PERIODICAL REPORT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

PERIODICAL REPORT - Assignment Example Since the demand for oil is high and the supply is threatening to decrease, there are big chances of oil price increases in the following weeks or months. Name Course/Subject Findlay Courier 14/03/2011 Wis. unions rush deals ahead of bargaining law By Scott Bauer The article talks about how the unions are doing last minute negotiations for unclosed agreements before the ratification of a new law that will affect their negotiation methods in the state of Wisconsin. Once enacted, it will erase their ability to collectively bargain over nearly all issues other than minimal salary increases. The enactment is being held off for a few days due to the negative uproar it caused among the unions and its members. This article therefore is helpful is portraying the role of the unions regarding labor and employment. Labor unions, like in this article, do collective bargains over wages and benefits, and represent the members of the unions in case there is a threat in the laborers status.

Two Major Types of Literature Essay Example for Free

Two Major Types of Literature Essay Poetry A poem is defined as a composition written in verse (although verse has been equally used for epic and dramatic fiction). Poems rely heavily on imagery, precise word choice, and metaphor; they may take the form of measures consisting of patterns of stresses (metric feet) or of patterns of different-length syllables (as in classical prosody); and they may or may not utilize rhyme. One cannot readily characterize poetry precisely. Typically though, poetry as a form of literature makes some significant use of the formal properties of the words it uses — the properties attached to the written or spoken form of the words, rather than to their meaning. Metre depends on syllables and on rhythms of speech; rhyme and alliteration depend on words that have similar pronunciation. Some recent poets, such as E. E. Cummings, made extensive use of words visual form. Prose Prose consists of writing that does not adhere to any particular formal structures (other than simple grammar); non-poetic writing, perhaps. The term sometimes appears pejoratively, but prosaic writing simply says something without necessarily trying to say it in a beautiful way, or using beautiful words. Prose writing can of course take beautiful form; but less by virtue of the formal features of words (rhymes, alliteration, metre) but rather by style, placement, or inclusion of graphics. But one need not mark the distinction precisely, and perhaps cannot do so. One area of overlap is prose poetry, which attempts to convey using only prose, the aesthetic richness typical of poetry.

The History of Pie :: Essays Papers

The History of Pie Caitlin Sklarz resides in Burlington, Vermont where she is attending the University of Vermont. She is currently finishing up Bachelors in Psychology and plans to go on for a degree in Nursing. Caitlin enjoys spending her free time with her boyfriend and dog, and taking walks in the beautiful Vermont woods. Desserts They are the most popular food in America today; yet, desserts are relatively new to food world. Pastries, and pies in particular, are probably the oldest of all. Pies have been filled with numerous foods, from meats to sweets, and even live animals and people Want to know more? Keep reading and learn about pie-from over 10,000 years ago to today. Pastry making goes as far back as the Neolithic Period. These round, flat cakes were first known as â€Å"galettes.† Our ancestors made these pie-like treats with oat, wheat, rye, and barley, then filled them with honey and baked the dish over hot coals (Montagne, 490). The tradition of galettes was carried on by the Greeks. Yet, this ancient people ingeniously realized that the galette idea served as a perfect vehicle to cook raw meat. So, they created pies with the popular meats and fruits of the time. But, presumably from losing some teeth, the Greeks learned not to eat the hard, tough, pasty crust and merely use it as a pan. This early Greek version of the pie was later adopted by the Romans upon conquering Greece. The pie idea was spread throughout the continent as the Roman Empire was created. The pies during this period were marked by a flour-water paste wrapped around meat; this dually served to cook the meat and seal in the juices. In fact, the Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato recorded his era’s most popular pie, â€Å"placenta† (De l’agricultura, 9). Well, now that we're all nauseous, at least we now know that pies were consumed in the 2nd century B.C. By the Medieval Period pies, then recorded as â€Å"pyes,† reached the height of their popularity in the royal courts. 12th century English courts used the whole foul in the pie and hung the legs over the sides of the crust as handles. Though this idea is no doubt unique, many vegetarians today would be very disturbed! Similarly, the French used pyes in their banquets and added a neat twist of their own; all royalty were invited to this event where they were entertained by magicians, jugglers, musicians, and dancers.

The Effect of Temperature on the Rate of Reaction Essay -- GCSE Chemis

The effect of temperature on rates of reaction Aim: The aim of this experiment is to find out if the reaction rate of sodium thiosulphate solution and hydrochloric acid will be affected by a temperature change. Prediction: I predict that as a result of increasing the temperature of the sodium thiosulphate, the rate of reaction will be faster. Because of the increase in temperature, the particles will gain more kinetic energy. This will therefore cause them to move faster and produce more successful collisions, causing the rate to increase. Plan: Na S O + 2HCl S + SO + 2NaCl + H O Before carrying out the experiment, I must first of all begin the preliminary work. This part of the experiment will enable me to choose an appropriate scale of temperatures, and to decide upon the amount of sodium thiosulphate solution that will be used (the concentration). After doing this, I will then begin to carry out the experiment. I will firstly put a measured amount of sodium thiosulphate solution into a glass bottle, measure the temperature, and then add the hydrochloric acid. Immediately afterwards I will seal the lid and put it on top of a black mark, then start the stopwatch. I will observe from above and when the black mark is no longer visible, I will stop the stopwatch, measure the temperature again and record these results. I will repeat the experiment a further two times to ensure reliable results and continue this method for each temperature. To make certain that my experiment will not be dangerous, I will carry out some basic safety precautions. I will firstly ensure that there is a safe working area around me by clearing the desks and removing stools. I will then make sure that I am wearing safety glasses at all times and han... ...there were some sources of error and areas that I could have improved if repeating the experiment. I also noticed that there were a few anomalous results on my graph and these could be due to a few sources of error that occurred during my experiment. I felt that by timing the reaction from personal judgement about when the black mark was no longer visible was not as accurate as I would have liked. Also the fact that it was quite difficult to achieve the exact temperature of the sodium thiosulphate solution by heating it, made the experiment a little inaccurate. To give myself completely accurate results I would have to repeat the reactions that gave me anomalous results paying attention to detail and spending longer on each experiment. However, despite this I still managed to achieve quite regular repeats and results that clearly followed and backed up my prediction. The Effect of Temperature on the Rate of Reaction Essay -- GCSE Chemis The effect of temperature on rates of reaction Aim: The aim of this experiment is to find out if the reaction rate of sodium thiosulphate solution and hydrochloric acid will be affected by a temperature change. Prediction: I predict that as a result of increasing the temperature of the sodium thiosulphate, the rate of reaction will be faster. Because of the increase in temperature, the particles will gain more kinetic energy. This will therefore cause them to move faster and produce more successful collisions, causing the rate to increase. Plan: Na S O + 2HCl S + SO + 2NaCl + H O Before carrying out the experiment, I must first of all begin the preliminary work. This part of the experiment will enable me to choose an appropriate scale of temperatures, and to decide upon the amount of sodium thiosulphate solution that will be used (the concentration). After doing this, I will then begin to carry out the experiment. I will firstly put a measured amount of sodium thiosulphate solution into a glass bottle, measure the temperature, and then add the hydrochloric acid. Immediately afterwards I will seal the lid and put it on top of a black mark, then start the stopwatch. I will observe from above and when the black mark is no longer visible, I will stop the stopwatch, measure the temperature again and record these results. I will repeat the experiment a further two times to ensure reliable results and continue this method for each temperature. To make certain that my experiment will not be dangerous, I will carry out some basic safety precautions. I will firstly ensure that there is a safe working area around me by clearing the desks and removing stools. I will then make sure that I am wearing safety glasses at all times and han... ...there were some sources of error and areas that I could have improved if repeating the experiment. I also noticed that there were a few anomalous results on my graph and these could be due to a few sources of error that occurred during my experiment. I felt that by timing the reaction from personal judgement about when the black mark was no longer visible was not as accurate as I would have liked. Also the fact that it was quite difficult to achieve the exact temperature of the sodium thiosulphate solution by heating it, made the experiment a little inaccurate. To give myself completely accurate results I would have to repeat the reactions that gave me anomalous results paying attention to detail and spending longer on each experiment. However, despite this I still managed to achieve quite regular repeats and results that clearly followed and backed up my prediction.

Anansi Essay

In this mythological story, the author outlines the relationship of Hess two by causing Spider to create stressful situations that push Charlie out Of his shell and to take control Of his life. It is evident throughout the novel that Charlie's character consistently develops into, like Spider, a more positive, confident and charismatic person, one by which fits into the Nancy family reputation. In the beginning of this story, there was nothing extraordinary about the character of Charlie Nancy.He could be described as a somewhat boring character: he had a nine to five job, a fiance and enjoyed partaking in normal day to day activities. Charlie's initial character comes across as a very insecure person; he never puts himself out there and has been known to get extremely embarrassed for the littlest things. Charlie rationalizes these attributes by blaming his father for embarrassing him as a child. Caiman writes, â€Å"The worst thing about Fat Charlie's father was simply this: He was embarrassing. (ANSI Boys, 10) The story continues into a description of how Charlie's father made him dress up as Taft: â€Å"Well, when I changed schools, when I was a kid, my dad made a point of telling me how such he had always looked forward to Presidents' Day, when he was a boy, because it's the law that on Presidents' Day, the kids who go to school dressed as their favorite presidents get a big bag of Of course, there was no such thing as President's Day and Charlie was mortified. In his eyes, his father was someone to be ashamed of. He was far too good at embarrassing people and would be the heart and soul of the party.Charlie was so embarrassed by his father that he argued to keep his father away from his and Rookie's wedding. After much convincing on Rookie's end, Charlie alls a family friend, Mrs.. Wiggler, to find his father's number; only to find out that his father had passed away. After his fathers funeral, Charlie visits with Mrs.. Wiggler and learns a great deal mo re about his family. She reveals that Charlie had a brother and their father was a type of ‘God'. Charlie of course, thought that Mrs.. Wiggler was going a bit crazy, but humored her regardless.While trying to get back to his normal life, Charlie decides the practical thing to do would be to go back to work. Caiman writes, â€Å"Fat Charlie was a man who preferred to be working. He regarded lying on a sofa watching Countdown as a reminder of his interludes as a member of the unemployed. He decided that the sensible thing to do would be to go back to work a day early. In the Aldrich offices of the Grahame Coats Agency, up on the fifth and topmost floor, he would feel part of the swim of things. There would be interesting conversation with his fellow workers in the tearoom.The whole panoply of life would unfold before him, majestic in its tapestry, implacable and relentless in its industry. People would be pleased to see ) This as the type of person Charlie was, reliable, sensi ble and practical. He believed that he would feel better once things were back on track in his life. Charlie's job at the Grahame Coats Agency fits perfectly into his type of character. Caiman explains, ‘From this you would presume that there is little you need to know about Fat Charlie's employment, save that he was unhappy in it, and, in the main, you would be right. (43) Charlie was in some type of rut in his life where he was completely unhappy in every aspect, but did and tried nothing to get out of it. As the story develops, Charlie learns, to his surprise, that he does have a brother. Charlie's brother, Spider, is not your average person. Spider takes after their father, and is a type of God. Caiman describes, â€Å"There was a family resemblance between the two men. That was unarguable, although that alone did not explain the intense feeling of familiarity that Fat Charlie felt on seeing Spider.His brother looked like Fat Charlie wished he looked in his mind, unconstr ained by the faintly disappointing fellow that he saw, with monotonous regularity, in the bathroom mirror. Spider was taller, and leaner, and cooler. He was wearing a black-and-scarlet leather jacket, and black leather leggings, and he looked at home in Within a few days of meeting Spider, Charlie's behavior had already changed. Before he knew It, Charlie was at a bar, drinking wine and talking with a group of girls. Spider had an effect on Charlie that made him act out of character.Caiman does a good job of making these characters completely opposite. In his interview R. LLC Sirius, Agrarian States, â€Å"The lead character in ANSI Boys is divided up into Fat Charlie, our hero, who is very English and very embarrassed, and his brother Spider, who is semi-fictional and god-like and for whom the world just sits up and begs and does more or less whatever he wants to Sirius, 3) Caiman explains to us that Spider is an energetic, attractive, smooth talking man who gets exactly what he w ants and takes on his father's persona.Spider continuously pushes Charlie out of his comfort zone and forces him to stand up for the things he wants in life. Spider shows an interest in Rosier rather quickly and even goes as far as telling her he loves her. This, of course, forces Charlie into a physical altercation with his brother, which shows again the extremes that Spider pushes his brother into. Spider goes to Charlie's work and ultimately gets him in more trouble. Charlie's whole life had been turned upside down because of his brother's selfishness and he reacts by promising to get rid Of him once and for all.After going through these stressful situations, Caiman develops Charlie's character into one that fits into the Nancy family's reputation. Not only did Spider's selfishness push Charlie over the edge, but it also made him into a stronger and more confident person. Through the development of Charlie's character, his relationship with spider develops as well. In the beginni ng of the novel, Charlie was unaware that he had a brother, but, through the many obstacles they face together, Charlie and Spider turn out to be closer than ever.One of the more defining moments that allow us to truly appreciate Charlie's new character is when he gets up to sing karaoke like his dad use to. Even though it was a life or death situation, Charlie would have never been able to sing on stage without getting nauseous a few months before that. Caiman describes exactly what Charlie is feeling in that moment: He was still terrified, still angry, but he took all the terror and the anger, and he put it into the song and let it all become a song about lazing and loving. As he sang, he thought. What would Spider do? Thought Fat Charlie.What would my dad do? He Boys, 243) In that moment, Caiman shows that Charlie IS not the same person that he was in the beginning of the story, but that he turned into the person that he always wanted to be; a person similar to his father and bro ther, who could be comfortable in their own skin. In the interview conducted by RIG Sirius Caiman states, â€Å"Gods and heroes win. â€Å"(RL Sirius, 2) It is evident in the conclusion of this novel that Charlie's character won. Not only did he defeat the ‘bad guy', but he also evolved as a human being and gained a brother and friend.Through all the turmoil, the hero still prevailed and the antagonist was what pushed Charlie to be better. Caiman develops Charlie Nanny's character through interactions with his brother, Spider. Not only does Charlie become a better-rounded person, he also builds a great relationship with his brother, who he never even knew he had. Charlie struggles throughout the novel to keep his composure and get rid of his elfish brother but in return, breaks out of his shell and becomes a person his father could be proud Of.

Affirmative Action Essays (2272 words) - Social Inequality

Affirmative Action Essays (2272 words) - Social Inequality Affirmative Action Affirmative Action Affirmative action has been the subject of increasing debate and tension in American society. Affirmative action is the nations most ambitious attempt to redress the issues of racial and sexual discrimination. According to the University of Rhode Island, Affirmative action is defined as, the specific actions in recruitment, hiring, upgrading and other areas designed and taken for the purpose of eliminating the present effects of past discrimination, or present discrimination (www.riuniversity.edu , 8). This allows minorities and women to be given special consideration in education and many other areas. The need for affirmative action is essential to college admissions credentials. Institutions with affirmative action policies generally set goals for increased diversity and equal opportunity among minority students. Our society is not one of equality, but affirmative action provides a way that problems with inequality can be address to the public. Minorities such as African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics live mostly in urban areas that have large populations. Therefore, many minorities normally attend lower quality schools. Colleges usually do not take into account that students come from different backgrounds and different quality schools. The students that have better intermediate and secondary schools have an advantage in college admissions, which exclude many minorities. Affirmative action helps students who come from a lower quality secondary school to have a chance to prove themselves in accredited college. Another advantage of affirmative action is that it provides an environment of diversity. Diversity is essential to colleges and students. As part of higher education, students learn from face-to-face interaction with faculty member and other students to work productively inside and outside the classroom. Racial diversity can enhance college atmosphere by improving communications. It can also develop understanding among individuals of different races. Affirmative action can help students overcome prejudices when students discover just how much they have in common with their peers from other races. The educational benefit of affirmative action is that majority of the students who has previously lack significant direct exposure to minorities, frequently have the most to gain from interaction with individuals. Diversity on college and university campuses may be something that helps people expand their mind, or be open to new opportunities. In the article Needed documentation of how affirmative action benefits all students, it discusses how it is essential t colleges and students to have minorities on the campuses (6). In the section, The Evidence for Diversity: Then and Now, it states: In Justice Powells opinion, Baake relied heavily on the Harvard Plan. The admissions policy of Harvard College include justification for considering race as one of many factors used in deciding whom to admit. The plan stated that of Harvard College is to continue to offer first rate education to its students, minority representation in the undergraduate body would be ignored (2). Justice Powell went on to support diversity plan, which was in 1978. I the seventies, the same things were happening as it is today. People were fighting to have their race or someone elses as a factor in college admissions. Although this happened at Harvard in 1978, it continues today all over the United States. The article goes on to state that twenty years later much has changed, yet we still rely on anecdotal evidence to support the claim that a racially diverse student body is essential to quality education (2). Affirmative action dealing with college is still trying to make campuses a more diverse place with a racially diverse student body. Admitting someone into college or a university because they are smart, not only gives them a chance to be someone, but it also allows that campus to be diversified. In the article, Diversity Fades on Campus, it says schools routinely make exceptions for jocks, the children of big donors and alumni, and friends of power brokers. So why shouldnt these same schools be allowed to make exceptions for minority students. Minority students need the same advantages as jocks or students of big donors to have an equal opportunity in school. Affirmative action gives the same exceptions that some students who arent minorities receive t get into college. According to Jackie Snow in the article The Positive Aspects of Affirmative Action the author states that minority and women remain economically disadvantage.

Ancient nubia

Ancient nubia Definition of a civilization According to my definition of a civilization the ancient Nubian qualify in all fields. They have achieved a division of labor, which sparked advanced government, a written language, advanced technology, and a calendar.Division of labor During the Neolithic age, the Nubian people abandoned their hunter-gatherer society and adopted a new way of life, one with farming and raising animals. It created a division of labor. In the early stages there were a few basic occupations one could pursue. Farming, ranching, and medicine making were the most common of the early careers.As the Nubian civilization evolved many other occupations became available to the people. There were need for hotels, markets, bathhouses, artist, priest, and blacksmiths. One could also take a career as a politician, military officer, record keeper or other careers related to the government. Trading was another way to go. Many people made a living by managing the trade with other countries or working on the trade ships.A shell bracelet found in the grave of a Nubian me...The division of labor required Nubian's to stay in one area rather than travel the land by seasons, and in turn that spawned all other aspects of their civilization.Advanced government Before the Nubians had kings or chiefs the people that usually controlled the population controlled the trade. Trade managers were the people who took farmer's cattle or crops and traded them up the river for whatever the farmer wanted. Nubia depended heavily on trade. Without it they would surely perish. Because of this, trade managers eventually became the official rulers of Nubia. Nubia had established an early form of monarchy supported by three different rulers. The royal crown prince, the general of the river, and the prince of akin were the three main areas of power. All of these positions were hereditary. Though the rulers...

1979 Seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca

1979 Seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca The seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979 is a seminal event in the evolution of Islamist terrorism. Yet the seizure is mostly a footnote in contemporary history. It shouldnt be. The Grand Mosque in Mecca is a massive, 7-acre compound that can accommodate some 1 million worshippers at any one time, especially during the annual hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca centered on circling the sacred Kaaba in the heart of the Grand Mosque. The marble mosque in its current shape is the result of a 20-year, $18 billion renovation project began in 1953 by the House of Saud, the ruling monarchy in Saudi Arabia, which considers itself the guardian and custodian of the Arab Peninsula’s holiest sites, the Grand Mosque topmost among them. The monarchy’s contractor of choice was the Saudi Bin Laden Group, led by the man who in 1957, became the father of Osama bin Laden. The Grand Mosque, however, first came to wide Western attention on November 20, 1979. Coffins as Weapons Cache: Seizure of the Grand Mosque At 5 that morning, the final day of the hajj, Sheikh Mohammed al-Subayil, imam of the Grand Mosque, was preparing to address 50,000 worshipers through a microphone inside the mosque. Among the worshipers, what looked like mourners bearing coffins on their shoulders and wearing headbands made their way through the crowd. It wasnt an unusual sight. Mourners often brought their dead for a blessing at the mosque. But they had no mourning in mind. Sheikh Mohammed al-Subayil was shoved aside by men who took machine guns from beneath their robes, fired them in the air and at a few policemen nearby, and yelled to the crowd that â€Å"The Mahdi has appeared!† Mahdi is the Arabic word for messiah. The mourners set their coffins down, opened them up, and produced an arsenal of weaponry that they then brandished and fired at the crowd. That was only part of their arsenal. An Attempted Overthrow by a Would-Be Messiah The attack was led by Juhayman al-Oteibi, a fundamentalist preacher and former member of the Saudi National Guard, and Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, who claimed to be the Mahdi. The two men openly called for a revolt against the Saudi monarchy, accusing it of having betrayed Islamic principles and sold out to western countries. The militants, who numbered close to 500, were well armed, their weapons, in addition to their coffin arsenal, having been stashed gradually in the days and weeks before the assault in small chambers beneath the Mosque. They were prepared to lay siege to the mosque for a long time. The siege lasted two weeks, though it did not end before a bloodbath in underground chambers where militants had retreated with hundreds of hostagesand bloody repercussions in Pakistan and Iran. In Pakistan, a mob of Islamist students enraged by a false report that the United States was behind the mosque seizure, attacked the American embassy in Islamabad and killed two Americans. Irans Ayatollah Khomeini called the attack and the murders a great joy, and also blamed the seizure on the United States and Israel. In Mecca, Saudi authorities considered attacking the hold-outs without regard for the hostages. Instead, Prince Turki, the youngest son of King Faisal and the man in charge of reclaiming the Grand Mosque, summoned a French secret service officer, Count Claude Alexandre de Marenches, who recommended that the hold-outs be gassed unconscious. Indiscriminate Killing As Lawrence Wright describes it in The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, A team of three French commandos from the Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN) arrived in Mecca. Because of the prohibition against non-Muslims entering the holy city, they converted to Islam in a brief, formal ceremony. The commandos pumped gas into the underground chambers, but perhaps because the rooms were so bafflingly interconnected, the gas failed and the resistance continued.With casualties climbing, Saudi forces drilled holes into the courtyard and dropped grenades into the rooms below, indiscriminately killing many hostages but driving the remaining rebels into more open areas where they could be picked off by sharpshooters. More than two weeks after the assault began, the surviving rebels finally surrendered. At dawn on Jan. 9, 1980, in the public squares of eight Saudi cities, including Mecca, 63 Grand Mosque militants were beheaded by sword on orders of the king. Among the condemned, 41 are Saudi, 10 from Egypt, 7 from Yemen (6 of them from what was then South Yemen), 3 from Kuwait, 1 from Iraq and 1 from the Sudan. Saudi authorities report that 117 militants died as a result of the siege, 87 during the fighting, 27 in hospitals. Authorities also noted that 19 militants received death sentences that were later commuted to life in prison. Saudi security forces suffered 127 deaths and 451 wounded. Were the bin Ladens Involved? This much is known: Osama bin Laden would have been 22 at the time of the attack. He would have likely heard Juhayman al-Oteibi preach. The Bin Laden Group was still heavily involved in the renovation of the Grand Mosque: the company’s engineers and workers had open access to the mosque’s grounds, Bin Laden trucks were inside the compound frequently, and bin Laden workers were familiar with the compound’s every recess: they built some of them. It would be a stretch, however, to assume that because the bin Ladens were involved in construction, they were also involved in the attack. What’s also known is that the company shared all maps and layouts they had of the mosque with authorities to facilitate the Saudi Special Forces’ counter-attack. It would not have been in the bin Laden Group’s interest, enriched as it had become almost exclusively through Saudi government contracts, to aid the regime’s opponents. Just as certainly, what Juhayman al-Oteibi and the â€Å"Mahdi† were preaching, advocating and rebelling against is almost word for word, eye for an eye, what Osama bin Laden would preach and advocate subsequently. The Grand Mosque takeover was not an al-Qaeda operation by any means. But it would become an inspiration, and a stepping stone, to al-Qaeda less than a decade and a half later.

Ports in the Storm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ports in the Storm - Essay Example This is a great opportunity that can really open up Portugal and its neighbouring countries. European markets will be the first beneficiaries of an improved Lisbon port. First, this is a great investment where European companies can drive their investments. After certain duration, Lisbon harbour will call companies to tender for services like offloading containers, uploading containers, and ship repairs. This will provide business to big and small companies improving on the European economy. Secondly, besides providing business to companies, employment opportunities will increase, as individuals will operate cranes and other machines. Thirdly, Improvements of Lisbon harbour will allow the bulkiest of the vessels to dock in it. According to Economist magazine, â€Å"The bulkiest vessels can carry 14,000 twenty-foot containers that would require a train 85 km if transported by rail† (The economist Newspaper, 2012). Big vessels enhance economies of scale since there is a considerable fall in the cost per container. Cost of industrial raw materials falls as the cost of transportation falls, this eventually causes low cost of products. Fourthly, big ships do not stop in many destinations of Europe. This means that Lisbon harbour will open up a faster means of transportation of bulk materials fastening up the process of production. In addition, consumers and businesses will receive complete products in good time. This will attract prime shippers looking for value, speed, and reliability. The first beneficiary of an improved Lisbon port is Portugal. This is because as the port expands, Portuguese industries will get cheap raw materials for their productions. Heavy metal industries and those that depend on bulky materials that come from Asia will benefit greatly. In addition, Southern part of Spain will grow because of this port. The growth will come about as goods from Lisbon port are transported via good

Policy Analysis I Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Policy Analysis I Paper - Essay Example They have stated that it is the responsibility of the federal government in keeping the illegal aliens out of the country and expelling those who are in the country. This essay shows the characteristics of these illegal aliens in the criminal justice system at state, local and federal levels. The analysis done at the federal level is based on the data from the United States Sentencing Commission that contains info on the criminal defendants who have been sentenced according to the 1984 Sentencing Reform Act and Pretrial Services Act Information System that contains info of charged defendants having federal offences (Clark & Anderson, 2000). The numbers of the illegal aliens that are in the federal criminal justice have shot up sharply. This is because the border enforcement was increased, increase in inhabitant illegal alien population and better identification methods used for the illegal aliens. Other different factors may also play a role in the numbers of increased illegal aliens in the federal criminal justice. In determining what leads to the changes in criminal activities, Pretrial Services Act Information System and United States Sentencing Commission data are limited. After the introduction of Operations Hold the Line and Gatekeeper, the population of these illegal aliens’ defendants that were accused and convicted of crossing the border illegally increased. Even though the convictions for these offenses increased in other different districts, not the two districts that were the homes of the initiatives. Missing any details on the law enforcement initiatives in the data sets associated with every arrest, conclusions on the links between arrests and enforcements become suggestive. The ability in tracking the level of changes in criminal activities on the illegal aliens will be enhanced if increased data on the aliens is collected. The Cook County analysis showed that the enormous

TV shows Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

TV shows - Essay Example Though the movies have their aspects that set them apart from each other, making them two distinct tales, they share many similarities. They cover similar disasters, which involves a large object heading for Earth, how they decide to destroy the objects before they hit Earth, and men die for the sake of the people still living on Earth. In Deep Impact, a teenage stargazer, with the help of a professional astronomer, discovers that a seven-mile-wide comet is headed straight for Earth. In Armageddon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration learns that an asteroid the size of Texas, which is what remains of a meteor shower, is on a direct path for the planet. Both of these objects are large enough to completely destroy all life on Earth. Events such as these are referred to in these movies, as well as in real life, as ELEs, or Extinction Level Events. If plans are not formed and implemented in a timely manner to prevent the comet and asteroid from striking Earth, humanity will cease to exist as we know it. Both movies take a similar approach to solving their dilemma. In Deep Impact, it is determined that the only way to destroy the comet is for astronauts and scientists to plant many nuclear bombs beneath its surface and have them detonated. Armageddon refers to a similar method and decides that scientists and a drill operator should drill a single nuclear device towards the asteroid’s core. The goals are to completely destroy the comet and split the asteroid into separate pieces, which will bring about less destruction and even offer the possibility that the remaining pieces will completely miss the Earth or else burn up in the atmosphere. In both cases, the teams and their methods are only partially successful. Instead of being entirely destroyed, the comet is split into two pieces, with each piece still heading for Earth and just as dangerous when they were a whole. In Armageddon, the asteroid does break into two

Leonhard Euler Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leonhard Euler - Essay Example Nevertheless, aided by his phenomenal memory he continued to publish his results by dictating them† (Weisstein) .This paper briefly explains the life and contributions of Leonhard Euler Euler was born on 15 April 1707 in Basel, Switzerland and died on 18 September 1783 at St. Pietersburg in Russia. During his life span he has rewritten or modified some of the established principles in Mathematics and Physics. Euler started his formal education in Basel, and at the age of thirteen he enrolled at the University of Basel. He got his Master degree in Philosophy in 1723 for his comparative study of the philosophies of Descartes and Newton. Even at the time of attending his Master degree classes, he got part time lessons from famous Physicist of that time Johann Bernoulli. In fact Bernoulli was instrumental in shaping the prowess of Euler. Even though, Euler was interested in studying theology at this point of time, Bernoulli convinced his father and prepared the way for converting Euler as a great scientist as we know (OConnor and Robertson). â€Å"Eulers health problems began in 1735 when he had a severe fever and almost lost his life. However, he kept this news from his parents and members of the Bernoulli family back in Basel until he had recovered† (OConnor and Robertson). Euler left Basel and arrived in St Petersburg on 17 May 1727. He joined the St Petersburg academy of science which helped him immensely in polishing his ideas in Physics and Mathematics. On 7 January 1734, Euler married Katharina Gsell. He had 13 children even though only five of them survived the childhood. Euler spent most of his adult life in Russia and Germany. He arrived in Berlin in 1741. He spent around 25 years in Berlin and wrote around 380 scientific articles during his stay at Berlin. Many books written on calculus, planetary orbits, motion of moon, etc during this period. Even though, Euler has contributed immensely to the development of the Berlin academy, he forced to

Liberalism (liberties, human rights, and free trade) Research Paper

Liberalism (liberties, human rights, and free trade) - Research Paper Example Liberty of conscience and freedom of worship. Freedom of speech. Freedom to collaborate or not to collaborate. Individual freedom, guaranteed by the justice, law and administrative body. No gender discrimination. The opportunity to have the varied and full education irrespective of birth. Security from the unfavorable issues such as unemployment, old age, disability and sickness. Free choice of the consumers and to rap the opportunity of productivity of industry and soil. Civil and political rights can only be realized where the right of security and subsistence are recognized. Reorganizations The need to promote and protect the rights of religious, national and ethnic and linguistic minorities. Need to establish and practice a culture that overcomes the issue of discrimination among the people of several groups. Need to abolish the regulations and laws regarding the discrimination. Support and defend the activities of the individuals who have fought with the society in order to get personal freedom and fight for civil liberties and human rights. Free Trade The potential of the free trade is to bring strength and empower in the human being to increase the standard of live in the globe (Huntington, 1993). Free trade in the modern age generally entails the following. Free flow of staffs and employees. Deregulation and liberalization of the economy. End to private and state monopolies. Rule of law and property rights. Human creativity and private initiative of environment conducive. Currency wars and trade disputes. Inter communal violence, political instability, war and dictatorship. Corruption and weakness of government. The modern liberalism has highlighted that; the free trade must be controlled and guided by certain regulations and rules that are... Liberalism is a dominant political ideology. Liberalism is known as the response to the urbanization and industrial revolution in the 19th century. Liberalism was occurred in America and Europe. Classical liberalism was constructed on the basis of the ideas in the 18th century. Liberties, human rights and free trade are the three major aspects of liberalism. In order to discuss every single aspect of the modern liberalism, it is necessary to highlight theme resolution of free trade and human rights. Human rights and Free trade theme was constructed in the year 2011 by the manila Congress that discusses the integrity of the system of free trade and human rights. Human rights are the fundamental and universal rights that determine the virtue of humanity of the human beings. This right has not constructed on the basis of nationality, religion, culture, race, citizenship, social class, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. Human rights and the policies related to the welfare of human being and society need to be exist in every community. This process will help the globe to bring the equality among the several groups of individuals in this modern civilization era. The fundamental conditions and rights are mentioned in the document of international founding. The modern liberalism has highlighted that; the free trade must be controlled and guided by certain regulations and rules that are enforced by the accountability foundations at the national, regional and international levels. It recognizes and understands the effectively and the importance of the free trade recall with several effective public policies in order to sustain the development and overcome the reasons and issues related poverty in the society.

Leonhard Euler Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leonhard Euler - Essay Example Nevertheless, aided by his phenomenal memory he continued to publish his results by dictating them† (Weisstein) .This paper briefly explains the life and contributions of Leonhard Euler Euler was born on 15 April 1707 in Basel, Switzerland and died on 18 September 1783 at St. Pietersburg in Russia. During his life span he has rewritten or modified some of the established principles in Mathematics and Physics. Euler started his formal education in Basel, and at the age of thirteen he enrolled at the University of Basel. He got his Master degree in Philosophy in 1723 for his comparative study of the philosophies of Descartes and Newton. Even at the time of attending his Master degree classes, he got part time lessons from famous Physicist of that time Johann Bernoulli. In fact Bernoulli was instrumental in shaping the prowess of Euler. Even though, Euler was interested in studying theology at this point of time, Bernoulli convinced his father and prepared the way for converting Euler as a great scientist as we know (OConnor and Robertson). â€Å"Eulers health problems began in 1735 when he had a severe fever and almost lost his life. However, he kept this news from his parents and members of the Bernoulli family back in Basel until he had recovered† (OConnor and Robertson). Euler left Basel and arrived in St Petersburg on 17 May 1727. He joined the St Petersburg academy of science which helped him immensely in polishing his ideas in Physics and Mathematics. On 7 January 1734, Euler married Katharina Gsell. He had 13 children even though only five of them survived the childhood. Euler spent most of his adult life in Russia and Germany. He arrived in Berlin in 1741. He spent around 25 years in Berlin and wrote around 380 scientific articles during his stay at Berlin. Many books written on calculus, planetary orbits, motion of moon, etc during this period. Even though, Euler has contributed immensely to the development of the Berlin academy, he forced to

War as a Strategic Tool of Policy - To what extent did the outcome of Essay

War as a Strategic Tool of Policy - To what extent did the outcome of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war serve the political objectives o - Essay Example Also dubbed as the Yom Kippur war and war that was fought in the Holy Month of Ramadan as per Islamic Calendar (White 2012 ), thereby it was significant not just on account of political rivalry but it also had the share and touch of religious affiliations from both ends. It did not engulf just Israel and Palestine alone, rather it entangled other neighboring parts as well, namely Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Although numerous other wars have been fought before and after as well, yet it is considered to be one of the greater events of war being fought after the Second World War, based on the reason that it entangled a complete region and the other world powers as well. Keywords: Golan Heights, oil embargo, Suez Canal, military might myth, bi polar world. Thesis statement: A war that was won on field by Israel, yet by Egypt and its allies on political table, setting course for new diplomatic relationships, political domination and new alliances, and ultimately further increasing the impor tance of the Arab region in the world. Impact of the war: The war being fought in October 1973, had long term repercussions, it had its impacts on the geopolitical dimension, the regional peace, the coexistence with one another, the territories re distribution, the role of each of the participant and various other factors, in short, the war that lasted n more than a few weeks had its impact over the next many years to come. The cause of the war was the hostility between the two sides, with the Arab bloc blaming Israel for taking the places that originally belonged to the Arab States. To settle the scores once for all, the states decided to launch a decisive offensive against the common enemy. Major players and their concerns: The war had direct participants in form of Egypt that had its horns locked with Israel over the Suez Canal; Palestine though did not participate directly, yet it had their issues based on the holy land of Jerusalem which was long being claimed as the place of t heir religious affiliation by the both sides. Syria had its interest locked in form of Golan Heights (Dunstan 2007, 21). Hence the major players were Israel, Syria and Egypt. The main disagreement arouse from the 1967 war (The Six Days war) which had left Israel single handed winner against the Arab states. Aiming to level the score, Egypt and Syria had planned surprise attack against Israel catching it off guard. The element of Cold War: Although the war directly involved Arab states and Israel, yet it had its roots deeply drawn in the external agents. These external agents came in form of the two super powers of the then bi-polar world that was visibly divided into the Capitalist bloc and the Soviet Union’s Socialist bloc (Garthoff 2001, 326). The cold war that started off right after the end of Second World War was an unconventional war where the battles were not fought head to head, rather through proxies and establishment of alliances and allies in different parts of the world. The Arab world was also part of the same world and hence was under the direct interest and focus of the two super powers. Israel had the backing of Capitalist state America, and Arab States, and the Arab bloc, and most dominantly Egypt had the shoulder and support of Soviet Republic over it. The associated was not just limited to backdoor diplomacy and assistance, rather officially declared ties,

Resistance of a wire Essay Example for Free

Resistance of a wire Essay We undertook an experiment to find the relationship between resistance and a length of wire. Equipment: Variable resister, Wire 1m long, Digital voltmeter, Digital ammeter, 4 X 1. 5 cell, 1m ruler, Connecting wires. Method We collected our equipment needed and set it out as the circuit diagram below. I started by drawing out my results table to record my results on. The headers for the columns where as follows: Length (cm), Current (A), Potential difference (V) and Resistance (I). At every 10cm we took a reading and entered it into our table. Some flickered between two values so I took both down. Starting at 1m and working down. On the second experiment I started at 10cm and worked the other way to see whether it affected the results. When using the variable resistor we kept it on the minimum resistance throughout the experiment. While taking the results we had more than one result for the current and potential difference, which in turn caused some results to have more than one resistance value. Because of this I had to alter our table slightly during the experiment to ensure we took down all the results. To ensure the test was as fair as possible I repeated the test to ensure the experiment was fair and true. Looking at my results in the table they are very similar which proves that it was fair. Results These tables show my results from the experiment and the sum for: V I R First experiment: Length (cm) Current (A) Second reading for (A) Potential difference (V) Resistance ? (I) Second result for (I). Second experiment: Length (cm) Current (A) Second reading for (A) Potential difference (V) Second result for (V) Resistance ? (I) Second result for (I) Third result for (I) Fourth result for (I) I have drawn graphs for these results: see appendix a and b. Analysis My results show that the resistant relates to the length of the wire used. As the current increases the potential difference does and the resistance decreases. As the length of wire is reduced the potential difference reduces and so does the current. There is a slight difference between our first and second experiment. Both graphs show that there is a definite pattern but there are some anomalies. The anomalies seem to be separate from the other results. But this anomaly happened on both experiments on 60cm. There may be some other reason for this. I cannot see why it should happen on both sets of results at the same measurement. Both graphs are similar and follow a very similar line. Graph A shows quite a straight line with only one less extreme anomaly where as graph B show a reasonably straight line with one major anomaly which stand out considerable from the rest. On both graphs the results take a wavelike form rather than a straight line. The results do to an extent follow Ohms law. On graph A, 4 of the plots run on the same line, which agrees with Ohms law, and graph B 4 plots do the same. The second graph started at a lower current and potential difference but I think it should be higher because of the use of the wire before which could have increased the temperature. On the second experiment there was more flickering on the ammeter and voltmeter, which caused the increase in the results. Although the flickering occurred it was constant. On table 1 the potential difference decreased in shorter stages that table 2. When plotting my results on a graph I had to take an average from my results. Conclusion Current id the flow of electrons around the circuit this is pushed by voltage. The resistance tries to oppose it. This is apparent from looking at our experiment results. The resistance stays constant as long as the component does not change its physical condition i. e. The wire does not get hot. George ohm was the first scientist to investigate this theory. The resistance is measured in Ohms Resistance at a constant temperature is proportional to potential difference. The relative size of the voltage and resistance decides how bit the current will be. By increasing the voltage more current will flow but by increasing the resistance the current is less. This is shown in our results. Our results agree with the theory. 100cm of wire = little current but a lot of P. D = lots of resistance 10cm of wire = lots of current but little P. D = little resistance This shows the longer the piece of wire the more resistance Wires of different material have different resistance: Copper wire I Steel wire V The graph shows above that cooper wire has a low resistance and is a good conductor. Steel has a higher resistance and a lower conductivity. Both wires have the same potential difference (voltage) across them. Wire A. I Wire B Wire C V As you can see above different wires have different resistance. Evaluation There were a few problems that occurred in our experiment such as the flickering of the ammeter and voltmeter, which caused us to have to take more than one result. On both graphs there was an anomaly on 60 cm. There may be some other reason for this. Both graphs are very similar and follow a very similar line. Graph A shows quite a straight line with only one anomaly where as graph B show a straight line with one major anomaly which stand out considerable from the rest. On 60cm the potential difference increased on both sets of results. The temperature of the wire was not taken to see whether it had increased in temperature during the experiment. It does not show increased resistance on the second table, which was taken straight after the first experiment, which could have affected it. By taking the temperature of the wire on the same resistance for a period of time we could see how long it takes for the temperature to increase and in turn for the resistance to increase. This could help with evaluating our results and also time the experiment to see how long the wire had current flowing through it and then if it had increased in temperature. The results are reasonably reliable because the do to an extent obey Ohms law. I think the reason for the unreliability could have been because the wire had changed its physical condition (got hotter). To further our investigation we could go on and use a longer piece of wire 2m and also use different types of wire such as steel and copper. Change the temperature of the wire because wire that is colder is a better conductor. I believe our results were reliable but need improving by the suggestions I have given above. Bibliography Hodder and Stoughton AQA GCSE Physics Class notes   CPG Revision and Practice Guide Alison Eatock GCSE Physics 30/11/03 Resistance of a wire 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

Urban Regeneration Of The Melbourne Docklands Area Environmental Sciences Essay

Urban Regeneration Of The Melbourne Docklands Area Environmental Sciences Essay It can be a challenge to introduce sustainable mixed-use infill development elements into existing cities because of the density issue. Since the attitude of communities of the public is that; high densities contribute to crime (Dekle and Mofson 1997) While plans are created for the redevelopment of urban centres and former industrial areas in Australia (VicUrban 2006) and around the world, many existing cities, struggle with environmental, and economic problems, shattered urban areas, as well as present of public health social problems of inequality. Sustainability measures can be included as a key part of any infill strategy. to improve social equity (HSP and PIA 2009) The demand for new homes in Melbourne is unsatisfied as elsewhere around Australia. Redeveloping brown-fields to meet part of this demand can add valuable benefits other than meeting the need for homes within the city (Melbourne 2007). It can add to any city vitality, also it can reduce the need to develop  ¿Ã‚ ½green-fields ¿Ã‚ ½ sites. As well as closeness of homes near to centres of activity encourages use of public transport, walking and cycling in addition to reduces the dependency on private cars. (HSP and PIA 2009) Measures of diversity in the SD plan have to taken into concidiration needs are best met by ensuring that an appropriate range of small, medium and large family homes is available. So the market will not over supply of small homes and a shortage of  ¿Ã‚ ½lifetime ¿Ã‚ ½ homes The recent growth of urban brown-field redevelopment and greenfield initiatives is a positive indicator of the redirected priorities of the public and private sectors to re The following case study reveals how the inclusion of sustainable growth in a large-scale urban redevelopment can strengthen a shattered urban area and create an efficient functional and iconic ESD Case Study: Urban renewal of Melbourne Docklands, Australia Pre-conditions leading to infill development: The Docklands Area it is located on Victoria Harbor in South Australia (SA) in the heart of Melbourne city; situated nearby the Yarra River and directly southwest of the Melbourne central business area (DSE 2005). Since 1970 to 1990s the Docklands Area was a major source of pollution to the harbor neighbourhood in Melbourne city due to past industrial activities (DSE 2005) because of that the area has endure from disinvestment. However, the need for quayside areas in developed countries in the 1980 including Australia has reduced due to globalization; Shipping, heavy industry and manufacturing has been repositioned to developing nations such as China (Dekle and Mofson 1997). One of the difficulties to redevelop in Docklands was; land contamination, since most of it has been used for industrial activities for years (Commonwealth 2009). The Docklands area needed major design involvement to renew the vacant land as well as clean up the nearby stream (REF). Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD): Melbourne Docklands In the recent peak oil era and the promote trend of globalisation and sustainability, it was apparently predictable that Melbourne CBD and Docklands area would be converted from heavy industry and shipping activities to a high-rise residential and light commercial areas (VicUrban 2006). In addition to the value of real estates in Australian cities, as in Europe increases; by means of closeness to both the central business quarter and waterfront (REA 2010) While Docklands land is state-owned, it has been developed in partnership between the government and the private sector with national and international developers. (VicUrban 2010a). Docklands redevelopment is one of largest Brown-field urban renewal projects in Australia (Commonwealth 2009). As shown in map below Docklands redevelopment is a 200-acre Brown-Field development (VicUrban 2010a) The Docklands redevelopment began in 1989 with the intention of setting a worldwide precedent to incorporate all aspects of sustainability; social, cultural, economic, and environmental (VicUrban 2006) There are eight ESD principles for Melbourne Docklands as indicated in the ESD Guide 2006: 1. Conserve and protect natural resources 2. Create long-term value 3. Maximise precinct opportunities 4. Balance economic, social and environmental outcomes 5. Set standards, requirements and benchmarks, and continually review 6. Develop a collaborative approach, and capture and communicate knowledge 7. Promote alternative transport opportunities 8. Create a healthy urban environment In 2004 the PIA Victoria Division has awarded the Docklands Development with Planning Excellence in the Community Based Planning Category and Planning for Health and Wellbeing (PIA 2004) The (VicUrban) Victorian Governments sustainable urban development agency has entered the award through a strategic plan that has engaged extensive research and consultation with local residence of Docklands community, local government and developers to deliver; public services and social sustainability at Melbourne Docklands.  ¿Ã‚ ½Place and Community: Implementing Sustainable Communities at Melbourne Docklands 2004-2020 ¿Ã‚ ½ plan (VicUrban 2004) Source: (Melbourne 2010) VicUrban Plan for community wellbeing identifies facilities, superiority of service and presents an on-going monitoring program that keep an eye on execution of the plan (VicUrban 2004). This Practical fresh approach is driven from innovative service organizations to deliver the needs of the existing and future community of Melbourne. The plan has advertise itself as  ¿Ã‚ ½healthy and active Docklands ¿Ã‚ ½ by focusing on variety of strategies and services intended to endorse diversity of community, its development and inhabitants wellbeing as well as workers and visitors (PIA 2004). In addition, the plan aims to create alternative active modes of transportation; such as walking and cycling, road safety (VicUrban 2004). As it is predicted by the Department of Sustainability and Environment in Victoria (DES); in 2030 population of Melbourne will grow by one million people (DSE 2005) as a result the need to redevelop or regenerate more of existing brown-fields sites in inner city is essential to achieve goals of sustainable environment, urban amenity and community development (PIA 2004). This approach has been adopted by Victoria government and VicUrban to change the face of Melbourne traditional CBD and to improve waterfront of the city by creating more compact with higher density developments that is easy to be serviced in a sustainable way. The plan is to create  ¿Ã‚ ½development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs ¿Ã‚ ½ (WCED, et al. 1987) pp1 To Achieve a Sustainable Developments (SD) in Docklands that meets present and future needs the plan focuses and balance between three aspects or the  ¿Ã‚ ½three bottom lines ¿Ã‚ ½ Environment, Social (Equity) and Economy (Gilbert et al., 1996). As shown in table below according with state of Victoria strategy population projections of Docklands it is estimated to increase from 6,000 residents in 2009 to 17,000 by 2020 (VicUrban 2010a) Population Start 2009 End 2009 2015 2020 Residents 6,000 6,500 11,000 17,000 Workers 12,000 19,000 30,000 40,000 Visitors 8 million p.a. 10 million p.a. 13 million p.a 20 million p.a. Development investment $5.5 billion $6 billion $9 billion $12 billion TABLE 1: DOCKLANDS POPULATION PROJECTIONS, Source: (VicUrban 2010a) While Docklands land is state-owned, it has been developed in partnership between the government and the private sector with national and international developers. (VicUrban 2010a). Docklands is one of largest Brown-field urban renewal projects in Australia (Commonwealth 2009). It is a mixed-use development includes eight precincts as shown in table XXX late 2009 $6 billion of development is either completed or under construction with a final development value of $12 billion by 2020 that will create a wide variety of jobs for 40,000 people (VicUrban 2010a)

Platos Repubulic- Music, Art, Literature Essay -- essays research pap

In The Republic, Plato uses many different aspects in Books II, III, and X including: art, literature, and music. These aspects play a huge part in the building of the â€Å"ideal city†. Plato includes what can and cannot be used and what is good and what is bad for the city. While building the city, everything is broken down and analyzed by Plato. Art as an imitation of real things, three types of imitation, the types of literature, art, and music allowed and not allowed in the city, and the impact of art on the people of the city will all be analyzed in this paper. Books III and X contain information on art as an imitation of real things. â€Å"Imitation, we say, imitates human beings performing forced or voluntary actions, and, as a result of the action, supposing themselves to have done well or badly, and in all of this experiencing pain or enjoyment† (287). Plato also describes art as the imitation of real things as a copy of an object. A painter paints a picture of a couch. The couch in the painting looks the same as the couch that was used for the painting, but the couch in the picture is a copy of the original couch. Plato makes it seem that art imitates the objects and events of real life. Plato furthers his point by introducing his theory that a copy of a copy of an object is imitation. For example, carpenters build a bed which they did not originally event. The carpenter’s bed was built by the carpenter but it was based off another bed that was originally created by God. This makes the carpenter’s bed a copy of another bed. When a painter is painting he also creates a copy of an object. If he paints the carpenters bed, it is a copy of a copy of an object. Plato includes, â€Å"imitation is surely far from the truth, and, as it... ...s that the people are very important to Plato. If degrading artwork, stories, or poems enter the city it could make the people weak, unhappy, and very depressed. On the other hand, if positive artwork is introduced the whole mood of the city changes. They could be come strong, happy, and vivacious. Plato made sure that there was no literature or music that sad or discouraging in the city. As seen in Books II, III, and X, art, literature, and music played a large part in putting the ideal city together. The imitation of art had a large impact on everyone in the city, each type of music had to fit the personality or job of each person in the city, and the literature had to be watched closely so that the women, children, and even men were not distraught by it. While building the ideal city Plato had to make sure everything was perfect so that everyone was happy.

The Fall of The House of Usher Essay -- Literary Analysis, Edgar Allan

Often times in literature the author will correlate attributes of a character or things happening to a character with physical items or even other people within the story. This provides an indication of how a character is structured and sometimes foreshadows things yet to happen in the story. In the short story â€Å"The Fall of The House of Usher,† the author, Edgar Allan Poe, establishes two distinct parallels between three characters. Roderick is paralleled with both his twin sister, Madeline, and the actual house itself. Determining the similarities between these characters can provide an interesting literary exercise. Roderick and Madeline being twin siblings should provide enough similarities to establish a parallel in itself, but there are other indications. Both Usher siblings suffer from debilitating ailments which Poe alludes to several times throughout the story. An example of this is when Poe states of Roderick, â€Å"an anomalous species of terror I found him a bounden slave† (Poe 235). The author does this again when writing: â€Å"I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident† (Poe 235). Finally, he writes, â€Å"He was enchained by certain superstitious impressions in regard to the dwelling which he tenanted, and whence, for many years, he had never ventured forth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Poe 235). The terms â€Å"bounden slave† and â€Å"enchained† in these passages hint that Roderick is unable to move from his fears and is therefore stuck. Madeline is described as having à ¢â‚¬Å"transient affections of a partially cataleptical character† (Poe 236). This means while suffering from catatonic fits she was physically unable to move, similar in nature to Roderick’s inability to mov... ...the narrator. The use of parallels within literature has long provided readers with a way to delve deeper into the author’s view of a character. Roderick and Madeline Usher were so similar they in fact died at the same time from comparable health problems. The physical house Roderick lived in seemed to take on so many of the exact depressing attributes of its owner that it, too, perished upon his death. â€Å"The Fall of The House of Usher† by Edgar Allan Poe deals predominantly with hopelessness which fills the narrator with despair. Despite this hopelessness and despite the fact that every character the narrator encounters dies at the end of the story, and regardless that during his visit to the Usher House the narrator becomes somewhat depressed himself, one can glean hope that the narrator, and therefore the reader, escapes from an obviously despondent situation.

Human Cloning Essay

Introduction: The possibility of human cloning, raised when Scottish scientists at Roslin Institute created the much-celebrated sheep â€Å"Dolly†, aroused worldwide interest and concern because of its scientific and ethical implications. The feat, cited by Science magazine as the breakthrough of 1997, also generated uncertainty over the meaning of â€Å"cloning† –an umbrella term traditionally used by scientists to describe different processes for duplicating biological material. Given this information, you may ask, or maybe right now, you are wondering what actually â€Å"cloning† is. Biology defines cloning as the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. However, in Biotechnology, cloning is all about copying DNA fragments to produce a perfect â€Å"clone† of the specimen. Derived from the ancient greek word klon, meaning twig, it refers to the process whereby a new plant can be created from a twig. In this research paper, my main goal is to make you understand and answer our questions on what cloning really is all about, and how it will affect our lives once it is successfully done. Yes, I have my questions as well regarding the process, and the main reason this is the topic I chose is because the idea seems to be both simple and complex at the same time. As to why, I will be answering that as we dig deeper into the topic. Lastly, before we move to the next part of this very interesting research, you may want to know that â€Å"cloning† does not refer only to a single process. It has it’s own complexities, and there are several processes and methods in which cloning is divided and categorized. And now, into the topic we go. Historical Background: As a scientific and technical possibility, human cloning has emerged as an outgrowth of discoveries or innovations in developmental biology, genetics, assisted reproductive technologies, animal breeding, and, most recently, research on embryonic stem cells. Assisted reproductive techniques in humans accomplished the in vitro fertilization of a human egg, yielding a zygote and developing embryo that could be successfully implanted into a woman’s uterus to give rise to a live-born child. Animal breeders developed and refined these techniques with a view to perpetuating particularly valuable animals and maintaining laboriously identified genomes. Most recently, the isolation of embryonic stem cells and their subsequent in vitro differentiation into many different cell types have opened up possibilities for repairing and replacing diseased or nonfunctioning tissue, and thus possible research uses for cloned human embryos. The German embryologist Hans Spemann conducted what many co nsider to be the earliest â€Å"cloning† experiments on animals. Spemann was interested in answering a fundamental question of biological development: does each differentiated cell retain the full complement of genetic information present initially in the zygote? In the late 1920s, he tied off part of a cell containing the nucleus from a salamander embryo at the sixteen-cell stage and allowed the single cell to divide, showing that the nucleus of that early embryo could, in effect, â€Å"start over.† In a 1938 book, Embryonic Development and Induction, Spemann wondered whether more completely differentiated cells had the same capacity and speculated about the possibility of transferring the nucleus from a differentiated cell – taken from either a later-stage embryo or an adult organism – into an enucleated egg. As he explained it: â€Å"Decisive information about this question may perhaps be afforded by an experiment which appears, at first sight, to be somewhat fantastical. This experiment might possibly show that even nucle i of differentiated cells can initiate normal development in the egg protoplasms.† But Spemann did not know how to conduct such an experiment. Research with frogs fourteen years later encouraged progress toward the â€Å"fantastical experiment.† In 1952, the American embryologists Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King first successfully transferred nuclei from early embryonic cells of leopard frogs to enucleated leopard frog eggs. The â€Å"activated egg† began to divide and develop, became a multicellular embryo, and then became a tadpole. Embryologists in other  laboratories successfully repeated these initial experiments on different species of frogs. But additional experience also showed that the older and more differentiated a donor cell becomes, the less likely it is that its nucleus would be able to direct development. In 1962, the British developmental biologist John Gurdon reported that he had produced sexually mature frogs by transferring nuclei from intestinal cells of tadpoles into enucleated frog eggs. The experiments had a low success rate and remained controversial. Gurdon continued this work in the 1970s, and he was able to produce tadpoles by transferring the nucleus of adult frog skin cells into enucleated frog eggs. Later experiments established that many factors in addition to the intact nucleus are crucial to success. In retrospect, it is surprising that any of these earlier exper iments produced positive results. But despite their low success rates, these experiments demonstrated that the nucleus retained its full complement of genetic information and encouraged later investigators to explore mammalian cloning. The birth of Louise Brown in 1978, the first baby conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), was also an important milestone, because it demonstrated that human birth was possible from eggs that were fertilized outside the body and then implanted into the womb. As for the possibility of cloning animals from adult cells – especially mammals – the work in the intervening years focused largely on the reprogramming of gene expression in somatic cells, the transfer of nuclei taken from embryos in mammals (beginning with mice in the 1980s), and finally the work of Ian Wilmut and his colleagues at the Roslin Institute with adult nuclei, which led to the birth of Dolly on July 5, 1996. Since then, similar success has been achieved in cloning other mammalian species, including cattle, goats, pigs, mice, cats, and rabbits. The animal cloners did not set out to develop techniques for cloning humans. Wilmut’s goal was to replicate or perpetuate animals carrying a valuab le genome (for example, sheep that had been genetically modified to produce medically valuable proteins in their milk). Others, such as the cloners of the kitten CC, were interested in commercial ventures for the cloning of pets.6 Yet the techniques developed in animals have encouraged a small number of infertility therapists to contemplate and explore efforts to clone human children. And, following the announcement in 1998 by James Thomson and his associates of their isolation of human  embryonic stem cells, there emerged an interest in cloned human embryos, not for reproductive uses but as a powerful tool for research into the nature and treatment of human disease. So what does this mean? Having successfully cloning â€Å"Dolly† the sheep? I will be discussing that as we go further with the research. Let me present to you now some historical data regarding the actually topic â€Å"human cloning†. Here is an actually timeline of cloning processes that has been recorded throughout the past century: Cloning Timeline| 1885| August Weismann, professor of zoology and comparative anatomy at the University of Freiberg, theorized that the genetic information of a cell would diminish as the cell went through differentiation.| 1888| Wilhelm Roux tested the germ plasm theory for the first time. One cell of a 2-cell frog embryo was destroyed with a hot needle; the result was a half-embryo, supporting Weismann’s theory.| 1894| Hans Dreisch isolated blastomeres from 2- and 4-cell sea urchin embryos and observed their development into small larvae. These experiments were regarded as refutations of the Weismann-Roux theory.| 1901| Hans Spemann split a 2-cell newt embryo into two parts, resulting in the development of two complete larvae.| 1902| Walter Sutton published â€Å"On the Morphology of the Chromosome Group in Brachyotola magna†, hypothesizing that chromosomes carry the inheritance and that they occur in distinct pairs within a cell’s nucleus. Sutton also argued that how chromosome s act when sex cells divide was the basis for the Mendelian Law of Heredity.| 1902| German embryologist Hans Spemann split a 2-celled salamander embryo and each cell grew to adulthood, providing proof that early embryo cells carry necessary genetic information. This finally disproved Weismann’s 1885 theory that the amount of genetic information in cells decreases with each division.| 1914| Hans Spermann conducted and early nuclear transfer experiment.| 1928| Hans Spemann performed further, successful nuclear transfer experiments.| 1938| Hans Spemann published the results of his 1928 primitive nuclear transfer experiments involving salamander embryos in the book â€Å"Embryonic Development and Induction.† Spemann argued the next step for research should be the cloning organisms by extracting the nucleus of a differentiated cell and putting it into an enucleated egg.| 1944| Oswald Avery found that a  cell’s genetic information was carried in DNA.| 1950| First successful freezing of bull semen at -79 °C for later insemination of cows was accomplished.| 1952| First animal cloning: Robert Briggs and Thomas J. King cloned northern leopard frogs.| 1953| Francis Crick and James Watson ,working at Cambridge’s Cavendis h Laboratory, discovered the structure of DNA.| 1962| Biologist John Gurdon announced that he had cloned South African frogs using the nucleus of fully differentiated adult intestinal cells. This demonstrated that cells’ genetic potential do not diminish as the cell became specialized.| 1962 – 65| Robert G. McKinnell, Thomas J. King, and Marie A. Di Berardino produced swimming larvae from enucleated oocytes that had been injected with adult frog kidney carcinoma cell nuclei.| 1963| Biologist J.B.S. Haldane coined the term â€Å"clone† in a speech entitled â€Å"Biological Possibilities for the Human Species of the Next Ten-Thousand Years.†| 1964| F.C. Steward grew a complete carrot plant from a fully differentiated carrot root cell.| 1966| Marshall Niremberg, Heinrich Mathaei, and Severo Ochoa broke the genetic code, discovering what codon sequences specified each of the twenty amino acids.| 1966| John B. Gurdon and V. Uehlinger grew adult frogs after injecting tadpole intestinal cell nuclei into enucleated oocytes.| 1967| DNA ligase, the enzyme responsible for binding together strands of DNA, was isolated. 1969| James Shapiero and Johnathan Beckwith announced that they had isolated the first gene.| 1970| Howard Temin and David Baltimore each independently isolated the first restriction enzyme.| 1972| Paul Berg combined the DNA of two different organisms, thus creating the first recombinant DNA molecules.| 1973| Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer created the first recombinant DNA organism using recombinant DNA techniques pioneered by Paul Berg. Also known as gene splicing, this technique that allows scientists to manipulate the DNA of an organism – the basis of genetic engineering.| 1977| Karl Illmensee and Peter Hoppe created mice with only a single parent.| 1978| David Rorvik published the novel In His Image: The Cloning of a Man.| 1978| Baby Louise, the first child conceived throughin vitro fertilization, was born.| 1979| Karl Illmensee claimed to have cloned three mice.| 1980| In the case Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the United States Supreme Court  ruled that a â€Å"live, human made microorganism is patentable material.†| 1983| Kary B. Mullis developed the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 1983. This process allows for the rapid synthesis of designated fragments of DNA.| 1983| Davor Solter and David McGrath tried to clone mice using their own version of the nuclear transfer method.| 1983| The first human mother-to-mother embryo transfer was completed.| 1983 – 86| Marie A. Di Berardino, Nancy H. Orr, and Robert McKinnell transplanted nuclei of adult frog erythrocytes, thus obtained pre-feeding and feeding tadpoles.| 1984| Steen Willadsen cloned a sheep from embryo cells, the first verified example of mammal cloning using the process of nuclear transfer.| 1985| Steen Willadsen used his cloning technique to duplicate prize cattle embryos. | 1985| Ralph Brinster created the first transgenic livestock: pigs that produced human growth hormone.| 1986| Using differentiated, one week old embryo cells, Steen Willadsen cloned a cow.| 1986| Artificially inseminated surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead gave birth to Baby M. She tried and failed to retain custody.| 1986| Neal First, Randal Prather, and Willard Eyestone used early embryo cells to clone a cow.| October 1990| The National Institutes of Health officially launched the Human Genome Project to locate the 50,000 to 100,000 genes and sequence the estimated 3 billion nucleotides of the human genome.| 1993| M. Sims and N.L. First reported the creation of calves by transfer of nuclei from cultured embryonic cells.| 1993| Human embryos were first cloned.| July 1995| Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell used differentiated embryo cells to clone two sheep, named Megan and Morag.| July 5, 1996| Dolly, the first organism ever to be cloned from adult cells, was born.| February 23, 1997| Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland officially announced the birth of â€Å"Dolly†| March 4, 1997| President Clinton proposed a five year moratorium on federal and privately funded human cloning research.| July 1997| Ian Wilmut and Keith Campbell, the scientists who created Dolly, also created Polly, a Poll Dorset lamb cloned from skin cells grown in a lab and genetically altered to contain a human gene.| August 1997| President Clinton proposed legislation to ban the cloning of humans for at least 5 years.| September 1997| Thousands of biologists and physicians signed a voluntary five-year moratorium on human cloning in the United States.| December 5, 1997| Richard Seed announced that he intended to clone a human before federal laws could effectively prohibit the process.| early January 1998| Nineteen European nations signed a ban on human cloning.| January 20, 1998| The Food and Drug Administration announced that it had authority over human cloning.| July 1998| Ryuzo Yanagimachi, Toni Perry, and Teruhiko Wakayama announced that they had cloned 50 mice from adult cells since October, 1997.| January 1998| Botechnology firm Perkin-Elmer Corporation announced that it wold work with gene sequencing expert J. Craig Venture to privately map the human genome.| Should be interesting enough, right? So in 1998 there was actually a major advancement in the field of genealogy which took us a step closer towards human cloning. â€Å"The Human Genome†. The genome of homosapiens stored in 23 chromosome pairs, was launched – 30 years after the successful deciphering of the DNA code which was done in 1968. It came as a major boost for the much-aspired practice of human cloning. Even though animal cloning was still in it’s infancy stage, several scientists attempted to clone the human cells. In 2002, Clonaid – a human cloning company founded in 1997, revealed that it had sucessfully cloned humans, and made public a picture of a baby which was allegedly the first clone human, named Eve. The company followed up with more of such revelations, but it was difficult to assess the credibility of these claimsas they refused to undergo a DNA test of the mother and child. More of such claims also surfaced, though none were credible enough. Human Cloning Prohibition Act Just when things were falling in place and we were close to the development of a human clone, a major setback came in the form of the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2009, which deemed cloning unlawful, unethical and an immoral activity. The opposition to cloning of humans came from scientific community, which was not satisfied with the results of animal cloning, and the religious communities, which believe that the cloning of humans is an activity which interferes with human life and procreation. Due to the much-debated ethical issues of cloning, both reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning are opposed, and even banned in some countries, today. The fraternity of pro-cloning scientists and researchers though, are hoping that human cloning will be legalized some time soon – after which they can get back to their labs, and continue experiments related to the same. Though the death of various cloned animals has questioned the practice of cloning time and again, each of these experiments has put humans one step towards the seemingly impossible goal of successfully cloning its own kind. Techniques/Methods of Cloning: * Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer The term somatic cell nuclear transfer refers to the transfer of the nucleus from a somatic cell to an egg cell. A somatic cell is any cell of the body other than a germ (sex) cell. An example of a somatic cell would be a blood cell, heart cell, skin cell, etc. In this process, the nucleus of a somatic cell is removed and inserted into an unfertilized egg that has had its nucleus removed. The egg with its donated nucleus is then nurtured and divides until it becomes an embryo. The embryo is then placed inside a surrogate mother and develops inside the surrogate. * The Roslin Technique The Roslin Technique is a variation of somatic cell nuclear transfer that was developed by researchers at the Roslin Institute. The researchers used this method to create Dolly. In this process, somatic cells (with nuclei in tact) are allowed to grow and divide and are then deprived of nutrients to induce the cells into a suspended or dormant stage. An egg cell that has had its nucleus removed is then placed in close proximity to a somatic cell and both cells are shocked with an electrical pulse. The cells fuse and the egg is allow to develop into an embryo. The embryo is then implanted into a surrogate. * The Honolulu Technique The Honolulu Technique was developed by Dr. Teruhiko Wakayama at the University of Hawaii. In this method, the nucleus from a somatic cell is removed and injected into an egg that has had its nucleus removed. The egg is bathed in a chemical solution and cultured. The developing embryo is then implanted into a surrogate and allowed to develop. We’re done discussing the historical background of human cloning. And â€Å"cloning† also in the general sense was also, at the very least, has been thoroughly defined. I hope this has been informative enough to shed some light as to how cloning was little by little, brought into the mainstream of scientific breakthroughs. Moving on to the next part, I will now discussed the problems associated with human cloning. Statement of the Problem: The main problem on human cloning is that there has been no advancement to the process since the â€Å"genome†. And even though it was a major advancement, the process remains very inconsistent and very risky in many of it’s aspects, and there had been many issues regarding it. Conflicts about it’s ethical and moral implications are popped out the moment human cloning has been brought into the frontlines of scientific studies. We, as people have different cultures and traditions and these factors greatly influence the advancement of cloning in a far deeper sense. The question is, what exactly are the risks of cloning? Reproductive cloning is expensive and highly inefficient. More than 90% of cloning attempts fail to produce viable offspring. More than 100 nuclear transfer procedures could be required to produce one viable clone. In addition to low success rates, cloned animals tend to have more compromised immune function and higher rates of infection, tumor growth, and other disorders. Japanese studies have shown that cloned mice live in poor health and die early. About a third of the cloned calves born alive have died young, and many of them were abnormally large. Many cloned animals have not lived long enough to generate good data about how clones age. Appearing healthy at a young age unfortunately is not a good indicator of long-term survival. Clones have been known to die mysteriously. For example, Australia’s first cloned sheep appeared healthy and energetic on the day she died, and the results from her autopsy failed to determine a cause of death. In 2002, researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, reported that the genomes of cloned mice are compromised. In analyzing more than 10,000 liver and placenta cells of cloned mice, they discovered that about 4% of genes function abnormally. The abnormalities do not arise from mutations in the genes but from changes in the normal activation or expression of certain genes. Problems also may result from programming errors in the genetic material from a donor cell. When an embryo is created from the union of a sperm and an egg, the embryo receives copies of most genes from both parents. A process called â€Å"imprinting† chemically marks the DNA from the mother and father so that only one copy of a gene (either the maternal or paternal gene) is turned on. Defects in the genetic imprint of DNA from a single donor cell may lead to some of the developmental abnormalities of cloned embryos. From these information, it gives us the impression that cloning is too risky and many people believe that it is quite impossible to clone a human being when the results of the trial conducted are not very compelling and satisfactory. In fact, in some cases, the thought of cloning a human instills fear on most religious people because of their belief of the Divine and the laws in conjunction with their beliefs. Another question arises, thus creating more conflict and even bigger arguments about the process. Should humans be cloned? Physicians from the American Medical Association and scientists with the American Association for the Advancement of Science have issued formal public statements advising against human reproductive cloning. The U.S. Congress has considered the passage of legislation that could ban human cloning. Due to the inefficiency of animal cloning (only about 1 or 2 viable offspring for every 100 experiments) and the lack of understanding about reproductive cloning, many scientists and physicians strongly believe that it would be unethical to attempt to clone humans. Not only do most attempts to clone mammals fail, about 30% of clones born alive are affected with â€Å"large-offspring syndrome† and other debilitating conditions. Several cloned animals have died prematurely from infections and other complications. The same problems would be expected in human cloning. In addition, scientists do not know how cloning could impact mental development. While factors such as intellect and mood m ay not be as important for a cow or a mouse, they are crucial for the development of healthy humans. With so many unknowns concerning reproductive cloning, the attempt to clone humans at this time is considered potentially dangerous and ethically irresponsible. The problems are quite disturbing and it require lots of critical thinking, analysis, arguments, debates, etc. to point out the quintessence of the cloning problems. I would like to add a personal touch into the next part,  the causes and effects. Causes and Effects: Now, let’s view the concept in a much bigger perspective. At first, I had problems analyzing what may be the real cause(s) of the problems about the cloning process, and what are the implications of human cloning failures. So by gathering more significant information and resources, I was able to cite several causes as well as the effects of the problems I stated in a broad concept. All the talk in recent years about the possibility of cloning human beings has everyone a little unsettled. Even those most enthusiastic about the project speak in cautious, albeit hopeful and optimistic, terms. Most folks aren’t quite sure what to make of the prospect of â€Å"engineering† human beings, although they are a little troubled by the thought, while not a few are very concerned, and some even outraged, over the very idea. It’s good that there is a certain amount of tension in the air over the subject of human cloning, for in many ways it seems we may be about to rush in to something without giving adequate consideration of the ethical, moral, and even spiritual aspects of the proposal. It’s one thing to clone a sheep, or a pig. We’re accustomed to the idea of manipulating the genes and jeopardizing the well being of beasts for the sake of possibly improving the lot of human beings. It’s another thing to be talking about creating new people out of select gene pools for what can often sound like rather elitist purposes. Alarming terms such as â€Å"eugenics† and â€Å"master race† spring to mind. From a Biblical and Christian point of view there are at least three problems associated with the human cloning project. The prospect of engineering new human beings out of existing gene banks raises serious red flags in three important areas. * The hubris of science First is the area of scientific hubris. Following the flood the Lord, surveying the arrogant attempt of fallen men to build a city and tower to celebrate their own technological genius and ability, lamented that, having begun on such a hubristic path, humans would not be restrained to do whatever their fertile—albeit fallen—imaginations might concoct (Gen. 11:6). Modern science has often proceeded on the idea â€Å"if we can do it, we may,  and probably even should.† That kind of thinking has produced many of the marvels and wonders of modern science and technology; it has also contributed to the pollution of the environment, growing stockpiles of hazardous waste, and the threat to the continuation of civilization itself posed by the existence, and growing proliferation of, weapons of mass destruction. It borders on the realm of presumed omniscience, the kind of attitude that says, â€Å"We’re scientists, and we know what we’re doing; we don†™t have to listen to anybody other than ourselves.† Yet such a prerogative surely belongs to God alone. At present a lively discussion is underway over the ethical, moral, and spiritual implications of human cloning. Just because the technology is available—or, at least, nearly available—does not mean scientists should rush to do something the ramifications of which we have not carefully considered through thoughtful, patient discussions in the public square. President Bush was wise, in the summer of 2001, to set the brakes of the engine of the human cloning industry before it accelerated to runaway speed on a downhill curve with disaster as a very real possible outcome. But the pressure on scientists and labs to be â€Å"the first† in scientific discovery has led many technicians to take their research and experimentation to other venues, beyond the reach of Uncle Sam (or Uncle George). Our American culture has, in the past, rewarded the pride-driven efforts of scientists to be the first on their block with some new discovery or other. We award lavish prizes, put people’s faces on the cover of newsmagazines, celebrate them in the schools of the land, and otherwise make every effort to make them household names. What informed American does not know the names of people like Einstein, Pauling, Crick and Watson, and Hawking? Perhaps we should consider coming up with a prize for scientific restraint, awarding those scientists with the Mantle of Wisdom, let’s say, who, after hearing the opinions of sociologists, ethicists, and theologians (among others) determine that their current research project is better off left incomplete. * Human reductionism The second problem area, from a Biblical and Christian perspective, relates to the view of human beings that pervades and drives the human cloning project. Years of animal experimentation in the development of drugs and  treatments have solidified in the minds of many people that humans are just like animals, only a little more complex (all those feelings and stuff). We’ve been conditioned to believe that if we can make this thing work with animals then it’s probably safe, if not outright good, for humans. That’s why we sent monkeys up in space capsules before humans, and why we study lab rats to figure out how to produce happier and more obedient children. I’m not endorsing this practice across the board, mind you, just commenting on its ubiquity and general acceptance as a pathway forapplying the knowledge and technologies of science to questions of human well being. In the minds of many of our contemporaries cloning humans should be no problem once scientists have proven that we can clone animals safely and with beneficial results. But for Christians this is a serious problem, for we understand the Scriptures to teach that human beings are not simply advanced animals; they are the image-bearers of God, and whatever else that means, it is a designation unique to human beings, one that animals do not share (Gen. 1:26-28). As the image-bearers of God certainly we would expect some kinds of deference, some deeper considerations to be given before we apply the fruit of anim al research directly to human beings and communities. The reductionist approach of modern evolutionary science to the question of the nature of human beings has, as recently as the last century, led to human disaster on a massive scale. Tyrants of many stripes, having reduced certain humans to a sub-human level—if only because of ethnic, philosophical, or religious differences—felt no qualms about systematically eradicating those people who had been reduced to sub-human status by their particular worldview. It is not hard to imagine that cloned human beings—for example, some that might â€Å"go wrong† —could be easily disposed of, like lab rats, or that certain types of human beings, because of â€Å"deficient gene pools† (or whatever), might be disqualified from cloning. And, hey, if they aren’t worth cloning for the betterment of humankind, then what good are they? I recall Francis Schaeffer’s chilling observation regarding the straight line from abortion to euthanasia of the eld erly to culling the population for whatever reason: â€Å"If the fetus gets in the way, ditch it. If the old person gets in the way, ditch it. If you get in the way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Human degradation and devaluation Finally, the problem of human reductionism leads to the degradation and devaluation of human life. If the human being  amounts to little more than a shopping mall of genes, available on demand for the future betterment of the race, then the genes are more important than any individual carrier thereof. There are scientists today who insist that everything about us, everything we think, do, are, aspire to, or become, is determined by our genes. Find the right genes, the best genes, and learn to control and combine them, and you can make life better for someone†¦or for their gene pool. It would be easy to lose sight of the forest (the human person) for the sake of the trees (the genes) in such a situation, and we would be back to classifying people by recognizable gene traits—like color of skin or eyes, shape of skull, ability to reason, or whatever anybody in authority determined to be the desirable traits. People would no longer matter, just traits—just as the young people Hitler rounded up for his breeding camps did not matter as individuals, only as possible conveyors of better genes for the future realization of the â€Å"master race.† Further, the fixation on genes can lead us to believe that things like affections, minds, and consciences—the very stuff of the soul (1 Tim. 1:5)—do not exist, and, thus, need not be taken seriously in seeking to solve problems relevant to the human situation. When everything can be reduced to genes, we don’t need such archaic and useless notions as compassion, self-control, aesthetic delight, forgiveness, love, and the like. All we need are better genes. We’ll figure out how to make those genes available—perhaps in gel caps or chewable tablets—and you’ll be better in no time! And if such â€Å"gene therapies† don’t seem to take hold in you, well then, it’s apparent yo u are beyond help. Your gene pool can’t be improved. We’ll therefore have to rethink your status, what â€Å"class† of human—or subhuman—you might be. And then If human beings are not the image-bearers of God, if they are only animals, to be manipulated, improved, refined, and, yes, cloned, then there is no reason to think that any of those notions of â€Å"humanity,† â€Å"humaneness,† or â€Å"human-kindness,† ideas that had their origins in the days when we thought otherwise about the kind of beings people are, should have any more utility in the brave new world we are creating. Which makes it extremely important that Christians not sit out the current debate about cloning. The hubris of science and the momentum of an evolutionary age are stoking the boilers of the cloning industry, and the engine is building steam for a full-speed-ahead-noholds-barred plunge  over the cliff and into the abyss of postmodern anthropology. For now, the brakes are set. But the present engineer won’t always be in the cabin. The time for Christians to be speaking and working for a change in the consensus of thinking abou t cloning is now, and, as a former president once asked of his cabinet, â€Å"If not us, who; if not now, when?† Let’s now move to the next part. How was I able to gather the information I have provided aside from my personal statements and analysis? How broad is my resource in collecting the data? Furthermore, what are the boundaries and how large, really, is the topic of human cloning is? These questions will be answered shortly as we go into the next part. Scope and Limitations: By now, you should have been enlightened to the significance of this research and a far more interesting idea is that, there are still more to be discussed about the topic. If you thought that the research was still lacking sense, let me share to you more details and let us explore the dark areas covered in this research. Thus, in this part, you should be able to understand the scope of my research, before I wrap this with the limitations naturally set by the topic and also before we form a conclusion to this research. * Arguments for: Some people argue that cloning is the logical next step in reproductive technology. Identical twins are natural clones, so reproductive cloning can be regarded as a technological version of a natural process. If a couple are infertile, why shouldn’t they be able to produce clones of themselves? If a couple have lost a child, why shouldn’t they be able to replace that loved individual with a clone if that is possible? Equally if someone has made a great contribution to science, music, the arts or literature, it seems like a good idea to produce more of them in the hope that we might benefit even more from what would effectively be a much longer working life. What is more, cloning a child could produce a tissue match for treatment of a life-threatening disease. * and against: Others feel equally strongly that human cloning is completely wrong. With the state of the science as it is at the moment it would involve hundreds of damaged pregnancies to achieve one single live cloned baby. What is more, all the evidence suggests that clones are unhealthy and often have a number of built-in genetic defects which lead to premature ageing and death. It would be completely wrong to bring a child into the world knowing that it was extremely likely to be affected by problems like these. The dignity of human life and the genetic uniqueness we all have would be attacked if cloning became common place. People might be cloned unwillingly – we all leave thousands if not millions of cells around everyday as we go about our normal lives shedding skin! Who will control who gets cloned? Companies are already making money storing tissue from dead children and partners until the time that human cloning becomes available. How much scope will there be for unscrupulous deali ngs if human cloning becomes a reality? * The Politics of Human Biotechnology Human genetic and reproductive technologies pose immense challenges for the human future. If used responsibly they offer new ways to treat disease and otherwise improve the human condition. If misused, they could exacerbate existing disparities, create new forms of discrimination and inequality, and open the door to high-tech eugenic practices. In short, biotech tools and practices have the power to promote or undermine individual well-being and public health, to create private fortunes or advance the public interest, and to foster or threaten a just and fair society. New human biotechnologies are being developed very rapidly. Neither the general public nor policy makers are fully aware of the nature and magnitude of the challenges they present. Regulatory oversight is inadequate at both national and international levels. Few civil society organizations have identified the issues these technologies raise as priority concerns. The result is an accelerating stream of technological, soc ial and commercial â€Å"facts on the ground† – new products and industries, cultural icons and images, and concentrations of wealth and influence – that undermines the prospect of democratic governance of human biotechnologies. Contrary to many accounts, however, the genie is not out of the bottle. The most dangerously consequential biotechnologies have yet to be fully developed and marketed. Influential individuals and institutions are beginning to focus on the risks at hand. Responsible scientists acknowledge the need for strong societal oversight. Many countries have adopted comprehensive policies that can serve as models for others. There is no reason that people of different nations, cultures, religions and philosophies cannot work together in support of policies needed to protect our common human future. Appropriate social oversight and regulation need not impede potentially beneficial medical research and applications. The next decade is a window of opportunity during which we can forge understandings and reach agreements on national and international policies that will allow us to reap the benefits and avoid the risks of these powerful biotechnologies. * Human Cloning Animal cloning has produced some remarkable results within the last few years, which has suggested to some that there should be a way to produce a human clone within the next year. Many news articles have appeared recently highlighting the potential to clone a human baby in order to replace a loved one who died as a newborn. Many social, moral, and ethical arguments have been raised in opposition to copying a person. For more details see AMA’s 1999 CEJA Report: The Ethics of Cloning (PDF, 41KB). But perhaps more important is the concern that we do not fully understand the science behind the successes from animal cloning experiments. Animal cloning success (and failure) Dolly, the sheep, was the first successfully cloned mammal (I. Wilmut et al., Nature 1997;385:810). Since 1997, gradual improvements in cloning technology have enabled researchers to generate mouse, cattle, goat, pig, deer, rabbit, cat, mule, and horse clones. While there have been no substantiated evidence for the cloning of humans, recent successes by South Korean researchers in generating stem cells from cloned human embryos (WS Hwang et al., Science 2005) have heightened concerns that this scenario is not beyond the realm of possibility. In spite of recent technological advances, animal cloning remains extremely inefficient. For every 100 experiments only one, two, or if lucky, perhaps three appear to produce a viable offspring in surrogate mothers. While scientific explanations for these failures remain to be defined, many researchers feel they represent nothing more than technical  hurdles that will one day be solved. Even then it’s survival beyond the perinatal period is unlikely. These is no reason to believe that any different outcomes will occur if and when human cloning begins. A quick lesson in cloning technology Before going into the details of why these abnormalities are thought to occur, it is important to have a basic understanding of what in essence happens in order to clone an animal. First, a donor cell is found, which has its original DNA extracted and discarded. Next is the addition of a nucleus from the desired animal that is to be cloned. The third step involves implanting the combined cell into the animal that the donor cell was appropriated from. Understanding the abnormalities This part of the puzzle is as yet unsolved, but theories do point us in some tangible directions. Scientists believe that the resultant cloning abnormalities are not traceable to the donor nuclei, but more likely explanations involve failures in genomic reprogramming. Genomic reprogramming in the natural way prior to embryogenesis (i.e., without cloning technology) involves a stage of development of the sperm and the egg known as gametogenesis, which can take months to years to develop a mature gamete. This process is sped up during cloning, and takes only minutes to hours. The process of configuring the exact state of the inner workings of the cell including such complex processes as methylation of the DNA may not be correct for the development of the embryo. Methylation of DNA and other complex functions are now known to be essential to the correct functioning of each human cell, since they ultimately control gene expression. And thus successful cloning may be dependent upon the donated DNA being correctly altered to the state of an early embryo. It is thought by some cloning experts that failure of the nuclear clones to produce viable offspring is due to inappropriate reprogramming of cells, which leads to unregulated gene expression. Screening tools, do they exist? Because of experience with animal clones, it is reasonable to conclude that future human cloning experiments will have the same high failure rates. The public has heard reassurance that the possibility of performing prenatal  genetic screening exists as a way to control quality. If these groups plan on using current routine prenatal diagnosis for the detection of chromosomal and/or other genetic abnormalities, they will not detect the types of epigenetic disturbances that may occur with cloning. There are no extra tools in the developmental pipeline to help improve detection. Possible reaction to human cloning failures Besides the public outrage that would accompany human cloning failures would in turn hinder science and genetics, research in areas such as embryonic stem cells for the repair of organs and tissues could be negatively impacted. Research is ongoing to develop reprogramming of certain cells to turn into specific tissues types, which could regenerate nerve, muscle, and other cell types, alleviating Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease among other chronic illnesses. The potential benefits of therapeutic cell cloning are enormous, and this research should not be jeopardized with human cloning activities. Legislation Since early 1997 the United States National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) has been looking at the complex issues that surround this controversial subject. NBAC reached a conclusion in 1997, when it reported back to (Former) President Clinton, that a moratorium on human cloning would be advisable. The moratorium, which is supported by the AMA, suggests that no Federal funds be allocated for human cloning. Senator Ben Campbell (R-Co) offered a bill (April, 2001) in the Senate to bar human cloning, which will ban any attempts to clone humans, regardless of whether government or private funds are used to finance the research. If this law is violated, the penalty would be up to ten years in jail and a fine of up to $10 million. An accompanying House bill has been introduced (H.R. 1260) by Rep. Brian Kerns (R-In). White House officials have indicated that President Bush would support legislation outlawing human cloning. Bills Introduced to Congress * H.R.2560 – Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2007 * H.R.2564 – Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2007 * S. 812 – Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act of 2007 The International Perspective: There is as little consensus among nations as there is among Congress members when it comes to the issue of cloning. In fact, nations are so divided that the United Nations abandoned efforts to create a worldwide treaty on human cloning. Instead, in 2005 the U.N. adopted a resolution aiming to provide guidance to countries attempting to arrive at a position on cloning and stem cell research. Many nations, including the UK, China, and South Africa, have explicitly prohibited reproductive cloning while allowing research cloning. Fewer nations have explicitly prohibited research cloning, which (as of 2006) is allowed in 10 countries. Human Cloning Theories & Further Analysis: (Answering questions why cloning should not be prohibited.) Medical breakthroughs – Human cloning technology is expected to result in several miraculous medical breakthroughs. We may be able to cure cancer if cloning leads to a better understanding of cell differentiation. Theories exist about how cloning may lead to a cure for heart attacks, a revolution in cosmetic surgery, organs for organ transplantation, and predictions abound about how cloning technology will save thousands of lives. You can read about many of the expected medical benefits in the essay â€Å"The Benefits of Human Cloning.† Medical tragedies – Many people have suffered accidental medical tragedies during their lifetimes. Read about a girl who needs a kidney, a burn victim, a girl born with cosmetic deformities, a man who needs a liver, a woman who is infertile because of cancer, and a father who lost his only son. All these people favor cloning and want the science to proceed. To cure infertility – Infertile people are discriminated against. Men are made to feel like they are not â€Å"real men.† Women are made to feel as if they are useless barren vessels. Worse, being infertile is often not considered a â€Å"real medical problem† and insurance companies and governments are not sympathetic. The current options for infertile couples are painful, expensive, and heart-breaking. Cloning has the potential to change the world for infertile couples almost overnight. To fund research – People whose lives have been destroyed or have not been able to reproduce in this lifetime due to tragedy could arrange to have their DNA continued and fund research at the same time. For example: A boy graduates from high school at age 18. He goes to a pool party to celebrate. He confuses the deep end and  shallow end and dives head first into the pool, breaking his neck and becoming a quadriplegic. At age 19 he has his first urinary tract infection because of an indwelling urinary catheter and continues to suffer from them the rest of his life. At age 20 he comes down with herpes zoster of the trigeminal nerve. He suffers chronic unbearable pain. At age 21 he inherits a 10 million dollar trust fund. He never marries or has children. At age 40 after hearing about Dolly being a clone, he changes his will and has his DNA stored for future human cloning. His future mother will be awarded one million dollars to have him and raise him. His DNA clone will inherit a trust fund. He leaves five million to spinal cord research. He dies feeling that although he was robbed of normal life, his twin/clone will lead a better life. Bad parents – Did your parents destroy your life? Were they alcoholic, child-beating molesters? Did you never have a chance? Interest ingly, human cloning allows you the opportunity to participate in choosing the parents for your clone. A Child’s right to be better than its parents – It’s been suggested that parents have a duty to see that their children have better lives than they do. This may mean making our children live longer, helping them to be resistant to cancer, heart disease, any familial diseases, and all the other problems that can be cured using what we learn from human cloning technology. To take a step towards immortality – Human cloning essentially means taking a human being’s DNA and reversing its age back to zero. Dr. Richard Seed, one of cloning’s leading proponents, hopes that cloning will help us understand how to reverse DNA back to age 20 or whatever age we want to be. Cloning would be a step towards a fountain of youth. To make a future couple financially secure – With human cloning you could give a couple in the future both a child from your DNA and the financial assets from your lifetime to start out financially secure instead of struggling as most couples do now. Because you believe in freedom – Freedom sometimes means having tolerance for others and their beliefs. In America, some people believe gun control and some don’t. Some people believe in one religion and others in another. In a free society we know that we must tolerate some views that we don’t agree with so that we all may be free. For this reason human cloning should be allowed. To be a better parent – Human cloning can improve the parent-child relationship. Raising a clone would be like having a child with an instruction manual. You would have a head start on the needs and talents of your child. We are not saying that a clone would be a carbon copy with no individuality. Our talents and desires are genetic, developmental, and environmental. We would have a head start on understanding the genetic component of a cloned child. Endangered species could be saved – Through the research leading up to human cloning we will perfect the technology to clone animals, and thus we could forever preserve endangered species, including human beings. Animals and plants could be cloned for medical purpo  ses – Through the research leading up to human cloning, we should discover how to clone animals and plants to produce life-saving medications. You want your clone to lead the life that was meant to be yours – The Human Cloning Foundation has been surprised by the number of people that write to say that they would like to have a clone so that it may lead the life that was meant to be theirs. Typically, these are people who have suffered some terrible physical or mental handicap and feel robbed of the opportunities they should have had in life. Some see this life as a sacrifice so that the life of their clone may be enriched. To have a better sense of identity – If we had some information about ourselves, perhaps we could sooner or better discovery who we are. A clone would have access to a tremendous amount of information about his or her parent that could greatly help in understanding one’s psyche and physical attributes. All of this information could provide a better sense of identity. Because so many people want cloning – Please read the dozens of essays by people from all over the world in support of human cloning and published by the Human Cloning Foundation. Religious Freedom – At least two religions, the Raelian Religion and the Summum Religion, believe in cloning as one of their tenets. Because of the special relationship that twins ha ve – Twins often have very special relationships. While many people go through their lives never having a special relationship with another person, there are stories of twins in which they are so close they are perhaps psychically connected. More than one person has written the Human Cloning Foundation (including a twin that feels close to her identical twin) that since a clone is virtually the equivalent of an identical twin, they suspect a very special relationship would exist between a clone and its DNA parent. Some twins describe their twin relationship as more wonderful and meaningful any other relationship in  their lives. Economics – Countries that fail to research human cloning will suffer economically. The industrial revolution and Internet revolutions enriched the United States of America. Biotechnology will lead the next economic revolution. Those countries that jump in first will reap the rewards. Those who fail to begin research right away will fall behind. As an example: Japan failed to jump on the Internet bandwagon and is now playing catch-up. Japan has banned human cloning and will probably suffer by falling behind during the biotech revolution. One day in the not too far distant future, Japan may realize its mistake. Gay couples – From one of our readers: â€Å"gay couples go through so much†¦not to mention all the controversy†¦when they decide that they are ready for a baby. People question their right to bring a child that technically isn’t related to them into a lifestyle that falls below societies views of normal†¦..human cloning could allow two gay men to take 23 chromosomes from each male and put them into a single egg to truly have a baby of their own. also two gay women could use this technology to conceive a child of their own using their individual 23 chromosomes.† (To our knowledge the type of reproduction described here has not yet been done, but someday it will probably be possible.) A cure for baldness – From one of our readers: â€Å"But how about the possibility of using cloning technology to get more hair on a balding scalp. For example cloning can be used to get more hair from a few sample hair follicles or grafts from the patient’s head and then grow them†¦.later transplant the grafts where it is needed. This will eliminate the need to do an incision in back of the scalp for donor hair and will literally give the patient MORE hair.† Because the sick will demand it – Those resisting human cloning research will probably find themselves shouted down by the sick and the maimed who desperately need such research. Human cloning technology promises to cure many or all incurable diseases and the moral weight of the dying and infirm will undoubtedly sway the politicians more than the arguments of the healthy, who often remain ignorant of the potential of human cloning, because they have never been motivated by suffering to look desperately for a cure. Hope – On the Charlie Rose television show on February 14th, 2001, three anti-cloners debated against one reporter. The anti-cloners made the case for stem cell research while alleging that cloning itself would not result in any major scientific breakthroughs. It is  likely that the anti-cloners are quite wrong. Learning the process of reprogramming, differentiation, and dedifferentiation is likely to result in just as many medical miracles as stem cell research. The two lines of research go hand in hand and should complement each other. The three anti-cloners came across as people who would destroy hope. The kept alleging that things were impossible. They reminded me of the same types of people who proclaimed that cloning was impossible years ago. Furthermore, they seemed happy and willing to take away the hope of infertile couples and others with severe diseases that human cloning technology might one day lessen their suffering or save their lives. The anti-cloners also seemed to feel that they had the ability to predict the timing and course of science advancement, which history has shown to be folly. Living on through a later-born twin – Some childless people feel that by being cloned by their later-born twin would help them o r their DNA to live on in the same sense that people who have children live on. Alright! So I think I am able to gather credible information/data regarding this research. To wrap things up, human cloning may or may not be limited to the information contained in this research. The best thing to do if you are still skeptical about this research is to conduct your own and compare it with this one, or make this your guide to better understand the human cloning topic. Such a broad topic cannot be summarize in a few pages such as this, if I’m contradicting myself there, you might as well think of it deeply and you may have the answer too, that in it’s own way, really, human cloning may be explained as simply as process of creating copies of actual human beings or as complex as the information presented. Recommendation/Conclusion: This is where I get to share to you my own views, opinions, analysis, criticisms, and other things required to form an excellent conclusion to this brilliant topic. â€Å"Human Cloning† had really piqued my interest and in some way, I cannot have enough of it for myself. My recommendation is that, if you’re not satisfied with this, please do make yourself comfortable by conducting your own research, and making your own research paper about the topic. To make this brief, I really am a skeptic so I am not easily sucked into the gravity or concreteness of the information/data I have acquired. I mean, I do not easily decide whether something should be approved or not. Being a student of course, is both advantageous and disadvantageous in understanding the concept of this topic. But I’m not saying that my understanding is limited only in a short extent. What I mean, is that I cannot give a definite answer to the question I am about to leave. Instead, I can only share to you my ideas about the topic, which, I already did by discussing to you this research in both narrative and informative sort of way. Therefore, I have reached the conclusion that the understanding of the topic is still unequivocally relative to whoever reads this. I choose to let the sense of â€Å"conclusion† flow through the minds of the readers, thus making this conclusion, â€Å"conclusive† based on the understanding of each people who read this research paper of mind. Let me leave to you my final question – â€Å"to clone? Or not to clone?†