Poetic Reflections on Mortality and Ephemerality Essay Example for Free

Poetic Reflections on Mortality and Ephemerality Essay Have you ever hypothetically pondered the details of your own fatality? Everyone covets a bit of certainty that not many realities allow, but mortality -while a glum concept- is a definite fate we will all ultimately encounter in our respective lifetimes. â€Å"Nothing is more predictable than death. Each of us will die without any need to take adventuresome risks. † (Kelly, 1986). This is likely the reason prolific poets Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost have created quite similar themed poems using dissimilar imaginative slants in which they optimistically convey the topic of human transience. Death is a disheartening, tragic matter that not very many individuals readily wish to discuss. Because ephemerality is, however, an extremely ordinary notion to countless expressive artists, it is vital to notice the literary elements these renowned authors applied which set such works apart from less potent pieces. The symbolism, tone, assonance, rhythm, and other literary techniques behind the elegies â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† (Frost, 1969) and â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death† (Dickinson, 1893) fervently beg for further exploration. No matter which approach authors apply to such deviations, one truth remains; the amount of life contained in the works by Frost and Dickinson is somewhat ironic to say the least. If you envision the scenery described in literary pieces you read as if you are a participating, fictional character, you exceptionally possess â€Å"The human power that shapes artistic expression † (Clugston, 2010 a). Put in simpler terms, you clearly have a vivid imagination! Prodigious writers can and will effortlessly incorporate such imagery into their work by imploring the implicit values of society and culture(s). Nothing Gold Can Stay† by Robert Frost (1969) is unquestionably far from the exception as he connects the way leaves grow, change, and die to our eventual demise with ease. Frost wrote, â€Å"Natures first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. † (Frost, 1969). With the introduction of this allusive writing technique, he develops a clear yet slightly ambiguous mental picture for his readers to envisage. Of course, we know nature is not a person nor does have hands in which it could literally grasp a color. Hence, the meaning of Robert’s words is symbolic and figurative. Sure, Mr. Frost could very well have written something resembling â€Å"Beings age like leaves change colors. † Instead, this brilliant poet was aware of the fact that generating embodiment versus the aforementioned simile delivers the most enticing reading experience to the audience. In â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death† (Dickinson, 1893), the author similarly dishes out a full serving of powerful metaphors making this another comparable aspect to personification found in Frosts’ poem. At the very beginning, Emily Dickinson refers to unescapable, human cessation as a chivalrous gentleman when she states, â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me;† (Dickinson, 1893). The author is actually being extremely facetious as a deliberate, artistic maneuver in order to give life to the darkest of subjects. She selects to represent passing away in a more graceful process. It is a steady flowing motif continuing throughout the body of this work to form a concise, elucidating theme. From centuries beyond the grave, the narrator describes the peaceful process of her passing, in which Death is personified and escorts her in his carriage. During the leisurely ride, she passes many ordinary sights: a school house, fieldsbut finally realizes that the ride will last for all eternity. † (Chen Aull, 1993). Dickinson’s apparent intention in this poem is depiction via exemplification. Her language is a quintessential representation of an all egory with more thought provocation than verity. Again, readers should prepare themselves to observe a nonliteral or rhetorical scenario and focus on ascertaining the seriousness hidden behind a much more abstract meaning. Symbolism is another conceptualized, literary element featured in both stories despite being more prevalent in â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† (Frost, 1969). Frost used the typical colors of nature (green and gold) imply symbols of spring, that progress as the remaining cycles of nature seasonally occur. Furthermore, he hints at a deeper meaning behind death— a period of transformational change. In order to appreciate this impression, â€Å"Recall Socratess argument: ‘the state of death is one of two things: either the dead man wholly ceases to be and loses all consciousness or, as we are told, it is change and a migration of the soul to another place’. † (Deppman, 2000). He picked the color gold to symbolize the fragility and eventual insignificance of even our most valuable physical and emotional possessions. By his statement, â€Å"Then leaf subsides to leaf, So, Eden sank to grief. † (Frost, 1969), Frost selects to demonstrate the sorrow felt after loss of life as well as depicting an analogous allusion to the biblical Creation story. Whereas in â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death† (1893), Emily Dickinson poses a more unconventional attitude toward her own demise. In lines five through eight, she writes, â€Å"We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away, My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. † (Dickinson, 1893). When the speaker refers to ‘his’ â€Å"kindness† and â€Å"civility†, she is articulating death as a slow, patient, and compassionate. â€Å"She progresses from childhood, maturity (the gazing grain is ripe) and the setting (dying) sun to her grave. The children are presented as active in their leisure (strove). The images of children and grain suggest futurity, that is, they have a future; they also depict the progress of human life. † (Unknown Author, 2009). Thus, the carriage ride actually symbolizes the act of abandoning her life and the memories it contained. She humbly revers death as the calm, quiet finally of incarnation. Dickinson even insinuated the harsh reality of visiting of her own grave when she wrote, â€Å"We paused before a house that seemed, A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound. (Dickinson, 1893). Aging to the point of loss of life does remain the central theme inside both poems, but representations are a tad more distinct in Frosts’ than in Dickinson’s symbolic approach. Have you ever witnessed one’s mood shift completely? Authors generally try to maintain the same theme throughout one work. It is equally as important to discern the how t he author’s tones contribute to the clarity of each piece. Sometimes, whether done by the author accidentally or with intent, we observe a change in the mood(s) of a motif. While Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost mutually demonstrate the qualities of human temporariness, their tones are also diverse. By writing, â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† (Frost, 1969), the permanent state of leaving this world is denoted in a matter of fact way. Frost does not truly elude to his personal outlook on an afterlife, but focuses more on the cycle of life itself. Dickinson not only utilizes the same facet, but also takes it a step further when she states, â€Å"Since then tis centuries, and yet each, Feels shorter than the day I first surmised the horses heads, Were toward eternity. (Dickinson, 1893). She began her countenance with succinct tenor that later becomes a bit clouded. Dickinson’s audience receives a definite resolve rather than experiencing the need to imply ideals she holds about her faith. Each of these poems is incredibly whimsical, but Frost concisely manipulates the setting of nature giving his work the currency of application to any period i n time. Sound patterns are another inspired technique both composers have exposed us to in the intricacy of their work. We automatically follow the rhythm these superb authors display. For instance, Frost uses alliteration in â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† when he writes, â€Å"So dawn goes down to day. † (Frost, 1969). The repetition of words that begin with a â€Å"d† is a strategy meant to make the thought stronger and more emphatic for readers. His rhyme scheme is comprised of modest, consonant couplets (non-alternating). Dickinson actually used the complete opposite effect. In her poem â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death† (Dickinson, 1893), she integrated the repetition of vowel sounds by presenting an alternating pattern of words known as assonance. Again, an example is unmistakable in the lines, â€Å"We slowly drove, he knew no haste, And I had put away, My labor, and my leisure too, For his civility. † (Dickinson, 1893) and more specifically the poetic harmony of the words â€Å"away† and â€Å"civility. † With the rhythm in this poem, there is rhyme, but it has a much greater reliance on pronunciation. She may have started a trend in literature as, â€Å"Assonance is frequently substituted for end rhymes in modern poetry. † (Clugston, 2010 b). The authoring style Frost exercised was extra simplistic, yet multidimensional as well. Is it not an astounding conception to think of the distinguished artistry that must have went into two ostensibly austere compositions about the matching theme of impermanence? The fact that we cannot artlessly disregard the scholarly adeptness and literate gifts of Dickinson and Frost is surpasses distinction. Even more significant than the expiry themes both versifiers applied is the presence of underlying secondary themes. Frost hints life as being â€Å"golden,† leading one to surmise he is ‘saying’ to â€Å"Carpe Diem† or â€Å"Enjoy the day. (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2010). Therein, he selects to show life has precious intrinsic worth. Even though there are purity and a biblical reference in Frost’s â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† (1969), his nature theme additionally highlights environmental/scientific characteristics. Syntax expended by Dickinson in â€Å"Because I could not stop for death† (Dickinson, 1893), in fact, alludes to a compassion and sympathy being felt for the persona. A prime example is her statement, â€Å"The carriage held but just ourselves, And Immortality. † (Dickinson, 1893). If the dramatic concentration of this author was to deliver a graceful reflection on her evolution, she was unequivocally efficacious. Some find it helpful to get an outsider’s opinion of the depressing conversational topic of human immortality. While our passing lingers as a fully common subject for individuals to contemplate spiritual principles, authors have written pieces that include a plethora of other beneficial notions worth uncovering. â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death† (Dickinson, 1893) is exquisitely illustrated by Emily Dickinson and venerated as an allegoric requiem with assonance that produced solid imagery. Likewise, Robert Frost impeccably regulated â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† (Frost, 1969) to communicate symbolism with a classic form of consonance that is painless to identify. Both literature icons fine-tuned those components with figures of speech, personification, and tone and themes, rhyme schemes, and other literary techniques all requiring immense, prior critical thought in â€Å"Nothing Gold Can Stay† (Frost, 1969) and â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death† (Dickinson, 1893). They expel an aura of chirpiness that renders as a refreshing and unique outlook encompassed in positivity. These poetic mavens wanted their audience(s) to derive a deeper message about making the most of our lives. Two notorious, inspirational pieces of literature are calling upon us to take some risks and make an impression before we take our last breathe.

Sox Key Main Aspects for a Regulatory Environment Essay Example for Free

Sox Key Main Aspects for a Regulatory Environment Essay Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in 2002 by former president George Bush. Essentially to combat the Enron crisis. The Sox Act basically has regulatory control and creates an enviroment that is looking out for the public. Ideally this regulatory environment protects the public from fraud within corporations. Understanding, that while having this regulatory control at times the Sox requirements need to be tweaked or amended. Not only now but in the future as well. The main aspects of the Sox act are essentially looking out for our welfare as a consumer. Our government has the obligation to regulate and facilitate any rules to enforce with a corporation to protect the American people. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 came into its own in the summer of 2002. The act got its name from Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Michael Oxley. Essentially these two gentlemen were the founding fathers of this act. They set up the framework for compliance and regulatory controls. The Sox is formatted with 11 different titles, however for compliance regulations there are six important sections. These sections are; 302,401,404,409,802, and 906. Each one of these is the backbone of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. One section in particular is a key component to hold corporations accountable; that would be section 302 of the Sox act. Essentially making both the CEO and CFO sign off on all financial documents. This is huge for any company. The reason being it holds people accountable, which in any business is essential for its own sustainable success. If the CEO has to review every financial document and essentially is putting his career on the line and to avoid a jail term. Each financial document is going to be scrutinized by him before he signs off of the financials. Another important article of the six is section 401 of the Sox act. This act pertains to financial disclosers, and to make sure each one of these are accurate and has no mistakes or errors. Essentially everything needs to be documented and accounted for. Basically another check and balance to assure that the financials are done right and the people doing them are held accountable. Article 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley act is another article that is a huge key in regulatory compliance. This article is defined as Assessment of Internal controls. Essentially making companies or corporations publish information about their controls and procedures for financial reporting. Article 409 is another key component to the Sox act. This article is defined by Real Time Issuer disclosures. Essentially a company or corporation is required to disclose portent financial information to the public if there is a sudden change to their financial condition or something within the operational realm. Also when this is disclosed it has to be done in layman terms for everyone to understand. Another key step in holding people accountable and regulating companies or corporations. The one article that everyone will pay attention too is section 802. This is the criminal penalty section. This section is defined by Criminal Penalties for altering documents. Essentially stating that any destruction, falsifying or hiding and not disclosing any financial information is punishable by a 20-year prison sentence, fines and various penalties. Another step of accountability in relation to section 302; a CEO is subjected to these terms and does so willingly when he signs financial documents. Another check in the system is the accountant who is providing the CEO with these documents is also held accountable by a 10-year prison term. This is great for accountability within an organization. Now the question would be for the future can the Sarbanes-Oxley Act work? And what are the ramifications in a long-term projection? In some ways I feel this act could be sustainable in a long-term scope to keep companies  and corporations in check. However I think this was created after the Enron situation and purely done because of that. Our government instead of being proactive was reactive and came up with this act for pure necessity and panic and public outcry. However even if that’s the case, this did at least set a framework and accountability for companies and corporations. Going forward this has worked for at least 10 years or so, however it should ratified to more current times and situations. Clayton Brite tends to agree with me; â€Å"When looking back upon the first ten years of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, one can only conclude that it has placed an undue burden our public companies and stifled our economic growth. The Act’s costs have greatly outweighed its benefits and thus needs reformed. Its effects have been perhaps more pronounced by the current financial crisis and the slow economic recovery. It is my opinion that lawmakers felt the pressure to punish corporate Americans when they should have focused their attention on trying to reduce information asymmetry. Sarbanes-Oxley was written and passed within one month in 2002. With the empirical evidence we have now in its first decade of existence, it is time to go back and reform Sarbanes-Oxley and ease some of the burdens it has placed on companies which fall under its punitive purview, (Brite, 2013)†. So essentially I feel this act is not going away. I like the act and the fact people are held accountable for their actions. I like the sign off by the CEO and how they are held accountable as well. I think in some respects the Sox at should be modified and possibly have harsher penalties applied to assure that Enron will never happen again. We shall see moving forward! References Addison-Hewitt Associates. (2006). A Guide To The Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Retrieved from http://www.soxlaw.com/ Investopedia ,(2014). Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002-SOX. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/ Rouse, Margret. (2007). Definition of Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Retrieved from http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/Sarbanes-Oxley-Act Brite, Clayton. (2013). Is Sarbanes-Oxley A Failing Law? University of Chicago Undergraduate Law Review. Retrieved from; http://uculr.com/articles/2013/6/30/is-sarbanes-oxley-a-failing-law

Abortion pro life vs pro choice

Abortion pro life vs pro choice Pro-life vs. pro-choice is a nasty debate that doesnt seem to have many answers. There are many questions and facts to back up both sides of the argument. Some people say abortion is a womens rights issue. Other people say its an issue of morality, and still others an issue of just being right. The issue of abortion rights is an opinionated controversy in public life. Every person has an opinion about abortion rights, and it seems that a moral objective has become divided into two different arenas-social issues vs. religious issues, with the Church and the politicians in the direct line of fire. On one side of the abortion rights debate are the pro-life proponents. In the United States, the position of most Christian churches is that the Church has something to say about public life and the good society. The primary involvement of the U.S. Catholic bishops in public life in the last decade focused on abortion. The movement is not flexible, and while the movement recognizes that some women might not be ready to become mothers, pro-life supporters offer women a chance to give up their babies or offer support services. The pro-life movement is simple: abortion is murder and murder is bad. Pro-lifers measure life as beginning at the moment of conception. Anything which may disrupt a pregnancy (including birth control) is wrong. On the surface, the pro-life movement seems to impact the reproductive rights of women-because it does. While Roe vs. Wade 1973 allows women the right to choose to have elective abortions, pro-life supporters believe that the law abortion 3 should stop this from happening. Pro-lifers believe that all abortions are wrong and that every baby should have a chance to be born. The pro-life movement gave rise in the sixties. The proponents maintain that the fetus is alive and human. They believe that the unborn fetus is a person and physically independent, and as a person, the fetus has human rights. Pro-life believers agree that killing an unborn fetus is murder. There appears to be a competition between the U.S. Catholic and American politics. The bishops describe abortion and euthanasia as pre-eminent threats to human dignity because they directly attack life itself. The bishops declare that killing an unborn child is evil and to make such an evil action legal is wrong. Their opposition to legal abortion is the primary social issue. The Churchs teaching that direct abortion is morally wrong has become a tradition in the Church itself-the Church teaches that abortion is not only morally wrong, it is murder. Pro-lifers argue for the rights of unborn fetuses. Catholic moral teaching is based on the dignity of the human person, and the principles based on this foundation of human dignity apply across the board to all life issues. Abortion is now the fundamental human rights issue of today. The outcome of the debate between pro-choice and pro-life opponents needs to be politically correct and morally right. Pro-life and pro-choice are terms of political framing. The Catholic Church does not give women a personal choice in the abortion issue. Abortion is murder and pro-life is anti-abortion. The end abortion 4 result could possibly be that the U.S. bishops and the American politicians will both win their side of the controversy at hand: the social issue and the religious issue of abortion rights will not be morally right, and abortion will not be legal. In the argument for pro-choice, those who want women to have the choice whether or not to have an abortion, the debate does not discuss whether life begins at fertilization. The argument in pro-choice is not necessarily that all women should HAVE abortions, but that women should have the CHOICE whether or not to have one. Pro-choice is a middle ground; anti-choice is forced motherhood. Pro-choice supporters believe abortion should be settled privately between a woman and her doctor. Pro-choice is not pro-abortion. Supporters include those who are personally against abortion, but who do not impose their viewpoint on all women. The pro-choice movement does not advocate abortion over birth-it simply defends the right of women to decide for themselves. The pro-choice believers support and work towards preventing unwanted pregnancies, reducing abortion, promoting contraception, educating women and youth, and ensuring that families have the necessary resources to raise healthy happy children. Abortion clinics and hospitals follow proper protocol for abortion. These clinics must provide full information on the risks and side effects and procedures. They must allow a woman to view the embryo, inform her if there are twins, and provide fetal development photos. All women are counseled on birth control, and counselors offer non-judgmental options to the women. abortion 5 Most women have already made up their minds to have abortions when they visit an abortion clinic, yet 1 to 5% change their minds after counseling. Clinic counselors clear up womens anxieties and fears about abortion. An abortion clinic counselor saves far more unborn babies in a year than an anti-abortion picketer saves in a lifetime. The pro-choice movement and abortion providers are in the business of protecting and respecting womens rights, their moral autonomy, and their choices. They want every woman to be willing and every child to be wanted. Pro-woman, pro-child, pro-family, and pro-life in the true sense of that term. The movement struggles alone in efforts to decrease the need for abortions. Anti-choice opposes contraception and sexual education-a possible return to illegal unsafe abortions. Legal safe abortion is a matter of fundamental rights for women BECAUSE LAWS AGAINST ABORTION DONT STOP ABORTION. Pro-choice supporters do not want to debate with those who wish to strip women of their rights. In my opinion, the moral issue has been transferred from Church to state. Pro-life is a struggle between what is politically correct and morality. Both the pro-life and pro-choice movements have become a moral and political debate between the Church and the lawmakers and work toward their own desires and goals. The Catholic Church says that killing an unborn child is evil and to make such abortion 6 an action legal is wrong. The Church interprets abortion as killing and teaches that killing is a mortal sin. I question where the interpretation comes from: the Bible? The Ten Commandments? The Vatican? The Church thinks that abortion is a threat to human dignity because it directly attacks life itself. The moral issue of abortion becomes a social issue because of the Churchs opposition to legal abortion. They are saying that the act of making an abortion legal is wrong. Its almost like blaming the lawmakers for the sin of abortion. Then, they want the law to enforce their teachings. The abortion issue is not whether a woman is committing a sin by having an abortion, its who is legally responsible for her decision and the outcome. A woman should have the rightful freedom to believe what she wants to believe, and her sin (if it is a sin), is between her and God-not the Church, and not the law. The Church does not give women a personal choice in the abortion choice, therefore, they are taking away their fundamental human rights. I am not going to debate whether pro-life issues are correct or false, but rather, try to understand what pro-life is, what it means, and why its still being argued as the right way. On the other hand, the pro-choice movement is an ethical view that women should have the choice to continue or terminate a pregnancy. If abortion is not legal, women will return to illegal unsafe abortions. I believer that a woman should have the RIGHT to choose what to do with her body, and at the same time, I support the teachings of the Catholic Church that abortion is morally wrong. Abortion is a moral choice for any woman wishing to abortion 7 control her body-and this should be a certain unalienable right. If I were attempting to exercise my right of choice to have or not have an abortion, I would need to ask myself the following questions: -Is the fetus alive? Of course. Its a biological mechanism-a genesis of new life. But it does not have human rights-including the right to be aborted during its gestation. -Is it human? Yes-a human being in an early stage of development-not with full human rights. -Is it a person? No-just a potential person. -Is it physically independent? No-absolutely dependent on another human being for its continued existence. -Does it have human rights? Yes and no. Not before birth. -Is abortion murder? No-its not an independent person. While I support the teachings of the Church, I believe that a women should have the right to choose what to do with her body. The pro-choice movement wants every woman to be willing and every child to be wanted. Pro-woman, pro-child, pro-family, and pro-life in the true sense of that term. No one has the right answer, but no one has the wrong answer either. Although the woman always has the right to choose, the pro-life movement makes some good points any scared and single mother might want to consider. As for my feelings, I believe that abortion is a private issue-an issue that abortion 8 should be between a woman and God. I believe the Churchs teaching that God gave me free will to make my own decisions. I think that the pro-choice movement struggles alone in its efforts to decrease the need for abortion. Legal safe abortion is a matter of fundamental rights for women because LAWS AGAINST ABORTION DONT STOP ABORTION. Pro-life vs. pro-choice is a vicious debate that doesnt seem to have many answers. Some people say abortion is a womens rights issue. Other people say its an issue of morality, and still other an issue of just being right. abortion 9

Jack Roosevelt (Jackie) Robinson Essay -- Biography Robinson Baseball

Jack Roosevelt (Jackie) Robinson He was the first black person to ever be at bat in the Major Leagues, and made his name famous. But now, everyone seems to have forgotten this great legend. So I hope that this will refresh your memory, had if you’ve never heard of him this is what happened in his life: Born on January 31 1919 in Cairo Ga., Jack Roosevelt (Jackie) Robinson, he was raised on the Sasser Plantation. He grew up without a father who left for Florida with another mans wife, leaving his real wife (Mallie Robinson) to raise five kids: Mack, Jack, Edgar, Willa Mae, and Franck, on her own. After his father left Jack’s family became poor and had to live in a cabin. Soon after that, in 1920, Mallie sold a few of her family’s things and the family boarded a train to California. They bought a house on Pepper Street in Pasadena. As child, Jackie enjoyed sports as much as the next kid did. Just before he started school, he became ill with Diphtheria and almost died! He was an average student at his school, in the playground he realized that his amazing talent in sports made him stand made him stand out. More than once he came home with a pocket full of change or an extra lunch, because the kids bribed him into playing on their team. But his childhood wasn’t all-good, because all of his friendships ended after each game. Lucky for him he had four siblings to spend time with, who were all great athletes, including Willa Mae who was amazing at basketball. He also had some immigrant friends who called themselves "The Pepper Street Gang". Together they challenged white groups in sports for money. Jack’s skills bloomed all the way through grade school and into high school. At Washington Junior High Scholl, he played basketball, baseball, football, and track, leading his team for each sport. They made it to many of the championships to. Jack’s significant Atlanta exploded when he entered Muir Technical High School. He excelled at every thing. He became faster, and more agile making the football, baseball, basketball, and track teams. As for baseball, Jackie played catcher, even earned a spot on the state All Star team. Despite all that, baseball was his least favorite sport, and which gave him the most difficulty later on. During his senior years at Muir, Jack’s life wasn’t the best. At his last football game he was injur... ...Jack’s hard work, dedication, and love for the sport paid of when he won the MVP and "Rookie of the year" award with a batting average of .297, 125 and a record setting 29 stolen bases. That year he made the black people proud, and paved the way for current stars like Michael Jordan, Joe Carter, and others. Soon Jackie got married to Rachel Isum (whom he met at UCLA and by 1950 they had 2 kids Jackie Jr., and Sharon.) Jackie was soon the target of most commercial offers. He had his own game, stared in the movie, "The Jackie Robinson Story", and even had his own 15minute TV show, "Jackie Robinson’s Sports Classroom." He continued his career, and won many awards like the silver bat or the golden shoe award for best athlete. He ended his career in1956 with a batting average of .311 and by all. He made many public appearances, including his last one on October 15 1972. Jackie Robinson died 12 days later on October 27 1972. He won many awards and still had to put up with lots of abuse. But he was the best he could be. In conclusion I would like to quote Jackie by saying: "I was a black man in a white mans world. I never had it made."

Understanding French Opposition :: Economics Diplomats War in Iraq France Essays

Understanding French Opposition This essay examines the nature of French opposition to the US-led war in Iraq. In recent months this opposition has reinforced many of the negative stereotypes Americans associate with Frenchmen, and boycotts of French wines and â€Å"French† fries are now commonplace in the United States. However, writing the French off as â€Å"cowards† or â€Å"appeasers† is not only misguided but also fails to consider the complex nature of French opposition. Although inextricably linked, the opposition put forth by the French people is not the same as the opposition directed by the French government. Nonetheless, French President Jacques Chirac and other Gaullist politicians have used the popular opposition to further and justify their own agenda. While the apprehensions of the French people are largely understandable—as their attitudes are a reflection of their tumultuous and bloody past, the motivations behind France’s political actors are not so obvious and are founded in the economic realities and diplomatic-power struggles of the twenty-first century. Despite what some Americans may argue, the French are not fundamentally opposed to war. In fact France’s readiness to use ground support in both Kosovo and Bosnia outweighed that of the United States. Consequently, in October of 2001, nearly a month after September 11th, France’s popular backing of the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan was seventy-three percent in favor—the highest among Europe’s largest states. The French recognized the security threat posed by al Qaeda and the Taliban and clearly saw the connection between September 11th and the al Qaeda masterminds. Their support ran afoul only when the US tried connecting the dots between September 11th and Iraq. To say the French are opposed to war or are against fighting terrorism is both inaccurate and inflammatory. The French know first hand the implications of Islamic jihad-driven terrorism, as they have been the target of more terrorist attacks than any other European nation during t he last century. The scars of French colonialism in North Africa—particularly in Algeria—are still raw in the minds of many Muslims, and it is this resentment and antipathy that the French fear as the US wages a war in Iraq. The French worry that the short-term military and strategic victories made in Iraq will only breed more contempt and mistrust toward the US—the very â€Å"terrorist roots† that the US is aiming to destroy.

Creating a Prototype Security Gate with Lego Mindstorm Essay examples -

SECURITY GATE Abstract: For many years many people have used security gates to take care of parking lots, buildings, and roads. It all started with people watching over restricted areas. Nowadays, we have a more sophisticated system for security gates. You usually have to stop and put a card into the machine or pay a certain amount of money. The problem is that you must stop and reach out to insert something in order for the crane arm to lift up. We have thought of an idea to improve this current procedure. We have thought of installing a special code or device in cars so that every time it stands in a security gate, it sends a code to the security gate, and if it’s the right code, allow the car in. Using Lego Mindstorm, we made a prototype of such a car. We downloaded a NQC code into the RCX of the car(s) and security gate. The NQC will only let the car with the right code in, but it will sound an alarm for all the cars that do not have the correct code. This will keep everything safer, make the procedure faster, and hopefully make everything easier for everyone. Background: Security gates were invented a long time ago. It even surprised us when we read the article, â€Å"Toll Roads in the United States† on Wikipedia and found out that they started to come out in the 1790’s. Security gates are also known as turnpikes, toll roads, and toll pikes. Years ago, people would stand in a certain place on a road and collect fees from people who used that particular road. After several individuals noticed that a lot of people were doing this to get money, they eventually got together to from companies. These companies used the money to improve the roads instead of collecting the money and keeping it to themselves. The... ... SendMessage(3); ClearMessage(); Wait(1); } */ SendMessage(3); Wait(1); SendMessage(3); PlayTone(1800, 200); On(LEFT+RIGHT); Wait(200); find(); follow(); } } Rejected Car: //motors and sensors #define LEFT OUT_A #define RIGHT OUT_C #define EYE SENSOR_2 //threshold #define BLACK_LIGHT 34 #define BLACK_DARK 38 task main() { SetTxPower(TX_POWER_HI); SetPower(LEFT+RIGHT, 1); SetSensor(EYE, SENSOR_LIGHT); On(LEFT+RIGHT); Fwd(LEFT+RIGHT); until(EYE>BLACK_LIGHT && EYE Wait(8); Off(LEFT+RIGHT); ClearMessage(); repeat(10) { SendMessage(4); } until(Message() !=0); //ClearMessage(); //until(Message() !=0); if(Message() == 5) { Wait(120); On(LEFT+RIGHT); Rev(LEFT+RIGHT); Wait(120); SetPower(LEFT+RIGHT, 7); Fwd(LEFT); Rev(RIGHT); Wait(95); SetPower(LEFT+RIGHT, 1); Fwd(LEFT+RIGHT); Wait(100); Off(LEFT+RIGHT); } }

Examination Is Good or Bad for Students Essay

The news that mid-term exams have been cancelled in some primary schools recently has sparked quite a few controversies. Some people regard it as a big step in educational reform, while others question whether it is on the right track. Parents, teachers and students, the three parts involved, have all reacted a little bit pessimistically toward the new policy. Parents, always busy working to support their families, feel that they are losing an important quantified judgment for their children’s behaviour or performance at school and are more worried than relaxed about their children’s increased spare time. Most of them, I believe, prefer bookworms to idlers or addicts. Some parents have decided to pay more for after-school classes. Teachers, whose feet have been bound for a long time in teaching children, are beginning to lose their last control over the already spoilt students. How to check the teaching and learning effect? How to communicate with parents? How to keep students working hard to get good marks in the later, more important exams? Furthermore, maintaining their full work load, they are required to squeeze more of their meagre spare time to prepare additional lessons for â€Å"quality education†. On the other hand, the suddenly liberated students have to find ways to fill their time. They delay homework and sometimes become addicted to computer games or just wander the streets. Adopting a bad habit is much easier than forming a good one. Objectively, the exam itself is not bad. It is a most effective measure of a student’s knowledge, performance and ability. But people have made it into a disaster. Since when was our education caught in such a vicious circle? Textbooks have remained unchanged for many years and have become purely ornamental, while exam questions are changed from year to year. The only way to do this is to use more and more tricky questions. In fact, what we test our students on is much more difficult than what textbooks teach. To satisfy real needs, both teachers and students choose to be drowned in a sea of exercises and exams. On the other hand, years of cramming miscellaneous rules, formulae and information may have strengthened our students’ ability to imitate, memorize and take exams, but at the cost of their initiative and creativity, two of the most important qualities that a student should possess. That may well answer the question why there is no Nobel-prize winner in China. I interpret the purposes of abandoning these exams as follows: First, it is to answer the call of reducing students’ heavy burdens in their studies and return to them their happy childhood. For years, we have been appealing for students to be freed from mountains of homework and extra classes, to no avail. Students have to do that! Only through immersion in all kinds of exercises and classes can most of them get comparatively satisfying results in various exams. Therefore, the cancellation of exams is intended to remove a root cause of students’ toil and give them more play time. Second, it is to help relieve students of great pressure and protect their self-esteem. In fact, what frightens students are not exams, but the tremendous strain and high expectations behind them. Exams divide students into â€Å"good† and â€Å"bad†, leading some of them to a paradise of beautiful flowers and sweet compliments and others to a hell of bitter criticisms and severe punishments. Exams often bring parents ecstasy or plunge them into the abyss of misery. Exams determine students’ futures and are a crystallization of a single person’s success or failure and a whole family’s hope or disillusionment. Since their first school day, students have been preparing for a diversified exam. For that reason, the cancellation of exams seems to save most families from suffering. But I doubt whether the benefits could be realized – mid-term exams in primary schools are only one minor link in a whole chain of exams. Will all these exams, eg. inal-term exams, Secondary School Entrance Exams, College Entrance Exams, and broad after-school exams for certificates in social achievement be called off too? If not, students dare not shrug away their shackles and their fragile self-esteem will not last for long and their happiness is doomed to be temporary. On the other hand, if a student’s self-esteem totally depends on the cancellation of exams, it would be too weak to protect. Our society is neither an ivory tower nor a haven of peace. It is full of competition and struggles. Setbacks are inevitable and we need them to temper ourselves. Don’t be misunderstanding. I am not an exam advocator. The exam-oriented education stifles teachers as it does students. What I mean is that we cannot solve a problem by taking only a stopgap measure. The root cause lies not in exams, but in the whole educational system. The first thing we should do is to change our inherent educational ideas of talent cultivation and create an active, healthy environment of teaching and learning. It will be a long way. What we need is not the cancellation of a single exam, but an earthquake in our education.