Armenian Organized Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Armenian Organized Crime - Essay Example Currently, the syndicate possesses’ strong public relations that enable it collaborate with bank personnel while executing their schemes through installing register devices to temper with the client’s accounts. Primarily, this group specializes in narcotic trafficking, kidnapping and utilizing technological knowhow to siphon funds from bank accounts (Lovett, 2011). The members steal from banks via fixing credit card â€Å"skimming† gadgets that acquire clients’ accounts’ status prior making bogus debit and credit cards. In some incidences, the gang may be for hire to execute extermination acts. For instance, in politics or business deals where diverse persons keep resentment against their counterparts. This ensures the targeted victim does not benefit from the disputed plan that yields to one’s demise (Albanese, 2012). Currently there are no stipulated laws that â€Å"regulate† organized crime, except civil statutes that try to â€Å"control† it, for instance, RICO Act (Conklin, 2010). The statute involves trying the syndicates’ bosses for the evils they have ordered their subjects to undertake and exempts the doers from punishment. Since the lawbreakers acted not from their will but forced  due to the gang’s loyalty, which entails total adherence. RICO does not effectively curb organized crime, since it only deals with the leaders while the subjects go scot-free (Lovett, 2011). This gives the doers a chance to be more sophisticated in their dealings, hence contributing in creating more numerous similar gangs. Law enforcing units’ estimate that Armenian Crime Syndicate has cost their victims at least $20 Million especially via money laundering and stealing from banks (Lovett, 2011). Additionally, the syndicate has yielded to rampant usage of hard drugs especially among the youths, since they are the drugs’ kingpins (Albanese, 2012). This affects the society grievously because they render youths being

Language Arts Lesson Essay Example for Free

Language Arts Lesson Essay Allyssa Satin Capucilli’s Biscuit and the Nest (2008) which is part of the Biscuit Phonics Fun series will be used in this lesson to teach Language Arts to Grade 1 level students. This lesson aims to meet the Sunshine State Standards which are to make students: (1) identify the sounds of vowels in printed words; (2) apply letter-sound knowledge to decode phonetically regular words quickly and accurately in isolation and in context; (3) retell the main events and identify the characters and setting in a story; (4) edit for correct use of common spelling patterns and conventional spelling of high frequency words and for correct use of capital letters for the pronoun I and proper nouns; and (5) communicate effectively when relating experiences or retelling stories heard or read. After the teacher reads aloud the story to the class, the students will perform the succeeding activities. First, students will be paired off and each pair will complete a story frame which goes this way. The story takes place in ________. A character in the story is ________who ________Another character in the story is ________who ________. A problem occurs when ________. After that, ________and ________. The problem is solved when ________. The story ends with ________. Second, the students will complete a Word Sort. They will get and divide a sheet of paper into two columns. At the top of the first column, they write â€Å"vowel sound /e/† and at the second column, â€Å"not vowel sound /e/†. Then, students select words from the story and write these in the columns. Third, students will accomplish a Picture Match. They are to read the words below the picture and tell whether it is a pen or a pin, mien or men, leg or league, nit or net, rid or red, tin or ten, etc. Fourth, students will describe their pet or a pet they would like to have (if they do not have one yet) in writing. They need to write 3 to 5 sentences. Lastly, they will individually narrate to the class a story of their own pet or someone else’s pet. The students will be assessed through the following assessment tools: (1) Students’ writing development will be assessed through their use of capitalization and use of appropriate punctuation marks in their written output in the first and fourth activity. (2) Students’ grammar skills are evaluated when they are able to correctly write the correct setting, character, or event in the story frame and when they properly use subject-verb agreement in their descriptions in the fourth activity as well as in their stories in the last activity. (3) Students’ spelling skills will be assessed through a written spelling assessment to be given after the second and third activity. The teacher will read aloud ten words with the short vowel sound /e/ and ask the students to write them on a piece of paper. Another way to assess their spelling skills is through their written stories in the fourth activity. The spelling pattern that the students will be taught in relation to the story is the short vowel sound /e/. Word examples of the short vowel sound /e/ are egg, fell, nest, get, help, etc. Throughout the activities, the students will use three cueing systems in order to arrive at comprehension. These cueing systems are semantic, syntactic and graphophonic systems. The semantic system refers to language features that bring about meanings to the reader. This is used in the classroom to make students know and understand the correct meaning of a word. The syntactic system includes the interrelationship of the words in a sentence and the sentences in a text. When students are able to complete the story frame activity, they use the syntactic system. The graphophonic system includes the spelling and sound structure of the language and the relationship of these two. This will be taught to the students by demonstrating how words are pronounced based on their spelling or word patterns. References Capucilli, A. S. Schories, P. (2008). I Can Read! Phonics: Biscuit and the Nest. New York: Harper Collins. Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2009). Florida K-12 Reading and Language Arts Standards. Retrieved April 10, 2009, from http://etc. usf. edu/flstandards/la/new-pdfs/elp-1. pdf.

The War On Drugs | History

The War On Drugs | History Throughout history drugs have been nothing but a social problem, virtually a burden. Some of the most famous and influential people have been known to abuse drugs. Such individuals are Edgar Allen Poe who smoked opium in an attempt to make his poetry more creative, and musician Ray Charles, arrested in 1964 on drug charges. (Erowid) A rise in drug use began around the time when American soldiers came back home from the Vietnam War addicted to heroin. At that time, drugs were only being used by small group of people, and they were simply looked down upon. It was not until the late nineteen sixties when recreational drug use became fashionable among young, white, middle class American citizens that the United States Government put its foot down. (PBS) They started slowly, developing agencies like the (BNDD) Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, which was founded in 1968 by the Linden Johnson administration. Congress also started passing laws like the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevent ion and Control Act in 1970. It was not until June 17, 1971 when the war really started. At a press conference in the White House, President Richard Nixon officially declared war on drugs. He stated, Drug abuse is public enemy, number one in the United States. He also announced the creation of the (SAODAP) Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention. Three years later on August 9, 1974, President Nixon resigned, but not before founding one the greatest assets for the war on drugs, the (DEA) Drug Enforcement Agency. Established in July of 1973, this super agency (PBS) consisted of agents from the CIA, Customs and ODALE. This agency was designed to handle all aspects of the drug problem in America and would be headed by Myles Ambrose. Throughout the first years of the program the DEA established their main focus; to stop the flow of marijuana from Mexico to America. Around the mid-seventies the enemy face began to change, the enemy was now cocaine and it was coming from the country of Colombia. On November 22, 1975 the Colombian police seized over 600 kilos of cocaine from a small plane at the Cali (Colombia) Airport. The plane was believed to be headed to Miami, Florida. The amount of cocaine that was seized that day was the largest cocaine bust to date. (PBS) The DEA, along with other agencies, are still fighting cocaine and many other drugs to this day. One of the reasons the war on drugs is lasting so long is because of the cost; the war on drugs is a very expense war. In the past, the government has spent around 10 billion dollars a year, this year alone (2011) over $14,000,000,000 is how much the federal government has spent on this seemingly, never-ending war. (Drug Sense) At this rate the cost per second will be over $600 per second by the end of the year! The reason the cost is so high is because there are so many different agencies and programs that need financial aid. Programs such as D.A.R.E and the Just Say No anti-drug campaign are some of the programs that such money is spent on. The Just Say No campaign was founded by Nancy Reagan in 1984 and was the centerpiece of the Reagan Administrations anti-drug campaign. (Wikipedia) The campaign mainly consisted of TV commercials and public advertisements, to keep kids from trying drugs. When the war on drugs first began to take shape in the early seventies, the government wanted to know where the illicit substances were coming from. In the beginning the answer was simply Mexico, they had previously imported in all of the marijuana in the sixties. The simple mom and pop cartels (small businesses) would grow the marijuana in their own backyard and smuggle it over the border into southern Texas. This and much larger operations are known as the Trafficking of drugs. (Wikipedia) After a few years of smuggling, the government caught on, so customs started cracking down on the border. This made the smugglers take to the air; they began using airplanes to get over the border. (Drug Library) The Mexican smuggling business began to slow down though, due to stricter regulations on customs and border patrol. The lack of business was also due to another factor; Americas drug of choice had changed. America now had a taste for cocaine and it was coming from the country of Colombia . Cocaine which is an extract of the cocoa bean is grown all over the country of Colombia. The country of Colombia is a nation made of poverty and corruption. Its main cash crop is coffee, but in reality its cocaine. It is speculated that in Colombia alone, there is over 150,000 hectares of coco plantations. (Transnational Institute) Colombia depends on cocaine; it is estimated 300,000 people are directly dependent on the cocaine economy. (icdc.com) Thousands of people are assassinated and kidnapped every year in Colombia, due to political violence. In 1989, three of the five Colombian presidential candidates were murdered; the Medellin drug cartel was mainly responsible for these violent atrocities. Medellin is one of Colombias biggest cities; it is located in central Colombia. Throughout the early seventies to the early nineties, Medellin was the cocaine capital of the world. In fact anyone using cocaine between the late seventies, early eighties, had a high chance of using cocaine from the Medellin Cartel. They invented the market for cocaine; they were the first people to ever be that successful in selling dope. The Medellin Cartel consisted of many people, but there was one man who controlled it all, the key figure on the other end of the war on drugs, the kingpin himself Pablo Escobar El Patron. (Wikipedia) Pablo was born in the most violent of times in Colombia, La Violenica a time of civil war in that nation. Around 1965 when Escobar was just 17, he dropped out of school, and then began selling cocaine, by 1976 he was arrested, but this did not stop him. By 1982 Escobar had become so powerful that he was elected congressman on the Colombian Parliament. (Wikipedia) He also purchased one of Colombias popular professional soccer teams (Escobar was a bil lionaire). By this time in Colombia, Escobar was looked at as a sort of Robin Hood (PBS) buying mass apartment complexes for the poor to live in, the poor loved him. He was unstoppable, that was until 1989, Escobar helped coordinate a terrorist campaign that shot down an airliner out of the sky. His men shot down the plane in attempt to kill the only presidential candidate in the Colombian election. (Wikipedia) After this incident the U.S. government made Escobar a military target, and began a so-called war with Escobar. Four years later, a vigilante death squad known only has the Los Pepes secretly composed of the Colombian Search Bloc, Ex Medellin cartel members, and American DEA agents, announced they intended to attack family members, friends, associates, and assets of Pablo Escobar until he was found. (Wikipedia) On March 4, 1993 the Los Pepes killed Escobars attorney Raul Zapata. Two days later the Los Pepes killed two more of Escobars attorneys, by this time the Los Pepes wer e brutally killing five to six people a day. On July 14, 1993 Col. Hugo Martinez, head of Search Bloc, met with U.S. Army Col. John Alexander and agreed to allow a ground-based U.S. listening post in Medellin(Freedom To Exhale) Finally on December 2, 1993, Colonel Martinez and his men tracked Escobar to his three million-dollar estate. As the Search Bloc went in to arrest him, Escobar ran out on the roof and he and his bodyguard Alvaro de Jesus Agudelo, fired at the squad. Because of this, the police were forced to gun both of them down. He died from multiple gunshot wounds the day after his birthday at the age of 44. This was the deathblow to the Medellin Cartel; business would never be the same in Medellin. Another country that is highly involved in drug trafficking in America is the country of Mexico. In the past, Mexico was primarily responsible for marijuana; today Mexico is responsible for many illicit substances coming into the United States, but mainly cocaine and marijuana. Today there are many drug cartels in Mexico, but the Arellano- Felix Organization (aka Tijuana Cartel) is by far the strongest. (Wikipedia) The Arellano-Felix Organization is North Americas most violent drug trafficking cartel. Based out of Tijuana, Mexico, for over a decade they shipped tons of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines into the U.S. every year. Annual revenues are in the hundreds of millions. (DEA) The cartels strategy is to recruit Juniors; young educated upper class men with families living on both sides of the San Diego-Tijuana border, using them as their drug runners and hit men. They have single handedly killed hundreds of innocent people including the cardinal of a church in Mexico. They wer e on the FBIs ten most wanted list a couple years ago, but they are still on the loose. At the other end of the war on drugs, is treatment; treatment for the addiction to drugs. Addiction is one the most serious parts of the war on drugs, its the aftermath of having fun. (PBS) The Vietnam soldiers were some of the first people to suffer from heroin addiction. Psychiatrist Dr. Robert DuPont is a pioneer doctor in drug abuse treatment; he performed studies in Washington D.C. in 1969 of heroin addicts, and then convinced the mayor to allow him to provide methadone to the heroin addicts. This action resulted in the citys crime rate dropping. (PBS) Speaking of drug abuse addiction and treatment, the costs incurred needs mentioning. The cost of addiction can be devastating to the abusing person and the persons family. People trade in their cars, clothing, and shelter just to get a fix for their addiction. Moreover, the cost of rehabilitation is outrageous. Unless you are attending a free one, it can cost up to $1000 dollars a week. There are many public programs today for the sole purpose of keeping people clean. Programs such as Betty Ford, D.A.R.E, and many more are set up to keep people from drug abuse. In the end, the war on drugs is not a war to be won or lost; it all boils down to personal choice; to do drugs, or not to do drugs. Hopefully the choice is not to do drugs. Also, the complete ceasing of illegal drug smuggling into the United States is virtually impossible. For one, the 2,000 miles of border separating the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the coastal areas, make it tough to stop all drug trade from the south. I also suspect that government corruption on both sides of the border allow for many of these illegal substances to make their way into this nation, as it generates enormous amounts of money. After all, it is all about the money and power.

What Is a Good Human Life and How Should It Be Lived? Essay -- Philoso

What is a good human life and how should it be lived? Introduction The ancient philosophers had put much emphasis on the constitution of the human life and the manner in which it should be lived. From Aristotle to Plato and Socrates, all these philosophers had different views concerning the manner in which people should live with themselves and with each other. The aim of this paper is to explore the views of these three philosophers and then analyze where they compare and contrast with each other. The Human Life According to the Plato Republic Through the Republic, Plato sought to relate the life of an individual to that of the society as a whole. According to him, people show similar characteristics, act in the same deeds, and exemplify the same virtues that a state does. This analogy implies that each individual is a complex whole but made up of several parts that are distinct and that have unique roles. According to Plato, the everyday life of a human being amply manifests this analogical fact. This comes out in situations where an individual is faced with a variety of choices in life. During such times, the said individual is likely to feel contrary impulses, simultaneously pulling toward different directions. The reason behind this is because there exist distinct elements, which are different from those of humans. The physical body of a human being was equated by Plato to buildings, land and other physical materials of a city. However, a human being has three souls, which correspond to the three classes of citizens who lived in the state. These souls play an important role in the successful actions of the individual as a whole. These souls include the rational soul, the spirited soul and the appetitive soul. The ration... ...em to agree that the surest way of living a good life for humans is through the possession of the reasoning will. Living a good life involves utilizing one’s unique capability of reasoning. Works Cited Abbot, E. (2009). Literature of the doctrine of a future life: or, A catalogue of works relating to the nature, origin, and destiny of the soul. The titles classified, and arranged chronologically, with notes, and indexes of authors and subjects. Michigan: The University of Michigan. Cooper, J. G. (2007). The life of Socrates: collected from the Memorabilia of Xenophon and th e Dialogues of Plato, and illustrated farther by Aristotle, Diodorus Siculus, ... and others. ... By John Gilbert Cooper, Jun. Esq. London: Oxford University Press. Witt, R. G. (3003). In the Footsteps of the Ancients: The Origins of Humanism from Lovato to Bruni. Boston: BRILL.

Epicurus

True happiness is state of being that each and every human has the ability to experience. It can either come from indulging desires or come from mental and or spiritual happiness in which two great philosophers have studied and mastered in great depth. Although Epicurus and Epictetus both had very strong opinions to this argument, Epictetus showed that it is necessary to have a knowledgeable understanding of what is giving you that satisfaction.With his idea we see that it is important to see the big picture in order to be happy rather than Epicurus' simple stand of satisfying your basic desires. In my personal opinion I believe that you should not go out of your way to make yourself happy if it consists of hurting others. To begin we must understand that there are many types of happiness. Happiness that come from pleasures such as eating tasty food or taking warms baths. Happiness that comes from engagement, for example trying something challenging and succeeding in doing so.Happine ss that comes from meaning, in other words being religious and belonging to a higher being. Last but not least happiness that comes from accomplishments, achieving a lifelong goal or dream. As you can see there are many different ways to be happy and if you are living happy then you are living a good life. Epicurus and Epictetus have some of the same view on the achievement of the good life. Epicurus believes that nothing is created out of nothing, in other words everything has a reason for existing.He believes that knowledge is the key to finding true pleasure and without pain there is no pleasure, so both pain and pleasure must coexist. He says people should not have fear in God because God does not interfere with their lives and people cannot control their destiny but they can control their happiness, so they should live their lives not with the fear of dying because the anticipation of it is considered to be painful, but rather they should pursue knowledge and pleasure and take appropriate measures that will make the most of pleasure and make light of pain.In Epictetus's view he believes that happiness is achieved only when people are able to get their wants or needs, so if someone desires something that is out of their power they will not be happy. He believes that in order to avoid unhappiness people should control their desires, that is with self discipline and self control which will help us change our view or attitude towards certain things. He believes that everyone has a obligation and a role towards others and God plays an important role in life.Certain times God will let us make the decisions but in other circumstances it is not within our power and is prearranged for us. So unlike Epicurus, Epictetus believes that God controls everything and he says that people are a â€Å"fragment of God† so we as a whole have to look out for each other. For Epictetus the good life comes in compliance with reason and truth and basically believes in the po wer to self. Where for Epicurus the good life is a healthy, comfortable, and controlled life and the way to achieve it is by disciplining oneself by the use of reason and secondly to study philosophy, which Epictetus believes too.Epictetus believes philosophy is the guide to achieving a peaceful mind, people have to control their desire. All displeasures is the result of a gap between our wills and the external world. People think that happiness is possible only when the external world comes up to their expectations, so in their minds they make up scenarios of their wants or needs. This builds up hope but will soon be a disappointment. So therefore people should only desire what is real. He says that the person who can master this can go on to doing what he set out to do.Epicurus contends that composure is a condition of the good life. He says in order to have a peace of mind you must have a peaceful environment, escape distress from the sense of right and wrong and not worry about the future. In order to do this Epicurus explains that people must develop a quality that is considered morally good or desirable in a person. He states that . â€Å"The man who does not possess the virtuous life cannot possibly live pleasantly†. Epicurus declared that prudence is a virtue which all other virtues are derived.

Free Essays on Adolescent Depression

Adolescent Depression: The Under Acknowledged Disease Psychology Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tends to act and react abnormally toward others and themselves. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer (Blackman, 1995). Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment which may often continue into adulthood. How prevalent are mood disorders in children and when should an adolescent with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed? Brown (1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is because "children are not always able to express how they feel." Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman (1996) observed that the "challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm." Therefore, diagnosis should not lay only in the physician's hands but be associated with parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors (Oster & Montgomery, 1996). Mood disor ders are often accompanied by other psychological problems such as anxiety (Oster & Montgomery, 1996), eating disorders (Lasko et al., 1996), hyperactivity (Bl... Free Essays on Adolescent Depression Free Essays on Adolescent Depression Adolescent Depression The Under Acknowledged Disease Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tends to act and react abnormally toward others and themselves. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youth’s aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer. Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly under diagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment, which may often continue into adulthood. How prevalent are mood disorders in children and when should an adolescent with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed? Brown (1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is because "children are not always able to express how they feel." Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take on different forms in childre n than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman (1996) observed that the "challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm." Therefore, diagnosis should not lie only in the physician's hands but be associated with parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors. Mood disorders are often accompanied by other psychological problems such as anxiety, eating disorders, hyperactivity, substance abuse and suicide, all of which can hide depressive symptoms. The signs of clinical depression include mark... Free Essays on Adolescent Depression Adolescent Depression: The Under Acknowledged Disease Psychology Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tends to act and react abnormally toward others and themselves. Therefore it comes to no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youths aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer (Blackman, 1995). Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly underdiagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment which may often continue into adulthood. How prevalent are mood disorders in children and when should an adolescent with changes in mood be considered clinically depressed? Brown (1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is because "children are not always able to express how they feel." Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. Blackman (1996) observed that the "challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm." Therefore, diagnosis should not lay only in the physician's hands but be associated with parents, teachers and anyone who interacts with the patient on a daily basis. Unlike adult depression, symptoms of youth depression are often masked. Instead of expressing sadness, teenagers may express boredom and irritability, or may choose to engage in risky behaviors (Oster & Montgomery, 1996). Mood diso rders are often accompanied by other psychological problems such as anxiety (Oster & Montgomery, 1996), eating disorders (Lasko et al., 1996), hyperactivity (Bl...