... the goodwill of such programs, the use of federal money in a year when so many needed programs go unfunded, is questionable. Senator Coburn's report calls out some of the most egregious examples of wasteful spending, including: $9.4 million to search for outer space aliens. The California-based SETI Institute (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) received grants from several sources throughout the U.S. government, ... a huge inflatable alligator and an Under the Sea Waterslide. The district could not provide lesson plans or documentation to show how these items helped students le...

• Word Count: 621
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... visa waiver problem between the U.S. and several of its allies. Then, in March, the Hungarian, Slovakian, and Lithuanian governments signed MOUs (memoranda of understand) committing the U.S. government to help them qualify for the waiver program. In exchange, the U.S. would receive increased security assistance. These countries follow in the footsteps of the Czech Republic, Latvia and Estonia, who have ... States and these countries. Hungarian Ambassador Ferenc Somogyi put it this way at the signing of the agreement: "Liberty manifests itself in the freedom to travel .Equality means eq...

• Word Count: 515
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... again. The rights of the people mostly come about in court however, in a person's ordinary day the rights apply. Take for example a student's right to read whatever book they choose in English class, or his or her right to state their opinion about a certain issue in history class. This may not have been possible today if the Bill of Rights was not written ... , someone could have made a law banning all children from reading a certain book because it caused controversy. The first amendment protects the student's right to read whatever he or she wishes, and a law against the book would pr...

• Word Count: 1433
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... of our cities, police and CSIs have their work cut out for them. "Responsible adults with handguns make it more difficult for police to distinguish ordinary citizens from criminals". If someone is murdered with a gun, CSIs figure out precisely what gun killed them. Potential suspects would ... include the people that lawfully own a gun that is similar to the murder weapon. This is done because there is a record of every legal gun purchase and sale. If they stumble upon a potential suspect, ... investigated. This would significantly increase the number of people that are 'brought in...

• Word Count: 1478
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... money, so wouldn't it be obvious that they would control the elite group that is running our whole country? There is no way for us to be heard. Obviously, there are many flaws in the constitution that the Federalists have proposed, and we can not risk mistakes in the serious business ... of forming our government. While the constitution gives power to the Central government, it has no guarantee that our rights will not be violated! What is the Central government's limits? The power that is ... fact that the Constitutional Conventions have been meeting privately causes suspicions. What e...

• Word Count: 369
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Governor of California, much attention and debate has been brought to the forefront of people's minds. Should a person bron in another country be able to move to America and eventually become the "most powerful person in the world"? I strongly believe the answer to this question is no. In the article written by Dan Thomasson, he argues that many ... of the greatest minds in politics have been foreign-born. He believes that our nation is suffering as a whole by not giving these people the chance to run for the presidency. He argues that the constitut...

• Word Count: 257
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... point when he goes into the history of the Amendment. He uses specific dates and it makes the reader realize how long ago the Amendment was put into place. A lot of things have changed since then and he wants the reader to realize that. At the time that the Second Amendment was drafted, the circumstances were much different and that is a very ... has flaws. The author also points out common beliefs that we need to get out of our heads. For example, he talks about how we have always seen things in the Constitution how we wanted to see them. Therefore, people tend to pass over things and ...

• Word Count: 841
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... the constitution and one of the fore fathers of the United States of America. Equal right, for all man, was not seen until the 13th amendment. But now it applies to all men, women, and children no matter what color their skin, what race, and what religion. With the bill of rights, everyone in the U.S.A. is protected. The 9th amendment deals ... and Sedition Acts, the Smith Act, and the McCarran Act. The second amendment states that people have the right to have guns to protect "the security of a free state." Some people claim that "the people" refers to individual citizens therefore say...

• Word Count: 390
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... The phenomenon of hate speech is at a much larger scale then the reader would realize, but it is not a simple task to eliminate hate speech from the University campus. If the process is not done correctly in might violate the Free Speech act of the ... of hate speech to the extent that private institutions do. Because of that the author proposes steps that such institution have to take if they want to deal appropriately with the problem of hate speech on campus. The author also explains how the First Amendment relates to the issue of ... hate speech. I believe that the author has the ri...

• Word Count: 286
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... you are eighteen or older is another right we have. This allows us to express our opinion as far as who we want our leaders to be. We are also given the right to privacy. This means that no one has the right to search us or anything we may own without proper legal authority, such as ... if you are disobeying the law in anyway. If we are charged with a crime, American citizens are allowed a fair trial with a jury of our peers to judge whether or not we are guilty. Whereas, in other countries if you are accused of a crime, you don't get a fair trial with a ... their salary income, race o...

• Word Count: 525
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... for protection because of the police forces that protect our communities. Burger declares that, "The same First Congress that approved the right to keep and bear arms also limited the national army to 840 men". When there is a limited amount of protection for your citizens, you must leave them the option of defending themselves ... . In today's society, there is protection available everywhere you turn. This alone tells one that it is not necessary to own a gun for survival. Not only do you have the security of your own home with locked doors, you have a public task force ready ... use of...

• Word Count: 649
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... and state, and for lawful hunting and recreational use." It is our right through the United States Constitution and the West Virginia State Constitution to keep and bear arms. Some people actually believe if we would make all guns illegal that criminal activities would almost be eliminated, but ... by 3%. Just imagine a female such as yourself, your wife, daughter or even a close friend being sexually assaulted by a criminal and she is able to get away because she fired a warning shot from her hand gun that scared the criminal away. Nearly 200,000 women defend themselves with fire arms a...

• Word Count: 1003
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... court system in England was established over many years. Initially the local government enforced the laws and enacted punishment. However, as people found this to be unfair in a number of circumstances a court system was set up. The problem was that there were many court systems for different jurisdictions ... reconciled or dispensed with. Eventually the common law, a loose collection of laws, became solidified into a written set of rules and laws to be enforced and judged upon by the Common Law court. Colonial Rights and Liberties Colonial rights and liberties began as an extension of E...

• Word Count: 1163
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 700 billion. With this country already in a great deal of debt, the fact that it is taking on more, is of great concern. However, what people need to see is that in the short term the federal government is taking on a large debt, but in the long run they could actually be gaining a large sum. ... stable economy at a profit. It really isn't a bad idea on the U.S.'s part when you think about it. They are helping in the present by contributing to the stabilization of the banking industry, and will earn their money back plus more in the long run. So those that are worrying about the added deb...

• Word Count: 519
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Gideon who spent most of his life in and out of jail was arrested in Florida. Gideon was accused of breaking into a poolroom in an attempt to steal beer, wine, and cigarettes. The trial was held in August of 1961. Since the arrest, Gideon proclaimed his innocence. At the start of ... counsel for his defense. He requested that the court provide him with counsel. The laws in the state of Florida at the time allowed defense to be provided to the defendant only in capital offenses. Gideon's case was not a capital case. The Judge refused his request on these grounds. This decision by ... cou...

• Word Count: 1078
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... of the Supreme Court. During this era, there was heated political debate on the issue of slavery. The Dred Scott v. Sanford decision in 1857, this was the first decision to take powers away from the national government. During this era, the Civil War occurred. Dual federalism lasted until the 1930s. After dual federalism came the era of cooperative federalism. Much ... government. It was Ronald Reagan that really advanced New Federalism. During Reagan's administration federal aid to the state and local governments decline. He changed categorical grants to block grants allowing the state...

• Word Count: 631
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... part in a play dealing with the views of four Jews in a concentration camp. After the auditions, my best friend, Lori, and I were called to the teacher's desk. We both had done an especially good job in our tryouts, but she was having a hard time deciding which of us would ... the play. We worked out a compromise, and we were both happy with the parts we received. I was able to go to all the practices and tell the actors and actresses what to do to improve their performances. Being a student director was really fun, and it did not require memorizing lines. I was ... was called "The Grea...

• Word Count: 518
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... through political, domestic, and moral standpoints. In many political areas slavery was a big issue. In the Constitution slavery was not ever directly said to be wrong or right. This was done so that the South would ratify the Constitution without any problems. The document that has the excerpt from ... the internal affairs of the Union. The document with the map of the U.S. shows how slavery divided up the country and its people. Pres. James Buchanan's fourth annual message to Congress tells of the threat to domestic security that parts of the Constitution caused. Many people thought tha...

• Word Count: 495
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... unfair and unethical. I knew that from this dialogue. If a man kills someone before not relates to this case, the lawyer will not tell any about it to the police. Also, most lawyers' only care about how much money they can make and just simply ignore morality and the truth. They always step from ... poor people, even relate to ethic. The law forces lawyers to sit outside the norm of ethical conduct, ... but the rich people can still hire the good lawyers and make convincible speeches to defense ... operate an abortion for his client? In China, there are many illegal clinics that offer...

• Word Count: 541
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

How to Treat Criminals? The treatment of criminals is a very big issue in today's society. Most Americans will encounter the court system in some shape or form in their lifetime. Hopefully, they care about how they are treated during the whole legal process. Many Americans have sued the federal government over how ... being imprisoned. They feel that the accused are treated unfairly while being questioned. They believe that many people who confess are basically forced to confess, whether with or without force. Many of the people who hold this view point are either defense attorneys or people...

• Word Count: 578
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... gun and not by the gun alone. The United States ranked number twenty-four in the world in terms of its murder rate. From 1973 to 2009 gun related crimes decreased sixty-five percent, although the United States is a far more violent country than any other nation, gun related crimes are ... violence, the anger towards gun owners and the hatred for guns are understandable, but it is not fair to the people like myself who use a gun for a sport or for protection to have to defend something that should never be taken away. "Guns don't hurt people, people hurt people," we ... need guns in tod...

• Word Count: 719
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... argue that the law was made with the individual citizens in mind. This group believes that the Amendment should be interpreted to guarantee citizens free access to firearms. One major group that is in strong opposition of stricter gun control laws is the National Rifle Association (NRA). ... seventeen years of age." (3) The founding fathers of the United States believed that government is unavoidable. They wrote the Bill of Rights, as stated earlier, to serve as a chain, which would limit government power over its citizens. Civilian ownership of firearms would, in the founding fathers' v...

• Word Count: 1672
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... a different set up would be needed. This type of government may have been effective as a temporary form of organization, but soon it came to a point where it needed to be improved. The document that would replace the Articles of Confederation was the Constitution. At the time of the creation of the Articles, it was ... by no means a bad thing since it laid the foundation for what would come. The Articles of Confederation did not provide enough control and was too weak to govern this nation still in a stage of great development and change. It was too loosely constructed and did not put fo...

• Word Count: 1052
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... war for independence against a tyrannical despot, they still saw the need for a strong (but limited) central government. The necessary and proper clause (the elastic clause), the power to tax and the supremacy clause (all emblematic of strong central government) were all approved without debate. Article 5 of the Constitution provides for its own amendments thus making the Constitution an ... enduring document. Signing On 17 Sept 1787, the delegates signed the Constitution. Ratification Nine (9) state conventions were needed to ratify the Constitution. The Federalists, proponents of stron...

• Word Count: 1763
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... The constitutions of most of our states assert, that all power is inherent in the people; that they exercise it by themselves, in all cases to which they think themselves competent; (as in electing their functionaries executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, in all judiciary cases ... in which any fact is involved), or may they act by representatives, freely and equally chosen that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed," (Jefferson). The government has passed many laws regarding gun purchases and firearm use. The law today goes as followed: ... Brad...

• Word Count: 2456
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School