This is an age of science and technology. Scientists all over the world are trying to fight diseases. They have certainly succeeded to a large extent. Human life is certainly longer today than what is used to a few decades ago. Much however, still remains to be done. A number of terrible diseases continue to stare the scientists in the face and the men of science stand just bewildered and confused. A rather recent discovery in this list of incurable diseases in AIDS (Acquired Immuno- Deficiency Syndrome) which has created a terrible scare in the world. It has already taken a toll of several thousand lives in America and Europe. It has been reported that the disease has, in mild forms, entered India also. It might soon appear in a big way spelling doom and disaster. The Government of India has launched a big offensive against the terrible disease. Although there is no reason for immediate alarm yet the public is being educated about the symptoms, causes, remedies, precautions etc. concerned with this fell disease.
It is mainly an STD (sexually transmitted disease). comment below if you want to know about this and other sexually transmitted disease. I'll post another article with pictures for this topic.
Saturday, 17 February 2018
Bird Flu
Bird flue is a serious illness that affects that affects birds, especially chickens, that can be spread from birds to humans and that can cause death. Recently the breaking out of bird flue has taken us aback. We could never think of such kind of problem in our country.
However thanks to the almighty that it could not break out in an epidemic form because of the timely intervention of the government and people’s consciousness about the matter. The cause of bird flue in our country could not be detected. It was thought that it might have been carried and spread by the imported chickens from our neighboring countries like Thailand and china-because the breaking out of bird flue in an epidemic form has been seen in china and Thailand. Poultry farming has had a positive effect on the socio-economic condition in our country. It helped many rural poor women to break the chain of poverty and fee better days in their lives. But the recent breaking out of bird flue has shadowed their smiling faces into gloomy ones and clouded their foreheads. It has emptied their fertile farms and turned the firms into barren lands. We have seen the heart-rending cries of the people both male and female. Their caries have pierced our hearts. However, it is heartening that our government has taken all-out efforts to give loans to the people engaged in poultry farming on easy terms to keep their income generating industry on and to bring about better days and see the gloomy faces glowing with beatific smile and keep their heads above all consuming poverty.
However thanks to the almighty that it could not break out in an epidemic form because of the timely intervention of the government and people’s consciousness about the matter. The cause of bird flue in our country could not be detected. It was thought that it might have been carried and spread by the imported chickens from our neighboring countries like Thailand and china-because the breaking out of bird flue in an epidemic form has been seen in china and Thailand. Poultry farming has had a positive effect on the socio-economic condition in our country. It helped many rural poor women to break the chain of poverty and fee better days in their lives. But the recent breaking out of bird flue has shadowed their smiling faces into gloomy ones and clouded their foreheads. It has emptied their fertile farms and turned the firms into barren lands. We have seen the heart-rending cries of the people both male and female. Their caries have pierced our hearts. However, it is heartening that our government has taken all-out efforts to give loans to the people engaged in poultry farming on easy terms to keep their income generating industry on and to bring about better days and see the gloomy faces glowing with beatific smile and keep their heads above all consuming poverty.
Thursday, 15 February 2018
THE HONOR KILLING OF WOMEN AND GIRLS
Honor killing and honor crime involve violence against women and girls, including such acts as beating, battering, or killing, by a family member or relative. The attacks are provoked by the belief or perception that an individual’s or family’s honor has been threatened because of the actual or perceived sexual misconduct of the female. Honor killings are most common in traditional societies in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, India, China, and Latin America. Honor killing of a woman or girl by her father, brother, or other male relative may occur because of a suspicion that she engaged in sexual activities before or outside marriage and thus has dishonored the family. Even when rape of a woman or girl has occurred this may be seen as violation of the honor of the family for which the female must be killed. Wives’ adultery and daughters’ premarital “sexual activity,” including rape, are seen as extreme violations of the codes of behavior and thus may result in the death of the female through this so-called “honor” killing. Honor killing/crime is based on the shame that a loss of control of the woman or girl brings to the family and to the male heads of the family. According to criminologist Linda Williams, men consider honor killings culturally necessary, because any suspicion of sexual activity or suspicion that a girl or a woman was touched by another in a sexual manner is enough to raise questions about the family’s honor. Consequently, strict control of women and girls within the home and outside the home is justifi ed. Women are restricted in their activities in the community, religion, and politics. These institutions, in turn, support the control of females. Williams believes that the existence of honor killing is designed for maintaining male dominance. Submissiveness may be seen as a sign of sexual purity and a woman’s or girl’s attempts to assert her rights can
be seen as a violation of the family’s honor that needs to be redressed. Rules of honor and threats against females who “violate” such rules reinforce the control of women and have a powerful impact on their lives. Honor killings/crimes serve to keep women and girls from “stepping out of line.” The manner in which such behaviors silence women and kill their spirit has led some to label honor killings/crimes more broadly as “femicide.”
Sources: Linda M. Williams, “Honor Killings,” in Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Violence, eds. Claire M. Renzetti and Jeffrey I. Edelson (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007); Dan Bilefsky, “How to Avoid Honor Killing in Turkey? Honor S uicide,” New York Times, 16 July 2006, p. 3; Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian,
be seen as a violation of the family’s honor that needs to be redressed. Rules of honor and threats against females who “violate” such rules reinforce the control of women and have a powerful impact on their lives. Honor killings/crimes serve to keep women and girls from “stepping out of line.” The manner in which such behaviors silence women and kill their spirit has led some to label honor killings/crimes more broadly as “femicide.”
Sources: Linda M. Williams, “Honor Killings,” in Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Violence, eds. Claire M. Renzetti and Jeffrey I. Edelson (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007); Dan Bilefsky, “How to Avoid Honor Killing in Turkey? Honor S uicide,” New York Times, 16 July 2006, p. 3; Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian,
Crimes Against Humanity
On May 26, 2006, James Paul Lewis, Jr., the former director of Orange County, California–based Financial Advisory Consultants (FAC), was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for running a massive Ponzi scheme that raised more than $300 million and caused more than 1,600 victims to lose more than $156 million of their hardearned money. What exactly did James Lewis do to earn a 30-year prison sentence? He offered investors opportunities to invest in two mutual funds. Through false and fraudulent brochures and other promotional material issued by FAC, he told investors that they would earn annual rates of return of up to 18 percent in an Income Fund, which claimed to generate revenue from the leasing of medical equipment, commercial lending, and fi nancing insurance premiums, and 40 percent annual returns in a Growth Fund, which claimed to generate revenue through the purchase and sale of distressed businesses. Instead of investing the investors’ money as promised, Lewis used the funds to purchase homes in Villa Park, Laguna Niguel, Palm Desert, San Diego, and Greenwich, Connecticut. He also used investors’ money to purchase luxury automobiles for himself, his wife, and his girlfriend. Among other schemes, he used investor money to trade currency futures, managing to lose at least $22 million. To conceal the scheme at FAC, Lewis ran a Ponzi scheme: he took the money of new investors (and new purchases of those who had already bought into the funds) to pay the rates of return promised to investors. In other words, he used the principal to pay the interest! That is, until the money ran out. At one point nearly 3,300 investors had a total balance of $813,932,080 in the funds, but FAC and Lewis’s bank accounts held only slightly more than $2 million. At Lewis’s sentencing hearing, United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney ordered him to pay $156 million in restitution. Because many of this victims were elderly, Judge Carney described the scheme as a “crime against humanity.” Several victims told the court about their losses, which included life savings and college funds. Many victims described being forced back to work after losing their retirement savings in the scheme. How would Gottfredson and Hirschi explain Lewis’s ongoing criminal activities? Can someone so calculating lack self-control?
Sources: Department of Justice press release, “Operator of Orange County– Based Ponzi Scheme that Caused More than $150 Million in Losses Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison,” May 30, 2006,
Sources: Department of Justice press release, “Operator of Orange County– Based Ponzi Scheme that Caused More than $150 Million in Losses Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison,” May 30, 2006,
When being GOOD is BAD!
In neutralization theory, Sykes and Matza claim that neutralizations provide offenders with a means of preserving a noncriminal self-concept even as they engage in crime and deviance. Sykes and Matza’s vision assumes that most criminals believe in conventional norms and values and must use neutralizations in order to shield themselves from the shame attached to criminal activity. Recent research by criminologist Volkan Topalli fi nds that Sykes and Matza may have ignored the infl uential street culture that exists in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods. Using data gleaned from 191 in-depth interviews with active criminals in St. Louis, Missouri, Topalli fi nds that street criminals living in disorganized, gang-ridden neighborhoods “disrespect authority, lionize honor and violence, and place individual needs above those of all others.” Rather than having to neutralize conventional values in order to engage in deviant ones, these offenders do not experience guilt that r equires neutralizations; they are “guilt free.” There is no need for them to “drift” into criminality, Topalli fi nds, because their allegiance to nonconventional values and lack of guilt perpetually leave them in a state of openness to crime. Rather than being contrite or ashamed, the offenders Topalli interviewed took great pride in their criminal activities and abilities. Bacca, a street robber who attacked a long-time neighbor without provocation, exemplifi ed such sentiments: Actually I felt proud of myself just for robbing him, just for doing what I did I felt proud of myself. I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong, I didn’t feel like I lost a friend ’cause the friends I do have . . . are lost, they’re dead. I feel like I don’t have anything to lose. I wanted to do just what I wanted to do.
Topalli refers to streetwise offenders such as Bacca as “hardcores,” who experience no guilt for their actions and operate with little or no regard for the law. They have little contact with agents of formal social control or conventional norms because their crimes are not directed toward conventional society— they rob drug dealers. Most hardcores maintain no permanent home, staying in various residences as their whim d ictates. Their lifestyles are almost e ntirely dominated by the street ethics of violence, self-suffi ciency, and opportunism. Obsessed with a constant need for cash, drugs, and alcohol in order to “keep the party going,” on the one hand, and limited by self-defeating and reckless spending habits on the other, they often engage in violent crime to bankroll their street life activities. They do not have to neutralize conventional values because they have none. Rather than neutralizing conventional values, hard-core criminals often have to neutralize deviant values: they are expected to be “bad” and have to explain good behavior. Even if they themselves are the victims of crime, they can never help police or even talk to them, a practice defi ned as snitching and universally despised and discouraged. Smokedog, a carjacker and drug dealer, described the anticipated guilt of colluding with the police in this way, “You know I ain’t never told on nobody and I ain’t never gonna tell on nobody ’cause I would feel funny in the world if I told on somebody. You know, I would feel funny, I would have regrets about what I did.” Street criminals are also expected to seek vengeance if they are the target of theft or violence. If they don’t, their selfimage is damaged and they look weak and ineffective. If they decide against vengeance, they must neutralize their decision by convincing themselves that they are being merciful, respecting direct
appeals by their target’s family and friends. T-dog, a young drug dealer and car thief, told Topalli how he neutralized the decision not to seek revenge by allowing his uncle to “calm him down.” The older man, a robber and drug dealer himself, intervened before T-dog could leave his house armed with two 9mm automatics: “That’s basically what he told me, ‘Calm down.’ He took both my guns and gave me a little .22 to carry when I’m out to put me back on my feet. Gave me an ounce of crack and a pound of weed. That’s what made me let it go.” In other cases, offenders claimed the target was just not worth the effort, reserving their vengeance for those who were worthy opponents. Do these fi ndings indicate that neutralization theory is invalid? Topalli concludes that the strength of the theory is its emphasis on cognitive processes that occur prior to offending. He suggests that neutralization theory’s current emphasis on a conventional cultural value orientation must be expanded to accommodate the values of the street culture.
Topalli refers to streetwise offenders such as Bacca as “hardcores,” who experience no guilt for their actions and operate with little or no regard for the law. They have little contact with agents of formal social control or conventional norms because their crimes are not directed toward conventional society— they rob drug dealers. Most hardcores maintain no permanent home, staying in various residences as their whim d ictates. Their lifestyles are almost e ntirely dominated by the street ethics of violence, self-suffi ciency, and opportunism. Obsessed with a constant need for cash, drugs, and alcohol in order to “keep the party going,” on the one hand, and limited by self-defeating and reckless spending habits on the other, they often engage in violent crime to bankroll their street life activities. They do not have to neutralize conventional values because they have none. Rather than neutralizing conventional values, hard-core criminals often have to neutralize deviant values: they are expected to be “bad” and have to explain good behavior. Even if they themselves are the victims of crime, they can never help police or even talk to them, a practice defi ned as snitching and universally despised and discouraged. Smokedog, a carjacker and drug dealer, described the anticipated guilt of colluding with the police in this way, “You know I ain’t never told on nobody and I ain’t never gonna tell on nobody ’cause I would feel funny in the world if I told on somebody. You know, I would feel funny, I would have regrets about what I did.” Street criminals are also expected to seek vengeance if they are the target of theft or violence. If they don’t, their selfimage is damaged and they look weak and ineffective. If they decide against vengeance, they must neutralize their decision by convincing themselves that they are being merciful, respecting direct
appeals by their target’s family and friends. T-dog, a young drug dealer and car thief, told Topalli how he neutralized the decision not to seek revenge by allowing his uncle to “calm him down.” The older man, a robber and drug dealer himself, intervened before T-dog could leave his house armed with two 9mm automatics: “That’s basically what he told me, ‘Calm down.’ He took both my guns and gave me a little .22 to carry when I’m out to put me back on my feet. Gave me an ounce of crack and a pound of weed. That’s what made me let it go.” In other cases, offenders claimed the target was just not worth the effort, reserving their vengeance for those who were worthy opponents. Do these fi ndings indicate that neutralization theory is invalid? Topalli concludes that the strength of the theory is its emphasis on cognitive processes that occur prior to offending. He suggests that neutralization theory’s current emphasis on a conventional cultural value orientation must be expanded to accommodate the values of the street culture.
Tuesday, 13 February 2018
Jealousy Is a Wasted Emotion
We all get jealous, don’t we? Actually, no, not everyone experiences jealousy as an
emotion.
I don’t get jealous. That’s a weird thing to read, isn’t? Well, it’s a weird thing to
say, too. But it’s true. I don’t experience jealously as an emotion. I experience sadness,
happiness, anger, euphoria, and a plethora of other emotions, but not jealousy.
Why? Because, unlike many emotions, I can choose to not experience jealousy.
After years of observing people getting jealous in myriad ways, I understand that
our culture is riddled with jealousy and envy and greed, all of which are by-products of
our competitive, consumer driven culture.
What’s worse is that it’s far more pernicious than we think. Competition breeds
jealousy, though we often give to prettier labels like “competitive spirit” or “stick-to-itiveness” or “ambition.”
But the truth is that jealousy leads to certain cultural imperatives—e.g., keeping
up with the Joneses, as it were. Thus, we envy Mr. and Mrs. Jones for their money and
their large house and their luxury cars and their big boat and their weekend retreat and
their fancy vacations and all of their stuff—all of the trappings of our heavily-mediated
society.
emotion.
I don’t get jealous. That’s a weird thing to read, isn’t? Well, it’s a weird thing to
say, too. But it’s true. I don’t experience jealously as an emotion. I experience sadness,
happiness, anger, euphoria, and a plethora of other emotions, but not jealousy.
Why? Because, unlike many emotions, I can choose to not experience jealousy.
After years of observing people getting jealous in myriad ways, I understand that
our culture is riddled with jealousy and envy and greed, all of which are by-products of
our competitive, consumer driven culture.
What’s worse is that it’s far more pernicious than we think. Competition breeds
jealousy, though we often give to prettier labels like “competitive spirit” or “stick-to-itiveness” or “ambition.”
But the truth is that jealousy leads to certain cultural imperatives—e.g., keeping
up with the Joneses, as it were. Thus, we envy Mr. and Mrs. Jones for their money and
their large house and their luxury cars and their big boat and their weekend retreat and
their fancy vacations and all of their stuff—all of the trappings of our heavily-mediated
society.
But we don’t get jealous solely over material possessions. We also get jealous over
our relationships. We think our friends don’t spend enough time with us, our lovers
don’t care about us as much as they should, our customers aren’t loyal enough. It all
revolves around us. He doesn’t spend enough time with me. She doesn’t care enough
about me. We think this way because it’s hard to back away from ourselves, it’s hard to
realize I am not the center of the universe.
There is good news though. Like our televisions, we can chose to turn it off. We
easy to turn off (it sure seems interesting sometimes, doesn’t it?) But turning off
jealousy can significantly improve one’s emotional health. Because, at the end of the
day, jealousy is never useful. Many negative emotions can be useful—pain tells us
something is wrong, fear tells us to look before we leap, etc.—but jealousy, no matter
how jealous we get, will never help.
But How?
The easiest way to turn jealousy off is to stop questioning other people’s intentions. We
often get jealous because we think a person meant one thing by their actions, when they
meant something totally different. And the truth is that you’ll never know someone’s
real intent, so it’s a waste of time to question it.
If you’re struggling with questioning someone’s intent, you can do one of two
things:
1. Ask them what they meant by their actions/words.
2. Accept that you will never know their true intent, no matter how much you
The bottom line with jealousy: You can turn it off. You can stop questioning other
people’s intent. A better life is waiting on the other side of jealousy.
International Women’s Day seminar held More power to women
Social activists, psychologist and
women representing different fields including Noora Sheerin, Qurat Mirza, Asha
and others participated in the event.
They said that women are
making tremendous contribution in every sector but society and government do
not acknowledge it in terms of giving justice to their sacrifices in their
economic fields.
They give a detailed
description of their organization WAF; Noora Sheerin described the milestones
of the organization and their journey from last 35 years.
Then Qurat Mirza
elaborated the goals of WAF and the laws established by government against
women harassment. Asha, a psychologist, discussed the topic of sexual harassment
in the light of human psychology.
After all women, Mr.
Usama ends the note by recalling the Islamic history and role of women
according to Islam and spoke positive on the power of women.
Saturday, 10 February 2018
Willem Bonger, Ralf Dahrendorf, and George Vold on Crime
Willem Bonger
Bonger believed that society is divided into have and have-not groups, not on the basis of people’s innate ability, but because of the system of production that is in force. In every society that is divided into a ruling class and an inferior class, penal law serves the will of the ruling class. Even though criminal laws may appear to protect members of both classes, hardly any act is punished that does not injure the interests of the dominant ruling class. Crimes, then, are considered to be antisocial acts because they are harmful to those who have the power at their command to control society. Under capitalism, the legal system discriminates against the poor by defending the actions of the wealthy. Because the proletariat are deprived of the materials that are monopolized by the bourgeoisie they are more likely to violate the law.
Ralf Dahrendorf
Dahrendorf argued that modern society is organized into what he called imperatively coordinated associations. These associations comprise two groups: those who possess authority and use it for social domination and those who lack authority and are dominated. Society is a plurality of competing interest groups. He proposed a unifi ed confl ict theory of human behavior, which can be summarized as follows:
❚ Every society is at every point subject to processes of change; social change is everywhere.
❚ Every society displays at every point dissent and confl ict; social confl ict is everywhere.
❚ Every element in a society renders a contribution to its disintegration and change.
❚ Every society is based on the coercion of some of its members by others.
George Vold
Vold argued that laws are created by politically oriented groups who seek the government’s assistance to help them defend their rights and protect their interests. If a group can marshal enough support, a law will be created to hamper and curb the interests of some opposition group. Every stage of the process—from passing the law, to prosecuting the case, to developing relationships between inmate and guard, parole agent and parolee—is marked by confl ict. Criminal acts are a consequence of direct contact between forces struggling to control society.
Sources: Willem Bonger, Criminality and Economic Conditions, abridged ed. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1969, fi rst published 1916); Ralf Dahrendorf, Class and Class Confl ict in Industrial Society (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1959); George Vold, Theoretical Criminology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1958).
Bonger believed that society is divided into have and have-not groups, not on the basis of people’s innate ability, but because of the system of production that is in force. In every society that is divided into a ruling class and an inferior class, penal law serves the will of the ruling class. Even though criminal laws may appear to protect members of both classes, hardly any act is punished that does not injure the interests of the dominant ruling class. Crimes, then, are considered to be antisocial acts because they are harmful to those who have the power at their command to control society. Under capitalism, the legal system discriminates against the poor by defending the actions of the wealthy. Because the proletariat are deprived of the materials that are monopolized by the bourgeoisie they are more likely to violate the law.
Ralf Dahrendorf
Dahrendorf argued that modern society is organized into what he called imperatively coordinated associations. These associations comprise two groups: those who possess authority and use it for social domination and those who lack authority and are dominated. Society is a plurality of competing interest groups. He proposed a unifi ed confl ict theory of human behavior, which can be summarized as follows:
❚ Every society is at every point subject to processes of change; social change is everywhere.
❚ Every society displays at every point dissent and confl ict; social confl ict is everywhere.
❚ Every element in a society renders a contribution to its disintegration and change.
❚ Every society is based on the coercion of some of its members by others.
George Vold
Vold argued that laws are created by politically oriented groups who seek the government’s assistance to help them defend their rights and protect their interests. If a group can marshal enough support, a law will be created to hamper and curb the interests of some opposition group. Every stage of the process—from passing the law, to prosecuting the case, to developing relationships between inmate and guard, parole agent and parolee—is marked by confl ict. Criminal acts are a consequence of direct contact between forces struggling to control society.
Sources: Willem Bonger, Criminality and Economic Conditions, abridged ed. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1969, fi rst published 1916); Ralf Dahrendorf, Class and Class Confl ict in Industrial Society (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1959); George Vold, Theoretical Criminology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1958).
Alpha DOG (Crime story)
Twenty-five-year-old Jesse James Hollywood (his real name) was living a comfortable life in Brazil, teaching English and living in a fashionable neighborhood, when he was arrested in November of 2005 and sent back to California, where he faces charges of kidnapping and killing a 15-year-old boy. Though Hollywood never held a job, by age 19 he was able to purchase a Mercedes and a $200,000 house in West Hills, California. His place became a popular spot for local kids who came and went at all hours of the day. Jesse was a popular guy, an outgoing kid who, despite being short in stature, was an excellent athlete. How was Jesse able to do all this? Unbeknownst to many, he was a largescale marijuana dealer. Jesse’s world began to unravel when he came up with a scheme to get money owed to him by Benjamin Markowitz, 22, one of his customers. Hollywood went to Markowitz’s family home on August 6, 2000, in order to kidnap him and hold him for ransom. According to authorities, on the way there, Jesse and his friends spotted Markowitz’s 15-year-old stepbrother, Nicholas, whom they forced into a van and transported to the home of another accomplice. After being held captive for a few days, Nick Markowitz was made to walk a mile into the Los Padres National Forest before being shot nine times with a high-powered assault rifl e and buried in a shallow grave. His body was discovered four days later by hikers. While four other kids were tried and convicted in the case, Hollywood e scaped and became the subject of an international manhunt, his mug shot plastered on the FBI’s website. He wound up in Brazil, where he used fake papers that identifi ed him as Michael Costa Giroux, a native of Rio de J aneiro. In 2005, Brazilian authorities d eported him as an illegal alien. A 2007 fi lm, Alpha Dog, starring Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake, and Sharon Stone, is based on the case. He is currently a waiting trial for the m urder. Jesse James Hollywood grew up in an affl uent family and seemed to be popular and successful. How could he have become involved in an awful, violent crime? How would a control theorist explain his actions?
Sources: Tim Uehlinger, “The Long Hunt for Jesse James Hollywood,” Dateline, April 12, 2006, (accessed June 9, 2007; Ted Rowlands, “ ‘Hollywood’ Faces Murder Charge,” April 19, 2006, (accessed June 9, 2007).
Sources: Tim Uehlinger, “The Long Hunt for Jesse James Hollywood,” Dateline, April 12, 2006, (accessed June 9, 2007; Ted Rowlands, “ ‘Hollywood’ Faces Murder Charge,” April 19, 2006, (accessed June 9, 2007).
A LIFE IN THE DRUG TRADE
In summer 2004, a dramatic murder trial took place in New York City that aptly illustrates how lower-class cultural concerns—the code of the streets—clash with the rules and values of American culture and how deviant cultures can exist side by side with middle-class culture. Two Bronx men, Alan Quiñones and Diego Rodriguez, were accused of heroin traffi cking and killing a police informant. The trial hinged on the testimony of one of their confederates—Hector Vega, a key government witness who had previously pleaded guilty to taking part in the murder. He described in vivid detail how he watched the defendants beat the victim, Edwin Santiago, as he lay handcuffed on the fl oor of a Bronx apartment. He told the jury how the defendants Quiñones and Rodriguez spit in Santiago’s face to show what they thought of police informants. Santiago’s body was found mutilated and burned beyond recognition on June 28, 1999. During the trial, Vega gave the jury a detailed lesson in retail drug operations. In the Bronx, beatings, slashings, and shootings are routinely used to enforce what he called “the drug law”: “If people deserved it, I beat them up.” He showed them a tattoo on his upper right arm that meant “Money, Power, Respect.” Vega, 31, also told the jury that he headed a group of heroin vendors who did business from his “spot,” his sales area, between Daly and Honeywell Avenues in the Bronx. He said he had learned the trade from a stepfather, a building superintendent who he said had a second job as a narcotics entrepreneur: “I always knew about the drug business. I was raised around it.” As a mid-level drug dealer, Vega received heroin on consignment from big-time drug wholesalers and turned it over in $100 packages to people he called his “managers,” who in turn found “runners” to sell it on the street. His job was to “make sure everybody is working, and I will make sure everything is running correctly.” Vega received a “commission” of about 35 percent of all sales in his organization; he estimated that he made a total of at least $500,000 in the fi ve years before his arrest. Vega told how he used strict rules to run his organization. He did not sell between 1 and 3 P.M. because of “school hours.” He did not allow anyone to sell at his spot without his approval, or steal drugs from him, or pass him a counterfeit bill, or taint the quality of drugs sold under his name. If that happened, he said, “I’d be looking like a fool. The drug spot will go down.” When Manny, one of his workers, stole one package of heroin, Vega slashed his face with a box cutter. When the wound did not immediately bleed, “I didn’t see nothing cut, I didn’t see anything I did, so I did it a second time,” he said, until he saw blood. Angered by a counterfeit bill he received from a crack addict, “I punched him in the face, I kicked him, I threw him on the fl oor and kicked him again.” He disciplined one stranger who cheated him by hitting the man in the back of the head with a three-foot tree branch. Police informants were given special treatment. “In the drug world, in the drug law, we say that snitches get stitches,” he said. “In jail you cut their face. In the street, you beat them. You kill them.” Vega testifi ed that the defendants Quiñones and Rodriguez were heroin wholesalers and that he began buying drugs from them a few months before Santiago’s death. After he learned that Quiñones suspected Santiago of working undercover for the police, he helped him lure Santiago to the apartment of a girlfriend where the beatings and murder took place. For his cooperation, Vega faced a 15-year sentence rather than the death penalty.
Source: Julia Preston, “Witness Gives Details of Life as Drug Dealer,” New York Times, 12 July 2004.
Source: Julia Preston, “Witness Gives Details of Life as Drug Dealer,” New York Times, 12 July 2004.
Criminal Profile
Andrea (Kennedy) Yates was born on July 2, 1964, in Houston, Texas. She seemed to have a successful, normal life, being the class valedictorian, captain of the swim team, and a member of the National Honor Society. She graduated from the University of Texas School of Nursing in Houston and worked as a registered nurse at a University of Texas–run facility. She met and married Rusty Yates, and the couple began to raise a family. Though money was tight and living conditions cramped, the couple had fi ve children in the fi rst eight years of their marriage. The pressure began to take a toll on Andrea, and her mental health deteriorated. On June 17, 1999, after attempting suicide by taking an overdose of pills, she was placed in Houston’s Methodist Hospital psychiatric unit and diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. Even though she was medicated with powerful antipsychotics such as Haldol, Andrea continued to have psychotic episodes and was hospitalized for severe depression. Her losing battle with mental illness culminated in an act that shocked the nation. On June 20, 2001, she systematically drowned all fi ve of her children, including her eldest, seven-year-old Noah, who tried to escape after seeing his siblings dead, but was dragged back into the bathroom by his mother and drowned also. At trial, Yates’s defense team attempted to show that she suffered from delusional depression and postpartum mood swings that can sometimes evoke psychosis. Though she drowned her children one by one, even chasing down Noah to drag him to the tub, did she really have any awareness that what she was doing was wrong? Postpartum depression affects about 40 percent of all mothers and in its mildest forms leaves new mothers feeling “blue” for a few weeks; more serious cases can last more than a year and involve fatigue, withdrawal, and eating disorders. The most serious form, which Andrea Yates is believed to have suffered, is a psychosis that produces hallucinations, delusions, feelings of worthlessness, and inadequacy. Though very uncommon, postpartum psychosis increases the likelihood of both suicide and infanticide if left untreated. Despite her long history of mental illness and psychiatric testimony suggesting she lacked the capacity to understand her actions, the jury found her guilty of murder on March 12, 2002, ordering a life sentence instead of the death penalty sought by the prosecution. Andrea’s conviction was later overturned when a Texas appeals court ruled that an expert witness, Dr. Park Dietz, made a false statement during the trial. (He claimed she might have been infl uenced by an episode of Law and Order, though no such episode ever aired; it was actually L.A. Law that dealt with a case of a mother killing her children.) At the time of this writing Andrea remains in a psychiatric facility. The Andrea Yates case illustrates the association between mental illness and crime. Who could claim that a woman as disturbed as Andrea chose to kill her own children? While the jury may have reached that verdict, it was constrained by the legal defi nition of insanity that relies on the immediate events that took place and not Andrea’s long-term mental state that produced this horrible crime.
Sources: “Andrea Yates: Ill or Evil?” CourtTV Crime Library, CNN, “The Case of Andrea Yates,” (accessed July 10, 2008).
Sources: “Andrea Yates: Ill or Evil?” CourtTV Crime Library, CNN, “The Case of Andrea Yates,” (accessed July 10, 2008).
TEENAGE BEHAVIOR: IS IT THE BRAIN?
Teenagers and adults often don’t see eye to eye, and new brain research is now shedding light on some of the reasons why so much confl ict exists. Although adolescence is often characterized by increased independence and a desire for knowledge and exploration, it also is a time when the brain matures at different rates, and the resulting instability can result in high-risk behaviors, vulnerability to substance abuse, and mental distress. Recent imaging studies in humans show that brain development and connectivity are not complete until the late teens
or early twenties. It is becoming clear that the status of brain chemical systems and connectivity between brain regions make teenagers different from both the young child and the fully mature adult. In other words, as if you did not already know, there really is a big difference between the teenage and adult brains!
Brain Structure and Aggression
One area of teen brain functioning that has piqued the interests of neurscientists is aggression. Adolescent aggressive behavior can be divided into two types: proactive and reactive. Proactive aggressors plan how they’re going to hurt and bully others. Reactive aggression, however, is not premeditated; it occurs in response to an upsetting trigger from the environment. Research psychiatrist Frank Guido fi nds that aggressive teen behavior may be linked to the amygdala, an area of the brain that processes information regarding threats and fear. Aggressive behavior may also be associated with a lessening of activity in the frontal lobe, a brain region linked to decisionmaking and impulse control. Guido’s research indicates that reactively aggressive adolescents—most commonly boys—frequently misinterpret their surroundings, feel threatened, and act inappropriately aggressive. They tend to strike back when being teased, blame others when getting into a fight, and overreact to accidents.
or early twenties. It is becoming clear that the status of brain chemical systems and connectivity between brain regions make teenagers different from both the young child and the fully mature adult. In other words, as if you did not already know, there really is a big difference between the teenage and adult brains!
Brain Structure and Aggression
One area of teen brain functioning that has piqued the interests of neurscientists is aggression. Adolescent aggressive behavior can be divided into two types: proactive and reactive. Proactive aggressors plan how they’re going to hurt and bully others. Reactive aggression, however, is not premeditated; it occurs in response to an upsetting trigger from the environment. Research psychiatrist Frank Guido fi nds that aggressive teen behavior may be linked to the amygdala, an area of the brain that processes information regarding threats and fear. Aggressive behavior may also be associated with a lessening of activity in the frontal lobe, a brain region linked to decisionmaking and impulse control. Guido’s research indicates that reactively aggressive adolescents—most commonly boys—frequently misinterpret their surroundings, feel threatened, and act inappropriately aggressive. They tend to strike back when being teased, blame others when getting into a fight, and overreact to accidents.
lnstabilities and Nonlinear Electric Field structures in Oxygen Hydrogen Plasma of lonosphere
ABSTRACT
Theoretical model is presented to study the Instabilities driven by field-aligned flows and formation of nonlinear electrostatic structures in Oxygen-Hydrogen (0-H) Plasma of upper ionosphere where ion temperature is closer to electron temperature. The flow of two ion species produces low frequency ion acoustic waves (lAWs) at different frequencies and wavelengths. It is shown that purely growing D’ Angelo instability becomes an oscillatory instability in the two ion plasma due to mode coupling. If the shear in the flow is in negative direction the dispersion relation of IAW is modified and parallel phase velocity of the wave shifts out of the region of heavy Landau damping. In the nonlinear regime, the modified ion acoustic wave (mlAW) produces KdVsolitons. This theoretical model is a general model for the two ion species plasma are here it is applied to the upper ionosphere. The results are in agreement with the observations of several satellites.
Keywords: lnstabilities; Nonlinear; Plasma; Mode coupling
Synthesis and characterization of the PAN/phenolic-based carbon/carbon composites
ABSTRACT
Keywords: Poly-acrylonitile; Carbon composite; X-ray diffraction
Astrostatistics, Astroinformatics and Big Data Analysis in Modern Astronomy Surveys
ABSTRACT
Astronomy in modern times largely depends on huge amount of data. Modern and planned astronomy surveys like EMU-ASKAP, WODAN, LOFAR, SKA related surveys and others are going to provide some interesting challenges for our existing statistical, computing and big data analysis techniques.
In this study, we are going to discuss statistical issues like power law distributions, mapping, shot noise, confusion, and signal-to-noise ratio analysis for upcoming continuum surveys. We will also discuss the applications of Al & machine learning techniques in analyzing large image and catalog data for statistical redshift moments, identifying source types, and even the possibility of discovering the previously unknown phenomenon. We will also discuss how the parallel computing is going to help us in tackling the problems related to the theoretical simulations for astronomical studies and analyzing the astronomical data.
Keywords: Astronomy; Machine Learning; Statistical Analysis; Artificial Intelligence; Parallel Computing
A GIS Based Study to Highlight the Sensitive Zones for the Plant Growth due to the Effect of Traffic Pollutant Nitric Oxide in Mega City Karachi
ABSTRACT
Pollution is the serious problem in the world, in this fast developing world there are different sources of pollution in which vehicular traffic is one of the sources causing highest amount of pollution. There is serious need to control this problem in urban areas. As the population of the world is increasing similarly the traffic volume is also increasing which is an important source of pollution. The Mega city Karachi is the fast growing city of Pakistan and in this city traffic pollution is a big problem, It is not only dangerous for humans health but is also effecting the plants growth. To represent the vulnerable areas of Karachi for plants due to the effect of pollution caused by traffic, this research is aimed to analyze the emission of Nitric Oxide (NO) due to Vehicular Roads Traffic in Karachi by weighted overlay analysis technique in Geographic Information System (GIS)Environment for the Plants Sensitive zone (PSZ). Research analysis is representing Nazimabad, Karimabad and SITE area, Clifton and Garden police HQ, as compare with other zones in our study area, are in the plant sensitive zone due to high pollution content. The results of this study can help to take steps in highly sensitive areas for controlling the traffic pollution in Karachi.
Keywords: Geographic information System, Nitric Oxide. Plants Sensitive Zone, Vehicular Roads Traffic.
PLANNING VIOLENCE: MURDER FOR HIRE (crime story)
While violent acts
always seem irrational on the surface they may actually involve careful
planning and thought. Nowhere are elements of preparation and design more
apparent than in elaborate plots involving murder for hire. Take the case of
Paul William Driggers, 54, an Idaho man who offered $10,000 for someone to kill
his ex-wife because he was facing child molestation and gun charges and because
he wanted his children back. Driggers contacted an associate in prison and
asked to be put in touch with a person who could do a job for him. He got the
name of a third man who was then living in California. In April 2006, using the
name “Huey,” Driggers contacted the California man
and induced him to come to Idaho to discuss a “business
proposition.” Driggers and the man met at a Coeur d’Alene restaurant and
discussed a number of illegal things they could do, including counterfeiting,
producing precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine, identity
theft, and false charity campaigns. After the two left the restaurant, Driggers
told the California man that he wanted his ex-wife killed and offered the man
$10,000 for the murder. Instead of committing the crime, the California man
contacted state police. When the two later met in a Lowe’s parking lot, the
California man was wearing a wire. Driggers showed him photographs of his
ex-wife, and the two discussed the details of the murder, including using
walkie-talkies to communicate, and how to dispose of the body. Driggers was convicted
of attempted murder on February 23, 2007. The Drigger’s case is not unique.
Richard Kaplan, a former New Brunswick official who plotted to kill his wife,
was already serving a federal prison sentence for accepting more than $30,000
in bribes. While in prison he pursued a murder-for-hire plot through a fellow
inmate. Rather than commit the crime, the inmate alerted authorities and became
a cooperating witness in an FBI undercover investigation. Kaplan wanted his
wife dead because of money issues and the belief that she was planning to get a
divorce. Not long after arriving at the prison, he began telling a fellow
inmate that he wanted to fi nd someone who could kill his wife and make it look
like an accident. He told the inmate he was willing to pay $25,000 for the
murder.
LOOTING THE PUBLIC TREASURY (crime story)
After graduating from UCLA, Albert Robles served terms as
mayor, councilman, and deputy city manager of South Gate, California, an
industrial community about 12 miles outside downtown Los Angeles. Soon after
Robles became city treasurer in 1997, he plotted to rule the city purely for
his own benefit. He even proclaimed himself “King of South Gate” and referred to
the city as his “fiefdom.” Once in power, Robles got involved in a number of
convoluted illegal schemes, including:
❚ Using the city’s treasury as his “private piggy bank for
himself, his family, and his friends” (according to acting U.S. Attorney George
Cardona), costing South Gate more than $35 million and bringing it to the verge
of bankruptcy
❚ firing city hall employees at will, replacing them with
supporters who had little experience
❚ Recruiting and bankrolling unqualified
local supporters for city council until he controlled the council
❚ Threatening anyone who stood in his way (suspiciously, one of his
adversaries on the city council was shot in the head)
Robles and his corrupt cronies then cooked up schemes to
line their own pockets with the public’s cash. In one such scheme, Robles
coerced businesses to hire a financial consultant, Edward Espinoza, in order to
win various city contracts, including senior housing and sewer rehabilitation
projects. As part of this plan, Robles and Espinoza set up a shell corporation
that raked in some $2.4 million—more than $1.4 million of which went straight
into Robles’s pockets. He used part of the money to buy a $165,000 beach condo
in Baja for his mother; he also forked over $55,000 for “platinum membership”
in a motivational group. In another scheme, Robles steered a $48 million refuse
and recycling contract to a company in exchange for more than $30,000 in gifts
and campaign contributions. In February 2003, Robles was targeted by a federal
grand jury looking into the handling of federal loans and grants. FBI and IRS
investigators pored over city records to uncover his illegal schemes. The
citizens of South Gate ultimately voted Robles and his cronies out of office
(but not before he racked up huge legal bills at the city’s expense), and he
was convicted at trial in July 2005. Two of his business associates—including
Espinoza—also went to prison. Robles’s illegal acts were the product of careful
plotting and planning. They were motivated by greed and not need. To some
criminologists, stories like these confirm the fact that many crimes are a
matter of rational choice.
Sources: Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Corruption in
City Hall: The Crooked Reign of ‘King’ Albert,” January 8, 2007
A PAIN IN THE GLASS (Crime Story)
From 1997 to 2005, Ronald and Mary Evano turned dining in
restaurants into a profitable albeit illegal scam. They used the “waiter, there
is glass in my food” ruse in restaurants and supermarkets stretching from
Boston to Washington, D.C. While crude, their efforts paid big dividends. They
allegedly swindled insurance companies out of $200,000 and conned a generous
helping of food establishments and hospitals along the way. And to top it off,
in order to look authentic, the Evanos actually did eat glass. How did the
Evanos pull off their scam? After ordering or buying food at restaurants, hotel
bars, or supermarkets, either Ronald or May would “discover” glass in his or
her food. They would then complain of the incident to management and fi ll out a
report. After leaving the food establishment, they would check into the emergency
room at the local hospital complaining of severe stomach pain. After presenting
fake IDs and Social Security cards to hospital staff, they’d allow doctors to
examine them. In some cases, x-rays would show actual pieces of glass in their
stomachs (but none of it came from the food they purchased). Once released from
the hospital, the couple would continue getting medical treatment for stomach
pain. After racking up several thousand dollars in bills, they would file an
insurance claim for their extensive “pain and suffering.” The scheme unraveled
when the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts noticed a pattern of
glass-eating claims in the state. The private industry organization eventually
realized that most claims were being fi led by the same couple and contacted
federal authorities who then traced the couple’s trail of insurance fraud
across three states and the District of Columbia. On March 16, 2006, the Evanos
were indicted on mail fraud, identity theft, Social Security fraud, and making
false statements on health care matters. Ronald was arrested less than a month
later, but Mary—his partner in crime—is still on the lam.
Sources: Department of Justice Press Release, “Man Arrested
in Glass-Eating Fraud Scheme,” (accessed June 25, 2008); Federal Bureau of
Investigation, “Bizarre Meal Ticket: The Couple Who Ate Glass,” November 8,
2006
THE MOTHER OF ALL SNAKEHEADS (A Criminal)
Cheng Chui Ping was one of the most powerful underworld figures
in New York. Known as “the Mother of all Snakeheads”—meaning she was top dog in
the human smuggling trade—to her friends in Chinatown she was “Sister Ping.”
Cheng was an illegal immigrant herself. Born in 1949 in the poor farming
village of Shengmei in Fujian province, she left her husband and family behind
and set out for the West, traveling via Hong Kong and Canada before ending up
in New York in 1981. She opened a grocery store and started other ventures that
became fronts for her people trafficking business. For more than a decade, Cheng
smuggled as many as 3,000 illegal immigrants from her native China into the
United States—charging upwards of $40,000 per person. To ensure her clients
paid their smuggling fees, Sister Ping hired members of the FukChing,
Chinatown’s most feared gang, to transport and guard them in the United States.
In addition to running her own operation, Sister Ping helped other smugglers by
financing large vessels designed for human cargo. She also ran a money
transmitting business out of her Chinatown variety store. She used this
business to collect smuggling fees from family members of her own “customers,”
and also collected ransom money on behalf of other alien smugglers. Conditions
aboard the smuggling vessels were often inhumane. The voyages were dangerous,
and on at least one occasion a boat capsized while offloading people to a larger
vessel and fourteen of her “customers” drowned. The Golden Venture, a smuggling
ship Sister Ping helped finance for others, was intentionally grounded off the
coast of Rockaway, Queens, in early June 1993 when the offloading vessel failed
to meet it in the open sea. Many of the passengers could not swim and ten drowned.
Cheng Chui Ping was indicted in 1994 when members of the Fuk Ching gang
cooperated with federal agents. After her indictment she continued to run a
smuggling operation. In April 2000, Hong Kong police arrested her at the
airport. Cheng fought extradition but was eventually delivered to the United
States in July 2003. She was convicted in New York less than two years later on
multiple counts, including money laundering, conspiracy to commit alien
smuggling, and other smuggling related offenses, and was sentenced to 35 years
in prison. The activities of Sister Ping illustrate how the law must evolve to
confront newly emerging social problems such as illegal immigration. Other
areas include cyber crime, drug importation, and terrorism. Unfortunately, the
law is sometimes slow to change, and change comes only after conditions have
reached a crisis. How might laws be changed to reduce illegal immigration?
Should people caught entering the country illegally be charged with a felony
and imprisoned?
Sources: FBI News release, “Sister Ping Sentenced to 35
Years in Prison for Alien Smuggling, Hostage Taking, Money Laundering and
Ransom Proceeds Conspiracy,” 16 March 2006
Thursday, 8 February 2018
Accident in University of Karachi (UoK)
As we all know that in this a era in which education is must and compulsory. Girls and boys both are going in a same race, now our academies should be safe and secure for student, but recently we witnessed an unbelievable mishap.
A terrible
road accident of a 23 years old girl, named Memoona Naseer, happened in University
of Karachi, near gate 1, Sufi hotel on 19 September 2017.
Memoona was
the final year student in Islamic Learning Department and staying in Aiwan
e Liaquat Girls Hostel. She was crossing the road and a car hit her hardly,
after this terrific accident she lost her leg and still admitted in Agha
Khan Hospital. After seeing her critical condition her father Mr. Naseer
had a cardiac attack and also admitted in Agha Khan Hospital.
After all
this mishaps her mother still refused to that any sort of financial help and
said, “We don’t need anything, my daughter lost her leg in this age, what do
we need now. Everything which happened was totally unfair, her life is ruined.”
The accident
was happened in the University, so it is the duty of Government and authorities
to support the victim as per their commitment that they will provide 5lacs to
the victim in such cases.
By investigating we have found some more similar cases, and we can just regret for them and can protest against the authorities.
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