Failures of Capital Punishment Essay -- essays papers

Failures of Capital Punishment Is the death penalty a just way of punishing those who commit a horrible crime? The answer to that depends on the standpoint of an individual. Fox Butterfield of the New York Times notices that â€Å"In the view of some, the failure to enforce the death penalty reflects and enduring ambivalence about the capital punishment. Others say that the death penalty opponents have found ways to triumph over the public will to carry out executions.† In a capitalistic standpoint, there is the notion that it simply costs too much. There is another and more simple standpoint and that is that the death penalty is not working. This is where I personally stand on the issue. The death penalty is a just punishment for a convicted individual, but the system in the United States is not functioning properly for it to be a means of punishment. As far as deterrence goes, Amnesty international states that â€Å"studies have consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments.† Roger Hood, an author that wrote The Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective, Notes the UN’s research on the subject and states that â€Å" ‘Research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment and such proof is unlikely forthcoming. The evidence as a whole still gives no positive support to the deterrent hypothesis†¦.† Hood is strongly for the abolition of the death penalty. He explains that â€Å"abolition has harmful effects. In Canada, the homicide rate per 100,000 population fell from a peak of 3.09 in 1975, the year before the abolition of the death penalty for murder, to 2.41 in 1980, and since then it has remained relat... ...bolish the death penalty.† The cost issue is another standpoint opposing capital punishment. The fact that the capital punishment process has some major flaws is a good reason to think about whether or not America should incorporate it as a punishment. Sure, many people are for the idea if it, but there are too many legal issues and problems that are defeating the purpose if the death penalty. Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, an anti-death penalty group, claims â€Å"that the zeal for capital punishment will eventually wane.† Once Americans realize that the capital punishment system is not perfectly functional, then change will occur. The bottleneck in the courts and jails across the country will be cleared, and the United States of America will be added to Amnesty International’s list of countries that have abolished the death penalty.

How effective is this scene as an opening to Shakespeare’s play? Essay

Othello begins on a street in Venice; Act 1 scene 1 of Othello is a good opening to the rest of the play as it starts in the middle of an argument. This argument is between Iago, an evil, manipulative and jealous man, and Roderigo a rich man who is susceptible to everything Iago tells him. I think this is a good opening because it begins by telling the main point of the story straight away – from the first few opening statements it is clear that Iago knows something that he is going to use against a man whom he hates, Othello, it is a simple conversation between two men, but they are plotting something, this could instantly grab the audiences attention as they would be intrigued to find out what it is about. Just from the opening scene the audience finds out that Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him win the love of Desdemona; the one he loves, but he has seen no progress, and he has just found out that Desdemona has married Othello, the general whom Iago serves and hates. One of the main reasons that Iago hates Othello is because Othello promoted Cassio over Iago; the job Iago wanted and believed he deserved was taken. In spite of Iago’s service in battle and the recommendation of three â€Å"great ones† of the city, Othello chose to give the position to a man with no experience leading men in battle. As he waits for an opportunity to get his own back, and plots to get the job he wanted, Iago only pretends to serve Othello. He believes he will get the job: â€Å"I know my price: I am worth no worse a place† â€Å"In following him I follow but myself; Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, But seeming so for my peculiar end.† This quote is spoken about the Moor Othello; Iago plans to get his own back in some way for the loss of the job offer, but he will not let out too much of his schemes in the first scene, all of the plotting fits together later on in the play, this is also a good way to get the audiences attention throughout the play as it all builds up gradually, the suspense and the different ideas, they are all put into place for an effect that has eventually gathered from beginning to end to reveal the many mysteries made in the play. This also causes a lot of confusion later on, and involves the audience through soliloquies, the audience may appreciate being included in the play as though the characters are speaking to them as it makes them part of the story. The opening scene also shows the deviousness of Iago, just by giving advice he automatically tells Roderigo to lie and manipulate Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. â€Å"Call up her father, Rouse him, make after him, poison his delight† All of Iago’s advice of telling Brabantio involves influencing his side of the story to make it unfair – he is telling Roderigo to explain to Brabantio that Othello is bad news, and to advertise the fact that Othello is black, where as Roderigo is white – making him a better choice for his poor daughter. In order to do this, the two men come to the street outside the house of Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, and cry out that he has been robbed by â€Å"thieves.† Brabantio, a Venetian senator, comes to the window. At first, he doesn’t believe what he hears, because he has told Roderigo to stay away from his daughter before and thinks Roderigo is merely scheming once again in order to see Desdemona, which ironically he is. Iago makes it seem worse than it is, by vulgarly telling the senator that his daughter and Othello are having sex by putting it as though they are â€Å"making the beast with two backs†, this makes it seem very vulgar. Brabantio begins to take what he hears seriously and decides to search for his daughter. Iago’s plan was successful and so he went to Othello. This scene has already made the play exciting by stirring things up in Othello’s relationship – we haven’t even met the character yet although we know that he is very high ranking in his work and that he has dis-owned the trust of a senator. Seeing as this is all the doing of Iago and his poisonous words we get the picture that Othello is a respectable man but for some reason he can easily loose trust in people. By not meeting the main character in the first scene it makes the audience keen and interested to find out more about this character, another good way to start off the story. Like Brabantio, Othello has no idea of Iago’s role in Roderigo’s accusations. Iago is with Roderigo whilst he tells him of the doings of his daughter, but as soon as they have informed Brabantio Iago departs on the note that he wasn’t to be involved any more, Brabantio comes out of his house, furious that his daughter has left him. Declaring that his daughter has been stolen from him by magic â€Å"charms,† Brabantio and his men follow Roderigo to Othello. The first scene of act 1 shows a small amount of what is to come in the rest of the play, such as, Iago always creates the tension in the atmosphere by messing around with peoples feelings and emotions – managing to get them to do reckless things (also happens a lot later on) yet he always manages to leave the scene before he gets involved in the situation. I think that this is also another good way of beginning the play as it shows signs of what is soon to come next. Overall I think that this is a very effective way to open a Shakespeare play as it is very dramatic instantly and gives enough of the story to know vaguely what the story will be about but it also leaves a lot out to make it very interesting – I think it would make the audience want to carry on watching to see what will happen is it is not entirely predictable of what may happen just from the opening scene – although it is very informative. It is almost like a cliffhanger as it keeps the audience in suspense about the main character, as they do not get to meet him to begin with, this is a dramatic way to begin the play.

Natural Disasters Causes And Impacts Of Hurricane Katrina

Natural disasters have struck the hearts of many, causing injury, devastation, and fatalities. When a natural disaster occurs the feeling of uneasiness, survival, and humanity is tested during these times. Hurricane Katrina is one of many, the deadliest, damaging, and expensive Hurricanes that struck the nation. Hurricane Katrina hit the southern coast affecting Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana on August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina’s powerful wind and extreme flooding took a major toll on New Orleans Louisiana. The biggest impact of the Hurricane ravaged homes, businesses, and organization, leaving thousands dead, and millions homeless. Days before the tropical storm reached landfall, Governor Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana†¦show more content†¦At this point communication was a major factor in this particular crisis, many were in search of their love ones, many needed information on the storm, and organizations were unable to reach one another to assist. So, with so much confusion going on, information was desperately needed and the lack of communication eventually lead to one of the biggest failures in crisis communication. It wasnt the first time for Louisiana to have a hurricane crisis. In 2004 a year before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was hit with a major storm that left many homeless and many dead. If that storm wasn’t bad enough many people were still skeptical of how traumatic Hurricane Katrina could really be. Geologist for years predicted the destruction that was yet to come for the state of Louisiana but, no one imagined that this hurricane and the city levees would flood and cause this total mass destruction. However, for some reason the Hurricane signs before Katrina were still not enough. As we learn in our textbook, â€Å"in any crisis plan you have warning signs called Prodromes, which are crucial to prevent and have the best cure for any crisis. 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