The Return: Nightfall Chapter 36

Elena had been waiting in her tree. It wasn't, as a matter of fact, all that different from her six months in the spirit world, where she had spent most of her time watching other people, and waiting, and watching them some more. Those months had taught her a patient alertness that would have astounded anyone who knew the old, wildfire Elena. Of course, the old, wildfire Elena was still inside her, too, and occasionally it rebelled. As far as she could see, nothing was happening in the dark boardinghouse. Only the moon seemed to move, creeping slowly higher into the sky. Damon said this Shinichi had a thing about 4:44 in the morning or evening, she thought. Maybe this Black Magic was working to a different schedule than any she'd heard of. In any case, it was for Stefan. And as soon as she thought that she knew that she would wait here for days, if that's what it took. She could certainly wait until daybreak, when no self-respecting Black Magic-worker would ever thing of beginning a ceremony. And, in the end, what she was waiting for came to rest right below her feet. First came the figures, walking sedately out of the Old Wood and toward the gravel pathways of the boardinghouse. They weren't hard to identify, even at long range. One was Damon, who had aje ne sais quois about him that Elena couldn't miss at a quarter of a mile – and then again there was his aura, which was a very good facsimile of his old aura: that unreadable, un-breachable ball of black stone. Avery good imitation, in fact. Actually, it was almost exactly like the one†¦ It was then, Elena later realized, that she felt her very first qualm. But right now she was so caught up in the moment that she brushed the uneasy thought away. The one with the deep gray aura with crimson flashes would be Shinichi, she guessed. And the one with the same aura as the possessed girls: a sort of muddy color slashed with orange must be the twin sister Misao. Only those two, Shinichi and Misao, were holding hands, even occasionally nuzzling each other – as Elena could see as they came up close to the boardinghouse. They certainly weren't acting like any brother and sister that Elena had seen. Moreover, Damon was carrying a mostly-naked girl over his shoulder, and Elena couldn't imagine who that might be. Patience,she thought to herself.Patience. The major players are here at last, just as Damon promised they would be. And the minor players†¦ Well, first, following Damon and his group were three little girls. She recognized Tami Bryce instantly from her aura, but the other two were strangers. They hopped, skipped, andfrisked out of the Wood and to the boardinghouse, where Damon said something to them and they came around to sit in Mrs. Flowers' kitchen garden, almost directly below Elena. One look at the auras of the strange girls was enough to identify them as more of Misao's pets. Then, up the driveway came a very familiar car – it belonged to Caroline's mother. Caroline stepped out of it and was helped into the boardinghouse by Damon, who had done something – Elena had missed what – with his burden. Elena rejoiced as she saw lights coming on as Damon and his three guests traveled up the boardinghouse, lighting their way as they went. They came out on the very top, standing in a row on the widow's walk, looking down. Damon snapped his fingers, and the backyard lights went on as if it were a cue for a show. But Elena didn't see the actors – the victims of the ceremony that was about to begin, until just then. They were being herded around the far corner of the boardinghouse. She could see them all: Matt and Meredith and Bonnie, and Mrs. Flowers and, strangely, old Dr. Alpert. What Elena didn't understand was why they weren't fighting harder – Bonnie was certainly making enough noise for all of them, but they acted as if they were being pushed forward against their will. That was when she saw the looming darkness behind them. Huge dark shadows, with no features that she could identify. It was at that point that Elena realized, even over Bonnie's yelling, if she held herself still inside and focused hard enough, she could hear what everyone on the widow's walk was saying. And Misao's shrill voice cut through the rest. â€Å"Oh lucky! We got all of them back,† she squealed, and kissed her brother's cheek, despite his brief look of annoyance. â€Å"Of course we did. I said so,† he was beginning, when Misao squealed once more. â€Å"But which of them do we start with?† She kissed her brother and he stroked her hair, relenting. â€Å"You pick the first one,† he said. â€Å"You darling,† Misao cooed shamelessly. These two, Elena thought, are real charmers. Twins, huh? â€Å"The little noisy one,† Shinichi said firmly, pointing to Bonnie. â€Å"Urusei, brat! Shut up!† he added as Bonnie was pushed or carried forward by the shadows. Now Elena could see her more clearly. And she could hear Bonnie's heartrending pleas to Damon not to do this to†¦the others. â€Å"I'm not begging for myself,† she cried, as she was dragged into the light. â€Å"But Dr. Alpert is a good woman; she has nothing to do with this. Neither does Mrs. Flowers. And Meredith and Matt have already suffered enough.Please! â€Å" There was a ragged chorus of sound as the others apparently tried to fight and were subdued. But Matt's voice rose above it all. â€Å"You touch her, Salvatore, and you'd better make damn sure you kill me, too!† Elena's heart jerked as she heard Matt's voice sounding so strong and well. She'd found him at last, but she couldn't think of a way to save him. â€Å"And then we have to decide what to do with them to start with,† Misao said, clapping like a happy child at her birthday party. â€Å"Take your pick.† Shinichi caressed his sister's hair and whispered into her ear. She turned and kissed him on the mouth. Not hastily, either. â€Å"What the – what's going on?† Caroline said. She had never been shy, that one, Elena thought. Now she had moved forward to cling to Shinichi's unoccupied hand. For just an instant, Elena thought he would throw her off the widow's walk and watch her plunge to the ground. Then he turned, and he and Misao stared at each other. Then he laughed. â€Å"Sorry, sorry, it's so hard when you're the life of the party,† he said. â€Å"Well, what do you think, Carolyn – Caroline?† Caroline was staring at him. â€Å"Why's she holding you that way?† â€Å"In theShi no Shi , sisters are precious,† Shinichi said. â€Å"And†¦well, I haven't seen her in a long time. We're getting reacquainted.† But the kiss he planted on Misao's palm was hardly brotherly. â€Å"Go on,† he added quickly, to Caroline. â€Å"You choose the first act in the Moonspire Festival! What shall we do with her?† Caroline began to imitate Misao, kissing Shinichi's cheek and ear. â€Å"I'm new here,† she said flirtatiously. â€Å"I don't really know what you want me to pick.† â€Å"Silly Caroline. Naturally, how she di – † Shinichi was suddenly smothered by a great hug and kiss from his sister. Caroline, who had obviously wanted the attention of choice put to her, even if she didn't understand the subject, said huffily, â€Å"Well, if you don't tell me, I can't choose. And anyway, where's Elena? I don't see her anywhere!† She seemed about to say more when Damon glided over and whispered in her ear. Then she smiled again, and they both looked at the pine trees surrounding the boardinghouse. That was when Elena had her second qualm. But Misao was already speaking and that required Elena's full attention. â€Å"Lucky! Then I'll pick.† Misao leaned forward, peeking over the edge of the roof at the humans below, her dark eyes wide, summing up the possibilities in what looked like a barren clearing. She was so delicate, so graceful as she got up to pace and think; her skin was so fair, and her hair so glossy and dark that even Elena couldn't take her eyes off her. Then Misao's face lit up and she spoke. â€Å"Spread her on the altar. You brought some of your half-breeds?† The last was not so much a question as an excited exclamation. â€Å"My experiments? Of course, darling. I told you so,† Shinichi replied and added, staring into the forest, â€Å"Two of you – er, men – and Old Faithful!† And he snapped his fingers. There were several minutes of confusion during which the humans around Bonnie were struck, kicked, thrown to the ground, trampled on, and crushed as they fought with the shadows. And then the things that had shambled forward before, shambled farther forward with Bonnie held in between them, dangling limply from each by a slim arm. The half-breeds were something like men and something like trees with all the leaves stripped off them. If they had beenmade , it looked as if they had been made specifically to be grotesque and asymmetrical. One had a crooked, knobby left arm that reached almost to its feet, and a right arm that was thick, lumpy, and only waist-high. They were hideous. Their skin was similar to the chitin-like skin of the insects, but much bumpier, with knotholes and burls and all the outward aspects of bark on their branches. They had a shaggy, unfinished look in places. They were terrifying. The way their limbs were twisted; the way they walked, shambling forward like apes, the way their bodies ended on top with treelike caricatures of human faces, surmounted by a tangle of thinner branches sticking out at odd angles – they were calculated to look like creatures of nightmare. And they were naked. They had nothing in place of clothes to disguise the ghastly deformities of their bodies. And then Elena really knew what terror meant, as the two shambling malach carried the limp Bonnie to a sort of roughly hewn stump of tree like an altar, laid her on it and began to pluck at the many layers of her clothing, clumsily, pulling at them with sticklike fingers that broke off with little crackling sounds even as cloth tore. They didn't seem to care that they broke their fingers off – as long as they accomplished their task. And then they were using bits of torn cloth, even more clumsily, to tie Bonnie, spread-eagled, to four knobby posts snapped off their own bodies and hammered into the ground around the trunk with four powerful blows by the thick-armed one. Meanwhile, from somewhere even farther away in the shadows, a third man-tree shuffled forward. And Elena saw that this one was, undeniably, unmistakably male. For a moment Elena worried that Damon might lose it, go mad, turn around and attack both the were-foxes, revealing his true allegiance now. But his feelings about Bonnie had obviously changed since he had saved her at Caroline's. He appeared perfectly relaxed beside Shinichi and Misao, sitting back and smiling, even saying something that made them laugh. Suddenly something inside Elena seemed to plummet. This wasn't a qualm. It was full-blown terror. Damon had never looked so natural, so in tune, sohappy with anyone as he did here with Shinichi and Misao. They couldn't possibly have changed him, she tried to convince herself. Theycouldn't have possessed him again so quickly, not without her, Elena, knowing it†¦. But when you showed him the truth, he was miserable, her heart whispered. Desperately miserable – miserably desperate. He might have reached for possession as a defiant alcoholic reaches for a bottle, wanting only forgetfulness. If she knew Damon, he had willingly invited the darkness back in. He couldn't stand to stand in the light, she thought. And so now, he's able to laugh even at Bonnie's suffering. And where did that leave her? With Damon defected to the other side, no longer ally, but enemy? Elena began to tremble with anger and hatred – yes, and fear, too, as she contemplated her position. All alone to struggle against three of the strongest enemies she could imagine, and their army of deformed, conscienceless killers? Not to mention Caroline, the cheerleader of spite? As if to corroborate her fears, as if to show her how slim her chances really were, the tree she was clinging to seemed suddenly to let go of her, and for a moment Elena thought she would fall, spinning and screaming, all the way to the ground. Her handholds and footholds seemed to disappear all at once, and she only saved herself by a frantic – and painful – scrambling through serrated pine needles up to the grooved, dark bark. You are a human girl now, my dear,the strong, resinous smell seemed to be telling her.And you are up to your neck in the Powers of the undead and of sorcery. Why fight it? You've lost before you've begun. Give in now and it won't hurt so much. If aperson had been telling her this, trying to hammer it in, the words might have sparked some kind of defiance from the flint of Elena's character. But instead this was just a feeling that came over her, an aura of doom, a knowledge of the hopelessness of her cause, and the inadequacy of her weapons, that seemed to settle over her as gently and as inescapably as a fog. She leaned her throbbing head against the trunk of the tree. She had never felt so weak, so helpless – or so alone, not since she had been a newly wakened vampire. She wanted Stefan. But Stefan hadn't been able to beat these three, and because of that she might never see him again. Something new was happening on the roof, she realized wearily. Damon was looking down at Bonnie on the altar, and his expression was petulant. Bonnie's white face was staring up at the evening sky in determination, as if refusing any longer to weep or beg again. â€Å"But†¦are all thehors d'oeuvres so predictable?† Damon asked, seeming genuinely bored. You bastard, you'd turn on your best friend for amusement, Elena thought. Well, just you wait. But she knew the truth was that without him, she couldn't even put together Plan A, much less fight against these kitsune, these were-foxes. â€Å"You told me that in theShi no Shi , I would see acts of genuine originality,† Damon was going on. â€Å"Maidens hypnotized to cut themselves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Elena ignored his words. She concentrated all her energy on the thudding pain in the center of her chest. She felt as if she were drawing blood from her tiniest capillaries, from the far reaches of her body, and collecting it here at her center. The human mind is infinite, she thought. It is as strange and as infinite as the universe. And the human soul†¦ The three youngest of the possessed began dancing around the spread-eagled Bonnie, singing in falsely sweet little-girl voices: â€Å"You are going todie in here, When you die inhere , outthere They throwdirt right on your face!† How delightful, Elena thought. Then she tuned back in to the drama unfolding on the roof. What she saw startled her. Meredith was now up on the widow's walk, moving as if she were underwater – entranced. Elena had missed how she'd gotten there – was it by some sort of magic? Misao was facing Meredith, giggling. Damon was laughing, too, but in mocking disbelief. â€Å"And you expect me to believe that if I givethis girl a pair of scissors†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said, â€Å"she would actually cut her own – â€Å" â€Å"Try and see for yourself,† Shinichi interrupted, with one of his languid gestures. He was leaning against the cupola in the middle of the widow's walk, still trying to out-lounge Damon. â€Å"Didn't you see our prizewinner, Isobel?You carried her all the way here – didn't she ever try to speak?† Damon held out a hand. â€Å"Scissors,† he said, and a dainty pair of nail scissors rested in his palm. It seemed that, as long as Damon had Shinichi's magic key, the magic field around them would continue to obey him even in the real world. He laughed. â€Å"No, adult-size scissors, for gardening. The tongue's made of strong muscles, not paper.† What he held in his hand then were large pruning shears – definitely not toys for children. He hefted them, feeling their weight. And then, to Elena's utter shock, he looked straight up at her in her treetop refuge, not needing to search for her there at all – and winked. Elena could only stare back in horror. He knew, she thought. He knew where I was all the time. That was what he had been whispering to Caroline about. It hadn't worked – theWings of Redemption hadn't worked, Elena thought, and it felt as if she were falling and would fall forever. I should have realized it would be no good. No matter what's done to him, Damon will always be Damon. And now he's offering me a choice: see my two best friends tortured and killed, or step forward and stop this horror by agreeing to his terms. What could she do? He had arranged the chess pieces brilliantly, she thought. The pawns on two different levels, so that even if Elena could somehow climb down to try to save Bonnie, Meredith would be lost. Bonnie was tied to four strong posts and guarded by Tree-Men. Meredith was closer, up on the roof, but to get her off Elena would have toget to her and then through Misao, Shinichi, Caroline, and Damon himself. And Elena had to choose. Whether to step forward now, or be pushed forward by the anguish of one of the two who were almost a part of her. She seemed to catch a faint strain of telepathy as Damon stood beaming there, and it said,This is the best night of my life. You could always just jump,came the fog-like hypnotic whisper of annihilation once again.End the dead-end road you're on. End your suffering. End all the pain†¦just like that. â€Å"Now it's my turn,† Caroline was saying, brushing past the twins to face Meredith herself. â€Å"It was supposed to be my choice in the first place. So it's my turn now.† Misao was laughing hysterically, but Meredith was already stepping forward, still in a trance. â€Å"Oh, have it your own way,† Damon said. But he didn't move, still staring curiously, as Caroline said to Meredith, â€Å"You've always had a tongue like an adder's. Why don't you make it forked for us – right here, right now? Before you cut it into pieces.† Meredith held out her hand without a word, like an automaton. Still with her eyes on Damon, Elena breathed in slowly. Her chest seemed to be going into spasms as it had when the sucker plants had wound their way around her and cut off her breath. But not even sensations in her own body could stop her. How could I choose? she thought. Bonnie and Meredith – I love both of them. And there's nothing else to do, she realized numbly, the feeling draining from her hands and her lips. I'm not even sure if Damon can save both of them, even if I agree to†¦submit to him. These others – Shinichi, Misao, even Caroline – they want to see blood. And Shinichi not only controls trees, but just about everything in the Old Wood, including those monstrous Tree-Men. Maybe this time Damon has over-reached himself, taken on more than he could handle. He wanted me – but he went too far to get me. I can't see any way out. And then she did see. Suddenly everything fell into place and was brilliantly clear. Sheknew . Elena stared down at Bonnie, almost in a state of shock. Bonnie was looking at her, too. But there was no expectation of rescue in that small, triangular face. Bonnie had already accepted her fate: agony and death. No,Elena thought, not knowing whether Bonnie could hear her. Believe,she thought to Bonnie. Not blindly, never blindly. But believe in what your mind tells you is the truth, and what your heart tells you is the right path. I would never let you go – or Meredith either. I believe,Elena thought, and her soul was rocked by the force of it. She felt a sudden surge within herself, and she knew that it was time to go. One word was ringing in her mind as she stood and let go of her handholds on the tree trunk. And that one word echoed in her mind as she dove headfirst from her sixty-foot perch in the tree. Believe.

Effects of Pollution Damage on the Environment Essay

Pollution is the induction of harmful material or by-products discharged into the earth’s environment. Pollution is one of the foremost problems in America and the world today. Pollution damages the environment and human health. Pollution has caused a multitude of problems ranging from healthcare issues like lung cancer to the current problem of the green house effect. Pollution is everywhere and humankind persists on living with this problem. What rational is behind this faulty persistence?Automobiles are unquestionably the leading source of pollutants being emitted into the environment. Noise pollution being emitted by automobiles is substantial. (Markarewicz & Kokowski, 2007). Another effect automobiles have on the environment is the heat it generates. The heat emitted is unpleasant to be around. The worse pollutant being emitted from automobiles is the exhaust. The noxious vapors emitted are a by-product of the engines combustion. These noxious vapors can slowly decline lung health, which can cause lung cancer, and destroy the earth’s atmosphere. (Weir, 2002). The vapors are tremendously toxic to human health. Over a million Americans live in regions where the air quality is unsafe to breath. Automobiles emit most of the earth’s pollutant particulates. Particulate pollution is known to cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. (Altose, 2001). With this knowledge why would humankind continue to drive these environmental time bombs? Some would answer that automobiles are progress, but most drive for the convenience. Another cause of pollutions is the waste produced by post-consumer markets. Americans throw away tons of recyclable waste every year that ends up in landfills. Even though projects are in place to prevent the amount of recyclable waste from going to landfills, millions of recyclable products still get dumped in them. (Fagiano, 1992). These products do not bio degrade and can stay buried for hundreds of years. Americans continue to consume, throw away and consume more for the purpose of convenience. As products are used or get old, people throw it out instead of trying to recycle. When people buy products that are over packed they are basically buying trash. People should look for products they can use over again and are not over packed with non recyclable products like Styrofoam. Another cause of pollution is dumping of toxic waste into the world’s rivers, lakes and oceans. Although this is not common practice today it still happens. These types of occurrences are rare and may not be of concern in society, but this way of thinking can be dangerous. Each time toxic waste is dumped into waterways unspeakable consequences can happen. Human death and natural environmental destruction have transpired as a result of illegal dumping. Dumping toxic waste contaminates drinking water and the soil. (Thorson, 2005). Toxic dumping causes whole communities to move to different places, not able to return for centuries. These toxins dumped by industries can be so concentrated that one barrel can destroy and entire waterways ecosystem. (Dodge, 2007). Industries not only dump toxins into the waterways, they also dump hot water. Dumping hot water can cause algae overgrowth that can blanket the surface of lakes, ponds or bay areas. The algae blanket covers light that is needed for healthy plant and nutrient growth. This growth feeds aquatic life that lives in the waterways. Pollutants can cause bacteria growth and disease. Water pollutants do not only come from industries. Pollutant also comes from surface runoffs. When it rains, water washes away toxins from fertilizers that feed lawns, oils from driveways and streets. (Thorson, 2007). These toxins also end up in rivers, lakes and oceans. Pollution can be solved, but the cleanup process is long and can take years to implement. Americans can do their part to help save earth’s environment. Instead of driving an automobile every day people should consider carpooling, taking the bus or riding a bike. Doing this once or twice a week could reduce carbon foot printing on the environment, saving 1600 pounds of greenhouse gases from being emitted into the atmosphere each year and saving the earth’s atmosphere in years to come. (EPA, 2009). Americans could become better recyclers by taking time to sort trash out and recycling products that can be recycled. Recycling can reduce waste in landfills by 170,000 tons per year leaving room in the landfills for real garbage that has no other use. (King County, 2009). People must pay attention how products are packaged and avoid products that harm the environment. The Americans people can do their part by voicing their opinions at the polls and calling their Congress person to support greener alternatives that would create a better  world for future generations to live in. References Altose, Larry, (2001) Health effects from Automobile Emissions, Washington State Department of Ecology, retrieved July 9, 2009. 00-02-008 p. 1-2 http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0002008.pdfDodge, John, (2007) Puget Sound struggles against tide of toxins, The Olympian, retrieved July 10, 2009 http://www.earthhopenetwork.net/puget_sound_struggles_against_tide_toxinsFagiano, David, (1992), Cutting waste at the source, Management Review, 81(6) p. 1 – 4, retrieved July 10, 2009 from EBSCO database, Apollo Library http://web.eboscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.comKing County Solid Waste Division (2009) Zero Waste. EPA, retrieved August 1, 2009 from http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/wdidwMarkarewicz, R,; Kokowski, P. (2007), Prediction of noise changes due to traffic speed control, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 122(4) p. 2074-81, retrieved July 9, 2009 from EBSCO database, Apollo Libraryhttp://web.eboscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.comUnited States Environmental Protection Agency, (2009) Earth day tips to save energy, retrieved July 15, 2009. http://www.epa.gov/earthday/tips-saveenergy.htmThorson, R M., (2005). It all runs down hill: [STATEWIDE Edition], Hartford Courant, p. A11, Retrieved July 10, 2009, from PROQUEST database Apollo Library http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.comWeir, Erica, (2002) EPA links diesel exhaust, lung cancer, CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 167(7) p. 795, retrieved July 11, 2009 from EBSCO database, Apollo Library http://web.eboscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com

Critique the article provided Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Critique the article provided - Essay Example The study findings detailed that heart failure readmissions rates and quality of life did not considerably vary between control groups and treatment. The study also revealed that, health beliefs, apart from benefits of medication, considerably shifted from baseline within the treatment group in directions hypothesized by the Health Belief Model. In the article, Sethares and Elliott (2004) conclude that a tailored message intervention altered the beliefs of the individuals with heart failure in terms of the gains and barriers of taking medications, self-monitoring for indications of fluid overload, and committing to a sodium-restricted diet. Sethares and Elliott (2004) maintains that future research may be required to further examine the influence of health belief changes on real self-care behaviors, especially on the impact of tailored interventions on real changes within self-care behaviors and the dose of intervention required to influence the changes. The title of the article is concise in implying the key variables of the study and the study population. The title of the article highlights the focus of the article and variables that will be utilized in the study. The abstract of the article concisely summarizes the key features of the study including objective, design, subjects, theoretical framework, results, and conclusions. The statement of the problem is clear-cut and easy to identify; furthermore, the problem statement forms the foundations of a coherent persuasive argument on the efficacy of a tailored message intervention provided during hospital admission. Evidently, the problem presented in the study has a significant bearing on nursing. There is a good alignment between the research problem and the quantitative methods and paradigms utilized in the study. The randomized control trial was utilized to appraise the impact of a tailored message intervention on heart failure readmission rates and quality of

Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld 548 US 557 (2006) Case Study

Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld 548 US 557 (2006) - Case Study Example Bush, President of the United States. After a year of detention, President Bush deemed him eligible to be tried before a military commission that was authorized under Military Commission Order No. 1. The military commission would have allowed the inclusion of evidence with no probative value or acquired through illegal means, made it possible that there be evidence used against the accused that the accused would not be able to see, and the appeals would only be within the Executive branch. Opposing this, Hamdan filed a writ of habeas corpus, in chief arguing that a military commission conducting trial in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the Geneva Conventions should be declared illegal and with no power to proceed. Procedural History: Hamdan filed his petition before the United States District Court for the District of Colombia, which found in his favor. Upon Appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously revers ed the decision of the District Court. Subsequently, on 7 November 2005 the Supreme Court issued a writ of certiorari to hear the case, and it was argued before the said court on 28 March 2006. On 29 June 2006, the Supreme Court issued its decision, reversing the Court of Appeals and finding in favor of Hamdan. Issues: 1. The first issue is whether or not the provisions in the military commission that would allow the accused to be convicted using evidence that he had not seen or heard, or evidence that may not be in compliance with admissibility or relevancy rules in other court martial proceedings violate the uniformity rule and the principle that â€Å"no procedural rule must be contrary or inconsistent with the UCMJ†? 2. The second issue is whether or not Hamdan can invoke the guarantees of the Geneva Conventions given the contextual background of the capture of Hamdan, and giving due regard to the fact that such capture was done pursuant to the war with Al Qaeda, which is not a High Contracting Party to the Conventions? Holding: The Supreme Court answered in the affirmative to both questions. It held firstly that the deviations in the military commission rendered it defective, and secondly, that the Geneva Conventions could be validly invoked by Hamdan. Rationale: The Supreme Court relied on the case of Ex Parte Quirin, 317 U.S. 1 (1942) as justification for granting certiorari to Hamdan, stating that trial by military commissions surfaces important questions about the balance of powers of the three branches of government. Likewise, the case of In Re Yamashita 327 U.S. 1, 11 (1946) recognizes that the exigencies of war may demand extraordinary measures. In the case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, 542 U.S. 507 (2004) it reaffirmed the war powers of the President, including the authority to convene military commissions. With respect to the first question, the Supreme Court noted that in the military commission created by Military Commission Order No. 1, Section 6 permits exclusion of the accused from proceedings and denial of his and his civilian counsel’s access to evidence that may be used to convict him. The grounds for the denial of access "include the protection of information classified or classifiable . . .; information protected by law or rule from unauthorized disclosure; the physical safety of participants in Commission proceedings, including prospective

Should a price ceiling (limit) be imposed on gasoline prices in the Essay

Should a price ceiling (limit) be imposed on gasoline prices in the U.S. market Why or why not - Essay Example If price ceiling on gasoline prices are implemented economic efficiency will be lost. Economic efficiency takes place when a particular action results in higher benefits for the society and lower costs. If price ceilings are set and the suppliers decrease the supply, the gasoline will start trading in black and unregulated markets where the suppliers will be charging higher price from the consumers and the taxes and revenue that is earned by the sale and purchase of gasoline by the government will be lost. Other than black markets, the entire economic system may be negatively impacted by price ceiling on gasoline prices. This is because when there will be shortage of gas, people will have to line up in huge queues in the pursuit of obtaining gas. As a result of this a lot of time will be wasted which the consumers could have invested in positive economic activity and this would result in decline in

Precis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Precis - Essay Example The United States also imports oil from unstable countries such as Syria, Pakistan, Algeria and Colombia. Conflicts in these regions majorly arise from unequal sharing of oil revenue. Money from oil trade funds dangerous governments (Lefton & Weiss 2). The expanse use of oil in U.S. is a major cause of climate change. Global warming comes from burning oil by passenger vehicles. It is apparent that climate change has a negative impact on national security. Climate change will create unstable governments, increase terrorist activities and natural disasters, and as a result, displace people from there home (Lefton & Weiss 3). The top five oil companies; BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhilips and Shell are the major benefactors of imported oil in the United States. These companies have made billions of profit by importing oil into the United States. These companies have invested a lot of money in campaigns against clean-energy policies with the objective of ensuring oil dependency (Lefton & Weiss 4). On the contrary, implementing clean-energy policies will save the environment from global warming and economic decline. The above will come into reality if the money to import oil is reinvested in the United States. There will be the creation of new jobs, maintenance of a clean environment and a stabilized economy (Lefton & Weiss

The scope and application of jus cogens Dissertation

The scope and application of jus cogens - Dissertation Example It is the objective of jus cogens and erga omnes to promote and preserve the common interests of nations to a much greater extent than the international law. These tenets constitute constitutional rules that describe the basic features of the international legal system. They are also quite influential in determining the manner, in which international law is developed, preserved and modified. In addition, these rules protect civil liberties and human rights that are central to the individuality of the international legal system. A norm is regarded as jus cogens upon being accepted by the countries of the world, in their entirety. However, this does not require unanimous acceptance. Importantly, a few subjects of international law, acting in isolation or in association with other subjects, do not result in jus cogens; nor can they veto a decision of the majority of nations. This research work proves that the principle of jus cogens is procedurally ineffective with respect to the international norms prohibiting torture. The best way to address this issue is for the ICJ to become more proactive and clarify, via its rulings, the inherent ambiguity. In addition, a convention should be framed that implements the peremptory norms in a consistent manner. Jus Cogens Introduction Jus cogens or peremptory norms are uniquely situated in the hierarchy of international law. These norms have a binding effect upon every nation, which is a major difference between them and conventional treaty and international laws. In addition, this binding effect is independent of the willingness of a nation to be bound by these norms.1 As such, Jus cogens can be regarded as a body of rules, when certain fundamental universal principles that have a binding effect upon all the States are created. In addition, these rules should prove to be crucially important for the entire international community. As there is no established international legislative power, implementing competent international peremptory norms has its own peculia r necessity.2 Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, enabled State Parties to implement the concept of jus cogens in positive international law; initiating the utilisation of this notion. Specifically, jus cogens safeguards overriding interests and values of the comity of nations, and averts their deterioration and selective modification. 3 Jus cogens, in the contemporary milieu, finds general acceptance by State practice, as a rule of the traditional international law. This research work comprises of five sections. The first of these relates to the historical development of jus cogens. The second section describes the methods for identifying

Medicare Background Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Medicare Background - Term Paper Example The plan provided health care to a special group of people, the seniors who were above 65 years of age and to the disables bellow 65 years. Medicare and Medicaid bills were then signed into law and ex-president Truman was the first to register for the program. The scheme has increasingly covered up to 45 million people by 2007. It cost the federal government lots of billions of dollars to give service claims (Merck, 2007). Part A, of the program, covers inpatient medical services including those hospitalized and those in a nursing home in sub-cute status. This category of people had certified work requirement and their contribution to the plan was through payment of Medicare tax deducted directly from the employer. Part B covers outpatient treatments. They pay monthly premiums and gets government subsidy. Part C had an array of health insurance plan from through traditional to network insurance model. Part D was initiated in 2006 and covers outpatients. The benefit here is delivered through plans from the private sector. Enrolment in this part is free just as in part C. (Star, 1982). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were established to control on administration and the smooth running of the healthcare program. The center was to carry out the nationwide framework to conduct effective background checks on prospective patients who were direct access employees (Theodor, 2000). The employees were beneficiaries of a long-term care plan (LTC.). LTC services included perfect nursing facilities, provision of skilled nursing, home health agency, and providers of personal care services.  

Research performa on any psychology topic Essay

Research performa on any psychology topic - Essay Example This is one of the principles of the multiple intelligence approach for effective teaching and learning. This approach can take many formats, and can be implemented in many different ways and at many different levels. Once multiple intelligence based activities are integrated in the educational programs, it offers students some powerful opportunities to come alive with other learners who have achieved competence in specific discipline. It can aid teachers in effortlessly, more personalized as well as diversified instructional experiences; it foster meaningful metacognitive understanding, for a broad range of diversified learning skills techniques; and gives value on students inherent levels of motivation through their natural talents; and help promote academic freedom, interactive and smooth flow of concepts in the classroom. This chapter presents the review of related literature and other studies relevant to the present study. Selections from different books, periodicals, journals, and articles found in the internet were carefully collated to support the said study. For more than hundreds of years, human beings have been the focus of various scientific studies in order to understand how individuals’ think, how they perceive, understand, predict, and manipulate a world far larger and more complicated than itself. In about 335 B.C. Aristotle wrote, â€Å"†¦of all the animals, human has the biggest brain in proportion to his size.† Still, it was not until the middle of the 18th century that the brain was widely recognized as the seat of awareness. The human brain is a â€Å"super system† composed of many mutually interdependent, internally specialized subsystems. The cerebral cortex of a human brain is composed of fifty two areas per hemisphere and has a very complex architecture. The human mind’s architecture has levels of

Can Technology Dehumanize Our Society Essay Example for Free

Can Technology Dehumanize Our Society Essay Technology can dehumanize our society including our school/s. Its because in the advancement and modernization of things which to be manipulated by the people(gadgets etc. ), life has to be somehow be convenient and easier but we should also look on the side that technology can remove skills and qualities of people in dealing with things around them and they wont find any alternatives or options if technology is always present. For instance, in school/s, particularly in a classroom setting, if all of the students have their own personal computers, they will rely and be much independent through visiting websites that could provide answers on their research given by their teacher, the negative result of this is that, yes, they surely easily access information by just clicking one at a time but the traditional way of finding and acquiring information from books(more accurate information than those of the websites) or any reading materials that could somehow develop their reading skills is already gone. Indolence and laziness may occur also. The negative result of technology is that people will just have to sit all day long and will have to be dependent on technology. As ive heard also, some people are just infront of their laptops having thisonline schooling and if you could accomplish the length of time needed, youll be having/ given a diploma . For me, of course it isnt bad but the essence of formal schooling(attending school. being evaluated and monitored by a mentor is already gone). Despite of all the advancement of technology, we became a society of indolent people relying so much on it.

The Role of Genomics in Cancer Medicine

The Role of Genomics in Cancer Medicine Genomics is a new science which concerns the study of genomes, the entire complement of genetic material of an individual. In fact, genomics also includes the study of gene expression, from transcription of DNA to translation, its expression as a protein. Genomics aims at understanding the structure, function and evolution of all genomes. This field is based on determining the essential nature of genome structure and will have a great impact on the development of basic biology. A genome is the total number of all genes found in an organism. Again, genomics can hence be defined as the study of all the genes in a cell at the DNA, mRNA and protein levels. The era of genomics started with Frederic Sanger who first sequenced the complete genomes of a virus and a mitochondrion. Techniques of genomics which include DNA sequencing and gene mapping were hence established. Development in the field of genomics continued at a rapid pace, and with the new technology from informatics, scientists were inspired to carry out the Human Genome Project. This scientific research had, as a primary aim, to determine the base pair sequence in human DNA and to identify about 25 000 genes in the genome. The project started in 1990 and a first draft was released in 2000. A further, complete report was published in 2003 with more details. The knowledge of the human genome sequence has created the possibility to investigate functional genomics which tries to describe gene functions and interactions during various conditions such as cancer. Cancer is a class of diseases in which cells divide uncontrollably, invade adjacent cells or spread throughout the whole body via the blood or lymph. Cancers can be either benign or malignant. Cancers can affect everyone and the risk increases with age, a certain type of lifestyle and environment and if several cases of cancer had previously been diagnosed within the family. Some environmental factors leading to cancer include tobacco smoking, prolonged exposition to radiations, obesity and pollutants. These factors lead to a mutation in the DNA base sequence resulting in the cells having new properties. Genes are affected in such a way that these new properties now include an excessive growth and cell division, protection against the bodys natural immune system, the ability to divide over other cells and into different places. Normal properties, such as the highly specific DNA replication, accurate cell cycle and interactions with the defence system, are lost to the mutated cell. Cancer can be treated in several ways including surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy and biologic therapy. Depending on the stage the cancer has reached, surgery is performed to remove the cancerous cells or tumour. Usually, after surgery, the cancer patient has to undergo chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to treat cancer by destroying the cancer cells. These drugs target cells which multiply rapidly. Radiation therapy uses energy to target the damaged DNA. Since cancer cells are sensitive to radiation, they are easily eliminated. However not all types of cancer can be treated though survival rate has increased. Cancer is still the commonest fatal diseases in many parts of the world. Genomics may play an important role in cancer medicine in the recent future. The Cancer Genome Project is using the human genome sequence and mutation detection techniques to identify the mutated base sequence in cancer cells thus mapping the genes responsible for the deve lopment of cancer. Genomic tests or assays are done to identify the specific genes in a cancer cell, which is like identifying a particular fingerprint of the cancer. Although the genomic approach is still being developed, the application of genomic technologies to cancer medicine has already generated promising results both in target identification and in disease classification. Genomics works by evaluating the genes in a sample of cancerous tissue. Genes that have mutated are hence identified along with those which have been inherited. Inherited genes which may lead to cancer are identified by genetic testing. Genomics play an important role in helping doctors to determine a patients prognosis, which type of cancer it is, to choose the most effective treatment for each individual cancer, to monitor patients who are undergoing treatment to determine if the treatment is working and those who are in remission to catch a potential disease progression early when it is more treatable. Genomic testing may play an important role in cancer medicine by giving each patient an individualized treatment.ÂÂ   Patients with more serious conditions can be identified and offered aggressive and innovative therapies that may prolong their lives, while patients who are diagnosed with a less serious condition may be spared unnecessary treatments. For example, some women with node-negative breast cancer will relapse after being treated with surgery alone. Genomic testing has been shown to differentiate between which node-negative breast cancer patients are more likely to relapse and therefore benefit from additional chemotherapy and which patients may not need chemotherapy. Genomic technology has been applied to several areas of cancer research. By profiling and comparing gene expression of tumours of different grades or primary and metastatic tumours, several genes involved in cancer progression or metastases have been found, new classification paradigms have been establishe d, genes have been placed into pathways, and gene deletions and amplifications have been identified. The application of genomics in cancer medicine will no doubt prove to be beneficial in the long run. The evolution of genomics and its integration in this field is a complex and challenging process. However, progress is being made and instead of treating cancer, cancer could be eliminated before its appearance by modifying the gene responsible. Genomics would also help in improving treatment and diagnosis of cancer. The shift from an organ-focused to a gene-focused approach to cancer is already having a profound effect on the way cancer is treated. The impact can be seen particularly clearly in breast cancer. Not too many years ago, breast tumors were categorized and treated primarily by their size, the degree to which they had invaded surrounding tissue or sloughed off cells into the lymph system, and their appearance under a pathologists microscope. The field of cancer genomics is relatively new compared to other fields, however it promises many things. As progress is being made in the mapping of the cancer genes, the results promise to be enormous.

Helping Children From Broken Homes Essay -- Community Service, Service

"Love cannot remain by itself — it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service." - Mother Teresa This past summer I had the opportunity to perform community service and participate in an event called â€Å"Upward Bound†. The purpose of this event is to reach out to children who come from broken homes, and help them to become leaders in their homes, schools and communities. This was my second year to volunteer with Upward Bound. The first year I was helping with elementary children, but this year I was a counselor for junior high students. This experience is one I will never forget. On a Sunday morning I met the kids I would be responsible for during the following week. From the first moment I knew it was going to be an interesting week. My kids each brought...

Jean-Paul Sartre’s Play No Exit Essays -- Existentialism Sartre No Exi

Jean-Paul Sartre’s Play â€Å"No Exit† Existentialism is a very confusing concept to understand. Existentialism is a school of thought, so to speak, where people believe that for every action there is a reaction. Moreover, most of the time, the reaction is a negative one. There is the basic understanding that humans have free will. They have the choice to do whatever they feel in life, which in turn makes life very stressful. Our choices obviously result in some other consequence, and as I said, the consequences, though we may not notice, are negative ones. That is something that cannot really be explained. That is something that happens a lot. Many things are irrational, absurd, and really have no explanation whatsoever. The only that is for sure in our lives is once you decide to do something, you must follow through with it completely and accept whatever may come to you afterwards. Existentialism is sometimes very hard to live by because of the beliefs that go along it with. Someone who is an existentialist believes that human choice is subjective, and that we must makes our decisions not based on outside influences such as laws or ethical standards set forth by society. Since we free our selves of the pressures of outside traditions and ways, we must be completely responsible for any choice we make. There is also a very dark side to existentialism. There is always that question of who are we, why are we here, and how can we make meaning of this life? Because you a...

An Overview of Selective Mutism Essay -- Health, Disorder, Aphasia Vol

Hesselman coined the term â€Å"selective mutism† in 1983 to describe the disorder previously called â€Å"aphasia voluntaria, elective mutism, speech phobia, psychological mutism, and hearing mute† among fourteen other historic terms (Dow, Freeman, Garcia, Leonard, & Miller, 2004; Kearney, 2010). The American Psychiatric Association, or APA, characterizes selective mutism by a â€Å"persistent failure to speak in specific social situations where speech is expected, despite speaking in other situations.† Selective mutism shifted in recent years from being viewed as a response to trauma sustained early in life to a manifestation of an anxiety disorder (Dow et al, 2004). This paper briefly covers all aspects of selective mutism from signs and symptoms to diagnosis and treatment. Selective mutism is a rare condition and some discrepancies exist pertaining to its incidence. Beidel and Turner (2005) state that the incidence falls between .18-.76 percent, while Kearney (2010) states that the incidence falls between .20-2.0 percent. No known cause currently exists. Researchers identified common similarities between children with selective mutism. The most prevalent similarities are gender (1.5 females have selective mutism compared to every one male), having a language or anxiety disorder, having a social phobia, and a family history of selective mutism or social phobia. Dow, Freeman, Garcia, Leonard, and Miller (2004) state that out of patients with selective mutism, â€Å"70 percent had a first degree relative with a social phobia or avoidant disorder and 37 percent had a first degree relative with selective mutism† (p. 286). The APA classifies selective mutism under DSM-IV. A child’s behavior must meet these criteria for diagnosis of sele... ...n. If a child’s speech and language skills are inadequate, the speech-language pathologist will work with the child to improve the skill that the child struggles with. They also help parents and teachers understand what the child is experiencing and how to assist with implementing the provided treatment plan. Selective mutism is a rare disorder that affects mainly children. Treating selective mutism early and vigorously leads to success. Research about treatment methods and causes of selective mutism is limited due to the rarity and uniqueness of the disorder. While no known cause is recognized for contributing to selective mutism, professionals use many indicators to assess and diagnose a child. Children with selective mutism, contrary to popular belief, do communicate through gestures and nods but fail to speak in unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations.

Male domination in the Apparel Industry

The apparel or clothing industry is a diverse industry which covers an extensive range of areas e.g. fashion, design and technology as well as products i.e. synthetic and leather yarns, beddings, human clothes.As such, the clothing industry often pertains to the fashion industry, which primarily influence by color, design, and fabric. For the case at hand, the discussion on the apparel industry would entirely focus on personal clothing from underwear, pants, shirts and accessories for people. Clothing is basic necessity in life.People wear clothing different reasons but mainly for protection from the extremities in our natural environment i.e. cold and hot temperature. However, more than just a protective garment, people used clothing as social tool to be more physically attractive or pleasant to others, to express our emotions and lifestyles, to distinguish cultural heritage, socio-economic class or profession and to create the necessary ambiance and   setting in the performance o f religious, political and other rituals.   Under these premises, the apparel industry plays a significant role in the socio political history of people all over the world.While the apparel industry is primarily engaged in the design and creation of garments made from fabric, its study seemed not appealing to men as evidenced by the fact that only few male students study the discipline today.In fact, many people may have a misconception that textile and fashion is a female thing especially so because fashion and shopping normally comes in each others pocket.   Unknown to many however, the textile and fashion industry is actually dominated by men since time immemorial. The proceeding essay would show that breakthroughs in the clothing industry as well as leadership in the industry are mostly made and held by men.Men in the Fashion and Textile HistoryThe textile industry has an age old rich history provided a considerable influence in the evolution of contemporary society. The ety mology of ‘Textile' is from the Latin word ‘texere' meaning ‘to weave'. (Miller, E. 1969, p10) Weaving is one of the ancient surviving human crafts that dated back to Neolithic times.   Today, textile pertains to the material constituted by either natural or synthetic fibers that is formed in different mechanical process i.e. weaving, knotting to join them together to produce yarns.One of the earliest forms of textiles was those from the sheep’s wool.   Ancient people produce the wool yarn through a spinning and twisting process that are manually done by hands, which provided the principles for the invention of the spinning wheel that was introduced in the late 14th century.In the next centuries to come, due to the expensive and laborious process of weaving, fashion is mainly focused on the privileged elite.   The sense of fashion and design were mainly based on the history of dresses of the royalties.   Royal members even employ court dolls or fashi on babies to communicate their costumes with royalties from other lands.(Hurlock, E., 1984, P130) During these era in around 1665, France commenced to establish itself as the fashion capital of the world under the kingship of the Sun King,† Louis XIV, who is passionate and unparalleled dedication for fashion that moved him to advance textile production and fashion innovation.During this time also, fashion among men become more conspicuous from dress, i.e. lace, long hairstyles which popularize the wigs, shirts and even accessories i.e. swords and capes.   (Rubin, D.L. 1992, p78)Drastic changes in the clothing industry came about during the 1700s with the mechanization of the weaving process, which allowed mass production of the yarns and textiles.   The â€Å"flying shuttle† of John Kay in England was the first spinning machine that sped up the weaving process.   This was improved by Lewis Paul and John Wyatt who invented the roller method. (Newman, G. and Brown, L. 1997, p675)A series of male inventors led to the improvement and innovation of the weaving process namely: James Hargreaves and his spinning jenny, Sir Richard Arkwright's spinning frame; the spinning mule by Samuel Crompton and Edward Cartwright who introduced steam powered weaving machine. The introduction of machines which allowed for the mass production of goods led to the industrial revolution in the 1800’s.Incidentally in mid-18th-century England, a group of men who went beyond the regular boundaries of fashion has emerged called the Macaroni club. (Steele, V., 1998, p28)The group was marked by its fashion extravagance and was famous for looking like women. Charles James Fox was the leader of the Macaroni and was considered as the leader of fashion. Today, the term macaroni is derogatively used to describe men who are lavish in clothes and vices.

Should Teenagers Have Intimate Relationships?

In teen society, a relationship could seem a bad effect on the people around you. But is that really what a relationship is? Is it really wrong to be involved in a relationship during teenage life? No, I don’t think so, in fact there are more benefits to it. Some people think that if you get into a relationship, it would be extremely dangerous to yourself. They think that once you are in love with that person, you tend to give in all your heart and soul into the relationship. And if he/she ever leaves you, you would be in a depressing state or even seek suicide.However, this is all not true, some early matured teenagers have prepared mentally to protect themselves against sudden break-ups. In fact, some teens with high-level of maturity can be as mature as a 35 year old adult. Furthermore, there are people think that once a teenager gets into a relationship, he/she would neglected his/her friends and family. Also in the process of having a relationship, the boy or girlfriend m ight be exceptionally possessive and refrain his/her partner from getting close to friends and family.Though some teens are like the example I have given above, but not all are ungrateful brats to their friends and family, I would say. There are many who managed to bring their spouses out for gathering with their friends or families to get to know each other well. And I will definitely bring my girlfriend out for any kind of events. Apart from that, some people might even say relationship is bad, because of the word sex.Teens are curious about the bodies of the opposite sex while they are young, especially boys. So people always have this mindset of when teens are having a relationship is always related to sexuality, but that is definitely not true. Some boys are physically needy while girls are emotionally needy. For instance, boys want their spouses to satisfy them in sexual way, asking the girls to complete sexual acts for them, where the female might refuse to, but do it anyway, to prevent the relationship from ending.And females might want the boys to be always there for them; listening to their complaints, talking to them, spending time understanding her etc. ; which the guys might feel it is a bit unrealistic. Despite that there are many boys that actually does it, there are some boys who is very concerned towards their girlfriends and sensitive to the feelings of their spouses. Also there are males who wouldn’t take sex as the most important phase of relationships.It is utterly unfair for some of the boys out there. In summary, I am not against on intimate relationship at all. Because age isn’t a barrier to prevent relationship from taking place, what matters most is whether you are emotionally wise to manage your time, your work, and your stress. And whether you are able to control your physical needs till your marriage. I don’t think teens having involved in relationship will do any harm to the society we are living in.

Freedom Of Press

Freedom of Press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through mediums including various electronic media and published materials. While such freedom mostly implies the absence of interference from an overreaching state, its preservation may be sought through constitutional or other legal protections.With respect to governmental information, any government may distinguish which materials are public or protected from disclosure to the public based on classification of information as sensitive, classified or secret and being therwise protected from disclosure due to relevance of the information to protecting the national interest. Many governments are also subject to sunshine laws or freedom of information legislation which are both used to define the extent of national interest.The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares: â€Å"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers† This philosophy is usually accompanied by legislation ensuring various degrees of freedom of scientific research (known s scientific freedom), publishing, press and printing the depth to which these laws are entrenched in a country's legal system can go as far down as its constitution.The concept of freedom of speech is often covered by the same laws as freedom of the press, thereby giving equal treatment to spoken and published expression. Beyond legal definitions, several non-governmental organizations use other criteria to Judge the level of press freedom around the world. Some of those organizations include the following: Reporters Without Borders The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Freedom House Many of the traditional means of delivering information are being slowly superseded by the increasing pace of modern technological advance.Almost every conventional mo de of media and information dissemination has a modern counterpart that offers significant potential advantages to Journalists seeking to maintain and enhance their freedom of speech. A few simple examples of such Satellite television Web-based publishing (e. g. , blogging) Voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) Every year, Reporters Without Borders establishes a ranking of countries in terms of their freedom of the press.The Freedom of the Press index, an annual survey of edia independence in 197 countries and territories, is based on responses to surveys sent to Journalists that are members of partner organizations of the RWB, as well as related specialists such as researchers, Jurists and human rights activists. The survey asks questions about direct attacks on Journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of pressure against the free press, such as non-governmental groups.The annual index contains the most comprehensive data set available on global media treedom and i s a key resource tor scholars, policymakers, international institutions, media, and activists. The index assesses the degree of print, broadcast, and internet freedom in every country in the world, analyzing the events of each calendar year. It provides numerical rankings and rates each country's media as â€Å"Free,† â€Å"Partly Free,† or â€Å"Not Free. Country narratives examine the legal environment for the media, political pressures that influence reporting, and economic factors that affect access to information As of 2013, the United States is ranked 32nd in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. There was a fall from 20th in 2010 to 42nd in 2012, which was attributed to arrests of Journalists covering the Occupy movement. In 2011-2012, the countries where press was the most free were Finland, Norway and Germany, followed by Estonia, Netherlands, Austria, Iceland, and Luxembourg.The country with the least degree of press freedom was Eritrea, followe d by North Korea, Turkmenistan, Syria, Iran, and China. Freedom of the press in the United States is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, says that â€Å"Congress shall make no law†¦. abridging (limiting) the freedom of speech, or of the press † Freedom of speech is the liberty to speak openly without fear of government restraint.It is closely linked to freedom of the press because this freedom includes both the right to speak and the right to be heard. In the United States, both the freedom of speech and freedom of press are commonly called freedom of expression. This clause is generally understood as prohibiting the government from interfering with the printing and distribution of information or opinions, although freedom of the press, like freedom of speech, is subject to some restrictions, such as defamation law and copyright law. The Constitution's framers provided the press with broad fre edom.This freedom was considered necessary to the establishment of a strong, independent press sometimes called â€Å"the fourth branch† of the government. An independent press can provide citizens with a variety of information and opinions on matters of public importance. However, freedom of press sometimes collides with other rights, such as a defendant's right to a fair trial or a citizen's right to privacy. In recent years, there has been increasing concern about extremely aggressive journalism, including stories about people's sexual lives and photographs of people when they were in a private setting.The framers' conception of freedom of the press has been the subject of intense historical debate, both among scholars and in the pages of Judicial opinions. At the very least, those who drafted and ratified the Bill of Rights purported to embrace the notion, derived from William Blackstone, that a free press may not be licensed by the sovereign, or otherwise restrained in a dvance of publication. And, although the subject remains a lively topic of academic debate, the Supreme Court itself reviewed the historical record in 1964 in New York Times Co. . Sullivan and concluded that the central meaning of the First Amendment embraces s well a rejection of the law of seditious libel i. e. , the power of the sovereign to impose subsequent punishments, from imprisonment to criminal fines to civil damages, on those who criticize the state and its officials. To a great extent, however, what we mean by freedom of the press today was shaped in an extraordinary era of Supreme Court decision-making that began with Sullivan and concluded in 1991 witn Conen v. Cowles Media Co.During that remarkable period, the Court ruled least 40 cases involving the press and fleshed out the skeleton of freedoms addressed only rarely in prior cases. In contrast, although the Court in the early part of the last century had considered the First Amendment claims of political dissidents with some frequency, it took nearly 150 years after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, and the First Amendment along with it, for the Court to issue its first decision based squarely on the freedom of the press.Over the course of the quarter-century following Sullivan, the Court made it its business to explore the ramifications of the case on a virtually annual basis. During that period, the Supreme Courts elaboration of what we mean by a free press focused on the nature of the official restraint lleged to compromise that freedom as well as the extent to which the First Amendment protects the press from a given species of governmental action or inaction. Thus, in cases such as Near and the Pentagon Papers case (1971 ‘s New York Times Co. . United States), the Court established that freedom of the press from previous restraints on publication is nearly absolute, encompassing the right to publish information that a president concluded would harm the national security, if not th e movements of troopships at sea in time of war. In 1974's Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, the Court embraced the analogous proposition that the overnment has virtually no power to compel the press to publish that which it would prefer to leave on the proverbial cutting room floor.In that regard, however, it must be noted that not all media are created equal when it comes to entitlement to the full protections of the First Amendments press clause. Most significantly, because of a perceived scarcity of the electromagnetic spectrum, the Court has held that Congress and the Federal Communications Commission may regulate the activities of broadcasters operating over public airwaves in a manner that would surely violate the First Amendment if applied to newspapers.Compare Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC (1969) with Tornillo. ) The Courts reasoning in Red Lion, in which it upheld the Commissions Fairness Doctrine and personal attack rule i. e. , the right of a person criticized on a broadcast station to respond to such criticism over the same airwaves licensed to that station has never been disavowed, although the Justices have expressly declined to extend it to other, later-developed communications media, including cable television (1994's Turner Broadcasting v.FCC) and the Internet (1997's Reno v. ACLU), to which the scarcity rationale for regulation is plainly napplicable. Sullivan and cases that followed also hold that the First Amendment protects the publication of false information about matters of public concern in a variety of contexts, although with considerably less vigor than it does dissemination of the truth.Even so, public officials and public fgures may not recover civil damages for injury to their reputations unless they were the victims of a reckless disregard for truth in the dissemination of a calculated falsehood. Indeed, private persons may not collect civil damages for reputational harm caused by falsehoods relating to a matter f public c oncern unless the publishers conduct violates a fault-based standard of care. And although expressions of opinion are not always immune from legal sanction, in its 1990 decision in Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. the Court held that statements not capable of being proven false, or which reasonable people would not construe as statements of fact at all, but rather as mere rhetorical hyperbole, are absolutely protected by the First Amendment. Indeed e ou nas rejected arguments advanced by the institutional press that, because of its structural role in nsuring the free flow of information in a democratic society, it ought to enjoy unique protections from otherwise generally applicable laws that inhibit its ability to gather and report the news.Thus, in 1991 in Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. , the Court effectively concluded the treatise on the freedom of the press it began in Sullivan; it did so when it emphasized that the press is properly subject to liability under the generally applicabl e law of contracts when it breaks a promise to keep a sources identity confidential, even when it does so in order to report truthful information about the ources involvement in a matter of public concern.In the decade following Cohen, the Court again fell largely silent when it came to the First Amendments application to the institutional press. As the 21st century dawned, however, the Court interrupted that silence, at least briefly, to revisit the extent to which a generally applicable law such as the federal wiretap statute can constitutionally impose criminal penalties and civil liability on the dissemination by the press of the contents of unlawfully recorded telephone conversations, at least when the information so disseminated is the truth about a matter of public concern.While it is undeniable fact that freedom of press is essential ingredient of democracy, it does not mean it will advance the goals of democracy. A free press plays a key role in sustaining and monitoring a healthy democracy, as well as in contributing to greater accountability, good government, and economic development. Most importantly, restrictions on media are often an early indicator that governments intend to assault other democratic institutions. According to the Freedom of the Press index, only 14. 5 percent of the world's citizens live in countries that enjoy a free press.In the rest of the world, governments as well as non-state actors control the viewpoints that reach citizens and brutally repress independent voices who aim to promote accountability, good governance, and economic development.

Drug Abuse Prevention Essay

The term drug abuse most often refers to the use of a drug with such frequency that it causes physical or mental harm to the user or impairs social functioning. Although the term seems to imply that users abuse the drugs they take, in fact, it is themselves or others they abuse by using drugs. Traditionally, the term drug abuse referred to the use of any drug prohibited by law, regardless of whether it was actually harmful or not. This meant that any use of marijuana, for example, even if it occurred only once in a while, would constitute abuse, while the same level of alcohol consumption would not. In 1973 the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse declared that this definition was illogical. The term abuse, the commission stated, â€Å"has no functional utility and has become no more than an arbitrary code word for that drug presently considered wrong.† As a result, this definition fell into disuse. The term drug is commonly associated with substances that may be purchased legally by prescription for medical use, such as penicillin, which is almost never abused, and Valium, which is frequently abused, or illegal substances, such as angel dust, which are taken for the purpose of getting high, or intoxicated, but actually have no medical use. Other substances that may be purchased legally and are commonly abused include alcohol (see alcoholism) and nicotine, contained in tobacco cigarettes. In addition, in recent years, chemists working in illegal, clandestine laboratories have developed new chemicals that have been used for the purpose of getting high. (These are called â€Å"designer drugs†.) All of these substances are psychoactive. Such substancesÑlegal and illegalÑinfluence or alter the workings of the mind; they affect moods, emotions, feelings, and thinking processes. Drug Dependence Drug abuse must be distinguished from drug dependence. Drug dependence, formerly called drug addiction, is defined by three basic characteristics. First, users continue to take a drug over an extended period of time. Just how long this period is depends on the drug and the user. Second, users find it difficult to stop using the drug. They seem powerless to quit. Users take extraordinary and often harmful measures to continue using the drug. How dependency-producing a drug is can be measured by how much users go through to continue taking it. Third, if users stop taking their drugÑif their supply of the drug is cut off, or if they are forced to quit for any reasonÑthey will undergo painful physical or mental distress. The experience of withdrawal symptoms distress, called the withdrawal syndrome, is a sure sign that a drug is dependency-producing and that a given user is dependent on a particular drug. Drug dependence may lead to drug abuseÑespecially of illegal drugs. Psychoactive, or mind-altering, substances are found the world over. The coca plant grows in the Andes of South America and contains 1 to 2 percent cocaine. The marijuana plant, Cannabis sativa, contains a group of chemicals called tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. This plant grows wild in most countries, including the United States. The opium poppy is the source for opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine. It grows in the Middle East and the Far East. Hallucinogens (such as LSD), the amphetamines (speed), and sedatives, such as methaqualone (Quaalude, or ludes) and barbiturates, are manufactured in clandestine laboratories worldwide. As a result, psychoactive drugs are used for the purpose of intoxication practically everywhere (see drug trafficking). Classification of Psychoactive Drugs Pharmacologists, who study the effects of drugs, classify psychoactive drugs according to what they do to those who take them. Drugs that speed up signals passing through the nervous system, which is made up of the brain and spinal cord, and produce alertness and arousal and, in higher doses, excitability, and inhibit fatigue and sleep, are called stimulants. They include the amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine, and nicotine. Drugs that retard, slow down, or depress signals passing through the central nervous system and produce relaxation, a lowering of anxiety, and, at higher doses, drowsiness and sleep, are called depressants. They include sedatives, such as barbiturates, methaqualone, and alcohol, and tranquilizers, such as  Valium. Constituting one distinct kind of depressants are those which dull the mind’s perception of pain and in medicine are used as painkillers, or analgesics. These drugs are called narcotics. They include heroin, morphine, opium, and codeine. In addition to their painkilling properties, these depressants also produce a strong high and are intensely dependency-producing. Some drugs cannot be placed neatly in this stimulant-depressant spectrum. Hallucinogens include LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. Such drugs produce unusual mental states, such as psychedelic visions. Marijuana is generally regarded as not belonging to any of these categories but as a drug type unto itself. History of Drug Abuse in the United States During the 19th century there were virtually no controls on the importation, sale, purchase, possession, or use of psychoactive drugs at the federal level and very few at the state level. Dangerous substances such as opium, cocaine, and morphine were basic ingredients in patent medicines that could be purchased by anyone for any reason, without a prescription. These nostrums were used to cure headaches, toothaches, depression, nervousness, alcoholism, menstrual crampsÑin fact, practically every human ailment. As a result of the ready availability of addicting drugs, and as a result of their heavy use for medical problems, many individuals became addicted to the narcotics contained in these patent medicines. In fact, in 1900, there were more narcotics addicts, proportionate to the population, than there are today. At that time, most of the users who became addicts were medical addicts. Very few abusers took drugs for â€Å"recreational† purposes. In 1914, in an effort to curb the indiscriminate use of narcotics, the federal government passed the Harrison Act, making it illegal to obtain a narcotic drug without a prescription. During the 1920s the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that maintaining addicts on narcotic drugs, even by prescription, was in violation of the Harrison Act. Approximately 30,000 physicians were arrested during this period for dispensing narcotics, and some 3,000 actually served prison sentences. Consequently, doctors all but abandoned the treatment of addicts for nearly half a century in the United States. The use of narcotic drugs dropped sharply in the United States between the 1920s, when there were as many as half a million addicts, and 1945, when the addict population was roughly 40,000 to 50,000. The recreational use of other drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, stimulants, hallucinogens, and sedatives, which are used so frequently today, also remained at extremely low levels during this period. The 1960s, however, was a watershed decade. The widening use of illegal drugs accompanied increased tolerance for a wide range of unconventional behavior. The period saw the growth of movements that stood in opposition to the Vietnam War and to mainstream American culture, the coming into popularity of rock music, and enormous publicity devoted to drugs, their users and proselytizers. During this time some social groups viewed drug use in positive terms and believed it a virtue to â€Å"turn on† someone who did not use drugs. Although media attention to drugs and drug use declined between the late 1960s and late 1970s, the use of drugs did not. The late 1970s and 1980s represent another turning point in the recreational use of marijuana, hallucinogens, sedatives, and amphetamines. Studies show a large drop in the use of most drug types through the 1980s, but a significant increase since 1990. The 1980s witnessed the development of a new form of an old drug (crack), the widespread use of a drug that was not previously taken on a recreational basis (â€Å"Ecstasy,† or MDMA), and the resurgence of a drug that was widely abused in the 1960s but then fell into disuse for a time (methamphetamine, or â€Å"ice†). Crack is a smokable derivative of cocaine that began to be used on a widespread basis starting in 1985; heavily abused in the inner cities in the late 1980s, it has since fallen off in use. Chemically related to amphetamines, MDMA was developed early in the 20th century as an appetite suppressant; it is not easily classified, although most observers regard it as a hallucinogen. In the 1980s it had a brief vogue among college students, intellectuals, and psychiatric patients seeking spiritual and therapeutic insight; its use has declined into the 1990s. Methamphetamine had a brief run among â€Å"speed freaks† in the late 1960s, who took huge intravenous doses on a compulsive, addicting basis. In 1989 â€Å"ice† emerged on the West Coast as  a drug of choice. Its use has been far greater in some areas than others, and no national epidemic of methamphetamine abuse has developed. Patterns of Drug Use The illegal use of psychoactive drugs is extensive in the United States. Some 78 million Americans age 12 and over have tried at least one or more prohibited drugs for the purpose of getting high. The illegal drug trade represents an enormous economic enterprise, with annual gross sales estimated to be $40 to $100 billionÑmore than the total net sales of the largest U.S. corporation. About 60 percent of the illegal drugs sold worldwide end up in the United States. By far the most commonly used illegal drug is marijuana. Roughly half of the total of all illegal drug use involves marijuana alone. There was a substantial decline in all measures or levels of marijuana use throughout the 1980s. In 1979, 31% of 12-to-17-year-olds and 68% of 18-to-25-year-olds had at least tried marijuana; by 1990 the comparable figures had shrunk to 15% and 52%. Since 1990 the use of marijuana has risen significantly, especially among schoolchildren. In 1990, 27% of high school seniors had used marijuana during the past year, while in 1996 this was 36 percent; the rise among eighth- and tenth-graders was even sharper. Cocaine is the second most commonly used illegal drug in the United States. In 1995 there were roughly 1.5 million monthly or more cocaine users in the United States, a decline from 5.7 million in 1985. Heroin is less widely used, but it has been used at least once by roughly one American in 100. Most people who have taken illegal drugs have done so on an experimental basis. They typically try the drug once to a dozen times and then cease using it. Of all illegal drugs, marijuana is the one users are most likely to continue using. Discontinuation rates are very high for drugs such as methaqualone, sedatives, barbiturates, heroin, and LSD. Even most regular users of illegal drugs are moderate in their use. The typical regular marijuana smoker is an occasional user. Still, a sizable minority does use the drug frequently, to the point of abuse. In 1996 about 5% of all high  school seniors used marijuana daily or nearly daily (20 or more times in 30 days). A pattern of episodic, regular use characterizes nearly all drug use for the purpose of recreation. This does not deny the problem of the heavy, chronic abuser of these drugs. Drug Law Enforcement In 1970 the Congress of the United States passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act (Drug Control Act). Most of the states followed suit, basing their state legislation on the federal model. The Drug Control Act distinguishes among several categories of drugs based on their supposed abuse potential and medical utility. Drugs that supposedly have a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use, including heroin, LSD and the other hallucinogens, and marijuana, may be used legally only in federally approved scientific research. In roughly half of the states, marijuana has been approved for medical use, but it remains illegal by federal law. In practice, the criminal justice system distinguishes between â€Å"hard† and â€Å"soft† drugs; it is unlikely that a first-time offender arrested for small-quantity marijuana possession will ever serve a prison sentence. Drugs such as morphine, cocaine, the amphetamines, and short-acting barbiturates are also regarded as having great abuse potential, even though they have accepted uses in medicine. Rigid prescription procedures maintain extremely tight controls over use. Drugs such as long-acting barbiturates and nonnarcotic painkillers are considered to have a lesser abuse potential, although they may lead to low physical dependence or high psychological dependence. These drugs have more relaxed controls, as do tranquilizers, and are classified as having low abuse potential. There has been a notable drop in the number of prescriptions written for psychoactive drugs that were most often abused in the 1960s and early 1970s. By the mid-1990s the number of prescriptions written for barbiturates and the amphetamines was one-tenth of what it was in 1970. Many other countries have also placed severe restrictions on the prescribing of drugs by doctors and have thus greatly reduced the frequency of their abuse. Restricting psychoactive pharmaceuticals brought about a reduction in the number of legal prescriptions written for them. A decline in the illegal street use of these same drugs lagged a few years behind the decline in legal prescriptions. In 1975, 11% of high school seniors said that they had taken barbiturates for nonmedical purposes during the previous year; in 1996, that figure was 5%. For methaqualone, completely outlawed in 1985, the comparable figures were 5% and 1%. The illegal use of amphetamine in the mid-1990s is half of what it was in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, many forms of nonmedical drug use among the young have risen since the early 1990s. The demand for drugs for illegal purposes remains high despite law-enforcement efforts. In 1996 there were about 1.5 million arrests on drug violations in the United States; drug arrests have nearly doubled over the past decade. Each year there are roughly 300,000 arrests on marijuana charges, and nearly 80% are for simple possession. The risk of arrest does not deter substantial numbers of Americans from selling and using illegal drugs. Treatment From the 1920s until the 1960s treatment for drug abuse in the United States was practically nonexistent. Following the enforcement of the Harrison Act during the 1920s, few physicians were willing to treat addicts. During the 1930s two Public Health Service prison hospitals were opened, but their patients had a relapse rate of roughly 80%; during the 1970s the federal government closed them down. Since the 1920s the primary treatment program for most addicts has been no treatment at all; until recently, arrest has simply resulted in incarceration and therefore forcible detoxification. The dramatic explosion in the use and abuse of a number of illegal drugs during the 1960s demonstrated the weakness of this approach. As a result, a range of treatment programs, developed largely in the 1960s, have been widely used. Methadone is an addictive synthetic narcotic used to combat narcotic addiction. A hospital or a clinic administers the drug, usually dissolved in  artificial orange juice drink. Taken this way, the addict does not get high. Methadone blocks the action of narcotics so that addicts cannot become high, even if they were to inject heroin. According to the program’s rationale, addicts will then stop taking heroin. Although patients remain addicted to methadone, they can live a normal life, since the drug supply is steady and secure. Plus, they are no longer exposed to health risks like AIDS and hepatitis from shared needles used for injecting drugs. Because the program is inexpensive to administer, methadone has become a very popular form of treatment; roughly 100,000 narcotic addicts in the United States are treated in this program. The drug naltrexone has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating alcoholism and heroin addiction, in concert with an appropriate counseling program. Naltrexone reduces cravings for alcohol and heroin, thereby decreasing relapse rates. Therapeutic communities (TCs), such as Daytop Village in New York and Walden House in San Francisco, advocate a completely drug- and alcohol-free existence. Addicts live in the therapeutic communities, and many of the administrators are ex-addicts, who can best understand the addict residents. The view of all TCs is that the addict uses drugs as a crutch. TCs attempt to resocialize the addict by inculcating a value system that is the opposite of what prevailed on the street. Discipline in therapeutic communities is strict, penalties for breaking rules are severe, peer pressure is unrelenting, and the program benevolently dictatorial. Because of the strictness, many residents leave against the advice, and without the permission, of the staff. TCs seem to be effective for a limited segment of the addict populationÑthose who are young, middle-class, and highly motivated to quit drugs. The programs are expensive to administer; there are far fewer patients in them than in methadone-maintenance programs. The Legalization Debate In the 1990s there has been a strong call among some experts, politicians, judges, and government officials for the removal of all criminal penalties  for the sale, possession, and use of illegal drugs. This development has taken place at a time when public opposition to such a policy has actually grown. The legalization or decriminalization program rests on three assumptions: drug abuse will not rise significantly under legalization; these illegal drugs are less harmful than the legal drugs alcohol and tobacco and are less harmful than generally believed; and the current policy of arresting and imprisoning for drug possession and sale does more harm than good. No one can know for sure whether drug use and abuse will rise, fall, or remain stable under legalization. In nine U.S. states and in the Netherlands, where small-quantity marijuana possession has been partially decriminalized, there has been no sharp rise in the use of this drug. Evidence suggests, however, that criminalization of some drugs has produced lower use and abuse, and that legalization, if accompanied by lower cost and ready availability, might result in a significant rise in use and abuse. For example, legal controls on certain prescription drugs has been followed by a decline in their illegal street use. In addition, the continuance rates of the legal drugs alcohol and tobacco are strikingly higher than for illegal drugs. For the most part, the use of the illegal drugs tends to be more sporadic and occasional, and more likely to be given up, than the use of legal drugs. In the United States, outlawing the sale of alcohol to persons under the age of 21 has produced a significant decline in its use, as well as in the number of alcohol-related fatalities in this age group. Many current users, abusers, and addicts state that they would take drugs more frequently if drugs were legalized and readily available. And contrary to the stereotype, evidence suggests that, during prohibition (1920-33), alcohol consumption dropped significantly. There is much information to indicate that the abuse of drugs might very well rise under a policy of legalization or decriminalization. The prolegalization groups are almost certainly right that crime and certain medical maladies among drug abusers would decline if drugs were legalized. Perhaps a â€Å"third path† somewhere between the current punitive policy and  full legalization would be most effective. Needle exchange programs have cut down on drug-related AIDS transmission in Liverpool, England. The Dutch policy of de facto decriminalization for marijuana and hashish has not resulted in a rise in use or abuse. Perhaps the guiding policy on drug use ought to be on harm reduction rather than waging a war on drug abuse. Some aspects of this policy should include a flexible or selective enforcement, vastly expanding drug treatment programs, needle exchange programs, a distinction between â€Å"hard† (cocaine and heroin) and â€Å"soft† drugs (marijuana), expanding antidrug educational efforts, and focusing on reducing the use and abuse of tobacco and alcohol. The first priority should be to make sure that the users and abusers harm themselves and others as little as possible.

Initiation of the KERP projects programme and the execution of the Movie Review

Initiation of the KERP projects programme and the execution of the First project by Kuwait oil company - Movie Review Example Kuwait Environmental Remediation Program (KERP) aims at dealing with the elimination of pollutants or impurities from environmental media resulting from the oil explosion. KERP seeks to ensure the realization of three key objectives. The first objective is to direct Kuwait National Focal Point (KNFP) in the accomplishment of the KERP. The second objective is to undertake remediation of damaged terrestrial resources by means such as fencing and patrolling of five designated areas. The third objective is to remedy areas damaged by oil leaks, oil contaminated piles, oil trenches, and oil spills. Military contributed to Kuwait’s environmental damages through a series of activities. The movement of vehicles and heavy weaponry damaged the delicate desert environment by affecting the plant cover that in turn affected the sensitive ecosystem. The physical esthetic value of the environment in turn was destroyed, and aridity started engulfing the lands of Kuwait. In 1994, Kuwait government submitted environmental claims that aimed at monitoring and realizing remediation mechanisms to restore and improve Kuwait’s ecological status. After studies on the same subject matter, in the period 2001 to 2007, Public Authorities for the Assessment of Compensation proposed remediation technologies to enable rehabilitation of the damaged environment. The steps are aimed at bringing recovery and restoration to the deteriorated environmental status in Kuwait. On August 2, 1990, the State of Kuwait sustained extensive environmental damages because of the Iraqi aggression against Kuwait and the 1991 Gulf War. The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) recognized the provision of reparations to affected countries, companies and individuals. In December 2005, the UNCC completed the appraisal of all claims for environmental damages in visualization of remediating environmental damages. The UNCC issued Decision 258

THE COMPARISON OF CONTRAST MEAD AND BOURDIEU THEORIES Essay

THE COMPARISON OF CONTRAST MEAD AND BOURDIEU THEORIES - Essay Example Perceiving a house is same as to perceive shelter. That is why it is concluded that perception is the action plans that individual takes (Baldwin, 90-91). Mead’s society based on an open society of open selves, (Herbert, pp 6). His theories are synthesis of German idealism which states that, the self’s â€Å"perception and semantics’† and "a common practice of various subjects" (Baldwin, 203-205) found particularly in social brushes., Mead’s self states to be significantly knitted within a sociological presence: For Mead, existence in community lies before individual awareness. Mead focused that all human beings including men and women start their apprehension of the social world through "play" and "game". "Play" lies prior in the childs development and growth (Baldwin, pp. 23-31). The self-development is dependent on learning in order to capture the role of other. Therefore, a child can play different actions he notices in "adult" society, and performs them out to take an understanding of the various social roles. Moreover, it is simply the matter that, what others do. Every step is a learning step that starts from imitation through play acting world of children. Whereas, Pierre Bourdie was a famous French sociologist born on first august 1930.his work provide the framework for social and symbolic violence that enables the dynamics to reveal the human power connections in our social life. However, he argued that individuals either schools or writers should bring their expertise to bear responsibly on political and social issues. He drew different methods from a broad range of various disciplines, specially philosophy anthropology and sociology. One of his famous books is â€Å"Distinction† describes the space of social lifestyle and space of social positions or a Social Critique of the assessment of Taste. Moreover, Bourdie describes the scholastic point of view, means things of logic and logic of things. Moreover, he loved intellectual combat,