Thursday, October 31, 2019

5th and 6th Amendment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

5th and 6th Amendment - Essay Example This is why a police officer does not need a warrant when, in the course of a traffic stop, s/he frisks a subject prior to engaging in a discussion with them. The balance of the officer’s personal safety versus the infringement on the privacy of the individual tips in favor of the officer because a reasonable person would perceive the need for safety. Searching the subject or his car for drugs, however, requires a higher standard. Probable cause goes beyond the suspicion that criminal activity has or will take place and moves more into the investigative realm. The probable cause standard is basically the amount of information the police are required to have prior to a search or seizure of property. An office who stops a vehicle for speeding has reasonable suspicion to do so, but does not have authority to search the car. If, however, during the course of the traffic stop the officer sees drug paraphernalia on the back seat, s/he has probable cause to search the cabin of the ve hicle—but not the trunk; that requires consent from the individual or a warrant. If a K-9 unit is brought in based on the paraphernalia and the dog â€Å"hits† on the trunk, a warrant is easily obtained because the police have probable cause to demonstrate a crime is being committed. The Fifth Amendment, in relevant part, states that no person shall â€Å"be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cornell, 2008, n.p.). The purpose of the clause is to prevent unreasonable searches and seizures similar to that experienced under the British Colonial rule of the American Colonies. The basic premise is that government actors (police officers, prosecutors, other officials) cannot deprive a defendant of life, liberty, or property at a whim or based on nameless suspicion; there is a responsibility held by the officers to ensure that all of a citizen’s rights are protected. The action is

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Should Films and Computer Games with Violence be Restricted Essay

Should Films and Computer Games with Violence be Restricted - Essay Example Today computer games such as Grand Theft Auto allow users to actively engage in car theft and murder. Films such as Die Hard glorify violence. With the increasing liberalization of subject matter, a growing body of concern has emerged as to the extent that films and computer games with violence should be restricted. This essay examines this question through an examination of opinions both in favor and against restrictions on film and computer game violence before ultimately arguing that there should be a level of restrictions on violent video games and films. Analysis Perhaps the most pervasive argument in favor of restrictive measures on violent films and video games is that these media outlets cause real life crime through desensitizing the viewers and game players. There are a variety of perspectives on this issue. Some of the most powerful and convincing arguments have emerged as a direct result of psychological research. Dill (2000) conducted a study that is argued to demonstrat e engagement with violent films and video games â€Å"provide a forum for learning and practicing aggressive solutions to conflict situations† and there is the understanding that such violence â€Å"appears to affect aggression by priming aggressive thoughts. Longer-term effects are likely to be longer lasting as well, as the player learns and practices new aggression-related scripts that can become more and more accessible for use when real-life conflict situations arise." If true, these are powerful conclusions. Essentially, Dill is arguing that through participation in violent video games and films, participants are actually able to rehearse how they will act in violent or criminal contexts. This perspective is not far-fetched when one considers that violent films often implicitly ask the viewer to identify with a protagonist who is willing to engage in violent acts as a means of solving conflicts. Video games go even further in allowing the user to actually participate i n the violence. Ultimately, it’s clear that the potential desensitizing effects of violent films and video games is a pressing concern. Another prominent concern is that violent video games have a detrimental effect on the individual’s cognitive development. While traditional video games have been demonstrated to contain addictive qualities, growing bodies of researchers argue that the addictive quality of violent video games has an increasingly negative impact on cognitive development. The addictive nature of video games has been a long established fact with a sect of players referred to as ‘gamers’ oftentimes participating in upwards of 40-50 hours of video game playing per week. When such video game playing occurs in the context of a violence gaming world, the potential for negative cognitive development occurrences is argued to become a readily apparent fact. Indeed, a number of instances have been recorded where extreme consequences have occurred for individuals. In one instances, regarding a child in Moscow it’s noted that, â€Å"He had not only received bad marks but was also known for bad behavior in class.   Denial of video games is, by all rights, appropriate punishment and I’m sure no one thought that it would lead to his jumping  from his 19th floor apartment

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Quantitative Easing After the Financial Crisis

Quantitative Easing After the Financial Crisis Jose Nunez The global financial crisis started in August 2007 and lasted to 2009, which was the collapse of the subprime mortgage market (lenders with higher interest rates demand, and borrowers that can repay their loans) that led to a huge amount of losses to financial institutions in that time. The crisis led to one of the worst markets in the past 50 years. The impact it had on the economy was severe, it lead to a downward growth for U.S. companies, and an increase of uncertainty for the U.S. economy. The causes of the 2007- 2009 financial crisis were: financial innovation in mortgage markets, agency problems in the mortgage markets, and the role of asymmetric information in the credit rating process. There weren’t as many innovations back then, so before the year 2000 only credit worthy borrowers could get mortgages unlike others that didn’t have good credit. After advances in technology and new statistical techniques, that led to better evaluations on credit risk for a new risky loan to be made. FICO was developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation, which just predicted the outcome of how likely it was for a borrower to default on their loans and not pay the loan back. By lowering the cost of transactions, newer technology was able to bundle smaller loans that were similar to mortgages into debt securities. With these factors the banks were able to give out subprime mortgages to borrowers with less than good credit scores. Also, there were agency problems in the market, the brokers who made the loans usually did not make an effort to see whether the people taking the loans could actually pay the loans back, in other words they just gave out the loans to almost complete strangers that they knew very little about and they did not have the same interest as the investors had; once the broker earned his or her commission from the loan he or she did not care about the whether the borrowers paid or did not pay the loan off. Credit rating agencies were also a factor because of their asymmetric information; they were telling clients how to structure financial instruments at the time they rated the products so different information was being passed from firms to the borrowers. The effects it had on the U.S. economy were; housing prices went down, many subprime borrowers were finding that their mortgages were going underwater meaning that the house value was falling below the amount of the mortgage. Many homeowners just walked away from their homes giving the keys back to the lenders because the prices were going down. The default on mortgages rose tremendously, which led to many foreclosures. Value of mortgages backed securities and CDOs went down as well, and left the value of those assets to banks and financial institutions. Many of the well-known firms from had to be sold off to other larger companies for less than what they once worth and others had to file for bankruptcy. With all the things that happen in 2007-2009 in the economy, the crisis did not lead to a depression because of the actions of the Federal Reserve and government bailouts of the financial institutions but many call it a â€Å"great recession† instead. The economic recovery has been slow because people are now scared to invest their money in the markets and do not what to take on other risks, jobs are going overseas, inflation is rising, and economies of other countries are going down as well. Michael Farr said in an article from the Huffington â€Å"Corporate managers are just doing what works. Following the financial crisis, investors are not in the mood to take big risks. They would rather have the certainty that comes with higher dividend payments and increased stock buybacks†. When the economy is about to slip into a recession or depression the government uses a tactic called quantitative easing. Quantitative easing is when the central bank makes purchases from the market to bring down the interest rates so more people can have money in their pockets to spend and invest in the market. Federal Reserve gives the financial institutions money so they can lend out to the consumers and increase liquidity. Some of the down sides of quantitative easing are that it can cause inflation to increase due to being a certain amount of goods that are being sold when the money supply of the consumers has increased, and another is that instead of the banks lending out the money that was meant to be loaned out to people or companies was being kept by the banks instead. This strategy of the government in our last financial crisis was not really affective because the banks kept the money for reserve instead of lending it out the people and companies to increase liquidity and s pending. Many articles have been saying that the government has ended QE but according to an article by Terry Burnham  on pbs.org argues, By all accounts, the  Federal Reserve ended its bond buying program, known as quantitative easing, at its policy meeting at the end of last month. Over six years, the central bank bought $4.5 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities and Treasury bonds. But since the beginning of this year, the Fed has been gradually drawing down its purchases by $10 billion a month to now, zero. It’s not that simple, though, says economist  Terry Burnham. The Fed is continuing what he calls â€Å"Stealth QE,† or the purchase ofmorebonds with the interest the Fed earns on the bonds it has already purchased. In order to stop that, he writes, the Fed would need to shrink its balance sheet by the amount of interest that it earns. Deleverage is when banks start to lose capital so they fall back on loaning money to others. They try to reduce the debt they have by selling their assets. Losses on their loans they gave out begin to drop in value which drops the net worth of the banks and financial institutions. Tejvan Pettinger said â€Å"To reduce debts people sell off assets to gain liquidity. Selling assets causes fall in the price of shares and house prices. Falling house prices cause lower consumer spending, negative equity and more losses for banks.† With less capital the banks and financial institutions have, the more risky they look towards others causing lender-savers to take out their funds. The decrease in funds will mean fewer loans to produce investments. Deleverage hurts the economy for those reasons. Globalization is when different countries trade with each other things such as products, ideas, aspects of their cultures, and other subject matters. Globalization has been increasing and has been getting easier due to the fact of newer and more advanced technology that has been invented till today to help us communicate with each other and transport product from one place to another. With globalization the cost of goods that we are buying that are coming from different parts of the world are low, compared to if we were to make them here because, it cost less for others to make it in their own country. Also the variety of goods within a country will increase because maybe we can’t produce certain goods here like other countries are able too. With globalization we have free trade, promoting jobs, keeping cost of goods low in the economy, and it’s making business more competitive thus stimulating the economy. Globalization also has a negative impact on the economy, that i s jobs are being moved over seas and outsourcing jobs to other places in the worked. The rich will continue to get richer and people looking for jobs will have to take on new jobs for less money because companies are moving out of the country. Both inflation and deflation can have a negative impact in the economy if inflation and deflation rises are severe. Inflation means the prices of goods and services are going up, lowering the purchasing power of the people and lowering the value of the dollar. A certain amount of inflation can also mean that we have a healthy economy because prices of goods and services will continue to go up. Deflation is the opposite of inflation, so instead of the rising prices of goods and services the prices are falling. When deflation is happening people tend to save more money and spend less because the value of the dollar is increasing. By not spending more the demand for goods and services drops and unemployment increases because not many people want to buy things. Deflation can be caused by a decrease in spending by the government, and people. There are also pages that say QE can also lead to deflation. The Wall Street Journal said â€Å"Nearly a decade after Japan’s central bank fi rst experimented with the policy, the country remains mired in deflation, a general decline in wages and prices that has crippled its economy.† Moderate levels of both inflation and deflation are normal have little effect on the economy. Works Cited Burnham, Terry. â€Å"So you thought quantitative easing was over? Think again† PBS News Hour. 24 November 2014. Farr, Michael. â€Å"What Is Causing the Drag?† The Huffington Post, 21 November 2014. Mishkin, S. Frederic. â€Å"The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets Tenth Edition.† Colombia College. Pearson, 2013. Print. Pettinger, Tejvan. â€Å"Paradox of Deleveraging.† Economics Help, 6 May 2009. WashingtonsBlog. â€Å"Why QE May Lead to DEFLATION In the Long Run.† Washington’s Blog. 18 November 2014.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Industrial Engineering :: Engineer Engineering Essays

Industrial Engineering What is industrial engineering? The field of industrial engineering has had many definitions given to it. Most of the definitions include all of the same elements stated in slightly different ways. For example the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) defines industrial engineering as the profession in which a knowledge of the mathematical and natural sciences gained by study, experience and practice is applied with judgment to develop ways to utilize economically, the materials and forces of nature for the benefit of mankind. [1] The American Institute of Industrial Engineers (AIIE) defines industrial engineering as concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical and social sciences together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design to specify, predict and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems. [1] Both definitions describe industrial engineering as a broad field concerned with integrating all the different aspects in a service or production environment. Part of being an industrial engineer is learning how to balance changes. History The origins of industrial engineering can be traced back to many different sources. Fredrick Winslow Taylor is most often considered as the father of industrial engineering even though all his ideas where not original. Some of the preceding influences may have been Adam Smith's treatise The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, Thomas Malthus’s Essay on Population, published in 1798, David Ricardo’s Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, published in 1817, and John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy, published in 1848. [1] All of these works provided Classical Liberal explanations for the successes and limitations of the Industrial Revolution. Adam Smith was an economist as were most of his contemporaries at the time. "Economic Science" is the phrase to describe this field in England prior to American industrialization. The amount of influence this literature had on Taylor is unknown. Another major contributor to the field and precursor to Taylor was Charles W. Babbage. Babbage was mathematics professor at Cambridge University. One of his major contributions to the field was his book On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers in 1832. In this book he discusses many different topics dealing with manufacturing, a few of which will be extremely familiar to an IE. Babbage discusses the idea of the learning curve, the division of task and how learning is affected, and the effect of learning on the generation of waste.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), Kuala Lumpur Program

The MPO concert opened with choir singing with the whole orchestra playing their instruments. In the prelude, there are two movements. Both of these movements are exciting and dramatic in moods. At first, the violinists are playing with the skill of pizzicato . The woodwind part also plays a important part in creating the atmosphere. The musician hit the bass drum and increased the mood of grand in the exciting part. The pianist used the skills of staccato in performing too. In the second part, the music started with the woodwind part which created a contrast mood with the previous part. The musicians blew the French horn with the accompany of the triangles before the choir started singing. It is a peaceful part. In the second movement, the baritone who sit beside the conductor started his solo with the accompany of some percussions such as triangle. Afterwards ,the strings part join the music. In the third movement, it has a drastic change in mood where the moods turn to lively and exciting. More instruments such as tambourine joined this movement and create the joyful environment. In the third part, it started with the strings part. The moods is lively and happy. Then a musician plays the flute alone which creates a short peaceful moment. After that brass joins the music and creates a richer tone color atmosphere. While, in the second movement, the main point is on the choir and they are singing in a repetition style which creates an echo effect. In the third movement, the choir is singing with the accompany of percussions and the moods is relaxing and lively. In the forth part, the baritone starts singing again. This time ,he is singing in a more aggressive mood accompanied with the strings. The mood in this movement is angry and desperate. After that there is a short piece of bassoon solo and the tenor starts singing. I was impressed by the singing skill of the tenor and he sang in a mood of regret and sad. Afterwards, baritone starts singing after the tenor has ended. This part was ended by the choir singing with the accompany of the whole orchestra. In the fifth part, the soprano surprised me with her voice. She is singing accompanied with the strings and woodwind. The mood in the part of the solo of the soprano is sad and hopeless. After a short piece sung by the choir, the baritone sang again in a way like replying to the soprano. This part ended with the solo of the soprano in a extremely high pitch sound. In the sixth part, the choir sang with the accompany of the whole orchestra and the mood in here is peaceful and sacred. Finally in the last part, it is repeated again from the 1st part where it is the most exciting part in the whole ecstasy and it is grand in mood. I enjoyed the previous part as it seem like more interesting to me and I think it is a nice experience as this is my first time listening to an music concert. However I think it will be better if I could understand what is the choir singing about.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Balfour vs. Balfour Case Study

Law of contract BALFOUR vs. BALFOUR [1919] 2K. B. 571 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 2. LIST OF CASES 3. FACTS OF THE CASE 4. ISSUES INVOLVED 5. CONTENTIONS 6. JUDGMENT 7. LAW POINT 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS I. L. J. : Lord Justice II. AIR : All India Reporter III. QBD : Queen’s Bench Division IV. CBNS : Common Bench Report (New Series) V. AER :All England ReporterVI. CLR : Commonwealth Law Reports LIST OF CASES Cases referred to by the court of appeal in Balfour vs. Balfour: I. Eastland vs. Burchell (1878),3 Q. B. D. 432 II. Jolly vs. Rees (1864),15 C. B. N. S. 628 III. Debenham vs. Mellon (1880),6 App. Cas. 24 Cases having the same law point as Balfour vs. Balfour: I. Rose and Frank Co. vs. Crompton & Bros. Ltd. (1925) A. C. 445 II. Jones vs. Padavatton (1969) All E. R. 616 III. Meritt vs. Meritt (1970) 2 All E. R. 760 IV. S. V. R. Mudaliar vs. Rajababu AIR 1995 SC 1607. Some recent case laws having the same law point:I. Ermogenous v Greek Orthodox Community of SA Inc (2002) 209 CLR 95 Facts Archbishop Ermogenous made a claim for payments he thought due for annual and long service leave from the Greek Orthodox Community. He succeeded at first instance but the Full Court of the Supreme Court of SA found there was no intention to create legal relations between the parties. An appeal was made to the High Court. II. EDMONDS  v LAWSON  (2000) FACTS OF THE CASE After their marriage in August, 1900, the parties went to Ceylon, where the husband had a government post.In November, 1915, the wife came to England together with the husband, who was on leave. they both intended to return to Ceylon . In August,1916,the husband’s leave expired and he had to return to Ceylon ,but the wife ,on the advice of her doctor ,was to remain in England. On August 8, 1916, when the husband was about to sail, the wife alleged that the parties enter into an oral contract whereby the husband agreed to make an allowance of ? 30 a month. The parti es had not at that time agreed to live apart, but did so subsequently when differences arose between them.An action was taken by the wife against the husband to recover money which she claimed was due to her under the agreement, the alleged consideration for that agreement being a promise by her to support herself without calling upon him. ISSUES INVOLVED * Was there any legally enforceable contract? * Was there any intention to enter into a legal relationship? CONTENTIONS PLAINTIFF: In this case the wife said: â€Å"In august 1916, my husband’s leave was up . I was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. My doctor advised my staying in England for some months, and not to go out till Nov. . I booked a passage for next sailing day in September. On august 8 my husband sailed. He gave me a cheque from august 8 to august 31 for 24 pounds, and promised to give me 30 pounds per month till I joined him in Ceylon. †She also showed some letters about which she said: â€Å"My husb and and I wrote the figures together on august 8 and 34 pounds were shown. Afterwards he said 30 pounds. † She wanted to recover money from her husband. DEFENDANT: The lower court entered judgment in favor of the plaintiff and held that the defendant’s promise to send money was enforceable.The court held that Mrs. Balfour’s consent was sufficient consideration to render the contract enforceable and the defendant appealed. JUDGEMENT At first instance, Sargant, J. , who was sitting as an additional judge of the King’s Bench Division took into account the points that the wife in this case sued her husband claiming that her husband had agreed to give her an allowance of ? 30 per month which he failed to give, she claimed that there was a binding legal contract and the husband shall in consideration of a promise by the wife pay her the sum of ? 0 a month . Sargant J. held that there was a binding agreement and gave the descion in the favor of the wife after thi s an appeal was filed by the husband. Warrington,L. J. a judge in the court of appeal noted that there was a valid consideration in this case and said that : â€Å"It seems to me on these letters that there was a definite bargain between the husband and the wife under which ,while the husband was in India and in a sufficient position and the wife was in England living separate from him ,she should be paid a definite sum of ? 0 a month ,and that agreement was made when the husband retuned to Ceylon ,and was reaffirmed on at least two occasions after unhappy differences had shown themselves ,at any rate on the part of the husband ,and when it was probable that their separation might last for some time. † Then he proceeded by saying that there was not exactly a valid contract because this agreement continued because of the circumstances which arose and this agreement cannot be termed as a legal contract because the intention to enter into a legal relation is missing.He observed that it was quite plain that no such contract was made in express terms, and there wasn’t any bargain on the part of the wife at all. All that took place was this; the two parties met in a friendly way and discussed what would be necessary for the support of the wife while she was in England,there wasn’t any proof that the wife wanted the sum of ? 30 as a compensation or in the satisfaction of the obligations of the husband towards her to maintain her. He said that â€Å"the husband expressed his intention to make the payment, and he was bound in honour to continue it so long as he was in a position to do so.The wife on the other hand, as far as I can see, made no bargain at all. †He concluded by saying that the judgment made by Sargant, J. , was wrong and the appeal should be allowed. DUKE,L. J. another judge in the court of appeal agreed with Warrington,L. J. and said that the only question in this case is whether the promise of the husband to the wife ,that w hile she was living absent from him he will make her a periodical allowance, is a promise which involves in law consideration on the part of the wife sufficient to convert the promise into an agreement.He said that according to him there wasn’t any legally enforceable contract and the basis of this agreement was the relationship of husband and wife and the proposition that the mutual promises made in the ordinary domestic relationship of husband and wife of necessity gives cause for action on a contract seems to go to the root of the relationship .He concluded by saying â€Å"I think that in point of principle there is no foundation for the claim which is made here ,and I am satisfied on the question of fact that there was no consideration moving from the husband to the wife or promise by the husband to the wife which was sufficient to sustain this action founded merely on contract . In my view ,the appeal must be allowed. † ATKIN,L. J. lso supported the judgment of th e other two judges and said that in the arrangements between husband and wife mutual promises are present but there is no consideration which is necessary for a legally enforceable contract, in addition to this the intention to be attended by legal consequences is also absent. Such cases can’t be sued upon because the parties in the inception of the arrangement never intended that they should be sued upon. He said : â€Å"I think that the parol evidences upon which the contract turns does not establish a contract .I think that the written evidences don’t evidence a contract . For this reason I think that the judgment of the learned judge in the court below was wrong ,and that this appeal should be allowed. LAW POINT The law point in this case is: Intention to create legal relationship. Intention to create legal relations is an essential element for creation of a contract. Intention to create legal relations is defined as an intention to enter a legally binding agreeme nt or contract. It consists of readiness of a party to accept the legal sequences of having entered into an agreement.Intention to create legal relations is a motion of every contracting party must have the necessary intention to enter into a legally binding contract. Promise in the case of social engagements is generally without an intention to create a legal relationship. Such an agreement therefore, cannot be considered to be a contract. Thus an agreement to go for a walk ,to go to a movie, to play some game, or entertain another person with with a dinner, cannot be enforced in a court of law.Sometimes the parties may expressly mention that it is not a formal or legal agreement, whereas in some other cases such an intention could be presumed from their agreement. Under UK law, an agreement supported by consideration is not enough to create a legally binding contract; the parties must also have an intention to create legal relations. Often, the intention to create legal relations is expressly stated by the contracting parties. In other situations, the law will readily imply the intention, because of the nature of the commercial dealings between the parties.Generally it is assumed that in social and domestic type of agreements this type of intention is absent, but parties do intend to create legal relations in commercial agreements. It is assumed that this doctrine was not clearly established until 1919. Alternatively, it can be said that the Doctrine is based upon public policy; that is to say that, as a matter of policy, the law of contract ought not to intervene in domestic situations because the courts would then be swamped by trifling domestic disputes.The test to know the intention of the parties is objective and not subjective merely because the promisor contends that there was no intention to create legal obligation would not exempt him from liability. It may be noted that although in the case of close relationship there may be generally no intention to create legal relationship but there is nothing which prevents these persons from agreeing to be bound by their promises thus if an arrangement clearly shows an intention to create legal relationship the parties become bound thereby.It is still an open question whether in the express provisions in the Indian Contract Act ,1872,the requirement of intention to contract is applicable in India. BIBLIOGRAPHY A. PRIMARY SOURCE [1918-19] All E. R. Rep. B. SECONDARY SOURCE Indian Contract Act –R. K. Bangia C. OTHER SOURCES www. indlaw. com www. indiankanoon. org http://www. australiancontractlaw. com