Finding Magic in the Natural and the Common Essay

Finding Magic in the Natural and the Common - Essay Example This essay explores the magic in daily life through these stories. What is magical in people's lives is their ability to imagine and to appreciate common events, acts, and liberties. Human imagination presents fertile ground for magic, as it concocts beautiful ideas and images that cannot be realistically enjoyed in real life. Cortazar's Letter to a Young Lady in Paris is about a man who vomits bunnies. Such an occurrence has not been documented yet as possible in real life, but the idea of creating bunnies in itself is a creative idea that makes life magical. With an active imagination like Cortazar's, people can escape life's chaos and dreariness and live in another world. They can find new ways of seeing and doing their duties and tasks and enjoy the novelty of their creative ideas. New images also, by themselves, generate magic, such as magic of wonder, enjoyment, and happiness. Imagination presents magical moments that can occur in daily life. Common events and acts can also lea d to magic. Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema talks about a society that turns common activities and behaviors into something magical. The Nacirema are people who both ironically value and devalue their physical bodies through their spiritual rites. On the one hand, they value their physical bodies by ascribing holiness to their body parts. ... Very sick people also go to latipso ceremonies. These ceremonies are quite perplexing to other people not used to these customs. Apparently, the Nacirema can only enter the temples that hold these ceremonies by bearing lavish gifts, even if they are aware that â€Å"[it] is where [they] go to die† (Miner). At the same time, these â€Å"patients† cannot also leave the temple without bearing more lavish gifts. In other words, they pay to get hurt. What is magical in these acts is that they are crucial to people's development. Miner cites Malinowski who says that without crude and irrelevant magic, â€Å"early man could not have mastered his practical difficulties as he has done, nor could man have advanced to the higher stages of civilization.† But what is higher civilization anyway? Perhaps a higher civilization is one that is kinder and more loving. Otake et al. shows that kindness is magical too, because it makes people happier. The more kindness that people â⠂¬Å"give† forward, the more they feel connected to other human beings. This can be the kind of connection that makes people more human, and in turn, helps them feel happier â€Å"in† their humanity. Even in desperate times, kindness can alleviate the emptiness of life. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Frankl argues that people can find something meaningful in what could otherwise be meaningless existence. As a former prisoner during the Holocaust, he is a man who has survived great tribulations and has come out with his identity and soul intact. He believes in the value of being â€Å"worthy† of one's â€Å"sufferings,† for it provides â€Å"spiritual freedom† that makes life worth living for (72). People can

Vermeer’s Painting Technique inWoman Holding a Balance Essay Example for Free

Vermeer’s Painting Technique inWoman Holding a Balance Essay Johanna’s Vermeer’s paintings, although masterpiece creations of great precision and detail, were hardly recognized until after his death. After his death, many observations and analysis were conducted. Much of his painting styles became noticeable by investigating his unfinished works. His lifelike paintings used very special techniques invented exclusively by him. The camera obscurer technique is his claim to fame. Constant reinventions of his painting techniques come around today in several different forms and style. The camera obscurer technique is widely used for theatre, film and stage designing. One of his most famous astounding paintings are A Woman Holding a Balance. The painting, A Woman Holding a Balance, is a portrait emphasizing riches, material wealth, luxury, femininity daintiness and delicacy. Upon looking at the picture, delicate feminine items symbolizing material luxury jumps out and touches the viewer. A woman wears a designer dark blue jacket with white fur trimmings. Such elegant jackets were worn by upper class wealthy women while doing their domestic duties. The exquisite jacket is lined with fur throughout the inside of the jacket, indicating this is an intricate designer original. At this time, the only heating resources available were a fireplace usually in the living room. The three boxes laying on the luxurious wooden table, containing intricate detailed luxurious designs are another outstanding symbology of wealth and riches. Red velveteen lines the largest box. Several glowing, shinning pearl necklaces lay over the top of delicately carved jewelry box. To the far left, in front of the painting is a blue velveteen blanket or cloth. The images sold and viewed today in art museums are restored. In the original paintings, the blanket resembled a greenish tone. The greenish tone was a side effect of the heavy yellowish varnish Vermeer used to shade or set his entire paintings. Blue colorings are known to discolor varnish in paintings. On the wall, directly across from the woman, is an elegant ebony mirror. The mirror may indicate pride and vanity. Many arguments and research looked into finding out what was the woman holding in the balance. Earlier sources concluded the balance was holding gold coins. However, microscopic research showed there was nothing in the balance. The message the balance contains may be interpreted infinitely. Perhaps the woman was involved in a peaceful solitary prayer or meditation ritual. The balance could stand for mental or emotional peacefulness, much like crystals used in prayer ceremonies. One of the most beautiful highlights of this painting is natural sunlight furnishing the light in the room. The photograph bears incredibly noticeable brightness. The sunlight brings a hint of notoriety to the golden curtains. The painting contains a picture inside a picture. In the background, on the wall is a mysterious picture containing many subliminal shapes and designs. It may be considered abstract art work. In the upper center appears to be a man, perhaps an angel in human form, descending down from the heavens surrounded in glowing light. To either side appears to be what may be interpreted as animals, but not definitely so. At the bottom of the photo are designs appearing to be lots of people. The photograph was apparently another famous painting named The Last Judgment. The woman may also be very pregnant, in her eight or ninth month.

Acute Inflammation 2nd Degree Burn Case Study Biology Essay

Acute Inflammation 2nd Degree Burn Case Study Biology Essay A 43 year old female presents with a burn on her left forearm. There is significant erythema that covers the entire proximal forearm in the shape of a circle. She complains of numbness and tingling down her pinky. There is only pain upon contact of the wound so she has to wear a short sleeve shirt. She burned herself while boiling hot water and spilling it on herself. The wound became red and swollen and gradually became worse over the course of two days. She has mild blistering and scalding across her forearm. She is determined to have a second degree burn because of the severity of the erythema and blistering, but the lack of charring and discoloration does not indicate a third degree burn. She presents with a classic case of a second degree burn, although many different variations have been documented. The first method of treatment is to clean and cool the wound. Once the burn has been cleaned and cooled, it can be managed by the use of antibiotics, analgesics, and sometimes local anasthetics. The prognosis for burns depends primarily on the age of the patient and the surface area of the wound. Also, since burn injuries often present as comorbid conditions, the presence of smoke inhalation injury, debris, or bone fractures will strongly influence the prognosis. Skin burns can manifest in a variety of ways depending on the cause of the burn and also the severity of the burn. There are up to six degrees of burning, with each level of burn penetrating deeper into the skin layer. Burns can also be assessed in terms of total body surface area, which is the percentage affected by partial thickness or full thickness burns. Severe burns may require amputation, surgery, or skin grafting. When the first layer of skin (epidermis) is burned through and the second layer of skin (dermis) is also burned, the injury is called a second-degree burn. Blisters develop and the skin takes on an intensely reddened, splotchy appearance. Underneath the epidermis is where the hair follicles, blood vessels, nerve endings and sweat glands reside.  Underneath the dermis lie the muscles, nerves, larger blood vessels, and bones. Heart rate and peripheral vascular resistance increases following a major burn injury. This is due to the release of catecholamines from injured tissues, and the relative hypovolemia that occurs from fluid volume shifts. Initially, cardiac output decreases and approximately after 24 hours, cardiac output returns to normal and then increases to meet the hypermetabolic needs of the body. Immediately following injury, vasodilation is the first step in acute inflammation. Arterioles become dilated and then new capillary beds are formed in the area. This causes heat and redness to form, which allows for increased blood flow. There is increased vascular permeability which causes exudate to flow out in the intravascular tissues. The increase of extravascular fluid leads to swelling, or edema. An important function of acute inflammation is to activate and send out leukocytes to the site of injury. In the lumen, there is margination, rolling, and adhesion to the endothelium so the leukocytes can bind to the lumen. The next step is called transmigration, which is the migration of leukocytes to the endothelium. Chemokines act on the adherent leukocytes to help the cells migrate through endothelial spaces toward the site of injury. This process occurs predominantly in the venules. Next, leukocytes emigrate toward the injured area through a process called chemotaxis. All granulocytes, monocytes and lymphocytes respond to chemotactic stimuli at their own unique rate. Phagocytosis involves three distinct but interrelated steps: recognition of the particle to be engulfed by the leukocyte, ingestion, and degradation of the ingested material. Binding of a particle to phagocytic receptors causes the process of active phagocytosis to occur. The particle to be engulfed is completely surrounded within a phagosome. The membrane of the vacuole combines with the limiting membrane of a lysosomal granule, which results in the release of the granules contents into the phagolysosome. Throughout the process, the neutrophils and monocytes become increasingly degranulated. Microbial killing is largely carried out by oxygen-dependent mechanisms. Phagocytosis stimulates an increase in oxygen, increased glucose oxidation, and production of reactive oxygen intermediates. The regulators of inflammation have short half-lives and are manufactured in quick bursts, only for the amount of duration that the stimulus persists for. As inflammation progresses, the process also activates a variety of stop signals that actively terminate the reaction. These mechanisms cause a switch from the secretion of leukotrienes (pro-inflammatory) to lipoxins (anti-inflammatory). References Kumar V, Abbas A, Fausto N, Robbins S, Cotran R. Pathologic Basis of Disease. 7th ed. Saunders; 2004 Burns (Medline) Web site. Available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/burns.html. Accessed October 22, 2010. Burns: First aid (MayoClinic) Web site. Available at: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-burns/FA00022. Accessed October 22, 2010. Burns-Topic Overview (WebMD) Web site. Available at: http://firstaid.webmd.com/tc/burns-topic-overview. Accessed October 22, 2010. Ernest Kim General Pathology Chronic inflammation à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Chronic Bronchitis A 24 year old male presents with shortness of breath and an expectorating cough. He has been smoking hookah tobacco daily for the past six years. He has always had a weak immune system and has recently developed a constant cough within the last three months. A chest x-ray revealed hyperinflation of the lungs and auscultation of the lungs revealed prolonged expiration. The patient was determined to have chronic bronchitis due to the past history of chronic tobacco smoking and the consistent cough that has lasted for months. Common manifestations of chronic bronchitis include wheezing, productive cough, and occasionally chest pain, fever, and fatigue. There are a few different treatment protocols but the main one is smoking cessation and rest. In some cases, antibiotics or bronchodilators are prescribed. Early diagnosis of chronic bronchitis as well as smoking cessation, can drastically improve the probabilities of a good outcome. Individuals with chronic bronchitis that quit smoking e arly on can greatly slow the progression of lung deterioration; otherwise they risk becoming permanently disabled at some point. One major component of the mononuclear phagocyte system is macrophages, which consists of related cells such as tissue macrophages and blood monocytes. Monocytes migrate into many different tissues where they become macrophages. The lifespan of monocytes in the blood is about 24 hours, whereas tissue macrophages have a half-life of about several months to years. Early on during acute inflammation, monocytes emigrate into extravascular tissues, and within 48 hours they are established as the predominant cell type. The same factors that control neutrophil emigration, govern the extravasation of monocytes. When the monocyte gets to the extravascular tissue, it is transformed into a much larger phagocytic cell, which increases its cell size, metabolism, and ability to properly ingest microbes. In acute inflammation, when the invading cell is destroyed, macrophages eventually undergo necrosis or migrate back into the lymphatic system. However, in chronic inflammation, macrophage accumulation continues, and is regulated by different mechanisms. This army of regulators makes macrophages important and also powerful mediators in the bodys defense system, but the same arsenal can also create detrimental tissue damage when macrophages are activated inappropriately. As a result, tissue necrosis is one of the main setbacks of chronic inflammation. A wide range of substances in addition to the residual leftovers of macrophages can also contribute to tissue injury in chronic inflammation. Necrotic tissue can elevate the inflammatory response through the indirect activation of kinin, complement and fibrinolytic systems. Other cell types that contribute include mast cells, plasma cells, eosinophils, and lymphocytes. Mast cells are widely spread out in connective tissues and partake in both acute and chronic inflammatory conditions. Although neutrophils are mainly characteristic of short-term inflammation, many types of chronic inflammation continue to exhibit large numbers of neutrophils. Neutrophils are especially important in chronic lung damage induced by persistent tobacco smoking. Granulomatous inflammation is a distinguished pattern of chronic inflammation most notably characterized by its focal accumulations of triggered macrophages, which often assume an epithelial-like appearance. It is only activated in a limited number of infectious and some noninfectious diseases. The lymphatic system along with the lymph nodes filters and mediates the extravascular fluids. Along with the phagocyte system, the lymphatic system represents a secondary or backup defense mechanism that is activated whenever a local inflammatory reaction fails to terminate or neutralize an invading cell.

Chief Bromden in Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest :: One Flew Over Cuckoos Nest

Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Chief Bromden is half American Indian. His father was a chief named Tee Ah Millatoona, which means The-pine-that-stands-tallest-on-the-mountain. That is why he is able to use the title chief. He took on his mother's last name of Bromden. He grew up in the Columbian gorge. The chief is massive and tall and would appear very intimidating and threatening to those who meet him. He was committed to the hospital and has been there for longer than anyone else, for over 15 years. He was put in there after World War two. The chief was an electrician's assistant in a training camp before the army shipped him off to Germany. It is probably due to working with electronics and the added strain of going to war that has led the chief to have such an unhealthy preoccupation with electronics. The chief has led everyone in the hospital, both staff and patients to believe he is deaf and dumb. As a young child he was always ignored, by fellow students and adults, this could have been because he was so strange looking, being half American Indian and appearing so big and menacing yet being quite shy. "I had to keep acting deaf if I wanted to hear at all." He felt rejected by his peers throughout life and so as an adult decided that as people acted like he was invisible he might as well disappear, "It wasn't me that started acting deaf, it was people that first started acting like I was too dumb to hear or see or say anything at all." So pretending to be deaf and dumb was probably a defence mechanism. For him, his silence is also extremely potent. As he is able to hear everything that went on in the meetings where the doctors and nurses discuss the future of the patients. The doctors and nurses don't hesitate to say anything in front of him because they think he can 't hear. "They don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I'm nearby because they think I'm deaf and dumb." The chief sees things in literal metaphors, he sees McMurphy as being really big in size because he is so brave (and big in spirit).

Physio Cardio Lab Report Answers Essay

1. Explain how the body establishes a pressure gradient for fluid flow. Pressure gradient is the flow rate of a liquid through a pipe. This is directly proportional to the difference between the pressures at the two ends of the pipe and inversely proportional to the pip’s resistance. The pressure gradient is directly dependent upon blood vessel radius which essentially controls blood flow. The bigger the blood vessel radius, the more blood flow or fluid flow. The smaller blood vessel radius, the lesson blood or fluid flow. 2. Explain the effect that the flow tube radius change had on flow rate. How well did the results compare with your prediction? Flow tube radius change has a direct effect on flow rate. As evidenced in this lab, when flow tube radius was increased, the flow rate was also increased. They are directly proportional. As evidenced from the text, when flow tube radius increases in a blood vessel, the flow rate is much more free flowing and flows a lot quicker as the radius is increased. When starting with 1.5mm of radius, the flow was very slow, yet when increased to 2mm, 3mm, and eventually to 5mm, the flow within the blood vessel incrementally increased. 3. Describe the effect that radius changes have on the laminar flow of a fluid. Laminar Flow is defined as the free-flowing blood in the middle of the vessel. Radius change is directly proportional on laminar flow. In a constricted vessel, proportionately more blood is in contact with the vessel wall and there is less laminar flow, significantly diminishing the rate of blood flow in the vessel, yet if the vessel is more dilated, or the radius is increased, more blood flow is able to get in, thus increasing the blood  flow. The bigger the radius, the more laminar flow of fluid. 4. Why do you think the plot was not linear? (Hint: look at the relationship of the variables in the equation). How well did the results compare with your prediction? If the variables are radius on the X-axis and flow rate on the Y-axis, the experiment called for the experimenter to incrementally increase the radius and plot the results. As we know, radius is directly proportional to flow rate in that as the radius increases so does the flow rate, therefore, the plotted graph has to be linear. If one increases, so does the other going in a straight line! Activity 2 Questions: 1. Describe the components in the blood that affect viscosity? The components in the blood that affect viscosity are the presences of plasma proteins and formed elements such as white blood cells (leukocytes), red blood cells (erythrocytes), and platelets. When these formed elements and plasma proteins in the blood slide past one another, there is an increase in the resistance to flow. 2. Explain the effect that the viscosity change had on flow rate. How well did the results compare with your prediction? Viscosity is defined as the thickness or stickiness of a fluid. In regards to flow rate, they are inversely comparable and thus as you increase viscosity or the â€Å"thickness† of the blood, the flow rate decreases. As seen in the graph, increasing the viscosity inversely decreases the flow rate each time you increased it by 1. 3. Describe the graph of flow versus viscosity. As evidenced in the graph, the constants in this experiment were radius,  length, and pressure. The variables were flow rate and viscosity. The y axis represented flow rate and the x axis represented viscosity. As viscosity increased, the flow rate decreased causing a linear or inverse curve relationship going down. 4. Discuss the effect that polycythemia would have on viscosity and on blood flow. Polycythemia is a condition in which excess red blood cells are present. We learned earlier that an increase in red blood cells results in an increase in blood viscosity. An increase in blood viscosity directly affects blood flow, in that blood flow would decrease. Thus, the presence of polycythemia would inversely affect blood flow rate by decreasing it. Activity 3 Questions: 1. Which is more likely to occur, a change in blood vessel radius or a change in blood vessel length? A change in blood vessel radius is more like to occur because blood vessel length only increases as we grow into maturity and in adulthood blood vessel lengths stay constant. The only possibility of blood vessel length changing is when we gain or lose weight. Through the process of vasodilation, or the smoothing of the blood vessel muscle, you can change the radius of the vessel more frequently. 2. Explain the effect that the change in blood vessel length had on flow rate. How well did the results compare with your prediction? Blood vessel length, when increased causes more friction or resistance thus making it more difficult for blood to flow through the vessel. In summation, increasing blood vessel length inversely effects flow rate but decreasing flow rate. My prediction was that an increase in blood vessel length would inversely effect blood flow. As evidenced in this experiment, with the increase of the blood vessel length, there was a decrease in blood flow. 3. Explain why you think blood vessel radius can have a larger effect on the body that changes in blood vessel length. In the blood flow equation (as seen to the right), blood flow is directly proportional to the fourth power of vessel radius. Dramatic changes happen in regards to blood flow because of small changes in blood vessel radius. The smaller the blood vessel radius, the greater the resistance. Blood vessel radius is the single most important factor in determining blood flow resistance. 4. Describe the effect that obesity would have on blood flow and why. As referenced from this experiment, weight, either gain or loss effects blood vessel length. A change in blood vessel length can only be altered through the gain or loss of weight. As evidenced in this experiment, when blood vessel length is increased as a result of weight gain, there is greater resistance or friction within the vessel making blood flow through that vessel more difficult thus decreasing blood flow. Obesity different effect blood flow in that, there are increased blood vessel lengths, causing greater friction or resistance within the vessel and a decrease in blood flow. Activity 4 Questions: 1. Explain the effect that pressure changes had on flow rate. How well did the results compare with your prediction. Pressure changes have a profound effect on flow rate. As pressure increases, flow rate also increases. They are directly proportional. In regards to my prediction, I predicted that as pressure increased, so would flow rate. 2. How does the plot differ from the plots for tube radius, viscosity, and tube length? How well did the results compare with your prediction. The plot for pressure in linear in that, an increase in pressure is directly proportional to flow rate. It was a perfectly straight line upwards as pressure increased. In regards to the plot for tube radius, it was very similar in that results were more curve shaped but went in the same directly upward. As vessel radius increased so did flow rate. In regards to viscosity, they were drastically different, as viscosity increased, the rate of flow decreased because there was more resistance. In regards to tube length, this is drastically different than pressure because with an increase in tube length, there is a decrease in rate of flow because there is more resistance within the vessel itself. After learning that vessel radius is the greatest factor in regards to flow rate, I predicted that with an increase in pressure there would also be an increase in flow rate. 3. Explain why pressure changes are not the best way to control blood flow. Pressure changes are not the best way to control blood flow because it could place more stress on the heart (which causes the initial pressure) and requires the heart to change its force of contraction. The blood vessels need time to respond to that change in force as well as the large arteries around the heart. It required for them to have more tissue in their tunics to accommodate the heart and it’s increase of force. Plus, the best way to control blood flow, as seen from these experiments is through increasing vessel radius. 4. Use you data to calculate the increase in flow rate in ml/min/mm Hg. In this experiment, radius, viscosity, and length remained constant, and pressure and flow rate were the variables. I started off with a pressure of 25 mm Hg and the flow rate was 35mm/min. As I increase the pressure by 25 mm Hg each time, the flow rate increased by about 35 mm/min each time. Activity 5 Questions: 1. Explain the effect of increasing the right flow tube radius on the flow rate, resistance, and pump rate. Increasing the right flow tube radius is directly proportional to increasing flow rate. As evidenced in other experiments, increasing tube radius decreases resistance thus increasing flow rate. In addition, as the right flow tube radius increased, so did the pump rate. Each time that I increased the right flow tube radius by .5mm, the pump rate increased as did the flow rate because of the decrease in resistance. 2. Describe what the left and right beakers in the experiment correspond to in the human heart. The left beaker represents the side of the heart where blood is pumped through the lungs to the opposite side of the heart. The right beaker represents the side of the heart that delivers blood to the system of the body. 3. Briefly describe how the human heart could compensate for flow rate changes to maintain blood pressure. The human heart compensates for flow rate changes by altering heart rate, stroke volume or resistance. If resistance decreases, heart rate can increase to maintain the pressure difference. If resistance is decreasing, there is an increase in flow rate. Activity 6 Questions: 1. Describe the Frank-Starling law in the heart. The Frank-Starling law in the heart refers to when more than the normal volume of blood is returned to the heart by the venous system. In this process, the heart is stretched which results in a more forceful contraction of the ventricles. This causes more than normal amounts of blood to be ejected by the heart which raises stroke volume. 2. Explain what happened to the pump rate when you increased the stroke volume. Why do you think this occurred? How well did the results compare with your prediction? When you increase the stroke volume, there is an inverse decrease in pump rate, even though there is a constant amount of flow that results. This is directly the opposite of my predictions, yet I learned that the reason why pump rate decreases when stroke volume increases is because the heart intrinsically alters stroke volume to accommodate changes in preload or during the period where the ventricles are stretched by the end diastolic volume. Stroke volume is also controlled by the strength and force of contractility of the heart. 3. Describe how the heart alters stroke volume? The heart alters stroke volume by altering the pump volume or the contractility. By altering the contractility, you are altering the strength of the cardiac muscle contraction and its ability to generate force. 4. Describe the intrinsic factors that control stroke volume. The intrinsic factors that control stroke volume are heart rate and cardiac output. Total blood flow is proportional to cardiac output. Thus, when the stroke volume decreases, the heart rate music increase to maintain cardiac output. Yet, when stroke volume increases, the heart rate must decrease to maintain cardiac output. Activity 7 Questions: 1. Explain how the heart could compensate for changes in peripheral resistance. The heart can compensate for changes in peripheral resistance by decreasing blood viscosity and through adjusting the force of contraction of the heart. Increasing contractility or forcing contraction of the heart combats afterload and blood flow resistance. Increasing contractility will increase cardiac output by increasing stroke volume. 2. Which mechanism had the greatest compensatory effect? How well did the results compare with your prediction? My prediction was that increasing the left flow tube radius would have the greatest impact in regards to blood flow into the right tube, but adjusting the force of contraction of the heart had the greatest compensatory effect on the flow of blood into the right beaker. 3. Explain what happened when the pump pressure and the beaker pressure were the same. How well did the results compare with your prediction? When the pump pressure and the beaker pressure were the same, the valve would not open because there was insufficient driving pressure to force fluid out of the pump. This was adverse to my prediction, where I predicted that there would be an increase of flow, but I was incorrect, in that nothing happened and there was no flow. 4. Explain whether it would be better to adjust heart rate or blood vessel diameter to achieve blood flow changes at a local level. I think that it would be better to adjust heart rate in order to achieve blood flow changes at a local level. Although the text and experiments have demonstrated that it is more effective to increase blood vessel diameter in order to increase the rate of flow within blood vessels, I think that exercise increases your heart rate which is directly linked to an increase in blood flow.

10 Facts About Adolf Hitler

10 Facts About Adolf Hitler Among the world leaders of the 20th century, Adolf Hitler is the most notorious. The founder of the Nazi Party, Hitler is responsible for starting  World War II and unleashing the genocide of the Holocaust. Although he killed himself in the waning days of the war, his historical legacy continues to reverberate in the 21st century. Learn more about Adolf Hitlers life and times with these 10 facts. A Surprising Artistic Dream Throughout his youth, Adolf Hitler dreamed of becoming an artist. He applied in 1907 and again the following year to the Vienna Academy of Art but was denied admission both times. At the end of 1908, his mother, Klara Hitler died of breast cancer, and Adolf spent the next four years living on the streets of Vienna, selling postcards of his artwork to survive. Parents and Siblings Bettmann/Getty Images Despite being so readily identified with Germany, Adolf Hitler wasnt a German national by birth. He was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on April 20, 1889, to Alois (1837–1903) and Klara Hitler (1860–1907). The union was Alois Hitlers third. During their marriage, Alois and Klara Hitler had five other children, but only their daughter  Paula (1896–1960) survived to adulthood. Soldier in World War I Hulton Archive/Getty Images As nationalism roiled Europe, Austria began conscripting young men into the military. To avoid being conscripted, Hitler moved to Munich, Germany, in May 1913. Ironically, he volunteered to serve in the German army once World War I began. During his four years of military service, Hitler never rose higher than the rank of corporal, though he was decorated twice for valor. Hitler sustained two major injuries during the war. The first occurred at the Battle of the Somme in October 1916 when he was wounded by shrapnel and spent two months in the hospital. Two years later, on Oct. 13, 1918, a British mustard gas attack caused Hitler to go temporarily blind. He spent the remainder of the war recuperating from his injuries. Political Roots Like many on the losing side of World War I, Hitler was furious at Germanys capitulation and the harsh penalties that the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war, imposed. Returning to Munich, he joined the German Workers Party, a small right-wing political organization with anti-Semitic leanings. Hitler soon became the partys leader, created a 25-point platform for the party, and established the  swastika  as the partys symbol. In 1920, the partys name was changed to National Socialist German Workers Party, commonly known as the  Nazi Party. Over the next several years, Hitler often gave public speeches that gained him attention, followers, and financial support. An Attempted Coup Motivated by the success of Benito Mussolinis seizing power in Italy in 1922, Hitler and other Nazi leaders plotted their own coup in a Munich beer hall. In the overnight hours of Nov. 8 and 9, 1923, Hitler led a group of about 2,000 Nazis into downtown Munich in a putsch, an attempt to overthrow the regional government. Violence broke out when police confronted and fired upon the marchers, killing 16 Nazis. The coup, which came to be known as the Beer Hall Putsch, was a failure, and Hitler fled. Apprehended two days later, Hitler was tried and sentenced to five years in prison for treason. While behind bars, he wrote his autobiography, Mein Kampf  (My Struggle). In the book, he articulated many of the anti-Semitic and nationalist philosophies he would later make policy as German leader. Hitler was released from prison after only nine months, determined to build up the Nazi Party in order to take over the German government using legal means. The Nazis Seize Power German President Paul von Hindenburg (left) in a car with Nazi leader and Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler in Berlin, 1st May 1933. Culture Club/Getty Images Even while Hitler was in prison, the Nazi Party continued to participate in local and national elections, slowly consolidating power throughout the rest of the 1920s. By 1932, the German economy was reeling from the Great Depression, and the ruling government proved unable to quell the political and social extremism that roiled much of the nation. In the July 1932 elections, just months after Hitler became a German citizen (thus making him eligible to hold office), the Nazi Party obtained 37.3 percent of the vote in national elections, giving it a majority in the Reichstag, Germanys parliament. On Jan. 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor. Hitler, the Dictator On Feb. 27, 1933, the Reichstag burned under mysterious circumstances. Hitler used the fire as an excuse to suspend many basic civil and political rights and to consolidate his political power. When  German President  Paul von Hindenburg  died in office on Aug. 2, 1934,  Hitler took the title of fà ¼hrer and Reichskanzler (leader and Reich Chancellor), assuming dictatorial control over the government.   Hitler set about rapidly rebuilding Germanys military, in clear defiance of the  Versailles Treaty. At the same time, the Nazi government began swiftly cracking down on political dissent and enacting an ever-harsher series of laws disenfranchising Jews, gays, the disabled, and others that would culminate in the Holocaust. In March 1938, demanding more land for the German people, Hitler annexed Austria (called the Anschluss) without firing a single shot. Not satisfied, Hitler agitated further, eventually annexing Czechoslovakias western provinces. World War II Begins Adolf Hitler plans military strategy at the German Army Headquarters, circa 1940. Keystone/Getty Images Emboldened by his territorial gain and new alliances with Italy and Japan, Hitler turned his eyes east to Poland. On Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invaded, quickly overrunning Polish defenses and occupying the western half of the nation. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany, having pledged to defend Poland. The Soviet Union, having signed a secret nonaggression treaty with Hitler, occupied eastern Poland. World War II  had begun, but the real fighting was months away. On April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway; the following month, the Nazi war machine crossed through Holland and Belgium, attacking France and sending British troops fleeing back to the U.K. By the following summer, the Germans seemed unstoppable, having invaded North Africa, Yugoslavia, and Greece. But Hitler, hungry for more, made what would eventually be his fatal mistake. On June 22, Nazi troops attacked the Soviet Union, determined to dominate Europe. The War Turns The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, drew the U.S. into the world war, and Hitler responded by declaring war on America. For the next two years, the Allied nations of the U.S., the U.S.S.R., Britain, and the French Resistance struggled to contain the German military. Not until the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, did the tide truly turn, and the Allies began to squeeze Germany from both east and west. The Nazi regime was slowly crumbling from without and within. On July 20, 1944, Hitler barely survived an assassination attempt, called the July Plot, led by one of his top military officers. Over the following months, Hitler assumed more direct control over German war strategy, but he was doomed to failure. The Final Days In his last official photo, Adolf Hitler leaves the safety of his bunker to award decorations to members of Hitler Youth. Keystone Features/Getty Images   As Soviet troops neared the outskirts of Berlin in the waning days of April 1945, Hitler and his top commanders barricaded themselves in an underground bunker to await their fates. On April 29, 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress, Eva Braun, and the following day, they  committed suicide together  as Russian troops approached the center of Berlin. Their bodies were burned on grounds near the bunker, and the surviving Nazi leaders either killed themselves or fled. Two days later, on May 2, Germany surrendered.

Should we eat meat Essays

Should we eat meat Essays Should we eat meat Essay Should we eat meat Essay Essay Topic: Vegetarian The moral argument of animal rights has been discussed for decades. There are many types of cruelty to animals, including vivisection and animal testing, eating meat, hunting and farming. Campaigners risk their lives to protect animals, but some people are totally opposed to the idea of rights for them. Although more than 25% of the British population does not think eating meat is safe or healthy, only 4. 5% actually avoid it. The arguments for vegetarianism include cruelty, health matters and taste. But there are almost as many good arguments against it for the same type of reasons. What is vegetarianism? The dictionary definition is someone who does not eat meat. However, millions of people would claim that they are vegetarians or veggies but still eat poultry, seafood and use animal based or tested products. Tere are a handful (4%) of vegetarians that do abide by all the rules. These are generally called vegans, and do not use any animals related products. This includes leather, milk and obviously meat. Avoiding meat is a lot harder than one may think. Many types of pasta, for instance, contain egg, which is from a chicken. All dairy produce derives from animal milk; meaning they cannot, or will not, eat yoghurt, cheese or butter. But doesnt this just inconvenience themselves as well as others? Apparently not. Most people become vegetarian because they believe it is wrong to slaughter animals. The Vegetarian Society. This is a true point, most people believe it is not at all acceptable to kill an animal for food. But they believe it is right to slaughter an animal to find a cure for disease, or to kill an animal for its skin. What I am trying to say is, if you are going to not eat meat for one reason then you might as well at least think of another reason. Animals used in laboratories are worse kept than any farm animal, so why do they believe this is right? Because it is not directly affecting the people. They see meat in shops, and think of the animals being slaughtered. But when they see a cured person walk out of a hospital, or they find their headache has stopped after taking aspirin, they do not see a mouse with growths on its legs dead in a bin. I am trying to say that there is no point in just not eating meat, this is not going to help stop cruelty to animals. In fact, vegetarians alone are not doing any good at all. As Carla Lane, a writer and animal welfare campaigner, said,Its no good crying out against the [calf export] trade if you are going to have milk. She is a vegetarian. Many communities live on meat. The Massai tribe of Africa is a good example of this, as in drought seasons they thrive on every part of the cow. After milking, the cow is slaughtered, then the tribe eat the meat and use the milk and blood together as a beverage. The bones are used to build structures and houses. They seem to find nothing wrong with this; the word barbaric does not enter their minds as this is their only means of food, especially if the crops are not growing well. The cow is considered sacred in these parts of Africa, but still eaten. 2% of the British population eat meat more than five times a week, according to a 1998 poll. This means that although some people will refuse to eat meat, the traditional approach to Meat and two veg is still kept up in most households. In the same poll, 86% of people still have the custom Sunday dinner with chicken, lamb or beef. If vegetarian campaigners were to have their own way and stop the world from eating meat, not only would many people starve, but a considerable amount of workers would go out of business: Butchers shops are found on many a high street. This traditional method of buying meat is preferred by lots of people who believe that the best cuts of meat available are from an independent business. This is probably true, as many supermarkets have now branched out and include meat counters. The meat is generally mass produced from abattoirs, and each piece is not always taken so much care over to ensure the best quality. If all the butchers shops and counters were closed down, every single worker and skilled slaughterer would be out of a job. Abattoirs are huge warehouses that slaughter and treat meat before it is sent to a butcher. Even smaller abattoirs have at least 24 workers each. Farmers are the other large group of people that would lose jobs or even businesses. Many make their livings from selling eggs, milk, cheese and skins from their livestock, and selling the actual animals at markets and fairs. The stoppage of meat eating might even put some EHOs out of a job if they didnt have enough food complaints about meat and animal products. The promotion of vegetarianism in the media is more than expected after research. There are over 200 national organisations which campaign for animal rights, and numerous international groups. These are publicised by the media and supported by a number of celebrities. Celebrities with strong opinions cleverly make use of the fact that the press hang on to every word they say. Vegetarian celebrities make the most of their fame and try to convert others by preaching about their ideas. This is, in a way, negative as many meat eating parents may have children who look up to these personalities and want to be like them. Paul, Linda and Stella McCartney, Mark Owen and Tony Blackburn are all popular vegetarian icons. Their faces are plastered all over the front of every vegetarian magazine in the country. I cannot see how this helps the animals but they get paid a lot. An amusing aspect was included in resources sent to me from The Vegetarian Society, stressing the point in a child-friendly leaflet that the Teletubbies were vegetarian. It brings to mind four coloured creatures dancing and singing, Tubby-Tofu. They must have been desperate for names if they included fictional characters from an early morning infantile television show. It is basically becoming fashionable to not eat meat. There are no popstars or TV personalities that are actively working against vegetarians. Every single resource that I have been sent from vegetarian societies and organisations has been promoting vegetarianism in a good light. After numerous searches through post and internet, I have found that there is not one group actively working AGAINST vegetarianism. If there is then they have not promoted themselves very well because I havent found them. It seems that there are so many arguments against the consuming of meat that nobody has the heart to argue for it. I, Katherine E Mann, have decided to try and prove these people wrong. I have come to a conclusion that for every opinion in the world, there must be one against it, no matter how wrong or politically incorrect it may be. The arguments for vegetarianism are interesting, as many leaflets offer practical help for vegetarian dieting instead of trying to convince people how right they are. The BSE scare has put more people than ever off eating meat. It isnt just beef that some people have been avoiding, its other meats as well. They call this, A precaution. Why? I ask. There had been traces of BSE in very few lambs, but thats no reason to stop eating meat altogether. I found many quotes whilst studying this topic, both for and against vegetarianism. There were over 40% more quotes urging me to stop eating meat though. One particular point against vegetarianism that was put over was: I am at a loss to see how vegetarians would maintain their food supplies without the millions of tons of shit produced by the overwintering of beasts. Alan Owen. Mr Owen is a part time farmer, so he knows what he is talking about. It is a good point, that if we do stop breeding so many animals for meat, there will not be so much manure to nurture the crops which the vegetarians would eat. So, by not breeding the animals, we are stunting the growth of millions of plants which vegetarians would in turn want to eat. But what does a vegetarian have to offer to contradict this? We can keep the animals, but just not breed them for food. But then, surely, wouldnt the world be over populated with animals? Britain itself is very crowded, it would make it ten times worse to keep every animal we bred. We would have to find somewhere to put them all. But you find somewhere to put all the people, says the vegetarian. We dont though, not all of them. If she were to go homeless now, I suggest, wouldnt she prefer to have a house built for her by the council instead of having to live on the streets because there were animals on all the land they could possibly build on? The vegetarian goes quiet. I have found that this point wins the argument for this particular part of the discussion. Another argument is that it takes half as much land to grow crops for vegetarians than it does to keep animals. Two points contradict this: Firstly, where would all the animals be kept whilst still alive and not being bred? Secondly, once all the land was used for growing crops for vegetarians, there wouldnt be enough of it. Especially if everyone in the world stopped eating meat, there would be more than 150% of the land in use if possible. But this isnt possible. Following the discussion with The Vegetarian (she isnt meant to sound like an alien), I have decided to examine meat eaters opinions of vegetarians, and vegetarians opinions of meat eaters. Vegetarians generally dont see eye to eye with meat eaters on this topic. They do have more arguments, the word moral being frequently used. But are they necessarily right? Obviously, the meat eaters say No, and the vegetarians say, Yes. Vegetarians often see people that eat meat as people that would gladly kill an animal, have no conscience, dislike animals apart from for food, and barbaric. However, only very few meat eaters are actually like this. I have never met one. They do not generally like the idea of killing an animal, they do care about it and most usually like animals. But the vegetarians say that if they do care, why do they eat meat? Well it tastes good, humans have been eating it for millenniums, it is widely available, it is a healthy part of a staple diet But a meat eaters opinion of a vegetarian is usually one of two things. Firstly, a very thin person who does not eat any meat at all and every meal time consists of a carrot. Secondly, a person who will only eat the vegetarian option if they decide not to like the normal option. They will eat some meat, and eat meat if its the only thing available. Hypocrites? But they are not necessarily hypocrites, they just have opinions. If they chose not to eat meat, why shouldnt they? People chose to wear different clothes and worship different gods. This is OK for most people, they understand it. But when meat eaters start to dislike it is when the vegetarians call them cannibals, or barbarians. If it inconveniences people organising buffets or meals, then that is where it can get annoying. How would you like it if nobody had mentioned to you that a guest to your party was vegetarian and you were having a pure meat barbecue? Fortunately, many people ask if their guests have special dietary requirements nowadays. But still, why should we cook special foods for them? If most people are eating one thing, why cant they just go with the flow and join in? They can go back to vegetarianism the next day. If a family of four had bought a box of four lamb chops and one person was vegetarian, what would happen? I commented on this to someone, who kindly put it into practice. The vegetarian wouldnt eat the meat, but there was still a chop left. This chop couldnt be eaten by the other people because they had their own, so it was just thrown away. If it was going to be thrown out, they could have eaten it anyway. No difference made. The vegetarian claimed it was against her rights. Is the vegetarian option more healthy than meat? Most research shows, yes it is healthier. This is where the vegetarians point and laugh, and the meat eaters kick themselves. Meat is a valuable source of protein. But, a vegetarian diet can reduce levels of cholesterol, plus keep up levels of protein and iron. A point put across in a Viva! Leaflet was that vegetarians were no more likely to suffer anaemia than meat eaters. So? We wouldnt expect them to. The page also stated that zinc levels are normal in vegetarians. Nobody would even dream of thinking otherwise if they had any idea of becoming a vegetarian, or they shouldnt bother. It is a scientific fact that vegetarians are half as likely to suffer from cancer, hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes and strokes. There is no argument against this. The same leaflet also pointed out that 95% of all food poisoning comes from animal and meat products. According to Pauline Kirby, an EHO from Sutton Council, the figures most probably arent that high. Many of the cases are actually from animal products like eggs, but all are because the people preparing the food dont work hygienically enough. If people could be bothered to cook their foods properly then there would be no cases of food poisoning from meat products. Saying this though, the world as a whole is getting lazier when it comes to food. The vast range of ready cooked meals in supermarkets is a good example of this. Many people just do not have the time to cook themselves a meal every night, and meat needs slightly more preparation than other foods as it is very high risk. People say that vegetarians find it easier to cook using no meat. I can verify that this is not always true, after extensive research. I have watched a vegan prepare tofu and cannot see how this is simpler than meat. Tofu is, admittedly, a lower risk food than any meat, but when treated and cooked properly with no extra effort meat is perfectly fine. Tofu. Most people have heard of it, but how many know what it is? After a brief questionnaire around my classmates at school, 9 out of 46 people knew what it actually was. Most people knew that it was a vegetarian alternative to some foods, but 6 of the 9 people that knew were actually vegetarians themselves. I have found that tofu was invented in Japan and quickly spread to the rest of the world. It is vegetable protein, and hardly contains any fat at all. The good point about meat is that it looks reasonable even when its not dressed up or with anything. Most people love the look and smell of freshly cooked meat and it is universally recognised. Tofu, on the other hand, needs lots of preparation for it to appeal. Apparently the taste on its own is disgusting, but there are numerous books and websites of recipes for tofu. It can be fried, stewed, marinated, anything the consumer wants. When I asked for an opinion from a strict vegetarian on what tofu looked like, it was compared to, A soggy sponge. Would you like to eat something that looked like a soggy sponge for your dinner? This description says it all. I have taken the liberty of including a picture of some tofu (pictures are surprisingly hard to come by) and a picture of a sponge to illustrate my point: From all these points and views, reasons and arguments put together, I have concluded that there are so many arguments for and against vegetarianism that most people find it easy to choose a side. Most people choose to be for it, but still eat meat. Personally, I like eating meat and am not considering stopping for the sake of the Teletubbies, hysterical animal rights activists and cute little furry creatures with hearts and feelings. I find the fact that vegetarians lecture people about eating meat when most of them have been cruel in another way to someone or something else dull and rambling. Humans have been eating meat for thousands of years why stop now? It would only break traditions. I know we dont need to eat meat anymore because of all the alternatives, but then again we dont need to buy designer clothes when car boot sales sell old ones. But we do. Why dont we eat cats or dogs? It would be an interesting concept. As for changes my opinions as a result of this project, it has only made my feelings stronger towards meat eating. Whilst petting my cat I am now going to eat a steak.

U.S.-Japanese Foreign Policies Before World War II

U.S.-Japanese Foreign Policies Before World War II On December 7, 1941, nearly 90 years of American-Japanese diplomatic relations spiraled into World War II in the Pacific. That diplomatic collapse is the story of how the foreign policies of the two nations forced each other into war. History U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry opened American trade relations with Japan in 1854. President Theodore Roosevelt brokered a 1905 peace treaty in the Russo-Japanese War that was favorable to Japan, and the two had signed a Commerce and Navigation Treaty in 1911. Japan had also sided with the U.S., Great Britain, and France during World War I. During that time, Japan also embarked on an empire that it modeled greatly after the British Empire. Japan made no secret that it wanted economic control of the Asia-Pacific region. By 1931, however, U.S.-Japanese relations had soured. Japans civilian government, unable to cope with the strains of the global Great Depression, had given way to a militarist government. The new regime was prepared to strengthen Japan by forcibly annexing areas in the Asia-Pacific, and it started with China. Japan Attacks China Also in 1931, the Japanese army launched attacks on Manchuria, quickly subduing it. Japan announced that it had annexed Manchuria and renamed it Manchukuo. The U.S. refused to diplomatically acknowledge the addition of Manchuria to Japan, and Secretary of State Henry Stimson said as much in the so-called Stimson Doctrine. That response, however, was only diplomatic. The U.S. threatened no military or economic retaliation. In truth, the United States did not want to disrupt its lucrative trade with Japan. In addition to a variety of consumer goods, the U.S. supplied resource-poor Japan with most of its scrap iron and steel. Most importantly, it sold Japan 80% of its oil. In a series of naval treaties in the 1920s, the United States and Great Britain had endeavored to limit the size of Japans naval fleet. However, they had made no attempt to cut off Japans supply of oil. When Japan renewed aggression against China, it did so with American oil. In 1937, Japan began a full-blown war with China, attacking near Peking (now Beijing) and Nanking. Japanese troops killed not only Chinese soldiers, but women and children as well. The so-called Rape of Nanking shocked Americans with its disregard for human rights. American Responses In 1935 and 1936, the United States Congress had passed Neutrality Acts to prohibit the U.S. from selling goods to countries at war. The acts were ostensibly to protect the U.S. from falling into another war like World War I. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the acts, although he did not like them because they prohibited the U.S. from helping allies in need. Still, the acts were not active unless Roosevelt invoked them, which he did not do in the case of Japan and China. He favored China in the crisis, and by not invoking the 1936 act he could still shuttle aid to the Chinese. Not until 1939, however, did the United States begin to directly challenge continued Japanese aggression in China. That year the U.S. announced it was pulling out of the 1911 Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with Japan, signaling a coming end to trade with the empire. Japan continued its campaign through China, and in 1940 Roosevelt declared a partial embargo of U.S. shipments of oil, gasoline, and metals to Japan. That move forced Japan to consider drastic options. It had no intention of ceasing its imperial conquests, and it was poised to move into French Indochina. With a total American resource embargo likely, Japanese militarists began looking at the oil fields of the Dutch East Indies as possible replacements for American oil. That presented a military challenge, though, because the American-controlled Philippines and the American Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, were between Japan and the Dutch possessions. In July 1941, the United States completely embargoed resources to Japan, and it froze all Japanese assets in American entities. The American policies forced Japan to the wall. With the approval of Japanese Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese Navy began planning to attack Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, and other bases in the Pacific in early December to open the route to the Dutch East Indies. Ultimatum: The Hull Note The Japanese kept diplomatic lines open with the United States on the off-chance they could negotiate an end to the embargo. Any hope of that vanished on November 26, 1941, when U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull handed Japanese ambassadors in Washington D.C. what has come to be known as the Hull Note. The note said that the only way for the U.S. to remove the resource embargo was for Japan to: Remove all troops from China.Remove all troops from Indochina.End the alliance it had signed with Germany and Italy the previous year. Japan could not accept the conditions. By the time Hull delivered his note to the Japanese diplomats, imperial armadas were already sailing for Hawaii and the Philippines. World War II in the Pacific was only days away.

Reducing and Managing stress Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reducing and Managing stress - Research Paper Example Relaxation can be provided to body and mind and it does not need extra time. Addition of extra hours in a day does not reduce stress and enhance relaxation. Even sleeping or being lazy excessively cannot reduce the level of stress. The best way to reduce stress and fresh up one’s body and mind is to increase the physical activities. The cheapest and easiest physical exercise is walking. it can be done any place any time. It even does not require machines or tools for exercising. Walking is far better than lying down on bed for a long time in order to get relaxed. It makes a person more dull, tired and stressed. This is because our body does not accept sedentary life style. It requires movement. Therefore, walking involves the movement of all parts of body and makes the body and mind fresh, active and happy. As, I myself am quite stressed these days, therefore, I intend to set up a plan to change my health behavior and achieve my goal within 4 weeks of time, starting from secon d week and ending up at the sixth week. Plan: My plan is to daily walk for a while twice a day. Early in the morning before going for work and then in the evening after coming back from work. I plan to start from few minutes of walking and day by day increase the time to walk. Goal: My body is not used to walk and perform physical activities. ... I fell and got hurt on my foot. My foot had twisted and was immensely aching. This acted as a potential barrier and I was not able to walk for four days. Potential Enabler: After I was hurt and could not walk for constant four days, my determination became a bit shaky. As it was just the beginning, I became lazier. I would not even have started walking on the fifth day of my injury of a neighborhood friend of mine had not encouraged me. He had also started walking along me and was to achieve the same goal like me. The thought that he will achieve his goal and I won’t also boosted me up and enabled me to start walking again as soon as possible. Week Distance Walked Potential Barrier Potential Enabler Week 2 0.5 km Hurt on foot Competitor friend Week 3 1 km None None Week 4 1.75 km Work load Self motivation Week 5 3 km None Increment in stamina Week 6 3 km None Will of maintenance In the second week I targeted to walk 1 kilometer but could not do so due to a potential barrier th at was a hurt on foot. But very soon I recovered and managed to walk again due to the motivation by a friend who also acted as my competitor as he had started the same plan along with me. In the third week I again walked half a kilometer as I had become slow. But, as there was neither a potential barrier nor a potential enabler, therefore I was neither able to increase the distance nor decrease it, just managed to maintain it. The fourth week introduced new potential barrier as well as potential enabler. The barrier was that I had excessive work load that resulted in fatigue and lack of time and I was not able to walk much. Yet, despite of being tired, my determination and self motivation encouraged and enabled me to

International Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

International Business - Research Paper Example The interviewer should not mind not being entertained with a hand-shake from a Saudi official of the opposite sex, and ideally, not offer a hand-shake to a Saudi official of the opposite sex in the first place. Gift-giving is not a norm though something small as a gift is recommendable. Saudi men do not like being gifted flowers, as they are deemed suitable for gifting to women. One should refrain from offering alcohol to Saudi officials unless one is sure that they partake. Saudi officials do not open gifts in front of the giver. When invited for an interview, it is more recommendable to arrange a nice Arabian feast rather than a gift. Suitable places for socialization with Saudis are international hotels and restaurants. Saudis choose restaurants and hotels for interviews particularly with expatriates that are unfamiliar to them. Once association is developed with them, Saudis may offer an invitation of a visit to their homes. However, an international hotel is never a wrong choice while selecting location for interview with Saudi officials. If an interview is arranged at the home of a Saudi official, the interviewer is expected to remove the shoes at the entrance and he/she should be dressed conservatively. While Saudi officials appreciate punctuality, being a little late does not jeopardize the interview. Elder Saudi officials expect to be greeted first. It is recommendable for the interviewer to accept the offer of dates and Arabian coffee by the interviewee even if the interviewer normally does not drink coffee. If invited for a meal, the interviewer should expect a lot of socializing and discussion before the meal is actually served. However, there is very little, if any, talking during eating. Although many Saudi officials serve the meal on a dining table, yet the interviewer should not be surprised if the meal is placed on a sheet laid on the floor. In such a setting, the interviewer should either kneel on one knee or sit cross-legged. Most

Questions based on trade adjustment assistance program Assignment

Questions based on trade adjustment assistance program - Assignment Example The amount goes up to $150,000, and the organization provides substantial assistance towards finances to offset project costs that ensure that operations and competitiveness are strengthened and sharpened consecutively. The assistance is handy when it comes to a number of projects including information technology, engineering, and marketing. The main purpose for the remittance of these funds is to help manufacturers who are affected negatively with import expenditure. The funding of this TAA federal program needs to be enhanced in order to stand in for companies that by chance experience high import expenditure. This will ensure that imported goods are not sold at expensive prices in bid for the companies to fill the gap for the loss. To the contrary, this funding does not need more funding or continued support from the financial sources behind its operation. The main reason for this is the fact that by dishing out cash, the federal does not benefit directly from this. Secondly, they are prone to impersonations and the federal government can lose a lot of money to firms that are not so beneficial to

The National Labor Union Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The National Labor Union - Term Paper Example The workforce today has just become an instrument for these corporations to multiply their wealth. The workforce is being exploited by these corporations in all parts of the globe, sometimes as child labor, sometimes as human trafficking and sometimes as sweatshops. The workers working in sweatshops are subjected to miserable and dangerous working condition. Similarly they are deprived of their basic rights such to raise voice against the employers, demand higher wage or to have extensive breaks during the working hours. Here it can be observed that the conditions of utilitarianism are not satisfied as the greater number of people in this case the workers are subjected to hardships and sufferings (Oppapers.com, 2009). The workforces of big fishes like Nike and Walmart are subjected to perilous working conditions and are given qualms of excruciating pain and restless environment. These companies treat their workforce as an entity rather than human assets that need to be valued and tak en care of. To steady the ship and to assist the workforce in obtaining its due rights through proper channel Labor Unions all over the world work day in and day out to resolve spats and cases of injustice (Selig, 1994). Labor Unions try to offer defiance to the helpless and weak workforces and try to abate the hardships that they are subjected to in their working environments. Labor unions help workers voice their opinions out loud to the management to get what they deserve rather than acting as silent observers or machines. There is a number of Labor Unions that are found across the United States of America namely American Labor Party, Farmer Labor Party, US Labor Party etc. throughout the length of this assignment American Labor Party will be the focal point to be elaborated upon (Russel Saga Foundation, 2006). History Taking account of the blows that the capitalist system has made to the world in general including the classification of the people into socio economic classes, ali enation of workers from their intellectual and physical rights, the phenomenon of rich getting richer leading to ever greater miseries of the poor people and accumulation of the wealth in 2007 a voice was raised. This voice was established using the internet protocol bearing in mind the possibilities attached when it comes to the digital medium. The aim of this party is to get America back to where it used to be before the influence of other world powers over its economy like Europe. Bringing US back on track is elaborated by this Labor Union on its website as restoring the free market economy and transfer of wealth more to labor as compared to capital (American Labor Party, 2011). The American Labor Party provides the hapless and helpless labor of the US Companies to voice their opinions, raise their voices and participate in the democratic system of government to be a part of the system and get the things done correctly. The American Labor Party is an integrated platform that rais es ugly issues in the America Corporate sector by sharing blogs and articles and bringing important, unheard and attention gaining issues to limelight. This is where this party becomes unique and effective because it does not only provide a platform to speak to the unheard but on the other hand it also creates awareness among the people and the laborers

Jurisdiction In The Case Of a Bank About To Enter Into a Loan Essay

Jurisdiction In The Case Of a Bank About To Enter Into a Loan Agreement with A Foreign Company - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the agreement as to which country shall have jurisdiction of the contract should be clearly stated therein to avoid the ambiguity of the provisions. Under the recent ruling of Marconi Communications International Limited v PT Pan Indonesia Bank Limited TBK (2005) AER (D) 389, the Court of Appeals dealt with the jurisdiction of the letter of credit. Under this contract, it was specifically stated that the governing law would be English law. However, there was a provision in the contract itself, which gave an indication for confirmation of the letters of credit. The conflict now in this case is in the interpretation of the contract as to whether or not Article 4(2)3 of the Convention would apply since although the forum specifically chose by the parties in England, the perfection of the contract is more closely connected with the other country which is Indonesia as the confirming bank is located in that country. Another argument presented in this case is the application of Article 4(5)4. Now, therefore, the court has to resolve whether or not to use Article 4(5) and disregard Article 4(2). In its resolution, the Court ruled that Article 4(5) should apply therefore the law of England should be the governing law as provided for in the contract. Most interesting in this case is the Court’s recommendations that â€Å"the same system of law should govern the co-existing contracts between (a) the issuing bank and the beneficiary, (b) the confirming bank and the beneficiary and (c) the issuing bank and the confirming bank.

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories - Essay Example As a result, many scholars have different views on the concept of literacy, which leaves the common person more confused. Indeed, although the term ‘literacy’ is seemingly easier to understand by everybody, it has unfortunately proved to be complex and dynamic concept to interpret or even define. As such, we have many educational theorists, scholars, and newspaper editors defining the concept literacy. In the ancient times, literacy only referred to the ability of a person to read and write at an adequate level of proficiency that would enable them to communicate with others (TakingITGlobal, 2012). However, in the recent times, there is no mutually satisfactory measure of what adequate literacy means. As such, this paper will refer to various scholarly sources in addressing the various theories of literature, the issues that relate to literacy, and an analysis of literacy. Additionally, the paper will elaborate, synthesise, and analyse various perspectives on literacy. F urthermore, the paper will discuss the implications of the application of these perspectives to learning in vocational education and training centres. More so, the paper will analyse the various ways that teachers and trainers can apply the concept of literacy to learning in vocational education and training. Some scholars refer to literacy, as the quality or state of being literate or simply being able to read and write. On the other hand, others associate literacy with creative writing or just having knowledge or competence. Moreover, other educational theorists introduce the aspect of visual literacy in understanding the concept of literacy. As such, they relate visual literacy to the ability to recognize and understand ideas conveyed through visible actions or images. However, according to the National Institute for Literacy, The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines literacy as â€Å"an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute, and solve problems at le vels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual and in society†Ã‚  (Valenzuela,2002). Additionally, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization thinks there is more to literacy than just being a set of technical skills of reading, writing, and calculating (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, 2012). We may need to consider the factors that influence the multiple understandings of this concept. Notably, academic research, institutional agendas, national context, cultural values, and personal experiences influence individuals understanding on the concept of literacy. Indeed, there are four discrete understandings of literacy that include literacy as an autonomous set of skills, literacy as text, literacy as a learning process, and literacy as applied, practised and situated (Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 2006).The four understandings significantly incorporate almost all theore tical understandings of literacy. However, the most common understanding of literacy is as a set of cognitive skills that involve reading, writing, and oral skills. However, it is worth noting that despite the multiple definition of literacy, the literacy levels vary between the developed and developing nations. Indeed, the rate of literacy in the developed nations is much higher than in the developing nations. Nevertheless, there is a worldwide mission to eradicate illiteracy in the world.

The National Labor Union Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The National Labor Union - Term Paper Example The workforce today has just become an instrument for these corporations to multiply their wealth. The workforce is being exploited by these corporations in all parts of the globe, sometimes as child labor, sometimes as human trafficking and sometimes as sweatshops. The workers working in sweatshops are subjected to miserable and dangerous working condition. Similarly they are deprived of their basic rights such to raise voice against the employers, demand higher wage or to have extensive breaks during the working hours. Here it can be observed that the conditions of utilitarianism are not satisfied as the greater number of people in this case the workers are subjected to hardships and sufferings (Oppapers.com, 2009). The workforces of big fishes like Nike and Walmart are subjected to perilous working conditions and are given qualms of excruciating pain and restless environment. These companies treat their workforce as an entity rather than human assets that need to be valued and tak en care of. To steady the ship and to assist the workforce in obtaining its due rights through proper channel Labor Unions all over the world work day in and day out to resolve spats and cases of injustice (Selig, 1994). Labor Unions try to offer defiance to the helpless and weak workforces and try to abate the hardships that they are subjected to in their working environments. Labor unions help workers voice their opinions out loud to the management to get what they deserve rather than acting as silent observers or machines. There is a number of Labor Unions that are found across the United States of America namely American Labor Party, Farmer Labor Party, US Labor Party etc. throughout the length of this assignment American Labor Party will be the focal point to be elaborated upon (Russel Saga Foundation, 2006). History Taking account of the blows that the capitalist system has made to the world in general including the classification of the people into socio economic classes, ali enation of workers from their intellectual and physical rights, the phenomenon of rich getting richer leading to ever greater miseries of the poor people and accumulation of the wealth in 2007 a voice was raised. This voice was established using the internet protocol bearing in mind the possibilities attached when it comes to the digital medium. The aim of this party is to get America back to where it used to be before the influence of other world powers over its economy like Europe. Bringing US back on track is elaborated by this Labor Union on its website as restoring the free market economy and transfer of wealth more to labor as compared to capital (American Labor Party, 2011). The American Labor Party provides the hapless and helpless labor of the US Companies to voice their opinions, raise their voices and participate in the democratic system of government to be a part of the system and get the things done correctly. The American Labor Party is an integrated platform that rais es ugly issues in the America Corporate sector by sharing blogs and articles and bringing important, unheard and attention gaining issues to limelight. This is where this party becomes unique and effective because it does not only provide a platform to speak to the unheard but on the other hand it also creates awareness among the people and the laborers

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A Synthesis of Current Literacy Theories - Essay Example As a result, many scholars have different views on the concept of literacy, which leaves the common person more confused. Indeed, although the term ‘literacy’ is seemingly easier to understand by everybody, it has unfortunately proved to be complex and dynamic concept to interpret or even define. As such, we have many educational theorists, scholars, and newspaper editors defining the concept literacy. In the ancient times, literacy only referred to the ability of a person to read and write at an adequate level of proficiency that would enable them to communicate with others (TakingITGlobal, 2012). However, in the recent times, there is no mutually satisfactory measure of what adequate literacy means. As such, this paper will refer to various scholarly sources in addressing the various theories of literature, the issues that relate to literacy, and an analysis of literacy. Additionally, the paper will elaborate, synthesise, and analyse various perspectives on literacy. F urthermore, the paper will discuss the implications of the application of these perspectives to learning in vocational education and training centres. More so, the paper will analyse the various ways that teachers and trainers can apply the concept of literacy to learning in vocational education and training. Some scholars refer to literacy, as the quality or state of being literate or simply being able to read and write. On the other hand, others associate literacy with creative writing or just having knowledge or competence. Moreover, other educational theorists introduce the aspect of visual literacy in understanding the concept of literacy. As such, they relate visual literacy to the ability to recognize and understand ideas conveyed through visible actions or images. However, according to the National Institute for Literacy, The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 defines literacy as â€Å"an individual's ability to read, write, speak in English, compute, and solve problems at le vels of proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the family of the individual and in society†Ã‚  (Valenzuela,2002). Additionally, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization thinks there is more to literacy than just being a set of technical skills of reading, writing, and calculating (United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, 2012). We may need to consider the factors that influence the multiple understandings of this concept. Notably, academic research, institutional agendas, national context, cultural values, and personal experiences influence individuals understanding on the concept of literacy. Indeed, there are four discrete understandings of literacy that include literacy as an autonomous set of skills, literacy as text, literacy as a learning process, and literacy as applied, practised and situated (Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 2006).The four understandings significantly incorporate almost all theore tical understandings of literacy. However, the most common understanding of literacy is as a set of cognitive skills that involve reading, writing, and oral skills. However, it is worth noting that despite the multiple definition of literacy, the literacy levels vary between the developed and developing nations. Indeed, the rate of literacy in the developed nations is much higher than in the developing nations. Nevertheless, there is a worldwide mission to eradicate illiteracy in the world.

Early Pascal Compilers Essay Example for Free

Early Pascal Compilers Essay The first Pascal compiler was designed in Zurich for the CDC 6000 series mainframe computer family. Niklaus Wirth reports that a first attempt to implement it in Fortran in 1969 was unsuccessful due to Fortrans inadequacy to express complex data structures. The second attempt was formulated in the Pascal language itself and was operational by mid-1970. Many Pascal compilers since have been similarly self-hosting, that is, the compiler is itself written in Pascal, and the compiler is usually capable of recompiling itself when new features are added to the language, or when the compiler is to be ported to a new environment. The GNU Pascal compiler is one notable exception, being written in C. The first successful port of the CDC Pascal compiler to another mainframe was completed by Welsh and Quinn at the Queens University of Belfast (QUB) in 1972. The target was the International Computers Limited 1900 series. This compiler in turn was the parent of the Pascal compiler for the ICS Multum minicomputer. The Multum port was developed – with a view to using Pascal as a systems programming language – by Findlay, Cupples, Cavouras and Davis, working at the Department of Computing Science in Glasgow University. It is thought that Multum Pascal, which was completed in the summer of 1973, may have been the first 16-bit implementation. A completely new compiler was completed by Welsh et al. at QUB in 1977. It offered a source-language diagnostic feature (incorporating profiling, tracing and type-aware formatted postmortem dumps) that was implemented by Findlay and Watt at Glasgow University. This implementation was ported in 1980 to the ICL 2900 series by a team based at Southampton University and Glasgow University. The Standard Pascal Model Implementation was also based on this compiler, having been adapted, by Welsh and Hay at Manchester University in 1984, to check rigorously for conformity to the BSI 6192/ISO 7185 Standard and to generate code for a portable abstract machine. The first Pascal compiler written in North America was constructed at the University of Illinois under Donald B. Gillies for the PDP-11 and generated native machine code.

Analysis Of Guantanamo Bay

Analysis Of Guantanamo Bay Guantanamo Bays detention center is a United States operated detainment facility located on the southern tip of Cuba. It became primarily newsworthy post 9/11 when many Americans felt threatened by the uncertainty of terrorism. Guantanamo Bay has been sharply criticized by human rights activists such as Amnesty International and the debate includes some very major political figures. Although it was brought to the United States Supreme Court recently, most major political figures have historically seemed to stray away from the subject due to its controversial nature. The major topic which I will discuss in this paper is the legal sovereignty of Guantanamo Bay and the fine line the United States government walks between national security and civil liberties. From the acquisition of Guantanamo to the current legal standing to the various positions from major political figures worldwide, basically every aspect of this issue remains debated and extremely controversial. I will attempt in m y paper to present an unbiased, factual account of Guantanamo Bay and its current world standing. The United States first acquired Guantanamo Bay in 1898 when it intervened against Spain to assist Cuba in their independence. Ironically, the United States stepped in to assist Cuba with their fight for independence from Spain but ended up playing a role very similar to Spains role. Since the United States historically was not major world play it needed Cuba and the Spanish-American War to secure its own impact on Latin America and it subsequently became a major impact on every Cuban decision for the next sixty years. In 1901, the U.S government signed into law the Platt Amendment which was an amendment added to the 1901 Army Appropriations Act. This amendment outlined the conditions of future Cuban- U.S relations and gave the United States the legal rights to, among other things, Guantanamo Bay.  [1]  The agreement between the United States and Cuba states: To enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the Cuban Government will sell or lease to the United States the lands necessary for coaling or naval stations, at certain specified points, to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.  [2]   Although this was signed by the President of Cuba and the President of the United States in 1903, the legality has since been called into question. The United States diplomatic pressure, backed by military occupation at the time was a huge impact on the agreement in question. Although the United States agreed to pay a nominal rent of 3,386.25 per year to Cuba, the agreement was largely in favor of the U.S government. In 1960, when Fidel Castro came into power he immediately refused to accept any further payment and publically bashed the United States occupation of Guantanamo Bay. According to Article 52 of the 1969 Vienna Law of Treaties, A treaty is void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations.  [3]  At the time Cuba agreed to lease Guantanamo Bay to the United States, the U.S had just assisted them in gaining their independence from Spain and was still a h uge influence in their government. Cuba was not in the position to tell them no, regardless of Cubas preference on the matter. However, the United States has argued that according to Article 4, Without prejudice to the application of any rules set forth in the present Convention to which treaties would be subject under international law independently of the Convention, the Convention applies only to treaties which are concluded by States after the entry into force of the present Convention with regard to such States.  [4]   the treated is still in effect and should be honored. Since Cuba still does not have the force or military capability to make the United States leave, the United States is still occupying Guantanamo. The topic received further attention post 9/11 with President Bushs War on Terrorism. At this point, no one really knew where Guantanamo Bay fell in terms of ultimate sovereignty and whos rules applied to the base. Also, since the military was in charge of the use of the land, there was very little transparency about what was actually going on there. Finally in June of 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush, that U.S Courts do have the jurisdiction to handle cases involving foreign nationals wrongfully held in Guantanamo Bay saying that to determine the legality of the Executives potentially indefinite detention of individuals who claim to be wholly innocent of wrongdoing. After many decades, detainees, or enemy combatants as they were formerly known, had the right and access to challenge the legality of their detention.  [5]   Guantanamo Bays detention facility is a heavy topic that spans across all levels of government. Former President Bush and the current president, Barack Obama have both been very vocal about their opinions on the subject. The Bush administration and the Justice Department carefully prepared the legal groundwork for Guantanamo Bay post 9/11. They claimed that the Republic of Cuba has ultimate sovereignty over Guantanamo. As a result of this, they had no obligation to uphold the United States constitution and the detainees had no legal rights in U.S courts. However, they also argued that Cuban law has no effect in Guantanamo, so the area in effect was basically lawless. President Obama on the other hand, took a completely different position on Guantanamo Bay. Within his first weeks as President he vowed to shut down Guantanamo Bay within the year. In view of the significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationally, prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals currently detained at Guantanamo and closure of the facility would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice,  [6]   Although it has been over a year, the Obama administration maintains that it is still their intention to shut down the detention center. They also issued a long awaited new rule book for the Obama-era war court that put an end to pre-confinement detention counting toward post Guantanamo sentences(to avoid situations like Salim Hamdan which I will discuss later)  [7]  . The legislative branch does not seem to play nearly as large as a role as the executive and judicial branch in this scenario. However, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. blamed Congress for not coming to a consensus on where a replacement facility for Guantanamo should be and for not approving funding for the new detention center in a timely manner. The bottom line is these techniques have hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security.  [8]  Although their role is not as significant, they definitely make a lot of voters question the Obama Administration and his promise to close Guantanamo Bay within one year of his presidency. In a major rebuke to President Barack Obama, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States and denied the administration the millions it sought to close the prison. The 90-6 Senate vote-paired with similar House action last week-was a clear sign to Obama that he faces a tough fight getting the Democratic-controlled Congress to agree with his plans to shut down the detention center and move the 240 detainees.  [9]   The main problem they face is that forty-eight detainees left still need to be held indefinitely and they have nowhere to put them if they leave Cuba. We have to have an option, and that will require congressional support for the funding request we have made, Holder said.  [10]   The judicial branch, as seen in Rasul v. Bush, has chosen to hear a few Guantanamo Bay cases although, historically most cases were heard by military courts. Although Rasul v. Bush was a huge landmark case, there were a few other decisions decided around this time period that gave rights to the prisoners in Guantanamo as well. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, which was actually decided on the same day, June 28, 2004 (although argued a week after) as Rasul v. Bush, ruled on the legality of holding a United States citizen indefinitely as an enemy combatant. The Supreme Court ruled that although Hamdis detention was authorized, the Fifth Amendments due process gives all citizens the right to challenge their detention. This cased differed from many of the Guantanamo Bay cases because Hamdi was actually a U.S citizen instead of a foreign national. Bourmediene v. Bush was another landmark case for Guantanamo Bays detainees and was decided recently in 2008. The Supreme Court decided in Bourmediene v. Bus h that ALL detainees at Guantanamo Bay should have a right to challenge their detention through U.S Federal Courts.  [11]   Navi Pillay who is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was extremely happy about Obamas decision to close Guantanamo Bay. The fact that President [Barack] Obama has placed such a high priority on closing Guantà ¡namo and set in motion a system to safeguard the fundamental rights of the detainees there is extremely encouraging, she stated. The High Commission for Human Rights also wants the United States to change its approach on tactics used to detain individuals abroad. Pillay even went far enough to raise the issue of compensation for those judged to be innocent and called for a thorough investigation into allegations of torture at the Guantà ¡namo centre.  [12]  Although the United Nations does not have any physical way to enforce their recommendations, they are an extremely influential organization and hold a lot of weight internationally. They are expected to be unbiased with their recommendations and are portrayed as an international law and human rights peace keeper to facilitate achieving world peace. The last major players in this controversial situation are human rights interest groups such as Amnesty International. Amnesty International has been a huge, non-governmental player in the debate and was notably quoted for calling Guantanamo Bay a human rights scandal. They actually have an entire section on their website dedicated to Guantanamo Bay and quotes from various officials and organizations describing the torture and speaking out about the legality of Guantanamo. The war on terror does not justify violations of international human rights law. The Counter Terror with Justice campaign works to stop torture; close Guantà ¡namo; end illegal U.S. detentions; stop extraordinary rendition; restore fair trials and habeas corpus; and hold accountable all those who authorized and implemented these human rights abuses.  [13]   Even though Amnesty International is only a non-governmental organization, they have an incredible standing worldwide and they are consistently setting the standard for other human rights organizations.  [14]  They also have a huge following internationally and receive a lot of volunteer and monetary support. Although they have had a lot of success and received the Nobel Peace Prize for their campaign against torture, they have also been criticized by many political figures and even religious organizations such as the Catholic Church. They have also lately been mixed up with alleged ties to a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and his pro-jihad group which forced a senior Amnesty International official to resign her position because of her disappointment in the organization.  [15]   Rumsfeld, while still the U.S Secretary of Defense, was quoted by saying the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay were the most dangerous, best-trained, vicious killers on the face of the earth. Although this is clearly biased because the Bush administration was very pro-keeping Guantanamo Bay open, Rumsfeld does make a valid point. While doing my research, I noticed a time line that the Washington Post published on Guantanamo Bay. Salim Hamdan, who was allegedly Osama bin Ladens driver and very active in the planning of various terrorist activities, was released to Yemen from Guantanamo in November of 2008 and was to be tried for his crimes by the Yemen courts. He ended up getting only five and a half years confinement and a little over five years was credited because of his previous imprisonment in Guantanamo and various U.S custody locations. He was actually released a little over a month after his transfer to Yemen and was free to do whatever he wanted. I also read a lot on Yemen and thei r position on the War on Terrorism. When the United States offered to return prisoners to Yemen last year, Yemen officials demanded money for a rehabilitation center. The Yemeni government uses terrorism and fighting terrorism as a tool to get political and financial benefit, said Khaled Alansi. They did not have anything to market themselves to the world, especially the United States, except fighting terrorism.  [16]   Prior to all my research on Guantanamo Bay, I thought the idea behind the detention center was completely ridiculous. It was basically a lawless black hole where the United States government could do whatever they wanted. In addition, very few reports were issued by the government because of confidentiality and the nature of their crimes so it was very hard to tell what was really going on there. From what I read, there had been suicides by multiple prisoners and even reports of guards defacing the Muslim holy book, the Quran. Although my opinion is still in favor of shutting down Guantanamo, I do understand the severity of the issue at hand a little better now. I think the biggest factor that changed my opinion was the example of Hamdan(which I discussed earlier) and Yemens position on the matter. I am afraid that once released, many prisoners will walk free with an even deeper hatred for the United States and a greater passion for punishing us. Torture and abuse cost American livesI learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in IraqHow anyone can say that torture keeps Americans safe is beyond me unless you dont count American soldiers as Americans.  [17]   In one sense, Guantanamo Bay is a catch 22. If we keep the prisoners locked away in Guantanamo we wont have to worry about prisoners being releases and beginning to plan terrorist attacks again. However, if we dont release them we are alienating so many in the Middle East that we will eventually have many new threats. Regardless of national security, laws are in place for a reason and what we have been doing in Guantanamo seems to be highly unethical and should be illegal. Since the United States does have complete control over the territory, I believe that U.S laws should definitely apply. The United States is a country that has always prided itself on human rights and our legal system and there should not be a loophole created when the government deems it necessary. Although the process is slow, the courts have seemed to be regulating the United States militarys full control over Guantanamo. Like I discussed previously, the Obama administration has actually pledged to shut down Guantanamo Bay anyway so the problem is not nearly severe as it was under the Bush, more conservative, administration. So much of the previous information we have on Guantanamos sovereignty and who has complete control seems to be lost in translation. A sensible policy for future use would be to either put Guantanamo under our constitutions regulation or possibly draft new legislation for the area. Also, in regards to possession of Guantanamo, I believe the United States should set a time period by which they pledge to give Guantanamo Bay back to Cuba. The grounds in which the United States was given Guantanamo Bay was shaky as it was since Cuba were still under U.S rule and it does not seem right to allow a country to make a treaty with itself. Since the primary purpose of Guantanamo post cold-war has been to detain suspected terrorist and the Obama Administration decided to no longer use it for that purpose, it is not nearly as important anymore for the U.S military. In addition, it was a perfect location in the beginning of the 1900s since we wanted to expand into South America and exert our dominance but global positioning is no longer a primary goal. Then again, during the Cold War, Guantanamo was a prime strategic location if we were to go to war with Cuba but we are no longer at the brink of nuclear war and if we felt the need to intervene in South America (I hope not) w e would not necessarily need Cuba. Although I do not plan to get involved in this situation, I believe the best way to fix an issue such as this would be through the legal system. Since I have always been extremely interested in law, I read part of Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power by Joseph Margulies. Margulies was the lead council in Rasul v. Bush and talked about his experiences throughout most of the book. Every year, the Supreme Court agrees to review only a tiny fraction of the cases clamoring for its attention. For that reason, many lawyers believe, not without reason, that the most important document in a case is the one that asks the court to accept review, call the petition for writ of certiorari. The petition in Rasul, drafted in the summer of 2003, went through more than dozen drafts, and in the final product, my colleagues and I tried to capture not simply the legal reasons for review, but the moral consequences if the Court were to remain silent. My greatest fear was that the Bush Administration would simply forget about the prisoners, in the vain hope the world would too.  [18]   Margulies describes in detail how much time and thought went into this brief. Not only was it almost impossible to get the Supreme Court to recognize the issue and the case but also it was not like a typical writ of certiorari. It was drafted more than a dozen times and contained not only the legal grounds as to why it should be heard but the ethical and moral justifications as well. This is not a law suit that anyone can get through to the Supreme Court. I think the main way I could personally get involved, a side from getting my law degree and going into international civil rights law, is spreading awareness. I could try writing to my local senator or possibly even get published in a local newspaper or magazine. The President and Congresss main goal is to get reelected so theyll ultimately do what is important to the voters.