Monday, September 30, 2019

Outsourcing in America

Outsourcing Is weakening the nation's Job-creation engine, and leaving thousands of newly unemployed workers here In the United States in search of work. With the number of companies outsourcing jobs continually Increasing, It becomes a much larger issue for the U. S. Workforce to find a job when so many are being outsourced overseas. Unfortunately this trend is likely to continue to cause serious harm in the United States if it continues to go unmonitored. Foreign and American governments have contributed to the problems caused by outsourcing in a number of ways.Some of the more visible ways are a lack of monitoring and data gathering, ceasing to enforce any pressure or penalties upon companies outsourcing Jobs, and U. S. Jobs being outsourced due to foreign Incentives. These three Issues are a large contributing factor to the current problem of outsourcing in the united States and its negative impact on the American workforce. The U. S. Federal and state governments are contributin g to the problems created by outsourcing due to their lack of monitoring and data gathering on the number of Jobs that are being exported.Without having the needed statistics on the number of Jobs that are being exported, the full Impact of Job loss cannot be properly quantified. The U. S. Commerce and Labor Departments claim that the lack of monitoring system to record the number of outsourced jobs in America is due to a lack of resources. This thought process seems contradictory as the federal government spends over $130 billion each year on research and development, and a fraction of this spending would be enough to grasp the full scale of this outsourcing issue (52). This prevents any meaningful understanding for the U. S. People on the scale of Jobs being outsourced, the business's and occupations being affected by outsourcing, and the economy potential responses to the negative impacts of outsourcing. With the absence of this data, corporations are able to continue concealing the number of Jobs that are actually being outsourced. In chapter four, Hair and Hair express that federal, state and local government Jobs are also being outsourced. They further discuss that almost every state government has relocated some form of business abroad through entrants with companies that commonly outsource the work for cheaper labor.For example, Washington State estimated that there were around 1 50 contracts that had contained at least $50 million worth of offshore outsourcing (50). Since there is no government or Labor Department monitoring, companies continue having no legal obligation to inform state governments of the contracted work that is being done offshore. The government Jobs that are being outsourced could have these needed services performed In the U. S. By the American workforce In order to help spur economic development and growth. Instead, American unemployment rates will continue to rise and further the negative impacts upon the U.S. Economy. As the U. S. Federal government ceases to enforce any penalties to protect the number of jobs companies outsource, they also fail to exert any pressure to slow down the outsourcing process. In chapter five, Hair and Hair point out that discipline or cost in doing so (76). With that in mind, companies will continue moving jobs offshore, and will have their lobbyists persuade U. S. Congress to have them lower their tax rates, and as well as defer taxes on future income indefinitely. The company's lobbyists succeeded in convincing Congress to allow them to pay the states no more than a mere 5. 5% tax rate, for which the funds would be used as investment towards Jobs creation (81). However, as the federal government continues allowing companies to extradite their money, there has been no evidence of any Job creation being done with those funds. Rather the U. S. Economy has been missing out on over 29. 75% of corporate tax rates, and the American workforce will continue to suffer. As companies co ntinue making cut-backs, this will impact both the assurance of the American workforces financial security, and also the finances used to maintain their communities.This happens as a result of the increasing number of people that are losing their Jobs, which leads to having fewer numbers of taxpayers to contribute to tax revenue and the funding of social programs. In order to make sure that there are enough taxpayers to maintain funding, more Jobs will have to be created. When Elaine Chaos, George W. Bush's Secretary of Labor, was asked for a statement on the failure of Job creation in America, she merely dismissed the question and concluded that the stock market was to blame for it (79).This response is troublesome in that the country's Secretary of Labor had exhibited what little knowledge or concern she had for creating Job opportunities. This statement portrays her failure in helping protect the future of the American workforce and highlights the failure to exert any pressure to reduce outsourcing. Lastly, foreign governments are actively pursuing offshore outsourcing of U. S. Jobs by offering an array of incentives as part of their national industrial strategy. Such incentives granted by foreign governments include tax breaks and leniency to operate without serious government control.In chapter nine, major policy changes were put into effect by the Indian governments in order to free up the markets in the software industry. The policy changes went through so long as it was maintained that there would be full cooperation with all levels of the Indian governments. Indian IT corporations receive tax rates that, when in comparison, are less than half to that of what the state and local governments are providing the American corporations. For instance, the Indian IT company, Astray Computer, has a tax rate of 14. 2%, as to the American IT company, Electronic Data Systems, with a tax rate of 35. 87% (179). The lower tax rates in India make it quite enticing for American corporations to outsource their work, and then utilize Indian IT companies to acquire the tax rate benefits. The Indian federal government key government actor in the growth of software has been the local Software Technology Parks. This allows companies to rely on the local STEP as it provides no restrictions on equity and has various benefits such as duty-free import, duty-free indigenous procurement, and deemed exports (178).Further proactive policies by the Indian government included offers to companies to set up a satellite-based communications infrastructure. Thus, this led the Indian IT sector to increase from $2 billion in 1994-95 to $40 billion in 2003 and employs over 1. 6 million people and will continue to increase (173-174). While the numbers of Jobs that are promote economic growth, they are doing so at the expense of the American workforce. The implementation of this proactive strategy in India has left a large chunk of the U. S. Record unemployed, and contin ues to contribute to a larger pool of Americans living off unemployment. As companies continue to outsource Jobs, the U. S. Will find it more and more difficult to reverse the trend. This will continue to leave fewer tax dollars in the U. S. System and leave more of the American workforce unemployed. This also will impact the amount of tax revenues required to fund education, health, infrastructure, and social security systems. There is no question that the American people would like their government to take a stand against companies that send Jobs overseas.The U. S. Governments, and citizens, should feel obliged to discover new ways of creating more opportunities and Jobs by regulating the amount of outsourced Jobs allowed in the United States. The issues caused by lack of monitoring and data gathering, the need to enforce pressure or penalties on companies that outsource Jobs, and regulation on the number of U. S. Jobs being outsourced due to foreign incentives must be addressed. This issue can't be addressed until the foreign and American governments take action on the contributing factors to the current problem of outsourcing in the U. S.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Mystery stories Essay

I studied three short stories, â€Å"the Red Room, â€Å"the Signalman† and â€Å"the Speckled Band†. The stories are all linked together as they all have a sense of mystery, however they all have a different emphasis. â€Å"The Speckled Band† is a detective, murder mystery story yet the other two are ghost stories. All of the stories were written before 1914. It was around this time that people had gained a fascination with the criminal mind; they liked the idea of the clumsy criminal being outsmarted and captured by the genius detective. The Victorians also had a liking for the workings of the mind/psychoanalysis â€Å"set against the interest in the spirit world and the supernatural†. When they were first used, the railways represented glamour and mystique, and were the most advanced mode of transport. At the time of the Victorians they had an interest in scientific advances, so you had the conflict between this interest and the interest in the spiritual world, for example, in â€Å"the Red Room† – the old people believed in ghosts, however the man did not, the author did this in a way to provide conflict, as arguments could be brought up from both sides. In general, all mystery stories have a feeling of â€Å"safe fear†, meaning we can relate to the characters and the feeling of tension, this is created as the author involves the reader in the story by including questions or puzzles for them to solve, making them feel as though they are involved in the story. However, the readers feel safe in the knowledge that this is just a story, if they at any time feel threatened they can put the book down and return to reality. â€Å"The Speckled Band† is a story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and was first published (along with the other eleven books out of the first collection) in 1892. It is a murder mystery story and the plot line, to me, is simple – someone dies, Holmes is called in, he notices clues that the reader reads but doesn’t notice the significance until the end of the story (when all is explained), eventually Holmes reveals who the criminal is and how exactly he solved the mystery before the police (Scotland yard) solved it and therefore once again made himself to look like a genius detective. The theme of mystery starts at the beginning of the story, when a miss Helen Stoner reveals her problem and how she believed it happened. Holmes makes sure the reader knows he is a genius detective by pointing out little insignificant things that nobody else would look for. Such as, how Miss Helen Stoner arrived to his office that day (he noticed the return train ticket in the left hand palm of her glove, and noticed that the left arm of her jacket was â€Å"splattered in no less than seven places with mud† and there was â€Å"no vehicle, save the dog-cart which throws up mud in that way†). From this, the reader puts their faith in Holmes and recognise the skill he has, from this they’ll just know he’s the one who will figure out the mystery behind the complex problem he ids faced with. This could ruin the story, depending on your view of what a good mystery story is, as there’s no open ending. Once you have read the story once you will never be able to read it in the same way again, the mystery disappears. However, it is for this reason that people also like reading these stories. They can admire Holmes’ brilliance and enjoy having the story explained to them. Tension is built up in the story as Helen Stoner explains her suspicions that her stepfather â€Å"who is known to have a violent streak† is the killer and his motive for the attack means that she herself could be in danger. The reader can distinguish this and fear for her safety. The narrator in the story is Watson, Holmes’ sidekick. When the reader compares him to Holmes he seems â€Å"dull-witted†, he makes Holmes look good, and is often in the same mental state of confusion as the reader when the clues are there in front of us, waiting to be pieced together like a jigsaw. It is for this reason the reader feels that they can relate to Watson and â€Å"accept Holmes’ superiority†. The reader can see the two (Holmes and Watson) have a close relationship as Holmes felt the need to â€Å"knock Watson up† especially to see the new client (miss Helen Stoner), he knew Watson wouldn’t want to miss out on this opportunity â€Å"should it prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to follow it from the outset†. The setting for this particular story is very detailed, as I would have to be to describe the significant clues, for example, the ventilator, the (dummy) bell rope, the whistle, the saucer of milk, and the metallic â€Å"clanging† of the safe. Despite all the clues there were only two main settings, the Manor house in which Miss Helen Stoner lived and the crime took place, and Holmes’ house, which is famously known as 221B Baker Street. â€Å"The Signalman† is a ghost story. Its author is Charles Dickens and the date it was written is unknown to me. There’s no one technique, which Dickens uses to create tension. It is created from the beginning with the mere settings of the story producing a feeling of unease. The signalman lives in isolation at the tunnel entrance to a railway cutting. The was in which the narrator (who is nameless) has to call â€Å"Is there any path by which I can come down to you? † shows the reader just how isolated he is, as there is no obvious way of getting down, so there mustn’t be any necessity to make a path way. His surprise at receiving this visitor is one of suspicion and generates more tension, â€Å"his attitude was one of such expectation and watchfulness† that explains to the reader he is ready for something to happen, he is ready to run away, and this is causing the reader to think that something is going to happen and the build up to that causes anxiety. The way in which the signalman â€Å"directs a cautious look to the light† forms apprehension as the reader is still expecting something to happen. This is completely the opposite to the Sherlock Holmes story (â€Å"the Speckled Band†) as in that the author wanted to be relaxed and comfortable with the story so far before he described the mystery through Miss Helen Stoner. He produced this feeling of comfort by having a nice room with comfortable chairs, food and a nice warm fire. Also Holmes and Watson didn’t give the impression that they were scared of their visitor, which is what is happening in â€Å"the Signalman†. As the storyline deepens the reader is still told little about the signalman’s background to the reader, this helped form a more satisfactory atmosphere, as they all knew about her). The story does have its similarities to â€Å"the Speckled Band† however, as they give their explanations for what happened using a more scientific mind than a spiritual one. The narrator in â€Å"the Signalman† tries to show the signalman that the â€Å"someone else†, who he has seen before him, was nothing but a figment of his imagination – he looks for rational explanations as he is sceptical about the idea of ghosts, and the reader can identify with this, just as the reader could identify with the narrator in the Sherlock Holmes stories (Watson). The difference in â€Å"the Signalman† being that the reader is unsure of this narrator, they don’t know why he’s there or why he’s taking such an interest in the signalman himself. He’s therefore a mystery figure himself. As the plot thickens the reader is told the signalman has seen the â€Å"spectre† twice before, and each time there was a disaster that followed it. Therefore the â€Å"pattern of three† suggests that the third time the ghost appears there will be a disaster. It is this that keeps the reader interested; it makes the reader want to keep reading on the find out why the â€Å"spectre† appears. Dicken’s deliberately leaves unanswered questions until the end to maintain the readers curiosity. However the story has a twist at the end of it, the ghost is warning the signalman of his own death. The two stories are also similar in the way that they both have all questions answered fully at the end, so again, as with â€Å"the Speckled Band† the readers of â€Å"the Signalman† will not be able to read the story in the same way again, they know the outcome, there’s no mystery. â€Å"The Red Room† was written by H. G Wells and the date it was written, like â€Å"the Signalman†, is unknown to me. The story is like â€Å"the Signalman† meaning, it is another ghost story, and it is similar to â€Å"the Speckled Band† as it has a simple plot – a man (narrator) sets out to prove there is nothing superstitious about a â€Å"forbidden† room, in which a young Duke died, whilst in the room he suffers from several superstitious events and ends up being knocked out, he still refuses to believe in ghosts though. It is set in a castle, a very stereotypical setting to host a ghost story. Fear and suspicion about the room is created by descriptions (which are very important in mystery stories) of the surrounding and the other characters. In this case it’s the three old people who believe in a ghost occupies the â€Å"red room†, claiming, â€Å"There’s many a thing to see, and sorrow for†. The oddity of these old people itself causes some sense of abnormality, with such descriptions as â€Å"the man with the withered arm†, â€Å"the old woman sat staring into the fire, her pale eyes wide open† and â€Å"the man with the eye-shade (who couldn’t cease to cough and splutter)†. To have these three characters in a castle with descriptions including â€Å"oak-panelling† (old, dark, heavy), â€Å"alcoves†, â€Å"candles† (dim lighting, shadows), and â€Å"statues and heavy furniture† (in stereotypical ghost stories the statues come â€Å"alive† and join in the chase for the victim). â€Å"The Red Room† is now similar to â€Å"the Speckled Band† in the sense that the surroundings of suspicious events are in an enclosed space, as it’s inside, there’s less likely chance of escape if being chased, if this happens the reader will feel more on edge. The reader shares their views with the narrator in the beginning. The narrator is down-to-earth and doesn’t believe in a supernatural force occupying the room; he argues â€Å"eight-and-twenty years I have lived, and never a ghost I have seen, as yet† this story is similar to â€Å"the Signalman† as the story focuses on the narrator trying to show the other characters that ghosts aren’t real, and then in the end, in both stories, the narrator is proven wrong. â€Å"The Red Room† is the complete opposite to â€Å"the Speckled Band† and â€Å"the Signalman† in the way that it doesn’t answer all the questions at the end of the story, the narrator from â€Å"the Red Room† doesn’t want to accept that he did infact fall victim to supernatural forces, he claimed he â€Å"witnessed something worse than a ghost – experienced the worst of all things to haunt poor mortal man†¦ fear†. All of these stories have similarities and differences; they also fit the pattern of mystery stories. All the stories â€Å"plunge into action† very early on into the story, and are focused, mainly, on one or two of the key points with very few characters over a relatively short space of time. The description is vital on building tension in the story; all of the stories I studied described the surroundings well enough to form this feeling. I like â€Å"The Red Room† out of the three I chose to read, I liked it primarily due to the fact that it wasn’t answered fully, the story was left open for my mind to come up with possible solutions. I would be able to read it again, and not have the main essence of a mystery story, mystery, taken out of it, like I believe happened in â€Å"The Speckled Band† and â€Å"The Signalman† and â€Å"The Red Room† you are unknown†¦ anonymous. You can find it easier to put the story down and walk away, but in â€Å"The Speckled Band† Watson (the narrator) is needed, you feel the need to continue reading because Sherlock Homes himself asked you to be with him on the investigation (â€Å"your presence might be invaluable†) you feel as though you have betrayed him if you walk away from the story. And though I don’t like detective stories, I found this one the most fascinating out of the ones I studied for that reason.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Becoming an Optimist

I woke up early, finished the reports I was supposed to submit during the day drove to the office and I was not late. Then, my boss hands me the memo and says that I am given until tomorrow to submit a written explanation. I mumble incoherently but feel crushed and almost in tears and angry at my boss. Belief I am not a good worker, I am always tardy and hence I have become a liability to my department. I do not have any place in this office anymore. I have no choice but to resign.Consequence I am depressed and angry and hurt. Disputation I am not a bad worker, I have met deadlines, I have been innovative at my work and I give my best in every task I am assigned to. I have had high performance evaluation ratings for the last 4 years in this job. My reaction to the memo was overreacting; of course it is company policy to call the attention of employees who had been late for work a number of times to make sure that they can do something about it.I was late a couple of times but that di d not mean I am a lousy employee, even my boss comes to the office late at times. I had been working two jobs and going to school at the same time and it means that I am tired and exhausted thus if I wake up late in some mornings it is understandable because my body has to rest at some point. Thinking that I am a bad employee and that I have to resign is not really doing me anything good, instead of checking my behavior; I felt utterly depressed and had to miss work in the afternoon.It does not do anything good to think these thoughts. Energization I decided that I can prove to myself that I can be punctual everyday, thus I have made a contract with myself saying that I will never be late for work anymore, starting today! Being optimistic is related to motivation because it gives that extra boost to the person who is faced with challenges and difficulties (Seligman, 1991). Optimism is a state of mind and heart, that is, to think positively about the outcome of the situation or event .When a person thinks that a problem is a challenge, and then he/she would face it head on and believe that he/she can overcome it, if a person thinks that a problem is a punishment, then he/she would not do anything at all since he/she has already accepted defeat. References Kady, L. (2006). Being an optimist. Retrieved December 11, 2006, from http://www. articlejuice. com/Article/Being-an-Optimist—Part-1/200 Seligman, M. E. (1991). Learned Optimism. Alfred A. Knopf Inc.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Ethical Dilemma in Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethical Dilemma in Nursing - Research Paper Example Ethical dilemmas are clinical situations where the beneficent care giving interventions or ethical values of health professionals conflict with a patient’s or family member’s wishes (Melia, 1992). Nurses are obligated to respect a patient’s choice and enforce the decision within the law and standards of the profession. Nurses may also have personal values that may conflict with a patient’s choice and it is important in all situations that nurses respect the patient’s choice. Ethical principles exist in the profession so as to guide the conduct of nurses and when faced with ethical dilemmas, the basis for decision making for the health care provider is guided by these values. ... th medical ethics and can be distinguished by the emphasis nursing ethics have on human dignity, formation of caring relationships and collaborative care. Principals such as justice, autonomy, non-maleficence and beneficence are core to the nursing profession (Brody, 1998). The ethical principles guide the everyday practice of nurses to ensure good patient care and to practice within the acceptable code of ethics. In the nursing profession, nurses usually encounter medical situations that present ethical conflicts. Nurses actively participate during ethical decision making in clinical situations and these decisions may conflict with a patient’s or the family’s decision making autonomy. This presents an ethical dilemma to the nurse whose practice is guided by ethical principles but having the responsibility of providing decisions that conflict with these principals. 2.0 Case Study Baby Grace is an infant who had a low heart rate at birth with breathing difficulties and a lso exhibited no movement of her extremities. She was intubated and is supported by a mechanical ventilator. Diagnostic tests revealed that there was a hemorrhage high in her cervical spinal cord, the prognosis being poor. The parents have kept her on the ventilator life support for three months, with the hope that their baby would recover. There is little chance of recovery and Baby Grace’s quality of life is poor. Nurses view the situation as the importance of human life, the baby’s condition stabilized and they are reluctant to remove life support. The parents are unsure of the decision to make. 3.0 Ethical Conflict Nursing is a dynamic as well as a complex profession especially in situations where decisions that have to be made hang in the balance between life and death. Beneficence and

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Argument - Essay Example It reflects the realities they face on a daily basis and their struggle to come to terms with the world around them. Far from encouraging young people into a life of drug addiction and gun crime, hip-hop can actually save them from it by proving a form of expression which can release their anger, stress and anxieties. This essay will explore the two sides to this hotly debated topic and attempt to understand just what role hip-hop plays in modern society. Jennifer McLune is a supporter of the idea that hip-hop is a damaging influence on modern society. Her focus is particularly on females, since she argues that hip-hop betrays its black women listeners by objectifying them. The basic premise for her argument is that far from offering an outlet for young black females, it actually encourages them to conform to roles delimitated along the lines of ‘baby mommas’, ‘chickenheads’ or ‘bitches’. Rather than offering positive role models for women, this music instead attempts to limit the role that women play in a society where men set the rules. This is an often levied criticism. At first listen lyrics to many hip-hop songs appear to have little respect for women beyond pure sexuality. McClure takes this point and develops it, in a distinctly feminist tone. McLune argues against Powell’s idea that the overt misogyny in hip-hop comes from socio-economic factors which have encourages this approach. She argues this point by indicating that women, too, have been raised in the exact same socio-economic conditions. Further, rich white males are just as capable as poor black ones of sexist slants. Her approach is an overtly feminist one which argues that women should not accept this war which men are waging on them. She argues that hip-hop culture is driven by sexism and that even artists which are opposed to this do not openly publicise the fact. It is so mainstream to hate women, it would

Karim rashid work's images Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Karim rashid work's images - Research Paper Example Bdesigns%26b%3D148%26ni%3D21%26ei%3DUTF-8%26xargs%3D0%26pstart%3D1%26fr%3Dchr-yie8%26fr2%3Dtab-web&w=330&h=330&imgurl=www.modernrestaurantseating.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2007%2F12%2Fkarim_rashid_kite_chair.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.modernrestaurantseating.com%2Fkite-chair-by-karim-rashid-light-and-convenient&size=8k&name=karim+rashid+kit...&p=karim+rashid+designs&oid=1fd9cc2308e679e2&fr2=tab-web&no=166&tt=288&b=148&ni=21&sigr=12mjumc8l&sigi=12m8ea27d&sigb=141seuem1 http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dkarim%2Brashid%2Bdesign%26ei%3Dutf-8%26fr%3Dchr-yie8&w=500&h=494&imgurl=deco-design.biz%2Fwp-content%2Fsoundwave-flo-panneau-acous.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fletsgodeco.blogs.marieclairemaison.com%2Fdesign&size=146k&name=soundwave+flo+pa...&p=karim+rashid+design&oid=6d971e700056e8ba&fr2=&no=2&tt=16645&sigr=11kqcloko&sigi=11qdtrj9g&sigb=12n0232lc http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dkarim%2Brashid%2Bdesign%26ei%3Dutf-8%26fr%3Dchr-yie8&w=468&h=414&imgurl=marvinblog.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F09%2FRashid-Colors.bmp&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmarvinblog.com%2Fkarim-rashid-for-gorenje&size=567k&name=Rashid+Colors&p=karim+rashid+design&oid=d9d22d8896cebc86&fr2=&no=15&tt=16645&sigr=11edp4eg0&sigi=11ropkcfr&sigb=12n0232lc http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dkarim%2Brashid%2Bdesign%26b%3D22%26ni%3D21%26ei%3Dutf-8%26xargs%3D0%26pstart%3D1%26fr%3Dchr-yie8&w=600&h=592&imgurl=www.trender.fr%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2008%2F12%2Fkarim9.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trender.fr%2Fpage%2F8&size=79k&name=karim9&p=karim+rashid+design&oid=33aa9ba4612d699e&fr2=&no=30&tt=16218&b=22&ni=21&sigr=10sede1d8&sigi=11kg7q1lt&sigb=13jn4jkia

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Resource Rich Economies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Resource Rich Economies - Essay Example This study stresses that  various countries of the world choose different paths of development. However, it must be noted that in the majority of the cases this choice is conditioned by the environment and availability of resources. Thus, those countries that are deprived of natural resources compete using other valuable materials. For example, Japan that can hardly boast any oil or gas is a widely known leader of technology. On the other hand, those countries that were blessed with natural resources often make emphasis on their export, forgetting about other ways of becoming successful. That is why it is often suggested that resource rich economies are poor, underdeveloped and politically unstable.   This paper will analyze the example of Russia and prove that abundance of resources can have a negative impact on a country.  If one considers the Russian billionaires, one will be able to see that they are less likely to help their compatriots and are willing to invest abroad more. For example, Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea football club in England and this was seen as manifestation of the Russian wealth. However, it is obvious that he could have bought one or even several football clubs in Russia and pay for the best equipment and players for them. However, Abramovich decided to invest his money in a foreign football club which means that he is not willing to share his wealth with his compatriots.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Political Frontiers in the Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political Frontiers in the Articles - Essay Example In these articles, the authors also focus on political and human dimensions of decision-making. The basic meaning as well as possible impacts of human dimensions of decision-making has a fundamental role in modeling the battles surrounding social control. The authors also explore the self-immolation history as well as the related forms of debate across various social settings. For instance, some Tibetan Buddhists sought to constitute the components of both unacceptable and acceptable violence (Minyanville 6). In reading the articles, self-immolation is evident. However, other people think of how the governments has done minimal towards instituting economic programs that ordinary citizens could be eligible to participate. There are speculations that such immolations result from the influx of public policy as well as the desire for greater autonomy. This adds on the restrictions facing the farmers among many other social and economic factors. Also, there is no mention of the Chinese in vasion and destruction of thousands of monasteries close to a million Tibetans (Burma 4). The Tibet’s Chinese occupation entailed more brutal as well as genocidal campaigns. However, the piece as well as self-immolation takes the description of dismissive terms like â€Å"political theatre†. The political theatre plays are self-immolations from people desperate of having aspirations for religious self-determination and freedom acknowledged. Also, labor force instability is one of the issues cutting across the three articles.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Seminars, Webinars, Conferences - Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Seminars, Webinars, Conferences - Report - Essay Example In this regard, the event was a success as these professionals took their time to attend this year’s event and gave their contribution towards the theme. The theme for the event was â€Å"Aviation Safety Emerging Issues†. The timing of this conference was very suitable as it was in the wake of increased terrorism and aircrafts are a major target for terrorist in advancement of their activities. The topics covered during the conference included safety stand-down, situational awareness, airspace infringements, aircraft maintenance, safe airmanship and effective flight communication. Each topic had a presenter and at the end of every presentation, there was an interactive session where critical questions were asked by the audience and answered by the presenter. The presenters were mostly from aviation authorities and aircraft manufacturing. The subject on safety stand-down took longer as it attracted a lot of contributions from the stakeholders present since it touches on the level of responsibility of airmen. Degree of adherence to codes of conduct and discipline of airmen affects aviation to a considerable degree. As an aviation safety officer, the conference opened up a lot of knowledge avenues and brought invaluable exposure as the participants shared their different experiences in safety. The safety stand-down played a critical role in influencing the way of thinking for airmen, airport security officers as well as the management in terms of handling risky situations. For those in aviation safety career, the stand-down equipped them with new and effective methods and procedures for improving the safety of everybody within the airports and aircrafts as well as proper judgemental skills. In the event of a safety breach of any kind, proper judgement is imperative, and this is determined by how well the safety official is aware of the situation. When one

Sunday, September 22, 2019

African American Religion Essay Example for Free

African American Religion Essay Before Africans were brought to America during the slave trade, they had their own culture and society. They had their own language and dance. They also had their own religion. History tells us that the Europeans justified their abuse toward the Africans as helping them become more civilized because the Africans lifestyle appeared primal to them and not as developed and industrialized as theirs. What is often overlooked is that even though Africans were taken from Africa and Americanized and have been stripped of their religion, culture, language and even their name, the very essence of the African as a people did not go away. Some African American slaves rejected Christianity’s religion because they saw it as the â€Å"white man’s religion†. History tells us American Slave Masters abused the Africans by whipping them like animals and by treating them inhumane. The fact that these slave masters wanted the African American to worship their god was unacceptable for some because they could not fathom why they should worship a god who allowed people to be so badly treated. Some Africans accepted Christianity’s religion and faith by identifying with Jesus Christ, the son of God who according to the Bible was innocent of sin and yet he was beaten, bruised and crucified for the sins of the world. Some African Americans wanted to remain faithful to their heritage yet did not agree with the conjure practices. Seth Holly’s character is a good example of conforming to the economic prosperity of America which was founded by Christians. White Christians enforced Christian beliefs, values, and some practices based on the Euro American Christian interpretation of Christian text. Seth developed a kind of hatred for his own people proving that he has adopted the practices of white America in the early 1900s. â€Å"Niggers coming up here from that old backwoods†¦ coming up here from the country carrying Bibles and guitars looking for freedom. † Seth says. â€Å"They got a rude awakening† (6). Seth signifies the African American who resents assimilation to the white American culture. But, at the same time, he too attempts to connect with his heritage by simply allowing Bynum to live in his home and bless it with his conjures rituals. Seth also participates in an African dance ritual called the Juba. Bynum’s character is introduced by practicing conjure rituals. He cuts open pigeons and spreads its blood onto him as a type of cleansing to communicate with spirits. Bynum represents the African American who chose to remain faithful to the religion of his heritage. Others who have chosen the faith of Christianity view conjure rituals as evil, witchcraft, or demonic. Some African Americans wanted to remain faithful to their heritage yet did not agree with conjure practices anymore. Loomis walks in on the juba dance and goes into a trance after dinner at the boarding house. He had a vision of skeletons emerge from a body of water. â€Å"Loomis: I done seen bones rise up out the water. Rise up and walk across the water. Bones walking on top of the water† (53). Loomis recognizes through the vision, his state of ignorance to the knowledge that will lead him to the new way of thinking. Bynum serves as a supporting character reacting to Loomis’s trance. â€Å"Bynum: They walking around here now. Mens. Just like you and me. Come right up out the water† (56). Loomis’s trance and Bynum’s interpretation of it is a turning point in the story. The skeletons coming from the bottom of the sea in Loomis’s vision represent the slave ships, the disorientation experienced by the slaves during emancipation, and the confusion of his release from Joe Turner. Both Loomis and Bynum have tapped into their ancestral religion. The difference between the two is that Bynum represents the African who never renounced his religion and Loomis is the African-American who turned from conjure religion and converted to the faith of Christianity. After Joe turner took his life away from him, Loomis questioned his Christian faith and his identity. By walking in on the ancestral ritual of the Juba dance, Loomis literally walked into what he had actually been looking for, his religion, consequently, his ancestral identity and this is why he fell into the trance. Throughout the play conjures is encompasses four generations; Bynum’s father, Bynum, Loomis, and the neighbor boy Reuben. Reuben’s vision is of Seth’s mother by the pigeon coop, she encourages Reuben to release the caged pigeons. Wilson writes in a way that leads the reader to believe that Loomis needs to find his missing wife. Martha Pentecost is not the one who was lost; Loomis was the one who was lost, wondering around from town to town, searching. Loomis came into the state of belief when Bynum helped him translate his vision. That vision represented Loomis going back to his ancestral conjure religion. Loomis needed to find Martha Pentecost simply to say good-bye to her and their life former together. Up until this point of the story, I believed that Loomis needed to find his wife so they could live out the rest of their lives as a happy free family with their daughter. However, it is made pretty obvious this was never Loomis’s intentions. â€Å"That goodbye kept me out on the road searching,† Loomis says, â€Å"now that I see your face I can say my goodbye and make my own world† (90). Martha Pentecost, a woman of Christian faith, represents the African who assimilated into white America’s culture and Loomis needed to find her to say good-bye to her and the Christian faith. Martha stands by her Christian faith by accusing Loomis â€Å"you done gone over to the devil† (91). White man’s religion believed that conjure was evil or the way of the devil. Loomis finds it easier to reject her for her Christian beliefs. â€Å"Loomis: Great big old white man†¦your Mr. Jesus Christ. Standing there with a whip in one hand and a tote board in another, them niggers swimming in a sea of cotton† (92). Loomis proves with his statement, his version of a bible story that differed from other African Americans but was similar to that of the white man who believed that they were on a level below God and the African’s were beneath them, African’s were one third of a person. Loomis now believes that if African’s are going to be free then they have to take charge of their own destiny. Martha Pentecost represents the African American’s religion, she identifies that Loomis needs to â€Å"be washed in the blood of the lamb† (92) and â€Å"you done gone over to the devil. (91) Through class lessons I learned that African American slaves compared themselves with stories in the bible to instill hope of a life free from oppression, violence, and bondage. Jesus according to the bible was innocent of sin and yet he was beaten, bruised and crucified for the sins of the world. The hope of reigning in heave with Jesus is considered the ultimate reward for suffering life’s trials and tribulations. It is the faith of the African Americans who accepted Christianity religion. Blacks trusted in the Lord instead of man. America was Egypt in the exodus story and as long as the enslaving and oppressing took place America would face the same wrath as Egypt. â€Å"Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. † The bible was depended on in justifying and motivation rebellion for the blacks and used as a tool to keep blacks enslaved by the whites. African Americans used sermons, song, and prayer to convey and teach their message of travail and triumph of Israel. Some African Americans could not get past the treatment from the white people that called themselves Christians and as a result they rejected Christianity. Selig’s role suggests that the link between characters is the acquisition of material goods. Selig admits that his ancestors have always made their living pursuing African Americas; his great grandfather transported slaves from Africa, his father captured runaway slaves and returned them to their masters for a reward, and Selig locates displaced people for a fee. Selig attains his ecstasy through consumer capitalism, through the selling of material goods. African Americans are objects for exploitation and exchange in the new economy. He binds African Americans to the economic system, demanding payment of his services and products which necessitates subsistence labor by taking them from one construction site or work site to another, similar to a temporary employment agency today. You pay for an employee to work for some time, but Selig is getting paid by the person looking for work or a ride to a chance of freedom. Selig cannot find a person that has not purchased a dustpan from him because he keeps the names of his customers. Seth is determined to achieve material success, he has very little patience for African Americans migrating north looking for the same prosperity that he desires. Seth is very demanding of his patrons, insisting on advance payment in full, and is preoccupied with maintaining a respectable house. â€Å"It’s hard enough now without all that ignorant kind of acting. Ever since slavery got over with there ain’t been nothing but foolish-acting niggers. Word get out they need men to work in the mill and put in these roads†¦ and niggers drop everything and head north looking for freedom. †(5, 6) Seth wants to blend in with the white man’s world; therefore he keeps a link with Selig by negotiating the manufacturing and sale of dustpans. Seth does not have any idea of what it would be like to be a slave, as he was born free in the North and was educated. He demonstrates his education with his math calculation when dealing with the boarding house patrons and the quick notation of him letting Selig know that he is trying to overcharge him for the dust pan materials. Educational differences played a role in tension with Southern blacks, most of who were forbidden from learning to read, saw religion as a matter of oral tradition and immediate experience and emotion. Northerner blacks, stressed that one could not truly be Christian unless they was able to read the Bible and understand it. This play denies individual worth and identity for some of Wilson’s characters. To be defrauded of the products of one’s labor or to see that creation diminished, like with Jeremy and the guitar contest, is to be denied a reflection of individual worth and identity. If people have been separated from this truth of individual worth and identity through oppression their capacity to bond with one another, form friendships, or couples, families are undermined. Social alienation in Wilson’s characters are expressed in their stores of broken relationships, uncertainty, or suspicion that they feel toward one another. â€Å"Seth: Something ain’t setting right with that fellow, Bynum. He’s one of them mean-looking niggers look like he done killed somebody gambling over a quarter. †(20) Connection between oppression, alienation from self and inability to form bonds with others is displayed in the character of Loomis. Joe Turner’s ability to oppress Loomis carried a judgment of non-worth. â€Å"Loomis: He told me I was worthless. Worthless is something you throw away. Something you don’t bother with† (73) Turners judgment of worthlessness forced Loomis to accept the reality of the white man’s power; he was marked as â€Å"one of Joe Turners niggers and forced to forget his song. †(71) Being alienated from himself and displaced with his relation to the world, Loomis is unable to establish bonds with people around him. The oppression encountered by Wilson’s characters is material or economic, that oppression is spiritual as well in the capacity to deprive the individual of a sense of himself or his unique song. The reawakening of Loomis after his encounter with cultural wisdom is not the self discovery of an average African American but creation of a new source of cultural wisdom, a new African holy man. Wilson uses many metaphors throughout the play. The song is a metaphor for Loomis’s identity and the African American cultural identity. Music is a large part of African American identity, so it makes since that in search of one’s identity they are searching for their song. The boarding house serves as an inn for traveling folk, but the tenants actually receive a form of healing during their stay. Tenants get direction and guidance from Bertha and Bynum. The shiny man that Bynum is in search for signifies African American independence. The man that Bynum met on the road was an independent African American, just as Loomis was freed by his past when he cleansed himself in his own blood. â€Å"Bynum: Herald Loomis, you shining! You shining like new money! †(94) Loomis has dismissed that the blood of Christ can wash away his sins and make him the man he used to be, but by washing himself in his own blood he has sacrificed the old life to begin his new journey on his terms. Bynum’s shining man has been found, meaning his work is complete; he has passed his powers on to the next generation, Loomis. â€Å"They tell me Joe Turner’s come and Gone† is a song that is sung by Bynum, when I first read the story I thought that the meaning was came and now he is dead however, the second time I read the play I realized that it meant that Joe Turner has come and snatched the men and now he is now gone. August Wilson uses symbolism in the play as a very important part in conveying the meaning of the story. Wilsons use of symbolism is demonstrated through Mr. Wilsons use of the road, Martha Pentecost, and Herald Loomis. Symbolic importance is give to the word freedom. The word freedom has instilled hope into the lives of African Americans: during slavery, hope for the release from bondage; after emancipation, the right to be educated, employed, and to move about freely; twentieth century, social, political, and economic justice. Freedom has always stood for the absence of any restraint, because God made all men from his image. There are a number of characters that travel around searching for their place in the world. Mattie, mentions that she keeps on looking, seems like she just keeps starting over, I ain’t never found no place for me to fit. † (76) Reuben tells Zonia, when he finds out that she is leaving the boarding house in search of her mom, â€Å"when I get grown, I come looking for you. †(84) Jeremy does not seem to care much when he loses his job because, â€Å"don’t make me no difference. There’s a big road out there, I can always get my guitar and find me a place to stay. I ain’t planning on staying in one place for too long noway. † (64) Martha Reverend Tolliver moved the Church up north because of the trouble the church was having. When the Civil War finally brought freedom to previously enslaved African Americans, the task of organizing religious communities was only one element of the larger need to create new lives, to reunite families, to find jobs, and to figure out what it would mean to live in the United States as citizens rather than property. August Wilson’s play, Joe Turner’s come and Gone, examines African Americans search for their cultural identity following slavery. Bibliography Murphy, L. G. (2000). Down By the Riverside. New York: New Yourk University Press. Wilson, A. (1988). Joe Turner Come and Gone. New York: Penguin Group.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Trends in Psychology and Psychologists

Trends in Psychology and Psychologists There are some cases where people think that the best way to deal with their mental issues is to keep it within themselves. However, that is not the best solution for all cases. It is a fact that bottling up your emotions could increase the risk of getting a heart disease or some forms of cancer and have serious negative effects oh your health (Chapman, Fiscella, Kawachi, Duberstein, Muennig, 2013). For everyones mental and physical health, people should take their feelings and emotions out through talking to someone or seeking help. This is where Psychologists are needed. Psychologists conduct research, experiment about the human mind and behavior, and provide counseling to promote the well-being of people and improve mental health. Psychologists are essential because we are complex beings, no other animal brain is capable of functioning with high consciousness as we do, and its not easy to understand and express ourselves. The study and practice that they do help people become mor e aware of their mind and conscious for mental prosperity. Psychology occupation is relatively large in size because there are many fields in psychology that people can specialize and work in. The employment of psychologists was 21,600, and the total employees were 10,700 in 2014 with the average retirement age being 63. Clinical psychology is one of the most popular specialty areas. They are in charge of evaluating and treating mental illnesses and work in hospital or health center to assess conditions of individuals or families. Another popular area in this occupation is experimental psychology. Psychologists in this field area are interested in conducting research about the behavior of humans and animals. Other areas include forensic psychology, developmental psychology, industrial psychology, and so on. Psychologist choosing to work in private practice is continuing to increase over time. In 2010, the percentage of the psychologist who stated that private practice is their primary job was 41%, which is a dramatic increase from 1960, when the percentage was just 17% (Norcross Karpiak, 2012). This career is part of a larger group called Social and community service professionals (NOC 415). According to the labor force survey (2015), in Canada, union rate for this group is 52% Psychologists are responsible for advocating mental well-being by working directly with their patients or clients and treating people with mental or emotional disorders. Considering this, it is understandable that effective education and training is important for people who want to work in this career. The requirement and license process vary from province to province. Some provinces require PhDs for a license to work independently while in others a masters degree is sufficient. Due to the many different areas psychologist works in, their earnings are wide in variation. The average starting salaries for psychologists range from about $35,000, particularly for those who are self-employed and just starting out, to more than $120,000 a year. The typical working hours for this occupation depends on their job and the level of responsibility. Some have about 40-hours, and others have more than 50 to 60-hours a week. Psychologists have a high level of stress because treating patients can be extremely rewarding but also emotionally draining. They have heavy workloads and tight schedules. They sometimes have to deal with violent and uncomfortable behaviors. However, no matter how much years psychologists spend to satisfy the requirements and how much stress they get from treating patients, job satisfaction has remained constantly high across the 50 years. No less than 85% of psychologists do not regret going through the process and hardships because of their satisfaction in the career (Norcross Karpiak, 2012). Psychologists could have their jobs for life, but the periods of government cutbacks in the past has made it harder for psychologists to secure the job. However, they can still count on having their job for at least 5 to 8 years. This occupational group is predicted to encounter a shortage of workers in the future because of the substantially higher number of job openings available compared to the recent years. According to Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS), new job openings for psychologists are expected to total 10,00 while only 8,800 new job seekers are expected to fill them over the period 2015-2024. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has asked 649 company owners how the labor shortage affected the business. More than 50 percent of owners has said that themselves are working more hours and that they were receiving lower quality applicants. 45% of owners has also stated that they had to raise labor costs. Looking at the job predictions of psycholog ists, we can expect that the worker shortage may have a serious negative impact on businesses. Many trends in society have affected jobs in the field of psychology. This fields expected growth is about 12 percent over the next ten years. One of the reasons why the predicted job growth is relatively high might be because future impact of mental illness on Canadians is expected to increase by 31% over the next 30 years, resulting in more than 8.9 million people living with a mental illness (Smetanin, Stiff, Briante, Adair, Ahmad, Khan, 2011). Anxiety, depression and other mental disorders growth can be explained by the continuous development of technology. 95% of teens are continuously using the internet. Smartphone ownership in teens ages 12-17 is continuously growing, from 23% to 37% from 2011 to 2013 (Madden, Lenhart, Duggan, Cortesi, Gasser, 2013). It is proven that social media sites make people compare their life with others. People suffer from increased anxiety because of their failure to meet the expectations and demands that are forced on mood them (Lidbetter, 2012). In Salford Business School at the University of Salford, 298 people were surveyed for the charity Anxiety UK and it was found out that 53% of people think social media changed their behavior; 51% of the people said that it was negative behavior because of their confidence declining due to comparisons to others. This would mean that many teenagers would experience an increase in anxiety and depression leading to needing more support and treatment to overcome the emotional issue. Increased use of social media also affects teenagers drug usage. A study by National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XVI: Teens and Parents, the 16th annual back-to-school conducted by CASAColumbia at Columbia University (CASAColumbiaTM) showed that teenager from 12-17 who use social media on a daily basis are five times more likely to use tobacco, three times more likely to use alcohol, and twice as likely to use marijuana. In addition, 40% admitted they had been exposed to pictures of people under the influence via social media, suggesting a correlation between the two factors. The most addictive substance, tobacco, causes premature mortality in Canada. It is responsible for almost 17% of all deaths (Whiteford, 2013). The serious negative impact caused by addiction to drug and alcohol increases the need for psychologists for a treatment of the addiction. Another reason why the field is expected to grow may be because the stigma surrounding mental health declined (Bell Canada, 2015). In a survey done by National Harris/Decima in 2015, it was found out that 57% of people believed that the stigma surrounding mental illness reduced compared to 5 years ago. Also, 81% has admitted that they were more aware of issues involving mental health than they were five years ago. Lastly, 70 % has said that they believe peoples belief and thought regarding mental illness has changed to a positive attitude. Thanks to this, many people with emotional and mental issues are becoming more comfortable in speaking up about their problem with their family and friends thus resulting to more people seeking help. This is important because the stigma is one of the main reason why people with mental illness do not seek help. Through removing the stigma regarding mental illness, people would be able to speak openly without fear of getting judged. With more people asking for help, the need for psychologists would continue to increase. Not only did the development in technology affect the field of psychology to grow, but it also improved and changed how the psychologists treat patients. Though out the history, treatment has been carried out with the patient and the psychologists in the same room. However, technology has developed to the point that this can be achieved without actually being together at one place. Telehealth, which is about using technology such as video calling to virtually have a conference and deliver treatment services to the clients, is continuously growing in usage among psychologists (Nickelson, Magallettaa, Ax, 1998). Online therapy is similar in concept. It is about performing therapy through real-time type communication between the psychologist and the patient. Although there is a clear benefit, it makes it easier for people to get therapy without transportation, it also raises a lot of questions on the ethical and practical issues, such as, the effect of therapy when the patient is on a video monitor and not in the room or the problem of security when virtually communicating with the patient. Other issues involve the hardship in understanding the client accurately and forming a relationship through communication in a text. There is no definite answer to these problems, and the issue is still being reviewed by psychologists. I believe that for a person to become a psychologist, one should be able to come up with new and better solutions, suggestions, and techniques to improve clients well-being and ask insightful questions to help different clients in need. I feel that Bibliography Bell Canada (2015). Bell Lets Talk: The first 5 years (2010-2015). Retrieved from http://letstalk.bell.ca/letstalkprogressreport Campbell, L. F., Freedheim, D. K., Norcross, J. C., VandenBos, G. R. (2016). APA handbook of clinical psychology (1 st ed., Vol 5. ). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Government of Canada. (2015). Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.publichealth.gc.ca Jessica L. Kohout and William E. Pate, Employment and trends in psychology, pp. 343-361, Springer New York, New York, NY, 2013 Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Duggan, M., Cortesi, S., Gasser, U., (2013) Teens and technology, 2013.: Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/03/13/teens-and-technology-2013/ Morgan, R. D., Kuther, T. L., Habben, C. J. (Eds.). (2012). Life After Graduate School in Psychology : Insiders Advice from New Psychologists (1). Hove, US: Psychology Press. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com Psychologist. (n.d.). Career Cruising. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from http://www.careercruising.com Smetanin, P., Stiff, D., Briante, C., Adair, C.E., Ahmad, S. and Khan, M. The Life and Economic Impact of Major Mental Illnesses in Canada: 2011 to 2041. RiskAnalytica, on behalf of the Mental Health Commission of Canada 2011. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. (2011). National survey of american attitudes on substance abuse xvi: teens and parents. Retrieved from http://www.centeronaddiction.org/addiction-research/reports/national-survey-american-attitudes-substance-abuse-teens-parents-2011 Whiteford et al. (2013). Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet, 382: 1575-86. Chapman, B.P.; Fiscella, K.; Kawachi, I.; Duberstein, P.; Muennig, P. Emotion suppression and mortality risk over a 12-year follow-up. J. Psychosom. Res. 2013, 75, 381-385.

Friday, September 20, 2019

War on Drugs is War on Democracy Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Top

The voters of California succeeded in passing a proposition to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana as prescribed by doctors. The passing of Proposition 215 seemed to symbolize a promising trend toward knowledge of the substance. However, after reading an article by Eric Schlosser in the April issue of Atlantic Monthly, I have been shocked with the reality of what is occurring elsewhere. Many of us are aware of the idiocy of our legal system treating marijuana offenders worse than violent criminals. I doubt, however, that many Americans are truly conscious of how some peoples' lives have been shattered because of current practices in the so-called "drug war." Now, about 15 years since its beginning, the "war on drugs" has become a war on personal freedom and toes the line of authoritarianism. On the brink of the 21st century, this is not a good sign for preserving our future, nor that of democracy. In 1989, a small business owner and Vietnam veteran, Douglas Lamar Gray, who had only petty crimes on his record was sentenced to life in prison without parole after buying one pound of weed for himself and friends. He made the purchase from a convicted felon working as an informant for a local Alabama task force. Gray's wife, left with a 2-year-old son and no source of income, unsuccessfully attempted suicide. The informant was paid $100. Life sentences for non-violent marijuana offenses exist in 15 states . In Montana, the sentence can be imposed for growing a single plant or selling a single joint. But such martial law is not nearly as horrific as that on the federal level. Stiff federal policies against drugs arose in 1982 under President Reagan. The largest leap forward came in 1986 with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act w... ...king away privileges, which laws like the Anti-Drug Abuse Act do not. (FREEDOM is not a privilege; It is an inalienable right!) I see no choice but for further solutions to embrace the decriminalization of marijuana. I shall not debate the ethics of casual use of the drug. I will merely state that it has never been linked as the sole cause of a single death and no long-term detrimental effects beyond depression have ever been proved. Furthermore, no proof has been found that law enforcement discourages use. (For evidence of the contrary one need only take the examples of the Netherlands and Sweden.) The facilitating of phenomenal business profits among dealers and state and federal organizations, pooled with deprivation of citizens' constitutional rights, is the evil which must be targeted and struck down. This is only made possible when marijuana is legalized.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

sheeps :: essays research papers

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An American citizen was kidnapped along with the three Romanian journalists abducted Monday in Iraq, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday. Citing privacy laws, a State Department spokeswoman in Washington said she could not release more information, but called for the "immediate and safe recovery of all hostages in Iraq." The Romanians and an unidentified man appeared in a video that aired on the Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera Wednesday. It has not been confirmed whether the unidentified man is the American hostage. The four were shown sitting on a floor as two men -- their faces covered by traditional headscarves -- stood to the side, pointing guns at them. The three Romanians -- Marie Jeanne Ion, Sorin Dumitru Miscoci, and Eduard Ovidiu Ohanesian -- work for Prima TV. They were abducted Monday night. (Full story) Prima TV confirmed the three were in the hostage video. It did not know who the fourth individual was. The hostages appeared calm in the video. At one point, Ion looked into the camera and said in English, "We have been kidnapped." She then said there had been reports their hostage-takers "asked for something in exchange for our freedom. This is not true." In Romania, the Foreign Ministry and the main intelligence service have set up a team to investigate the abduction, and President Traian Basescu has expressed concern. Ion's sister pleaded for her safe return. "I implore you to do everything you can to bring my sister back home," Ana Maria Ion said in an interview on Romanian television. "She has no guilt. Our family is waiting for Marie Jeanne to be here, also all the others." The three were last heard from by the station around 7:45 p.m. Monday during a telephone conversation that was broadcast while they were apparently being abducted, an executive said. A cell phone text message also was sent that said: "Please call the embassy urgently," a reference to Romania's Baghdad embassy. The Romanian ambassador to Iraq has collected the personal effects of the team, which had been in Iraq for three days and had been planning to stay for only five days, a Western source said. Seven civilians die in attacks Insurgents targeting U.S. forces killed seven civilians Wednesday, police said, during attacks in the northern city of Mosul and the Iraqi capital. A woman and child were among six killed in Mosul when insurgents fired on a U.S. military patrol in the northeastern part of the city, police said.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Initiation in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay

Initiation in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, â€Å"Initiation† is the main idea, in other words the â€Å"major theme.† In an initiation narrative, the protagonist, who in this case was Huck Finn, goes through a rite of passage, a growing up process, which is multifaceted. In a moment of crisis, the protagonist is suddenly obliged to make the painful and alarming transition from childhood to adulthood; this passage is known as the initiation. The initiation is the protagonist’s first step or movement into a new beginning. It is essentially a process by which the hero gains self-knowledge and finds his own identity. In the process, he also learns about the world in which he lives and the nature of evil. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a novel...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Cleaning Human’s Mess In The Waters Essay

One can not perfectly estimate how long it will actually take to clean up the oceans polluted by oil. It always depends on the techniques used, the efficiency of the people working on it, how often workers clean the oceans and the budget alloted for the clean-up. Cleaning the ocean is the less difficult part, but expects the recovery to take more than 15 years. If cleaning is the only issue, then 15 to 20 years will definitely be enough, given that all procedures are effective, all workers are responsible and serious with what they are doing and all alloted budgets are used directly to fund the oil spill clean up. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill into the Limelight We can take the Exxon Valdez oil spill as an example. On March 24, 1989, one of the most shocking and seemingly-unrecoverable environmental disasters happened in Prince William Sound, Alaska, United States. This occurrence is said to be among the world’s largest oil spills when it comes to how much oil spill is released to the waters. Prince William Sounds is a place which isn’t easy to access. Because of its remote location, cleaning it was difficult. Workers who need to clean the waters had to ride in boats and helicopters to reach the place (Chandler and Streissguth, p. 5). What needed to be cleaned was 11,000 square miles of ocean or 28,000 square kilometers of water. There were 40. 9 million liters of oil, or 10. 8 million U. S gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil spilled into the sea. Cleaning up seemed impossible and people were hopeless, but there were bigger things at stake like lives of millions of seabirds, seals, sea otters and salmon which belonged to the sea and depended on such habitat for survival (Chandler and Streissguth, p. 6). There were indeed a lot of delaying tactics in terms of cleaning up the Exxon Valdez oil spill since it was the first time America was confronted with such a big disaster. No one was at least prepared for it. The responses to cleaning up were slow and generally inadequate. The shoreline of the waters was definitely destroyed. There was a dramatic decline in the microbial population. What were needed to start the cleanup were challenged by response management, but was in time attended by 85 aircrafts, 1,400 vessels and 11,000 personnel. Having been armed with all these, the clean up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill was started in April 1989 (Wells, Butler and Hughes, p. 217). Cleaning up oil spill can indeed be cleaned up within 15 to 20 years because considering the volume of oil spilled into the ocean by Exxon Valdez, five months was enough to partially clean the ocean and let the government stop the people from cleaning the oceans up. If cleaning up continued, the health of the workers will definitely be jeopardized. What Alaska did was to stop the cleaning in September (which was started in April of the same year) and waited for winter instead. Responses resumed in the next two years, where cleaning up was at its height during the summers. Winters were skipped because the weather was sure to help with the clean up, too. Alaska is known for more than frequent winter storms. This time, winter storms are a blessing in disguise because these were capable of removing the oil which accumulated in the shorelines. Even sub-surface oils were removed from the ocean, too. By summer, cleaning up with personnel and procedures resumed (Wells, Butler and Hughes, p. 218). Human efforts and the help from the environment was enough to clean the Exxon Valdez oil spill in approximately three years. After the efforts and responses from women, it becomes the turn of the environment. This actually happened when 378 of the 587 segments of shorelines were treated through the application of bioremediation alone. It didn’t take too long a time until cleaning the oil spill only required simpler techniques like bioremediation (as mentioned earlier), manual clean up and limited use of equipment (Wells, Butler and Hughes, p. 316). If this is how long it takes for a great disaster to be cleaned up, then how can one say that 15 to 20 years is not enough? Let it be a Lesson Learned It won’t necessarily take 15 to 20 years to clean up the ocean. It may reach that long enough, though, if cleaning up is still done irresponsibly. Clean-up attempts are dangerous. In fact, cleaning up may even be more destructive than the oil spill itself because physical methods and chemicals are needed to eradicate the oil from the waters. If the amount is incorrect or the physical method is done improperly, then further damage can be caused, thereby delaying the cleaning up process and recovery (Alvord and Alvord, p. 77). Oil penetrated deeply into the sea. The spilled oil stays fresh for a couple of years. In no time, it returns back to the surface. Before it even reaches the surface, the oil should be taken away from the ocean bed because it can kill nearly animals once it reaches the water’s surface. This is a concern of the people who work in cleaning up the oceans, which is why the response in oil spills is relatively fast since the Exxon Valdez caused trauma to a lot of people (Alvord and Alvord, p. 77). Because of the effects of oil on marine life and the quality of sea water, people are alerted – from government, be it local or national, to local residents near the shorelines of oceans. This alert alone is enough to warn everybody about the adverse effects of oil spill. The Exxon Valdez serves as a living example to help people stop the harmful things they do to the environment. The elimination of harmful acts will surely help in reducing the required clean-up years. Whatever it is that takes 15 to 20 years is not the cleaning procedures at all, but the long-term effects of the spilled oil. Millions of marine creatures are killed and it will take decades before reproduction is active and healthy again. The food we get from the water becomes questionable while tourism and economic depression is experienced.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Physical Education Is Important

DyEsha Robinson EDU 460 Motivational Paper September 23, 2009 Educators across the country are worried that kids aren't getting enough physical fitness. Kids in elementary school may be getting a lot of their activity on the playground at recess instead of P. E. classes. Most grade schools don't have P. E. teachers. Regular teachers can teach the kids physical education, but the state says many of them don't feel equipped to do that. Statistics prove more kids are becoming inactive and overweight. Among youth six to 19 years old, 16-percent are overweight. That's more than 9-million kids across the country. To compound the problem, state officials say as schools strive to meet intense academic standards with programs like â€Å"No Child Left Behind†, schools are de-emphasizing P. E. P. E. encourages kids to find something active they love to do, like dancing, swimming, hiking, even skateboarding, because then they're more likely to develop healthy habits. Put simply, at a time when every penny is being pinched by every school in every district in every county in every state, physical education is taking a beating. The experts and educators say there is no doubt that the erosion of P. E. has been a major contributor to the skyrocketing obesity rates. And, of course, the more kids are unhealthy, the less they can exercise. This is their circle of life. Improving children's health may not be a convincing rationale for school administrators. A big argument for cutting back on P. E. is that it wastes time that kids need to be spending in academics, and that it will reduce test scores, which is the death knell for schools. But a studies show that spending more time in P. E. does not interfere with academic achievement. In fact, in some studies, including ours, there is some evidence that it might even improve academic achievement. Other studies have shown that P. E. boosts brainpower (attention, test-score fanatics) if it's done right. That may be the key to fighting obesity as well—instead of just changing the amount of P. E. kids get, change the type. Learning to manage children's behavior in the outdoor environment might help with classroom management inside. Going outside and participating in a physical activity provides a break from the brain drain of sitting in the desk, so perhaps the teacher benefits as much as the students and everyone goes back in more refreshed and with a more positive attitude. The U. S. Department of Education contends in a newly released study that 99 percent of public elementary schools have some type of physical education built into their curriculum in 2005. But how often students actually engaged in physical activity varies widely. Between 17 and 22 percent of students attended P. E. each school day. Another 11 to 14 percent scheduled P. E. three or four days a week and 22 percent scheduled P. E. one day a week. Exercise creates more alertness in a classroom situation. It stimulates more of the natural uppers in brain, like dopamine, and it improves working memory and problem solving skills. Sources http://www. cnn. com/2006/HEALTH/08/20/PE. NCLB/index. html http://www. newsweek. com/id/130621? digg=1 http://rwjf. org/pr/product. jsp? id=20811 http://help. senate. gov/Hearings/2004_10_05/destefano. http://sports. espn. go. com/espn/otl/news/story? id=4015831

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Who Killed Palomino Molero

The story is basically about the murder of a young boy who was either drafted or enlisted in the base and is named palomino molero. The first chapter begins with the description of the boy’s corpse hung on the old carob tree. The description brought me goosebumps because the death suffered by Palomino is a pitiable one and is beyond my imagination. The boy’s mouth and nose being slit and his testicles pulled out to his thighs are the extremes of inhumanity. In order to interpret this brutal killing , the author writes â€Å"it was one thing to imagine it (referring to the situation while the boy was describing the situation)and quite another to see it and smell it. † The first chapter gives a brief view on the character of officer Lituma who is the one to have witnessed the tortured corpse. This chapter also gives an idea about officer Lituma’s friends and the friendship they share. They have their own theme song and they are known as ‘the unstobbables’. Even at the bar with his friends he cannot quite get the unpleasant incident out of his mind. There is an element of concern within him and a strong determination to find those cruel murderers of Palomino molero. The second chapter introduces the boy’s mother Dona Asunta. It also describes her lifestyle and the place in which she lives in. Lust and superstition are two other elements found in the story. Lieutenant Silva has strong sexual desires for Dona Asunta inspite of the fact that she is married and has children. Superstition arises when the Dona asks Lituma if he had found the guitar that belonged to her son because the fortune tellers had told her that the day the guitar is found that would be the day the murderers would be revealed to them. This chapter also tells us that Palomino was a great singer and a harmless lad who would not even hurt a fly. This chapter also introduces a character named Moises nicknamed Dumbo because of his unusually long ears. It ends with Lituma questioning Dumbo, about his brutal death and trying to come up with reasons to his brutal killing. In my opinion the story is quite exciting and it keeps me wanting to know more.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

His work with the senate committee on Indian Affairs Essay

Senator Campbell can be considered as a politician who made the most out of his political assets and political positions so that he can make a difference and contribute especially to his own culture, tradition and heritage. Proof of how he pursued areas focused on his own culture is his efforts and success in becoming the first individual with Indian ancestry and heritage to act as chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee . Senator Campbell was an important politician particularly in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. This particular committee was something that he served in as chairman for several different years. His first years serving as chairman for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee started on 1997 and ended in 2001. Before Campbell took this position, it was held by John McCain. When he left after his 2001 tenure was over, he was succeeded by Daniel Inouye, whom he replaced as chairman for the same committee after Inouye’s term was over in 2003. From 2003 to 2005, Senator Campbell resumed his chairmanship of the committee, and when his tenure was over, it was McCain who replaced him. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum Another important contribution that Senator Campbell provided is through his role in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum. Campbell, who is a former policeman, has always publicly expressed how he is after the safety as well as welfare of the police officers. This is just one of the proofs of Campbell’s efforts to be able to contribute something to the United States police force. The National Law Enforcement Museum was created in 2000 during President Clinton’s term so that the public can be informed about the different aspects of police work and police life through the displays and features of the museum. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, on the other hand, is important as well because it honors those who are dead but served gallantly as a police officer, giving individuals a chance to get to know more the police officers serving for the US government and those who already served and died in the name of loyal service to the country and to the people . Both of these aspects are strongly supported by Senator Campbell. Because of his work and contributions to making this happen, it was eventually realized. Campbell served as a sheriff’s deputy in Sacramento County. This part of his life attached him intensely to the police officers and to the life of a police officer. He empathized because he experienced things first hand. This empowered Campbell to personally lend a strong helping hand to legislations that can help the police officers and contribute to the development of police officer’s welfare. Actually, Campbell’s authorship of the National Law Enforcement Museum Act, which is also known as the Public Law number 106-492, was just one of the legislations that are focused on police officers since there are also the 2003 Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act and the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Act . Laying all of the things he accomplished for everyone to see, the challenge, according to Campbell, was to follow his footsteps and continue the development of the efforts geared towards police officer safety and welfare .

Friday, September 13, 2019

Grow like Rice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Grow like Rice - Essay Example Rice thrives in strong monsoon and continental climate. In approximation, about 26.1% of China falls under the subtropical region where rice grows well. Given the strong Monsoon and continental climate China experiences, it provides the most favorable conditions for the growth of rice (Braddbrook 11). I still remember my earlier experiences with rice. One such was a freezing winter when our small town experienced a snowstorm. Luckily the snowstorm did not stay for long as it subsided after about a week. Everything was all white with the snow providing a thick white blanket. My grandparents decided to take me out to play with the snow and snowballs, and to make a snowman in the paddy field. The sight of the lovely rice plants covered in a coat of snow filled me with awe. The sight was so perplexing to me that I found myself unable to move. Seeing the expression of wonder on my face, my grandmother walked to me and said, â€Å"This is what you eat every day. It is growing rice.† I was surprised and could not imagine any relation between those plants and the rice that I so often enjoyed. My grandmother told me that during winter, the farmers always celebrated the snow. They believed that the white snow was like an angel to the rice. I tried to patting the snow away from the p lants, but she stopped me with a sweet smile and said, â€Å"Rice sleeps beneath the snow. Don’t disturb it.† Deep inside, I still wondered how such plants produced rice. Up to today, I have never understood the origin of all those beliefs. On our way home, my grandfather explained to me the whole process of how farmers harvest paddy and make rice. The whole process was quite complicated for me to understand at the time. However, I remember them saying how rice sleeps beneath snow in winter. I also have not forgotten the experiences I had and the great time I spent with my grandparents in the field. As for many local families, my family’s staple

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Ask the Author Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Ask the Author - Essay Example part that she says, â€Å"My dad built the house for me when I was five and my parents gave it to me that Christmas†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This makes one picture the image of how the dollhouse would look like and how her father would spend time on something like a dollhouse. Why use the figurative language as aspect of tone language in this essay? For example â€Å"Mom and Dad had become more expert the second time around, so her house had extra details, like a staircase and a kitchen sink with exposed pipes.† I think the essay may be boring if you didn`t use some of this aspects of tone in this essay. It would be difficult to understand how the dollhouse looked like without using the imagery aspect and how important it was to Katie without the use of figurative language. Finally I would like to know you did you really talk just about a dollhouse and how Katie missed it and her family or what message were you passing across this essay? And why did you prefer using the few writing techniques like imagery and figurative languages? I wish you can answer all my

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Soot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Soot - Essay Example The hydrocarbon fuel molecular constitution is associated with a six carbon atom types which might be obtained, for complex hydrocarbon mixtures, such as, transportation fuels, from the proton nuclear magnetic resonance (HNMR) measurements. Soot derived from ethanol, benzene, and acetylene have dissimilar reactivity and structural order. Soot is usually produced by combusting engines, flickering candle lights, and campfires. The process of soot formation is actually very challenging to comprehend and describe. However, with regard to the demand of for much lower particulate emissions an in depth understanding is absolutely necessary. Most types of combustion systems emit particles into the atmosphere that are a major hazard because of their toxicity to the human health, especially the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. The smaller particles less 100nm in size are regarded as the most hazardous. This is because they can penetrate deep into the lungs. The proposed project aims to determine the theory of formation, structure of (via image analysis) and impact of soot, as well as assess the differences between optical and electron microscopy. Soot comprises of agglomerates with a diameter of up to several hundred nanometers. They are made of fine structures that comprise of spherical primary molecules. Soot formation commences with the pyrolysis of fuel molecules along the formation of polcyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Vander Wal & Tomasek, 2004). The most crucial precursor in the formation of higher hydrocarbons is acetylene (C2H2). Ladommatos and Balachndran (2011) assert that the molecular structure of various hydrocarbons influence soot formation. Gulder (2007) adds that the fuel structure also impact on the soot structure. Vander Wal and Tomasek (2004) showed that the soot particles that are generated by ethanol, benzene, and acetylene have different reactivity and structural order. Soot derived

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Online Auction Fraud Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Online Auction Fraud - Research Paper Example After the invention of the computer, various networks were made to ensure the computers were able to communicate with each other. As time progressed, developments were achieved in the application of the internet in business transactions but the systems in place were not in a capacity to handle all the needs. This provided loopholes for the commission of internet crimes by criminals, as they would hide the identity while undertaking their attacks thus leaving limited evidence of themselves. In mid-1990’s, the internet frauds had increased to alarming rates and researches on the causes of the rapid growth and how it could be curbed were conducted. During the period towards the end of the twentieth century, the â€Å"dot.com† era, which was manifested by increased use of internet by organizations and people, resulted in increase of internet fraud. Due to the continuous technological advancement, the internet frauds have been on the increase with the current number of fraud s being around three times those conducted in mid-1990. There are two types of internet fraud namely offline and online. In offline fraud, the criminal usually steal personal data mostly financial and use it to make transactions. In the online fraud, criminals pose as esteemed institution and thus receive personal data, which they illegally use to make transaction. Some of the commonly used internet fraud include international modem dialer, investment schemes, fake legal schemes, market manipulation; work at home schemes, pharming, phishing, auction, and online shopping. This paper seeks to give an in-depth analysis of auction internet fraud. Online Auction Fraud Due to the continuous technological development, the internet has provided a platform in which direct interaction of the buyer and the seller is not necessary for a transaction to be effectively completed. Criminal have used advantage of this where they misrepresent a product advertised for sale through the internet auction site, fail to deliver the item, or deliver an item but not as specified by the customer after receiving all the money as stipulated in their agreement with the customers. This is usually defined as online auction fraud. To avoid one being a victim of such activities, it is often advisable to undertake a business transaction with companies or individuals one is well conversant with, clearly understand the contract terms, read the privacy policy and use the most secure means of remitting personal information (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2006). Methods of victimization Since the internet auction process involves bidding by the interested parties, some people use this opportunity to victimize their target customers. Some of the most commonly used victimization methods include: Non-delivery- this usually occurs when one puts an item for bid whereas no such item exists. Therefore, despite the customer satisfying all the conditions set, he will never get the item (Anon, 2009.). During the transaction, the sellers get the financial details of the customer and thus may use them to exploit him/her further. Misrepresentation- this is mainly executed by altering the actual details of an item in order to win a customer. In most cases, the images are used since they can easily be manipulated. Triangulation- this is somehow technical and involves a person buying something from an online seller using stolen details.  

Words of the Bewitched in Bridget Bishop Assignment

Words of the Bewitched in Bridget Bishop - Assignment Example This affirmed the fears of the witnesses that indeed the Bishop was a witch. Each witness had an account different from the next, all of which were related to an interaction with the Bishop. In most of the testimonies, the unsuspecting culprits would welcome the Bishop into their homes as a visitor or simply interact with her as they would any other villager. However, the more her visits became, the more their miseries increased. This showed them that the torments would not have been instances of accidents but was well planned and the culprits carefully selected. The Bishop’s gender contributed to the accusations against her. Being a woman, she had gained so much influence and was living on her own. This was not common with the villagers. On the trial day, a body search revealed shambled body parts that did not resonate with the physique of a woman. A teat that was found mysteriously disappears right in the sights of her searchers. This is an occurrence that she could not let herself out of. The presence of puppets made of rugs and hogs bristles with headless pins on them were found in her house. These were weird things that the witnesses could not fathom. Their presence in her home and lack of a proper explanation of their use worsened the case against her. The bench of female jurists thus made the ruling of guilt against her based on the amount of evidence. To protect one from being accused of witchcraft, all it took was the courage to sign a book. The Bishop refused to sign this book. This is an act that proved her among the villagers as an outright witch. She could not thus be accused of routine misconduct. Furthermore, the accusation leveled against her and the following testimonials were unique in that they involved strange occurrences that inflicted pain and torture on her culprits. A large number of her culprits and the intensity of their predicament could not help matters for the Bishop either.

Monday, September 9, 2019

English Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

English Assignment - Essay Example Due to the dynamic nature of dancing, many dance films were created to show the complexities in the lives of dancers, as well as how their lives were shaped or changed through dancing, and a lot of which were appreciated by most movie-goers as shown by box office ratings and total worldwide grosses. In this paper, two movies about dancing are compared, Save the Last Dance (2001) and Black Swan (2001) which both show dancing as the driving force not just in the plot, but also in changing the lives of the characters portrayed. The dance films Save the Last Dance and Black Swan are high quality films that feature love of dance and how it is related to a person’s upbringing, social status, and character building. The two films are both considered to be high-quality films despite being labeled as independent films, or â€Å"indies† due to the high grosses during the release, the number of awards given to and nominated for, as well as the competence of the actors, the actress es, and the directors. In spite of having production budgets roughly around $10,000,000, both movies did very well in the box office and easily recovered the expenses incurred, with Save the Last Dance totaling a lifetime gross of $131, 706, 803 (Box Office Mojo – Save the Last Dance), and $329, 443, 368 for Black Swan (Box Office Mojo – Black Swan). ... It also won in the MTV Movie Awards in 2001 for Best Kiss (Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas) and Breakthrough Male Performance (Sean Patrick Thomas). Black Swan also received awards as well, not just from award-giving bodies in the United States, but also from around the world. Among these are: AFI Awards Movie of the Year (2011); Academy Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Natalie Portman); Best Foreign Film in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina; Excellence in Production Design Award from the Art Directors Guild; Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Film; Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Natalie Portman); and the Venice Film Festival for Marcello Mastroianni Award (Mila Kunis) (Black Swan – Awards†). The number of awards received by the actors and actresses in the two movies attest to the excellent performance of the cast, and their skills in the portrayal of chara cters were able to carry the films through despite the considerably low budget for both films. Also, the actors and actresses were able to show their versatile acting skills that strongly convinced viewers of the emotions that were felt by the characters that they portray. Their skills were recognized not just by the award-giving bodies, but also the audiences that watched them, since it is a common fact that most films that were able to show true emotions win awards as well as the admiration of the audiences. Aside from the movies having good credentials, both for the directors as well as the actors that played in it, the plots were also convincing enough that many people can

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Masters Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Masters - Personal Statement Example dation soon after my academic feat has also furthered my insight into the field of law, giving me an opportunity to put in practice theoretical concepts learnt at the university and during diverse training seminars. The undergraduate studies and training have fuelled my interest in law to higher levels, prompting me to consider pursuing a postgraduate degree in International Commercial Law. I have acquired significant skills relevant to the practice of law in the course of my academic training, internship and life in general. Skills like client orientation, problem resolution, organization and planning, business competence, adaptability and focus on quality, will come in handy in my professional development, which I hope your esteemed institution will accord me. I am diligent, focused and motivated to succeed as an international business relations lawyer. I intend to exert diligence in my postgraduate studies, while bringing my leadership skills and critical reasoning ability to presenting legally viable arguments to this globally renowned course.   I look forward to learning from honored professors the intricate nature of International Commercial Law. I am also eager to interact with like-minded scholars and advance my skills and knowledge to become effectively global-oriented. In a progressively competitive and interconnected world, I hope to acquire focused legal training that will help me in critical analysis and development of laws that govern international commerce. I appreciate the fact that becoming an international lawyer requires time and significant effort. I am willing and ready to make this commitment and approach the course with due diligence not just for enhancement of my career prospects, but also for the benefit of my future

Saturday, September 7, 2019

The Differences Between Public and Private Accounting Research Paper

The Differences Between Public and Private Accounting - Research Paper Example According to Eisen, accounting refers to the â€Å"art of organizing, maintaining, recording, and analyzing financial activities† (1). The work of an accountant is to convert the accounting information into meaningful terms that are understandable and thus can be used by interested parties. An accounting system can use a simple check register or use the Microsoft Office Accounting which is more appropriate. Although accountants follow the same procedure as bookkeepers, an accountant can design a system that will capture all the necessary details that are needed in a business (Snyder Microsoft.com). Accounting systems are there to serve the control, management, and planning purposes of public finance administration. There are many reasons why accounting is said to be very vital. Just like the language of business, every business owner should be able to know the importance of accounting. Accounting is important as it helps in interpretation of companies operations and finances. Another reason why accounting should be considered important is the fact that it is usually considered as the guiding force to good management decisions in a particular company. No company management team can make sound decisions without knowing how the company finances are. It is important because it helps people to move to a next level in their plans for business. For example, with accounting, a business owner is able to avoid fraud that can cause the downfall of his or her businesses. 2. Differences between Private Accounting and Public Accounting There are many ways of classifying accounting and accountants but the most common method is whether it is private or public. Most college students get stranded on whether to start their career in private accounting or public accounting. Lecturers and university professors are of the opinion that public accounting is the best path to a successful accounting career. The advantage of following this route (public accounting) is there are hi gh salaries involved, more interesting and diverse work which gives an accountant the chance to get exposed to many other companies because his or her work is not limited to a particular company. For example, a public accountant performs three to four audits in different companies in one year, while the private accountant is usually stuck monitoring ledges for a year in one company (Vault Editors 91). Differences between the two types of accounting arise from the differences that exist in payments and accountants training, experience, working environment, social skills, and certification. 2.1 Payments Public accountants are paid directly for providing their services to businesses or individuals. According to Pride, Hughes and Kapoor, â€Å"a public accountant works on a fee basis for clients and may be self-employed or be the employee f an accounting firm† (446). In other words, the payment is made to the accountant himself and not via a company (Vault Editors 90). Private ac countants on the other hand are not paid directly as it happens in public accounting. Payments are made via the company a private accountant is attached to. Direct payment is not possible in this type of accounting (â€Å"What is the difference,† accountingtools.com). 2.2 Training A public accountant is trained on how to evaluate of accounting systems, gather evidence and make assessments to find out whether statements are correct (â€Å"