Reagan Domestic Policy and Developments

Colin Nardella Mr. Conroy AP U. S. History Ronald Wilson Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois to Nelle and John Reagan. Reagan graduated from Eureka College and studied economics and sociology during his four years there. Eureka College, located in Illinois, was founded by abolitionists who belonged to the Christian Church religious movement (Eureka College). Reagan, a member of the Christian Church himself, based many of his political stances on the values he took from his religion and the college he attended. Before entering into politics, Reagan started out as a radio sports announcer and later became a prominent actor and a television host. During Reagan’s acting career, he became president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1947-1952, which was dealing with suspicions of communist infiltration at the time. After his acting career, he hosted the popular television show, General Electric Theater (â€Å"American President Ronald Reagan†). From Reagan’s time in public service, he was able to gain fame in his acting career. Reagan is most known for surviving an assassination that was attempted by John Hinckley, a mentally disturbed young man from Colorado. What’s extremely disturbing was the reasoning behind his assassination. Hinckley attempted to murder the president not for a political agenda or because he was a part of another party, but mainly for the attention of the actress Jodi Foster. On March 30 1981, after being gunned down, Reagan was rushed to the local emergency room, and while facing death Reagan still kept his character and jokingly asked the surgeons in the emergency room if they were republicans. As a result of his recovery from the traumatic event, Reagan not only pulled through quickly, his popularity among the American people highly increased as he returned to work at the White House (â€Å"American President Ronald Reagan†). Yet with the good comes the bad, Reagan’s popularity rate wouldn’t stay high for a long period of time due to the decisions that would have a major negative impact on the nation economically, as well as socially. A few months after coming back to office Reagan, was confronted with a major crisis. In the month of August in 1981, the U. S. ir controllers went on strike because they felt they served a substantial amount to their government. Therefore, they felt they deserved to be on U. S. government pay-roll, even though at the moment, they were on a pay-roll through a different union. One would think that Reagan would see where the air controllers’ frustrations resulted from, and yet instead of coming to agreement Reagan pul led something extremely dramatic. He came to the decision to fire each air controller that went on strike. Reagan then replaced these skilled gentlemen with individuals who were nowhere near qualified and labeled as â€Å"scabs†. As a result of his negative actions, the commercial flight industry would soon face even more hardships (â€Å"American President Ronald Reagan†). This was just the tip of the iceberg that lowered his popularity rate. Reagan continued with actions that just kept disappointing the American people each and every time his actions did not meet his domestic policy goals. What Reagan failed to address, was not the economic issues in the United States, but the fact that his actions were negatively affecting the social issues in the country as well (â€Å"The Reagan Administration†). When it came to the major AIDS crisis in the United States and the controversial drug issue in the United States, Reagan refused to accept that these two topics were deemed to be critical issues among the people. What’s highly disturbing is the fact that while the AIDS epidemic was hitting the country at full force, the United States’ own president was denying the fact that it was an epidemic even with all the facts in front of him (â€Å"American President Ronald Reagan†). President Reagan looked at the AIDS epidemic extremely casually. In fact, he felt that it wasn’t a social issue, but instead more of a â€Å"moral issue†. Reagan believed that while America was on a moral decline, the AIDS virus was spreading like wildfire. In short, he felt the younger generation lacked the morals that would prevent selfish sexual behavior. So when people of the young generation were diagnosed with the horrid virus, the president looked down on them with disdain. As a result of this theory, Reagan lost a lot of support from the young voters. In this case, the president showed his very conservative beliefs, especially his lack of understanding. Reagan’s conservativeness is evident in his dislike of abortion and homosexuality. Reagan used the Moral Majority as a driving force in his administration. The Moral Majority was a new political movement created by Reverend Jerry Falwell, who said, â€Å"Americans are sick and tired of the way the amoral liberals are trying to corrupt our nation,† in 1979. This movement was also against drugs, the coddling of criminals, and communism (The American Nation). Reagan realized that the United States was in an economic crisis, and figured the best way for the United States to save billions, was to cut the funding of several programs. Reagan’s domestic policy placed a heavy emphasis on cutting taxes, balancing the actual US spending budget, and worse, taking support away from social welfare programs that many lower class Americans needed on a daily basis to survive. Although Reagan promised to cut the budget, his presidency resulted in a national debt, mainly from his military and defense spending. President Reagan supported taking away from programs that helped out the minorities of the United States. Even worse, Reagan took away from programs that assisted single mothers and children with no guilt what so ever (â€Å"The Reagan Administration†). During his presidency, he continued to take away from the social programs, in hopes that the US government would be able to save billions. Eventually the United States government minimized welfare program spending by over $20 billion. Reagan also succeeded in slashing taxes to a point where the government was barely collecting any income revenue. Now even though the Americans loved the tax cuts, they failed to realize that tax cuts aren’t always the best solution, especially in an economic crisis. The American people and the Reagan Administration failed to realize that without revenues from taxes, the government was unable to pay for the services it provided. To add fuel to the fire Reagan not only dramatically reduced tax rates, but worse increased total government spending, particularly in the areas of defense. Reagan also reduced federal aid to education, federal contributions to state governments, and placed new restrictions on Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Surprisingly enough, Reagan supported government aid to private schools run by church groups, even with the constitutional principle that separates church and tate (The American Nation). This support showed yet another example of the Moral Majority playing a significant role in Reagan’s domestic policy. Yet unfortunately, the Reagan Administration was unable to control the increasing government spending rate (â€Å"The Reagan Administration†). The United States government was spending billions w ithin their own military, mainly because Reagan believed the U. S. armed forces had been deteriorating and needed to undergo a re-building process, especially with the imminent fear of Soviet attack. As a result of this spending policy, the U. S government increased their military budget by about 35 percent. This military spending budget also included the War on Drugs. In 1987, Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill that granted $1. 7 billion to fight drugs. Furthermore, Reagan increased the space program budget. During his presidency, the manned space shuttle Columbia, which was launched by rocket power, orbited the Earth for several days and was used for the transportation of satellites into space. Another space shuttle called Challenger, which was launched in 1986, is infamously known for its explosion after takeoff, causing the death of all its seven astronauts (The American Nation). The Reagan administration did not have easy terms in office, in regard to the nation’s domestic situation. The administration was forced to deal with a major economic recession, a year after his election. President Reagan believed that his system of â€Å"Reaganomics,† could get his country out of an economic crisis and turn it in to â€Å"booming† economy. Reagan asked Congress to lower taxes by 30 percent, which he reasoned would leave people with more money that they could use to invest. Reagan believed that these investments would stimulate the economy by generating more goods and more jobs (The American Nation). But what Reagan and his administration failed to realize, is that while they did make the American people happy with the tax cuts, they also increased the national debt because their spending did not make up for the loss of profit. Also, the administration didn’t keep in mind the social well-being of some people when they cut spending from multiple welfare programs and educational programs. Reagan showed a greater interest for military programs in his spending then social programs. Also, it is important to note that Reagan nominated the first female justice to the Supreme Court, when he chose Sandra Day O’Connor. The Reagan administration’s accomplishments and mistakes will be permanently remembered in our nation’s history for decades to come; hopefully one generation’s mistakes can help the future generation avoid issues within our economy, and government as a whole. Bibliography â€Å"American President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004). † Millercenter. org. Ed. Lou Cannon. University of Virginia. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. . Carnes, Mark C. , and John A. Garraty. â€Å"Chapter 31. † The American Nation : a History of the United States. 13th ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2008. Print. â€Å"Eureka College History. † Eureka. edu. Eureka College, 2007-2009. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. . â€Å"The Reagan Administration. † HowStuffWorks â€Å"Learn How Everything Works! † Discovery Communications. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. . â€Å"Ronald Reagan. † Whitehouse. gov. The White House. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. . Reagan Domestic Policy And Developments By: Colin Nardella

Pride and Prejudice Passage Analysis Essay

Jane Austen resolves the novel while using particular writing style and technique to reinforce the characters of Elizabeth, Georgiana, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Elizabeth’s strong-willed character is emphasized when Austen subtly contrasts her against Georgiana’s shy one; she uses Georgiana as a foil character for Elizabeth, and vice versa. Elizabeth’s strong opinions, quick wit, and â€Å"lively, sportive, manner† of conversing with Darcy astonish Georgiana. Austen’s use of the phrase â€Å"lively, sportive, manner† gives the sentence a more vigorous and energetic feel, which reflects the nature of the conversation. Apart from her wit, Elizabeth’s sensibility is also shown with she persuades Darcy to seek reconciliation with his aunt. While several members of her family might have been happy to begrudge Lady de Bourgh, Austen reinforces Elizabeth’s intelligence and sensibility by emphasizing that she has risen above some of the poor behaviour that she has grown up with. In terms of Georgiana, Austen maintains her character as an innocent and shy girl. She brings up the fact that Georgiana is more than ten years younger than Darcy, and contrasts her somewhat introverted personality with Elizabeth’s strong-willed and confident one. Lastly, her youth and naivete is emphasized when Austen chooses to say she was influenced by Elizabeth’s â€Å"instruction†. In terms of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Austen emphasizes her class-snobbery and haughtiness with her satirical (and quite comedic) choice of words, saying that Elizabeth and her relatives had â€Å"polluted† Pemberley. Her bossiness and need to be in control of everything causes her to write an angry letter to Darcy, since he and Elizabeth ignored her objections. The entire ending can be contrasted to the start of the book, which outlined the unhappy marriage of the Bennets. It seems that Elizabeth, who marries Darcy out of love, will enjoy a much happier marriage than Lydia, who married for passion, as well as Charlotte, who married for financial stability.

Atomic

Atomic Essay BombThen a tremendous flash of light cut across the sky . Mr. Tanimotohas a distinct recollection that it traveled from east to west, from the citytoward the hills. It seemed like a sheet of sun. à John Hersey, fromHiroshima, pp.8 On August 6, 1945, the world changed forever. On that day theUnited States of America detonated an atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima. Never before had mankind seen anything like. Here was something that wasslightly bigger than an ordinary bomb, yet could cause infinitely moredestruction. It could rip through walls and tear down houses like the devilswrecking ball. In Hiroshima it killed 100,000 people, most non-militarycivilians. Three days later in Nagasaki it killed roughly 40,000 . The immediateeffects of these bombings were simple. The Japanese government surrendered,unconditionally, to the United States. The rest of the world rejoiced as themost destructive war in the history of mankind came to an end . All while thesurvivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki tried to piece together what was left oftheir lives, families and homes. Over the course of the next forty years, thesetwo bombings, and the nuclear arms race that followed them, would come to have adirect or indirect effect on almost every man, woman and child on this Earth,including people in the United States. The atomic bomb would penetrate everyfabric of Ame rican existence. From our politics to our educational system. Ourindustry and our art. Historians have gone so far as to call this period in ourhistory the Ã’atomic ageÓ for the way it has shaped and guided worldpolitics, relations and culture. The entire history behind the bomb itself isrooted in Twentieth Century physics. At the time of the bombing the science ofphysics had been undergoing a revolution for the past thirty-odd years. Scientists now had a clear picture of what the atomic world was like. They newthe structure and particle makeup of atoms, as well as how they behaved. Duringthe 1930Õs it became apparent that there was a immense amount of energythat would be released atoms of Gioielli 2certain elements were split, or takenapart. Scientists began to realize that if harnessed, this energy could besomething of a magnitude not before seen to human eyes. They also saw that thisenergy could possibly be harnessed into a weapon of amazing power. And with theadvent of World War Two, this became an ever increasing concern. In the earlyfall of 1939, the same time that the Germans invaded Poland, President Rooseveltreceived a letter from Albert Einstein, informing him about the certainpossibilities of creating a controlled nuclear chain reaction, and thatharnessing such a reaction could produce a bomb of formidable strength. Hewrote: This new phenomena would lead also lead to the construction of bombs, andit is conceivable, though much less certain-that extremely powerful bombs of anew type may thus be constructed (Clark 556-557).The letter goes on to encouragethe president to increase government and military involvement in suchexperiments, and to encourage the experimental work of the scientists with theallocation of funds, facilities and equipment that might be necessary. Thisletter ultimately led to the Manhattan Project, the effort that involvedbillions of dollars and tens of thousands of people to produce the atomic bomb. During the time after the war, until just recently the American psyche has beenbranded with the threat of a nuclear holocaust. Here was something so powerful,yet so diminutive. A bomb that could obliterate our nations capital, and thatwas as big as somebodies backyard grill. For the first time in the history ofhuman existence here was something capable of wiping us off the face of theEarth. And most people had no control over that destiny. It seemed like peopleslives, the life of everything on this planet, was resting in the hands of acouple men in Northern Virginia and some guys over in Russia. The atomic bomband the amazing power it held over us had a tremendous influence on AmericanCulture, including a profound effect on American Literature. After the war, thefirst real piece of literature about the bombings came in 1946. The workHiroshima, by Jon Hersey, from which the opening quote is taken, first appearedas a long article in the New Yorker, then shortly after in book form. The bookis a non-fiction account of the bombing of Hiroshima and the immediateaftermath. It is told from the point-of-view of six hibakusha, or Ã’survivorsÓof the atomic blast. In four chapters Hersey traces how the these peoplesurvived the blast, and what they did in following weeks and months to pulltheir lives together Gioielli 3and save their families. The book takes on a toneof sympathy and of miraculous survival à that these people were luckyenough to survive the blast. He focuses not on the suffering of the victims buton their courage (Stone, 7). The following passage from the first chapter showsthis:A hundred thousand people were killed by the bomb, and these six were amongthe survivors. They still wonder why they lived when so many others died. Eachof the counts many small items of chance or volitionà a step taken in time,a decision to go indoors, catching one streetcar instead of the nextà thatspared him. And each that in the act of survival he lived a dozen lives and sawmore death than he ever thought he would see. At the time, none of them knewanything (4). Hersey was attempting to chronicle what had happened at Hiroshima,and to do so fairly. And in emphasizing the survival instead of the suffering hedoes not make his book anti-American or something that condemns the dropping ofthe bomb. He simply gives these peoples accounts of how they survived in a tonethat is more journalistic than sensationalistic. The book empathizes with theirplight while it also gives an American explanation for the bombing (Stone, 7). That it was an act of war to end the war as quickly and as easily as possible,and to save more lives in the long run. Hersey did all this to provide what heconsidered an evenhanded portrayal of the event, but he also did not want tocause much controversy. Although it could be criticized for not giving a moredetailed account of the suffering that occurred, and that it reads more like ahistory book than a piece of literature, HerseyÕs book was the first ofits kind when it was published. Up until then all accounts of the Hiroshimabombing writings about it took the slant that Japanese had Ã’deserved whatwe had given themÓ, and that we were good people for doing so. Theseaccounts were extremely prejudicial and racist. (Stone, 4) Hersey was the firstto take the point of view of those who had actually experienced the event. Andhis work was the transition between works that glorified thedropping of theatomic bomb, to those that focused on its amazing destructive powers, and whatth ey could do to our world. During the period immediately after the war, notmuch information was available to general public concerning what kind ofdestruction the atomic bombs had actually caused in Japan. But starting withHerseyÕs book and continuing with other non-fiction works, such as DavidBradleys No Place To Hide, which concerned the Bikini Island nuclear tests,Americans really began to get a picture of the awesome power and destructivenessof nuclear weapons. They saw that these really Gioielli 4were doomsday devices. Weapons that could change everything in an instant, and turn things into nothingin a moment. It was this realization that had a startling effect on Americanculture and literature. Some Americans began to say Ã’At any time we couldall be shadows in the blast wave, so whatÕs the point?Ó. Thisviewpoint manifested itself in literature in something called the Ã’apocalyptictemperÓ; an attitude or a tone dealing with a forthcoming end to theworld. Also, many people, because of this realization of our impending death,were beginning to say that maybe their was something inherently wrong with allof this. That nuclear weapons are dangerous to everyone, no matter what yourpolitical views or where you live, and that we should do away with all of them. They have no value to society and should be destroyed. This apocalyptic temperand social activism was effected greatly in the early Sixties by the CubanMissile Crisis. When Americans saw, on television, that they could be undernuclear attack in under twenty minutes, a new anxiety about the cold warsurfaced that had not been present since the days of McCarthy. And this newanxiety was evidenced in works that took on a much more satirical tone. And oneof the works that shows this satiric apocalyptic temper and cynicism is KurtVonneguts Cats Cradle. Vonnegut, considered by many to be one of Americasforemost living authors, was himself a veteran of World War Two. He, as aprisoner of war, was one of the few survivors of the fire-bombing of Dresden. InDresden he saw what many believe was a more horrible tragedy than Hiroshima. Theallied bombs destroyed the entire city and killed as many people, if not more,than were killed in Hiroshima. He would eventually write about this experiencein the semi-autobiographical Slaughterhouse-Five. This novel, like Cats Cradle,takes a very strong anti-war stance. But along with being an Anti-war book, CatsCradle is an excellent satire of the Atomic Age. It is essentially the story ofone man, an author by the name of John (or Jonah) and the research he is doingfor a book on the day the bomb exploded in Hiroshima. This involves him withmembers of the Dr. Felix Hoenikker familyà the genius who helped build thebombà and their adventures. In the book Vonnegut paints an imaginary worldwhere things might not seem to make any Gioielli 5sense. But there is in fact anamazing amount of symbolism, as well as satire. Dr. Hoenikker is an extremelyeccentric scientist who spends most of his time in the lab at his company. He isinterested in very few things, his children not among them. His children arealmost afraid of him. One of the few times he does try to play with his childrenis when he tries to teach the game of cats cradle to his youngest s on, Newt. READ: The Harrapan Civilization EssayWhen he is trying to show newt the game Newt gets very confused. In the book,this is what Newt remembered of the incident:Ã’And then he sang, ÔRockabyecatsy, in the tree topÕ;he sang, Ô when the wind blows, the cray-dullwill fall. Down will come cray-dull, catsy and all.Õ Ã’I burst intotears. I jumped up and ran out of the house as fast as I could.Ó(18)WhatNewt doesnÕt remember is what he said to his Father. Later in the book wefind this out from Newts sister, Angela that newt jumped of his fatherÕslap screaming Ã’ No cat! No cradle! No cat! No cradle!Ó(53) With thisscene, Vonnegut is trying to show a couple of things. Dr. Hoenikker symbolizesall the scientists who created the atomic bomb. And the cats cradle is the worldand all of humankind combined. Dr. Hoenikker is simply playing, like he has allhis life, that game just happens to involve the fate of the rest of the world. And little Newt, having a childs un-blinded perception, doesnÕt understandthe game. He doesnÕt see a cat or a cradle. Like all the gamesDr.Hoenikker plays, including the ones with nuclear weapons, this one ismislabeled. This is just one of the many episodes in the book that characterizesDr. Hoenikker as a player of games. He recognizes this in himself when he giveshis Nobel Prize speech:I stand before you now because I never stopped dawdlinglike an eight year on a spring morning on his way to school. Anything can makeme stop and wonder, and sometimes learn (17). And the Doctors farewell to theworld is a game he has played, with himself. One day a Marine General asked himif he could make something that would eliminate mud, so that marines wouldnÕthave to deal with mud anymore. So Dr. Hoenikker thinks up ice-nine, an imaginarysubstance that when it comes in contact with any other kind of water, itcrystallizes it. And this crystallization spreads to all the water moleculesth is piece of water is in contact with. So to crystallize the mud in an entirearmed division of marines, it would only take a minuscule amount of ice-nine. Dr. Gioielli 6Hoenikkers colleagues see this as just another example of hisimagination at work. But he actually does create a small chink of ice-nine, andwhen he dies, each of his children get a small piece of it. They carry it aroundwith themselves in thermos containers the rest of their lives. At the end ofbook one small piece of ice-nine gets out , by mere accident, and ends upcrystallizing the whole world. The game Dr. Hoenikker was playing with himselfdestroyed the whole world. The accident that caused the ice-nine to get outcould be much like the accident that could cause World War III. One small thingthat sets off an amazing series of events, like piece of ice-nine just fallingout of the thermos. And Dr. Hoenikker, like the scientists of the world, wasplaying game and caused it all. Here is a description of the world after theice-nine has wreaked its havoc:There were no smells. There was no movement. Every step I took made a gravelly squeak in blue-white frost. And every squeakwas echoed loudly. The season of locking was over. The Earth was locked up tight(179).This description eerily resembles what many have said the Earth will looklike during a nuclear winter (Stone, 62). In addition to Dr. Hoenikker and hisdoomsday games, Vonnegut provides an interesting analysis of atomic age societywith the Bokonon religion. This religion, completely made up by Vonnegut andused in this novel, is the religion of every single inhabitant of San Lorenzo,the books imaginary banana republic. This is the island where Jonah eventuallyends up, and where the ice-nine holocaust originates. (It also, being aCaribbean nation, strangely resembles Cuba.) Bokonon is a strange religion. Itwas created by one of the leaders of San Lorenzo, a long time ago. Essentially,Bokonon is the only hope for all inhabitants of San Lorenzo. Their existence onthe island is so horrible that they have to find harmony with som ething. Bokononism gives them that. It is based on untruths, to give San Lorenzans asense of security, since the truth provides none. This concept can be summed upin this Bokononist quotation: Ã’Live by thefoma* that makes you brave andkind and healthy and happy. *Harmless untruths (4)Ó The inhabitants of SanLorenzo do not care what is going on in their real lives because they have thefoma of Bokonon to keep them secure and happy. And Vonnegut is trying to saythat is what is happening to the rest of us. Americans, and the rest of theworld for that matter, have this false sense of security that we are safe andsecure. That in our homes in Indiana with our dogs and Gioielli 7our lawnmowers,we think we are invincible. Everything will be okay because we are protected byare government. This is the foma of real life, because we are trying to denywhat is really going on. WeÕre in imminent danger of being annihilated atany second, but to deny this very real danger we are creating a false w orld sothat we may live in peace, however false that sense of peace may be. Throughoutthe entire novel Vonnegut gives little snippets of Ã’calypsosÓ :Bokonon proverbs written by Bokonon. Verse like:I wanted all things To seem tomake some sense,So we could all be happy, yes,Instead of tense.And I made upliesSo that they all fit niceAnd made this sad worldA par-a-dise (90).Thiscalypso expresses the purpose of Bokonon and why it, with its harmless untruths,exists. The following one is about the outlawing of Bokonon. To make thereligion more appealing to the people, the leaders had it banned, with itspractice punishable by death. They hoped that a renegade religion with a rebelleader would appeal to the people more.So I said good-bye to government,and Igave my reason:That a really good religionIs a form of treason (118)Thesecalypsos, and the rest of the book, express the points Vonnegut in a moreabstract , symbolic manner. They only add to the impact of the books messageexpressin g it in a very short, satirical way. The black humor used when talkingabout the end of the worldà the nuclear endà was pioneered by Vonnegut. But what many consider to be the the climax of this pop culture phenomena isStanley Kubricks movie, Dr. Strangelove(Stone 69). Subtitled Or How I learnedto Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb , this movie was Kubricks viewpoint on howmad the entire Cold War and arms race had become. Based a little known book byEnglish science fiction writer Peter George, Red Alert, the movie is about howone maverick Air Force general, who is obviously suffering a severe mentalillness, concocts a plan to save the world from the Gioielli 8Communists. Hemanages to order the strategic bombers under his command to proceed to theirtargets in the Soviet Union. They all believe it is World War Three, and theGeneral, Jack Ripper, is the only one that can call the planes back. Kubrickscharacters: Dr. Strangelove, President Mertin Muffley, Premier Kissof andothers, go through a series a misadventures to try and turn the planes around. READ: Human Sexuality EssayBut the one, plane piloted by Major Ã’KingÓ Kong, does get through,and it drops its bombload. This is where Kubrick tries to show the futility ofeverything. The governments of both the worlds superpowers have thousands ofsafeguards and security precautions for their nuclear weapons. But one manmanages to get a nuclear warhead to be hit its target. And this warhead hits theÃ’Doomsday DeviceÓ. The Doomsday device is the ultimate deterrent,because if you try to disarm it it will go off. It has the capability to destroyevery living human and animal on Earth, and it does So it is all pointless. Wehave these weapons, and no matter how hard we try to control them everyone stilldies. And so to make ourselves feel better about all this impending doom,Kubrick, like Vonnegut, satirizes the entire system. By making such moroniccharacters, like the wimpish President Mertin Muffley, Kubrick is saying,similar to Vonnegut with Dr. Hoenikker, that we are ev en worse off because theseweapons are controlled by people that are almost buffoonish and childish. General Ripper, the man who causes the end of the world, is a portrait of aMcCarthy era paranoid gone mad. He thinks the communists are infiltrating andtrying to destroy are country. And he says the most heinous communist plotagainst democracy is fluoridation of water:Like I was saying, Group Captain,fluoridation of water is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communistplot we have ever had to face . . . They pollute our precious bodily fluids!(George 97)And General Rippers personal prevention of the contamination of hisbodily fluids is equally perplexing. He drinks only Ã’ . . . distilledwater, or rain water, and only grain alcohol . . .Ó Kubrick uses this kindof absurd reasoning in his movie to show the absurd reasoning behind nuclearweapons. Both him and Vonnegut were part of the satirical side of theapocalyptic temper in the early Sixties. They laughed at our governments, ourleaders, the Cold War and the arms race, and tried to show how stupid it allreally was. Bu t as time moved on, the writers, and the entire country, startedto take a less narrow minded view of things. The counterculture of the Gioielli9sixties prompted people to take a closer look at themselves. As thinkers,teachers, lovers, parents, friends and human beings. And people concerned withnuclear weapons started to see things in a broader context as well. Nuclearweapons were something that affected our whole consciousness. The way we grewup, our relationships with others and what we did with our lives. One of theauthors who put this new perspective on things was the activist, social thinkerand poet Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg first made a name for himself in the 1950Õsas one of the foremost of the Beat writers. The Beats in the Fifties were aforerunner of the more widespread counterculture of the late Sixties and earlySeventies. And Ginsberg evolved into this. He became a devoted leader in thecounterculture, who set many precedents for the Hippie generation. He lived invarious communes, delved deeply into eastern religions and experimented withnumerous hallucinogenic drugs. In the earlier part of his life Ginsberg had beena rebel against society. He was still a rebel but now he was taking the form ofactivist. By the Seventies he was involved in many causes that promoted peaceand world harmony. What separated Ginsberg from other activists is that he wasone of the first and original members of many of these movements. Now he was thefather figure to many in the non-mainstream world. While teaching at his schoolof poetry in Naropa, Colorado, Ginsberg became involved in protests against thenearby Rock Flats Nuclear Weapons Factory. During the Summer of 1978 he wasarrested for preventing a shipment nuclear waste from reaching its destinationand for numerous other protests against the facility (Miles 474). From theseexperiences came two poems Ã’Nagasaki DaysÓ and Ã’ Plutonium OdeÓ. Both these poems exhibit Ginsbergs more mature style of writing (Miles 475). The poems are more scholarly, containing many mythological and religiousallusions. But both these characteristics show how post war apocalypticliterature had evolved. By the Seventies many writers, instead of taking thedefeatist, satirical view like Vonnegut, were beginning to take a make activiststandpoint, like Ginsberg. Apocalyptic literature also took on a more mature,scholarly tone, and was more worldly and had a broader viewpoint. This stanzafrom Ã’Nagasaki DaysÓ shows how Ginsberg is putting nuclear weaponsinto the context of the universal:2,000,000 killed in Vietnam13,000,000 refugeesin Indochina 200,000,000 years for the Galaxy to revolve on its core 24,000 theBabylonian great year24,000 half life of plutoniumGioielli 102,000 the most Iever got for a poetry reading80,000 dolphins killed in the dragnet4,000,000,000years earth been born (701)The half life of plutonium is brought together withdolphins and Indochinese refugees. Also, Ginsberg makes a reference to theBabyl onian great year, which coincides with the half life of plutonium. Thiscosmic link intrigued Ginsberg immensely. That fact alone inspired him to rightÃ’Plutonium OdeÓ. The whole poem expands on this connection toplutonium as a living part of our universe, albeit a very dangerous one. Here hementions the Great Year:Before the Year began turning its twelve signs, ereconstellations wheeled for twenty-four thousand sunny yearsslowly round theiraxis in Sagittarius, one hundred sixty-seven thousand times returning to thisnight. (702) Ginsberg is also relating the great year, and the half life ofplutonium, to the life of the Earth. The life of the Earth is approximately fourbillion years, which is 24,000 times 167,000 (Ginsberg 796) In Ã’PlutoniumOdeÓ, Ginsberg talks to plutonium. By establishing a dialogue he gives theplutonium almost human characteristics. It is something, and is near us everyday, and is deadly. In this passage he is asking how long before it kills usall:I enter your secret places with my mind, I speak with your presence, I roamyour lion roar with mortal mouth.One microgram inspired to one lung, ten poundsof heavy metal dust, adrift slowly motion over gray Alpsthe breadth of theplanet, how long before your radiance speeds blight and death to sentientbeings. (703) In putting his nuclear fears and worries on the table, and sayingthat these things have pertinence to us because they affect how we live ourlives and the entire the universe, Ginsberg is showing how intrigued he is withplutonium in this poem. By the time Ginsberg was publishing these poems in late1978, post war literature had evolved immensely. At first people had no ideaabout the bomb and its capabilities. Then, as more information came out aboutwhat the bomb could do, they began to began to start to live in real fear ofnuclear weapons. The power of it, a creation by man that could destroy theworld, that was terrifying. Then some artists and writers began to see theabsurdity of it all. They saw that we were under control by people we did not,or should not, trust, and were a constant state of nuclear Gioielli 11fear. Sothey satirized the system unmercifully, and were very apocalyptic in their tone. But then things evolved from these narrow minded viewpoints, and people began toenvision nuclear weapons in the context of our world and our lives. The atomicbomb and nuclear proliferation affected all facets of our lifestyle, includingwhat we read. Literature is a reflection of a countryÕs culture andfeelings. And literature affected Americans curiosity, horror, anxiety, cynicismand hope concerning nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons raised questions that noone had dare ever asked before, and had given them answers that they were afraidto hear. They have made us think about our place in the universe, and what itall means. BibliographyBartter, Martha A. The Way to Ground Zero. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. Dewey, Joseph. In a Dark Time. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 1990.Dr. Strangelove. Dir. Stanley Kubrick. With Peter Sellers, George C. Scott and SlimPickens. Highland Films Ltd., 1966.(This is a novelization of the movie. Allqoutations from the movie were transribed form this book) Einstein, Albert. Ã’SirÓ (a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt) Einstein: TheLife and Times. Ronald W. Clark. New York: World Publishing, 1971. 556-557.George, Peter. Dr. Strangelove. Boston: Gregg Press, 1979.Ginsberg,Allen. Ã’Nagasaki DaysÓ and Ã’Plutonium Ode.Ó CollectedPoems: 1947à 1980. Ed. Allen Ginsberg. New York: Harper and Row, 1984. 699-705. Gleick, James. Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. NewYork :Vintage Books, 1992.Hersey, John. Hiroshima. New York: Alfred A. Knopf,1985.Miles, Barry. Ginsberg: A Biography. New York: Harper Perennial,1989.Stone, Albert E. Literary Aftershocks: American Writers, Readers and theBomb. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994.Vonnegut, Kurt. CatÕs Cradle. NewYork:Dell, 1963.

Career Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Career Development - Essay Example There are numerous causes behind the cognitive development that ultimately affects self-efficacy. A growing body of research has shown that there is a significant positive relationship between the self-efficacy beliefs of students and their academic performance. Self-efficacy influences the activities that students select, the amount of effort they put in, persistence in difficult times as well as difficulty in set goals. Therefore, the goal of this task is to increase own self-efficacy and check the accomplishment after specified period of time. It must be borne in mind that people having low self-efficacy tend to avoid the task while those having high self-efficacy not only attempt the task but work harder and persist longer in times of difficulties. The personal development plan provided above has been constructed in order to enhance own self-efficacy skills. It is required to enhance self-efficacy skills in three areas including academic performance, self-confidence, and employability skills. Certain activities are needed to be performed in order to improve in each of the mentioned areas. For instance, in order to perform better in academics one needs to alleviate the impact of past failures. Past performance has huge impact on the beliefs of getting success or failure in the future. Therefore, the impact of previous failures must be minimized. Also, strategies for achieving good grades must be situational that is, urgent tasks need to be done first. Along with that, learning must be acquired through every possible source. Apart from course books, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and informational apps contribute a great deal in improving the learning process. In addition, instead of receiving rewards on final success, sm all rewards must be given to own self after accomplishing small goals. Self-confidence has a lot to do with self-efficacy so it is required to enhance self-confidence

Apple Inc Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Apple Inc Case Study - Essay Example Considering the market, one can say that the buyer power of Apple is mediocre. Its operations are limited to geographic areas of Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Japan. However, the impact of forgetting markets like India where IT flourishes has a considerable impact on the performance of Apple. In fact, the company addresses only a single category; those who are willing to pay a premium price for high-quality technology. One has to admit that the threat of substitutes is much higher in the case of Apple, especially because of the premium price the company has set for its products. In fact, according to Marino et al. Apple enjoys ultimate superiority in personal media player industry where it offers four products; the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Classic, and iPod Touch. However, as a response to iTune, Microsoft has started Zune brand which offers all the features of a flash player and in addition, it allows wireless connectivity and beaming of audio and video up to 30 fee t distance. 4) The buyer power Considering the market, one can say that the buyer power of Apple is mediocre. Its operations are limited to geographic areas of Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Japan (ibid). However, the impact of forgetting markets like India where IT flourishes has considerable impact on the performance of Apple. In fact, the company addresses only a single category; those who are willing to pay a premium price for high quality technology. 5) The supplier power In

Comprehensive Examination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Comprehensive Examination - Essay Example The navigation design or the site hierarchy has to be carefully planned with the objectives in mind. Normally three-tier architecture is used in setting up the site hierarchy. The first tier is the landing page of the user; the second tier represents the next level where the website wants the users to reach. The third tier is the page where the objectives of the company, such as sales, gathering customer details, etc.., are present (Thompson, 2006). In this web 2.0 age, it is essential to ensure that the functionality is perfect across all the pages in a website. This functionality also requires careful consideration and the flow of information and the ease of use within the website, all depend on the functionality design. The final and most important aspect of websites is the user friendliness. The site should be simple and it should clearly display the intended content and links to the user. Complex websites often result in lack of user friendliness and hence result in lesser repeat users. Hence user friendliness has to be present and users from all demographics should be able to access the information with ease. Initially, Internet was used to display information. In the recent years, Interactive services and Ecommerce have become very common and this has led to advanced coding which involves a lot of server side coding as opposed to the client side scripts used in the past. The platforms and frameworks for technical coding have developed and many new advanced platforms such as ASP.NET 3.5 and PHP are becoming very common. Many standards have become inevitable for website coding. When compared to the past, nowadays, websites are all validated to follow these standards for many reasons, one of the main being search engine optimization. In the past, interactive features were considered as additional, whereas interactive web 2.0 services have

Colonial America to Road to Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Colonial America to Road to Revolution - Essay Example The slave trade was not an output of any raids by Europeans bur Africans themselves were sellers of other Africans and Europeans were purchasers. Slavery was not something new for Europe as Christians and Moslems enslaved each other in wars. However, the slaves were considered the members of society and slavery was not shifted to their children. With the passage of time, Europeans were in need of labor due to which, they moved towards Africa for black gold, a term that they used of African slaves. Africans were transported to European colonies for the labor needs. Black slaves were considered the strength of English men. Black slaves increased in number in white populations and the white population started considering that the Africans are naturally slaves. Soon, the slaves gained the status of chattels that had no rights of their own. Due to mass enslavement, the white man became more and more prejudiced racially. I like the essay as a detailed history is given about the slavery and the practices of Europeans towards African slaves. The writer has given the detailed account of the arrival of black people in a white people’s country in a persuasive

Auditing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Auditing - Case Study Example Due to reluctance of tone of Societe Generale, the company had to face a loss of almost $7.2 billion in 2008. It is in this context that Societe Generale provided higher concentration on the front office activities and there was less consideration towards back office performances. As a consequence, there was imbalance between the control of front office and back office functions (Beasley, M. S. & Et. Al., â€Å"How a Low Risk Trading Caused a $7.2 billion Loss†). Due to this reason, Societe Generale was incompetent to develop acute inspections essential for controlling the roles and responsibilities of employees. From the case study, it can be observed that like other organizations, Societe Generale had also become quite determined about drumming up its market worth. Thus, it did not provide much attention towards the traders and its responsibilities for managing the risks, while it rendered high significance for financial organizations in order to maintain profitability (Wart zman, â€Å"Executives Are Wrong to Devalue Values†). According to Canadian Auditing Standard (CAS), ‘Tone at the Top’ outlines the principles of a business unit and administration’s obligation to aptitude and beliefs (Hartley, â€Å"Tips for Cost-Effective CAS Application†). Tone at the top is necessary for better financial control in any organization. By judging the tone at the top of Societe Generale it can be characterized that it had certain lacunas of internal control which can be categorized as the reason for huge loss faced by the company. For any organization, the top level administration must be clear regarding the rules of business because different organizations have different risk desires. In Societe Generale the management was unable to apply the rules of business throughout the internal working culture. There is need for better internal management which can scrutinize the activities of all employees so that any kind of illegal activit ies can be detected and prevented accordingly (Beasley, M. S. & Et. Al., â€Å"How a Low Risk Trading Caused a $7.2 billion Loss†). Question 3 CAS describes that maltreatments in the financial statements ascend from either fraudulent activities or accidental mistakes (OAS, â€Å"Canadian Auditing Standards†). Fraudulent activity comprises three aspects which are pressures or incentives, opportunity and rationalization. Pressure or incentive is the aspect which influences or tends to give reasons to an individual to conduct fraud. With respect to Jerome Kerviel (one of the traders of Societe Generale), as a trader, the earning of Kerviel was quite low in comparison with other top level traders. He even did not consider himself as a trader due to his low earnings. Thus, his incentive for conducting fraudulent activity was to enhance his reputation within the company and thus increase the bonus amount (Beasley, M. S. & Et. Al., â€Å"How a Low Risk Trading Caused a $7.2 billion Loss†). Hence, he was constrained for gaining more money by undertaking monetary risks. Rationalization is the other aspect in majority of fraud cases. It involves reconciling the behavior of the individual alleged for committing fraudulent activities. After disclosure of the fraudulent activity of Kerviel, his rationalization was to make sure that his superiors were aware regarding his activities. Kerviel had articulated that his superiors

Palmolive - Target Market Identification Report Essay

Palmolive - Target Market Identification Report - Essay Example Marketing mix model focuses on specific parts of a firm’s marketing strategy. The product is one of the basic elements of this strategy. By promoting a particular product, a firm needs to consider primarily the following two issues: a) would be the development of existing product a priority or b) emphasis should be rather given to the increase of the firm’s share in the targeting marketing? In the second case, the firm should try to introduce new products while in the first case the characteristics of a firm’s product should be rather highlighted through appropriately customized marketing strategies. In the case under examination, the first strategy would be rather used, aiming to emphasize on the advantages of the firm’s specific product, the Palmolive natural shampoo vibrant color in regard to the targeting market, i.e. the Australian market. On the other hand, Dibb et al. (2008) note that the term ‘Product’ as part of the marketing mix mode l, refers to a series of issues, including the ‘quality awareness, the product image, the value and the quality of the product but also the product performance’. The marketing policies used by a firm in order to support the performance of one of its products have to refer to the above qualities/ needs of the product, the promotion of which is the targeting market will be attempted.In the case under examination, the marketing strategy of the firm in regard to the specific product would be additionally influenced by the following facts: the Palmolive natural shampoo vibrant color.... 2008, 94). The marketing policies used by a firm in order to support the performance of one of its products have to refer to the above qualities/ needs of the product, the promotion of which in the targeting market will be attempted. In the case under examination, the marketing strategy of the firm in regard to the specific product would be additionally influenced by the following facts: the Palmolive natural shampoo vibrant colour has been introduced in order to meet specific needs – the needs of people with colored hair for increased hair care and protection (Colgate Palmolive 2011). More specifically, the above shampoo helps towards the recovery of hair damaged by the colour treatment; in the specific product, a combination of UV filter and Avocado extracts’ (Colgate Palmolive 2011) has been used aiming ‘to ensure the quick recovery of hair damaged by color treatment but also to ensure the increase of life of colored hair and the improvement of quality of color ed hair’ (Colgate Palmolive 2011). It should be noticed that a conditioner is available by the firm in order to increase the benefits/ effects of the specific shampoo. The package of the above product can be characterized as satisfactory proving clear information on the content and the qualities of the product; moreover, the use of different color in the product’s packaging – compared to the other products of the firm – helps to distinguish the specific product among the others of the same firm but also among other products with similar characteristics. 1.2 Current Pricing The price of the particular product can be characterized as of an average to low level – compared to the price of similar products of its competitors (Leader et al. 1990).

The immortal part by Housman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The immortal part by Housman - Essay Example Housman & Irwin’s argument in this poem regards human bones as being immortal, which is contrary to the obvious notion. He skillfully states diverse aspects, for instance, mind and soul with a clear elaboration meant to convince his readers to perceive what he deems is immortal. Besides, he also utilizes pessimism to draw his audience to accept his perception (Housman & Irwin 60). This is evident from his expertise of employing high clichà © introduction then skillfully overturns the entire argument thus managing to entangle the reader’s mind (Housman & Irwin 59). Therefore, this leaves one doubting and questioning the already known notion about immortality. His vivid elaboration coupled with sheer comparison with diverse aspects, which comprises human existence aids him to grasp reader’s attention to extend of some believing him. According to him, bones bear immortality that has no comparison with even former esteemed life’s immortal aspects. He states, â€Å"Of dying flesh and dying soul (16)† where according to him the latter’s (soul) existence is

Overview of Accounting Essay Example for Free

Overview of Accounting Essay The audiences of financial statements and managerial reports include the shareholders, employees, prospective employees, customers, suppliers, the government, the stock exchanges, investors, lenders and the public at large. What is important is that each audience has a different perspective in reading the financial statements and managerial reports. For example, a lender would like to know the leverage of the company, if it has the capacity to service debt and if the loans to the company would be well secured. There are several purposes served in preparing financial statements and managerial reports. The financial statements are designed to show its audience, the companies finances, that is how the company got its finances, what it was used for and where is it being currently used (Luecke, R. 2002). For this purpose there are four main financial statements that is the income statement, the cash flow statement, the balance sheet and the statement of shareholders equity. In general an income statement has the purpose of showing how much revenue a company earned in a period of time, the balance sheet shows the company’s assets, liabilities and shareholders equity, the cash flow statement shows the inflow and outflow of cash and the purpose of the statement of shareholders equity is to show changes in the ownership of company’s shareholders over a period of time. The nature of the income statement is in the form of a report that shows the costs and expenses that the businesses incurs in order to earn its revenue. It gives the net earnings of the company. The nature of balance is such that it provides point wise information about the assets, liabilities and shareholders equity. The nature of a businesses balance sheet is such that it is set up like the basic accounting equation. Usually on the left hand side the companies list the assets and on the right hand side they list their liabilities with the shareholders’ interest at the bottom. This arrangement differs from country to country. For instance, in some countries the assets are listed on the right hand side. However, the basic nature of the balance sheet remains the same. The nature of the cash flow statement is such that it can inform its audience if the business generated cash or not. The cash flow statement is a report that shows cash changes over time instead of exact currency amounts at a point in time. It simply uses and rearranges information from the balance sheet and income statement of the business. The most important report that is issued by the management of a company is the annual report (Stittle, J. 2003). The nature of this report is such that it has detailed financial and business information required by law of the country in which the company is registered, modern annual reports have impressive pictures and stories that eulogize the company’s performance in the past year. The information contained in this report can help the audience make informed and ethical decisions. In the USA the SEC requires that the audited annual report be sent to every shareholder at the end of the year. In this the management comments about the future. Form 10-K required to be filled in the USA ha more detailed financial information. The company’s financial performance is described in a section of the quarterly or annual report that is called â€Å"Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation,† In this section of the Annual Report the management describes its own understanding of the financial condition of the company. The management in this section of the annual or quarterly report describes what it understands of the current financial condition of the business. It also gives its view of the relevant trends and challenges that the business faces. This allows the audience to see the financial condition of the business from the perspective of management and allows the audience to make informed and ethical decisions. In other words it provides the audiences the background that is required to study and understand the financial statements. Financial accounting information can be used in making informed and ethical business decisions. How? The income statement shows the earning per share, a calculation that tells you how much you as a shareholder would receive if the company distributed all its earnings. This allows you to make an invest/ non invest decision. Giving more information about the financial health of the company is the cash flow statement. It divides cash flow into flows from operating activities, investing activities and financing activities. This informs not only the investors but also the management, employees, suppliers and customers about the source of cash for the company and allows them to make better decisions. The footnotes of the reports give important information that helps make efficient and ethical decisions. The footnotes refer to stock options, pension plans, income taxes and important accounting policies and practices. For example, a company may be showing an inflated profit figure because its accounting practices have changed but reading the footnotes helps the audiences make better decisions and ethical decisions with regards to the company. To make ethical and informed decisions it is important to read between the lines of these reports. How is this accomplished? By doing ratio analysis! Commonly the ratios that are examined are debt-to-equity ratio, inventory turnover ratio, operating margin ratio, P/E ratio and working capital. Consider this, well before the Enron scam exploded; several investors were able to smell by examining the ratios that something was wrong with the company. They decided to sell off their stocks and avoided losses. To sum, the intention of the financial statements and management report is to inform the different stakeholders of a business. If these statements are carefully analyzed and understood they help these stakeholders make an informed and ethical decisions.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) Essay Example for Free

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) Essay The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) was established to protect consumers from the increasingly intrusive methods employed by telemarketers. Information technology advances such as auto-dialers, predictive dialers, and automated faxes made it easier to reach large numbers of businesses and households in a relatively short time. These methods were not only highly annoying to consumers, but through the use of these devices, telemarketing companies were also passing some of the cost of marketing onto the consumer. Consumers on the receiving end of numerous calls from various companies throughout the day were spending time that could have been spent in other activities and were rightly frustrated about the loss of their time. In the case of automated faxes, resources such as paper, ink, and even the data connection being used to receive what is essentially junk mail was a cost the consumer had no way to avoid. Fortunately, lawmakers responded to this unethical action of telemarketing companies with the TCPA. Specifically, the law makes it illegal to use auto-dialers and pre-recorded voice messages to make sales calls to emergency phone lines, medical offices, hospital rooms, homes for the elderly, paging services, or cellular phones. It also requires the recipient of pre-recorded telemarketing calls to give prior consent to receive the calls. It also made it illegal to send unsolicited fax messages. The law also gave states their own authority to regulate telemarketing practices. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enforces the rules set forth in the TCPA. The FCC was also given authority to issue regulations beyond the TCPA in order to continue to protect consumers from abusive telemarketing practices. This provision shows that Congress recognizes that over time changes in information technology may make the TCPA insufficient to meet the task of consumer protection (EPIC Telemarketing and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)). 1991’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 gave the FCC the ability to create a national Do Not Call list. However, it took more than 10 years for lawmakers to create the Do Not Call Implementation Act. This law established fees to support the creation and maintenance of a Do Not Call Registry (Do-Not-Call Implementation Act Law Legal Definition). Database technology existed in 1991 but perhaps developing and maintaining it was cost-prohibitive at the time. As information technologies improved, the cost of creating and managing a large scale database was feasible thus new legislation was created in 2003. References Do-Not-Call Implementation Act Law Legal Definition. (n.d.). In Legal Definitions Legal Terms Dictionary. Retrieved February 12, 2013, from http://definitions.uslegal.com/d/do-not-call-implementation-act/ EPIC Telemarketing and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). (n.d.). EPIC Electronic Privacy Information Center. Retrieved February 12, 2013, from http://epic.org/privacy/telemarketing/#law

Natural Language Processing :: Computer Technology

Natural Language Processing To digest natural language implies understanding, a function that is uniquely human. To understand something implies to have senses that interpret the world such as emotions and awareness of our own physical experiences. When someone tells a story, we rely upon previous experience for interpretation. We form a reaction, our heart rate may change, we may start sweating, we may relax or tense, and feel certain emotions such as fear. Upon getting new information, a persons attitude may change or the way they think may change. A computer made of metal simply does not have the faculties to experience the world as we do. It can be programmed to respond in such a way that mimics a human response, but can not be considered to be really understanding what it is doing. Recall the story of Helen Keller, how she finally began to learn a language when she was given immediate experiential feedback. The teacher would pour water on her and then do the sign language for the word in her hand. The foun der of Toastmaster's organization started it on the premise that people learn in moments of pleasure, and structured the organization so it would provide just that. A computer would not have the senses to make such understanding of these words and experiences possible. In addition to its lack of cognitive ability, a computer can not form expectations based upon a situation. A political speech can be very serious, but when seen on Saturday Night Live, it will be interpreted as funny. A similar problem is the extra meaning conveyed by the tone of voice or body language. We could always program an exhaustive data bank with all the different possibilities of input, but the system as we know it could not search all of these within a reasonable period of time, nor could it adapt to future changes. One of the problems with natural language processing systems is that humans themselves are often not very good natural language generators or processors. We often apply our own bias and expectations to what we hear. Two people can make eye contact and set up a whole series of background such that they now what each other are talking about. That very fact may be a bonus for computer natural language processing because we can predict with certainty how the system will interpret the information and therefore have greater clarity than people.

Escher :: essays research papers

Escher   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For my art piece I chose M.C. Escher’s â€Å"Eight Heads† from 1922. It depicts eight different heads that all form from each other. One of Escher’s many styles was to make images that form other images inside themselves. â€Å"Eight Heads† show 2 faces that could be considered evil or the devil. It has four different women in the piece and the pattern of position of the heads is more prevalent here than with any other head. The last two figures are the heads of two men wearing hats of the style worn at the time. These two heads and two of the four female heads and staring right at you. The other four heads are flipped, so that they are upside when you see it in a book. Escher always had a way of incorporating many images into a small area by flipping certain images and making every two or four images form another single or two images. Most of Escher’s works are black and white; some are in beautiful real color though. I guess yo u could call him a surrealist, but all of his work is different. Some are scenic landscapes, others are odd images of himself or another person and some are geometric shapes. Through every piece there is a hint, or a statement in some cases, of symmetry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My personal opinion of the piece is that it’s appealing to the eye first off, with its black and white and flipped images. A second look gives you and idea about the period of the painting. I liked it first for its sweeping lines that connect the faces. I also like the way he appeals to all angles. He’s got the image of devils bleeding into sophisticated women. I like the way that his paintings can be taken and translated into so many different meanings. I interpret the faces as representing hell and how close sin is to life. There are two devil men and two straight men. So might there be two devil women and also two straight women? My answer is yes, two of the women are evil. This is what I like about the piece, it’s shows secrets to those who can think or dream of them. The devil is easier to see in the men than it is in the women. Maybe this is what Escher is trying to say through this piece.

american folk :: essays research papers

The dancer is a man wearing leather boots, loose fitting red silk pants, and a white shirt with colored embroidering down the middle. His hair is shaved to the scalp except for a small circle on the top of his head, where the hair is about half a foot long. He squats down low, and kicks his feet out with his body upright and his arms folded. The dance has a historic meaning behind it, dating back to when Russia took over Ukraine. A group of organized rebels known as the Cossacks, who hoped to end Russian Rule, isolated themselves in a fort in the Carpathian Mountains. The dancer symbolizes a triumphant Cossack warrior. During festivals and other celebrations, the Hopak was a common dance. This dance is still taught to Ukrainian Americans today, starting at age seven. At Ukrainian debutante balls, the men who know the dance do it during a specific song, which is played at every ball. There are also professional dance groups who perform the Hopak around the United States and Canada. T he dancers today still wear the traditional clothing, but the hairstyle has become much less common. Many Ukrainians forget the dance with time, but those who remember it take great pride in their ability and perform the dance at nearly every ball and celebration they attend. This dance exists as a representation of Ukraine’s history, in particular the conflict with Russia. However, in the past, it served an entirely different function. The Hopak originates from the Kozac, which is an older Ukrainian dance. The Kozac is named after the Cossacks, who performed it, and it’s essentially the workout they performed to â€Å"warm up† for battle. â€Å"The movements were part of a regime of calisthenics to keep the Cossacks fit for battles.

Food Safety Work File Essay

Directions: Complete the food safety interactive quiz. Use the information from the interactive quiz to complete the following responses regarding food safety practices. For each of the following food safety practices, share at least 2 statements from the interactive quiz. Be sure to put these statements in your own words and explain why they are helpful in preventing food borne illness. An example would be: When dining from a buffet, make sure hot food is hot and cold food is cold. Food that is 40 – 140 degrees Fahrenheit has already begun to grow bacteria and pathogens. Clean (16 points): 1.Keeping your hands clean keep from getting sick 2.Keep surface clean after cooking, or letting something on it. Separate (16 points): 1.When cross contamination happens it spreads germs from 1 item to a a food item getting u sick. 2.Don’t put cooked food on same item a raw food was on without cleaning it. Cook (16 points): 1.A food thermometer is the only way you can tell if foods at the right temperature to kill bacteria. 2.Cook thawed food to minimum internal temp to kill germs. Chill (16 points): 1.When cooked food is left out it can grow bacteria that make u ill. 2.Freezing foods to 0 degrees inactivates bacteria. In your own kitchen, explain 2 food safety practices you feel your family can improve and 2 food safety practices you feel your family does well. (16 points) We can improve cooking food to the correct temp, and cleaning our hands after touching raw foods. In what ways do your school and community practice or promote food safety to contribute to your personal health? (20 points)

Full case study analysis of a company (Apple) Essay

Locating the company in its environment. This is where you set the scene and so you should Offer a brief overview of the company (from your own research or the case material provided). Put the company in its context, which will be international or global. At this point you will start to use the various analytical tools available to tell me about the environmental opportunities and constraints operating on the company and its industry. PESTEL is the usual device employed. You should also analyze the characteristics of the industry and business in which the company has to compete and here you should employ the 5 Forces of Competition analysis carried out in some analytical depth. Note: You could emerge from this first analysis with a PARTIAL SWOT, which is drawing out the opportunities and threats facing the firm. After having analyzed the company’s environment, the focus moves to the company itself by conducting an internal analysis where the objective is to identify the capabilities and resources developed by the company. This will be carried out through the application of some well tried analytical instruments, such as the value chain, the threshold and distinctive resources and competencies framework and the VRIO framework. Note: You should be able by now to complete the above SWOT analysis by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the company. Finally, you should now be able to define the competitive position of the company in relation to the Generic Strategy chosen. Part two: The selection of strategic options You should emerge from this Phase with an inquiry based view of your company’s level of business success and what it must do to sustain that success and continuously improve. Which are the main options for growth? To answer this question you can refer to the Ansoff Matrix and – if the company is part of a larger diversified corporation – to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix. Somewhere in this phase you will need to appraise the company’s financial state of health using well-established measures of efficiency and profitability. But please take note that we do not cover finance in our twelve weeks together but my expectation is that your studies in corporate finance (Financial Accounting and Management) should equip you to include a commentary on Apple financial predicament. Part three: Your strategic solutions for the company’s ongoing health Now that you have derived a picture of your Company’s state of health, can it be improved—what medicine can you offer? So, phase/part three is about Strategic options for the future. There could be many but which strategic option/s would you recommend and why? Are you happy that your choices are derived from your systematic analysis of the company at Phases one and two? Are they feasible? Can they be resourced? Can they be implemented and sustained?

Financial groups Essay

Today, Barclays is one of the most powerful financial groups in the world. But its origins can be traced back to a much more modest business, founded more than 300 years ago in premises close to the Group’s global headquarters in the heart of London’s financial district. In the late 17th century, the streets of the City of London were filled with goldsmith-bankers, who provided monarchs and merchants with the money they needed to fund their ventures around the world. One such business was founded by John Freame and his partner Thomas Gould in Lombard Street, London, in 1690. The name Barclay became associated with the company in 1736, when James Barclay – who had married John Freame’s daughter – became a partner. Private banking was common in the 18th century, bankers would keep their clients’ gold deposits secure and lend to credit-worthy merchants. By the 1890s there were some 100 private banks. In 1896, 20 of these companies came together to form a new joint-stock bank. The leading partners of the new bank, which was named Barclay and Company, were already connected by a web of family and business relationships. The new bank had 182 branches, mainly in the East and South East, and deposits of i 26 million – a substantial sum of money in those days. It expanded its branch network rapidly by taking over other banks, including Bolithos in Cornwall and the South West in 1905 and United Counties Bank in the Midlands in 1916. In 1918 the company – now Barclays Bank Limited – amalgamated with the London, Provincial and South Western Bank to become one of the UK’s ‘big five’ banks. By 1926 the bank had 1,837 outlets in its own name. The development of today’s global business began in 1925, with the merger of three banks in which Barclays held shares, the Colonial Bank, the Anglo Egyptian Bank and the National Bank of South Africa. The new Barclays Bank had businesses in much of Africa, the Middle East and the West Indies. Its name changed to Barclays Bank DCO in 1954, in response to changed economic and political conditions. It became Barclays policy to decentralise, away form London setting up locally-established banks, and 1985 called Barclays Bank. Today’s Barclays has tremendous global strength and a reputation for being first with innovative products and services. As of 30 June 2000, staff worldwide consisted of 70,300, of which 52,300 were in the UK. Today, Barclays has five business groupings that are managed as international businesses, reflecting changing customer needs and the developments taking place in global financial services. Barclays Barclays makes a direct and significant contribution to the well-being of the UK economy. The banking sector accounts for approximately 4. 2 per cent of the UK’s national output. In 1998, the financial industry contributed i 4. 6 billion to government revenues in mainstream corporation tax. Barclays alone paid a total of i 533 million in taxes in 1998. Around 30 million transactions are processed every day through UK clearing systems. The number of ways it is possible to access financial services is dramatically increasing for the benefit of customers. Telephone banking, increased accessibility to cash machines, means that millions of customers can use banking services 24 hours a day. Demand for these services is rising as an alternative to branch-based banking and, as a consequence of this the number of traditional branched will continue to decline. Due to the closure of branches there has been a decline in the number of jobs across the banking sector. Reasons for Change and Actions Taken The main reason for the change is the changing needs of the consumers. More people are working know, leading busier lives with longer days and travelling more and needing instant access to money without having to queue and wait. Customer tastes are becoming increasingly diverse, whilst some people want the immediacy of 24 hour electronic access to their money whilst others still prefer personal, face to face service from cashiers. Having seen that people want more instant access to their money Barclays have set up over 25,000 ATM’s, expanded their telephone banking service and offer the worlds leading internet banking service. They boast statistic of: â€Å"One million customers have signed up for our telephone banking service. Our call centres receive 25 calls every minute. † â€Å"The number of cash machined available to customers had more than trebled in the past five years. † â€Å"Barclays online banking has attracted more than 450,000 customers since it was launched in1996† Barclays has to keep its services in the public interest as they face serious competition from multinational banking corporation, supermarkets offering cash back, and even car manufactures can offer banking services. In the last six years the total number of credit card issuers has more than doubled. The recent advances in technology, particularly digital information, mean that many of the new competitors in the financial market do not need to maintain a nationwide chain of branches. It is possible, and much cheaper, to provide financial services over the telephone, PC or internet. Due to the increase of competition it has been important for Barclays to aim to lead the way for banking in the future, and also for them to be careful that they handle their customers needs and expectations. One of the biggest challenges for all financial services providers is to develop a new generation of more sophisticated, flexible products and services. Customers want and require straight forward easy access to their cash, whether it be through a cash machine, over that phone or the cash desk. At Barclays it is possible for customers to chose what kind of accounts they want, for example all in one accounts, such as those offered by Virgin One and Mortgage Trust or they can opt for savings accounts from building societies and insurance companies. Traditional banking providers are offering more advanced current accounts. The number of customers choosing Barclays more advanced current account is increasing. Services such as internet banking unheard of ten years ago, are now offered as standard by most banks. Barclays has a long history of innovation. They were the first bank in the world to install the cash dispenser, this was located at their Enfield branch in 1967 having previously launched the first credit card in Europe in 1966. In the 1980’s they introduced the UK’s first debit card. In October 1998, Barclays became the first bank to introduce instant banking, and to allow the credit card to offer customer access to their current account and credit card details over the phone. Barclays realises that to keep up with competition that they will have to continue their long history of investment in production and service innovation, increase the use of the technology available to them, ie the internet, e-commerce and telebanking. They also propose to provide business customers with full euro capabilities and offering their personal banking customers an even broader range of flexible savings, mortgage and loan plans. Barclays has spent over i 10 million on customer research programmes in 1999 to ensure that they have an in depth understanding of the needs of their customers and their expectations. In total they surveyed more than 1. 7 million personal customers during 1999. They found that customers were generally satisfied with their financial service provider. Customers said that they regarded Barclays as solid, safe and reliable in terms of the funds and business they entrusted in them. However it was noticed that customers wanted an improvement in the one to one service and for individual circumstances to be well received. Having heard this Barclays responded by launching a series of initiatives, many of these involved better use of customer data allowing them to anticipate customers needs and allowing them to pre-approve loans, overdrafts and mortgage arrangements. Barclays aims to make a contribution to the community, in September 1999 they announced proposals to contribute i 100 million to a new regional Venture Capital Fund, offering loans to growing businesses that are unable to gain conventional bank funding, this was part of Barclays aim to promote economic regeneration. Barclays has also developed three national sponsorship programmes, these include, Barclays New Futures, this is the largest educational sponsorship scheme worth i 8 million over eight years, run in conjunction with Community Service Volunteers. Barclays Sitesavers, this is the largest environmental regeneration sponsorship worth i 3 million over six years, this is a partnership scheme with Groundwork, they are aiming to turn derelict land into in to parks, gardens, play areas and sports grounds. Barclays Stage Partner aims to allow people who otherwise could not afford to go to the theatre, it will cost Barclays a total of i 4. 5 million over six years. However for Barclays to keep up with competition in the millennium it was necessary for them to widen their market and a merger with the Woolwich was proposed. Both the chief executive of Woolwich and Barclays realised that they had a shared philosophy, strategy and vision, as well as their views on the future of banking being similar. A deal between Woolwich and Barclays would double Barclays’ share of both the mortgage and savings market, provide access to the country’s second largest team of independent financial advisers and give it Open Plan, Woolwich’s all-in-one bank account, which was adding a further 8,000 customers a week. However, due to the merger taking place over 100 Woolwich branches were located within 100 metres of a Barclays, as these were now unnecessary these 100 Woolwich branches were closed, leaving the group with a combined total of 2,000 branches. Barclays said that the Woolwich name would be kept and would become the mortgage brand for Barclays products. The newly merged group now had more than 16 million customers, with both sets being able to attain the advantages from both Barclays and Woolwich. However Barclays continued closing banks, closing a further 171 branches across Britain. It was argued that to keep up with their plan and to advance in this world with new improved technology it was no longer necessary to have so many branches. If the bank was not to realise this and change its methods of banking it would go out of business. However as Britain’s second biggest bank it was still difficult for them to justify the closing of so many branches with little pre warning leaving 7,500 people with no job and over 40,000 customers, most from rural communities without there local banking service. Barclays said that even after the closure of the rural branches people living in those areas would still have a local branch within three miles. This however was not true as now many customers face round trips of twenty miles to alternative branches and fears have been raised for the safety of people carrying cash to be cashed into their accounts. In one case a 79 year old woman staged a sit in at their local Barclays Bank to protest against plans to close it. The locals were said to be ‘devastated and worried to be losing their local bank and the effect it would have on businesses. ‘ Protest groups across the country are planning sit ins and other forms of disruption to try to deter Barclays from closing their local branches. Barclays quickly picked up on the negative atmosphere towards them in the areas they had closed the branches and announced that they had agreed a deal allowing customers to pay cash and cheques and withdraw cash from their local post office. The bank arranged this in 155 of the 171 areas were they had closed the banks. Barclays said that they hoped that the deal with the post offices would help to keep them open in areas they were they too were under threat. However locals complained that the new service was no substitute for full time banking facilities. It is not just Barclays facing these problems, most banks have been closing their local branches and been changing to more modern methods of financial services and issuing money. With more people working, with less time to go to the banks it is necessary for them to be able to withdraw cash at any time of day of night. In the past, when less woman worked it was possible for the woman to go to the bank and to cash in cheques and withdraw money, however now, often with both members of the family working it leaves little time to get to the bank, thus the need for instant services, ie. Telephone, Internet banking and twenty- four hour cash dispensers. Though many jobs have been lost through the closure of all the branches a vast number of jobs have been opened up through telephone banking, with Barclays alone boasting more than twenty- five calls minute. It is often the people who are scared of change who resist to it, though it may inconvenience them at first, in the long run it will benefit them allowing them easier access to their money.

Lord of the Flies †Human’s Evil Inside Essay

Lord of the Files by William Goldings is about a number of boys being stranded on an unknown island without any adult authority figure. The boys have to learn how to survive, awakening a hidden urge buried inside humanity. â€Å"The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature† (background). While society grows and advances, the more civilized humanity is. Because the boys are trapped on an island with little society, they begin to show evidence of humanity’s inborn capacity for evil. When a cat plays with a mouse, it really does not do any harm to it. The cat is just having fun, while the mouse is scared out of its mind. Finally, when the cat gets hungry, it eats the mouse, putting it out of its misery (doc C). The cat does not fully understand what it feels like to be hunted. It is just listening to an inner voice, not knowing what it actually means, it just knows it is having fun and playing around with a smaller victim. In the novel, Jack is always putting Piggy down by calling him names such as fatty. He never listens to Piggy’s intelligent suggestions or reasons. Jack bullies Piggy just because Piggy seems like the smaller victim because he’s fat and insecure about himself. Jack does this because he is turning more savage and is listening to his inner evil. With the more technology man has, the more civilized man is (picture). In the early years of mankind, man had to use physical and pure brute strength to obtain food. Nowadays, mankind has learned to domesticate animals and kill them in a more efficient way. When mankind had to use pure brute strength they were very savage. Unlike today, where mankind is more civilized because killing of animals is not as common. For example, in Lord of the Files, the boys have to use brute strength to get their food because they do not have grown ups to do it for them. The boys having to kill animals means they are losing their civilization. Once mankind starts to lose its civilization, it forgets society and what matters. Mankind begins killing for entertainment (doc D). It begins to look for excuses to kill. While all of this is happening, mankind doesn’t know it is getting more and more savage. Jack, one of the best hunters on the island, realizes he enjoys killing living creatures when he kills his first pig. The boys believe there is a beast on the island, but the beast is not bothering them. While Ralph holds an assembly to say they should ignore the beast, if there is one, while Jack is saying they should kill the beast. When it is clear to the boys there is not beast, they being to realize the beast was in all of them. The deaths of Jewish families in the first Richard’s time were due to them being locked in a tower that was to be set on fire (doc C). The people who killed the families clearly underestimated death, thinking they can kill off Jews for no lagitament reason. Even though they are just young boys, the deaths of Simon and Piggy should have had more effect on them. There is something inside of them that said it was okay, that everything is going to be alright. While running away from jack and his group, Ralph runs into a naval officer. When the naval officer asks him if anyone died, he did not realize how horrible the deaths are until he sees the officer’s reaction. Ralph begins to cry and the rest of the boys join in, realizing how naive they are, listening to their inner evil. Indeed the boys are displaying evidence of humanity’s inner evil. The theme of the whole novel is to show humanity’s ability to ennate evil and Goldings does this by showing characteristics of savagery in Jack. He also shows the opposite characteristics, civilization, in Ralph. By doing this, Goldings was able to show how fast humanity’s inner evil can appear in a more savage person then a civilized person. Also, throughout this novel, he is able to prove humanity’s innate capacity for evil.

Poor Patient Care due to Nursing Shortage Leading to Professional, Research Paper

Poor Patient Care due to Nursing Shortage Leading to Professional, Ethical and Legal Issues - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that in the healthcare setting, nurses are the important players in nourishing and rehabilitating an unhealthy, injured, diseased individual back to a normal and healthy individual, thereby enabling him/her to live a happy and successful life. The roles and duties of a nurse have also evolved with the changing face of nursing. Rather than becoming few, they have become many, with nurses increasingly taking up certain duties that were previously left to society. The development of nursing has also seen nurses evolve from general practitioners to highly specialized professionals, with areas of practice ranging from geriatric nursing to pediatric nursing. This has resulted in better patient care and higher patient survival rates. With the rapid development of human society and increasing health needs, this specialization across the nursing profession is bound to increase even more. However, there is another side to the above scenario. That is, due to the number of factors, there is sizable nursing shortage throughout the world including in the UK, and that is leading to poor patient care. Due to this shortage of nurses in healthcare settings, patients are put in a high risk condition, as they are not being given expected as well as adequate care leading to professional, ethical and legal issues Identification of the legal, professional and ethical issues A nurse will only â€Å"provide a structure of caring that can ultimately create an environment where†¦ a patient can begin a transition from victim to survivor† (Johnston 2006). Thus, if the shortage of nurses accentuates, the ‘structure’ will collapse, leading to a lot of trouble and risks. Shortage of nurses is being witnessed in many UK hospitals in the past few years, thereby placing NHS in a peril state. A shortage is happening because many hospitals have placed a freeze on the recruitment of new nurses and also axing currently functioning nurses as well. â€Å"Many hospitals have been axing nursing posts or imposing recruitment freezes since 2005 and 2006, having racked up huge debts. Official figures show 5,964 nursing posts have been axed in the past two years. † (Borland 2013). Shortage of nursing staff has a major detrimental impact on the quality of service of the hospital which directly impacts its reputation as well as on the hospital’s overall capacity to service (Buerhaus et al. 2007). More than the hospital’s image, the valuable lives of people are at stake. People come to a healthcare setting in an already compromised state, with both their physical as well as mental health in a will be in a weakened state. That is, as people visit hospitals, when their physical body is malfunctioning, diseased and injured, their physical strength and also their mental morale will be at an all-time low. Fig 1: (Borland 2013). Considering their state, it is of crucial importance for the healthcare profe ssionals particularly nurses, as said above, to provide them with apt care and ‘nurse’ back to health. (Gosling and Mintzberg 2003). However, when there is the shortage of nurses, all the patients may not be given apt and equal care, also may not be given quick care or care in times of need, and even deficient care. When this happens, many worst-case scenarios arise. â€Å"Recent documents, including the infamous Francis Report, have exposed a catalog of failings in the NHS, where patients have been neglected, poorly observed and physically abused. Findings detailed how patients were left unwashed; unable to eat and drink due to lack of help, and overall poorly managed in their final hours of need.† (The City Times).  

The Difference in Authority Status Within the Family Essay

The Difference in Authority Status Within the Family - Essay Example My grandparents, we called them â€Å"mama† and â€Å"papa† respectively. We respected them because of their wisdom and feared them because of their ages. Our own parents made sure that the value of respect for the elders, especially the heads of the family, was instilled into our minds at an early age. This meant that even if we could reason out and discuss with our parents when something was not going our way, we were not given the same liberties by our parents when our grandparents were the ones in charge of us. We had to follow their orders without question or pause. The area where we grew up was unique because we had both the comforts of the city and the quiet existence of a farm life where we lived. The town proper and the malls were easily accessible to us while the area where we lived still housed goats and cows, a backyard industry of the residents of our area. In a way, I grew up in what others might consider being strange surroundings but was perfectly normal for me. Our family lived closer to the city proper while the other members of our family lived no further than 15 minutes away from us by car ride. So we were constantly having family gatherings and the kids grew up as playmates and best friends. I guess that is what makes my family unique. Even if we have few friends outside of our family circle, we never feel like we need more because everyone in our family is a friend to one another. We stick up for each other in much the same way that our parents and grandparents do when the need arises. One of my favorite memories from my childhood was when I was little and just about to start school. There were about 3 of us who were close in age who was also about to start school and that particular summer was the season that the older cousins got to teach us about how to survive in school. Somehow, I did not feel afraid about starting school because I knew that my siblings and cousins would also be in the same school. So I did not have to f ear to be alone, friendless, or bullied. I was right. When school started, we looked like a mafia family as the older relatives made sure that the younger ones made it to school on time, got into the right classes, and had someone to hang out with during breaks. Nobody dared mess with us. Our family took up a whole table to ourselves during lunch break and we always did what our parents told us to do, avoid trouble in school by sticking together. The only time we were separated from each other was when we finally had to report to class. When school was over, we would meet up at the front gate of the school and head on a home by school bus, still all together. Those were some of the most fun times I had as a child. I enjoyed going to school because it was a way that I could always hang out with my cousins and vice versa. We lived for school days and the weekends. Our parents found this puzzling at first but then came to realize that we were truly each other's best friend so our desir e to constantly be together was understandable and encouraged. After all, our parents believed that having each other as best friends meant that we would be free from trouble anywhere we went. It was because our cousins were inseparable that it became harder and harder for us to shop for holiday gifts for one another. Somehow we already knew who got what for whom and yet we still managed to act surprised when we would open our grits on Christmas Day.

Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Argument - Essay Example Virtue ethics states that we should be good for the sake of being good which could sometimes be impractical in modern world because others would tend to take advantage if we are too good all the time. Utilitarianism will balance it because utilitarian ethics seeks to practice ethics only when it is beneficial. Utilitarianism left on its own is also not good because it could lead to selfishness as it only concerns with itself. Being good and finding its good use will surely make a good pair of ethics. Moreover when we add deontological ethics to utilitarianism and virtue ethics we would become duty bound to follow sound ethical guidelines in our lives. Deontological ethics states that we should determine our duties and obligations and follow them. If we are able to create a set of ethics that is a combination of utilitarianism and virtue ethics, that is, good ethics that is grounded on reality, and make it a set of rules in this world, then there is a good chance that we will be following a set of ethical guidelines that is grounded on the reality of the