Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Legal Provisions play Essay

Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Legal Provisions play and important Role in Building Decision Making - Essay Example Further, the court shall have jurisdiction in any actions presented by member states, the commission, the council, or the European Government regarding incompetence, infringement on elemental procedural requirement, on vital provisions of the treaties and any issue pertaining to the rule of powers with respect to the application or possible misuse of powers. Further, the court would have jurisdiction and be guided by similar conditions when addressing relative concerns raised by the court of Auditors, Committee of regions or the European Central Bank. The court of auditors was granted this privilege by the Treat of Amsterdam. The European parliament on the other hand was added to the list of the privileged members by the Nice Treaty. This has raised various controversies with arguments revolving around the possibility of the European Union social partners claiming this desirable status. Non privileged applicants ranging from employers and employees to trade unions are also at liberty to launch complaints regarding European Union Institutions directly with the court. Seemingly, the court has interpreted these provisions very strictly as exemplified in Plaumann & Co. V Commission. In this, the court allowed individuals to make direct complaints accordingly. Seemingly, the courts have denied the collective organizations seeking to represent their members as individuals a chance to enjoy this provision. For instance, it refrained from hearing the cases Comite Central d’Entreprise de la Societe Generale des Grandes Sources v. Commission and Vittel v. Commission. In this respect, it is not easy for individuals to complain against the European Union institutions regardless of their activities having direct effect on matters pertaining to industrial relations and employment. The privileged applicants that largely constitute member states have unconditional access with respect to making complaints to the court. These include the council, the commission, and the E uropean Parliament or member states. This is well illustrated in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland v. Council of the European Union in which the United Kingdom raised a complain to the court about the council’s decision regarding the working time directive. Article 264 of this treaty further provides that in instances where a measure reviewed under article 263 is found to be unlawful or illegal, it is void. The European Union in this respect does not have any power to substitute their individual reasoning for the reasoning of the author of the respective contested measure. The courts further have the liberty to make a decision with regard to whether an error demands for annulment of the respective contested measure. A classic exemplification of this pertains to the Hercules Chemicals NV v Commission case. In this, the court ruled that the contentious issue relating to access to the file of competition cases should be considered as the right of the defense. In this, any infringement on this right could culminate in annulment especially if it had the potential to breach the defense’s rights. This could not be merely countered by underscoring that access to the respective file was allowed at later stages of the legal proceedings, like after an annulment action had already been sought. Further, this article provides that the court, whenever it considers necessary, needs to definitively state the effects of the act have been declared void. Seemingly, the provisions of

Sociological Theories of social inequality Essay Example for Free

Sociological Theories of social inequality Essay Explain sociological theories of social inequality – is it a good or bad thing? – Functionalism, Marxism, Weberianism and Feminism. Social stratification is a system in society which is based on a hierarchy of power, privilege, and prestige; this then leads on to what is called social inequality. Social inequality is commonly tied to ethnicity, class and gender. White men being at the top of major corporations and black females working in the elderly care sector can and will raise debates of social inequality. Why is it mainly white males as the predominant directors and CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies? This essay will look into and critique social inequality and what certain theorists have to say about it. Unequal opportunities are what is mentioned a lot when social inequality is brought up; unequal opportunities for different social status’ as well as different ethnicities. Moreover, the majority of the Upper Class and Middle Class in this country are white families and the South Asian community and African as well as Eastern European so being treated differently in regard to social status links in very heavily to ethnicity as it coincides to an extent. There are a lot of opportunities that certain people in society do not have. Inequality of opportunities in Lehman’s terms is not getting the same chance at a better life because of your skin colour or gender or social class. As previously mentioned, why is a black male who was publicly educated more likely to spend time in prison than a white man who in return had a private education as therefore he is more likely to ascribe wealth and success because of this inequality of opportunities? The proletariat are the workers in society and the bourgeoisie are the ‘affluent’ business owners and doctors and lawyers of society. Karl Marx, who was a Marxist and started the movement, said that society has two classes of people and they are the two which have just been mentioned.

2001 A Space Odyssey :: essays research papers

You are hurtling across the abyss of space on an expedition to unexplored planets. Your only companion is a fellow astronaut: the three hibernauts who like in a deep freeze sleep will not be awakened until their skills are needed. An essential member of your crew is Hal, the electronic, almost-human brain that ceaselessly guides your course. For months your atom powered craft “Discover'; has been carrying you away from earth at a hundred thousand miles an hour. You are now farther from home than any man in history. Your living quarters within 400-foot-long space craft is a centrifugal drum equipped with an electronic library of literature and music. Here you relax, eat, exercise, sleep, and chat with Hal, the conversational computer who never forgets anything – not even your birthday. Your mission is of such importance that it has been surrounded by the deepest official secrecy. You are probing a fantastic frontier, following a trial that has led to the outer edges of the solar system. You are searching the stars for evidence that man is not alone. On Earth-colonized moon, deep in the crater Tycho, a discovery has been made that has shattered the human concept of the universe. You are journeying toward something. You do not know what it is. You only know that it has been waiting for man to find it for three million years. All of a sudden, in the middle of your mission Hal, the super smart computer, takes over the controls of the ship, and the astronauts try to disconnect it from the controls. It must be intensely frustrating for Hal to communicate with human beings. Hal’s whole being is built around the ability to communicate at electrical energy speeds. There is never a moment when Hal is not observing the aspects of Discovery. We might think of Has checking a distant sensor reading as composing a request, identifying a location, transmitting the request, and receiving and processing the response. For Hal, though, it is a action that takes no effort and occurs instantaneously. What is more, the response can always be relied upon to be accurate. The fact that million of such operations occur every second is normal for Hal (instantaneous for Hal means something quite different from what it means to Dave or Frank, the two astronauts aboard Discovery, a remark that has some significance for what fo llows a little later).

Another Benito Mussolini :: essays research papers

Benito Mussolini was born in Predappio on July 29, 1883, the son of a socialist blacksmith. Largely self-educated, he became a schoolteacher and socialist journalist in northern Italy. In 1910 he married Rachele Guidi, who bore him five children. Mussolini was jailed for his opposition to Italy's war in Libya. Soon after that, he was named editor of Avanti!, the Socialist Party newspaper in Milan. When World War I began, in 1914, Mussolini first denounced it as 'imperialist," but he soon reversed himself and called for Italy's entry on the Allied side. Expelled from the Socialist Party, he started his own newspaper in Milan, // Popolo d’ltalia, which translates ‘The People of Italy’, which later became the organ of the Fascist movement. When Fascists marched on Rome, King Victor Emmanuel III invited Mussolini to form a coalition government on October 28, 1922. By 1926 the Fascist leader had transformed the country into a single-party, totalitarian regime. In his new "corporative state," employers and workers were organized into party-controlled groups representing different sectors of the economy. The system preserved capitalism and expanded social services, but abolished free trade unions and the right to strike. The Lateran pacts with the Vatican ended a half-century of friction between church and state and proved to be long lasting. Another enduring legacy of fascism was a system of industrial holding companies financed by the state. Adopting an aggressive foreign policy, Mussolini defied the League of Nations and conquered Ethiopia in 1936. This won him acclaim in almost every sector of the populace. II Duce's popularity declined, however, after he sent troops to help General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War, this linked Italy to Nazi Germany, enacted anti-Jewish laws, and invaded Albania. Because of military unpreparedness, Mussolini did not enter World War II until June 1940, when the Germans had overrun France. Italy fought the British in Africa, invaded Greece, and joined the Germans in carving up Yugoslavia, attacking the Soviet Union, and declaring war on the United States. After Italy's many military defeats, King Victor Emmanuel dismissed Mussolini on July 25, 1943, and in September obtained an armistice with

My Learning Profile Essay

In today’s ever-changing fast-paced world the most important skill one requires is learning how to learn. Transformation is inevitable and one will be forced to learn change or fall significantly behind. Every individual has a distinct way of learning. One must identify his or her learning profile to ensure their success in today’s and future humanity. Additionally, by identifying your learning profile strengths and weaknesses you are provided an avenue for improving yourself in most aspects of every day life. I have incorporated this concept by identifying my learning profile and my learning strengths and weaknesses. Also, I have established a plan to capitalize on these strengths and to mitigate my limitations. This paper will discuss my learning profile broken down into four areas. The areas are: learning times, bottom up or top down learning, quadrants of learning and eclectic disciplines of personal intelligence. To begin, everyone has a favorite time of day–one that is conducive to learning. Some have enhanced concentration in the early hours while others achieve a higher level of knowledge absorption and retention during noon hours. Still, some people are at their peak learning zone during the evening hours. For me, I learn best during the early morning timeframe. I always believed I was a morning learner and Test 1 in the course text supports this theory. This test helped determine the times I am more receptive to learning. Next, I will ascertain the basic aspect of my personal learning style. Understanding if you learn more effectively in unstructured situations or in a logical presentation of facts in a rigid strategy is critical to one’s learning profile. I am the latter. I learn best in a systematic, methodical approach allowing me to master specific details before moving to more general concepts. In other words, I am a Stringer. The next step after comprehending this is to expand further into your learning preferences. Digging a little deeper into one’s profile, it is now imperative to  understand our preferences for dealing with facts or feelings, using logic or imagination, and thinking things through yourself or working with other people. After studying the Four Quadrants for Learning descriptions and evaluating how they relate to my learning abilities and preferences, I have concluded that my learning profile crosses the boundaries and encompasses two of the quadrants. Specifically, I assimilate well with quadrant styles A and B. Style A incorporates my dependency on learning through specific knowledge. This style focuses on verifiable facts on which everyone can agree. Style B thrives on order and sequence. Both quadrants represent my style of learning where you base learning on a solid foundation with direction. Lastly, all of the aforementioned portions of my learning profile are coupled with my learning talent or personal intelligence. Most people believe that their capacity to learn is determined by personal intelligence. Contemporary psychologists have changed the idea of a single learning capacity called intelligence into seven different intelligence learning categories used to enhance one’s learning abilities. After answering the personal intelligence questionnaire in the text, I strongly associated with interpersonal and spatial intelligence. I related somewhat in the interpersonal, linguistic and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence categories. To my surprise, I did not select any choices concerning logical-mathematical intelligence, a category I have always believed I was prominent in. In conclusion, I have discussed the importance of identifying one’s personal learning profile. This profile varies from individual to individual. However, everyone possesses and needs a learning profile. Researching this paper, I have discovered how my brain prefers to process new material, which modes and media of instruction suits me best, and which times of learning I am more receptive to. I have acquired an awareness of myself as a learner, which is the first prerequisite of Peak Learning.

Levis Strauss Case Study Analysis The WritePass Journal

Levis Strauss Case Study Analysis Introduction Levis Strauss Case Study Analysis ). Two of the four strategic directions suggested by this model have already been adopted by Levi Company, that is, selling existing products to existing markets and extending existing products in new markets. It can however recommended that the company should adopt one of the two remaining factors of this model, which is the diversification through creation of more designs of products that suit a wider demographic scope of customers. This will lead to larger consumer base hence higher revenue. References Cunningham, J., Harney, B‎. (2012) Strategy and Strategists. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Grant, R. M. (2013) Contemporary Strategy Analysis. New Jersey: Wiley. Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Angwin, D., Regnr, P., Scholes, K. (2014). Exploring Strategy Text Only. UK: Pearson Education, Limited. Ommani, A. R. (2011) Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis for farming system businesses management: Case of wheat farmers of Shadervan District, Shoushtar Township, Iran. African Journal of Business Management. 5(22). p.9448-9454. Porter, M. (2008) Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors. New York: Simon and Schuster. Tanwar, R. (2013) Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies. Journal of Business and Management. 15(1). p.11-17. Taylor, E. C. (2012) Competitive Improvement Planning: Using Ansoff’s Matrix with Abell’s Model to Inform the Strategic Management Process. Academy of Strategic Management 10(1). p.21-25. Zott, C., Amit, R., Massa, L. (2011) The business model: recent developments and future research. Journal of management 37(4). p.1019-1042.

Free Essays on Mexican Econ

Mexican Economy By: Jose Luis Torrente Mexican Economy I. Historical, Population, Culture, Political, and Economic Information History Mexico was the site of some of the earliest and most advanced civilizations in the western hemisphere. The Mayan culture, according to archaeological research, attained its greatest development about the 6th century AD. Another group, the Toltec, established an empire in the Valley of Mexico and developed a great civilization still evidenced by the ruins of magnificent buildings and monuments. The leading tribe, the Aztec, built great cities and developed an intricate social, political, and religious organization. Their civilization was highly developed, both intellectually and artistically. The first European explorer to visit Mexican territory was Francisco Fernndez de CÃ ³rdoba, who in 1517 discovered traces of the Maya in Yucatn. In 1535, some years after the fall of the Aztec capital, the basic form of colonial government in Mexico was instituted with the appointment of the first Spa nish viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza. A distinguishing characteristic of colonial Mexico was the exploitation of the Native Americans. Although thousands of them were killed during the Spanish conquest, they continued to be the great majority of inhabitants of what was referred to as New Spain, speaking their own languages and retaining much of their native culture. Inevitably they became the laboring class. Their plight was the result of the 'encomienda' system, by which Spanish nobles, priests, and soldiers were granted not only large tracts of land but also jurisdiction over all Native American residents. A second characteristic of colonial Mexico was the position and power of the Roman Catholic church. Franciscan, Augustinian, Dominican, and Jesuit missionaries entered the country with the conquistadores. The Mexican church became enormously wealthy through gifts and bequests that could be held in perpetuity. ... Free Essays on Mexican Econ Free Essays on Mexican Econ Mexican Economy By: Jose Luis Torrente Mexican Economy I. Historical, Population, Culture, Political, and Economic Information History Mexico was the site of some of the earliest and most advanced civilizations in the western hemisphere. The Mayan culture, according to archaeological research, attained its greatest development about the 6th century AD. Another group, the Toltec, established an empire in the Valley of Mexico and developed a great civilization still evidenced by the ruins of magnificent buildings and monuments. The leading tribe, the Aztec, built great cities and developed an intricate social, political, and religious organization. Their civilization was highly developed, both intellectually and artistically. The first European explorer to visit Mexican territory was Francisco Fernndez de CÃ ³rdoba, who in 1517 discovered traces of the Maya in Yucatn. In 1535, some years after the fall of the Aztec capital, the basic form of colonial government in Mexico was instituted with the appointment of the first Spa nish viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza. A distinguishing characteristic of colonial Mexico was the exploitation of the Native Americans. Although thousands of them were killed during the Spanish conquest, they continued to be the great majority of inhabitants of what was referred to as New Spain, speaking their own languages and retaining much of their native culture. Inevitably they became the laboring class. Their plight was the result of the 'encomienda' system, by which Spanish nobles, priests, and soldiers were granted not only large tracts of land but also jurisdiction over all Native American residents. A second characteristic of colonial Mexico was the position and power of the Roman Catholic church. Franciscan, Augustinian, Dominican, and Jesuit missionaries entered the country with the conquistadores. The Mexican church became enormously wealthy through gifts and bequests that could be held in perpetuity. ...

Definition and Examples of Display Question

Definition and Examples of Display Question A display question is a type of rhetorical question to which the questioner already knows the answer. Also called a  known information question. Different from erotesis questions, display questions are often used for instructional purposes. Theyre used to determine if students are able to display their knowledge of factual content. Examples and Observations So as I have just demonstrated, children, he was saying now, grass is very nice to sit on, but be careful because it can tickle. Now,  can anyone tell me  the name of this handsome creature over here?Is it a rhino, sir? said a girl called Caroline.Very close, Caroline, said Alan Taylor kindly. Actually, it is known as an ant. Now who can tell me- (Andy Stanton,  Mr. Gum and the Cherry Tree. Egmont, 2010)In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of theanyone? anyone?- the Great Depression, passed theanyone? anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered? Raised tariffs in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before?(Ben Stein as th e economics teacher in Ferris Buellers Day Off, 1986) The [drivers education] class was taught by an old and embittered veteran of the New York City public school system who had the looks and the attitude of, come to think of it, me these days. His form of instruction was Socratic, relentlessly so.What is the purpose of the steering wheel? he asked.The elderly Jewish ladies looked at their shoes. The Chinese stared into space. The black guys continued slanging each other.What is the purpose of the steering wheel? the teacher asked again and got the same response. . . .And so it went for a month and a half. The teacher asked a painfully simple question. Nobody said anything. The teacher repeated the painfully simple question. Nobody said anything.(P.J. ORourke, Driving Like Crazy. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009) The Purpose of Display Questions Something that the media interview and the classroom interaction have in common is the use of display questions. . . . The purpose of a display question is to put knowledge or information on public display. In the classroom, this is an important way of transmitting and testing knowledge for teachers and students. In these display question situations such as classrooms and quizzes, the questioner follows up the answer by stating whether it is the correct one or not. However, in media interviews, . . . the follow up is very often left to the listener or viewer.(Anne OKeeffe, Michael McCarthy, and Ronald Carter, From Corpus to Classroom: Language Use and Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 2007) The Lighter Side of Display Questions Texas Ranger: The teacher asked me what was the capital of North Carolina. I said Washington, D.C.Cal Naughton, Jr.: Bingo.Ricky Bobby: Nice.Texas Ranger: She said, No, youre wrong. I said, You got a lumpy butt. She got mad at me and yelled at me and I pissed in my pants and I never did change my pee-pants all day. Im still sitting in my dirty pee-pants.Cal Naughton, Jr.: I wet my bed until I was nineteen. Theres no shame in that.(Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, 2006)

The Gravedigger's Daughter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Gravedigger's Daughter - Essay Example That was a grim challenge to the former high school teacher, to assist the coffins to take a restful sleep. But for the daring daughter Rebecca, it was not the end of the road, but the beginning of the efforts to scale new heights in life, under the most trying circumstances the girl of her age could think of. Even while dealing the mounds of earth, her father had not lost the intellectual fire of the teaching fraternity. But by nature he was cruel, finding it extremely difficult to cope up with the destined circumstances. He cautioned his daughter about which Joyce Carol Oates writes, (2007, p.186)"You-you are born here. They will not hurt you." She was the only member of the family born in America and therefore, the lawful citizen of the country. She proved worthy of her heartfelt desire to be part of the American triumph. Leaving behind the grim situation of the family, she lived life in its trials, tribulations, duty and beauty to come to terms with her life. In every stage of li fe, at every time, she faced difficulties/tragedies that would shatter any individual. The path she chose to tread was not the rosy one; it was emotionally engaging and intellectually provocative. It was a fascinating mirror of humanity, and an individual, who was orphaned as a teenager, challenging to cross the ocean through a rudderless boat! Her past was her greatest liability to meet the challenges of the future. But she had no powers to undo it, but she was certainly not inclined to carry the ghosts, neither wanted societal pity nor the condemnation! Her past haunted her like the dark ghost. As she attained the status of a married woman and motherhood, recollection of her father’s prophetic words continued to knock at the portals of her mind. â€Å"In animal life the weak are quickly disposed of. So you must hide your weakness, Rebecca."(p.113) Childhood abuses on development of woman’s identity are intense, and that wound may be possible to hide, but it will nev er heal. The shadows of the past will follow such an individual and part of one’s memory zone will retain them permanently. A series of challenges had engulfed her life—the youngest child of an impoverished German Jewish immigrant family, --ill-tempered, imbalanced, violent father, mother suffering from mental disorders, two insensitive older brothers who showed callous disregard for her well-being and finally witness the murder of her mother and suicide of her father. Violence and alcoholism were the other negative traits of the family that Rebecca had to put up with. --with the cumulative effect of all these ‘calamities’ any one would turn cynical and think that the whole world is ignoble!—but not Rebecca! She tries to find her elusive peace, and reinvent her identity with her total commitment to her child’s wellbeing. She wants to keep the dark memories of her past a well-guarded secret. The end of one misery leads to another calamity and she literally jumps from the frying pan to the fire itself. Nature releases her sufferings in installments and her cup of sorrow is ever brimming without any letup. After escaping almost being killed by her father, she marries a beer salesman, Niles Tignor, who also turns out to be physically abusive. He nearly beats her to death; she escapes with her son Zacharias. She finds support with an old man Chet Gallagher, who recognizes her son’s latent musical genius. But the original question of her life, remains the original question—how to reconcile with the past, and whether reconciliation

Mechanical Engineer Technology Career Investigation Report Essay

Mechanical Engineer Technology Career Investigation Report - Essay Example My career objectives on graduation includes to develop to professional height that demands skills, capabilities, efficiency, and responsibility developed through my professional study. To demonstrate integrity, honesty, commitment and excellence. To practice legally and facilitate the growth of employer and grow with it. I developed interest in knowing how things work at a very young age from my toys some of which operated just with a press of a button. This always obsessed me to the level of dismantling them in trying to understand the mechanisms behind their operation. My desire to invent equipments that can make our world to be a better place is still dominant in me and I always wish to come up with new technology and improve the existing ones. One of my biggest strength is drawing ability, out of which I won many awards in high school, mathematics, computer programming, designing objects at my level and trying to improve the previous ones. I wish to have a chance to explore these

Learning and Development of New Employees Assignment

Learning and Development of New Employees - Assignment Example An effective indicator of how much training has helped the learning process is to analyze the performance of each group within the company before and after the training period. The assessment of learning need refers to two related and sequential activities. The first need is the identification of the learning need, and secondly, it is the analysis of the learning need. The identification and analysis of the learning need to enhance the ability and performance of an individual in the team. The crux of the matter is the correct identification and analysis. In the absence of these, it is not possible to see the desired results in the employees. The needs assessment phase of a learning and development project serves a diagnostic purpose and the needs assessment phase must be done properly as it is the basis for much subsequent learning and development. If this is not done, the training cannot be properly directed and inadequately focused and the consequences may be that learners may not acquire appropriate knowledge or skill, scarce and valuable resources may be wasted, the credibility of the learning and development function may suffer, and the learning and development program will not contribute to meeting the organization's strategic objectives. Although concerned with conceptual issues, there are practical issues also since it is the assessment of needs using valid and reliable tools which is of direct concern to the learning and development practitioner on a day-to-day basis. This model must pursue a clear, balanced approach to concepts and practice. One without the other will only render the model ineffective and hypocritical. The overarching purposes of needs assessment and learning and development planning are to ensure that learning and development interventions address priority learning needs that can enable individuals, departments or organizations to meet their goals and commitments, and are aligned between the individual's goals and commitments (Training 4 Business). On the Job Needs Assessment On the job needs assessment is to identify the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are likely to be required by a job holder. These are hierarchical task analysis, cognitive task analysis, and critical incident technique. These analysis and technique provide the trainee with a better understanding of the organization, better knowledge of the product, and ensures that the trainee is imparted necessary skills to raise performance levels.

DELACROIX Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DELACROIX - Essay Example h envoy’s delegation would stay in the North Africa for six months, spending most of the time in the city of Tangier1.Travelling around Algeria and Morocco (after France conquered the former) with the diplomatic mission, the painter carefully â€Å"documented† everything he saw. Capturing the images of exotic lands, Delacroix created numerous sketches, drawings and watercolors. In these images, the painter sought to depict silhouettes, lifestyle, garments and manners. Eventually, impressions that Delacroix got in this trip, served as a rich source of inspiration for his further works. The excerpts from his journal remind of paintings, too. The artist described rather briefly the events that took place during the journey: the mission’s moving through the country, the Jewish wedding, the audience at the emperor’s and others. In addition, there are mentions of exotic Eastern traditions and customs, like that of the Moors described in the note from March 11. While reading his journal, the painting enthusiast would be inevitably enraptured by aesthetics of Eugene Delacroix notes. The genuine artistic nature is clearly seen through the journal notes – the soul of a painter is reflected virtually in every sentence: instead of granting much attention to the events – as ordinary people do – Delacroix was mostly interested in details. It is not the ritual of Jewish wedding celebration that he depicted in his notes, but the surrounding and people. He described clothing, face traits and other details that probably wouldn’t be even me ntioned in a journal of an ordinary person: â€Å"pretty Jewish woman; vest, sleeves, gold and amaranth. She is silhouetted halfway against the door, halfway against the wall.†2 This description of a Jewish woman present at the celebration of the wedding illustrates a peculiar artistic approach – the author doesn’t pamper the reader with exquisitely built complex sentences, this is more similar to operational notes. However, the

Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Social Media - Essay Example Although seeing them in person is entirely different, pictures, posts and other information made available through social networks create a feeling of being physically present in another world. Of course, with the many benefits computers and the internet brought to modern living, there are also dangers that come along with them. Internet users usually worry about identity theft, scams and other threats that may endanger one’s self or even children. For every problem that is created though, it is comforting to know that there is always a weapon that can also be created to fight these dangers online. Antivirus is an example of which, also easily available online at a certain price. Although the most important weapon there could possibly be against internet crimes is being well informed and knowledgeable about the kinds of dangers, how to avoid them and how to escape them just in case one is already trapped in a scam. Since one cannot avoid the internet these days, with more activities perceived to be done online in the future, the best weapon indeed is to be at par with the changing world. Certainly, the demand to learn new things everyday is a challenge however, as f or this writer, it is a

DELACROIX Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DELACROIX - Essay Example h envoy’s delegation would stay in the North Africa for six months, spending most of the time in the city of Tangier1.Travelling around Algeria and Morocco (after France conquered the former) with the diplomatic mission, the painter carefully â€Å"documented† everything he saw. Capturing the images of exotic lands, Delacroix created numerous sketches, drawings and watercolors. In these images, the painter sought to depict silhouettes, lifestyle, garments and manners. Eventually, impressions that Delacroix got in this trip, served as a rich source of inspiration for his further works. The excerpts from his journal remind of paintings, too. The artist described rather briefly the events that took place during the journey: the mission’s moving through the country, the Jewish wedding, the audience at the emperor’s and others. In addition, there are mentions of exotic Eastern traditions and customs, like that of the Moors described in the note from March 11. While reading his journal, the painting enthusiast would be inevitably enraptured by aesthetics of Eugene Delacroix notes. The genuine artistic nature is clearly seen through the journal notes – the soul of a painter is reflected virtually in every sentence: instead of granting much attention to the events – as ordinary people do – Delacroix was mostly interested in details. It is not the ritual of Jewish wedding celebration that he depicted in his notes, but the surrounding and people. He described clothing, face traits and other details that probably wouldn’t be even me ntioned in a journal of an ordinary person: â€Å"pretty Jewish woman; vest, sleeves, gold and amaranth. She is silhouetted halfway against the door, halfway against the wall.†2 This description of a Jewish woman present at the celebration of the wedding illustrates a peculiar artistic approach – the author doesn’t pamper the reader with exquisitely built complex sentences, this is more similar to operational notes. However, the

Behavioral Tools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Behavioral Tools - Essay Example On the contrary, plastic or unrelated humor also generates laughter but fails to signal anything about their connection. According to Parisi and Smith (p.217), ‘laughter between sincere friends is open, unreserved, and joyful. Laughter provides the bonding gains of increased mutual trust that permit parties to exploit profitable opportunities.’ Exemplifying this statement is one of my friends who is known to have the best sense of humor in our group. We consider this friend as lively, bubbly, and full of enthusiasm. He is also extremely smart and a go-getter. He knows the knack of converting any kind of situation or moment, whether serious, dull, tiring, and anxiety, to a lively atmosphere filled with laughter. Applying Freud’s postulation that pleasure attached to humor makes one think like a child and thereby escape the constraints of rationality and logic on cognitive functioning (Levine, 9). This is precisely my friend does most of the times, either to convince people unto doing something that they do not intend, to divert attention of individuals or groups or even to drive home the point he wants to make. Instances of potential disruption between friends and within families were also regulated through his humor by a simple distraction of thought processes and emotions of the people involved in such situations. Laughter is said to reduce tensions and naturally arising hostilities in relationships. Although the intention behind cracking jokes is to induce laughter and distract people from usual boredom or impending emotional disturbances, it may also lead to serious consequences. One such instance can be traced to the day our final results were announced. All except one of our group members had cleared the examination, and this certainly was a sad moment for all of us. In an attempt to lighten everyone’s

Learning as a Process and as a Product Essay Example for Free

Learning as a Process and as a Product Essay When you ask people what do they think about learning? They only think in the final result. Isn’t to important to comprehend what that really means, and how big and important is the process. It is to simple to analyze what we have been learned before just making us the question If we really remember what we learned? But no everyone think in learning as a process. How do we learned that? If it was difficult? It’s the same learning as a process and as a product? Learning is the end product of some process. But when is learning a product? Learning as a product is when a person knows completely and totally that he/she dominates the knowledge, but also he/she have been qualify to do that â€Å"knowledge† what it means that he/she not just know the theory but also have the experience. The final product of the learning may show the capacity or level of each student and let the teacher know who needs more practice in a specific area. It depends on what they were working on, but it doesn’t mean that they are going to tell you or notice that the student really acquires the knowledge or the skill or if they need a more advanced or lower level to do the activities. Wich it means that learning as a product is the goal that the â€Å"learning process† must have. Learning as a process will be the behavior changes of certain experiences that people have had. Learning as a process goes further than learning as a product, because in one what it matters is the final result, and in another one what it matters is how was it? It’s not the same if I learned something just memorizing without practice. Besides If a learn something with theory and practice my final result it’s going to be better. It’s to important the process in which each person learned, because that will ensure you that you really understand and dominate what people taught you. That’s why everyone should recognize the difference between learning as a product and as a process.

The Unsustainable To Sustainable Development Environmental Sciences Essay

The Unsustainable To Sustainable Development Environmental Sciences Essay From Unsustainable to Sustainable development; Urban problems related to energy; Water conservation, rainwater harvesting, watershed management, Resettlement and rehabilitation of people; its problems and concerns. Case Studies; Environmental ethics: Issues and possible solutions; Climate change, global warming, acid rain, ozone layer depletion, nuclear accidents and holocaust. Case Studies; Wasteland reclamation; Consumerism and waste products; Environment Protection Act; Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act; Water (Prevention and control of Pollution) Act; Wildlife Protection Act; Forest Conservation Act; Issues involved in enforcement of environmental legislation; Public awareness. 6.1 Unsustainable to Sustainable development Sustainable development is not a new concept. It means living in harmony with the nature in full recognition of the needs of all other species. It is no just the survival of the fittest, we must help even the weakest of the species to survive because each species has a role to play that is ultimately beneficial to the earth and all its human population. Our forefathers preached us the need to coexist with the environment in a balanced manner. The needs of the people in different parts of the world may be different, but our dependence on the Nature is similar. The most important thing to remember is that we have only one earth and if we destroy it by our actions, our children will not have a place to live. The first comprehensive definition of sustainable development was given by the Brundtland Commission in 1987: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. [Brundtland, G (ed) (1987). Our Common Future: The World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press]. Any development activity can be sustainable, if it is .. a dynamic process which enables all people to realize their potential, and to improve their quality of life, in ways which simultaneously protect and enhance the Earths life support systems. (Forum for the Future, Annual Report 2000). In short, if we care for the comfort of the present generation only and do not think of the needs of the future generations, and we damage the environment by various development activities, these activities will be termed as unsustainable. In taking every action, small or big, the possible damages to the environment must be given full consideration and the action must not leave behind a degraded environment. Technically, sustainable development is defined as a path of development in which no permanent and irreparable damage is done to the environment and the resources are kept intact for the future generations. The earth has everything for each generation, but it depends on the proper use. The present generation can survive very well on the resources available, but they must also leave behind enough resources for the future generations. It is necessary that a sustainable development path do not have any negative factor that is responsible for causing adverse impacts on the environmen t. A sustainable development programme is friendly to the ecosystem in all respects and has the capacity to absorb abrupt changes of the present and the future. Sustainable development has also a strong element of socio-political development. Thus, sustainable development programme must have equal concern for all sections of the society with a balanced economic development and environmental protection. The programme should have a log-term view of future consequences of any action taken today. In short, sustainable development has become the cornerstone of development planning today and has also become a principal tool of negotiation in international aid packages to the countries. The sustainable development can be broadly classified into three different kinds, viz., environmental sustainability (no permanent damage to the environment), economic sustainability (economy remains stable with equitable sharing of resources) and sociopolitical sustainability (maintaining social harmony and political stability). Historical milestones The Brundtland Commission, formally the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), known by the name of its Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland, was convened by the United Nations in 1983. The commission was created to address growing concern about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development. In establishing the commission, the UN General Assembly recognized that environmental problems were global in nature and determined that it was in the common interest of all nations to establish policies for sustainable development. The Commission was asked to focus mainly on the following: To propose long-term environmental strategies for achieving sustainable development to the year 2000 and beyond; To recommend ways in which concern for the environment may be translated into greater co-operation among developing countries and between countries at different stages of economic and social development and lead to the achievement of common and mutually supportive objectives which take account of the interrelationships between people, resources, environment and development; To consider ways and means by which the international community can deal more effectively with environmental concerns, in the light of the other recommendations in its report; To help to define shared perceptions of long-term environmental issues and of the appropriate efforts needed to deal successfully with the problems of protecting and enhancing the environment, and a long-term agenda for action during the coming decades. The need to protect and enhance the human environment within a common framework and principles led to the Brundtland Report and subsequently, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), more commonly known as the Earth Summit, took place in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992. This conference was designed to help governments to rethink economic development and find ways to stop pollution and the destruction of natural resources. The conference documents included: Rio Declaration on Environment and Development United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Statement of Forest Principles Agenda 21 Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development At the Earth Summit in 1992, an agenda on worldwide sustainable development was formulated. This agenda, known as the Agenda 21, is a blueprint on how to make development socially, economically and environmentally sustainable into the next century. It addresses economic and development issues and the conservation and management of the worlds resources. The implementation of Agenda 21 has been made the responsibility of Governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry and also the general public. Agenda 21 provides a global framework for tackling global environmental problems like climate change, ozone depletion, biodiversity loss, desertification and deforestation. The Earth Summit was followed by a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002 where the stakeholders from international institutions and corporations to national, regional and local governments have accepted that the principle of sustainable development will be at the core of all policy making. A few of the areas highlighted by the Agenda 21 are: (i) Combating Poverty. Poverty and environmental degradation are directly related to one another and it is imperative on the part of the governments that they should focus on poverty alleviation in order to protect the environment. The national programmes should aim at sustainable use of resources and should enable the poor to earn a living without destroying the environment. It is envisaged that the people should have a say in the development process and that local groups should be involved in the planning and execution of anti-poverty programmes. In this way, the people will become a party to sustainable development and environmental protection. (ii) Changing Consumption Patterns. Agenda 21 calls for a change in the existing patterns of production and consumption so that the damages to the environment may be minimized. For this purpose, the industrialized countries have been asked to play a leading role. National programmes should give more emphasis to more efficient production processes so that emissions and waste generation are brought down to minimum. All processes of production and consumption should conform to the principle of sustainable development i.e. no harm to the environment. The Governments should discourage all production processes which are not environment-friendly and should levy taxes on goods that are produced through such processes. The use of eco-labels on appliances should be encouraged and efforts should be made to raise public awareness on energy efficiency and recycling of wastes. (iii) Population and Human Health. The rapidly increasing population has created much pressure on natural resources, employment, social and health services. Sustainable development is not possible if the population is not appropriately controlled. Agenda 21 calls for the governments to adopt measures that take into account the links between population dynamics and sustainability, and identify carrying capacities. Poor health is often a result of poverty, especially in developing countries. Agenda 21 recommends that every national health programme should provide for the development of basic health care facilities with emphasis on training of doctors, nurses and other personnel, strengthen immunization programmes to control communicable diseases, and provide specific healthcare measures for the most vulnerable groups, including infants, women and indigenous peoples. (iv) Human Settlements. Migration towards the urban centers has been continuously increasing and the towns and cities are overcrowded with people. Slums have expanded and basic facilities such as supply of clean drinking water, sanitation and sewerage facilities, healthy living conditions, etc., are becoming scarce. Traffic congestion, poor air quality, waste dumping and unhygienic conditions have multiplied in most cities. Agenda 21 calls for appropriate urban renewal projects and transportation strategies, the provision of access to land, and credit and low cost building materials for the poor. Migration to big cities can be reduced only by improving living conditions and employment opportunities in rural areas and Agenda 21 lays stress on the development of the rural areas. (v) Atmospheric Protection. The atmosphere can be protected by reducing emissions to it. For this purpose, Agenda 21 calls for action in the energy production sector, transport and industry, through the promotion and development of energy efficient programmes, regional energy plans, public-awareness campaigns of environmentally sound energy systems, and research into more fuel-efficient transport systems. (vi) Ecosystems. Ecosystem conservation and protection is considered as a major item in sustainable development. For this purpose, Agenda 21 calls for governments, business houses and NGOs to introduce programmes of afforestation, reforestation, and sustainable land use and water resource management. The education programmes should be reoriented towards environmentally sustainable resource management. (vii) Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development. While agriculture should yield enough food for the rising population, the farming practices should not lead to land erosion, desertification and deforestation. Current methods of farming, particularly in developing countries, should be carefully examined and unhealthy practices should be discontinued. Agenda 21 urges the development of long-term land conservation and rehabilitation programmes, by encouraging people to invest for the future through land ownership. (viii) Conservation of Biological Diversity and Management of Biotechnology. Habitat destruction, over-harvesting, pollution and introduction of foreign species are recognized as the main factors behind loss of biodiversity. Agenda 21 calls for governments to undertake national biodiversity assessment programmes and formulate strategies to conserve the existing biological diversity without further damage. (ix) Protecting and Managing the Oceans and Fresh Water. Agenda 21 calls for nations to develop policies, which address unsustainable fishing practices, the creation of marine protection zones, and the surveillance and enforcement of fisheries regulations. The agenda further requires that the National water management practices are integrated into economic and social policies. Agenda 21 sets 2025 as the realistic target date for ensuring universal water supplies, and to develop low-cost services, which can be built and maintained at the community level. (x) Managing Wastes. Agenda 21 calls for an international strategy to manage the production and disposal of wastes, including hazardous waste, solid waste and sewage, and radioactive waste. Governments should encourage and assist industry in achieving cleaner production technologies, and promote changes in lifestyles, production and consumption, through recycling and fund public education initiatives. Countries, which generate nuclear waste, should adopt an integrated approach to the safe management, transportation, storage and disposal of radioactive wastes. (xi) Implementing Sustainable Development. All nations will have to make political, social and economic commitments to ensure that the Agenda 21 can be properly implemented and that necessary resources are available for the same. The Agenda asks international funding organizations such as the International Development Association and the Global Environment Facility to help developing countries in meeting additional expenses in implementing all measures required for sustainable development. Developed countries should help promote the transfer of technology to developing countries. It is necessary to monitor the implementation of Agenda 21. Laws should be enacted to secure a balance between the needs for development and environmental protection. The main objectives should include: international standards in environmental protection taking into account the different situations and abilities of individual countries; review of all environmental laws making them more effective; and measures to avoid or settle international disputes. Meeting the aims and objectives of Agenda 21 within the time frame established by the 1992 Earth Summit will pose great social, economic and technological difficulties, both for developing and developed nations. The development that has been witnessed during the 20th century has brought unprecedented changes to biodiversity, the atmosphere and global climate. These are to be reversed. The new challenge for todays society is to ensure that future development and the use of the Earths resources is managed in a sustainable way, and in every action, the quality of life is preserved for generations of the 21st century and beyond. For sustainable development, human population growth has to be controlled. Otherwise, no invention and development in science and technology will be able to prevent irreversible degradation of the natural environment and to alleviate continued poverty in large parts of the world. The natural and social sciences will be crucial in developing new options for limiting population growth, protecting the natural environment, and improving the quality of human life. These should be the perspectives in all short and long term planning for all governments so that the challenges of the present and the future can be adequately addressed. 6.2 Urban problems related to energy use With massive urbanization occurring on a global scale, the state of the environment and human health in the cities of the world has become a prime concern. It is estimated that by the year 2025, over five thousand million people will be living in the cities. In the developing countries of the world, already more than 200 cities have populations of one million or more. Living in cities has many positive benefits, such as increased job opportunities and better access to essential services and facilities. However, many environmental, health and development problems have reached near-crisis dimensions in cities all over the world. Urban growth has exposed populations to serious environmental hazards and has outstripped the capacity of municipal and local governments to provide even basic amenities (water, sanitation, power) and essential health services. Millions of people in the urban areas of developing countries are living under life- and health-threatening conditions. Cities have a s ignificant impact on the broader hinterland and global environment and the fate of cities will have a major influence on the fate of nations and of the planet. Poverty and health Despite the unprecedented creation of wealth worldwide in the past two decades, the number of people living in absolute poverty is growing steadily. Poverty remains the number one killer, with the poor bearing a disproportionate share of the global burden of ill health. The poor live in unsafe and overcrowded housing, often in semi-urban and urban slums, with practically no access to safe water or to sewerage. These people are also exposed to pollution, traffic and industrial and other risks at home, at work or in their communities, much more than the wealthy people living in the same cities. They have insufficient food that too of poor quality from the point of nutrition. Even in rich countries, the poor suffer worse health than do the better off. Children are particularly affected in the poorest regions of the world, one in five children dies before his or her first birthday, mostly from environment-related diseases such as acute respiratory infections, diarrhea and malaria. Not only are children more heavily and frequently exposed to threats to their health in the environment, but also they are more vulnerable to the ill effects on health. For example, in the USA and parts of Europe, lead poisoning illustrates the unequal burden of risk borne by poor inner-city children, who are more heavily exposed to sources of lead in and around the home and are also more affected by the toxicity of lead. Energy consumption Compared to the rural areas, people in towns and cities consume large amount of energy. For example, the old type of Indian houses were made of wood, mud and unburnt bricks which required very little temperature adjustments and consequently very little energy was required for heating and cooling. The present buildings in towns and cities are mostly made of concrete, cement, steel, aluminium, marble, well-burnt bricks and glass. These materials are energy intensive and the houses made with them require a lot of power to keep them comfortable during the winter and the summer and also for lighting and decoration. The process of manufacture of these materials also consumes enormous amount of energy in different forms. At earlier times, people used fuel wood or charcoal in kitchens for making food and also in the living rooms for heating. This did not create any environmental problem such as that of smoke because the houses had separate kitchens at a distance from the main living quarters and the houses were tall having provision of chimneys. This is no longer possible in todays housing blocks where the living quarters are not separated from the kitchens; the RCC structure does not allow having tall roofs and also chimneys. Therefore the fuel type has to be changed as otherwise there will be serious smoke and associated health problems. Kerosene replaced firewood and charcoal as the favourite fuel for the urban homes. Later kerosene gave way to natural gas and electricity during the 1970s. The dependence on firewood has continued in the rural areas particularly for people living in the far-flung areas of the foothills and the forests. Newer tools of comfort came to be used in the urban centers. The use of electric fans during the summer has become a common practice but the effluent has gone for air-conditioning in their houses. As the houses have become almost like glass towers and since glass is a very bad conductor of heat, this has created problem of large temperature difference between outside and inside of a house requiring much energy to be spent on air-conditioning. Additional energy need has become necessary for running the lifts and operating a large number of other gadgets of modern life The other major urban energy need is for transport. The towns and cities are roaming with buses, trucks, cars, two- and three-wheelers all of which depend on fossil fuels, namely petrol and diesel. The number of vehicles has increased at a very fast rate during the last few years despite the higher price of fuel. Small, narrow and improperly maintained roads and overcrowding have further aggravated the problem. Traffic congestion has become a serious problem in all urban areas. Slower moving vehicles burn more fuel and thereby the energy efficiency is further reduced. This has also given rise to problems of carbon monoxide pollution, smog and other environmental problems affecting peoples health particularly through various respiratory diseases. Time has come to design an efficient public transport system, which will lead to substantial energy saving, minimize congestion and reduce pollution problems. 6.3 Water conservation, rainwater harvesting, and watershed management All living organisms need water, plants use it in photosynthesis, humans and other animals drink it, and aquatic plants and animals live in it. Water also plays an important part in many natural and human processes and is a critical component of countless physical and chemical reactions. It also supports many economic activities. The amount of water in the world has remained constant. In fact, water hasnt changed in amount or nature for millions of years. It just keeps cycling and recycling from atmosphere to earth and back again. Freshwater is a precious resource as it makes up less than 3% of the earths total water resources. Because freshwater is so limited and plays such a key role in world health, economies, and environmental stability, it must be conserved and used in a sustainable manner. The efficient use of water implies doing more with less. Efficiencies can be gained in all sectors, including agriculture, municipal, domestic, and industry. Central to a successful water conservation program are an understanding of The water resource itself (baseline data and monitoring) How, when, and why water is used (water audits and metering) The full cost of providing water of suitable quality and disposing of wastewater Alternative water-efficient technologies, processes, and practices Attitudes and values related to water and the environment. Public education and awareness are necessary in implementing water conservation. However, they may need to be supplemented by appropriate legislation and regulations and economic incentives and disincentives, including consumption-based pricing. Demand for more water has been very common. This demand can be reduced by careful planning. This involves the following measures: More-efficient irrigation systems Drought-resistant cultivars and crop rotations More-efficient livestock watering systems Water metering and charging for water Use of effluent and wastewater for irrigation Household water conservation. The water resources have to be carefully managed through the following steps: Dividing water resources into various divisions for effective supply Laying a network of supply pipelines Building reservoirs for storing water Increasing water availability through groundwater extraction Treatment of wastewaters and making arrangement for their reuse Reducing losses through seepage and evaporation. Managing Excess Water. Sometimes, more water is available than the actual need. In such cases, the management of the excess water can be achieved by taking it to deficient areas through drainage: Many agricultural areas are low lying or located in flood plains and require drainage to be profitable. Good drainage improves plant growth and crop productivity, helps to reduce soil salinity and erosion, and allows farmers a wider selection of crops and a longer growing season, all of which help to reduce the costs of production. There are two types of artificial drainage system: surface and subsurface. Surface systems may contribute to declining water quality in watercourses by releasing drainage water containing sediments, nutrients, and chemicals. Subsurface systems release substances that leach through the soil, such as nitrate, pesticides, and bacteria. Drainage systems can also alter the environment by draining wetlands, removing riparian zones, increasing runoff, and changing a regions hydrology. Proper design and maintenance of drainage systems may alleviate some of these effects, but lost riparian and wetland systems are usually difficult and expensive to replace. On-farm drainage systems are not able to handle large volumes of stormwater received from developed uplands. Properly designed regional drainage systems may be needed to protect lowland agricultural areas. Even so, damage from major floods cannot always be prevented. Maintaining Reliable Water Supplies A sufficient supply of good quality water is needed for agricultural activities such as irrigation and livestock watering, as well as for domestic, municipal, industrial, recreational, and other uses. Water needs to be conserved for the lean periods such as drought. Droughts are very common but difficult to predict. They occur most often in dry regions, but other regions may also have shorter, less serious periods of drought. Drought threatens both crop and livestock production. With the potential threat of global warming and increasing trends in population, urbanization, and consumptive use, the impacts of drought can become more serious. The development of storage reservoirs is essential for maintaining adequate year-round supplies, particularly during the dry season. Groundwater is an important source of water and although the groundwater level goes down during the dry season, sufficient water can be extracted for meeting different needs. Sustainable use of groundwater resources depends on withdrawing water at rates that do not exceed recharge rates. Deep aquifers recharged only by water filtering through overlying materials are particularly at risk of over-withdrawals. Measures have been taken throughout the world for reuse of wastewater at least for irrigation and other non-drinking uses. An adequate supply of good-quality water available round the year is essential for all human activities. Concerns continue to mount regarding the availability of water as demands and competition for water grow in all sectors of society. Management of water supplies must consider all competing uses of water, including those associated with agriculture, industry, municipalities, recreation, and aquatic ecosystems. Drought Drought is a prolonged period of abnormally dry weather that depletes water resources. Because most human activities and ecosystems are dependent on reliable and adequate water resources, the impacts of drought are far reaching. Drought affects our lives by Putting stress on water and food supplies Degrading the environment through poorer water quality and more forest fires, soil erosion, and insect infestations Affecting the economy by reducing the capacity for agricultural production, power generation, transportation, and manufacturing, Causing soil moisture deficit in farmland soils and thereby threatening both crop and livestock production resulting in severe financial losses to farmers. Global warming scenarios predict that unless the warming is controlled, the frequency and severity of drought will increase and the occurrence will be unpredictable with respect to time and location. Three basic types of drought may occur separately or simultaneously: Meteorological drought occurs when precipitation is significantly below normal over a long period. Agricultural drought occurs when low soil moisture and scarce water supplies stunt crop growth, reduce crop yields, and endanger livestock. Hydrological drought occurs when a lengthy meteorological drought causes a sharp drop in the levels of groundwater, rivers, and lakes. The timing of a drought may determine its effects. For example, summer drought usually causes more problems because it coincides with the time of highest water demand. It is to be noted that drought is the result of several factors such as Below normal precipitation Extended hot dry air Already low soil moisture. Because of this complexity, a large range of climatic and hydrological variables are needed to monitor and detect drought, including temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, stream flows, and water supply conditions. The serious impacts of drought call for an integrated effort from the physical, biological, and social sciences to develop effective responses. Surface water management Surface water management requires effective measures to control the extremes of floods and droughts, while maintaining a reliable water supply to meet the basic needs of human life and the demands of economic development. Because of the high degree of variability of precipitation, water storage is a must to provide a year-round supply of water. The storage in the form of reservoirs, dams, dugouts, and natural lakes has been a common practice. A significant challenge to water managers is locating surface water supplies relative to that of water users. Water users (domestic, municipal, agricultural, and industrial) usually require a number of resources and services and are not always located near the water sources. Providing a reliable supply of water to users often requires distribution networks consisting of canals and pipelines. Wetlands Wetlands are areas saturated with water for long enough to significantly alter soil and vegetation and promote aquatic processes. The five main types of wetlands-bogs, fens, swamps, marshes, and shallow water-are characterized by A seasonal or permanent covering of shallow water A water table at or near the surface for most of the growing season Saturated organic soils, or peat, the productivity of which depends on the nutrient status and the pH of the site Water-loving plants, such as cattails, rushes, reeds, sedges, dogwood, willows, and cedars. Wetlands provide a number of environmental benefits, i.e. they provide habitat for wildlife, improve water quality by serving as biological filters and mechanical settling and filtering ponds, which help to remove impurities from the water, recharge groundwater, augment low flow in watercourses, serve as a buffer against drought, reduce the risk and damage of flooding by storing large volumes of water during heavy rainfall, rapid thaws, or runoff events, and stabilize shorelines. The other important services rendered by wetlan

Electronic File Sharing Essays -- Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Electronic File Sharing Often times new technology enables completely new activities, discoveries, and ways of living, once not possible without that particular technology. An example of this would be the microscope and telescope, which now allow us to see things not possible before. Other times, new technology allows us to do things which we did before, but in a different way.1 A good example of this is electronic file sharing over the Internet. Unauthorized file sharing was possible before the Internet, but on a much smaller scale. One person might have physically borrowed a music cd from another person and made a copy. With the Internet, it became possible for a single person to share (more like distribute without authorization) with the whole world with ease. This has allowed for the much more significant financial damage to the parties being taken advantage of, in this case, the music industry. In my view, this is wrong. Unauthorized file sharing is bad for all parties, whether they know it o r not, and should not be allowed. There are a couple of technologies that have really helped facilitate electronic file sharing. The first one is the MP3 file format. MP3 is a file format (like JPEG, DOC) which is used to store audible data (songs). It is a file compression format that reduces the size of files by 10-12 times. This compression is very valuable in that it allows quicker transfer of songs over the Internet.2 The second one is peer-to-peer architecture. The main characteristic of a pure peer to peer architecture is that peers interact directly with other peers without any centralized servers. This is different from most web applications (like amazon.com), which are client-server architectures. In c... ...on Post, 24 Jan. 2004, . 15. David McGuire, A Winning Strategy on Internet Piracy?, 2004, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2004, . 16. Santa Clara University, Chapter 6. Ethics, 3. 17. Santa Clara University, Chapter 6. Ethics, 3. 18. Santa Clara University, Chapter 6. Ethics, 3. 19. Santa Clara University, Chapter 6. Ethics, 3. 20. Santa Clara University, Chapter 6. Ethics, 3. 21. BBC, EMI Boss Defends Music Industry, 2003, BBC, 24 Jan. 2004, . 22. BBC, Strong Debut for iTunes for PCs, 2003, BBC, 24 Jan. 2004, .

Post-Post Critiques of Racism Essay -- Racism

Carrie Mae Weems and Hank Willis Thomas are two contemporary artists who are defying contemporary social and political categories and taking art photo into an engage era. The essays by Annie E Coombes provide a critical analysis of how the contemporary scene is moving beyond categories of post modern, and post race. Both are efforts to rescue contemporary artists who are dealing with forms of oppression from being described as old fashion or out of date. Carrie Mae Weems is an African American photographer. She was born in 1953 in Portland, Oregon and she currently resides in Brooklyn NY. Her work deals with the issues such as identity, racism, gender, etc. Weems moved to San Francisco after high school where she got her BA and then she finished her MFA in San Diego, CA. Her first body of work was â€Å"Family Pictures and Stories† which she finished in 1983. Almost all of her work is focused on racism, Gender and finding her own identity as an African American artist. She has won numerous awards for her work in the field of photography. â€Å"Friends of Photography named her photographer of the year. She was awarded â€Å"the distinguished photographer’s award† in 2005, for making contribution in the realm of photography. Her work has been exhibited across the United States, and internationally. The Coombes article on Weems contrasts the artist work against the political popularity of Obama (among Whites at least). Coombes is arguing that Weems is still relevant and that a critique of racism is still vital in American art. Weems draws on historical views of race but looks at it from a new and distinct way. She finds hidden racist themes in anthropological photographic styles that become very obvious when s... ...n tradition in politics and art that is conscious of race and racism. Both are however moving into new areas and could be called postmodern or post racism. Both critiques are trying to reclaim the post-political, or reposition political involvement in art. Art that is new a fresh connects older critiques of oppression to more recent ones. Reference: Official website of Hank Willis Thomas, http://hankwillisthomas.com/ Retrieve at 12/14/2011. Official website of Carrie Mae Weems, http://carriemaeweems.net/ Retrieve at 12/14/2011. Women in Photography International, http://www.womeninphotography.org/Events-Exhibits/DistinguishedPhotog/CarrieMaeWeems_2005/Weems.html Retrieve at 12/14/2011. W.E.B Du Bois Institute African and African American Research, http://dubois.fas.harvard.edu/hank-willis-thomas Retrieve at 12/14/2011.

Gulliver’s Fifth Voyage

I had been immobile for much too long and I was yearning to begin another great voyage when I decided that I would go due west to investigate the civilisation that dwelled there. It was mid-summer and my ship was to set out from Dover. I boarded the ship and was greeted by an old man, with a potbelly and crooked nose, accompanied by a scar from left ear to left eye. This, I assumed was my captain. I had been totally worn out by my long journey and inquired where my quarters would be, and the captain offered to show me himself. As we went below decks, there was less light, but I could still see where I was going. The captain went to a door that opened into a quite spacious cabin, with a bunk on the far wall, and a mahogany desk beside the door. With that, the captain left saying, ‘I hope everything is to your satisfaction, sir, and that you have a pleasant rest. ‘ This was the last I saw of the man. When I awoke the next morning, as I was about to take a walk along the coastline, I could see a sheet of bags scattered for miles with the words ‘Walkers', ‘Tayto' printed on them and round cans with ‘Coca Cola' wrote on it. I had never seen anything like this before; it must have been a way for the people who lived here to make it more decorative looking. Although I could see people in the distance pointing and shaking their head, theses people must have thought different. All I could see around me was a mass of round towering buildings, with thick, black smoke belting out of them and people coughing vigorously. It must have been their way off appreciating these works of art. I was aroused from my gaze by a deep, commanding voice, which was barking at me, ‘Who the hell are you? And where the hell are you from? ‘ I turned and saw that I was surrounded by a group of men, dressed in green garments, each holding a form of musket in their arms. I told the man who had barked at me that I was travelling the world and making journals on my findings. I told him that I would like to explore his country further. He agreed to show me around parts of the country, as much as he could. He introduced himself to be Pat Kenwood. As we moved further into the city, I felt more and more alienated as everyone stopped and stared at me. I felt depressed, as there was not a single person there like me. But then we came to this dark, dull street, quite unlike the rest of the city. As we walked on all I could see were people covered in filth, with their hands out, begging for food or money. I was astonished as people were actually giving them it. It was so jealous as these people were getting food for nothing, such an ingenious idea. I asked Pat why these people were living like this, and was told that the government has not the money to do anything for these people but instead they needed the it for the war effort. This seemed an excellent way to spend the money. We walked on for another mile or so, when I was startled by Pat yelling and pointing at what seemed to me like a tent with huge poles pushing out from the top of it. I asked what this monstrosity was and was given the reply that it was the Millennium Dome. I could see there was another one off those homeless people being dragged away. You wouldn't think it, but it only cost i800million to build. It was a way for the people to celebrate the new Millennium. Firstly I was shocked too that it only cost i800million. He explained to me that its main function was only to bring in the New Year and that after that it is virtually useless. Wow, i800million on a building that is only designed for one nights entertainment, it must have been some night. Then it struck me. He said Millennium and when I asked about this he replied, ‘You know, the year 2000. ‘ I was greatly disturbed by this, as I still believed it to be the 18th Century. When I had overcome the slight illness I began to feel, Pat offered to take me to a place called a ‘Cafi' where we would get a drink of tea. Pat explained to me that this was no ordinary, but an Internet Cafi. I was interested by these new contraptions called ‘Computers' I think. According to Pat they where designed to make books a thing of the past. I asked him to show me how to operate one, he handed me a book saying ‘Here's the manual, read it, and you'll know what to do†¦ ‘ The book was quite heavy, yet colourful, but it was confusing to me as it mentioned things like ‘keyboards' and ‘modems' and I had no what these things where. What intelligence, designing some thing to do away with books, yet you need to read a book to know how to work the thing. These people were even more disturbing than those from the Land of Lilliput. As we left the Cafi we found it hard to cross as there were so many mechanical machines known as ‘cars' moving up and down at intense speeds. I thought it remarkable that these machines don't knock down people but Pat corrected me by stating that people do get knocked down by these all the time, but only twenty-four have died this year. This seemed a small price to pay for such marvellous invention but out off know where we heard a loud thud and people screaming. There was somebody lying on the ground face-up, all bloody and twisted. A car moved of very fast and it had loud music coming out of it with young people bouncing up and down with bottles in their hands. This looked like good fun and wished I could join in. At this point I told Pat farewell and thanked him for all he had done. As I walked further in to the city, I was confronted by another group of men, this time dressed in black. I also noticed that they carried similar muskets to Pat and his gang. One of them asked ‘Why were you talking to that traitor? I hen had to explain that I was an explorer investigating their country. This seemed to interest them and their leader spoke ‘You had better listen to our side of the story as well. ‘ I agreed to this, as I did not want to appear biased, but to be fair I no longer felt intimidated by this group of men and felt I could relax while I listened to their story. But, as I began to sit, they dragged me up and told me it w as not safe here and that we would have to go to their safe house, called Dubnil. He introduced himself as Peter. He told me how a foreign power had invaded his country and that their government discriminated against the natives in favour of colonists. The natives decided to start a rebellion in order to fight for the rights, and their freedom. This made the foreign government introduce a plot called ‘ethnic cleansing' to eliminate the natives. This disgusted me as I had always associated cleansing as something that was pure and glorious, yet this brutal government used it to describe the most evil thing that I had ever heard of. This foreign government shocked me more than the viciousness of the leader in Lilliput. They described murder as cleansing which disturbed me so much that I was glad I never lived here and that none of my country's great leaders never acted in any manner that could be compared to the oppressors of this God-forsaken country. From the distance I could see this mobile cannon I asked Pete what this was. He told me that it was a ‘weapon of mass destruction' called a ‘nuclear bomb'. I asked what this all meant and he replied, ‘death, mutation, the end, storms, blackouts, cancer, tidal waves, flooding, drowning. I was greatly impressed by this weapon, as the weapons of my time could only kill one at a time. Pete offered to give me a view of the city and helped me scramble up a mountain of rubble. He handed me a pair of strange spectacles that enabled me to see further. I could see the entire city, demolished to rubble, and I could see five tanks patrolling the city. Adam said, ‘We love our country so much, we started blowing up this city to fight for our freedom. ‘ This was the most intelligent and sophisticated scheme I ever came across. I had become so caught up in my thoughts that I lost my concentration and slipped and rolled down the side of the mountain of rubble, crashing to the ground, which knocked me out cold. When I awoke I was on a bed in a long white corridor, which had quite a compelling smell of some chemicals or something. I sat up in the bed and before me was a woman in white uniform with a white hat. She apologised to me because there was a shortage of staff due to lack of government funding. I asked her what affect does this have on them and she replied, ‘disease, sick, suffering, heartache, failure, frustration, misery, depressing. Still, it seemed to make more sense if it was spent on things that made you happy like the Millennium Dome. I found myself drifting off into a deep sleep as the nurse injected something into my arm, it felt relaxing and before you know it I was at the Dover coast with no suspicion of how I got there. I found my expedition to be the most exciting I've ever been on as there were some great inventions such as nuclear bombs and magnificent structures such as the Millennium Dome. I am definitely going to come back soon as there is so much more to learn about this wonderful place again.

Survival Skills

Emergency Planning Immediately after an emergency, essential services may be cut-off and local disaster relief and government responders may not be able to reach you right away. Even if they could reach you, knowing what to do to protect yourself and your household is essential. Creating a disaster plan One of the most important steps you can take in preparing for emergencies is to develop a household disaster plan. 1. Learn about the natural disasters that could occur in your community from your local emergency management office.Learn whether hazardous materials are produced, stored or transported near your area. Learn about possible consequences of deliberate acts of terror. Ask how to prepare for each potential emergency and how to respond. 2. Talk with employers and school officials about their emergency response plans. 3. Talk with your household about potential emergencies and how to respond to each. Talk about what you would need to do in an evacuation. 4. Post emergency telep hone numbers by telephones. Teach children how and when to call 100.Emergency planning for people with special needs If you have a disability or special need, you may have to take additional steps to protect yourself and your household in an emergency. If you know of friends or neighbors with special needs, help them with these extra precautions. Examples include:Hearing impaired, Mobility impaired, Non-English speaking people. 1. Create a network of neighbors, relatives, friends and co-workers to aid you in an emergency. Discuss your needs and make sure they know how to operate necessary equipment. 2.If you live in an apartment building, ask the management to mark accessible exits clearly and to make arrangements to help you evacuate the building. 3. Those who are not disabled should learn who in their neighborhood or building is disabled so that they may assist them during emergencies. Disaster Supply Kits You may need to survive on your own for three days or more. This means havi ng your own water, food and emergency supplies. Try using backpacks or duffel bags to keep the supplies together. A disaster supply kit with essential ood, water, and supplies for at least three days-this kit should be kept in a designated place and be ready to â€Å"grab and go† in case you have to leave your home quickly because of a disaster. You should also have a disaster supply kit at work. This should be in one container, ready to â€Å"grab and go† in case you have to evacuate the building. Water: the absolute necessity Stocking water reserves should be a top priority. Drinking water in emergency situations should not be rationed. Store water in thoroughly washed plastic, fiberglass or enamel lined metal containers. Food: preparing an emergency supply.Food items that you might consider including in your disaster supply kit include: ready-to-eat meats, fruits, and vegetables; canned or boxed juices, milk, and soup; high-energy foods like peanut butter, jelly, lo w-sodium crackers, granola bars, and trail mix; vitamins; foods for infants or persons on special diets; cookies, hard candy; instant coffee, cereals, and powdered milk. You may need to survive on your own after a disaster. Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in hours, or it may take days.Basic services, such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and telephones, may be cut off for days, even a week or longer. Or you may have to evacuate at a moment's notice and take essentials with you. You probably won't have the opportunity to shop or search for the supplies you'll need. Your household will cope best by preparing for disaster before it strikes. First aid supplies Assemble a first aid kit for your home and for each vehicle: It may be difficult to obtain prescription medications during a disaster because stores may be closed or supplies may be limited.Ask your physician or pha rmacist about storing prescription medications. Be sure they are stored to meet instructions on the label and be mindful of expirations dates -be sure to keep your stored medication up to date. Clothes and bedding One complete change of clothing and footwear for each household member. Shoes should be sturdy work shoes or boots. It is important for you to be ready, wherever you may be when disaster strikes. With the checklists above you can now put together an appropriate disaster supply kits for your household:A disaster supply kit kept in the home with supplies for at least three days; Although it is unlikely that food supplies would be cut off for as long as two weeks, consider storing additional water, food, clothing and bedding other supplies to expand your supply kit to last up to two weeks. A work place disaster supply kit. It is important to store a personal supply of water and food at work; you will not be able to rely on water fountains or coolers. Women who wear high-heels should be sure to have comfortable flat shoes at their workplace in case an evacuation require walking long distances. A car disaster supply kit.Keep a smaller disaster supply kit in the trunk of you car. If you become stranded or are not able to return home, having these items will help you be more comfortable until help arrives. Add items for sever winter weather during months when heave snow or icy roads are possible-salt, sand, shovels, and extra winter clothing, including hats and gloves. ————————————————- Navigation ————————————————- Survival situations are sometimes resolved by finding one's way to safety, or one may need to move to find a more suitable location to wait for rescue.The sources observe that to do either of these safely requires some navigat ion equipment and skills. Types of navigation include: ————————————————- Celestial navigation, using the sun and the night sky to locate the cardinal directions and to maintain course of travel ————————————————- Using a  map and compass  together, particularly a  topographic map  or  trail map. ————————————————- â€Å"Navigation by observation† of terrain features on a map or otherwise known ————————————————- Using a  GPS  receiver, if one is available. Survival Skills Emergency Planning Immediately after an emergency, essential services may be cut-off and local disaster relief and government responders may not be able to reach you right away. Even if they could reach you, knowing what to do to protect yourself and your household is essential. Creating a disaster plan One of the most important steps you can take in preparing for emergencies is to develop a household disaster plan. 1. Learn about the natural disasters that could occur in your community from your local emergency management office.Learn whether hazardous materials are produced, stored or transported near your area. Learn about possible consequences of deliberate acts of terror. Ask how to prepare for each potential emergency and how to respond. 2. Talk with employers and school officials about their emergency response plans. 3. Talk with your household about potential emergencies and how to respond to each. Talk about what you would need to do in an evacuation. 4. Post emergency telep hone numbers by telephones. Teach children how and when to call 100.Emergency planning for people with special needs If you have a disability or special need, you may have to take additional steps to protect yourself and your household in an emergency. If you know of friends or neighbors with special needs, help them with these extra precautions. Examples include:Hearing impaired, Mobility impaired, Non-English speaking people. 1. Create a network of neighbors, relatives, friends and co-workers to aid you in an emergency. Discuss your needs and make sure they know how to operate necessary equipment. 2.If you live in an apartment building, ask the management to mark accessible exits clearly and to make arrangements to help you evacuate the building. 3. Those who are not disabled should learn who in their neighborhood or building is disabled so that they may assist them during emergencies. Disaster Supply Kits You may need to survive on your own for three days or more. This means havi ng your own water, food and emergency supplies. Try using backpacks or duffel bags to keep the supplies together. A disaster supply kit with essential ood, water, and supplies for at least three days-this kit should be kept in a designated place and be ready to â€Å"grab and go† in case you have to leave your home quickly because of a disaster. You should also have a disaster supply kit at work. This should be in one container, ready to â€Å"grab and go† in case you have to evacuate the building. Water: the absolute necessity Stocking water reserves should be a top priority. Drinking water in emergency situations should not be rationed. Store water in thoroughly washed plastic, fiberglass or enamel lined metal containers. Food: preparing an emergency supply.Food items that you might consider including in your disaster supply kit include: ready-to-eat meats, fruits, and vegetables; canned or boxed juices, milk, and soup; high-energy foods like peanut butter, jelly, lo w-sodium crackers, granola bars, and trail mix; vitamins; foods for infants or persons on special diets; cookies, hard candy; instant coffee, cereals, and powdered milk. You may need to survive on your own after a disaster. Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in hours, or it may take days.Basic services, such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and telephones, may be cut off for days, even a week or longer. Or you may have to evacuate at a moment's notice and take essentials with you. You probably won't have the opportunity to shop or search for the supplies you'll need. Your household will cope best by preparing for disaster before it strikes. First aid supplies Assemble a first aid kit for your home and for each vehicle: It may be difficult to obtain prescription medications during a disaster because stores may be closed or supplies may be limited.Ask your physician or pha rmacist about storing prescription medications. Be sure they are stored to meet instructions on the label and be mindful of expirations dates -be sure to keep your stored medication up to date. Clothes and bedding One complete change of clothing and footwear for each household member. Shoes should be sturdy work shoes or boots. It is important for you to be ready, wherever you may be when disaster strikes. With the checklists above you can now put together an appropriate disaster supply kits for your household:A disaster supply kit kept in the home with supplies for at least three days; Although it is unlikely that food supplies would be cut off for as long as two weeks, consider storing additional water, food, clothing and bedding other supplies to expand your supply kit to last up to two weeks. A work place disaster supply kit. It is important to store a personal supply of water and food at work; you will not be able to rely on water fountains or coolers. Women who wear high-heels should be sure to have comfortable flat shoes at their workplace in case an evacuation require walking long distances. A car disaster supply kit.Keep a smaller disaster supply kit in the trunk of you car. If you become stranded or are not able to return home, having these items will help you be more comfortable until help arrives. Add items for sever winter weather during months when heave snow or icy roads are possible-salt, sand, shovels, and extra winter clothing, including hats and gloves. ————————————————- Navigation ————————————————- Survival situations are sometimes resolved by finding one's way to safety, or one may need to move to find a more suitable location to wait for rescue.The sources observe that to do either of these safely requires some navigat ion equipment and skills. Types of navigation include: ————————————————- Celestial navigation, using the sun and the night sky to locate the cardinal directions and to maintain course of travel ————————————————- Using a  map and compass  together, particularly a  topographic map  or  trail map. ————————————————- â€Å"Navigation by observation† of terrain features on a map or otherwise known ————————————————- Using a  GPS  receiver, if one is available.