Development Assistance Essay Example for Free

Development Assistance Essay The best way for international donors to quicken development in poor Asian countries is to maximize overseas developmental assistance. ODA should be provided both to governments directly and to international and local NGOs. † Development can be considered as one of the most omnipresent concepts today. This term had been a commonplace in governments and non-governmental organizations alike (Nault, 2008). Overseas developmental assistance also referred to as official overseas assistance (ODA), had been a vital part of world economies especially to those who belong to the third world. As early as 1960s, underdeveloped and developing countries have seen the importance of receiving grants in forms of ODA from more developed countries (Berlage and Stokke, 1992) It is now given that most of the countries, which are underdeveloped, or those who are still in the process of developing are indeed in great need of ODAs coming from their more developed counterparts. The lack of resources on the part of the poor countries makes them suffer the opportunity cost of not attending to other pressing issues in within their territories. This paper will present arguments in two fold. First, it will make a point on how international donors can quicken development in poor Asian countries by maximizing the amount it gives through ODAs. Second, it will argue on why is there a necessity to give funds directly to international and local NGOs rather than just giving it to the government; it having the sole discretion on the funds’ disbursement. Similar to the case in developed countries, rising and relentless budget deficits had become one of the major causes for concern in developing countries. Asian countries have been suffering from massive budget deficits for the past recent years (Gupta, 1992). Given that most of the developing and underdeveloped countries are suffering from budget deficit, there really is a need that ODAs should be intensified in order to address other social concerns that are being neglected by the governments due to lack of budget. These social concerns, which deals with welfare and other public issues are often taken for granted by governments despite their noble ideas because they lack resources in financing these programs. If resources will be provided through ODA, the local government will be better equipped of bringing service to their people. Aside from mere economic progress, development must also entail improvements with regard to life expectancy, education levels, literacy, and access to resources (Nault, 2008). With more funds, which are easily available to finance social programs of the government, people may easily reap the benefits of ODAs coming from developed countries. The funds coming from the ODA can be allocated to programs aimed at empowering the grassroots and improving the living conditions of the people. With regard to economic progress, there is also a great need for the funds, which are given by more developed countries. Given the lack of resources of underdeveloped countries, they have no enough assets to stimulate their respective economies. Nowadays, government-initiated economic policies are necessary to save the worsening condition of the global economy. The world economy is being threatened by massive recessions. Hence, there is a necessity for state intervention in stimulating the economy. ODAs can be used by the government to back up state-initiated economic programs aimed at ameliorating the country’s economy. ODAs may be used as capital by the government and also as investment so that it would yield to higher profits in the future. ODAs can also be used by the government in coming up with schemes that will help protect the economy from the global trend of economic downturns by implementing regulations, which will somehow put safety nets to the national economy. ODAs may be used in employment training and job creation in order to assure that the citizens of the country are equipped with appropriate knowledge, which they may use in finding employment. Having established the necessity of increasing the amount of ODAs being transferred by developed countries to their poorer and less fortunate counterparts of Asia, the argumentation will shift towards the necessity of diverting funds not only to state governments but to non-governmental organizations as well. First, the author of this paper acknowledges the vital role being played by the government with regard to managing ODAs. Much substance have been given earlier in this paper and it is beyond argumentation that state-government acceptance of ODAs is indeed necessary. However, a new concept is being realized and offered which relates to the offering of ODAs from developed nations directly to international and local NGOs in the country. Perhaps one of the reasons to such proposition is the lessening trust of developed nations to their underdeveloped counterparts in Asia when it comes with governance. Many Asian countries, especially those who are financially-burdened, are often described in the international arena as engaging in the process of corruption. Documented evidence is being studied to support such claim (Lindsey and Dick, 2002). Good governance within the public sphere is indeed crucial in creating an environment, which will help mobilize resources, both domestically and internationally as well (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2002). Grantors of ODAs take into consideration the political climate within the country, which will receive their grant. They give premium to those who are practicing good governance. However, most countries in Asia had been involved in cases related to corruption. Hence, they do not appear as flawless to those who are sending them their ODAs. On the other hand, NGOs send a message of altruism to the international community. These NGOs project an image that they are indeed concerned in bringing progress to the countries where they have offices in. They appear as the good guys, whose business is to promote the welfare of the oppressed. NGOs are also offering programs that are aimed at bringing progress and development to their host countries. Sometimes, such programs from the NGOs are not being offered by state-governments. Another point is the fact that since grantors of aids are losing trust to corrupt governments, they are finding alternative channels to send their ODAs to residents of the receiving countries. Most NGOs in the international levels have earned themselves of the reputation to help others due to their noble causes. In spite of the manner as to how developed countries will be sending in their grants, what matters most is the fact that these grants are indeed helpful in bring progress and development to underdeveloped countries. References Berlage L. and Stokke, O. (1992). Evaluating Development Assistance: Approaches and Method. London: Routledge Publishing. Gupta, K. L. (1992). Budget Deficits and Economic Activity in Asia. London, Routledge Publishing. Lindsey, T. and Dick, H. W. (2002). Corruption in Asia: rethinking the governance paradigm. Annandale: NSW Federation Press. Nault D. M. (2008). Development in Asia: Interdisciplinary, Post-Neoliberal, and Transnational Perspectives. Boca Raton: Brown Walker Press. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2002). Official development assistance and private finance: attracting finance and investment to developing countries. Paris: OECD Publishing.

SNPs of ABCG2 in Chinese Advanced NSCLC Patients

SNPs of ABCG2 in Chinese Advanced NSCLC Patients Introduction Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent and fatal malignant neoplasm all over the world and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80%–85% of all lung cancers(1). The majority of NSCLC patients, approximately 80%, presents in locally advanced (phase IIIA/B) or metastatic (phase IV) stages, which results in quite low 5-year survival rates, 8-14.1% for phase IIIA and 1-5% for phase IIIAB/IV (2). The standard treatment of advanced NSCLC, two-drug chemotherapy based on platinum, has reached a bottleneck with limited effect. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), a targeted drug of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), have been recently introduced for the treatment of NSCLC. Clinical trials indicated that Gefitinib and Erlotinib treating advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR mutation could result a remission rate of 62.1%~84.6% and progression-free survival (PFS) of 8.4~13.1 months, which are significantly higher than that in chemotherapy group (32.2%~47.3% and 4.6~6.7 months , respectively), but not over survival(3-6). In order to implement accurate treatment of both chemotherapy and targeted therapy, it’s urgent to find other predictive targets of NSCLC patients to stratify for treatment. ATP binding cassette superfamily G member 2 (ABCG2), also known as breast cancer resistance protein, was demonstrated to be associated with the effect and prognosis of chemotherapy/targeted therapy in NSCLC (7-9). Because the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ABCG2 are supposed to affect the expression of ABCG2 protein and SNPs of ABCG2 in Asian population are different from other ethnicities (10), we conducted this study to evaluate the SNPs of ABCG2 in Chinese advanced NSCLC patients and its association with their prognosis of TKI therapy. Materials and methods Patients and treatment A total of 100 patients with pathology and cytology confirmed advanced or metastatic NSCLC were enrolled into this study between April 2012 and January 2014 in Hangzhou, China. The mutation of EGFR gene was assessable in 32 patients. Other patients were not assessed EGFR mutation. TKI targeted therapy was implemented in 70 NSCLC patients and other therapy was implemented in the other 30 patients. Patients with TKI targeted therapy were treated with Gefitnid (Astrazeneca pharmaceutical co., LTD) at a dose of 250 mg/day or Erlotinib (Roche pharmaceuticals co., LTD) at a dose of 150 mg/day or Icotinib (Zhejiang beida pharmaceutical co., LTD) at a dose of 375 mg/day. The patients’ characteristics were detailed in Table 1. All patients received chest CT every two months after 1 month of therapy. The efficacy of TKI therapy was clarified as complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progression disease (PD) according to RECIST 1.1 [1]. Patients with CR or PR at more than 6 months were considered as responders. Patients with SD and PD at less than 6 months were considered as nonresponders.[A1] Progression-free survival (PFS) was defined as the duration from TKI therapy to disease progression. Overall survival (OS) was defined as the duration from diagnosis to death from any cause. All patients agreed to participate in this study and signed written informed consent. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Nanjing Medical University and performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practice guidelines[A2]. DNA extraction Blood samples were collected before chemotherapy and kept in a microcentrifuge tubes containing ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA). Genomic DNA was extracted using a DNA purification kit (Flexi Gene DNA Kit, Qiagen, Hilden, Germany). The concentration of genomic DNA was determined with NanoDrop 1000 (Thermo Scientific, Wilmington, USA) and then it was diluted to a standard of 25 ng/ÃŽ ¼l. Analysis of ABCG2 polymorphisms The ABCG2 34 G/A (dbSNP ID: rs2231137), 421 C/A (dbSNP ID: rs 2231142), 1143 C/T (dbSNP ID: rs2622604) and -15622 C/T (dbSNP ID: rs7699188) polymorphisms were amplified by PCR with the appropriate primers. The primers for PCR and single base extension (Table 2) were designed by the Sequenom Assay Designer 3.1 Software (San Diego, CA). The PCR reactions[A3] were performed at 95 °C for 2 min, followed by 40 cycles at 95 °C for 30 s, Tm for 30 s, and 72 °C for 60 s. After PCR amplification, single base extension reaction was performed following the method of Wiltshire et al [2]. Finally, polymorphisms of ABCG2 gene were tested and analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization timeof-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and Sequenom MassARRAY system (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA). Statistical analysis Allele frequencies of SNPs were calculated and their genotype distributions were assessed using Fisher’s exact test or chi-square test. PFS and OS were evaluated with censored survival time methods and 95% confidence intervals (CI) was obtained from multivariable logistic regression. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted for OS and analyzed with log-rank test. All tests were performed 2-sided and a p-value were carried out using SPSS 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software. Results ABCG2 gene polymorphisms The genotyping of ABCG2 34 G/A, 421 C/A, 1143 C/T and -15622 C/T were performed in all these 100 patients. For the ABCG2 34 G/A polymorphism, the frequencies of GG, GA and AA genotypes were 36%, 50% and 14%, respectively. The allele frequencies of G and A were 61% and 39%, respectively. The wide-type ABCG2 421 C/A genotype (CC) had a frequency of 53%, while the CA and AA genotypes were found in 43% and 4% of the patients, respectively. The allele frequencies of G and A were 74.5% and 25.5%, respectively. The frequencies of CC, CT and TT genotypes for ABCG2 1143 C/T were 66%, 29% and 5%, respectively. The allele frequencies of G and A were 80.5% and 19.5%, respectively. Regarding the ABCG2 -15622 C/T polymorphism, the TT genotype was observed in all patients. Therefore, polymorphism of ABCG2 -15622 C/T was not investigated in the following steps. Polymorphisms of ABCG2 and clinical characteristics Patients clinical characteristics were shown in Table 1, and the relationship between polymorphisms of ABCG2 and clinical characteristics were presented in Table 3. No significant correlations were found between ABCG2 polymorphisms (34 G/A, 421 C/A and 1143 C/T) and patients’ characteristics, including gender, age, smoking history, histology and EGFR mutation (p > 0.05). Although there was no significant relationship between ABCG2 421 C/A polymorphism and EGFR mutation, a trend that CA genotype was observed frequently in EGFR mutation positive patients (47.6% in positive patients vs. 18.2% in negative patients, p = 0.119). Then we calculated the allele frequency of A in these patients and a high frequency of allele A in positive patients (33.3% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.038) was observed. Polymorphisms of ABCG2 and clinical outcome of TKI The sensitivity of 70 patients to TKI treatment was shown in Table 4. NO significant correlation was found between ABCG2 polymorphisms (34 G/A, 421 C/A and 1143 C/T) and sensitivity (p > 0.05). As shown in Table 4, median PFS for carriers of the A-allele and GG genotype at position 34 of the ABCG2 gene who were treated with TKI therapy was 8.0 months (95% CI: 5.9-10.1, n = 45) and 6.5 months (95% CI: 4.1-8.9, n = 25), respectively. There was no significant difference in median PFS of NSCLC patients receiving TKI therapy between CC genotype and CA + AA genotype at position 421 of ABCG2 gene (p > 0.05). Median PFS of patients with CC genotype at position 1143 of ABCG2 gene was higher than those with CT and TT genotypes, but no significant difference was found (p > 0.05). The median OS of patients with ABCG2 34 G/A, 421 C/A, 1143 C/T polymorphisms was shown in Table 4. The median OS of patients with GG genotype at position 34 of the ABCG2 gene was 18 months (95% CI: 14.9-21.1, n = 25) and for those with other genotypes (GA and AA) was 31 months (95% CI: 22.9-39.1, n = 45). Figure 1 showed the Kaplan-Meier curve for OS for NSCLC patients receiving TKI therapy in relation to ABCG2 genotypes at 34 G/A (Figure 1A), 421 C/A (Figure 1B) and 1143 C/T (Figure 1C). There was significant difference between patients with GG genotype and those with GA + AA genotypes at position 34 of the ABCG2 gene (p difference between patients that were CC genotype regarding the position 421 of ABCG2 gene and carriers with other genotypes (CA + AA, p > 0.05). No significant difference was found in 1143 C/T polymorphism (p > 0.05). Discussion Our present study observed that three polymorphisms of ABCG2, 34G>A, 421C>A and 1143C>T occured more frequently compared with -15622C>T in Chinese advanced NSCLC patients. As for -15622C>T, all patients presented a TT genotype. Although no relationships were observed between different genotypes of ABCG2 polymorphisms and EGFR status, a higher frequency of allele A (421C>A) in EGFR mutation positive patients was observed. The other polymorphisms were not related to clinical characteristics. The sensitivity and PFS to TKI of 70 patients was not related to polymorphisms. However, the OS of patients with 34G>A mutant type (GA+AA) was significantly longer than those with wild type (GG). The ABCG2 protein is an important member of the ABC transporter superfamily, which has been suggested to be involved in multi-drug resistance (MDR) in cancer. Screening for SNPs in ethnically diverse subjects has identified more than 80 synonymous and nonsynonymous SNPs in the ABCG2 gene to date (12). The two most frequent polymorphisms identified were 34G>A (resulting in V12M) and 421C>A (resulting in a Q141K substitution) transitions (13). A novel diplotype of two polymorphic loci in the ABCG2 promoter involving -15622C>T and 1143C>T were identified recently (14). Introduction of other ABCG2 SNPs can be found in a recent review (15). Despite the similar allele frequency of 421C>A variant among East Asian populations including Chinese (34.2–35.0%) and Japanese (26.6–35.0%), the allele frequency is higher than that of Southeast Asians (15.0%), Middle Easterns (13.0%), Caucasians (8.7–12.0%) and African-Americans (2.3%) (10). Similarly, the allele frequency of the 34G>A variant in Chinese (20.0%), Koreans (19.8%) and Japanese (15.0-19.0%) is comparable. However, it is much lower than that in Southeast Asians (45%) and higher than other ethnic groups including Caucasian (1.7–10.3%), African-American (6.3%) and Middle Eastern (5.0%) populations (10). The allele frequency of 421C>A variant in our studied population was 25.5%, which was comparable to other Asian populations. However, the allele frequency of 34G>A variant was 39.0%, which was higher than other reports from Asian populations. We found that the allele frequency of 1143C>T variant and -15622C>T variant in our study was 19.5% and 100%, respectively. In Caucasians, it was reported to be 22% and 28%, respectively (16). We unexpectedly observed that all the included patients presented TT genotype of -15622C>T. As far as we known, this gene has not been investigated in other Asian populations. Future studies could be conducted to determine the polymorphism of -15622C>T in Asian po pulation and its potential impact. Physiologically, ABCG2 protein is highly expressed in the blood-brain barrier and gastrointestinal tract, where it is thought to play a role in protection against xenobiotic exposure. High ABCG2 expression has also been found in a variety of tumors and correlated with multidrug resistance and poorer clinical outcomes, as this transporter has the ability to extrude its drug substrates out of the cells, thereby decreasing their intracellular accumulation (17, 18)[16]. Primary structural variations of ABCG2 are associated with its drug-transporter function (15). Therefore, SNPs in the ABCG2 gene would influence the pharmacological effects differently in different patients. It has been demonstrated that 421C>A polymorphisms may express low amounts of ABCG2 (19-22) while the influence of 34G>A polymorphisms on ABCG2 expression remains controversial (22, 23). And regarding to 1143C>T and -15622C>T, some researchers found a decreased protein expression related to these two polymorphisms (21 ) and others found no relation between them (24). Moreover, 421C>A polymorphism has been demonstrated to be associated with ATPase activity and drug transport (18). Thus, several clinical studies have investigated the relation between ABCG2 polymorphism and clinical outcome of NSCLC. Mà ¼ller and colleagues (25) found that carriers of the ABCG2 421 A-allele treated with platinum-based drugs showed a significantly worse OS in all lung cancer patients. However, this effect was not statistically significant in the smaller subgroups of SCLC patients or NSCLC patients with platinum-based treatment. They did not found an association between 34G>A polymorphism and prognosis. Another study of 129 unresectable NSCLC cases treated with first-line platinum-based chemotherapy suggested that ABCG2 SNPs rs2725264 and rs4148149 were associated with OS (26). On the other side, there was also evidence showing that ABCG2 polymorphisms were not related to response or prognosis of NSCLC patients treated with gefitinib (24), erlotinib (27) and gemcitabine and/or platinum-based drugs and/or other drugs (28). In our present study, we found the OS of patients with 34G >A mutant type (GA+AA) was significantly longer than those with wild type (GG). However, we did not observe significant differences concerning other polymorphisms including 421C>A, which was found to be associated with prognosis of other cancer by other study (29). Interestingly, it was reported that ABCG2 34 GA/AA genotypes were associated with poor prognosis of Chinese patients with acute leukaemia (30). Polymorphisms of 34G>A seems to have an opposite impact in different types of cancer. The mechanisms are worthy to be investigated in future large studies. Moreover, ABCG2 SNPs was demonstrated not only related to TKI resistance, but also to TKI induced side effects. Cusatis and colleaguesinvestigated associations between allelic variants ofABCG2 with diarrhea and skin toxicity ingefitinib-treated patients. They found that 16 patients heterozygous forABCG2 421C>A developed diarrhea, versus only 13 (12%) of 108 patients homozygous for the wild-type sequence. However, this SNP was not associated with skin toxicity (28). A recent study found that patientscarrying anABCG2 -15622 TT genotype or harboring at least one TT copy in theABCG2 (1143CT, -15622CT) haplotype developed significantly more grade 2/3 diarrhea (23). In our present study, we did not perform the analysis on side effects. However, this is a serious concern which should be taken into consideration in future studies. In Conclusion, Our findings demonstrate a strong association between the ABCG2 34G>A polymorphism and the overall survival of NSCLC patients treated with TKIs, including Gefitnib, Erlotinib and Icotinib. Since these polymorphisms can be assessed with a simple blood test, it might potentially improve the stratification of patients for TKI treatment by identifying genetically high-response subgroups. Therefore, larger prospective trials are warranted to validate these findings. [A3]The PCR reactions were performed in 20 ÃŽ ¼l volumes on 384-well plates (cat. No. TF-0384/W, ABgene, USA) with 20 ng DNA, 10 pmol for each primer and 1 Ãâ€" PCR-Buffer (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA). à §Ã‚ ¼Ã‚ ºÃƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã…“à ¨Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ ¿Ãƒ £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡

Key Worker Living Scheme Analysis

Key Worker Living Scheme Analysis Key Workers Conference Abstract Affordable housing in London is an issue which affects many individuals and the problem of affordable housing is particularly of concern to poorer sectors within London and those in low paid employment (Greater London Authority (2005) 1) (Pacione, M. (1997) 8) and (Greater London Authority (2006) 1). This is a situation which remains unchanged by the fact that there are schemes in place which purport to ameliorate the problems relating to affordable housing experienced by many people living and working in London (Rugg, R. (1999) 19-20). Schemes such as the Key Worker Living scheme which is administered through the offices of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Teachers Housing Association Scheme and London Strategic Housing have been targeted specifically at key workers who experience housing needs in London. However, although the government have made many housing provisions for London based key workers, the problem remains that these provisions arguably do not extend far enough. Specifically, it may be argued that the definition of what a key worker is is perhaps too narrow. It may also be argued that those who fall outside the definition of key worker, but nevertheless experience housing problems are being let down by the government, principally because many of them simply do not qualify for the schemes which have been mentioned above. The fact that house prices in London are increasing quite rapidly, and that the average salary within London has not increased in the same proportions sharpens the hardships experienced by those in low paid employment in London, who don’t qualify for key worker schemes. These arguments will be put forward and evaluated in this paper and there will be a wider discussion of whether there is any real need to continue to have a ‘key worker requirement’ to trigger the assistance which is available to those in need of housing support within London. The paper will also consider wider economic, socio logical and political factors and will employ a qualitative, evaluative methodology in doing so. Who is included within the definition of a Key Worker? The people to whom the status of key worker is attributed to must firstly be employed in the public sector dispensing essential services in a sector where there are problems with recruiting staff and retaining their services. Categorises of people who fulfil this criteria are: clinical staff employed by the NHS, for example nurses (doctors and dentists are excluded); teachers working in maintained primary and secondary educational institutions; police officers, community support officers and prison staff; uniformed staff in the fire and rescue services; probation officers and local authority employed staff (for example educational psychologists) (Department of Communities and Local Housing (2006) 1). Perhaps it is also wise to comment on which workers may not fall within the definition. These sectors may include cleaning staff and support staff within teaching institutions, many categories of unskilled labourers, support staff wi thin hospitals and universities and those who provide support services within other professions. Why assistance is particularly tied to the Key Worker Sector; and What is being done to assist those who are not Key Workers? The rationale behind tying housing assistance to key workers is built upon much common sense. It is sensible to ensure that workers who provide key services are encouraged to stay within key occupations that provide useful services to the general public. Perhaps the need for such a rationale can be brought more sharply into focus by considering what may occur if essential workers were ‘priced out of the market’. A scenario like this will deplete the services which are available to the entire population within a given area and would perhaps impact hospitals and schools in particular. It is plain to see therefore why housing assistance in terms of affordable housing is targeted at these sectors which may be described as containing key workers. However, there is also an argument to be made that these provisions are not enough, and that they fail to a cknowledge the wider issue which is that affordable housing affects many individuals who fall outside the definition of a key worker. The reality is that the problem of affordable housing is a pervasive one, and, as we have seen explained above, the definition of key worker is quite a narrow construction. Therefore many non key workers have very low incomes but do not meet the criteria which are prescribed to give them key worker housing assistance. The services which these groups provide are indeed essential; they help to support the day to day running of essential services and are therefore crucial to the lives of all of those living in London. It seems logical therefore that these individuals should be given the same levels of support that key workers are given when it comes to the issue of affordable housing. As we have seen explained above, the reality is very different, and critics of the fact that just key workers qualify for many schemes to provide housing support point to the actual need experienced by the individuals involved; not just to the wider usefulness that housing support schemes may afford the ge neral public (which is the justification for the linkage between some housing support and just key workers). However, is it the case whereby the government simply ignore the needs of those who do not qualify for housing assistance as they are not key workers? Clearly this is not the case. The government operate housing associations and special needs facilities for those individuals who have needs due to disability or poverty. Those who are on low incomes may qualify for the new tax credits schemes and indeed for rates relief or housing benefit to help lessen the effects of the affordable housing problem. In terms of specific housing provision, non key workers may take advantage of some Social Registered Landlord Schemes  which include Home Exchange and Right to Acquire Schemes. The Home Exchange scheme is open to secure, or assured tenants and involves exchanging homes between tenants with the permission of landlords; other schemes include the Seaside and Country Homes initiative which involves the allocation of homes to those considered deserving (not necessarily key workers); the Homefi nder Direct scheme which is similar to the Seaside and Country Homes scheme and the LAWN project which makes homes available to ethnic minorities (www.cityoflondon.gov.uk). These schemes are intended to assist all those in need of housing assistance and not always just key workers. However, how much help do these schemes really deliver? The reality of poverty in London means that many tenants on low incomes are not those who would qualify for the Home Exchange scheme or other schemes, since they may not have assured tenancies. People who receive housing assistance in the form of housing benefit lose their entitlement to benefit if their savings are over a certain threshold, and therefore it appears that poor people in London, who experience housing need and who are not covered by the key worker schemes are in a state of perpetual poverty. It also appears that the government’s main solution to the housing problem in London is to suggest that people within London should make an effort to relocate in other areas where housing and living is cheaper. This is tantamount to indirectly saying that low paid workers do not deserve to live within London; indeed the government’s failure to acknowledge the problem or to deal with it in any other way reinforces this point and effectively classes poorer people as second class citizens. This attitude taken by government also takes no consideration of the fact that many people who cannot afford to live in London, as they are not covered by key worker schemes, and who the government expects to simply relocate to other parts of the country, may have relations who live in London, and may have spent their entire lives there. To expect these people to abandon their roots is not a realistic solution to the problem of affordable housing in London. Also, given that the government’s main approach to the problem of affordable housing for poor people who are not covered by key worker schemes is to relocate, no assistance is offered to those who actually have jobs in London and who are faced with a choice between unemployment forced through relocation, and continuing to experience housing need while being employed in London. None of these problems have easy answers, but clearly a good approach to the problem is to more explicitly acknowledge that there is a problem to start off with, and it is also clear that to only offer assistance in the form of housing support to key workers is to assist one category of people in housing need by making another groups’ housing need more acute. Conversely however, on a macro and political level the government have attempted to make better use of the space which is available to build affordable housing within London. This has involved the conversions of abandoned commercial sites for use as housing sites (Greater London Authority (2005) Section 5.4). This is intended to ensure that available space within London is used sensibly to help lessen the effects of shortages in housing building sites. Clearly this will be of long term assistance to both key workers and non key workers. On a macro level another example of the government’s efforts in this area is their current emphasis on building ‘sustainable urban environments’, an emphasis which is of benefit to all of those affected by the affordable housing problem, not just those considered to be key workers. The government has also conducted many research initiatives into identifying the root causes of affordable housing problems and aiming to eliminate them. Although these initiatives only address the needs of those affected by the affordable housing problem in an indirect sense, it is clear that the government’s efforts on a macro scale (Karn, V. and Wolman, H. (1992) Ch 1) are intended to help those key workers and those non key workers who are all affected by the affordable housing problem. The problem remains however, that non key workers simply do not get the levels of support that key workers may qualify for, in spite of the fact that perhaps both sectors arguably equally deserve this. Therefore, would the problem of affordable housing be more fairly approached by simply abolishing the requirement for workers to qualify as key workers in order to qualify for housing support within London? Another approach would be to make it easier to fall within the definition of what a key worker is. The answer to these two suggestions is that perhaps there is an argument for this to be the case, but it must be counterbalanced against the fact that resources within this area are limited. It is inevitable that there will be a deserving case to be made for many third parties who do not fall within the current definition of what   a key worker is and of course, it is the case that it is desirable for all of those who are in need to receive housing support. As we have seen explained above however, there is a cogent rationale for why support is targeted at the key worker sector in particular. Key workers provide valuable services to the entire community and to neglect them would be detrimental to the levels of available services which all those resident in London often depend upon. The reality is that limited resources have to be dissipated in ways that are prescriptive and designed to exclude some categories of people. This exclusion does not point to an idea that the excluded person is undeserving; instead it points to the fact that there are limited resources which have to be expended in a frugal manner. However, this is not to say that more lateral thinking on the part of the government and a more open acknowledgement on the part of the government that non key workers experience acute housing need in London would not go a long way to lessening the housing hardship which they experience.

The Letter from Birmingham Jail Essay -- Martin Luther King

On April 16, 1963, from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. composed an extensive letter to eight clergymen who condemned the timing of the civil rights movement. Although the letter was addressed to these eight clergymen, the Letter from Birmingham Jail speaks to a national audience, especially King’s â€Å"Christian and Jewish brothers†(King, 29). His peaceful but firm letter serves as a remarkably persuasive voice to an immensely chaotic mess, and is seen as a major turning point in the civil rights movement. King believes that without direct action, the full rights for African Americans could never be achieved. He defends the impatience of people in the civil rights movement, upholding that without forceful demonstrations, equality will never be reached. King upholds that human rights must take precedence over unjust laws. His eloquent language and use of classical argumentation make his case resilient and convincing. King’s expert use of pathos invokes anger, sympathy and empathy; his impeccable use of logos made his argument rational to all; and his use of ethos, especially his use of biblical references, makes his opinions more authoritative. Through his vivid descriptions, passionate tone, and expressive examples, King’s arguments evoke an emotional response in his readers. King’s use of pathos gives him the ability to inspire fellow civil rights activists, evoke empathy in white conservatives, and create compassion in the minds of the eight clergymen and the rest of his national audience. King seeks to lessen the aggression of white citizens while revitalizing the passion for nonviolent protest in the minds of African Americans. King cautions, â€Å"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere† (K... ...ivil rights movement. Overall, I believe King’s letter his extremely influential due to his impeccable use of argument within it, incorporating logos, pathos and ethos. In my opinion, King’s use of pathos is one of the factors behind the success of his letter. Although his letter was addressed to the eight clergymen, I believe that King intended for the entire nation to read it and react to it. The variety of literary devices in his letter makes King sound intelligent and convincing. On the other hand, I believe that King incorporates too much alliteration within his letter; many times, King makes a historical or biblical reference without delving into its relevance or meaning, leaving the reader questioning his intentions. In my opinion, if King would have described these alliterations more or, rather, left them out entirely, his argument would be deeper.

Juvenile Criminals Should Not Be Tried as Adults :: Juvenile Crime Jail Prison Essays

Juvenile Criminals Should Not Be Tried as Adults Today?s court system is left with many difficult decisions. One of the most controversial being whether to try juveniles as adults or not. With the number of children in adult prisons and jails rising rapidly, questions are being asked as to why children have been committing such heinous crimes and how will they be stopped. The fact of the matter is that it is not always the children's fault for their poor choices and actions; they are merely a victim of their environment or their parents. Another question asked is how young is too young. Children who are too young to see an R rated film unaccompanied are being sent to adult prisons. The only boundaries that seem to matter when it comes to being an adult are laws that restrain kids from things such as alcohol, pornography, and other materials seen as unethical. Children that are sent to adult prison are going to be subjected to even more unprincipled ideas and scenes. When children can be sent to jail for something as minor as a smas h and grab burglary, the judicial system has errors. The laws that send juveniles to adult prisons are inhumane, immoral, and unjust. Kids are often incompetent, which leads to unfair trials. Adult prisons are also very dangerous for minors, and in many cases this leads to more juvenile crimes. People support sending juveniles to adult prisons for many reasons. One reason is that it is the job of the courts to help protect society. Once a troubled juvenile is sent to an adult prison, they are out of the way of society. Hopefully when they re-enter, the punishments they received will be imprinted in their brain and stop them from performing any wrong again. Another reason people think that disturbed youth cannot be saved is that punishment will not save them from themselves and they just need to be locked up forever. It is thought to be true that juveniles who are sent to jail will not commit the same crime again or even any crimes at all. All the reasons and opinions that say that juveniles should be sent to adult prisons for their heinous crimes seem logical. Despite this, they are not. There are more rational reasons why adolescents should be sent to their own private penitentiary. One of the reasons for sending juveniles to a separate prison than

Prisoner – Creative Writing

At least the sun's shining on this old decrepit prison. I can't understand why they've put me in this remote room, alone. I've just arrived. From the 1st of December until my last breath, you would expect to be greeted with open arms, wouldn't you? It's not like she didn't deserve it†¦ Meeting our new friends will be as amusing as reading – I can't think of anything worse. I'd rather listen to her baby wail, scream and shriek again. I sometimes wonder what happened to that baby, watching its mum suffer. Time is valuable, so I won't waste it with those ‘freaks', they're all the same – worthless vermin. Well they'll see, I have got it all planned out. Dear Jason, It's hell here. I feel like Satan's minion, sweeping, scrubbing, and sweating in this ‘hell-hole'. An insignificant ant challenging the irrefutable Mount Everest – each step is an anxious challenge; as for every single stride I make, I end up stumbling back. Pointless. There is a burden of anxiety and mental suffering depicted in the face of every man, as we are all pampered like peasants; especially Little Bill, he can't defend himself so everyone takes advantage. I've just been placed with Derrick my new cellmate, the old fool's fifty, twice my age; his senseless stories of driving his own crane in ‘the good old days' shuttles you towards insanity – without mentioning his nauseating scar which runs the length of his face; my stomach convulses when I gaze upon it. Sneering when he answers ‘How did that happen?'- He fell down flight of stairs; he must think I'm mad to believe him. That's the other problem, I can't trust anyone – I will need to eventually though. ‘Bro', when you next visit Mum's grave can you leave a bunch of roses from me; she always cherished the aroma they produced: even though I still hate them. Do you know she's the only thing that's keeping me going? If only she hadn't taken that job as ‘her' assistant none of this would have happened. Mum didn't deserve so much pressure, she was only the ‘messenger' doing as she were told, without a wink of sleep in over two weeks a car accident was inevitable. But I have no remorse for what I did to ‘June', revenge is sweet. Jake I am gazing through the confined window; the icy steel bars obstruct my route from death. The frenzied frost tearing at my tender hands. I'll be out there soon, we will be free, I can smell it. Old, dilapidated and weathered; these bricks can't withhold us. From slavering away in the kitchen at a Kings pace a few helpful utensils have been gathered; a carving knife, spoon and fork. These can be stored inside the T.V; no one would bother looking there. ‘Derrick? Where are you, idiot, get here. You've worked in the demolishing business for long enough; tell me, can we burst through now?' ‘Too right son, too right.' ‘Luckily this fork and spoon has lasted from wear, but it looks the knife won't be needed ‘aye Del'.' ‘It's getting late my boy, move your rock of a bed back to its normal spot. The incessant stomping of the pigs will soon pass our cell. We must wait until dusk.' The moon's beams of lurid light echoed through the prison. A steely smell of anxiety overhauled the sound of the snoring from the convicts. This was nearly it. Weeks of planning boiled down to this. Thankfully, I'm fearless, this time I will get away, we will be free ‘Jimmy.' We could go, now? Just leave Derrick; he's someone we can't trust anyway. We should desert him; he would soak up all the blame. Droplets of blood were dripping on the floor; my hands sore and weeping from pounding powerful punches like a boxer at the gapping hole in the corner of the cell – I only had to make it half a foot wider whilst being quiet as possible. A seed of adrenaline sprouted inside me, the round circle in the wall had subsided. It was time. Psyching myself was easy, I knew what had to be done. ‘ESCAPEE, AN ESCAPEY!' I turn around horrified, standing still paralyzed. Derrick? ‘No it can't be, y-you set me up?!' Glaring him straight in the face – I had no choice†¦

Essay Question

In Lie Weasel's opinion, what are the universal lessons of the Holocaust? What is the message of this particular lecture? In Lie Weasel's speech, he spoke of the cruelty of man towards Jews and how man did not view Jews as human beings. The universal lessons he spoke of were to not forget what happened and to tell the message, but not to tell it to make people â€Å"weep†, but to tell it so people could make the world a better place. It was worse than any cruelty known to man.Lie Wishes spoke at the opening of the Holocaust Museum, to dignitaries from all over the world. He spoke of some lessons, that the Holocaust taught, that were universal to man. He spoke of man's atrocities toward Jews and that their captors thought of them as less than human. We should as a species, respect all men, no matter their race, color or creed. Mr†¦ Wishes spoke so that horrors of this magnitude might be averted In the future. Another lesson to be learned from the Holocaust is that the memo ries of this event should not be pressed.They must be faced and dealt with. The repression of memories will cause them to backlash far worse than the pain of facing It. Also the facing of these memories will allow us to keep them in the forefront of our mind and ever allow these things to occur again. Mr†¦ Wishes had two main points In his speech to the world; the first was how we, as a species, allowed this to occur to our fellow man. The second was that we should never forget It and stop It from ever occurring In the future.