The Proposed Legalization Of Same-sex Marriage Is One Of The Essays

The proposed legalization of same-sex marriage is one of the most significant issues in contemporary American family law. Presently, it is one of the most vigorously advocated reforms discussed in law reviews, one of the most explosive political questions facing lawmakers, and one of the most provocative issues emerging before American courts. If same-sex marriage is legalized, it could be one of the most revolutionary policy decisions in the history of American family law. The potential consequences, positive or negative, for children, parents, same-sex couples, families, social structure public health, and the status of women are enormous. Given the importance of the issue, the value of comprehensive debate of the reasons for and against legalizing same-sex marriage should be obvious. Marriage is much more than merely a commitment to love one another. Aside from societal and religious conventions, marriage entails legally imposed financial responsibility and legally authorized financial benefits. Marriage provides automatic legal protections for the spouse, including medical visitation, succession of a deceased spouse's property, as well as pension and other rights. When two adults desire to "contract" in the eyes of the law, as well a perhaps promise in the eyes of the Lord and their friends and family, to be responsible for the obligations of marriage as well as to enjoy its benefits, should the law prohibit their request merely because they are of the same gender? I intend to prove that because of Article IV of the United States Constitution, there is no reason why the federal government nor any state government should restrict marriage to a predefined heterosexual relationship. Marriage has changed throughout the years. In Western law, wives are now equal rather than subordinate partners; interracial marriage is now widely accepted, both in statute and in society; and marital failure itself, rather than the fault of one partner, may be grounds for a divorce. Societal change have been felt in marriages over the past 25 years as divorce rates have increased and have been integrated into even upper class families. Proposals to legalize same-sex marriage or to enact broad domestic partnership laws are currently being promoted by gay and lesbian activists, especially in Europe and North America. The trend in western European nations during the past decade has been to increase legal aid to homosexual relations and has included marriage benefits to some same-sex couples. For example, within the past six years, three Scandinavian countries have enacted domestic partnership laws allowing same-sex couples in which at least one partner is a citizen of the specified country therefore allowing many benefits that heterosexual marriages are given. In the Netherlands, the Parliament is considering domestic partnership status for same-sex couples, all major political parties favor recognizing same-sex relations, and more than a dozen towns have already done so. Finland provides governmental social benefits to same-sex partners. Belgium allows gay prisoners the right to have conjugal visits from same-sex partners. An overwhelming majority of European nations have granted partial legal status to homosexual relationships. The European Parliament also has passed a resolution calling for equal rights for gays and lesbians. In the United States, efforts to legalize same-sex domestic partnership have had some, limited success. The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. reported that by mid-1995, thirty-six municipalities, eight counties, three states, five state agencies, and two federal agencies extended some benefits to, or registered for some official purposes, same-sex domestic partnerships. In 1994, the California legislature passed a domestic partnership bill that provided official state registration of same-sex couples and provided limited marital rights and privileges relating to hospital visitation, wills and estates, and powers of attorney. While California's Governor Wilson eventually vetoed the bill, its passage by the legislature represented a notable political achievement for advocates of same-sex marriage. The most significant prospects for legalizing same-sex marriage in the near future are in Hawaii, where advocates of same-sex marriage have won a major judicial victory that could lead to the judicial legalization of same-sex marriage or to legislation authorizing same-sex domestic partnership in that state. In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court, in Baehr v. Lewin, vacated a state circuit court judgment dismissing same-sex marriage claims and ruled that Hawaii's marriage law allowing heterosexual, but not homosexual, couples to obtain marriage licenses constitutes sex discrimination under the state constitution's Equal Protection Clause and Equal Rights Amendment. The case began in 1991 when three same-sex couples who had been denied marriage licenses by the Hawaii Department of Health brought suit in state court against the director of the department. Hawaii law required couples wishing to marry to obtain a marriage license. While the marriage license law did not explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage at that time, it

Spanish Words for Use Around the Home

Spanish Words for Use Around the Home If youre like most of us, chances are you spend more time at home than you do anywhere else. So if youre looking at expanding your Spanish vocabulary, you might consider starting with some of the places youre most familiar with. Following, then, are the most common Spanish words used for places and items in the house. Note that many of the words can vary with region, and many of the words can have other meanings in other contexts. For example, while dormitorio is a common word for bedroom, it also can refer to the sleeping car of a train. Rooms and Areas of the House attic: el tico, el desvn, el entretechobasement: el sà ³tanobathroom: el baà ±o, el cuarto de baà ±o, el retretebedroom: el dormitoriocloset, wardrobe: el armario, el roperocourtyard: el patioden, study: el estudiodining room: el comedorentryway: la entradafamily room: la estancia, el cuarto de estargarage: el garage, la cocherakitchen: la cocinaliving room: la sala de estar, el salà ³nroom: el cuarto Words for Built-in Features ceiling: el techocupboard: el armario, la despensadoor: la puertaelectrical socket: el enchufe (de pared)faucet: el grifofloor: el suelo (floor that is walked on), el piso (level of a building)(kitchen) counter: el mostrador (de cocina), la encimera (other words are also used in various areas)lamp: la lmparalight: la luz, la lmpara, la lmpara de techo (ceiling light), el plafà ³n (ceiling light)mirror: el espejoroof: el tejadosink: el fregadero, el fregadero de cocina (kitchen sink), el fregadero de baà ±o (bathroom sink)stairs: la escalera, las escalerastoilet: el vter, el wter, el inodoro, el servicio, el retretewall: la pared (inside), el muro (outside)window: la ventana Words for Appliances and Furniture bed: la camablender: la licuadorachair: la sillachest of drawers: la cà ³modacouch, sofa: el sof, el divndishwasher: el lavavajillas, el lavaplatos, el friegaplatos (These are all compound nouns.)drier (for clothes): la secadorairon: la planchaoven: el horno (el horno microondas, or simply el microondas, microwave oven)stove: la estufa, la cocina (usage varies with region)table: la mesatoaster: el tostador, la tostadoravacuum cleaner: la aspiradorawasher (for clothes): la lavadora

The Harmonisation of International Reporting Standards Essay

The Harmonisation of International Reporting Standards - Essay Example The International Accounting Standard Committee was developed in 1973 by representatives of accounting bodies in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland and the United States. The aim is to develop International Accounting Standards and to implement those standards (IASCF, 2005). The IASC originally comprises of representatives of 106 professional accounting bodies in 79 countries. (Mckee, 2000) A 14-member board having representatives from 13 countries plus the International Federation of Financial analyst governs it. If was formed with a view to bringing out in the interest of people accounting standard to be used in the presentation of financial statements. IASB has been making constant efforts to deliver to the economy an environment, which has the tendency to attract foreign investment. IASB is trying its level best to promote International Accounting Standards (IASs) to the world and ultimately bring harmonization. The European Union and many other individual countries have started considering IAS. The United Kingdom and the US are the notable exceptions in this regard. The local accounting standards for Ireland and the United Kingdom is the Accounting Standards Board (ASB). Its role was first recognized under the Companies Act of 1985 and it finally took over the role of setting accounting standards in 1990. Before 1990, the accounting standards for the United Kingdom and Ireland were set by the Accounting Standards Committee (ASC). The ASB is allowed up to ten board members. Of these, the Chairman and the Technical Director of the Board work on the board full-time. The ASB typically consults an array of authorities when reviewing proposals for new accounting standards or revisions to old accounting standards, but the Board is ultimately autonomous. All accounting standards that the ASB develops are published as â€Å"Financial Reporting Standards† (FRSs) and â€Å"Statements of Standard Accounting Practices† (SSAPs). The first Financial Reporting Standard was the revision of Statement of Standard Accounting 10, concerning cash flow statements, revised in October 1996 (Dunn, 2002).