Australopithecus Facts and Figures

Australopithecus Facts and Figures Name: Australopithecus (Greek for southern ape); pronounced AW-strah-low-pih-THECK-us Habitat: Plains of Africa Historical Epoch: Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene (4-2 million years ago) Size and Weight: Varies by species; mostly about four feet tall and 50-75 pounds Diet: Mostly herbivorous Distinguishing Characteristics: Bipedal posture; relatively large brain About Australopithecus Although theres always the possibility that a stunning new fossil discovery will upset the hominid apple cart, for now, paleontologists agree that the prehistoric primate Australopithecus was immediately ancestral to genus Homo- which today is represented by only a single species, Homo sapiens. (Paleontologists have yet to pin down the exact time when the genus Homo first evolved from Australopithecus; the best guess is that Homo habilis derived from a population of Australopithecus in Africa about two million years ago.) The two most important species of Australopithecus were A. afarensis, named after the Afar region of Ethiopia, and A. africanus, which was discovered in South Africa. Dating to about 3.5 million years ago, A. afarensis was about the size of a grade-schooler; its human-like traits included a bipedal posture and a brain slightly bigger than a chimpanzees, but it still possessed a distinctly chimp-like face. (The most famous specimen of A. afarensis is the famous Lucy.) A. africanus appeared on the scene a few hundred thousand years later; it was similar in most ways to its immediate ancestor, although slightly bigger and better adapted to a plains lifestyle. A third species of Australopithecus, A. robustus, was so much bigger than these other two species (with a bigger brain as well) that its now usually assigned to its own genus, Paranthropus. One of the most controversial aspects of the various species of Australopithecus is their presumed diets, which is related intimately to their use (or non-use) of primitive tools. For years, paleontologists assumed that Australopithecus subsisted mostly on nuts, fruits, and hard-to-digest tubers, as evidenced by the shape of their teeth (and the wear on tooth enamel). But then researchers discovered evidence of animal butchering and consumption, dating to about 2.6 and 3.4 million years ago, in Ethiopia, demonstrating that some species of Australopithecus may have supplemented their plant diets with small servings of meat- and may (emphasis on the may) have used stone tools to kill their prey. However, its important not to overstate the extent to which Australopithecus was similar to modern humans. The fact is that the brains of A. afarensis and A. africanus were only about a third the size of those of Homo sapiens, and theres no convincing evidence, aside from the circumstantial details cited above, that these hominids were capable of using tools (though some paleontologists have made this claim for A. africanus). In fact, Australopithecus seems to have occupied a place fairly far down on the Pliocene food chain, with numerous individuals succumbing to predation by the meat-eating megafauna mammals of their African habitat.

The Lifespan Development and Personality of Diana, Princess of Wales

The Lifespan Development and Personality of Diana, Princess of Wales Free Online Research Papers This paper focuses on the life span development and personality of Diana, Princess of Wales. Diana Frances Spencer, the third daughter of four children born into British aristocracy by her parents, Frances Shand Kydd and John Spencer was born on July 1, 1961. Her parents separated in 1967 and the children remained living with their father. Upon the death of her paternal grandfather, Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer in 1975, Dianas father became the 8th Earl Spencer. She became Lady Diana Spencer and the family moved to the familys sixteenth-century ancestral home of Althorp (Wikipedia Contributors, 2007). Six years after becoming Lady Diana Spencer, at age of 20, she married the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles who was 13 years her elder. The ceremony was one of the century’s grandest royal weddings and she became HRH The Princess of Wales. The following year she became mother of Prince William and two years later she became the mother to son Prince Harry. In December, 1992, Diana and Charles separated and divorced in 1996. In July, 1997 she was in a tragic fatal automobile accident. Impacts on Her Life Childhood Childhood is the development in one’s life between infancy and adolescence. Diana was born into a family of privilege and royal descent where money was not an issue. She was home schooled until the age of nine. She was a quiet and reserved child living a happy life until her parents divorced when she was eight. Shortly thereafter she became visibly depressed. Adolescence Adolescence is a period in one’s life in which major physiological, cognitive, and behavioral changes take place. The actual age may vary but generally occurs somewhere between the ages of 12 through 18. This is a critical stage where a child attempts to become independent, wants to establish their identity and there are noticeable changes in their behavior. Adolescence occurs when a child begins physical and psychological development from the onset of puberty to maturity. Several changes occurred in Diana’s life during these phase. Due to the death of her Grandfather, she gained the title of Lady. She also began attending boarding school of which was a bit difficult for her along with the fact that she academically struggled, became lonely and homesick. Adult Development Adult development was again a difficult stage in the life of Lady Diana. She became engaged and later married Prince Charles thus becoming known to the world as HRH The Princess of Wales. Out of the marriage were born two children. From the onset of the engagement, she became a target for the media and was considered the most photographed woman in history and was always in the public eye. Shortly after the marriage, her and her husband grew apart. She became extremely lonely, depressed and diagnosed with bulimia, a psychological eating disorder characterized by abnormal perception of body image, constant craving for food and binge eating, followed by self-induced vomiting or laxative usually affecting female adolescents or young female adults (Schimelpfening, 2007). Ultimately, the two divorced in August, 1996 and she became Diana, Princess of Wales until her untimely death one year later. Influences of Heredity and Environment on Psychological Development Being born into a family with noble ancestral heritage, certain influences significantly impacted the psychological development of Diana. Her moral development was greatly enhanced by the heredity and environment as a child. Upon entering adulthood, the moral development was further enhanced while expectations became greater nearing the title of the HRH The Princess of Wales; however, her emotional development was always a difficult process for her. From the time of her birth to around 8 years old, she maintained a relatively normal lifestyle. The divorce of her parents was of course, difficult and preparing to live a fairy tale life was difficult as well primarily when the fairy tale life was falling apart. The difficulties in her marriage seemed to make her stronger and more visible in terms of charity work and media. The support systems for her played a reverse role whereas she focused on helping others to make her the happiest. Theories of Personality Erickson’s theory is that development extends throughout the life-span and is divided into periods or stages. The amount of conflict in each stage determines whether the positive or negative pole is learned. Each stage is marked by a conflict, for which successful resolution will result in a favorable outcome. Stage five Adolescence: 12-18 years, where the conflict is identity versus confusion was difficult for Diana, resulting in loneliness and depression. Her title, identity and expectations changed a couple of times throughout this period in her life and the direction her life was taking in becoming the wife of Prince Charles was exhausting. Stage six Young Adulthood: 18-40 years, presents conflicts in intimacy versus isolation as part of her failed marriage. The media also rumored her as having several love relationships, yet failing at those as well. During this stage of her life, she became extremely lonely, depressed and was diagnosed with bulimia. Another personality theory which can be applied to Diana is humanistic psychology which is known to be difficult because there are no agreed-upon definitions of what constitutes a humanistic personality theory. The following four elements are central to the general viewpoint to which the humanistic label is applied: (1) an emphasis on personal responsibility, (2) an emphasis on the here and now, (3) a focus on the phenomenology of the individual, and (4) an emphasis on personal growth. In giving a brief description on each element listed, personal responsibility strictly means that one is ultimately responsible for what happens to them, the here and now perspective means an individual should focus on what is going on with his or her life at a specific point in relationship to time opposed to reminiscing about the past or daydreaming of a future event. The phenomenology of the individual basically means that individuals know themselves better than anyone else does and the personal gro wth element means that there is more to life than simply having immediate needs met and that people are not content when their immediate needs have been met. Rather they are motivated to continue their development in a positive manner. Diana excelled on the elements one, three and four primarily when it came to her ambassador role and helping in the over 100 charities. Best Theoretical Approach There is no best theoretical approach to Diana’s individual behaviors and achievements. Each stage of her life based on Erickson’s theory is clearly identified and marked with conflict which is basically textbook Erickson. The humanistic theory holds three of the key ingredients to Diana’s uniqueness; however, she does not in my opinion meet the criteria of element two. She gave her time and herself to raise millions of dollars for many causes. These causes primarily would benefit the sick, homeless and the poor. Many examples exist of her physically touching HIV/AIDS patients, sitting with children dying of cancer or personal visits to homeless shelters and leprosy wards or. â€Å"She was known to take her sons, Princes William and Harry, with her to poverty-stricken areas of South London to meet homeless people camped in cardboard shelters. She ministered to the children and adult victims of unrestrained landmines. To outsiders, her life began in a fairytale f ashion; yet she rose to demonstrate to the world that one can overcome adversity and leave a meaningful legacy. She restored a sense of mission and humanity in a stodgy institution, the monarchy of England† (Nieboer, 2007). Conclusion Diana will be remembered not for just one of her accomplishments, but for many from birthing the future King of England to showing kindness to the sick, to touring an Angolan minefield, to being identified as the â€Å"People’s Princess†. Her personality was caring and giving, but did not come without struggles from within herself. Amongst the sadness in her life, Diana developed into a highly respected woman and was noted for her sense of style, charisma, humor and high-profile charity work. She developed into not only notable leader, but an inspiration for many people throughout the world. Upon her death, the world was greatly saddened by the loss. The loss generated an intense outpouring of grief and widespread public mourning throughout not only Britain, but the world as well and created an unprecedented event of social psychology in terms of mass mourning and outpouring of emotions. References Nieboer, S. (2007). Diana, Princess of Wales. Learning to give. Retrieved May 12, 2007 from Website: learningtogive.org/papers/index.asp?bpid=88 Schimelpfening, N. (2007). Depression. Retrieved May 12, 2007 from Website: http://depression.about.com/mbiopage.htm Wikipedia Contributors (2007). Diana, Princess of Wales. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diana%2C_Princess Life Span Development and Personality of Princess Diana Research Papers on The Lifespan Development and Personality of Diana, Princess of WalesPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceHip-Hop is Art19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Essay

The best institution of engineering in the United States Essay

The best institution of engineering in the United States - Essay Example The researcher will begin with the statement that he began to think of his future career while in the kindergarten and based on his upbringing and family background nothing meant sense to him other than being an engineer. This was the prime reason as to why the author enrolled in a government technical high school Kumba in Cameroon. His passion for engineering was cemented while in this technical institute. To a considerable extent, the researcher’s parents positively influenced his dream of becoming an engineer. Since the author’s childhood, his parents have nurtured and inculcated virtues of an engineer in his life. After his high school studies, the researcher was chosen among the best students who were selected to work in an engineering company. Being in this engineering environment for a period of more than one year had a long-lasting impact on his future life as an electrical engineer. Working in this company motivated author’s desire to pursue his studies in the field of electrical engineering, where he obtained an associate in electrical engineering with a GPA of 3.2 from the University of Douala in Cameroon. Importantly, while working hard, the researcher knew that to attain his dream, securing admission in the best institution that offers engineering was fundamental. This should be an institution with a well-cultivated culture of engineering. This implied obtaining admission to the University of Maryland.

Unit 3 Discussion Board Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Unit 3 Discussion Board - Essay Example our seafood products so that not only we provide tasty sea food but also the healthy and fresh food which can be taken as an alternative to the mainstream food supplies. Based on this, our core strategies include value proposition as well as the product positioning. As discussed our main focus will be on creating value added seafood products therefore based on this proposition, we intend to add value to the processed seafood by making various seafood dishes and prepare them as ready to cook products. It is because of this fact that we are planning to sell fresh and preserved Fish, Frozen seafood, Processed and Canned Seafood, Preserved and Frozen oven ready fish dishes for modern food service. The value proposition in this whole product will be the perceived health benefits which a customer can enjoy by eating white meat. Backed by latest research, we will market our product based on the idea that eating seafood is not only healthy but it can also provide great taste when cooked and processed in our way. Regarding the product positioning, as discussed earlier that we are intending to target the hospitality sector of UAE therefore, there will be two channels involved in carrying out our strategy. Firstly, we will target the hotels which will be selling our product and secondly, we intend to open our own stores cum restaurants which will be used to sell our product range. Since this will be an international venture and product positioning in international market require that products can be evoked and distributed as bundles of attribute capable of generating benefits for the customer (Johansson, 1985) therefore we believe that our product will include an intangible perceived benefits to the customer in terms of taste and healthy

Qualitative Article Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Qualitative Article Critique - Essay Example In these cases asking patients about their symptoms is important, and the nurses must know what to ask for. This leads to both the problem and purpose of this study, where the nurses' perceptions about their abilities to assess and advise these patients are not known and hence need to be studied. This is a suffieciently narrow yet sigbificant problem in palliative care nursing where the disease needing palliative care has many problems per se, and depression is a common occurrence as an association that may be neglected easily. The population is thus about to die due to any cause where treatment fails, settiing become palliative care, and the variables become the nurses' perceptions about their knowledge and confidence about depression in these patients, and depressive symptoms. This also clarifoes the aim of the study which is to gather information about these variables. As evident, this problem is relevant to nursing care, since if they are proved to be having string perceptions ab out the depression and its effect on these patients, they can engage these patients into discussion about their depression, and that can be additional responsibility of these nurses while delivering palliative care. This study was very feasible in terms of money commitment and with certainty of availability of subjects in the palliatice care settings. This would not add to the extra cost since existing facilities and services would be used, and no extra equipment would be necessary. Ethically this was a sound hypothesis, and there are no reasons for it to be not ethically cleared by the appropriate authority. The authors are qualified and they are, although not categorically mentioned it seems, professors of university nursing schools. Literature Review 1. Are relevant previous studies identified and described 2. Are relevant theories and models identified and described 3. Are the references current Examine the number of sources in the past 5 and 10 years in the reference list. 4. Are the studies critiqued by the author 5. Is a summary of the current knowledge provided This summary needs to include what is known and not known about the research problem. 6. Is the literature review organized to demonstrate the progressive development of ideas through previous research 7. Is a theoretical knowledge base developed for the problem and purpose 8. Does the literature review provide a rationale direction for the study 9. Does the summary of the current empirical and theoretical knowledge provide a basis for the study The authors have identified many relevant previous studies and have reviewed them in brief, so the reader can follow the problem while reading these. These have been presented in a systematic manner so the rationality of the research question becomes explicit to the

Common Agricultural Policy by European Union

Common Agricultural Policy by European Union The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a policy, set forth by the European Union (EU). It also comprises of a set of rules that control the manufacture, trade, and processing of agricultural products. The CAP currently accounts for almost fifty percent of the EU budget, however, this number continues to decrease over the years. The CAP is significant in that it symbolizes Europes switch from sovereignty on a national level to a European level. The CAP is funded by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF).This fund is allocated into two different sections, the Guidance section and the Guarantee section. The Guidance section is one of the structural funds, which contributes to the structural improvements in agriculture and the development of rural areas; the Guarantee section funds expenditures concerning the common organization of the markets. Storage taxes, manufacture taxes, and portions of each member states Gross National Product (GNP) also finances the CAP. The Treaty of Rome, in July 1958, formed the foundation for a unified Europe via the implementation of the general objectives for the CAP. â€Å"The CAP was established as a means of rectifying the deficit in food production within Europe through supporting internal prices and incomes† (Blair 123-124). The CAP succeeded in realizing its initial goals of increased production and productivity, stabilized markets, secured supplies, and farmer protection. However, the system included problems, which became apparent as the Community established a surplus for most of its agricultural products. First, the CAP increased output beyond the markets need via the guaranteeing of prices through intervention and production aids. Second, the very success of the Cap caused tension within the Communitys trading partners as subsidized exports affected the market, and thirdly, the desire to produce more food brought with it environmental damage to certain regions (Blair 123-4). The legal base for the CAP is defined in Articles 32-38 in Title II of the EC Treaty, in which, Articles 33-34 form the basic foundation for the CAP. Article 33 lists the objectives of the CAP as a means, â€Å"to increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring the balanced development of agricultural production and the optimal utilization of the factors of production, to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particular by increasing the individual earnings of persons engaged in agriculture, to stabilize markets, to assure the availability of supplies, and to ensure that supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices† (europa.eu.int).Through Article 34 came the creation of the Common Organization of the Agricultural Markets (COM). These COMs were to take on one of three different forms, depending on the product. They successfully eliminate obstacles to intra-Union trade while also keeping a common customs barrier with respect to countries outside the Union. Results of the COMs include a unified market in which products move freely between nations, community preference, in which EU products are always given preference, price advantage over imported products, and financial solidarity in which all expenses by the CAP are covered by the Community budget. The CAP has had a long history of reform, and is nowhere near perfect. The main attempt of improvement came just ten years after its operation. In 1968, the Mansholt Plan in which he aimed at rationalizing farming with the community, giving farmers an adequate income and reducing the burden of subsidies in the economy was put into effect in an attempt to reduce the number of people in the agriculture business and to promote more efficient means of agricultural production. In 1972, the extensive food surpluses were targeted through the creation of structural measures designed to modernize European agriculture. This attempt at reform is generally regarded as a failure because many of the problems it tried to fix were still left unchecked. In 1983, a publication was released entitled, The Green Paper, which sought to balance the on-going differences between supply and demand through improvements in production. In 1988, the European Council agreed on various reform measures. The â€Å"a gricultural expenditure guideline,† limited the percentage of CAP expenditure in the complete budget. In 1991-92 the future of the CAP was addressed through what has been called, â€Å"The MacSharry Reforms† in which the reforms included the cutback of agricultural prices to make the products more competitive, compensation for farmers that incurred a loss in income, and environmental protection. With the positive effects on European agriculture, the reform of 1992 was generally regarded as successful. However, international trends, the expansion towards Central and Eastern Europe, the preparation of the single currency causing budget constraints, the increasing competitiveness of products from non-member countries, and a new round of World Trade Organization negotiations forced further adaptation of the CAP† (europa.eu.int). In July 1997, â€Å"Agenda 2000† was created to address many of the important issues facing the EU and the CAP. the reinforcement of t he competitiveness of agricultural commodities in domestic and world markets were the key focuses of this new agenda , the promotion of a fair standard of living, the creation of extra sources of income for farmers, a new rural development policy, revamped environmental considerations, better food quality and safety, and the simplification of CAP legislation. The European Unions common agricultural policy protects and subsidizes agriculture so heavily as to bring serious social losses to the Economic Union. The policy creates inadequacies in the agriculture sector as well as other sectors of society such as manufacturing, textiles, and service industries. Furthermore, â€Å"there have been many economic consequences of the CAP, including the high level of protection, the burdens on consumers, taxpayers, and the EU budget, environmental damage, the harm to international trading relations, and the failure to raise farmers incomes† (Howarth 4). There have been a number of negative effects on the European Union countries. First and foremost, the Common Agricultural Policy has kept agricultural prices in the member countries above world market prices. â€Å"The CAP has encouraged production of certain products to the extent that net importers of these products have become net exporters† (Rosenblatt 9). Also, the CAP has contributed to large agricultural net export or stock-building by the European community. This has contributed to the CAP hindering the economies of the EU member countries. Higher food prices, which the CAP causes, and which fall hardest on the least well off, hinder economic development and reduce international competitiveness and EU employment. Consumers lose twice under this policy since they have to pay higher prices for their good and pay taxes to subsidize the agricultural sector. The CAP has also led to inefficiencies in production and the European Unions total budget. The European Unions expenditures on agriculture consume roughly 45 percent of their total budget (Rosenblatt 36). The expenditures are paid to keep farmers from letting land go idle, and there is no condition on what types of crops are to be grown on this land. Under the Common Agricultural Policy, farmers tend to harvest more profitable crops on land that is not as suitable for their growth. For example, producers have switched over from producing wheat and oil seeds to butter because the EU has such a high price support for it. This causes the market to go from excess supply to excess demand, and the producers are becoming a net exporter of butter (Pugel 312). Thus, farmers may actually grow crops for which production costs are not covered by the prevailing market prices, but payments make production of these crops profitable to them. The CAP has also caused concern for the environment as well as concerns for the economy. Because of the subsidies provided to farmers, they have the incentive to produce more agricultural products because they will receive more money. The CAP price policies have encouraged intensive farming and the overuse of antibiotics, pesticides, and nitrates. This has put a strain on the environment and has concerned the people of the European Union. The policy did not foresee farmers overproducing and over using chemicals, but this has become an indirect cost created by the policy. Europeans are also concerned with food safety because of farmers using so many chemicals in production. Farmers have been getting away with using the chemicals and unsafe practices because of the limited food safety regulations. Policymakers believed that high price supports would lead to higher food safety and quality. â€Å"High support prices do not increase either food safety or quality: indeed, minimum prices a nd intervention guarantees encourage low quality and standardized produce† (Consumers in Europe group). Under the CAP, the European Union countries have shifted from net importers to net exporters of food products. With the EU subsidizing the agricultural sector so heavily, as to raise some sectors, such as non-grain crops, to eight times larger than it would normally be at (Borrell 18). This has drawn resources and labour out of other sectors of the economy and into the agricultural sector because of the subsidies. â€Å"These costs and resource misallocation reduce the total output and income of the European Union† (Borrell 18). Borrell charts the percentage changes in specific industries due to the CAP in the EU. For example, the CAP has caused negative changes in the following industries: construction and utilities are down one percent, the service industry is down two percent, the manufacturing sector in down almost five percent, and other primary products are down almost six percent (Borrell 20). This information demonstrates that CAP is taking away resources from these se rvice type industries and placing it in the agricultural sector. The transference of these resources is coming at the cost of the consumers, taxpayers, or society as a whole. The effects of the EU Common Agricultural Policy have not just altered the European Unions economy, but it has also restructured other economies throughout the world. The CAP has caused farmers to produce a surplus of agricultural goods in the EU. This has led to dumping of these products into other countries. As a result, importing countries have shifted away from producing agricultural goods to goods such as manufacturing, construction, services, and other primary goods. The United States and Canada have experienced a decrease in agricultural production due to the CAP. Combined, the United States and Canada have experienced a decrease of approximately 8.1 percent across primary agricultural goods (as much as 13 percent for non-grain products to as low as 2.9 percent for meat products) (Borrell 23). Also, with cropping exports down between 26 and 45 percent, this shows implications that output has been dropping in the cropping sector. The effects of the CAP have also shifted resourc es in Australia and New Zealand from agriculture to other primary industries. These countries have experienced an expansion in the mining and forestry industries of 7.5 percent (Borrell 21). These examples display how the CAP has suppressed exports of agricultural products and has led to the allocation of resources into other industries in other countries. It is apparent that the Common Agricultural Policy has been and is causing problems not only in the European Union, but it has also been creating problems in the rest of the world. What the CAP has effectively done to the European Union is that it has caused it to become a net exporter of agricultural products when it should be a net importer of these goods. The EUs policy has changed the world markets for agricultural goods and has imposed significant costs to the EUs consumers and taxpayers. Consumers and taxpayers in the EU bear most of the cost of 70 to 80 million US dollars a year, which is used to increase farmers incomes. The taxpayers and consumers are responsible for this increase in cost, which in turn causes an increase in unemployment. â€Å"The CAP was responsible for a loss of one million jobs in the EU manufacturing sector alone. The EU unemployment rate is currently around 10 percent, which is currently 40 percent higher than the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Op eration and Development) average† (Borrell 20). It is clear that the Common Agricultural Policy is responsible for increases in unemployment, increases in taxpayer cost and consumer burden, drops in farmer income, and harm to international relations. If the CAP were not implemented, many of these issues would be alleviated. There have been significant losses to the European Union as a whole because of the CAP. To understand, however, what this does to an individual country, an analysis of Britain experience must be looked at. In 1973, Great Britain entered the European Community and, therefore, accepted the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The acceptance of the CAP caused Britain to move from an agricultural market of free trade and cheap food, to an agricultural market that became the pawn of the European Unions protectionism (Harvey 2). The CAPs main goal was, â€Å"to keep agricultural markets stable, ensure that farmers earn a fair living, and provide consumers with affordable food supplies† (Think quest Library 2). The CAP achieved many goals it set out to accomplish. The very generous price supports to farmers and technological innovation have caused surpluses that are not being offset by a decreasing demand. The CAP has run into criticism in recent times by both British consumers and taxpayers alike, and many citizens and even farmers are calling for its reform. One recent event that caused the European Union to rethink the restrictions of the CAP was the outbreak of mad cow disease in Britain. British cattle that were infected by mad cow disease experienced nervous system breakdown and eventually death. The beef industry suffered in Britain and many of the cattle had to be put to death because they were not suitable to eat. Therefore, the European Union, in 1996, had to impose a British beef export ban (Barclay 21). The ban, and the fall in beef consumption in the UK market, caused the United Kingdom cattle market to lose sales totalling 800 million pounds (Barclay 22). The British were not allowed to export tainted beef to member countries and many member countries feared to import any British beef (Barclay 22). The CAP has hurt Britain in more ways than one. British consumers have been burdened by higher domestic agriculture prices because of CAP policies when they could easily go buy the same product cheaper in the world market. The taxpayers in Britain have been burdened by taxes the European Union imposes to finance subsidies to farmers. Undoubtedly, the United Kingdom would still have to face the mad cow dilemma regardless of its prior entry in the Union. However, the British would be able to develop a unilateral policy in which they would be free from the strict requirements of the European Union.

The Death Penalty: Necessary and Effective Essay -- Pro Capital Punish

It has been abolished in 75 countries and 15 states in the US. Twenty countries report they do not use it, while 100 countries, including the US and 35 of her states, still retain its use. In modern society, the topic of capital punishment remains controversial. Many people question the morality and ethics of executing a human for a crime he or she has committed, which is by all means a valid argument. However, murder is a crime that involves taking the life of another human, and that act needs to be punished justly. We are a society that generally believes a punishment should fit the crime. A life term in prison (three warm meals a day, a bed, medical care, and cable television) is not an appropriate punishment for a capital offense. Those whom claim capital punishment is immoral and unethical would likely say that murder is also immoral and unethical. So, to say that capital punishment for a capital crime is immoral and unethical is hypocritical. Many supporters of abolishing capital punishment in America state that the US constitution prohibits cruel and unusual...