Benjamin Franklin Essay

Founding father Benjamin Franklin once said, â€Å"The way to see faith is to shut the eye of reason. † Theists for thousands of years have shut their eyes to reason and blindly followed the word of those who would have them believe in false gods. Reason demonstrates, through outlets such as Occam’s Razor, the lack of a need for the existence of those gods and the shortcomings of theists in attempts to prove their faith. Such shortcomings most prominently come in the failure to provide empirical data for the existence of gods, in fact, experimentation and observation show otherwise. To accompany a lack of need and a lack of evidence, because faith causes one to turn a blind eye to reason, arguments for theism are often weak, personal, and circumstantial at best, and can be easily negated. Reason, a lack of evidence, and weak arguments leave mankind only one option in regards to belief in the supernatural; no god or gods actually exist. Occam’s Razor not only establishes the falsehood of a requirement for gods, but also shifts the burden of proving the existence of gods unto the theorists. In blunt terms, the Razor states that, â€Å"All other things being equal, a simpler explanation is preferred over a complex one† (Krauss). Therefore, entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily, so the simplest of theories should be chosen before the most complex and that the unknown should first be measured in known quantities (Krauss). A deity, while providing a simple metaphysical escape for the absence of evidence, adds a plethora of unneeded layers of complexity to the creation of the universe. The addition of a supreme being to the equation not only dismantles established laws of physics, but creates a type of pyramidal scheme to the universal hierarchy, with the deity at the top, as its influence can â€Å"butterfly out† to touch everything in existence and possibly altering its physical properties. The metaphysical effect of a deity on the physical world would have unimaginable effect on known forces and constants, creating a faucet that streams unknown quantities. Fortunately, Occam’s Razor demands that without empirical data solving some of those unknowns, there is no need to add a god to the equation and the deity can be dismissed (Krauss). To stack on the allowance of a dismissal of gods by the Razor, Occam also requires that the burden of proof of gods falls to theists. Without a need for a god, one must not assume without evidence that a deity exists, just as one would not assume a Minnie Mouse teapot floats between the Earth and Mars without empirical proof of its existence (Krauss). Therefore, if there is no need for a god, then theists must provide tangible confirmation demonstrating the existence of such a being in order for a reasonable person to feel the need to believe in it (Myers). If the theists, on the other hand are unable to provide tangible confirmation, then the majority are essentially asking the world to follow their religion without a need for god, without proof, and on the terms that the church understands all there is to know of the universe. In the end, thanks to Occam’s Razor, in order for the thesis to stand atheists need not disprove the idea of gods, as one cannot prove a negative. They need only to disprove (or prove the absence of) the evidence supporting theism. The religious throughout history have failed to provide empirical data for the existence of gods; in fact, experimentation and observation shows otherwise. Theism ultimately provides no factual evidence indicating the existence of a god or multiple gods. The so-called strongest proof for the presence of the supernatural lies almost entirely in the realm of unreliable personal experiences (Faust 72). Theists will often claim that they know of their gods through personal communication or through the feeling of their presence in the world. This idea inspires quite the opposite of the confidence in God the religious are trying to demonstrate by sharing that information. What the concept of â€Å"feeling† gods or having them speak to a person is not only condoned as ludicrous by those who do not partake in the lie, but if true indicates something that drifts very nearly toward borderline mental illness. Those who believe their gods speak to them should not be granted any immunity other schizophrenics are not and need to be admitted into a psychiatric ward. The thought that personal experience that cannot and has not been processed through a reasonable scientific experimental procedure can take the place of real evidence is one shared solely by theists. The world does not so lightheartedly admit untested and inconstant variables such as personal experiences because no one who logically assesses the facts could morally do so. The nonreligious portion of the Earth’s population does not recognize personal experience as a viable form of evidence for anyone besides theists (Faust 72). This arises from the notion that these experiences claimed by the religious are not comparable to witness accounts r recollection of victims in the court of law. Unlike in the case of witness accounts and recollections, theists demand that the supernatural feelings they have be classified as stand-alone evidence without empirical data or essentially a case to back it up (Faust 74). This form of proof cannot stand by itself, especially when one takes into consideration the fact that these experiences happen so little and with so little correlation to any direct event or circumstance that when compared with the rest they produce an insignificant number (Faust 75). Not to mention of course, that any witness account in a case must be taken with a grain of salt, as one can never be certain they are telling the truth without the backing of empirical data. In a vain attempt to denounce alternatives to supernatural creation theists often cling to the proud notion that if they can find a single flaw in an important scientific theory, such as natural selection or evolution, then the entire case of the nonexistence of god collapses (Dawkins 51). First, as proved earlier in the paper, the burden of proof is on the theists, so even if theists can disprove every scientific theory they must still prove theirs (Dawkins 53). Second, a scientific theory must be show to be fundamentally flawed in order for it to collapse. A few issues in the theory simply shows that there is a small amount of data missing or that a certain aspect must be corrected, both of which existences would serve to further the theory (Dawkins 53). The distinct difference between science and religion is that the scientific method of proposing a theory allows for the theory to change and adapt according to what is observed, meaning the core of the idea is what needs to collapse for it to be incorrect, not the random outliers and exceptions picked on by theists. Conclusively, unlike religious arguments, scientific theory is based on observation and change and therefore need to be proven fundamentally wrong to be publically denounced. Atheists have all heard it before, â€Å"Complexity, complexity, complexity, complexity, complexity. Did you know that a cell is really complex? Complexity, complexity, complexity, and you are just going to be blown away by the Trilobites. It crazy, they’re like little machines. Complexity. Therefore, design. † The argument of complexity through intelligent design is another tidbit of supposed empirical data theists put forth in an effort to provide â€Å"physical† evidence for the existence of gods (Myers). This contention is one of the main, and essentially their only, religious attempts to put forth empirical data which scientists can measure. The entire idea of complexity indicating design is in every sense ridiculous. The notion can be dispelled by observing the known world and watching nature, or even humans, create complex structures by chance or accident. Take for example, a young boy who tires of playing with a stick and throws it into a nearby creek. The stick floats downstream until it gets caught between two rocks at a narrow, and begins to catch other debris floating by. Eventually a variety of different types of objects will form a natural dam in the creek, creating a small pond, which in turn can develop its own ecosystem filled with life giving the illusion of design, but being completely natural (Myers). As shown in the example, the complexity of the world derived not from design, but from the wonder of chance, evolution, and natural selection. Over hundreds of millions of years life has slowly developed and pieced itself together much like the dam, changing and adapting to conditions and lifestyles on Earth (Myers). The extreme complexity through which the systems of life today work is derived from the natural selection aspect of evolution, if a system does not work, or fails to quickly adapt, then the system is eliminated time and time again until a system that operates survives (Myers). The argument of complexity solely resides in world of fantasy, has no scientific basis, and should be disregarded as viable physical evidence. Full well knowing how pitiful the points of the argument of intelligent design are, theists look to one final, very childish, measure to save their drowning plight, questioning the validity of science and the scientists who propose it (Mathew 1). Worshippers have long tried to poke holes in important theories such as natural selection and evolution or convince people to dismiss them as simple â€Å"guesses by scientists† (Mathew 1). On the receiving end of most of this ill-informed ridicule rests a creationist’s worst enemy, the theory of evolution. According to many theists, evolution cannot be as there are, so pompously pointed out, several gaps in the evolutionary chain (Dawkins 52). Not only does this not affect the validity of a theory as proved earlier, but is entirely untrue. Fortunately in this world there stands a concept known as a universal constant, a constant essentially keeps humans from testing if the floor will hold them every time they leave bed, or if the stove is hot when the on light is on, or allowing them to understand if they ump from a building they will die. These constants allow mankind to make a series of assumptions that make up nearly every decision in an average day. These assumptions permit humans to deduce situations such as that if a malicious looking; blood-soaked man leaves a room with a knife in hand and a body is found that the man was the murderer. The same idea transfers to the concept of evolution in the regard that scientists, with proper reasoning and motive, can guide the theory across gaps in the chain and still hold a fair evidence base. This utilization of basic skills as assumptions paired with evidence to substantiate them, along with earlier points of scientific theories’ abilities to withstand isolated flaws discredits theist attempts to put science to the question. Not only do the religious weakly attempt to discredit scientific theory and method, but they often will question the religious background of scientists in an effort to win people over to their side (Mathew 4). Perhaps the two most famous cases of the abuse of character are that of Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin. For ages now religious fanatics such as Ray Comfort have bastardized their work by releasing edited copies of their books and mining for quotes that will purposely mislead the common citizen into believing the scientists were theist. For example, Ray Comfort puts forth this quote about Einstein, â€Å"I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Comfort removed the quote completely from context in order to misconstrue its true meaning (Mathew 4). Spinoza’s God is not a god at all, but a term used to sum up the forces of the universe into a word. Einstein in that very paragraph went on to describe how he does not believe in a god who concerns himself with the fates and actions of humans (Mathew 4). Einstein even addressed this kind of misleading material in his own day writing statements denouncing those who claimed him as a believer in God, â€Å"It was of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which has been systematically repeated (Mathew 4). Zealots like Comfort also release carefully crafted versions of great works like Darwin’s Origin of Species in which Darwin claims that he finds it hard to believe that something as astounding as the human eye could have developed through chance, neglecting to add the parts right in which Darwin continues to say that despite this, reason suggests that its true (Mathew 5). The attempt to discredit science and scientists by theists is disgraceful and such a ersonal attack in an impersonal topic alone should be grounds to dismiss the claim. Overall, theists have repeated neglected to present any actual empirical data, therefore have no proof of the existence of gods, and must resort to metaphysical or personal claims. Not only do Occam’s Rule and the absolute lack of empirical evidence disprove the idea of gods, but what arguments theists do rely on are weak, individual, and circumstantial at best, and can all be easily negated. One of these arguments for theism is the existence of morality and the correlation of morals throughout the world and history (Hauser et al 1). This can be easily negated as, put simply, atheists are the perfect example of how this cannot be true. Without guidance and belief in gods they are just as morally good as any religious person (Hauser et al 2).

Gender Inequalities Essay

Gender Inequality is the differences in the status, power and prestige women and men have in groups, collectivities and societies. Gender inequality usually affects women more than men due to the status in society. Many women are affected in the workforce due to gender inequalities, in many countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan women are held at a lower position to men. In countries such as those, women are thought of as property other than human beings. Why does gender inequality happen? The answer to this question is not as simple as it may seem. The most enforcing cause of gender inequality would be stereotypes. Typically women are thought of as housewives, to stay home, cook and clean, and take care of children. Men are suppose to be the breadwinners, they are suppose to work and support the family. In modern society the thought of the typical â€Å"housewife† has changed. Ever since the Rosie the Riveter revolution during World War II, more and more women are working in the workforce instead of staying at home. Even though during this time women were encouraged to take the place of their men and work in the workforce, a glass ceiling was still created keeping women unable to be promoted and gain higher positions. see more:gender equality essay for kids Interesting enough, almost 40% of women today make more than their husbands, and women today make up almost 60% of U.S. college students and earn the majority of doctorates and master’s degrees. So why does gender inequality still exists? Its a long interval of gender differences, including roles of biology, gender socialization, and findings from other cultures. Also the different forms of gender inequalities suchs as women in the workplace, inequalities at work, and the gender pay gap take a huge toll on gender inequalities. As the differences between girls and boys are explored, the differences between men and women are also explored. Many scientist say that nature vs. nurture has a huge involvement with the biological makeup differences of men and women. A quote from Intro to Sociology states that â€Å"Scholars disagree about the degree to which biological characteristics affect gender identities as â€Å"feminine† or â€Å"masculine† and the social roles b ased on those identities. The debates is really about how much social behavior is learned versus innate (or â€Å"inborn†)†. (Intro to Soc 295). I agree with this statement because the  biological characteristics do not makeup a gender identities. Only because a woman is not built like a man does not mean she is more weak. Only because men were not exposed to more cooking and cleaning as much as a woman or young girl is, does not mean that woman or man is incapable of doing it. When thinking of the differences concerning men and women its hard to compare the behavioral differences to an overall audience. Depending on the different cultures, women and men have different morals and behaviors. For example women in Iraq are held as property to their husband, also in some Muslim countries, some women are stoned to death for wrongdoings. These example show complete inequality differences between men and women. For examples, as humans we are trained to think that woman can not perform strenuous work, its up to men to perform difficult task. These stereotypes are the ones that create gender inequalities and make it unfair for women to gain equal rights. Most sociologist argue that a mans aggressiveness varies between cultures and that women are still are as aggressive but display their aggression in a more discreet manner such as using strategies and â€Å"bad mouthing† rather than physical fights. I agree with this statement, usually men are more confrontational because men always look to be the Alpha male. When women are in a confrontation, more women will be more sneaky and rather talk than just fight physically. When it comes to the different forms of gender inequality, there are many different forms and disadvantages mainly pertaining to women. The first most common is women in the workplace, women in the workplace have more disadvantages than men. Another disadvantage would be the gender gap and pay. Men tend to receive a way higher pay than women. Each of these are examples of gender inequality, in the workplace it can be found most typical due to the stereotypical judgements of women working. The gender gap payment has a great affect on gender inequalities, since men are paid more this creates a glass ceiling for women trying to advance in the career path. In a quote by the feminist majority foundation, â€Å"In the Wall Street Journal/Gallup survey, women managers were asked what they consider to be the most serious obstacle in their business careers. Only 3% cited â€Å"family responsibilities,† but half named reasons related to their gender, including: â€Å"male chauvinism, attitudes toward a female boss, slow  advancement for women, and the simple fact of being a woman.† (FF 1) This quote shows that the main thing holding back women in the working society is stereotypes. Many women stereotypes claim that its family issues holding back our women from reaching higher levels. Many assume that if a women is a single mother, divorced, or divorcing this may take an effect on her work ability. In society when it comes to gender and family, each gender is expected to have a certain type of role. When it comes to family there are many different types and levels. Usually in a family women are expected to take care of the children and men are expected to work and provide. In this modern day society women usually do both, work and take care of their family. Since the beginning of humankind women were suppose to bare the children and men were suppose to provide for the family. Since this though was considered since the begnning of mankind its hard to earse this thought. Still til this day, women mainly do the cooking while men provide. Since women are mainly thought of being in the kitchen, its hard for men to picture women in the workfield. Since the beginning o f time women have been thought of as the housekeepers. When World War II came around things changed and women had to step up to the plate. Ads such as Rosie the Riveter promoted women to get jobs and work outside the household. Before this time the life for a woman was boring and just an endless cycle of the same tasks. Many books were written explaining the average life of the housewife such as â€Å"captive wife† by Gavron in 1966. During the 1970s and 1980s a spring of debates and research formed on family from feminist viewing this topic. Before feminist began to look t the value of family, the researched typically focused on the kinship and family ties and how society affects them. Feminist began to focus on inside the family to examine a woman’s experience in the domestic atmosphere. Many feminist argued that there was an unequal power instilled in the families and that more family benefitted more than the other. There are three spectrums that feminist found important when examining the importance of family. One is the domestic of labor, which is the way tasks are allocated among household members. Feminist tend to disagree about the historical upcoming if this division. Some view it as a effect of the industrial capitalism. Another theme would be unequal power relationships, whi ch equals domestic violence. Many feminist argue that violent and abusive sides of families have been ignored  in both academic contexts and legal and policy circles. feminist feel that the family serves as a gender oppression. The last theme would be caring activities, this theme extends from looking after a person who is ill to looking after an elder. Not only do women complete household chores and child care they also have significant emotional labor in maintaining personal relationships (Duncome and Marsden 1993). Caring activities are grounded by in love, deep emotion, they also require an ability to listen, perceive, negotiate, and act creatively (Intro Soc 500). Women play a huge role when it comes to family and society. Women provide a nurturing environment for society because of their loving nature. Without a mothers nurturing nature, children wouldn’t have the ability to grow properly. A woman is the foundation to any family, without a woman a family wouldn’t be able to function properly. When it comes to a family women aren’t just housewives, they are the emotional base and protectors of the family. In conclusion I feel that men and women should have equal power, especially w hen it comes to the work force. Many women have to deal with stereotypical comments in the workforce and sexual harassment. Harassment is also a big difficulty for women to proceed in the workforce, a quote from a Huff Post article â€Å"The HuffPost poll found that one in five women said they’d been harassed by a boss, and one in four said they had been harassed by another co worker. And although women were more likely than men to say that they had been victims of one or both types of sexual harassment, men also reported being sexually harassed — 6 percent said they were harassed by a boss and 14 percent by a coworker.† (Huff Post 1) This proves that women not only have to deal with stereotypes but also have to deal with sexual harassment which is even more difficult. Women should just have an equal position in status compared to men because, women can do anything a man can do. In some cultures such as Muslim cultures, women have little to no rights and sometimes even die for committing the sm allest thing against their husbands. Women typically have it more difficult than men because women are seen as a piece of property rather than being their own person. Its concerns me how much we seem to belittle our women in society even though they are the foundation to any family and the rock to any man.

CBS news program Essay Example for Free

CBS news program Essay The broadcast news source that I watched was the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, which was a half hour evening broadcast. Couric sat behind a desk, facing the viewer the entire time. The top stories on this broadcast were the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Kansas City tornadoes, and the â€Å"Make or Break† mission in Afghanistan. Each story received about five minutes of airtime. Couric narrated statistics of how much oil has leaked and the length of coastline that has been affected in Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico while live footage showed clean-up efforts taking place along the coast. The story was made relatable for the viewer by explaining that the amount of oil spilled is enough to cover all of New York City. It was lent credibility by an on-site reporter and correspondent that interviewed both local residents involved in the clean-up and with experts working to stop the oil leak. There was no attention paid to the source of the leak or to anyone being held responsible for the accident. The story about the tornadoes in Kansas City featured footage from a resident’s video camera of the funnel cloud approaching, along with local news footage of the damage to local homes and businesses. Couric, the on-site correspondent and a representative from the National Weather Service delivered their news in professional, almost formal tones. This gave the program the feel of being informed, but somewhat impersonal. The only statistics given were the death rate numbers, and the story ended by stating that more tornadoes were headed toward the area. Couric’s coverage of the â€Å"Make or Break† mission taking place in Afghanistan was the third top story. It discussed the efforts to reclaim the city of Khandahar from the Taliban and gave background information into previous operations in the war between the United States and the Taliban. In-depth explanations were given of where the US troops will go and what they will do. A correspondent reporting from the Pentagon made the story seem more credible, even as he explained President Obama’s reasoning behind the troop surge. The cable news source that I viewed was Fox News on the Fox News Network. It was hosted by Shepard Smith. This was also a half hour evening news broadcast. The top three stories on the show were the Kansas City tornadoes, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the theft of a memorial cross for World War I veterans from a Mojave Desert monument. Air time for each top story was about five minutes, similar to Couric’s program. Shepard Smith delivered all of his dialogue standing and was positioned at various spots throughout the broadcast, as opposed to Couric who stayed seated. There were fast graphics, upbeat background music, and a news wire line across the bottom of the screen delivering more headlines during the top stories, all features not included in the CBS broadcast. The story about the Kansas City tornadoes lasted about five minutes. In included local news footage shot by a Kansas City news program, an in-studio commentator and weather expert that discussed the tornado system with Smith, and footage of local survivors describing what they had seen and heard and detailing the damage to their personal property. Statistics about deaths and injuries were given, and the segment ended with Smith saying that another storm system was on its way. When discussing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Smith delved deeper into the Capital Hill investigation of BP, Transocean, and Halliburton in the attempt to determine which company was responsible for the accident. There was also more attention given to the tanker explosion that caused the accident and there was mention of the crew that died in the explosion, information that was not included in the CBS news program. This made the Fox coverage of the oil spill seem more informed and more personable. It was made more personable by Smith’s opinion that someone should be held accountable. The story about the World War I monument being stolen seemed more of a human interest story, and it was interesting that this was made a top story on the program. In discussing the theft of the monument that had stood in the Mojave Desert since 1934, Smith talked with a veteran that was coordinating an effort to have the monument recovered along with a legal correspondent that explained the ongoing debate over whether the monument should be allowed to be erected in the spot in the first place. Overall, the basic layout of the programs was the same. Each top story was given about five minutes of air time and each featured on-site correspondents, experts, video footage, and interviews. The Fox News broadcast was made more engaging with more music, a host that moved around and stood while he spoke, offered jokes and offhanded opinions about the news stories, and in-studio correspondents to discuss them. The CBS broadcast was more serious and toned-down, with Couric being the only correspondent in the studio, tamer graphics, and no news wire. I feel that both proved ample credibility with their straightforward delivery of the facts. But I feel that the Fox News broadcast was more personable and relatable because instead of just showing footage of what’s happening right now like the CBS program did, Fox’s program gave more background information and opinions from more individuals to help the viewer understand the issues and the stories better. Similarities were evident for the basic purpose of news delivery, but the differences occurred because of a different attitude towards the viewer. CBS news program. (2016, Sep 11).

Cultural Differences Between Employees Management Essay

Cultural Differences Between Employees Management - Essay Example While superficially it might seem the first three elements of the analysis, (Political, Economic, and Sociological), might seem to be the most applicable to a discussion of culture within the workplace, the others are as well. PESTLE has been used by many companies to examine both the internal and external factors that will influence both present and future business. It is a way of viewing complex situations through the prism of a strong model that can both provide a rational framework for the examination of complex issues and also provide a foundation for the possible alleviation of the problems discovered. Thus the problem of "culture" is one that is posed for nearly all managers in all businesses, but especially within increasingly diverse environments such as are found in Europe. First of all, what does "culture" mean The dictionary defines it in the following manner: What does such an esoteric subject have to do with the ordinary business environment one might ask Basically, culture is all the beliefs, biases, likes, dislikes and general attitude towards life that an employee brings into the workplace. If all these were homogeneous within each company then culture could be ignored as it would be shared and unified. Problems arise when a culture is not shared, specifically when a particular manner, way of speaking or belief conflicts with another. On a most basic level, one might deal with the problem with hand gestures.  

Business Process Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Business Process Management - Essay Example This essay declares that business process orientation (BOP) enhances performance by sensitising managers to embrace a process view in their businesses. This process has been of a major importance to businesses as it reduces conflicts among workers thus improving relationships in the business environment. The process is also a method that has been introduced in order to replace the hierarchical method that had been used in the early 1980s where the entire subordinate was under one manager as their boss. This past method has now been developed to a cooperative, flat method and which involves more processes This paper rmakes a conclusion that the Reduction of inventory in companies using the program in addition to cost savings enables these companies to pay for the expenses incurred in the installation of the system by the end of the second financial year. SAP ERP system mostly deals with the assimilation of data and for a company to improve this it has to concentrate in using one kind of merchant that will be used to distribute the elements that are installed in the program for example to human resources. The advantages of SAP ERP system to an organisation include; the system facilitates international integration of information which deals with exchange rates, culture used in different regions and the language. People are in a position of working effectively and thus develop their skills and motivation.

How Monetary and Fiscal Policies were Implemented during the Recession Essay

How Monetary and Fiscal Policies were Implemented during the Recession - Essay Example In order to curb this, the government of the United States, and the international monetary fund, took some micro and macroeconomic measures to curb this trend, which led to a great economic down turn. This was achieved by using some monetary and fiscal policies. The monetary process is the process through which the central bank and other money rendering institutions of a country controls the supply of money, the availability of money and the cost of money or the interest rate so that they can achieve a certain common objective. These objectives are done towards the growth and stability of the economy. The monetary policies can be either the contractionary or the expansionary objective. The aim of the expansionary policy increases the total supply of money in the economy, while the contractionary policies decrease the supply of money in the economy. ... It is the mandate of the federal reserve of the United States to enact the monetary policies. Board of governors runs the Federal Reserve. The factors, which they considered and applied to curb inflationary tendencies, are the reserve requirements, discount rate, open market operations, and printing money. Most banks in many countries changed the reserve requirements to encourage more banks to start in order to increases the amount of money circulating in the economy. The central banks of these countries have the authority to change the amount that banks should hold in the central bank so that they can be given the right to operate. In the US, the Federal Reserve has the supremacy to set the quantity of the deposits that the associate banks can deposit in order to be given the mandate to operate. To curb the recession, the FED decreased the amount of reserve deposits. The motive was to encourage more investors in the banking industry therefore increasing the amount of money circulati ng in the economy. This monetary objective achieved its goal since more banks had more money at hand, which increased spending, and possibly inflation (East Tennessee State University web). The other monetary policy used was the discount rate. Discount rate is the discount on the rate of interest rate that the Federal Reserve charges on the banks on the money that they borrow from the Federal Reserve. The central banks decreased or lowered the discount rate during recession. Their objective was to encourage the banks to borrow money from the central banks at a lower rate to increase the amount of money circulating in the economy. This would in turn encourage

Journey of the Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker Essay

Journey of the Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker - Essay Example Another account of existence of human a being is given in the bible which states that man was created by God and in the true image of God. The scientific and biblical accounts of the human beings have been of confusion to many people as they do not understand which account if the correct. Apart from the origin of the human beings, another thing that is not well understood is the role of the human beings in the Universe and the dimensions into which humans should exercise their roles. In the book, Journey of the Universe, Swimme and Tucker put it, â€Å"everything in the Universe exists in a physical and a spiritual dimension and that Universe presents a deep transfiguration process (Swimme & Tucker, 2011). They add that truth love and compassion should prevail amongst the human creature and should be regarded as divine. Personal Belief about Existence In my opinion, my deepest beliefs about the existence of humans in encrypted in religion. According the religion that I believe, exis tence of human beings is explained as the work of God who created a man and put him in the Garden of Eden. Then thereafter everything unfolds to show the responsibilities given to man by the creator. One of the major reasons that make me believe in this ideology is that the process of creating heaven and the earth was sacred as planned by God and the last step to create man, was more sacred. The first account of creation explains that God created Heaven and Earth by his words. For instance, he said, â€Å"Let there be light.† However, the creation of man took a different dimension whereby God molded some clay and breathed in. After creation, God also said that he created man in his image. This gave human being a special recognition in the Universe. During the second account of the creation, God introduced the man into the Garden of Eden and gave him responsibility of everything that was there. In fact, man was given the responsibility of naming all the creatures that were cre ated by God. Man was also given the responsibility for the Garden of Eden and was allowed all the freedom but denied eating the fruit of wisdom. All this story line of creation emphasizes that existence of human beings solely takes a religious dimension. The other explanation of existence such as spiritual and scientific amongst others do not explain some issues, which I believe are important in human existence. For instance, they don’t explain the sacred life of a human being (Swimme & Tucker, 2011). In the scientific explanation of existence, man is told to have evolved from the Ape species and having undergone various steps of evolution, he reached the stage of the current man whose predecessor is Homo sapiens sapiens. In the whole evolution story, the holiness of man is not explained at all. What the entire story gives is that man gained experience after each evolutional phase. Everybody in the Universe can witness the specialty of human beings in deeds, beliefs and innov ations. Hence to me, any existence story that does not account man as sacred and special creature is wrong. Personal Views on a Human Being and His Roles Having followed the story of creation, I consider myself a unique creature amongst other creatures. One of the major reasons that give me the pride as a human is that I have the power and wisdom to control other creatures; the power that is given to all human beings. That is the reason as to why man was able to tame other creatures now referred to as domestic animals. As a human creature, I can therefore, rear such animals and know their needs in every day’s life. In addition to that, I have leadership and organizational skill. This

CQ Rescue Organizations Campaign Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

CQ Rescue Organizations Campaign - Assignment Example The purpose of these tactics is to introduce to the potential sponsors, the role CQ Rescue is playing in saving precious lives as well as provoking their interest in mutual ventures like the promotion of their businesses by offering them enhanced exposure in return for their financial contributions to CQ Rescue. This plan also contains a detail of the expected budget; the expenses shown in the budget are further split into two months i.e. July 2014 & August 2014 to provide an idea of the anticipated expenses for the months during which the campaign is intended to last. The campaign will start on 1st July 2014 and end on 31st August 2014. To gain an idea of the success of the organization’s developed plan, certain vital parameters are selected to measure the success or failure effectively. It is hoped that the implementation of this plan will bring forth additional funding for the organization to make possible the assistance of people who need emergency transport services in ti mes of need. RACQ CQ Rescue is a community helicopter rescue service with an operating base in Mackay on the Central Queensland Coast of Australia. It aims to provide vital medical care to seriously injured patients in Mackay and often critically ill patients who need urgent transport from this region to Townsville. The staffs of CQ Rescue consist of four pilots, four aircrewmen and two rescue crewmen. RACQ CQ Rescue and Queensland Ambulance Service work together to provide an Intensive Care Paramedic being made available to fly with the RACQ CQ Rescue crew 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a Community Helicopter Provider, RACQ CQ Rescue relies heavily on the community to provide funding for operational purposes. These funds are sourced from sponsorships, business donations, workplace giving programs, annual appeals, bequests, and fundraising events. At this point in time, CQ Rescue is facing difficulties in acquiring sufficient funding for its operational purposes.  Ã‚  

Financial analysis and modelling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial analysis and modelling - Essay Example 75661.1 and the SS value is 609526983.2), The Co-efficient values illustrates that all the variables are directly related that means with the increase in Store Size the Profits will also increase, and this is the case with the Clothing Sales and the Non-clothing Sales. It can also be stated that the Clothing Sales are the least related variable among the rest of two variables and can be neglected in order to achieve more accurate and realistic results. h) The R-Square value represents the closeness of the values to the regression line; in the result of this regression analysis the R-Square value is 0.985 which illustrates that the values are closely fitted. This also shows that the variations in any one of the variables (i.e. No-clothing Sales and Store Size) may cause a positive or negative affect of 98.5%. The value of Clothing Sales is ignored as it is not in the significant region and will not affect the overall outcome. i) The P-values indicates the significance values that whether the variable(s) (the independent ones) affect the dependent one(s) or the overall regression analysis. In the regression analysis the P-Values of Non-clothing Sales and Store Size are significant at the 5% significance level. The net present value is the sum of all net cash flows expected from a project over a period of projection (Needles, Powers, & Crosson, 2010). In this case three years projections have been considered for two projects X and Y. The NPV of Project X is negative i.e. less than zero therefore this project should not accepted. On the other hand, Project Y has a positive NPV value i.e. more than zero over a three-year projection period therefore Project Y should be accepted (Moyer, McGuigan, Rao, & Kretlow, 2011). C. Monte Carlo Simulation allows multiples values of an asset or investment based on certain sensitivity or scenario analysis. It allows businesses to prepare better by evaluating the outcome of a project or investment by knowing the possible output

Notes on Religious Views on Life After Death Essay Example for Free

Notes on Religious Views on Life After Death Essay Question is What are we made of and what survives after death of the body. If anything survives how much of the original identity of that person survives and in what form? People try to answer this by: Believing in a superior being who has communicated a promise Gathering data about LAD near death experiences, past life memories that suggest reincarnation, the para-normal Accepting no life after death we are matter and return to matter and become part of the wider world again Exploring ideas about the nature of body and soul Some Christians believe death is the event that makes sense of our previous lives and the meaning of death itself is changed in the promise of eternal life. John Hick, it should not evoke the sickening fear with which we face what we know to be evil It is a fuller stage in the outworking of the Creators loving purpose for his children. SOURCES Revealed Knowledge The Bible, Quran, Torah etc which tell us of the events others have experienced and what they claim and to those who accept them as revealed knowledge this gives certainty. Christians believe that Jesus was and is God Incarnate, so if he promises eternal life to his followers, he must be trusted. Similarly Muslims trust the Prophet Mohammed as Allahs chosen messenger and as he has spoken of paradise, then there must be such a place. Inferential Knowledge Reasoning that the ideas expressed explain so much that they must be true even if theres no proof = a belief. Hindus do not have any promise in scripture, but they trust their God loves them and so will e god to them upon death. In neither case is there absolute proof the believer trusts that it is true. Religious views Christian Old Testament good and bad alike to go to Sheol as ghostlike individuals Job 14.7-12 Theres hope is a tree is cut down as buds can grow from the trunk but man lies down and does not rise again. However he also believes that if he has a personal relationship with God which is beyond the trials of this life he will be with God at the end. New Testament the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ is at the heart of the belief in LAD,. Jesuss promise to the good thief crucified with him This day you will be with me in paradise only appears in the Gospel of Luke indicates that he believes in the possibility of paradise for the righteous and the repentant. However the translation of paradise could also refer to a pleasant place. Jesus referred to heaven as the place where God lived Our Father which art in heaven Book of Revelations contains visions of Saints whose bloody robes have been washed clean in the blood of the lamb (Christ) in a heavenly city, the new Jerusalem. It is clear there is a heaven after death, which is separate from the last judgment, also known as the second coming, which will happen at the end of time. The term eschatalogical gap refers to the gap between whats in the bible and the precise details of the afterlife Purgatory Roman Catholics only people have to atone for sin before they can enter heaven no scriptural evidence for this idea Limbo not in current use, but Catholics used to believe the unbaptised or good people whod never heard of Jesus would go here. Protestants believed such people would go straight to hell as God would have called those to be saved. One reference in Peters letters The spirits who are in prison Reincarnation some Christians have accepted this in the past but not currently in use. Catholics in particular value appearances by Mary (Lourdes, Fatima etc) and other saints after their death as confirming an after life. Quakers religious body without creeds and so base beliefs on experience, life experience varies and therefore so do views on LAD. Three main views bit these are not fixed, all beliefs are personal. 1. The good we have done (and possibly the evil) lives on after we have gone in the lives of those affected this might be as memories or as the impact of deeds 2. Survival of the Human Spirit as a continuation of this life in a spiritual body (St Pauls term). Some also believe in reincarnation 3. Acceptance of heaven and hell as destinations after death but belief in a Loving God and redemption through Christ means hell cannot be eternal Personal conclusions about LAD are based on individual experiences of the Love of God in this life in spite of the experience of suffering. Therevada Buddists Nirvana achieved in this life, without substrate and so continuing to live in bodily form is described as a set of qualities in The Questions of King Milinda. He asks Nagasena whether he can compare it to anything in this world to help him understand. Nagasena says it cant be compared to anything, but its qualities can. E.g As a lotus is unsustained by water, so Nirvana is unsustained by all the defilements Islam God has a plan for the whole universe and all human beings At the day of judgement to whole universe will be destroyed and the dead raised to stand before him That day will be the beginning of an unending life on which every individual will be judged and rewarded by God according to their deeds. The Quran argues that life after death is vital of make sense of morality. If there is no afterlife then a belief in God is irrelevant. Hindus believe in certain heavenly states, notably Goloka, Krishnas heaven for devotees, but there is little justification in scripture. Hindus believe as a God loves his people he must be good to them when they die. The Resurrection of the Body Key Christian belief is that the individual survives as an individual. Also that the individual is judged as a individual Jesuss resurrection and ascension is the model we will follow as he was sent to show us the way, the truth and the light.. The Apostles and Nicene Creed both affirm belief in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come Tey also refer to the communion of saints which refers to the Church as one body uniting those in heaven and those on earth. The point of the Creed is to reinforce belief in the face of challenges Christians believe that man can be saved as a whole, body and soul man can glorify God through his body as he is made in the image of God, the body can become a sacrifice to God and also a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, (Corinthians 6.19-20,Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?). Also Christ at the Last Supper gave his Body and Blood as a means of salvation, so the human body is important On the same day as jesuss resurrection Matthews gospel reports dead prophets rising from their graves indicating a bodily resurrection. Paul speaks of us dying and rising with Christ in Baptism as a spiritual experience (Romans 6.5-11) but he is clear that the body will be resurrected after death however in 1 Corinthians 15-50 he also says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Irenaeus and Tertullian both interpret this to mean that flesh is resurrected for judgment and that the Spirit must be present in the flesh to enter heaven. The Creed also affirms belief in the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthains 15.35-50 Paul is asked How are the dead raised? He uses the analogy of a seed and a bulb to show that something completely different can arise from a source. At h time there was a commonly held belief that the flesh would be resurrected the corpse Paul tried to make it clear that the body refers to the whole personality and person, both inner and outer. Through Adam we are part of the physical sphere and through Christ we are part of the spiritual sphere Christ was man and God together we are physical body and spiritual body together. Paul does not describe the spiritual body.

Impairment is a physical fact, but disability is a social construction

Impairment is a physical fact, but disability is a social construction Intro This essay will discuss disability as a socially constructed concept, as viewed from a historical viewpoint the first as a physical fact and the second as socially constructed condition. The manner by which this will done is to investigate disability from an historical viewpoint and the socially constructed viewpoint, this will concluded in an evaluation. Oliver (1996) defines impairment as lacking part of or all of a limb, or having a defective limb, organ or mechanism of the body. And disability as the disadvantage of activity (Oliver 1996:22). Barnes (1991) suggests that disability is a recently modern term used to describe a system in which society discriminates by enforcing social restrictions on people with impairments. It would be almost impossible to go back in time and identify when exactly society began to discriminate against people with impairments. Although it has been suggested that societys view of impairment and disability came about as a result of peoples psychological fear of the unknown. As the perception of what is normal is transmitted by accepted values and beliefs through learning and culture from other people in society. (Douglas, 1966) Historians have found evidence from ancient times that suggests different societies generated their own ideological thoughts through out history, about people who suffered impairment. In Israel a 46,000 year old skeleton of a man was found, which showed he was born with an impairment that would have required the support from his society through out his life. This individual had severe impairment and yet his survival was the result of respect from his society (Rudgley, 2000) however not all societies had the same ideological responses to impairment. An excavated burial site (c.100, 000BC) in Turkey demonstrated how an individual with a hunched back was dumped on a rubbish tip, instead of being buried the traditional way as society viewed him as an outcast. (Rudgley, 2000) giving an early example of someone with a physical impairment being isolated from society. It was during the industrialization of 19th century that an extreme policy of exclusion was envisioned by segregating people with impairments from society by placing them in institutions. The term institution is used to describe a number of social organisations that range from hospitals, asylums, workhouses and prisons that use organized long term provision in a residential setting with the emphasis being on care treatment or custody (Jones and Fowles, 1984) Institutions were first established to deal with the problem of mental defectives these were people with learning disabilities and mental illness. As previously Individuals who had severe impairments were taken into small medieval hospitals where the sick or bedridden were kept. The philosophy of these hospitals was religious based, seeking to care than to cure. (Skull, 1984) However this philosophy changed as the institutions were built with the belief that people with learning disabilities could be educated and trained and then let back in to society once rehabilitated. (Race,1995) As prior to industrialisation people with learning disabilities had managed to cope in society by doing simple manual work, as literacy and numeracy were only prerequisites of the higher classes. Until industrialization brought a faster work pace and created a new bourgeoisie based on a persons position in society and their individual attributes, (Hobsbawm 1962) resulting in the social exclusion of people with learning disabilities. (Skull 1979) Therefore capitalism was a way of controlling and giving discipline to individuals who could not obey the rules of new working practices. Therefore to enforce greater control there was a increase in institutions and asylums (Skull, 1979) there was an increasing fear that people with learning disabilities were contributing to the degeneration of society, therefore the regimes within the institutions were in place to contain people than reform them. The reason for people with learning disabilities being segregated from people in society was through the negative image given by labelling that resulted in stigmatisation. As in the first half of the century people classed as learning disabled were labelled idiot (very severe) imbecile (severe) feebleminded (less severe) other derogatory labels used were moron and moral defective. Even at the present time people with learning disabilities are still being stigmatised through labelling, that resulted from the past. As the term mental handicap to classify people with learning disabilities gives the illusion of mental illness, and the term handicap gives an image of a person with a cap in their hand begging and depending on the charity of others. The terms idiot and imbecile are labels still used to describe people in language used today. Indeed it was not the view that people with learning disabilities were a financial burden to society that was seen as a threat, but the way that they b red and spread the ills of society that caused concern for people. As it was believed that people who referred to as feebleminded were the cause of many problems in society such as prostitution, alcoholism and crime. It was this negative image of labelling learning disabilities that would lead the way for the science of eugenics. (Borsay, 2005) It is Francis Galton (1883) who is recognized as being the founding father of eugenics, which was defined as a science of improving inborn human qualities through selective breeding. (Galton, 1883) this meant only the most desirable people in society were allowed to procreate. This idea was to prove popular with social thinkers and politicians of the time and attracted approval from many people in society. Policies were made as a result and one such policy was that sterilizing or segregating people with learning difficulties was much lower than, the higher cost that society would accrue in supporting generations of defectives in the future. (Larson,1995) showing how easy it was for social policy makers to be persuaded into making policies based on welfare costs with little regard on how it would effect people with learning disabilities . (Porter 2000) Even the nazi doctors under Hitlers command committed genocide by measuring disabled peoples lives in term of economic importance. (Burleigh 1994) Medical professionals took part in the operation of the Nazi eugenic programmes (Lifton, 1986) that lead to people with impairments being sterilized against their wishes and resulted in the death of 2000,000 to 275,000 the majority of which had learning disabilities. (burleig 1994) Pfeifler (2000) argues that even at present, the classifications of the medical model in disability still occupy the eugenic agenda (Priestly) As ground breaking advances in science and medicine gave medical professions the power to dictate in the lives of people with impairments. With Genetic screening being seen as favorable in choice and cost effective, as the cost of genetic screening and abortion is cheaper to perform than the long term cost of supporting people with defective impairments. (Vintzileos et al, 1998) The medical model has been highly influential on setting the parameters for how people with impairments were treated by society. As Chernovsky (1997) states that research carried out into intelligence was one way in which psychologists helped maintain the status quo in society, by creating social inequality. This can be seen in the intelligence tests that were used to decide whether an individual was incapable of living in society. These tests made little attempt at assessing an individuals capabilities, by getting the individual to distinguish the difference between a fly and butterfly or how many feathers were on a chicken or how many miles it was to America (National Council for Civil Liberties, 1951; Potts and Fido, 1991) this test made sure that the doctor could certify the individual as being incapable and institutionalise them for not being able to answer. In the second half of the century a transformation came about that changed how society viewed a person with learning disabilities. During the 1950s the effects of war and polio epidemics highlighted the inequalities faced by people with disabilities, this led to the development and campaigning of human and rights movements as well as policies to combat these inequalities, including the European Convention of Human Rights 1950. Sociological studies were carried out and gave evidence to show that people with learning disabilities who had been lock away in institutions away from society, did have intellectual and social capabilities necessary to live in the community and that institution life was blocking this ability. (Race,1995) Tizard and OConnor (1952) discovered from their research that people with learning disabilities living in institutions who had been previously labelled as being unemployable did have the essential skills required to complete a job in a work environment. Clarke and Clarke (1959) found evidence that the environment had an effect on a persons performance, and the poor conditions inside institutions had a bad effect on the people living within them. Goffman coined the term total institutions to describe where people are cut off from the offside world and from family and friends. Procedures involve calling people inmates and humiliating them by removing their personal identity and by using a system of punishments and rewards. As well showing that people behave in accordance to label assigned to them, if people are labelled deviant, they will become deviant, and this in turn reinforces the beliefs up held by society about people with learning disabilities. The studies showed the damaging effects that institutions had on the development of the individual and in the 1960s a number of academic reports were published that detailed findings of research carried out into the conditions of institutions. The most renowned of these was the Report of the Committee of Enquiry into Ely Hospital (Howe Report, 1969). The report described the impoverished and neglected living conditions, as well as lack of privacy that people with learning disabilities suffered from under the custodial regime carried out by staff. Due to public opinion the above reports resulted in a change in the law, the new Mental Health Act (1959) changed the certified term mental deficiency to mental subnormality this meant that most people with learning disabilities who were not being detained for a legitimate reason were free to leave and could return to the community. (Clarke 1983) The introduction of White Paper Better Services for the Mentally Handicapped in 1971 led to a 50% reduction in hospital places by 1991 and led to the provision of local authority-based residential and day care. It also called for an end to custodial methods of care in hospitals and recommended the re-training of hospital staff. In 1979, The Jay Report re-emphasised the need for local authority-led care and, importantly, a service philosophy based on the principles of normalisation. In the 1980s, this was redefined as social role valorisation to include reference to strategies used in the creation, support and defence of valued social roles for people at risk of devaluation (Wolfensberger, 1998). In the UK, the principles of normalisation adopted were those interpreted by OBrien and Tyne (1981) as the five service accomplishments. These have become the developmental goals which organisations then and now strive towards A new philosophy was constructed that emphasised care in the community this change resulted in the closure of all the old asylums. Community care was designed to bring about positive changes, these were governmental values aimed at allowing people with learning disabilities to live on their own, in their neighbourhood with services to support them. The government hoped to develop community based services made up of day centres, supported accommodation, support workers, training and employment, these services were to help people with learning disabilities be included into society. The development of care in the community was result of reforms introduced by the Conservative government

Oconto, WI vs. Las Vegas, NV :: essays research papers

Oconto, WI vs. Las Vegas, NV   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I currently live in Oconto, WI, but would love to go to Las Vegas, NV. Therefore, I am going to compare these two very different cities in terms of economics. There is great variation in the comparison between Oconto, WI and Las Vegas, NV. Oconto is located in Oconto County and Las Vegas is located in Clark County. Las Vegas has an elevation of 2000 feet, while Oconto is only 591 feet. Oconto has a land area of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  6.9 square miles, compared to Las Vegas with 113.3 square miles. Also Oconto has only one zip code, but Las Vegas has 36. The population of Oconto, Wisconsin was estimated at 4,751 in July of 2002. Compare this to the estimated population in July 2002 for Las Vegas at 508,604 people. Males made up 48.0% of Oconto’s population at 2,259 and females made up the other 52.0% at 2,449. However, males made up 50.8% of the population in Las Vegas at 243,077 and females made up the remaining 49.2% at 235,357 people. The median resident age for Oconto is 36.9 years. This is fairly close to that of Las Vegas at 34.5 years. Oconto had a median household income of $34,589 in 2000. Again Las Vegas had a fairly close number of $44,069 which was also in 2000. A big difference comes in the median house value between the two cities. Oconto has a value of $69,800 which was in 2000. However, Las Vegas had a value of $137,300 in 2000. The race breakdown between the two cities is also very different. The majority of Oconto is made up of the White Non-Hispanic race at 97.3% of the population. Following are the minorities in Oconto of American Indian at 1.2%, two or more races at 0.9% and Hispanic at 0.8%. By looking at this data it is easy to see that Oconto is not a very culturally diverse town. The majority of Las Vegas is also made up of White Non-Hispanic people at 58.0%. This is considerably lower than Oconto and Las Vegas is made up of many more races than Oconto. Following are the minorities in Las Vegas of Hispanic at 23.6%, Black at 10.4%, other races at 9.7%, two or more races at 4.1%, Filipino at 2.3%, American Indian at 1.5%, Chinese at 0.6%, Other Asian at 0.6%, and Japanese at 0.

Jack London Stories, The Red O :: essays research papers

The Red One Jack London was one of America’s greatest authors. His works were of tales from the unexplored savage lands of the Klondike to the cannibal infested Philippine Island chain of the vast Pacific, and even the far reaches of space and time. Jack London himself was a pioneer of the unexplored savage frontier. London wrote about this unknown frontier with a cunning sense of adventure and enthrallment. “He keeps the reader on tenterenters books by withholding facts in a way that makes him participate in the action'; (Charles Child Walcutt 16). He taunts the reader with unfulfilled information that subliminally encourages the reader to continue reading their selection. “The tortuously baroque style, it’s telling often proves an annoyance';(Gorman Beauchamp 297-303). London’s writing attributes are so deep in description and narration, the reader sometimes perceives the story-taking place with them included in the action. His ability to exclude just the very min iscule amount of information transforms his books into a semi-formal mystery. Mr. London’s tales deal with nature, the men and women who either neglected the fact that they are mere mortals, or they humbled themselves as being only a solitary one being on the earth. His stories satisfied the civilized American readers yearn for knowledge of what awaited them over the horizon, with either promise of prosperity or demise with a manifestation of dismay. Jack’s stories have to do with as much from the unknown as it does in dealing with personal experiences. At the young age of thirty-two, London set sail for Hawaii and then the South Pacific. Where he encountered cannibals and inspiration for the later to be, “The Red One';. Mr. London’s tale consisted of a foolhardy character named Bassett. Bassett is a collector of prized species who explores the cannibal-infested Island of current day Guadalcanal. Initially Bassett, against his instincts, follows a distant sound that emanates deep within the Island. After headhunters kill his assistant, Bassett himself, teetering on the edge of death, stumbles into a mountain field and falls unconscious, with only hopes of dieing. He is saved by a foraging native that brings him to the capital village London’s character Bassett, freely agreed to a death beheading instead of nervous meddling and contemplating the afterlife. “When I die I’ll let you have my head t o cure, if first, you take me to look upon the Red One';(Jack London 977).

Columbine -Type Students In American Public Schools :: science

Columbine -Type Students In American Public Schools Don’t â€Å"kid† yourself. There’s trouble in paradise that escapes the vision of folks wearing rose-colored glasses. I’m not a contemporary Chicken Little running around screaming â€Å"The sky is falling!† And I’m not a little boy crying out â€Å"Wolf!† I am a former English teacher with thirty-four years classroom experience. I’ve taught through wars, recessions, political assassinations and public anti-war protests. I’ve seen and broken-up hundreds of bloody â€Å"student† fights. I’ve been threatened by enraged â€Å"students† and by their irate â€Å"parents.† Been there; done that! Columbine-type â€Å"students† attend most high and middle schools across the country. They attend Hammonton High, Hammonton Middle, Edgewood, Oakcrest and even Beverly Hills High. They might not always wear trench coats and carry concealed guns and grenades. But the Columbine â€Å"student† mindset is definitely present. These troubled Columbine-type youths are scarier than the obnoxious wise guys that daily defy teacher authority and they are more frightening than the â€Å"student† bullies that terrorize weaker peers and start brawls in the school cafeteria or hallways. The tacit behavior of Columbine-like students makes them a formidable challenge to school authority. Sure, high schools have â€Å"peer mediation.† The basic problem is that these â€Å"Columbine-like† students don’t want to communicate with representatives of standard academic school society. The sinister-minded teens often don’t even communicate with each other. That’s what makes them walking and sitting time-bombs ready to detonate. They prefer having an insular existence that does not want to be disturbed. They don’t express themselves until it’s too late. The â€Å"Columbine student mentality† has a certain behavioral â€Å"profile.† That’s right all you politically correct critics out there, I emphatically stated the improper word â€Å"profile.† The kids say little or nothing at all. They keep their feelings and thoughts mainly to themselves while sitting in their desks, often seething beneath cool external faà §ades. Columbine-type kids seldom participate in classroom discussions or volunteer to do constructive things in school. To them athletics, school clubs and awards are not worth pursuing. Their rebellion is silent, stealthy, cold, cunning and calculated. Their ongoing rage is adroitly camouflaged; they could erupt and explode at any minute. These kids, probably around five percent of any middle or high school’s student body, are individual sticks of dynamite ready to be lit. Not even the â€Å"students’† guidance counselors have any psychological handle on what these wily youths are thinking, feeling or plotting. The Columbine-type kid often feels picked-on, frustrated, alienated and persecuted.

The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution

Through all these years I always think of the American Revolution as customary rebellion which the parties involved fight for something like a parcel of land or for political divisions, i. e. territorial expansion. They deliberately fight against each other head-to-head just to get what they wanted. Maybe it is the result of watching classical movies that defy true essence of revolution that I came to think this way about the ancient wars. However, reading the book entitled The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution written by Bernard Bailyn, renewed my traditional view of the revolution as a whole.It was astoundingly compact yet the message the author conveyed was crystal clear. Bailyn vividly presented his idea that â€Å"power must be watched and restrained tightly† else, liberty will no longer take hold of the situation and much worse, slavery and other forms of oppression will occur. I learned to view the American Revolution from a different perspective in what he called the â€Å"ideological origins†. In effect, I was able to draw critical analysis based from Bailyn’s work of other cases of rebellion here and abroad.The purpose of the author in writing the book, as I comprehended it, is basically to tell everyone that wars happened because of radical minds that drew political ideology from social and traditional outlooks and screened by past experiences. They are explicitly called as radical libertarians who focused on the effort of freeing the individual from tyranny of the state. Bailyn traced their ideological background and found one important piece of the puzzle that he presented in the first part of the book: the pamphlet story.He told us that those pamphlets â€Å"had peculiar virtues as a medium of communication† among the proponents who drafted of the American Revolution. It was in this method (and many others following it) that radical minds gained power and support from the commoners and so the revolution was given birth. But of course, the main event still laid in the messages that the radicals were sending out. The American Revolution was indeed initiated and maintained by radical libertarians until it reached its final destination.The author showed in the book that the American Revolution was â€Å"a cluster of convictions focused on the effort to free the individual from the oppressive misuse of power† by the state. He did not just a compile these convictions but also the analyzed each of them point-by-point as those were his premises in the logical structure of the book. It was the product of years of constant search of relevant information that pertains to the American Revolution. The book was overwhelming with researched ideas which the author found useful.The book was organized into six parts beginning from the Literature of Revolution down to the Contagion of Liberty. In the Literature of Revolution, he explained the method of communication between the radicals who insti gated to the public the idea of revolution. Part II of the book talked about the Sources and Traditions which he identified the ideological background of the radical libertarians. In Part III, entitled Power and Liberty: A Theory of Politics, Bailyn discussed the issues concerning power and liberty, i.e. how should the state treat the underprivileged, the oppressed, the people who were exploited by tyrants. He showed the premises in Part IV the Logic of Rebellion—the only option that the libertarians can have. Here he talked about conspiracies and how the rebellion happened during the Great American Revolution. In Part V, Bailyn discussed the history on the Transformations resulting from the revolution. The areas he tackled were the issues on Representation and Consent, Constitution and Rights, and the Sovereignty.These transformations were the fruits of the radical libertarians’ efforts. The last but not the least, Bailyn discussed in Part VI entitled The Contagion of Liberty the privileges that the underprivileged were able to uphold after the revolution. The discussion talked about the long-term issues of slavery, religion, respect, that all in all summed into the new concept, the concept of democracy that gave every person the right to exercise his freedom in the country. However, Bailyn did not end the book here.He also included an essay entitled â€Å"Fulfillment: A Commentary on the Constitution† which described the existing constitution as the ‘fulfillment’ of the libertarians’ dreams. Bernard Bailyn is widely and deservedly identified as â€Å"our finest historian of the colonial period†. He was an Emeritus Professor at Adams University and professor of Early American History at Harvard University. He wrote many award-winning books including The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution which garnered him both the Pulitzer and Bancroft prizes.This book first published in the 1960’s was a brea kthrough for the whole mankind. He wrote the book in such a way that radical ideologies were seen as the main reason for the American Revolution to ensue. The book also proved to be applicable not just in the American societal and political transformations but also to majority of revolutions lead by radical leaders of such revolution. After all, there was no trouble understanding his ideas despite the fact that it was written from literally hundreds of sources compressed into a 416-page book.In conclusion, the Bailyn’s The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution was the possibly the best book ever written that pertains to the subject of ideological origins or backgrounds of radical libertarians who aimed to â€Å"free the individual from oppressive misuse of power† by the state. Also, he did not end his discussion to the accounts of the first half of the century but rather commented on the existing laws that he called â€Å"Fulfillment† of the hopes and d reams of the leaders of the American Revolution. Reference: Bailyn, Bernard (1992). The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

Native American Movement Essay

The Native American movement of the 1960s and 1970s was the result of Native Americans coming together to claim, regain, or reassert rights to lands and to fight for more control over water, economic affairs, and education on native lands. Although the movement was all across the U. S. the most well known event of AIM; or the American Indian Movement was the occupation of Alcatraz island from 1969 through 1971. The first major intertribal association was the national congress of American Indians, or NCAI whose concerns were protection of Indian land rights and improved educational opportunities for Native Americans. Founded in 1944 in response to termination and assimilation policies that the U. S. forced upon the tribal governments in contradiction of their treaty rights and status as sovereigns. They joined the movement after being denied Indian land from the United States government. Many achievements were made; the first, in 1949 when they made charges against federal job bias towards the Indians. Again in 1950, 1952 and in 1954 when they won their fight against legislation that would have allowed the states to civil and criminal jurisdictions over Indians. They dealt with various topics like health care, employment, and safety issues on a nation wide scale. They were very successful in completing there goals and helping the cause. ( http://www. answers.com/topic/national-congress-of-american-indians) The American Indian Movement; or AIM was an American Indian rights group who occupied a number of sites. Founded in 1968, there goals were fostering a sense of unity and solidarity among American Indian and first nation groups in the U. S. and Canada. They joined the movement because in the 1960s, American Indians were the poorest minority group. They achieved many famous site takeovers from the 1970 occupation of a replica of the mayflower to the occupation of Mount Rushmore in 1971. There most famous occupation however was the one of Alcatraz island from 1969 to 1971, it started with just a few, then quickly grew to hundreds. ( http://www. conservapedia. com/American_Indian_Movement_Grand_Governing_Council) The group offered to buy the island from the federal government for $24 in glass beads and red cloth but there offer was denied and after 2 years and a lot hard times, the U. S. government finally removed the group from the island. ( http://www. digitalhistory. uh. edu/database/article_display. cfm? HHID=387).

Anne Bradstreets `Before the Birth of One of Her Children` is written to her husband. What does the poem suggest about their relationship?

The woman speaking in the poem understands that the danger of giving birth could lead to death and â€Å"with death's parting blow†¦The sentence past is most irrevocable. † With the uncertainty of what the ordeal would bring her, she writes her final words through the poem. It is clear that the woman in the poem has a very good relationship with her husband. She says that the reason why she makes the poem is because she loves him too much: â€Å"love bids me/These farewell lines to recommend to thee.† In her love for him, she is even willing to give up some of the years God allots for her life to his husband when she says, â€Å"And if I see not half my days that's due,/What nature would, God grant to yours and you† Finally, the fact that the coming birth is not the first time for the couple suggests that they enjoy the experience of sharing life with their kids. She wants him to take care of them if ever she dies as much as he took care of her when she was alive: â€Å"Look to my little babes, my dear remains./And if thou love thyself, or loved'st me,/These O protect from step-dame's injury†. We do not hear the husband in the poem but we get the idea that he loves her, too, when she bids him to â€Å"kiss this paper for thy dear love's sake,/Who with salt tears this last farewell did take. † She knows he would take her passing very badly. Question 2: Describe and explain Mrs. Gearsons reaction to her sons death in William Dean Howells story `Editha. ` When Editha meets Mrs.Gearsons for the first time, the mother’s tone was reproachful of the young girl: â€Å"he told me he had asked you to come if he got killed. You didn't expect that, I suppose, when you sent him. † She knew why her son went to war in spite her bringing him up to think that â€Å"was (is) a fool thing as well as a bad thing. † Editha has influenced his son so greatly for him to do something that was against the values he grew up wit h. Mrs. Gearsons has read the letter Editha gave George before he left where she told him that she would only marry a man who â€Å"must love his country, first of all†.In mocking, she told Editha: â€Å"I suppose you would have been glad to die, such a brave person as you! † Mrs. Gearson looked at war as being not about soldiers fighting for the honor of their country, but of people killing each other and mothers and wives losing sons and husbands. Editha would neither understand her blame in George’s death nor the pain that Mrs. Gearson was feeling. She simply dismissed Mrs. Gearson’s outbursts as the consequence of ill health. In the end, she would continue â€Å"to live again in the ideal. †

Rhetorical Analysis of Constance Ruzich’s Article

Paul Lucas Professor Paisley Mann English 110B 19 October 2012 A Rhetorical Analysis of â€Å"For the Love of Joe: The Language of Starbucks† In the journal article â€Å"For the Love of Joe: The Language of Starbucks† (2008), Constance M. Ruzich analyzes the success and rise to popularity of The Starbucks Coffee Company around the globe. The article is written and structured for the general public to read and understand. It is meant to be an informative article and as such, Ruzich makes use of a lot of data and includes citations from a variety of other academic sources.She also uses different ways to measure the popularity of Starbucks, not just the financial aspect, but also in terms of its economic status in a global coffee market, just to give us different points of view in relation to her thesis. Her choice in the title is also very appropriate for the topic, which will be discussed later on in this paper. Ruzich begins her article by giving the readers a brief ba ckground on coffee. She is informing us, the readers, on how coffee came about and touches on the â€Å"The history of coffee production, consumption and advertising†¦ (428). Through this, those who are unfamiliar with the origins of coffee will also be captured, as they will get a sense of understanding about where her arguments will lead to later on in the article. It also gives the readers a chance to compare on how coffee was perceived by global consumers, before and after Starbucks was established. She explains, â€Å"The nineteenth century saw the rise of coffee as an international commodity and the accompanying development of coffee-based economies in South America and other developing nations†¦ † (430).Upon capturing the audience, she starts to state a lot of facts and she extensively uses quotations from other studies throughout the entire article. The facts become the structure of the article; they lead the readers to have a certain understanding of previ ous views and studies of the situation. The quotations on the other hand gives the author credibility, the use of the quotations makes it seem to be more accurate since she is not the only one who understands Starbucks in that manner and the readers are assured the information is unaltered.For example, in her discussion on the world’s coffee market, she quotes Wild citing, â€Å" ‘Vietnam had become the world’s second largest coffee producer after Brazil. ’ further depressing the falling price of coffee in the international market (Wild 6)†¦ † (430) She is in a way borrowing the credentials of scholarly and more popular people to make what she is discussing more acceptable to the audience. It also shows how knowledgeable she is of the topic that she can use these quotes to present and defend her thesis.The vast use of technical data would also make it seem that it was not written for the general public but she interprets them and puts it in ter ms more common to the public and through this, anyone could comprehend with what her idea is. Another thing that is evident in the article is how Ruzich compares Starbucks with a lot of its competitors, even those that are not directly competing with Starbucks; they are in the coffee business but they only sell instant coffee as opposed to specialty coffee.For example, she supports her argument by providing statistics of coffee in the global market and how Starbucks places given its premium status. â€Å"Despite the attention the Starbucks has drawn, it has not yet reached the status of a major player in the world markets, and in the United States, Dunkin’ Donuts still sells more coffee than any specialty coffee retailer† (431). This was a fact during the infancy stage of Starbucks. Besides from this, she measures the company’s success in how little advertising it needed to become one of the leading specialty coffee house. Indeed, the company spent less than $10 million on advertising in its first twenty-five years† (qtd. in Pendergrast 378). Which clearly shows, Starbucks’ advantage towards the other coffee retailers. The title she gave for the article, â€Å"For the Love of Joe: The Language of Starbucks†, is as I said in the introduction, appropriate, particularly her use of the word â€Å"Joe†. â€Å"Joe†, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, has two possible meanings. It can either be interpreted as coffee or the average person.Her article basically revolves around these two meanings of â€Å"Joe† and how they relate. In the article she studies how the average person or â€Å"average joe†, if you will, reacts or has reacted to Starbucks’ influence and practices of personal consumption. Therefore, this brilliant way of presentation has made it easy to remember the main topic since it can all be associated with just one word. With all these literary devices and technique s used, it is not hard to stay on the same track as Ruzich. The readers will more or less be able to reach the same conclusion and have the ame idea as she has. The article has clearly shown that many people have adapted Starbucks’ use of in-store language and it makes them feel like they belong. In truth however, the use of in-store language is an advertising scheme that has the end goal of manipulating, persuading and selling its well-known products to the â€Å"average joe† consumer (440). In-store language is used to implant the idea of Starbucks into the consumer’s mind. Works Cited Ruzich, Constance M. â€Å"The Journal of Popular Culture. † Journal of Popular Culture. 41. 3 (2008): 428–442. Print.

Final global business plan paper for company in Brazil Essay

Final global business plan paper for company in Brazil - Essay Example Whenever a company reaches out to new markets where there are always many factors that determine how well the company’s product is going to perform once it has been launched. As far as the energy drink Jackie O is concerned, factors look very favorable and suitable for a product launch in Brazil where political, economical, social and financial options are very healthy and growing. As already indicated by the case study, the political scenario is quite stable and favorable for a foreign investment, Brazilian government and few other countries are trying to form an alliance among Latin American countries which would significantly create a positive impact on the political stability in the region. Furthermore, economic conditions of Brazil are likely to favor any foreign investment where economy of Brazil comes under top ten economies of the world with most gross domestic product (GDP) which is an indicator of their economic stability. Their government and policies have worked well with the macroeconomic indicators to keep the economy growing even in the times of recession when the entire world was crumpling. (Baer, 2007). Also, one of the most crucial factors that influence the launch of a product in a new market is the availability of finances and financial institutions. Company A does not only have the option of taking funds from US accounts but they can also f inance their projects from the funds available at fully developed financial institutions like Banks in Brazil. For a product like energy drink, social factors will play an important role in determining the sales volume of the product (Grewal and Levy, 2009). There are some areas where problems might arise which include high inequality in the region, hunger and poverty with a high rate of epidemics including life threatening HIV, along with environmental issues like pollution and deforestation brought about by the recent development in the region particularly in urban areas. Brazil has a culture which includes people from many different ethnicities which would create a diversified market demand for the Company A, here is one important factor that Company A has to decide once they execute the plan for the launch of their product that whether to go with a generic product focusing all the strata of society or would they differentiating with respect to different taste according to the pr eference of different classes of people (Baer, 2007). Moreover, a plus factor for Company A is the use of eco friendly raw materials in the production process since many of the energy or carbonated drinks are not healthy or recommended by health experts as they provide a temporary uplift in the energy level and when the impact starts to decrease, the energy level falls way below the level it would have fallen had there been no intake of energy drink. The use of organic raw materials by Company A would make a healthy energy drink for the consumers and hence will give more energy without the crashing feeling (Brainard and Diaz, 2009). Apart from the socio and macro economic indicators, there are many other things that Company a needs to take into account which includes competitor analysis, exchange rate depreciation, taxation and regulatory laws. Company A must investigate the market to find out how many competitors are operating with their respective prices, they have to evaluate the expected fluctuation in the exchange rate which can either increase or decrease their profits. Also, a thorough and in depth analysis of taxation and regulatory laws are imperative since they vary from country to country and high depend on the

Recent Changes In Organisational Form And Personnel Strategies Essay

Recent Changes In Organisational Form And Personnel Strategies - Essay Example Differences between the connotations of the words "labor" and "work† suggest the reorienting effect that Braverman's formulation had on views regarding work, workers, and the workplace (Rowlinson, 2000, p.13-14). Labor is an economic commodity exchanged in the market. Braverman held that work had been degraded by capitalism thus turned into mere labor. Taylorism separated the hand from the brain and vested the brains in management and the hands in labor. Work became deskilled as technological and bureaucratic controls supplanted the self-direction of skilled workers. This process of deskilling standardized work activities robbed work of meaning, leveling skill distinctions among workers. It enlarged and homogenized the proletariat, which came to include clerical and semi-professional occupations. Braverman's focus on skills had the effect of conceptualizing the outcomes of the industrial transformation as technological, psychological, and economic rather than social. Harry Brav erman does not make clear the definition of skill but sees the degradation process as involving the separation of mental and physical activities. One might be concluded that Harry Braverman has identified skills as cognitive abilities of workers, then generalized beyond that point to make skills technical characteristics of jobs. Sociological conceptions of work based on workers' relations to each other, group control over activities, and normative definitions of technical relations are missing.

To write a news release( Exxon mobile- new plan to invest 75% of Essay

To write a news release( Exxon mobile- new plan to invest 75% of profits into development of alternative energy source) - Essay Example 2008 will be the start of a new era for the energy industry and ExxonMobil will be taking the lead and showing other companies the way to do it. [Body] The world is hungry for fuel and ExxonMobil has been proud to supply oil, gas and petroleum for much needed industrial development across six continents. These services will carry on while the company and its affiliates engages in a radical transformation process over the next two decades. Their first commitment is to reduce exploration for fossil fuels in the next 10 years and explore instead alternative energy sources. The ExxonMobil world renowned research and development facilities are engaged on a rapidly expanding programme that explores every avenue of sustainable and renewable energy sources. Aside from the hybrid car types that are already well on the way to commercial success, there are plans to harness the earth’s own massive power which is currently locked into the wind, the waves, and geo-thermal sources. Many people are urging the politicians and the industrialists of the developed world to rethink priorities and create a new blueprint for energy provision. In collaboration with the government ExxonMobil is stepping up to this challenge. They have worked out a plan to invest a staggering 75% of their own profits along with some federal tax credits into the EarthSafe initiative. This demonstrates a deep commitment to the future of the whole planet which ExxonMobil sees as a far more worthy goal than short term profits. They are determined to leave a legacy of fossil-free energy provision within the next 20 years. The next generation will benefit from this exceptional leadership now, and Exxon Mobil is calling on other fossil fuel companies to join with them in this bold move. Strategic planning director Jim Witson said today that â€Å"out of these courageous beginnings a tremendous new chapter will soon be underway. We are making a historic pact with the planet, and we do

Services Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Services Marketing - Essay Example UK bus industry having about 9000 licensed bus companies now supports about 170,000 odd jobs. There are about 22000 bus services registered within UK. Stagecoach comprises of one of the largest bus operators in UK. It runs about 8100 buses and employs around 35000 staff. It is also engaged in providing rail and tram services in UK. Size The daily travel density across the country is about 2 million people. Major competitors for the concern include Cowie, FirstBus, Arriva, West Midlands Travel, National Express, First and GoAhead. Other competitors include international bus service agencies and independent operators (Arriva. 2013). Competitive Structure Since 1985, the bus industry has seen a growth that is remarkable. Presently, 4 of the major bus operators, namely, Cowie, FirstBus, Stagecoach and West Midlands Travel have more than 50% market share. However, the typical market structure specific to a bus industry is that unlike other manufacturing and service concerns, bus service i ndustry focuses majorly on numerous local markets. The local market is evidently the large urban areas (Tsiotsou, and Goldsmith, 2012). What is also striking about the market is that each one of the big 4 operators has almost equal market share with none having a significant market presence in all of the regions. If any of these big four operators want to become a market leader, they would necessarily need a very aggressive marketing strategy to acquire the market of other competitors. Competition is very limited because each one has its own market niche and customer set (Competition Commission, 2013). Opportunity and Threat Analysis Opportunities: Acquisitions Stagecoach is operating in a market where there are primarily three major competitors, namely, Cowie, FirstBus and West Midlands. Here, each bus operator has almost equal share in the industry ad each one acts as a major market player. Competition is faced by these 3 bus operators alone; rest smaller operators do not pose sig nificant threat (Reuters, 2013). This is because the bus market in US is geographically segregated. Each player has his set and defined market area. Players do not compete in each other’s defined territories. This culminates in what is known as a lack of head to head competition. Bus operators are running excess profits because of lack of competition in their area of operation. Cities like Oxford, Nottingham and Sheffield were among the few places where there was some sort of competition observed (The Courier, 2012). With a view to become a market leader and overcome such competition, Stagecoach can employ a consolidation strategy. It can expand its operations, and thereby market share by a series of acquisitions of smaller bus operators. With such acquisition based expansion, benefits to passengers will be felt directly in the form of falling prices, better services and higher frequencies. As for the firms, intense rivalry shall lead to one large firm being replaced by the o ther such that it leads to complete shutdown of the weaker firm (ReportLinker, 2013). Emerging markets and expansion abroad Stagecoach operates majorly in UK and is expanding its operations in USA, NewZealand and Canada. Emerging nations like Brazil, China, India and Indonesia are countries full of growth opportunities. Expansion of bus services in these countries would be a great business opportunity. Countries like China and India have a huge

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 10

Discussion - Essay Example Particularly in special education, the importance of curriculum increases manifolds. I remain very prudent in designing the curriculum and consult other teachers to make it the best. A teacher has to simultaneously address the needs of students coming from different backgrounds, cultures, religions, regions, and ethnicities. Taking this into consideration, a special educator needs to be very flexible in his/her approach as his/her intended way may not suit all of the students at the same time. I know quite a lot of languages and tend to teach a student in his/her mother tongue (if I know that) when he/she is finding difficulty grabbing the concept otherwise. In order to be popular among the students, a teacher should promote diversity in every possible way. Interpersonal and communication skills which happen to be the fourth attribute as identified by (Hughes and George-Walter) are indeed, the most important competencies in context of special education. When I appreciate the good work of students, they feel honored which raises their morale and self esteem so that they remain consistent in their hard work. Likewise, I remain very prudent while being strict with a student because if the strictness goes beyond the limit, it can have adverse impact on the child. Creativity and innovation in pedagogy is essential for making the lectures interesting and improving the ambiance of the educational environment. I keep looking into journals, newspapers, magazines and other sources of information to learn new ideas and techniques to make the lecture interesting. For example, when I feel the students are fed up of the blackboard teaching, I tend to shift towards moving image for teaching them. Innovation in pedagogical can be achieved with adequate use of technology (Sharples). †¦[IT] (ie technology) basically opens up a whole world of learning for everybody, you know. You can find, up, read up, on anything you want, like in a university