Concepts of Permanent Establishment (PE) - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1556 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Table of Contents Concepts of Permanent Establishment (PE) US: Effectively Connected Income German Domestic Definition of PE Legal analysis of given situations Situation 1a: run business directly with PE Situation 1b: run business with PE through a German GmbH Situation 2a: the sole trader holds the shares of a US corp. directly. Situation 2b: the sole trader holds the shares of a US corp. through a German GmbH. Steps of calculation Final results References Calculations: Concepts of Permanent Establishment (PE) US: Effectively Connected Income According to the US tax law, a foreign company is subject to US corporate tax on its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"effectively connectedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ income if it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"engaged in a trade or business within the United Statesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ this concept is much broader than the concept of permanent establishment.[1] However, the United States employed the PE concept in most of its treaties, which overrides the national law.[2] Thus, the PE concept is more relevant in international circumstances.[3] Income is said to be effectively connected if it is anchored in assets which are used or to be used in the US, and such activities of the US entity were related to core business.[4] Usually, all income that arises within the United States related to a trade or business is regarded as Effectively Connected Income (ECI), in case that the trade or business is conducted in the United States by a foreign person. This applies whether or not the income relates to the trade or business ta ken place in the United States, during the tax year. It is taxed at stated rates or lower treaty rate.[5] Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Concepts of Permanent Establishment (PE)" essay for you Create order German Domestic Definition of PE According to domestic law (section 12 of the AO), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a permanent establishment is a fixed place of business which serves the business activity of the company.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ [6] The three main differences between the OECD Model Convention and domestic law concern warehouses, installation projects and agents.[7] In accordance with domestic law, warehouses are considered à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“permanent establishmentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , whereas the OECD Model views this otherwise because the activities of warehouses are regarded as auxiliary.[8] In line with domestic law, installation and construction projects may be considered a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“permanent establishmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  if their duration exceeds 6 months, whereas the duration stated in the OECD Model is 12 months.[9] While the OECD Model Convention focuses on dependent agents, and thus usually disregard independent agents, such as commissionaires as PEs, a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“permanent establishmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  u nder domestic law may also include independent agents.[10] Legal analysis of given situations Situation 1a: run business directly with PE Business income: in a no treaty situation, such income would have been subject to personal income tax in the US, and personal income tax in Germany. However, the US German tax treaty eliminated the German taxing right with article 23 paragraph 3 item a.[11] Personal tax burden in the US is calculated by fist determining the state tax obligation then subtracting the amount from the total taxable income to determine the tax base for federal personal income tax and then multiply it by the tax rate.[12] Situation 1b: run business with PE through a German GmbH Business income: in a no treaty situation, such income would have been subject to corporate income tax in the US, and personal income tax in Germany. However, the US German tax treaty eliminated the German taxing right with article 23 paragraph 2 item a.[13] Corporate tax burden in the US is calculated by fist determining the state tax obligation then subtracting the amount from the total taxable income to determine the tax base for federal Corporate income tax and then multiply it by the tax rate.[14] Dividends: subject to personal income tax in Germany. According to Article 29 paragraph 7 of GewStG, the dividend is deductible from the tax base of local business tax.[15] 60 percent of the dividend received by the sole trader is subject to personal income tax.[16] However, the sole trader may also opt for a reduced rate on all dividend, here this option is used.[17] Situation 2a: the sole trader holds the shares of a US corp. directly. Business income: since the subsidiary is a legal entity in the US, the income of the subsidiary should only be taxed in the US. Germany does not have taxing right so long as the profits are not distributed. Corporate tax burden in the US is calculated by fist determining the state tax obligation then subtracting the amount from the total taxable income to determine the tax base for federal corporate income tax and then multiply it by the tax rate.[18] Dividends: in a no treaty situation, such dividends would have been subject to dividend tax in the US, and personal income tax in Germany. However, with the existence of a treaty between US and Germany, article 10 paragraph 2 item b of the treaty should apply. In that case, the US government may charge up to 15 percent of the dividend.[19] According to article 23 paragraph 2 item b of the treaty, the dividend withholding tax should be given a tax credit when considering the tax burden in Germany.[20] Dividend is not subject to loca l business tax at the level of the sole trader.[21] Situation 2b: the sole trader holds the shares of a US corp. through a German GmbH. Business income: since the subsidiary is a legal entity in the US, the income of the subsidiary should only be taxed in the US. Germany does not have taxing right so long as the profits are not distributed. Corporate tax burden in the US is calculated by fist determining the state tax obligation then subtracting the amount from the total taxable income to determine the tax base for federal corporate income tax and then multiply it by the tax rate.[22] Dividends: in a no treaty situation, such dividends would have been subject to dividend tax in the US, corporate income tax in Germany and German personal income tax. However, with the existence of a treaty between US and Germany, article 10 paragraph 3 item a of the treaty should apply. Therefore, the taxes are not charged by the US authorities.[23] According to German tax code, the dividend paid to the German GmbH is tax exempt, however, 5 percent of which will be added back to the corporate income tax base as non-deductible busi ness expense.[24] 60 percent of the dividend received by the sole trader is also subject to personal income tax.[25] However, the sole trader may also opt for a reduced rate on all dividends, here this option is used. Dividend is not subject to local business tax at the level of the sole trader.[26] Steps of calculation Calculate State tax on business income, which is always 0 for Texas. The tax base of US federal tax is the amount of income net of state tax. The amount net of US taxes is the base of US withholding tax (if applicable) on dividends and German dividend tax/ income tax. In case of a German GmbH, 5% of the base is taxable at CIT rate. The net amount is the tax base of German PIT. Calculate the PIT and apply any tax credit if applicable. Final results Following these steps, one shall discover that the best strategy here is to invest directly in a US permanent establishment. This is because the CIT has to be taxed in the US and is not credited in any situation. Thus the only way to avoid economic double taxation is to have all taxes taxed at the level of the sole trader. References Germany (2006) Protocol amending tax convention with Germany: message from the President of the United States transmitting Protocol Amending the Convention Between the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and Capital and to Certain Other Taxes, signed on August 29, 1989, signed at Berlin June 1, 2006 (the #034;protocol#034;), along with a related joint declaration, International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004),IBFD, your portal to cross-border tax expertise,https://online.ibfd.org/document/cta_de_s_7. Reimer, E. (2011) Permanent establishments : a domestic taxation, bilateral tax treaty and OECD perspective, Alphen aan den Rijn[u.a.] Calculations: Situation 1a: US federal personal income tax base 100 US federal personal income tax 35% 35 Total tax burden 35 Situation 1b: US federal corporate tax base 100 US federal corporate income tax 35 Amounts paid to German GmbH 65 Dividend paid to sole trader 65 German personal income tax25% 16.25 Tax burden 51.25 Situation 2a: Taxable income in US 100 US corporate tax 35 Dividend paid to sole trader100-35 65 US dividend tax under treaty15% 9.75 Tax base in Germany 65 PIT 25% 16.25 Tax Credit 9.75 Personal tax 6.5 Tax burden 51.25 Situation 2b: Taxable income 100 -US corporate tax35% (no state tax in Texas) 35 Dividend paid to German GmbH 65 CIT taxable income 5% 3.25 -German corporate tax 25% 0.8125 Tax base for German Personal income tax 64.1875 German personal income tax 25% 16.046875 Tax burden 51.859375 1 [1] See Reimer (2011) pp. [2] See Reimer (2011) pp. [3] See Reimer (2011) pp. [4] [5] [6] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [7] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [8] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [9] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [10] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [11] See Germany (2006) pp. [12] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [13] See Germany (2006) pp. [14] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [15] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [16] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [17] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [18] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [19] See Germany (2006) pp. [20] See Germany (2006) pp. [21] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [22] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (20 04) [23] See Germany (2006) pp. [24] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [25] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004) [26] International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (2004)

Queer Theory The Matrix - 2120 Words

The Matrix Queer Theory Postcolonial Theory Kaupapa MÄ ori Mana Wahine Value Queer theory questions creations of normal and divergent, insider, and outsider.2 Queer theorists analyse a situation or a text to determine the relationship between sexuality, power and gender. Queer theory challenges basic tropes used to organize our society and our language: even words are gendered, and through that gendering an elliptical view of the hierarchy of society, and presumption of what is male and what is female, shines through. Queer theory rejects such binary distinctions as arbitrarily determined and defined by those with social power. It works to deconstruct these binaries, particularly the homosexual/heterosexual binary.4 Queer theory could potentially offer the most qualitative of methodologies for collecting and analysing data. 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Assessment Management and Performance Monitoring Plan Free Essays

Assessment Activity BSBMGT617A Develop and implement a business plan Assessment 120 Student ID: Type: Assignment Duration/Due: 4 weeks Name: Question # Question 1 You and your business partner have decided to open a small business marketing consultancy in Sydney’s bustling Chinatown district, close to The Sydney Business and Travel Academy. Marks 60 You have borrowed $75,000 from the bank to get started, and have each contributed $20,000 in cash, for a total amount of $115,000. Initially, the two of you will be the only full-time employees, but you plan to employ more staff as the business grows. We will write a custom essay sample on Assessment: Management and Performance Monitoring Plan or any similar topic only for you Order Now For this assessment you will need to develop two profesionally presented and detailed plans – the business plan, and the performance monitoring plan. The business plan should be detailed, practical and have the following sections as a minimum:  § Table of contents Company vision, mission, values and objectives  § Stakeholder consultation  § Market requirements and customer profile  § Pricing strategy  § Resource requirements (financial, human and physical)  § Legislative requirements (local, state and federal)  § 30-day Start-up Action plan Your business performance monitoring plan will detail how you will monitor the performance of your startup business. It will need to include details of the key performance indicators you will use, financial management strategies (including target ratios), human resource performance monitoring, your plan for continuous improvement, and details of how the business plan will be amended and updated as required. A large part of this assignment involves research. The internet is not your only tool. Seek advice and assistance from your trainer, government bodies, associations and business owners where appropriate. All information sources must be acknowledged and referenced. Thursday, 6 October 2011 1/1 How to cite Assessment: Management and Performance Monitoring Plan, Essay examples

Practical Social Work Ethics

Question: Describe about the Practical Social Work Ethics? Answer: Introduction: Organizations generally monitor their employees to ensure that they are performing their duties correctly (Carey, 2013). Continuous monitoring of employees also ensures that none of the resources of organization are being misused by employees (Kaptein, 2013). However, organizations require informing employees regarding their monitoring practices to avoid ethical dilemmas. The current assignment deals with discussion on the ethical dilemmas in organizations due to use of ICT. DET technique: The ethical dilemma in my workplace is analyzed with DET technique. Use of DET techniques for analyzing ethical issues not only enables to identify the impacts of an incident on its stakeholders, it is also effective to identify the potential solutions for the problem (Ciurria, 2014). Case Description: In workplace some employees have been accused of using official resources for their personal purpose. Apart from this there were some incidents related with loss of office property. However management of our organization increased the number of CCTVs at office premises to avoid such incidents in future. Although the organization made stricter employee monitoring policies, staffs were not aware about these policies. Increasing the number of CCTVs is beneficial to the management for protecting office properties, but it is also violating the policies regarding privacy of employees at workplace. As it is related with my workplace, real names are not used for maintaining confidentiality. Analysis on the current situation is indicating presence of ethical dilemma in my workplace. Stakeholders related with incident: In our organization staffs protested against the issue of monitoring employees without informing them. The stakeholders who are directly related with the incident are management of our organization and staffs of the company. Has a stakeholders trust been broken? Ideals: As some of the staffs misused office property, they violated rules of our office. On other hand, management also increased the number of CCTVs without proper notification. It violated the rules of employee monitoring. Rights: Employees require being informed properly before they are monitored using CCTV. As the management applied new monitoring policies without informing them, the right of staffs privacy at workplace is violated. What are the obligations? The incident of CCTV monitoring without informing employees violated the law of privacy at work place. Employees have rights to protect their privacy at workplace (Oaic.gov.au, 2015). However the management used this policy to avoid misleading people in office. Misuse of office properties violated the rules of company. What are the consequences for stakeholders? Although the management of our organization succeeded to reduce misuse of resources, new monitoring policy is affecting the relationship between management and employees. Thus the incident is affecting our company for long term by reducing integrity among employees. Employees are also affected due to new monitoring policies as their right to privacy is violated. Application of ethical theories: Impacts of the incident in my workplace can be analyzed using Act Utilitarianism. Monteverde, (2013) states that use of Act Utilitarianism theory provides idea regarding overall impact of an incident on all parties. Reilly et al., (2012) opined that use of Rule Utilitarianism also provides idea regarding impacts of an ethical dilemma on all parties associated with it. The incidents of resource misuse and implementation of new monitoring policies decreased happiness of both management and employees. The response of stakeholders for an incident can be understood using social contract theory (Quigley, 2011). In my organization new monitoring policies were not accepted by employees as management had not informed them earlier. Use of Kantianism theory indicates that basic rights of privacy would be violated of the monitoring policy was obeyed by everyone. What is the best action? Analysis on the current scenario indicates the management requires increasing the number of CCTVs for protecting office resources. However the employees need to be notified properly regarding the new surveillance policies. However management also can provide employees with the guidelines for using company resources to protect those from being misused. Justification for the best action: Analysis on the possible actions indicates that increasing the number of CCTVs at office premises will be more effective. However, the management requires ensuring that the employees are informed properly and they are agreed with these new policies. Use of CCTVs will also beneficial for management to identify whether the staffs are performing their duties or not. Mere providing guidelines to staffs will not be effective as it will not facilitate the management to understand whether staffs are following these guidelines or not. Conclusion: Analysis on the current incident indicates that both the stakeholders are affected. Trust between management and employees have been reduced due to misuse of company properties. On other hand, employees also became unhappy as their right to privacy was violated. However such ethical dilemmas can be avoided by revising existing policies. References Carey, M. (2013). Practical social work ethics. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate. CIURRIA, M. (2014). Answering the Situationist Challenge: A Defense of Virtue Ethics as Preferable to Other Ethical Theories. Dialogue, 53(04), 651-670. doi:10.1017/s0012217314000560 Kaptein, M. (2013). Workplace morality. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Oaic.gov.au,. (2015). Is my employer allowed to monitor my activities in the workplace?| Office of the Australian Information Commissioner - OAIC. Retrieved 19 March 2015, from https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-topics/photos-and-surveillance/is-my-employer-allowed-to-monitor-my-activities-in-the-workplace Quigley, M. (2011). ICT ethics and security in the 21st century. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. Reilly, N., Sirgy, M., Gorman, C. (2012). Work and quality of life. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

Biology Vitamin C Lab Report Sample

Biology Vitamin C Lab Report Paper It is crucial for essential diet. It breaks down easily hen the food is heated or let around too long on our shelf. Vitamin C is one of the most popular supplements, great thanks to the dedication of the Nobel prize winner scientist named Lines Palling. He took up to about 25 grams of the vitamin every day for year. Palling ended up almost dying in the age of 96, but was still actively working and mentally sharp at the time of his death. People always wonder: He must have been doing something right. There is ascorbic acid in oranges, citrus fruits, bell peppers, rose hips, tomatoes, strawberries and many more. The minimum requirement to avoid vitamin deficiency, named scurvy, is 60 MGM. It is commonly taken in 500 until 1000 MGM doses, larger amounts, like 10 and 20 grams daily can cause mild toxicity ; example: diarrhea. Vitamin C doesnt have toxic because we eliminate excessive amounts of it through urination process. Sometimes, pregnant women are even prohibited from exceeding 1 or 2 grams per day. Vitamin C as a water-soluble compound involved in many processes of our body including the production of collagen, which are the dopamine synthesis, noradrenalin and adrenaline in our internal body system and also the synthesis f carnation, which is crucial for the transfer of energy in mitochondria. A vitamin C deficiency causes scurvy, which affected the sailors of 16th-18th century. Fortunately, they have discovered that fresh fruits, for example, lime and oranges gave protection to the sailors from the disease. We will write a custom essay sample on Biology Vitamin C Lab Report specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Biology Vitamin C Lab Report specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Biology Vitamin C Lab Report specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In Australia and New Zealand, 60 MGM is the recommended daily intake (RID) for vitamin C. Lines Palling, the Nobel-prize winning scientist trusted in regular mega doses of vitamin C, but this is still regarded as an unorthodox in conventional medicine. It was frequently used as an antimicrobial and antioxidant in the food. 928 was the year when it was first isolated while in 1932, it was proved to help prevent scurvy (hence, its scientific name of ascorbic acid, which literally translated as anti-scurvy acid). In 1933, its structure was determined and confirmed by total synthesis since then. [pica] Vitamin C is more efficient if taken by consuming fresh fruits rather than tablets. Dry Emir Afraid Isaiah is a medical specialist who practices holistic, aesthetic and anti-ageing medicine. He is a going master and founder of Suppressing. In The Star newspaper, in the article of Supplement Matters; Art of Healing published in Sunday, 1 January 2012 and updated on 30 July 2013). L have written about vitamin C and its co-factors (especially validations) previously. Suffice it for me to share here that I and many other anti-ageing doctors take much more than 1,MGM per day, and that it is best to get vitamin C from whole- food supplements, or at least from natural food-sourced extracts that are also enriched with the essential co-factors. Non-food sourced (synthetic) vitamin C may not be as effective. source- Newspaper Star Online Easy recipe to be prepared which is high in vitamin c- Orange Spice Tea Ingredients 1/2 inch ginger root, 1 orange(peeled), water, cinnamon stick for garnish Ways- Push ginger and orange trough hopper, pour 2 oz of juice into teacup and fill with boiling water. Vitamin C also helps to protect cell membrane from toxic wastes and destruction from an overactive immune system. It also functions as an antioxidant and very effective if taken with vitamin E. Vitamin C is used for allergies and as an anti-viral medicine. Regular use may risk the risk of diseases such as cancer. Vitamin C is also an essential nutrient needed by our body for the development and maintenance of scar tissue, blood vessels, and cartilage. Vitamin C is also necessary for producing TAP, dopamine, peptide hormones, and tyrosine. As a powerful antioxidant, it also helps lessen oxidative stress to the body and also can lower cancer risk. The sampling key uses of vitamin C are : To promote wound healing To support immune function and protect us from viral diseases and cancer To help people with high cholesterol level, cataracts, diabetes, allergies and asthma, and periodontal disease. It protects blood vessels and lenses of our eyes as an antioxidant, and helps keeps body strong. Popular for warding off and shortening the unpleasant effect of the cold. Oranges, citrus fruits, and their zest (the shavings of their peel) are all high in vitamin C. Oranges provide MGM (99% ERDA) per 100 gram serving, MGM (163% ERDA) per cup, and MGM (138% ERDA) per orange. Clementines, or tangerines, provide MGM (81% ERDA) per 100 gram serving, or MGM (60% ERDA) per fruit. It also provides beneficial photosynthesis like flagstones and luminous, currently being studied for their ability to maintain a health immune system. OVERDOSE OF VITAMIN C According to the study conducted by University of Florida researchers, if we consume more than 100 MGM per day, this will cause a Vitamin C Overdose which exults in an unusual health problems. In that study, they found that patients with that condition had accumulated rust deposits inside bodies their because of vitamin combine with the iron. This effect are still being investigated but, by having this case, consuming overdose of vitamin c may cause death. If we have any symptom whether major or minor symptoms, you are strictly advised to decrease your dosage immediately. The minor symptoms are nausea, strong smelling urine, mouth ulcers, gas, bloating and upset stomach. The major symptoms of vitamin c overdose are kidney stones, vitamin B-12 deficiency, proper deficiency and increased need of oxygen. If you experienced or find out that you have these symptoms, it is advised to discuss your vitamin c intake with the doctors as soon as possible. Do not take your own decision, like alter your own dosage. This is because, if we dramatically alter the level of vitamin c in our body, this can result in numerous health hazards. Vitamin c overdose may not lead us to immediate death, but this can cause serious long term problem caused by vitamin c overdose. The long term problems are acute right-sided conjunctivitis, kidney diseases, diabetes and hypoglycemia. VITAMIN C DEFICIENCY Vitamin C deficiency is the lack of vitamin c in the body due to the lack of sufficient amount of vitamin c intake. I means, new collagen cannot be formed. This may lead to causes such as tissue in our body start to break down and the health and repair of your body become affected. Those who experience chronic vitamin c deficiency (mostly around 3 months or more), this can cause scurvy disease. Scurvy because of low intake of vitamin c is quite rare at SKI. Certain groups of people are selected to have more risk to experience vitamin c deficiency. They are victims of famine and refugees, people dependent on drug/ alcohol who may not have a healthy and balanced diet, people who go on fad diet, those living on a low income who tend not to buy foods with high content of vitamin c and those who have medical condition that affect the bodys ability to digest and absorb food such as Chronic disease and ulcerative colitis. It also can occur to older people who may eat less varied diet, smokers (smoking affects the absorption of vitamin c from foods besides, vitamin c is used up more rapidly in the body of smokers) and pregnant and Brest-feeding women (they need higher mount of vitamin c). The first symptoms vitamin c deficiency are: Tiredness Pains at muscle and joints Easy bruising Spots in our skin which look like small, red-blue bruises Dry skin Splitting hair Swelling and bleeding of the gums Bleeding of the nose Low healing of wound Problems to fight infections Bleeding into joints which cause severe joint pain Weight and tooth loss If not treated, this can deficiency can lead to other problems such as jaundice, generalized edema (swelling), shortness of breath, nerve problems, fever and convulsion. Those who didnt get proper treat from doctors, they may get leading in heart and brain which can lead to fatal. The treatment to overcome the vitamin deficiency is to replace the vitamin c which is lack in the body. Treatment can be made by taking vitamin c supplements and taking meal which contains high vitamin c. To assure the correct vitamin c supplements needed to be consumed, you must refer to the dietician first in order to avoid taking vitamin c supplement which is not suitable with our body. After a period of time, the intake of vitamin c supplement usually will be stopped. This is to complete the next step, which is consuming diet with gig vitamin c. This is also to make sure that our body does not become the deficient in vitamin c again in the future. Guidelines to avert vitamin c shortages- Eat high amount of fresh vegetable and fruits in daily life as they are considered as among the richest source of vitamin c Use cooking technique which can prevent loss of vitamin c in food when cooking it Stay away from smoking as it can cause poor absorption of vitamin c in our body Vitamin c deficiency can be avoided by taking healthy meals, which contains needed amount of vitamin c. To have this healthy and balanced diet, we must aka sure that it contains plenty of fruits and vegetables including high vitamin c. As a rough advice, a large orange per day can provide use with enough vitamin c in our daily life. PROBLEM STATEMENT Which type of juice contains the highest amount of vitamin c? Vitamin C is a water-soluble compound that is essential for life. It is involved in many processes in the human body, including: the production of collagen in the connective tissue; the synthesis of dopamine, noradrenalin and adrenaline in the nervous system; and the synthesis of carnation, which is important in the transfer of energy to the cell mitochondria. In the experiment, vitamin c that exist in freshly-made orange and lemon juice and commercial orange and lemon juice are used to investigate the relationship of different type of fruit juice and the volume of fruit juices needed to dichloride Mil of 1% of DUCKPIN solution. Every type of fruit juices are added each inside 1 ml of 1% of DUCKPIN solution in a test tube until it is discoursed. At the same time, 1/4, h, 1, 3/2, 7/4, 2. The reading of volume of fruit juices and crushed tablet needed to dichloride the DUCKPIN are taken and recorded in the table. The hypothesis is then determined by the results. HYPOTHESIS Different type of fruit juices have different amount of vitamin C. The higher the volume of fruit juice needed to dichloride the DUCKPIN solution, the lower the amount of vitamin c contained in the fruit juice. Fresh orange juice has the highest amount of vitamin C. 2 tablet contains the highest amount of vitamin C. I Types of Variables Variable Way to Control The I I Manipulated variable: Type of fruit juice I Use different type of fruit juice which are orange juice and lemon I I Juice together with commercial orange and lemon juice. I I Responding variable: Volume of fruit juices needed to discourse I Measure volume of fruit juices using syringe and drop it into Mil of I I Mil of 1% of DUCKPIN solution. 1% of DUCKPIN until it discourses. Repeat and calculate the average I I Value of it to get accurate results. Concentration and volume of DUCKPIN solution of 1% of DUCKPIN in each experiment I I Fixed variable: I Use the same concentration Measure the same volume of Mil of DUCKPIN solution using syringes in I all experiment. Apparatus Test tubes, 5 ml syringes, test tube rack, 100 ml of measuring cylinder, knife, patella, white tile.

Measuring Earthquake Magnitudes

Measuring Earthquake Magnitudes These days, an earthquake happens and right away it is on the news, including its magnitude. Instant earthquake magnitudes seem as routine an achievement as reporting the temperature, but theyre the fruit of generations of scientific work. Why Earthquakes Are Hard to Measure Earthquakes are very hard to measure on a standard scale of size. The problem is like finding one number for the quality of a baseball pitcher. You can start with the pitchers win-loss record, but there are more things to consider: earned-run average, strikeouts and walks, career longevity and so on. Baseball statisticians tinker with indexes that weigh these factors (for more, visit the About Baseball Guide). Earthquakes are easily as complicated as pitchers. They are fast or slow. Some are gentle, others are violent. Theyre even right-handed or left-handed. They are oriented different ways- horizontal, vertical, or in between (see Faults in a Nutshell). They occur in different geologic settings, deep within continents or out in the ocean. Yet somehow we want a single meaningful number for ranking the worlds earthquakes. The goal has always been to figure out the total amount of energy a quake releases, because that tells us profound things about the dynamics of the Earths interior. Richters First Scale The pioneering seismologist Charles Richter started in the 1930s by simplifying everything he could think of. He chose one standard instrument, a Wood-Anderson seismograph, used only nearby earthquakes in Southern California, and took only one piece of data- the distance A in millimeters that the seismograph needle moved. He worked up a simple adjustment factor B to allow for near versus distant quakes, and that was the first Richter scale of local magnitude ML: ML log A B A graphical version of his scale is reproduced on the Caltech archives site. Youll notice that ML really measures the size of earthquake waves, not an earthquakes total energy, but it was a start. This scale worked fairly well as far as it went, which was for small and moderate earthquakes in Southern California. Over the next 20 years Richter and many other workers extended the scale to newer seismometers, different regions, and different kinds of seismic waves. Later Richter Scales Soon enough Richters original scale was abandoned, but the public and the press still use the phrase Richter magnitude. Seismologists used to mind, but not any more. Today seismic events may be measured based on body waves or surface waves (these are explained in Earthquakes in a Nutshell). The formulas differ but they yield the same numbers for moderate earthquakes. Body-wave magnitude is mb log(A/T) Q(D,h) where A is the ground motion (in microns), T is the waves period (in seconds), and Q(D,h) is a correction factor that depends on distance to the quakes epicenter D (in degrees) and focal depth h (in kilometers). Surface-wave magnitude is Ms log(A/T) 1.66 logD 3.30 mb uses relatively short seismic waves with a 1-second period, so to it every quake source that is larger than a few wavelengths looks the same. That corresponds to a magnitude of about 6.5. Ms uses 20-second waves and can handle larger sources, but it too saturates around magnitude 8. Thats OK for most purposes because magnitude-8 or great events happen only about once a year on average for the whole planet. But within their limits, these two scales are a reliable gauge of the actual energy that earthquakes release. The biggest earthquake whose magnitude we know was in 1960, in the Pacific right off central Chile on May 22. Back then, it was said to be magnitude 8.5, but today we say it was 9.5. What happened in the meantime was that Tom Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori came up with a better magnitude scale in 1979. This moment magnitude, Mw, is not based on seismometer readings at all but on the total energy released in a quake, the seismic moment Mo (in dyne-centimeters): Mw 2/3 log(Mo) - 10.7 This scale therefore does not saturate. Moment magnitude can match anything the Earth can throw at us. The formula for Mw is such that below magnitude 8 it matches Ms and below magnitude 6 it matches mb, which is close enough to Richters old ML. So keep calling it the Richter scale if you like- its the scale Richter would have made if he could. The U.S. Geological Surveys Henry Spall interviewed Charles Richter in 1980 about his scale. It makes  lively reading. PS: Earthquakes on Earth simply cant get bigger than around Mw 9.5. A piece of rock can store up only so much strain energy before it ruptures, so the size of a quake depends strictly on how much rock- how many kilometers of fault length- can rupture at once. The Chile Trench, where the 1960 quake occurred, is the longest straight fault in the world. The only way to get more energy is with giant landslides or asteroid impacts.

American Experiences Abroad - Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American Experiences Abroad - Assignment - Essay Example Starting with the explorations of Gene Savoy and Christopher Gist, Americans have been able to travel far and wide in the search for the discovery of new worlds. At the inception of a more perspective based thought process, Americans were under the impression that the world was confined to their land; however, when their famous travellers set sail, they discovered and let the people know that there was more to life than just the piece of territory that a group of people were surviving upon. Discovery is an extremely interesting part of life because it talks about finding out information regarding the yesteryears; it involves looking at things that the past left behind, or finding out about new things in life. The best feeling involved with discovery is when one may understand it present on a different territory or land. Americans, like Gene Savoy, have been heavily influenced by archaeology; he alone has been able to discover 40 lost cities in Peru. Peru has history of the Mayan and Inca civilizations which were brought to light primarily under the guidance of Savoy, who discovered Vilacabamba, the place where the Incas had taken their last refuge during the time of the Spanish conquest and he has also been known to be named Gran Pajaten. His expeditions have been recorded in various books and journals which have proved to be extremely helpful for the purpose of both archaeology and exploration. He has, thus, been able to singlehandedly teach American people about the beauty of being able to discover more; he was able to condemn the notion of living with a single view regarding life and not going out and finding out more about life. In his wake, more and more explorers began to travel to far off destinations like India, Japan, China and other Asian countries, in order to settle with their lives there and find out more about the local extracts of these places. For example, there are a number of Americans that have settled in India today; this is because they hav e been able to find refuge in aspects of life like yoga, worship of the divine individual, self realization and actualization etc. Americans are also fascinated by the medicinal use of the marijuana plant in parts of India which helps them to think and wander around plains and foothills, meeting new people and living a new way of life. They say that this helps them to connect more with nature and helps to provide a stark difference from living within the hustle and bustle of the cities in America. Heavy industrialization, they say, has taken the charm of living for oneself away completely in the modern world, thus, they roam in order to change their lifestyle and live a more happy life, which they may find in ashrams in India, as depicted in the movie ‘Eat Pray Love’. Let’s move to modern forms of media: they have helped to show how Americans have abandoned their views about life restricted to their own country. In ‘Casablanca’, the backdrop of the S econd World War helps to depict a man torn inside -- whether or not he should listen to his heart or help his love’s husband fight against the Nazis in Casablanca, Morocco. The protagonist is an expatriate living in Casablanca and, thus, as an American, he is able to figure out new aspects of himself while living abroad altogether1. When people are forced to leave the country due to social or

San Diego Geologic History and Natural Hazards Summary Research Paper

San Diego Geologic History and Natural Hazards Summary - Research Paper Example The contact experienced between these geologic regions is irregular and this reflects the ancient area topography before being buried by the thick sequence of Tertiary and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks that was deposited by ancient seas and ancient rivers over the last 75 million years (Abbott, P, 23) Both these rocks with their existing biological record such as the fossils, document the biological and geological evolution of this western North America part. It is recorded that at a certain point in time, there was an ancient oceanic crustal plate consumption that created volcanic islands archipelago and also this same plate subduction generated massive magma volumes which in the later stage congealed in the crust that resulted to plutonic rock. It is also observed that local rocks record an early period when erosion unroofed and tectonic forces uplifted the plutonic rocks that were deeply buried forming a rugged and steep mountainous coastline. This is similar to the one present today along the west coast of South America. Also recorded are periods of subtropical climates and higher rainfall that supported coastal rain forests with exotic floras and faunas; relentless erosion, drowned coastlines periods and great rivers; periods of extreme renewed and aridity volcanism; widespread crustal shear and faulting periods and the new seaways formation (Bergen et al, 34). The above are just some of the stories of geology preserved in the San Diego County. Deciphering the biological and geological record is a process that is ongoing and every year brings new insights and new discoveries. Geographical regions of San Diego affected by Natural Hazards The processes of natural geology which represent a hazard to health, property or life are taken to be geologic hazards. Natural geologic hazards which affect property and people in San Diego County include earthquakes that can result to ground shaking, liquefaction and surface fault rupture, expansive weathering soils, and phenomena mass wasting such as rockfalls and landslides (Bray and Kelson,5).The hazard of surface rupture has been identified as Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zones (AP Zones). Two major AP Zones extend to southeast from northwest across the northeast half of the County, the San Jacinto and Elsinore fault zones; present the highest fault-rupture threat in the unincorporated San Diego County part (Anderson et al,13).Liquefaction primarily occurs in loose, saturated and fine to medium-grained soils in places where the groundwater table is basically at most 50-feet below the surface. There may be a potent ial for liquefaction within the County in areas with loose sandy soils together with a shallow groundwater table, that are typically located in floodplains and alluvial river basins/ valleys. Previous landslides together with landslide-prone sedimentary formations are located in western unincorporated County portions( Bowman,21). However, it is known that landslides can as well take place in the granitic terrain in the eastern County area, despite the prevalence is so minimal (URS, 2004). Most of the landslides that are significant have happened along coastal bluffs and other areas within incorporated County parts (URS, 2004). Existing landslides reactivations can be triggered by situations that include irrigation or heavy rainfall, seismic shaking or grading. Particular clay soils types normally shrink when dried

DWI (debate) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DWI (debate) - Essay Example However, before taking a stand in this issue, DWI should consider the legal and ethical implications of the change proposed by FCC. The further consolidation and merger among industry players will mean observance of more policies set by the government concerning duopolies and tripolies which are not currently allowed. DWI will also be faced with the challenge of operating in a less deregulated media industry. If DWI will merge with other media players, it will also be faced by the burden of delineating the responsibilities and ownership within the newly formed organization. Ethically, DWI should consider all its stakeholders including its customers, employees, competitors, lobbying groups, and other public relations. Since consolidation and merger often means downsizing, DWI should also be ready to legally give fulfill its liability to its employees. In this issue, the company should thoroughly consider its employees especially now that they are vocally expressing their opposition to the new policy. DWI's stand will surely have a huge impact on its image. It should be noted that researches have exposed that free TV does not really suffer from losses because most of these companies are connected or even owners of cable stations.

confounding factor or lurking variable

confounding factor or lurking variable Confounding variable, also known as confounding factor or lurking variable can be defined as an undesirable variable that has an influence on the relationship between the variables of an experiment. Although they are not the variable of actual interest (i.e. the independent variable), they can influence the outcome of an experiment and they are considered to be undesirable as they could add error to an experiment. A proper designed experiment should aim to decrease or control the influence of such confounding variables in order to avoid type 1 error; an error that raises a false positive conclusion that the independent variables have a casual relationship with the dependent variable. The relationship between the two observed variables is called a spurious relationship, hence a confounding variable is a threat to the validity of inferences made about cause and effect, i.e. the internal validity because the observed effect should be attributed to the independent variable rather than to the confounding variable. An example can be illustrated by the relationship between ice cream sales and drowning deaths. When these variables are entered into a statistical analysis, they may show a positive and potentially statistically significant correlation. However, it is a mistake to infer a causal relationship (i.e., ice cream causes drowning) because an important confounding variable which causes both ice cream sales and an increase in drowning deaths has not been accounted for: i.e. summertime. Although there is a body of literature of criteria for causality, Pearl claimed that confounding variables cannot be defined in terms of statistical notions alone; some causal assumptions are sometimes necessary. For example, when causal assumptions are being defined in the form of causal graphs, a simple criterion called backdoor will identify sets of confounding variables. Types of confounding variables Confounding variables may also be categorized according to their source: the choice of measurement instrument, situational characteristics, or inter-individual differences. Solution There are several ways to combat confounding variables in an experimental design by excluding or controlling it. Here is the following: Case control studies: by assigning the same confounding variables to both the experimental and control group can control for such confounder, for example, if the cause of multiple infarct dementia is being studied, age and sex could be the confounding variables, therefore these factors should be matched paired between the two participant groups. In addition, randomization is also another solution as having all confounding variables (whether known or unknown) will be equally distributed across all groups. Cohort studies: this is done by admitting a specific group of participants into the sampling population, for example a specific age range that may affect multiple infarct dementia, therefore only a certain group is chosen for the study design such as male aged 45-50 years old. This would limit the degree of matching between the groups and also cohorts can be comparable in regard to the possible confounding variable. Stratification: in the example of multiple infarct dementia study, physical activity is hypothesized to be a variable that can prevent this dementia from happening. With age as a possible confounder. The sampling data will then be stratified by age group so that the association between physical activity and dementia can be analyzed per age group. If different age group yields different risk ratios (this can be analyzed by statistical tools called Mantel-Haenszel methods), then age is seen as a confounding variable. Despite solutions for the controlling and limiting confounding variables, these strategies have limitations too. For example if a participant in the case-control study is a 47year old African-American from Alaska, avid tennis player, vegetarian, working as an engineer and suffer from multiple infarct dementia. Proper matching would require a person of the same characteristics but with the sole difference of being healthy. This is extremely difficult to achieve and there is a risk of over- or undermatching of the study population. Additionally, in a cohort study, too many people may be excluded with this criteria, and in stratification, single strata can get too narrow and contain only a small, non-significant number of samples. Randomization One of the most common reasons for the existence of confounding variable is when the experimental design does not randomly assign participants to groups or some types of individual difference such as ability, extroversion, height and weight. For example, studies involving a comparison between men and women are inherently plagued with confounding variables since the social environment for males and females is very different to start with. However, this does not mean that there is no value in gender comparison studies or other studies that does not employ random assignment but it implies that results interpretation should be done cautiously. In sum, random assignment is a useful and powerful tool in experimental design. Although it does not minimize the overall amount of extraneous variable in an experiment, it aims to equalize the error that may occur as a result of extraneous variable, therefore it can greatly decrease systematic error: error that varies within the independent variab le. Multivariate analyses Another method for controlling confounding variable is by the use of covariates in multivariate analyses. However, this only gives little information about the strength of the confounding variable compared to stratification methods. Furthermore, confounding variables are not always known or measurable which means residual confounding (term for incompletely controlled confounding) may appear. In an experimental design, covariate adjustment can help to reduce the noise in an outcome variation whilst enabling the manipulation effect to be performed. In sum, successful randomization can minimize confounding variables by bother measured and unmeasured factors, whereas statistical control addresses only confounding variables that have been measured and can introduce more confounding variables and other biases through inappropriate control. Mismeasurement and mis-specification Although it is important to spot confounding variables in a study there is often a risk of having a statistically controlled but imperfectly measured factor that may confound an association of the variables. This is termed residual confounding which describes the mismeasurement and an example is given to illustrate this. In a study example, it was found that people with higher rate of vacation is correlated with lower risk of mortality. Several explanations can account for this as vacation mitigates stress, diminishes anger and encourage more exercise. On the other hand, healthier people might be more likely to travel so vacation may not be a genuine causal factor but only a marker of initial health status that naturally predicts longevity. Consequently, vacation may remain to be a significant predictor even after adjusting for baseline health status as the covariate. It is therefore easy to construct a series of potential confounders but many would lack plausibility. For example, pe ople with more friends may have more vacations and friend was indeed the predictor variable instead, low-stress working environment and wide range of food (I.e. completeness of diet) may all attribute to prolong life too. However, because plausibility is a highly subjective factor for considering whether enough potential founders are included. To identify confounders Priori knowledge of the likely causal pathways are required. The major drawback of this is that observational studies imply that the strength of any causal inference will depend on the biologic plausibility of the putative factor, and the implausibility of uncontrolled potential confounders. In addition, observations contain some judgmental component which varies from experimenters. For example, vacation may prolong longevity because sick people tend to travel less, to deal with this. Measurements of participants initial health may be used as an adjustment but this however cannot be assessed without error. Moreover, hea lth can be measured in so many different ways and not all can be included and controlled for. This raises more and more questions such as: can the use of initial stress test be used to capture aspects of health confounded by vacation? Is body mass index relevant? Consequently, even if the optimal measure of confounder is used it is measured with error and adjustment for it may not eliminate the effects of vacations. From the statistical analysis perspective, poorly measured confounding variables causes more problems as its effect may not be linear, by assuming linearity on the outcome as specified by the model by entering confounding variables as a covariate in standard regression models may not fully adjust for the confounder effects are not linear on that scale. Mediators and confounders There is a common conflict that different causal explanations can be possible when adjustment is used to reduce or eliminate the predictive power of the independent variable. For example, a confounding variable may sometimes be a marker of some causal factors but it is not directly involved in the causal chain from one variable to another and there is a problem of over-adjustment. Considering an example on the hypothesis that high blood pressure (BP) reaction to stress causes Hypertension. To test this hypothesis, a longitudinal study should be conducted where BP reactivity and resting BP levels of a large group of participants should be measured. Result findings should report that excessive reactivity to be the risk factor for later hypertension but the problem is reactivity may just be a marker for elevated BP resting level and it is not important per se. consistent with this problem, those participants with higher resting BP may correlate with high BP reactivity scores. To control for the current confounding variable, the initial resting BP levels should be adjusted by regression analysis which llustrates whether BP reactivity is attributed to any predictive information beside just the initial resting BP level. This may show that reactivity is no longer a very predictive factor and most of the variation in the follow-up BP levels may be accounted for by the initial resting levels. However, this does not mean that reactivity is not causally related to future BP status, i.e. if increased reactivity preceded initial increase in resting BP level, it could also be responsible in part for the initial increase in resting BP level. This is a situation whereby a single variable may have both confounding and mediating roles simultaneously. The example of vacation and mortality is used to illustrate this: assuming that people who go on more vacations are less likely to die over a 5-year longitudinal study, including a factor: initial health status in the regression mod el could eliminate this association. Alternatively, if people in poor health take fewer vacations then this elimination may reflect the removal of a confounding variable by health status. However, if the participants tendencies to go on vacation are constant over the 5 year period then health status will reflect the cumulative health impact of a lifetimes vacation habits. This shows that health status will contribute partly as a mediator of vacationing effects. This confusion between a mediator and a confounder will be less apparent if the risk factor is not stable over time. For example if the participant has only just started having vacations, then these will not be reflected in the initial health status and may have higher opportunity to predict subsequent health with initial health status as a covariate in the analysis. However, if these changes become out of control, it can create a quasi-experimental design. For example, if people take vacations due to change in their company policy rather than the reason of making friends or have spare time, and other group have less vacation for the same reason. Then in this case, it is possible to assess the effect of vacation independently of initial health status. In sum, indiscriminate adjustment of covariates may result in erroneous conclusions and many socialdemographic variables can be mediated by other factors such as low income, unfulfilling jobs, no friends etc. moreover, there may also be other intermediate variables like self-determinations and release of stress hormones that may affect the results. Considering the wide range of variables listed, any inaccurate measures of them may lead to a reduction or elimination of predictive power. Moreover, by controlling a mediator may produce further confounding variables, which will then increase or decrease the associations of the independent and dependent measures. Furthermore, it may even create a new spurious association when in fact no effect is present. In sum, despite the number of limitations discussed in this critical review, they have an important role in behavioural research as randomized trials are sometimes found to be impractical and unethical. In spite of the hazardous statistical control of confounding variables will gain insight into special cautions in drawing conclusions and writing research in the future.

The Cabin/ unreliable narrator :: essays research papers

The Cabin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kevin Jones Unreliable narrator   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2nd per Do I know where the bathroom is? What do you mean, do I know where the bathroom is? I’ve been in the Delta View Mental Institute for five years now and you are still asking me if I know where the bathroom is. I know this place like the back of my hand. I’m not crazy, how many times do I have to tell you people? These other people in here, those are the crazy whacks. The only reason they put me in here is because they didn’t know what else to do with me. What’s that? You want to hear my story? Well that’s just too bad, you already think I’m crazy. Well ok since you asked nicely. It was October 16, 1993, my senior year at Lemoore High. I had three really good friends Ginger Tubs, Mike Bellowing, and Mary Johnson. We were always getting into trouble together. My family owned this cabin up in the mountains and we decided to go up and spend the weekend there. We were so anxious to get up there that we ditched school on Friday and drove up that morning. We arrived in Pine Flat Village at noon and I realized that I had forgot my key so we just broke into the cabin through the window; the lock was rusted and broke easily. Once inside we unpacked all of our things and started a fire in the fireplace. Ginger started complaining that the living room was getting too smoky. Ginger is constantly complaining. She is the type of person who wants everything to be perfect, sometimes you just want to grab her by the throat and squeeze until her lips turn blue and the color flees from her face. I told Ginger to go to the other room and lie down, I didn’t know that the pilot had gone out and the house was filling with gas, honest. The rest of us decided to go for a ride and check out the scenic views of the mountains. We were about two miles from the cabin when we heard the deafening explosion. Mary, Mike, and I all turned around and saw the thick black smoke swelling from the clearing where the cabin was. I slammed my foot onto the accelerator and zoomed back to what used to be the cabin, now it was a black shack ablaze with a deep crimson inferno. The Cabin/ unreliable narrator :: essays research papers The Cabin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kevin Jones Unreliable narrator   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2nd per Do I know where the bathroom is? What do you mean, do I know where the bathroom is? I’ve been in the Delta View Mental Institute for five years now and you are still asking me if I know where the bathroom is. I know this place like the back of my hand. I’m not crazy, how many times do I have to tell you people? These other people in here, those are the crazy whacks. The only reason they put me in here is because they didn’t know what else to do with me. What’s that? You want to hear my story? Well that’s just too bad, you already think I’m crazy. Well ok since you asked nicely. It was October 16, 1993, my senior year at Lemoore High. I had three really good friends Ginger Tubs, Mike Bellowing, and Mary Johnson. We were always getting into trouble together. My family owned this cabin up in the mountains and we decided to go up and spend the weekend there. We were so anxious to get up there that we ditched school on Friday and drove up that morning. We arrived in Pine Flat Village at noon and I realized that I had forgot my key so we just broke into the cabin through the window; the lock was rusted and broke easily. Once inside we unpacked all of our things and started a fire in the fireplace. Ginger started complaining that the living room was getting too smoky. Ginger is constantly complaining. She is the type of person who wants everything to be perfect, sometimes you just want to grab her by the throat and squeeze until her lips turn blue and the color flees from her face. I told Ginger to go to the other room and lie down, I didn’t know that the pilot had gone out and the house was filling with gas, honest. The rest of us decided to go for a ride and check out the scenic views of the mountains. We were about two miles from the cabin when we heard the deafening explosion. Mary, Mike, and I all turned around and saw the thick black smoke swelling from the clearing where the cabin was. I slammed my foot onto the accelerator and zoomed back to what used to be the cabin, now it was a black shack ablaze with a deep crimson inferno.

Adoption: Infectious Diseases Issues Essay

Adoption is and always has been something that many couples consider in doing throughout their lives. One couple might consider adopting a child due to being unable to have a child of their own or another in wanting to help a child in need of parents to look over them. In recent years, many young parents have given their child up for adoption because of not being able to provide for the child or the mother is too young to take full responsibility. But, the biggest concern regarding adoption is the birth records of the child that are being sealed away from them. Once the child grows up and finds out they were adopted, they are unable to look at their actual birth certificates and find out where they came from. Many have been raising questions to why they are sealed and a resolution must be found to make it fair for the adopted children to find out where they came from and who their real parents are. In the U.S., most laws from the 1930’s and 40’s still remain firm in 44 states. These laws are forbidding adopted children who are now adults to their original birth records that are locked away from them that has the primal question: Who am I? Identity is many things, but it begins with the knowledge of one’s own truth of heritage and birth. According to Lorraine Dusky, one of the situations that are standing in the way of the further progress to resolve this problem is the argument that most mothers want to keep their â€Å"privacy† protected. She says that more work is needed to show that these outdated laws and arguments are not true but only myths. Dusky states that most mothers are more than happy to welcome in their children back into their lives and in states as in Oregon, mothers have the option to fill out a form indicating whether or not they want to be contacted. She concludes that mothers asking for no contact are now no more than one a month. (Dusky). This is a good indication that the birth parents do not want to lose contact with th eir child when he or she chooses to find them when they grow up. Adoption has also brought an important function to other people’s lives. According to Annette Baran, Reuben Pannor and Arthur D. Sorosky, adoption fulfills couples’ dreams that are unable to have children of their own and want have a complete family unit that conceals their infertility and denies the existence of another set of parents. They say that in the past, adoption was more open and was not unusual before World War II for a couple to take in a pregnant woman and take care of her while she was pregnant till she delivered, then adopt the child. They state  that it was easy for the mother to give her child to the couple because of the connection they formed and the mother felt comfortable giving her child to the people she knew very well who would take care of the baby and provide for it. They conclude that there is no further evidence showing that there were any complications for both the birth and adoptive parents or any harassment from either of them after the child was given away. (Baran et. al. 97-98). After looking at the aspect of the benefits of both the birth parents and adoptive parents, there are also emotional and health issues with the adoptees. The only reason to why birth records are being sealed away is to keep the privacy of the birth parents but that is completely unfair to the adoptees that want to find out what is wrong with them and where they came from. Some adoptees have health risks and are unable to continue their treatments if they do not have their actual birth records. According to Karen March, one of the strongest challenges against secrecy comes from the adult adoptees that have established contact with their birth parents. She states that before the adoptees reunited with their biological parents, they felt a sense of incompletion from their inability to fully find out about their biological parents and background information to put together who they truly were. March says that after finally reuniting with their parents, they were finally able to move on w ith their life and accept the reality of why they were sent to adoption. She concludes that many adoptees that have problems with their birth records being released find themselves emotionally unstable to cope with why their biological parents have left them. (March 653-654). By giving these adoptees the opportunity to place self with a biosocial context, reunion gave them a means of gaining stronger social acceptance. In a book titled â€Å"Adoption, Identity, and Kinship† written by Katarina Wegar, assistant professor of sociology at Old Dominion University, investigated the historical, physiological, social, cultural, and gender issues that are surrounding issues over the sealed birth records. Wegar writes that over 60 years of perspectives on adoption, she was able to find that instead of showing adoption as a social institution, many researchers have often depicted adoptive families as deviant people. Moreover, Wegar argues that some adoption activists have accepted facts from psychiatrists, who blame the adoptees’ problems rather than on social and cultural causes. She believes that the American family is  a natural or a biological arrangement, to look at adoption as a solution to a social problem rather than the social problem to be solved. Wegar concludes that the main structure of adoption in the American adoption system is the race and class, along with gender, age, family structure, and sexual preference. (Wegar 36-123). Adoption, according to Wayne E. Carp, is present everywhere in the American society that is creating invisible relationships with biological and adoptive parents and is touching many people. He states that adoption is the most controversial issue in the United States and recent articles have accused many adoptive families of being associated in Cambodian black market baby-buying rings. Carp writes that in 1994, Congress passed a law stating with the intention of prohibiting adoption agencies from using race or national origin as a basis to deny the placement of a child in transracial adoptions. Also, Carp believes that one problem with activists, is that they commonly believe that adoption causes much pain and lifelong suffering to everyone involved and in 1995, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a la w stating that gay couples are prohibited from adopting. Carp says that as late as the 1950s, most Americans would not have considered the subject of adoption or closed records as controversial. In fact, most Americans viewed it in positive terms because it seemed to solve many social problems. Also, according to Doris H. Bertocci, she says the same about how these sealed records are far more complicated than anyone would have expected. (Bertocci 252). Carp states that single women were able to escape the stigma of having a child out of wedlock and were able to move on with their lives, which usually meant getting married. He concludes that it was also an escape route for children to escape the stigma of illegitimacy and then were able to find a good home with two loving parents who on the other hand found a solution to having their own child. (Carp 434). The question was never raised to why records are being sealed away from adoptees. According to Carp, not until the early 1970s was when adult adoptees discovered that birth records were b eing sealed, thus they went right into the political process to change this unfair practice. Carp, states that once the reform movement began, the birth mothers reacted immediately and the reason to that was because of the situation they were in. He writes that the mothers believed they were doing the right thing for their babies and that they would be able to avoid  society’s condemnation of having a child without being married. Because of this, Carp says that the mothers received promises from adoption agencies that their identities would remain a secret and many kept it away from their husbands as well. But, many activists, according to Carp were able to gain access to adoption records through lawsuits, ballot initiatives, and state legislation, which resulted in success for the state of Oregon to allow adult adoptees to their original birth certificates, for the most part, the result of the reformers’ lawsuits have failed in the courts and failed to open adoption records unconditionally. He argues that the reason to their lack of success, there exists an ethical and moral dilemma: Who’s rights are pre-eminent, those of adopted adults or those of birth parents? Many states have tried to make both sides satisfied: adult adoptees, who want to have the right to open birth records and the birth parents, who were promised secrecy of their identity by the private adoption agencies. (Carp 435). Taking a look at another aspect of adoption, many complications can arise regarding international adoption. In recent research done by Laurie C. Miller, she finds that since 1986, nearly 220,000 children from other countries have been adopted by American families and since 1995, the top 4 countries have been China, Russia, South Korea, and Guatemala. She states that the living circumstances of children before adoption all varied greatly and most of the children came from orphanages, where they experienced malnutrition, emotional and physical neglect, harsh living environments, and exposure to infectious diseases. Miller states that thanks to the International adoption medicine, new specialized pediatrics have been able to address the specific health care needs for the children after arriving to the United States. But, Miller argues that one of the primary concerns of international adoption medicine is the evaluation of international adoptees for infectious diseases as for other immig rant children. She also argues that many adoptive families sometimes encounter difficult situations related to infectious diseases like the recent severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Asia that has affected many adopting families in the United States. Miller concludes that these days, consultants have much to offer for internationally adopted children and the adoptive parents as well as appropriate screenings that allow assessment of the child’s health. (Miller 286-287). In the United States, adoption by a same-sex partner was  first granted in 1985. According to Nina Dethloff, nowadays, adoption by same-sex couples is aloud in a number of states however, there are several differences in other countries. Dethloff states that at least in six states the court has held adoptions by same-sex couples to be permissible. But, adoptions by a homosexual partner are possible in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and in District of Columbia. She says that the adoption of a child that is not biological, but the previously adopted, child of the other partner is exceptional. She argues that he or she can adopt both a biological child and a previously adopted child of his or her partner but only a few states prohibited and still prohibits adoptions by homosexuals. Dethloff states that previously held prejudices on children who live in a homosexual family are more likely to develop a homosexual orientation or might even be abused, especially by gay men, have not been fully confirmed. Furthermore, she shows evidence that there is no scientific proof that children show developmental or behavioral disturbances as a result of their parents’ sexual orientation. Dethloff concludes that there is evidence that homosexual parents raise their children differently than the opposite-sex couples, but the only real concern is that due to constant prejudices, children raised by same-sex parents may suffer from harsh discrimination. ( Dethloff 201). Every couple, regardless of their sexual orientation, should have the right to raise and adopt a child. Looking at the child’s perspective, would it not be better to give a child a home? According to Gregory K. Popcak, executive director of the Pastoral Solutions Institute, there are significantly more children waiting to be adopted than there is same-sex couples waiting to adopt. He states that by contrast, each year there are no more than 70,000 to 162,000 married couples in the U.S. who have filed adoption papers or are filing papers. Popcak believes that this means that in any given year there are 1.2 and 2.7 married couples per waiting child meaning that there is no need to open up adoption centers for homosexual couples. (Popcak 13). Though Popcak’s arguments may remain true, he is not helping in the fact that all people should be treated equally regardless of their sexual orientation and children should have a home provided for them. Dethloff shows that in a coun try where a large number of children are living under institutional care in order to be placed in a family, same-sex couples will be more than ready  to take in a child and provide for it like any other responsible parent would. (Dethloff 202). Though many adopted children get discriminated because of their parents’ sexual orientation, they at least know that they have parents that they could talk to and have a real home with. Because they are adopted, they will always look for who their real parents are and what is their real birth certificate as well as have the right to access to it. According to David B. Biklen, adult adoptees who want access to their birth records argue that the information in the birth records belongs not only to the birth parents or state, but also to the child, now an adult. Biklen argues that birth parents should not have control over their adult child’s access to his or hers birth name, heritage, history and the state should not continue to be a party that is keeping all of this information secret. He states that adult adoptees claim the right to their information and because they have a legitimate need, medical and otherwise, to full access to their genetic heritage. Biklen states t hat recent adoption research indicates that secrecy in adoption can be damaging for everyone involved. Secrecy in a family can cause much pain, shame, and psychological damage even when the secrets are not revealed and holding back information can be very damaging to the child. (Biklen). Regarding the medical information of the adoptee, it is very important for them to know about where their health risks come from. Biklen states that current sealed records system burdens adult adoptees’ access to family medical information that may be critical to their own health care. He says that many adult adoptees have been having difficulties answering routine, even critical health questions about the health history of their genetic relatives. Also, under the legislation of some states, from having a â€Å"sin† of his or hers birth parents, the adopted child was â€Å"reborn† into the adoptive family with a new identity, name, and birth certificate to give an illusion that the child was born in the adoptive family. Biklen argues that the original birth certificates were then sealed and replaced with a new birth certificate that gave false information, a legal fiction. In addition, Biklen says that to attempting to change sealed record laws, many adult adoptees have used other ways to search for their birth information by using professional consultants, volunteer networks, and self-help search groups that help address the demands by the adult adoptees to finding their birth parents. (Biklen). Adoptees now have become more  outspoken and are searching for their birth parents without their adoptive parents’ permission. Not only do adoptees have a say on this controversial topic but as well as their adoptive parents. According to Phyllis R. Silverman, Lee Campbell, and Patricia Patti, adoptive parents are finding themselves to be caught in a situation they were never prepared for. They stated that many adoptive parents were expecting their adoptive child will not want to reunite with their birth parents for the papers are sealed and kept away. They say that in a study done of adoptive families, they preferred to have veto power over adoptees searching for their birth parents even when the child grew up into an adult. The researchers say that today, many adoptive and birth parents are now being informed that the child might or will be searching for them when he or she get older. But, the real concern adoptive parents have is about what type of question might pop up when the child grows up and them not knowing how to answer it. They state that most adoptive parents will not know about the child meeting or them finding their birth parents or what to expect when something like this will occur. In conclusion, they say that adoptive parents get protective of their adoptive children and are afraid of them leaving after they find out the truth. (Silverman et. al. 543). The controversial aspect of adoption helps bring a better understanding of how adoption works as well as the controversy behind it. There will always be debates to what is best for the child and who is the best choice to provide for the child as to help them grow up to be better people and to have a family of their own to where they can feel complete. Every child needs a family, but every adoptee would have preferred to stay with their biological mother from the beginning even if she could not provide for them. Others, on the other hand are grateful that they have been adopted because it gave them the happiness of being wanted in a family where the biological parents wanted the best for them, out of love. No matter what the choices are made, it is never possible to tell what the outcome may be, and that is the controversial issue. Sealed birth records have the answers to the adoptees questions and could also be beneficial to their medical health risks that could save their life or help form a healthy biological family of their own. Reference Baran Annette, Reuben Pannor, and Arthur D. Sorosky. â€Å"Open Adoption.† Social Work 21.2 (1976): 97. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 May 2013. Bertocci, Doris H. â€Å"On Adoption.† Social Work 23.3 (1978): 252. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 May 2013. Biklen, David D. â€Å"Sealed Adoption Records.† (1999). 10 May 2013. www.cga.ct.gov Carp, Wayne E. â€Å"Adoption, Blood Kinship, Stigma, And The Adoption Reform Movement: A Historical Perspective.† Law & Society Review 36.2 (2002): 433. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 May 2013. Dethloff, Nina. â€Å"Same-Sex Parents In A Comparative Perspective.† International Law FORUM Du Droit International 7.3 (2005): 195-205. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 May 2013. Lorraine, Dusky. â€Å"Help adult adoptees find birth parents.† USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 May 2013. March, Karen. â€Å"Perception of Adoption as Social Stigma: Motivation For Search And Union.† Journal Of Marriage & Family 57.3 (1995): 653-660. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 May 2013. Mill er, Laurie C. â€Å"International Adoption: Infectious Diseases Issues.† Clinical Infectious Diseases 40.2 (2005): 286-293. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 May 2013. Popcak, Gregory K. â€Å"Misplacing Children.† First Things: A Monthly Journal Of religion & Public Life 164 (2006): 12-13. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 May 2013. Silverman, Phyllis R., Lee Campbell, and Patricia Patti. â€Å"Reunions Between Adoptees And Birth Parents: The Adoptive Parents’ View.† Social Work 39.5 (1994): 542-549. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 May 2013. Wegar, Katarina, Adoption, Identity, and Kinship: The Debate over Sealed Birth Records. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997.

Conflict Minerals A Crisis Unknown Professor Ramos Blog

Conflict Minerals A Crisis Unknown In central Africa sits a large country known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to the most grossly under reported large scale conflict of modern times. Having hosted decades of various ongoing conflicts collectively claiming more lives than World War II, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, ranks 156 of 162 in a European Union assessment of peacefulness (Woody 2018). Although conflict fueled by grand corruption has consumed the DRC for 130 years it wasn’t until 1994 when several groups of militia men fleeing the genocide in Rwanda arrived that an already burning hot conflict was stoked to new levels (Progress and Challenges on Conflict Minerals: Facts on Dodd-Frank 1502). Just as more sides joined the crowded conflict the commercial need for four minerals found in abundance within the DRC sent an already fledgling country plummeting into chaos. Known commonly as the 3TGs: tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold are used in everyday products such as phones, lapto ps, jewelry, and cars (Conflict Minerals Regulation explained). These four minerals are conflict minerals and although they are not directly responsible for the horrific violence in the DRC they provide the bulk of funding for countless rebel groups. A study by the Enough Project documenting armed groups in the DRC during 2008 found an estimated $185 million in revenue was generated from conflict minerals (Progress and Challenges on Conflict Minerals: Facts on Dodd-Frank 1502). This is an uncomfortable problem for America and nations governed by the European Union, but the only answer is a dramatic shift in public awareness and legislation towards the purchasing of conflict minerals. Western media bias is well documented and has played an integral role in the rapid deterioration of the living conditions in the DRC and neighboring countries. In 2015 a comprehensive study found that nearly six-times as many articles are written about terrorist attacks in the western world compared to all non-western countries (Adams 2018). Western media bias is unceremoniously exposed again in 2016 when the deadliest terror attack of the year in Baghdad’s Karrada district, claiming over 400 lives, is overshadowed by a week of reports on the unfortunate shooting of Charlie Hebdo (Adams 2018). Without ethical and thorough journalism being conducted no amount of statistics, no matter how ostentatious, will be able to sway public opinion in favor of ending these atrocities. The scale on which innocent people are dying cannot be overstated, one report found a gut wrenching 5.4 million â€Å"excess deaths† caused by indirect fall out of wars funded by conflict minerals bet ween August 1998 and April 2017 (Clark 2011). Countries like the DRC who are ensnared by their abundant natural resources are consistently cannibalized by more developed nations to the extent that the phrase, â€Å"resource curse† has been coined (Woody 2018). However, the DRC and surrounding countries are unique in how the problem and has been unaddressed and even exacerbated for decades. Public opinion will never be swayed if people are not given the opportunity to understand how the implications of their purchases are destroying the lives of millions. For those people born within the DRC being asked to grow and mature facing unending conflict for the last 130 years the emergence and prevalence of conflict minerals is unavoidable. As of 2018 more than 140 different groups militias are actively funded by conflict minerals and are currently waging civil within the DRC (World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Democratic Republic of Congo 2019). As a result, in just one year during 2018 upwards of 4.5 million Congolese were displaced from their homes, forced instead to wander nomadically with no aid or hopes of humanitarian assistance in sight (World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Democratic Republic of Congo 2019). On top of the staggering amount of people who have lost their homes another eight and a half million were found to be in desperate need of humanitarian aid during the same time frame. With millions of innocent men, women and children caught in the catastrophic meltdown of a country torn apart by foreign greed and almost no aid in return it’s logical to look next to the government of the country in question. In April of 2019 the Congolese government denied any human rights crisis and went even further, denying to attend an international donor conference organized to raise 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in relief funds. The Congolese government was accused of widespread irregularities, voter suppression and violence during their most recent election causing the vast majority of voters to lose faith in their already decrepit system of power. During that same election voting in the three largest voting-sectors opposing the government was delayed from December 30, 2018 to March of 2019. Cases of government backed violence against civilians began to arise and with that the people of the Congolese became victims once again, victims of: civil conflict, consumer greed and violence perpetrated by their own supposedly democratically elected leaders. Though these human rights atrocities are not made public often, if at all, many world powers are aware of the ongoing situation. Begging the question of what, if anything, is being done (World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Democratic Republic of Congo 2019)? Nearly twenty years ago in 2001 the United Nations Security Council first acknowledged what was then a developing problem of wealthy nations funding human rights atrocities with massive exports of tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold. It is worth noting that none of these exports have benefitted the DRC as the country itself ranks last in the world for GDP per capita (Woody 2018). Instead warring groups fight to control mining operations and the workers forced to maintain them in order to fund cyclical conflicts. Despite the UNSC acknowledging the problem in 2001 no legislation was proposed until 2006. Even then nothing was done as a number of measures were proposed and passed on until a group of politicians including: then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen Richard Dustin (Dem-Ill.), Sen Sam Brownback (Rep.-Kan.), Sen Russell Feingold (Dem-Wash.) and Congressman Jim Mcdermott (Dem-Wash.) visited the DRC in early 2010. The same year Section 1502 was passed to attempt to addre ss the purchasing of conflict minerals in response to the human rights crisis they witnessed first hand. Unfortunately, while Section 1502 has had some positive impact on the DRC since its inception it’s overall impact has been handicapped by several glaring flaws. For starters, the provision requires only the disclosure of purchased conflict minerals from companies selling commercial products. This in effect turns a blind eye on the majority of the supply chain targeting only the last piece and least culpable member while providing no guidelines for responsible purchasing or consequences for the opposite. Even worse, the de facto embargo of the DRC by responsible purchasers, without widespread backing across the market, has encouraged the growth of black market sales furthering complicating the tracking of human rights violations. Section 1502 has led to some conflict free sourcing of the 3TG’s, but it’s far too weak and short-sighted to stop the powerful curre nt of violence washing over the DRC. Without public interest in consumer responsibility world governments must impose strict regulations on conflict minerals sold from areas of human rights crises. The European Union is finally making another attempt at addressing the purchasing of conflict minerals with legislation set to go into effect January 1, 2021 (Conflict Minerals Regulation explained). As the world’s largest trading block, the EU has made an unprecedented move by providing a set of regulations and guidelines for all levels of conflict minerals supply chain to follow. Regulations specific to each level of the supply chain aim to ensure that from mining operations to store fronts the presence of responsibly sourced 3TGs is well documented and accounted for. Up to a thousand importers of 3TGs will be effect and the EU plans to release a â€Å"white list† of dangerous operations for importers outside of their jurisdiction. Each individual EU state will be responsible for overseeing importers within their boundaries and ensuring they are following the new standards for responsible sourcing. Hopefully, these more comprehensive and well thought out regulations will at the very least raise public awareness of the depths of the horrors occurring in the DRC and neighboring countries. Even so this legislation is just one step towards resolving a conflict raging for over a century (Conflict Minerals Regulation explained). Tens of millions of people dead, countless lives changed, families separated and displaced, a country on the verge of collapse with more casualties accounted for than the second World War. This is the true reality of the cost of electronics and jewelry when wealthy nations neglect their role as stewards of the world economy. There must be a paradigm of thorough honest reporting and policy making coupled with diligent inspections of the sources of 3TGs by these nations. Furthermore, civilians of these nations whom are concerned with world affairs have a responsibility to seek more information on all major human rights atrocities, not simply those that are conveniently solved. Despite nearly a century and a half of death and destruction it seems the DRC may finally have a chance to establish control over the natural resources they rightfully own. It’s my sincerest hope that the proceeding century and half in the DRC will be marked by unimaginable economic growth fueled by the s ame minerals that had once threatened to end their country’s existence. Adams, Abigail. â€Å"Selective Sympathy? Exploring Western Media Bias in the Reporting of Terrorism.† International Journal of Media Cultural Politics, vol. 14, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 255–263. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/macp.14.2.255_7. Clark, JohnF. â€Å"A Constructivist Account of the Congo Wars.† African Security, vol.4,no.3, June 2011, pp. 147–170. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/19392206.2011.599262. â€Å"Conflict Minerals Regulation Explained.† Trade European Commission, ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/conflict-minerals-regulation/regulation-explained/#definition. â€Å"Progress and Challenges on Conflict Minerals: Facts on Dodd-Frank 1502.† The Enough Project, enoughproject.org/special-topics/progress-and-challenges-conflict-minerals-facts-dodd-frank-1502. Woody, Karen E. â€Å"Can Bad Law Do Good? A Retrospective on Conflict Minerals Regulation.† Maryland Law Review, vol. 78, no. 2, Feb. 2019, pp. 291–322. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=135858149site=ehost-live. â€Å"World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Democratic Republic of Congo.† Human Rights Watch, 17 Jan. 2019, hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/democratic-republic-congo.