Monday, September 30, 2019

I Never Worry About the Future Essay

Albert Einstein Some people are trying to live a carefree life, they say that they ‘’go with the flow’’ and are not preoccupied with the future. Others think about tomorrow and the day after it so much they are constantly under stress. So which is better, to worry or not to worry about the days which are ahead of us? Planning our days in advanced is somehow necessary these days. Our world is spinning so fast that one has to know what he is doing or he ends up doing nothing. Good example of that is choosing which school or even more important, which university to enrol in. When doing that we have to consider our interests as well as which occupations can our future degree provide us. When enrolled into a school we have to study in order to have good grades or we just might not end up having expected degree and doing the job we wanted. Therefore thinking about future is good when it keeps us trying hard to achieve our goals. On the other hand being concerned about what might happen has bad affects on our health and attitude. Few days before the exam of which results may have an impact on their future, some people are so worried that their immune system does not function as it should and they become ill. What is more, stress can also enable their abilities to learn and concentrate. And last but not least because of constantly worrying those people can express their frustrations with yelling on others and their relationship with them can get worse. To conclude I would like to state that thinking and worrying about the future is something that we all do, some less, others more. The important thing is that worries do not affect on our lives so much that we cannot enjoy the moment we are living in but are still present enough to force us try and make our dreams come true.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Analysis of Dubai Development Model with relevance to India

Table of Contents l. Introduction and Dubbed Policy Relevance to India II. Challenges faced by both India & Dubbed Ill. Policy Changes – What can be adopted by India & Dubbed from each other IV. Business Context of the policies in India & Dubbed V. References To: The Leaders of the Business Association of India From: Hull Consultancy Group Date: Reason: Analysis of Dubbed Development Model and relevance to India Dubbed Is one of the most flourishing clues In the world attracting people from all over the world with a strong economy.India being a part of the BRICE nations and with the ambition of being perceived as a developed nation need some changes economically and politically. Could the Dubbed model work in India? L. To analyses how Tuba's model can be relevant to India we need to look at various different factors. Looking at the model of Strategy, Structure and Resource we could make some comparisons of how Dubbed is similar to India. Dubbed India Relevancy Strategy Economi c Development Political Stability Import Talent & reliance on foreign companies in Dubbed. Logistical Hub and this promoted with good port facility.Strong ties with other Emirates Strong & Continuous Leadership Relaxed religious laws although still Islamic focused. Focus on education, medical & engineering sectors good. Primary sector of Agriculture not ignored. Infrastructure development, cities and broadband development is another major focus. Political Stability Member of the BRICE countries. Democratic government with secular laws. Relevant Infrastructure development at the ports as the south of India is also strategically located. Strong ties between cities Egg: Bangor & Hydrated can be made Low Relevance One leader strategy may not be applicablePolicy of importing talent for domestic needs. Structure City vs. Rural Development Education system City vs. Rural Cluster focused for companies and development towards ABA Dhabi close to the coast line. Old Dubbed vs. New Dubbed Educa tion System Focus is on introducing more foreign universities. Satellite city structure. New development outside major cities towards small towns. Egg: Whitfield, Oneida. Infrastructure development in rural areas. Good education system after British colonization. Science & Engineering has special focus. Focus on rural areas education. Cluster structure could be replicated.It is already done in a few places but could be done in most cities. More foreign universities can be introduced in India. Not Relevant Old city vs. New City is already in place in some cities. Egg: Delhi Resources Natural resources Human Resources Population- Low Manpower (Skilled, Unskilled, Technical)- Low Natural Resources- Low Alliance with ABA Dhabi for resources- High Population- Very high Manpower (Skilled, Unskilled, Technical)- High Natural Resources- High Alliance with other states or countries for resources- Low Alliance with neighboring countries or other BRICE countries for resources can be Dade.II. T o analyses if Tuba's model can be adopted by India, the challenges faced by both countries should be analyses further. Policies used by Dubbed for the above mentioned challenges are: 1 . Quality of Education: AAU government invested up to Dabbed invested on improving general education. Solution : They have a partnerships with several international schools in order to improve their education system. 2. Policy relevance to India is low. Main issue faced by India is inaccessibility in rural areas.Extreme poverty is another problem Solution- Mandatory CARS activities enforced by the government. Secondly broadband services to provide education by internet in inaccessible areas as done in Gujarat . 3. Quality of Health care : Expanse have expressed their lack of confidence in the Dubbed Health care services. Solution: To improve medical quality partnerships with international organizations like ‘John Hopkins' and ‘Cleveland ‘ medical centre have been made. Policy relevan ce to India is low.Issue is infrastructure with lack of sanitation and clean water causing illness. Lack of roads or transport makes it difficult for unmet needs to be fulfilled. Solution: Having infrastructure projects like the ones in Gujarat as initiated by the current prime minister is a better solution then attracting foreign medical care. 4. Expiate Migration : Tuba's over reliance on expiate employees. Competition from nearby countries like Qatar and Oman. Solution : Better infrastructure, attractive surrounding and tax free policy Similar problem with rising unemployment.Solution: Foreign companies can be attracted like in Dubbed but a realistic solution would be to encourage local entrepreneurship in order to create Jobs. Dubbed is conscious about the over reliance on fossil fuels to generate power Solution: Collaborations with Policy relevance to India is again low. Energy requirement in India is massive compared to AJAX. There are local companies with renewable technologi es which needs to be promoted. Solution: Collaborating with foreign companies is a temporary solution though it can be done.Natural gas exploration and nuclear energy long term solution. Ill. Many of the policies used for Dubbed are not recommended for India. These are because of many reasons like the Population, different Industrial focus, focus on domestic development including talent and technology. To further analyses this and understand what policy changes can be adopted for either India or Dubbed we need to look at the and the ‘Fragile Failed State' Index. The Fragile State Index, is an index which focuses on the stability of the nation on 3 different factors: 1.Economic: Uneven economic development, Severe Economic decline 2. Social: Demographic pressures, Massive refugee movement, Group grievances 3. Political: Crystallization, Progressive Deterioration, Security apparatus , Ethnic cleansing Based on these criteria, India is ranked at 81 which is categorized as ‘ High Warning and I-JAKE is inked at 143 which is considered a stable society. Under Economic , India has huge inequality in incomes and some states like UP, Briar are not highly developed. There are refugees movement and grievances from the lower class or religious sectors in society.Politically India is democratic and secular and given the religious and cultural diversity in India that an Autocratic rule would only increase the trouble in the country. Policies which India could copy from I-JAKE is to have infrastructure development, which could be awarded to foreign companies as this is the major problem in India. Better infrastructure could lead to solving some of the other problems like better education, reducing group grievances when people have the same basic facilities, and make uniform economic development.Security could improve with better roads and reaching in time . Infrastructure and roads have been a key element of all great civilizations starting from the Romans till mo dern countries like I-JAKE , Germany and the USA. If Infrastructure development has to be rapid foreign investment and companies would be essential. Having one religion and an autocratic government with very low population solves means that AAU does not face cost of the problems which India faces and thus makes it a very stable economy.However their reliance on foreign investment and technology, education is too high. This could bring about economic downturn to I-JAKE in the future. The change of policy which I-JAKE requires is to increase the amount of local universities and improve local education and businesses. A major aspect of doing business in any new country could be the ‘Corruption' in the country and ‘Business regulations' in the country. The ‘Ease of Doing Business' index helps analyses the conduciveness of a country to start a business.The factors considered are Infrastructure, Poverty ratio, Credit lines available, Tax rates, Educations standards , Reg ulations etc. Based on these criteria lets compare India to I-JAKE India- ease to do Business, Rank-134 Factors favorable are: Improving infrastructure Highly educated society Annual GAP expected to increase and best in South Asia Factors unfavorable are: Infrastructure still poor in many parts IN per capita is low Regulations are rigid High taxes Low credit lines as compared to I-JAKE Political rules favoring local companies Factors favorable are : Good infrastructure No taxesHighly educated people (mainly expanse though) Good autocratic leadership conducive to business High IN per capita Annual GAP best in MEAN region Factors unfavorable Expensive to run a business Need to attract talent from abroad Corruption is another major factor which businesses consider. According to the ‘Corruption Index' I-JAKE ranks at 26th whereas India ranks at 94. This shows that there could be a fear of corruption for businesses to enter India. ‘V. Businesses in India could play a major ro le in making some minor changes which would enable the country to become more business conducive.Collaborations or JP with foreign companies- This would attract more funds which would enable them to expand faster and also reduce unemployment. CARS activities to improve education and sanitation facilities. If CARS activities are not feasible Join with Social welfare groups like ‘Magic Bus' Transparency in business activities and raise awareness to reduce corrupt activities. Work closely with government to improve their sustainability and becoming energy efficient. Factories investing in machinery to have energy efficient equipment. Business in Dubbed could also take certain steps awards helping the local Political and Economic situation.Work with local universities and help hire local Emirate graduates. Take specific measures towards Energy conservation and sustainable measures Medical related companies can provide training for local Emirates. Considering the various factors th ere are some ideas and policies that either country can adopt. However the two countries are vastly different. While AAU is an autocratic society, it mainly focuses on one major sector locally which are the Emirates. Decisions are made and executed quickly as no consensus is required from the caked by huge funding which enables them to accomplish their goals.However in the long run the reliance on the foreign countries cannot be relied upon and local education and entrepreneurship definitely needs to be improved like what is been focused in India. India on the other hand is a very diverse society and it cannot focus on any major ethnic group. As it is also a huge country with a population of 1. 2 billion decision cannot be made by an individual. The consequences have to evaluated. Also despite the availability of natural resources funding is not as direct and easy like in Dubbed.Like some of the European countries they try to focus on agriculture and education, as in the long run th is would make their society self-reliant and not lament the lack of natural resources. There is a need for infrastructure in the form of roads of pipelines and sanitation facilities but the funding is not direct. Hence the rule of a mandatory CARS fee is created. Lastly to have a long term sustainable economy they need local entrepreneurship which they are focusing in many different areas like Finance, Infrastructure, Engineering, and Renewable Energy.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

In this paper, I argue that our government ought not redistribute Essay

In this paper, I argue that our government ought not redistribute wealth - Essay Example Governments will normally utilize two types of methods to redistribute wealth. These are the use of vouchers, for instance, food stamps, and the use of subsidies (Hochschild 13). These programs that aim at transfering payment can be funded through such initiatives such as general taxation, which has a disproportionate benefit for those in poverty and others who are expected to pay fewer taxes. Persons who benefit from these programs sometimes prefer to be given money directly, although, some more palatable forms of redistribution may be put, in place, to control the expenditure from these funds. In this paper, I intend to use Nozick’s argument to argue that the governmnent ought not to redistribute wealth. In his article, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Robert Nozick builds his argument against John Rawl’s argument in his article A Theory of Justice, going on to reject what he refers to as liberal egalitarianism and instead plumping for pure libertarianism. He derives his i deas from the ideology of Lockean that places emphasis on one’s natural rights to property, liberty, and life (Nozick 45). There is now logical manner in which these rights are liable to revocation. In this sense, any constraints or violations on the individual’s rights and liberty are immoral, especially if done without consent. Only those acts that come about through voluntary means by every party involved without infringing on the natural rights of other parties are just. In addition, those governments that aid poor citizens in wealth redistribution from those who are wealthier do so via unjust means. Indeed, these governments are upsetting the very course of action they are attempting to put in place. Wealth redistribution by the government is not a voluntary process and, as such, is not just and, therefore, must not be allowed (Nozick 50). Nozick’s ideas on libertarianism are reflective of the idea that human beings, as rational beings, should practice self -ownership. Borrowing from Immanuel Kant’s work from his article Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Nozick presents one imperative that makes necessary the idea that individuals should respect their rational nature and that of the other people. Using man as a way of satisfying the desires of other people, as well as those of oneself, is a violation of the rational nature present in humans (Nozick 71). This nature gives an individual inherent dignity, which could undergo forfeiture if this person’s only use is as a means to an end. Rational beings are able to enjoy self-ownership inclusive of their labor, abilities, abilities, talents, and body, as well as that existing as a direct result of their labor, abilities, and talents. Wealth results from the labor of an individual in accordance to the thesis of self-ownership with a person entitled to wealth for which they have labored. Wealth redistribution causes people to renounce whatever rights they held over their wealth (Nozick 72). Nozick’s entitlement theory, more specifically, argues against wealth redistribution by the government. It establishes that a person can legitimately attain ownership of property through three ways that are just. These are legitimate holdings transferred legitimately and through voluntary consent, acquiring holdings that had previous ownership, as

Friday, September 27, 2019

A critical response to the Marketing Myopia article Assignment

A critical response to the Marketing Myopia article - Assignment Example According to Levitt, business can only succeed when the business management concentrates on satisfying customer’s needs as opposed to selling produce. Notably, customers are the backbone of any business if they do not buy the products the business can never grow (Levitt, 2004). Therefore, fulfilling the needs of customers translate to intense buying and selling products. Additionally, customers often feel comfortable to buying or engage in business with institutions that fulfill their business needs. Therefore, Theodore Levitt’s article â€Å"Marketing Myopia† is a platform that provides the management of businesses with understanding why and how to improve the productivity of businesses and the real needs of customers towards this growth. Levitt is advising the marketers to focus further on the market that shall modify products and companies instead of focusing on their own companies. Modifying products ensures that these products increase value thereby catering for the changing demands of customers and the business community. According to Levitt, first priority should be directed to the market, which is the customer. To emphasize on his new marketing myopia, Levitt uses numerous business institution (Levitt, 2004). For example, Levitt  focuses on the business productivity on Hollywood and in the same concern he possess a question â€Å"if Hollywood was into television rather than movies, wouldn’t it have profited more?† The ideals presented or posted by this question are actually true. Most of the Hollywood crowd usually concentrated in making movies than in money. In the real sense, there is much money in the television than in movie making. Through this question, Levitt is challenging business to check and if possible to change their strategies. Notably, if Hollywood could have thought of the television market, it would have made more money that what they currently make (Levitt, 2004). With Hollywood and Sony among other television channels, Levitt introduces new marketing idea termed as the marketing myopia theory. The myopia marketing theory concentrates on marketing strategies where companies are not only needed to be product oriented and technically sound, but the theory also needs companies to focus on the customers. Different companies deal on different customer products; therefore, different companies have different customer needs (Levitt, 2004). Thus, according to the myopia marketing theory, Levitt advocates for companies to identify these different customer needs so that they can be brought into effect towards marinating the customer interest. Adoption of marketing myopia theory may have numerous implications to organizations. From the projected effects of the myopia theory, the theory can be applied to both marketing and advertisement to determine whether a business is catering for the market adequately, or there are adjustments to be made (Levitt, 2004). The adjustments that may be proj ected by numerous businesses must; thus, aim at catering for large market since Levitt is more concern in businesses making more profit than they currently make. Moreover, the myopia theory needs businesses to identify effective advertising strategies. In this concern, according to the theory, identifying new markets is not the entire solution to the entire process, after the identifying the market, it is vital of management to work out ways to reach and have effects to this newly identified market (Levitt, 2004). It is only through effective marketing strategies that the identified markets can effectively deliver. However, it may be a problem for organizations to

Thursday, September 26, 2019

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

Project - Research Paper Example Through the course of its contents this research project highlights areas in the hotel that need improvement and based on research, proposes solutions to said problem areas. Methodology This research project provides analysis of research material pertaining to the effective, strategic and efficient management of a hotel and includes a detailed stakeholder analysis by drawing on that research. Limits of Research The methodologies and strategies mentioned in this research project are generally applicable to any enterprise in the hospitality industry; however, some limitations may arise in very specific cases where a more customized approach may be necessary. Critical Analysis and Recommendations Hospitality and tourism are two of the world’s industries that are experiencing the most dynamic and rising growth levels. Combining the two industries are entrepreneurial ventures regarding hotels which become a bridge between the hospitality and tourism industries. Slattery (2002) talk s about how in this modern day and age the element of ‘hospitality’ has been lost from the hospitality industry due a more industrialized approach towards hospitality ventures. According to this paper, this element has been impaired by the industrialized commercial vision and to restore it we need to understand hospitality as a â€Å"social phenomenon involving relationships between people† and thus incorporate the â€Å"social factor† in the provision of services in any hospitality business. This research further goes on to say that to better understand hospitality we need to understand how it works in private settings, for example that of a nuclear family. Insight from this setting will make hospitality ventures better able to provide food, accommodation and other services. However, focus shouldn’t be limited to private settings for hospitality enterprises are after all business ventures and requires a very important commercial market interaction. The venture can be successful only if adequate attention is paid to all three domains. (Slattery, 1998). Further, the nature of hospitality is of crucial importance for hotels and their effective management. However, this aspect is mostly overlooked. To be more effective, management needs to factor in aspects of human behavior to better understand how to serve their clients in a more superior manner. (Brotherton and Wood, 2007). A feasibility study is also important and may take the developers months to collect the data that provides enough favorable economic argument to build a hotel. (Rutherford and O’Fallen, 2007). This is a very important step and must not be missed because future operational success builds on it. Another major concern in the modern world of globalization, expansion and technological progress is that businesses should be more concerned about ‘going green’ and not waste the earth’s resources that are available for their consumption, bu t devise ways through which these resources can be conserved. Hotels are a business in which the energy and resource consumption levels are high because they entertain a lot of people at one time. However due to their extensive consumption patterns they also have a higher responsibility to conserve resources and energy. Hotels, like other hospitality businesses are supposed to factor in sustainability and work to reduce their environmental footprint. Hotels that are conscious of this and appropriately address issues of

The Ineffectiveness of Gun Control Research Paper

The Ineffectiveness of Gun Control - Research Paper Example The longevity of guns, the prevalence of illegal caches of weapons and the lack of respect that criminals have for the law all contribute to gun control as a misguided and ineffective concept that has no effect on violent crime within the United States. Despite arguments to the contrary, gun control does not reduce the amount of violent crime in the United States. Throughout the United States, there are thousands of different gun control laws, which vary not only in the restrictions that they create, but also in how effectively they are enforced. Some laws act to restrict who can purchase guns, by creating purchasing permits, or requiring gun registration, others include safety training before purchase or background checks when a sale is occurring (Moorhouse and Wanner 104). Stories of the lack of logic in current gun control laws abound. A classic example of this is a man who keeps a gun in his house for his own protection, despite the fact that it is illegal. An intruder breaks into the man’s house, and makes a rush at the man, who then shoots the intruder. In many states in America, the man would face criminal charges, and this has happened many times (Wilson 1). This is one of the key arguments against gun control; it punishes the everyday citizens, while not effectively restricting criminals. After all, if a person is not afraid to break the law to rob a house, they are unlikely to be concerned about having an illegal gun. Thus, gun control does not result in less guns in the hands of criminals. The debate on gun control has spurred significant controversy about whether gun control laws are an effective method of reducing crime. Studies of gun control in the United States have mixed results.... Studies of gun control in the United States have mixed results. Most studies have concluded that gun control in the United States does not result in the reduction in violent crime (Moorhouse and Wanner 106). Despite the development of gun control laws, the amount of firearms owned privately has continued to steadily rise, but this has not been matched by the prevalence of violent crimes. Rates of violent crime in the United States have varied considerably (Jacobs 13). This suggests that ownership of guns has no effect on the rate of violent crime, implying that the logic behind gun control laws is fundamentally flawed. Perhaps the strongest piece of evidence against gun control is a report issued by the National Academy of Sciences. The report was 328 pages long, and contained information from close to 400 different sources as well as its own study. The study found that there was no evidence that gun control had any effect on reducing the amount of violent crime that occurs. Another study found that measures such as background checks for people purchasing guns are ineffective, as close to 80% percent of guns owned by criminals were purchased illegally (WND). There is no doubt that the United States has a serious problem with violent crime. Despite the comparatively low levels of crime in recent years, the United States still has more violent crime than other countries in the Western hemisphere, not only in terms of crimes committed with guns, but also for other types of violent crime. In fact, more than 90% of violent crimes that occur within the United States do not involve the use of any weapon (Jacobs 8-10). This suggests that gun control is an innately flawed concept because relies on the assumed relationship between the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Cameron and Obama Show Unity on Afghanistan Essay

Cameron and Obama Show Unity on Afghanistan - Essay Example Hoffman describes the terrorist groups as â€Å"rational actors† who are terrorizing for gaining political power. The same was exercized by Israel in 1946 to get a separate homeland from Palestinians. They massacred 91 people and terrorized them to seek political power. Today, although the president Obama is much stick on his footings to take tough measures against Iran for its nuclear programme but what keeps him bound is the approaching elections. Because US is not yet ready to trigger guns against Iran because she has a strong opinion from the public that they should not opt for any war further after the bitter experience of Afghanistan and Iraq. US is holding back its terrorist policies yet for the gain of political power as it can turn the masses against him. The game that every terrorist plays is for the gain of power and politics, so are doing the big political powers like US and Britain. The expression of totalitarianism in Afghanistan and Libya has been a phenomenon o f much concern for the world. Because the power US and its allies have expressed in terms of gaining world peace is outrageous. But definitely the definition of terrorism differs for every one. Although the USA is showing terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya but it is not viewed as terrorist in that critical term of terror as Al-Qaeda or Osama bin Laden is being viewed. The meeting between US and Britain affirm that Hoffman was right in explaing the terorism as a ‘globalized factor’. It has emerged from its historial roots to contemporay dilemma. 9/11 attacks, existence of Al-Qaeda and nuclear programme of Iran have united the globe against terrorists who are moving ahead to get their objectives. Hoffman is of the idea that the fears disseminated and political gains of terrorist have enabled the two adversaries of the past to merge together. British once set white house at fire, today US and Britain are allies against their common adversaries like Al-Qaeda who attacked US on 9/11 and Britain on 7/7. Terrorism was once a tool for only some small terrorist organizations but today it has gained popularity on state level. Now states like US, Britain, France are waging wars against the groups like Al-Qaeda etc. Hoffman gives one of the definitions of terrorism as, â€Å"the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change (p.40). It seems quite fit to the current political situations where nation states are working for their specific political gains and change policy. As United States policy on Libya and Syria differs. The US used all possible means and measures to bring the political change in Libya while with reference to Syria; we see a clear cut diversion in US policies. The use of violence and threat that was exercised in Libya, completely complies with the new definitions of terrorism by Hoffman. The states use the tools of threat and violence to get political changes of their own choices. â€Å"When we see what’s happening on television, our natural instinct is to act† was the statement by Obama that enables us to relate the link between terrorism and media as viewed by Hoffman who said, â€Å"

Monday, September 23, 2019

A Tale of Two Cities and Julius Caesar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Tale of Two Cities and Julius Caesar - Essay Example Murder has been a theme applied in plot development with variable definitions held in the theme depending on the justification offered for the action. In a tale of two cities and Julius Caesar, murder is committed to articulate justice, and the theme is promoted in the leading characters. The two tales had been written based on murder and an understanding, to the reason for the application of the theme would offer the needed solution for the author’s intuition to apply the style. Charles Dickens wrote the tale to describe the mysterious revelation of Alexandre Manette condition who had been thought to have died. The father to Lucie Manetter had been wrongfully imprisoned in Bastille, and she sought out on the journey with Jarvis Lorry to find her father. The cities that witness the events are Paris and London where oppression of the weak and love is justified to lead to the witnessed events. Carton’s murder is justified as he takes the wrongly accused Darnay position because of the love he had towards Lucie Manetter. Darwin writes the story in which the two Carton and Darnay fell in love with Lucie, but Darnay ended up being her husband. However, on returning to Paris, Darnay is captured to be prosecuted. Carton saves his love’s marriage by taking the position of his rival to be murdered for the cause of love (Dickens 366). Consequently, Mr. Defarge had been murdered following accusations that he had murdered the peasant boy, but the event had been an accident. The boy’s father murdered Defarge because he had failed to make an attempt to save the boy. Shakespeare had written the play to depict murder as a leading theme in his plot development. Caesar had been from the battle victorious and had been in line to be crowned the supreme leader. However, with his power, some of his generals grew jealous and worried that he would present a tyrannical rule over the people. The generals create a plan to assassinate Caesar and involve Brutus in the plot

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Analyze an event or issue from American history since World War II Essay

Analyze an event or issue from American history since World War II - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to explore the incident using primary sources as a way of identifying the incident from the perspective of those contemporary to the siege. Primary sources can be useful to historians as they can limit the amount of bias found when relying on secondary texts or unreliable historical sources. Whilst analyzing the events of the Waco siege, this paper will therefore examine the primary sources pertinent to the event to show the importance of primary sources, especially for recent historical events. Overview of Events On May 3, 1993, David Koresh was on the cover of Time Magazine (Time, 1993). The reason for this is that he was the leader of a religious organization known as the Branch Davidians, who self-identified as a Christian group linked to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although the group itself gained some interest in the early 1950s (Reavis, 1998), a series of leadership changes had meant that Koresh himself was now in charge of the group. The org anization itself mainly centered around a compound-style property in Waco, Texas (Reavis, 1998), which had little contact with the outside world except for daily activities (Reavis, 1998). This compound, known as the Mount Carmel Center, was to be the stage for the events of the Waco siege. As with many new religions, as the Branch Davidians grew in size there was increasing media interest in the group (Reavis, 1998). Additionally, the leader David Koresh had been investigated by some news articles which accused him of physical abuse and statutory rape (Reavis, 1998), which lead to yet more media interest in the group and their leader. Many sources also suggest that Koresh advocated polygamy and therefore was breaking the law of Texas at the time, despite his religious beliefs (Reavis, 1998). Despite these various crimes, the real interest of the event to the police was the potential that Koresh and his followers were stockpiling illegal weapons, hence the involvement of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF). Several pieces of evidence suggested that this was the case, meaning that Koresh had violated federal law and arrest and search warrants could be placed on various members of the group by the FBI. This search warrant led the ATF to instigate a search of the compound to find these illegal weapons, only to result in gunfire that left ten people dead (Reavis, 1998). After this moment, the FBI began to get more heavily involved due to the failure of the ATS to complete their siege. Although the decision was made to seriously investigate the compound, there was a stand-off between Branch Davidians and the FBI that lasted 51 days in total. After increasing tensions, the FBI launched a tear gas attack on the compound, only to result in a fire that was later declared to have been started by the Branch Davidians themselves. The Branch Davidians: Oh, My God, They're Killing Themselves! Some of the most interesting and useful sources for learning about the Waco siege are primary sources written at the time of the event, many of which are online and easily accessed. One of these is an article written for Time magazine, published on May 3rd 1993, shortly after the events that killed the Branch Davidians. The article itself is extremely descriptive about the events of the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Oral history archive department in modern libraries, Essay Example for Free

Oral history archive department in modern libraries, Essay The main aim of the research is to discuss the uses and the value of an oral history archive department in modern libraries, especially British libraries and American ones which are pioneers in this domain. It has been realized or discovered that the oral history archive can be used to explain the concept or idea of windowing time in physical and digital libraries. Of late digital and oral history archive libraries carry a variety of useful information and documents that include the past and present ones. This paper therefore tries to view the use and the value of this kind of sound archive in which it is divided into main categories and subsections. The first section is the introductory part that tries to give a brief explanation about the oral history archive. There is a problem in question or objective, which touches on what is to be investigated that is the use of this archive. The hypotheses are also constructed to provide answers to the objectives of the research. The other areas include research context/literature review; methodology; work plan; recourses; ethics and conclusion. 1. Working Title The use and the value of an oral history archive department in Modern Libraries and Information Centres. 2. Introduction. Many scholars realized that Oral history archive libraries can be used to obtain information as fast as possible. According to Portelli (1998), the archive holds several hours of gramophone, films, audio, video and Compact Disks. The oral history archive has been of great help in various departments because instant information has been obtained through what is called oral debriefing. This is a situation whereby a comprehensive and condensed verbal testimony is obtained from individuals (Medical Tribune 2007). Other areas where the oral history archive has been applied include areas such as psychology, witness interrogation in criminal investigations, which occur in both oral and visual formats (Sangster 1998).The archive tentatively is currently being used to help in knowledge management especially when it comes to labor market. This is an area in commerce and industry where the changing labor market requires employees to shift from one position to another or from one job to another. As this happens there is loss of organizational memory, the so called the body of data and knowledge which is relevant to an individual organization’s existence (Perk and Thomson 1998 and Gregory 1991). These therefore are of the uses of oral history archive that make it become recognized as a powerful device or tool especially in Britain to capture the already existing institutional knowledge and information. Learning has been enhanced by the use of Oral history archive. The new curriculum requires students to have sound and good communication skills that prepare them to answers questions either during interviews as they look for jobs after schooling or in classroom (Rolph 1998). Criminal investigation department also employ the use of an Oral history archive when they are interrogating criminals. 3. Aims and objectives In this section, the paper discusses the problem in question or the objectives of carrying out the research. Oral history archive has been viewed as a unique and powerful tool by people. In order to clear this perception and make things more clear, this research paper tries to answer the question. The problem to be researched on is therefore the value and the use of an oral history archive in modern libraries and information centres and why people view it as a useful tool in modern libraries. The paper shall also look at the role, if any, of the information specialist of the future in an oral history department and the skills the information specialist must have to operate in such a department. Besides, the paper shall also look at and address the question of how interviewing targets are chosen by the oral history department, how expensive it is to put up an oral history department from scratch at the various libraries, why people view it as a useful tool in the modern libraries and the skills that are required by an information specialist in order for him/her to be able to operate in the department. Today, many educationists are being encouraged to introduce oral history as a powerful tool for serious scholarships in all universities in order to encourage learning. However, there are a number of universities that have introduced and developed extensive collections of oral history while others have not realized the usefulness of the library. For example; Harvard, Princeton and University of California have taken the lead in the development and introduction of oral history archive (Gowers 2006). In addition, the university libraries mentioned above in this domain have operated smoothly from 1955, the British Library has been the pioneer for a lot of researchers of this topic. The reason is simple. The Sound Archive Department of British Library at the present time holds over a million discs, One hundred and eighty five thousand audio tapes, and a lot of video and sound records. These collections which include written literature, dramatized stuff, and music recordings plus sounds of wildlife are collected from across the world. They entail cylindrical equipment created in the nineteenth century to the most recent Compact Disks, Digital Versatile Disk and mini discs. 4. Scope and Definition In order to discover the use and the value of an oral history archive department and to create a sensible project in range and time, the scope of the project will focus mainly on the opinions of curators, librarians and others who are working in this sector. It is important though to be aware that this will emphasize basically on personal viewpoints and changing theories and therefore might not provide a perfect answer. It will also be necessary for the research to stay neutral and determined on the questioners and not go beyond the objectives set as those working in these departments will be more involved with the issues concerning their departments than be drawn to the personal issues. 5. Literature Review The literature review section tries to look at what other scholars have discussed about the same topic to be researched on. This is very important since it avoids or solves cases of duplication of other people’s work. Since other people or scholars at one time had realized the importance of Oral history archive in the modern libraries, it is therefore in order to access their ideas on the topic. The oral history archive has been viewed as a useful tool in a number of areas such as psychotherapy, witness interrogation in crime investigation and learning institutions that are provided in both oral and visual formats (Rolph 1998, Gregory 1991, Parker 1999 and Sarah 2004). According to Ritchie (2003), oral history has useful information or materials that are often ignored by librarians. This is also sometimes overlooked in relation to cost value calculation (Swain 2003). The archive has played a key role in helping in audio collection, attitude and value clarification as well as necessitating multi-media approach to learning (Christel 2006 and Thomson 2000). The most obvious area where oral history archive has been used according to Perks and Thompson (1998) is in learning institutions. This is a case where a tape recorder is used in classrooms to help students understand the concept being taught in class room. However, it has been noticed that a tape recorder has not been effectively and efficiently used as compared to the use of movie, slide or overhead projectors (Lukenbill 2002). One advantage when one uses a tape recorder is that it can be stopped anytime especially when the instructor wants to emphasize important points or to allow urgent questions arising (Thompson 2000). Tapes can also be replayed to enhance re-examining or revisiting and requesting of any order that is desirable. Proper understanding of the lesson is therefore emphasized. Since the new curriculum requires students to have skills in understanding comprehension, analysis and evaluation. Oral history has been of great use to check and examine all these concepts. It is also noted that oral communication skills are very important when it comes to times of interviews where questions are phrased (Swain 2003). The interviewer and the interviewee have to be clear and precise especially in calling for specific information. The questions asked especially during the interviews need also to be answered in the most accurate manner as possible (Ritchie 2003). According to Perks and Thompson (1998), accuracy actually plays a major role in interviews and this can be facilitated by the use of oral history archive. The concept is also emphasized by Seale (2004). As a way of facilitating learning, oral history archive through the use of tapes has facilitated immediate feedback during teaching in schools. This has been done in connection with other secondary sources like books more so in secondary schools. Students’ needs are addressed as soon as possible. This rules out cases of negative delays which is commonly experienced in the traditional scholarly research where numerous collections are required (Thompson 2000). A good teacher who knows how to use tapes only needs to locate appropriate tapes in which he is expected to prepare summarized notes according to students’ understanding. This should be done after testing the entry behavior of the students before opting to use the tapes for instruction (Parker 1999). Oral history archive has also been helpful in clinical libraries (Schacher 2001). Clinicians when giving psychotherapy to patients who are mentally disturbed have used the information contained in the Oral history archive. Such patients may be suffering from Schizophrenia or psychosis (Schacher 2001 and Thompson 2000). As patients talk about their illness the clinician is able to come up with appropriate measures to provide assistance.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Literacy and Numeracy: Personal Development Plan

Literacy and Numeracy: Personal Development Plan A new prospect by the Australian government will have new teachers who have graduated from university undergo a literacy and numeracy test to show that they are at a competent level to teach students. Students leaving university will be required to place in the top 30% to pass. EDU114 is a current course at the University of the Sunshine Coast which is helping aspiring teachers to get ready for life in the classroom. In this course, one of our tasks is to form a personal develop plan to help us achieve our goals to pass the literacy and numeracy test in 4 years. I have undergone four practice literacy tests and four practice numeracy tests. Below are my results and my personal development plan to help me lift my results to become a successful and competent teacher. Literacy was done first so I will examine my results for these test first. I have averaged out all my results for the four tests to make them easier to analyse then broken the tests down into sections. These sections are: spelling, punctuation, grammar, comprehension and total score. My total score for the four tests averaged out to be 70.5. If we are to assume that anything over 70 would be top 30% then I have just scraped in. The main section holding me back has been comprehension with a low score of 59 while my best scoring section was grammar which was 78. Spelling and punctuation were 67.5 and 76.5 respectively. If I am to improve on these numbers one of my goals is to move my comprehension score from a 59 to a 75 by the end of the second semester. To do this I will be keeping a reading journal by my side when I read books, whether it be recreational or for study. By keeping a reading journal and taking notes, it will force me to absorb what I am reading rather than just taking in words. By handwriting in a journal, it forces me to use the correct spelling without the help of auto correct on the computer which will also improve my spelling. By repeating this same test in 8 months time, it will give me a greater understanding of my improvement in all areas while at the same time being a long enough time for me not to remember the answers. My numeracy test was very poor compared with my literacy test. My total score was only 54.25 with my lowest score coming in at 36.75 for written arithmetic. The other two scores were written data at 52 and mental arithmetic at 68.5. As you can see, none of these scores are anywhere near sufficient to get in to the top 30%. My goal for numeracy is similar to my literacy goal but instead of just focusing on one section like comprehension, my goal is to redo the test at the end of the second semester and have my total score at 75. To do this, I will be getting help from an outside source known as the Khan Academy. The Khan Academy has been recommended to me by other students who needed help in their math classes. It takes you through problems, ideas, solutions, graphs and anything you need help with and explains slowly so you can understand. By using this site each week and methodically going through their format for learning, I will improve my mathematics knowledge and be able to check my mathematics knowledge at the end of the year. The literacy and numeracy tests that the Australian government is implementing are designed to make sure educators are in the top 30% of Australians for literacy and numeracy. These test are a way to make sure that our students are only receiving correct information. After reviewing my tests in literacy and numeracy I can see that I have a bit of a way to go until I am ready to teach. However, with my goals in place I believe that I will be able to reach the top 30% by the end of my university degree. I look forward to the end of the year where I can test myself again and check my progress, after which I can reset my goal posts and aim higher for next time.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Scarlet Letter - Impact of Sin on Dimmmesdale, Chillingworth and He

The Scarlet Letter - Impact of Sin on Dimmmesdale, Chillingworth and Hester   Ã‚   Charles Haddon Spurgeon, a seventeenth century Baptist preacher, commented that, "Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of." An individual either faces their actions or runs from them, and Gothic Romance authors often write about the evil that emerges in people when they conceal their sins. Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates this idea through the actions of his three main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. In spite of the nearly equal severity of their sins, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth and Hester react to their dilemmas in varying ways such as guilt, revenge and reconciliation.    Although he portrays the pious pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale handles his sin, adultery, by hiding this fault from everyone and in turn destroys himself with his guilt. Beginning in chapter three, the townspeople constantly see Dimmesdale with his hand over his heart. He does not posses the courage to show his shame openly, so he decides to punish himself through physical pain and nightly vigils. This torture becomes evident in chapter ten when Chillingworth removes Dimmesdale's garments and rejoices at the image of a scarlet letter, along with other markings, upon the preacher's chest. His strong sense of guilt also becomes apparent when he takes a midnight walk to the scaffold, where Hester and Pearl join him. At this point, Dimmesdale still cannot truly endure the shame in front of the real crowd. Ironically, the more guilt he feels the more compelling his sermons become. He attempts many times to indirectly tell his congregation... ... differently towards sin and Hester proves reconciliation as the best response to wrongdoings. Through Hester, Hawthorne successfully conveys his theme that concealing a person's faults draws forth more evil than imaginable, but bearing the consequences leads to salvation. Indeed, life's difficult trials bring out the true essence of a person, and one must exhibit inner strength while facing their shame in order to survive these trials.    Works Cited and Consulted:    Brown, Bryan D. "Reexamining Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. http://www.usinternet.com/users/bdbournellonie.htm. July 1, 2003.    Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc., 1996.    Smiles, Samuel. "The Scarlet Letter." The Power of Sin. Ed. Martin Tucker. New York City: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1962. 266.   

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Educational Philosophy :: Education Careers Teaching Essays

Educational Philosophy Ever since I was little and starting my education I have wanted to become a teacher. It is a lifelong goal of mine and I hope someday I can fulfill this goal. This past summer my dream of becoming a teacher was further strengthened. I had the opportunity to coach a peewee football team and this decision turned out to be very instrumental to me as a person. I realized many things about myself and I realized where I wanted to go in life. I found out that I loved to teacher kids things I love as a person. I truly found out that I wanted to make kids my life and more specifically I wanted to become a Physical Education and Health teacher. It was just as Sputnik turned America’s light bulb on, that this summer turned my light bulb on. Throughout my education I have learned a variety of techniques and ideas that have been effective and not so effective in my own education. I have found that the teachers who sit behind the desk bore you till no end are not as effective as those teachers who have a hands on, enthusiastic learning environment. Thus, this brings me to my philosophy of education. First, I believe as a teacher you should be a true enthusiast. I know from past experiences if a teacher brings enthusiasm to their work it will enhance their classroom and also the ability of their students to learn. As this type of teacher I want to display a positive and enthusiastic attitude that hopefully will diffuse through my students like a wildfire. A positive attitude will get positive results and that will translate into enthusiasm for both the students and the teacher. Though I will act in a professional manner, I want to become as one with the students. I want my enthusiasm to enable the students to experience the best environment for learning and experimenting with the curriculum. I also want to display a progressivist attitude in my classroom. I believe that hands on learning is the most effective way of teaching a student new, unfamiliar subject matter. Being in a Physical Education environment, I believe this will be the most effective philosophy in my classroom.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

If there is a long drawn-out war with Iraq (or any other :: Economics

If there is a long drawn-out war with Iraq (or any other country), what implications might this have for Britain's fiscal deficit? Also trace out the possible effects, if any, on: a) Monetary Policy, b) Inflation and c) Unemployment. The economic policy followed by a country engaged in war is ,certainly, different of that followed by a country when in peace. Britain now finds itself a few steps away from war with Iraq and the questions concerning the implications of this ,unnecessary for many, war are not little. Firstly, before we analyze the effects of war with Iraq on fiscal policy and deficit of the UK we must briefly outline the role of fiscal policy and what is a fiscal deficit. Fiscal policy is a so-called demand management policy and is defined as the manipulation of government expenditures and/or of taxes in order to influence aggregate demand and thus economic activity and employment. In the case of Britain, there is a fiscal deficit. A rise in government expenditures and/or a decrease in taxes (i.e. an increase of injections over withdrawals) leads to an even greater (through the multiplier) rise in national income and thus of employment. Deficit spending could lead to an expansion of economic activity; this policy is known as expansionary (or, reflationary) fiscal policy. It can be said, with great certainty, that Britain's fiscal deficit will increase largely during the war. Being an OECD[1] member country and a country with similar economic performance from time to time, Britain can be considered largely an economy with many common aspects to the U.S. economy in many aspects. The U.S. economy had three major peaks in deficits and all of them reflect wars: the Civil War of the 1860s, WWI and WWII. So one can expect that a long drawn-out war with Iraq will mean that the British economy will run on deficit for a long time. This should not suggest that deficits will occur after the war as well, though. U.S. economy has recovered and reduced the stock of debt after these wars. There are also political factors that need to be considered in the case of Britain. Because of the high public unrest and anti-war movement that occurred in Britain before the war the government might feel obliged to prove to the people that war against Iraq was a wise thought. UK government would be able to provide that short-term feel-good factor by cutting taxes and possibly increased spending. If pressure on the government mounts, and it is already mounting very fast with numerous resignations and public protests, it is very likely that it would see more clearly the If there is a long drawn-out war with Iraq (or any other :: Economics If there is a long drawn-out war with Iraq (or any other country), what implications might this have for Britain's fiscal deficit? Also trace out the possible effects, if any, on: a) Monetary Policy, b) Inflation and c) Unemployment. The economic policy followed by a country engaged in war is ,certainly, different of that followed by a country when in peace. Britain now finds itself a few steps away from war with Iraq and the questions concerning the implications of this ,unnecessary for many, war are not little. Firstly, before we analyze the effects of war with Iraq on fiscal policy and deficit of the UK we must briefly outline the role of fiscal policy and what is a fiscal deficit. Fiscal policy is a so-called demand management policy and is defined as the manipulation of government expenditures and/or of taxes in order to influence aggregate demand and thus economic activity and employment. In the case of Britain, there is a fiscal deficit. A rise in government expenditures and/or a decrease in taxes (i.e. an increase of injections over withdrawals) leads to an even greater (through the multiplier) rise in national income and thus of employment. Deficit spending could lead to an expansion of economic activity; this policy is known as expansionary (or, reflationary) fiscal policy. It can be said, with great certainty, that Britain's fiscal deficit will increase largely during the war. Being an OECD[1] member country and a country with similar economic performance from time to time, Britain can be considered largely an economy with many common aspects to the U.S. economy in many aspects. The U.S. economy had three major peaks in deficits and all of them reflect wars: the Civil War of the 1860s, WWI and WWII. So one can expect that a long drawn-out war with Iraq will mean that the British economy will run on deficit for a long time. This should not suggest that deficits will occur after the war as well, though. U.S. economy has recovered and reduced the stock of debt after these wars. There are also political factors that need to be considered in the case of Britain. Because of the high public unrest and anti-war movement that occurred in Britain before the war the government might feel obliged to prove to the people that war against Iraq was a wise thought. UK government would be able to provide that short-term feel-good factor by cutting taxes and possibly increased spending. If pressure on the government mounts, and it is already mounting very fast with numerous resignations and public protests, it is very likely that it would see more clearly the

Christian Ethics Are Too Rigid for Moral Decision Making

It can be argued, that when referring to the Bible, teachings within it are too rigid for moral decision making. There are many reasons for this, some which are very evident, particularly when looking at certain teachings. On the other hand, some argue that most religious ethics are the right way to approach moral decision making as these contain the teachings and word of God so must be correct. Some of St. Paul’s teachings are heavily criticised for being too rigid.For example if a Christian were to be offered a promotion in a career, but it meant that they were to take someone else’s job and leave them without one, such teachings as, â€Å"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you. ‘† (Heb. 13:5). See also: 1 Tim. 6:9-11, would not help in this situation. This is discouraging an individual for taking that particular thing away from another even if it were to mean that they were happier as a result.Therefore there is no flexibility about this, and the decision would be made to reject the offer of the career as one should not be jealous or want what another has. On the other hand, many argue that St. Paul’s teachings are rigid and can be seen from many different angles. For example the teaching, â€Å"But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased† (Heb. 13:16) can be applied to many situations when making moral decisions, as it is very broad and not specific. Therefore the teaching is flexible enough to be applied to almost every situation.However it could be argued that teachings such as this are not specific enough to give strong guidance in a moral decision, particularly those which are life changing. Fundamentalist Christians would agree that St. Paul’s teachings are not too rigid as they believe that we should abide by the exact word of the Bible, as this is God’s word and not try to attempt to alter them in any way. When studying the Ten Commandments, many believe that these cannot be applied literally to every situation as there are different approaches that can be taken.For example commandment number four, ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy’ cannot be applied to the modern day as many people now work on a Sunday but still worship the Lord. Even Jesus Christ worked on a Sunday and was told not to when he was healing others. Even though he was acting out of love, this was still seen as work and was therefore against the word of God. Liberal Christians would agree that the Ten Commandments are too rigid to be used for moral decision making as different situations. For instance commandment six, ‘You shall not murder’ could be arguable.This is because if a girl was being raped and in self-defence killed the rapist, could it not be argued that this is justifying right? Due the fact that the murder was only a result of the sin that the rapist committed to begin with. Fundamentalist Christians would not agree with this, as they believe that the Ten Commandments are rules to be abided by, from God. However it can then be argued that if a person is only being obedient to the rules of God and doing what they are told, are they actually making a moral decision?This then also questions whether that person also then has any moral autonomy if they are just obeying the word of God. This is a strong criticism against religious ethics when used for moral decision making. Another criticism is that many religious ethics are very hard to be applied to modern day situations. This is because the teachings within the Bible were written thousands of years ago, and with advances with technology and society generally, situations occur today which would not have back then.Therefore these ethics can be seen as too rigid to apply to modern day moral decisions. In particular many of St. Paul’s teachings are arguably sexist. For instance St. Paul preached that women should not be able to work, and yet today work between men and women is very equal with certain acts making this possible. Therefore as previously mentioned, it can be argued that St. Paul’s teachings are too rigid for moral decisions, as they do not take account for the modern day. Despite this, many argue that some Christian ethics are not too rigid for moral decision making e. . situation ethics. It is seen that situation ethics offers moral maturity and particularly conscience and prayer allows the Christian to have autonomy. Many Christians today take a liberal approach to moral decision making, as they are able to adapt the scripture for the particular situation that they are in and believe that this will achieve the best outcome. However Fundamentalist Christians will argue that if Christian ethics are too flexible then this could result with no ethics or guidance in what to do, and Christians wi ll make the wrong moral decisions.In conclusion, Fundamentalist and Liberal Christians take different approaches to moral decision making using religious ethics. Fundamentalist Christians will take a strict legalism approach and abide by rules from God such as the Ten Commandments, and only act by the teachings within the Bible, and how they believe that God would have wanted them to. On the other hand, Liberal Christians take a more copious approach and use Christian teachings such as situation ethics to help them make moral decisions.This is because they allow them to be flexible and are able to apply the rule of ‘love’ to every situation. I would agree with Liberal Christians, as I believe that this approach allows us to adapt Christian ethics for the modern day situation and I believe that this will achieve the best outcome whilst still following the word of God and acting lovingly. Therefore I believe that Christian ethics such as religious ethics saves Christianit y from being too rigid.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Is Google Making Us Stupid? Essay

In the article by Nicholas Carr, â€Å"Is Google Making Us Stupid?†, Carr points out numerous drawbacks to today’s technology and as well as a useful tool to our society. Of course this topic of discussion has various opinions and viewpoints on whether technology is coming our aid or hurting us more in today’s world. I believe technology is in fact hurting us in some categories, but ultimately I believe that it is ultimately helping us grow as people and improving society as a whole. Nicholas Carr’s whole argument about how the internet is hurting us and making the use of our own knowledge become less of a factor is hard to believe looking at the resources it provides to us today. Google, Wikipedia, online databases, and school libraries are all being put on the internet to serve accessible information. Colleges are even using the internet for online courses and e-mail services to communicate with students. The internet is has also brought us the ability to research and communicate across various cultures without actually having to travel to those locations to see them first hand. Social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are a very good examples of a communication tool if they are used in the correct fashion. Websites like these allow for people to read about a topic or issue and discuss it with people all over the world, even the people that are being affected. Blogs, discussion boards, and pictures are shared on the web with the rest of the world to see and act upon. Carr fails to mention the use of the web in this way in his article. What Carr doesn’t realize is that the internet is an endless pit of information and is available to everyone, just not always necessarily accessed by users. We are attracted to what we are interested in and what is the most useful to us on the internet. Carr mentions that â€Å"power browsing† is making us avoid the traditional way of online reading by giving us quick wins. The use of hyperlinks allow for us to access different resources by  helping a person gain more information and understand it better. This allows for users to access information quicker, allowing them to soak up information, and making them have more knowledge on the topic making them less stupid. Carr makes the argument that â€Å"society is continuously being shaped by new technology†. I agree with this statement, but I think it is more or less society adapts to the new technology being introduced to us and what it has to offer. Our brains don’t have to change for the internet, they tend to develop with it. Being brought up with technology, it is easy to understand and utilize what it has to offer. On the other hand, older generations may have a hard time with it due to it being to different to handle well. The amount of information may be too difficult to comprehend and may become a cohesive relationship. I have always been able to find the information that I’m seeking and use it to my liking. It’s just a matter of focus and not becoming overwhelmed. Although technology and the use of the web are useful, there are always downfalls to such great things. Carr mentions that â€Å"as we become more reliant on computers to meditate our understanding of the world, it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence†, I agree with this statement in the fact that humans rely heavily on technology to communicate and entertain us. We have so much information at our fingertips that it almost seems silly to pick up a book and actually research something when you can just type it into a search engine and get results in lightning speed. My parents and elders have told me that technology is making us anti-social and deteriorating our communication skills. The use of text messaging seems to be the one that is most at fault for this. In today’s culture, talking on the phone and in person is becoming a struggle for most people, especially teens and young adults. We are so use to typing messages back and forth to one another that we lose the simple communication skills by not physically talking to them. There is a lot of things that a text message can’t convey to people like talking can such as emotion and clarity. In conclusion, it’s all about not becoming too overwhelmed, use resources  and the internet responsibly, and use them to our advantage. Carr misses the point in that our abilities for deep thinking are not ruined by the internet but expressed and improved. To learn about a certain subject, you don’t have to enroll into a college course. You don’t need a plane ticket to learn about different cultures. This is information at your fingertips with the use of the internet and it’s your responsibility and prerogative to use it wisely and to your advantage.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

What Is Philosophy

There are many different kinds of philosophy and almost anything and everything has its own philosophy. Philosophy is the inquiring of existence, to find out what it s meaning is. It is the search for truth and understanding. Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom, not only in oneself but also in others. When asking for a philosophy on something it is mainly picking at one s brain to figure out the most inner thoughts and beliefs that one has on a subject. The idea of philosophy and the way that it works is mainly dependant on a person’s interpretive skill; it is a person’s thoughts on a certain subject in an analytical and exploratory manner. It is different levels of meaning. It is a search for some kind of general understanding of values and reality by a primarily speculative way rather than a merely observational way. Extensively speaking the purpose of philosophy is to study and find a reflective view of certainties, genuine concerns and general beliefs. Philosophy is like a classification of different theories on the disposition of things and what they are about. The branch of philosophy concerned with identifying the ultimate reality of nature of the universe is known as metaphysics. It is like a system of principles underlying a particular subject or study. Metaphysics was originally used to refer to the writings done by Aristotle on Physics. Now, it is better known for its attempt to understand the fundamental nature of all reality, if something is visible or not visible at all. Metaphysics seeks an explanation so basic and simple to everything that is, from what is human to what is spiritual and religious to what anything else really is. It is an argument that tries to figure out the things that actually exist and are truly real against the things that just seem to be real. There is a primary component of metaphysics and that component is ontology. Ontology is the theory of existence and being. It is pretty much concerned with identifying the things of the universe that are basic. Also. It takes a look at if something is composed of many diverse elements or if it plainly consists of only one fundamental compound. Ontology is usually compared with metaphysics proper. Metaphysics proper is more concerned with the general principles and traits of the world. It assumes that the general principles and traits of reality are simple and general and that because they are so general that they will apply to any kind of universe. Another way that metaphysics is divided is by a theoretical way and an applied way. Each describe a different way, one way just simply describes while the other way applies the description to practical problems. It puts knowledge to work and then gathers the knowledge for further examination. The branch of philosophy that studies knowledge is epistemology. Epistemology is a study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity. It seeks to define knowledge, identify its sources and establish its limits. Epistemology is derived from the Greek words Episteme and Theoria. According to the Greek language Episteme means knowledge and Theoria means theory. It addresses the philosophical problems surrounding the theory of knowledge. It attempts to answer the basic question of whether or not knowledge is true or false. What distinguishes true knowledge? What distinguishes false knowledge? These questions translates into issues of scientific methodology, it also forms one of the pillars of the new sciences of cognition. Epistemology is known for being the central area pf philosophy because philosophy is the quest for wisdom and truth. If you take a look at the history of epistemology, you see a clear trend, even though there is much confusion of many seemingly contradictory positions. The first theories of knowledge stressed its absolute, permanent character, while later theories put the emphasis on its relativity, its continuous development or evolution, and its active interference with the world and its subjects and objects. The whole trend seemingly moves from a static, passive view of knowledge towards a more and more adaptive and active one. What Is Philosophy Most definitions of philosophy have been fairly controversial partly because what has been called philosophy has changed drastically in the course of history. What used to be a part of the philosophical inquiries detached themselves from it. This is why most academic subject began as some aspect as philosophy and branched off into knowledge and became specialized. The word philosophy originated from Greek words philia (love) and sophia (wisdom) carrying the meaning love of wisdom. The essential part of being a good philosopher is the faculty of wonder. Philosophy searches for the truth and questioning the unquestionable. Intrinsically it satisfies, or seeks to satisfy, the intellectual desire for comprehensive knowledge and understanding. Philosophers need to be open-minded and never closing door. They have to be accepting and be able to accept changes. A philosopher is curious, reflective and critical. Big philosophical questions like Who is god? , Where does the world come from? , What is life? has remained unanswered. Questions of this genre are asked in every culture, every religion and through every period of time. The quest of philosophy is to answer these questions. Philosophy makes people doubt their beliefs. They make people query their cultural norms and what they have been putting faith into and brought up believing. People who are easily influence might think twice about their beliefs and those who hold true faith in what they already belief think philosophy is a load of rubbish and immature. They ignore the big questions and are too occupied searching for material things. They ignore the fact that these questions are yet to be answered but opt to remaine oblivious to it. By philosophizing, people reflect and criticize their most deeply held conceptions and beliefs. Essentially, the sole purpose of a normal life is to perpetuate and thrive to expand and fill the world galaxy with it. When we humans have gotten past a certain level or mark and into higher sentience. Then comes the aesthetic values, that we currently enjoy. however, the modern day society prevents most from doing so because the earth is overcrowded, and there’s the fight for resources. Philosophy attempts to search the evidence of all beliefs. It takes a second look at cultural norms. They attempt to think through a variety of life problems. It leads the mind to a critical evaluation of things, but critical evaluations often differ from person to person for their personal expierences, cultural background may vary widely. In this changing universe, some people are responsive to it and some are not. Some cling on to old tradtions passed down decads ago and declare that they are final. Often those who are unresponsive to it are old, narrow minded, stubborn people. Philosophy tries to relate reality to belief. It tries to find evidence and speculates the truth behind our daily assumptions. Due to this, some people think philosophy is dangerous. Socrates was accused for corrupting the mind of the youth in Athens. In this epoch, people think philosophy is nonsense and too corrupts the youth. It deters the youth from their original beliefs and confuses them even more that they already are. By philosophizing, people ask questions. They ask questions to get closer to the truth. But in fact, most of the time, they do not get closer to the truth but end up with even more unanswerable questions. Babies and young kids have this faculty of wonder. They ask adults a lot of questions Why is the sky so high? and many adults cannot answer that question because they themselves can t answer those questions. Shallowness, incompleteness, poor reasoning, and assertions with flimsy foundations prevent a truly enlightened person. When a person comes up with a philosophy or theory of his own, he persuades other people and influences them. Orators sways minds and hearts and thereby wage wars, gain control and seduce an unsuspecting public. To illustrate this point, lets say a nobody comes out and questions the government and influences the rest of the public to do so, with enough questioning citizens the government will be overpowered by the overwhelming demand of inquiries and thus cause chaos in a country†¦ Those who advocate total control or even economists philosophy like Carl Marx and his views on social reform can change the whole values of society, which means every single unit of society (us) will be affected even if we resist the next generation will grow up already brainwashed and in their minds that this is good, that is bad. This is why some people say philosophy is dangerous Philosophy can also change a way a person thinks. It can change peoples mind set especially those who are fickle and are not sure about their own true identities. These people change as they get influenced and cannot decide which is right and which is wrong. In our age of confusion and uncertainty, we need a sense of identity. Unaware of the complexities of an issue, unfamiliarity of certain issues, and unable to distinguish valid and invalid reasoning, these disoriented people might give in to authoritarian approaches to sacrifice their lives for certain values and ideas. And if people start philosopizing about things that are dangerous, it might baffle a person of their till then perception of things. People then turn to religion for a sense of direction. But once they start questioning the veracity of the religion, they are then deterred away again from their search of identity. Leaving them profound and doubtful. Philosophy is dangerous because it threatens to change or lives. But then again, because philosophy precedes the faculty of wonder, many things that were assumed have been justified. The world is not all sleight of hand and deception. A lot of old age enigmas have now been explained by science. What the dark side of the moon look likes was once shrouded in mystery but now we know exactly how it looks like. Philosophy leads to evolution. Because of that people improve. If it weren t because of the curiousness of scientists, we wouldn t have new inventions of machinery, of mathematical formulae, and wouldn t have the technology we now have in our lives. We would still be living in the dark, not knowing where to turn to. With this use, we cannot entirely say that philosophy is dangerous since it brings us so many advantages. Humanity has acquired a great new power in science and technology. We obtain numerous techniques for gaining greater security and comforts have been developed. Philosophy, in conjunction with other disciplines, plays a central in guiding us toward new desires and aspirations. It guides us to a clearer more assuring road into life. Philosophizing leads us to seek more knowledge and thus making a person wiser. It guides us to make more knowledgeable and wiser choices in life. The exploration of the possible, reasonable solution clarifies the options open to thoughtful persons. The usefulness of choosing from the reasoned, researched alternatives rather than from bigoted, impulsive, and unclear claims is apparent inn all dimension of our lives. Ideally, the study of philosophy nurtures our capacity for making informed choices. Ultimately, there isn t really a definite answer to the question whether philosophy is dangerous. This is due to the fact that philosophy brought humanity to evolve and improve yet making people feel anxious and insecure because they are uncertain about the meaning of life and which direction they should take life in. What Is Philosophy Most definitions of philosophy have been fairly controversial partly because what has been called philosophy has changed drastically in the course of history. What used to be a part of the philosophical inquiries detached themselves from it. This is why most academic subject began as some aspect as philosophy and branched off into knowledge and became specialized. The word philosophy originated from Greek words philia (love) and sophia (wisdom) carrying the meaning love of wisdom. The essential part of being a good philosopher is the faculty of wonder. Philosophy searches for the truth and questioning the unquestionable. Intrinsically it satisfies, or seeks to satisfy, the intellectual desire for comprehensive knowledge and understanding. Philosophers need to be open-minded and never closing door. They have to be accepting and be able to accept changes. A philosopher is curious, reflective and critical. Big philosophical questions like Who is god? , Where does the world come from? , What is life? has remained unanswered. Questions of this genre are asked in every culture, every religion and through every period of time. The quest of philosophy is to answer these questions. Philosophy makes people doubt their beliefs. They make people query their cultural norms and what they have been putting faith into and brought up believing. People who are easily influence might think twice about their beliefs and those who hold true faith in what they already belief think philosophy is a load of rubbish and immature. They ignore the big questions and are too occupied searching for material things. They ignore the fact that these questions are yet to be answered but opt to remaine oblivious to it. By philosophizing, people reflect and criticize their most deeply held conceptions and beliefs. Essentially, the sole purpose of a normal life is to perpetuate and thrive to expand and fill the world galaxy with it. When we humans have gotten past a certain level or mark and into higher sentience. Then comes the aesthetic values, that we currently enjoy. however, the modern day society prevents most from doing so because the earth is overcrowded, and there’s the fight for resources. Philosophy attempts to search the evidence of all beliefs. It takes a second look at cultural norms. They attempt to think through a variety of life problems. It leads the mind to a critical evaluation of things, but critical evaluations often differ from person to person for their personal expierences, cultural background may vary widely. In this changing universe, some people are responsive to it and some are not. Some cling on to old tradtions passed down decads ago and declare that they are final. Often those who are unresponsive to it are old, narrow minded, stubborn people. Philosophy tries to relate reality to belief. It tries to find evidence and speculates the truth behind our daily assumptions. Due to this, some people think philosophy is dangerous. Socrates was accused for corrupting the mind of the youth in Athens. In this epoch, people think philosophy is nonsense and too corrupts the youth. It deters the youth from their original beliefs and confuses them even more that they already are. By philosophizing, people ask questions. They ask questions to get closer to the truth. But in fact, most of the time, they do not get closer to the truth but end up with even more unanswerable questions. Babies and young kids have this faculty of wonder. They ask adults a lot of questions Why is the sky so high? and many adults cannot answer that question because they themselves can t answer those questions. Shallowness, incompleteness, poor reasoning, and assertions with flimsy foundations prevent a truly enlightened person. When a person comes up with a philosophy or theory of his own, he persuades other people and influences them. Orators sways minds and hearts and thereby wage wars, gain control and seduce an unsuspecting public. To illustrate this point, lets say a nobody comes out and questions the government and influences the rest of the public to do so, with enough questioning citizens the government will be overpowered by the overwhelming demand of inquiries and thus cause chaos in a country†¦ Those who advocate total control or even economists philosophy like Carl Marx and his views on social reform can change the whole values of society, which means every single unit of society (us) will be affected even if we resist the next generation will grow up already brainwashed and in their minds that this is good, that is bad. This is why some people say philosophy is dangerous Philosophy can also change a way a person thinks. It can change peoples mind set especially those who are fickle and are not sure about their own true identities. These people change as they get influenced and cannot decide which is right and which is wrong. In our age of confusion and uncertainty, we need a sense of identity. Unaware of the complexities of an issue, unfamiliarity of certain issues, and unable to distinguish valid and invalid reasoning, these disoriented people might give in to authoritarian approaches to sacrifice their lives for certain values and ideas. And if people start philosopizing about things that are dangerous, it might baffle a person of their till then perception of things. People then turn to religion for a sense of direction. But once they start questioning the veracity of the religion, they are then deterred away again from their search of identity. Leaving them profound and doubtful. Philosophy is dangerous because it threatens to change or lives. But then again, because philosophy precedes the faculty of wonder, many things that were assumed have been justified. The world is not all sleight of hand and deception. A lot of old age enigmas have now been explained by science. What the dark side of the moon look likes was once shrouded in mystery but now we know exactly how it looks like. Philosophy leads to evolution. Because of that people improve. If it weren t because of the curiousness of scientists, we wouldn t have new inventions of machinery, of mathematical formulae, and wouldn t have the technology we now have in our lives. We would still be living in the dark, not knowing where to turn to. With this use, we cannot entirely say that philosophy is dangerous since it brings us so many advantages. Humanity has acquired a great new power in science and technology. We obtain numerous techniques for gaining greater security and comforts have been developed. Philosophy, in conjunction with other disciplines, plays a central in guiding us toward new desires and aspirations. It guides us to a clearer more assuring road into life. Philosophizing leads us to seek more knowledge and thus making a person wiser. It guides us to make more knowledgeable and wiser choices in life. The exploration of the possible, reasonable solution clarifies the options open to thoughtful persons. The usefulness of choosing from the reasoned, researched alternatives rather than from bigoted, impulsive, and unclear claims is apparent inn all dimension of our lives. Ideally, the study of philosophy nurtures our capacity for making informed choices. Ultimately, there isn t really a definite answer to the question whether philosophy is dangerous. This is due to the fact that philosophy brought humanity to evolve and improve yet making people feel anxious and insecure because they are uncertain about the meaning of life and which direction they should take life in.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Is Organic Food Good for You Essay

What is organic food? †¢(1) Organic food is food which has been produced to standards designed to keep the production more ‘natural’. Fewer, if any, chemicals are used and most pesticides are banned – when they are used they are very carefully controlled. †¢(2)Organic food costs more then non-Organic food. This is not always the case but on average organic farmers generally charge more for their produce because: oMany organic farming practices take a bit longer and produce lower yields oIt is more labor intensive than conventional agriculture oFields have to be taken out of food production while they go through three years of organic conversion or for fertility building. Here you will find out if organic food is good for you or not, there will be the science behind it, advantages, and disadvantages evidence and a conclusion. The science behind it In the rush to produce more and more crops to satisfy growing demand producers have had to resort to using a lethal cocktail of pesticides to control disease and insect attack. Good news for their bank balances perhaps but not good news for your health, this is why you need to be informed of the advantages of organic food. Did you know that if you consumed an average apple you would be eating over 30 pesticides, even after you have washed it? Organic food is known to contain 50% more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed. You will have to eat more fruit nowadays to make up the deficiency, but unfortunately that means eating more chemicals, more detrimental affects on your health eating something that should be good for you! Some more startling facts now. Pesticides in food have been linked to many diseases including: ? Cancer ?Obesity ?Alzheimer’s ?some birth defects There are probably others but if you think about it, how can it be okay for you to eat chemicals and not expect some form of reaction in your body. Our bodies are delicwonderful machines. Any form of foreign chemical is bound to cause irritation at the least. (3)Some organic foods, including fruit, vegetables and milk, may be more nutritious than non-organic produce, according to an investigation by British scientists. Early results from a ? 12m study showed that organic fruit and vegetables contained up to 40% more antioxidants than non-organic varieties, according to Professor Carlo Leifert at Newcastle University, who leads the EU-funded Quality Low Input Food project. Larger differences were found in milk, with organic varieties containing more than 60% more antioxidants and healthy fatty acids, he said. Antioxidant-rich food is often promoted as healthier because in lab tests the compounds neutralize free radicals that are thought to contribute to ageing. (4) Ben Gold acre says the Soil Association’s criticism of the recent Food Standards Agency research on nutrients is â€Å"not about organic food† and that â€Å"the emotive commentary in favor of organic farming bundles together diverse and legitimate concerns about unchecked capitalism in our food supply†, In fact, our argument with the FSA research is about whether it gives a fair and accurate picture of organic food. Gold acre. First, he said we were trying to change the argument by saying that â€Å"the important issue with organic food is not personal health benefits, but rather benefit to the environment†. More farmland wildlife, high animal welfare and lower pollution were not mentioned in our own initial response, but were put forward strongly by the government when the FSA launched its report, and we repeated it as the government’s view, with which I agree. Second he argued that absence of pesticides, no routine use of antibiotics on farm animals and far fewer additives allowed in organic food all deliver health benefits. Goldacre says that as these â€Å"cannot be measured† by the FSA research, mentioning them â€Å"is gamesmanship†. These are real benefits, confirmed by other research. The organic movement represents a spectrum of practices, attitudes, and philosophies. On the one hand are those organic practitioners who would not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides under any circumstances. These producers hold rigidly to their purist philosophy. At the other end of the spectrum, organic farmers espouse a more flexible approach. While striving to avoid the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, these practitioners do not rule them out entirely. Instead, when absolutely necessary, some fertilizers and also herbicides are very selectively and sparingly used as a second line of defense. Nevertheless, these farmers, too, consider themselves to be organic farmers [6]. For raising animals, antibiotics would not be permitted as growth stimulants but would be permitted to counter infections. The rules permit up to 20% of animal feed to be obtained from non-organic sources. This was done because some nutrients (such as trace minerals) are not always available organically. Irradiation, which can reduce or eliminate certain pests, kill disease-causing bacteria, and prolong food shelf-life, would be permitted during processing. Genetic engineering would also be permissible. More Nutritious? Organic foods are certainly not more nutritious The nutrient content of plants is determined primarily by heredity. Mineral content may be affected by the mineral content of the soil, but this has no significance in the overall diet. If essential nutrients are missing from the soil, the plant will not grow. If plants grow, that means the essential nutrients are present. Experiments conducted for many years have found no difference in the nutrient content of organically grown crops and those grown under standard agricultural conditions. Safer? Many â€Å"organic† proponents suggest that their foods are safer because they have lower levels of pesticide residues. However, the pesticide levels in our food supply are not high. In some situations, pesticides even reduce health risks by preventing the growth of harmful organisms, including molds that produce toxic substances . To protect consumers, the FDA sets tolerance levels in foods and conducts frequent â€Å"market basket† studies wherein foods from regions throughout the United States are purchased and analyzed. Its 1997 tests found that about 60% of fruits and vegetables had no detectable pesticides and only about 1. 2% of domestic and 1. 6% of imported foods had violative levels [13]. Its annual Total Diet Study has always found that America’s dietary intakes are well within international and Environmental Protection Agency standards. Most studies conducted since the early 1970s have found that the pesticide levels in foods designated organic were similar to those that were not. In 1997, Consumer Reports purchased about a thousand pounds of tomatoes, peaches, green bell peppers, and apples in five cities and tested them for more than 300 synthetic pesticides. Traces were detected in 77% of conventional foods and 25% of organically labelled foods, but only one sample of each exceeded the federal limit Pesticides can locate on the surface of foods as well as beneath the surface. The amount that washing can remove depends on their location, the amount and temperature of the rinse water, and whether detergent is used. Most people rinse their fruits and vegetables with plain Tastier? â€Å"Organically grown† foods are not inherently tastier than conventionally grown foods. Taste is influenced by freshness, which may depend on how far the products must be shipped from farmer to consumer. What kinds of locally grown fruits and vegetables are available varies from community to community. Whether they are organically or conventionally produced is unlikely to make any difference. In the early 1990s, Israeli researchers made 460 assessments of 9 different fruits and vegetables and no significant difference in quality between â€Å"organic† and conventionally grown samples. The Consumer Reports’ study found no consistent differences in appearance, flavour, or texture. Better for the Environment? Many buyers of â€Å"organic† foods believe that the extra money they pay will ultimately benefit the environment by encouraging more farmers to use â€Å"organic† methods. But doing this cannot have much effect because â€Å"organic† agriculture is too inefficient to meet the world’s food needs. Moreover, the dividing line between organic and conventional agriculture is not sharp because various practices are not restricted to one or the other. For example, â€Å"organic† farmers tend not to use pesticides, but faced with threatened loss of crops, they may change their mind. If certain patterns of pesticide use cause more harm than good and there is a way to remedy the situation, the people concerned about it can seek regulatory solutions. I don’t believe that paying extra for food will benefit anybody but those who sell it. This research shows there are benefits,† said Dr Kirsten Brandt of Newcastle University, which led the research. â€Å"The reason why it’s such a grey area is because it’s extremely difficult to measure the health benefit in any food, but we can say that if you eat 400g of fruit and vegetables per day you would get 20 per cent more nutrients in organic food. † Peter Melchett, policy director of the Soil Association, welcomed the new research. He said: â€Å"There is clear evidence that a range of organic foods contain more beneficial nutrients and vitamins and less of things known to have a detrimental health effect. â€Å"