Comparative Analysis of German, French and American Human Rights Law Essay

Comparative Analysis of German, French and American Human Rights Law - Essay Example This essay discusses that crucial importance of political rights and liberties in today’s evolving and fast-changing world cannot be overemphasized. It has been opined that political rights and liberties are of paramount importance because of their impact on other rights, such as social and economic rights. The universal condemnation of state-sponsored repression is due in large part to the globalized ideal of human rights where we see a whittling down of the concept of sovereignty in favor of the acceptance of international norms of human rights. Indeed, the protection of human rights is one of the fundamental aspirations of international law. In international law, the primacy of the State is the core principle of the international legal regime as it is traditionally known. It is the duty of international law, therefore, to interlock authority with power, and to ensure that authorized decision-makers regulate the actions of States. When the United Nations was created in 1948 by a world still reeling from the ravages of the Second World War and intent on healing the wounds wrought by it, it was tasked to become the primary agency in defining and advancing human rights. From then on, various other agencies were created, addressing specific human rights concerns. Notable examples of this are the International Labor Organization and the UNICEF. Within the jurisdiction of the individual states, however, human rights legislation evolves mainly as a result of case law, i.e., the jurisprudence based on decisions made by the Supreme Court on human rights disputes brought before it. Indeed, Indeed, society has come a long way towards preserving human rights, and righting the wrongs of the past with justice and accountability. Says Abrams and Ratner3: Societies long reluctant to investigate or prosecute human rights abusers have begun to do so with greater frequency. These include both those inquiring into the abuses of their own officials or former officials, as well as those investigating or prosecuting individuals who have committed abuses in other countries. This paper attempts to trace the role that case law has played in the legal systems of Germany, France and the United States with respect to the development and evolution of human rights. This paper shall also look into some of the more important and landmark decisions made in the respective jurisdictions and evaluate the degree to which these decisions have impacted on human rights. As the space for this paper is rather limited and the field of human rights is vast, this paper will focus on human rights law as it applies to freedom of religion and circumstances when it competes with the interests of the state to preserve certain values, e.g., neutrality and national security. Germany When people think of Germany and human rights law and religion, thoughts inevitably first turn to the end of the second world war, where Nazi soldiers had been prosecuted for gross war crimes committed against the Jews. The end of World War II ushered in a milestone for international criminal responsibility. The axis powers were completely annihilated and the allied powers were now determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past. It was only through punishing the guilty that the horrors and wounds of the victims could be assuaged. The allied states created the International Military Tribunal (IMT) for the prosecution of the men

Heaven Is for Real Essay Example for Free

Heaven Is for Real Essay Sadness, happiness, excitement, joy, and astonishment are only but a few of the emotions you will endure while reading the book Heaven is for Real, the amazing story of a brave and eccentric little boy named Colton Burpo. In March of 2003, what seemed to be a seemingly typical family trip turned into a terrifying fight for Todd and Sonja Burpo’s little boy’s life. Even after months of injury and illness within the Burpo family, Colton’s incident tops them all. The strength of this little boy, even at the young age of only four, is truly inspirational. This book truly portrays the crazy days, weeks, months, and even years that follow the frightening experiences that this family had to go through. In February of 2003, the Burpo’s decide to take a family outing. The Butterfly Pavilion is their destination of choice, and the family couldn’t be any happier to get away. After Sonja’s miscarriage, Todd’s shatter leg, round of kidney stones, and hyperplasia; a vacation is precisely what they need. The Thursday before they’re to leave, however, Colton isn’t feeling well and had complained of a stomach ache. Their babysitter, Norma, calls Sonja at work to report a plunge in little Colton’s sickness. After a trip to the doctor, the Burpos find that the stomach flu is the cause of Colton’s poor health. They see the fun-filled trip slipping away as soon as it had come, and nobody in the household is content. But, by morning, Colton is up and feeling well again; the Burpo’s then set out on their adventure. They soon made it to the Crawl-A-See-Um right outside of Denver, and the kid’s stop to see the many tarantula exhibits. These draw Cassie and Colton Burpo in like magnets. The kids are easily amazed by the many eight-legged creatures, which shock the children with everything that they do. They soon see Rosie, the spider you can hold in exchange for a sticker. Cassie holds her, but Colton is afraid, so they make their way on through. After visiting the many aquariums, they make their way to the butterfly pavilion. They see a monarch fly by, enjoying the beauty of the beautiful orange creature. Sonja, remembering the kids want to swim, insists they leave. As they walk by Rosie, Todd asks Colton if he wants to try and hold Rosie. Colton is positive that this time, he will do it. He ventures up to Rosie, holds her, and gets a sticker. He leaves feeling triumphant as they leave. After swimming, the Burpos head to the Old Chicago Restraunt in Greeley to eat with Pastor Steve Wilson and his wife. While sitting around the large, round booth, they talk about their churches and enjoy Italian food. Todd and Sonja decide to visit Pastor Wilson’s church the next day, as Rebecca Wilson divides her time between the conversation and coloring with the kids. Colton’s eery quietness isn’t noticed throughout the dinner, until Colton makes a remark about his stomach again. They Burpos decide to cut the dinner short, after Colton and Cassie both decide they aren’t feeling well. Colton’s statement comes true, as he throws up all of that night. Soon the next day, they decide to take Colton to the hospital. â€Å"Could it be appendicitis? † Sonja asks the doctor, fearing for bad news. Colton squirms, afraid of the IV as any kid would be. He assures her that the blood test don’t show this, but they don’t know what has happened. As Colton’s health gets worse, Todd and Sonja worry for their son. Then the worst thing yet happened, the shadow of death. Todd sees it on Colton, and afterwards they decide to take Colton to the Great Plains Regional Medical Center. Calling ahead to let the doctor know, they set out towards the center. Todd and Sonja blame each other throughout the whole trip, but when they reach the center and the doctor has gone to lunch, they’re out of people and reasons to blame. Fifteen minutes later, the doctor comes in and looks over Colton. They perform a CT scan, and send the Burpos into a secluded waiting room. â€Å"I think this is it,† are the only words Sonja can muster out as she cradles Colton’s limp body. Five tiresomely long minutes later, a Radioligist comes out to let them know Colton has a ruptured appendix and needs emergency surgery. They wheel Colton away on a gurney, preparing him for his surgery. He thrashes, screaming for his dad, as they put the IV in his arm. Anger flashes in Todd’s eyes, realizing that he may have waited too long and might not see his son alive again. He rages at God, assuming he is going to take his son before he had the time to even live. After the surgery is over, Todd is asked to come back. All the fear and anger leaves his eyes, when he is told that his son is conscious and has been asking for him. Todd and Sonja are amazed at how much better their son feels, looks, and seems. They are told, seven days after checking into the hospital, that they can take their son home. After packing the mulititude of toys and clothes, they go to leave. The elevators are sliding shut, when they are told they cannot leave. New pockets of infection show in Colton’s CT scan, in his abdomen. Sonja, completely exasperated, has a breakdown. The church comes to pray with Colton shortly after, only praying for one simple thing: gas. They are told that if Colton passes gas, that it would be a good sign. Within an hour, the prayer was answered. Colton felt better the next morning, and doctors were shocked at this miracle. After what seemed like forever, Colton and the rest of the Burpo family can finally go home after this horrific event. After they go home, life seems to go back to normal. It wasn’t until four months after Colton’s surgery, on their Fourth of July trip, that they realize their son has witnessed something extraordinary. On their way, Todd jokingly asks Colton if he wants to go back to the hospital. The response he gets is far from what he expects, however. Colton proceeds to tell him that the hospital is where angels sang to him and he sat in Jesus’ lap. Todd and Sonja laugh it off, thinking Colton had imagined the whole thing. They continue to believe so, until he tells them exactly what they were soing, and where, during his surgery. He also offers more information, spread over the next years. Days, weeks, and months all came with new information. â€Å"Did you know that Jesus had a cousin? Jesus told me his cousin baptized him,† Colton informed his father one night. He tells his dad about a horse that he petted, God’s beautiful eyes and clothes, his crown, and God’s â€Å"markers,† nonchalantly one night, as if he were talking about what he ate for lunch. When Todd realizes that by â€Å"markers,† Colton means the nails in Jesus’ hands and feet, he knows that he can’t be making it up. Todd and Sonja are amazed at all the things he knows all of a sudden. The normal nights come often, but the talks about supernatural phenomenons become spaced out. Colton begins to talk about his Pop, who died before Colton was born. He also tells his dad that he knows that Jesus told him to be a pastor, and when he agreed, Jesus was very happy. He also told his mom that he knows he had another sister, but she died in her tummy. He tells her that she looks like Cassie and is dark headed, like Sonja. He also says that she didn’t have a name, because they hadn’t named her yet. When Sonja begins to freak out, Colton explains that she’s okay and that God adopted her. Colton also tells about God’s throne room, and makes one point in particular stand out: God loves the children! After Colby is born, they realize they have to hire a babysitter. They decide in a very mature for her age 8th grader, named Ali. All is well, until one night they come home to Ali crying. When Sonja asks her why, she says that Colton was crying and tells her why. Colton, after being put in bed, tells Ali that he misses his sister that died in mommy’s tummy. When he begins to cry, Ali holds him until he finally cries himself to sleep. This isn’t the only serious thing Colton says about Heaven. One night, while at home, he tells his dad that the angels have wings to fight off Satan. He tells him that there is going to be a battle, and that Todd will have to fight in it. He also tells that he sees the power God sends his dad during church, while he preaches. Todd and Sonja now believe Colton more and more by the passing day. 2007 is the first time that the Burpos told about Colton’s indifferent, to say the least, experience. Todd now found himself with more and more questions about Heaven and what his 4 year old saw. One woman, in tears, approaches and asks if Colton might have seen her stillborn baby in Heaven. He asks the woman that if she believes that God loves her as much as God loves him, and if he loves her living son as much as he loves his living son, then why wouldn’t he love her unborn child as much as his? At this moment, he knew that God had sent him the power to help that woman; the same power Colton had claimed to have seen God shoot down. Years have passed since Colton’s accident, but his story is and will be known for many more years to come. The amazing experiences that this family went through are truly touching, and this book portrays that beautifully. From cover to cover, it’s a book you will not want to put down. Colton’s story is amazing, and as the nurse once told Todd Burpo, â€Å"There has to be a God, because this is a miracle. †

Portrait of a Cartographer :: Creative Writing Essays

Portrait of a Cartographer Someone must decide how to color maps. Where to put the pale yellow, coral pink, the olive green, burnt orange, magenta. Where to put the darkest shades of blue. The lightest. There is something of symmetry, of composition. There is topography to consider. Demographics. The vast expanse of open land, open water, the sensuous curves of coastline, of mountain ranges, of rivers with their writhing bodies and forked tongues. The color of the ocean is according to its depth. In terms of Indonesia, of Nova Scotia, of Sudan, colors are arbitrary. They reject symbolism, existing only to say look here, I am this and not the other. Differentiation, identity within borders. To imagine each color as a body, each convex to the concave of another, like spoons stacked, like lovers in bed, like the earthen layers of sedimentary rock. Pages of a history book warped from moisture. In the skies of the northern hemisphere, I have learned to trust Orion. His delicate belt of three hanging sensuously off-center, suggesting contraposto. I imagine he must look much like stone, marble perhaps. Michelangelo's David. Head of frozen curls, rippled abdomen, arms to the side, large curled hands like leaves. A summer sky in Africa, I could not find him so I trusted the Southern Cross. Four stars are one more than three. I am the space between stars. In stellar cartography, you will know me as such. Smothered by darkest nebula, clusters of blue-white giants. Orphaned objects in deep sky, brilliant for the taking, I push them apart with my palms. I could swallow them whole but my throat is too small, my belly distended and blue like an infant. And that is the way I cry. There in my narrow boat cutting across a black sea, no moss. Carina the keel, Vela the sail. Flapping of white light across my face. Carry me from this world of names, of butterflies asphyxiated, pinned down across blue velvet. Each wing goes unremembered in this sky, this world of moon stations. The phoenix was remembered too late. She needed room to breath; she has choked on ash. No one heard her cry out, but I felt the earth, the night sky quake. The Pleiades are seven sisters, a young and hot open cluster of stars. Daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Violet beauties, a core of white heat.

Issues with Diagnosis of Schizophrenia

Discuss the issues with classification and diagnosis In order to diagnose the symptoms of mental health disorders , practitioners use classification systems like the DSM which classifies the symptoms of schizophrenia. The DSM has been criticised for issues including cultural problems and the overlap of disorders such as schizophrenia with depression. The DSM is used to diagnose patients with a disorder and indicates what treatment they will require. Other problems involved with the classification includes inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability.Ronsenhan conducted a study which demonstrated the issue of reliability. Participants with no mental health administrated themselves into a practice by saying they could hear noises in their head saying ‘thud’. Once the participants were admitted they behaved normally however they were still interpreted as schizophrenic. This raises issues on the reliability of the classification as it suggests anyone can be admitted, and once labelled with a diagnosis every behaviour they may show is blamed on the disorder.The publication of the DSM-III in 1980 was designed as offering a much more reliable classification system in order to diagnose disorders. Carson claimed it would fix all problems of reliability for once and for all allowing agreement between psychiatrists to who and who did not have schizophrenia. Despite these claims there is still little to no evidence proving its reliability and a study conducted by whaley found the inter-rater reliability was as low 0. 11. Whaleys research is into inter-rater reliability is supported by the findings of majtabi and Nicholson.In this research 50 senior psychiatrists were asked to distinguish between ‘bizzare’ and ‘non bizzare’ behaviour, they produced inter-rater reliability as low as 40 percent proving the central diagnosis system lacks sufficient reliability for it to be a reliable method or differentiate schizophrenic sufferers and non-schizophrenics. Overall the low reliability is diagnosing and its individual systems show that the diagnosis of schizophrenia is affected by the interpretation of the psychiatrist.As the reliability is low in then leads to the questioning of the validity of diagnosis. With scientists not agreeing on patients who have schizophrenia the question of what schizhrenia actually is becomes meaningless. People diagnosed rarely share the same symptoms and outcomes. The prognosis involves 20 percent recovery to the previous level of functioning, 10 percent achieve significant improvement and 20 percent demonstrate recovery with relapses.As there is no common outcomes we can state it has low predictive validity. Bentall claims that schizophrenia is no longer a scientific category as it has too many issues involved in the classification and prognosis. As sufferers rarely demonstrate similar symptoms or outcomes assumptions have been made that it is not just one disorder but rather many disorders that have all been classed as one under the title of schizophrenia. Buckley found that schizophrenia is often comorbid with substance abuse, anxiety and depression.With concordance rates as high as 50 percent between schizophrenia and depression and 47 percent between schizophrenia and substance abuse. This makes diagnosis and prescribing treatment even harder as the categories are too narrow to be used as a valid indicator at what treatment should be carried out. Kessler proves there is a link between suicidal rates and those suffering depression comorbid with schizophrenia, with statistics only one percent attempt it with schizophrenia with 40 percent attempting it when suffering schizophrenia and depression.This supports Buckleys finding as it proves schizophrenia and depression sufferers need an entirely different treatment. There is no common universal prescription for schizophrenic patients. The frail reliability becomes even more evident when looking at the contrast of diagnosis in different cultures. Copeland found that when he gave a description of a patient to 134 us psychiatrists and 194 uk psychiatrists. While 69 percent of the us psychiatrists diagnosed the patient as schizophrenic only 2 percent of the uk did the same diagnosis.Therefor suggesting schizophrenia is a disorder that is extremely subjective to diagnosis and varies greatly from culture to culture. In conclusion it is evident there is great issues surrounding both the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia. Findings from Buckley and Kessler suggest that schizophrenia is in fact just a term to describe multiple disorders including depression and anxiety. It is therefore difficult to accurately treat each individual patient, making the diagnosis invalid.

Blood Typing Lab

Name_____________________________________ Block__________________ Date_____________________ Forensics Mystery Blood Typing Lab Scenario: Police are called to a house where they discover a body near the back door. There is a fresh pool of blood by the victim’s head. Officers question the neighbors and learn that a plumber and an electrician made service calls to the house just hours before. They were able to trace both. They recover a shirt with a dark stains from the service van of the plumber and rags with similar dark stains from electrician’s van.Your forensics lab receives the following items to test: Sample 1: Stained cloth from plumber’s van Sample 2: Stained cloth from the electrician’s van Sample 3: Blood collected from under the victim’s head Test Background: The phenolphthalein test is a highly sensitive, being capable of detecting blood spots practically invisible to the eye. In an actual criminal case, a positive phenolphthalein test wou ld be followed by tests to determine the species that produced the blood and if these tests indicate the blood is human, by tests to determine ABO, Rh and other blood groups.There is no point in pursuing typing and species identification procedures if the phenolphthalein test is negative. The phenolphthalein test is not absolutely specific for blood because most plants and some animal cells can also cause a positive reaction. Discussion Questions: 1. Does a positive phenolphthalein test prove that a stain is caused by blood? 2. Does a positive phenolphthalein test prove that a stain is caused by human blood? Procedure 1: 1. Test the shirt and rags to determine if the stains are caused by blood. 2. Place a drop of phenolphthalein/peroxide solution on each stain. 3.Observe if a color change occurs. A purple-violet color reaction indicates that blood (heme) is present (positive reaction). Absence of this reaction indicates that blood is not present. 4. Record your results: Color reacti on for Sample 1:_________________________ Color reaction for Sample 2:_________________________ Based on the results of this test, which person, the plumber or the electrician becomes your prime suspect? ____________________________________________________________________________ Additional Information: When confronted, your chief suspect claims to have a nosebleed, thus accounting for the blood stain.Investigators have now been able to recover a blood sample (Sample 4 ) from the suspect’s van. It is suitable for blood typing. You ask and receive a blood sample from the suspect (Sample 5). Proceed to Procedure 2. Test Background: Blood groups are created by molecules present on the surface of red blood cells. The table shows the four ABO phenotypes (â€Å"blood groups†) present in the human population. When red blood cells carrying one or both antigens are exposed to the corresponding antibodies, they agglutinate; that is, clump together.People usually have antibodies against those red cell antigens that they lack. The ABO Blood Groups Blood Group| Red Cell Antigen (Protein on blood cell)| Serum Antibody (Produced by Body)| A| A| Anti-B| B| B| Anti-A| AB| A and B| Neither| O| Neither| Anti -A and Anti -B| Discussion Questions: 1. How do you determine a person’s blood type? 2. Can a person’s blood type prove or disprove that he/she committed a crime? How? Procedure 2: 1. Add a drop of synthetic anti-A (blue) to the well labeled A. Replace cap. . Always replace the cap on the vial before opening the next vial to prevent cross contamination. . Add a drop of synthetic anti-B (yellow) to the well labeled B. Replace cap. 3. Add a drop of synthetic anti-Rh serum (clear) to the well labeled Rh. Replace cap. 4. Using the dropper vial, place a drop of Sample 3 (the victim’s blood) in each well of the blood typing slide. DO NOT TOUCH THE WELL! 5. Replace the cap on the dropper vial. 6. Using a different color mixing stick for each well (blue for anti-A, yellow for anti-B & white for anti –Rh), gently stir the synthetic blood and anti-serum drops for 30 seconds.Remember to discard each mixing stick after a single use to avoid cross contamination. 7. WAIT 60 Seconds. 8. Carefully examine the thin films of liquid mixture left behind. If the film remains uniform in appearance, there is no agglultination (no clumps, negative reaction). If the film as clumps, agglutination has occurred (positive reaction) 9. Determine blood type of the sample using the data table below. Answer yes or no as to whether agglutination occurred in each sample. A positive agglutination reaction indicates blood type. 10. Record the results for each blood sample in the data table.Data Table | Sample 3| Sample 4| Sample 5| Anti-A| | | | Anti-B| | | | Rh| | | | Blood type| | | | 11. Then repeat steps 1-9 for Samples 4 and 5. Record each results on table. 12. Thoroughly rinse the blood typing slides and return all materials. Conclusion: Bas ed on your results, did the blood collected from the suspect’s van come from the suspect? ____________________________________________________ Could this blood have come from the victim? ____________________________ What can you conclude from your results? (Remember to cite your data). __________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________