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Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals would be granted many of the same rights as married couples under UK Government plans for legally-recognised civil partnerships. Barbara Roche, the Minister for Social Exclusion and Equalities, says there is a strong case for allowing same-sex couples to register their relationships. This seems to be equating gay relationships with marriage and I think that is very wrong Colin Hart Christian Alliance Co-habiting couples do not receive the same tax breaks or entitlements that married couples enjoy, including access to a partner's pension. Civil partnerships could give homosexual couples property and inheritance rights for the first time. Under the plans, those who register their partnership will also receive next-of-kin status, without which partners cannot be consulted about hospital treatment. The government is set to unveil detailed proposals for change next summer and consult on the issue before bringing in legislation. Any bill would be likely to run into opposition in the House of Lords. Britons support unmarried couples Click here to read Panorama report There is already a register for gay couples in London - but it does not confer legal rights. Mrs Roche says the idea is not about being politically correct but about recognising how society has changed. She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There are a number of people in gay relationships, in lesbian relationships, who are in loving relationships but their partnerships have no recognition in law. Roche: Change would send a strong message against homophobia "What I am seeking to do is to say I think there is a strong case for considering a civil partnership registration scheme." Earlier, she told the Independent newspaper the change would also send a powerful message that homophobia was unacceptable and still far too widespread. Mrs Roche said that many gay people had been refused hospital visits or excluded from funerals, while others had had to sell their homes to pay inheritance tax. Eight European Union countries, Canada and several American states already gave legal status to civil partnerships, said Mrs Roche. A new survey of British social attitudes this week suggested a "dramatic" shift in the way the public view homosexuality. We certainly welcome it and would hope that the government will go on and recognise these relationships in full David Allison, spokesman for OutRage! In 1985, 70% of people thought homosexuality was "always" or "mostly" wrong. Now that view is shared by under half (47%) of people, while a third of people says it is "not wrong at all", suggested the National Centre for Social Research survey.

Internet shopping Essay

For those who prefer their shopping to come to them, Sainsbury’s to You delivers groceries ordered via the Internet. Audio publications for blind people For people who cant see they can get Braille embossed audio-cassette where all their gifting and food/drink brochures are available. They can order the items via phone or tell a family member to get it for them. Disability parking spaces All car parks have designated disabled parking spaces. These are situated near the main store entrance for any customers with a mobility/access requirement. Guide/assistance dogs Guide/assistance dogs are welcome in all Sainsbury stores. Help with shopping Members of staff are available to assist customers with their shopping, including packing items at the checkout if required. Also they can carry shopping bags to the car if requested. Induction loop system for hearing impaired Most of the stores have hearing induction loops installed to help hearing-aid users interact with staffs at specific locations around the store, including selected checkouts and the customer service desk. The following symbol is displayed where induction loops have been installed. Service call in petrol stations 95% of their petrol stations have a service call facility available, enabling disabled drivers to request assistance without leaving their vehicle. Wheelchairs and specially adapted trolleys These items are available in every store (excluding Locals and selected Centrals where space is limited). Electric scooters are also available in larger selected stores. Service for parents and infants Customers shopping with a child under five years old, at a store with a Sainsbury’s controlled car park, can get a Parent and Infant windscreen badge from the Customer Service desk and keep it on their cars. Several types of trolleys are also available for various family combinations of babies and toddlers, even for triplets. Parents shopping with children can use the priority wide-aisle checkouts to avoid waiting. Sitting place for elderly people There will be chairs near the checkout for them to rest on, as they normally get tired in big stores. Time saving for kitchen work Time pressures exist at home as well as at work, so Sainsbury will offer products like ready-meals and prepared meats and vegetables that require no preparation. Mothers with baby-need trolley with baby seat There are few trolleys for babies to sit, but if the parents think the seats are not safe enough then they could give ideas of improving to the customer service, and from there Sainsbury will find ways to improve it if its possible. Blind people There should be someone with that person to help then to get the shopping done by looking at the shopping list. Students-having the products set out in the right place as students don’t have time to look for things Maybe checking the selves 3 times a day (morning, afternoon and evening) to see if the products are in the right place. Organic, vegetarian, vegan food They are put in different section so it is not difficult to find. Socio-economic group – A,B,C1,C2,D, E The price should be different, as everyone cannot afford even some luxury products. As well meeting the needs of the customers, Sainsbury already has other good facilities, which helps it to be a good customer service. They are: Health Sainsbury understands that healthy eating is about balance, so they focus on providing clear and easy-to-read nutritional information on their products to help customers seeking this balance. In some stores they carry out health checks and allergy tests. They have successfully reduced the level of salt in their products, and minimised the unnecessary use of pesticides to grow Different tastes It offers a very wide range of products (over 20,000 different products in many of our supermarkets) to meet just about every taste. For example, it caters for local tastes in Scotland by opening Simon Howie branded meat counters, Kelly’s of Cornwall ice cream in the South West, Bartons pickles in the North West, Genesis bread in Northern Ireland and a wide range of kosher foods in Finchley Road. Top-shelf publications Although there are no legal or trade guidelines on what may or may not be sold in newsagent outlets in general, their policy is not to display or sell any newspaper or magazine, which they think it would offend or embarrass the average customer. Sainsbury are also a member of Baywatch campaigning. Baywatch is a national campaign set up in response to widespread concern about the abuse of parking spaces designated for use by people with a disability. Along with other national retailers Sainsbury’s are supporting the campaign throughout their stores. Sainsbury’s recognises that each of its customers is an individual with individual needs, so all members of staff receive disability training as part of their induction programme to ensure that all staffs have an understanding of the needs of thier disabled customers. They were voted the best corporate chain store for their commitment to providing better service for deafblind customers at the Deafblind Friendly Corporate Awards 2001. It supports the Wellbeing ‘Eating for Pregnancy’ Helpline, which is run by state-registered dieticians. This shows they care about pregnancy customers as well. As they are supporters of the National Childbirth Trust’s ‘Breast is Best’ campaign, they provide baby changing rooms and some free nappies. Free membership is available for the Little Ones Club, but they are only entitles to the customers when they are shopping. A free magazine is also available for parents with the latest news on childcare and new products. Some of the larger stores also sell range of Adams children’s clothing and Early Learning Centre toys. What is customer protection? Customer protection is made up of several laws, which is placed by the government in favour of the consumers. This is placed to insure that the businesses know precisely what their responsibilities are towards their consumers. E. g. when selling a product to a customer, the business has to make sure that the customer is happy and satisfied with it. These are consumer protection legislation laws. * Sale of Goods Act (SGA) 1979 – this Act is consolidated the 1893 Act and its amendments. The right of the seller to sell = in every contract, there are some implied conditions. One such implied condition is that the seller has legal right to sell. When you go shopping you do not ask the shopkeeper if the goods that he or she is offering to sale are legally his or hers – you have to assume that it is so, but if later on you discover that the seller did not have the right to sell, then by the SGA 1979 Act you have the rights to recover the money you have spent. Another implied condition in a contract of sale is that the goods must correspond with the description that is given. E. g. a pair of gloves described as made of leather must be made of leather, not plastic. Â  Sale and Supply of Goods Act (SSGA) 1994 – This Act is important for its substitution of the term ‘satisfactory quality’ for the previously used phrases ‘merchantable quality’ and ‘fit for the purpose’. The guideline quoted above were set out in the SSGA 1994, but are implemented through the SGA. Supply of Goods and Services Act (SGSA) 1982 – The SGA 1979 dealt only with the legal responsibilities of sellers of goods. The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 added the responsibilities of providers of services. A contract for the supply of a service is defined as ‘a contract under which the supplier agrees to carry out a service’. This makes the supplier of a service carry out ‘responsible care and skills’. All service providers are included in this, whether they are professional or unprofessional.

Language acquisition: Nature or nurture? Essay

During the late 1950s, psychologists differed on how language is acquired. Skinner argued that language acquisition is based on instrumental conditioning, while Chomsky stressed that people are born with an innate capacity for acquiring a language/s, also called nativism. This paper argues that language is acquired through both nature and nurture, because these two theories can help fully explain language acquisition, instead of separately, although it is still unclear how much nature or nurture guides and impacts language acquisition. Language is acquired through both nature and nurture, because these two theories can fully explain language learning, instead of separately. Chomsky’s examples and some studies on the brain and language acquisition prove that children acquire their first language through a â€Å"language faculty,† which is a biologically independent system in the brain that â€Å"has an initial state which is genetically determined, like. . . the kidney, the circulatory system, and so on† (Chomsky, p. 13, cited in Knezek, 1997). This is evident in how all humans, except, those with language problems, understand particular ambiguities of language in the same manner (Knezek, 1997). Chomsky’s example is how children understand the meaning of a â€Å"brown house† across all cultures, referring to it as a house that is brown in the outside, and not inside (Knezek, 1997). This is remarkable because it shows how human beings make universal assumptions about the same words. Furthermore, studies showed that children, by the age of four or five, normally have the language competence of adults, whatever their culture might be (Knezek, 1997). On the other hand, nativists can also not explain all the processes of language acquisition. Behaviorists argued that Chomsky cannot explain why people have special parts of the brain that are focused on language or why humans can converse through language while other animals cannot (Knezek, 1997). Most likely, people also evolved their language capability by having their brain store the same skills and knowledge needed for language acquisition (Knezek, 1997). Furthermore, the universality of human language acquisition that animals lack can also be explained through the differences in brains and speech organs of human beings and other animals (Knezek, 1997). Human beings acquire language through nature and nurture. Up to now, people do not have a complete understanding of language acquisition processes, and studies show different results on why and how people acquire their languages as children, and even, as adults. At present, this paper shows that through evidence and examples, people acquire languages through their inherent capability for acquiring them and on how they make inductions about learning languages. Reference Knezek, M. (1997). Nature vs. Nurture: The Miracle of Language. Pyschology. Retrieved May 30, 2010, from http://www. duke. edu/~pk10/language/psych. htm

Qualities Important in Becoming an Officer in the United States Army Essay

I don’t believe anyone could argue that it takes a good amount of leadership in order to become a successful United States Military Academy cadet, as well as an officer in the United States Army. This is almost certainly one of the first things someone would look for in a strong officer. A strong leader can impact his soldiers in various ways. If your soldiers don’t stand behind you, and don’t have faith in you, they are more prone to disagree with or disobey your orders. Aside from leadership, a USMA cadet should be able to easily demonstrate confidence. What good is an officer who knows what must be done, but cannot effectively stand in front of his soldiers and tell them what needs to be done? As an officer in the Army, there will be numerous times where you will need to speak to groups of soldiers of varying sizes. Whether it’s something as simple as giving a safety brief, or something more important such as a mission briefing, you will need to have confidence in yourself in order to accomplish this. A USMA cadet should also have integrity, which happens to be one of the seven army values as well. I define integrity as doing the right thing, even when you think no one is watching. Lacking integrity in the civilian world is one thing, however in the military it is incredibly more dangerous as it could result in the death of fellow soldiers or even yourself. For example if you’re on guard for the night and decide that you would rather catch up on your sleep, you are endangering yourself along with all your battle buddies. A successful Army officer is also going to benefit from having a willingness to learn. Although West Point will have done it’s very best to prepare you for the duties of an officer, there is only so much you can learn from a classroom environment. While a brand new 2nd Lieutenant Platoon Leader may outrank a Sergeant First Class, there is still a vast amount of knowledge that the new Lieutenant can pick up from that E7. In my short time in the Army I have noticed that the young Lieutenants are almost always willing to take advice from their senior noncommissioned officers. Another important quality in an Army officer is bravery. Even if you are not serving in a combat MOS, you never know when you will be required to be brave You also need to have the courage to stand up for what you believe in, and for what you know to be right. Another quality that will keep your soldiers on your side is loyalty. If you can’t stay loyal to your soldiers, they will not have as much motivation to stay loyal to you. That also ties into the obvious loyalty to your country that is required of any military member. There are so many integral qualities and morals that are required of an officer in the Army. Unfortunately I am restricted with the length of this essay, but I have tried to highlight what I believe to be some of the most important values that should be deep inside all officers. Without values and morals your character will most likely be lacking and who would want to follow you at that point?

Strategy processes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategy processes - Essay Example 2.0 Globalisation In the context of this discussion, globalization plays an important role in the way a company strategise its policies to sustain their business presence. Globalisation has opened up numerous possible avenues for large and mid-sized companies to promote their products and services abroad. This directly enhances their market value and contributes to their economic might. In such cases, the time-tested strategy of rational and deliberate policies remains, and their products receive further boost through unknown territorial clientele. The governments of the once reclusive economies of Asia; China and India opened their skies to transfer of technology and co-production. Many of the heavy-machinery manufacturers and automotive industries were able to benefit immensely through co-productions and tie-ups. Government subsidies, cheap labour, qualified personnel and abundant raw material supplies generated huge volumes of profits and that too by retaining their strategy of being rational and deliberate. However, with time comes monotony and weariness. The strategy process has to be reassessed and changes brought about. Changes are perennial and so too are strategic processes. 3.0 Strategy Processes The strategy process is quite intriguing, yet exhilarating. Every company has its share of researchers who respond to the strategy process challenge by identifying certain traits that can either bring moments of exhilaration or disillusion. Disillusion comes from the often grotesque outcome of their effort leading to an outcome that is far from impressive. A lot of empirical research goes into the strategy process; large, often heroic and distinctive, collection of data is required to explore the possibility of... Though there are many players in the mobile telecommunication industry worldwide, the major names that one comes across in daily life are quite a handful. This is so, because of the strong marketing and services offered by these companies. Companies such as Alcatel, Ericsson, Fujitsu Microelectronics, Intel Corporation, Nokia, LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens, Samsung, Sun Microsystems, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Sprint, Nextel, AT & T Wireless, and Vodafone are well known and accepted brands. They have done extremely well all around the world with their branded mobile phones. However, there is no doubt, that without proper strategy process, most of these companies would find themselves in the same boat. There are no fixed love for a particular brand of handsets anywhere in the world, and definitely not so much in Europe, where mobile phone brands varies tremendously. The same is the case with the people of one continent with another. In general, Nokia is much better known and respected in Europe. Motorola dominates the handset numbers in the US. There is of course the interests of national players in mind, the likes of champions like Siemens, which is heavily respected in Germany. Samsung's brand awareness has been steadily rising in both the US and Europe, and LG is trying to make an impression on similar lines. So how do these companies sustain their market share? By being creative and emergent, of course!

Tattoos & Body Piercing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Tattoos & Body Piercing - Research Paper Example It is also used to express loyalty to worldly or divine lords as in Mexican culture where they inscribed their gods and idols in the tattoos. In South America, tribes tattooed their warriors to reaffirm their success in wars. Albeit in Japan, tattoos were used as a punishment for the sinners and criminals. However, in everyday lives, tattooing and body piercing hold a different meaning for each individual who goes into the process of acquiring it. Some people might get a tattoo because the design holds significance in their lives or they want to remember an important phase or event in their lives through that tattoo. It might also be acquired to represent the rebellion against the status quo or those in authority for instance teenagers worldwide get tattoos and body piercings to express their disobedience to their parents who are rarely fond of these activities.   The modern-day tattooing is made a lot easier, thanks to scientific development and new laser technologies. One of the forms of body art, which has descended down from ancient times and successfully transited in the cultures of modern times, is henna art. Made of natural herbs, it is used to decorate hands and feet of women in eastern cultures on their weddings and other occasions marking rites of passage. However, most people, more significantly in the west, have proceeded to tattoo culture to show their rebellion to the status quo and express their opinions with more freedom and aggression (Sawyer, 97). However, as easy as it is recent times to get a piercing or tattoo, the hazards it causes to health cannot be overemphasized. First, it is a permanent body art, removing a tattoo may be difficult and very expensive since it involves the use of high-tech instruments. Second, the tattoos are highly prone to infections and skin allergies. The red dye used in tattoos usually causes rashes, sometimes years after getting a tattoo. The infections caused by tattoos are mainly bacterial and appear as sores and pus-like forms. Often, granulomas, a bump-like structure, from around the tattoo due to the ink dye used.  

Legal Aspects of Business Decisions Unit 2 IP Research Paper

Legal Aspects of Business Decisions Unit 2 IP - Research Paper Example Sturge Ltd to honor obligation amounts to violation of Ohio’s statutory and property law. According to Steinberg (1993), the court’s holding asserted that the Ohio Blue Sky Laws in subject were not applicable since international transactions at that time were not explicitly covered within the laws. The plaintiff, West Shell Jr. and the defendant R.W. Sturge Ltd were locked in a case, which was eventually brought to conclusion by Hamilton County Court in December 08, 1993. With respect to the presiding judges, West Shell Jr. et al were supposed to be refunded all monetary resources that they incurred as loses after investing in unregistered securities. According to Steinberg (1993), the court established that the defendant R.W. Sturge Ltd et al made a coalition with other third parties in selling illegal stocks and securities to the plaintiff. Therefore, R.W. Sturge Ltd et al was liable for refunding money used to purchase securities as well as payment of any attorney fees incurred by the plaintiff throughout the case. With respect to procedural construct of the case, British law asserts that any insurance and investment premium received by underwriters of a financial company is automatically placed in a trust fund. Any profits realized from a trust fund are released to the underwriters association, upon which the underwriters will extend the proceeds to investors. In this case, R.W. Sturge Ltd failed to honor its agreement by selling illegitimate securities to the plaintiff. Consequently, the plaintiff argued that the agreement binding the sale of securities was void under the Ohio Blue Sky Law. With respect to the legal background, Ohio Blue Sky Laws states that all public transactions brought into Ohio are accorded protection from fraudulent contracts and misrepresentation of facts during an agreement. According to Steinberg (1993), this means that Ohio Blue Sky Laws protect investors against gullibility and mischievousness of international