Wednesday, October 30, 2019

On the Internet tax and whether Arizona should or should not repeal Essay

On the Internet tax and whether Arizona should or should not repeal its law taxing online sales - Essay Example On the contrary, if not well considered they can act as barriers on investors whose markets exist online. The U.S constitution has two provisions from Supreme Court jurisprudence that define the enacting of nexus, which include Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Commercial clause. The court requires that a particular state cannot impose duties levying responsibilities on a seller who is not physically present in the state, under the Dormant Commerce law. This law is subject to amendments by the congress as the congressional regulation has influence on most tax-related policies. Congress may therefore allow different regulations to govern commerce between states. The law of physical presence of the seller and buyer still holds until when the congress may change the contents of the law. Another tax that is levied together with the sales tax is the use tax., During the sale of services and commodities in the same state, sales tax is imposed, while the residents incur a use tax if they purchase goods or services outside the state boundaries. Use tax play an important role in ensuring that the citizens of a particular state purchase goods within the boundaries and evade the sales tax. However, constitutionally enough bond or â€Å"nexus† must be put in place between businesses and state on the onset of a state imposing tax burden on a business that operates beyond its boundaries. Remarkably, there exist discriminatory taxes like the Commercial Clause that bars states that do not allow commerce between states. As a result, states that impose taxes on the remote out-of-state sellers and not on the sellers from within its boundaries are disciplined by a judicial scrutiny. The subject state is exempted only when the tax burden is excessive as compared to the local benefits. Supreme Court under the Due Process Clause offered a distinction between the nexus analysis and the dormant clause for congress. The

Monday, October 28, 2019

Computer Technology Essay Example for Free

Computer Technology Essay Charles Njogu, the name does not ring a bell does it? That is my name. Why should my name matter to you? It should matter because I am one of the biggest success stories to come out of my native country, Kenya. I come from a third world country and nothing I have ever achieved or have in life came on a silver platter. I worked hard to reach my status in my life now and I am working even harder to make sure that I do not waste any of the opportunities lady luck has thrown my way. Completing my education has always been my personal battle. There were some real times in the past when I thought that I would do better to throw in the towel and just give up. But I have a dream, a dream to help my countrymen realize a better life and for the future generation of Kenyans to have a better chance in life than my generation did. This is why I strive to reach even greater heights in my educational accomplishments. I want to be the example every Kenyan will look up to and realize that there is a brighter future ahead of them. All they have to do is keep moving towards the goal. No matter how impossible it seems. Though life was rough for me back home, I never let anyone derail me from achieving my goals. That character trait of mine was built up over the years of failure and hindrances that I had to overcome. Looking back on my educational achievements in Kenya, I amaze myself because I never believe I could all that and much more. I have always had a fascination with Computer Technology. This is why my earliest educational achievements were in this field. The Computer Training Center in Nairobi awarded me an ACP certificate in Computer programming back in 1993. This was quickly followed by an ACP Advance Diploma in Computer Studies as well as another ACP Diploma in Systems Analysis and Design. My interest in computers helped me understand that Management plays an important role in the way any office works. All the best computers and databases in the world will be rendered useless if efficient office management is not firmly established by the office right from the start. So I toyed with the idea of taking some management courses. After all, it has always been a personal dream of mine to own my own business someday and, hopefully, be able to teach my fellow Kenyans all about business management in order to help their business skills. Three years later, in 1996, graduated with a National Diploma in Business Management with an Advanced Certificate in Business Administration from the Kenya Institute of Management. For most people, that would be enough of an achievement to make them feel accomplished in life, but not me. I knew there was more to learn and that Kenya based educational institutions had probably taught me all that I they had to offer me. So I set my sights higher. This time, I was eyeing further advanced education in the United States of America. It was with great pride and joy that I was accepted into Brandeis University in Massachusetts. I attended the school as a masteral student of International Finance and Economics. My major was in International Finance and International Economics. I completed these studies back in 2003. Now, in 2007, am expecting to complete my Master of Science degree in Management and Systems with a major in Leadership and knowledge from New York University. You might ask yourself, with all these accomplishments, why would I still want to complete a Ph. D. in Management at Rutger University? The answer is really part of a very logical process of educating myself that is deeply rooted in my sense of self-accomplishment. I want to be a results oriented businessman with vast experience in business administration, financial management, information technology, knowledge and organizational management. I believe that in order to properly manage a business, I must be highly skilled in strategic planning, implementation and information systems auditing as well as knowing how to properly increase productivity while keeping a streamlined business operational. It is my intention to complete my Masteral Degree in Management because in the future, I wish to see a challenging career as a Business Systems Analyst, project manager, as well as a network engineer / person. These positions will require me to fully utilize all my extensive skills, analytical and leadership abilities in order to realize my potential for future growth. Why should Rutger University even bother to consider me for a student slot in the system? The answer to this lies in my soon to be published thesis entitled Managing Knowledge Capital: How Organizations Measure Knowledge Capital and How the Make It Grow. It was recently reviewed with much praise by Lydia Rich and should be published in the short-term future. In this thesis, I am reminding everyone that computers do not do the managing of businesses although they are an integral part of the management system. I proposed that what really keeps the business running is a thoroughly new, yet proven to be accurate method of determining the value of businesses today through proper management ideas. Lastly, I am sure you will want to know why I want to attend Rutger University. The answer, simply put is that I believe that your university will provide me with fertile ground where in I can learn even higher levels of academic theory and practice based on one of the most admirable Ph. D. curriculums this nation has to offer.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

As I Walked Out One Evening Essay -- Literary Analysis, W.H. Auden

W.H. Auden’s poem â€Å"As I Walked Out One Evening† belongs to the long tradition of poems chronicling the struggle between love and time. Like others, Auden’s lover uses images of â€Å"The Flower† (l. 19) and grandiose claims of love â€Å"Till China and Africa meet† (l. 10) to impress or coax the unseen lover to comply with his wishes. However, Auden deviates from this tradition in other ways. For example, these other works are mainly seduction poems. In Andrew Marvell’s â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†, time is (by association) a third party to a seduction, invoked to create fear and put pressure on the seducà ©e by reminding her of her mortality- as well as the seducer’s own vulnerability, and thus goad her towards his own ends. â€Å"As I Walked Out One Evening† is a narrative poem, and essentially a dialogue between a lover speaking to the unseen love and time responding to counter his claims. Auden argues that people are unaware of the world they live in and do not truly understand what it means to love and live by usage of apocalyptic images and a running motive of both time and water. â€Å"As I Walked Out One Evening† was written in 1937, a time of turmoil throughout the world and especially in Europe: the world was in hiatus between â€Å"the war to end all wars† and the second â€Å"war to end all wars† and Hitler was at this time gradually rising in power. Auden was very aware of the political climate, and this is reflected in his diction in the latter part of the poem. The fact that there are three distinct parts to this poem, the lover’s speech and the two halves of time’s speech, is indicative of the contemporary political clime: because the first World War was so horrifying many people could not believe and did not want to believe that it could happen aga... ... the poem: the observer who is a part of the scene and yet apart from it, who has a more distant perspective. In the first stanza, the exposition or setting, Auden uses the metaphor of â€Å"The crowds upon the pavement/Were fields of harvest wheat† (ll. 3-4) as observed by the narrator to first foreshadow the immediacy of time. â€Å"Harvest wheat† is both something living and something that is about to scythed and gathered en masse. The observer already has the knowledge that comes so painfully in stanza 14 for the lover, and in the end not only has â€Å"the deep river ran on† (l. 60) but so has the narrator. They are still here, â€Å"late in the evening† (l. 57) to observe the river of life that is still running, even after â€Å"the clocks had ceased their chiming† (l. 59) and â€Å"the lovers they were gone† (l. 58), symbolizing that life will endure the ravages of both death and time.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Criminal and constant Essay

What impression do we form of childhood in â€Å"I Remember, I Remember† and â€Å"Growing Up†? What similarities/differences do we recognise in the poets’ approach? In the poem â€Å"Growing Up†, by U. A. Fanthorpe, the main theme of childhood is trivialised by the poet in the first stanza. â€Å"Shoplifting daintily into my pram† implies gracefulness and therefore is a humorous. However, at the same time, it is light-hearted and trivialises the age of being a baby. The poet mocks the years when you are a baby, too, describing her action of â€Å"burrowing my way through the long yawn of infancy†. This suggests that she is hiding from the years of infancy. At the same time, it mocks infancy as the â€Å"long yawn† refers to the fact that babies tend to sleep a lot when they are very young. Fanthorpe’s choice of words shows her dislike for childhood. â€Å"Nudging† implies that childhood was urging her insistently and annoyingly to grow up, and she did not want to go through childhood. â€Å"Nudging† implies persistence, which can be perceived to be annoying. Moreover, she relates sordid and negative experiences with growing up. â€Å"Hairy, fleshy growths and monthly outbursts† and â€Å"blood-thighed† are examples of this. This emphasises her dislike for childhood. The poet shows that childhood is mechanical by describing the people who fit into society as â€Å"well-oiled bolts†. This is not a warm description of childhood, showing it to be a horrible part of life. The poet in this poem brings out the idea of childhood being inevitable. â€Å"I tried to annul the future, pretended I knew it already† implies her trying to ignore the future, but constantly getting evidence of her growing up into a woman. This shows that you can’t fight childhood, it will happen whether you like it, or not. The poem suggests that there is something sinister about childhood. Sinister vocabulary is used throughout it, like, â€Å"masking†, â€Å"sabotaging†, â€Å"criminal† and constant negative statements like, â€Å"Not a nice girl. No. † These quotations help to emphasise the negative tone of the poet’s view to childhood. Now I shall move on to analysing â€Å"I Remember, I Remember† by Philip Larkin. Initially, Larkin expresses his journey happened â€Å"in the cold new year†. This suggests that childhood is like a new beginning, but he is not hearty and warm towards it; he appears to be cold towards childhood. Next, Larkin expresses his negative feelings about childhood. â€Å"I wasn’t even clear which side was which† is rather casual, and the tone appears to suggest that he does not really care seriously about childhood. Simultaneously, he degrades childhood to little value when Larkin states, â€Å"No, only where my childhood was unspent, I wanted to retort, just where I started. † By this he means that his childhood was wasted and therefore, it was of little value for him. It was only the foundations of what he would experience in later life. He seems ashamed and embarrassed about his childhood when the poet writes, â€Å"staring at my boots†. At the same time, this implies boredom, too. It is in a complete contrast to the question that his friend asks in the next line, â€Å"Was that where you ‘have your roots? ‘† because roots implies stability, solidity and a positive anchorage symbol. It is a positive question, full of optimism, in contrast to the friend’s view on Coventry and his childhood. The enjambment and illogical order of his recollections of his childhood memories suggest a feeling of spontaneity, which may reflect the author’s view on growing up.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

All about russia

Every society in the world with its embolic powers of coexistence with the nature’s upheavals and society’s turbulence is always on the move towards growth and development for assuring the maintenance for the generation next. This typical feature of the Society is its Character by which it is recognized. This Character is further determined by the interaction of traditional culture, its Land and its social and political tendencies, which since centuries are digging deeper roots in the consciousness of the citizens and their intellectual attitude towards life and society.In 989 when St. Vladimir accepted Christianity, Russia took its first step forward to take over the heritage of Constantinopole. Again in 1453, when New Rome of Constantinopole had fallen to Turks, Moscow emerged as a â€Å"Third Rome† and the Soviet Union after taking its own course became a new synthesis of the dialectic of history and its Duke became the â€Å"Tsar of All the Russians†. The history of Russia begins with the East Slavs, an ethnic group, which was eventually split into Russia, Ukrainian and Belarusians.This group emerged from the Vikings who were the barbarian tribes and illiterate pagans indulged in the activity of raping and pillaging, but they were technologically quite advanced and had stable organizational set up. These Vikings entered the Black sea through the Russian river systems known as â€Å"Varangians† (from their name in Slavic, now Varyag in Russian), but when they settled in the area, they came to be known as Rus. Primary Chronicle even says that, â€Å"These particular Varangians were known as Russes. † (Ross, Successors of Rome: Russia, 862-Present, Grand Princes of Kiev, Para.1). Kievan Rus was the first East Salvic state that was converted to Christianity in 988(Online, Russian Church Architecture) and they brought with it the Cyrillic alphabet, which got authenticity by the Soviet Union along with the other unrelated languages like the Turkish of Central Asia. Poland and the Baltic States brought Latin alphabet characteristic of Francia and the Jews of Poland wrote Yiddish in the Hebrew alphabet. And with the passing time, the small nations of the Caucasus like the Armenians and Georgians started using their own alphabets.(Ross, Successors of Rome: Russia, 862-Present, Introduction, Para. 2) After the 13th century, Moscow became the vast cultural centre and by 18th century, the Grand Duchy of Moscow formed the huge Russian Empire, stretching from Poland towards the Pacific Ocean. By 19th century, development in the Western Countries created an incredible influence on the Russia, which led Russian regime to make the way for reforms for the overall growth and development. As a result, Russian serfdom was abolished in 1861 but it proved to be fruitless for the peasants that led to the building of revolutionary pressures.With the abolishment of Serfdom and the beginning of World War I in 1914, Russ ia saw numerous changes in the economy and politics. The most prominent reform was the reform of Stolypin agrarian reforms, which transferred the archaic obshchina form of Russian agriculture towards more progressive and capitalist oriented form of agriculture, giving private ownership rights to the farmers, second was the First constitution of 1906 which was also known as fundamental laws and was enacted on April 23rd, thirdly there was the establishment of State Duma.A State duma constituted one of the several representative assemblies of modern Russia. These reforms brought about numerous changes in economy and even in the politics of Russia, but still the autocratic rule of the Tsars did not vanish completely and the result was the Russian Revolution in 1917. There were two revolutions in Russia: First Revolution was the overthrowing of the Tsar and formation of the Provisional Government and the other was the October revolution in which Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Gove rnment.The life in Russia during Revolution saw the immense change and uncertainty. On one hand cities and industries were mushrooming whereas on the other hand there was great level of uncertainties. Rural population began to migrate more and more towards the Industrially centered areas, middle class of white-collar employees, businessmen, and professionals like doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists, engineers, etc. were on the rise. Nobles too were undergoing through different stages, finding ways to adjust themselves in this changing economy.Two types of classes emerged- proletarians and capitalists, who were divided along the lines of status, gender, age, ethnicity, and belief. There was emergence of different groups- migrating peasants, worker intellectuals, gentry professionals etc. which changed the whole texture of the life of people inculcating themselves into the world of materialism. This rapid industrialization led to the over crowding of the urban areas and poor condi tions for urban industrial workers.A new proletariat was formed between 1890 and 1910 due to the increase in the population of the St Petersburg and Moscow from 1,033,600 to 1,905,600. Thus there was unrest everywhere which was the ground enough for the Russian revolution to fuel. The Russian revolution brought the coalition of liberals and moderate socialists to power on the one hand and then Communist Bolsheviks on the other. Between 1922 and 1991, there was the beginning of the new era in the history of Russia when Soviet Union came into existence, a union that held the roots of ideological thoughts and perceptions.The beginning of the post-Stalinist in 1919’s saw the growth of media and intervention of TV and radio programs in its vicinity, which led to the real awakening among the Russians in all the social, political and economic spheres. Stalinism with this Marxism and Leninism approach replaced the New Economic Policy (NEP) in the year 1920 with Five Year Plans of 192 8 and collective farming, which by the end of 1930 led the Soviet Union to be emerged as the major Industrial power in the world, but this had adverse effect on the peasants due to the collective policy and the repressive measures of the Government.The repressions and political, social and economical upheavels led to the â€Å"era of stagnation† in the 1980s. But by the late 1980s, the weaknesses in the economic and political structures led the Communist leaders to embark upon the major reforms, resulting in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the Russian Federation. By the mid of 1990 when Yeltsin came to power he adopted most unpopular Yegor Gaidar’s shock therapy for putting an end to the price controls, cutting in state spending, and starting of the open foreign trade regime in early 1992.These reforms were the blow to the living standards of most of its citizens, especially for the groups who were enjoying the benefits of Soviet-era state-control led wages and prices, state subsidies, and welfare entitlement programs and consequently Russia suffered an economic downturn much more severe than the United States or Germany had undergone six decades earlier during the Great Depression. On the other hand these economic reforms opened the doors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, for the largest and fastest privatization in the world.The big enterprises were acquired by the old managers, leading to criminal mafias and Western investors, and at the bottom level there was inflation, unemployment, prostitution, and crime. Tax revenues had collapsed and Russia's economy was further plunged into the Financial crises in 1998. Russian Economy again recovered in 1999, due to the increase in the world price of oil and gas. (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, Russian Federation, para. 5) By 2000, Yeltsin gave his resignation, and gave the reigns of the government to the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin.The whole of the character of th e Russian Industry was dependent on the combined efforts from the various spheres of economy. Russia did not rely on the European powers but leaped towards the development on its own efforts, the separate branches made tremendous progress, which rose with extraordinary speed especially between the first revolution and the war and made the Russian historians say, â€Å"We must abandon the legend of backwardness and slow growth. † When the war was at its peak the tzarist Russia had prospered to considerable degree; as for every one hundred square kilometres of land, Russia had, at the time of war, 0.4 kilometers of railroads, Germany 11. 7, Austria-Hungary 7. (Trotsky, Peculiarities of Russia’s Development, Para. 17). The Financial Institutions had also developed in Russia to implement the growth of Industrial Revolution but the heavy industries such as metal, coal and oil were all under the control of foreign finance capital, which had created auxiliary and intermediate system of banks in Russia, and it was true for light industries also. The other nations were holding 40 per cent of the stock capital of Russia, but in the leading branches of industry this percentage was much higher.The Russian industry even influenced the social character of the Russian bourgeoisie and its political physiognomy and the concentration of the industries meant that there was no hierarchy of transitional layers between the capitalist leaders and the popular masses, but the ownership of the foreign hands led to un-stability. All these factors along with the concentrated oppressions of tzarism led the Russian workers towards the revolutionary thoughts. Russia at the onslaught of the twentieth century had a population of about 150 million, out of whom more than 3 million were in Petrograd and Moscow, from which emerged social differences.From the artisans and independent peasants of the army of Cromwell and through the sansculottes of Paris – to the industrial pro letarians of St. Petersburg, the revolution deeply changed its social mechanism methods, and its aims. (Trotsky, Peculiarities of Russia’s Development, Para. 24). Thus this Russian Revolution made the tzarism to fall and the bourgeoisie became economically more powerful. In the beginning, the Russian revolution was called as the democratic revolution but caused the problem of political democracy.Once Vladimir Lenin says, â€Å"If you have no opportunity to implement the proclaimed slogans, revoke them! And in fact the Bolsheviks lacked the skill to do that† (Birshtein, Russian Character In The Aspect Of Reflexive Comprehension, Para. 27) Russia’s character now lies in its perusal of regional policies for nationalistic, strategic and for the development of economic resources, but there never emerged the need for reducing regional and income disparities in the standard of living of the people.Even Lenin said once, â€Å"Russian Empire was a â€Å"prison-house of nations† but so was the Soviet Union and so is the Russian Federation of today†. (Watkins, Economy of Russia, para. 1) Russia by now is not just a geographical space but its citizens by inheriting their ancient traditions have cultivated new behavioral and spiritual moulds. The number of Billionaires has grown up-to 53, which makes Russia in the third place of Forbis list with billionaires of the world. Russia is also the second biggest Oil manufacturer after Saudi Arabia. The estimated growth rate of Russia is 6.6% in 2006 and now above 6%. Its foreign debt is totaled 8% of the GNP but it is also true that majority of the Russian population is crushing under the poverty line, there is hindrance in the expression of civil liberties, centralization of power and decline of all societal values. (Stanfel, Social Unrest In The Land Of Billionaires, Para. 6) On one hand there is an upsurge of Billionaires whereas on the other hand for common citizens, life in Russia is a stru ggle. Even though there is a considerable reduction of the inflation rate it is still on the higher rate, which goes up-to nine percent a year.The average salary of the citizen amounts to half the average salary in Croatia. Russian peasants are below the poverty line whereas Billionaires are using expensive yachts to cross the rivers because of the slow traffic on the roads. (Stanfel, Social Unrest In The Land Of Billionaires, Para. 8. ) Looking at the social life in the 20th century, and with the advent of the new technology in Media and cultural affairs it was analyzed by the Intellectuals that the role of Media could exert a negative impact on the social ideologies and evolution of human beings in capitalist and socialist countries.The advocates of the socialist ideologies consider that the penetration of western social ideas and artistic values into the minds of Soviet people can lead the Soviet youth towards the violence and pornography of bourgeois pop-art which has started sp reading like wild fire and is taking the rich culture of Russia in its vicinity. As expressed by Ashin: â€Å"one who approaches the analysis of `mass culture' predominantly from the assumption about its content and social functions is compelled to deny it in the conditions of socialism†.(Yerofeyev, Youth and The System of Cultural Reproduction: Rethinking the Critique of Mass Culture in the Soviet Union†, Para. 6) Thus, in the past ten years, the life of Russia has considerably changed in all the economic, political and cultural spheres. The contemporary younger generation Russians are growing up in a pluralistic, westernized society and does not recognize themselves with the totalitarian government and are following the free market rules in all their business activities.The biggest group of Russians participated in the democratization and glasnost movement. The oldest group are finding themselves outplace and with communism enshrined in their blood, they are more cons ervatives and are finding very difficult to adjust to the fast pace Russia. The changes in the business arena also are going on at a rapid pace but there is no clear-cut rule. Younger generation is not allowing the rule of central planning and bureaucratic structure to enter in economic field and on the other hand the older generations are against capitalist way of thinking.Though it is a Patriarchy society, women are making their mark felt in the economic development in the large numbers though they have to involve themselves in the domestic chores. They can work, own property and sign contracts. The soul of Russia is hospitality of its people. Their openness and friendliness with which they welcome the strangers cannot be forgotten in the generations ahead. (Olga Ivanova-Nuss and Katrin Franz, People and Life in Contemporary Russia, Para. 8-10).Thus the character of Russia as said by classical philosophical thinker Nikolai Berdyaev (1874-1948), who was persecuted in Soviet Russia and was emigrated in 1922 to Berlin and then to Paris said that the spiritual structure of the Russian people is their attribute towards the Westernization, basically Russia is the Christian East. â€Å"This contradiction-filled nature of the Russian soul was determined by the complexity of the Russian historical destiny, collision and antagonism of the Eastern and Western elements in it†¦.Among the Russian â€Å"the nature† is a spontaneous force stronger than among the Western people†. (Birshtein, Russian Character In the Aspect of Reflexive comprehension, Para. 20) WORKS CITED 1. Birshtein I. B â€Å"Russian Character In The Aspect Of Reflexive Comprehension† Internet (2003) Available: http://72. 14. 235. 104/search? q=cache:P-QWqYb3dXMJ:www. reflexion. ru/Library/EBirshtein2003. doc+development+of+Russian+character+through+ages&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=in&ie=UTF-8, April 26, 2007 2. Ivanova-Nuss Olga & Franz katrin, â€Å"People and Life in Contemporary R ussia,† Internet Available:http://216. 239. 59. 104/search? q=cache:lTkoqb_4BF8J:www. culturalawareness. com/Newsletter-2002-04. pdf+Social+life+of+Russia&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=in, April 26, 2007 3. Kaboub Fadhel â€Å"A Rising Tide Cannot Lift All Boats† Internet (February 2001) Available: http://f. students. umkc. edu/fkfc8/RisingTide. html, April 26, 2007 4. Reuters, Javno. com â€Å"Russia-Berezovsky: Tycoon Stands by Threat to Topple Putin† Internet Available: http://www. javno. com/en/world/clanak. php? id=35911, April 26, 2007 5. Ross L. Kelley, â€Å"Successors of Rome: Russia, 862-Present† Internet (1999) Available:http://www. friesian. com/russia. htm, April 26, 2007 6. Stanfel Nikolina, â€Å"A New Revolution? † Internet (March 11, 2007) Available: http://www. javno. com/en/world/clanak. php? id=25573, April 26, 2007 7. Trotsky Leon, â€Å"Peculiarities of Russia’s Development† Volume One: The Overthrow of Tzarism, The Histo ry of the Russian Revolution ONLINE VERSION: Translated by Max Eastman, 1932, Transcribed for the W. W. W by John Gowland (Australia), Alphanos Pangas (Greece) and David Walters (United States) 1997 through 2000 Internet (Updated:15. 4. 2007) Available: http://www. marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/hrr/ch01. htm, April 26, 2007 8. Watkins Thayer, â€Å"The Economic History and Economy of Russia† Internet. Available: http://www. sjsu. edu/faculty/watkins/russia. htm, April 26, 2007 9. Wikipedia Encyclopedia, â€Å"History of Russia† Internet (Last Updated: 24 April 2007) Available: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_Russia, April 26, 2007 10. Yerofeyev Sergey, â€Å"Youth and The System of Cultural Reproduction: Rethinking the Critique of Mass Culture in the Soviet Union† Internet Available: http://lucy. ukc. ac. uk/csacpub/russian/yerofeyev. html

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Illegal Music Downloading Essays

Illegal Music Downloading Essays Illegal Music Downloading Essay Illegal Music Downloading Essay Anastasia 1 Professor Edgar Dana ENC1101 4 September 2012 Effects of Illegal Downloading on the Music Industry Are you willing to face a money-draining lawsuit by the simple click of a mouse? One of the biggest issues today regarding the relation between record companies and all of their eager listeners is illegally downloading music from the Internet. Most people look past the many reasons one shouldn’t download their favorite tracks for free only because now days it’s made easy. However, they should be aware of the consequences that could come from something so simple. We should understand that taking the music for free, we are committing a crime and harming the music industry and limiting the future artists and their creativity. No matter what, when it comes down to it, downloading music without paying is stealing Stealing artists’ hard work is not only unethical but also immoral. We are not only stealing profit from artists but also the record companies that have hundreds of people making a living from these albums. Just like you and me, these employees deserve payments for their hard work and long hours. The artists spend the majority of their time writing and perfecting their songs just for consumers to steal it in a matter of 15 seconds easy. According to the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) website, in the decade since peer-to-peer (p2p) file-sharing site Napster emerged in 1999; music sales in the U. S. have dropped 47 percent, from $14. 6 billion to $7. 7 billion. From 2004 through 2009 alone, approximately 30billion songs were illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks. Stats show, global music piracy causes $12. 5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U. S. jobs lost, a loss of $2. 7 billion in workers earnings, and a loss of $422 million in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in lost corporate income and production taxes. Can you imagine this coming from your own pocket? According to the RIAA, copyright law protects the value of creative work. When you make unauthorized copies of someone’s creative work, you are taking something of value from the owner without his or her permission. Most likely, you’ve seen the FBI warning about unauthorized copying at the beginning of a movie DVD. Though you may not find these messages on all compact discs or music you’ve downloaded from the Internet, the same laws apply. Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, rental or digital transmission of copyrighted sound recordings. (Title 17, United States Code, Sections 501 and 506). There have been many cases where people were guilty of music piracy and left with a felony record, accompanied by up to five years of jail time and fines up to $250,000. Wouldn’t you much rather pay 10$ for an album? One of the most important factors to consider is the artists’ creativity and all the upcoming artists motivation. If artists start loosing chunks of their profit, pretty soon no one will even bother putting in the time, effort, and skill into their music. This means we will not enjoy new music and eventually the industry will die. Music is a very important factor to every day life. Without music the world would lack entertainment, culture and expression, resulting in a very boring environment. In conclusion there are many consequences that could come from something so simple like illegal music downloading. We should understand that taking the music for free, we are committing a crime and harming the music industry and limiting the future artists and their creativity. No matter how easy, when it comes down to it, illegal music downloading is wrong and affects everyone in different ways.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Stalin v. Hitler essays

Stalin v. Hitler essays Stalin and Hitler ruled over regimes considered totalitarian by the definition that they maintained extreme control on political, social, and economic aspects of life in their respective countries with the purpose of pursuing their own ideological ends. Although these two regimes are very similar in many respects they, like red apples and green apples, are clearly in-exchangeable. The Soviet Union, under Stalin, was ruled with an iron fist. Death was the punishment exacted for being useless to the ends of the government. Stalin was the government, and the government was Stalin. Zero factionalism could be expressed, else one would meet death. He maintained complete control over everything. Stalins goal was to bring Russia up to par with the standards of the western world. In lieu of this ideology, Stalin actively took over the economy. With the express intent of making industry a staple of the economy in Russia, Stalin sold all grain produced by Russia, and injected that money into the industry of the country (at the cost of his people having grain to consume). He then set up Gosplan, a central economic planning agency, whose duty was to create broad goals for all sections of business in Russia. Thus, Gosplan became the economy of the Soviet Union. This was an inefficient form of economic control which, due to its lack of dependence upon producer and consumer choices, traded the well-being of the people for the good of the ideology. Through this intense control of the economic and political aspects of life, Stalin, too, controlled the social lives of his people. Gosplan determined where one would live and work, and a belief in the ideology that Stalin preached caused citizens to report any insubordination to Stalin and his ideals. Those that resisted would simply be killed. The KGB, the Russian secret police, were Stalins agent that was responsible for carrying out most of Stalins ordered death in the ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Benjamin Tucker Tanner

Benjamin Tucker Tanner Overview Benjamin Tucker Tanner  was a prominent figure in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME)  Church  . As a clergyman and news editor, Tucker played a pivotal role in the lives of African-Americans as the Jim Crow Era became a reality. Throughout his career as a religious leader, Tucker integrated the importance of social and political power with fighting racial inequality.   Early Life and Education Tanner was born on December 25, 1835 in Pittsburgh to Hugh and Isabella Tanner. At the age of 17, Tanner became a student at Avery College. By 1856, Tanner had joined the AME Church and continued to further his education at Western Theological Seminary. While a seminary student, Tanner received his license to preach in the AME Church. While studying at Avery College, Tanner met and married Sarah Elizabeth Miller, a former slave who had escaped on the Underground Railroad. Through their union, the couple had four children, including Halle Tanner Dillon Johnson, one of the first African-American women to become a physician in the United States and Henry Osawa Tanner, the most distinguished African-American artist of the 19th Century. In 1860, Tanner graduated from Western Theological Seminary with a pastoral certificate.   Within two years, he established an AME Church in Washington D.C. Benjamin Tucker Tanner: AME Minister and Bishop While serving as a minister, Tanner established the United States first school for freed African-Americans in the United States Navy Yard in Washington D.C. Several years later, he supervised freedmans schools in Frederick County, Maryland. During this time, he also published his first book, An Apology for African Methodism in 1867. Elected Secretary of the AME General Conference in 1868, Tanner was also named editor of Christian Recorder. The Christian Recorder soon became the largest circulating African-American newspapers in the United States. By 1878, Tanner received his Doctor of Divinity degree from Wilberforce College.   Soon after, Tanner published his book, Outline and Government of the AME Church and was appointed editor of the newly established AME newspaper, AME Church Review. In 1888, Tanner became a bishop of the AME Church. Death Tanner died on January 14, 1923 in Washington D.C.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Health Issues as It Relates Health In High sSchool Education Essay

Health Issues as It Relates Health In High sSchool Education - Essay Example Keeping this in mind, the writer has felt that it would be essential to conduct a probe into a serious concern of high school education, that is, use and abuse of alcohol, since this has a major impact on the health and educational pursuits of students. The designing of this Research study has been carried out for determining the positive, or negative impacts of drinking by high school students, on their learning and academic performance. Importance of this research: Health hazards caused by use of alcohol by high school students has assumed serious dimensions and has adversely affecting academic performance in the student community; it also connotes indisciplined in class behaviour, lowering of ethical and moral standards, sexual permissiveness under the influence of excessive alcohol and a host of other social and physiological problems, besides endangering students' mental health, well being and their future college studies. Despite the fact that social and Governmental organizations have long evolved policies, practices and programs for curbing this social evil, the truth remains that much more effective policy making and implementation needs to be done in these vital areas which have grave socio-economic and medical implications. The research Hypothesis: is based on the premise that alcohol interferes with the functioning of impressionable minds of high school students, causing mental debility & lack of mental co-ordination, affecting academic performance among high school students Aims of the study In order to curb the use of alcohol and its detrimental effects on the high school student population, as a whole, it has become necessary to introduce and... This essay stresses that the findings of the experiments conducted proved beyond doubt that â€Å"alcohol is a powerful drug that slows down the body and mind. It impairs co-ordination; slows reaction time; and impairs vision, clear thinking and judgment....drinking while the brain is growing may lead to long lasting intellectual effects and may even increase the likelihood of delayed alcoholic dependence later in life.† This tested hypothesis that attributes alcohol as one of the main drugs for substance abuse, in today’s high school population has been established, both by the current literature written by eminent scholars and practitioners, and also by independent empirical studies. In today’s social settings, especially in the field of High School educational pursuits, the use of alcohol, substance abuse and permissive sexual behaviour have become a common phenomenon among school students, especially in the developed world. This paper makes a conclusion that the school administration should enforce individual programmes that could create a social environment that could actively discourage, if not reduce the use of drug by school children. A holistic approach, involving the student community, teachers, social workers, school administration and, most importantly, the parents needs to be taken in order to address a permanent solution to the problem. It is believed that creating awareness and self belief is more important that strict enforcement, since these measures could have contrary results, which may not in total alignment to the fundamental purposes for its enunciation.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Software Engineering CW4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Software Engineering CW4 - Essay Example In the engineering sector, fire safety has remained a highly critical undertaking regarding any project initiated in the contemporary world. According to Casey and Grant (2008), the risks posed by fires in the current times, continues to cause a serious challenge to engineers across the entire profession. The requirement of control measures to fire outbreaks becomes an imperative undertaking in the construction of buildings. Therefore, Fire and Security Alarm Monitoring (FASAM) has a greater role in the engineering projects. Fire safety, remains a key concern for many engineers and leads to the initiation of fire safety elements in the projects forming a core part in their implementation (Garis and Clare 2012). This is dictated by diverse challenges emanating from the fire concerns. The requirements for fire fighting equipments like fire extinguishers comes in handy and are highly critical in this context. Further, the installation of an automated fire safety remains essential in ens uring fire safety within expansive buildings. According to NICET (2010), the understanding of various types of fire alarms system forms a basic concept in the fire control. The construction and development of fire safety reporting software could be termed as the beginning of developing a Fire and Security Alarm Monitoring (FASAM) system. The development of automated system could essentially provide immense assistance to the security of fire within buildings or industrial premises. This paper aims at looking at the goals and principles underpinning the FASAM in software engineering as well as the achievements realised. 2.0. Goals and Principles of Software Engineering in regard to FASAM 2.1. Goals The automated Fire and Security Alarm Monitoring system ought to achieve several organisational goals in dealing with the threats posed by fire, and other security concerns within large buildings. The main operational goals of developing the automated system revolve around ensuring that the security threats become handled in a timely and efficient manner (Schwalbe 2005). Among the fundamental concerns that might ensure timely response, include ensuring the involved individuals remain prepared for unexpected occurrences. Preparedness of the involved individuals shall be ensured through the information gathered from the system on a daily basis. The main goals which the FASAM system should achieve include: Providing detailed information concerning the security of the building to the relevant authorities involved in security management. Activating security and fire alarms, in the event of a safety threat, occurring within the concerned building. Storing the information regarding daily occurrences within the building that might assist involved individuals in improving the security within the building. 2.2. Basic Principles According to Pressman (2005), the software development process follows the specified basic principles utilized in development of software within the sof tware engineering profession. The utilized principles govern the profession where development of new programs involves coming up with systems aimed at performing duties previously performed manually. The development of this FASAM system shall inherently involve the conversion of the

CORPORATE RESEARCH PAPER about US airways Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CORPORATE about US airways - Research Paper Example The company’s maximum frequency is between New York, Boston and Washington D.C., where it provides hourly services. In order to diversify their operations internationally, the US Airlines decided to merge with American Airlines in February 2013. From the research it was found that if the merger is successful then it has the potential to create the largest airline in the world in terms of global market access. The deal is expected to close by the end of third quarter this year. The key shareholding pattern of the merger is that US Airways would hold 28% stake of merged company where as the American Airlines will hold the remaining 72%. It was also decided between the shareholders’ of both the companies that the merged entity would carry the name and brand of American Airlines and the holding company will be named American Airlines Group Inc. The airline company has reported operating income over USD 425 million for the year ending 2011, with net income over USD 71 millio n. The total asset of the company was found to be USD 8.34 billion for the year ending 2011. The subsidiaries of US Airways are Piedmont Airlines, Inc., Shuttle inc., PSA Airlines, Inc., US Airways Express, Material Service Company, Inc., Airways Assurance Limited, LLC, Mesa Air Group, and Potomac Air, Inc. The following table highlights the breakdown of sales assets and income of US Airways and their involvement in international trades: B. Foreign Exchange (FX) Risk Management Policy The company is centrally managed and the management actively participates in corporate governance. The company also has many subsidiaries that are located in the domestic market as well as the international markets. The subsidiaries of US Airways are Piedmont Airlines, Inc., Shuttle inc., PSA Airlines, Inc., US Airways Express, Material Service Company, Inc., Airways Assurance Limited, LLC, Mesa Air Group, and Potomac Air, Inc. In order to maintain accountability between various divisions, the Board of Directors is represented by the chairman of the company who is the most important individual regarding execution of strategic decisions taken by the Board. The chairman of the company is assisted by vice chairman and many professionals belong to different areas of expertise such as the Finance committee, labor committee, and so on. The parent company of US Airways is the US Airways Group which is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, United States. The company operates in Aviation sector which requires fuel consumption. The underlying of fuel is the crude oil prices that are very volatile and uncertain. This exposes the company to transactional risk. Also, the company has prominent exposure in international markets which implies that US Airways operates in different currencies. Any appreciation or depreciation of home currency with respect to foreign currency may turn out to be favorable or unfavorable, ultimately exposing the company to translational risk when the company would prepare its consolidated financial statements from collecting data from different subsidiaries (Triantis, pp.558-562). In order to manage these risks the company used currency hedge and forward contracts prior to the year 2008 and reported them in their consolidated financial reports using hedge accounting at fair value of hedged assets and liabilities. C. Use of Derivatives for Funding, Investing and Other price Risk After the third quarter of 2008, US

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Southwest Airlines Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Southwest Airlines - Case Study Example The company battled in court against its rivals in Texas to establish for almost four years. In 1971, Lamar Muse joined the company as the CEO and led the company to an attractive IPO (Thompson & Gamble, 2011). Together with funds from private investors, and the IPO, the company managed to raise lose to seven million USD, funds that were used to purchase aircraft, equipment, and start-up capital. The company hired several relented senior staff most of who were veteran executives from other airlines. The company’s first flight went through successfully. As of mid 2001, the company had a fleet of about 350 planes plying across 58 airports in the U.S., and boasted of enjoying a turnover of about 5.5 billion USD annually (Thompson & Gamble, 2011, p.281). The company used different strategies to grow and in 2010, the company emerged the share leader of US domestic air travel (1). The company transported more passengers to various destinations in the United States than any other air line in 2010. Furthermore, the company boasted of offering the most reliable schedule and made profits consistently over the years unlike many of its counterparts. Company Strategy The Southwest Airlines has applied several strategies to see its success in the competitive market environment. Some of its strategies included providing hostesses with attractive clothing, offering free drinks to passengers, using an attractive tagline, and increasing its operational capacity without having to buy more planes initially. The company also realised its main market segments (business travellers and price sensitive leisure travellers) and maintained lower turnaround times compared to its competitors (Thompson & Gamble, 2011, p.279). Yet again, the company applied a different pricing strategy by incorporating different fare prices for the on-peak and off-peak periods. Essentially, the airline pursued a strategy that revolved around low cost, no frills and low prices (Thompson & Gamble, 2011, p .285). The company presented a customer care service that was dedicated to customer satisfaction with a fun loving attitude and happy face. The Southwest Airlines low cost-low price and no delays strategy emerged a winning strategy going by the remarkable results it has achieved over the years. As previously noted, the company consistently made profits and its customer and revenue base kept growing against those of its counterparts. The strategy is lovely considering that it focuses on the very needs of the targeted market segments without forgetting about the employees (Thompson & Gamble, 2011). On a scale of 1-10 with ten being the best score, I would give the company a rank of 8. Southwest’s Culture An organization is said to have a strong culture if its employees respond to stimulus owing toe the way they are aligned to the values of the organization. The Southwest Airlines has a strong culture that is pegged on various elements. The employees of the company are well trai ned and respond to the needs of the customer and the values of the organization efficiently. The company maintains a culture of keeping employees happy and motivated so that they can offer quality services. Furthermore, the company maintains a culture of excellent customer service. The company also maintains a culture of hard work, innovativeness, and teamwork. With the departure of Herb Kelleher, Gary Kelly is bound to face a number of challenges with respect to maintaining the company’s cultural commitments. For one, the company’s reputation has been tarnished following some accident and safety incidences which may affect the morale

Health Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Health Psychology - Essay Example While the biomedical model is good in gaining a comprehension of the purely medical aspects concerning a patient's health the biopsychosocial is being found to be fundamentally imperative because it incorporates the actual mental states and physical states of the human being. For example, the biopsychosocial model introduces the emotional state, personal issues, family issues, and community issues that might have an affect on a patient's health and medical diagnosis. Therefore the acceptance of this model has stemmed from the fact that medical providers have now come to the realization that the psychological influences in an individual's life can alter the medical care and affect the patient outcome (Borrell-Correlo et al 2004, pg. 577). 2. Investigate Cultural differences in the incidence and prevalence of various diseases, such as HIV/Aids, and Cancer and of life expectancy. What factors do you believe are related to these differences. present, many different cultures approach these based on their religious beliefs, social customs, and over all societal views of them (Martin & Kukall 1996, pg. 993). For instance with Alzheimer's disease, those with a Latino background are more apt to care for their family member at home rather than placing them in a nursing care facility. This is in comparison to how Americans often care for a relative with this medical prognosis. Australian culture follows much the same type of philosophy; with diseases such as AID's, and even Cancer having an influential factor in the life expectancy that might present itself. This is due to the fact that these two cultural bodies carry a collectivist attitude instead of an individualistic one such as Americans have. Therefore, obviously the factors that play a pertinent role in disease and how different cultures relate to it are listed as follows, religion, family bonds, social perception, personal values, societal view, and community support. This clearly shows that some cultures focus more on the psychological aspects of the medical diagnosis; more so than what the actual biological bearing is going to be. 3. What is the Placebo Affect, and why is it often important to include a placebo in health research A placebo is simply an inactive element in medicine that has absolutely no affect on any medical outcome. It is or can be a pill that holds no medicinal qualities, a liquid of the same quality, or even an intravenous fluid that is used in medical studies and other experiments to see if the patient or individual in a study perceives there to be an actual affect. The main purpose is to test the strength of the actual drug and to compare the two too see if the real medicine does promote improved health and destroy cells in the body that can promote more health complications, depending upon what it is being developed for (Hrobjartsson & Gotzsche 2001, pg. 1594). The importance of including a placebo in medical

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Southwest Airlines Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Southwest Airlines - Case Study Example The company battled in court against its rivals in Texas to establish for almost four years. In 1971, Lamar Muse joined the company as the CEO and led the company to an attractive IPO (Thompson & Gamble, 2011). Together with funds from private investors, and the IPO, the company managed to raise lose to seven million USD, funds that were used to purchase aircraft, equipment, and start-up capital. The company hired several relented senior staff most of who were veteran executives from other airlines. The company’s first flight went through successfully. As of mid 2001, the company had a fleet of about 350 planes plying across 58 airports in the U.S., and boasted of enjoying a turnover of about 5.5 billion USD annually (Thompson & Gamble, 2011, p.281). The company used different strategies to grow and in 2010, the company emerged the share leader of US domestic air travel (1). The company transported more passengers to various destinations in the United States than any other air line in 2010. Furthermore, the company boasted of offering the most reliable schedule and made profits consistently over the years unlike many of its counterparts. Company Strategy The Southwest Airlines has applied several strategies to see its success in the competitive market environment. Some of its strategies included providing hostesses with attractive clothing, offering free drinks to passengers, using an attractive tagline, and increasing its operational capacity without having to buy more planes initially. The company also realised its main market segments (business travellers and price sensitive leisure travellers) and maintained lower turnaround times compared to its competitors (Thompson & Gamble, 2011, p.279). Yet again, the company applied a different pricing strategy by incorporating different fare prices for the on-peak and off-peak periods. Essentially, the airline pursued a strategy that revolved around low cost, no frills and low prices (Thompson & Gamble, 2011, p .285). The company presented a customer care service that was dedicated to customer satisfaction with a fun loving attitude and happy face. The Southwest Airlines low cost-low price and no delays strategy emerged a winning strategy going by the remarkable results it has achieved over the years. As previously noted, the company consistently made profits and its customer and revenue base kept growing against those of its counterparts. The strategy is lovely considering that it focuses on the very needs of the targeted market segments without forgetting about the employees (Thompson & Gamble, 2011). On a scale of 1-10 with ten being the best score, I would give the company a rank of 8. Southwest’s Culture An organization is said to have a strong culture if its employees respond to stimulus owing toe the way they are aligned to the values of the organization. The Southwest Airlines has a strong culture that is pegged on various elements. The employees of the company are well trai ned and respond to the needs of the customer and the values of the organization efficiently. The company maintains a culture of keeping employees happy and motivated so that they can offer quality services. Furthermore, the company maintains a culture of excellent customer service. The company also maintains a culture of hard work, innovativeness, and teamwork. With the departure of Herb Kelleher, Gary Kelly is bound to face a number of challenges with respect to maintaining the company’s cultural commitments. For one, the company’s reputation has been tarnished following some accident and safety incidences which may affect the morale

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

MARKETING RESEARCH AND INFORMATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words - 1

MARKETING RESEARCH AND INFORMATION - Essay Example Thus the firm decided to concentrate on the main business and divested other businesses (McDonalds 2009). McDonalds mainly sells hamburgers, cheese burgers, French fries, chicken products, soft drinks, milk shakes, breakfast and desserts etc. McDonalds also focuses on children and has Happy Meal for children/ most restaurants also have play areas for them. Lately as McDonalds explores new markets, it has started to localize its products like MahaRaja etc in India (McDonalds 2008). However, we have localized 75% in India 33% in Asian countries and less than 5% in other countries which indicates that there is a lot of localization that McDonalds has to incorporate in its product ranges throughout the world (Pollard 2008). McDonalds is also facing health related issues where it is said to be causing obesity amongst the younger generation and is thus losing existing health conscious customer and non customers to the competitors’ healthier options (Pollard 2008). McDonalds, according to (David 2003) has been observing falling sales figures. Upon researching it was found that the consumers now have changing needs and are demanding products and services that cater to their tastes and preferences. According to (Forster 2002) McDonalds offers most products that are standardized with minor alterations in the product range to localize them, consumers are now switching to other brands. The competition, argues David (2003) is increasing as innovative products and services are now in the market. Thus we need to understand which products are liked in the market by the consumers and non-consumers. This is essential to know so that the existing products and services may be improved to suit the varied needs of the consumers and non-consumers across the globe. At the same time, new products and services may be developed to build the brand loyalty of existing customer and to cater to

Monday, October 14, 2019

Looking at the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

Looking at the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet Essay Romeo and Juliet, a play originally written by William Shakespeare in 1595 1600 is a tale of love and tragedy involving two young people who fall in love, but find it ends in disaster due to their age old family feud. This play had been directed as a film in 1968 starring Olivia Hussey, but never before has it been modernised as a film. By choosing to do this the problem that faced Baz Luhrman when he was directing the film version of Romeo and Juliet was that he could not predict whether there would be an audience for Shakespearean stories in a modern culture. Particuarly as the age group he was targeting were those who would probably still be at school, where Shakespeare had been stereotyped as boring. This problem was tackled by updating the swords involved by replacing them with guns, adding a famous cast known to the particular chosen age group and backing the film up with modern music. The opening scene of Baz Luhrmans Romeo and Juliet begins with a screen of black, and a very small television screen in the centre. As the shot continues the camera zooms in on the television screen that is showing a coloured female newsreader, with a plain background and a split ring in the top right hand corner. This entrance to the first scene of the film forces the audience to concentrate on the film by introducing it slowly, making you feel anything missed will detract from the films impact. The newsreader is dressed in red, the classic colour of love, danger, passion and blood, and the ring split in two with the words Star-crossed lover subtly introduce the main themes of the films while the audience is focusing on what the newsreader is reporting. The screen around the television is black, focusing all attention on the newsreader, and her voice is quiet and sounds almost muted while she talks of the feud of Verona, re-enforcing the directors obvious wish to capture the attention of the viewers. With this red on black theme it seems to represent the blood and tragedy of the story of Romeo and Juliet on the rest of the town, and almost shows the final tragic word on the darkness of the two feuding families. From this opening, though the newsreader does not directly speak of the main characters, Romeo and Juliet, you feel as if the feud is already familiar before entering in to the actual film. The change from the first scene to the second is a very quick jump cut. The camera zooms very close in on the newsreader tilting, and jumps through to a street in Verona, travelling down it and coming to a halt at a large statue of Jesus, but only allowing you a very quick glance before switching to a black screen with the words In Fair Verona in large white capitals at eye level. It then jump cuts back to a the same picture of Jesus, but this time it is a closer shot, and holds for a bit longer, before very quickly zooming back to show the statue in between two sky scrapers, one named Capulet in red, and one named Montague in blue. The buildings are the highest in the street, and with the statue in between them seem very important and noble, informing the audience of the familys wealth and power, and also of their rivalry. The statue standing dead centre between the two towers shows that while religion is important in this story, and does to a certain extent act as a barrier between the two families, it is much smaller then the buildings, symbolising that their feud may prove stronger then their religion. The next shot is a jump cut on to the camera moving on to the streets of Verona, and a tracking shot of a police car with the words Verona Beach written down the side. This shot of the police car informs the viewers that police are involved, and the place the play is set in is called Verona Beach. Once focused on the car the camera tilts and zooms out, jumping in to a zoom in shot of the same statue of Jesus, which it zooms in on, jump cuts back to a second shot and zooms in again, this time blurring the statue. This blurring shows the disregard held by the families towards their religion as the feud gets greater. The scenes by now are moving very quickly and are very separated, not flowing smoothly at all. It is quite difficult to keep with the speed at which the film is moving, Luhrman once again trying to keep the audiences attention. Following on from the blurred shot of the statue, the camera, remaining blurry, focusing in turn, on the signs above each building, reading first Capulet in red and then Montague in blue. These choices of colour cause you to question whether or not the Capulet family are more fierce, with their name in red. You then get a tracking shot of a police helicopter against what you assume to be a church, and the city of Verona. Again re enforcing the religion verses law theme that is apparent throughout this film in Verona. Following this is a zoom in shot of a person lying on a mattress in the street surrounded by dirt and people in black. Through this shot you assume the person involved is injured, showing the severity of the feud. Again, jump cutting to the next scene, though seeming to slow the pace slightly, you get an aerial tracking shot from the helicopter with the diagetic sounds of the propellers, of a large statue of the Virgin Mary standing with open arms. Quickly moving on through a jump cut the statue of Jesus seen before is briefly shown, before zooming in on his face, although it is made up of many small dots, and shown in dark grey and black. This shot is held and zoomed out to reveal a family tree with both families on it, starting at the top with Ted Montague and Fulgencio Montague. Symbolic of the hatred that is passed down the family through each generation. The music up to this point has been very loud and menacing, increasing in volume when what I see as relevant shots are held. The lighting has been bright throughout, all shots set in the day, and there have been no characters introduced until the family tree. The beginning shots seem to be more introducing the place and the themes than the characters themselves. The layout of this tree implies that the rivalry started between these two men and has been passed down through the family. With the statue of Jesus with open arms set between the two families reminds us of the strong religion present in the city, and the grey colour of the pictures and background sets in almost like a cloud of grey, strongly contrasting with the colour we have seen in the previous scenes. As well as being the first shot of the characters, also introduced in this scene is the first voice since the newsreader, although this time it is non diagetic, in the form of a voice over. The music reaches a climax and then fades away to a quiet backing for the deep male voice commenting on the family trees in front of us. The shots of this tree are broken up by shots of fire and newspapers titled Montague vs Capulet, and while the speed of the changing shots has slowed down, now dissolving in to each other, Luhrman makes up for it with the impact of the shots he is using, you need more time to look at each one then before. Coming off the newspaper shot using dissolving and fire, we see the familiar screen of black with white text reading In Fair Verona, reminding us of the setting while looking in to the characters, as seen before when the city was being introduced and we were shown the names of the families. This subtle mixing of the two is very effective in showing the strong relationship between the setting and characters, and the effect that they have on each other. This phrasing of Fair Verona is ironic, as although we are being told the city is fair, we are shown only violent shots of the goings on and only controversial shots of the place itself. Moving on from the text shot we are shown a series of tracking shots of Verona, similar to those shown before, combining diagetic sounds such as the helicopter propellers with non diagetic such as the voice over. We then get another still shot of a newspaper reading Ancient Grudge followed shortly by a third newspaper reading New Mutiny and a picture of one of the young Montague boys. This ancient grudge followed by new mutiny re enforces the idea of the feud being passed down the family that we were introduced to through the family tree. The text is also in older style writing, showing that such an old thing has carried through in to modern day. This picture of the young Montague holding a gun is the first we see of the younger generations of the families, and it is associated with anger through his face and death through his gun. The next newspaper clip we get is Civil blood, also read out to us by the voice over, this emphasises the fact that the brawls caused by the families do not only affect themselves, but the rest of Verona. We are shown a tracking shot of a middle ages coloured man wearing helicopter equipment against a dark background, fitting as the shots seem to be getting darker, set later on in the day. The word Police is shown in large white text against black, symbolising their affect on the feud, good on bad or clean on dirty. There is then a series of shots of Verona and magazines with bullets on the covers, showing how much violence there is in the city. It is made out to be a loud, busy dangerous place reflected in the characters themselves. The feuding families seem to sum up the rivalry present within the city, Religion verses hatred, Law verses war. Although you may argue that at this stage you are unable to establish whether it is the place reflected through the characters or the characters strife being the reason for the way the place is. We then get our first shot of a man and a woman in a black car, both look drawn and very worried. Jump cutting through to a shot of a second couple, obviously the other family, recognisable only because of the quick glance we got of the man on the family tree. This creates a broken up image of the families, imposing the idea that the families get in the way of each other. As the music builds up again there are two screens of just text, when put together reading A pair of star crossed lover take their life. The T in the take is actually a cross when you look at it, bringing religion in to death. At this point the voice over is stopped and the music becomes loud again. Following the text the camera then jumps from one to another introducing through text and a frozen image of each character, the Capulets, the Montagues, both with the under text Romeos mother/father and Juliets mother/father. To follow we meet the chief of police Captain Prince, the Governors son Dave Paris and Mercutio, Romeos best friend, in a provocative position with his face angry and his finger pointed with a gun on him. Each character has a shot held on them for about 5 seconds before jumping straight on to the next. As the music builds up we see a pair of eyes, later recognised to be those of Romeo Montague, pushing the door of a church open to reveal light and flowers, portraying the church as a place of sanctity. This relates to the theme of religion present throughout the film, and it also gives a preview of the place in which the lovers lives end. Luhrman would have realised that as Romeo and Juliet is such a widely read play the majority of the audience would know then ending of the film, thus giving him a lot of scope to play around with previews of the rest of the film. The music quickens pace and very quickly we are run through the text previously shown and spoken but at a speed that it is not supposed to be read. This is followed by shots of fireworks, choirboys singing high piercing notes almost as a climax, guns shooting showing violence, main characters and eventually finishes on a black screen with William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. This creates a point of high climax, quickly let down by the still almost dead screen in comparison to previous shots. The mention of William Shakespeare is the first we hear of the author, and in mentioning him Luhrman has made himself seem almost modest, discarding any impression made implying that it is Luhrmans own play. The title then moves off the screen to the left and the film begins. As an opening sequence for this particular film I find it very effective. The setting of such a film in modern day would have proved very difficult, but the replacement of swords by guns has a huge impact on its success. The violence is portrayed well and you learn just about enough to follow the film as it opens but not enough to know what happens between now and the death of the characters. I like the way Luhrman lets the audience know the resulting death of the characters, but he does not say who dies. This builds up an immense suspense throughout the film. This introduction is done in such a way that it will captivate almost everyones attention through moving so quickly and creating such a tense atmosphere.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Mineral Resource in Ecofriendly Invertebrate Powder

Mineral Resource in Ecofriendly Invertebrate Powder A SEARCH OF BIO MACRO AND MICRO MINERAL RESOURCE IN ECOFRIENDLY INVERTEBRATE POWDER: Eudrilus eugeniae J. Anitha, R. Selvakumar  and Indira A. Jayraaj Abstract Quantification of macro and micro nutrients from earthworm (Eudrilus eugeniae) was aimed and successfully elucidated in the present study. Macro minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, nitrogen and sodium and micro or trace elements like iron, selenium, zinc, copper, sulphur, Nickel, Chromium and molybdenum was assayed using colorimeter, Micro-Kjeldahl method, flame photometer, EDTA Titrimetric method and specifically atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). From the study, it is evident that the earthworm powder of E. eugeniae is a rich source of macrominerals (Calcium and Magnesium) and trace elements (Iron and selenium) together with notable quantities of other important elements, indicating that this earthworm contain potentially useful quantities of many nutrients that are critical to the health of the humans and animals who consume them. Keywords: AAS, Earthworm powder, Eudrilus eugeniae, Metals, Macro minerals. Introduction Metals are nutrients in soil are absorbed by plants, transferred to animals and men by food chains, and finally return to the soil. Earthworms are found virtually worldwide and live in almost any type of soil that contains the right amounts of moisture and organic particles and of various sizes and colors [1]. It has dense nutritional content because of their soil based origin [2]. The earthworm is a widely used Chinese herbal medicine [3]. Although Wallace [4;5] reported more than 100 years ago the inclusion of earthworms in diets of Amerindian tribal) populations little is known about the nutritive value of those edible invertebrates [6]. Extracting medicinal compounds from the earthworm has traditionally been practiced by indigenous people throughout the world, more particularly in Asia [7]. Previous earthworm studies have shown its antimicrobial [3] hepatoprotective [4], anticancer [8] and scar wound healing characteristics [9]. The anti-inflammatory activity together with antiox idant properties seems to be due to the high polyphenolic content in earthworm tissue [10]. Moreover, crude earthworm extract has a thrombolytic effect that could significantly promote blood circulation to remove stasis [11]. Minerals are the nutrients that exist in the body, and are as essential as our need for oxygen to sustain life. Minerals are also found in organic and inorganic combinations in food. It plays a vital role for all mental and physical processes including for total well being. They are most important factors in maintaining all physiological processes, are constituents of the teeth, bones, tissues, blood, muscle, and nerve cells [12]. Therefore, since the drive of animal farmers worldwide is to source for cheaper means of nutritive dietary supplement which may replace fishmeal wholly or partly in animal diet and also supply micro and macro-nutrients [13]. Considering the above facts the present study was aimed to quantify macro and micro or trace mineral profile of earthworm species Eudrilus eugeniae. Materials and methods Collection of earthworm The earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae was collected from Aarthi farms, Kondegoundanpalayam village, Pollachi Taluk, Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India. The collected species were cultured under optimal conditions in compost yard at Kongunadu Arts and Science College Premises, Coimbatore 641 029, Tamil Nadu, India, for further use. Processing of earthworm The earthworms were washed with running tap water to remove any dirt from body surface. The earthworms were kept in 0.5% NaCl at room temperature for 1-2h with few changes of solution until their digestive systems were clean. Cleaned earthworms are taken and dried at 65-800C in forced draught, stainless-steel lined ovens. Ground the samples completely to a particle size of less than 1mm, and mixed thoroughly before a sub sample of suitable size is stored for analysis. Store the samples in a clearly labelled, airtight, glass or polycarbonate containers to prevent samples from contamination. Storage at room temperature is sufficient, but long term storage of reference material requires freezing. Re-dry the samples at 650C for 12 hours prior to weighing for heavy metal analysis. Digestion of earthworm Weigh 0.5 1 g sample accurately into acid washed 250 ml digest tubes. Add 6 10 ml concentrated HNO3, swirl to mix sample and acid. Place tubes onto a Tecator 40 system, or similar set at 1000C for 2 hours. Reduce the total volume to 1 ml. The sample solution becomes thick slurry. Remove samples from digestion block; allow cooling and diluting to 10 or 20 ml with deionized water. Allow samples to settle (minimum 2 hours, preferably overnight), and filter through Whatman No. 40 filter paper or centrifuge at 6000 rpm for 15 minutes. Run at least two digest blanks with samples. The schematic representation of analytical procedure of minerals is given in figure1. Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the micro and macro nutrient analytical procedure Method of mineral analysis The processed earthworm powder was subjected to quantification of macro minerals (calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, nitrogen and sodium) and micro or trace elements (iron, selenium, zinc, copper, sulphur, nickel, chromium and molybdenum) using the methods of Jackson [14] for spectrophotometer (Perkin elmer Lamada EZ201), flame photometer (Cole-Parmer, 500731), EDTA Titrimetric and specifically atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Hitachi Z9000) [15;16]. Results The selected earthworm species, E. eugeniae was successfully converted into powdered and subjected to mineral analysis in that six macro minerals namely calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium and eight trace elements like iron selenium, zinc, copper, sulphur, nickel, chromium and molybdenum was noticed and are depicted in table 1 and 2. Table 1: Macrominerals content in EWP (E. eugeniae) Table 2: Microminerals or trace elements content in EWP (E. eugeniae) The trend observed in macrominerals of E. eugeniae contained a higher concentration of calcium (0.75%) which is followed by magnesium (0.66%), phosphorous (0.36%), potassium (0.33%), nitrogen (0.29%) and sodium (0.19%) respectively. Among the trace elements, iron (1.73%) was found to be maximum followed by selenium (0.96%). Apart from these two micro elements the traces of zinc (0.50%), copper (0.43%), sulphur (0.22%), nickel (0.14%), chromium (0.10%) and molybdenum (0.02%) was also noticed. Discussion Now a day’s importance of minerals is clinical known and these minerals are inorganic chemical elements not attached to a carbon atom.There is a distinction between minerals and trace minerals. If the body requires more than 100 milligrams then that substance is labelled as a mineral. If the cellular body requires less than this, it is labelled a trace mineral. Trace minerals are generally needed in quantities of only a few milligrams (mg) or micrograms ( µg) per day. The higher content of calcium in E. eugenia suggests that this species of earthworm probably has a higher capacity of storage of calcium in its tissues as suggested by the presence of calcium gland in it [17]. The earthworms also contain nutritionally significant amounts of calcium, which would be important for pregnant or lactating women, young children at risk of calcium-deficiency rickets and postmenopausal women in whom there might be concern about osteoporosis and fractures [6]. Earthworms require these minerals for their day to day physiological activities. It may be because they have to burrow or swallow their way through hard packed soil. For in order to perform these various physiological bioactivities, the earthworm must maintain a constant firing (electrical potential) of the nerve and muscle cells and needed for this is the higher calcium and magnesium concentration. Calcium and magnesium have been shown to be involved in regulating nervous excitability and muscular contraction i.e. maintaining the electrical potential in nerve and muscle cells [18]. Nitrogen occurs in all organisms, primarily in amino acids (and thus proteins) and also in the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). The human body contains about 3% by weight of nitrogen, the fourth most abundant element in the body after oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen [19]. Phosphorous works with calcium to develop and maintain strong bones, teeth and enhances use of other nutrients. It plays a key role in cell membrane integrity, intercellular communication and for proper energy processing in the body. Potassium is important in DNA and protein synthesis, Apart from this potassium is important in cell volume regulation [20]. Sodium in EWP of E. eugeniae was found to be 0.19 ppm. Sodium is the major cation of the extracellular fluid which in conjunction with potassium forms the Na+-K+ pump which effectively maintains Na+ as an impairment extracellular solute [21]. Paloetti et al. [6] reported that all of the earthworm (kuru and motto) preparations were excellent sources of iron, having iron contents that ranged from 1050  µg-1 in kuru’s meat to 2990  µg-1 in motto’s meat. They compared the iron contents of these two earthworm preparations with those of some other meats. This means that, assuming good bioavailability of the iron in the earthworms, they could be a useful food source to mitigate the risk of iron-deficiency anaemia. Selenium is essential component of teeth, key antioxidant enzyme and necessary for normal growth and development. It has a function in detoxification of heavy metals such as mercury and plays an important role in the production of antibodies by the immune system. Zinc is an important antioxidant, which records 0.5% in the present study. It plays an essential part of more than 200 enzymes involved in digestion, metabolism, immune response and wound healing. Copper is an essential element for the formation of normal red blood cell and connective tissue formation. It acts as a catalyst to store and release iron to help form haemoglobin and also contributes to central nervous system function. Sulfur is involved in the formation of structural protein, including muscles and hair. It also severs critical role in liver detoxification. Its important function is to act as an antioxidant nutrient and oxygen handling role in growth. Nickel is found in all animal tissues and the highest concentration was noticed in nucleic acids, particularly RNA, and is involved in protein structure or function. It may activate certain enzymes related to the breakdown or utilization of glucose [22]. Chromium helps in glucose metabolism and aids to regulate blood sugar by potentiating insulin and serving as a component of glucose tolerance factor. Molybdenum contributes to normal growth and development. It is a key component in many enzyme systems involved in detoxification. In conclusion, the minerals in earthworm powder obtained from E. eugenaie are capable of satisfying a significant fraction in daily requirements of minerals which plays a significant role in human nutrition without any adverse side effects. References Ogbulie JN, Uwazuoke JC, Ogieho SI. Introductory Microbiology Practical. Springfield Publishers Nigeria. 1998; 70-120. Ansari AA, Sitaram K. An investigation into antimicrobial and antifungal properties of earthworm powder obtained from Eisenia fetida. American Journal of Food Technology 2011;6(4): 329-335. Balamurugan M, Parthasarathi K, Ranganathan LS, Cooper EL. Hypothetical mode of action of earthworm extract with hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties. Journal of Zhejiang University- Science B 2008;9(2):141–147. Cooper EL. CAM eCAM, bioprospecting: The 21st century pyramid. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2005;2(2):125–127. Wallace AR. On the insects used for food in the Indians of the Amazon. R. Entomol. Soc. Lond. 1853;2:241–244. Wallace AR. A narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro. New York: Dover Publications Inc. 1889. Paoletti MG, Buscardo DJ, Vander Jagt A, Pastuszyn Pizzoferrato L, Huang YS, Chuang LTM, Millson H, Cerda Torres F, Glew RH. Proceedings: The Royal Society of Biological Sciences, London. 2011;249-257. Ranganathan LS. Vermibiotechnology – from soil health to human health. Agrobios. 2006. Cooper EL, Ru B, Weng N. Earthworms: sources of antimicrobial and anticancer molecules. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 2004;546: 359–389. Zhang M, Li X, Liu Y, Ye F, Qiu G. Effects of extract of Dilong (Pheretima) on the scalded skin in rats. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2006;26(1): 68–71. Cooper EL, Balamurugan M, Parthasarathi K, Ranganathan LS. Earthworm paste (Lampito mauritii, Kinberg) alters inflammatory, oxidative, haematological and serum biochemical indices of inflamed rat. European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences 2007;11(2): 77– 90. Zhang ZX, Wang FF. Effects of crude extract of earthworm on promoting blood circulation to removing stasis. Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi 1992;12(12): 741–710. Alvarez S. The Magnesium: Importance of Minerals and Trace Minerals in Human Nutrition. 2002;Pp 22. Dedeke GA, Owa SO, Olurin KB. Amino acid profile of four earthworms species from Nigeria. Agric. Biol. J. N. Am 2010;1(2): 97-102. Jackson ML. Soil chemical analysis. Prentice hall. Indian private limited. India.1973;498-516. AOAC. Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Official Methods of Analysis (20th Ed.) USA. 1995. Lindsay WL, Norvell WA. Development of a DTPA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese, and copper. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J 1978;42: 421-428. Owa SO. Taxonomy and Distribution of Nigerian earthworms of the family Eudrilidae and their use as possible indicators of soil properties. Ph.D thesis Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria. 1992. Ganong WF. A review of Medical Physiology (7th Ed). Prentice Hall New Jersey USA. 1995. Murray R, Harry K. Nitrogen Purfication: Pilot Plant Removal of Oxygen. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry 1957;49(5): 869–873. Bray JJ, Cragg PA, Maknight ADC, Mills RG. Lecture notes on human physiology, Blackwell science Ltd, UK. 1999;542. Maier RJ, Stephane L, Benoit, Seshadri S. Nickel-binding and accessory proteins facilitating Ni-enzyme maturation in Helicobacter pylori. Biometals 2007;20(3-4): 655–664.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Feminist Rhetoric in Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe :: Feminism Feminist Women Criticism

Feminist Rhetoric in Uncle Tom's Cabin      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     In considering whether Harriet Beecher Stowe's book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, is an example of, or contains remnants of, feminist rhetoric or not, one must first solve the problem of defining what is meant by the term feminist. This is difficult to do when one considers that Uncle Tom's Cabin was written over one hundred and forty years ago, and that feminism has moved through so many different stages since that time. One must resist applying the standards of twentieth-century feminism to Stowe's time, and instead, try to view Uncle Tom's Cabin as it would have been viewed given the sentiment of the time. In order to do this, one must first define feminism within the historical context of the 1850's, when Uncle Tom's Cabin was published.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps the term feminist itself was not commonly associated with women's rights in the 1850's, but certainly the ideal was. The climate of the time in which Stowe published her anti-slavery novel was fruitful with unrest, not only because of the slavery issue, but also because of women's rights issues. The focus of the women's rights movement, led by women such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Stanton, was not only women's attainment of the vote, but also the emergence of women as public citizens, a role that went beyond that of ruler of the domestic, private sector.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Women's suffrage was first proposed in the United States in 1848 at the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, just two years before Uncle Tom's Cabin was published. At this convention, a Declaration of Sentiments that paralleled the wording of the Declaration of Independence was drafted, insisting on the adoption of a women's suffrage resolution. The Women's Rights movement of this time also advocated more liberal divorce laws, less restrictive clothing for women, coeducation, and the right of married women to control their property. Though it would be seventy years before women would be granted the right to vote by the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the Women's Rights movement was in place and active during the time that Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even so, Uncle Tom's Cabin is seemingly about slavery, not women's rights, and it is not erroneous to assume that Stowe's intention was to highlight the evils of slavery and the decay of human morality, rather than directly discuss women's roles when she penned the novel.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Rebel Without a Cause Essay

In the late hours of the night Jim Stark, the main character of Nicholas Ray’s, Rebel Without a Cause, can be found resting his head against a piece of crumpled wrapping paper, lying on the cold pavement, droning out all his troubles with the sound of a toy monkey’s clamour. Throughout the entirety of the film Jim constantly seems to be droning out his problems, whether it be with a toy monkey of with a rebellious facade, which subconsciously distracts him from his true issues. Jim Stark’s defiant nature is rooted at his angst and eagerness in which he holds within himself. The only manner in which he feels he can accurately expose his emotions is through rebellion. In the beginning of the film when Jim shouts to his arguing parents in despair, â€Å"You’re tearing me apart! You say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again,† he is unleashing the built up confusion that is festering inside of him. Being that Jim is a somewhat complicated teenager his thoughts often seem to be consumed with questions. Jim questions his masculinity, his choices, the meaning of his life and his purpose. This confusion within him leads him to become desperate for answers and since his parents do not seem to offer him a solution he rebels in order to find one on his own. Jim chooses to rebel in various different manners. The most dramatic forms of rebellion involve his parents and his peers, Judy, Plato, Buzz and Buzz’s gang. With his parents Jim questions their roles, specifically his fathers feminine mannerisms. Being that Jim’s mother seems to play a more masculine role while Jim’s father plays a more feminine role, Jim becomes confused and attempts to correct this problem through rebellion. A clear depiction of this is when Jim encounters his father in a frilly yellow apron cleaning up a tray of spilled food. At the sight of this Jim becomes infuriated with his father and tells him to stand up and be a man. This scene is later repeated later in the film when Jim returns home after the death of Buzz. After asking his father for guidance as to whether of not he should go to the police Jim’s father is unable to offer him a straight answer and resorts to everything that Jim’s mother has to say. This leads Jim’s mother to contemplate moving again and Jim responds by saying, â€Å"Dad, stand up for me. † At this point Jim is practically begging his father to be more of a man and to stand up for him against his mother. Jim’s father does not respond, propelling Jim to yank him up shouting, â€Å"Stand up. † This scene is a clear representation of Jim’s rebellion against his father. Jim feels as if he is lacking a fatherly figure and will resort to being violent towards his father in order to â€Å"man him up. † Another moment in which Jim’s rebellion shines through is in the deadly chicken game with his rival Buzz. Wearing a bright red jacket, to represent his destructive nature, over his pristine white shirt, that represents his true purity, Jim heads out the cliff where him and Buzz will drive stolen cars close to the water and jump out beforehand, the winner being the one who jumps out last. Buzz, who sports a yellow shirt representing his true cowardly ways, seems to push Jim into doing this strange activity. When Jim asks, â€Å"Why do we do this? † Buzz says â€Å"You got to do something. † In this moment it becomes obvious that Jim feels that by rebelling through the participation in this chicken game, he is developing some sort of meaning to his life. This game will create a name for himself amongst his peers and this influences him to participate. Because Jim is vulnerable and wants to fit in he gives in. His rebellious nature in this scene is derived from the need to fit in, which all teenagers go through. Often adolescents will attempt to prove themselves to their friends by doing something risky in order to be one with the crowd. Even though Jim knows that this is wrong, he is rebelling against his uncertainties and the unanswered questions he has within him because he views rebellion as the only viable answer. His overpowering emotions and his desire to fit in create a wicked mutineer out of him. Film critic Leo Goldsmith from Reverse Shot says in reference to the film, â€Å"Under Ray’s dissecting eye, the suburban home itself becomes a battleground where parent and child must scream over each other to be heard. † The beginnings of all of Jim’s problems seem to rest on the warzone in which he is living at home. This angst, resentment and anger that he feels towards his father translate throughout everything his does in his life and lead him to rebel. Because Frank is unable to fulfill his role of guiding Jim, Jim feels that he must find his way on his own, making his a rebel with a very good cause.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

If I Could Meet Any Historical Figure Essay

If I could meet any historical figure I would chose to meet Rosa Parks. She is an  unbelievable inspiration and a great role model. She is also a great example for everyone that no matter what race you are, you should stand up for what you believe in. Rosa Parks is not only one of the most important people in Black History; she is also a great role model for women everywhere. If I was ever blessed to sit down and meet with her; I would ask her how long it took her to get up enough courage to refuse to move. I’ve often wondered if she planned that out or if she did it as an adrenaline rush, spur of the moment kind of thing. If she had planned it out, I would ask her if she tried to get people to do it with her or if she wanted to do it by herself. What made her finally want to stand up for herself and do it? Next I would want to know if she had any role models her self and what she valued most in life. These characteristics are extremely important to me and in my opinion they show stability and strong sense of character. It’s interesting to think about if she valued the same type of things like me because she seems so much more courageous. Then would be a good time to inform her on how much of a role model she is and how much of an impact she made in the world today. On the topic of black people who made great impacts, she would probably wonder who else was big in black history. It would be my pleasure to tell her about many the great names in black history such as: Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Angela Davis, Wilma Rudolph, Sojourner Truth, Madam C.J. Walker and Malcolm X. Hopefully she would find this information interesting. I would have loved to have gotten the chance to meet her and discuss all my questions with her. I’m proud of her and I hope she can still see today what an impact she has made in American Black History.