Local Authority Housing in Ireland Essay Example for Free

Local Authority Housing in Ireland Essay Local authority housing plays a vital role in Ireland housing system. Without it many people would find themselves on the streets without a roof over their heads. However it is not a solution to all problems we are experiencing in this country today. In fact while local authority housing solves many problems it can also be the cause of some problems too. In this paper I will look at and evaluate the strengths and the weaknesses of local authority housing in Ireland today. I will also look at prime examples of these strengths and weaknesses, using a number of local authority housing estates throughout the country. Firstly I feel it is imperative to briefly describe the housing system Ireland as a whole, in order to gain a clearer perspective on the status of local authority housing in the country. In Ireland we have a dual housing system. This means we have a mix of both private and social housing and public tenures. State owned and social housing accounts for 19% of the housing market. The government enforced policies to ensure that a percentage of newly constructed houses were to be kept and dedicated to the local authority housing scheme. Local authority housing caters for poor and low income households, who may otherwise not be able to afford housing. It is accessed by means testing and also by special needs qualification. The rent for these houses are determined by the income of the household occupying them. The landlords are generally the local authorities. Some examples of well known local authority housing estates are: Moyross estate in Limerick City, Fatima Mansions in Dublin and Knocknaheeny in Cork. Unfortunately over the years these local authority housing estates have built up a bad reputation, negative images and negative stigmas. A few different factors play a role in this. I will be looking into these factors in more detail, as I speak later, about the weaknesses of local authority housing. An example of this would be the former Ballymun high rise flats which were renowned for appearing on the news linked with stories of crime and violence. In order to combat this problem and create less of a bad image for these problem estates, the government set out a ten year plan to regenerate 7 local authority housing estates throughout Ireland. They aimed to do this by means of policy changes and state funding. These estates are : â€Å"Fatima Mansions and Finglas South in Dublin City, Fettercairn, Tallaght, in South County Dublin; Deanrock estate in Togher, Cork City; Moyross in Limerick City, Muirhevnamor in Dundalk and Cranmore in Sligo town.† (Norris, M and OConnell, C. 201 0) Strengths of local authority housing: Local authority housing provides affordable homes for those who would not otherwise be able to afford housing and this is a much needed and great service provided by our local authorities here in Ireland. Local authority housing has a number of benefits to both its tenants and to the community as a whole. It has many strengths. Good quality houses: As stated above the government as part of the local authority housing scheme set out a number of newly built houses during the construction boom, and dedicated them to the local authority housing scheme. This was a very clever tactic by the government as it meant that these local authority houses were newly built good quality housing, moving away from the previous opinion that local authority houses were often undesirable and of poor quality. The most typical form of these houses were â€Å"cottage type or terrace housing in low density estates† (Fahey 1999. Pg. 236) Cheaper, affordable rent: Because local authority housing is accessed via means testing and rent payment is determined by household income it means that lower income households can afford to live more comfortably and ensures that they have a roof over their heads. Without this scheme homelessness rates would undoubtedly be a lot higher in Ireland. More owner occupation: A lot of people renting local authority housing as a long term arrangement often eventually come to own their houses. This instills a level of independence which they could never have achieved otherwise. Happier tenants: For the most part, people in local authority housing have reported that they are â€Å"happy with their overall housing experience† (Fahey 1999. Pg. 236) Community Development Programmes: Often in areas of local authority housing local authorities dedicate themselves to the provision of facilities and programmes to improve living conditions, social condition, education and employment conditions for those living there. Community employment schemes are just one example of this. This is a great benefit to both the residents and the community as a whole as it leads to a higher standard of living for the individuals and also helps reduce rates of unemployment in the area, which in turn leads to a reduction in other social problems in the area such as crime. (Fahey, T., Norris, M., McCafferty, D. Humphreys, E. 2011 Pg. 24) Preventative Interventions: Local authority housing can also act as a means of protection and prevention for many people. Local services provided within these local authority estates provide â€Å"support for families and individuals who would otherwise have negative outcomes†(Fahey, T., Norris, M., McCafferty, D. Humphreys, E. 2011 Pg. 24) Previously at risk people have more chance of being safe from abuse and crime etc. in these local authority housing estates. An example of the strengths within a local housing estate: Dean Rock estate, situated in Togher in Cork city, is a prime example of the many strengths of local housing estates in Ireland. This estate is in high demand with a very low turnover, long waiting lists to get in and very settled conditions. Dean Rock is now home to a voluntary, community based family support centre and also to social workers too. The estate has flourished over the years and is now a highly popular local authority housing estate with low levels of crime, delinquency, unemployment and enjoys a high status in terms of its visual appearance, absence of litter and graffiti and upholds high levels of planting and public green areas. It has become a very desirable place to live with good quality neighbors, ridding it of any stigmas which had previously applied to local authority housing estates. (Fahey, T. 1999. Pg. 238-239) Weaknesses of local authority housing estates: The fundamental aim of local authority housing that is, to help those who cannot otherwise afford housing, means that local authority housing should be a very positive and problem free area. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Because these estates are linked with poor and low income families it often means there are high levels of unemployment, low levels of education and thus resulting in high levels of delinquency and crime. (Fahey, T. 1999. Pg. 238) These factors all cause great social problems within these estates. Also high levels of diversity within the estates lead to a hierarchy within them. Higher and lower status areas emerge within the estates, causing a lack of social cohesion. â€Å"Appearances of houses, presence/ absence of litter and graffiti, and vandalism†(Fahey, T. 1999. Pg. 239) can often result in conflict between neighbors and thus lead to poor quality neighborhoods. Failure of the government to integrate with local authorities to improve provide vital amenities and service to the local authority housing estates also creates a huge problem in these estates. It creates a great level of social exclusion between those living in these estates and those that dont. (Fahey, T., Norris, M., McCafferty, D. Humphreys, E. 2011 Pg. 31) An example of the weaknesses within a local housing estate: Fatima Mansions is a local authority housing estate in Dublin. Unlike Dean Rock estate in Cork, Fatima Mansions has been described as â€Å"troubled and difficult to let†(Fahey, T. 1999. Pg. 238) Over 15% of the premises are vacant and some are derelict. There is no waiting list to get in to this estate. There is a severe lack of social cohesion and this causes other social problems. Heroin usage is high in the area and this has knock on effects to the levels of crime and violence in the area two. It is in stark contrast to Dean Rock estate and highlights the diversity between local authority estates. Conclusion: While it is evident, from the information in this paper, that local authority housing has huge and undeniable benefits to the lower income population of society I think that many improvements can still be made to these schemes. I feel the government needs to take more responsibility perhaps in funding local authorities and enabling them to better facilities and services available to these estates. This would bring about a major difference in the areas for the better and hopefully result in all the local authority estates being as successful as Dean Rock estate in Cork. Bibliography: Cowan, D. and McDermont, M. (2006) Regulating Social Housing: Governing Decline, Routledge, London. Fahey, T. (1999) (ed.) Social Housing in Ireland: A study of success, failures and lessons learned. Oak Tree Press, Dublin. Fahey, T., Norris, M., McCafferty, D. Humphreys, E. (2011) Combating Social Disadvantage in Social Housing Estates: The policy implications of a ten-year follow-up study. Combat Poverty Agency. National Economic and Social Forum (1999), Local Development Issues, Dublin: National Economic and Social Forum. Norris, M and OConnell, C (2002), ‘Local Authority Housing Management Reform in the Republic of Ireland: progress to date impediments to further progress’, European Journal of Housing Policy. Norris, M and OConnell, C (2010) Social Housing Management, Governance and Delivery in Ireland: Ten Years of Reform on Seven Estates. O’Connell, C and Fahey, T. (1999), ‘Local Authority Housing in Ireland’, Fahey, T. (eds.), Social Housing in Ireland: A study of success, failure and lessons learned, Oak Tree Press, Dublin.

The Manual Transmission System

The Manual Transmission System In this report, I am going to compare and contrast the difference between Toyota 5 speed manual gearbox transmission and Toyota 5 speed automatic transmission system. 2. History of the transmission In 1894 Louis-Rene Panhard and Emile Levassor invented the modern transmission. Today we still use the same concept since it was introduced. The concept is still the same that the crankshaft connects from the engine to the transmission shaft through clutch. The latter is mounted to gears which control and operate the transmission of the motion that is coming from the engine to the wheels. Few experiments have been done about type and numbers of gears but still until today the same concept is applied. To make it easier for the driver to control speed and with help of gears, synchromesh gears and a live rear axle were invented. Instead of having gears engage and disengage again from each other, a car transmission that had gears and continuous with each other was introduced, all the gears were moving and the dog clutch was designed in order to connect the gears that are caused to rotate by engine and move the wheels forward. Different gears with different sizes are designed to increase or decrease the momentum of the vehicle. The most popular transmissions were 4 speed transmissions which its top gear (4th) had a ratio of 1:1 while other gears had lower ratios. Then, engineers came with a 5th gear in which will increase the ratio by 1 between the engine rpm and the wheel rpm that is known as overdrive. American inventors Harold Sinclair and Richard Spikes designed automatic transmission while German inventors invented the automatic transmission rudimentary design. While General Motors provided automatic transmission in all of their cars that were manufactured from 1938 and by the end of 1940s most of the car manufactures offered at least one transmission in their models. Electric cars also fitted with electric car transmission. Now the market for automatic transmission is huge and most cars are manufactured with it (Car transmission, 2006) 3. Automatic transmission system This is the type of transmission that is capable of changing the gear ratios automatically while the vehicle is moving without the need of the driver to manually change the gear using the gear stick. The main purpose of the transmission is to provide the following outcome: Neutral to keep the engine running without the gear, or moving the vehicle. Lower gears for taking off purpose and for operating in heavier situation. Higher gears for cruising, higher speed and lighter weight Reverse gear to move the vehicle backwards. Transferring the driving torque to the required wheels (Crolla, D, 2009, p, 109) The automatic transmission comes into two different types. The front wheel drives vehicles that are designed more compact than rear wheel drive vehicles transmissions that are normally connected in the engine compartment in which they are known as transaxle. Both of these types of transmission do the same job and same design of the planetary gear train. The essential part for the front wheel drive transmission is differential, while the rear wheel drive transmission has externally mounted differential which is uses the drive shaft to link up with the transmission. The automatic transmission system contains few major components. These are: Planetary gear unit Torque converter Hydraulic control unit Seals and gasket Computer Governor/ modulator The above six components perform various duties in transmission as explained below (Toyota technical training). Planetary gear unit: The purpose of planetary gear unit is to provide and changing different gear ratios. Generally, the planetary gear unit contains three major parts. These are ring gear, inner gear (sun gear) and planetary carrier that carries three or four gears which are between the inner gear and outer ring gear. Planetary gear unit When one part of the planetary gear connects to the input shaft which leads to the engine, the second part is held still and the third part usually attached to the output shaft. It all depends on which part stays still, which one is the input or output because it will result in different gear ratios. Things such as brake bands, hydraulic clutch packs and one way clutches are used in the planetary gear to control the power flow. Every gear links up to a combination of clutch packs and bake bands being engaged or disengaged (Samarins.com) Torque converter Is a fluid type coupling, that lets the engine to rotate freely without the help from the transmission, if the engine is running slowly, idling or on the stop traffic, there is a small amount of torque that is passed via torque converter, less pressure is also required on the brake pedal to keep the car stationary. Also when you put more pressure on the gas pedal, it speeds up and adds more fluid into the torque converter which causes the wheels to receive more torque. The torque converter housing contains five major components. Pump is fixed to housing, turbine that is connected through output shaft to transmission, stator has output that is connected to fixed shaft in transmission, fluid and converter clutch. This housing is attached to the engines flywheel and rotates and at any speed that the engine is spinning. The torque converter also has pumps that is made up of fins and are attached to the housing that uses the same speed as engine to turn. Centrifugal type pump is used inside the torque converter, as it rotates it causes the fluid to be thrown outside and this action creates the vacuum that draws a lot of fluid in at the centre. Once the fluid arrives in the blades of the turbine, the transmission begins to rotate and this causes the car to move, the turbines blades are curved and this makes the fluid that is coming from the outside to go into different way before it goes to the centre of the turbine, this changing of direction is the one that causes the turbine to spin. In other way we can put that both turbine and the fluid spin in different direction and this creates the force as an outcome. This fluid that exists from the turbine is usually moving into different direction as the pump and engine turn, because if the fluid hits the pump directly, it may cause the engine to waste power or slow it down and that is why there is a stator in the torque converter (Builders transmission and used car Inc.). Hydraulic control unit: A transmission fluid is sent using the engine oil pump that controls the performance of the car clutches that helps the planetary gear sets to work smoothly. Seals and gasket Their work is to support and maintain the right place of the engine oil and stop it from leaking outside. Governor / Modulator This controls and monitors throttle position and the speed of the car to determine when to change the gears. Computer This is the major unit that uses sensors to control all the activities such as engine speed, engine load, throttle position, brake pedal position etc. (Carazoo, 2010) 4. Materials The materials that are used to build clutch or transmission have to resist heat, friction, durable, strong, hard and tough. These materials are organic, Kevlar, segmented Kevlar, hybrid carbon, ceramic and sintered iron (UUC Motorwerks, 2003) 5. Advantages of automatic transmission system The torque converter gives more engine torques and reduces the strain and the shock of the entire drive line. A lock up clutch is included in the latest automatic transmission, this helps in maximizing the fuel economy because of its direct mechanical linkage from the engine to the transmission. A vehicle with automatic transmission is very comfortable and easy to drive as the driver does not need to manually change the gear ratios. Automatic transmission can also be powerful and strong because of the arrangement of the sun gear and ring gear, this increase the gears contacts that reduces the gears breakage and supplies more torque on big area (Rowe, R. 2010) 6. Disadvantages of automatic transmission Since the automatic transmission is made up of several components, the main setback can occur when single part breaks down working and this can cause a transmission to stop working, as a result maintaining or fixing it can be very expensive. Also the total speed of the vehicle is controlled by the computer that manages the transmission, and the driver can lose the acceleration beyond a certain speed. Automatic transmission can overheat easily. 7. Manual transmission system This is the type of transmission in which the driver has to manually change the gear ratio setting by using the gear stick inside the car. There are two types of manual transmissions. The constant mesh design and the sliding gear type. The sliding-gear type, no part is turning inside the transmission case except the main drive gear and cluster gear when the transmission is in neutral. In order to mesh the gears and apply engine power to move the vehicle, the driver pushes the clutch pedal and moves the shift knob, which shifts a linkage and forks to slide a gear along the main shaft that is connected straight above the cluster. Once the gears are meshed, the clutch pedal is released and the power from the engine is sent to the drive wheels. There can be different gears on the main shaft of different diameters and tooth counts, and the transmission shift linkage is designed so the driver has to unmesh one gear before being able to mesh another. With these older transmissions, gear clash is a problem because the gears are all rotating at different speed (Cook, M. 2009) The 5 speed manual transmission gear box has a three plane arrangement order with reverse gear alongside fifth gear and uses a special fluid to operate. Moving forks are attached to three wide base rails that work in arranged bushing for less friction, these moving levers are connected together to the shifting cables. Every one of them uses different way with selected lever and this creates less shifting efforts for a driver, it also avoids to accidentally engaging the reverse gear from fifth because of the way it is designed to operate, it shifts the crossover lever into three to four gear without jamming or binding. The shift knob is usually used to control the gear ratios. The forward gear ratios are synchronized using great capacity dual cone brass (1st and 2nd) and other gears are synchronized with paper friction materials which is more strong and clash resistant than brass. The input shaft uses paper materials synchronizers, by cutting rotating inertia it helps to reduce the shifting effort. A reverse engagement clash can be minimised by using a brake mechanism. The needle roller bearings are fixed to reduce friction and extend gear life. The case itself is cast in only two pieces to reduce leak paths; structural ribs strengthen and harden the case to reduce noise and vibration with small or no extra weight. The case has good bending stiffness, offering a natural frequency above the exciting frequency of the engine at peak rpm (Massey, K. 2010) 8. Clutch system A manual transmission system will not function without a clutch. This is the mechanism that is used for transmitting rotation that can be engaged and disengaged. This is controlled by the driver who uses a special release mechanism to control the movement of the torque between them. The clutch assembly A single disc clutch assembly contains four major parts: the rear face of the flywheel- a driving member the clutch disc- the driven member the pressure plate assembly-a driving member the release mechanism-disengages and engages the clutch (May, E. 2004. p,250) 8.1 Types of clutches Multidisc clutch that contain two or more disc are usually used in automatic transmission, motor cycles and heavy mechanical equipment. While the manual transmission is operated using a dry clutch and there is no lubrication between surfaces. The automatic transmission clutch operates wet, it is enclosed in the transmission case that is full of lubrication fluid. Generally, in automatic transmission there is no clutch pedal and a gear shift (Roymech, 2010) (Genta Morello, 2009 p, 425) There are so many different types of clutches such as cone clutches, wet clutches and dry clutches but the common one uses one or more friction discs that are pushed very tight together or against the fly wheel using a spring. A Clutch contains two rotating shafts, one is operated using pulley and the other one uses a different method, these two shafts are connected together by the clutch so that they can be locked together and rotating at the same time while it engages, or be decoupled and rotate at different speed while it disengages. The input shaft is used at the centre of the pressure to engage the splines of the friction disc hub. The clutch and flywheel assembly spinning as one unit when the engine is rotating. The flywheel is receiving the torque from the engine, uses the friction that is occurring from the clutch discs to the spline hub into the transmission. When the clutch pedal is moved, it manages and controls the movement of the torque between two units. The pressure pl ate can be retracted against the springs force and frees the disc from its clamping action by depressing the pedal. These two units and clamping force can be connected again by releasing the pedal once again. This is a very important mechanism when: Engaging the transmission into gear, the input shaft from the transmission must be disengaged from the engine. The pedal is released slowly, it provides a gradual engagement of the drive, as the facings slips of the friction slip, and this lets the torque to be applied continuously until these two units are connected very tightly. Choosing different ratio, changing gears when the vehicle is moving, for this to happen, the engine torque from the transmission must be interrupted. The disengaged of the transmission that causes the vehicle to stop and let the engine run at idling speed. The co-efficient of friction between the friction facings and their mating surfaces, the total spring force and the amount of facings in contact can decide the torque that is transferred by the clutch. If you want to increase the torque capacity, the diameter of the clutch needs to be increased and this will cause the spring force to increase. Multi plate clutch can be made by having two or more clutch plates as well as increasing the number of facings and torque capacity. They are useful where by reducing the diameter is beneficial or where by increasing the spring strength is undesirable. (CDX online eTextbook). 9. Advantages of manual transmission system The manual transmission vehicles are usually cheaper and good in maintenance compare to the automatic ones, this is because changing of the fluid can be very less, also when it breaks down it is more than likely that the clutch needs to be replaced and this can save you a lot from buying a new or second hand transmission. It gives better control because of the faster shift response, this is mainly due to the bad weather. They can as well be good in braking because the driver is not fighting the effort of the automatic transmission to move forward. It can be good is terms of fuel economy because you can shift the gear into neutral and avoiding driving in lower gears. A skilled driver at shifting gears will have a better traction in snowy, muddy or slippery conditions and might as well be easier to get of the dangerous situation than automatic one. Manual transmission is also lighter in weight. And there is a fun point of view in driving manual because it keeps you active and keeps you aware of what is going on around you (Moore, S. 2010) 10. Disadvantages of manual transmission system Driving manual car in traffic can be very pain full especially when there is a stop start driving, automatic cars are more comfortable in this case. It is very unlikely to find a manual transmission car with a cruise control. Most car now are built in automatic transmission so there is less availability of cars with manual transmission as well as the difficulties in learning how to drive manual transmission cars. 11. Report Summary This has been a successful report and I have researched a lot of information about this topic. Indeed I have acquired a lot transmission system. Here are some few pointed aligned below: History of the transmission What is automatic transmission system Major components of the automatic transmission and how they work Advantages and disadvantages of automatic transmission system What is manual transmission system Clutch assembly and clutch components and how they work Advantages and disadvantages of manual transmission system 12. Conclusions According to my understanding in the report, it shows the main difference between automatic transmission and manual transmission is that automatic transmission uses torque converter to create power while manual transmission uses clutch to engage and disengage the gears. Also automatic cars are in very high demanding since most of the components are controlled by computers now in the car. It also shows that once the automatic transmission breaks it can be very hard and complicated to fix it and this may end up in replacing the whole transmission. In terms of manual gear box, the report shows they are very hard to break or die as well as less maintenance too, this is one of the best things in manual transmission because it can last for long time without anything happen. From my point of view I would always recommend to go for manual car if you enjoy the gear changing ration as I do.

Review of Stearns’ Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West :: essays research papers

Wow, I mean, your sister, she’s so fat that when she wears a yellow raincoat, people shout out, â€Å"Taxi!† Your brother, gosh, he’s so fat that his driver’s license says, â€Å"Picture continued on the other side!† About your mother, well, she’s so fat that when she walks in front of the television, you miss out on three commercials! I’m tellin’ ya! Fat!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Those humorous one-liners are just a few of the many out there. In the United States today, we are obviously obsessed with weight, but how did this cultural craze with heaviness start? When and why, even? Are we the only ones? Peter N. Stearns is a Carnegie Mellon history professor and dean, and in his book Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West, he explores and compares the weight-consciousness over the past century in both the United States (arguably the most obese Western country today) and France (arguably the slimmest); he also attempts at explaining why such contrariety exists between these two countries, despite both being heavily infatuated with body and beauty. It is Stearns’ stance that this modern struggle against fat is actually very deeply rooted within our American culture, and dieting and rampant hostility toward the obese continue to become one of the underlying themes in our society today. He also notes the differences in attitud es toward the obese in both countries. He does not really believe that the French approach to obesity could so readily be adopted in the United States, but possibly recognizing a different attitude may help to later reshape the views and opinions that have been formed this past century in our society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With respect to the United States, Stearns reveals that before the 1890s plumpness was healthy and in fact preferred over frailness; full-figures like Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s were linked to successful motherhood and were indeed quite fashionable. In the decade just before 1900, however, as we became more sedentary, fashion changed, and dress sizes became standardized, greater attention was drawn toward the more oddly shaped bodies, possibly creating a new public concern for body weight, especially for women. Fat-controlling devices like â€Å"reducing corsets†, dieting gimmicks such as Kissiengen water, and other advertisements for products to help against weight also began to spread during this time period. Morality even came into play, as obese individuals were seen to not only be lazy and weak but also on their way toward what one may call â€Å"fat hell†. Review of Stearns’ Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West :: essays research papers Wow, I mean, your sister, she’s so fat that when she wears a yellow raincoat, people shout out, â€Å"Taxi!† Your brother, gosh, he’s so fat that his driver’s license says, â€Å"Picture continued on the other side!† About your mother, well, she’s so fat that when she walks in front of the television, you miss out on three commercials! I’m tellin’ ya! Fat!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Those humorous one-liners are just a few of the many out there. In the United States today, we are obviously obsessed with weight, but how did this cultural craze with heaviness start? When and why, even? Are we the only ones? Peter N. Stearns is a Carnegie Mellon history professor and dean, and in his book Fat History: Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West, he explores and compares the weight-consciousness over the past century in both the United States (arguably the most obese Western country today) and France (arguably the slimmest); he also attempts at explaining why such contrariety exists between these two countries, despite both being heavily infatuated with body and beauty. It is Stearns’ stance that this modern struggle against fat is actually very deeply rooted within our American culture, and dieting and rampant hostility toward the obese continue to become one of the underlying themes in our society today. He also notes the differences in attitud es toward the obese in both countries. He does not really believe that the French approach to obesity could so readily be adopted in the United States, but possibly recognizing a different attitude may help to later reshape the views and opinions that have been formed this past century in our society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With respect to the United States, Stearns reveals that before the 1890s plumpness was healthy and in fact preferred over frailness; full-figures like Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s were linked to successful motherhood and were indeed quite fashionable. In the decade just before 1900, however, as we became more sedentary, fashion changed, and dress sizes became standardized, greater attention was drawn toward the more oddly shaped bodies, possibly creating a new public concern for body weight, especially for women. Fat-controlling devices like â€Å"reducing corsets†, dieting gimmicks such as Kissiengen water, and other advertisements for products to help against weight also began to spread during this time period. Morality even came into play, as obese individuals were seen to not only be lazy and weak but also on their way toward what one may call â€Å"fat hell†.

Olmstead V. United States (1928) Essay -- essays research papers

Olmstead v. United States (1928) Opinion delivered by Chief Justice Taft Vote: 5-4 Case reached Supreme Court by writ of certiorari. Facts: The evidence in the records discloses a conspiracy of amazing magnitude to import, possess, and sell liquor unlawfully. Involved were not less than fifty employees, two sea-going vessels for transportation of the goods to British Columbia, a ranch beyond the city limits of Seattle with a large underground cache to store the liquor, and many other caches around the area of Seattle, a maintained city office with executives, secretaries, salesmen, deliverymen, dispatchers, bookkeepers, collectors, scouts, and an attorney. Olmstead was the leading conspirator and manager of the business. His invested capital brought him 50 percent of the total income of the company (said to be over 2 million/year), and the other 50 percent went to 11 other investors. In the main office building there were three different telephones with separate lines for each. Telephone communication was made throughout the city, the homes of the investors, customers, Vancouver, to and from the office building and ranch. Times were fixed for the delivery of the "stuff" to places along the Puget Sound and from there was transported to the various caches. The information leading to the arrests was made primarily by four Federal prohibition officers. The officers placed sma...

Realtor - Adding Value During the Purchase of a Home :: Free Essay Writer

Realtor - Adding Value During the Purchase of a Home Convenient. It’s the word that consumers want to come before anything they do. Make it easy. Make it simple. This comes into play more so than ever when the consumer is buying a house. Real Estate companies are beginning to offer their customers convenience. Buying a house can be considered one of the most time consuming and difficult purchases a person may ever make in a lifetime. To ease the strain and possibly keep a home buyer or seller as a customer for life, services are being offered where the utilities will be hooked up before moving in, phone turned on, cable ready to watch, boxes of trash from moving can be picked up without missing a scheduled day, and there might even be mail waiting in the box when the moving truck pulls up. Realtors are getting more involved in simplifying the process. Another aspect for Prudential is contractor referral services. Move in, don’t like the carpet this time, the realtors will sup-ply you with lists of names. DOES THE REALTOR GET A PERCENTAGE OF THE CONTRAC-TORS PAYMENT. DO THE CONTRACTORS PAY TO BE ON THE LIST. According to Prudential, the process to get started is simple and will boil down multiple calls to the different utilities to one 20-minute phone call to a Homessentials’ representative. According to Jerry Y. Speer, current president of the Pennsylvania Association of realtors, the "package services" have been around for 10-12 years. He said over the years a lot of com-panies have offered incentives for their clientele but he "hasn’t seen these becom any big success." Some by using coupon books that give new homeowners discounts at local stores. Although Speer can’t see these "incentives" as a reason why a person would choose a particu-lar Realtor or buy a certain house.

Critique of The Law of Apostasy in Islam Essay

In 1924 Samuel Zwemer wrote The Law of Apostasy in Islam as a response to several books and articles that claimed there is no punishment in Islam for apostate Muslims. Zwemer quotes Khwajah Kemal-ud-Din who wrote in his book India in the Balance, â€Å"in Islam there is no penalty for apostasy† and Mohammed Ali’s English translation of The Koran â€Å"neither here nor anywhere else in the Holy Koran is there even a hint of the infliction of capital or any other punishment on the apostate. † Zwemer disputes these claims and tries to prove his contention that there is a long history of punishing apostates throughout the Muslim world (Zwemer 8-9). Zwemer was a missionary for the Christian Dutch Reformed church in the Middle East during the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The people he worked with and tried to convert to Christianity were Muslims. Zwemer begins his argument in the chapter â€Å"Why so Few Moslem Converts† by citing numerous cases where Muslims practiced punishment and ostracism against apostate Muslims, that is, Muslims who had converted to Christianity. The incidents described are anecdotal and deal with specific examples where apostate Muslims underwent punishment or discrimination at the hands of practicing Muslims. Assuming, for the sake of argument, Zwemer is correct and such practices occurred, Zwemer still does not disprove either of the statements quoted above. What Zwemer â€Å"proves† is that some Muslims were punished, nothing more. He has not proven the Koran supports such practices. The title of this chapter must give the reader pause; it does not seem to be the title of an intellectual argument, but more like a defense of his and other missionaries efforts while working among Muslims. Apparently he had concluded the reason for his lack of success was due to fear of punishment by other Muslims, not because he was a bad missionary, or because the tenets of Islam were more convincing to people in the region than the principles in Christianity (Zwemer 15-29). In the chapter two â€Å"The Law of Apostasy† Zwemer quotes three passages of the Koran that he claims indicate an official sanctioning of punishment of apostates. Zwemer is unconvincing. The phrase â€Å"take from them [apostate Muslims] neither patron or help (IV. 90, 91) and alleges that the standard commentary of Baidhawi, whoever that is, means â€Å"take and kill him wheresoever you find ye find him, like any other infidel (Zwemer 33). It appears Baidhawi has chosen an interpretation that is not justified from the original text. He treats the other passages in a similar fashion, interpreting them to mean apostates should be killed or punished, when a more straightforward interpretation does not imply his conclusion. Zwemer errs in at least two fashions. First he appears to equate evidence that indicates punishment has been administered against apostates indicates the sanction of such actions by the teaching of Islam. This is not the case. Throughout history there are far too many examples where common practices were either directly prohibited by official policies or were not addressed by these policies. This does not indicate official policies authorized such actions. Secondly, Zwemer’s evidence is largely either anecdotal or demand such contrived interpretations of the Koran as to unconvincing. Consequently The Law of Apostasy in Islam does not prove that punishment for apostate Muslims is a tenant of Islam. Works Cited Zwemer, Samuel M. The Law of Apostasy. London: Marshall Brothers Ltd, n. d.

“How the Earth was Formed” video notes Essay

Theory: -sun was surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas -as cloud cooled little grains of minerals started forming -grains of minerals started bumping into each other (Problem was nobody could explain how these microscopic minerals formed a planet) Then in 2003 astronaut Don Pettit performed an experiment onboard the international space station. He put some salt in a plastic bag and found that almost immediately the grains started gathering together into little clumps held together by static charge. -These mineral grains grew into small pieces of rock orbiting the sun -over the next few million years some of these rocks collided and grew bigger -when a rock grew to become around half a mile across, its gravitational pull became strong enough to pull objects towards it. (The bigger the rock was the faster it grew because it had higher gravitational pull) -so that biggest rock eventually grew to become ‘the fledgling earth’ -soon this small planet grew to attract even bigger objects that collided with its surface, every impact only served to increase its size. -The collisions were so intense it only (lol) took about 30 million years for the planet to grow to (approximately) its present size. Presently, the earth is separated into three layers: A thin crust, then a massive dense layer of rock called the mantle, and an iron and nickel core. -So then this big rock became so hot that it melted and the denser materials drifted to the core while the lighter materials floated at the top -the heating up of fledgling earth could have been due to the incorporation of very hot radioactive elements. -The temperature of molten earth was now 2000 degrees, but at the edge of the planet the temperature of space was a constant -450 degrees, almost 2  ½ thousand degrees colder. -So because of this the surface could not stay molten forever -then in about a million years the earth had its thin crust, but volcanoes still erupted and meteorites still showered the surface Physicist Ernest Rutherford discovered that measuring radioactive decay could accurately measure the age of rocks. Soon after this rocks from around the globe were found to be billions of years old. The meteor that hit in the crater in Arizona landed with the force of a two-mega ton atomic bomb. The explosion vaporized most  of the meteorite, but individual fragments survive. Patterson took some samples, dated them, and found that they were around 4.5 billion years old. A recent study estimates the earth to be around 4 billion 567 million years old Theory of how the moon was formed: (1974) in the early solar system there were dozens of small planets chaotically orbiting the sun, one of them was on a collision course with earth. When it collided with the earth it blew some of its crustal/mantle rock off and within a few thousand years that debris formed the moon. (The other small planet was destroyed in the collision.) Rocks at Porpoise Cove in Canada are highly altered deformed volcanic lavas called amphibolite. They are 4.28 billion years old, 200 million years older than any rocks so far discovered and the closest anyone has come to earth’s original crust. These amphibolites give us clues about the thickness of the earth’s early crust. O’Neill has found minerals that are unusual and can only form under high temperatures and pressures which proves that these rocks formed at least 12 miles into the crust of the earth, which tells us that just over 4 billion years ago the earth’s crust was about 12 miles thick. The chemical signature of amphibolite indicates that 4 billion years ago, earth had both a solid crust and oceans. (because amphibolite is similar to the ocean floor or something like that) Banded iron formations: made up of alternating light layers of silica and dark bands full of a mineral called magnetite. These bands full of magnetite only form underwater, further proving that oceans existed 4 billion years ago. How water came to be on earth: Grains of table salt found in meteorites that fell to earth carry tiny droplets of water. Over the billions of years in which the earth was formed, these droplets added up and became the oceans, etc. 3.5 billion years ago there was no oxygen, the air was a mixture of sulfur, methane, carbon dioxide, and sulfuric acid. But primitive life forms did exist, the fossilized remains of coral like structures have been found in rocks that are of that age. They are called stromatolites. They are made up of billions of microbes called cyanobacteria, which produce oxygen. At this time oxygen was poisonous to other life forms, which used sulfur to obtain energy. Over time there was enough cyanobacteria to produce trillion of tons of oxygen, creating the atmosphere we breathe today. Over 100s of millions of years, decaying plant matter built up compressed layers, which eventually formed all the coal, oil, and gas deposits on the planet.  Sedimentary rocks like lime stone and chalk are largely made from the skeletons of marine animals, which accumulated at the bottom of shallow seas.