Friday, November 29, 2019

Science Essays - Radish, Vegetable, Classical Music,

Science Period 1 Radishes Respond to music Phillip Chiu, Period 1 Introduction The question I will be addressing is "Does music affect radish growth?" This seemed like a good idea to research and experiment on because I wanted to know if a plant could really "hear" or if vibrations through the air, which is sound, really affects the growth of the plant. I will be testing this using different types of music including rock, jazz, and classical music. The radish (raphanus sativus), a root crops which is very easy to grow. Radishes are cold hardy but cannot withstand heat. In the South, they grow in the fall through spring, and in the North, they grow well in the spring or fall. Some interesting types of radishes I came upon in reading my information were the "Round Black Spanish" and the "Sakurajima Mammoth" radishes. The Round Black Spanish radishes are black, as their name says, and the Sakurajima Mammoth can grow to be up to 70 pounds! (Doty, 1973) In my research, I found no information regarding plant growth and music. I also did not find any information around the subjects of plants hearing, or vibrations that help plants grow. Therefore I cannot do any more than guess blankly for my hypothesis of this project. My hypothesis is 'I do not think music will affect plant growth because plants cannot hear.' Literature cited Doty, Walter L, Copyright 1990, All About Vegetables, San Ramon, California, The Monsanto Company, 144 pages And for alphabetizing purposes only Zifferman, Zeke, Copyright 1998, Zealot Radishes, Fremont California, The Zifferman Company, 999pages Phase 3: Results and Observations Results and Observations: There were many observations recorded on this experiment. (I have not yet finished the experiment, but I will take the results from the book The Sounds of Music and Plants for this phase of the project.) For this experiment I used 2 types of music. I used hard rock and classical. I used CD's and played them on a CD player on repeat. This eliminated all the possibilities of interstation noise, such as static found on the radio, affecting the experiment. The real results are as follows: Day 1 (after germination) - classical and rock music plants are barely peeking above soil. Day 2 - No change Day 3 - The plants in the classical music group are growing at the same rate as the rock plants. Day 4 - The classical group is a minute bit taller than the rock group. Day 5 - no change Day 6 - no change Day 7 - The classical group is more significantly taller than the rock group. I can not make up that many results. It would be pointless. What you see here is a mix of what I think and what the book says. For the quantitative part of the results, I will make a table, but will not fill in any information. For the sake of time, for I know that you will not take time to read fake results.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Mmmm, You Dirty Rat!

Mmmm, You Dirty Rat! Mmmm, You Dirty Rat! Mmmm, You Dirty Rat! By Maeve Maddox Its the rare media mention of Wall Street con man Bernie Madoff that doesn’t contain the word rat in some context. Bernard Madoff is an evil crook but apparently not a rat. The Big Rats off to the Big House for Life, What About the Little Rats? Madoff may rat out co-conspirators They [Mr. and Mrs. Madoff] seemed to stay apart from the herd,† the club member said. â€Å"They chose not to get into that social rat race.† U.S. District Judge Denny Chin who presumably will sentence Madoff said that he’d sharply limit the number of Madoff victims who get to shake their fist in the swindler’s face and tell him what a rat he is†¦ It is almost inconceivable that Madoff could have spent 20 years squirreling away clients money in a Chase Manhattan bank account, conducting virtually no legitimate transactions, without anybody at Madoff Investment Securities smelling a rat – The etymological origin of the word rat is lost in the mists of the long history shared by this repugnant animal and human beings. (I know, white rats make nice pets. Im talking about nasty rats au naturel.) The OED offers several possible origins, but concludes: It is uncertain whether the Latin and Romance words are cognate with the Germanic words, or whether they were borrowed from Germanic, or vice versa; in any case the ultimate origin is uncertain; perhaps imitative of the sound of gnawing. The OED also offers seven entries for rat as a noun and three for rat as a verb. The literal meaning of rat is, of course, a rodent resembling a large mouse, often with a naked or sparsely haired tail. Then there are the figurative uses that derive from the fact that rats are associated with filth and that they are said to be quick to leave a sinking ship or a falling house. The sense of rat as one who abandons his associates was in use in 1629. rat as a noun rat a despicable person, especially one who betrays or informs upon associates. rat scab laborer NOTE: a scab is either an employee who works while his colleagues are on strike, or an outsider hired to replace a striking worker. rat a pad of material, typically hair, worn as part of a womans coiffure to puff out her own hair. rat as a verb rat intransitive verb to desert a party, cause, or princple; to go over as a deserter; to abandon, desert, or betray any person or thing. rat transitive verb to backcomb or tease hair rat intransitive to act as an informer; to betray to the police or other authorities rat on to inform on a person rat out to inform on a person; to betray a person to the police or other authorities Other rat words and expressions rat-fink teenage slang from the 60s. A pleonasm since either rat or fink alone can mean an informant or, as verbs to inform. rat-race A fiercely competitive race or contest; spec. urban working life regarded as an unremitting struggle for wealth ., status, etc. ratsbane arsenic rathole messy, nasty place rat-pack juvenile gang; celebrities surrounding Frank Sinatra to smell a rat to suspect that something is wrong Rat has even become a suffix to create words that mean person who frequents such and such a place: dock-rat, bar-rat, rug-rat, etc. My brother, like many Cagney impersonators, thought he was quoting Cagney when he said, with appropriate grimaces and inflections, Mmmmm, you dirty rat! According to the Wikipedia Cagney bio, what Cagney really said in the movie Taxi! was Come out and take it, you dirty, yellow-bellied rat, or Ill give it to you through the door! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Homograph ExamplesThe Letter "Z" Will Be Removed from the English AlphabetThe "Pied" in The Pied Piper

Friday, November 22, 2019

Organisational Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organisational Leadership - Essay Example information and technology and one which is highly knowledge oriented, is one of the most significant outcomes of the transformation from the industrial to information age. Such far-reaching changes have revolutionized the manner in which organizations were initially managed, thereby leading to evolution of novel leadership styles, and in the process have completely redefined the scope and impact of institutionalized power and authority within organizations, thereby influencing the manner in which such organizations operate and function in the knowledge based post industrial developed economies. This paper seeks to discuss, analyze and explore the manner in which the leadership styles have transformed from the industrial age to the post industrial era, with the help of corresponding theories and models, and recent developments. In the industrial age the three critical factors of production included – land, labor and capital, however, the transition to the information age has added another crucial factor of production – â€Å"knowledge†. Knowledge revolution brought about by the development of new and state of the art technology which was previously unavailable to the leaders, have completely revolutionized the manner which organizations function and compete in the market place. Organizations such as Dell, Microsoft, Toyota, IBM, etc have excelled in this art, through sheer application of knowledge led leadership strategies. Automation – an outcome of technology, has facilitated the creation and development of highly skilled workforce, in the developed economies which is a vital factor of production and instrumental in redefining the human resource as mere labor – devoid of any critical skill and who are merely employed to follow the orders of their leaders, to a more know ledgeable and intellectual workforce who are employed to generate input in the form of ideas that can help the management in overcoming various organizational setbacks – both internal

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Case Study on Global Warming and Climate Change Assignment

Case Study on Global Warming and Climate Change - Assignment Example The animals provide the researcher with a great chance to acquire the necessary observation because they allow in making of experimental evidence for causation. The article discusses that there is growing evidence associating the outdoor polluted air exposure with the negative effects that appear in the reproductive health (Somers, 2011). Statement of air quality concern and its relevant to the environmental professional Exposure to ambient air pollution contributes to damage of male germ cells resulting to negative effects on reproductive health. Analysis of the key points in the article Effects of air exposure to human sperms One of the key points that the article discusses is that air exposure contributes in a significant way to the damage of human sperms (Somers, 2011). The author of the article indicates that even though few studies have been conducted concerning this issue, the ones that researchers have performed supports the fact that air pollution causes a negative effect in the reproductive health of both men and women (Somers, 2011). However, results in the areas that the study have been conducted indicates tends to be different. ... One of these limitations is that researchers fail to demonstrate causation of the effects even though it is evident that they occur. However, Somers (2011) indicates that researchers have managed to overcome the limitations using rodents. The animals are exposed to urban and industrial air pollution in order to provide the required results. The direct exposure to the pollution gives researchers a chance to determine the level of effects of sperms. The studies from this experiment indicate that ambient air pollution causes significant effects to many parts of the sentinel animals’ bodies. One of these body parts is the reproductive system. Somers (2011) indicates that a series of experiments on the sentinel animals have proven that particulate matter causes damage to the sperms. Linking the studies of human germ cell to that of sentinel animals Study on sentinel animals provides a chance of having reliable experiment. This is because the ambient air pollution tends to be a sing le variable on the experiment. Therefore, the experiment gives a clear casual links between exposures and end-points (Somers, 2011). Experiments in both humans and sentinel animals indicate there is an induced germline mutation. Moreover, the experiments indicate there is physical DNA damage and epigenetic changes in the sperms (Somers, 2011). However, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the whether the effects of the air pollution in animals and humans are the same. This is because both of them have never measured identical end-points. Conclusion The studies conducted on both humans and sentinel animals indicates there is a high probability that ambient air pollution exposure leads to the damage of male germ cells. The studies indicate that air pollution is

Monday, November 18, 2019

What Thucydides says about this war. political science Essay

What Thucydides says about this war. political science - Essay Example This poses a very difficult situation for city-states with inadequate forces. Throughout the Peloponnesian War, considerably weaker city states go ally with those of greater military capabilities. Back then there were two coalitions that equally hold significant forces to be reckoned with, the Athenians with their naval supremacy, and the Peloponnesian who are highly adept in fighting using ground forces with Sparta at its helm. City-states and colonies with disputes align themselves to the either league to gain advantage over impending hostilities and win agreeable settlements (Blanco). In my opinion this war is ideally represented by the bargaining model of war presented by Retier which states that â€Å"war as a continuation of the bargaining process, rather than a breakdown. Fighting breaks out when two sides cannot reach a bargain that both prefer to war and each side fights to improve its chances of getting a desirable settlement† (27). This model is further supported by the rational causes of war presented by Fearon. Two out of three reasons he presented satisfies the emergence of the Peloponnesian war, namely: â€Å"War due to private information and incentives to misrepresent† (390) and that â€Å"War as a consequence of commitment problems†

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Nigerian Civil Service History

Nigerian Civil Service History In tracing the emergence and growth of the civil service in Nigeria, Nwosu (1977) started from 1900 when Britain formally established the authority in most of the administrative purposes. They were in the colony of Lagos and the protectorate of Northern and Southern Nigeria. Later in 1906, the Lagos colony was merged with the southern protectorate and renamed the colony and protectorate of Southern Nigeria. In 1914, the two protectorates were amalgamated and subsequently became known as the colony and protectorate of Nigeria. In order to be able to administer the territory, Britain imposed a unified alien civil service on Nigeria without giving much thought to its impact on the Nigerian traditional communities with their conflicting values, interest, norms and authority structure (Kingsley 1963). It must be pointed out that despite the amalgamation and its attendant unification of the civil services of the North and South, the two are still developed at their own pace. The major function of civil service at the time was mainly the maintenance of law and raising enough revenue to sustain the colonial authority. According to Okoli Onah (2002), the service was geared towards the negative policy of preventing trouble in the areas under its administration. Economic and social development was never a major objective of the administration. The colonial civil service according to Nwosu 1977 had its structure; at the Head of Public Service was the Governor-General, who was accountable to the colonial secretary in London. The colonial secretary was himself accountable to the British cabinet and the parliament. The governor-general delegated his authority to the Chief Secretary, who was the effective head of the service. The chief secretary coordinated the whole service which was divided into two major parts the departmental and the political administration. The departmental administration covers the technical and professional functions of the colonial regime. These include education, health, treasury, agriculture, forestry, public works and audit. The various heads assisted the chief secretary. They not only advised the Governor but initiated policies, participated in legislation and supervised the execution of enacted bills and approved policies. While the head of technical department operated from Lagos. Their subordinates were in charge of field offices. The field officers included the lieutenant-governor, the resident and district officers, the officers who are pillars of colonial civil service were fully responsible for maintenance of law and order and the mobilization of resources which were the main object of colonial administration. The field officer did not rule the people directly, rather they owned the people and that is indirect rule. In the north, it was completely successful because of the indigenous political and administrative structure on ground. In the west, it was partially successful because of the peoples contact with western education and in the east; it was a complete failure because of the republican nature of the peoples government. The fusion of western administration with the traditional African system produced a new structure which Nwosu (1977) says corresponded with Fred Riggs description of the pattern of role differentiation in a traditional society. At this early period, Nigerians were restricted to the lower echelons of the civil service. The south and the north; though amalgamated, still had their separate civil services. Principles of the Civil Service The civil service is guided by the triple maxims of anonymity, neutrality and impartiality. The principles of permanence are also seen as part of the maxims (Obiajulu Obi 2004). Anonymity: this states that civil servants should be seen and not heard. Though they advise political office holders on issues relating to government, they neither take the blame nor the glory of such policies. They are not expected to be seen defending such policies. Civil servants as far as possible are anonymous and should not be seen as craving for publicity. Neutrality: the civil servant must be politically neutral. His job is to serve the government of the day irrespective of what he feels about that particular government. He should not allow his personal prejudices color his dedication to his duty. He is not expected to be a card carrying member of a political party or get involved in partisan politics though he is expected to vote at election times. Impartiality: Civil servants are paid from tax payers money which does not belong to anybody or group in particular. They are therefore expected to discharge their duties without fear or favor in rendering such service to the public. The civil servant is expected to treat everybody with a high degree of impartiality. Permanence: the civil service is often defined as a permanent body of officials that carryout government decisions. It is permanent and its life is not tied to the life of any particular government. Government come and goes but the civil service remains. Functions of the Civil Service According to Obiajulu Obi (2004), the major function of the civil service is the implementation of government policies. Civil servants are not policy makers and are not really in a position to question government policies. Whenever a policy is made, it becomes the role of the civil servants to implement the policy the way the government of the day wants it to be. The federal and state civil servants play important role in policy formulation and advice. They play a major economic, social and educational objective of both the federal and state governments. The civil service also gathers statistical information for the activities of the government. Senior civil servants also have to inform the public about the achievements, abilities and problems facing the government. Also, Ezeani (2005) noted that the civil service is a store of knowledge of past government decisions and procedures. Thus, it plays an educative role by assisting professionals and military political executives (as is the case in Nigeria), especially the new ones to adapt themselves to the realities of their offices (This Week, 1988:19). The civil servants also play investigative and regulatory functions. CHAPTER TWO Structure of the Nigerian Civil Service The civil service is mainly organized around the federal ministries headed by a minister appointed by the president, who must include at least one member of the 36 states in his cabinet. Presidents appointment is confirmed by the senate of Nigeria. There are less than 36 ministries. In some cases, a federal minister is responsible for more than one ministry and a minister may be assisted by one or more ministers of state. Each ministry has a permanent secretary who is a senior civil servant. The ministries are responsible for various parastatals (government owned corporations) such as education, National Broadcasting Commission (information) and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Other parastatals are the responsibility of the office of the presidency such as the Independent Electoral Commission, the Federal Civil Service Commission, etc. Role of the Civil Service in National Development The civil service is a vital part of government machinery and its role is decisive in ensuring the stability of governance, its quality and ability to perform and push the frontiers of national development. According to Edozien, a former permanent secretary, the civil service inherited from the British was effective, efficient offered a socially responsible service and was well respected and regarded by the political class. So also was the civil service under phase one of the national development plan covering 1960 1975). He said that phase two 1975 1999 started with a blow of the morale of the civil service as permanent secretaries were compulsorily retired and were barred form accompanying their ministers to federal executive council (FEC) meetings, while job security was no longer guaranteed. Engr. Ebele Okeke described the civil service as a critical contact between the government and the people in the area of good government and the people in the area of good governance and service delivery. The success of any government depends on a virile civil service. Hence, the civil service remains very crucial and critical to national development and democratic stability. In developing states, why years of military and authoritarian rule in most developing societies have impacted negative political culture on the character and philosophy of the service, yet its role in national development cannot be undervalued. However, since military regimes and authoritarian rule have lost their appeal in modern government. The need to reform civil and public service to be in tune with democratic values becomes highly imperative. An efficient civil service acts as a catalyst in the development of all nations. While on the other hand, its inefficiency can constitute as one of the heaviest mill stones round the neck of developing nations. Therefore, it is important to most that the civil service must be efficient to service the newly found democratic project for stability and survival of the polity. Since it is the vehicle and machinery of public policy formulation and implementation, it is also to be noted that democracy with its attractive values will enhance the workings of the public service and redefine, reorient and reposition it to be more affective, mobile and productive partner in national reconstruction agenda (Ayodele and Bolaji). Bureaucratic bottleneck, high levels of corruption and personalization of governmental affairs exhibited hitherto by the civil service are highly anti-democratic. Democracy is expected to bear on the attitude and change this negative democratic attitude to service. Democracy has rekindled the expectation and optimism of the people in the ability of the civil service to be relevant to he challenges of growth and development. The strategic relevance of civil service in policy formulation and implementing cannot be over emphasized. In the developing societies especially in the immediate past independence era the public service assumed the pivotal roles as the vehicle of development. In fact, Ejifor (2003) posits that civil service in the developing societies is everything and that the most important catalyst of development is an efficient service while at the same time its inefficient constitute the heaviest millstones of any nation. This is similar to the view of Agagu (1997:233) who contends that public and civil service is the continuously active business part of government concerned with carrying out the law, as made by the legislative bodies in the process of organization and management. In scope, the influence of the civil service is not debatable; it remains definitely a major force in todays governance. The civil service contains a network of human relationships and associations extending from the highly influential government officials to the lowest paid and powerless individual charged with all resources, natural and human and all other aspects of the life of the society with which the government is concerned (Nnoli, 2000:44). In essence, public service is the totality of how progress and development are made in the society. The Nigerian civil service has faced a number of challenges, which has considerably undermined its capacity to serve as agent of national development. Such challenges include those of achieving technical competence, coping with public expectation and change, behaving ethically and maintaining constitutional order. The truth is that all these problems are inextricably linked to failure of the civil service to play its rightful role in system maintenance and continuity. Again, in order to enhance the nations development, the civil service under the auspices of the public service can partner with the private sector. In Nigeria and other developing countries, sustainable access to healthcare and other socio-economic services and products can be accomplished through public-private partnerships, where the government delivers the minimum standard of services, products and care, the private sector brings skills and core competencies while donors and business bring funding and other resources. Such collaborations will be especially productive in promoting poverty alleviation through partnerships as has been the case with polio eradication and other child immunization efforts. However, this public-private partnership would help to highlight perspectives on development, from leaders in civil society, government, business and the media, share information of development alternatives, provide forums for informed debate on related issues; seek to accomplish better understanding of the nature of relationships between governmental and non-governmental organizations and introduce conceptual frameworks for understanding such relationships. Intrinsic in the aforementioned objectives of typical public-private partnerships is the mission to contribute to the economic integration of a country/region accelerate its economic growth and sustainable development, engender and sustain private sector participation in traditionally public sector projects; and expand local assess to international markets, thereby ensuring the countrys deeper integration into the global economy. For Nigeria in particular, this could be done within the official NEPAD structure, ECOWAS and other regional economic communities in Africa, governments, private sector, civil society and other stakeholders. Finally, a vibrant and healthy civil service is the key to good governance and national development. Challenges of the Nigerian Civil Service According to Ezeani (2005), the Nigerian Civil Service has over the years been plagued by a number of problems which adversely affected its role as an instrument for socio-economic and political development of the country. The problems include: The nature of political competition in the Nigerian environment. The Nigerian civil service has been transformed into a theatre of sharing the national cake among the major ethnic and sub ethnic groups, a factor responsible for the unending demand for fragmentation of governmental structure units of ministries, divisions of major departments etc.) despite the obvious difficulties in sustaining the existing ones. The conflictual relationship between politicians and administrations Corruption e.g. looting of national treasury and lack of accountability Poor remuneration of civil servants Politicization of the civil service. As Olowu et al (1997) rightly points out politicization of the top civil services in an environment of high political instability and high turnover of officials has not only been wasteful of personnel, it has also led to a weakened role for the civil service in the development process. Ethnicity and indiscipline. A family local ethnic and other primordial ties and loyalties, sometimes compete on take precedence over loyalty to the nation and the service (Nwosu 1997) Social distance existing between the senior civil servants and the masses. Most senior civil servants have contacts with the masses and therefore do not experience their problems Lack of flexibility among bureaucrats. Civil servants cling tenaciously to routine well established procedures for doing things or red-tapism. The Military Rule and Nigeria Civil Service The history of post colonial Nigeria is fraught with military authoritarianism. This has reflected in its bureaucracy. Scholars agree that since 1966 when the military intervened in the Nigeria government and politics up to 1999 civil service has enjoyed enormous popularity due to the inability of the military class to dictate the pace of government without recourse to bureaucrats wealth of experience. It should be noted that civil servants are often used as stabilizers of the staff under military regimes. Generally, military administration manifests certain characteristics which are hallmarks of military regimes, these are: Method of Civil Service Appointment: The civil service has laid down rules and regulations guiding appointment, discipline and promotions. Under the military these processes are rubbished. Merit and seniority are relegated and mediocrity celebrated. This has brought into the service deep hatred among the rank and file of the system. This has undermined professionalism in the civil service. Decision Making Process: This under the military is usually centralized. There is no constitution, no rule of law, absence of separation of power, no democratic institution with the legislature, executive and judiciary. The decision making process are vested in one centralized body like the Supreme Military Council or Armed Forces Ruling Council. Related to the above is the military often acted with dispatch in administration. The tradition military culture has affected their method of operation even in official bus. By their training and due to their low educational background, they dont know their power limitations. Thus, most of them give appointment, promotions, contract and other forms of state privileges without due process. Absence of Separation of Powers and Function: over-concentration of power and function in one body is another feature of military regime. Military governments dont subscribe to separation of powers. Hence the issue of rule of law is out of the question. The doctrine of separation of powers presupposes that whatever power accruing to one organ shouldnt be interfered with by another. But the precepts of the military regime all governmental powers i.e. legislature, executive and to some extent, the judiciary, are concentrated in few hands. Prevalence of Spoilt System in Appointment: Often, appointments under the military are not done on merit. Successive military regimes often adopted some faithful members of the public into public administration without regard to their qualification. By this arrangement, sensitive federal and state positions were left for people who arent competent. This is in line with the military belief that any person can do the art of administration. Again because of military governments could be ousted any day it becomes a tradition among staff office occupiers to appropriate or personalize the trappings of their office. CHAPTER THREE How can National Development be fully Realized? Development has become more crucial in the developing countries to avert the lingering problem of bureaucratic maze paralyzed by partisan politics and ideological imperatives, poor coordination, implementation and sheer miscalculation that bedevil many administrative issues in the developing countries. These problems can be tackled through better monitoring accountability checks and more rigorous project evaluation. Development does not take place in a vacuum but in an environment, the environment in the field of development is a countrys socio-economic and political set up. To be conducive to national development, the civil service as an environment has to have minimum level of stability, peace and order. (Obi Obikeze 2004). National development is crucial in developing countries such as Nigerian to help them enhance their level of political economic, social and cultural wellbeing with the aid and instrumentality of the civil service. Recommendations Todays civil service needs to rediscover the time-honoured inbuilt system of training, retraining and adaptive skills in consonance with modern work practices and processes. It must imbibe the culture of innovation both in imagination and routine works as well as in developing appropriate tools for anticipating change and challenges. It must be able to institutionalize change in modern governance and societal development. It must see itself as a tool for the promotion of growth, peace, stability, development and democracy. Conclusion In conclusion, for the civil service to be both relevant and effective, it must rediscover its cherished tradition of service, loyalty and excellence and complement them with integrity, credibility, leadership, innovation and transparency in the management of scarce resources. With this, the Nigerian civil service can be capable of meeting modern challenges of national development.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Images and Metaphors in Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot Essay exampl

Images and Metaphors in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot  Ã‚  Ã‚   Interpersonal relationships in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot are extremely important, because the interaction of the dynamic characters, as they try to satiate one another's boredom, is the basis for the play. Vladimir's and Estragon's interactions with Godot, which should also be seen as an interpersonal relationship among dynamic characters, forms the basis for the tale's major themes. Interpersonal relationships, including those involving Godot, are generally couched in rope images, specifically as nooses and leashes. These metaphors at times are visible and invisible, involve people as well as inanimate objects, and connect the dead with the living. Only an appreciation of these complicated rope images will provide a truly complete reading of Beckett's Godot and his God, because they punctuate Beckett's voice in this play better than do any of the individual characters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The only rope that appears literally is the leash around Lucky's neck that Pozzo holds. This pair of characters appears separated by a rope that is half the width of the stage. In terms of the rope, the relationship between these characters is one of consistent domination. The stage directions say that "Pozzo drives Lucky by means of a rope passed round his neck." [p15] Lucky is whipped often. He is essentially the horse pulling Pozzo's carriage in a relationship that seems cruel, domineering, and undesirable, and yet Lucky is strangely sycophantic. In explaining Lucky's behavior, Pozzo says, Why he doesn't make himself comfortable? Let's try and get this clear. Has he not the right to? Certainly he has. It follows that he doesn't want to...He imagines that when I see ... ...eckett hopes, must be the strongest rope of all in Waiting for Godot - the noose surrounding Godot's neck that is held aloft, and out of sight, by hope. Work Cited Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1954. Works Consulted Andres, Gunther. Being without Time: On Beckett's Play Waiting for Godot. Ed. Martin Esslin. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1965. 140-152. Astro, Alan. Understanding Samuel Beckett. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1990. Bair, Deirdre. Samuel Beckett. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978. Mercier, Vivian. Beckett / Beckett. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. States, Bernard. The Shape of Paradox: An Essay on Waiting for Godot. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978. Webb, Eugene. The Plays of Samuel Beckett. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1972.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America

In Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America,1 Morris Fiorina takes aim at the contention that there is a culture war in America, that our society is badly divided and polarized so that we are rapidly falling into two competing camps ready to do battle with one another. It is a bold argument.The idea that a culture war is raging in America is a staple of certain media outlets, especially AM talk radio, where the likes of Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly, and Rush Limbaugh on the right, and Thom Hartman, Randi Rhodes, and Al Franken of left-leaning Air America constantly sound alarms, crying that whichever barbarians they dread are about to storm the temple. Against this popular belief, Morris Fiorina has impressive credentials: he taught at for ten years at CalTech, for sixteen years at Harvard, and he is now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and holds an endowed chair in political science at Stanford University.Using sophisticated sampling data, Fiorina shows that the A merican public holds a range of diverse opinions, but finds that instead of being increasingly polarized, the American public has generally been moving to the center of the political spectrum on many issues. Consider an issue which he admits is a â€Å"hot button† item: homosexuality. Fiorina finds that the American public has gradually but steadily become more accepting of homosexuals over the past 30 years.True enough, the public does not accept homosexual marriage, nor did they accept opening the military to gays, but these are not the entire question of homosexuality. On the issue of being willing to accept homosexuals in general, the public attitude has shown increasing moderation. To establish this, Fiorina considers polls in which the sample group was asked to rate homosexuals on a â€Å"thermometer†scale, in which 100 is total acceptance, and 0 is total rejection. In 1984, homosexuals earned a â€Å"0†³ score from 30 percent of Americans.By 2000, the perc entage of â€Å"0†³ scores has dropped to just 10 percent, and the overall acceptance rating for homosexuals has risen from 30 percent to 49 percent. (84) While these ratings do not show that homosexuals have managed to escape the stigma under which they have been compelled to live, they show that the shocking divide in which the issue is often portrayed does not exist. Similarly, the abortion issue, long considered the most divisive of social issues, is decidedly less divisive than it is pictured in popular media.A clear majority of Americans now support the basic decision in Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court abortion case. More than 65 percent of Americans support a strong right to choose. (54) Further, attitudes as to when abortion should be allowed are virtually unchanged since 1973. As of 1999, the last year for which Fiorina has data, 88 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be allowed if the life or health of the pregnant woman was seriously endangered. (5 5) In 1973, the number was 87 percent.If, like Fiorina, we accept the norm that a change of four percent or less in a survey of this type is not statistically significant, then the only factor about which the surveys have asked which has seen a statistically significant change is the right to a woman to have an abortion based on a claim that she has an income so low that she cannot afford another child. Even in this situation, some 40 percent of the general population would allow the abortion. (55) The change in attitudes, such as it is, is in the percentage of Americans who believe that all abortion is murder.While this saw a slight rebound in the late 1990s, it has fallen from 22 percent in 1973 to 18 percent, and since Roe, it has never been above 25 percent. (71) Another remarkable finding that Fiorina uncovered is that men and women have virtually identical attitudes on abortion, even though they differ markedly in their views on other issues. (71-72) The percentage of men and women who believe that abortion should be legal under all circumstances has varied between 21 and 36 percent for women, and between 20 and 30 percent for men, with the difference between sexes never being more than six percent.The percentage of men and women believing that abortion should be illegal under all circumstances has run between 15 and 23 percent for women and between 13 and 21 percent for men, with never more than a difference of four percent. (71) By contrast on other issues, the difference between men’s and women’s attitude is far more marked. Responding to the suggestion that all handguns except those carried by police or other persons in authority should be illegal, only 28 percent of men agree; 48 percent of women agree.Regarding the â€Å"caning† of an American teenage arrested in Singapore for acts of vandalism, 61 percent of men approved of the punishment; only 39 percent of women approved. While 43 percent of men consider themselves conservat ive, only 29 percent of women do. (72) In short, while abortion does not appear to be as divisive an issue as it is portrayed, there are other issues on which there is division. Fiorina presents a sweeping array of data, all of which shows far less division than is generally assume to exist.This raises a natural question: if there are fewer deep divisions than Americans believe, why do Americans believe that there are such division? Fiorina points to several sources, including political parties, media, and pundits. Media and pundits want to portray conflict, because conflict sells. (115-23) As the quip goes, â€Å"If it bleeds, it leads. † To reach his conclusions, Fiorina has to delve into sophisticated statistical models.The reader wishing to follow his argument in detail faces a daunting task, because Fiorina uses three dimensional statistical models ass he works through assumptions about voter and candidate behavior. (118-24) In the end, Fiorina argues that it is not the general populace that is divided, but the elites, the people who are active in party work. (125-31) In their turn, the elites are the most accessible to and the most accessing of the media and the pundits. (141-42) Party elite organizations tend to be strongly self-selecting.Only a true believer among Republicans can rise far through the Republican party organization; only a true believing Democrat gets to the top of the Democratic party. Once in the elite, these people tend to demand equal zeal from anyone else wanting admission, and to select people with the same ideals to join the elites. The result is set of self-perpetuating cadres of zealots, who believe, or at least would like to believe that they stand on the ramparts and fight for the Lord. In Fiorina convincing? He would probably find a certain irony in the response: maybe.Any serious reader must give pause. There is comfort in the idea is that we are not becoming constantly more polarized. Still we are conditioned to beli eve we are polarized. That idea appears so often that a refutation is hard to accept. But anyone who reads this book will probably ponder if Fiorina is right or not. He would probably approve of that response. AUTHORITY CITED: Fiorina, Morris, with Samuel Abrams and Jeremy Pope. Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized Amierca. New York, New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Danielle Dawkins Essays (1328 words) - United States, Nationality

Danielle Dawkins Essays (1328 words) - United States, Nationality Danielle Dawkins 31 October History 2010 Markwell Securing the Nation America won the revolution against the tyrannical Great Britain on Sept. 3, 1783 following the Treaty of Paris, which acknowledged America as a free, independent nation. Besides the American revolution, there were countless others revolutions that took place, such as the French revolution that began in 1789. However, they did not go as planned, and were more chaotic than productive and successful. Throughout this essay, I will elaborate on various events that secured America in all different aspects. On the contrary, the course of events that occurred in England will be compared to those of the American revolution, and I will give insight as to why they did not go as planned per actions that took place. As mentioned before, there were other revolutions that occurred around the time of the American revolution with one of the most acknowledged ones being the French revolution. In 1793, King Louis XVI was sentenced to death by the French National Convention after being accused of conspiring with foreign powers. France went into a revolutionary frenzy the moment he was mercilessly beheaded by the guillotine that was quite different from that of the American revolution. There are two key differences between the French revolution and the American revolution. Firstly, American colonists wanted independence from Great Britain due to heavy taxation and being regarded as equals to the British. French countrymen, on the other hand, wanted to overthrow the French monarchy due to enlightenment ideals and the monarchy's lavish spending and extreme taxes, which were not used to treat the devastating occurrences happening within France such as starvation and disease. While the causes and reasoni ng are not too different, the way both revolutions were carried out were vastly dissimilar. The French revolution was fought by peasants alone, as there was absolutely no help from any foreign countries. They attempted to overthrow the monarchy by looting and demolishing the houses of the tax collectors. Americans organized a continental army and appointed George Washington as the leader. Not only that, France and Spain helped to lead them to ultimate victory. All in all, Americans has determination. And it isn't that the French was deemed hopeless; they just acted on pure impulse out of anger and hatred for those with higher authority and poor leadership. As one can infer, organization and strategy, or lack thereof, has a huge impact on the overall outcome of a revolution, or anything for that matter. After America was deemed an independent country, a leader was needed to allow peace to continue to thrive within infancy America. As of course, it was arduous task to choose a leader, but ultimately monumental once George Washington was elected as the first president of the United States. Because of Washington's impressive resume that was filled with successful and popular engagements, he was viewed as trustworthy and respectable. This renewed leaderships comforted citizens. Take loyalists for example; those who were loyal to the British Crown for so long, and didn't leave after the American revolution, longed for a leader that could restore civility and set policy to the states. With just that, the Articles of Confederation was born. At first, it appeared the Articles of Confederation would lead America on a road to a utopian-like future. States had more central power than anything, and congress did not have the authority to tax. As favorable as both of those seemed, it quickly prov ed to be disastrous, as the central government, which was needed to restore civility and such, was too weak, and there were not enough finances to pay debts. Once again, something was needed to secure the peace. Therefore, the Articles of Confederation was disposed of, and the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, was adopted. For the sake of keeping everything regulated, the Constitution was created as the foundation of the governing system. The Bill of Rights was sort of a compromise since it limited the power of the federal government while simultaneously giving citizens fundamental, humane rights. America now had trustworthy leader and reasonable governing system; however, there is still work to be done, as it is still relatively new. This new republic had just won an entire war, but it

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Gray Wolves in Yellowstone essays

Gray Wolves in Yellowstone essays The reintroduction of Gray Wolves into Yellowstone has had many positive affects such as controlling the populations of large game and taking out the small week stupid ones. Some farmers complain about them killing cattle but who cares what they think. The gray wolf, also called the timber wolf, is the largest of about 41 wild species within the dog family, Canidae, of the order Carnivora. All living wolves are considered a single species, Canis lupus. There are 32 recognized subspecies of the gray wolf. Wolf size varies. Adults range from about five to six and a half feet from nose to tip of tail, from 26 to 36 inches high at the shoulders, and weigh from 40 to 175 pounds. Gray wolves arent necessarily gray but grizzled gray is the most common color they can also be white, black or red. Wolves are distinguished from dogs by characteristics of the skull. At one time the wolf lived throughout most of the Northern Hemisphere. Most wolf populations are in Canada and Alaska, where they are relatively stable. Of the lower 48 only Minnesota has a wolf population large enough to maintain itself. The Forestry Service reintroduced gray wolves to the northern Rocky Mountains as well as Yellowstone National Park in an attempt to re-establish the species after an absence of more than 60 years. Gray wolves were exterminated from the area by the late 1920s. They are designated as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in most of the lower 48 states. The reintroduction program is a cooperative effort with the National Park Service and USDA Forest Service. Late last century, we realized that something was wrong with the ecosystem in Yellowstone National Park. Without the wolves Yellowstone fails to maintain its natural state. It was made clear that the ecosystem in Yellowstone would never function properly until they were back. They decided that the wolf should be reintroduced into the ecosystem at Y ...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Corporate Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Corporate Finance - Essay Example e impact on stock prices.(Frankfurter 2002 )Another school of thought contends that prices are negatively correlated with dividend payout levels.(Frankfurter 2002).The third view is that firm dividend policy is irrelevant in stock price valuation. (Frankfurter 2002.These views are best summed up as being based upon, the tax effect ( Litzenberger and Ramaswamy (1980),)Clientele effects explanations (Elton and Gruber, 1970), Agency theory explanations(Easterbrook 1984), Signaling models(John and Williams (1985), and psychological/sociological explanations ( Frankfurter and Lane 1992). Coming to the aspect of Dividend Policies, Capital structure decisions and taxation academic literature has similarly differed and presented varying views. The leading theory here is the MM theory discussed below based on which the paper explores the literature pertaining to the simultaneous effect of both the corporation tax and personal income taxes on the dividend policy and capital structure of a firm in theory. In this vein many other studies have also examined the temporal pattern of corporate dividend payout and dynamic dividend behavior based on varying tax codes.(MA Lasfer 1996). It has been seen often that there will be â€Å" structural shifts in the aggregate dividend payout and these shifts often coincide with tax law changes†(Wu 1996).Thus the empirical evidence on the effects of both corporation and personal income taxes on dividend payment adjustments and on capital structure decisions is accordingly reviewed hereafter. It has often been stated that companies set their dividend policies to minimize their tax liability and to maximize the after-tax return of their shareholders. (Wu 1996).It has also been stated that whenever a company is unable to deduct the advanced corporate tax from their tax liability it will resort to giving out low dividends.(Wu 1996 citing Brennan). The notion of the tax hypothesis states that the differential taxation of dividends and

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Open Kitchen Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Open Kitchen - Article Example The former is where all the kitchen activities and the myriad of objects usually in the kitchen is open for viewing of the general public - the consumer/s which comprised of families, couples, friends and just plain hungry people. Intuitively, we may think of the closed kitchen as a kitchen where the customers do not see the food and utensil preparation process. They have no idea of what is happening in the room separated from all other parts of the dining area of the restaurant because of the boundaries such as cement, wood or opaque glass. The question now that concerns us is whether to choose an open kitchen or not. As we will see later in this paper, both scenarios have their advantages and disadvantages for the labor side (chef and assistant cooks) and even for the consumer side (customers). However, we argue that one is more appropriate than the other. Such a claim needs backing and this is what the paper is precisely what this paper aims for - to offer points that can help the kitchen designer in deciding which is more effective, appealing, efficient and attractive for those waiting at the dining table. In the early days, cooking was mainly a public affair especially for the Greek and Roman soldiers who had their rations cooked in a large containers place over burning wood. (Harrison, 1972). However, with the amount of smoke generated and having slaves as their cooks, ensuing generations of food establishments, mostly bars and inns, progressively placed cooking in a separate room. Thus, the open kitchen now transformed to the close type. Describing Closed Kitchens Closed kitchens are spaces not open to the view of the customer. In this setting, cooks and their assistants conduct food preparations such as chopping, slicing and dicing. Stoves and ovens (which nowadays are combined in a single equipment) can be located at the sides or placed at the middle aisle which makes it more accessible to both sides thereby facilitating the cooking process and maximizing space. However, the latter configuration presents some danger especially during rush hours where accidents can occur. Refrigerators are placed at the sides as well as sinks and preparation tables. Some closed kitchens have the dishwashing area incorporated in the room while others have another connected extra room. Exhaust systems are usually placed above stoves to take out heat and smoke as fast as possible. Remember that several stoves and oven besides from blending and other equipments are emitting heat and this should be taken out as fast as possible so as not to further irritate the a lready stressed cook. (Kitchens.It, 2007) The settings in closed kitchen can get very busy and very chaotic. Nevertheless, the trained cook is expected to be able to deal with such situations. What is important to note, however, is that closed kitchens tend to get messy, noisy and smelly and the environment can sometimes get very tense. Figure 1 (a) and (b) presents two usual closed kitchen layouts. (a) (b) Figure 1: Closed kitchens where (a) food preparation is at the middle and (b) stoves occupy the middle setting Source: Google Open Kitchen Images (2007) Open Kitchen Layouts Since the kitchen is open to the public, designers make sure that there is not much dangling cooking utensils. Instead, these are arranged in the preparation table or are sometimes placed in drawers incorporated in t