Saturday, November 30, 2019

Why I Wish To Pursue Higher Education Essay Example

Why I Wish To Pursue Higher Education Paper I believe myself to be a lifelong learner. Therefore, I consider both formal education and practical experience to be essential for my personal growth. Besides, I am convinced that it is education alone that is necessary to solve all problems of the world. Learning is the preliminary step in the right direction – that is, to solve all world problems. I trust the fact that learning can improve personalities, and refine human behavior as well as attitudes. Before completing my Bachelors degree in Interior Design from a private college in Saudi Arabia in the year 2005, I spent the summer of 2004 working as a trainee for a local interior design establishment. It was a marvelous experience, as it helped me muster my confidence to successfully complete my senior project in order to attain my degree. My senior project involved designing a Diving Center from scratch, all by myself. It was a creative experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Moreover, it taught me a great deal about my own potential, as well as intelligence. Most importantly, I learned that I am capable of initiating and completing large-scale creative projects on my own, whereas countless others might experience lack of confidence in similar situations. Perhaps it was my experience with immense responsibility that inspired me to enter the world of business and finance in July 2005. I have been working with HSBC as a Customer Service Representative since. It is my job to guide customers to the right products after inquiring into their needs. I have been trained as a Teller. We will write a custom essay sample on Why I Wish To Pursue Higher Education specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Why I Wish To Pursue Higher Education specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Why I Wish To Pursue Higher Education specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer What is more, I have been honored with a couple of awards from the bank. My managers have often praised me as a responsible banker with high social intelligence. Apart from managing my responsibilities in the workplace, I have taken a number of computer courses after completing my degree. I have also successfully passed the Test of English as a Foreign Language. In addition, I have continued my reading habit that encompasses a large number of subjects. At present, I am prepared to join a higher education institution. I would like to attain a higher degree so as to move forward in my career. I am confident that higher education would open up a new world of opportunities for me. Additionally, it is vital for me to continue learning before I am able to establish myself in a position to educate the others. While a huge number of people might desire higher education only to earn higher salaries, I believe in serving the community with the knowledge that I have gathered. My successes at academic institutions and work have motivated me to take up leadership roles in future. I envision myself as a high achiever. Hence, I would not only endeavor to perform brilliantly at my higher education institution, but also as a professional after completing a higher degree. I believe that it is only lack of education that is keeping humanity from taking the next step in its evolution. The wars, the famines, and the poverty around the globe are lessons that are prompting us to move ahead with enlightened minds. The world requires a greater number of motivated and educated people. For this reason, I am confident of the fact that I can add value to my world through higher education.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Environmental Effect from the Gold Rush Essays

Environmental Effect from the Gold Rush Essays Environmental Effect from the Gold Rush Paper Environmental Effect from the Gold Rush Paper This essay aims to identify the origin of the Gold Rush and identify the techniques used while also noting the ha armful effects caused by each one. The Start Of the Gold Rush all began on January 24, 1848, when a carpenter named James Wilson Marshall picked up a nugget of gold from the river at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Cola, California. Although Marshall and the man he was working for, John Stutter, tried to keep the news of this big discovery from the public, word got out anyway and soon people were swarming toward the western frontier. This was when one of the largest human migration in history began (The California Gold Rush). At first people were not buying the story, but as news spread of the fortunes being made in Californians Gold Rush, the first migrants started showing up. It was not long before the population of the California exploded, from just only 14,000 at the start of year 1 849, to more than 100,000 people by the end of that year. By the year 1852, the population crowded to 220,000 (Cornell 342). This underground well of fortune (which amounted to over $2,000,000,000,000 worth of gold) was so vast, it emended significant amounts of people to harvest it all. Smart individuals looking to make a profit convinced others to dig gold for them and used that money to start business such as hotels, restaurants, banks, saloons, and all kinds of mining industries. Naturally, this brings up the economy of the state even more but it also brought more people to California. At first, people used basic, almost primitive methods of gold mining which did little harm to nature such as the ever popular gold panning technique. In the early days of gold mining, people used gold pans to find gold in the river, although it was actually the most ineffective of all. As time went on, less and less people used gold pan and created more effective ways to extract gold. Another popular tool was the rocker; it had a handle on top to push it back and forth. When the miner put the gravels into the top layer, the thinner and heavier partials would be screened to be separated from the rest. Repeating this a couple of times, and with some luck, miners can find some gold hidden within the heavy minerals. These techniques to find gold usually required the help Of water and gravity, but since not all the gold is in the river, the miner has to get he water to where the gold is to be found, hence some of the mining ditches can still be found even today (Early Gold Mining Methods) . Eventually there would be too many people joining in on the Gold Rush, which in turn made finding gold increasingly more difficult with the current methods of gold mining. Had everyone stuck to these methods, the lands would not have been destroyed, but alas greed triumphs over natural preservation. Soon enough, the gold diggers begin to turn to more powerful ways to obtain the gold such as machines and explosives. These new methods of getting gold ay have helped satisfy the diggers greed, but it also caused irreversible damages to the lands of California. As time went by, the technology of gold mining became more and more sophisticated; this was when the gold fever started to become very harmful to nature. The first way want to get into is the placer mining, which is a way of mining that yielded most gold in the early years. Although panning was one of the ways of placer mining, this method was expanded upon when new techniques were added to it. For example, people started adding large amounts of mercury to their pans to operate the gold from other materials. Mercury has the ability to separate the gold from the extraction of secondary gold after the gravity method. Thanks to its intrinsic properties mercury allow to easily separate gold from other materials. After the separation from the rest of unwanted particles, they simply evaporate the mercury to obtain the gold the want. It is well known that mercury is highly toxic. It can cause damages to the nervous system at even relatively low levels of exposure. Due to the evaporation of the mercury, we subsequently caused the release of mercury into the atmosphere. The water circulation in the atmosphere would bring the mercury back into the ocean and poison animals in the ocean, which in turn would indirectly poison human beings. Perhaps one of the most destructive methods of advanced mining that existed was hydraulic mining. Though this method was extremely effective in extracting gold, it caused so much damage to the lands that Hydraulic mining was prohibited in 1884 when it was discovered that the mining resulted in worsened flood conditions and also destroyed farmland. It wasnt known until much later that Hydraulic mining also left behind a huge amount of arsenic, mercury, cyanide and acid which contaminated the ground-waters, soil, rivers and lakes. (Rare Coins) Hydraulic mining, also called hydraulically is a technique originating from the Roman era involving high pressure jets of water to erode and scrape away dirt and gravel, which is then funneled into a filter that leaves only the rich minerals behind. Hydraulic mining was first used by Edward Matheson near Nevada CCNY, California, in 1853, Xv fashioned a three-foot tapered metal funnel to which they clamped a canvas hose. They pumped water through the hose and pointed it at the hillside from which they were trying to extract gold. The water shot through with surprising force, quickly rendering the hillside into a pile of gravel and providing plenty of pay dirt from which to separate gold. (PBS Gold Rush) The technique caught on fast and soon enough, people were utilizing dams to stock up on enough water to optimize their hydraulic mining operations. As mentioned earlier, hydraulic mining was also the most destructive method, eventually getting banned because of the destruction it caused. One reason for this is because of the unnatural erosion caused by the high pressure jet streams, which led to unexpected floods. An example of this is mentioned in the PBS Gold Rush website, which mentions heavy rain during January 1861 which loosened deep snowdrifts in the Sierras. The result was inundated countryside, thousands of heads of drowned cattle and millions of cubic yards of dirt, mud and silt all residue from upstream hillsides that had been pulverize by hydraulic mining. When the water receded, it left behind eight- foot drifts of silt in Sacramento. Needless to say, Nature inflicted its wrath upon the greedy miners by destroying the farms and lands in the surrounding areas. Countless fields in the Sacramento Valley areas were deeply buried in mining sediment, riverbeds were raised rendering river crossing in certain areas more difficult, and farmers rose up in anger toward the destruction gold mining has caused. These factors were some Of many that eventually led to the banning of hydraulic mining, which passed when farmers sued hydraulic mining operations in the famous Edwards Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company case. Following the case, hydraulic mining was temporarily banned, resurfacing later in 1 893, albeit with much trice regulations in an effort to avoid damage to both farmlands and nature. Gold mining can cause all air, soil, and water pollution. When the mining process works close to the ground surface, the mining sites will generate a large amount of dust which pollutes the air, also the process of refining the ore also pollutes the air. When heating the ore to melt the metal and release it from its surrounding material, the smelter releases large amount of lead, nitrogen, and sulfur, which comes back to earth in the form of acid rain. Extracting a small piece of gold, a large amount of toxic wastes ill be produced and left in the soil. The toxic heavy metal can go into the deeper soil and further pollutes the plants or prevent it from growing. The heavy metal and toxic waste can stay in the soil for years, that makes the area unsuitable for animals and human to live. Lastly, water pollution is through a highly toxic chemical called cyanide. The miners uses the solution of cyanide to dissolves the gold and collect them, but with little protection, the cyanide can easily leak into the soil and goes into local water supplies, lakes, river, and the ocean. The Gold Rush was definitely an era of prosperity, but was all that gold Roth releasing mercury into the atmosphere, flooding and destroying millions of farmland, and leaking dangerous chemicals such as cyanide into our soil and water?

Friday, November 22, 2019

Case applichem hbr

Applichem is a company that offers high product customization. Indeed, they provide solutions to specific customer problems, and then refine the product and process to arrive at a product with broader application. They created a product that was widely used: Release-ease. This product enabled the customers to clean easily the mold at the end of the process, which was a bottleneck in the former line. In 1982 the market research team expected little increase in the demand during the next five years. The sales and profit were strong through 1982. However Applichem has done little focused research on the product or process after 1953. There are several versions of Release-ease among regions. The different markets have peculiar particularities. Competition is harder in Europe where the quality and product specifications are more closely monitored. Customers usually consume the product within one year of purchase, and they buy the Release-ease powder in bags of 50 kilograms. In the US customers use the product as long as 3 years after manufacture and purchase the powder in bags of many sizes from ?  kilograms. In Japan, Applichem was the only company whose product had been approved by the Japanese regulators, even if some imported products could be sold by other companies. Applichem’s main competitor is a US-based company that only owns one plant in Luxembourg but had strong sales in Europe. A third company was competing on the shares in the US. However, Applichem owned by far the largest part of the market share and had a reputation because the company held the patent on the oldest version of Release-ease. Comparison of the 4 plants In Table 1 below, it is possible to see the capacity utilization and yield of the plants. All the plants seem to have excess capacity, so there doesn’t seem to have any need of implementing additional capacity. The average yield is taken from Exhibit 3, and we can see that both plants of Gary and Mexico could use their capacity more efficiently. For Gary, the yield is quite low for a plant of this size. It might be due to the number of product families (19) produced at the plant compared to the others.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Marketing - Assignment Example â€Å"Since Havaianas emerged from its reinvention strategy in 1994, sales have been growing by a steady 8 percent each year. In 2008 the company sold 184 million pairs of its now famous rubber sandal, 25 million of which were sold outside Brazil. Inside Brazil, the company has achieved the amazing brand penetration rate of 850 pairs sold per 1000 inhabitants† (Havaianas, n.d.). The efforts of the company to build the strong image of the brand internationally took them number years to attain. Thus, the emerging imitations of Havaianas somehow thwart the good image of the brand. The deception that these imitations are giving to the consumers makes them believe that they will get the same value of the product in buying an authentic one. This act does not only transpire stealing the brands name and image but it also harms the consumers as they are not getting the value for their money spent. Also, Havaianas might have an image of delivering poor product because of the existing fa ke brands. This ethical dilemma in Havaianas marketing is something that will not be easily controlled as there are a lot of players in the industry today that had been imitating products one after the other.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Republic of Panama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Republic of Panama - Essay Example at could ensure the reclamation efforts were designed for the attainment of full sovereignty over the whole territory as well as for securing its independence in economic, political as well as on cultural matters. With the main aim of the changes being the achievement of complete freedom of the country’s social organization at the local level, it would be possible to insinuate that the changes would be of great benefit to the country. Some of the other objectives that would be beneficial include enhancing the people’s capacity to cooperate with people from the external world, and autonomy in making decisions related to its foreign affairs (Conniff, 2012). These changes led to the enhancement of the country’s productive capacity, which is a consideration that is likely to be beneficial not only to the whole community, but also to the trading partners. The changes stopped the appropriation of the country’s energies, which were exploited by supranational economic powers. For this reason, the changes were necessary for securing the nation’s autonomy, thereby emphasizing that the country has its inviolate territory (Conniff, 2012). This stresses the fact that the country has the sole use of its territory, which is strengthened by the development of a community that is aware of its history and that it is united in pursuing actual social justice. The treaty between the United States and Panama, signed in 1903, made it possible for the United States to construct and operate the canal joining the Pacific and Atlantic oceans across Panama (Conniff, 2012). The treaty provided the United States ability to occupy, control and use approximately 10 miles the width of the Canal Zone in perpetuity. In this case, the U.S. would hold full sovereign rights of the area, which led to numerous conflicts between the two countries in during the 1660s and 1970s. In restitution, the United States assured the independence of Columbia. However, this treaty, among others that were

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Womens Day Essay Example for Free

Womens Day Essay Good afternoon. It’s an honor and a pleasure to be invited to speak to you today. International Women’s Day is many things – a cause for celebration, a reason to pause and re-evaluate, a remembrance, an inspiration, a time to honor loved and admired ones and in several countries – including China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, but clearly not India! – a public holiday1. So I’d like to extend, first of all, a note of thanks to all of you for taking time out of your work schedules to come here, as well as to inviting me to speak. On this day, all over the world, we consider both the steps forward toward better lives for women that have been taken in recent times, as well as the progress still required. Necessarily, we name our enemies: patriarchal structures, perhaps, or more specifically, legislative and political decisions, corporate entities, criminal menaces, culture-based ignorance and economic disenfranchisement. They are all significant things, and I am not suggesting that they are not. But I have felt for a long time n ow that something else is at the heart of female disempowerment. Something that isn’t as easy to deconstruct or dismantle. Something that is difficult to even name, and at times feels bewilderingly counter-intuitive. What, to me, is at the heart of female disempowerment is the profoundly painful fact of how women can be each others’ worst enemies. One of the most famous things that former American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has gone on record to say is â€Å"I think there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.†2 A special place in hell – can you imagine what torment that would be, and how deeply wounded a person has to feel to condemn someone that way? When you think of what she said, that such a special place is reserved for women who don’t help other women – what associations come to mind? I don’t know about you, but my heart burns to remember the countless times I have been betrayed and ev en sabotaged by women I loved or looked up to – teachers, relatives, peers, friends and colleagues. Haven’t men done the same? Of course they have – but somehow, it stings worse coming from another woman, because of how deeply counter-intuitive it feels. This is the sort of heartburn that makes me think, yes, Albright was right – there is a place in hell for women who don’t help – who hurt – other women. There has to be. Even if there is no Hell – how could there not be such a place? How could such treachery be  left without retribution? There are big ways and little ways to this treachery. The little ways I hardly need to enumerate, because the best examples of these are empirical ones, and you know them in your own life. The big ways tend to be a matter of collusion: for instance, it may have been men who created archaic and repressive social codes, but is it not women who pass them on, who ensure that their families function within and continue to carry forward the same logic? To choose to not break a chain is to choose to propagate it. We can begin by taking a look at the very fact of us all being in this room today. How did we get here? Each of us have overcome difficulties in our own lives, each of us has dared to dream, and fortunately, has been born in a time where we were able to pursue some if not all of these dreams. We have had access to resources and options whi ch were denied to women of just a few generations ago – resources and options which are even denied to other women today, in this country and elsewhere. Some of us have endured bad luck, made bad decisions, or failed at things we tried our hands at – but we haven’t been ruined by these misfortunes. We have alternatives. We have second, third and ninety-third chances. We have more autonomy than our foremothers may have been able to imagine. In short, we are all so lucky. And this is only because of the brave women and men who fought for certain rights and equality, who went against the tide of what was acceptable, who challenged the status quo, who refused to take as an answer that â€Å"that’s just how things are†. We are here because they did not think of themselves alone. They did not relegate their abilities to simply securing a better life for themselves, but put the vision of a better world above their own personal journeys, and in doing so secured a better life for millions. I am asking you today if we too can demand a better explanation than â€Å"that’s just how things are†. I believe that as women, we are conditioned on a deeply embedded level to be wary of or threatened by, and consequently cruel toward, one another. Perhaps there are biological or evolutionary reasons for this. But I refuse to accept that we cannot evolve female rivalry out of our systems. Larger systems of power, yes, but more importantly, smaller microcosms of the same. In our own lives, can we get over our mistrust of other women? Can we leave cliques and factions behind in our school years and embrace a greater loyalty? Can we see that another woman’s success need not necessarily mean our own failure? Can we cease to  be judgmental or jealous? Can we cease to be threatened by other women, for reasons of our own insecurities, and can we stop acting out of that sense of fear? Just as our palette of big life choices continues to expand the more society develops, I would like to think that in our day to day interactions, we should also become more mindful of how we choose to treat one another. Can we make choices that deprogramme the way we have learnt to feel about other women – learnt from all the ways we ourselves have been hurt – and choose to say, â€Å"This stops with me. What has been done to me by girls I went to school with, women in my extended family, superiors I worked under or any other situation, incident or environment that fostered in me a sense of female rivalry or mistrust will no longer control the way in which I respond to individuals now.† Will we choose to undermine other women, in ways big and small, or will we choose to embrace a less cynical view? Can we work together to create new environments in which all of us can feel free to meet our highest potential without being hindered by unhealthy competition? You may be wondering why I have taken a less festive approach to International Women’s Day and am asking these potentially uncomfortable questions. I promise you I didn’t start out this cynical. In fact, I started out quite the opposite – if I could have had feminist slogans on my diapers, I would have! Throughout my teenage years I volunteered with women’s NGOs, and continue to do so in some capacity today. I was one of those girls who would rather have a tee-shirt that said â€Å"the revolution is my boyfriend† than have an actual human one. I think I limited my own literary forays for some years by refusing to read anything by authors I derogatorily labeled â€Å"dead white men†. I was proudly, radically, obviously and – I must admit, perhaps a little obnoxiously – feminist. And then the disillusionment set in. At some point in my life as a young activist, I began to see that polemics and politics only go so far. How far does philosophy translate accurately into one’s practical realities? One’s fundamental humanity and compassion are all that really matter  œ it is of no consequence if this can be backed up by proselytizing or theory. You know how this works. I am almost certain that there is no one here today who would not name her grandmother, mother, aunt or sister as her personal inspiration – a woman who did not necessarily know of or say that she subscribed to theoretical ideals but nonetheless manifested the best of them in her life and across the lives of all she  touched. Today my feminism is nuanced by the understanding that as with all great adversaries, the most significant challenge to female empowerment comes from within. From within our ranks, from within our own hearts, from within our own inability to look beyond a reactionary and defensive stance. But there is something else that also comes from within. And that is strength. Women have always regarded as being strong, and we are, but in modern times we are also powerful. I think of power as originating from an external source, from the validation of being in a certain position of influence. But strength has a far more esoteric source. It manipulates less, and moves more. There is a difference between strength and power – which do you operate from? And I ask these uncomfortable questions not because I am above reproach but because I also deal with them in my day to day life and work. Sometimes, I frown on the actions of teenage girls because they do not seem as empowered as I was at their age. Or I might secretly judge someone of my generation for having had an arranged marriage, letting her in-laws dictate her career choices, or not realizing how beautiful she is because TV commercials tell her otherwise. But who am I, really, to judge? How would I know what those girls or women have been through and what has shaped their decisions? Why can’t I just respect that they are different, but no less equal? Concurrently, I struggle to undo and unlearn traumas imprinted on me because I am a certain kind of woman, born into a certain kind of culture, in a certain era. I struggle to not be manipulated into being pitted against other women in soci al and professional situations by those who know just how to push those buttons. I struggle to deal graciously with female associates who have backstabbed, cheated and even plagiarized me without having to descend to petty conflict that would only satisfy those who believe that women cannot evolve out of our habituated enmity. Because I believe we can. As we celebrate International Women’s Day this year (and celebrate it we should!) let us also bear in mind that the struggle is far from over. Women’s empowerment should never be reduced to individual success stories. It should be about collective well-being. As long as women continue to operate from that deeply embedded place of suspicion and resentment, we will never be free. No matter what material, social or intellectual heights we scale, we will never be free unless we learn a new paradigm with which to see other women. With which to see ourselves. There are two ways to light a second lamp: you can do so by snuffing out the first as you ignite the second, or you can allow the flame of one wick to touch another, and inspire its own flame. You are a luminous being. Be secure in this knowledge. Let your light illuminate as many lives as possible. It will not diminish your own. I would like to end this talk with a quote from an anonymous source that I came across on the internet. I find it comforting – and I hope that you too will be inspired by it. â€Å"Blessed are the women, who have grown beyond their greed, and put an end to their hatred. They delight in the beauty of the way things are, and keep their hearts open, day and night. They are like beautiful trees planted on the banks of flowing rivers, which bear fruit when they are ready. Their leaves will not fall or wither, and everything they do will succeed.†3 Thank you.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Direct Mail Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Direct Mail "Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." Stephen Leacock Philosopher extraordinaire "Really good direct mail works like picking your prospect up by the ankles and shaking him until all the money falls out of his pockets." Matthew Samp Direct Mail Copy & Graphic Design As consumers, we are often bombarded by different types of advertisements each day. Whether it’s by television, newspaper, or billboards, advertising has reached us one way or another. Yet, a majority of the ads that we encounter are often meaningless and uninteresting mainly because of the fact that these ads are meant to reach a certain target audience. This perception seems to change, however, when we look inside our mailboxes, pick-up our telephone, and even check our e-mail. We often ponder how marketers know that we have a pet snake, own a certain kind of computer, or even wear 70’s clothing. That is because every time we purchase products such as: electronics, computer software, and other products, direct-mail advertising is in the air. Every time we send those warranties and registration forms back to the manufacturer; as consumers we are often unaware that we are sending information about ourselves that will be used as; statistical, personal, and informative data for future marketing purposes. Thus, marketers and advertisers know what kinds of products to target us with. Although direct-mail, or as we call it â€Å"junk-mail†, somehow finds its way to our homes and businesses, it can be considered as a convenient way for us to shop without having to leave the house, since as consumers, we are often pressed for time. In order to understand direct-mail advertising, we will be discussing this unique medium in a broad spectrum of subjects and then give an example of a company that successfully used direct mail advertising. Among the subjects we will be discussing are: what direct-mail advertising is, the historical development of the medium, different methods and types of mail, the future of direct-mail advertising, and the internet’s use of the medium for visual communication. Direct Mail Direct-mail advertising is a form of medium used by direct marketers; it is the most personal and selective of all media. Th... ...etting e-mails from the companies that we visit or interested in. As a matter of fact, some of the largest commercial sites on the World Wide Web have agreed to feed information about their customer ¹s reading, shopping and entertainment habits into a new and improved database system that is now tracking the moves of more than 30 million Internet users, recording where they go, and what they read, often without the user ¹s knowledge. This agreement by participating Web sites is primarily used for direct-advertising, it promises to deliver precise, direct, and personalized ads, specifically for that target user. Eventhough this is said to be an invasion of privacy, many of the powerful commercial sites are using, selling, and distributing these consumer behaviors and informations to numerous retailers, advertisers, and marketers for direct-advertising use. Many advertising and marketing experts believe that direct-mail online is only in it ¹s early developmental stages. As an evolving mass medium, online direct-mail advertising is wh ere radio was in 1920, where television was in 1950, and where cable was during 1970. All of these, you may have observed, are now universal.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Thinking Outside the Idiot Box

Dana Stevens’ essay, â€Å"Thinking outside the Idiot Box†, was first published in Slate on March 25, 2005, is a counter argument to â€Å"Watching TV Makes You Smarter† an article written my Steven Johnson that says watching complicated TV shows make you smarter when in reality you’re just watching complicated TV shows. She mainly disagrees with Johnson’s opinion that figuring out the complicated plots of the TV shows sharpens one’s cognitive skills. In her view, those entangled plots not only compel one to watch even more TV, they also weaken one’s skills to think because many shows overload one’s mind with quick-paced facts. Stevens 295-6) She also states that Johnson overlooks the Muslim terrorist and tortures in the show â€Å"24†. She points out that many people think watching TV is ok especially if it’s a nature show. Stevens also discusses a trip to the airport where she saw quite a few people surrounding a nature showing. The author contemplated whether or not the nature show was acceptable because travelers were still â€Å"spacing out† while watching it, so what is the difference between violent shows like â€Å"Animal Face Off† which contains bloods guts and gore and a â€Å"regular† nature show is peaceful and entertaining. Stevens 297) She is wondering why â€Å"spacing out† is ever positive: â€Å"A football game in a bar is zapworthy, but spacing out to leopards in the Qantas terminal is A-OK? † (Stevens 297). Next she says that children are fresh meat for the marketing industries by making shows that catch their eye. She is basically claiming that there are many people who are offended by many things, and each person needs to be sensitive to what they play on their TVs. In conclusion, Stevens believes that TV is neither beneficial nor it is harmful for our minds; it is only there to entertain us. (298)

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Divine perfection of a woman Essay

The play Richard III shows power, greed and ambition and how doing these things can effect other people and change how you act and think. In the world today someone who is like Richard in the way that he is greedy and power hungry is Saddam Hussein. The whole play shows how Richard is ambitious, greedy and power hungry. At the start of the play he is ambitious because he has set himself a task to become king. This shows that he is greedy because he is not happy with what position he is at that moment and wants more power. The way in which he does this is by killing anyone who could prevent him from becoming king. I think Shakespeare may have wanted to show that having ambition, power and a little greed is ok but if you lose your head and want more and more power making you become more greedy it could result in not just other people getting hurt but you getting hurt in the end as well. Like in the end of the play Richard ends up dying as a result of his extreme amount of power and greed. I think he wanted the audience to admire him for his cleverness in his schemes and the way he has organised everything. In some points the audience do admire him for his cleverness but straight after he has brought the audience to his side he does something extremely viscous and evil that the audience off liking him. People who are like Richard always end up getting paid back for all their wrong doings, well in some cases any way. Like Adolf Hitler who ended up dying because of all the bad things he had done i.e. WWII. So what Shakespeare is saying is, all bad you do to others you will get back to you. The opening speech that Richard says is to the crowd is directly at them and makes you think he’s a nice person because he makes a few funny comments which makes the crowd laugh and grow to like him. This also makes the audience watching the film like Richard too because he seems like a nice person, but when he walks into the toilets away from the crowd he talks at the audience saying that he’s ugly, which makes the audience feel sorry for Richard. Straight after he says this he tells you about a plan he’s made. First of all you admire him for being ambitious but long after when you find out what his plan will involve, i.e. killing many people who could prevent him from becoming king, you start to really dislike him and wonder how on earth you liked him in the first place. He says, â€Å"I am determined to prove a villain and hate the idle pleasures of the day,† meaning that basically Richard is going to become evil and never have pleasure. This little extract of something that Richard says shows him to be very evil in the fact that he wants to become hated. Another thing Richard says is â€Å"Plots have I laid, induction’s dangerous† which means that Richard is plotting some dangerous schemes, and is another reason why people watching the film would turn their nose up at Richard. The audiences overall impression of Richard is that he is a very ambitious man but his ambition will lead to murders being committed so therefore they would think he is a very sly and wicked man. Also the audience would think that Richard is two-faced because first of all he is very nice to Lady Ann and wants her to marry him, but when he has done this he then wants her to be killed. Shakespeare makes you both admire and hate Richard. For example, you would hate Richard in scene one when he talks to you about what evil things he has planned. Where as in Act one Scene two you grow to admire him again because of the way he flatters and wins over Lady Ann with words. He says things like â€Å"Sweet saint† and â€Å"Divine perfection of a woman† meaning he thinks she is perfect. But when Richard has said these flattering comments to Lady Ann, she immediately repels him by saying insults like â€Å"Diffused infection of a man† meaning that she thinks he is a grotty, disgusting and horrible man and â€Å"Thou unfit for any place but hell† which means that Lady Ann thinks that the only place that Richard could possibly live in is hell. Despite all these insults she throws at Richard he still wins her over with his flattering comments. He eventually marries Ann after having killed her husband and father, which she knew he had done. Richard should be admired for his cleverness for the way he won over Lady Ann and set up his schemes, never the less he shouldn’t be praised too much because he is still an evil and devious man who has committed murders. Also towards the end of Act One Scene Two he starts to get cocky after winning over Lady Ann and says some evil comments like â€Å"Was ever woman in this humour won? I’ll have her; but I will not keep her long† this is saying that he will marry Lady Ann but after a little while he will kill her. This will give the audience a very nasty image of Richard because of his evil antics. Act One Scene Three is where Queen Margaret curses all the people she hates. She says horrible remarks like â€Å"God, I pray him, that none of you may live your natural age† which means that she is saying that all the people she hates she doesn’t want to live a long life, and another quotation is â€Å"Thy friends suspect for traitors while thou livest, and take deep traitors for thy dearest friends† which means that she wants all the people she hates to die so they can’t hurt her friends. Richard is one of the people Queen Margaret hated so therefore she cursed him. When she curses Richard she says to him â€Å"No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine, Unless it be whilst a tormenting dream, affrights thee with a hell of ugly devils!† This curse actually comes true and like the quotation says Richard has a terrifying dream making him panic and sweat. What happens in the dream is ghosts surround Richard and curse him saying â€Å"despair and die!† over and over again terrifying Richard through the night. But the scene with Richards terrifying dream was not included in the film.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Definition of Snark With Examples

Definition of Snark With Examples Abusive and sarcastic speech or writinga form of invective. Depending on the speaker, subject, and audience, snark may be perceived as either witty or asinine, sophisticated or sophomoric. Adjective: snarky. The word snark first appeared in Lewis Carrolls nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark (1874). The Snark, Carroll says, is a peculiar creature with a talent for avoiding capture. In its contemporary sense, the term is generally regarded as a  portmanteau worda blend of snide and remark. Examples and Observations: I never forget a face, but in your case Ill make an exception.(Groucho Marx)I stand by this man [President George W. Bush]. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things, things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo-ops in the world.(Stephen Colbert, address at the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents Association, 2006)They always throw around this term the liberal elite. And I keep thinking to myself about the Christian right. Whats more elite than believing that only you will go to heaven?(Jon Stewart, The Daily Show)[I]t’s in Frances’ satirical mini-rants, aphorisms and meandering recollections . . . that Chalcot Crescent comes alive, allowing [Fay] Weldon to direct her famous she-devil snark at whatever targets strike her fancy: sex, marriage, chil dren, careers, jealousy, aging.(Tom DeHaven, Winking at the Apocalypse. The New York Times Book Review, Oct. 15, 2010) The Social Function of SnarkSnark is not the same as hate speech, which is abuse directed at groups. Hate speech slashes and burns, and hopes to incite, but without much attempt at humor. . . .Snark attacks individuals, not groups, though it may appeal to a group mentality, depositing a little bit more toxin into already poisoned waters. Snark is a teasing, rug-pulling form of insult that attempts to steal someones mojo, erase her cool, annihilate her effectiveness, and it appeals to a knowing audience that shares the contempt of the snarker and therefore understands whatever references he makes. . . .Snark often functions as an enforcer of mediocrity and conformity. In its cozy knowingness, snark flatters you by assuming that you get the contemptuous joke. Youve been admitted, or readmitted, to a club, though it may be the club of the second-rate.(David Denby, Snark: A Polemic in Seven Fits. Simon Schuster, 2009)

Monday, November 4, 2019

Financial Crisis of 2007 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Financial Crisis of 2007 - Essay Example This led to domination of speculative activities in the economy. Speculators are only interested in short term gain from the economy. Thus the long term yield on assets is not properly ensured. In the process of globalization, the role of nation-state has been undermined by the economies. Due to the lack of fiscal intervention of governments for ensuring sustaining growth, global finance and de-regulation were adopted by the economy as an alternative paradigm and it led to the booms and bust in the global economy. A sound long term macro economic policy was not adopted by the countries and thus the financial and economic stability affected badly and the conditions of financial crisis emerged. 2) Explain the factors that caused the current financial crisis. Discuss the theoretical views of the following three theories below and explain which are more relevant towards the current financial crisis Financial market instability in the economy is the result of defaulted free market system and capitalism. It causes booms and bust conditions in the global economy. The defaults in the operations of banking and monetary system are another root cause of the crisis situation. The rising protectionism among various countries led to rejection of free trade and thus the export opportunities were greatly reduced. As a result of the decreased export opportunities in the economy national income also reduced greatly. It led to contraction of the GDP together with currency devaluation. (Global economic crisis- a different view 2009). Excess liquidity in the market: Unsound methods of debt financing adopted by major central banks generate excess liquidity in the market. Through their irresponsible actions in the economy, increased debt financing without proper guarantee for returns has highly increased. The resulted sudden cash flow in the economy created a more risky environment. Due to the financial recession the returns to financial institutions were restricted and thus bad debts rate highly increased. It affected their financial position badly. (Karam 2008). Stock market crash: Sub prime mortgage loan and excess credit creation led to speculative economic environment. Due to the baseless marketing actions, the stock market faced severe crash situation which affected the entire economy badly. When the speculative borrowings increased it forced the banks and other lenders to tighten credit. As a result the availability of money in the economy contracted, and even to companies that can afford, loan was restricted and thus the economy subsequently contracted. When analysing the nature of the banking systems in the countries, it revealed that the baseless lending actions of the banks are the root cause of the current crisis. Through the expansion of easy credit, boom and bust cycles created in the US economy. Due to the uncontrolled monetary policy adopted by central banks and endorsed by the political regulatory through application of mechanisms of fiat money and fractional reserve banking, there emerged uncertain economic boom and bust cycles. (The global financial/ economic crisis 2008). The financial crisis is started with the mortgage issue. The uncontrolled sub prime borrowings and subsequent depression in the value of the homes leads to

Saturday, November 2, 2019

VAMPIRE SOCIAL FEAR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

VAMPIRE SOCIAL FEAR - Essay Example The concept of the existence of vampires was further glorified by eminent classic and contemporary literature authors that have created frenzy amongst the masses regarding the existence of these creatures. (Belanger, 2005, p. 49) As mentioned earlier, on a literary front the idea of vampires have fascinated, amazed and scared people throughout the ages. The belief in the existence of demons and spirits has been a prime aspect of all faiths and are often deemed to be the forerunners of the creation and concept of vampires; a dead blood-sucking nocturnal being that is largely associated with evil and the damned. Roman, Greek and Mesopotamian cultures all had a common notion regarding the existence of vampires but the concept itself gained more shape in Eastern Europe, where the legends narrated that vampires were revenants of sinner, suicide victims, people involved in witchcraft and corpses under the possession of malicious spirits or people who died of vampire bites. There were count less speculation regarding the appearance of vampires and before human physical features were used to typify Vampires, they were vastly believed to bestial creatures, which were damned for the rest of eternity and their existence was only meant to plague the living. The Description of the appearance of vampires is illustrated immaculately by the following quote from Sacred Hunger authored by Michelle Belanger, a self-proclaimed Psychic-vampire, who has published several books on this entire concept and has demonstrated the contrasts between the media portrayal and folkloric image of vampires, she states, â€Å"The vampire has come a long way since its beginnings in folklores†¦ Though, monstrosity in their hungers there is an ineffable something that inspires their so-called ‘Victims’ to willingly open their veins. Yet in stark contrast, the vampires we encounter in the tales of Eastern Europe are little more than corpses. These foul and bestial monsters terrorize whole villages, filing their victims with horror and disgust.†(Belanger, 2005, p. 14) Therefore, from the aforementioned quote it is abundantly clear that there is a huge schism between the perception of vampires in contemporary and the portrayal of folklores. Belanger has defined the true meaning of vampirism and the prevalence of this belief in gothic sub-cultures. It has become more of an identity for people and the term ‘vampirism’ itself is not used to signify bestial behavior or monstrosity, and is now given similar connotations as people who are left-handed; the latter due to the widespread belief that left-handed people are evil. The aforementioned analogy describes that vampirism is no longer emblematic of a blood-thirsty creature but all those people who are in pursuit of vital energy. However, this is still a subjective approach to the subject and having mentioned the prose will focus its attention back to the area under discussion that is whether or no t the social fear derived from these creatures is in anyway valid and the amount of insight provided by literature and conception of fictional characters to demonstrate this aspect. Therefore, the substance of the following prose will juxtapose the folkloric illustration of these creatures and how authors have portrayed the image of these creatures. In order to gain greater amount of insight in to the subject, the prose will