Economics of Climate Change released in 2007 insists

There is overwhelming evidence that global warming is actually occurring and is no longer just an academic concern. The Stern Review: the Economics of Climate Change released in 2007 insists that there is still time to make an impact and change the effects of global warming. Failure to do so would result in â€Å"climate change (that) will affect the basic elements of life for people around the world – access to water, food production, health, and the environment. Hundreds of millions of people could suffer hunger, water shortages and costal floodings as the world warms† (â€Å"The Stern Review†).Fossil fuels are the number one contributor to carbon dioxide emissions in the United States alone. The use of fossil fuels for transportation contributes to a host of environmental problems, from urban ozone to global warming. Carbon dioxide makes up about 85 percent of the United States' total anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases that lead to global warming. Met hane, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, halocarbons, per fluorocarbons, and other gases make up the remaining 15 percent. More than 98 percent of U. S. carbon dioxide emissions are caused by the combustion of fossil fuels for energy consumption (Rubin, 1998).There are many alternatives energy sources that could slow the process of global warming. Alternative energy is energy that is renewable or is not harmful the environment, such as wind, water, or geothermal powered energy. Reviewing several sources of alternative energy including alternative fuel for vehicles, solar energy, and geothermal energy and evaluating their impact on the public and viewing public opinion of alternative energy will help us have a better understanding of the concept of alternative energy and how we can benefit from using it.The effects of global warming are being felt worldwide. â€Å"Global warming and the melting of polar ice cover is predicted to raise ocean levels worldwide, directly im pacting on island nations who plead most strongly for restraint of fossil fuel consumption by industrialized nations† (Mayer). Some alternative fuel methods have been tried and found to be very successful. â€Å"Another strategy for reducing fossil fuel emissions from vehicles is to shift to alternate fueled vehicles. Various choices include electric, natural gas, methane, and fuel cell vehicles† (Mayer).In the United States there are some environmentally conscious states have started to support energy efficient vehicles. â€Å"The federal government has provided some limited support for the development of alternate fueled vehicles, while California has mandated that companies selling vehicles there market a certain percentage of zero emission vehicles, or ZEVs†(Mayer). Solar energy is an alternative energy method that has been in practice for many years. â€Å"On June 20, 1979, President Jimmy Carter dedicated the solar hot water heating system newly installed in the West Wing of the White House†(Laird, 2001, p.1). Solar energy is obtained through solar panels that take the light from the sun and convert into energy, such as electricity. Solar power has proven to be a great source of energy and many people in the United States and Europe are switching to solar power, both for moral reasons and cash incentives from governments. In the United States, the citizens of California are taking it upon themselves to invest in alternative sources of energy. They have concentrated their investments in solar power but have also experimented with wind, water, and geothermal power.Californians find solar power advantageous not only because of its insurance against blackouts and skyrocketing electricity fees but also because it produces no pollution. As the government gives consumers cash incentives, such as tax breaks when they use these alternative sources of energy, local power companies are able to use alternative sources for energy production (Woloski, 2006). Solar energy is a cost effective and product way to utilize natural energy. Geothermal energy is the energy that is held within the core of the earth. â€Å"Geothermal energy is released naturally in geysers and volcanoes† (â€Å"Energy, Sources Of,† 2004).Geothermal energy is an effect way to heat homes or businesses because â€Å"Even where there are not naturally occurring geothermal aquifers, heat can be usefully extracted from the ground† (Derektaylor, 2000, p. 57). â€Å"In California, some of the state's electricity is generated by the geothermal plant complex known as the Geysers, which has been in production since 1960, and in Iceland, which is geologically very active, roughly 70% of the homes are heated by geothermal energy†(â€Å"Energy, Sources Of,† 2004). Although using alternative energy is a great concept and idea there are some negative consequences to using alternative energy.Alternative energy is often difficult to obtain and very costly to initiate (Woloski, 2006). For the change to occur governments and citizens will have first have to invest a great deal of money in the initial set up of alternative energy. This can be very costly both for the people and the government. â€Å"Why are so few environmentally conscious customers signing up, despite the positive outlook? New research suggests that consumers simply do not trust their utilities' green credentials†(Bloemers, Magnomi & Peters, 2001, p. 15).People are uneasy trying new things such as alternative energy, especially if it is costly in comparative to other available energy sources. There are also harmful effects on the environment by using some types of alternative energy. For example â€Å"geothermal energy sources have minimal environmental impacts that while limited, include air pollution and noise. Photovoltaic solar energy systems exhibit limited negative environmental impacts because they necessitate manufacture of ph otovoltaic cells, use of large land areas, and a negative aesthetic impact†(Ferrey, 2003).And then of course â€Å"Biomass energy facilities, depending on the fuel source, emit a variety of criteria air pollutants resulting from the combustion of organic materials†(Ferrey, 2003). The energy consumption of the people of the United States is of great concern to the world’s environmental health. The United States Congress is well aware of their countries contributions to global warming. In 2002 the Senate passed legislation that â€Å"would raise average fuel efficiency standards to 36 mpg by 2015, a standard that would classify minivans and SUV’s as passenger vehicles rather than light trucks† (Mayer).In less than ten years the classification will have an effect on the people on the United States. This amount of time is crucial when we consider the state of ozone layer and the steady increase of global warming. Becoming aware of the staggering usage o f gasoline may help sway some Americans to switch to alternative methods of transportation; with the creation of the KYOTO treaty the hope was the all nations of the world could work together and make the right choice and consciously choose to support the health of the environment, the very source that sustains us.To make changes we need to specifically â€Å"explore the complex interactions and mutual influences of philosophy, evolutionary biology, ethics–conceptual enterprises all–and our primary interactions and encounters with humans and nature in everyday life†(Donnelley). By switching to hybrid vehicles or alternative energy vehicles, making sure all vehicles on the road pass emissions tests, and discontinue driving oversized vehicles that take more fossil fuel and because more emissions to be released Americans can contribute to slowing global warming†¦ There are people all over the world who have taken measures to switch to alternative energy. "Green energy would seem to have a rosy future. Technological advances have helped to lower the cost of renewable power sources such as wind turbine generators, solar cells, small hydroelectric plants, and geothermal energy†(Bloemers, Magnomi & Peters, 2001, p. 15). Growing trends of alternative energy are popping up all over the world. In response to these suggestive trends, European utilities such as Eastern Group and Powergen, in the United Kingdom, and RWE and EON, in Germany, now offer green energy to distributors or direct to interested consumers.Typically, the utility commits itself to produce with, or to buy from, renewable sources all of the energy that it sells through green contracts. Customers thus know that they are paying for green production even if they are not directly connected to the source. Price premiums, often depending on the source, range from 2 percent to more than 30 percent above the utilities' normal tariffs. Yet in the United Kingdom and Germany, f or example, less than 1 percent of electricity customers have chosen the green option.(Bloemers, Magnomi & Peters, 2001, p. 15) In the United States â€Å"Consumers in several states have the option of selecting their choice of generation companies. Although the contract path of electricity does not remotely match the actual electron path from generators to consumers, it is possible to â€Å"select† alternate generation technologies such as biomass, solar, or wind. (Allenby & Unger, 2001, p. 22) In California, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District runs a solar power program and â€Å"has enjoyed exceptional popularity.This program equips the roofs of houses with solar cells that essentially turn these homes into â€Å"mini power-plants† by converting sunlight into electricity. The system does have several disadvantages, such as the high expenses of building a solar power station and the unreliable nature of sunlight† (Woloski, 2006). Some speculate that â⠂¬Å"American conservatives tend not to take global warming seriously and fail to see why those who do find the U. S. unwillingness to tax energy infuriating. This perhaps more than any other act cemented in the mind of many Europeans the image of George Bush as a self-serving unilateralist† (Fukuyama 143).Although the environment has not been a factor regularly addressed by the Bush administration there are huge American corporations, such as â€Å"Boeing, IBM, John Hancock and Whirlpool — (who) have publicly endorsed the notion that climate change is real by joining a business council organized by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change†(Lynch). The Pew Center is an international organization that brings together business leaders, scientists, policy makers and other experts to address controversial issues (â€Å"Working together because†).The idea behind this thinking can in fact be construed as a financial investment. â€Å"A clear sign that climate con cerns have moved into the financial mainstream is the growing activism of institutional shareholders. Over the past few years, investors have become increasingly worried about insufficient disclosure about the risks companies face from global warming. Under existing regulations, publicly traded companies are required to disclose to investors any information that could have a â€Å"material† impact on their financial results.There are no additional requirements governing climate-change issues. A changing climate threatens companies throughout the economy with costs from future regulations, the physical effects of a changing landscape, even the danger of massive lawsuits†(Lynch). Although the reasons for supporting the fight against global warming by American corporations are may be financially based, these corporations are large enough that collectively they can make a huge impact and ideally smaller companies will follow in their footsteps.Using alternative energy is a growing trend, however, â€Å"alternative sources of energy are more expensive than traditional energy production; after all, traditional energy production is so popular because such methods currently allow the least amount of fuel to produce the most energy at the cheapest prices. It is for this reason that the industry of alternative energy sources has not yet boomed† (Woloski, 2006). With the state of global warming increasing at a danger rate all people should make an effort to use less fossil fuel and create less pollution by switching to alternative energy sources.Many people have the view that one person can not make a difference, this is not true. a fine balance needs to be found between human beings and nature. â€Å"Humans and nature† problems press in upon us from all sides. We are all becoming–or should be becoming–more cognizant of global warming; ecologically unsustainable cities and agricultural practices; the overuse of antibiotics in our health care systems and on our factory farms; the global crash of ocean fisheries; a human population and use of natural resources that is squeezing out other forms of life; the pollution and degradation of our air, soil, and water† (Donnelley).Now all of these points need to be taken into consideration and changed as a whole, but the first step is for all people of the world, to accept their responsibility to the environment and create a process that will improve the way they effect global warming, even if it begins with only one small change. References Allenby, B. , & Unger, D. (2001). Information Technology Impacts on the U. S. Energy Demand Profile. In E-Vision 2000: Key Issues That Will Shape Our Energy Future: Analyses and Papers Prepared for the E-Vision 2000 Conference (pp. 7-27). Santa Monica, CA: Rand. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=106437389 Bloemers, R. , Magnomi, F. , & Peters, M. (2001). Paying a Green Pre mium. 15. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5001037408 Donnelley, Astrakhan. â€Å"Natural Responsibilities: Philosophy, Biology, and Ethics in Ernst Mayr and Hans Jonas. † The Hastings Center Report 32. 4 (2002): 36+ Energy, Sources Of. (2004). In The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed. ). New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=101242747 Derektaylor. (2000). Chapter 4 Renewable Energy in Housing.In Sustainable Housing: Principles & Practice (pp. 50-59). London: E & FN Spon. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=109201075 Ender, R. L. & Kim, J. C. (Eds. ). (1987). Energy Resources Development: Politics and Policies. New York: Quorum Books. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=27459699 Ferrey, S. (2003). Nothing but Net: Renewable Energy and the Environment, MidAmerican Legal Fictions, and Supremacy Doctrine. Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum, 14(1), 1+. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5005792298 Fukuyama, Francis. â€Å"8 Does â€Å"the West† Still Exist?. † Beyond Paradise and Power: Europe, America, and the Future of a Troubled Partnership. Ed. Tod Lindenberg. New York: Routledge, 2004. 137-161. Jordan, Stuart. â€Å"The Global Warming Crisis. † The Humanist Nov. -Dec. 2005: 23+. Questia. 29 Mar. 2007 . Johansen, Bruce E. The Global Warming Desk Reference. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002. Lackner, Klaus S. , and Jeffrey D. Sachs. â€Å"A Robust Strategy for Sustainable Energy. † Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (2005): 215+.Laird, F. N. (2001). Solar Energy, Technology Policy, and Institutional Values. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=105099570 Mayer, Donald O. â€Å"Corporate Governance in the Cause of Peace: An Environmental Perspective. † Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 35. 2 (2002): 585+. Questia. 29 Mar. 2007 . Rubin, J. (1998). Shifting Gears: To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the United States Faces Some Tough Choices. Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy, 13(4), 98+.Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5001398516 Stern Review-Summary. HM Treasury. 2007. 1-4. 29 Mar. 2007 . Woloski, A. (2006). Fuel of the Future: A Global Push toward New Energy. Harvard International Review, 27(4), 40+. Retrieved April 4, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=5014475018 â€Å"Working Together Because Climate Change is Serious Business. † Pew Center on Global Climate Change. Pew Center on Global Climate Change. 29 Mar. 2007 .

Contributions of Science in Maintaining World Peace Essay

Science has made great progress in recent times. Through science man has been able to conquer nature. He has acquired control over land, air and water. Time and distance have no meaning in this sputnik Age. Some people think that science is responsible for wars. It has placed in the hands of the man extremely destructive weapons. They may ruin the world completely. It may be true to some extent. But science has also contributed a lot towards world peace. Today very fast means of transport and communications are available. Armies can be moved from one place to another in no times. These forces check the advance of an enemy. Thus war is prevented. Big wars break out due to certain causes. Poverty, disease, hunger, etc. , are enemies of mankind. Some countries are rich while others are poor. Scientific inventions have given us valuable machines. With their help production has been increased manifold. Even the backward and poor countries have now begun to enjoy a better standard of living. The contribution of science to medical science is well known to everyone. Wonderful drops like penicillin, streptomycin, Chloromycetin, etc. , have been discovered. They have ensured long and healthy life to the people of the world. By removing such causes of war, science has helped in reducing the chances of a world war to the minimum. Small sparks lead to big conflagrations. Similarly minor internal disturbances within a country sometimes lead to big wars, but now-a-days the police and military can be sent to the spots of trouble within no time. Thus, internal peace is far more secure today than it ever was. Science has given very effective means of propaganda. The Radio, the Television, the News paper and the cinema are very powerful means of propaganda. Through them, the people of the world can easily know the horrible effects of modern warfare. Through cinema, pictures of horrors of war are shown to the people. Thus public opinion is created against war. This also helps in preventing war. Science has not reached the limits of its inventions even now. It is making even more starting inventions. It is now busy in acquiring control over outer space. Furthermore, man is today more conscious of necessity of world peace than ever before. He has begun to use his knowledge of science for peaceful purposes. Let us be optimistic that science enables us to banish war completely in the near future.

People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology Essay

People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology - Essay Example The chief aim that humans seek to advance technologically is to make life easier and better. However, as humans make more innovations, they have also become more dependent on technology such that most aspects of human life cannot be sustained if technology was withdrawn. Off all the forms of technology, computer technology stands out to be the one, which has become a crucial part of human life. However, the list of technological devices and gargets that define the life of modern humans is endless. Numerous aspects of human life demonstrate the unlimited level of human dependence on technology (Hooff, Dijk, Bouwman, & Wijngaert, 2005). The list of aspects of human life that are extremely dependent on technology is endless. Technology has become part of human life without which life would be unimaginable. Even the simplest of human needs cannot be met without technology. A good example is food. Technology is considered important and process such as production, storage and food preparation enormously depend on technology. Some food types would not be in existence without technology. The extension of the shelf life of most human foods depends on technological devices. Food preparation processes such as cooking make use of technological devices. The quality of processed food depends on the type of technology used. The food production and processing industries are extremely dependent on technology. Since food remains the most crucial basic need for humans, it is thus correct to say that humans are excessively reliant on technology. Without technology, food shortage would be a serious predicament facing human beings (Ra hman & Raisinghani, 2000). Technological devices such as computers have become an essential need in running the daily activity of any organization, institution, or even business. Communication has become advanced and progressively dependent on technology. Communicating devices such

Australian Health Care System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Australian Health Care System - Essay Example Proper health care is essential because one can never be sure of the physical and psychological trauma the immigrant or refugee has endured. Compounding the problem is the language problem in case the immigrant is unable to converse in English. There is the need to engage doctors, nurses and other health service workers who understand the immigrants' languages. Australia is a multicultural society. The land is open to receive skilled workers. There is also a blossoming tourist industry. People emigrating from as far as Sudan also reach Australia to make life for themselves. It is necessary to provide primary health care for recently arrived immigrant groups. Many of these people come from countries that have different models of health care compared to Australia. For some, the concept of private insurance or universal insurance is difficult to understand. These clients of local community centre may not have private health insurance and need to access public health services. It is important to bear in mind that many of these people are highly skilled in their sphere of work. They are capable of integrating with the rest of the population in Australia and making a good life for themselves once their health issues are addressed. We are concerned with health issues of immigrants and refugees who are vulnerable to poor health and have ... There is the issue of culture shock these immigrants may undergo. Addressing their health care will also ensure that they settle down quickly to their new way of life in Australia. Primary Health Care We are concerned with health issues of immigrants and refugees who are vulnerable to poor health and have different and complex health backgrounds as compared to the broader Australian community. Some of them come from very difficult situations and it is unsure if they are getting their health needs met post-immigration in Australia. Basic health issues such as vaccination coverage that health care providers might take for granted as having been attended are known to be major areas of deficiency in refugee populations. There are other factors that contribute to difficulties with accessing appropriate and comprehensive care. These include difficulties with language and literacy, lack of familiarity with health care system, lack of awareness of refugee health issues as well as the fragmented nature of current health care delivery for refugee population. These immigrants need to be vaccinated appropriately and it is not known if they are getting it. It is also not known if they are getting adequate and comprehensive health care. More research is needed to track them down and find out if they are diligently seeking and receiving the health care necessary in the initial stages of their stay in Australia. If they are not receiving the needed health care, it is necessary to find out the reasons why they are not receiving it. Normally, a yellow fever vaccination certificate is required from travelers over one year of age within six days of having stayed in Australia. The purpose of these measures is to

Describe the neurophysiological bases of Alzheimers disease Essay

Describe the neurophysiological bases of Alzheimers disease - Essay Example Behavioural symptoms—such as psychosis, agitation, depression, and wandering—are common and impose tremendous strain on caregivers. Diagnosis is challenging because of the lack of biological markers, insidious onset, and need to exclude other causes of dementia. (Mental Health, 1) Dementia is a prominent healthcare issue for primary care physicians and specialist services. Over 90% of patients with dementia experience a â€Å"behaviour disturbance,† often referred to as behavioural or psychological signs in dementia in accordance with the recommendation of the International Psycho geriatric Association. These symptoms are distressing to patients and troublesome to carers and often precipitate admission to residential facilities. What is the evidence that any of the several drugs that are currently used to treat these symptoms are effective? Managing the behavioural and psychological signs of dementia is a major problem for healthcare professionals. Narcoleptic drugs are the mainstay of pharmacological treatment, although their use is justified largely on the basis of clinical anecdote, and they have many harmful side effects. These include Parkinsonism, drowsiness, tardive dyskinesia, falls, accelerated cognitive decline, and severe narcoleptic sensitivity reactions. It is therefore not surprising that the chief medical officer has recommended judicious use of these agents in patients with dementia. In 1990 Schneider published a landmark study showing the paucity of large, placebo controlled, double blind trials of narcoleptic agents in treating behavioural and psychological signs in dementia. Since then research in the subject has increased, but most treatment studies have used an open or active comparison design, a major methodological flaw given the high placebo response rates (40%). Two large multi-centre studies with

Internship paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Internship paper - Essay Example It is a work environment where any career hotel manager would desire to work in. Employees in all departments undertake their tasks separately and share information through a file named ‘HR file’ in the office network that is administered by the HR department. According to Haves & Ninemeir (2012), workplace ergonomics influence worker motivation and productivity. A good work environment has helped to maintain skilled and experienced staff in the organization. Teamwork is also a significant strategy that promotes employee productivity. There is a high level of teamwork among the employees who often assist each other despite everyone having enough work to do. By the smile on the faces of everyone that is maintained all along as they work, a high level of employee satisfaction is evident. Luo & Milne (2014) highlight the importance of employee satisfaction to an organization’s productivity. Happy employees demonstrate a strong drive to achieve in their respective roles. As much as an organization may be interested in making great profits, it is necessary to be people oriented to ensure that they own the organizational goals and hence work towards their accomplishment. The management at Hilton Hotel Jeddah understands that product superiority and profits come as a result of a competent and committed workforce and hence the application of people oriented strategies in the management of human resources. Mr. Jamar is the training manager and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. His decision to work in this field is because it fits his specialization. It is important to be engaged in a field where one is skilled for high productivity to be achieved. An education background in human resource management or psychology might be helpful in this field. It is also important to possess interpersonal skills to relate effectively with workmates and the management. The

Chinese Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Chinese Society - Essay Example the general citizenry of urban areas and the affect of widespread technological advances, such as online educational opportunities upon the traditional Chinese family. This feeling is entrenched within ancient Confucian culture and has escalated with inception of the one-child policy in 1979. Despite China’s rapid ascent into the global economy, which has resulted in increased exposure into the global cultures, the sexism from ancient times has persevered and increased as is evidenced by the disproportionate male to female births over the past two decades. This policy was intended simply to limit the skyrocketing population of the country but has affected population arrangements, economic growth, resource deployment and the stream of migration throughout China. Marriage and child-bearing ages have risen, the size of families has decreased, male-to-female ratio has increased and urban populations have escalated. Unquestionably, the far-reaching effects of the one child policy cannot be understood by merely measuring population numbers or birth rates. One also must factor quality of life into the equation including living standards, crime and education. Moreover, the sex-imbalance can be represented by the rising sex ratio at birth (Hung 2004). The current trend of noticeable labor migration from rural to urban China is becoming a significant social factor greatly altering the whole of society. Studies conducted in 1995 determined that 70 million people nationwide had abandoned their home town for temporary or continuing employment in larger towns within the region or to urban areas (Shukai, 1996). The mass amounts of people constantly streaming into urban areas have put a strain on the infrastructures of many cities in China. This has become a serious problem because most cities’ governing bodies could, at best, barely support its present population in terms of social amenities. For example, most railway stations in big cities experienced massive

The impact of Korean TV dramas on Taiwanese consumers Annotated Bibliography

The impact of Korean TV dramas on Taiwanese consumers - Annotated Bibliography Example The paper also shows how globalization has affected the consumers in Taiwan (Chih, & Yang, 2008). The article is reliable because it establishes its conclusions on a research from the field; participants were asked to fill survey questions both online and offline. The study has also used a variety of references, but there is no clear conclusion in the paper. The author narrates how Korean television soap operas have influenced Taiwanese students’ preferences for various clothing. Hsu has found out that varying frequency of watching the soap operas influence students’ preferences for clothing differently (Hsu, 2012). Students prefer various clothes based on the attention they attract, period, and motivation to purchase such attire. The researcher’s conclusions are based on real data from nine hundred and thirty seven students of Taiwan. The paper has also used sufficient references, but the author has failed to include a literature review section in the discussion. The literature review would help to show the previous clothing purchase behavior of students in the country. Kim, S., & Wang, H., 2012. From television to the film set: Korean drama Daejanggeum drives Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Thai audiences to screen tourism. The international communication gazette 74 (5). 423-442. This paper discusses how a Korean drama known as Daejanggeum influenced Taiwanese consumers to travel to South Korea to watch the drama live at Daejanggeum Theme Park (Kim, & Wang, 2012). The article also gives an account of behavioral changes among the consumers. The authors have used simple language and numerous resources, and they have based the discussion on a research in which consumers participated by filling in questionnaires. However, the findings of the article are based on responses from consumers belonging to different

Islamic Banking and the Financial Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Islamic Banking and the Financial Crisis - Essay Example The following verses of the Quran illustrate Islamic prohibitions on riba or usury: â€Å"And for practicing usury, which was forbidden, and for consuming the people’s money illicitly, We have prepared for the disbelievers among them painful retribution.† Al-Nisa 4:161 â€Å"Those who charge usury are in the same position as those controlled by the devil’s influence. This is because they claim that usury is the same as commerce. However, God permits commerce and prohibits usury.† Al-Baqarah 2:275 â€Å"The usury that is practiced to increase some people’s wealth does not gain anything at God. ... Background and Key Concepts of Islamic Banking Holden (2007) states that riba was a pre-Islamic practice that required that when a borrower could not repay a loan owed to another by a specified date, the amount of the loan increased in lieu of an extension in the repayment date. However, such an arrangement presented a problem because borrowers who could not repay a loan were in danger of owing huge sums in perpetuity to lenders. Thus, those that turned to moneylenders in an informal barter economy of the pre-Islamic era at times of famine, disasters or crop failure were in danger of entrapment in a vicious cycle of indebtedness, poverty and deprivation that could result in perpetual slavery for those that could not repay their loans. High risks associated with entrapment in a vicious cycle of indebtedness did not encourage risk-taking in commerce, and this was not beneficial for the society. It is important to note that the concept of a limited liability company in the United Kingdo m had evolved due to a societal need for managing better business risks for the betterment of the society and Islamic response for risk management related to the removal of the concept of riba from society. Holden (2007) goes further to suggest that the Quran prohibits profiting from idle money, and a prohibition exists for the practice of riba in Islam. In addition, Islamic law or the Shariah prohibits transactions that carry substantial risk or uncertainty at the time of inception, such as gambling or other forms of risk that present a potential for exploitation. Prohibition under the Shariah also extends to transactions that involve immorality,

Hobbes` Rwandan Leviathan Essay Example for Free

Hobbes` Rwandan Leviathan Essay In 1994 the world publicity was shaken by the events in Rwanda, which later were written down in the history books as ‘Rwanda crisis’. According to the local sources, however, this tragedy had been rooted long before the indicated year, particularly it is reported to start in 1990. 1990 is marked by Uganda forces having invaded Rwanda. In addition, this was aggravated by the fact that two presidents of Burundi were assassinated. In order to get the more complete outlook on the situation before the crisis one should be aware that in 1994 (before the black day of the President of Rwanda, Habyarimana, killing) there were one million of displaced people in Rwanda constantly fleeing from the north of the country to the capital Kigali (1, 2006). Hence, to accommodate for all this vast mass a very huge refugee camp had been organized. After their President was killed these people rushed to the city to grab everything they could. As a result there were more than 300 000 deaths between 1990 and 1994, which prevents us from limiting the crisis to the year of 1994 only (1, 2006). But this was only a preface. In brief, the Rwanda crisis can be described as follows: â€Å"The lives of nearly a million people had been taken within 100 days in 1994, as extremist members of the Hutu majority turned on the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus, vowing to exterminate the Tutsi and their influence on Rwandan society† (2, 1994:4). This massacre was stopped only when the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) threw down the acting genocidal government. Yet, that developed into another blood bath with over two million of Hutu refugees heading for Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire (current the Democratic Republic of Congo), etc. Just five days from July 14 to 18, 1994 about 850,000 people crossed the border to Goma in eastern Zaire (2, 1994:5). Even today these to the great extent, innocent Hutus are deprived of basic human rights and numerous cases are known when their human rights have been abused by the RPF (that is now at the helm) and they were returned by force to their Motherland where they do not have any rights at all. The major part of the refugees fled out because of fear convinced (owning to Hutu Power propaganda) that the Tutsi were a â€Å"subhuman† race willing to enslave and extirpate the Hutu people. However, their genocidaires quickly took over the refugee camps. Instead of safety refugees found intimidation, starvation, tortures and death. International humanitarian organizations were powerless and forced to provide aid through the genocidaires or just leave hundreds of thousands of refugees in trouble and distress. The Rwanda crisis proved how unprepared was the international community to dealing with refugee crises that involved threats to peace and security in the world. What is more, the novel Rwandan government together with their allies from Zaire attacked and wiped the refugee camps off the face of the earth claiming that ‘the camps posed incredible and intolerable threat to Rwandan security’ (3, 2006). Thousands and thousands of refugees were killed. Thousands more fell victims to cholera that set in along with other contagious diseases (such as dysentery, malaria, etc. ) as a consequence of people’s exhaustion, lack of food and drinking water. One may suppose that the described above conflict and crises that follows may definitely be a vivid example of Hobbes’ ‘rational’ theory according to which every man lives in fear, as well as the father of rational philosophy did himself. Hobbes once mentioned: Fear and I were born twins together (4, 1996; I: 11). In his main theoretical work and his masterpiece, the Leviathan, Hobbes suggested that there are two methods of state formation: commonwealth by institution commonwealth by acquisition (4, 1996; XIX: 147). With regard to the former, Hobbes supposed that at the uprise of civilization, individuals existed in such state of nature, when life was a perpetual conflict in which men were one another’s enemies. Furthermore, different individuals had relatively equal power, thus being unable to guarantee actual personal security for themselves. As a result, due to such hostile environment, the individual, suffers continued fear, and the danger of violent death and a way of life that is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short (4, 1996, I: 12). Even more, â€Å"nature hath made men so equal in faculties of body and mind†¦Ã¢â‚¬  that no â€Å"man can thereupon claim to himself any benefit to which another may not pretend as well as he† (4, 1996, XVII: 118). In general, this may be regarded as a society without acting laws and authorities with â€Å"all man have a right to everything†, and situation when â€Å"no action can be unjust† (4, 1996, XVII: 118). Moreover, the described state of nature leads, according to Hobbes, to the condition of war war of all against all, in which human constantly seeks to destroy each other in an incessant pursuit for power (4, 1996, XVII: 118). However, this is not the war we are used to denote with this word. It is rather a condition of awareness about enemies than the act of violence itself. Instead of promoting war, Hobbes emphasizes that war cannot bring any benefits or provide any additional security. His purpose is to convince the readers that ruling power would save people from those unnecessary perils caused by the state of nature. Hence, such unfavorable state of nature, as Hobbes puts it, should and will prompt individuals to organize a ‘civil state’ with a monopolistic sovereign on the head by means of force and coercion. Such monopoly with absolute power will be able to ensure to the individuals safety from other members of their society, as well as protect from external intrusion. Therefore, from the recognition of the necessity for social order and peace people consent to obey to the sovereign. (4, 1996; XVIII: 127). Therefore, it would be more accurate to consider Hobbes’s ‘war’ to be a kind of competition or contest not the real military operations involving victims and bloodshed. It can be compared even to the emulation between two men who want to attract some woman they both like. Moreover, the author of Leviathan himself drives us to this conclusion by the following words: â€Å"So that in the nature of man, we find three principal causes of quarrel. First, competition; secondly, diffidence; thirdly, glory† (4, 1996; XVII: 119). He explains this again by the human nature, namely its faults: all men are by nature provided of notable magnifying glasses (that is their Passions and Self-love,) through which, every little payment appeareth a great grievance; but are destitute of those perspective glasses, (namely Moral and Civil Science,) to see a farre off the miseries that hang over them, and cannot without such payments be avoided. From this point of view, it seems, to my mind, obvious, that Rwanda civil war is not the case of Hobbes’ ‘state of war’. For Hobbes seizure of power meant improvement of the living conditions of people, even more it was the only way of providing them. The best society organization, from his standpoint, was the commonwealth in the meaning â€Å"a multitude of people who together consent to a sovereign authority, established by contract to have absolute power over them all, for the purpose of providing peace and common defense† (4, 1996; XVII:124). As it has been mentioned, â€Å"the purpose of establishing a commonwealth is to escape the state of nature and to provide peace and the common defense of the people; the sovereign is responsible for ensuring this defense† (4, 1996; XVII: 124). Remarkably, that the so-called ‘sovereign’ should not necessarily be a single person – it (or ‘he’ as Hobbes uses denotes it) may be comprised of a group of people who purpose at a common aim. Moreover, the sovereigns task is not limited to promoting safety of the people but according to Hobbes, it covers also promotion of economic well-being of the community, sufficient nutrition, etc. By the latter Hobbes implies distribution of materials conducing to life : in concoction, or preparation, and (when concocted) in the conveyance of it, by convenient conduits, to the public use. (4, 1996; XVII: 126). Furthermore, ruling from the fact that there is no such state that can fully supply itself with all necessary resources, as there is no territory under the dominion of one commonwealth, (except it be of very vast extent,) produceth all the things needful for the maintenance of the whole body, Hobbes supposes that the state will import goods or resources from other states through normal trade (4, 1996; XVIII: 137). Hence, as we can see the situation with Rwanda coup detat and Hobbes’ process ad goal of taking power are worlds apart. The same refers to the consequences. Whereas the latter should theoretically results in prosperity of the citizens, the former lead, in fact, to the numerous casualties, famine, etc. Furthermore, in Rwanda there was no realization of ‘rational choices’, rather it was the outburst of ethnic hostility than an effort to capture power in order to improve the welfare of the people. In addition, though Hobbes’ tenet primarily touches upon sovereignty established on the basis of agreement, the scientist maintains that sovereignty reached through acquisition i. e. force entails the same rights and obligations covered by the contract (also called ‘covenant’ or ‘social contract’, which is â€Å"the act of giving up certain natural rights and transferring them to someone else, on the condition that everyone else involved in making the contract also simultaneously gives up their rights. People agreeing to the contract retain only those rights over others that they are content for everyone else to retain over them†) (4, 1996; XVIII: 139). The only difference is the way in which the sovereign comes to power. If a sovereign comes to rule by institution he is supported because people fear each other. And, in contrast, if he comes to rule by acquisition he is supported because people are afraid of him himself, which does not goes apart with the theory of state of nature. Hence, in both cases, the people literally enjoy the same rights, whereas in Rwanda they were completely deprived of any rights. Nevertheless, for Hobbes the second method can be compared with slave-master relationships (without a slave having right to rebel), in Hobbess own words: â€Å"The master of the servant, is master also of all he hath; and may exact the use thereof; that is to say, of his goods, of his labour, of his servant, and of his children, as often as he shall think fit. For he holdeth his life of his master, by the covenant of obedience; that is, of owning, and authorizing whatsoever the master shall do. And in case the master, if he refuse, kill him, or cast him into bonds, or otherwise punish him for his disobedience, he is himself the author of the same, and cannot accuse him of injury† (4, 1996; XVIII: 141). David Gauthier also argues that â€Å"a servant is hardly involved in the decision making calculus of the master; instead the servant exists to carry out the formers dictates† (5, 2000:114). Yet, on the Rwanda’s example, the people defended and rebelled against their genocidaires, thus, they refused to perform the role of servants presupposed by Hobbes. To sum up, the Rwanda crisis has nothing in common with possible transfer to Hobbes’ model of state organization. It was founded on the ethnic hostilities that caused in the long run change of ruling power. Moreover, the purpose of the new government, in my opinion, was not the welfare of the people and the country but mere revenge for years of oppression. What is more, the people, though proving to some extent their natural (in accordance with Hobbes) inclination to being enemies to each other, did not resign themselves to the fact that they should be obedient and humble servants but rebelled instead and fought until the last breath. Nevertheless, even if the conflict is motivated by not the ethnic animosity but the rational choice, I will not recommend Hobbes’ reform of the society organization. At first glance, the objective and functions of his Commonwealth seem to be very promising, for example, preserving the society, establishing an internal order or peace, defending that peace against external violence, etc so that after all individuals can live peaceably (4, 1996; XVIII:145). However, I do not believe in such Utopia as for me it is evident that Hobbes’ state has all features of what is considered or ca turn in future into the totalitarian state (recall those master-slave relationships, overall power of the sovereign, etc. ). Our history has already proven that this form of governing is not applicable and is out-of-date with regard to our world and our life. Whatever the conflicts are, and no matter what leaders come to the rule they should bear in mind that our future is democratic one and there is no place on the earth to dictators and totalitarianism. Bibliography 1. Rwanda the Great Genocide Debate. Retrieved from University of Dayton Library on February 14, 2006: http://www. udayton. edu/~rwanda/articles/genocide/noendinsight.html 2. Rwandan apocalypse by Chris McGreal in Goma, Ian Katz from Guardian, Saturday July 23, 1994, p. 4-6. 3. The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide 1959-1994, published by Hurst and Company Ltd, 1995. Retrieved on February 14, 2006 from: http://www. humanrightsfirst. org 4. Hobbes, Thomas (ed. ) Tuck, Richard â€Å"Leviathan†. Cambridge University Press, 1996 5. Gauthier, D. P. (2000). The Logic of the Leviathan: The Moral and Political Theory of Thomas Hobbes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 114-116.

Small Classes Benefit Students

Small Classes Benefit Students Every year class size reduction is one of the hottest topics. This topic has been studied numerous times, but is often ignored due to financial challenges. Teachers, parents, and students are constantly demanding smaller classes, because it would benefit education and faculty engagement. There are many aspects that affect the teaching process. Class size is shown to be a major factor. How the teacher teaches, or the student learns all leads back to the classroom. An organization called, Project STAR ( Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio) has studied students since 1985 and found that the size of the classroom does indeed have an affect on the performance of the students. In Joe Agrons Good things come in small packages., He explains the findings of STAR, class sizes from 13 to 17 outperformed students from larger classesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. With having smaller class size it creates a more manageable environment, and allows the students to learn more of the content. If schools would reduce class sizes it would up the graduation rate at least ten percent, and more kids will go to college (Argon). When having small classes the student will want to interact more, and not have the fear of not knowing an answer in front of thirty plus kids. The student will be open to learning a nd being more involved in the classroom. Creating a comfortable environment will cause students to drop out less frequently (Argon). If students are comfortable and more open to school, it allows them to be more eager to take challenging classes and learn subjects on a more advanced level which would later benefit them in college. Along with the many factors , time plays a big role in students and teachers experience in school. Teachers must have enough time to teach their lessons, and students need enough time to fully understand the topic they are being taught. In Cakmaks academic journal it states, Time is an important aspect in teaching because teachers need time to manage time effectively in order to implement their strategy. (Cakmak). This meaning if the teacher has less students they would be able to thoroughly teach the content. In the classroom of thirty students, at least twenty of them need more time studying the topic. With having a large amount of students and a small amount of time, only ten of those students are able to fully understand the topic while the rest have to stay behind. The teachers offer tutorials before and after school, but out of seven class periods about one hundred and forty students are coming in for help. If the classes are reduced, the amount of students that need help will drop. This would allow the teacher more time to have one on one with each individual. Class size not only affects younger children, but it also takes a big toll on students who are studying in college. The amount of time a teacher has with a student only shortens as the children get older. The class sizes are constantly growing, once a student enters college they are facing five hundred plus students. In a class that big the professors help or attention is limited to a small portion to the class. There is little to no interaction between the student and teacher. When or if the student needs help on a subject, they are more liable to push it aside because they are not comfortable with speaking to the professor. This will change if the professor was allowed more time to understand each student and know more about them as well as the student knowing their professor. Time and interaction plays a large role in the classroom and is constantly ignored. If they are not allowed either one, the desire to be in school and get help becomes less of a want each day. The reason behind not having enough time to interact and teach a lesson all leads to the amount of students in the classroom. At any age the teacher must deal with the behavior of the children in the classroom. Everyday a student is prone to act up and disrupt the class, whether it be horse playing or refusing to do work. Having a large class creates chaos with student behavior, which cause the teacher to stop his or her lesson to correct the issues. Each time the lesson is stop, a student is distracted by the situation and has loss focus on the topic. While the teacher is correcting the behavior, the lesson remains on hold and the content is never fully explained. If the student is unable to have the teachers undivided attention due to discipline, then they are left with having to figure out the content on their own. According to Does class size really matter? less students create a steady environment, Teachers believed to cover more content in greater depth and have fewer discipli ne problemsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Reducing the class size will not completely end behavioral issues, but it will bring it down to a minimum. Each student will then be allowed more time in the classroom, and will allow the teacher to continue teaching a topic with distractions to them or the student. If the teacher spends less time having to correct a students bad behavior, it could reduce stress (Johnson. Hatie) . Johnson states it may seem possible that creating a less stressful work environment for teachers might increase the likelihood they they will stay in the profession.(Johnson) , class size reduction is expensive, but so is replacing teachers who quit due to the issues in the classroom. If the teacher is pleased, the student will enjoy learning in their classroom. Everything falls back to how comfortable the student and teacher are, and how much of the content is being taught, and understood. If this can be corrected by simply reducing the amount of students put into a classroom, then why is it that the school board is sitting in the shadows. Reducing class size is a constant worry to most schools, because of the cost they would have to pay to make the classes smaller. When the topic comes up , the tension between the school and parents become more apparent. Every school believes a childs education is an important aspect of their everyday life, and they would do anything to help them. In the academic journal, Class size reduction The National-Parent Teacher Association show that,combining funds for class size reduction and professional development into a teacher-quality block grant in the No Child Left Behind Actà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(The Reading Teachers) this leaves many districts and teacher with having to choose between the two. Providing a better learning environment for students is constantly put on hold until the district can decide whether they want to pay for cost that come along with the change. As the schools and deciding and slowly pushing the topic aside, students a beginning to struggle in the classroom, and fall b ehind on topics. Everyone praises the No Child Left Behind Act, but yet when the chance to help a child is in view of a district, it suddenly disappears. With the way the schools go about this, it leaves parents and students wondering if it is really no child left behind, or are the schools steadily letting the children get lost in the clouds. Work Cited Agron, Joe. Good things come in small packages. American School University, vol. 71, no. 10, 1999, p. 10. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONEsw=wu=j020902v=2.1it=rid=GALE%7CA55204568asid=351c277ea4eefb7a2527d29a5903182a. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. Cakmak, Melek. The perceptions of student teachers about the effects of class size with regard to effective teaching process. The Qualitative Report, vol. 14, no. 3, 2009, p. 395+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONEsw=wu=j020902v=2.1it=rid=GALE%7CA214102628asid=83e3ea601a9eafa34a7957694d72d939. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. Johnson, Laurene. Does class size really matter? District Administration, Oct. 2011, p. 104+. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONEsw=wu=j020902v=2.1it=rid=GALE%7CA271405507asid=53f0f28435c3b534c6cc6410f370667b. Accessed 9 Feb. 2017. Class size reduction. The Reading Teacher, vol. 58, no. 8, 2005, p. 739. Academic OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONEsw=wu=j020902v=2.1it=rid=GALE%7CA149253957asid=d51d5ef20e663437962151cfe8f14a2b. Accessed 10 Feb. 2017.

Health Benefits Of Ergonomics Essay -- essays research papers

Ergonomics involves designing workplaces and work tools to be used easily, efficiently and effectively by people. The overall goal is to promote health and productivity in the workplace. Where ergonomic principles are not applied, chronic musculoskeletal disorders such as tendinitis of the arm and hand, eyestrain injury and back injuries may be common.Most people are concerned when they cannot use parts of the body like they know they should be able to use them. People are often unaware of ways to prevent injury, and ergonomics will introduce methods that will help reduce those injuries. Chiropractors recommend using ergonomics in a professional environment as well as at home. Following simple guidelines can help prevent injury to the arms and hands, eyes, and back. Everyday activities at work, home, or play can cause wear and tear on muscles, joints, tendons, and nerves. Problems can be a direct result of poor posture, repetitive motion, and excessive force or pressure to any part of the body.Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provides ergonomic consulting services to companies, labor organizations and government agencies. In an environment where Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and the associated workers' compensation costs continue to increase, these services are directed to identifying the risk factors to such disorders and assisting clients in reducing the hazards created by these factors.INTRODUCTIONIncreased or constant productivity is a concern of every employer. Employers want to know that their employees are doing their best. Therefore, employers should strive to make the work environment suitable for productivity. The ergonomics program is designed to do just that. In most cases, a happy employer leads to happy employees.PurposeThe purpose of the ergonomic program is to make employers aware of injury prevention. Such awareness can to increased productivity, a decrease in the number of worker's compensation cases, and a decrease in number of lower back injuries.The information provided to you in this proposal will make you, as an employer, see the necessity of applying ergonomics to your working environment. Studies have shown that with increased computer use, the numbers of Repetitive Motion Disorders has tripled since 1979.ScopeThese ergonomic consulting serves are provided by trained and experienced industrial engineers and ... ... body movement: Try Yoga, Chi Kung, or Tai Chi.For reducing stress: Try meditation, visualization exercises, taking deep breaths, or going for a walkFor working through sore, stiff, or sensitive muscles: Try massage, physiotherapy, trigger point therapy, acupressure or shiatsuFor reducing inflammation and pain: Try ice or a package of frozen vegetables on the affected area.For relieving neck strain after sleeping: Use a cervical roll or a "contour pillow" and don't sleep on your stomach.For general well-being: Take frequent rest breaks (recommended is 5 minute rests every 20 minutes and get out of your chair at least once an hour), drink lots of water, exercise, stretch, and move around often.CONCLUSIONSThose are the basics. The most important thing to ask yourself is: Are you comfortable throughout a day's work? If it feels good and you tend not to shift trying to get comfortable, then you are probably less at risk of injury or possible reinjury. Remember, people are not robots. Move around. Get up. A good chair lets you have a little room to move so you can stay loose. Leaning and slumping is fine once in a while, just don't make that your continual working position.

Personal Narrative: My Experience in College Prep II Writing Essay

For the entirety of my undergraduate career I had the distinct ability to successfully write research papers, critical essays and journal entries. On the whole I feel that my writing was successful due to the fact that I received excellent grades as well as glowing comments of support from my professors. Please understand that I am not boasting about my grade point average, class rank or even attempting to claim that I am a good writer. However, I do feel confident in my abilities to write papers that speak directly to the question at hand while simultaneously addressing, although not necessarily adhering to, the professor’s point of interest. I must credit much of my success as an undergraduate to Mr. M of the High School English Department. My outlook on academic writing was drastically altered during the fall of 1997 with the help of Mr. M and a writing course entitled College Prep II. Any High School Senior who wishes to matriculate at a four-year college or university can enroll in College Prep II. The purpose of the course, as if it weren’t obvious from the title, is to adequately prepare outgoing seniors to write effective research papers and essays at the college level. Before I delve into the specifics of the course itself, I must briefly acquaint you with the quirky Irishman mentioned above. Mr. M came across as the type of wise old Irishman you might run into in a quaint pub and spend hours sipping Guinness, telling jokes and exchanging personal experiences with. Perhaps the reason why College Prep II became such a welcomed challenge for my classmates and I had something to do with the high level of respect Mr. M showed us. Although we were nothing more than scared, immature high school seniors, he talked to us as if... ...ard sentence structure or maybe even a few contradictory ideas would take our paper from a B+ to a C-. However, no one knew that Mr. M was not grading us solely upon our final draft, but on our ability to embrace writing as a continuous process where there is always room for improvement. Whatever the case, the methods Mr. M taught carried me through four years of college writing with relative ease, yet I never realized that I was adhering to his school of writing until I began to ponder this writing assignment. He did an excellent job emphasizing the technical structure of the process, while focusing intently on the personal or humanistic side to writing. Will my outlook on writing change during my future as a graduate student, straying from the ways of Mr. M? Probably, but I think a part of that process will always be in the back of my head, for better or for worse.

Social Issues in Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye :: Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye

The Bluest Eye Social Issues With The Bluest Eye, Morrison has not only created a story, but also a series of painfully accurate impressions. As Dee puts it "to read the book...is to ache for remedy" (20). But Morrison raises painful issues while at the same time managing to reveal the hope and encouragement beneath the surface. A reader might easily conclude that the most prominent social issue presented in The Bluest Eye is that of racism, but more important issues lie beneath the surface. Pecola experiences damage from her abusive and negligent parents. The reader is told that even Pecola's mother thought she was ugly from the time of birth. Pecola's negativity may have initially been caused by her family's failure to provide her with identity, love, security, and socialization, ail which are essential for any child's development (Samuels 13). Pecola's parents are able only to give her a childhood of limited possibilities. She struggles to find herself in infertile soil, leading to the analysis of a life of sterility (13). Like the marigolds planted that year, Pecola never grew. The concept of physical appearance as a virtue is the center of the social problems portrayed in the novel. Thus the novel unfolds with the most logical responses to this overpowering impression of beauty: acceptance, adjustment, and rejection (Samuels 10). Through Pecola Breedlove, Morrison presents reactions to the worth of physical criteria. The beauty standard that Pecola feels she must live up to causes her to have an identity crisis. Society's standard has no place for Pecola, unlike her "high yellow dream child" classmate, Maureen Peals, who fits the mold (Morrison 62). Maureen's influence in the novel is important. "She enchanted the entire school... black girls stepped aside when she wanted to use the sink in the girl's toilet... She never had to search for anybody to eat with in the cafeteria--they flocked to the table of her choice" (62-63). In contrast, Pecola's classmates insult her black skin by chanting "Black e mo Black e mo Ya daddy sleeps nekked/ stch ta ta stch ta ta" (65). The most damaging interracial confrontation related to color involves Pecola and an adult, Geraldine (Samuels 12). When Pecola enters Geraldine's home at the invitation of her son, Geraldine forces her to leave with words that hurt deeply, saying "Get out... You nasty little black bitch. Get out of my house" (92).

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey Essay

Throughout history, the struggle of women to gain and sustain power in society has proven to be difficult, and has coexisted with a rivalry against the opposite sex. Women have been denied many throughout the course of history. They have been discriminated against, lost jobs, lost privileges. Women’s suffrage had not developed in the United States until the Nineteenth Amendment, which became effective in time to allow the voting by women nationally in the Presidential election of August 18, 1920. Stereotypical views of the ideal features of women are femininity, maternity, gentility, care, nurture, and dependency. Not matriarchy, independence, nor strength. Women are not generally associated with these traits, and society generally expects women to posses the assumed feminine characteristics. This is not the case in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, in which Ken Kesey shows a woman can hold a dominating, powerful role in society and be contrary to the stereotypical woman figure to depict the validity of the society’s views about women and their roles using the failure of the matriarchal female character to succeed at her role assumed by her occupation. The matriarchal female, Mildred Big Nurse Ratched, gains control over her realm in the mental hospital, but fails to fulfill her duties as a nurse of healing or helping her patients. The sexist description of her physical appearance provided by her patients are those typically associated with women, however, she completely contradicts the typical female. She is a matriarchal figure, not maternal. She is powerful, not dependent. And she manipulates complete power over the staff and patients of the hospital. However, her matriarchy does not fulfill her duties assumed by her occupation; to heal and help the patients. Instead, she worsens the situation by diminishing their strengths and exposing their weaknesses; which she does to gain control in a way which appeals to her senses. Big Nurse, or Mildred Ratched, attempts, and succeeds, to create her own world within the confines of the ward; one where she is completely in charge of all her subjects. This depicts her strong matriarchal role. Her desire to gain complete control over her environment uses several strategical moves.  After convincing her patients to confess their personal secrets, Ratched is understood by the patients to use the disadvantages of her patients to her own advantage in her accomplishment of gaining absolute power. Nurse Ratched is able to â€Å"smell out† the fear of her patients and â€Å"put it to use† (17) As the novel progresses, we also learn that Ratched’s powers within the ward extend to ludicrous measures as she is able to order harming of the relatively disruptive patients, which contributes to her extensive amount of power withing the ward. In numerous important scenes, we learn the extent of her power to prevent noisome independence: she can, in additio n to all the little arts of prodding the guilty recesses of her â€Å"patients'† consciences, order electric shock, even lobotomize the recalcitrant or merely disruptive patient. (Boardman ) She achieves control over the ward, as her patients, aware of her power, obey willingly or unwillingly. Mac, a patient at the hospital, promises to bug the nurse â€Å"till she comes apart at those neat little seams† (12). However, he learns that he can be institutionalized as long as the nurse sees fit. He immediately becomes cagey, satisfying, temporarily at least (Boardman)Nurse Ratched is able to establish complete control in the ward, and her patients recognize her ability maintain total control; a type of control that is parallel to a monarchy. In her own realm, Ratched is viewed as a very powerful individual, and the patients start to abide by her rules. Harding, a patient, explains, â€Å"‘We are victims of a matriarchy here, my friend, and the doctor is just as helpless against it as we are'† (54). This sentence is remarkably significant. It accredits the nurse as a dominant character in the hospital, and it also establishes the idea that the patients are not the only ones controlled by her, but the doctors as well. At times, Ratched refers to the sexuality of the men in the institute, making them inferior because of their inabilities. Ratched’s strength, and matriarchial character as a woman directly contradict the assumed characteristics associated with women; those of femininity and gentility. This contradiction is established in a way many by critics that look at the surface of the topic as a sexist description. In multiple occurrences throughout the progression of the novel, Ratched’s female characteristics are exaggeratively described by the patients such as McMurphy. McMurphy describes Ratched as having too red lipstick and the too  big boobs. (43) and as a a bitch and a buzzard and a ballcutter. Therefore, Ratched directly opposes the traditional gentle view of women as a matriarch but is given over-exaggerated female characteristics. Kesey’s purpose in creating this contrast between a stereotypical woman and and an ideal woman that is independent and strong is to establish the unsuccessful attempt at triumph of the ideal strong woman. The unsuccessful attempts of Ratched are depicted by her failure to meet the assumed role of being a nurse that consists of helping and healing her patients. Instead of helping, Ratched proceeds to make the state and situation of her patients worse and worse as she puts them down about their inabilities and maintains total control over them. Ratched is even viewed as evil. McMurphy explains, No, that nurse ain’t some kinda monster chicken, buddy, what she is is a ball-cutter. I’ve seen a thousand of ’em, old and young, men and women. Seen ’em all over the country and in the homes–people who try to make you weak so that they can get you to toe the line, to follow their rules, to live like they want you to. †¦ If you’re up against a guy who wants to win by making you weaker instead of making himself stronger, then watch for his knee, he’s gonna go for your vitals. And that’s what that old buzzard is doing. (58) McMurphy also refers to Ratched as impregnable and this sets her apart from the typical view of a female and the clichà ©d mother/whore dichotomy (Quinn) is established in the novel. There is an ambiguity that arises in the course of the novel, and the established dichotomy discussed by Quinn is expanded with a comparison of the two parts; the matriarch and the whore. Whereas Ratched uses power and control to accomplish her role of care and fails, the two whores introduced by McMurphy gain the trust and sympathy of the reader. They are viewed positively and as kind hearted by the patients in the institution. An excellent comparison captures the perception of the two figures; Strong women are evil and emasculating (Quinn) and The women viewed positively in the novel are the kind-hearted whores whom Mac introduces to the men and the sympathetic and very tiny Japanese nurse who works on the Disturbed ward. (Quinn) Through this direct comparison of the strong woman that is apart from a typical figure and the stereotypical woman that performers an act  directly associated with women, one can see that the typical woman is able to do what the other cannot; gain the affection of the male. While Ratched hides her female characteristics by wearing a white coat, the whores display their female attributes, and gain a positive view from the society made up of the hospital. McMurphy’s prior comment of Ratched being impregnable is linked to this comparison, since sexuality is a trait apparently missing from Ratched. Ken Kesey depicts the failure of a non-typical female figure to accomplish her goals as a dominating powerful figure by describing Ratched as evil, and comparing her to whores, who are viewed as kind hearted. This defiant comparison is uncommon since typically whores are viewed as a malignant part of society and nurses are viewed as purgatory. As a complete opposite, the whores are able to help amend the feelings of the patients, whereas Nurse Ratched fails miserably to accomplish her duty and even worsens the situation of her patients. Through the development of the female characters in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Kesey is able to convince the reader that the stereotypical woman is able to successfully help society, while the unusual matriarchal female is unable to fulfill her duties by gaining control and exercising domination. Works Cited (MLA Format)Boardman, Michael M. â€Å"One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Rhetoric and Vision.† Journal of Narrative Technique 9. No. 3. Fall 1979.: 171-83. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Quinn, Laura. Moby Dick vs. Big Nurse: A Feminist Defense of a Misogynist Text: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Censored Books: Critical Viewpoints. Ed. Nicholas J. Karolides. Lee Burress. John M. Kean. Scarecrow Press, 1993: 398-413. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Vol. 2. Zubizarreta, John. â€Å"The Disparity of Point of View in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.† Literature/Film Quarterly 22. No 1. 1994: 62-9. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism.

Modern History Germany 1918-1939 Essay

The Weimar Republic was considered weak from the post-war period until 1933. The weaknesses in the Weimar Republic were key to the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933. Many historians have criticized these weaknesses, saying that the Weimar Republic was always going to fail, due to mismanagement and the lack of experience. These weaknesses include Article 48, which helped Hitler pass the Enabling Act of 1933. The role of President Hindenburg was another weakness of the Weimar Republic as he was able to choose the Chancellor, giving Hitler and the Nazi Party more power. The Hyperinflation Crisis of 1923 is also an example of the weak Weimar Republic. However, the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic was not the only aid to the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party, as there were many external factors, such as the Dawes Plan, linked to the Hyperinflation Crisis of 1923, which exposed Germany to the Great Depression, as well as the Treaty of Versailles, and its many points including Article 231 – the war guilt clause. Furthermore, the capitalization of these weaknesses was also a key factor to the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1923. The weaknesses in the Weimar Republic allowed for the Nazi’s to gain power through Article 48, where the President is given emergency powers to suspend the Reichstag at a moments notice. After the Reichstag Fire, Hitler convinced Hindenburg to use Article 48, giving Hitler the opportunity to pass the Enabling Act without the majority of the Reichstag’s approval, and banned the Communists. This shows that because of Article 48, Hitler was given legal means of gaining power, and without Article 48, Hitler would have never of became a Dictator of Germany with the rising power given to the Nazi Party. The use of Article 48 also led to the creation of the Enabling Act in 1933. The Enabling Act of 1933 allowed Hitler to gain power as it gave Hitler total control of the Reichstag. Once it was passed with the help of Article 48 on Hindenburg’s account, it gave Hitler the ability of ruling for 4 years unopposed, without having to consult with the Reichstag if he wanted to pass any laws. Hitler used this act to ban all other political parties, giving him no other opponents. Without the help of Article 48, Hitler would not have passed the Enabling Act, and would not of had full control of the Reichstag, citing the rise of power of the Nazi Party in 1933. Because Article 48 gave Hitler the possibility of passing the Enabling Act, the Weimar government is responsible for allowing Hitler to come to power, giving in to the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933. The role of Hindenburg allowed for Hitler’s rise to power and growth of the Nazi Party in 1933 because of his right to choose who would be his Chancellor. Hindenburg chose Hitler at the suggestion of Von Papen, an ex-president, who thought that Hindenburg could control him. Hindenburg relented, eventually giving Hitler head of state. Evidently, Hindenburg could not control Hitler as Chancellor, and ended up giving Hitler more control than he should have had, accounting for Hitler’s rise to power and the growth and prominence of the Nazi Party. The historian K. J. Mason supports the observation that the role of Hindenburg made an error in choosing Hitler as chancellor. He states that â€Å"having been given power, he now had total power†¦ within a mere two months of his appointment as chancellor†¦ achieved his aim, moving from the role of legal chancellor to that of legal dictator†, demonstrating that the government system of the Weimar Republic allowed an Autocrat like Hindenburg to decide on a chancellor initially destroys the Weimar Republic, citing a fatal weakness that grants Hitler and the Nazi’s more power. What this says about the Weimar Republic is that it was always faulted, giving the president as much power as possible, even giving him the option of choosing his Chancellor. It shouldn’t have been possible for Hindenburg to choose the Chancellor, as it gave him too much power, also giving Hitler the option of more power. The Hyperinflation Crisis of 1923 accounts for the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933 as the crisis showed that the Weimar government was incapable of leading Germany. This incapability allowed for extremist parties like the Nazi’s to be considered as alternatives. This led to the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, which, evidently, illustrates that without the government mismanagement, the Beer Hall Putsch may have never happened. This shows that because of Government mismanagement, there would not have been civil unrest, which clearly accounts for the rise in popularity and power for Hitler and the Nazi Party. The economic mismanagement of 1923 can then be seen as a predecessor to the effects of the Great Depression of 1929, linking to the Dawes Plan. This shows that the Weimar government did not learn from their mistakes, showing how weak the Weimar government was, having there been two crippling economic issues in the 14 years of the Weimar Republic. The Dawes Plan assisted the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933 as it led to an explosion of support for the Nazi’s. The Dawes Plan brought in loans from the United States of America in order for the German republic to finance its industry, and to finance reparations, but ultimately exposed Germany to the Great Depression. Because it was through the Weimar republic that Germany was exposed to the Great Depression in 1929, there was an explosion in support for the Nazi Party, leading to its growth and rise in power. Richard Evans supports this view, explaining how the Great Depression showed the incapability’s and failures of foreign affairs. Evans explains this through the quote: â€Å"as Germany fell deeper into depression, middle class citizens saw the Nazi party as a possible way out†, explaining how the Great Depression affected the popularity of the Nazi Party, as the civilians saw that the only way to fix Germany’s economy and falling spirit was to support the Nazi Party. This shows that is the Dawes Plan didn’t exist, Germany wouldn’t have been exposed to the Great Depression, and there wouldn’t have been a rise in the support of the Nazi Party in 1929, and it wouldn’t be accountable for the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933. The Treaty of Versailles aided the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933 through Article 231 – the War Guilt Clause. The war guilt clause called for reparations to be paid to France and Britain, loss of German territory, for example the Polish Corridor, which divided up Germany and East Germany (Prussia), and caused national humiliation. The Treaty of Versailles indicates that the Weimar Republic was weak as well, because a strong political system would not have accepted such a treaty. The Treaty of Versailles assisted the growth and rise to power of Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933, as they promised to scrap the Treaty of Versailles. The capitalization of the weaknesses in the Weimar Republic, led to the growth and rises to power of the Nazi Party in 1933, because of the Nazi’s constant exploitation of the Weimar Republic and all of its mistakes, using them to its own advantage as well as the manipulation of incidents involving the Reichstag. The Nazi’s exploited the Weimar Republic’s mistakes, using the mood of resentment and frustration of the German public toward the failing Republic, promising a revitalization of will and a new beginning for Germany. The main incident that the Nazi’s manipulated was the Reichstag Fire, as once a Communist was found inside the wreckage, Hitler used this to his advantage and banned the communists from the Reichstag. The capitalization of the weaknesses involving the Weimar Republic and incidents involving the Reichstag as well as Nazi promises of a new beginning aided the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933. To summarize, the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic was partially responsible for the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933, although there are many external factors for the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party. These weaknesses involve Article 48, the Enabling Act, the role of President Hindenburg, the Hyperinflation Crisis of 1923. The external factors include the Treaty of Versailles and Article 231 – the War Guilt Clause, the Dawes Plan and the Great Depression, as well as the exploitation of the Weimar Republic’s mistakes as a government and the manipulation of incidents involving the Reichstag, used to the Nazi Party’s advantage. These points ultimately led to the growth and rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933.

Office Star Usefull for Market Research

Background OfficeStar, a regional chain of office supply stores, has decided to launch its own ink cartridge line of products. The goal of the company is to compete with the usual actors in the market by offering a lower-priced product to its core customers, with which it hopes to capture significant market share in that business. The key figures for this market are as follows: .. The market for ink cartridges in the region is approximately 2. 3 million units sold every quarter (to simplify, we assume 2. 3 million customers buy one ink cartridge each). ..The production cost of an ink cartridge is $6. 50; it is sold at a price of $19. 95 in stores, leading to a gross margin of $13. 45. .. OfficeStar has a house list of 500,000 identified potential customers, to whom the company could send samples if that were deemed profitable. .. Sending a sample costs $3 in shipping and handling. Just before launching the product line, OfficeStar hired a market research company to perform simulation s and forecast the future market share of the product. Results were disappointing. The market research company has identified two key issues: ..Prospective customers are unwilling to try this product, and most appear likely to remain loyal to their current provider (usually, the printer manufacturer). .. Even for those customers willing to try the product, market research pretests show a low level of repeat sales. Exercise As the new product manager of the OfficeStar ink cartridge product line, you wanted to identify the opportunities and ways to penetrate stronghold of OEMs. Data from 40 respondents was captured and is available in OfficeStar Data. xls file. Carry out segmentation study and report your findings in the form of 1 page memo.

Frida Kahlo

* NAME : ABDUL RAHMAN BIN MOHAMED * GROUP : 12M13 * TOPIC : READING 1 – FRIDA KAHLO : TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS QUESTION 1: How do you think painting help Frida Kahlo with her problem? ANSWER: From my view of humanisation, painting helps Frida Kahlo so much. It is because only from painting will make her continues her hope about her life after turning point of her life made her really uncapable to do anything else such as to be one of the successful doctor only building the castle in the air. From her painting make her more sensitive in so many things. As we know, Frida expressed her feeling by that creative way teaches the other on how to take care of other feeling beside appreciate them. Frida`s painting resolve by hidden message on how to try our best not to be heartbreaker or make a hole of sadness in someone heart as her told that she had experienced second accident in her life with her beloved husband. Of course these single moment will be portrayed by frida to make sure every moments will not forgetable. Lasty, she got place in every one`s heart by her painting and became well-known. QUESTION 2: Many of Kahlo’s paintings express pain and tragedy. Do you like to see this in a work of art? If so, why? If not, what would you like to see? ANSWER: I really don`t like that kinds of painting that reminds me of someone that I hate so much. I would prefer some of the painting that shows love. Love painting is about something unique. Not every painter success to portray those kinds of painting. Painting is one of the medium to change other people and influenced their way of life. That’s why love theme painting make us kindly shares our love and open our minds to shares our heart together. Love also not just limited to human, but also can be animal, family and the others. This unique kind of painting can resolve life of communities that full of hatred, selfish to the very good mankind ever seen in the world. QUESTION 3: What is your opinion of the mischievous acts carried out by Cachuchas? Why they did they do these things? Was their behaviour acceptable? Why or why not? ANSWER: From my opinion, the action carried out by Cachuchas is just to make everybody sense of their presence in school and they want to become attractive in their way so everybody who watch them will follow their style including the nerd (unpopular in school). Other than that, QUESTION 4: Is it important to know about an artist`s life in order to understand his or her work? ANSWER: Yes. It is important to know about an artist`s life as from their life we can learn what are messages about from the painting. In consequences, we will be become more sharp observer and understand more about painting and art. As we take example, one of the most famous person during renaissances was Leonardo Da Vincci. He was the one who like to do his painting in realist style such as Mona Lisa portrait. No other painter has been able to express the facial subtleties of the human character with such startling accuracy. Some people wonder why it is that her facial expression seems to change depending on the direction from which you look at her. This is because during painting of Mona Lisa, Leonardo hired a few of clowns to make her happy and not get bored. That`s how Leonardo manipulate the situation. This example shows us clearly why we need to understand extra information about artist’s life and history of his painting. Frida Kahlo * NAME : ABDUL RAHMAN BIN MOHAMED * GROUP : 12M13 * TOPIC : READING 1 – FRIDA KAHLO : TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS QUESTION 1: How do you think painting help Frida Kahlo with her problem? ANSWER: From my view of humanisation, painting helps Frida Kahlo so much. It is because only from painting will make her continues her hope about her life after turning point of her life made her really uncapable to do anything else such as to be one of the successful doctor only building the castle in the air. From her painting make her more sensitive in so many things. As we know, Frida expressed her feeling by that creative way teaches the other on how to take care of other feeling beside appreciate them. Frida`s painting resolve by hidden message on how to try our best not to be heartbreaker or make a hole of sadness in someone heart as her told that she had experienced second accident in her life with her beloved husband. Of course these single moment will be portrayed by frida to make sure every moments will not forgetable. Lasty, she got place in every one`s heart by her painting and became well-known. QUESTION 2: Many of Kahlo’s paintings express pain and tragedy. Do you like to see this in a work of art? If so, why? If not, what would you like to see? ANSWER: I really don`t like that kinds of painting that reminds me of someone that I hate so much. I would prefer some of the painting that shows love. Love painting is about something unique. Not every painter success to portray those kinds of painting. Painting is one of the medium to change other people and influenced their way of life. That’s why love theme painting make us kindly shares our love and open our minds to shares our heart together. Love also not just limited to human, but also can be animal, family and the others. This unique kind of painting can resolve life of communities that full of hatred, selfish to the very good mankind ever seen in the world. QUESTION 3: What is your opinion of the mischievous acts carried out by Cachuchas? Why they did they do these things? Was their behaviour acceptable? Why or why not? ANSWER: From my opinion, the action carried out by Cachuchas is just to make everybody sense of their presence in school and they want to become attractive in their way so everybody who watch them will follow their style including the nerd (unpopular in school). Other than that, QUESTION 4: Is it important to know about an artist`s life in order to understand his or her work? ANSWER: Yes. It is important to know about an artist`s life as from their life we can learn what are messages about from the painting. In consequences, we will be become more sharp observer and understand more about painting and art. As we take example, one of the most famous person during renaissances was Leonardo Da Vincci. He was the one who like to do his painting in realist style such as Mona Lisa portrait. No other painter has been able to express the facial subtleties of the human character with such startling accuracy. Some people wonder why it is that her facial expression seems to change depending on the direction from which you look at her. This is because during painting of Mona Lisa, Leonardo hired a few of clowns to make her happy and not get bored. That`s how Leonardo manipulate the situation. This example shows us clearly why we need to understand extra information about artist’s life and history of his painting. Frida kahlo The Art of Friday Kohl: Realist and Overwhelming The autobiographical movie â€Å"Friday† directed by Julie Tomato and release in October, 2002. It is a realistic portrait of the life of Mexican painter Friday Kohl and her life's bitterness, her political believes, and the tormented relationship with her painter husband, Diego Riviera. As a result the motive of her artworks is basically in self- portraits. Friday's personality projects to be a liberal, passionate, independent, strong, and charming woman.She was an eminent artist in the 20th century who exposes angular exceptional thoughts ahead of her time; as a result, many people consider her as feminist although there is a little controversy about this. Magdalene Carmen Friday Kohl y Cauldron, known as Friday Kohl, was born July 6, 1907 in Accompany, Mexico City, Mexico. She died July 13, 1954 in the same place that she was born. She suffered poliomyelitis at the age of six, and at age eighteen, she was a victim of a tragic bus accident which resulted nine surgeries that left her with constant pain and infertility.However, her strength made her replace her agony with art. While she was in bed for recovery, her mom gave her a mirror to see herself. Therefore, through her paintings, we can feel her pain and sensibility. For instance, in one self-portrait â€Å"The Broken Columns† dressed in a metal corset, she painted in a surrealistic way because she was almost naked with nails in her whole body. She is crying; perhaps, we can imagine the dimension of the pain, but she knew what the pain truly was (Sayers).Friday had been damaged for the life by illness and the bus accident, but the last injury was from Diego Riviera, her husband, who Just brought emotional disturbance which lasted until her death. She loved him passionately and obsessively, so she endured his many infidelities including with her sister, Christina. However, she also had many affairs not only with men but also with women. Having a liberal personality, Friday was never committed to social norms; thus her behavior was consequent with her identity and freedom. Even more, she was always inspired by love for her country, dressing in Mexican native gowns.Besides, the political struggle as consequence of 30 years under the government of Portfolio Ditz, a rebellion environment, the Mexican Revolution, and the Mexican constitution surrounded Friday when she was growing up. Therefore, she acquired a social consciousness, identified with the Communist Party. Also, she took the risk of hiding Leon Trotsky, the revolutionary Marxist activist against Stalin, in her house having an affair with him during that time (Hearer). As a feminist, Friday is considered an idol precisely for her personality.She never cares about superficial elements to get attention. She assumed her identity with plenty of liberty, and never suppressed her inclination to be bisexual. Today, many women admire her because she acted at that time as a c ontemporary woman in the criterion of being a feminist. However, there is a controversy about this because her emotional dependence on Diego has been questionable. She was completely independent, having her own style in her work. Perhaps, she had great and unusual capacity to love that not everybody could understand.In addition, Friday has been an inspiration for many writers, directors, and Journalists to write about her (Gunderson). Her self-portraits reflect the reality of one life with all the experiences, suffering, pain, tradition and history, with bright colors, so these things captivate the hearts of women and men. Friday had the first exhibition of her work a year before her death, and she was well known as an artist. Her true fame began in 1978, with public presentations around the world of her artwork, recognizing her as one of the best painters not only in Mexico but also in the roll.In fact, we can find Friday's paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), an d one of her portraits was sold to Soothers a British multinational corporation, for nearly 1. 5 million dollars, being one of the biggest prices paid at a bidding for a Latin American artwork (Sayers). Ironically, her fate was not the enjoyment of all the values that she had, such as an artist, but Friday is a legacy of art, history, and humanity. Her work is biographic, full of passion, and she reflects the bitterness of life for what today we identified with her beautiful mind. Frida Kahlo Friday Kohl (1907-1954) was a Mexican artist who grew up during the Mexican Revolution, a time of great social and economic change. There was a strong sense of nationalistic pride during this time, which is evident in her later works. During childhood, Kohl had polio, this affected her growth and development. Furthermore, she was involved in a bus accident later in her life, which damaged her spine and was extremely traumatic in her mental processes. Because of this, she had ongoing surgery throughout her life, and, was in constant pain.However, after this accident, she began painting to express herself. As a result of her accident, she suffered numerous miscarriages and was unable to have children – an issue she explores in her 1932 work ?Henry Ford Hospital]. Kohl was an active participant in the social and political landscape of Mexico, and used artworks to express her social and political views, as well as themes of her physical pain and contain, cultural background and my thology, and Mexican traditions through her dress, layout, and symbolism.Particularly evident in ?Lass Dos Fridays, history and culture are shown to be an incredibly influential and important aspect of Friday's mindset and views on life ND her own personal and cultural identity. Lass Dos Fridays is one of Kohl's largest works at approximately 68 x 68 inches in size. L It is a departure from the retable format she frequently used, reflecting Kohl's desire for her work to be noticed at the Surrealist exhibition for which it was intended. 2 Two monumental, full length representations of the artist are seated side-by-side on a simple green bench, gently holding hands.Behind them, dark, Jagged clouds blanket the sky, eliminating any specific sense of place. The two figures are linked by a shared circulatory system which pumps blood between their exposed hearts. The figure on the left uses a clamp in an attempt to stanch the flow of blood falling on her stiff white gown. 3 As the blood po ols in the folds of her dress, it spills over and falls onto the hem of her skirt in uniform, circular droplets. The shape of the falling droplets of blood mimics, both in color and shape, the embroidered floral pattern which adorns the bottom of her skirt.This antiquated frock with an elaborately decorated lace bodice covers the majority of the figure's body with the exception of her forearms and her left breast, which is exposed by an irregularly formed void in the garment. 4 Significantly, the lack of Jose thread and the absence of the excess fabric that would have been produced had her garment been forcibly ripped open suggests a less violent, perhaps voluntary, method of exposure. Adjacent to the figure's heart, the lace bodice is interrupted by a cutout which provides a view of the white under-layer supporting the lacework.This oblong cutout, bordered by ribbon and topped with an intricate knot of hair-like fabric, references the female anatomy. The figure's demure posture and vividly painted red lips convey a sense of femininity which is repeated in her elaborate gown. Her heart is embedded in her body, a part of her self, whereas the earth of the figure on the right seems to float, affixed to her gown but not to her body. Furthermore, the heart of the portrait on the left has been surgically dissected to reveal its inner-workings while the heart of the figure on the right is intact.The two figures are connected by an elongated artery which wraps around the European Kohl's neck, contrasting the white lace of her gown with the deep red of her own blood. The self-portrait on the right exudes a much more masculine aura than her companion; her lips are unpainted and the slightest shadow of a mustache darkens her upper lip. Additionally, her spread knees and slightly curved back suggest a more relaxed, less demure, pose. The masculine elements of the portrait on the right are complicated by the way in which the thin fabric of her blouse clings to her breasts , highlighting their outline and affirming her femaleness.She is clothed in the Tenant dress native to the Isthmus of Authentic, home to a traditionally matriarchal society known for the strength and independence of its indigenous female residents. 5 The white hem of the Tenant Kohl's dress is embroidered with a white-on-white floral pattern that mimics the vivid red flowers of the European own, symbolically connecting the two figures and reminding the viewer that the blood dripping on the white gown comes from the bodies of both figures due to their shared circulatory system. While the vascular system of the figure on the left is completely exposed and travels across the surface of her gown, the main artery of the figure on the right disappears under the shoulder of her blouse, reappearing as it wraps around her arm. The Tenant Kohl is penetrated by the artery leading from her heart to the medallion held in her right hand. This artery culminates in an image of Riviera as a child wh ich Kohl delicately holds near her womb. Alternatively, the cylindrical shape of the medallion and the positioning of Kohl's hand suggests a vulgar masculine gesture, reiterating the androgynous nature of the Tenant Kohl.In spite of their many differences, the two Kohl's are inextricably linked, not only due to their role as multiple facets of the artist's identity but by their interlocking hands, the continuity of the hems of their gowns, and their shared circulatory system. This symbiotic relationship reiterates the unity of these two figures, not as conflicting elements of Kohl's identity, but as the visual expression of al facets of one complex whole. Lass Dos Fridays serves as a depiction of the multiple facets of Kohl's identity which span centuries of Mexican history.Kohl's use of elements drawn from throughout Mexican history forges a sense of unity that encompasses Mexico pre-Columbian, Colonial, and Revolutionary past. Thus, rather than dichotomies, Lass Dos Fridays embodi es the unity of seemingly incompatible parts which express Kohl's conceptualization of Mexico and her personal identity as it related to the history of her country. Because Kohl's father was German and her mother was Indian, Lass Dos Fridays can e interpreted as a visualization of her mixed European/Mexican heritage. The concept of the Colonial is of particular importance.As a product of the European colonization of Mexico, Kohl literally embodies both the colonizer and the colonized. In Lass Dos Fridays, Kohl uses a lacy, white and characteristically European or American gown to represent outside influence in Mexico. In addition to her mixed heritage, Kohl quite literally utilized her self-portraiture, especially manipulations of costume, to transform herself into a representation of Mexican history and identity. Kohl's manipulation of Mexican tradition to comment on contemporary politics is exemplified by her appropriation of La Lorena in Henry Ford Hospital, 1932 (fig.AY). In thi s self-portrait, Kohl depicts the aftermath of the abortion of her most recent pregnancy. The popular perception of Kohl's views on motherhood assert that, ?she lived as well with a yearning for a child she could never have?her smashed pelvis led only to miscarriages and at least three therapeutic abortions. 126 This traditional view does not account for the fact that Kohl herself requested an abortion and voluntarily ingested castor oil in the hope of ending her 1932 pregnancy. Henry Ford Hospital is a self portrait of a crying Kohl, laying naked and disheveled on a hospital bed following her 1932 abortion at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Her bed rests at a precarious angle, situated in a vast expanse of barren land, possibly a reference to the loneliness a Mexican woman felt who rejected deeply embedded cultural norms about womanhood and motherhood. 30 In the background, Kohl added a skyline reminiscent of the River Rouge Plant in Detroit, calling to mind the role of the fem ale body as a site dedicated to the production of children. Placing herself against a stark white sheet soaked in her own blood, Kohl included prominent tears rolling down her face. These tears are the most straightforward link between Kohl and La Lorena. ! In depicting herself as La Lorena, Kohl utilized the power of folklore to address social issues far beyond the scope of her personal angst. She appropriated a cultural symbol as a direct commentary on societal norms and their restrictive nature regarding women and their ability to control reproduction.In Henry Ford Hospital, Kohl explicitly challenges the dichotomy of the virgin and the here that categorizes women as either good or bad mothers. 32 This dichotomy leaves little freedom for women to exist between these two extremes and is clearly tailored to the preservation of male power. Kohl does present herself in a vulnerable state, but her brazen depiction of her disregard cultural norms which equated womanhood to motherhood r eferences the powerful Micronesian goddesses rather than the violated Lorena.In depicting herself as La Lorena, Kohl lays the groundwork for Chicane artists to redefine the role of women in these cultures without abandoning their three mother figures, La Lorena, La Virgin De Guadalupe, and La Mainline. Henry Ford Hospital challenged cultural norms concerning womanhood and allowed Kohl to publicly address issues she was otherwise unwilling to discuss. Through her art, Friday lived this different reality, announcing that giving birth to the other within us is where ‘who we are' begins. 4 Self-proclaimed as the one who gave birth to herself' (Feints, 1995, plate 49), Friday Kohl painted her own reality; reclaiming it, reflecting it and repeatedly re-living it. A performer of gender roles, unabashedly excessive in femininity as well as masculinity, and an intimate lover of both women and men, she painted narratives ND wrote images that exploit the creative tensions concealed and c ompelled by oppositional rationale. Boldly confronting the thorny imperative of subjectivity, she embraced her heterogeneous marginality as a valuable political standpoint as well as an innovative personal imperative.Her works re-activate identities as assemblages of dynamic and incomplete parts operating in the various cultural contexts that partially produce and are produced by the subjects who inhabit and perform them. Perhaps most compellingly of all, though, her arresting gaze fixes the viewer, unsettling the assumed division between the bile viewing subject and its inert viewed object, and returning the viewer's scrutiny towards a consideration of how, and with what effects, identity and marginality are normatively dealt with and reconciled.Hybrid of race, sex, gender and sexuality coalesce in Friday's work to disrupt cogently the paradigm of sameness versus difference that has historically elided dissident identities. Her paintings, which negotiate the intricate tensions betw een identity and marginality, situate her ‘in between'. A curious artist and committed idealist, she painted magic with a realist brush, and in so doing dealt with difference differently. Frida Kahlo While scrolling through a list of Friday Kohl's artwork, I stumbled upon her painting titled Henry Ford Hospital. The thumbnail alone Jumped off of the screen and caught my eye. I was immediately pulled in by the beauty of the female figure lying nude on a hospital bed. Upon further inspection of the image, it became quite clear which aspects of this piece I gravitated towards and why. The image is a painful self-portrait surrounding the experience of Friday's second miscarriage.While I can not relate to the tragedy of losing a wanted fetus, I can strongly relate to the grief experienced during and after the expulsion of one's womb. In this piece, Friday has painted herself on a hospital bed with a pool of blood surrounding her and a somewhat contorted body. Her legs and pelvis are twisted away from the viewer, suggesting her discomfort or perhaps even shame. She has her hands cradling her still bloated belly with what appear to be six different umbilical cords leading to different s ymbolic objects.Attached to the umbilical cords are the fetus, a snail, a dying orchid, a medical machine, a human pelvis, and the sidewise of diagram depicting the female anatomy. The fetus is that of her would-be sons Disguise, or â€Å"Little Diego' (her husband's name). The snail is thought to be representative of her painfully slow delivery of a dead baby. The single orchid, which is said to be a real orchid that her husband gave her, has long been viewed as a symbol of love, strength, and sexuality. The medical machine pictured, to me, seems to be a symbol of the cold and sometimes robotic process of any medical procedure.The final two items connected to Friday's abdomen, the diagram of the female body and a pelvic bone, portray an awareness of what this second miscarriage meaner hectically for her body. In the background of the image, we see the many industrial buildings of Detroit, where Friday was at the time of the miscarriage. In 1925, Friday Kohl was involved in a terri ble bus accident which left her with a broken pelvis, a broken spinal column, and various other injuries. Friday was told she would most likely never be able to have children. In 1929 she married Diego Riviera and soon she became pregnant. This original pregnancy ended in abortion.Due to her because previously broken pelvis, the fetus was positioned incorrectly which was risk to both Friday and the child. By the time her second pregnancy occurred in 1932, it was clear to Friday that Diego had not wanted children. In an attempt to abort the child, she had unsuccessfully taken quinine. Realizing her failure to terminate Friday chose to continue with the pregnancy. Three and half months pregnant, Friday was admitted to the hospital with severe hemorrhaging and eventually suffered a miscarriage. This painting was created very soon after a traumatic event that made her realize that she could never carry a pregnancy to term. Frida Kahlo The documentary talked about the Mexican painter Friday Kohl who was best known for her unique series of self-portraits. I knew about her artwork and was quite amazed by her way of portraying self-portraits in an extraordinary expression before I watched this documentary. After watching the video, I understand more about the reasons why her painting was done this way. Her artworks brought the pieces of her life stories to the audience. Her marriage with Diego Riviera contributes the later works of her. It was the main influence of her life.If she did not meet Diego Riviera, e would probably see a total Friday Kohl. The complicated relationship from inability of reproduction, Dies unfaithfulness, Kohl's affairs, divorce to remarriage created the Kohl who was physically and emotionally torn. She expressed her life problems in her paintings, her tragic and exotic figures brand her personal art career. However the important event in her life was the undergo of the miscarriage and abortio n. It portrayed the painful personal of Kohl that reflected in the emotional disorder of her artwork.Kohl wanted a child very much, her nightmares ND thoughts about fertility was shown. The fertility dream is the part which I like most about the documentary. It portrays a woman's struggle and pain for losing the ability to have a baby, the heart wrenching when you wish for a child of you and your loves one but you have lost the reproductive system ability. The artwork Henry Ford Hospital (The Flying Bed) provokes the emotions in us. I would also think that this painting attract the attention the issue on fertility, at the same time encourage the public to take care of their reproductive health.It would make a different influence to Kohl's career if she was not living in Mexico. In her paintings, a strong indigenous Mexican culture was shown in the use of intense color and primitive style. She also wore traditional indigenous clothing of Mexico as shown in her paintings. If she was l iving in Europe or America, the colors she used and costumes will most probably reflect the scene of the country instead. The humming birds and monkey painted are animals in Mexican mythology. The folk cultural content will disappear and she will robbery express her self-portrait in another way.I am surprised by the Mexicans attitude to death in the documentary. The way they took death in a celebration manner shocked me. She even painted a dead child and put in on top of her bed. Collection of skeleton in her house showed her close association with death, either death of children or the death itself. I do not agree with Andre Bretons description of Kohl's work as surrealist. Friday Kohl painted her own stories, she did not paint dreams. The dream-like fantasy atmosphere she painted is a metaphor to her own life.Her pain and Joy were represented by elements that are irrational and imaginary. They were all what she had been through, but not dream. In my point of view, Friday Kohl was an amazing independent artist. In response to her tragic life, she painted. She triumphed over her life problems by her own strength and self- determination. Painting the reality helped in expressing her pain and tears, a way of releasing perhaps helped in easing her suffering process. She revealed her life in art and this has helped to address the issues to the public that serves as a reminder and encouragement.