DRUNK DRIVING

When you open your newspaper, and see the news, all the time, you can read about some driver was drunk, the kind of driver so driving that his blood-alcohol concentration[1] (BAC)—the percentage of alcohol in his blood—was more than Costa Rica legal limit at the time of 0.75 percent. Most of the time, those drivers got behind the wheel of them cars and produced many accident, for example, crashing head-on into another cars or people that walked down a suburban street. The collision result, most time, in hundreds of death, causing a children, women and adults. In other cases, it causes injuries a dozen others, mostly as a result of collateral collision.

Sometime, the person, or people, that caused the accident not recollection that it had caused the deaths of other people until it woke up in a hospital bed the following morning with minor injuries. They were subsequently convicted of drunken driving, and for the death of other people. As a result, was sent to the jail, where it served a few year sentences. Many people are agree with me, we believe in the drunk drivers deserved a more severe sentence for them crimes.

This fact is a testament to how much the public’s attitude toward drunk driving has changed, currently the drunk driving involving in fatal alcohol-related crashes was perceived as criminal behavior. I believe in the harsher jail sentences and penalties for drunken divers, for two main reasons:

The first reason is, because those jail sentences and penalties are work. For example, in USA, after the law the National Minimum Drinking Age was signed (1984), show alcohol related fatalities declining 36% between 1982 and 1997, according data from Department of Transportation. The law mandated that states raise their minimum drinking age to twenty-one or lose federal highway funds. States also instituted tougher penalties for drunk drivers, such as mandatory jail terms for first-time offenders and on-the-spot driver’s license suspensions for those failing or refusing to take a breath test[2].

The second reason is mandatory jail sentence help decrease the instances of drunk driving, as a result, helps for the prevention of fatal accidents. Obviously, that is not enough, is necessary the prevention of this accident advocates focused on changing law to lower the level at which drivers are presumed to be legally intoxicated. It was based on their blood-alcohol concentration (BAC)[3].

Primarily determined by breath tests administered by police officers during traffic stops, BACs indicate the level of impairment drivers may be experiencing due to the percentage of alcohol in their blood[4]. The new Costa Rica traffic law established that the BAC is lower 0.08 percent. BAC limit favored by prevention advocates, in the newspaper “LA PRENSA LIBRE”, said: “Authorities said traffic in that sense the reform of the traffic law is one of the most important factors that have contributed to the decline in deaths; it coupled with awareness campaigns and outreach efforts by the Ministry that including, currently, information fairs in different communities across the country to guide and educate the general population”[5].

I agree that there should be zero tolerance for driving under the influence of alcohol. A mandatory jail sentence would send a clear message that it is unacceptable behavior, although somebody believes drunk driving is not a crime. In many cases, those people had given money to court and receiving only few years for them crimes and they repeat those accidents again[6].

There drivers are not victims, it does not happen accidentally, even is as result of bad decisions or driving alcohol. If the punishment for this crime is harsher, those people would think a bit more and decide against getting behind a wheel and being irresponsible. Jail sentences are usually effective in frightening people away from doing certain things.[7] It is because; people with criminal records have fewer job opportunities and limited futures, even those drunk drivers do not consider themselves criminals, a jail sentence would re-frame the way the public thinks about drunk driving is serious social problem[8]. Is not important how are weapons you could be used in a crime, gangs or cars are the same in this case, and need to take seriously. Moreover, many drinkers who might get a driving under influence of alcohol need to consider driver drinking are a criminal offense and force them consider the consequences more seriously[9].

I am convinced that a jail sentences in traffic law will send a message to the public that drunk driving is a criminal act that simply will not be tolerated. The hard consequences of driving while legally intoxicated involved tough penalties such as mandatory jail terms, heavy fines, license suspensions, and even the confiscation of motor vehicles, the issue of a new Costa Rica traffic law has serious implications for drivers. Enormous gains have been made against drunk driving over the past years and have created the general impression that drunk driving is largely under control.

Bibliography

Drug Prohibition (n.d.), in Wikipedia. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arguments_for_and_against_drug_prohibition

Blood Alcohol Content (n.d.), in Wikipedia. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content.


[1] Meaning take from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_alcohol_content.
[2] Take from: http://www.enotes.com/drunk-driving-article.
[3] Take from: http://www.chefalolaw.com/practice-areas/drunk-driving/general-information/.
[4] Take from: http://www.enotes.com/drunk-driving-article.

[5] Take from: http://www.prensalibre.cr/pl/nacional/10718-disminuyen-muertes-por-accidentes-de-transito-.html.
[6] Take from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arguments_for_and_against_drug_prohibition.
[7] Take from: http://debates.juggle.com/would-a-mandatory-jail-sentence-help-decrease-the-instances-of-drunk-driving.
[8] Ídem.
[9] Ídem.

ETHNIC CONFLICT

The term "ethnic conflict" is a review a wide variety of conflicts around the world. Some mavens argue that ethnic conflict itself does not exist, for these experts the ethnic wars are due to social, economic and political problems between groups that identify each other along ethnic lines: color, race, religion, language, national origin. Often such ethnicity may hide other distinguishing characteristics, such as class interests and political power, which, when analyzed, may prove the most important elements of the conflict.

However, when ethnic differences are used consciously or unconsciously to distinguish between adversaries in a particular war, ethnicity effectively becomes a factor in the nature and dynamics of conflict. In a review of the nations at war for 1998, that a total of 120 conflicts in the world, 66 were domestic, 36 of them could be described as "wars of state formation"; it is a conflict involving a government and an opposition group that calls for autonomy or secession for a particular region and its ethnic composition.

In recent times, the world has seen reduce the number of multinationals wars, however, it has seed increased the number of ethnic conflicts, particularly in Third World countries. Another study indicates that "the massacres carried out by States members of ethnic and political groups representing more casualties than all other combined forms of deadly conflict ... on average, have been killed by the state between 1.6 and 3.9 million civilians in each of the decades since the end of World War II ... " The reasons or causes underlying ethnic conflicts are often very complex and difficult to identify., but, we note two main reasons.

The first reason lies in the establishment of most modern states. The nation-state model is inspired by the European nationalism of the XVIII - XIX and led the way for the creation of American states, and, later, the African nations. Many ethnic conflicts occur because the integrative model of the nation-state is in contradiction with the social and ethnic identity of subordinate groups or minority.

The ensuing conflict can manifest itself in different forms, from individual attitude characterized by rejection, exclusion and hostility accompanied by stereotypes, prejudices, intolerance and discrimination at the level of interpersonal relationships, political action through institutional and secessionist movements, to the violent confrontations that can take the form of riots, massacres, genocide, riots, rebellions, revolutions, terrorism, civil war, wars of national liberation and war between states. Cultural genocide or ethnocide that often accompanies such conflicts are frequent in many countries around the world.

Neighboring countries can be easily induced to intervene in an ethnic conflict for their own reasons of state policy. For example, both Iran and Iraq have supported the Kurdish struggle against the state in the neighboring country; however, have been accused of repressing the Kurds in their own territory. India has accused Pakistan of supporting militant nationalist movement in the Punjab Sikh and a Muslim rebellion in Kashmir for its own geopolitical reasons. International comparisons of situations where ethnic conflicts occur denote the existence of recurring problems that give rise to ethnic mobilization and are the root cause of many ethnic conflicts.

The second reason is mainly due to vested interests. In hierarchical systems of interethnic relations, ethnic conflicts occur between groups that share relatively equal in wealth and power, one or more of the groups feared or perceived that their position relative to other ethnic group tends to deteriorate. These problems are linked to the distribution of resources and power, the question of land (reserves, colonization, immigration, and other); even more than language, religion, cultural identity, and discrimination based on race or color.

However, it can be argued that most cases of ethnic conflicts in the world occur in hierarchical systems of interethnic relations. In these systems, ethnic groups are ranked on a scale of power, prestige and wealth and located, generally in a subordinate position in relation to others, but what is most important, in the center of power and State apparatus are controlled to a greater or lesser extent, by a dominant ethnic group, leaving the subordinate ethnic group or ethnic groups in a situation of marginalization.

The major ethnic conflicts of the eighties, among which we mention: Northern Ireland, Eritrea, Burundi, South Africa, Western Sahara, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, India and East Timor, were reminiscent of the ethnic conflicts that occurred earlier in Nigeria, Pakistan and Canada, involving not only a confrontation between ethnic groups but also between such groups and the State ethnocratic or state controlled by a dominant ethnic group.

The participation of major powers has increased as there have been many ethnic conflicts in the world. United States consistently support the Christians conflict in Lebanon, the Miskito’s against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, the government of Sri Lanka against the Tamil insurgency, the Philippine government against the Moors and the tribal rebellions, the Ovambo against the government of Angola and the Hmong against the government of Vietnam, among others. By early 1990, three Soviet Baltic republics declared independence unilaterally and received expressions of sympathy and understanding of the West, the same countries who fail the independence of the Basques, the Northern Irish, and the citizens of Quebec or Puerto Rico.

The persistence of such conflicts during relatively long and intense violence that may accompany them, has led some observers to distinguish between the "conflict of interest" and the "conflict of values" or "identity conflicts", the former are easier to negotiate or resolve than the latter. Ethnic conflicts are usually the second kind, in which the goals or objectives of the parties in conflict tend to be mutually exclusive or incompatible, and therefore much more difficult to resolve.

GLOBALIZATION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Globalization is an economic, technological, social, and cultural, due to increased communication and interdependence among countries in the world, which produces the systematic unification of markets, societies and cultures. “This occurs through a series of social, economic and policies that give its global character. Globalization is often identified as a dynamic process of open economies and borders, as a result of increased trade, capital movements, the movement of people and ideas, dissemination of information, knowledge and techniques, and a process of deregulation. This process, both geographically and sectorally, is not recent, but has accelerated in recent years (Globalization meaning) ”. Globalization has helped to spread some of the deadly infectious diseases endemic to human beings on a global scale for two reasons.

The first reason is the transportation. In the edge of globalization, the world is more dependent than ever and transportation, was once a barrier, has become in the most efficient and inexpensive media to unite people and countries; which has left few places inaccessible to trade . The increase in this global trade, especially agricultural, and animal’s products, has been a greater contact between people and animals. Because of this, animal diseases, various types of influenza, and similar infectious diseases have jumped species barriers (such as avian or Swine influenza) .

The Globalization has produced consequences adversely, in terms of health and environment . The improvements in transportation that are a facet of globalization have also made it possible for the rapid spread of infectious diseases around the globe. One example of this, is thee rapid advance of a deadly form of pneumonia (SARS), when spread from China throughout the globe. “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS commonly abbreviated) is an atypical pneumonia that first appeared, in November 2002 in Guangdong Province, China. It spread to neighboring Hong Kong and Vietnam, in late February 2003 and then to other countries via air travel by infected people or land. The disease has a mortality rate of global average near 15%.”

The second reason is consequence of the other, “the World Tourist.” Travel, trade, and international tourism, have grown extensively and provide efficient transport for pathogens and their vectors. They also increase the exposure of humans to "new" diseases, to which they have little or no resistance. Those infectious diseases are caused by the presence and activity of one or more agents including pathogenic like viruses, bacteria, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and others . Etiology , recognizes that these diseases are transmitted by different ways including direct or indirect contact, ingestion (in water or food), transmission of human fluids; inhalation of airborne particles, transmission by vectors such as mosquitoes, fleas and ticks, and others . As humans began traveling over seas and across lands, which were previously isolated, research suggests that diseases have been spread by all transmission ways .

The geographical boundaries, which previously had these diseases has been disappearing through history. The first global infectious diseases that spread in the world (then known) came from Asia to Europe; it is the bubonic plague (of deliveries to the Romans in the second century AD). In modern times, various types of influenza, as the Spanish flu, which killed 20 million people, after the First World War, and infectious diseases like SARS, 2003 influenza are just some examples of this deadly disease .

In many countries (especially poorest), what little resources they have is not enough to care health issues, because it leaves these countries are open to diseases that spread due to the lack of proper health-care systems, and of the appropriate technology needed to produce clean water and a sufficient food supply to stave off such sicknesses. New strains of old diseases with different immunological characteristics, more virulent, and different reactions to antibiotics; are often responsible for new outbreaks of these diseases. Germs can suddenly emerge as new threats of disease to acquire the ability to initiate new infections and diseases, or to alter the human host's natural ability to mount an adequate immune defense. Examples, include influenza, cholera, tuberculosis, and others. The greatest fear of man is that these negative effects of globalization, producing a global pandemic to end the human race.


Bibliography


GLOBALIZATION (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization

INFECTIOUS DISEASE (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectious_disease

SARS (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome

SWINE INFLUENZA (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 25, 2010, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swine_influenza

GLOBALIZATION. (2010, May 24). Globalization meaning. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/globalization