Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter essays

Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter essays The Scarlet Letter is a book of much symbolism. One of the most complex and misunderstood symbols in the book is Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne. Pearl, throughout the story, develops into a dynamic symbol - one that is always changing. Pearl came to represent this symbolism in many ways. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester received the scarlet letter, "A". She had to wear this letter upon her chest. This was the Puritan way of treating her as an adulteress. The Puritan treatment continued, because as Hester walked through the streets, she was looked down upon as if she were some sort of horrible being that had committed a terrible crime. This would give her much mental anguish and grief. On the other hand, Gods treatment of Hester for her sin was quite different than just a physical token: he gave Hester the punishment of a very unique child which she named Pearl. This punishment handed down from God was a constant mental and physical reminder to Hester of what she had done wrong, and she could not escape it. In this aspect, Pearl symbolized Gods way of punishing Hester for adultery. The fact that Hesters life was ruined for so long was the ultimate price that Hester paid for Pearl. With Pearl, Hesters life was one almost never filled with joy, but instead a constant nagging. Pearl would harass her mother over the scarlet "A" which she wore. Pearl would also make her own "A" to wear, and sometimes played games with her mothers, trying to hit it with rocks. When Hester would go into the town with Pearl, the other children would make fun of her, and Pearl would yell and throw dirt at them. So, in this case, Pearl symbolized the decimation of Hesters life and mental state. Although Hester had so much trouble with Pearl, she still felt that Pearl was her treasure. Pearl was virtually the only thing that Hester had i ...

John Winthrop - Colonial America Scientist

John Winthrop - Colonial America Scientist John Winthrop (1714-1779) was a scientist who was born in Massachusetts and was appointed as the head of Mathematics at Harvard University. He was recognized as the preeminent American astronomer of his time.   Early Years Winthrop was the descendant of John Winthrop (1588-1649) who was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the son of Judge  Adam Winthrop and  Anne Wainwright Winthrop.  He had been baptized by Cotton Mather. While Mather is remembered for his support of the ​Salem Witch Trials, he was also a keen scientist who researched in hybrids and inoculation.  He was extremely smart, finishing grammar school at 13 and going to Harvard through which he graduated in 1732. He was head of his class there. He continued studying at home before eventually being named Harvards Hollis  Professor of Mathematics and Natural  Philosophy.   Preeminent American Astronomer Winthrop gained attention in Great Britain where many of his research findings were published. The Royal Society published his works. His astronomical research included the following:   He was the first to observe sunspots in Massachusetts in 1739.  He followed the movement of Mercury.  He determined the accurate longitude for Cambridge where Harvard was located.  He published works on meteors, Venus, and solar parallax.  He accurately predicted the return of ​​Halleys Comet in 1759.  He was the first colonist sent out by a colony to complete a scientific expedition to observe the transit of Venus from Newfoundland.   Winthrop, however, did not limit his studies to the field of astronomy. In fact, he was a kind of a scientific/mathematical jack of all trades. He was a highly accomplished mathematician and was the first to introduce the study of Calculus at Harvard. He created Americas first experimental physics laboratory.  He increased the field of seismology with his study of an earthquake that occurred in New England during 1755. In addition, he studied meteorology, eclipses, and magnetism.   He published a number of papers and books about his studies including  Lecture on Earthquakes  (1755),  Answer to Mr. Princes Letter on Earthquakes  (1756),  Account of Some Fiery Meteors  (1755), and  Two Lectures on the Parallax  (1769).  Due to his scientific activities, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1766 and joined the American Philosophical Society in 1769. In addition, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Harvard both awarded him honorary doctorates. While he did serve as the acting president twice at Harvard University, he never accepted the position on a permanent basis.   Activities in Politics and the American Revolution Winthrop was interested in local politics and public policy. He served as a probate judge in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. In addition, from 1773-1774 he was part of the Governors Council. Thomas Hutchinson was the governor at this point. This was the time of the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party that occurred on December 16, 1773.   Interestingly, when Governor Thomas Gage would not agree to set aside a day of Thanksgiving as had been the practice, Winthrop was one of a committee of three who drew up a Thanksgiving Proclamation for the colonists who had formed a Provincial Congress led by​​ John Hancock. The other two members were Reverend Joseph Wheeler and Reverend Solomon Lombard.  Hancock signed the proclamation which was then published in the  Boston Gazette on October 24, 1774. It set aside the day of Thanksgiving for December 15th.   Winthrop was involved in the American Revolution including serving as an  adviser to the founding fathers including George Washington.   Personal Life and Death Winthrop married Rebecca Townsend in 1746. She died in 1753. Together they had three sons.  One of these children was James Winthrop who would also graduate from Harvard. He was old enough to serve in the Revolutionary War for the colonists and was wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He later served as the librarian at Harvard.   In 1756, he again married, this time to Hannah  Fayerweather Tolman. Hannah was good friends with Mercy Otis Warren and Abigail Adams and carried on correspondence with them for many years. She along with these two women were given the responsibility of questioning women who were thought to be siding with the British against the colonists.   John Winthrop  died on May 3, 1779, in Cambridge, survived by his wife.   Source:  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Ã¢â‚¬â€¹harvardsquarelibrary.org/cambridge-harvard/first-independent-thanksgiving-1774/

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 101

Journal - Essay Example Economically, business organizations are embracing social media for their growth and survival. From marketing their products or services to interacting with their potential employees virtually, producers and employers respectively are saving on time and costs favoring profit making. Skilled labor for the companies behind the social tools creates employment for many where they are based. In addition, social media is enlightening people from different cultural backgrounds on the various beliefs thus contributing to world peace because of mutual understanding amongst individuals. Interracial relationships are proof of the understanding. On the other hand, there is a spur of criminal acts because a persons’ location is both voluntary and involuntary exposed to the public. This makes it easier for a criminal to track down their victim without going through trouble especially if both are within the same locus. Person to person social interaction is disintegrating because virtual interaction seems easier. Consequentially, this has diminished hospitality and courtesy while promoting cyber bullying. The latter and over exposure to the devices in use to access social media has brought about psychological and physical health issues, which are affecting thousands the users by the day. This in turn counteracts the output of the individuals to an economy leading to decreased productivity of the economy in the long

BLOBs in database Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

BLOBs in database - Essay Example The storage and retrieval of these items can be accomplished through a database system using a column type capable of storing binary data (commonly referred to as a "binary large object" or a BLOB). There are many existing database systems capable of storing BLOBs. Such systems' functionality, performance and cost vary greatly among vendors (with some costing as much as $25,000 for a single CPU license). The prohibitive cost often keeps some organizations from conducting full assessments of database systems for possible use in their operations, potentially causing a loss or revenue. Entities with limited resources need an affordable means of assessing or benchmarking their own database utilization. This thesis, first and foremost, provides a database benchmark for storing BLOBs in a database. Secondly, a database benchmark framework is provided with the example implementation being the BLOB database benchmark. By so doing: My research indicates that no research has been done comparing the performance of database systems' ability to store BLOBs. ... The software development community will now have a benchmark for storing BLOBs in a database. This benchmark will fill a void as most database benchmarks focus on OLTP (online transaction processing) that consist of very small records and none focus on the general storage of BLOBs. EXISTING DATABASE BENCHMARKS My research indicates that no research has been done comparing the performance of database systems' ability to store BLOBs. Similar research regarding database performance (for datasets not including binary data) does exist and come from the following sources: the Transaction Processing Counsel (TPC), Storage Performance Council (SPC), Open Source Database Benchmark (OSDB), Engineering Database Benchmark (EDB) and Wisconsin Database (Bitton). In addition to not considering BLOBs, the TPC and SPC benchmarks are implemented by vendors who perform many specialized database and operating system configurations. Thus, they are not pertinent to this discussion. These nonstandard configurations take advantage of the vendors' specialized knowledge of the hardware, database, operating system and benchmark. This thesis provides the first benchmark to assess the storage of BLOBs in relational database systems. The performance results are categorized into three general BLOB sizes: small, medium a nd large. Below is a brief description of the five similar database performance resources. Transaction Processing Council (TPC) Each TPC benchmark consists of a set of functional requirements to be run on any transaction processing system independent of the hardware or operating system. It is then up to the test sponsor to submit proof (in the form of a full disclosure report) that they have met all the requirements. The TPC has four non-obsolete database benchmarks:

Distribution Channel of Banas Dairy Essay Example for Free

Distribution Channel of Banas Dairy Essay The present study is conducted in the Banas Dairy sales area Genesis of Banas Dairy Late ShriGalbhabhai Patel established Banas Dairy with the dream of uplifting socio economic status of village farmers. This dream was fulfilled through the creation of a co-operative milk union for Banaskantha district, on the footprint of â€Å"Amul Dairy† of Kaira district, the ideal model of a Co-operative. Consequently eight village level co-operative milk societies in Vadgam and Palanpur taluk Ire registered and started collecting and pouring milk at DudhSagar Dairy, Mehsana from 3rd October 1966. The milk union got registered under Co-operative act on 31st January 1969 as Banaskantha District Co-operative milk producers’ Union Limited, popularly known as Banas Dairy. The foundation stone was laid by Late Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel on 14th January 1971 at 122 acres land acquired near Jagana village in order to set up a dairy plant under the operation flood program launched by national Dairy development Board. On 7th May 1971’ the dairy started functioning at the same place with a capacity of 1. 5 lakh liters of milk per day. This has now been increased to 24. 3 lakh liters per day. The dairy has three automated plants with a wide 8-9 product lines. The small dream of Shri Galbabhai has now taken the shape of a co-operative of 1350 societies with around 15000 members. With the relentless efforts of dedicated and committed leadership, the dairy has won the trust of milk producers of Banaskantha district and has brought about a happy change in the lives of all its members. It has come up as a major revolution in the upliftment of the residents of the district. Mission and Vision Banas District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd. was established with the prime objective of eliminating the monopoly of private traders and providing the poor farmers the due that they deserve. Along with this it also ensures that the farmers are benefited the maximum out of their operations and activities. The mission of the organization is to provide sustainable means of livelihood to socio-economically downtrodden rural mass, while treading on the path of progress. The organization renews its vision every ten years. It strives to be a successful world class co-operative dairy. The objectives of the organization are clearly expressed through the quality policy, which states that: â€Å"I, the Banas Dairy, commit and aspire to fulfil the needs and expectations of our internal as Ill as external customers and delight them through our quality products and services. I shall achieve the goal through the followings: a). Applying principles of Quality Management Systems and Food Safety Management for continuous enrichment of our management processes. ). Providing remunerating returns, quality input services, introducing innovative and appropriate schemes and services to our milk producers. c). Motivating and providing and encouraging appropriate training for skill up-gradation of our employees. d). Protecting our value system and the environment by judicious use of all natural resources. † India is an agri- oriented country of the world. 70% people are living in rural area so I can say Indian peo ple are living in village the majority of population. The dream of late Galbabhai Patel, founder chairman and the selfless sage to uplift socio- economical status of village farmers came true after creation of a co- operative milk union for banaskantha district, on the foot print of â€Å"Amul Dairy†of kaira presently Anand) district on the model of true co operative milk societies in Vadgam and palanpur taluzka of district Ire registered and started collecting and pouring milk at Dudh Sagar dairy, Mahesana from 10th march 1969.

Revolutionary Mexican Women Essay -- Essays Papers

Revolutionary Mexican Women The picture of pre-revolutionary Mexican women was of a woman who had to lived her life constantly in the male shadow. These women were consumed by family life, marriage, and the Catholic Church, and lived silently behind their dominant male counterparts (Soto 31-32). In 1884 (prior to the revolution) the government passed the Mexican Civil Code. It dramatically restricted women's rights at home and at work (Bush and Mumme 351). Soto states that the code "sustains an almost incredible inequality between the conditions of husband and wife, restricts in an exaggerated and arbitrary manner those rights due the woman, and†¦erases and nullifies her personality" (qtd. Bush and Mumme 351). The code was just one of the many inequalities women and other ethnic, economic, political, or religious minorities suffered under the regime of Porfirio Diaz (Bush and Mumme 351). When the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 arose to fight against the discrimination that Diaz incorporated into his regime, women began to find a place for themselves. It gave them the chance to control their own fate and live more public lives successfully (Soto 31-32). Mexican women were essential to the revolution in a number of ways. They were involved in politics, were strong advocates for the causes they believed in, and participated in life on the battlefields. The female political figures were probably the most important and influential women in the Mexican Revolution. They were prominent political activists, thinkers, writers, figures, role models, and were fearless in their pursuit of their goals, often resulting in jail terms. Both upper and lower class women managed to get high in the ranks of politics despite the ... ...of the female spirit. They took on core positions that were not traditional and excelled in many predominantly male-dominated roles. Mexican women were revolutionary in the way they stretched the boundaries of gender roles and reversed many stereotypes. Sources: Arrizon, Alicia. "Soldaderas and the Staging of the Mexican Revolution." The Drama Review. 42.1 (1998). 90-113. Bush, Diane Mitsch and Stephen P. Muume. "Gender and the Mexican Revolution." Women and Revolution in Africa, Asia, and the New World. Columbia: University of South Carolina, 1994. 343-365. Macias, Anna. "Women and the Mexican Revolution 1910-1920." Americas (Acad. of Am. Franciscan Hist.) 1980. 37(1): 53-82. Soto, Shirlene. Emergence of Modern Mexican Woman: Her Participatrion in Revolution and Struggle for Equality, 1910-1940. Denver, CO: Ardern Press, Inc., 1990. 31-66.

Truman Show Character Development

In the film, Truman Show by Peter Weir, the director used a variety of visual and verbal techniques to develop the character Truman Burbank. Wier used the movement of actors, dialogue, props and symbolism to show how Truman progressed from being a typical all-American guy to a courageous man who's willing to face his fears to break free from the chains that binds him to his ‘creator. ‘ Truman Burbank is a star of his own show- The Truman Show- and everybody knows except him. He lives in the best place in the world, Seahaven, where the people are always friendly and well-dressed. The houses they live in are painted to perfection with well-tended gardens. Here, Truman lives a seemingly perfect life with his beautiful wife, Meryl, and reliable friend, Marlon. As events unfold, Weir shows the audience how Truman is actually unsatisfied with his life- he feels trapped in his marriage and restricted with his job. He yearns for an adventure and dreams of finding Sylvia, his true love. Weir used dialogue and movement of actors to establish for the viewers what Truman is like in the beginning. The start of the film shows him acting out a role of a brave explorer in front of a mirror, saying: ‘Eat me dammit! That's an order! ‘ Because he doesn't have enough excitement in his life and Seahaven is not offering him the challenge he wants, he tries to make up for it by imagining a different life. He's also constantly tells his best friend, Marlon that he's ‘thinking of getting out' and is ‘going away for a while. ‘ But interestingly enough, even with a great desire of getting out, Truman never tries his hardest to leave Seahaven. Weir used Cristof's dialogue to show this: ‘If it was more than just a vague ambition, if he [Truman] was absolutely determined to discover the truth, there's no way we could prevent him. In this stage of the story, Weir shows that Truman is far from being a courageous man. To make sure Truman can't and won't leave, Cristof, the director of The Truman Show television program, used props and dialogue. After Truman's father died in the sea, he developed fear of water. When he came close to finding out that he's father is really alive his mother told him: ‘I know you feel bad about what happened†¦ I've never blame you Truman. ‘ They used his guilt to dismiss his suspicion. They also tried to make him ride a ferry to remind him of his fear when he tries to find Sylvia. When he tried to ride a plane to Fiji to continue looking for her, posters all around talks about the perils of flying to scare him were in the travel agency. A newspaper about Seahaven being the best place int he world is also shown and a movie called â€Å"Shome Me the Way to Go Home† was played on the tv to urge him to stay. Weir used all of these to show the audience that Truman might be slowly changing as he realize that the world he's living in, is not the only one out there. He can leave and lead the life he wants. Truman's character started to develop when he begins to find out that he's actually the star of his own show. Weir used movement of the actors to show how Truman progressed from being the go-with-the-flow-type of guy to a rebel. He acts inappropriately and doesn't think of the conseuences when he drives recklessly around the roundabout and reverses dangerously to get out of the traffic jam. Then, in a desperate attempt to leave Seahaven, he tried to overcome his fear of water by closing his eyes while speeding over the bridge, drives through a fire and even tried to go into a supposedly contaminated forrest. Later, he sailed in the sea through the storm and screamed at the top of his lungs: ‘Is that the best you can do? You're gonna have to kill me! ‘ Weir shows how much Truman, who only talk the talk, has progressed to walking the walk. He's finally doing something to get what he wants and he's giving his all. Truman's name has been used by Weir to symbolise how he is a ‘true man' amidst all the actors in Seahaven. He's been likened to Adam, the first man on the paradise. Adam's life story had become a summary of his. Adam left the paradise, Eden, after eating the forbidden truth of knowledge the same way Truman left his paradise, Seahaven, after learning the truth of his life. However, unlike God, Cristof wanted Truman to stay in Seahaven because it's ‘the way the world should be. ‘ The ending of the film had left the minds of the audience in a state of confusion and mixed emotions. Cristof urges Truman to stay, telling him: Truman, there's no more truth out there than in the world I created for you – the same lies and deceit. But in my world you have nothing to fear. The audience are torn between supporting Truman in his long awaited new life or wishing him to stay in Seahaven were they can watch him and be part of his life. Truman's answer had also likened him to being the second Adam- to being Jesus Christ who sacrificed himself and is ressurected to a new life as Truman sacrificed his seemingly perfect world where his life is controlled for the ‘sick place' where he h as freedom. Symbolism was used to show the audience how courageous and heroic Truman is. In conclusion, Weir used dialogue, movement of actors, props and symbolism to develop the character, truman Burbank. In all of the characters in the film, only Truman showed a change in character. He was always wishing to get out of Seahaven, yearning for an adventure and a new life. But he never did anything to do it; he let his fears and uncertainty to get the best of him. He chose to continue living in his seemingly perfect world. But as he see how far from perfect his life and whole world is, he summoned all his courage and began to rebel. He broke free from the chains that Cristof tied him to and truly became a courageous and heroic man.

Reasons to Support and Reasons to Oppose Ecotourism Essay

Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving visiting pristine, fragile, and relatively undisturbed natural areas, purposed as a low- impact and small scale alternative to commercial tourism, which contributes towards both environmental and socioeconomic benefits. Ecotourism travel has significantly caught the attention of various individuals recently. There are a number of reasons supporting ecotourism and there are a number of reasons opposing ecotourism. Ecotourism invented to help conserving the natural environment, it also helps improving the cultural, economical and social situations of the developing countries. At the same time, it can also possibly leads to a destruction of natural habitats, it can be prejudicial as well as damaging the local communities. The reason opposes ecotourism is that ecotourism will cause the destruction of the ecosystem. Tourists would scare the animals in areas where animals live, such as woodland areas. Those animals live in the forest are wild, they are not tame, and may pose a danger to tourists. The presence of tourists will cause stress to the wild animals since they are not used to live together with humans. If those tourists are carrying food and try to feed them, over a period of time, the survival ability of those animals would decline and it is bad to them. On Mexico’s Pacific coast, bright lights from beachfront hotels disorient female sea turtles coming ashore to lay eggs, often preventing successful reproduction (Eco-tourism: Encouraging Conservation or Adding to Exploitation?;pg.2). If you have ever been to any national parks, you will know that the parks are very big and there are at least a few pieces of rubbish in different places. Examples of that include the large-scale habitat transformation to enhance ecotourism experience in Malaysia, track erosion in Costa Rican National Parks and severe pollution by garbage at certain points in the Himalayas in Nepal (The role of ecotourism in conservation: panacea or Pandora’s box?; pg. 592). There are many park rangers to manage the parks, but it is still difficult to find every single piece of rubbish in the parks. The rubbish can be harmful to the natural environments and animals, especially the plastic trash, for example plastic bottles and plastic bags which cannot be decomposed in a short period. The first reason to support ecotourism is that countries can receive the economic gain from developing ecotourism, especially for those developing countries. Tourism in general created only between 0.5 and 13.5%of the GDP for some developed countries (The role of ecotourism in conservation: panacea or Pandora’s box?; pg. 584), it’s because the developed countries concentrate in financial industry and the real estate industry. But for the developing countries, it could generate huge revenue, for example, hotel revenue, sites entrance fee, tax revenue etc. Goodwin (1996) predicted the revenue created by ecotourism and environmentally sensitive tourism to be 50 billion and 300 billion US$ in the year 2000, respectively (The role of ecotourism in conservation: panacea or Pandora’s box?; pg. 580). It can also generate foreign currencies for their economic development. Ecotourism can also generate employment opportunities for the local communities, they can have more type of work to choose. In Bhutan, ecotourism plays an important role in generating employment opportunities, because there are 80 % of people work in agricultural sector, but conservative figures by the Tourism Council of Bhutan estimate tourism’s contribution to GDP at US$90 million in 2010, and there are now 21,000people employed directly and indirectly in tourism (Bhutan, A Model for Sustainable Tourism Development; pg. 15). The living standard of the local people is increased and compare to the extractive uses of land that ecotourism is more sustainable that locals could gain the long term income. Another reason is, to the developed and developing countries, many of the lands have ecological value for economic development. Developing ecotourism can make the sites protected well because it can generate foreign currency which provides a strong incentive to the government to conserve the sites. The governments will protect the sites for sustainable development but not destroying it, for example hiring park rangers to manage the sites. Also they will promote sites protection to the local resident, since they may not notice about the place they live now is that beautiful and need to conserve it, develop ecotourism can increase their awareness on protecting the sites. Since sustainable development is important to the sites, the government will improve the maintenance of the sites and have a good management. The last reason is ecotourism can increase sense of mission among tourists on nature and tourists can benefit from the local cultures. They can gain more knowledge about the nature since they can experience that directly. Local residents can benefit from the environmental education ecotourism provides. Honduran schoolchildren from the capital city of Tegucigalpa are routinely taken to visit the La Tigra cloud forest visitor center, to learn about the intricacies of the rainforests (Eco-tourism: Encouraging Conservation or Adding to Exploitation? ;pg.2). Tourist always like shopping while traveling, ecotourism can let them have more interaction with the nature, local residents and have a relaxing time, not just shopping but also enjoy the natural environment and try to travel on foot. Tourists are able to have an opportunity benefit from local cultures and understand the country more deeply. Some countries will promote that supporting local cultures by eating foods which are locally grown, having lunch in local-owned restaurants, taking part in their traditional activities, buying food at stores. The rise of interest in ecotourism is beneficial to many aspects, the government can achieve economic gains, and the local communities have a higher income. Also, it is beneficial to the ecotourism sites that the sites can be protected well and beneficial to the tourists that they can gain more knowledge about the nature. Although ecotourism may cause some habitat alterations and pollute the area, it can still be balanced between sustainable development and economic development if it is managed well and can be developed in more and more countries. So the advantages of development of ecotourism outweigh the disadvantages. It can also conserve the environment, which is good to all of us.

Labor Unions Essays - Labour Relations, Free Essays, Term Papers

Labor Unions Essays - Labour Relations, Free Essays, Term Papers Labor Unions Labor Unions What do you think of when you hear the phrase labor unions? Most people associate a negative connotation with labor unions. They think that labor unions are the only cause of strikes and work stoppages. Most think that people in unions are greedy and will do anything to get more money. Others swear by their unions, saying that their employers would take advantage of them if they didnt organize their unions. However as we prepare to enter the new millennium, labor unions are decreasing in size. Lets look at some of reasons. First, the numbers are unmistakable. At the end of 1997, when the most recent count was made, only 14.1% of workers belonged to unions, the lowest percentage since 1936 (Gross 23). This is a dramatic decrease from when unions were at their height at the end of World War II when 35.3% of Americans were in unions (Galenson 13). One cause of this fall of union membership is the decline of manufacturing in America and the transfer of much manufacturing work over seas (Gross 24). Because of advances in technology and labor saving innovations, fewer people are required to make steel and assembler automobiles. As a result, only 16.1% of U.S. workers now work in factories, down from 22.8% twenty years ago (Aronwitz 2). There has also been a decrease in size of the large corporations, which in the past usually signed industry-wide contracts to produce a particular item. The latest figures show that the 800 largest firms employed 17% of the total workforce, down from 25.7% twenty years ago (Aronwitz 3). Many of these companies have their work done abroad. Nike does not make a single shoe in the United States and many insurance companies are having paperwork processed over seas (Hacker 45). At home corporate jobs are frequently assigned to temporary workers, who are often classified as independent contractors and are not very likely to join unions. Indeed, there are fewer long-term jobs, something union seniority could once guarantee. Last year, among men aged forty to forty-five, only 39.1% had worked ten or more years at their current job, compared with 51.1 percent in 1983 (Galenson 27). So, one might ask, what caused this to happen? At some point in the 1980s, the balance of power shifted against labor unions. Some say the defining moment was in 1981, when then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan forced an end to the bitter air traffic controllers' strike. Others point to the 1985 victory of then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over striking coal miners (Gross 239). Whatever the reason, unions are trying to make a comeback. There are several strategies that unions have devised to return to their former glory. Unions have adopted a more lenient attitude towards management, reducing the number of strikes to record lows in the 1980s and early 90s, and attempting to negotiate contracts providing job security for members (Gross 278). Unions have also placed greater emphasis on organizing drives for new members. Although unions have been very successful in organizing government employees, they have been less successful with recruiting office workers in the rapidly expanding services sector. However, during the last two decades, the wage advantage for unionized workers with private jobs has fallen by 44.1 percent, although the public sector has increased by 9.5 percent (Maguire 20). Currently, 41.9% of union members are from the public sector. Among the most strongly unionized occupations are firefighters (71.6%), flight attendants (69.4%), and high school teachers (56.1%). Only 28.6 percent of coal miners belong to unions and only 19.5% of truck drivers (Hacker 47). Despite all of the downsides of unions they do have their benefits. Here are a few examples of salaries secured through collective bargaining by highly trained professionals: Pilots with only fifteen years of service at Northwest, American, United, and US Airways now earn on average over $175,000 a year. Professors at New York City University can now get as much as $101,655 for twenty-eight weeks of teaching. Under the current National Basketball Association contract, first year playerssome of them right out of high schoolwill start at $300,000 (Hacker 48). The recent NBA lockout has shaped many peoples opinions on labor unions. Most people, myself included, thought that it was

Free sample - Dreaming. translation missing

Dreaming. DreamingIn Kelly Bulkley’s mystical dreaming, analysis on the patterns in form, content and meaning has been carried out based on a non-experimental research study based on religion. Interviews were carried on 100 Americans whereby four major hypothesis were put forward on: mystical experiences are derived from abnormal and pathological brain functioning; they are characterized by the Jamesian marks ineffability, anoetic or knowledge-gaining, quality, transience, and passivity; mystical experiences are cultural constructions enhanced by an individual’s history, religion, language and the social environment one is exposed to; and leading towards consciousness or absolute unitary being. This presents a basis for contrasting on the appropriate level of analysis of mystism be it physical or phenomenological and whether mystical dreams are real or apparent presenting an argument on pluralism versus universalism. This, unlike previous studies, has been based on findings of dr eam research. Findings provide further support for these hypotheses and also show that mystical dreams are more prevalent in women in comparison to men.   The study was carried out through personal interviews on family life, political afflictions and religious convictions.   The variables investigated were the respondent’ details, settings, color and emotions experienced in the dream. 65 women and 35 men ranging from 19-86, with an average age of 46, were interviewed for one to five hours. There were however several limitations on scope, the age range, religious composition, breadth of an individual’s experience and occupational diversity. Findings tabulated showed that 94% of the participants were able to describe their most memorable dream. At least 89% experienced sexually arousing dreams which were positive and enjoyable with the number of women being slightly higher at 91% in comparison to 87% in men. Dreams on visitation were quite prevalent at 69% with women experiencing 50% in contrast to the men’s high of 79%. Dreams on self-awareness and lucidity were more prevalent in men.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dreams on evil presence were evenly common at 53%. However, mystical dreams were considerably more experienced by women rather than men who had the lowest frequency at 40% in comparison to any other type of dream experienced. Mystical dreams experienced involved unusual and non-human characters, friendly interactions, positive emotions, and good fortunes. This is in contrast to non-religious dreams which involve negative content and emotions coupled with aggressive social interactions and misfortunes. The individual’s interpretation and understanding as to the motif of the dream have been observed in the study of 42 core dreams which have been either on single or multiple occurrences. These motifs were death, Christianity, light, precognition, reassurance, nightmare, epistemological uncertainty, and impact–no memory. Psychologists view dreams to be filled with strange, bizarre and supernatural phenomena. However, they are neither disjointed, nor fragmented and vague but are coherent, vivid and consistent with real-life emotional, social and religious experiences. These further serves to illustrate that dreams are not random and irrelevant but are an expression of human experiences through imagination. The abnormal/pathological brain function theory was supported by three people who experienced their dreams when ill. However, most of the people sampled were perfectly healthy at the time the survey was conducted hence the dreams could not have been caused by brain defe cts. A Jamesian mark on ineffability is contravened by the fact that most people can precisely describe the details of their dreams. Most of the dreams were found to be coherent, memorable and enduring. However, the dreams were anoetic since the persons regularly described them as sources of true insight and knowledge. Therefore, James’ claim as a whole is contravened. The culturalist approach is widely supported by the study. Christian motifs serve a basis for religion whereby they represent a symbolic world. The dreams were strongly felt although they were spiritually mystical. It seems that most dreams are influenced by multiple factors of culture, religion, history, and language.   The â€Å"pure consciousness† view by which mystical experiences are regarded as varying approximations of a unitary mode of being have not been widely supported in the light motif.   (Bulkeley) In an experimental procedure provided by Brigitte Holzinger, Stephen Laberge and Lynne Levitan on the Psychophysiological Correlates of Lucid Dreaming, the study sought to electrophysiological differences between lucid and non-lucid dreams in REM sleep have been explored. This has been classified as an experimental study since the causal effect of REM periods has been investigated against theta power, alpha power, beta-1 power, beta-2 power, total power, heart rate, eye movements and muscular activity. Lucid dreaming was found to be vital in therapeutic settings such as solving recurrent nightmares. The hypothesis is that lucid dreams are associated with higher frequencies in the EEG spectrum. This study involved a sample of seven men and four women experienced lucid dreamer volunteers ranging from 21 to 37 years who underwent polysomnographic recordings for two consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory. The subjects were full aware of the dream state, the possibility of making free decisions under clear consciousness, perception by all senses, full memory of waking life, full memory of all lucid dream experiences in the waking state and in the lucid dream state and awareness of the meaning of symbols. Eye movements, heart rate, blood pressure, and skin potential in lucid and non-lucid dreams were compared. There were a number of physiological variables such as lucid REM periods recorded through EEG data onto an Ampex analog tape recorder while others on polygraph paper.   Later, the EEG data were digitized, using a BECKMAN polygraph and a CODAS computer interface, with a sampling rate of either 100 or 125 points per second. A computer program read in the digitized EEG da ta as well as the averaged calibration, applying FFT. The program then summed the spectral analyses into the appropriate frequency bands such as DELTA, THETA, ALPHA, BETA-1 and BETA-2. In this study methodology, light stimuli were used for lucid dream induction whereby a sleep mask was equipped with two extra-bright red light-emitting diodes. The stimulus was triggered through pressing a button 7 minutes after each REM onset of eight flashes in 2 seconds (4 Hz) determined by polysomnography. Response was initiated through eye movements such as LR2 ( left-right left-right) in order to indicate lucidity and LR4 (left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right) to indicate a waking state. The subjects were all aware as to what constituted a lucid dream and its volitional control. This was further enhanced by eye signals initiated once a dream state was achieved.   If a response was not initiated, the light stimulus was then re-triggered after each REM onset. If there still was no response, the subjects were then awakened after 30 seconds and asked to record their experience and rate the dream either as lucid or non-lucid. Else, if a subject signaled, the light st imulus was not re-triggered. A false awakening was detected when an LR4 signal was made when the subject was still asleep.  Ã‚   Lucid dreams were hence identified by an LR2 signal visible in polysomnography and an actual account reported by the subject.   Differences between lucid and non-lucid epochs consisting of 7.5-second time units, a discriminant function analysis and MANOVA were carried out. The ANOVA approach was then used to contrast between the onset of lucidity and the non-lucid state.   Findings showed that lucid dreams occurred during periods of increased physiological activation. The essence of the experimental study was to find out on the existence of psychological differences between lucid and non-lucid REM epochs which consisted of various variables: theta power, alpha power, beta-1 power, beta-2 power, total power, heart rate, eye movements and muscular activity (EMG).A discriminant function analysis yielded six variables, splitting the data set with a Canonical Correlation of 0.494 and Chisquare of 10.419. Criteria of non-lucid epochs were the means of the eye movements, total power of the right parietal hemisphere and beta-1 of the right frontal lobe, whereas criteria of lucid epochs were beta-2 and beta-1 of the right parietal lobe and beta-1 of the left frontal lobe. Discriminant function analysis produced a predicted group membership of 69% for non-lucid epochs and 77.8% for lucid ones. (Levitan et al) References Levitan, B. H. Psychophysiological Correlates of Lucid Dreaming. Psychology of Dreams. (2009, October 4). Retrieved November 9, 2010, from Buzzle.com

Is the constant vulnerability and pressure on the U.S. dollar a Dissertation

Is the constant vulnerability and pressure on the U.S. dollar a serious threat to American hegemony and unipolarity as a whole - Dissertation Example For example, in 1995 it was estimated that approximately fifty nine percent (59%) of the total global currency reserve was made up of US dollar (Global currency reserve 2013). In 1998, the US dollar constituted approximately sixty nine percent (69%) of the total global currency reserve, and in 1999 it constituted of approximately seventy one percent (71%) of the total global currency reserve. Global currency reserve (2013) further indicated that in the third quarter of 2012, the US dollar was estimated to constitute an approximate of 62 percent of the global currency reserve. The composition of the other competing currencies such as Euro, Japanese Yuan and Starling Pound are still insignificant when compared to that of the United States dollar (Global currency reserve 2013). For example, the second most commonly used international currency, the Euro, was estimated to constitute 24 percent of the total global currency reserve in the third quarter of 2012 (Global currency reserve 2013) . It has been argued by some economists such as Kirshnars (2012) that this constant fall of value and fluctuations of the United States of America dollar in global market has a serious threat to American hegemony and unipolarity as a whole. ... value of US dollar would deprive United States of America of enjoying the benefits of economic dominance such as ability to finance its trade related deficits. Other than Kirshnars, Clerk is another author who supported the opinion that United States of America will lose its economic and political hegemony as whole due to the current pressures and threats. Goldberg (2010) is another economist who suppported the above mentioned argument. Goldberg (2010) explained that the current pressure would affect international trade and economy of the United States of America as a whole. Even though the Kirshnars, Goldberg and Clerk tried to relate the strength of US dollar with the economic and political dominance of United States of America, the authors failed to explain how the United States rose to this dominance and factors that contributed towards this dominance. Also, the authors failed to explain why economic and political influences of some nations such as China are on the rapid rise reg ardless of the fact that their currencies remain insignificant in terms of global currency reserve. Due to the above mentioned weakness, my opinion as well as argument is contrary to those of Kirshnar, Clerk and Goldberg, and contrary to the argument that the constant vulnerability and pressure on the U.S. dollar may cause a serious threat to American hegemony and unipolarity as a whole. In this regard I am of the view that due to the strength and experience of the United States economy, it will not lose its hegemony as a whole but other contenders may arise such as China and emerging markets. This paper, therefore, aims at supporting the view that due to the strength and experience of the United States economy, it will not lose its hegemony as a whole but other contenders may arise such as

Macro and Micro economics research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macro and Micro economics research - Essay Example Competitors sell products and services of the same description. A public is any group that has a potential interest on the ability of a company to achieve its goals and objectives. Macro environment Macro environment factors are also external to the firm and cannot be controlled. These factors hardly have any effect the marketing capability but affect the decisions of marketing within the company. Macro environmental factors may include the following: Cultural and Social Forces: This idea is considered in marketing literature as a substitute to the concept of marketing. The social forces try to make marketing as a practice that is socially responsible. This implies that companies ought to eradicate products that are socially harmful and only produce what may be valuable to society. Legal and political forces: Development in the legal and political field highly affects the decisions of marketing. Marketing decision may not be taken without considering the political parties in power, g overnmental agencies and laws regarding land. These variables often develop remarkable pressures on management of marketing. Laws often affect promotion and pricing, product design, capability and product capacity. In almost all the countries, the government always intervenes in the process of marketing despite their political beliefs. Demographic forces: In this situation, the marketer examines the population since the people create markets. Economic factors: The economic environment is made up of macro level factors that relate to a distribution and production means that affects the business of a company. Physical forces: These include the renewable and non-renewable resources of the earth. Renewable forces include food products and... Cultural and Social Forces: This idea is considered in marketing literature as a substitute to the concept of marketing. The social forces try to make marketing as a practice that is socially responsible. This implies that companies ought to eradicate products that are socially harmful and only produce what may be valuable to society. Legal and political forces: Development in the legal and political field highly affects the decisions of marketing. Marketing decision may not be taken without considering the political parties in power, governmental agencies and laws regarding land. These variables often develop remarkable pressures on management of marketing. Laws often affect promotion and pricing, product design, capability and product capacity. In almost all the countries, the government always intervenes in the process of marketing despite their political beliefs. Demographic forces: In this situation, the marketer examines the population since the people create markets. Economic factors: The economic environment is made up of macro level factors that relate to a distribution and production means that affects the business of a company. Physical forces: These include the renewable and non-renewable resources of the earth. Renewable forces include food products and the forest. Non-renewable resources include minerals, coal and oil. These components often change the level of resources that are necessary for a marketer.