Author: chris

This particular Roman family was referred to as ‘familia’, putting into consideration the fact that the Latin word ‘family’ owes its origin the word ‘familia’. Normally, the ‘familia’ just like most of the modern families, included the triad with two parents and children who could either be biological or adopted, slaves and grantparents. The overall head of the family referred to as ‘pater familias’ had exclusive control over the entire ‘familia’, all adult males inclusive. It is also relevant to note that the Roman ‘familia’ entirely included all those who lived under the same roof, including all members of the particular extended relatives, the close family and finally the household slaves
Similar practices, of which the modern families are familiar with, like in the heading of the family responsibility being left for men to take care of, were common in the Roman ‘familia’. The ‘pater familias’ him being the overall authority , usually the father, the grandfather or even the uncle, had ‘patria potestas’, meaning absolute power, over his children whether biological or adopted, his slaves, and to some extent, his wife. All these were considered as being under his ‘manus’, otherwise under is authority influence , until his death. Still this could include his male children as well. A close scrutiny as pertains to powers of the ‘pater familias’ reveals that he even had power over life and death over any family member.
He further had the power to sell his own children to slavery at will. In fact, just like the justifications by the ‘Twelve Tables’, the ‘pater familias’ in accordance to the ruling of the law, the ‘pater familias’ was supposed to expose the deformed child, if one happens to exist. However, studies have proved that after the exposure of the deformed children, they would be picked by traders and may not have naccessarly died. It was also the role of the ‘pater familias’ to be in the position of a patron in a system of duties cum responsibilities to clients, otherwise the lower class Romans, referred to as ‘patronage.
The ‘mater familias’, also referred to as ‘matrona’ happened to be the wife of the family. She was responsible for the affairs of the household. Further, one of her crucial responsibilities was to support her husband’s views, regardless of whether they contravened with her own. An ideal ‘matrona’ in Roman society had to be obedient, chaste, modest and loyal. She had to demonstrate ‘piestas’ besides spinning wool and looking after her children. Generally, the Roman women had much more rights compared to the women in other ancient societies. Surprisingly, in some cases, they could own their own property, work at far distances from their homes and even divorce their husbands freely if circumstances demanded so, though this would depend on the type of marriage ceremony.
The final branch of the Roman ‘familia’ normally was the household slaves. Slavery was very common throughout the entire ancient communities and even the poorest Romans could usually afford at least one slave. It was the duty of the family to ensure the maintenance of slaves, this referring to their welfare and provision of their basic necessities namely clothing and shelter, none of which were guaranteed for the non-slaved individuals. Slavery was not just a mere economic relationship. The relationship between the slaves and the entire members of the ‘familia’ was very common. It was the slaves’ duty to take care of the young ones and also educating the children from a young age.
Unlike the trend in most of the modern families, daughters even if adult would remain under the control of the close male relative incase the father died. One of the major differences between the Roman families and the modern ones shows up when considering that today women are not under the coverage of the ‘pater familias’ nor do they even have a guardian after becoming adults. The ones referred to as the upper class women would get married while quite young. Lots of these would die while delivering, and this was referred to as hazardous occupation in those ancient times. Nowadays, fewer mothers die during childbirth and fewer children as well.
One of the Roman laws declared that men had to raise all the boys born to the family, but only the first born female. This meant that the rest of the daughters were vulnerable to being abandoned to die, depending on the father’s will. This kind of practice would be considered as violation of the provisions of the human rights charter hence one may even be sued for a similar action. Infanticide cases are also not common today and such an action could even lead to death sentence to the culprit.
In actual fact, most of the practices in this particular community have proved unworthy and inhuman whatsoever. It is against the social and also religion provision worldwide and general feeling by the entire is that slavery was only meant to intimidate the unfortunate in the society and it is not acceptable, whether executed directly or indirectly. Other actions like infanticide are totally unacceptable and the few cases that have occurred have been strongly criticized and condemned by the society, thanks to the standing social codes amongst the people.

What are genetically modified foods? Probably to some, this term is new to them though some could have heard of it but don’t really know what it entails. They are foods that are produced through the application of the biotechnology. This implies that, the genetic makeup of organisms such as bacteria’s, plants or animals is been altered in order to solve some desired problems. This product derived from the alteration includes s foods and food ingredients, feeds and fiber, medicine and vaccines. Though these technologies for the genetically modified foods promises to offer solutions to the challenges facing the 21st century, they like any other technology poses risks, some which are known while others are unknown. The benefits that come with this technologically modified foods is that there is increased production of products with better taste and quality, reduced malnutrition timer, better nutrients ,yields and increased nutrients. There is also increased resistance to diseases, pests, and herbicides among the crops grown. Some benefits in animal products include better yields in egg production, more milk and meat (Weasel, 2008). The animals are able to become more resistant to diseases and more adaptation to hardship areas. The question which persists is whether these foods are helpful to us or they are all together harmful to us?
The genetically modified foods have been developed due to the arising problems and since they have the capability of solving many of the worlds malnutrition problems, I think they better be adapted. They will also help in protecting the environment by their increased yields with higher resistance to diseases meaning a reduced use of pesticides and other chemicals in the soils. The world population has currently topped six billions and the unfortunate thing is that, the numbers are expected to increase by double in the next 50 years. The major concern that persists is whether the current trends of producing food will be able to feed double the population if it is currently not able to do so efficiently today. This concern is again joined with the fear of the degrading environmental conditions which are leaving more land uncultivatable. There are also concerns about the availability of water for irrigation in the future following the current decrease in it source due to the drastic weather changes. Since there problems posed by changes in nature appear to be more immutable , the next better option in trying to evade these challenges is by coming up with technologies which can be used to produce more yields despite the harsh conditions. (Bodiguel, 2010)
We could give a further look into the benefits that come with this technology of producing foods. The crops being produced by these technologies are pest resistant. This helps to evade the losses brought about by pest infestation which leaves behind devastating financial losses due to low yields. This loss of crops by farmers means that there is starvation mostly in developing countries. Again there are a lot of chemicals which are used by the farmers when producing their crops. These are some undesirable components by the consumers who wouldn’t want to feed on foods with lots of harmful chemicals. These chemicals also deplete the environment of its riches by the excessive use of fertilizers which as a result affect the water supply. So this means that, growing GMO foods would eliminate the application of chemicals in form of pesticides and hence reduce the cost of growing crops. Another benefit on crops is that, since there are some crops which are not cost effective to remove weeds by the available methods and so the use of large quantities of sprays for weed killers (herbicides) becomes the only appropriate technique to use. This process requires a lot of care so that the herbicides don’t harm the crops or the environment. Therefore, crops that are genetically made to resist the effect of the herbicide are of more help as they don’t pose any threat to the environment.

Business Process and Procedures for Customs Overseas

As I spoke to the rest of the group members for this project, I found out that some of the areas of concern during the Measure phase were as follow.
As we know measure phase is used to collect date, establish a plan and excuting that plan and than using that data that was collect to make sure it performs properly. An issue at hand was determining what the process output should be, we have to understand that we are in an another country and we have to follow their rules and regulations, which some of these are very old and out of date. We are not in the states and we have to compromise with the host nation. To determing the output process we had to come to an agreement with the host nation and understand why things were done a certain way. As it turns out some things are just kept that way because it is a rule of the country in it self. Processing paper work is still being done the old fashion way “paper work hand deliverd.
Another area of concern was all the travel being done to get the paper work processed, which in return was found to inconvenience customers. There was too much time on the road just to get paper work back and forth from the warehouse on the Naval base in Rota to the Customs Office in Cadiz.

In the 21st century, there has been landmark in the use of technology. In particular, the Internet has come along therefore facilitating globalization the more. This has not been achieved without due demerits. The issue of possession and trade in child pornography has been an outstanding problem for quite some time. This is a form of child abuse whose possession, production or distribution is outlawed in most countries and is punishable by prosecution. However, there have been major setbacks in combating this form of cybercrime. It is key to note that of the 184 members of The International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol; only 91 have implemented comprehensive laws barring child pornography. This has promoted availability of such material in those countries whereby the internet hosts are safe from prosecution.
Child pornography, as a cybercrime, can be best illustrated by the Weymouth suspects who are currently under custody. It is important to note that Kevin Moore, 33 and Stephen Haddad had been trading in child pornography and obscene matter for over three years. They had managed to elude local police and the federal investigators all this time. The suspects were finally apprehended by The State Police Internet Crimes Task Force, a specialized anti-cybercrime unit that chiefly deals with internet crimes. The suspects now face a cash fine not more than $ 3000 and a jail term of less than 2 years. This unit has been of great benefit to the local community since it has managed to investigate and successfully prosecute other cyber-criminals such as William McDonough, 51, of Hull in Hingham District Court whereby he was released on a bail of $1,500 pending a pre-trial.
Child pornography has a very great mental, emotional and physical impact on the child victims. These children are no longer able to discuss their problems openly for fear of online scavengers who are ready to take advantage of their innocence. Further, it imparts poor morals and behavior in children. This shall lead to a rotten society as these kids shall grow up without living a damn on vital societal norms.

In this essay, I shall discuss Cross-cultural negotiations between America and Japan owing to their long history of conflicts and their consequent resolutions since World War II and beyond. There are two variables that would highly influence negotiations between these two countries .These are space orientations (Styles, 2003) and non-verbal communication (Cross-Cultural Communication, 2003). Space orientations would affect negotiations through physical touch and contact. American culture greatly encourages eye contact and sees it as a sign of trustworthiness and reliability. Failure to maintain considerable eye contact by the other party would be viewed as dishonesty. This is not the case with Asian cultures, Japan inclusive whereby maintaining direct eye contact is considered disrespectful. Physical touch across gender is acceptable in the U.S while same-gender contact is discouraged. Japanese culture rather encourages same –gender touch especially between women which would otherwise be misinterpreted in the U.S.
Non-verbal communication is another variable that greatly varies between the two nations. Japanese culture greatly values the context of the message in comparison to the actual meaning which is a sharp contradiction to U.S culture which insists on the meaning conveyed rather than the context. Facial expressions are at times in sharp contrast between the two nations. In the U.S, facial signs are rather obvious according to the facial state. Japanese can mask their anger or sadness by a happy or smiling face which could otherwise be misinterpreted. This would therefore bring about conflicts or escalate existing ones.
In this case scenario it is imperative that American negotiators look out for emotional sensitivity, interpersonal negotiating skills and the Japanese urge to win respect and confidence. Non-verbal skills should be highly regarded rather than ignored in preference for verbal skills and expression. Integrity should be given a higher preference when dealing with Japanese negotiators to enable conflict resolution. Japanese negotiators should also take heed of the Americans’ preparation and planning skill which is rather specific and onto the point rather than a broad concept, precise and highly judgmental and insists on intelligence. They should try and focus on verbal message passing and not base their message entirely on context. If these are observed, negotiations would be highly successful. (LeBaron, 2003) (Cross Cultural Negotiation )

This essay discusses the effects of the Church on the Roman Empire and in turn the changes that the Roman Empire influenced in the Church. Most of these changes occurred during Emperor Constantine’s rule in the 300 A.D and are analyzed in this essay. At the time Christianity began spreading in the Roman Empire, it had fractured and diversified though this led to its dilution. It was in stark contrast to the Roman religion which involved Worship of Roman gods and adherence to mystery cults such as Cybill and Adonis. In these cults, it was not exclusive to be a member though it necessitated sizeable offerings which only the wealthy afforded. This was one major area of contrast with Christianity whereby it was absolutely free to join, guaranteed an after-life and was absolute in its beliefs unlike the Roman religion which was expensive to join, was open and allowed you to join any other cult and was not definite on an after-life hence accelerating the spread of Christianity. Unlike Roman Religion which mainly encompassed the rich, Christianity freely allowed the poor, women and slaves to join. Christianity largely emphasized on loyalty and unity across a divide of citizens, that is, between the rich and the poor, which other cults failed to do. This led to a variety of changes effected on the Roman Culture by Christian principles advancement.
First, it in effect changed the societal structure that had been established in the Roman culture whereby slaves, women and the poor were segregated by the rich. This highly fueled Christianity while at the same time fragmented other groups. Therefore, Christianity is seen among other factors such as politics, a contributory factor to the stability lack thereof and consequent fall of the Roman Empire. Christianity also greatly influenced a change in customs and practices such as keeping a prisoner in the dark and instead he was allowed outdoors; a condemned man could then die in the arena but not branded on his face in accordance with the literal Christian doctrine that man was created in God’s image and hence the slave could only be branded on his feet; slave masters’ powers were reduced though a slave could still be beaten to death and all gladiatorial images were ordered to be removed although this was not strictly implemented.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a book written by Milan Kundera and published in 1984. It is a compelling love story, a must-read that is both touching and sad. This is a novel whose context is set in the late sixties up to the eighties in the communist run Czechoslovakia. It basically explores the themes of love and politics through an in-depth use of various literary devices such as symbolism, imagery and allegory. This has been widely discussed in here-in under the crucial theme of fate in relation to love.
In evaluating the literary device of symbolism, imagery and allegory, the concept of lightness, weight and eternal return is well brought out by the German phrase ‘es muss sein’ which implies ‘it must be.’ Kundera explains the origin of the phrase as a motif from the Beethoven’s songs. It came up when Tomas was debating after Tereza left him in Zurich as to whether to return to Prague. He phrases the term to his boss since he feels it is beyond his control, induced by fate and he has no choice but to follow Tereza. Fate, as a concept in light and weight, alludes or simplifies Nietzsche’s ideas in ‘What’s Up with the Title?’ in which Nietzsche alleged that people can attain eternal return and the burden of weight associated with it. Therefore, ‘es muss sein’ is highly relevant in this context since Kundera views Beethoven as a weighty person alluded by the ‘frown’ and ‘improbably mane.’ Further, he is one of the great loves of Tereza who is associated with heaviness and weight. Tomas learns about his music only through Tereza. Tomas feels that Tereza is part of fate and his ‘es muss sein’ and chooses to return to Prague to prove this. He analyses his relationship with Tereza on his way back and identifies six fortuitous events that precipitated their relationship, hence the reference to Tereza as ‘the woman born of six fortuities’ in the novel. This greatly worries him since they could be together by chance, referring to this as ‘es konnte auch anders sein’ rather by fate. This, is later challenged in Tomas’ thinking as illustrated by his musings on that if fate repeatedly points at a certain event, then the event must be sufficiently ‘significant and noteworthy.’ This is an implication that what happens by chance is a result of the need for necessity which is what is repeated further implying it belongs to the sphere of eternal return. This further contrasts the lightness versus weight dichotomy since he further wonders that the events that occur by chance only once also have an implication. This struggle with the concept of fortuity is further illustrated in chapter five whereby Tomas deliberates on his profession as the narrator phrases: “He had come to medicine not by coincidence or calculation but by a deep inner desire.” Kundera also illustrates ‘es muss sein,’ or fate by Tomas’ womanizing habits which he feels is an imperative enslaving him. After a night of erotic dreams and stomach pains, Tomas finally declares that Tereza is the ‘es muss sein’ of his love, though he still cannot control his womanizing habits. He finally comes to the conclusion that love lives beyond ‘es muss sein.’ Therefore, the dichotomy of weight versus lightness is well illustrated since on one hand, Tereza wants Tomas to give up his philandering lifestyle and commit to her but on the other hand, Tomas feels Tereza is in the realm of lightness since she is born of fate rather than compulsion.
The literary device of symbolism, imagery and allegory can be furthered by the bowler hat. Kundera mentions that the bowler hat signifies several aspects in philosophy. First, Kundera explains that it signified violence against any woman’s dignity such as Sabina. From Kundera’s point of narration, the lingerie is depicted as enhancing the ‘charm of her femininity’ while the bowler hat, seen as hard and masculine, ‘violated and ridiculed it.’ Further, he depicts this humiliation as seen through Tomas who stood just stood beside her, fully dressed. Sexual humiliation in Kundera’s Unbearable Lightness is illustrated by both Sabina and Tereza. They harbor secret desires to be degraded by the men they have had sex with, For instance, Tereza wants the engineer to watch her go to the bathroom after sex, a desire also expressed by Sabina. With the iteration of certain words, the bowler hat can be therefore seen as a symbol of sexual degradation which contrary to the reader’s thoughts is voluntary and longed for by the women characters in the book.
Secondly, Kundera explains that the bowler hat was memento which reminded her of her father. After the death of her father, she adamantly refuses to ‘out of sovereign contempt to fight for her rights’ or to have anything else except the bowler hat. Sabina’s relationship with the father is strained and complex. She feels that the kitsch or ideas instilled by her father during her childhood should be betrayed. She refused to fight for her inheritance; hence the bowler hat in this case alludes to her betrayal and desertion of her father.
In conclusion, it is crucial to note that Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being is highly successful due to the fact that he is able to create an exchange between his ‘skeptical critical intelligence and his belief in the autonomy of his fictional characters’ (Andrews). The writer adopts a point of narration whereby he avoids all interior monologue and instead draws attention persistently to its fictiveness and the ability to display the characters imaginatively without resulting in soliloquy.

In Kelly Bulkley’s mystical dreaming, analysis on the patterns in form, content and meaning has been carried out based on a non-experimental research study based on religion. Interviews were carried on 100 Americans whereby four major hypothesis were put forward on: mystical experiences are derived from abnormal and pathological brain functioning; they are characterized by the Jamesian marks ineffability, anoetic or knowledge-gaining, quality, transience, and passivity; mystical experiences are cultural constructions enhanced by an individual’s history, religion, language and the social environment one is exposed to; and leading towards consciousness or absolute unitary being. This presents a basis for contrasting on the appropriate level of analysis of mystism be it physical or phenomenological and whether mystical dreams are real or apparent presenting an argument on pluralism versus universalism. This, unlike previous studies, has been based on findings of dream research. Findings provide further support for these hypotheses and also show that mystical dreams are more prevalent in women in comparison to men.
The study was carried out through personal interviews on family life, political afflictions and religious convictions. The variables investigated were the respondent’ details, settings, color and emotions experienced in the dream. 65 women and 35 men ranging from 19-86, with an average age of 46, were interviewed for one to five hours. There were however several limitations on scope, the age range, religious composition, breadth of an individual’s experience and occupational diversity.
Findings tabulated showed that 94% of the participants were able to describe their most memorable dream. At least 89% experienced sexually arousing dreams which were positive and enjoyable with the number of women being slightly higher at 91% in comparison to 87% in men. Dreams on visitation were quite prevalent at 69% with women experiencing 50% in contrast to the men’s high of 79%. Dreams on self-awareness and lucidity were more prevalent in men.
Dreams on evil presence were evenly common at 53%. However, mystical dreams were considerably more experienced by women rather than men who had the lowest frequency at 40% in comparison to any other type of dream experienced. Mystical dreams experienced involved unusual and non-human characters, friendly interactions, positive emotions, and good fortunes. This is in contrast to non-religious dreams which involve negative content and emotions coupled with aggressive social interactions and misfortunes.
The individual’s interpretation and understanding as to the motif of the dream have been observed in the study of 42 core dreams which have been either on single or multiple occurrences. These motifs were death, Christianity, light, precognition, reassurance, nightmare, epistemological uncertainty, and impact–no memory. Psychologists view dreams to be filled with strange, bizarre and supernatural phenomena. However, they are neither disjointed, nor fragmented and vague but are coherent, vivid and consistent with real-life emotional, social and religious experiences. These further serves to illustrate that dreams are not random and irrelevant but are an expression of human experiences through imagination. The abnormal/pathological brain function theory was supported by three people who experienced their dreams when ill. However, most of the people sampled were perfectly healthy at the time the survey was conducted hence the dreams could not have been caused by brain defects. A Jamesian mark on ineffability is contravened by the fact that most people can precisely describe the details of their dreams. Most of the dreams were found to be coherent, memorable and enduring. However, the dreams were anoetic since the persons regularly described them as sources of true insight and knowledge. Therefore, James’ claim as a whole is contravened. The culturalist approach is widely supported by the study. Christian motifs serve a basis for religion whereby they represent a symbolic world. The dreams were strongly felt although they were spiritually mystical. It seems that most dreams are influenced by multiple factors of culture, religion, history, and language. The “pure consciousness” view by which mystical experiences are regarded as varying approximations of a unitary mode of being have not been widely supported in the light motif. (Bulkeley)

People have always questioned the meaning of their names. Theories in scientific fields such as numerology have been put forward so as to explain the etymology and history of names. Well, all said and done, names may influence your character from a psychological aspect. Studies carried on a psychological basis have shown that people named after famous or successful people in history may work towards attaining a similar status attained by their name-sake predecessors. These people may view the successful and prosperous past and present-day similarly named individuals and heroes as role models, thereby serving as a crucial motivational factor.
Andy is mainly taken as a nick name in reference to Andrew which is a Greek name, Andreas, derived by the concatenation of two contemporary terms: man or aner in Greek and Andros meaning ‘of a man’, hence, under the famous proverb, ‘To whom much is given, much is expected’, the bearer of the name is expected to rise against all odds to uphold a renowned character as a gentleman. This name has had 49 variations such as Andy itself, Andrian and Andre over time. Its popularity was mainly been enhanced by the growth of Christianity in the Middle Ages. The 1990 United States Census shows that 35 out of every 1220 men choose the name as a first name and 2528 out of every 88799 men and women chose it as a surname. In Christianity, there was an apostle Andrew, a translation from its Hebrew version, who was notably the first disciple to join Jesus. In history, Three Hungarian kings carried the name. In America, Andrew Jackson ruled as president since 1767 to 1845. The renowned English composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, born in 1948, has enjoyed repute, fame and success.
Surnames in most societies carry a greater weight in the analysis of who you are since they represent a certain family mostly passed down through generations. It is vital to note that the first person to adopt the name as a family name must have found it to adequately describe him or her and the personal traits exhibited which were likely to be passed down through generations as expressed in genes. The surname Tang has been widely used in Taiwan and China. It comes from the Tang Dynasty who ruled over The Second Golden Age in China. The legendary emperor Huang Di granted the region of Tang in present-day Shanxi province to his son Dan Zhu. The subjects in turn incorporated the name Tang into their surnames as a way of expressing respect to the powerful and successful leadership of Zhu. During this period, South China was Sinicized, whereby; it was culturally and linguistically assimilated into the Chinese way of life. Therefore, this name is dominant in the South of Chinatowns predominantly Cantonese such as Tong-yan-gaai interpreted as ‘Street of Tang People.’ The Republic of China is also commonly referred to as Tong-saan meaning the Tang Mountain. Tangshan is normally used by the Taiwanese refer to the crossing of the Taiwan Strait by the Han people. In history, this name was accorded to the Prince of Shang, Cheng Tang, who was a model of virtue and humanity and overthrew the corrupt government of the Xia Dynasty in 1766 BC. Therefore, it is important to note that the name Tang has always been related to power and its positive influences in the traditional China, hence, the bearer is expected to live up to its legendary fame.
Every individual’s name is believed to carry a potential influence just as horoscopes endeavor to foretell by classifying people by their birth dates. The name Andy Tang can therefore be interpreted as a name that comes with great responsibility. The bearer is not only expected to display virtues of a gentleman but also uphold integrity.

The powers of the presidency have come under sharp scrutiny and have been a source of contention since the bush administration. The unitary executive theory, if advanced and applied in its strong context, could lead to eclipsing of all powers bestowed on the congress. The founding era aimed at separating these powers between the House and Senate, President, and the Judiciary and entrenched this in the constitution design to avoid autocratic control like the Crown’s exercise over its colonies. The Article of Confederation complements the office of the President in order to avoid concentration of power on the executive.
After the terrorist attacks, President Bush claimed as commander in chief that he had power to conduct domestic surveillance despite a prohibition from Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. These interrogation techniques were contrary to the torture clause, 18 U.S.C. 2340-2340A enjoyed by all persons under U.S custody. This was in conflict with the spirit of the constitution’s design which aimed at prohibiting concentration of government powers on one person. The Office of Legal counsel supported these claims by further stating that in times of war, the president was the sole decision maker though they failed in defining the enemy as either the Taliban or Al-Qaeda forces. The founding era had sought to avoid autocratic control and monarchism by eradicating accumulation of either judicial or legislative in the hands of the executive. Though the president has power to repel any sudden exigencies without the approval of congress, this does not empower him to displace its authority and force a state of war. Else, this constitutes accumulation of power without proper checks and balances on the executive .Issues such as movement of troops cannot be carried out without congress approval. For instance, in the founding era George Washington did not dare to contradict a Continental Congress order in the Revolutionary War even when he believed differently. In the civil war, Lincoln only ordered his generals to suspend habeas corpus when the congress was in session.
However, this was totally in line with Article I Suspension Clause which empowers the president to assume congress powers when not in session. This history shows no exclusive alienation of congress powers. Recently, traditional checks are in doubt due to high likelihood of terrorist attacks and availability of weapons of mass destruction by rogue nations leading to chief concern on national security. This is necessitating a review on this statute.
In John Yoo’s memo highlighting on the possible prosecution by the ICC, he states that the U.S is not signatory to the Rome Statute over such jurisdiction. The memo further states interrogation of an operative be it Al-Qaeda is not directed on a large section of the civilian population which is a pre-condition for the ratification of the convention, hence not a war crime. Yoo clarifies that, in his opinion, the prisoners held for terrorist interrogation are not termed as so under the Geneva Convention, despite objections by the Department of State. There is little substantive difference in the definition between the torture clause as established in the constitution’s and the I.C.C. There is refusal by the U.S. to accept the jurisdiction, hence the convention cannot enforce its powers and it’s reduced to carrying out studies.
Another contentious issue is the power of filling casual appointments in the Senate. The constitution empowers the President of the United States “to nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of United States whose appointments are not in the Constitution otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law.”It further goes on to dictate:”The President shall have power to fill up vacancies that may happen during the recess of the senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.” This section, if interpreted without the spirit of law, it can be misinterpreted to accumulate executive power and without consent of relevant consulting bodies, be used improperly.