How has religion impacted American society Term Paper

How has religion impacted American society - Term Paper Example This assignment explains the significance of religion and the way it can impact various components of a society be it culture, education, politics or economics. The areas that are significantly under consideration in this paper are education and culture.Talking about the developed countries, it has been observed that America is most religious as far as the demographics is concerned. In 2002, a survey was conducted which revealed that citizens considered religion as a very important part of their lives and it was an area which was given high respect and priority. An attitude similar to this was also observed in America’s neighboring country; Latin America. To study the impact of religion on American culture, it is necessary to understand the meaning of both the terms and the relationship between them. Religion is a system of principles through which individuals identify their existence and base their explanations of the universe and the natural occurrence that are linked with i t. Culture is a set of methods, values and norms that are adopted and practiced by people in a society which are also transferred form one generation to the other. In America there is not a universal religion, a number of religions which include; Christianity, no religion, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Baha’i Faith. All the religions have had their respective impacts on the American culture. A few of them will be discussed here. The religion that is practiced by majority of the Americans is Christianity which further branches out into more sects that are considered to be a part of Christianity. Christianity pays emphasis on compassion, in the light of this teaching; individuals make attempts to help the needy and to assuage distress of the troubled ones. Donations are paid in higher amounts and in case of disasters, every individual rushes to help their virtual brothers. Christianity has also discouraged homosexual relationships and has put a stop to them wh ich has ultimately affected the family life and husband wife relationship in a positive way. (David, 89) Islam has also been rated as the fastest growing religion in America. It started after the African Muslims arrived here and immediately formed a community of their own named as Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. American culture has experienced a relative difference since the emergence of Islam which encompasses building of mosques, formation of political and donation organizations and other Islamic practices. The Muslims have immigrated to America in large numbers especially in the year 2005 which has significantly affected the culture in a way that Muslims equally take part in the educational matters. Islam discourages the ideological perception of granting superiority to a particular race and gives equal status to mankind including slaves. This has encouraged slaves particularly to enter into Islam empowering them in the wake. Impact of Religion on Education in America Maintaining a balance between education and religion has emerged as a dilemma and persistent problem in America. Arguments and discussions have been held to ponder over the problem of right placement of religious education in the course outline. The two parties involved in this battle are religious conventional, secularists and liberals. The former demands religion to be included in the basic public education whereas the latter thinks it is a private issue and should not be confused with worldly education. However the importance and impact of religion cannot be ignored. The teachings of religion gave a new prospect to the human life. As far as the Greeks were concerned, they emphasized on the human mind whereas Christianity showed man his soul. The benefits and impact of religion on American education can be better understood if compared

Compare the Johnston family Essay Example for Free

Compare the Johnston family Essay Now do you understand that? (police woman to Mrs. Lyons) As I say it was more of a prank really, Mrs. Lyons. Id just dock his pocket money if I was you. But one thing I would like to say, and excuse me if Im interfering, but Id not let him mix with the like of them in future. He has a sense of pride probably at the fact that everything he does he does it himself without the help of others even though hes not rich. Mickey and Eddies well-developed friendship starts rolling down hill as Mickey starts understanding life better and as his responsibilities grow. He says he had to grow up whilst no one looked and Eddie could stay a kid. By this he basically means youve had it laid on a plate for you all your life when I had to work and gain or lose everything. Mickey starts to feel as though people own him because he thought everything he did he did himself when he realizes this is not true he feels betrayed and feels he owes everything he is to someone else. All the struggle and all the suffering Mickey goes through at the end affects Linda as she is his wife and doesnt get any attention from her husband because his mind is else where all the time. Mrs. Lyons is a selfish woman who took a baby away from its mother. She said the children would die if they found out they were twins because they had been separated at birth, this was a made up superstition, because she knew from a previous incident in act 1 scene 8 that Mrs. Johnston was a very superstitious person. Oh God. Never put new shoes on a table, Mrs. Lyons. You never know whatll happen. Oh, you mean its a superstition. Youre superstitious are you? I think she is just showing of for how much dosh she has. Even though she promises that she would let Mrs. Johnston keep in close contact with the baby as it grows she becomes possessive and sacks her from her job. She thinks that Mrs. Johnston will tell someone and her husband would get angry, as he also doesnt know the truth. Later on she becomes paranoid of Mrs. Johnston, and starts thinking that the superstition she made up is actually true. After trying to keep her son away from Mickey, in the usual manner, saying hes a bad influence, threatening, forbidding, etc she decides to move away to a far off area where she thinks Mrs. Johnston would not be able to follow. When Mrs. Johnston gets a house by the council near to where Mrs. Lyons lives, Mrs. Lyons fears are confirmed she starts thinking Mrs. Johnston has put a curse on her. She looks after Eddie well and treats him like her own son so no one suspects anything throughout. In the end she kills both boys due to her mental state. Eddie is given a great childhood he lives in a big house gets the love of his parents and goes to school to get educated. His mother is the only person to know that he is Mrs. Johnstons child, however she is determined to keep that a secret and keep her child away from the Johnston family. He is a member of a rich family therefore is taught to speak in a posh accent and will kind of show off. Pissed off! You say smashing things dont you? Pissed off. Do you know any more words like that? It is a good thing that he is educated because he can then have a good job and a very good status further in life. Eddie has money and he doesnt care where the money goes. He thinks of Mickey as a brother, this is probably because he is an only child and when Mickey tells him they can be blood brothers he is delighted that he will finally have a brother. When he is caught by the police woman he ends up getting his lines mixed giving the play a streak of humour as well as showing how protected he has been during his upbringing. And what do you think youre doing? Adolf Hitler! Whats your name, son? Waiting for a ninety two bus Hes not with me He is sent to boarding schools so that he is kept away from Mickey. He doesnt understand why everyone wants to keep them apart but goes along because he is left no choice. When he comes back from university for Christmas he is surprised to find that his best friend is now also against him, which upsets him greatly. He tries to show that he is not bothered about Mickey being poor, that Mickeys friendship means more to him than the world by telling him to take all the money he wants but this just makes Mickey feel offended and feel as though he is being presented with charity money or something. Look, come on. Ive got money, lots of it. Im back, lets forget about bloody jobs, lets go and get Linda and celebrate. Look, look, money, lots of it, have some. NO! I dont want your money. Stuff it. Eddie, do me a favour will you? Piss off. I thought I thought we always stuck together. I thought we were blood brothers. Even though Mickey stops talking to Eddie and doesnt want to stay in any form of contact Eddie carries on trying to make there friendship work out. He tries to help Mickey every chance he gets, even if it is only secretly. In the end he finds out they are real brothers. When Mrs. Lyons comes in and goes to shoot Mickey, Eddie sacrifices his life showing he really cared about Mickey.

Effects of Different Antibiotics on E.coli Growth

Effects of Different Antibiotics on E.coli Growth The effects of antibiotics on the growth of Escherichia coli have been found in several studies and some recent studies have also focused on the tolerance and reduced growth levels in bacteria to examine the molecular changes that allow such as change. E. Coli and anti-microbial agents: In a study by Dixon et al (2004), the antibacterial effects of microcystin, which is, a cyanotoxin produced by Microcystis aeruginosa have been discussed. In the presence of microcystin, the inhibitory values for a range of hydrophobic inhibitors were significantly reduced. Dixon and his colleagues studied the direct effects of appropriate concentrations of microcystin on the integrity of bacterial inner and outer membranes and found that the presence of microcystin affects the permeability levels of entero-bacterial outer membranes. Tolerance to anti-microbial agents in seen in bacteria, which shows a slower growth rate or which no longer, multiplies. This is very common in the E. coli bacteria, which shows a decreased growth rate after being exposed to antibiotics. In clinical infections bacteria tend to multiply slowly and extended periods of anti-microbial chemotherapy are needed to eradicate these organisms and achieve complete cure. Hu and Coates (2005) used transposon mutagenesis to understand the molecular basis of antibiotic tolerance. The authors screened 5000 Escherichia coli mutants to see reductions of kanamycin tolerance in the late stationery phase and found that 4935 mutants were able to grow to the late stationery phase. The mutant KS639 was most sensitive to kanamycin. This variety of mutant showed an increased sensitivity to kanamycin and gentamicin, ciprofloxacin and rifampicin. From the data obtained it was seen that a mutant lacking intergenic regions showed reduced tolerance to kanamycin. T he studies show that interegenic regions in the E coli may be responsible for anti-microbial agents. In a study that tend to examine the effects of ciprofloxacin on E coli growth, Lueng et al studied the effects of the uptake and release of ciprofloxacin from a hydrophilic stent in an antibiotic solution and the effects of a ciprofloxacin loaded stent in inhibiting the growth of E.coli adherence were tested. The authors immersed segments of (hydrophilic stent) HS in 5 ml of ciprofloxacin solutions for 24 hours and ciprofloxacin remained in solution measure determined the uptake by the HS. CHS (ciprofloxacin-loaded stent) was placed in 5 ml of water for 24 hours and the released ciprofloxacin was measured. CHS was placed on culture plates with E coli and incubated and diameters of the inhibited zones were measured. CHS 0.5 cm in length was incubated in separate 5 ml E coli suspensions. This E coli was measured and compared with control HS. The results showed that zonal inhibition to growth of Escherichia coli was, proportional to the concentration of ciprofloxacin. Accordingly the au thors concluded that there was a free exchange (uptake and release) of ciprofloxacin along a concentration gradient between the antibiotic solution and HS. CHS reduced the number of adhered E coli, but the effect was short-livedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Strains of E. coli and Resistance to Antibiotics: Strains of Escherichia coli that are capable of contaminating raw milk can show heightened resistance to anti-microbial drugs. The susceptibility of E. coli that originates in milk and milk products, meat and several antibiotics such as cotrimoxazole, streptomycin, cephalothin, neomycin and chloramphenicol, erythromycin, ampicillin and amikacin. The minimal inhibition concentrations were detected using a standard micro-dilution method. Babak et al (2004) stated the necessity to identify bacterial strains that have acquired potentially transmissible resistance to anti-microbial drugs. The study by Babak and his colleagues differentiated two kinds of E coli strains, one that is susceptible to the adverse effects of antibiotics and another that is resistant to anti-microbial drugs. There is a global expansion of bacterial resistance to anti-microbial agents such as methicillin and vancomycin with the Staphylococcus aureus showing increased resistance to methicillin and decreased sensitivity to vancomycin. The plague bacillus possesses a plasmid that is transferable to E. coli and has multiple antibiotic resistances. Vancomycin resistant enterococci are constantly transmitted to resistant organisms. These resistant strains have been effectively studied by McCormick (1998) to delineate the antimicrobial-resistant bacterial pathogens. Escherichia coli was found in cattle faeces and novobiocin was used in the isolation method when samples of E coli were separated in different occasions. This study by Tutenel et al (2003) effectively links the isolation of E. coli O157 samples using the antibiotic novobiocin suggesting the adverse effects of antibiotics on bacterial growth or survival. In a recent study by Chartone-Souza et al (2005), a tetracycline-platinum complex was synthesized which was found to be as effective as tetracycline itself in inhibiting bacterial growth of E coli and in this particular study two Escherichia coli sensitive bacterial strains. This tetracycline complex is six times more potent that tetracycline against E Coli HB101/pBR322, a bacterial strain that has developed a resistance to tetracycline. According to Chartone-Souza and others their study is extremely important given the fact that emergent resistance strains of E coli have made it difficult to treat bacterial infections with tetracycline. Conclusion: From the studies discussed above, we see two distinct trends of the effects of antibiotics on the growth of E. coli. Antibiotics can develop increasingly resistant mutant strains of bacteria or can inhibit the growth of a particular strain. Whatever the results are, there have been numerous studies that have substantiated the fact that antibiotics have considerable adverse effects of the growth of E. coli and other bacterial strains.

Brave New World - Happiness :: essays research papers

With reference to the text, discuss Mustafa Mond’s statement: â€Å" The secret to happiness is liking what you have to do.† Mustafa Mond is presented to us as one of the Ten World Controllers in Brave New World, of that Utopian, communal and stabilized world, set six hundred years into future. This new world that contradicts the world we live in today, eliminated the Freedoms that we depend on: the freedom of choice, the freedom of thought, religion and being. They have chosen to condition their individuals in baby factories in order to ensure identity, community and stability. The fundamental tenet behind the conditioning is utilitarianism, which describes a society that seeks to create maximum happiness. Those who are happy are thought to be efficient and beneficial to society. Mond’s statement: â€Å"The secret to happiness is liking what you have to do,† applies to his ‘conditioned’ world, with abolished Freedoms, but it does not apply to the world we live in today. Huxley shows how "identity" is established in the Conditioning Centre through the selection of the embryos into each of five groups. All the individuals in Brave New World have their identity predestined by someone else. This promotes stability by creating a group of workers whose preferences are moulded by the state. I cannot concur with this idea of ‘puppet creation’ where people can be depicted as puppets and the state can be said to be their puppet master who has a right to choose their character roles. In our society, this goes against the freedom of being and becoming someone you wish to be. Mr Foster addresses the students about Epsilons and mentions, â€Å"We condition them to thrive on heat,† (p. 31). This can explain why they are predestined to like warm temperatures and why they emigrate to tropics to become miners and steel workers and in that way benefit the society. I should mention that I do not agree with their idea that one should be conditioned to be happy with what they are doing or to perform the task correctly. In today’s society, one may notice that there are people who grew up near coalmines and without anyone forcing them to work, they still feel like they should dedicate themselves to a miner’s duty. They might have been born into a miner’s family and upon their own will, might decide to follow their family’s footsteps.

Yeast Fermentation Lab

The aim of this work was to identify how sugar concentration does affect yeast fermentation. An increase in sugar concentration must increase the release of CA as a result of yeast fermentation. The following analysis considers the average CA concentrations measured as a result of three independent experiments. In absence of sugar no CA was released. A 5% increase in sugar concentration showed a lowCA presence, 0. 33 CM. Then as a result of another 5% increase in sugar concentration it is observed a higher concentration of CA, 1. 1 CM measured. Till then the increase of CA concentration was expected. When sugar solution reached 15% surprisingly the CA concentration decreased to 0. 57. Actually it was expected a relative increase in CA concentration. Later when sucrose concentration increased to we identified an important increase in CA concentration.The whole hypothesis could not be supported as a result of the decrease in concentration when sugar concentration reached 15%. Evaluatio n: In order to improve this work we could consider the following elements: use more different samples of yeast, in this work we only had one yeast source. It could have sugar concentration was added was not accurate and changes in the temperature could have affected the results. Furthermore the use of pipettes could have been improved during the process of the procedures.

Nigerian English - Culture and Language of Nigeria

Nigerian English - Culture and Language of Nigeria The varieties of the English language that are used in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa. English is the official language of Nigeria, a former British protectorate. English (especially the variety known as Nigerian Pidgin English) functions as a lingua franca in this multilingual country. Examples and Observations: The spectrum of English in Nigeria ranges from Standard English through a more general English whose structures are influenced by the mother tongues, by the Indian English of many traders and teachers, and by WAPE [West African Pidgin English], which is sometimes acquired as a mother tongue in such urban areas as Calabar and Port Harcourt, usually along with one or more local languages. Its many forms reflect both mother tongue and WAPE influence. Although a number of Pidgin dictionaries have been compiled, it has not yet been standardized. Pidgin has been used in prose by many writers, including Chinua Achebe, as a vehicle for poetry by Frank Aig-Imoukhuede, and for drama by Ola Rotimi.(Tom McArthur, The Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford Univ. Press, 2002)[M.A.] Adekunle (1974) attributes all of standard Nigerian Englishs Nigerian usages in lexis and syntax to interference from the mother tongue. It is quite easy to show that while some usages can be so attributed, the vast majo rity, at least in Educated Nigerian English, arise from the normal process of language development involving a narrowing or extension of meaning or the creation of new idioms. Most such usages cut across all first-language backgrounds. For example, when travel is used in the sense to be away, as in My father has traveled ( My father is away), it is not a transfer of a first-language expression into English, but a modification of the verb to travel.   Ã‚  (Ayo Bamgbose, Identifying Nigerian Uses in Nigerian English. English: History, Diversity, and Change, ed. by David Graddol, Dick Leith, and Joan Swann. Routledge, 1996) Nigerian Pidgin English [Pidgin English], it can be argued, has had a much more important function than English in Nigeria, at least in the southern provinces, since about 1860. The number of its speakers, the frequency of its uses and the range of its functions have been expanding ever since its first formation from local jargons of Antera Dukes type when the need for an interethnic lingua franca arose. Increasing social and geographical mobility have continuously added to this expansion. Whether the estimate of 30% pidgin speakers in Nigeria is a realistic figure is impossible to say.(Manfred Gà ¶rlach, Even More Englishes: Studies 1996-1997. John Benjamins, 1998) Lexical Features of Nigerian English [E.O.] Bamiro (1994: 51-64) gives the following examples of words that have developed special meanings in Nigerian English...The presence of Citroà «n and Volkswagen cars has led to the creative and witty coining of the words footroà «n and footwagen. They had to do parts of the journey by footroà «n simply means they had to walk some of the way. Other coinages include ricobay hair (a popular Nigerian hairstyle), white-white (the white shirts worn by schoolchildren), and watchnight, which means something like staying up through the night to celebrate New Years Eve or some other festival.Ellipsis is common so that he is a mental means he is a mental patient. ...Clipping, common also in Australian English, is frequent. Perms in the following example is a short or clipped form of permutations: We would not have wasted our time running after perms.(Andy Kirkpatrick, World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007 )Nigerian English has a whole host of what we call stereotyped phrases of salutations that would strike most native English speakers as curious at best and incomprehensible at worst. While some of these phrases are creative coinages or semantic extensions based on the socio-cultural uniqueness of Nigerian cultural expressions which the English language hasnt lexicalized, others are the products of an insufficient familiarity with the conventions and idioms of the English language.Say me well to him/her/your family, etc. Nigerians use this ungainly verbalism when they want to send expressions of goodwill to someone through another person. This uniquely Nigerian English expression would be puzzling to native speakers of the English language because it is structurally awkward, grammatically incorrect, and unidiomatic.Whatever it is, the expression has attained idiomatic status in Nigerian English and should probably be patented and exported to other parts of the English-speaking world as Nigerian linguistic invention in English.​  (Farooq A. Kperogi, Nigeria: Top 10 Peculiar Salutations in Local English. AllAfrica, November 11, 2012) Distinctive Uses of Prepositions in Nigerian English Many scholars of Nigerian English have identified the tendency to omit the preposition to in the collocation enable someone/something to do something as one of the key features of our dialect of the English language. Enable and to are indissolubly married in American English and British English; one cannot appear without the other. So where Nigerians would write or say I hereby apply for a loan to enable me buy a car, British or American English speakers would write or say I hereby apply for a loan to enable me TO buy a car.While Nigerians blithely omit prepositions when we use enable, contest, reply, etc., we gladly pluck some from the air and insert them where they are normally not used in native varieties of the English language. An example is the phrase request FOR. In American and British English request is never followed by a preposition. For example, where Nigerians would say I requested FOR a loan from my bank, native speakers of the English language would write I requested a loan from my bank.(Farooq A. Kperog, Nigeria: Prepositional and Collocational Abuse in Nigerian English. Sunday Trust [Nigeria], July 15, 2012)

Brazil Sao Paulo essays

Brazil Sao Paulo essays Projections indicate a total population of 169 million in 2000. According to the 1996 count, the most populous region in the country is still the Southeast (63 million inhabitants), followed by the Northeast (45 million), the South (23.1 million), the North (11.1 million), and the Center-West (10.2 million). The most inhabited states are So Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul, and Paran. These states all lie along the Atlantic coast.Sao Paulo state (1996 pop. 34,055,715), 95,713 sq mi (247,897 sq km), SE Brazil. It is Brazils most populous and economically important state. The capital is the city of So Paulo, (1996 pop. 9,816,776) So Paulo, which dominates the vast hinterland of one of Brazils wealthiest agricultural states, is Brazils commercial, financial, and industrial center. Through its Atlantic Ocean port of Santos The 1996 count showed that there were ninety-seven men for every 100 women and that the total number of women exceeded the number of men by 5 million. In the 1990-92 period, the economy deteriorated further, with a 1.3 percent annual decline in GDP and 4.1 percent decline in industrial output. Agriculture grew only 1.5 percent, and the services sector, only 0.4 percent annually. The overall unemployment rate increased from 3.4 percent in 1989 to 4.3 percent in 1990, 4.2 percent in 1991, and 5.8 percent in 1992. The labor absorption by the informal sector continued to be large and highly visible. As for the disparity in the wage scale, according to the 1990 household survey, in September of that year 10.8 percent of the employed work force, or 6.5 million persons, earned one-half of a minimum wage, a monthly average of US$299; 49.2 percent of the employed work force, or 29.8 million persons, received two minimum wages or less. At the other extreme, 7.8 percent of the employed work force received more than ten minimum wages, a monthly average of US$1,941; 3...

Argument for Legalization of Gambling in Texas

Argument for Legalization of Gambling in Texas Introduction Gambling refers to a pre offer, of money or any other material that has substantial value, to the occurrence or failure of an event. The subject of gambling is that the gambler losses the money offered if the outcome of the event is against him or her or gains the money offered if the event outcome favors the gambler.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Argument for Legalization of Gambling in Texas specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The outcome of the specific event is normally determinable in a short period of time. The gambler, therefore, takes the risk of either gaining or losing the offered money or material and any other valuable subjected to gambling. This paper seeks to discuss the issue of gambling. The paper will examine the benefits as well as any negative effects of gambling with an aim of arguing for the legalization of gambling in Texas. Origin of Gambling The nature of gambling is close ly related to ancient religious beliefs that were practiced in the pre historic times. Gambling is for this reason believed to have its origin from religious beliefs. It has been generally pointed out that gambling was developed from a religious practice in which particular religious leaders who were believed to be in communication with gods predicted what would happen to people. It was believed that these leaders were able to learn from gods or spirits what would happen in future. The religious leaders who had the ability to predict the future used objects which would be thrown from a person’s hand. The objects were believed to predict the future with respect to either a positive or a negative result depending on what the visitor came to seek. Anciently, an even number of the thrown objects would mean a positive outcome while an odd number of the thrown objects would mean a negative prediction. The outcomes of these religious practices were based on chance even though they w ere believed to be responses from either gods or some spirits. The initial observation of the number of thrown objects was later improved to include a study of the pattern formed by the objects. Further developments of the practice led to the issuance of gifts by the person seeking counsel from the religious or spiritual leader. The gifts were meant to appease the gods or the spirits to enhance their yielding of good outcomes through the predictions. This concept of the ancient religious leaders foretelling the future is what was modified into a game like activity in which people try to predict the outcome of an event with a monetary value attached to their prediction. A positive prediction leads to a person getting the amount put in the game. An outcome contrary to that predicted by a gambler leads to the gambler losing his or her money or commodity subjected to the gambling (Crapsdicecontrol1).Advertising Looking for research paper on government? Let's see if we can help y ou! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Texas Laws on Gambling Under the Texas statutes, gambling is defined as a bet over an event that has not yet occurred. A person is therefore said to have gambled if the individual makes or participates in a bet of an activity whose final result is not yet known. The activity could be a competition,such as in games, in which a winner is desired, political contests, or results on intellectual tests. Gambling is illegal under the Texas statute and a person is liable for gambling if the person is either directly or indirectly involved in a gambling process. Indirect involvement in gambling could include acts such as being an agent in gambling in which an individual is used asa link between gamblers, undertaking to promote or to enhance gambling, providing an avenue or place where gambling is undertaken or even having a tool that is used either for gambling or to promote gambling. Gambling is therefore a criminal offence in Texas under the statutory provisions (Texas statutes 1). Reasons why People Gamble There are a number of reasons why people choose to gamble. A person can choose to gamble because gambling brings a sense of â€Å"recreation and fun† (Aging 1). The process of gambling brings with itself some sense of adrenaline driven moments as people anticipate in the outcome of a gambling activity. These moments together with suspense of who is going to be favored by the results of such gambling brings excitement that make the experience fun to some individuals. Like other games, gambling also brings the participating parties together and promotes a sense of unity among these people. It is for this reasonthat it offers an opportunity for people to socialize with one another. Gambling which is carried out with a partial aim of raising money to support a charity event or a social activity can also yield the fulfillment of helping the unfortunate in a society. A person can therefore engage in a gamble with an understanding that part of the proceeds will be delivered to some social activity somewhere (Aging 1). Another reason for gambling is to help people escape from the realities that they face at home. People take advantage of the time they use in gambling together with the company that they get atthe gambling places topass time in an environment that is more relaxed. In this view, gambling can be perceived as a relieving exercise that can help people control or reduce stressat least for the moment of the gambling activity and when in the company of other gamblers. Gambling is also a source of income. When people bet, they submit to the risk of either winning or losing. When they win, the proceeds are more than what was bet. Gambling can therefore be seen as some sort of a faster and easy investment in which one just puts his or her money and wait for fate to determine his or her profit or loss (Aging 1).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Argument for Legalization of Gambling in Texas specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Another argument in support for gambling is the fact that it is something that a person does at will. In democratic countries like the United States, in which Texas is a state, democracies are upheld and people’s fundamental rights and freedom to make choices and to look for happiness are declared in the constitution. If the constitution allows people to choose whether or not they should drink, or the religion they want to belong to or even the type of political leaders that they want for their country, the way they want to spend their money and how they want to have fun and be happy in life, then the same constitution ought to give its citizen the freedom to choose whether or not they want to gamble. It can be argued that when a person goes to gamble, he shall have taken the risk of either winning or losing in the gamble. If one party looses, the othe r party should not be liable for the loss because both parties must have consented to the terms of gambling before they put their money in the act. It should therefore be viewed as a fair act that violates no right or freedom of any loosing party. It is neither theft nor robbery. Collins peter argued that gambling has dual effects. There are benefactors in a variety of ways. When one party loses and the other party gains.The proceeds of the gambling are of economic importance to the winning party as well as those individuals who depend on the winning party. The effects are therefore countered. Both parties are aware of loosing orwinning and would be happy if they won. Similarly, the dependants of gamblers are most likely happy and enjoy the proceeds of gambling when their bread winner is lucky and brings the gambling money home. These same people should therefore understand when the same gambler is one day unlucky and loses his or her money in gambling. It is the same in either way and it is in addition a source of employment to other people such as the owners of facilities or those employed in the facilities where gambling takes place. A total ban on gambling therefore has a significant effect of lost income to parties that are occasionally involved in gambling (Collins 43). Collins further argued that gambling should be allowed as a means of fostering social justice in a society. Underthis argument, Collins claimed that people ought to be given opportunity to make their choices as regards to what they want.Advertising Looking for research paper on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More A person who feels like joining either the Republican Party or the Democrats should be given the chance to choose where they want to belong, another person who wants to donate his or her income to a social activity such as supporting an orphanage or the elderly or any other disadvantaged member of a society should be given the opportunity. A donation to a charity is money taken away from the donor’s dependents and the dependents consequently loses claim over such donations. Money lost through gambling is similarly a choice of a person risking money but with the hope of getting more. Gambling is for this reason more beneficial to the gambler’s dependants as compared to charity donations from which absolutely no reward is expected (Collins 43). Arguments against Gambling There are, however, arguments against gambling. According to Kasinoonnet, too much of gambling is considered unsafe more so if a person is going beyond his or her financial means in order to gamble (Kasi nosonnet 1). It is also argued that gambling results in unsuccessful relationships â€Å"interfere with responsibilities at work, and leads to financial catastrophies† (Helpguide 1). Gambling is therefore perceived in this case to be an addictive exercise that can ruin a person together with his or her family (Helpguide 1). Conclusion There are significant arguments that gambling is not a safe activity to engage in especially due to its addicting effects. There are possibilities that it can lead to loss of money by a gambler and the side effects of lost money can ruin the gambler together with his or her dependants. It is however evident that gambling is voluntary and a person only goes into gambling on free will and consent. Gambling also has a variety of benefits such as entertainment and income increment among others. As a voluntary exercise, the people of Texas should be given the freedom to individually make decisions as to whether or otherwise, they want to gamble since there is no difference between gambling and other activities such as charity donations which are legal. Gambling should therefore be legalized in Texas. Aging. Gambling. Aging Canada, 2005. Web. Collins, Peter. Gambling and the public interest. New York, NY: Greenwood publishing group, 2003. Print. Crapsdicecontrol. A history of gambling. Craps Dice Control, n.d. Web. Helpguide. Gambling addiction and problem gambling. Help guide Organization, 2011. Web. Kasinosonnet. Advantages and disadvantages of casino gambling. Kasinosonnet, 2011. Web. Texas statutes. Gambling. Gambling law, 2011. Web.

Advertisement-Rhetorical Analysis draft Coursework

Advertisement-Rhetorical Analysis draft - Coursework Example according to the time and demand needs; in that continuum, advertisement in 40’s has its own dimensions as one can find number of examples in this link .To be precise, the selected advertisement for analysis is â€Å"ham on rye scotch tape 3m†. This ad is the clear depiction of 1940’s trends in the domain of advertisement. This ad is the portrayal, includes the picture or graphical representation with the detailed text that was the norm of that era. The interesting aspect is that the text portion is dedicated to the blonde and her burgers that are filled with comparatively bright colors. However, the critical issue is that the text portion is not interpreting the graphical segment properly that is confusing because in the picture there is no any such thing that belongs to the war and its discussed related dimensions. Furthermore, there doesn’t seem any correlation with the thumbnails pictures in the text portion and the blonde portion that is standing insi de the rail with other people. Therefore, this piece of advertisement cannot be categorized in the domain of ideal and properly organized ad because it is the perception, general people heed to the pictures and graphical representations than to waste the time in reading the long, unnecessary and loosely connected texts. One can analyze the current trends in advertisement that significantly altered because of that

Discussion about a book called ministry of fear Assignment

Discussion about a book called ministry of fear - Assignment Example This paper thus helps to provide an insight depicting the relationship that began brewing between Arthur and Anna during the time that the two spent together, trying to reconcile differences as well as understand that their hate for each other could actually be transformed into pure love. Anna is a young Austrian woman and her brother is a Nazi spy, however, even then, she takes Rowe’s side and helps him uncover the Nazi agents that he is about to have an encounter with. Throughout the course of the story, she tries her best to warn him and keep him out of trouble, only because she realises that she has fallen in love with the Englishman. The author writes, â€Å"It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.† (Greene, Graham) This is very apt of the book itself because of the kind of relation that developed between Anna and Arthur despite the two belonging to different sides. Greene has tried to portray, t hrough Anna and Arthur, how love can take various forms in the worst of situations. The main reason for the existence of their relationship is to try and safeguard each other from the circumstance they have been thrust into.

Global Economics and the Energy Policies in the US Essay

Global Economics and the Energy Policies in the US - Essay Example Based on reports the real energy revolution lies here unlike the much-touted green energy being sold by the US government. President George W. Bush administration had the solution of investing in new green technology in the production of energy. Although the strategy did not yield a lot of results, Obama’s administration did double spending on these forms of energy without much success. The energy policies adopted by the UK government over the years have been on green energy which only contributed to increased energy costs. Energy production is set to change in the future and the United State will lead the revolution. This change is massive and it cannot be easily stopped by anyone including environmentalists since technology and demand have changed over the years. Despite the fact that fracking contributes to decreased emission levels compared to old energy sources such as coal. The deployment of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has created a potential for unconventional oil deposits from shale to be tapped. Most governments are opposed to this technology and imposed restrictions on the use of the technology (Wall Street Journal, 2012, 1). Countries like France and the UK are among the countries that can be oil sufficient yet they continue to adopt costly and ineffective green energy. The presence of technology and resources such as Shale sho uld give a boost to countries to bring about an energy revolution. Politicians being the decision makers should be among the first people to adopt the changes in the oil industry. For instance, in the United States, the Obama administration should support the new revolution instead of imposing federal restrictions. Politicians have a tendency of taking credit for successes they were not involved in envisaging or supporting.

MGM600-0803B-02 Applied Managerial Decision-Making - Phase 3 Essay

MGM600-0803B-02 Applied Managerial Decision-Making - Phase 3 Discussion Board 2 - Essay Example ANOVA test is of two types, One-Factor ANOVA and Two-Factor ANOVA (with and without replication). In One-Factor ANOVA, Dependent Variable (numerical) may be affected by one independent variable (categorical). In Two-Factor ANOVA, Dependent Variable (numerical) may be affected by two independent variables (categorical). An ANOVA test is useful, when different data sets (more than two) need to be compared for similar distribution population (treatment. A t-test can also be used for comparison; however, it is limited to two samples. For more than two data sets, many t-test needs to be carried out sequentially that will increase statistical error due to accumulation. An ANOVA test lessons the statistical error due to analysis of entire data set at once and makes it more likely that a determination can be made in valid manner (Skrzypczak, 2006; Pieniazekon, A. 2007). Suppose 10 day’s daily defect rates for automotive computer chips manufactured production data for four different plant locations were available. Now for this data ANOVA can be useful for determining whether the observed differences in the plants’ sample mean defect rates merely due to random variation or the observed differences between the plants’ defect rates too great to be attributed to chance. Here ANOVA hypothesis will be ‘mean defects rates are same for at all four plants (H0)’ and ‘at least one mean differs from the others (H1)’. The One-Factor ANOVA dependent variable will be defect rate and independent variable will be plant locations (Doane, & Seward, 2007). Suppose a hospital management needs to test whether a patient’s length of a stay (LOS) depends on the diagnostic-related group (DRG) code and the patient’s age group, so that resources and fixed costs are correctly allocated. Considering case of bone fracture, LOS is a dependent variable measured in hours and type of fracture (facial, radius or ulna, hip or femur, other lower extremity, all other) and

Financial statements Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial statements - Research Paper Example The documents that constitute the financial statements include the balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements and the statements of shareholders’ equity (Sinha, 2007). There are some aspects of relationship between these financial records. The three financial records are used to show the financial situation of the company. First, a balance sheet is a financial statement that is used to show what a company owns and what it owes to others, in terms of the assets and the liabilities of the company (USEC, 2007). The income statement is used to show the amount of money that the organization made and how much money it spent within a given financial period, which could range from monthly, to quarterly or annually. On the other hand, the cash flow statements serve to indicate the monetary exchanges that an organization has had with the outside world, within a specified duration of time. The similarity in all these financial records is that they serve to indicate the finan cial situation of the organization after its interaction with the other stakeholders, in terms of assets, revenues, liabilities and expenditures (Wahlen, Bradshaw, Baginski & Stickney, 2010). Secondly, the three financial records serve to indicate what the organization has spent to gain the property and finances it owns (USEC, 2007). The three financial records have the expenditure and the revenue components, which measure the gains and the take-away that an organization has experienced in financial terms, within a specified period of time. The balance sheets, income statements and the cash flow statements have a debit side, in which they record the expenditures and the reductions to the assets of the organization in terms of the outgoing money. The costs associated with earning either the revenues or the assets that an organization owns are shown in terms of the costs and expenditures that the organization has incurred within a specified period of time. The bottom line of these fin ancial records is to show how much an organization has made within a period of time, and how much the organization has spent within the same duration, and thus give the overall conclusion regarding whether the transactions that were undertaken by the organization during the specified period either helped to make gains or loss (Sinha, 2007). The final conclusion of the three financial records is that they accumulate all the gainful transactions and records them in terms of the amounts of money they help bring in to the organization, while recording the other transactions that serves to take away money from the organization. The two types of transactions are then summed up, and their totals compared, to determine the implication of the transactions that an organization made throughout the period, whether they are gainful or they constitute a loss. However, there is a different set of relationship between the balance sheets and the cash flow statements on one hand, and the income state ments on the other. This relationship exists in the form of adjustments, where both the balance sheets and the cash flow statement are used to adjust the income statement, through introducing certain financial aspects, which cannot be directly categorized as direct incomes or expenditures (Penner, 2004). The income statement is purely applied to

Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Healthcare - Essay Example These are integrated in medical bylaws of hospitals, where they are used in assessing professional and ethical qualifications of medical applicants. The process is common in public hospitals, while modifications are seen in private ones--the latter are given discretion in executing their institutional regulations, provided that these do not clash with statutory constitutional rights of medical professionals, in general. 2) The concept of confidentiality is a protective regulation that safeguards the right of medical practitioners subjected to peer-review evaluations. In the absence of the confidential value in peer review functions, disruptions and inaccurate evaluation of professional performance can result. Another significant concept surrounding peer reviews is involvement of potential breach in liability principle. Medical colleagues to be evaluated are accountable to protect the sets of information revealed during such review. The revealed information can be carried out not from good faith, but for selfish purposes.

MGM600-0803B-02 Applied Managerial Decision-Making - Phase 3 Essay

MGM600-0803B-02 Applied Managerial Decision-Making - Phase 3 Discussion Board 2 - Essay Example ANOVA test is of two types, One-Factor ANOVA and Two-Factor ANOVA (with and without replication). In One-Factor ANOVA, Dependent Variable (numerical) may be affected by one independent variable (categorical). In Two-Factor ANOVA, Dependent Variable (numerical) may be affected by two independent variables (categorical). An ANOVA test is useful, when different data sets (more than two) need to be compared for similar distribution population (treatment. A t-test can also be used for comparison; however, it is limited to two samples. For more than two data sets, many t-test needs to be carried out sequentially that will increase statistical error due to accumulation. An ANOVA test lessons the statistical error due to analysis of entire data set at once and makes it more likely that a determination can be made in valid manner (Skrzypczak, 2006; Pieniazekon, A. 2007). Suppose 10 day’s daily defect rates for automotive computer chips manufactured production data for four different plant locations were available. Now for this data ANOVA can be useful for determining whether the observed differences in the plants’ sample mean defect rates merely due to random variation or the observed differences between the plants’ defect rates too great to be attributed to chance. Here ANOVA hypothesis will be ‘mean defects rates are same for at all four plants (H0)’ and ‘at least one mean differs from the others (H1)’. The One-Factor ANOVA dependent variable will be defect rate and independent variable will be plant locations (Doane, & Seward, 2007). Suppose a hospital management needs to test whether a patient’s length of a stay (LOS) depends on the diagnostic-related group (DRG) code and the patient’s age group, so that resources and fixed costs are correctly allocated. Considering case of bone fracture, LOS is a dependent variable measured in hours and type of fracture (facial, radius or ulna, hip or femur, other lower extremity, all other) and

Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Healthcare - Essay Example These are integrated in medical bylaws of hospitals, where they are used in assessing professional and ethical qualifications of medical applicants. The process is common in public hospitals, while modifications are seen in private ones--the latter are given discretion in executing their institutional regulations, provided that these do not clash with statutory constitutional rights of medical professionals, in general. 2) The concept of confidentiality is a protective regulation that safeguards the right of medical practitioners subjected to peer-review evaluations. In the absence of the confidential value in peer review functions, disruptions and inaccurate evaluation of professional performance can result. Another significant concept surrounding peer reviews is involvement of potential breach in liability principle. Medical colleagues to be evaluated are accountable to protect the sets of information revealed during such review. The revealed information can be carried out not from good faith, but for selfish purposes.

Dove Marketing Analysis Essay Example for Free

Dove Marketing Analysis Essay Imagine you have oversight of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Are you comfortable with what is going on? Is this a brand that is out of control with its promotional messages? Dove released its first advertising on 1957, in which Dove called its product as cleaning cream instead of soap. After that, Dove launched some advertising to emphasized on its functional feature. In 2000, Dove became a Masterbrand of Unilever. In other words, it had to establish a meaning for Dove that could apply to and extend over the entire stable of products. In order to stand for a point of view, The Campaign for Real Beauty began to process. Then campaign focus on the self-esteem and confidence instead of appearances, it still could be include into female field. Just from external to inner, So Dove is not out of control with its promotional message. In my opinion, I am comfortable with Dove’s campaign due to the following reasons. First, Dove more concerned about women’s feeling and inner spirit. When the advertising plays too many shots on the beauty of girls, sometimes, the values and aesthetic of the society will be influence. Women and teenager girls would pay more money and time to fit their body. Therefore, Dove’s advertising will not add this misleading. Second, Dove choose YouTube and Blog as the major platform, it is a wise and trendy choice. Internet plays more and more important role in the modern life, especially the raise of the social networking. In the future, Dove has more opportunities to attract public and ahead of other companies. Third, Dove always guarantees the quality of ads. Their advertising is not a simple product promotion, but some interesting story and conversation. The products of Dove even do not need to be photographed. The consumers will remember such high-quality ad and are willing to share with others. Moreover, Dove’s Real Beauty campaign built a buzz and was widely exposed. People actively discussed the campaign through Internet and TV shows, even famous celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno talked about it in their TV shows. Though there were many parodies in the Internet, they were funny and generated more attentions on the brand. Last but not least, the campaign was contributed to the brand’s business growth and values. In 2006, Landor Associates identified Dove was one of the 10 brands with the greatest ercentage gain in brand health and business values. 2. Is Dove’s attempt to engender social engagement through its promotional campaigns too risky an endeavor given its lack of control over consumer parody and accusations of trying to sell under the pretense of contributing to the social good? In the business, every decision faced the profit and risk. Generally, th e greater the risks result in the greater rewards. The risks are as follow: Through the investigation, Dove found out that many women had discontent with the young, white blonde and thin models, because they could not attain that standard. Dove started the advertisement Campaign for Real Beauty, underlining their products will feel better, while other company always publicize look beautiful in the commercial. The risk is that whether or not the consumers understand and accept that change. On next stage, Dove was a very controversial event. Billboards were erected to vote on whether a woman on the billboard was outsized or outstanding. A counter showed the result. As a beauty brand, this campaign will attract public attention; simultaneously will challenge the brand cognitive. Whats more, Dove broke the traditional rule in the company and go forward without paid media at all. YouTube become the most important platform instead of television. When Dove made this decision, the risk is that maybe they will lose some traditional and classical consumers. Facing the negative responses, Dove did not ignore them, but positive embrace them. The company list both view in other medias and allow public to discuss these. They also sent interactive packages to media outlets to help spur the debate. Finally, Unilever established the global Dove Self-Esteem Fund to raise the self-esteem of girls and young women. Such activities give a support to the Real Beauty. Doves public relations channel strategy was to generate broad awareness for The Campaign for Real Beauty and establish an emotional connection with women. Therefore, a political figure or a major news organization or even a film is not as influence as an open dialogue. 3. After reviewing the blogs, what do the various discussions contribute to the meaning of the brand? There are mainly two opinions exists among the blogs. The supporters considered Dove’s Real Beauty campaign was an emotional touch from Dove to consumer. They thought the campaign has shed light on some important truths about the media’s unrealistic portrayals of women, and it’s important and necessary to send a health beauty message to the society. However, the criticisms thought that Dove is hypocritical and the campaign is just aimed to sell more products and gain more profits. The reason they thought Dove is hypocritical is because Dove comes from Unilever, which promotion young, thin and sexy woman in the Axe’s advertisements. They also criticized Dove’s advertisements had many untruthful details and inconsistent. What’s more, they thought the campaign has no major aspirational values attached to the product and was undermining the aspiration of consumers. Regardless of these different opinions towards the Real Beauty campaign, Dove’s brand name has successfully gone viral and drew a lot of attentions worldwide. People were spreading quickly the message of â€Å"Real Beauty† and they still continuously discuss it nowadays. This kind of exposure has extraordinary impact of Dove’s brand awareness and popularity. Therefore, it contributed to the brand’s long-term value and equity. Though there were many parodies exits in the Internet, for ordinary consumers, they might just remember how funny and interesting the parodies were, as well as the appealing â€Å"real beauty† messages that Dove tried to spread. It was a risk strategy for Dove, but as long as Dove manages its public relations and other advertisements carefully, consumers would still like Dove’s affordable good-quality products. The increasing sales growth of Dove could be a strong argument for it. Moreover, I think Dove was trying to be an inspirational brand to inspire positive self image among women. It successfully differentiated itself to other competitors. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund program was a plus to win over customers’ hearts. 4. Describe Dove’s brand management organization and the reason for it. Do you see any problems or issues that will result with this split-responsibility setup? In 2000, Dove was selected to be a Masterbrand and lent its name to Unilever entries in personal care categories. There are two split-responsibility groups in Dove’s brand management organization: Brand Development and Brand Building. Brand Development group charged with development of the brand, took responsibility for developing the idea behind the brand, developed the brand plan. It was accountable for medium-to long-term market share, for brand health, for measures of innovativeness, and for creating value in the category. It was centralized and global in scope. The other group Brand Building charged with building the brand in specific markets and was decentralized according to the major geographic regions in which Unilever operated. It was accountable for growth, profit, cash flow, and short-term market share. It managed public relations and informal communication. The pros of this split-responsibly setup brand management system are that the advertising messages could be more tailored to different markets. However, the problem might result with this split-responsibly system is the inconsistent management of the brand image. It’s a challenge for the two groups to balance between short-term values and long-term values for the brand. For example, the Brand Building group might develop an aggressive public relations strategy to generate attention in order to gain short-term market share, which might not be a smart move to build the brand’s long-term value and gain long-term market share.

Environmental Degradation In Rural Bangladesh Environmental Sciences Essay

Environmental Degradation In Rural Bangladesh Environmental Sciences Essay Introduction Today, as people in developed countries generally enjoy a high standard of living, at the other end of the spectrum, the poor in developing countries are struggling to make ends meet. 22% of the population in developing countries live on less than $1.25 daily and 75% of these people live in rural areas (The World Bank, 2012). This group of rural poor are the greatest victims of environment degradation. In this essay, by looking at the case study of Bangladesh, we will get a deeper insight into why the poor puts great pressure on the environment. In turn, we will uncover why environmental degradation affects the poor most severely resulting in the reinforcement of environmental degradation. Thereafter, we will explore some possible measures to help developing counties like Bangladesh to break out from the vicious cycle of poverty and environmental degradation. Environmental consequences of poverty Although majority of researchers have attributed poverty as a key factor for causing environmental degradation, we have to note that other factors such as profit motives, and institutional failures are also responsible for environmental degradation. Nevertheless unlike other factors, poverty and environmental degradation shares a unique relationship that causes them to reinforce each other in a vicious cycle. We would first look at how poverty causes environmental degradation. In Bangladesh more than 40% of the population lives below the international poverty line and are vulnerable to food insecurity and natural disaster (Aid Effectiveness, 2009). 85% belong to the rural poor (Drakenberg, 2006). Bangladesh faces a series of environmental problems including deforestation, land degradation, air pollution, water shortage and contamination, as well as loss of biodiversity. The poor play a vital role in influencing these aspects of environmental degradation. Firstly, poverty leads to deforestation. The existing natural forests in Bangladesh are decreasing at a rate varying from 2.1% /year to 3.3% /year (Rahman, 2012). This is due to exploitation of forest resources for commercial logging, fuel wood collection as well as agricultural land expansion. Commercial logging provides a viable income for the poor as the timber logs could be sold for cash. This monetary benefit could encourage more trees to be felled resulting in unsustainable deforestation. Bangladesh has a high fertility rate, due to desire for more children to help in the fields and for social support in old age. The growing population requires more trees would have to be felled to provide fuel for their cooking needs. There will also be a need to increase food production for the larger population causing large tracts of forest to be cleared and converted into agricultural land for growing of crops. Deforestation, with loss of forest cover is responsible for soil erosion and lo ss of fertile top soil decreases agricultural productivity. Secondly, poverty contributes to land degradation. Land degradation arises due to soil exhaustion, salinization and desertification. Similarly, due to population growth with poverty, multiple cropping with a shorter fallow period was done to increase food supply. To increase land productivity, farmers use fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides heavily. These methods of intensive land use may be effective in increasing agricultural output in the short term. However in the long run the soil would gradually lose its nutrients, land is degraded and desertification creeps in. Though irrigation is helpful in ensuring stable water supply for crops all year round, mismanaged irrigation due to lack of knowledge of rural farmers could result in reverse osmosis and accumulation of salt (Duraiappah, 1996). This causes a backlash and soil productivity drops. Thirdly, poverty affects water resource. Irrigation reduces ground water which may result in a water shortage if there is insufficient water for the large rural population. In the north-western part of Bangladesh, aquifer level of ground water was lowered when extraction of ground water for irrigation is not adequately recharged and coupled with high rate of evaporation (Mahbuba Nasreen, 2006). Furthermore, Bangladesh faces problem of water contamination due to fertilizers and pesticide run-off from the farmlands. In 2002, more than the 65% of the countrys population were at risk of arsenic poisoning. 61 of the 64 districts had arsenic levels which were found to be above the national accepted standard of 0.05 mg/litre (Mahbuba Nasreen, 2006). Lastly, poverty contributes to air pollution. The poor depend on biomass and firewood for fuel. The burning of these fuels degrades the air quality and can cause respiratory problems. Although there are substitute fuels which are less harmful to the environment, the poor have yet to gain access to them and may not be able to afford. Moreover, due to a lack of education, the rural poor may not have the knowledge on how to protect their living environment. They extract more resources from the forest to meet the needs of the growing population, not taking into consideration the externality cost of resource loss since access to the forest is free and unrestricted. To them, the immediate needs are of priority and they dont tend to plan far for the future due to the uncertainties of life. As a result, the poor have no qualms about the unsustainable land use practices and lack vision for long-term optimal resource management. This mindset is detrimental to the long term sustainability of environmental resources and unplanned use of resources is likely to result in environment degradation. The mindset of the poor has led to loss of biodiversity where flora and fauna as well as wetlands are overexploitation. In Bangladesh, inland and coastal capture fisheries have declined and about 30% of inland fish species have become endangered (Drakenberg, 2006). Environmental degradation reinforce poverty Firstly, the rural poor are most vulnerable to environmental degradation because they rely heavily on the fragile natural resources for their daily living. 55% of rural women work as farmers in the field, and they rely on the environment for fuel wood, food and water. Desertification is detrimental to the poor as it affects their supply of basic needs from forest resources. Over extraction of water for irrigation leads to lowering of ground water level and water becomes salinized, causing a severe shortage of drinking water.In Bangladesh, rural women are responsible for collecting fuel wood, water and food for family consumption from forest. Deforestation and water shortage causes shrink in food and water availability and women have to work harder and travel further to search for resources. This enduring task is demanding on their health and scarcity of food could lead to malnutrition (Jahan, 2008). The poor being reliant on natural resources for basic needs and agricultural land for food, is offered hardly any food security due to the fragile nature of the natural environment. When their agricultural land becomes less fertile due unattainable land use practices, the familys income is drastically reduced; the poor remain in their vicious cycle of poverty and their basic needs and nutrition could be compromised. Likewise near the coastal areas, the poor rely on wetlands for capture fishery as their main source of food and income. With the destruction of wetlands for conversion to shrimp cultivation area, it drastically reduces the vulnerable food supply of the poor and increased salinity over coastal land endangers their health. Secondly, environmental degradation affects the poor most severely as they are the group that continues to live in places facing land degradation as these polluted areas are cheaper to live in. Being unable to afford to move to a better land, the poor are exposed to Arsenic pollution from contaminated water sources (Mahbuba Nasreen, 2006). The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that, 37 million people in developing countries suffer chronic poisoning due to exposure to toxic pesticides from working in fields that use chemical fertilizers and pesticides extensively (Jahan, 2008). The poor also have to make do with cheaper source of fuel for cooking and heating. Burning fuel wood and dung causes respiratory infections affecting women and children, causing child mortality. Vicious cycle of poverty and environment degradation Source: Poverty and environment, 2000, Figure 9.2 Vicious Cycle of Poverty and Environment Degradation in Developing Countries, pp. 201. As seen in the context of Bangladesh, farmers hard-pressed by population growth and increasing poverty overexploit natural resources and extend cropping onto fragile marginal lands which results in a loss of sustainability and environmental degradation. Decline in agricultural productivity on degraded lands then triggers poverty which in turn forced many farmers to continue degrading their land further to extract subsistence output (Duraiappah, 1996). Overtime, this phenomenon creates the vicious circle between poverty and environmental degradation as seen in the diagram above. Urbanisation further aggregate environmental degradation and worsen life of the rural poor. Government may allocate more funds to support the growing industry of engineering, electronics and information technology which would generate more income for the economy (United Nations ESCAP, 2010). Conversely, the agriculture sector would receive less funds and manpower is reduced with young men moving to work in urban areas. This leaves behind the elderly and women to manage the marginal agricultural lands. Urbanisation causes air pollution from vehicular and industrial emissions, loss of biodiversity from human interference to natural habitats and deforestation which contributes to global warming. The poor at the receiving end become victims to these problems. In many developing countries, governments generally do not address the sustainability issues if there is little public pressure and they find no political rewards in enhancing environmental quality. Nevertheless for developing countries to achieve environmental sustainability, support from the government is definitely essential. As highlighted, the poor are the biggest victims of environmental degradation; conversely poverty can exacerbate ecological problems. To ensure long term environmental sustainability, possible measures needs to target poverty alleviation and environmental management. Possible measures to achieve sustainable development Source: National sustainable development strategy, 2008, Figure 3.1 schematic representation of the vision, strategic priority areas and cross-cutting areas, pp. 6. In 2008, Bangladeshs government came out with a national sustainable development strategy (NSDS) to guide the country towards alleviating poverty and environmental problems. As shown in the table above, the strategy aims to achieve sustainable development by ensuring sustainable economic growth, agricultural and rural development, social security and environment management (DOE, 2008). Having sustainable economic growth means to accelerate growth while ensuring environmental sustainability. Bangladesh strives to ensure economic growth with higher private investment, increased inflow of FDIs and effective trade policies (DOE, 2008). It includes the agricultural sectors in the economic progress by providing them with electricity, roads, and telecommunications to improve connectivity with urban areas. One possible direction for sustainable economic growth is to promote investment in renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy and hydroelectricity. Bangladesh has abundant sunlight year round, wind and high energy waves; this can generate profits and reduce air pollution from fuel burning (M. S. Islam, 2011). Agricultural and rural development measures ensure food security for the growing population without causing environment degradation. Crop productivity can be increase with agriculture diversification and improved technologies. To reduce reliance on irrigation and lower risk of salinization, storage of surface water is enhanced and rainwater harnessed. To prevent deletion of marine fisheries resource, fishing is regulated avoid over exploitation. To enhance forest biodiversity, forest protected area could be extended and rural folks could be educated with knowledge on sustainable resource use (DOE, 2008). Social security is achieved with sanitation, shelter and empowerment through education. It involves provision of housing facilities, clean drinking water, electricity, medical services and ensuring food security for all (DOE, 2008). Additionally, primary and secondary education is made available and compulsory for all, enabling empowerment of the poor. Environment management protects the environment and its resources. To manage water shortage and contamination, water conservation is encouraged and pollution sources are identified and managed. Loss of biodiversity is addressed by monitoring unsustainable consumption of biological resources. Also, scientific and traditional knowledge are to be integrated to effectively conserve the ecosystem. Most importantly, environmental sustainability considerations need to be integrated in policies concerning forest, water, land, agriculture, industry and energy (DOE, 2008). Conclusion As discussed, poverty and environmental degradation has close interlinks and reinforce each other. Poverty is a key contributing factor to various environmental problems of deforestation, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Consequently, environmental degradation has the greatest impact on the poor, causing them to be ever more vulnerable and having to further degrade the environment to meet their basic needs and ensure survival. To achieve sustainable development in developing countries like Bangladesh, possible measures would have to target both poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability. Likewise these measures would work best if backed by strong government support and properly planed and organized. Bangladeshs elaborated NSDS shows a strong commitment to solve environmental issues and ensure a better standard of living for current and future generation. Nevertheless, it is still too early to determine the effectiveness of the strategies; time will tell if Bangladesh is able to break free from the vicious cycle of poverty and environmental degradation.

Personal Narrative: My Visit to Agra and the Taj Mahal Essay -- essays

Taj Mahal Out of many places I visited all around the world, the place I like the most is the beautiful city of Agra. It’s a quite town located on the North of India. When we talk about Agra one image that comes in mind is Taj Mahal. Yes one of the seven wonders is here. Agra is full of architectural monuments. And I also visited Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, and Buland Darwazaand. Food was not really good. Besides Taj Mahal, Agra is famous for handicrafts, leather and fine arts. It was fun shopping at Agra. Taj Mahal. ( Mahal is the word in urdu language used for Palace) How can I describe The Taj Mahal? You can’t its impossible. You just have to experience it. To gaze in wonder at that magnificent dome and elegant gardens will be a moment that you remember for the rest of your life. It is one of the greatest sights in the world, some say the greatest, and like Victoria Falls, The Grand Canyon, and Macchu Picchu, it simply is one of those things you have to see in your life. The architectural grace and symmetry of the Taj Mahal just takes your breath away. We had chosen our visit carefully--the sun was setting and the light that washed over the Taj was golden in color. The minarets were now stark against the setting sun . The actual dome was a surprise, it is not yellow-white but blue-white and covered in inscriptions and detail. From below it looked like something out of "Arabian Nights." But inside were the tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan. The central tomb is a lofty cham ber with light streaming through fine latticework, and hanging above was an elaborate lamp. Words cannot describe its beauty when you stand on that marble platform overlooking the Yamuna, with the setting sun turning it into a golden ribbon. You may a... ...traditions. I brought Agra rugs, Agra Marble. As the world famous Taj Mahal is made purely of Marble, it is natural that the markets must be flooded with the replicas of the Taj in marble, little stone elephants, and lovely marble coasters. Agra is also famous for leather industry, The leather workers of Agra offer shoes, slippers, sandals, purses, wallets, bags, belts, clothing, lampshades, furniture, beanbags and many more items made of leather. We can purchase for affordable prices with wide choices. Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that the Taj has a life of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or subtracted from it. I think everyone should visit Taj Mahal at least once in their life, if they get a chance.

Bisphenol A Essay -- Chemistry, Polycarbonate Plastics

In society, Bisphenol A is also known as BPA it’s important and relevant in some areas like in cars and medical equipments and not so important for the human body. BPA is mostly link to metal cans. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the molecular process, the real world applications, and the advantages and disadvantages of Bisphenol A. Bisphenol A has deep connection in the can making industry, in the NACAR business and the history of Bisphenol A. Bisphenol A is a chemical building block that is used primarily to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate plastics is a plastic that is lightweight, it’s a high performance plastic, that possesses a balance of toughness, stability, optical clarity, high heat resistance and excellent electrical resistance. Because of these abilities, polycarbonate is used in a wide variety of common products, such as us in CD’s and DVD’S. An epoxy resin begins with the reaction of two compounds, Bisphenol A and epichlorohydrin. Epoxy is a thermosetting epoxies polymer that cures when mixed with a catalyzing agent that makes the hardness of the can. What this means is, when you are making polymer, when you are mixing these two chemicals together you get a hardness that is made and put into cans to give their hardness. According to Dr. Castan of Greenlee (1936), The request for epoxy is based on materials that are extensive and have include coatings, adhesives a nd complex materials such as those using carbon fiber and fiberglass reinforcements. (Greenlee and Castan, paragraph 2). Also Epoxy resin is a hard substance created when two substances, an epoxies and a polyamine, are combined. In most cases the two chemicals are epichlorahydrin and Bisphenol A. Bisphenol A was invest... ...ic no steroidal estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) during their pregnancies between 1948 and 1971 and have 2.5 times the normal incidence of breast cancer. In general, my topic is Bisphenol A and it has a muti-step molecular process which allows many real world implications, such as cancer, over weight. In addition Bisphenol A molecular process involves a hard way molecular process which allowed bathing the polymers letting it cool down, and then making the diepoxy polymers. And tying it together with an electron at each end. This disadvantage doesn’t help the human body because it makes you body weak and you can’t treat these health issues. In our society Bisphenol A could offer a solution to the problem of human body and lower the health issues down. And also many people can start making healthy choice’s in life instead of eating can food try fresh food instead.

Christian conceptions Essay

Baldassare Castiglione’s work â€Å"The Courtier† has similar conceptions of grace and love when compared to with Christian conceptions. Baldassare Castiliogne characterizes the courtiers of Urbino as omini per virtu singulari† (IV, 2, 446: â€Å"men singular in worth†[286]), emphasizing their grace and virtue they were able to exhibit throughout the entire passage. This also reflects the ways they were able to entice the imagination of the readers and make their (readers) minds more creative. Castiglione writes about the Urbino court and its inhabitants as a kind of ideal place where grace and virtue was heavily practiced. Most of the courtiers and ladies in the court possess only minor character flaws and petty foibles. In his writing, he idealizes them as civilized and perfectly restrained individuals who are devoid of serious personal vices and defects. In a sense, Castiglione wants to present them as ideal types, as the â€Å"onorati esempi di virtu† (IV, 2, 448: â€Å"honored models of worthiness†[287]) as can be read from his prologues where moral fortitude, scholarship and genuine love should emulate and be exuded by the readers even after reading the entire piece. The following excerpt from â€Å"The Courtier† shows that Lord Guidobaldo has lived an exemplary life worth of emulation by the other inhabitants. â€Å"When lord Guidobaldo di Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, passed from this life, I together with several other knights who had served him remained in the service of duke Francesco Maria della Rovere, heir and successor to Guidobaldo’s state; and as in my mind there remained fresh the odor of duke Guido’s virtues and the satisfaction which I in those years had felt from the loving company of such excellent persons, as then frequented the court of Urbino†. (Letter, 1, 67-8) Castiglione’s goal in his work was to set his statements of praise for Urbino and its inhabitants in general and conventional terms. He did not cite the military exploits or civic triumphs of a character he praises, instead, he celebrates all of them for their virtu, (virtue) their ingegno, (ingenuity) their ottime qualit (high dignity). Instead, Castiliogne characterizes these exploits as a collective victory for the person he is giving life to. This also gives life to the colorful sceneries and animations to the story as this draws the attention of the readers. Castiliogne pursues the elevation of Urbino’s image to an exemplary moral excellence and its value for posterity. In his first two prologues, Castiglione highlights the superiority of Urbino’s inhabitants. In the prologue to Book III, Castiglione states that if Urbino’s pastimes convince him of its excellence, he should be able to imagine easily how much greater the courtiers’ virtuous actions were (III, 1, 336). In the last prologue, Castiglione praises the courtiers directly as â€Å"omini per virtu singulari† (IV, 2, 446: â€Å"men singular in worth†[286]). He viewed the court as a paragon of moral exempla (IV, 2, 448: â€Å"chiari ed onorati esempi di virtu†). The court is presented as an ethical model not only to other existing courts at that time but also to the succeeding generations to come. Moreover, Castiglione confesses in the third prologue that he wrote his text carefully to â€Å"faria vivere negli animi dei posteri† (III, 1, 336: â€Å"make it live in the mind of posterity†[202]). Finally, as his culture upholds classical antiquity, he projects that the young and upcoming generation will envy his time because of the exemplary Urbino court. (III, 1, 336: â€Å"forse per l’avvenire non manchera chi per questo ancor porti invidia al secol nostro†). Similarly, the virtues of grace and love which are present in Castiliogne’s work are also present in Christian morals and manners. Christian morals are a function of moral discernment and moral reasoning. For instance, James Gustafson stated that moral discernment refer to basic dispositions that are shaped in part by the faith and trust Christians have as they offer themselves up to God. Moreover, James Gustafson stated that the concept of moral discernment was related to moral reasoning. Gustafson explained that moral reasoning pertains to a character, or personal moral ability, which covers dispositions, traits, and actions of the moral agent. (Selnick, 1992). Castiliogne stated that the courtier is expected to serve and increase in favour with her Lady. He should instruct her in virtue and refrain from vice and dishonesty. He should speak truth all the time. This concern is evident in Christian morals and manners. According to Harring, the moral and religious value of our acts attains the peak level only when the fundamental option results in the conquest one’s energies and vision such that one’s motives and decisions come from the depth in which the Spirit moulds and guides. (Harring, 1978). Castiliogne exhorts the courtiers to be kind to their subordinates, to avoid flattery, to be wise in the relations with other states and to have good manners in speech and language. Moreover, the courtier must have â€Å"good utterance† and â€Å"sweet language† to the other personalities in the court and avoid offending other people. This exhortation finds a strong support in Christianity’s theological and ethical attention which has shifted away from the relations with the divine towards human relations to interpersonal human relations. (Post, 1990). This shift resulted in the sharp distinction between public activity and private relations. First, it highlighted the fact that the self’s relation with God does not necessarily impact on one’s neighbor. Second, it states that the divine intentions may not relate directly to an individual’s human flourishing. This re-evaluation of one’s faith highlights the moral dimensions of Christianity and renders faith as an essential and crucial aspect of living well. (Weaver, 2002) The old men then attack the change in customs in Urbino court which they perceive as reflective of moral decay. In response to this, Castiliogne countered that he is a judge who can state that there is no age, past or present that is either totally good or totally evil. Then in this excerpt, Castiliogne argued that it is the old men who have changed their behavior and not the courts. These old men lament their loss of youth, power, and vitality. This situation leads to nostalgia which distorts the truth about both past and present. This excerpt is as follows: ne dei passati piaceri riserva (l’animo) altro che una tenace memoria e la imagine di quel caro tempo della tenera eta, nella quale quando ci ritrovamo, ci pare che sempre il cielo e la terra ed ogni cosa faccia festa e rida intorno agli occhi nostri, e nel pensiero come in un delizioso e vago giardino fiorisca la dolce primavera d’allegrezza. (The Courtier II, 1, 188) . . . and [the mind] retains of past pleasures merely a lingering memory and the image of that precious time of tender youth in which (while we are enjoying it), wherever we look, heaven and earth and everything appear merry and smiling, and the sweet springtime of happiness seems to flower in our thoughts as in a delightful and lovely garden. (The Courtier II, 1, 188) Similarly, Christian morality has shown interest in one’s personal ethical development. The flourishing of the self encompassing virtue ethics and spirituality reveals a post modern reassessment of the classical concepts and tools for reflecting on the self’s good. (Naussbam, 1994). Baldassare Castiliogne characterizes the courtiers of Urbino as omini per virtu singulari† (IV, 2, 446: â€Å"men singular in worth†[286]), emphasizing their grace and virtue. Similarly, Christian morals and manners show the importance of all the human virtues required of the courtiers during the time of the Urbino court. The courtiers’ excellent speech, manners and deportment to their equals and subordinates exhibit a vivid example of their faith and their excellent human manners. Alongside the traditions and practices that the courtiers’ have shown, the author have clearly emphasized on the human manners that there should be equality among all others and in order to achieve a specific and unified goal, there should be subordination so that in the long run, there will be authority to be followed and rules are set on such manners. Works Cited: Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. New york: Scribner’s Son, 1901. 7-439. James M. Gustafson, â€Å"Moral Discernment in the Christian Life†, in Gene H. Outka and Paul Ramsey, Norm and Context in Christian Ethics. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968, p. 31. Haring, Bernard. Free and Faithful in Christ. New York: Seabury Press: A Crossroads Book, 1978, p. 85. Kolsky, Stephen D. â€Å"Old Men in a New World: Morello da Ortona in the Cortegiano. † Italica 75 (1998): 336-448. Long, Edward Leroy. A Survey of Recent Christian Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Martha Nussbaum. The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. Post, Stephen. A Theory of Agape: On the Meaning of Christian Love. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 1990. Selnick, Philip. The Moral Commonwealth: Social Theory and the Promise of Community. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992, p. 361. Weaver, Darlene. Self Love and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Webhorn, Wayne. Courtly Performances Masking and Festivity in Castiglione’s Book in the Courtier. University of Texas at Austin, 1978.

Annotated Bibliography for Childhood Obesity Essay

Child obesity became a very serious issue that is taking on the health of the nation’s children. It is everyone responsibility to work on preventing and reducing childhood obesity, from the parents who are suppose to care about their children’s health, to the public health representatives, who should care about a future healthy nation, and everyone in between. Every part of society should create a set of lifestyle changes in order to save our kids from obesity. There are many aspects, which have to be changed or improved, including parent’s nutrition education, children’s physical activity and kid’s nutrition in a school and home, food industry and etc. Wiley, L. F. (2013). â€Å"No Body Left Behind†: Re-Orienting School-Based Childhood Obesity Interventions. Duke Forum For Law & Social Change (DFLSC), 597-128. The article discuses the school intervention in childhood obesity. It suggests that school would be required to provide a minimum number of minutes of physical education every week. It is very important to make those classes accessible, enjoyable and stimulating for kids. The article also mentions that school lunches with a lot of fruits and vegetables are part of health promotion. It adds that many intervention in this sphere are already exist, but they need improvements, because statistic don’t show any result at this time. My assignment: The article indicates on moderating intervention on obesity in the school system. This idea can be used to support the argument that the school system is a important part of children’s environment and should create a set of changes to reduce obesity among this country’s young  generation. I believe this as one of the true aspects that society should concentrate and improve on. Murtagh L, Ludwig, DS. State intervention in life-threatening childhood obesity. JAMA 2011; 306(2): 206-207. This article is posing a solution offer from Murtagh and Ludwig on obesity in children. They suggest removing a specific subset of obese children away from their parents and placing them foster care as a remedy for their obesity on a state’s law base. Dr. Ludwig and Murtagh assume that this action would change the direction of the child’s obesity by providing an opportunity be exposed to healthy nutrition and reasonable activity level for some period of time. At the same time, the information on how to manage children’s weight would provided to parents of those children. The article further states that â€Å"under most existing child protective services laws, multiple less intrusive interventions such as in-home social supports, parenting training, counseling, and financial assistance, that may address underlying problems without resorting to removal of a child†. †¨ My assessment: I think â€Å"less intrusive interventions† is better idea then removing a child from a family. The last one is an unnecessary action, and may be even damaging for children’s psyche. I don’t defend parents, I also think that parental role is important in children’s obesity issues. I agree that parents should get educated on how to provide healthy nutrition and reasonable activity level for their children. This article would support the idea in my paper that parents are also an important part of society that should be involved in a process of preventing and reducing childhood obesity. Koplan, J., Liverman, C. T., Kraak, V. I., & Institute of Medicine, (U.S.). (2005). Preventing Childhood Obesity : Health in the Balance. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.(p. 153-154) One chapter of this book tells us about how the food industry’s advertising and media affect children’s obesity and what changes have to be done to  shift its affect to the healthier side. The author of this book says that prevention of obesity in children should be a national health priority. All these recreational industries ( food, beverage, restaurant, entertainment) should share in the responsibilities for childhood obesity prevention and be instrumental in supporting this goal. For example, leaders of food industry could make changes to expand healthier options (reduce portion-size, reduce sugar amount in meals and etc.). Media should advocate healthy lifestyle . According to their studies it already stated changing , it has to continue going this direction. The chapter stays idea that all those industries should prevent obesity in children by developing and promoting products, opportunities and information that would encourage healthful eating behavior and regu lar physical activity. My assessment: This book will be used to underscore the idea in my paper that coordinated efforts among the recreational industries, government, and other groups would make easier to create, support, and sustain customer’s demand for â€Å"healthful food and beverage products, appropriately portioned meals, and accurate and consistent nutritional information through food labels, health claims, and other educational sources.† (Koplan, J., Liverman, C. T., Kraak, V. I., 2005, p.153). The book will be used in the sections where food industry and advertising could change their marketing toward healthy choices to help reducing and preventing obesity. Caroli, M., Argentieri, L., & Masi, A. Role Of Television In Childhood Obesity Prevention. International Journal of Obesity, 28, S104-S108. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v28/n3s/full/0802802a.html – aff1 This article is about the role of television in children’s obesity. Authors of the article say that children started watching more television then it was twenty-thirty years ago. Obviously it leads to inactivity and as a result to obesity. Furthermore, the article main point is television as a popular tool among children could be used for spreading correct information on good nutrient and obesity prevention. Authors mention that usually depiction of food in television has many negative consequences on food  habits. In many cases, characters from movies or cartoons eat unhealthy food and provide bad examples to follow. The article supports its idea with studies. My assessment: I will use this article along with other information, when I write about media and advertising effects on childhood obesity. I agree with this idea. I think it is hard to fight food industry or technology market, but society can try to shift it to healthier side at least. Government and policymakers as power layer of society could help to change the situation. Wilson, D. Prevention in Obesity is Part of Childbirth Education. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 29, 4. Retrieved June 1, 2014, from http://www.icea.org/sites/default/files/April%202014%20Final.pdf In this article Debra Wilson tells that prevention of obesity should start from childbirth. She points that women who are overweight during pregnancy have higher risk to give a birth to a baby who would become obese. Many factors could lead to obesity for a baby that depends on mother’s responsibilities, such as maternal smoking, short-term or long-term breastfeeding and etc. In addition, she notes that parents are the ones, who provide food to children and teach them eating habits; they are fully responsible for children’s health. The author concludes that it is much easier and cheaper try to prevent obesity from the beginning, that’s why childbirth educators can help with this. My assignment: This article will be used when I present how childhood obesity can be prevented. Further more, it shows how important the roles of parents are in obesity prevention. I will add this part as support for my point that every layer in society can be apart of changing the nations statistics on child obesity.

Article on Karl Marx and Private Enterprise

Article on Karl Marx and Private Enterprise Karl Marx is the most controversial economist in history. His writings are studied and debated. He is frequently linked with communism and that association has biased many people against him. Marxs link to communism were formed because many of the socialist dictators such as Lenin studied Marx intensively, however it is erroneous to assume that Marx was a proponent of communism. He was however a critic of capitalism. He studied capitalism extensively and much of his writings focus on the problems with capitalism and specifically on the exploitation of the worker. By examining the origination of capitalism and the Marxist critique of capitalism, we can gain a better understanding of Marxs viewpoints and separate Marxs views from many of the misunderstandings surrounding Marx. Marx spent a great deal of time examining the conversion of the feudal society to a capitalist society. Before the conversion to capitalism took place, England experienced an industrial revolution. This revolution took place from the 10th to the 14th centuries. Around this time, the Plaque that wreaked havoc on England and wiped out nearly half of its population was over. After the Plague ended, many people inherited a lot of wealth and spending on extravagant items became very common. Additionally, it was during this time that technological advances moved industry forward. The invention of the loom made it possible to create linens rapidly and inexpensively and Englands textile industry flourished. Soon after that came the invention of the printing press, which changed allowed for the efficient transfer of information. It was no longer necessary to learn how to do things directly through human contact. This spread of information made it possible for the people of England to organize themselves and to expand their knowledge in different areas of industry. During the 16th and 17th centuries England experienced a turning point in its economic history. During the reign of Charles I, England was going through a period of economic shrinkage. Up until this time English monarchy favored an economic system that was monopolistic in nature. The reason for this is that it gave England greater control over profits and taxation. However, as the merchant class began to grow, Englands economic policies began to hinder further growth. The merchant class (referred to by Marx as the bourgeoisie) began to compete with the monopolies and Englands economy grew increasingly unstable. The rising bourgeoisie began to enclose their land and focused their efforts more and more and their own material gain. These economic factors were, in a large part, responsible for the eventual revolution and execution of the King of England, Charles I. The conversion to capitalism took place over a large period of time, but the changes that took place affected every aspect of society. It changed not only industry, but also politics, religion, laws, and peoples social interactions. In feudalism, wealth was tied to the land. Society was based on agriculture and 90% of the people worked the land. If someone owned land they were wealthy; the society was divided into two classes, landowners and non-landowners. In feudalism, wealth was inherited. Land was passed on when the landowner died to his descendants and therefore it was impossible for serfs to move up. With capitalism this all changed. Wealth was linked to trade and production. For the first time, serfs had the ability to acquire some wealth because wealth was no longer based on lineage. Under this new system, owning a business became the major way to generate wealth, which created some opportunity for serfs that had a skill. Furthermore, land became a commodity that could be bou ght and sold. Previously, land did not change hands and the king could seize it at any time. In capitalism property was bought and sold and people could do with it whatever they wished. In feudalism profits were considered immoral, but under capitalism profits became the way to obtain a better life. Capitalism is the separation of the economy and the state. It is a social system based upon private ownership of the means of production, which entails a completely uncontrolled and unregulated economy where all land is privately owned. Capitalism has been described as the a social harmony through the pursuit of self-interest. This is because those who promote capitalism, believe in that by leaving the state of the economy unregulated, and by each individual left in pursuit of his own self-interests, the economy will automatically adjust itself so that is runs with maximum efficiency. Today in the United States we live in a capitalist society (although our economy is not purely capitalistic because it is not completely unregulated). Under this system a large and growing section of the population survives based on the condition that it works for the owners of the means of production. Production became a key component of this new way of life. Marx defines social class as relations to means of production. Society class structure changed. Instead of society being divided into the landowners and non-landowners, it was divided into those the capitalist and the worker. Capitalists built huge factories instead of small workshops and began to employee hundred of workers at a time. The capitalist owned the factory, the land, and the raw materials and instructed the worker on what to do. Then the goods produced were sold and the capitalist paid the worker a wage and kept the profits. At a time when 90% of England were poor, former serfs, capitalists found plenty of people willing to work for almost nothing. Although, a select few of the workers who were skilled earned a slightly higher wage, the majority worked to just enough money to sustain themselves. The capitalist paid as low a wage as possible and tried to sell their products for as high a price as possible. Most cap italists were very successful. They reinvested their money into new ventures and their wealth grew. Marx recognized that Capitalism divides society into classes, whose interests are not only different, but are opposed to each other. According to Marx the relationship between the capitalist and the worker is inherently antagonistic. What one gains is lost to the other. Because of this he felt that it was inevitable that the worker would have to rise up against the capitalist. Lets take a closer look at the capitalist-worker relationship and how workers wages are determined. The same principles that determine the price of goods also determine the wages. Supply and demand and the competition for labor determine wages by the capitalists. This is what causes the cost of labor to fluctuate and the fluctuations revolve around the cost of producing labor. The costs can be described as the cost of maintaining and training the worker. The easier a worker is to replace or the less training required to educate a worker, the smaller his wage. If there is little or no training necessary, a workers wages will equal the subsistence wage (the minimum amount necessary for a worker to survive). In addition the subsistence wage the capitalist must also consider the cost of replacing worn out workers. The addition of this cost to the subsistence wage is the minimum wage. Although many workers do live and work for a wage below this level, the minimum wage correlates to the wa ges of the entire working class and this wage is the point about which wages of the workers fluctuates. Understanding how wages are determined in the capitalist society we can now examine the relationship between labor and capital in more detail. The laborer receives wages in exchange for his labor. The laborer receives this wage which provides him a method of survival in that he can by food, clothes, and shelter. However, the subsistence wage will not provide the worker any means of economic progression. It will not provide him a way of moving up from the lower classes. An example of this would be a factory worker. He works for one day and is paid for his work ten dollars. The factory owner earns twenty dollars for the work put forth by the worker after subtracting the wage that he pays the worker. Therefore, the employer has created for himself twenty dollars by doing nothing more than giving the laborer work. The factory owner can then use the twenty dollars to reinvest in the factory or in another venture, increasing his wealth. The laborer on the other hand, earns his ten dollars a day, which is only sufficient for him to purchase necessities. It is often said that in capitalism it is in the best interest of the worker and the capitalist for the capitalists ventures to succeed. This is true in that if the venture does not succeed, the worker nor the capitalist will reap a reward. However, when it does succeed it is the capitalist who has the opportunity to increase his wealth and it is in the capitalists best interests that the worker not be given opportunity to earn more than the subsistence wage he is being paid. The growth of the business under capitalism will logically benefit a select number of capitalists. The few who are fortunate enough to have wealth have the opportunity for their wealth to grow. However the worker is not as fortunate. Marx knew that a growth in profits for a firm did not help the worker as one might suspect. In fact, a growth in profits would imprison the worker. When profits increase, wages might also increase but not at the same proportion to profit. An increase in profits for a firm of 30 percent could translate roughly to an increase in wages of 5 percent. Even though wages rose, they rose proportionately less that profits. Therefore the relative wage has not increased, but in fact it has gotten smaller. As the few capitalists increase their wealth, the gap between the rich and the poor must widen. The size of the working class (Marx refers to them as proletariats) grows in number, but their individual wealth is stagnant. The relationship between the two classes i s a control relationship of the capitalist over the worker. This is not a great improvement over the relationship between the feudal lords and the serfs. In the best case scenario a capitalist economy prospers to the point that wages are driven up. Even in this case, however, the gap that would develop between the rich and the poor is so unproportional that it would be impossible for the laborer to increase his standard of living in a pure capitalist economy. We can see that even the best possible situation for the working class does not improve their situation. The material position of the worker may rise slightly, but his social position continues to decline. Marx refers to the manner in which a capitalist controls the worker and reaps the rewards of his labor as exploitation of the worker. The capitalist exploits the worker by using him in the production of goods and using the profit that was generated by the workers labor for his own gain. We will look at how this is done, but first we need to understand how the value of a good or a commodity is measured. By gaining that understanding we can then look at the value added to a product by the laborer and what portion of that value is rewarded to him. It had been a problem for economists to determine how the value of a good is derived. It had been determined that prices of all commodities including labor, are continuously rising and falling and that the price of the goods can rise and fall because of factors that had nothing to do with the production of the good itself. The determination of value was a problem that many economists tried to resolve. Marx was the first economist to investigate thoroughly the notion that the value of a good is determined by the labor put into producing the good. He believed that the value of a commodity was based on all labor, past and present, put into creating the good. This established a way of measuring the true value of good. However this theory had some problems. How is the value of labor determined? How do we express the value of labor when labor itself is used to measure value? Classical Economists contrast these problems that were faced by Marx (as well as other economists such as David Ricardo), with another theory. This theory suggests that the value of a commodity is equal to its cost of production. Under this idea, the value of labor can be determined by the cost of sustaining him or the cost of replacing him. Another way of looking at the exploitation of the worker is by examining the number of hours put into producing a product. The value of each product consists of three parts, according to Marx: the first part is the amount of constant capital put into a good, the second part is the amount of variable capital used to create the good (wages), and the third is the surplus value. The surplus value is the value of a good above and beyond the value that was paid to the worker in the form of wages. In fact by dividing the surplus value by the workers wages we are able to derive the Rate of Exploitation of the worker. So for example a workers wage might equal half of the value of the good he produced. The other half of the value that the worker added is the surplus value and the surplus value is taken for profit by the capitalist. By looking at the relationship between the worker and the capitalist one thing is certain. The value of a good is determined either directly or indirectly by the worker. The value is either composed of the actual units of labor used to produce the product or the cost of labor is used as part the valuation of the good (in addition to the other costs such as materials and machinery). Regardless the worker is reduced to a tool used by the Capitalist and he is nothing more than a component in the production process. And that is what Marx felt would cause the strain and the inevitable rebellion of the worker. It is important to note that despite the common misperception, Marx did not feel that Capitalism is all bad. He recognized that it ended feudalism which was far worse. In many ways he looked at Capitalism as a segue to something better. He believed that Capitalism was dynamic and constantly changing and this leads to the promotion of technology and spurs advances in science. He also knew that Capitalism was an efficient way of creating material wealth. However, despite capitalisms advantages, Marx could not over look its disadvantages. It divides people into classes, which in and of itself, Marx believed, creates problems. It produces wealth for few and unhappiness for many. He believed that a worker is not just selling his labor, he is selling his humanness. He believed that a Capitalist economy will grow for decades (although their will be periods of recession and depression), but the capitalist system can not flourish indefinitely because by isolating the worker and creating the tension that must exist between the capitalist and the worker, capitalism must fall. The workers will eventually organize themselves and overthrow capitalism and then capitalism will be regarded as feudalism is now, as a stepping stone to something better.