Robots Essays - Industrial Robotics, Robotics, Robot,

Robots ROBOTS Webster's New World Dictionary defines a robot as any anthropomorphic mechanical being built to do routine manual work for human beings. This term was popularized by the Czech dramatist Karel Capek (1890-1938) in his 1921 play Russum's Universal Robots (R.U.R.). The term has been used in fiction to describe self-controlling machines that resemble human beings. This concept has been the basis of stories starting centuries before, but has become popular due to the writings of science fiction writers and movies. Isaac Asimov's (1920-1992) book I, Robot started the recent interest in robots and this interest has been fostered by recent movies that glamorize robots, i.e. Star Wars and Bicentennial Man. The word robot has become an everyday word in our vocabulary and everyday there is news of additional ways that robots can assist us. There is a growing trend of using robots to perform more and more complex tasks, as computers get more powerful so do robots. Is there a time when we will receive diminishing return from the use of additional robots? Will robots eventually rule the world? These questions and more will have to be addressed, as we become more and more dependent on automation to do the repetitive jobs we do not want. To properly prepare for these questions and issues it is necessary for us to examine the history, present day use, and future of robots. HISTORY Man has been fascinated by the concept of the formation of non-intelligent life for centuries. One of the earliest myths is of Hephaestus, the divine smith who was the Greek god of fire. He was described in The Iliad as having fashioned girls out of gold whom could move, speak, and think. He was also said to have fashioned and animated a bronze statue for King Minos of Crete. This living statue (robot) tirelessly circled the island, guarding it from invasion. There are legends that have Jewish mystics creating artificial being out of clay, referred to as a golem from a Hebrew word meaning ?an unformed clay?. The best known golem is that of Rabbi Loew, who was formed in sixteenth century Prague to protect Jews. Amongst all these legends there was human inventors who were developing devices that would automatically perform acts that could be associated with intelligence. Automatic devices were created that operated by steam, moving fluids, and compressed air. These devices were essentially toys or gadgets of no real use. The first truly useful devices were clocks. The first clocks were water clocks where the water lifted floats with pointers that pointed at the time, Mechanical clocks were invented in the Middle Ages, which used weights for power. Clocks continued to advance in complexity and it became possible to manufacture objects that mimicked actions that were associated with life. These objects that moved automatically were called ?automatons? As technology advanced it became possible to imagine an automation that was truly lifelike. One that would be soulless or mindless and which could go out of control, wreaking death and destruction. These fears influenced the story of Frankenstein during this period and influence those who fear robots today. In 1738 Jacques de Vaucanson created a mechanical duck that was the most celebrated automata of that era. The duck was made of copper and could quack, bath, drink, eat grain, simulate digestion, and voiding. The duck was exhibited all over Europe with great success. Vaucanson soon tired of his invention and turned his talents to more practical matters and invented the first automatic weaving loom. The looms control system was the precursor of today's computerized systems. It is this computerization that turns ordinary machines into robots. The new looms could produce intricate patterns easily and automatically depending on what pattern card was selected. These looms and even the inventors met with worker hostility, but the advantages eventually forced their acceptance. The idea of punched cards led to the development of Boolean algebra, which uses 1 and 0 as on or off. This concept became the basis of digital computers, which are the brains of robots. The first computers were calculating machines used to tabulate numbers. These machines were used to compile large amounts of information, i.e. 1890 census. The need for increased information lead to increases

Islam Relationships with the West

Islam Relationships with the West Introduction Islam is one of the major religious groups spread all over the world. Just like most religious groups derive their principles from holy books, Islam also follow their principles as enshrined in their holy book, which is known as the Qur’an. The devotees of this holy book deem it the word of Allah.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Islam Relationships with the West specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, Islam adherents regard Prophet Muhammad as the prophet of God and his messenger to the world; they follow his teachings and examples which they regard as normative. Muslims are those individuals who identify themselves with Islam (acquiescence to God). The religious practices of Islam entail what they have been referred to as the Five Pillars of Islam; these concern all facets of life and the society at large (Maqsood, 1995). Islam Relationships in the West It is important to note from the ou tset that the relationship between the West and Islam has never been sufficiently positive right from the start of the 20th century. The West has a perception that Islam is a religion mainly concerned with the act of terrorism (Al-Khattar, 2003). The West has therefore become more cautious when dealing with issues that regard Islam. Due to this fact, the relationship between the West and Islam is set to be the characteristic feature in the 21st century, especially with respect to the Middle East. The questions are the policy makers in the West should engage with the Islamic world, whether the spread of democracy in the Muslim regions stop the military forces that generates terrorism and the Western governments and populace deal with the swelling population of Muslims; and how all these will affect the foreign policies of countries like the United States of America (Bascio, 2007). Moreover, the relationship between Islam and the West has become critical. Both the West, especially the United States, and Muslims have never trusted each other as aggression and terror always come in the mid of the relationship that exists between Islam and the West. The fact is that the Western nations, particularly The United States, have become arrogant to the Muslim world on one hand. On the other hand, the Muslim world has continuously maintained militancy against the Western world. This scenario has placed the relationship in perpetual tension. The tensioned was heightened when the events of the infamous 9/11 took place on the soil of the United States of America in which many people of varied nationalities were killed. The United States respondent militarily and this led to even more tension between the two world’s.Advertising Looking for term paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There is also political competition between the West and the Islam worlds. Both sides are determ ined to dominate each other politically (Al-Khattar, 2003). It is no doubt that the west are worried that Muslim may surpass them in political terms. However, there are also cultural aspects to the relationship between the West and Islam. The Muslims on the other hand hold the fear that the west will disintegrate their culture. Due to this fear, the Muslim nations have always reacted defensively against the Western nations. In fact, the Muslims tend to decline almost everything that has originated from the West (Al-Khattar, 2003). Further, the Muslim world views the West not as a dialogue partner, but as a repressive colonizer and great enemy. In fact, Islam believes that the West should come to the spirituality of Islam; implying that the West should embrace Islam as a way of life. This has been argued to be one of the fundamental reasons the Muslim world started the project of Islamization and the proclamation of the Islamic science. To this day, the bond between Islam and Western nations is weak. The Spread of Muslim Culture in the United States The presence of Muslim culture in the United States of America started as early as 1880s when thousands of Islamic adherents migrated from the Empire of Ottoman and some regions of South Asia into the United States. At that time, the Muslims did not really have distinctive settlement and most probably they were assimilated into the broader society (Kayyali, 2006). The earliest Muslim documented to have been the first to enter the United States was known as Anthony Janszoon Van Salee; he moved to New Amsterdam around the year 1630. In 1921, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community became the oldest Muslim establishment in the United States of America (Scholz Frijhoff, 2007). The Muslim culture in the United States gained its widespread during the 20th century; much of the growth was accounted for by widespread conversion of those already in the United States and large numbers of immigration into the United States. So, it can be a rgued that that the Muslim culture in the United States is spread by three factors. One of the factors is immigration; the second one is continuous conversion amongst those who already lived in the United States. The recent immigration has accounted for the widespread of Islam in the United States. The third factor that may be considered significant in the spread of Muslim culture in the United States is cultural heritage; the Muslim couples in the United States only teach their children about Islam being the only true religion for them. It therefore means that as more Muslims give birth in the United States, they also spread their religious culture.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Islam Relationships with the West specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Factors Contributing to the Growth and Population of Islam Culture in the United States One of the factors that significantly contribute to the growth and population of Islam culture in the United States is the belief that one should have as many children as he can. This implies that in the Muslim culture, birth control is not practiced and is not supported. Related to this belief is the fact that Muslims believe in poligyny; they can marry upto four wives and with the four wives, a Muslim man can sire as many children as he wishes or he deems appropriate. This scenario has raised the fertility rate amongst Muslims more than any religion or any society of individuals (Naim, 2002). The immigration policy of the United States is one of the contributing factors to growth and population of the Muslim culture. The migration policy that allow individuals to come all over the world to enter and work in the United States is significant and strategic for the Muslim communities to find their way into the United States; this is coupled with the fact that the policy does not place any form of restrictions to the effect of religious affiliations even through the West in general is very much concerned with the increasing size of Muslim population in the region (Larkin, 2001). But, then, it may be difficult to stop the growth of the Muslim population in the United States because there are Muslims who have become citizens of the United States either by natural birth or artificially; these Muslims have rights just like any other citizens who are non-Muslims. Therefore, citizenship is one of the fact ors has ensured increase and growth in the population of Muslim culture in the United States. The fact is that as they give birth, the children automatically become citizens of the United States. It should also not be forgotten that the United States of America has granted its citizens the right and freedom of worship. By virtue of this fact, the population has the right to choose whether to become Islam adherents or not; the choice is personal (Larkin, 2001). Conclusion The relationship between the West and Islam has been full of tension and s uspicion. The Western nations have viewed Muslim world and as a religion to be only concerned with acts terrorism. On the other hand, Muslim world has views the West as colonizers and enemies.Advertising Looking for term paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The spread of Islam culture to the United States of America began in the 1880s during the reign of Ottoman. It is recorded that thousands and thousands of Muslim immigrated into the United States from the Empire of Ottoman between 1880 and 1914. Since then, the culture of Islam has gained widely spread in the United States. The spread of Muslim culture in the United States is facilitated by immigration, birth and cultural heritage. Factors that contribute to growth of Islam population and culture are the United States immigration policies and the rights and freedoms of worship. Reference List Al-Khattar, A. (2003). Religion and terrorism: an interfaith perspective. United States: Greenwood Publishing Group. Bascio, P. (2007). Defeating Islamic terrorism: an alternative strategy. U.S: Branden Books. Kayyali, R. (2006). The Arab Americans. U.S: Greenwood Publishing Group. Larkin, B. (2001). International Religious Freedom (2000): Annual Report: Submitted by the U.S. Department of Stat e (see 0-7567-1338-2 for ‘01 ed.). United States: DIANE Publishing. Maqsood, R. (1995). Islam. Examining religions. Orxford: Heinemann. Naim, A. (2002). Islamic family law in a changing world: a global resource book. New York: Zed Books. Scholz, M. Frijhoff, W. (2007). Fulfilling Gods mission: the two worlds of Dominie Everardus Bogardus, 1607-1647. Netherlands: BRILL.

Simple Random Sampling vs. Systematic Random Sampling

Simple Random Sampling vs. Systematic Random Sampling When we form a statistical sample we always need to be careful in what we are doing. There are many different kinds of sampling techniques that can be used.  Some of these are more appropriate than others. Often what we think would be one kind of sample turns out to be another type. This can be seen when comparing two types of random samples. A simple random sample and a systematic random sample are two different types of sampling techniques. However, the difference between these types of samples is subtle and easy to overlook.  We will compare systematic random samples with simple random samples. Systematic Random vs. Simple Random To begin with, we will look at the definitions of the two types of samples that we are interested in.  Both of these types of samples are random and suppose that everyone in the population is equally likely to be a member of the sample. But, as we will see, not all random samples are the same. The difference between these types of samples has to do with the other part of the definition of a simple random sample. To be a simple random sample of size n, every group of size n must be equally likely of being formed. A systematic random sample relies on some sort of ordering to choose sample members. While the first individual may be chosen by a random method, subsequent members are chosen by means of a predetermined process. The system that we use is not considered to be random, and so some samples that would be formed as a simple random sample cannot be formed as a systematic random sample. An Example Using a Movie Theater To see why this is not the case, we will look at an example. We will pretend that there is a movie theater with 1000 seats, all of which are filled. There are 500 rows with 20 seats in each row. The population here is the entire group of 1000 people at the movie. We will compare a simple random sample of ten moviegoers with a systematic random sample of the same size. A simple random sample can be formed by using a table of random digits. After numbering the seats 000, 001, 002, through 999, we randomly choose a portion of a table of random digits. The first ten distinct three digit blocks that we read in the table are the seats of the people who will form our sample.For a systematic random sample, we can begin by choosing a seat in the theater at random (perhaps this is done by generating a single random number from 000 to 999). Following this random selection, we choose this seat’s occupant as the first member of our sample. The remaining members of the sample are from the seats that are in the nine rows directly behind the first seat (if we run out of rows since our initial seat was in the back of the theater, we start over in the front of the theater and choose seats that line up with our initial seat). For both types of samples, everyone in the theater is equally likely to be chosen. Although we obtain a set of 10 randomly chosen people in both cases, the sampling methods are different. For a simple random sample, it is possible to have a sample that contains two people who are sitting next to each other. However, by the way that we have constructed our systematic random sample, it is impossible not only to have seat neighbors in the same sample but even to have a sample containing two people from the same row. What’s the Difference? The difference between simple random samples and systematic random samples may seem to be slight, but we need to be careful. In order to correctly use many results in statistics, we need to suppose that the processes used to obtain our data were random and independent. When we use a systematic sample, even if randomness is utilized, we no longer have independence.

Presentism and Human Sacrifice in the Aztec Empire Essay

Presentism and Human Sacrifice in the Aztec Empire - Essay Example Among many other distinguishing features, the practice of human sacrifice is a custom that the Aztecs are known for. The sacrifices, which were made for ritualistic and religious purposes have assumed centrality in many contemporary academic debates. It is thus pertinent to discuss and analyze whether it is indeed accurate to judge the practices of the Mesoamerican period using the parameters of contemporary moralities. In Discovering the Global Past, the authors Wiesner, Wheeler, Doeringer and Curtis seek to study the Aztec culture from the perspective of the European colonizers as well as those of the indigenous Aztec people. The historical and ethnographic accounts of Bernardino de Sahagun are particularly important in this regard. In the section titled ‘Aztec accounts of temples, palaces, and games related to Bernadino de Sahagun’, the work shows how the Aztec ritual of human sacrifice had a complex logic of its own, and was not a practice of meaningless violence as it is often portrayed to be (Wiesner). The Aztecs believed that human life was sustained by a continuous sacrifice made by the gods. They used the term tonacayotl for this purpose, which roughly translates into ‘the necessary spiritual bodily sacrifice’ on earth. ... Sahagun’s accounts show that the lofty temple-pyramids of the Aztecs served as the site for these sacrifices. Unbiased historical research has also shown that it is incorrect to assume that the only the common folk were victimized as a result of this practice. Such a claim can be refuted at many levels, the primary being the fact that slaves in the Aztec empire, who constituted the majority of those who were offered for sacrifice, were not determined by birth. Rather, they could be people from any social rank who had committed anything unlawful. In fact, there is evidence to believe that the people embraced and incorporated the custom in their lives quite willingly. Historical accounts also how that the Aztec rulers sacrificed their own blood to ensure the well-being of their subjects. The six parts to each chapter in Discovering the Global Past reflect an attempt to consider multifarious historical events and periods in a systematic, pedagogic manner. There is also a thorough investigation of the root causes of the cultural bias which has become an almost intrinsic part of most models of historical study regarding the Native American civilizations. Most of the colonial accounts of the Aztec empire were formulated during the years of the siege of Tenochtitlan by the Spaniards under the leadership of  Hernan Cortes. Perhaps it can be argued that the racism of the European colonizers, triggered by religious orthodoxy, was the first governing cause which shaped the colonial impulse. The flawed academic approach of presentism, too, can be attributed to certain kind of racism, and an inability to understand or appreciate other cultures. Presentism which labeled the Aztec ritual of human sacrifices as inhuman and barbaric

Portfolio Project Part 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Portfolio Project Part 5 - Essay Example amiliar with the physical railroad distinctiveness including passenger stations, the decline, and incline the locomotive to the right way and the speed is confined. Alongside conductor, the engineer observes time not to leave the station early, nor fall behind schedule. The speed of the train must be decreased when behind other trains, variable time over road to keep away from arriving early, or approaching route diversions (Patzak, 171). The engineer can assume the conductor’s duties and responsibilities if the conductor is sick or injured. The locomotive engineer is demanded of him to have a clear knowledge of railroad geometry that includes signal positions to control safely the train. Retaining concentration is of significant importance in this role. In various US railroads, the progression of career is one that begins as an assistant brakeman, then conductor and lastly, an engineer. The U S, engineers need accreditation and re-accredited after every 2 to 3 years. The least instructive prerequisite for a locomotive engineer is at least a high school diploma or its equivalent, two years college and another two years of public contact experience. Potential engineers should be at 21 years and above of age and in good bodily condition, not have drug or alcohol addiction troubles. Most training for this profession is on the job, through a simulator experience, hands on instruction and combination of classroom lessons. Students must normally pass training class for a conductor before being permitted to begin the locomotive engineering program (Rajegopal, et al 189). Train engineer is needed with a federal license to drive passenger or freight locomotive. After the completion of training program for engineers, potential applicants pass a written exam that tests their knowledge of train operations and skills performance test. Licensed applicants are required to pass a vision and hearing test, a surprise operational test that measures engineers’ reaction to

The Drug Policy System In Portugal Criminology Essay

The Drug Policy System In Portugal Criminology Essay In contrary to popular believe, it is not the Netherlands that has the most liberal drugs law, it is actually the Portugal. With its reputation of being the first European country to abolish all the criminal penalties for the personal possession of drugs (decriminalising) and at the same time enabling them to manage and control their drug problem effectively than every other country in the West, it is impossible to deny that Portuguese is a model for drug policy in the Europe. In this assignment, this will be discussed further in depth along with the comparisons of Portugal with the other (European) countries that has different drug policies in order to support this argument. CONTENT There are different types of drug control method used by different countries all over the world. There are the prohibition of drugs, the legalisation and finally, the systems of drug policy (such as decriminalisation, harm reduction and medicalisation). The prohibition of drugs is mainly done by countries such as Sweden, United States of America (USA) and Islamic countries where they criminalised drugs by penalising the drug user. The next method of drug control, legalisation of drugs as we speak are not yet done by any countries in the world as many are usually against this idea. However, Uruguay has proposed the legalising of marijuana in order to stop drug traffickers problem in their country (Cave, 2012). The other drug control method is a system of drug policy reform that is done by Portugal which is to be studied in this essay. This drug policy reform system consists of three aspects which are the decriminalisation of drugs, looking the drug issue in a medical perspective (medi calisation) and also harm reduction programs to lower the harm done by drug use. Some other countries that have also decriminalised drug use are as follow: Netherlands, Spain and Czech Republic, although they are being carried out differently in each country. On the 1st of July 2001, Portugal began a significant drastic policy change in its effort to reduce the escalating number of drug users and the problem related to drug use (particularly in the 1990s- which this problem was seen to worsen) in the country. The flagship of the new policy is to decriminalise the use and possession of drugs for personal use, introduced as a new law, Law 30/2000. Under this new law, the personal use and possession of drugs are made to be only administrative offenses rather than criminal offences. Portugal in the liberal drug policy coupled its decriminalisation with a public health reorientation with treatment and harm reduction put central in dealing with its drug problem. This decriminalisation also separates the drug user from the criminal justice system by identifying the drug user as patient, a health and social problem. In addition to this, the drug user will not have any criminal record for their drug offences but rather, an administrative offence. This distinguishes the drug policy from Spain where the policy is de facto decriminalisation where the drug user will still be judged by the criminal court. It is the stigmatisation that arises from conviction of criminal onto the drug user is what that Portuguese policy explicitly aims to avert. This medicalisation view at the same time is also a great measure to help the society out in order for it to develop as the effects of criminal conviction on the drug user will apparently be complicated once they are back in the soc iety such as in terms of seeking for employment and also, the loss of the drug users social esteem and friends or family (Pager, 2003). Together with that, the avoidance of stigma to the drug users will also make them more likely to seek for treatment and eventually have a better chance to succeed. In dealing with the administrative offences, each of the eighteen districts in Portugal will have at least one committee that deals only with drug use in that district ( however, larger ones will have more than one committee). In general, the committees will consist of three people; two people from the medical sector (physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, or social workers) and another with a legal background. They are also better known as the Commissions for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction (Comissà µes para a Dissuasà £o da Toxicodependà ªncia), the CDTs. People who are found in possession of drugs will be referred to the CDTs by the police. The person will then be expected to appear before the CDT within 72 hours after found by the police. The CDTs use targeted responses to drug users, including sanctions such as community service, fines, suspension of professional licences and bans on attending designated places. But their primary aim is to dissuade new drug users and to e ncourage dependent drug users to enter treatment. Towards this end they determine whether individuals are occasional or dependent drug users and then apply an appropriate sanction (Hughes and Stevens, 2007). However, the committee cannot mandate compulsory treatment, although its orientation is to induce addicts to enter and remain in treatment. Additionally, because the committees will see the users repeatedly, they would build up a relationship of trust with the addict. This kind of treatment to the drug user is more likely to succeed rather than other methods as the drug user enter the doctor-patient relationship on a voluntary basis and they are also given the choice to proceed with it or not, hence empowering them (Merril et al, 2002). This is done differently in other countries such as in Sweden, where treatment is quite inaccessible as drug users will be more likely to be given penalty for drug offences and can only undergo free treatment by applying to their local social wel fare board, but since the treatment is expensive, only a few thousands of applications are approved every year due to limited resources (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2007). In addition to its medicalisation view and the law changes done by Portugal to combat its drug use problem, harm reduction programs were also seen to be put central in their new drug policy. Drug treatment in Portugal can be classified into four main categories the outpatient drug treatment, the day care centres, the detoxification units and the therapeutic communities. All of the centre provide both psychosocial and substitution treatment. Day centres offering outpatient care and withdrawal treatment are provided by both public and non-governmental services. Inpatient psychosocial treatment mostly consists of therapeutic communities and is mainly available in private services. There is also short-term and long-term residential psychosocial drug treatment provided (The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2011). As of 2011, there are about 40 projects that deal with drug users in order to make the drug use activity safer (Vale de Andrade and Carapinha, 2010). As h arm reduction acknowledges that the drug users are in most cases unable to go on abstinence but still need to be helped, the common methods to reduce harm consists of the following: needle exchange program in order to reduce the inevitable risks commonly associated with needle sharing (such as HIV) and also, special designated injection sites with medical supervision to educate drug users the safer injection techniques and to get them off the streets. Additionally, methadone and buprenorphine  subscriptions are also used so as to help street heroin addict in reduction of their number by curbing cravings (Christie et al, 2008). This measure of harm reduction and treatments provided by the country has seen a positive outcome as there have been significant reductions in Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C for people in the treatment and also, between the year 1999 2003 there was a 17% reduction in notifications of new, drug related cases of HIV (Beagrie, 2011). The effect of decriminalising also increased the number of people going in seeking for the treatment voluntarily. The treatment will also take place faster and increase the effectiveness as the drug users do not have to wait for the long process going through law enforcements such as that in Sweden and Spain. Although the prohibition of drug possession is done through administrative regulation, rather than criminal penalties, one of the many 13 objectives of the strategy, is to increase the enforcement of laws prohibiting trafficking and distribution of drugs in Portugal (Moreira et al, 2007). Before the new drug law was introduced in 2001, the time and resources of the justice system were greatly stretched when tasked with combating drug consumption. For instance, in 2000, 7592 charges for drug consumption were made by police, putting a huge strain on the courts and prisons. One year after the policy changes, 6026 users, instead of going through the traditional route of prosecution and incarceration, were referred to dissuasion groups. This not only lessened the burden on the justice system, but also allowed the police to focus on the real criminals in the drug industry. Charges for trafficking increased by 11% when compared to the four years prior to decriminalisation (Hughes and Steven s, 2007) and the police were able to target traffickers instead of low level users. By combining decriminalisation with alternative therapeutic/educational responses to drug dependency, the burden of drug law enforcement on the overall criminal justice system is greatly reduced  (Beckley Foundation, 2012). Furthermore according to research, drug treatment is the most cost-effective way of addressing drug problem compare to imprisoning the drug user which is very expensive. Moreover, drug treatment was found to be able to cut crime by 80%, other than its ability to help the societys health by decreasing the risk of contracting drug related disease such as HIV and hepatitis. However, this policy is not effective at the moment in country like United States and Sweden as there is a severe shortage drug treatment programs provided by the countries and the fact that treatment is not made free of charge as it is done in Portugal (News Briefs, 1998). The decriminalising of drug has also been proven to diminish the size of the black market for drugs in the Portugal. This is done by stealing the consumers of the drug dealers, which are actually the real criminals here in the war against drug. The Portugal government supplied the drug substitutions for free of charge as a part of their drug treatment hence there is no demand for the drugs supplied by the dealers. As there is no more demand in the black market drug dealing, they are mostly will be out of business, therefore will eradicate them (Swan, 2012). In another argument regarding the decriminalising of drug in Portugal and the black market is that by bringing drug (replacements) into the legitimate economy, it will also ultimately separate the drugs from the black market itself. This will greatly reduce the risk by the black market dealers where hard drugs are often pushed onto buyers, who are only in to buy less dangerous drugs than promoted by the dealers. This will help a l ot in decreasing the risk of exposure on the drug users to a more dangerous drug. In essence, this will also help the removal of the gateway effect in which this undermines many arguments against the decriminalising of drugs (such as the Swedens zero tolerance for drugs) policy and shows that users will not be forced by dealers to buy cocaine, for instance, when all they want is marijuana (Herrington, 2012). Furthermore by making the drug substitutes available, it will bring to an end to the common association of drug taking and being cool or the forbidden fruit theory among the younger group. The usual use factor for drugs for them is usually peer pressure, to be accepted by others and look or feel as cool as the other youth who are also taking drugs. This is usually caused by the desire to do something different or rebel out of the norm. Therefore, by making drug replacements available, drug taking will no longer be an activity that is attractive or unordinary for them (United Nat ions Office on Drugs and Crime, 2012). Ever since this new drug policy came into place in the year 2001, numerous positive evaluations have been observed instantly regarding the drug use problem across the country. One of the primary indicators on drug use available in Portugal concerns the lifetime prevalence amongst school student. According to the statistics collected the changes in lifetime prevalence of drug use among students aged 16-18 has gone down in the year 2003 comparatively before the new policy was introduced in the year 1999. The decrease of prevalence for the number of the usage of heroin for the students is 2.5% in 1999 and 1.8% in 2003. Whereas, for cannabis it is seen to be increasing, as in 1999, the number is 9.4% and in 2003, 15.1%. These figures suggest that, while cannabis use among young people may have increased, heroin use has decreased. Although some argued that this decline is not statistically significant for Portugal, the neighbouring country, Italy however saw an increase during the same pe riod of the decline in Portugal intravenous drug use (Beckley Foundation, 2012). This just strengthened the argument that this new policy works up to a certain extent instantaneously after its introduction. Also, as desired with the substantial improvement of drug user to seek for treatment, the Portuguese authorities have recorded a reduction in the numbers of heroin users who are entering treatment for the first time. It seems that initiation into heroin use is falling, while cannabis use is rising towards the levels which are also experienced in some other European countries. This indication is supported by the pattern of referrals to the CDT (IDT, 2007) in which it was found that there is about 28% increase between the year 2001 and 2005 for the referral of cannabis drug user while for heroin a decrease of 55% was seen in terms of the referrals to the CDT. As there has been an increase in the young people appearing before CDTs for cannabis, and a decrease in those appearing for heroin the explanation for this is it is a part of the corresponding trend increase as part of the other European nations. This increase is also because of the increasing self-reported drug use due to the reduced stigma attached to the drug use compared to pre-decriminalisation (Hughes and Stevens, 2007). As more people are seeking and undergoing drug treatment, the amount of addiction was also seen to decrease and more importantly, this also enable the country to manage and reduce the harms related to drug use as Portugal has had a serious problem with the transmission of HIV and other blood borne viruses. For instance during the year 1999 Portugal had the highest rate of HIV amongst injecting drug users in the European Union (The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug, 2000). This is why the major target of the Portuguese public health approach to drug use is the harm reduction, with opiate substitution treatment and needle exchange being an important element of the Portuguese response. As a result, between the year 1999 and 2003, there was a 17% reduction in the notifications of new, drug related cases of HIV (Tavares et al, 2005). Likely for the same reasons, since 2000, there were also reductions in the numbers of tracked cases of Hepatitis C and B in treatment centres nat ionwide, despite the increasing numbers of people in treatment (Greenwald, 2009). According to Greenwald (2009) beyond the disease, the mortality rates of the drug related was also found to be decreasing as well. In absolute numbers, drug-related deaths from 2002 to 2006 for every prohibited substance have either declined significantly or remained constant compared with 2001. In 2000, for instance, the number of deaths from opiates (including heroin) was 281. That number has decreased steadily since decriminalisation, to 133 in 2006. This fact is also supported by other findings that the total drug related death in the country almost halved between the year of 1999 and 2003, which are 369 and 152, respectively. The large drop in deaths is also associated to decline in the use of heroin. This fall in deaths related to opiates (heroin) has been linked to the big increase in the numbers of heroin users who have entered substitution treatment (Tavares et al, 2005), as substitution treatment has repeatedly been found to be effective in reducing the mortality rate of th e opiate users. It is also an indication of the falling levels of heroin use (Hughes and Stevens, 2007). Unlike the Netherlands and Switzerland, the fears of drug tourism with the decriminalisation of drugs have turned out to be completely untrue as this has simply not been the case. In accordance to this, approximately 95% of people sent to CDTs were of Portuguese origin, which implies that tourists are not travelling to the country to abuse its liberal approach to narcotics (Beckley Foundation, 2012). After five years since the introduction of this new policy, both the general and the youth populations prevalence of drug use in the country are below European Union (EU) average. Also, the overall population prevalence of drug use is actually the lowest compare to the other EU nations, of below 10% as the highest is above 30% for Denmark. To make it better by and large, the usage rates for each category of drugs is found to be lower in the EU than it is in the non- EU states with a far more criminalised approach to drug usage such as the USA which has the highest level of usage for ille gal cocaine and cannabis in the world. With the USA approach to drug criminalisation that appears to cause a higher drug usage rates among Americans, and also this trend in general, appear to be worsening, contrasted with the far better rates in decriminalised Portugal. This suggests that severe criminalisation laws against drug use do not necessarily produce lower drug usage, as instead data suggest that the contradictory may be true (Greenwald, 2009). However, too liberal effort in order to combat the drug use such as the Netherlands lenient way of dealing with soft drugs policy is proven to be ineffective as well as even though they too, decriminalise drugs like Portugal, they do not actually practice and make the harm reduction and CDT programs in dealing with the drug users in its drug policy. Along with this, contrasting to Portugal, they in a way legalise the selling of certain drugs through the coffee shops hence, attracting drug tourists from all over the world. As a confir mation, the drug lifetime experience prevalence of the Dutch population is on the average, not the lowest along with the fact that Netherlands is the most crime-prone nation in Europe with most of its drug addicts live on state welfare payments and by committing crimes (World and I, 2012). Additionally, the number of drug induced deaths recorded for Netherlands is higher than that in the Portugal which is 129 in the year 2008, compare to only 94 in the Portugal (The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2011). CONCLUSION The drug policy system in Portugal is definitely a model drug policy for the Europe as can be analysed throughout the essay. Although it is liberal in its own way, it still try to reduce as much as it can the prevalence of drug use along with putting harm reduction and treatment programmes central in its war against drugs. The Portuguese policy tries to avoid the use of harsh policy such as criminalising as done in countries like Sweden and the USA as it is proven to only backfire. Other than that, it is also not as liberal as it is done in the Netherlands where, certain drug use are treated in such a lenient manner which is also proven to be ineffective comparatively to the one done by Portugal. Moreover, with the successful and positive evaluations ever since the policy was implemented in 2001 that managed to bring out a country that was once the most problematic in the EU in terms of its drug use, to the current lowest drug use overall prevalence, it is doubted why it will not wor k for the other European countries where the social-economic background is mostly similar.

Morality and Importance of Moral Values

Raising a family in a society that is fast-paced and ever changing can make it confusing to know just which values to teach your children. As a general rule, it’s up to you to teach your children what to believe, and how they should live their lives. But when it comes to teaching and instilling moral values, I’d love to pass on a few values to teach your children from a young age. These are simple and common everyday values that are quickly fading from our younger generation. Read on to discover what they are!1. RESPECTOne of the most important values to teach your children is respect. Having worked in several daycare facilities, I’ve seen children who have no respect for authority at all. It’s exasperating to the teacher, and to the parent when they arrive to pick up their kids. By teaching your kids respect, you are doing the world, yourself, and your child a favor! Life will go much easier for them with a little respect under their hat. If you have got to give a speech on moral values you have to stress the significance of moral values in life and should never ignore them. Here are some things you may use so that you can present this essential subject to your audience.You can say moral values are necessary because the Bible instructs us to be moral. Actually, during history moral values have been the foundation of our education. First of all mom and dad, then school, and finally universities and colleges were instructing us to be kind, honest, sincere, warmhearted, and so on. Religion used to be one of the most effective instruments to instill moral values into people. Religion has been getting rid of its impact in many states around the globe. These days it is still vital to many, but only for a segment of lots of societies. Moral values are still widely used as a debate topic, but regrettably they are often no that significant for a lot of people.The importance of moral values in life is one thing nobody can seriously argue with , despite the fact that today it is a popular practice. Many well known film and popular music superstars, political figures, and other successful people speak about liberal values – freedom of expression, religious beliefs, a hedonistic lifestyle, etc. Their point is that individual freedom is the most significant value to fight for! No person can  make you do what you do not want to do, so you are free to be bad or kind, sincere, or not – it is your individual decision, and everyone have to appreciate it.That is why it's acceptable to abuse alcohol, take drugs, and be impolite, rude or even cruel – if you prefer to act like that, it is your right. Freedom is the only value! Needless to say, liberal values are not that awful. The problem is they in some way destroy the moral foundation of the modern society. When the Bible is no longer the primary instructor of moral behavior, at least, for Christians, there's a risk people will stop thinking about moral valu es as important.This is currently happening in most liberal democratic nations in comparison to traditional Eastern ones, where the religious impact of Islam is still big. We may discuss the political regimes of those states, and the exercise of individual freedom and human rights there, but there’s a thing most people will agree with – they stress the importance of moral values in life; it's the key component of their tradition.Speech on Moral Values and the Importance of Moral Values in Life: Are They truly Important?In your speech on moral values you have to find out the actual importance of moral values in life. In the modern world of income oriented individuals it's hard to stay a moral person; nevertheless it's not extremely hard. Many do. Every single day we hear that a lot of people are murdered by criminals; in a number of states they brazenly shoot and kill rival gangs members on the streets all simply because of money.Cash is the value. Not kindness or princ iples. Not morals. Greed for money is the only driving force of these people! Every single day we see how people tell a lie, do everything possible to have the job they need, even it demands that they do something awful, against the law, or immoral. Young men try to have a girl they wish without any idea about moral values. This ought to help you with materials for your speech on moral values. We realize the significance of moral values in life, don’t we? And right now, after having a short speech on moral values, we're ready to write a moral values essay.Moral Values Essay: Writing TipsWhen writing your moral values essay do not forget to stick to the structure. Your essay should contain an introduction, a body paragraph and a conclusion. Moreover, your moral values essay should present your own point of view on the topic. In fact, you may use the ideas listed above and support them with your additional thoughts. When summarizing your essay, give your readers a clear conclus ion on the importance of moral values in our life.Speech on Moral Values and Moral Values Essay: HelpIf you continue to think your speech on moral values or your moral values essay can not be done without qualified help, or you simply lack the spare time to do it on your own – professional writing company is ready to assist you! We have authors skilled in different disciplines. Furthermore, all of them have a Masters degree or a PhD; so composing an essay or a speech for university won't be a problem for them. It'll be created from scratch in accordance to your recommendations and within your deadline.Besides, you'll also get: Absolutely free on-line 24/7 help. Free of charge proofreading and editing. 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