Excerpts on Death Penalty

The Death Penalty is a form of torture

The cruelty of torture is evident. Like torture, an execution constitutes an extreme physical and mental assault on a person already rendered helpless by government authorities. Abolitionist groups claim that the cruelty of the death penalty is manifest not only in the execution but in the time spent under sentence of death, during which the prisoner is constantly contemplating his or her own death at the hands of the state. Prison is an extraordinarily severe punishment that should not be exacerbated with torture or the death penalty.

Torture Defined
Torture of prisoners violates the Eight Amendment’s provision against Cruel and Unusual Punishment, and also constitutes a violation of several international laws. The United Nations Convention on Torture defined torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.”

An example of torture in the US Criminal Justice System

In May 1998, a lawsuit was filed concerning conditions for death row inmates in Idaho Maximum Security Institution. The suit states that inmates are held in solitary confinement for 163 of every week's 168 hours in small concrete and steel cells with solid metal doors and a narrow slit for a window. Inmates are allowed out of their cells for a maximum of one hour a day, excluding weekends, for recreation, alone and handcuffed in one of 12 enclosed wire mesh pens measuring approximately seven by 15 feet. The prisoner named in the lawsuit, Randy McKinney, states that he has lived under such a regime for 16 years, and that such treatment constitutes torture.

Attack on Washington, DC (1814), by Lupita Monge

Well, I chose this topic because I didn't know anything about it and I thought it could be interesting to learn about a new topic, and also becuase it talks about Washington a important city in the US.

The Burning of Washington took place in August 1814, during the continental North-American War of 1812 between the British Empire and the United States of America. British forces occupied Washington, D.C. and set fire to many public buildings. The facilities of the U.S. government, including the White House, were largely destroyed, though strict discipline and the British commander's orders to burn only public buildings are credited with preserving most residences. Army commanders said the goal was to attack Washington "on account of the greater political effect likely to result," and did not mention York.

At the time, it was considered against the civilized laws of war to burn a non-military facility and the Americans had not only burned the Parliament but also some private warehouses which were also looted. Further proof of the retaliation was that after the limited British burning of some facilities of Washington, the British left. There was no territory that they wanted to occupy and no military facility that they had planned to attack.

The White House was set ablaze causing extensive damage. Only the exterior walls remained, and they had to be torn down and mostly reconstructed due to weakening from the fire and subsequent exposure to the elements, except for portions of the south wall. A legend emerged that during the rebuilding of the structure white paint was applied to mask the burn damage it had suffered, giving the building its namesake hue. This is unfounded as the building had been painted white since its construction in 1798.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington

1993 World Trade Center bombing by Daniel Escobar

In the noon of Febrary 26, 1993 a car bomb was detonated below Tower One of the World Trade Center in New York City. The plan was to knock the North Tower into the South Tower so that both fall. The plan fail, but it do kill six worker of the building and 1,042 persons where injured. The attack was make by a group of terrorist which include Ramzi Yousef, Mahmud Abouhalima, Mohammad Salameh, Nidal Ayyad, Abdul Rahman Yasin and Ahmad Ajaj. Ramzi Yousef and Eyad Ismoil, drove a yellow Ryder van into the parking garage of the WTC, twelve minutes later the bomb exploded opening a hole of 30 m wide. The bomb instantly cut off the center’s main electrical power line, and cause smoke to rise up to the 93rd floor of both towers. Hundreds of people were trapped in elevators and others were injured because of so much smoke inhalation. Also as a result of the loss of electricity most of New York’s radio and television stations lest their over-the-air broadcast signal for almost a week. The tower did not collapse, but the explosion damage the garage badly.

Ramzi Yousef was the master mind of the attack and he mailed some letters to various New York newspaper just before the attack. Originally they plan to attack a United Nations building, but for some difficulties, they preferred the WTC. In the letter he send he claimed to be a Israeli soldier and he demanded 3 things: an end to all US aid to Israel, an end to US diplomatic relations with Israel, and a demand for a pledge by the United States to end interference with any of the Middle East countries’interior affairs. He said that if they do not obey his demands, this will be just the first of many attacks like that. In Marck 1994 four men were convicted for carrying out the bombing, and on November 1997, two more were convicted.

The Sinking of the Lusitania by miroslava pavlovich :*

The Lusitania was created with the goal of building the fastest liner afloat. Her engines produced 68,000-horse power and pushed the giant through the water at an over 25 knots. Dubbed the "Greyhound of the Seas" she soon captured the Blue Ribbon for the fastest Atlantic crossing.On May 1, 1915, the ship departed New York City bound for Liverpool. Unknown to her passengers but probably no secret to the Germans, almost all her hidden cargo consisted of munitions and contraband destined for the British war effort. As the fastest ship afloat, the luxurious liner felt secure in the belief she could easily outdistance any submarine. Nonetheless, the menace of submarine attack reduced her passenger list to only half her capacity. On May 7, the ship neared the coast of Ireland. At 2:10 in the afternoon a torpedo fired by the German submarine U-20 slammed into her side. A mysterious second explosion ripped the liner apart. Chaos reigned. The ship listed so badly and quickly that lifeboats crashed into passengers crowded on deck, or dumped their loads into the water.
Lusitania sank in 18 minutes, 8 miles (13 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale. 1,198 people died with her, including almost a hundred children. Afterwards, the Cunard line offered local fishermen and sea merchants a cash reward for the bodies floating all throughout the Irish Sea, some floating as far away as the Welsh coast. In all, only 289 bodies were recovered, 65 of which were never identified. The Cunard Steamship Company announced the official death toll of 1,195 on 1 March 1916. The bodies of many of the victims were buried at either Lusitania's destination, Queenstown, or the Church of St. Multose in Kinsale, but the bodies of the remaining 885 victims were never recovered.The sinking enraged American public opinion. The political fallout was immediate. President Wilson protested strongly to the Germans. In September, the Germans announced that passenger ships would be sunk only with prior warning and appropriate safeguards for passengers. However, the seeds of American animosity towards Germany were sown. Within two years America declared war.

Anthrax letters in New York and Washington, DC (2001) by Ana Leyva

The 2001 attacks in the United States are also known as Amerithrax because its FBI case name. This occurred exactly one week after the September 11, 2001 attacks, this means they started on September 18, 2001. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two Democratic US Senators, this caused the death of five people and infected 17 others. They couldn't identify the primary suspect until 7 years later (2008). No one knows the exact reason for this attacks, but I founded many points of views that says that the point of the anthrax attacks is to have the media and external US response focused while avoiding any casualties in the US. This focus could be intended to keep coverage off of other matters. It could also be intended to make bioterrorism a major issue or to keep the US public scared and therefore more supportive of the US Government.

In the first attack five anthrax letters have been mails around this time. They came from Trenton, New Jersey postmark which dated September 18, first they targeted new media they were the ABC, CBS, NBC News and the New York post, they were all in New York City. They also attacked at Boca Raton, Florida because they send also a letter to National Enquirer at American Media Inc. The only letters that were found were the ones of the New York Post and NBC news the other 3 are inferred because of the infection. The America Media mail clerk Ernesto Blanco was hospitalized 5 days after the first attack and diagnosed with pneumonia in fact this occurred because he inhaled anthrax. Another victim was Robert Stevens, a photo editor at the American Media Inc. Tabloid Sun in Boca Raton, Florida, he was hospitalized presenting disorientation, a high fever, vomiting and inability to speak. Then it was confirmed that he had inhaled anthrax. This was the first case in the US since long time ago. He died the next day because of anthrax attacks.

October 9 was another unforgettable date because it is when the second attack occurred. Two more anthrax letters were mails also from New Jersey postmark, and now they target politics (Senators Daschle and Leahy). After this two postal employees died because of anthrax exposure. Another victim was a worker for the state department; he was hospitalized because of the inhalation. Also a New York City hospital worker died but the source of anthrax is unknown. The final death person was Ottilie Lundgren and the source was a contaminated mail. On August 8, 2008 they founded the major suspect which name was Bruce Edward Ivins which suicide at last.

The role of techonolgy are all the media communication because the first attack went directly to them. The transporation victim was the mails which were the ones that carried anthrax.

Attacks on America

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941) by cynthiabuelna;*

I chose this theme because i love it, since I saw the movie I find this theme very interesting and impacting.

This attack took place in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941. This attack was conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor.

The casualty list includes 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed, with 1,178 wounded. Included are 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona killed after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing catastrophic explosions. The Japanese also damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded.

The Americans are taken completely by surprise. The first attack wave targets airfields and battleships. The second wave targets other ships and shipyard facilities. The Japanese lose 27 planes and five midget submarines which attempted to penetrate the inner harbor and launch torpedoes.That day, Pearl Harbor was as every day, people were taking care of their normal occupations, the navals were on their break when the attack started. Islands of Hawaii, near Oahu - The Japanese attack force under the command of Admiral Nagumo, consisting of six carriers with 423 planes, is about to attack. At 6 a.m., the first attack wave of 183 Japanese planes takes off from the carriers located 230 miles north of Oahu and heads for the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor - At 7:02 a.m., two Army operators at Oahu's northern shore radar station detect the Japanese air attack approaching and contact a junior officer who disregards their reports, thinking they are American B-17 planes which are expected in from the U.S. west coast.
Near Oahu - At 7:15 a.m., a second attack wave of 167 planes takes off from the Japanese carriers and heads for Pearl Harbor.
The reason for the attack was because the strike was intended to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and hence protect Japan's advance into Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, where Japan sought access to natural resources such as oil and rubber. Both the U.S. and Japan held long-standing contingency plans for war in the Pacific which was continuously updated as tensions between the two countries steadily increased during the 1930s.
Technology was the strength for the Japanese, because of it they were able to released their attack. The Japanese used 6 aircraft carriers,2 battleships,2 heavy cruisers,1 light cruiser,9 destroyers,8 tankers,23 fleet submarines,5 midget submarines,414 aircraft.

With this we can realize that the Japanese made a bad use of it, why? because their war was held on all these mobile units.

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pearl.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

Assignment #1 Feedback...

Good job guys. Everybody did a great job, even though you did not follow instructions exactly like I posted, but it was still good enough for you to get full credit individually, except for Lupita, who posted her entry very late. As a team, this affected your grade a little, but not too much. 

Keep up the good work!

lupita monge

“Outsourcing allows companies to focus on other business issues while having the details taken care of by outside experts. This means that a large amount of resources and attention, that might fall on the shoulders of management professionals, can be used for more important, broader issues within the company. The specialized company that handles the outsourced work is often streamlined and often has world-class capabilities and access to new technology that a company couldn't afford to buy on their own. Plus, if a company is looking to expand, outsourcing is a cost-effective way to start building foundations in other countries. There are some disadvantages to outsourcing as well. One of these is that outsourcing often eliminates direct communication between a company and its clients. This prevents a company from building solid relationships with their customers, and often leads to dissatisfaction on one or both sides. There is also the danger of not being able to control some aspects of the company, as outsourcing may lead to delayed communications and project implementation. Any sensitive information is more vulnerable, and a company may become very dependent upon its outsource providers, which could lead to problems should the outsource provider back out on their contract suddenly.”

Well I think this topic can cause a lot of controversial by the fact that it has pros and contras. For example the pros that I can found out from it is that it can produce better approaches for the companies and also benefit the workers that work in them. Also is better for companies because of the fact that they can save in many ways, first of all because this make it to have less workers than the ones that can usually have, and they don’t pay their salaries so they have more money, and they also improve their quality.

Some negative aspects are that this kind of system leads to less expectations of new jobs for people how really needs the job, and if the outsourcing wouldn’t be expected in this company this people could have that job. Another point I can see negative is that fact that the company have a very poor communication with their costumers and this can be a very bad point for them. The service to the costumers always had been a real important aspect for us because if we have any inconvenient we have to make it know. . Also if we are costumers who like that the products we want have a good quality this service can make it work on better.

These controversial can vary because we can see it from different points of view, if we are the company we can have many benefits, if we are the costumers we can see that we are paying for things that don’t worth that amount of money, and last if we are the costumers that we want very good things.

“While outsourcing may prove highly beneficial for many companies, it also has many drawbacks. It is important that each individual company accurately assess their needs to determine if outsourcing is a viable option.”

outsourcing by miroslava pavlovich : )

what is outsourcing? Companies will outsource for different reasons. Outsourcing is generally lower costing than hiring and training people for an in-house IT department; the company might have limited resources. Also outsourcing companies are very specialized and have more knowledge about the industry. As for the olittlewood post: quality outsourcing companies will be wary about who they hire and the impact it has on company-client interactions. Outsourcing can be a beneficial tool for businesses in the short term and long term. Short term it allows them to cost cut; long term it allows for the company to focus on core business functions.

i think that outsourcing is really good for the countries because it has cheaper imports and stronger markets for exports. The countries save a lot of money, fpr example the cost of direct labor for machinery production typically is 15 percent of the selling price of the product. So, even if you replace a worker in Massachusetts working for $20 an hour with a laborer, say in Poland, at $5 per hour, your savings on the bottom line will be 11.25 percent, at least on paper. Its obious that you are saving money but at the same time you are losing it for example there will be loss of productivity, at least initially, and finally you have to expect at least 2 percent of shipping expenses when repatriating the foreign-made parts plus perhaps up to 5 percent import duty. This does not account for the extra inventory you have to carry to cushion for unforeseen delays in deliveries from abroad.

So outsourcing is a ver hard subjet to argue about. Im in favor of outsourcing because the state is saving money and at the same time is helping the other countries to have jobs and to have a better economy. It also depends on where you are standing because for example if you live on the United States you are loosing some jobs but at the same time you are having more stuff for cheaper prices and if you are in Mexico we are gaining too because is more jobs.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/205207_outsourcedebate27.html

Outsourcing by Ana Leyva

A revolution named Outsourcing


If the decade of 90s is dominated by Information technology, then the new millennium saw the upraising of another industry called "Outsourcing". Outsourcing is the Buzz word for the decade and countries like India emerged as one of the leader's in that domain.

I founded a lot of different opinions in different web pages about this topic. It is good for a company because first of all they reduce their cost, so they benefit because they spend less money making their products and also they spend less money paying salaries because they pass their workers by outsourcing and pay less because they go to small companies. This benefits the company because they reduce the number of workers and lose their obligation to pay them pensions and all that suff. Outsourcing is a very good option for big companies and also for small companies because it can give jobs to to poorer areas. It improves quality to thei rproducts and even making them cheaper.

Some people think that outsourcng is bad because they abuse of consumers because they spend less money making the products and they still sell them at a high price. I founded that companies have their processes standarized at a global level, and they also have a sistem of quality that has a secutity system, so this makes it transparent to the consumer.

In my opinion it doesn't affect anybody, it benefits us, for example Mexico, because it has given us a lot of jobs. Outsourcing is a made to low the prices and make a better use of their time and energy costs. They conserve energy, they also can make a better use of land, labor, their own capital, and technology. Companies are the most benefit in this, but we also benefit because we can have better products with less prices and brings jobs to us. It is a difficult topic to give a point of view because everybody sees his own benefits, and now more because we are in a global crisis. I hope companies shouldn't abuse of this benefit of outsourcing, and both consumers and the companies can get benefit from it.

http://www.123webguru.com/web_news/arevolutio546.html