How to Amend the Constitutionâ€About the Process

How to Amend the Constitution- About the Process Amending the Constitution was never meant to be simple. Although thousands of amendments have been discussed since the original document was approved in 1788, there are now only 27 amendments in the Constitution. Though its framers knew the Constitution would have to be amended, they also knew it should never be amended frivolously or haphazardly. Clearly, their process for amending the Constitution has succeeded in meeting that goal. Constitutional amendments are intended to improve, correct, or otherwise revise the original document. The framers knew it would be impossible for the Constitution they were writing to address every situation that might come along in the future. Ratified in December 1791, the first 10 amendments- The Bill of Rights- list and vow to protect certain rights and freedoms granted to the American people and speak to the demands of the Anti-Federalists among the Founding Fathers by limiting the power of the national government. Ratified 201 years later, in May 1992, the most recent amendment- the 27th Amendment- prohibited members of Congress from raising their own salaries.   The Two Methods for Amending the Constitution Article V of the Constitution itself establishes the two ways in which it may be amended: The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. In simple terms, Article V prescribes that amendments may be proposed either by the U.S. Congress or by a constitutional convention when and if demanded by two-thirds of the legislatures of the states. Method 1: Congress Proposes an Amendment An amendment to the Constitution may be proposed by any member of the House of Representatives or the Senate and will be considered under the standard legislative process in the form of a joint resolution.  In addition, as ensured by the First Amendment, all American citizens are free to petition Congress or their state legislatures to amend the Constitution. To be approved, the amending resolution must be passed by a two-thirds supermajority vote in both the House and the Senate. Given no official role in the amendment process by Article V, the President of the United States is not required to sign or otherwise approve the amending resolution. Presidents, however, typically express their opinion of proposed amendments and may attempt to persuade Congress to vote for or against them. States Ratify the Amendment If approved by Congress, the proposed amendment is sent to the governors of all 50 states for their approval, called â€Å"ratification.† Congress will have specified one of two ways by which the states should consider ratification: The governor submits the amendment to the state legislature for its consideration; orThe governor convenes a state ratifying convention. If the amendment is ratified by three-fourths (currently 38) of the state legislatures or ratifying conventions, it becomes part of the Constitution. Resurrecting ERA? Clearly, this method of amending the Constitution can be lengthy and time-consuming.  However, the U.S. Supreme Court has stated that ratification must be completed within â€Å"some reasonable time after the proposal.† Beginning with the 18th Amendment granting women the right to vote, it has been customary for Congress to set a maximum time period for ratification. This is why many have felt the Equal Rights Amendment is dead, even though it now needs only one more state to ratify it to achieve the required 38 states. The ERA amendment was passed by Congress in 1972; 35 had ratified it by its extended deadline of 1985. However, in 2017 and 2018, two more states ratified it, concerned about the constitutionality of setting those deadlines. If Virginia would ratify it in 2019, people expected a battle to ensue in Congress over whether to accept the late ratifications. Method 2: The States Demand a Constitutional Convention Under the second method of amending the Constitution prescribed by Article V, if two-thirds (currently 34) of the state legislatures vote to demand it, Congress is required to convene a full constitutional convention. Just as in the Constitutional Convention of 1787, delegates from every state would attend this so-called â€Å"Article V Convention† for the purpose of proposing one or more amendments. Though this more momentous method has never been used, the number of states voting to demand a constitutional amending convention has come close to the required two-thirds on several occasions. Indeed, the mere threat of being forced to surrender its control of the constitutional amendment process to the states has often prompted Congress to preemptively propose amendments itself. Although not specifically mentioned in the document, there are five unofficial yet legal ways of changing the Constitution  used more often- and sometimes even more controversially- than the Article V amendment process. These include legislation, presidential actions, federal court rulings, actions of the political parties, and simple custom. Can Amendments Be Repealed? Any existing constitutional amendment can be repealed but only by the ratification of another amendment. Because repealing amendments must be proposed and ratified by one of the same two methods of regular amendments, they are very rare. In the history of the United States, only one constitutional amendment has been repealed. In 1933, the 21st Amendment repealed the 18th Amendment- better known as â€Å"prohibition†- banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the United States. Though neither has ever come close to happening, two other amendments have been the subject of repeal discussion over the years: the 16th Amendment establishing the federal income tax and the 22nd Amendment limiting the president to serving only two terms. Most recently, the 2nd Amendment has come under critical scrutiny. In his editorial appearing in the New York Times on March 27, 2018, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens controversially called for the repeal of the Bill of Rights amendment, which guarantees â€Å"the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.† He argues that it would give more power to peoples desire to stop gun violence than the National Rifle Association. Sources The Constitutional Amendment Process. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. November 17, 2015.Huckabee, David C. .Ratification of Amendments to the U.S. Constitution  Congressional Research Service reports. Washington D.C.: Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress.Neale, Thomas H. .The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Contemporary Issues for Congress  Congressional Research Service.

ETHICAL DECISIONS IN LEADERSHIP Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ETHICAL DECISIONS IN LEADERSHIP - Research Paper Example In her present job Lael Mathews faces this glass ceiling, people higher up the hierarchy are trying to interfere with her job. She must promote one of three managers, and all of her choices have disadvantages and advantages. She must decide from Liz, Roy, or Quang. Although she has a soft spot for Liz and knows that Liz can really use the money provided by the promotion but also knows that being a single mother she can not show full commitment and an above average performance. Promoting Liz will however bring positive PR to the company as she is an African American. Lael’s boss is also favoring Liz for the job. The other choice Roy although old, has been up for a promotion for a long time, and many employees think that he deserves it. Further more a senior manager had made a personal request for his promotion. The final candidate for the job is Quang. She is an intensive hardworking Asian. Always among the top students of her class she has provided the company with record perf ormances in the past. Moreover she is engaged to an upper management person’s son, who is intent on getting her promoted. Narrowing it down, the problem that Lael faces is: As Lael is a woman she is pressurized by everyone with power. The main reason upper management employees keep pushing her for their respective favorites in case of this promotion, is because they all think they can bend her according to their will, as she is a woman. If she goes against their will, they can do great harm to her career in the future. The greatest threat can be from her supervisor who wants Liz to be promoted. His request is though of a less personal nature as compared to the supporter of Quang. He is much more intense in his support as she is a relative to him. Lael as a human being is also effected by her personal emotions. Her association with Liz can severely impact her promotion decision. Moreover in light of the recent accident

Critically discuss whether birth control is good or bad Essay

Critically discuss whether birth control is good or bad - Essay Example The figure below indicates the projected growth rate for the global population. These growth rates have prompted government officials to consider the importance of birth control measures. For many countries, these control measures have already been put in place. The controversy with these measures relate to political, social, and economic considerations for various countries (Worldometers, 2012). This paper will now consider the controversy using various perspectives, including scientific analysis to determine whether or not birth control is good or bad. This paper is being undertaken in order to establish a basis for making decisions on the issue, for policy-makers and for the citizens of the world. Body In general, birth control or contraception is a means of preventing or avoiding pregnancy via artificial methods including the use of condoms and birth control pills or through the use of natural methods like abstinence (Crossway, 2012). The more common and more effective methods in clude: condoms, diaphragm, pills, chemical patches, intrauterine devices, surgical sterilization, and in some extreme cases, surgical abortion. Traditionally, most Christian religions have condemned artificial contraception because they believe that it is against the will of God and that it has potentially moral implications on the unborn foetus (Crossway, 2012). In later years, many of these religions have shifted in their position, accepting some artificial means of contraception as essential methods needed in population control (Crossway, 2012). To date, the Roman Catholic Church still condemns the artificial methods of contraception because they believe that these methods bring harm to the female body and that these methods are tantamount to the killing of an unborn child. Deciding whether or not birth control is good or bad is based on various considerations, mostly in relation to the actual effect of contraception on the body as well as its social and political implications. F irst and foremost, the natural methods of contraception are relatively good, mostly because they work well in preventing pregnancies and they do not impact negatively on the female body (Crossway, 2012). They are also reversible, free, and safe methods of contraception. These methods also do not require surgery, chemicals or other drugs. They can also be used with other methods of contraception. The issue of planning and discipline are the most important hurdles which couples often face with this method because they may not always be disciplined in avoiding intercourse during fertile periods; moreover, their plans in avoiding pregnancy may be subject to human error (Borgman, 2005). Nevertheless, despite these issues, natural forms of birth control are relatively beneficial for couples. Artificial birth control methods however are more controversial because of their moral and medical implications (Borgman, 2005). In general, these forms of contraception are very much effective in pre venting pregnancies; and in the end, they help accomplish the primary goal of controlling the population. One of these artificial methods of contraception is the hormone-based birth control. This hormone-based birth control can cause side-effects on the woman, including headache and nausea (Borgman, 2005). However, for some women, switching brands of birth control can help relieve

Destructive natural phenomena Essay Example for Free

Destructive natural phenomena Essay Among the most destructive natural phenomena caused by nature and known to man are earthquakes. Earthquakes are not only considered as one of the most destructive, but among the most frightening, traumatic and violent as well. In addition, earthquakes are beyond man’s control. They are also unpredictable. This paper aims to answer the following questions: How do earthquakes occur? What causes earthquakes? Based on its scientific definition, an earthquake is the result of a sudden movement of the earths crust due to the stress released from geologic faults or by volcanic activity. Sometimes it is also called as seism or temblor (â€Å"Earthquakes†). We often think that an earthquake is merely the shaking of the ground based on what we experience and what we see in the news. What we are not really aware of is that an earthquake happens everyday. It is reported by the United States Geological Survey that over 3 million earthquakes occur yearly which means every 11 seconds, an earthquake takes place. That’s around 8,000 earthquakes a day. Most of the time, the majority of these quakes are and cannot be felt. What alert us are the stronger earthquakes that happen in highly populated areas. In order to determine an earthquake’s strength, scientists measure earthquake strength by using a seismograph. The information gathered by the graph is then calculated. The unit of measuring an earthquake’s strength or ‘intensity’ is the Richter scale which is in turn used to rate the energy released by the quake which is known as the magnitude. When an earthquake occurs, it continuously produces waves referred as seismic wave. There are several types of seismic waves but the waves responsible in the first few strikes of movement during an earthquake are called body waves. These waves often travel at the earth’s inner part (Harris, 2001). With the help of the P waves and the S waves, which are the types of body waves, scientists are able to determine where an earthquake took place. P waves also known as primary waves can travel through different mediums. It can travel through solids, liquids and even gases. It travels faster and hit the ground first. On the other hand the S waves or the secondary waves follows through making the ground also shake. Apparently these waves helps scientist locate an earthquake’s epicentre of location. Through the help of seismographs, the amount of time between the P waves and the S waves are then recorded which is called seismogram, this will then determine how far away the earthquake was from the location. Most of the time it takes 3 seismographs to locate the epicenter or the exact direction of the earthquake which is called triangulation (Wald, 2008). During early times, natural causes were accounted with the anger of the gods that were displeased with mans action. Today, natural disasters are no longer accounted to ancient gods anymore. Instead, man explains such occurrences based on modern science. There are many causes of earthquakes. These can be attributed to volcanic eruptions or even explosions created by humans but the most frequent potential cause of this is the seismic plate movement. The plate tectonic theory states that the surface layer of the earth called lithosphere is comprised of different plates. Through the advent of the plate tectonic theory, different phenomena and facts that were formerly unknown were finally understood. Facts such as the movement of the continents and volcanic activities were just among the few facts that plate tectonics had unveiled. Since plates tend to slide on the region below the lithosphere, any of the three different things can happen at the boundaries between these huge plates: (1) the plates can move apart- whenever this occurs, hot, molten rock called magma, flows up. Magma will then appear on the surface, an activity that mostly happens on the ocean floor turning it into lava which in turn cools down and fills the gaps when it hardens. The area where this occurs is called the divergent plate boundary. (2) The plates can push together- an occurrence where in one plate is pushed under the other one which is called subduction. When the plate is then pushed beneath, it melts down in the lower mantle layers. Although plates have the tendency to subduct with one another there are certain boundaries wherein neither of these two plates would be able to do so thus, the tendency of each plate is to push one another and form mountains. The convergent plate boundaries are an area where plates are more like to push against each other. The plates would slide against each other- when this happens the plates are then pushed tightly together building a great tension in the transform boundary (Harris, 2001). We all know that earthquakes may occur anywhere and anytime but there are certain areas that are close enough where frequent actions of tremblors take place. The ring of fire is a zone where frequent earthquakes as well as volcanic eruptions occur. It is said that almost 90% of earthquakes in the world is experienced in this area. Countries like the United States, Indonesia, Canada, Brazil, Colombia and Chile are some of the areas that are prone to tremblors (Crystal, 2008). An earthquake brings fear and devastation is alarming. Furthermore, the inability to predict an earthquake makes it even more fearful. Though scientists are still looking for ways to minimize the devastating effects of an earthquake, knowledge and the understanding earthquakes are man’s best defence. Earthquakes education serves as the best protection and the hopes and continuous researches provides more security and helps in devastation prevention. References Earthquakes. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth edition. Retrieved June 11, 2008, from http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/earthquakes Harris, T. (2001). How Earthquake Works. How Stuff Works. Retrieved June 12, 2008, from http://science. howstuffworks. com/earthquake. htm Wald, L. (2008). The Science of Earthquakes. U. S. Geological Survey. Retrieved June 12, 2008 from http://earthquake. usgs. gov/learning/kids/eqscience. php Crystal, E. (2008). Pacific Ring of Fire. Crystalinks. Retrieved June 12, 2008 from http://www. crystalinks. com/rof. html

Abortion: How Does He Really Feel? :: Essays Papers

Abortion: How Does He Really Feel? In the article, â€Å"End of the Road† by Rebecca Paley, she raises an interesting point of why Dr. William Rashbaum does what he does as an abortion doctor. This article was published in Mother Jones in the Sep/Oct 2003 issue. The setting of this article is placed around modern times. Even though abortion was made legal about 30 years ago, the thought of whether or not it is right is still an issue. This article takes an in depth look inside the life of an abortionist named Dr. William Rashbaum. The audience Paley is targeting are probably people that are for and have had abortions. Paley describes Dr.Rashbum as being an unruly, mad, sometimes compassionate, and doing it because it’s his job type of doctor. She says these things because he doesn’t care about what anyone says. Paley interviewed people that know him personally to give credibility of how he really is. She asked a second-trimester abortion provider who trained under Rashbaum what she thought of him. She stated â€Å"A person who is more concerned with what people think of him than doing the fight thing wouldn’t last. He cares more about doing the right thing than what people think of his personality.† The main argument that Paley is stating is that Dr.Rashbum feels convicted for what he does but, he is only doing it because it’s his job. He even admits that it is hard to do sometime. She makes sure she incorporated plenty of that in her article. Paley also makes this article a little confusing because she jumps back and forth between sides . She tries to justify him by putting little pieces of information that make him not seem so bad. In the next paragraph or two, she makes it seem that he is so wrong for what he is doing. She doesn’t do this directly, but indirectly. The tone Paley uses is a tone that is upset about abortions, but also making excuses for him. She should pick one side so it wouldn’t be too hard to find her argument.

Understanding Aerospace: How To Fly An Aircraft

1. The complicated task of piloting an aircraft can be broken into two broad categories. The first is keeping the aircraft flying. The second is arriving at a given destination. The second is always being effected by the first. Unlike a car, small deviation in course can over great distances cause the aircraft to arrive hundreds of miles from the target destination. To successfully accomplish the task, safe arrival, the larger tasks can be sub-divided into three categories. The first is the Procedural Tasks. These are the maintenance task that must be accomplished every time in a certain way at a certain time, i.e. take off and landing checklists. The next is Decision and Judgement Tasks. Problem solving is another way to look at it. The crew will react based on past experience to a given situation. The last is Communications and Resource Management. This is how the crew communicates with each other while problem solving, either poorly or well. 2. The pilot uses visual cues such as rate of flow of texture outward from or convergence of parallel linear features to visually fly the aircraft. Estimates of speed are derived from global optic flow (GOL). This is the rate that texture flows over the optical area. This can be effected by elevation, at higher elevations underestimation of true speed will occur. Approach path distortions occur when there is a slope before the landing strip or other visual features such as dwarfed trees. The human eye is not designed for conditions found in flight. Planes that are a collision course have no apparent movement to them. This takes the natural attraction to movement out of play. Because of the lack of visual stimulation the eye will focus only a few meters in front, so distant objects are unfocused. The scanning of instruments provides a source of input that allows the pilot to visualize the position of aircraft in flight. The novice pilot will scan all the instruments in a given pattern. While the experienced pilot will look at all the instrument that will give them feedback on the action that occurred. Of the main instrument the most useful is the attitude direction indicator (ADI). This is the instrument most referred and the one that most novice pilot will get fixated with. It is also the only one that resembles an aircraft and provides information in a format other than an analog circular dial. 3. Situational awareness is the ability to keep track of your surroundings and what they mean. Then predict how any change in them will effect your actions. This is measured the best, according to the author, by adding a task that can be performed well only when surrounding events are well know. The types of displays that best support awareness of position is best conveyed via 3-D. Speed of the aircraft is interpreted with a higher degree of accuracy in 2-D displays. Heads up displays (HUD) have been used for some time to give pilots information in away that allowed them to keep their attention outside of the cockpit. The thought is naturally to add more information to this already useful instrument. This would most likely result in the loss of information due to cluttering. Some information is lost in the HUD because of overlap with dominant terrain features. This might be avoided using a heads down display (HDD) type. They both have advantages and disadvantages. These may both be used to some extent with types of automation. The pilot may end up monitoring the flight only being called on when there is a problem. This results in the pilot being dissociated from the situation that they are to solve. Thus loosing time needed to solve the crisis trying to reorient themselves. A better way may be to use automation to provide information pertaining to the situation, i.e. filtering information.

Words of War for Spanish Students

Looking for a different perspective on the news of the world? If so, check out one of the many Spanish-language news sources and get an idea of what people in Latin America or Spain or other Spanish-speaking places are reading. If the news is about war, you may find this vocabulary list helpful. War Vocabulary List Alphabetized in Spanish Words below are alphabetized in Spanish; see the next section for the same words alphabetized in English. el alto el fuego — cease-fireel arma, las armas — weapon, weaponslas armas de destruccià ³n masiva — weapons of mass destructionatacar — to attackel ataque — attackla baja — casualty (death)base (aà ©rea, military)  Ã¢â‚¬â€ (air, military) basela batalla — battlela baterà ­a — batteryel blanco (militar) — (military) targetla bomba — bombbombardear — to bombcivil — civilian (noun or adjective)el/la comandante — commanderel combate — combatel/la (no) combatiente  Ã¢â‚¬â€ (non)combatantel conflicto — conflictla Convencià ³n de Ginebra — Geneva Conventionel/la coronel — colonelel criminal de guerra — war criminallos derechos humanos — human rightsderribar — to shoot down, to bring downdestruir — destroyel ejà ©rcito — armyencontrarse cautivo — to be taken captiveestar en control, encontrarse en control — to be i n controlla explosià ³n — explosionlas fuerzas aà ©reas — air forcelas fuerzas aliadas — allied forceslas fuerzas armadas (FF. AA.) — armed forcesel/la general — generalel gobierno — governmentla granada — grenadela guerra — warel helicà ³ptero — helicopterherido — injuredherir — to injurelas hostilidades — hostilitieshumanitario — humanitarianla inteligencia militar — military intelligencela invasià ³n — invasionla marina — navymatar — to killmilitar — military (adjective)el/la militar — soldier, fighterel misil — missilela muerte — deathel objector de conciencia — conscientious objectorla ofensiva — offensivela patrulla (patrullar, estar de patrulla) — patrol (to patrol, to be on patrol)la paz — peaceel/la piloto — pilotel preso de guerra, el prisionero de guerra — prisoner of warla propagan da — propagandaresguardar — to protect againstla resistencia — resistancesacudir — to strike, to hitsangriento — bloodyel/la soldado — soldierel tanque, el carro de combate — tankel territorio — territoryel/la terrorista — terroristlas tropas — troops War Vocabulary Alphabetized in Enlish air force — las fuerzas aà ©reasallied forces — las fuerzas aliadasarmed forces — las fuerzas armadasarmy — el ejà ©rcito(air, military) base — base (aà ©rea, military)attack — el ataqueto attack — atacarbattery — la baterà ­abattle — la batallato be in control — estar en control, encontrarse en controlto be taken captive — encontrarse cautivobloody — sangrientobomb — la bombato bomb — bombardearcasualty — la baja (death), el/la herido (injured person)cease-fire — el alto el fuegocivilian (noun or adjective) — civilcolonel — el/la coronelcombat — el combate(non)combatant — el/la (no) combatientecommander — el/la comandanteconflict — el conflictoconscientious objector — el objector de concienciadeath — la muertedestroy — destruirexplosion — la explosià ³ngeneral — el/la generalGeneva Convention — la Convencià ³n de Ginebragovernment — el gobiernogrenade — la granadahelicopter — el helicà ³pterohostilities — las hostilidadeshumanitarian — humanitariohuman rights — los derechos humanosto injure — heririnjured — heridoinvasion — la invasià ³nto kill — matarmilitary (adjective) — militarmilitary intelligence — la inteligencia militarmissile — el misilnavy — la marinaoffensive — la ofensivapatrol (to patrol, to be on patrol) — la patrulla (patrullar, estar de patrulla)peace — la pazpilot — el/la pilotoprisoner of war — el preso de guerra, el prisionero de guerrapropaganda — la propagandato protect against — resguardarresistance — la resistenciato shoot down, to bring down — derribarsoldier, fighter — el/la militar, el/la soldadoto strike, to hit — sacudirtank — el tanque, el carro de comb ate(military) target — el blanco (militar)territory — el territorioterrorist — el/la terroristatroops — las tropaswar — la guerrawar criminal — el criminal de guerraweapon, weapons — el arma, las armasweapons of mass destruction — las armas de destruccià ³n masiva