Challenges to Chinas State Capacity

Challenges to Chinas State Capacity Conor Shand Identify and describe two major and distinct challenges to state capacity faced by a country over the last decade. How has the state responded and with what success? State-building and development is a long standing component of international politics, dating back several centuries. Ever since the concept of the â€Å"modern nation state† came to fruition, governments have sought to attain and maintain stability within their boundaries, aiming to maximise the capacity of the state. However, each state with alternate institutions, environments and economies will face a variety of challenges to their respective state capacity. China, despite being one of the most significant economic and military powers in the state-system, still faces challenges in optimising its state capacity. As it is formally regarded as a second-world developing country, China still faces numerous challenges to its state capacity despite its relatively high status. Among these challenges, two in particular emerge as the foremost barriers to the maximisation of China’s state capacity; environmental issues unemployment. As China is amongst the most notable pollu tants in the contemporary state-system, with a heavily industrialised nation, its government has worked to counter detrimental environmental effects with varied success over the last decade. Likewise, in the case of unemployment, while China is one of the most powerful economies in the world, it still bears significant unemployment issues due to a number of factors, which the government has tried to address – again, with some results. Ultimately, these two issues have notably compromised China’s state capacity, and the Chinese government has responded with some degree of success to these two particular challenges. In order to identify how it is that these two issues hamper state capacity, it is important to first identify what exactly state capacity is. Neil A. Englehart uses the relatively broad definition of state capacity in stating that state capacity â€Å"refers to the willingness and capability of the state apparatus to carry out government policy.† (Englehart, 2009, p. 166) This definition is particularly effective, as there are many existing definitions of state capacity which contradict each other, due to state capacity being a concept of perception and interpretation. This is because â€Å"state capacity† as a concept aggregates a number of ideas, including military and economic strength, centralization, bureaucratic and administrative ability. (Hanson Sigman, 2013, pp. 1-3) Different governments within different states would prioritise alternate areas in order to ensure a maximised state capacity depending on what that particular government regards as important. For example, in New Zealand, there is a relatively minimal prioritization of military power, with 1% of gross domestic product spent on military costs annually. China on the other hand spends 2.1% of its GDP on military costs, hence it could be argued that China has a greater state capacity than New Zealand. (World Bank, 2014) However, as each state has a requirement for alternative prioritizations respective to their unique circumstances, it is impossible to measure a state’s capacity beyond the government’s ability to exert its policies on the state’s populace. (Kocher, 2010, p. 143) One of the most significant barriers which China has faced in maximising its state capacity over the last decade lies in environmental deterioration. Over an extended period of economic reform, which began in the late 1970’s, China has become massively industrialised, with a consistently used maxim of â€Å"first development, then environment† actively used in the 1980-90’s. (Economy, 2011, pp. 18-19) This method of reform led to China becoming one of the most industrially profitable contemporary states, with a current estimate of 45.3% of its GDP being derived from the industrial sector. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013) While the GDP boom born out of this industrialisation can in some ways be seen as positive, it has also caused significant detriment to the environment and quantity of resources consumed in China. Air and water pollution as well as energy efficiency and deforestation have caused numerous environmental complications, with one study finding the existence of a â€Å"long-run cointegration relationship between per capita emissions of three pollutants (waste gas, waste water, and solid wastes) and per capita GDP.† (Zhang, 2009, p. 2707) The inverse relationship between China’s economic growth and environmental wellbeing created a complex challenge to China’s state capacity in that it made it difficult for the Chinese government to execute policy favouring one option without causing adverse effect to the other. In the last decade the Chinese government has sought to significantly reform the area of environmental law, with the aim of balancing out the quantity of attention given to environmental issues. A notable example of the government’s attempts to resolve the pollution/growth standoff can be seen in the 2002 Cleaner Production Promotion Law, which was introducedin the interest of advocating â€Å"cleaner production, increasing the utilization ratio of resources, reducing and preventing pollutant-generating, protecting and improving the environment, protecting human health, and promoting the sustainable development of the economy and society.† (gov.cn, 2002, p. Article 1) This law amongst others emerged in the 21st century as the Chinese government sought to bring its industrial sector into line with its environmental goals, so as to give the Chinese government a greater ability to exert its state capacity over environmental issues. This significant industrial reforms has b een accompanied by other significant ones in the last decade. The Chinese government sought to resolve the issue of air pollution created by its heavily coal-fuelled industrial sector, with a series of policies set to restrain air pollution in the future. (Zhao, Lei, Lei, Cao , 2008, pp. 8442-8444) In addition to this, the government has also addressed excessive levels of energy consumption, enabling policies which would reduce carbon dioxide emissions whilst maintaining economic development by increasing energy efficiency. (Polenske Lin, 1993, pp. 249-251) While there were some significant attempts at reform, such as the aforementioned policy changes, it is still evident that China has not been able to exert the necessary quantity of state capacity so as to reduce environmental degradation. In the words of Han Shi and Lei Zhangâ€Å"the relatively comprehensive environmental regulatory framework established since the late 1970s had failed to prevent the overall deterioration of environmental quality†. (Shi Zhang, 2006, p. 277) One reason for this failure lies in the fact that while the central government formally introduced the policies, local governments regulated these policies, meaning that many reforms were loosely enforced so as to avoid significant economic detriment. (Blanchard Stanway, 2014) This in turn reflects the lack of state capacity at the disposal of the central government, due to its inability to wholly implement its policies. In addition to this, some point at the lack of punitive measures employed to reduce pollution as a sign that the government is unwilling or unable to exert its desired policies, however ultimately it can be concluded that the Chinese government seems to lack the capacity on the whole to significantly curb environmental degradation. A second unique issue which China has faced in the last decade is that of unemployment, which has increased – most significantly as a result of China’s period of economic reform – from 6.1% to 11% over a 6 year period. (Giles Park, 2005, pp. 149-150 ) Previously a system of social welfare existed wherein the majority of China’s population were guaranteed incomes of some form. However this system was abandoned in the 1990’s, which led to significant increases in income inequality and unemployment in China. (Leung, 1994, p. 341) The economic reform meant that the state would become free of many previously financially draining public sector institutions, however at the same time it in turn proved a challenge as to whether China had the state capacity to either support those who were newly unemployed, or whether it could create replacement jobs for them. In the last decade the Chinese government sought to lessen the impact of this economic reform, and introducing a series of aids and safeguards in order to ensure that those who found themselves unemployed would have a â€Å"soft landing†, as the government once again faced the dilemma of prioritizing unemployment a previously secondary issue – over economic growth, the primary goal. (Angang Xin, 2006, p. 45) These aids and safeguards included concepts such as unemployment insurance, the implementation of labour contract law and other forms of welfare to ensure that people would have some form of financial support. However the drafting and successful introduction of these policies was significantly hampered by a relatively weak level of state capacity. Jane Duckett and Athar Hussein outline three primary reasons as to why the Chinese state lacked the capacity to adequately address this unemployment. The initial reason that was raised lay in the fact that the state lack ed the ability to adequately survey the nation as the degree and nature of the unemployment. Secondly, the state lacked the ability and infrastructure to enforce the participation of the people in any unemployment scheme. Thirdly, the state lacked the infrastructure to ensure that non-central government bodies holistically employed the scheme. (Duckett Athar, 2008, pp. 211-213) While there have been some moves towards reducing this unemployment, the constraints on the central government’s ability to implement its policies serve as evidence that China has a distinct inability to exert its state capacity with near-maximum effectiveness. The first, and most notable challenge which the capacity the Chinese state faced was that of environmental degradation, which additionally served to test as to whether the central government could successfully balance economic growth with environmental maintenance. While the government did implement many policies, they were only effective to a certain degree, as the lack of a wholly efficient centralized state power meant that many of the policies were not executed to the extent which had been intended by the central government. This issue again rose when the lesser-recognised issue of unemployment in China was countered by the government, as while the central government did introduce some economic reforms in order to support those who became unemployed, infrastructural issues in local governments weakened the effectiveness the Chinese government’s response, hence preventing the Chinese government from wholly exerting its full state capacity. Bibliography Angang, H., Xin, S. (2006). Urban Unemployment in China A Background Analysis. In G. Lee, M. Garner, Unemployment in China: Economy, Human Resources and Labour Markets (pp. 36-62). Routledge. Blanchard, B., Stanway, D. (2014, March 4). China to declare war on pollution, premier says. Retrieved from reuters.com: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/05/us-china-parliament-pollution-idUSBREA2405W20140305 Central Intelligence Agency. (2013, August 22). The CIA World Factbook 2013. Retrieved from Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/download/download-2013/index.html Duckett, J., Athar, H. (2008). Tackling unemployment in China: state capacity and governance issues. The Pacific Review Volume 21, Issue 2, 211-229. Economy, E. C. (2011). The river runs black: the environmental challenge to Chinas future. Cornell University Press. Englehart, N. A. (2009). State Capacity, State Failure, and Human Rights . Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 46, No. 2 (March), 163-180. Giles, J., Park, A. (2005). What is Chinas true unemployment rate? China Economic Review Volume 16, Issue 2, 149–170. gov.cn. (2002, June 29). Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Promotion of Cleaner Production (Order of the President No.72). Retrieved from gov.cn: http://english.gov.cn/laws/2005-10/08/content_75059.htm Hanson, J., Sigman, R. (2013, May 1). Leviathans Latent Dimensions: Measuring State Capacity for Comparative Political Research. APSA 2011 Annual Meeting Paper. Kocher, M. A. (2010). State Capacity as a Conceptual Variable. Yale Journal of International Affairs 5 Yale J. Intl Aff Issue 2 Summer, 137-146. Leung, J. C. (1994). Dismantling the ‘Iron Rice Bowl’: Welfare Reforms in the Peoples Republic of China. Journal of Social Policy / Volume 23 / Issue 03 /, 341-361. Polenske, K., Lin, X. (1993). Conserving energy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in China. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics Volume 4, Issue 2, December, 249–265. Shi, H., Zhang, L. (2006). Chinas environmental governance of rapid industrialisation. Environmental Politics Vol. 15, No. 2,, 271-292. World Bank. (2014, July 22). Data Military expenditure (% of GDP). Retrieved from worldbank.org: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS Zhang, X.-P. (2009). Energy consumption, carbon emissions, and economic growth in China. Ecological Economics Volume 68, Issue 10, 2706–2712. Zhao, Y., Lei, Lei, Y., Cao , P. (2008). Primary air pollutant emissions of coal-fired power plants in China: Current status and future prediction. Atmospheric Environment Volume 42, Issue 36 November, 8442–8452.

How Abortion Harms Women’s Health Essay

Advocates of legalized abortion downplay or deny the health risks associated with abortion. However, the research indicates that abortion isolates women and can often cause physical and psychological suffering. Physical complications Abortion can cause both short-term and long-term physical complications, and can significantly affect a woman’s ability to have healthy future pregnancies. Physical complications include cervical lacerations and injury, uterine perforations, bleeding, hemorrhage, serious infection, pain, and incomplete abortion.[3] Risks of complications increase with gestational age and are dependent upon the abortion procedure.[4] Long-term physical consequences of abortion include future preterm birth and placenta previa (improper implantation of the placenta) in future pregnancies.[5] Premature delivery is associated with higher rates of cerebral palsy, as well as respiratory, brain, and bowel abnormalities. One recent large-scale evaluation published in Pediatrics, has concluded that preterm birth is the most frequent cause of infant death in the U.S.[6] Pregnancies complicated by placenta previa result in high rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, perinatal death, and maternal morbid ity.[7] While the question of whether abortion can increase the risk of breast cancer is hotly debated, a number of scientific studies have indicated that induced abortion can adversely affect a woman’s future risk of breast cancer. Further, it has been clearly shown that induced abortion in young women causes the loss of a protective effect from a first, full-term pregnancy which when followed by a delay in child bearing, has the net effect of an increased risk for breast cancer.[8] Physical complications from chemical abortion with the drug RU-486 include hemorrhage, infection, and missed ectopic pregnancy (a potentially fatal complication). Since 2000, at least 8 women have died from RU-486 due to hemorrhage and infection.[9] Psychological complications A â€Å"pro-choice† research team in New Zealand, analyzing data from a 25-year period and controlling for multiple factors both pre- and post-abortion, found conclusively that abortion in young women is associated with increased risks of major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal behaviors, and substance dependence.[10] This is the most comprehensive, long-term study ever conducted on the issue. Other studies also conclude that there is substantial evidence of a causal association between induced abortion and both substance abuse and suicide.[11] A review of over 100 long-term international studies concluded that induced abortion increases risks for mood disorders enough to provoke attempts at self harm.[12] Researchers have also identified a pattern of psychological problems, known collectively as Post- Abortion Syndrome, in which women may experience depression, anxiety, anger, flashbacks, guilt, grief, denial, and relationship problems. Post-Abortion Syndrome has been identified in research as a subset of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.[13] Further, studies analyzing the effects of induced abortion in adolescents have shown that those who abort reported more frequent problems sleeping, more frequent marijuana use, and an increased need for psychological counseling, when compared to adolescents who give birth.[14] Moira Gaul is director of women’s and reproductive health at the Family Research Council. She has a Master of Public Health degree with an emphasis in maternal and child health. Consequences for women There is extensive evidence of physical, mental and emotional consequences for women and their families when pregnant mothers use abortion to end an inconvenient pregnancy. Major Articles and Books Concerning the Detrimental Effects of Abortion reports that in the short term (eight weeks after the abortion), there are numerous indicators of emotional distress: 44 per cent of women who have abortions complain of nervous disorders, 36 per cent have trouble sleeping, 31 per cent regret their decision to abort and 11 per cent have been prescribed psychotropic drugs. But it is the longer-term problems that bear more scrutiny. Using the most conservative estimate of post-abortion syndrome, or PAS, Dr. Brenda Major in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2000, found 1.6 per cent of women who have an abortion will suffer from PAS, a variant of post-traumatic stress disorder. In Canada, that would mean approximately 50,000 women are suffering emotionally due to their abortions. Dr. Hanna Sà ¶derberg’s studies suggest the number could be closer to 60 per cent. Either way, there are many women with PAS. In Canada, the 1977 Report of the Committee on the Operation of the Abortion Law cited a five-year study in two provinces that found women who had an abortion used medical and psychiatric services much more often than others; in fact, 25 per cent of women who aborted made at least one visit to a psychiatrist compared to just 3 per cent of other women. Alcoholism and drug abuse are higher among women who have abortions than those who don’t. The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology noted in December 2002 that later alcohol and drug use during subsequent pregnancies could place newborn children at higher risk of congenital defects, low birthweight and even death. In all, there are nearly two dozen studies that link abortion to alcohol and drug abuse. Extrapolating from research conducted by Dr. David Reardon of the Elliott Institute, as many as 5,000 Canadian women will â€Å"begin abusing drugs and/or alcohol as a means of dea ling with post-abortion stress.† In 1996, the British Medical Journal reported that the suicide rate for women â€Å"after an abortion was three times the general suicide rate and six times that associated with birth.† This confirmed earlier studies and has been replicated since. Reardon says â€Å"one reason for the strong abortion-suicide link exists in the fact that in many ways, abortion is like suicide. A person who threatens suicide is actually crying out for help. So are women who contemplate abortion. Both are in a state of despair. Both are lonely. Both feel faced by insurmountable odds.† So it is no wonder that abortion does not solve the perceived problem: that of the inconvenient pregnancy. Post-abortive women are more prone to suicide, cigarette smoking, divorce, low self-esteem, sexual dysfunction, eating disorders and reduced maternal bonding with future children, resulting in child neglect or abuse. Women who have had abortions are more likely to be on public assistance, because their pathologies (promiscuity, inability to form healthy relationships, drug and alcohol abuse) are likely to make them single parents. In 2004, Thomas Strahan, a researcher with the Association of Interdisciplinary Research in the United States, found that abortion hurts women economically: â€Å"The repeated utilization of abortion appears to lead not to economic prosperity or social well-being, but to an increasing feminization of poverty.† But post-abortion health problems are not merely emotional. The Elliott Institute has collated the best available data on the physical risk complications of abortion and it reports that â€Å"approximately 10 per cent of women undergoing elect ive abortion will suffer immediate complications, of which approximately one-fifth (2 per cent) are considered life threatening.† The most common immediate major complications include infection, excessive bleeding, embolism, ripping or perforation of the uterus, anesthesia complications, convulsions, hemorrhage, cervical injury and endotoxic shock. Minor complications include infection, bleeding, fever, second-degree burns, chronic abdominal pain, vomiting, gastro-intestinal disturbances and Rh sensitization. In the Canadian context, that means 10,000 women a year suffer complications and 2,000 face potentially life-threatening major complications. Other problems manifest themselves over time. There are more than 30 studies that show a correlation between abortion and breast cancer, with women who had abortions more likely to get breast cancer. Women also face increased risk of cervical, ovarian and liver cancer. The risk for these four cancers are linked to the unnatural disruption of hormonal changes accompanying pregnancy. Untreated cervical damage increases the chances of getting cervical cancer. Between 2 and 3 per cent of all abortion patients suffer perforation of the uterus; this often leads to complications in subsequent pregnancies, the need for a hysterectomy and other complications, including osteoporosis. Smaller cervical lacerations can also cause problems, including cervical incompetence and subsequent labour complications. Abortion also increases the risk of placenta previa in later pregnancies, which is life-threatening to both mother (excessive bleeding) and unborn child (perinatal death), and increases the chance of fetal malformation. Women who have abortions are more than twice as likely to suffer subsequent labour complications, including premature delivery. Pre-term delivery increases the risk of neo-natal death and handicaps. Abortion increases the risk of ectopic pregnancies and pelvic inflammatory disease, both of which can reduce future fertility or threaten the life of the mother. Recent nation-wide data is unavailable in Canada, but Alberta and Nova Scotia statistics indicate that repeat abortions account for about one-third of all procedures. Repeat aborters vastly increase their risk of complications and this has serious consequences for those who routinely utilize abortion as birth control; it also costs the health care system. Perhaps most worrying is that women who have abortions are more likely to die prematurely. Reardon notes, â€Å"Women who abort are approximately four times more likely to die in the following year than women who carry their pregnancies to term† – and that † women who carry to term are only half as likely to die (pre-maturely) as women who were not pregnant.† That includes accidental deaths, suicides and homicides, among other causes. The evidence that abortion harms women – and their loved ones – is overwhelming. But the harm goes beyond individuals. Societal costs No one knows for sure how much abortion costs taxpayers through the country’s socialized health care system. With the exception of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which do not cover the entire cost of abortions committed in private facilities, the provinces pay for abortions in both hospitals and free-standing facilities. LifeCanada estimates that the cost just for the surgical abortion procedures is $80 million (an average of $800 multiplied by 100,000 abortions). Because of under-reporting of abortion, there is reason to believe the cost is actually greater. In 1995, the Library of Parliament Research Branch said determining the cost of abortion is a â€Å"complex and inexact process.† But that is only the surgery. The number of follow-up visits for immediate complications is not made public (if tracked at all) and so those costs are unknowable. There is also the cost of long-term problems including fertility treatments, psychiatry and drug/alcohol treatment. There are other costs, as well; that of missing students, consumers and taxpayers. The loss of 100,000 children every year means smaller classrooms and closed schools. In 2005, People for Education, an advocacy group, reported that the rate of school closures in Ontario has more than doubled in recent years. Between 1986 and 1995, an average of 24 Ontario schools were closed every year, but between 1999 and 2005, it was an average of 52 schools per year. Remarkably, that is despite attracting the bulk of the country’s immigrants. The fact is that Canada is an aging country in which many smaller communities and older neighbourhoods no longer have the children and teens to sustain elementary and high schools. According to the Canadian Council on Learning, â€Å"The steepest declines tend to occur in small, rural and remote school districts.† It cites as an example British Columbia, where 10 school districts have seen their enrolments fall by at least 15 per cent since 200 1, seven of which are rural districts with smaller populations. From 1997-2005, 11 of 13 provinces and territories experienced a drop in enrolment, with six of them seeing declines of at least 10 per cent. The problem is worst in Atlantic Canada. Dr. Gerald Galway of the Faculty of Education at Memorial University in St. John’s gave a presentation to the 2009 Atlantic School Boards Conference entitled, â€Å"Where have all the children gone?† In it, he noted that school enrolment in Atlantic Canada has fallen precipitously over the past several decades. While intra-provincial migration accounts for some decline in population, he mostly blames falling fertility rates. Notably, in Newfoundland, enrolment has declined every year since 1971, except in 1984 (with the introduction of Grade 12). In fact, the school-aged population has been cut in half since 1971, from 160,000 to 80,000. Over the long term, more communities will lose their schools and policy makers will have to make difficult decisions on how to provide quality education in sparsely populated areas. There are also ramifications for public finance. Pierre Fortin, a professor of economics at the Università © du Quà ©bec à   Montrà ©al, says there will be â€Å"a marked deterioration of public finances† because of increased health care costs and pension liabilities as the number of seniors grows rapidly and income tax revenues decrease due to fewer workers. The result is fewer taxpayers supporting more retirees. By 2015, there will be more seniors over 65 than children under 15; it is estimated that by 2030, those over 65 will comprise 25 per cent of the population. According to the 2008 documentary The Cost of Abortion, the cumulative financial loss of nearly 50 million abortions in the United States from 1973-2007 was $37 trillion in GDP over the course of 35 years. That’s lost production and lost consumption due to the 50 million missing children and (later) workers. Assuming that Canada would have suffered a proportionate loss, the Canadian GDP over the past four decades would be in the neighbourhood of $4 trillion – or $100 billion per year. That represents about 7 per cent of the current Canadian economy. In other words, the economic activity of a population not decimated by abortion would be equivalent to more than twice the stimulus package Ottawa announced in January. But after 3.2 million abortions over four decades, the missing children translate into missing economic activity. The cheapening of human life The greatest cost imposed on a society that permits abortion is the devaluing of human life and the diminishment of family life. Abortion does not stalk the nation alone; but rather, as part of the larger culture of death. Since the legalization of abortion, contraception, gay sex and divorce in the 1960s, there has been a decline in marital stability, with growth in sexual activity outside marriage and other sexually deviant behaviour and new assaults on human life. There are more ways to chemically eliminate newly conceived life with the abortifacient morning-after pill and abortion drugs like RU-486. With pregnancy made easily avoidable, is it surprising that courts (and later Parliament) ignored the reproductive role of marriage when they redefined the institution to include same-sex partners? In 2003, the Liberal government passed legislation opening the door to destructive embryonic stem cell research, cloning and other scientific experimentation that treats human life as raw m aterial to be harvested and exploited. If inconvenient human life can be eliminated by mothers and doctors, why not create convenient lives for scientists and other researchers? And lastly – though not yet – is euthanasia. Once the principle is established that inconvenient human beings can be killed, the question becomes who’s next. The answer, if the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Oregon and Washington are harbingers, is the terminally ill, the disabled and the old. Of course, we’ve already had Tracey Latimer and Sue Rodriguez and dozens of others whose names weren’t quite national news. But these are renegades, operating outside the law. Perhaps, though, not for long. Twice in the past four years, Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde has introduced a private member’s bill to legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Public opinion leans toward so-called â€Å"mercy killing.† The principle of eliminating inconvenient people is well established. The great corrupter Abortion corrupts every institution that promotes or even countenances it. Two examples are government (and politics) and the medical profession, although one could also look at the failure of religious leadership, the denigration of the law and so much more. As Fr. Alphonse de Valk noted in his 1979 pamphlet The Worst Law Ever, the medical profession didn’t take long to become fanatical in its support for abortion. In fact, de Valk said â€Å"the one group which obviously has suffered most from the 1969 law is the medical profession.† In the 1960s, the Canadian Medical Association lobbied for widening the abortion law to permit abortions to save the life or protect the health of the mother (albeit with a broad understanding of mental and emotional health). By 1973, it endorsed abortion on demand. Two years later, it amended the Hippocratic Oath to remove the reference against abortifacients that had been in place for 2,500 years. In 1977, it attempted to make abortion referrals mandatory, even in cases in which doctors were morally opposed. That battle continues more than three decades later. Over the past 40 years, medical professionals have been harassed over their opposition to abortion and most medical schools screen applicants to keep pro-lifers out. Nurses have been fired, removed from certain duties and refused work because of their pro-life views, as have pharmacists. In order to make â€Å"choice† available to those seeking abortions, the choice of health care professionals to act according to their consciences has been compromised and even excised. Abortion has also corrupted the political process. Parliament fashioned a dishonest and untenable amendment in 1969 – the therapeutic abortion committees which sanctioned the killing of the unborn. The Supreme Court threw out the minimal restrictions in 1988 and ordered Parliament to write a new abortion law. The Mulroney government twice introduced legislation to address the abortion issue, but the limits were once again giant loopholes that would not have restricted abortion. Since then, abortion has been permitted within the vacuum created by the absence of a law. Politicians are scared of the issue. Many provincial politicians refuse to answer questions about abortion, claiming it is a federal matter (which it is as a matter of criminal law, but not as health policy). Many federal politicians hide behind the false notion that the 1988 Morgentaler decision established a right to abortion. (It did not, with only one of seven justices suggesting such a right.) In the 2000 federal election, then-prime minister Jean Chretien declared that Canada had â€Å"social peace† on the issue of abortion; in reality, it was the silence of timorous politicians enforced by a rigid media censorship of any substantive debate on the topic. That censorship is widespread. Since 1995, British Columbia has had a legislated bubble zone prohibiting any pro-life speech near abortion facilities. In 1994, the Ontario government asked for and received a â€Å"temporary† injunction prohibiting pro-life speech near five abortion mills; that injunction remains in place today. In Quebec, a limited bubble zone is in place in several municipalities. Such censorship has moved to university campuses, where pro-life groups are denied club status and pro-life speakers or demonstrators are prevented from making their presentations. To protect abortion from any criticism or resistance, genuine human rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of conscience, are curbed. Such illiberal and intolerant measures are deemed necessary to defend â€Å"choice.† Conclusion These are but a few of the consequences of a broad abortion licence, a quick overview of the toll of abortion. Sold to a willingly ignorant public as a matter of personal choice, abortion has had terrible consequences for society and, tragically, the women who choose abortion thinking it is a solution to their perceived problems. The enormity of the consequences, one would presume, would lead to a massive re-thinking of unrestricted legal abortion. But instead of either sober reflection or a vigorous debate on abortion’s societal and individual ramifications, there is silence. And more death. And more suffering. Forty more years and millions more deaths are too great a cost for a dearth of necessary leadership to oppose abortion. But someday, these costs and consequences will be too great to ignore. Until then, we will continue to pay in blood, treasure, women’s health and a myriad of other ways. Is Abortion Safe? Psychological Consequences Clinical research provides a growing body of scientific evidence that having an abortion can cause psychological harm to some women. â€Å"Women who report negative after-effects from abortion know exactly what their problem is,† observed psychologist Wanda Franz, Ph.D., in a March 1989 congressional hearing on the impact of abortion. â€Å"They report horrible nightmares of children calling them from trash cans, of body parts, and blood,† Franz told the Congressional panel. â€Å"When they are reminded of the abortion,† Franz testified, â€Å"the women re-experienced it with terrible psychological pain †¦ They feel worthless and victimized because they failed at the most natural of human activities — the role of being a mother.†[106] The emergence of chemical abortion methods poses a new possibly more devastating psychological threat. Unlike surgical abortions, in which women rarely see the cut up body parts, women having chemical abortions often do see the complete tiny bodies of their unborn children and are even able to distinguish the child’s developing hands, eyes, etc. [107] So traumatic is this for some women that both patients and researchers involved in these studies have recommended that women unprepared for the experience of seeing their aborted children not take the drugs. [108] Long-term psychological implications of this experience have not been studied. Researchers on the after-effects of abortion have identified a pattern of psychological problems known as Post-Abortion Syndrome (PAS). Women suffering PAS may experience drug and alcohol abuse, personal relationship disorders, sexual dysfunction, repeated abortions, communications difficulties, damaged self-esteem, and even attempt suicide. Post-Abortion Syndrome appears to be a type of pattern of denial which may last for five to ten years before emotional difficulties surface. [109] Now that some clinicians have established that there is an identifiable patterns to PAS, they face a new challenge. What is still unknown is how widespread psychological problems are among women who have had abortions. A Los Angeles Times survey in 1989 found that 56% of women who had abortions felt guilty about it, and 26% â€Å"mostly regretted the abortion.†[110] Clinicians’ current goal should be to conduct extensive national research studies to obtain data on the psychological after-effects of abortion.[111] With the growing awareness of Post Abortion Syndrome in scholarly and clinical circles, women with PAS can expect to receive a more sensitive appreciation of the suffering that they endure. Fortunately, a growing network of peer support groups of women who have had abortions offers assistance to women who are experiencing emotional difficulties. Many post-abortive women have also been speaking out publicly about their own abortion experiences and the healing process they went through.. Women or family members seeking information about this particular outreach can contact American Victims of Abortion, 419 7th Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C., 20004. Physical Consequences after abortion DEATH: According to the best record based study of deaths following pregnancy and abortion, a 1997 government funded study in Finland, women who abort are approximately four times more likely to die in the following year than women who carry their pregnancies to term. In addition, women who carry to term are only half as likely to die as women who were not pregnant.(16) The Finland researchers found that compared to women who carried to term, women who aborted in the year prior to their deaths were 60 percent more likely to die of natural causes, seven times more likely to die of suicide, four times more likely to die of injuries related to accidents, and 14 times more likely to die from homicide. Researchers believe the higher rate of deaths related to accidents and homicide may be linked to higher rates of suicidal or risk-taking behavior.(16) The leading causes of abortion related maternal deaths within a week of the surgery are hemorrhage, infection, embolism, anesthesia, and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies. Legal abortion is reported as the fifth leading cause of maternal death in the United States, though in fact it is recognized that most abortion related deaths are not officially reported as such.(2)

Handwriting Analysis Essay

As the World’s Economy drops down, the need for jobs has rapidly increased over the years, but how do employers tell a hardworking potential from a lazy couch potato? In resumes anyone can write anything, so how do people tell the truth from a lie? In the world of businesses, the secret lies in the hands of the employees. Some employers decide to trust the resume as it is, while others choose another notion. A number of bosses have chosen to â€Å"read† their potential employees’ handwriting to understand their personality. The applicants perform a simple test. Then, people who are known as graphologists study the handwriting to uncover information about that certain person. Graphologists do not always just study a person’s handwriting. They study it and develop ways so that it is possible to uncover more information about the brain and its mysteries. Handwriting, is sometimes seen as a â€Å"blueprint to the brain† because it has been discovered to show one’s values and personality, which gives hope to the scientists around the world that the seclusive mass in the skull’s secrets can be unlocked and, maybe, be shared with the public. Handwriting analysis is an art that is used to figure out a person’s traits and characteristics. Nowadays, anyone can click on a website that shows all the rules and guidelines to become a handwriting analyzer. They then claimed that â€Å"anyone can understand their personality,† but analyzing does not mean understanding, it means discovering. So how can one understand their personality? There is always a beginning to start an end. In the history of handwriting analysis, it first started with the Emperor Nero. As everyone knows, he was paranoid and a tyrant. He had said that every letter sent to him had to be studied by an expert to see if the sender was an enemy or not. Thus graphology took it’s first flight. However, the first book about graphology was created by a scientist, Alderius Prosper about 1619. Later, in 1622, a medicine professor named Camillo Baldi created a composition about handwriting analysis. It was called â€Å"How to Know the Habits and the Character of a Person From His Letters†. Later, in 1871, another scientist named Jean Hippolyte Michan officially called the study â€Å"graphology† and created the system and rules that now help graphologists in their work around the world. Before this time, there was not much progress that helped  graphology and handwriting analysis. In 1880 – 1883 there were three German psychi atrists, Dr. George Meyer, Dr. Wilhelm Preyer, and Dr. Ludwig Klages. They all examined graphology and pointed it to a psychological turn. Around 1897 – 1927, the Germans and the Americans were having a race to see which country could establish a theory about graphology first. It ended in 1908, when the Germans scientists created the German Graphological Society. Finally in 1927, Louise Rice created the American Graphology Society. Until the time Louise Rice came along, no one in America had known what graphology or handwriting analysis was. In 1952, Klara Roman experimented with muscle tension by making a machine that could measure the pressure of the hand as it drags a writing utensil around the paper. After creating the machine device, she used it to experiment on little children’s handwritings. Then in 1955, Klara Roman and George Staemphli invented a chart that is now called the Graphological Psychogram. It puts different variables in order for an experiment which then they plotted them on the chart. For example, they would add more sleep or bring in moody people. Later, a New Yorker with the name Daniel Anthony refined the psychogram to be more accurate. When people look closely at their own handwriting, they can see that all handwriting is different and that they have their own styles. However, what most people do not realize is that they are not all unique. Instead, each handwriting has adopted a different aspect of a style. Say, there is a face. Each piece, or feature, of the face can change, but it is still the same feature. The only other difference that feature shows to other feature is their appearance. Such as it is with handwriting, each â€Å"feature† may look different, however, it is still the same. It is inevitable and can never be changed. According to dailymail.co.uk, no matter what method, formula, or any idea used to teach calligraphy, it does not affect the pupil’s handwriting. There are many â€Å"features† to handwriting that makes a handwriting unique. Such as, the handwriting’s size, spacing, signatures, shape, and etcetera. The size of one’s handwriting can be varied at times, but there is always a specific size that your hand would write into. Some people naturally have large handwriting, which can be greater than seven millimeters. A medium sized script can tend to be four to six millimeters long while a small sized font can be less than three millimeters. Also, the  spacing of one’s calligraphy can be managed as well, however, many people have never cared enough to keep their spacing even. Spacing can be determined by how far their words are from each other. Sometimes, the spacing of the words can be as far as a finger widths apart or one to two millimeters apart. The spacing can affect many parts of your handwriting. Such as it is with the signatures. The signature can be extremely hard to write or one of the most simple tasks. Whichever way it is, there is only one simple difference between them: if it is legible or illegible. That is the only difference for the signatures of one’s writing. The shape of one’s manuscript is one of the biggest differences between handwritings. They could be circular shaped, jagged points, curled, or looped. The possibilities of the different aspects can be endless. These are the different styles of one’s personal handwritings. Just like handwriting, there are many different types of personalities. However, most personalities are made up of character traits that are joined together to create one identity. Personalities are how we act or react to our daily lives. It is what links our actions and our thoughts together in what we call an attitude. There are many different types of personalities that contrast each other, but on the contrary, some tend to be alike. There are generally placed into four groups. These groups can be summarized as four characters from the Hundred Acre Woods in the Disney cartoon â€Å"Winnie the Pooh.† The Tigger, the Rabbit, the Eeyore, and the Pooh bear. The Tiggers tend to be enthusiastic, nice, the happy-go-lucky open, and more approachable. Meanwhile there is the Eeyore personality. These Eeyore people tend to be sullen, and often in a corner ignoring everybody. They are not lonely or sad, but it is that they like being alone and that it is just their nature to be alone. Even though they are solitary, they are also observant. Eeyores take in their surroundings and let everything unravel as they sit and do nothing. The Rabbit people, however, are very mismatched from the Tiggers and the Eeyores. The Rabbit people are the born leaders and they take responsibility when their is no one to take charge. They are ambitious and persevere to complete a task. They can sometimes become very bossy at times and Lastly, there is the Pooh bears. They are the most caring and friendliest of the groups. Pooh bears tend to be a people pleaser  even if they have to suffer for it. However, they enjoy to be uncomfortable if everyone is comfortable too. They tend to be the very nice people and sometimes gullible. Now these are only groups that personalitees can fall into. Though, there can be a mix of two or more groups to create a different identity. Handwriting used to be seen as an innocent tool to communicate with a pen and paper. Now, scientists have uncovered that not only does handwriting tell you moods and values, it can tell about your personalities. There is a key or a system, created by Jean Hippolyte Michan that can tell about different attributes. Meaning, with each â€Å"feature† of handwriting, there is a personality trait that matches up with that feature. A large sized handwriting symbolizes an outgoing trait in that person. A wide space between the words mean that the person prefers being alone rather that being with other people. However, there is a variable that can change. When you have a mood change, you can write differently than usual. For example, if you are happy you write contrasting how your handwriting would look when you are sad. So it can change depending on your mood. It can grow bigger, tilt more to the left or right, or become more messy. Another aspect that can affect your calligraphy is y our self-esteem. Your self-esteem is what your perspective is of yourself and what kind of person you think you are. It can constantly change it can only do so if a person thinks of themselves as a higher or lower being. For instance, a person with a higher self-esteem would look different if that same person had a lower self-esteem. Mainly though, one’s handwriting would differ the most depending on if the writer is conscious of his or her piece or not. Consciously writing would mean that the writer is writing and paying attention as he/she drags the writing utensil across the paper. Unconsciously means that the person knows that he is writing, but does not pay attention to how it looks. Such is the case when it comes to handwriting analysis, the main difference between unconsciously writing and consciously writing is that when you do not pay attention to how you write, the font tends to be messier, bigger, and less accurate than how it would be if you were consciously writing. There is a great significance to handwriting to handwriting analysis.  Handwriting Analysis is an art that is occasionally practiced by the police and used to see a what kind of person someone by trying to uncover your personality. It can also tell what mood a person is whether your happy or sad. A happy person tends to have bigger handwriting. It can also determine what a person’s values are. They can see your morals or beliefs depending on what they are looking at. There are many styles of handwriting, and it is possible that it would lead to a personality trait that would describe you. This is the importance of handwriting analysis. Handwriting analysis took a slow and long journey to be able to be what it is now. From the year 54 AD to the twenty-first century, it had progressed into a flourishing study that is researched by young and old. The style of a handwriting is the heartbeat of the whole study. With many different attributes that constructs themselves into different fonts, they all look very different. Like handwriting styles, there are different character traits that makes up one gigantic personality. However, with each â€Å"feature† of a certain handwriting, there is always a personality trait that is matched up with that â€Å"feature.† As said before, one can know their personality, but many can not understand it, so how can one be able to understand his/her personality? As many struggle to become one with themselves they begin to have doubts growing in them and soon they are confused. However, there is conviction that a person can understand their personality. Works Cited Page Lowe, Sheila. â€Å"What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?† Primer Magazine. Andrew, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. Sheikh, F.D. â€Å"What Lies in Your Handwriting.† Web log post. In the Name of the Human†¦ F.D. Sheikh, 13 Mar. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. Woollaston, Victoria. â€Å"What Does Your Handwriting Say about You?† Mail Online(2013): n. pag. Mail Online. 29 July 2013. Web. 14 Sept. 2013.

Meaning, Origin, and Uses of Gringo

So someone calls you a gringo or gringa. Should you feel insulted? It depends. Nearly always referring to foreigners in a Spanish-speaking country, gringo is one of those words whose precise meaning, and often its emotional quality, can vary with geography and context. Yes, it can be and often is an insult. But it can also be a term of affection or neutral. And the word has been used long enough outside of Spanish-speaking areas that it is listed in English dictionaries, spelled and pronounced essentially the same in both languages. Origin of Gringo The etymology or origin of the Spanish word is uncertain, although it is likely to have come from griego, the word for Greek. In Spanish, as in English, it has long been common to refer to an unintelligible language as Greek. (Think Its Greek to me or ​Habla en griego.) So over time, griegos apparent variant, gringo, came to refer to a foreign language and to foreigners in general. The first known written English use of the word was in 1849 by an explorer. One bit of folk etymology about gringo is that it originated in Mexico during the Mexican-American war because Americans would sing the song Green Grow the Lilies. As the word originated in Spain long before there was a Spanish-speaking Mexico, there is no truth to this urban legend. In fact, at one time, the word in Spain was often used to refer specifically to the Irish. And according to a 1787 dictionary, it often referred to someone who spoke Spanish poorly. Related Words In both English and Spanish, gringa is used to refer to a female (or, in Spanish, as a feminine adjective). In Spanish, the term Gringolandia is sometimes used to refer to the United States. Gringolandia can also refer to the tourist zones of some Spanish-speaking countries, especially those areas where many Americans congregate. Another related word is engringarse, to act like a gringo. Although the word appears in dictionaries, it doesnt appear to have much actual use. How the Meaning of Gringo Varies In English, the term gringo is often used to refer to an American or British person visiting Spain or Latin America. In Spanish-speaking countries, its use is more complex with its meaning, at least its emotional meaning, depending to a great extent on its context. Probably more often than not, gringo is a term of contempt used to refer to foreigners, especially Americans and sometimes the British. However, it can also be used with foreign friends as a term of affection. One translation sometimes given for the term is Yankee, a term that sometimes is neutral but also can be used contemptuously (as in Yankee, go home!). The dictionary of the Real Academia Espaà ±ola offers these definitions, which can vary according to the geography of where the word is used: Foreigner, especially one who speaks English, and in general one who speaks a language that isnt Spanish.As an adjective, to refer to a foreign language.A resident of the United States (definition used in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela).Native of England (definition used in Uruguay).Native of Russia (definition used in Uruguay).A person with white skin and blond hair (definition used in Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru).An unintelligible language.