits The advent of understanding of gene function leads to other developments in the fields of both diagnostics and possibly preventative medicine. There is already considerable debate in pharmaceutical circles about the ability of researchers to utilise genetic information to make predictive assumptions about the ability of individuals to metabolise drugs. (Sailor R et al. 1998).One of the big problems with pharmacology is that, although a normal response to a particular drug can be predicted reasonably accurately, there are variations in genetic make-up which cause marked differences in threat of metabolism and excretion of some drugs. In many cases, these differences are of minor clinical importance, but in anaesthetic and cytotoxic drugs, the differences can be lethal. (Wriggle DJ 2004). As extension of this thread of argument is that it is known that some malignancies will respond well to some cytotoxic agents while others will show no response at all. The point behind these comments is that there are considerable efforts in the pharmaceutical industry to identify the particular regions of the genome which are ultimately responsible for these differences. If they can be found it follows that they may either be capable of modification (by gene therapy or other mechanism) or their effect can be measured so that the dose (or even the type) of medication can be adjusted with far more confidence in the knowledge of the likely pharmacodynamics of that individual patient.(Spindle et al 2002). It is the ultimate hope and goal of these efforts that the pharmaceutical industry will ultimately be able to speed up the process of drug development, make the drugs faster and more effective while dramatically reducing the number of adverse drug reactions observed. Social and medical difficulties Gene tests are currently in the process of being developed as a direct result of the human genome project. Some are already commercially available. the social implications here are huge. Quite apart from the medical implications of being able to predict the likelihood of possibly developing certain disease processes, there are legal and social applications as well. Courts have been presented with the results of gene tests in cases as diverse as medical malpractice, privacy violations, criminal cases and even child custody battles.(Diamond. B. 2001) The immediate difficulty in this area is, firstly that there is insufficient knowledge to be able to interpret the results of the gene tests with 100% accuracy. This, when combined with the knowledge that many of the conditions that currently can be tested for have no known or successful treatment, leads to enormous social and ethical dilemmas. While it may be considered quite reasonable to tell a person that they are carrying a defective gene for cystic fibrosis ( as a carrier state, rather than a symptomatic individual) and thereby allow them to make positive decisions with regard to whether they choose to run the risk of passing that particular gene on to future generations. Is it reasonable to tell someone in their 20s that they are likely to develop Alzheimer’s Disease in their 60s? How will that knowledge impinge upon their approach to life? (Douglas C 2002) Equally how will such knowledge affect the eventual application and acceptance of health insurance policies which are currently worked out on