Tuesday, August 25, 2020

An analysis of 3 turning points in history from 8000 B.C.E up to 1500 Essay

An investigation of 3 defining moments in history from 8000 B.C.E up to 1500 - Essay Example From a scholastic perspective, investigating the historical backdrop of social orders, societies, questions, innovations and mechanical advances permit us to comprehend the strategies through which crude countries defeated their confinements and endeavor separate helpful data from the examples of progress that have been there in the past millenniums. In contrast with the world that we live in today, these examples of progress were significantly less troublesome and moderate paced before the most recent couple of hundreds of years. Change, when it came, was continuous and took a few ages to be actualized with noticeable impacts. The life of one age would be about indistinguishable from those of their front dads and the way of life proceeding on similar examples; using similar assets. Subsequently, even with the confined wellsprings of data researchers have about the individuals that existed in the time before the AD years it is conceivable to distinguish and sort those focuses when th e human populace experienced a radical change. From a positive perspective, these occasions could represent a disclosure, a method of movement, correspondence or business anything which made life simpler for the gatherings and permitted them to expand their populaces. The inverse would be any happenings which harmed their capacity to endure or expelled the impacts any past turns of events. It is straightforward why the positive disturbances are the ones featured and investigated all the more broadly. The starting time frame in the investigations of world history is known as the â€Å"foundations†. this period ranges from 8000 BC to 600 BC and is so named as a result of it was the starting time for the every single future pattern and revelations which have molded human developments to in the long run change it into the cutting edge world we perceive. This was the hour of development of major Early Waterway Valley Civilizations (around 3500 B.C.E. - around 1200 B.C.E.) and Clas sical Civilizations (around 1000 B.C.E. - 600 C.E.) which were the first officially planned societies1. Despite the fact that there is still some contention between scholastics about the specific dates of this time, the marker occasions have been perceived by all and it is acknowledged that huge numbers of these might not have happened at a predefined date yet would have occurred during a specific period with revelations being made all the while in various locales and various populaces. The major changing occasions couldn't stay confined to any one gathering or zone; they must be and spread and received on a worldwide scale so as to have a genuine durable effect on the human species and their way of life. At times sharing of information between various gatherings upgraded the total information base as a more prominent number of psyches could then chip away at delivering new answers for the current issues and improving the ones that existed. As such we will talk about the three signi ficant defining moments of the period going from 8000 BC to 1500 BC from the view point that these were consistent procedures and the commitments and size of effect from these varied for various geological regions. 1. The Agriculture Revolution: Man can't live without food; as some other species it lives where food can be picked up effectively and follows where its prey goes. Nonetheless, people had numerous focal points over their creature friends including bipedalism, exceptionally characterized engine aptitudes, and in particular more prominent intellectual ability that permitted them to utilize

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Sterilization by Saturated Steam | Experiment

Sanitization by Saturated Steam | Experiment Presentation Numerous microorganisms are non-pathogenic and can live in amicability with people as they don't cause ailment. Anyway pathogenic microorganisms can be fatal and in this manner should be dispensed with from specific conditions. These conditions can be medical clinics; people are now unwell and their safe frameworks are undermined making them helpless to disease, water treatment, food and pharmaceutical creation; gracefully accessible to networks making everybody vulnerable, and research facilities; pollution of microorganisms can cause clashing outcomes. So as to dispense with microorganisms, sanitization of gear, emergency clinic supplies and creation destinations are fundamental. Disinfection procedure may include various strategies utilizing heat cleansing, radiation sanitization, filtration, and substance cleansing. Radiation includes cleaning utilizing gamma waves or bright light. Synthetic sanitization includes utilizing poisonous synthetics, for example, ethylene oxide to disinfect gear. Filtration cleans by sifting through microorganism buildups from gases and fluids that are touchy to warm, making them inadmissible for heat disinfection (Goering et al., 2007). Warmth cleansing is grouped under dry warmth and sodden warmth. Dry warmth includes utilizing warmth to disinfect by causing denaturation of proteins and oxidative pressure onto the phone (Goering et al., 2007).. Damp warmth includes utilizing warmth and fluid to devastate microorganisms. The most widely recognized disinfection strategy is the utilization of damp warmt h in steam cleansing. Steam is viewed as a simple and powerful sterilant, as it is conservative, quick working and is innocuous to clients. Steam is non poisonous and practical as it is essentially pressurized water in gas stage. Steam sanitization is a quick working procedure as steam creation doesn't devour a great deal of time and high weight permits introduction to the whole compartment rapidly. Steam cleansing is a viable procedure as it can wreck living microorganisms and at high temperatures it can forestall regermination by crushing endospores also. Steam cleansing acts by denaturing proteins inside cells in this way murdering the microorganism. Water fume discharges huge measure of warmth during buildup, this warmth permits entrance of endospores to happen along these lines murdering endospores. The steam sterilizer works utilizing gravity and is along these lines regularly called a gravity sterilizer. The steam sterilizer can have steam be created from outer source or can be delivered from a water store inside. At first the water from a water store or steam from outer source enter the sterilizer and is warmed utilizing a warming component. The steam being created ascends to the highest point of the chamber leaving cooler air at the base. There are channels at the base of the autoclave so the cool air can leave the compartment. As the steam fills the sterilizer the thermostatic steam trap situated at the base of the compartment closes. This permits the weight of the framework to develop causing high forced steam. The clock starts now estimating the time set for disinfection. To keep up the temperature and weight at set point the warming component turns on and off. After the set time has completed the steam can be expelled either to the water repository to cool and permit wat er to consolidate and be authority before venting to the room, or can be vented straight into the room or an assigned safe zone (Dondelinger, 2008). Issues may happen in steam disinfection where it may not work. This can be because of an assortment of specialized issues, for example, spills in the steam line. To screen the capacity of steam sterilizers a Sterikonâ ® in addition to Bioindicator vial is added to each bunch. Sterikonâ ® in addition to Bioindicator is made of basic supplements required for bacterial development including sugar, Bacillus stearothermophilus spores and a pH marker. In a working sterilizer these pores ought to be pulverized in steam at temperature of 121Â °C and weight of 1 bar (VWR, 2002). At the point when all the pores have been executed the vial should remain a pink/red shading. Be that as it may if the cleansing didn't work, in the following 24 hours the B. stearothermophilus spores inside the hatched vial will get the chance to regerminate. The development of B. stearothermophilus is encouraged by sugar maturation creating corrosive. This corrosive makes the pH pointer change shading to yellow a nd because of the organism development the vial will get turbid. (VWR, 2002). This gives a comprehension if the steam sterilizer is attempting to safe conditions and helps keep everything sterile. Another technique to screen steam sanitization is the utilization of Thermalog strips. Thermalog strips are made of two distinctive external layers, one side is made of foil and the other made of paper, this paper side permits steam to enter. Inside these external layers there is a compound encased with a paper pointer. This synthetic condenses when steam and warmth arrives at it permitting it to stream along the paper pointer. The length this synthetic moves is subject to the hour of presentation to steam, the temperature of steam and the volume of steam (3M, 2010). On the paper side there are two boxes named risky and safe. In the event that the steam cleansing happens appropriately the concoction will move into the sheltered window of the strip. In any case in the event that it doesn't there must have not been sufficient steam delivered, not sufficiently high temperature or insufficient time inside sterilizer. This test report tends to the necessities required for complete steam cleansing and creating safe gear. So as to comprehend the prerequisites required for steam disinfection, the investigation is led utilizing various techniques and conditions for B. stearothermophilus spore strips. The analysis is significant as steam sanitization has significant applications in forestalling spread of malady inside the network by cleaning clinical hardware and giving solid outcomes by disinfecting research facility gear. Speculation: Damp warmth might be more viable than dry warmth in cleansing procedure as soggy warmth assumes a considerable job in sanitizing spores. Steam disinfection is the most utilized technique for cleansing yet its affectivity might be reliant on explicit activity conditions. Steam cleansing should be checked as issues may emerge with its capacity, decide these techniques for observing steam disinfection process. Materials and Methods: Allude to: BMS2052 Microbes in Health and Diseases Practical Class Notes (2010), Department of Microbiology, Monash University. Pages 35 - 37. Results: Results 1.1 Thermalog strips were put in Schott bottles, one with water and free top and the other firmly topped with no water included. Following brief sanitization at 121Â °C the Thermalog strips read either protected or risky according to microbial nearness. Results 1.2 Two bioindicators, at first pink, were isolated one experienced steam sanitization and the other had no cleansing. After brooding for 3 days at 56Â °C the bioindicators hues were recorded. Results 1.3 Every one of the four screw-topped containers had one segment of B. stearothermophilus spores inside. These four jugs experienced various conditions, for example experienced steam sanitization or had fluids included. Every one of these containers experienced brooding for 3 days at 56Â °C. Conversation Steam disinfection test shows the affectivity of steam sanitization, the activity conditions and observing the procedure utilizing Thermalog strips and Sterikon in addition to Bioindicator vials. So as to decide the necessities required for steam sanitization Thermalog strips are utilized to quantify affectivity of steam disinfection. In the trial the Schott bottle with water that was inexactly topped had a perusing on Thermalog as sheltered. This is because of steam having direct contact to Thermalog strip as water inside the Schott bottle disintegrates when inside sterilizer and the free top on the container permits steam to enter during disinfection. Anyway the other Schott bottle that has no water and is firmly topped has a perusing on Thermalog strip as perilous. The Thermalog strip stays in the perilous window as it has not had enough contact with steam as the top was tight in this manner not permitting steam from the sterilizer into the container and there was no water inside the jug so steam couldn't be delivered inside the jug either. Subsequently this demonstrates for complete sanitization to happen there should be immediate contact between hardware being cleaned an d steam, a sufficiently high temperature and enough time in the sterilizer, every one of these properties are checked by Thermalog strips. Thermalog strips are full of feeling at observing temperatures and time introduction to steam yet it doesn't demonstrate that state heat obstruction pores will be wrecked at the particular conditions. In this manner Thermalog strips ought to be utilized however in mix with other checking things. Steam sanitization checking should likewise be possible with Sterikonâ ® in addition to Bioindicator vials. This analysis shows how the Bioindicator vials work and how successful they are at observing the procedure. Bioindicator vials have B. stearothermophilus spores in a supplement stock with a pH marker. At first both these vials give off an impression of being clear and pink in shading. The Bioindicator vial that is put in the sterilizer remains pink and clear while the vial that was not disinfected got shady and yellow. This implies the Bioindicator vial sanitized has no bacterial development, as regermination has not happened while the vial not steam disinfected had regermination. Regermination of spores permits arrangement of microorganisms. These microscopic organisms encourage their development by aging sugar. This fermnattion procedure for the most part procuces acidic final results, group of Bacillus do fundamentally create lactic corrosive as a final result. As these ite ms are acidic the pH marker will change shading in respose to the arrangement of these items. The pH

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Grading B.J. Novaks ONE MORE THING, Story by Story

Grading B.J. Novaks ONE MORE THING, Story by Story [buyandread isbn=0385351836 linkshare=http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/one-more-thing] Every once in a while I grade a collection of essays or stories on Book Riot, essay by essay or story by story. Past graded collections include Ann Patchetts This is the Story of a Happy Marriage and Karen Russells Vampires in the Lemon Grove. I usually grade every single piece in the collection in question, but thats just not going to be possible with B.J. Novaks One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories because there are 64 STORIES IN THE COLLECTION. No, I promise its not the size of a dictionary, some of the stories are a sentence, some are a paragraph. And I just cant grade them all, because it would drive me crazy, but more importantly, it would drive YOU crazy. In fact, one of the main criticisms the collection has received (and mind you, its received mostly praise on praise on praise) is that it seems like Novak threw in basically every clever thing he ever jotted down on a Post-it in between takes on The Office set. Indeed, even some of his longer pieces sometimes feel like e xtended jokes or sketch-turned-prose. I note in reviews below whether I think a piece is a good sketch idea or an actual good short story idea, I listened to the audiobook, and if you read this book (and I absolutely recommend you do), you should really think about listening on audiobook, there are SO many guest stars. B.J. Novak read most of the stories, and Rainn Wilson and Mindy Kaling do most of the pinch hitting, but theres a CAVALCADE of stars in this audiobook, with Emma Thompson, Julianne Moore, Carey Mulligan,  Jenna Fischer, Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, and Katy Perry stepping in to do guest spots. Its a little look-how-many-famous-friends-I-have-y, but its also really fun to hear these celebrities when they pop in, so well let the audiobook-version-of-humblebragging slide. Onto the grades! THE REMATCH Tortoise and the Hare have a rematch race. Was almost a sketch, but then crystallized at end and became story, and a very insightful story at that. A. NO ONE GOES TO HEAVEN TO SEE DAN FOGELBERG Going to see famous musicians in concert in heaven. This one began to touch on some interesting stuff about mortality and what happens to familial relationships in the great beyond, but ultimately didnt get all the way there. B+ JULIE AND THE WARLORD Jenna Fischer plays a girl who goes on a date with a warlord. This would have been an awesome Key and Peele sketch, it was a good enough short story. B. I NEVER WANT TO WALK ON THE MOON A rant that becomes poetry. I dug. A- SOPHIA B.J. Novak plays a man who believes in true love and Lena Dunham plays the sex robot who falls in love with him. I loved Her, you guys, I loved it, but I loved this take on future-robot-romance just a little bit more. This one just unravelled me. Its pretty much a perfect short story. B.J. Novak self-deprecatingly describes his shorts stories by saying Imagine if George Saunders wasnt a genius, but I dont know, this story (and a few others in the collection) feel pretty darn genius to me. A+ THE COMEDY CENTRAL ROAST OF NELSON MANDELA Celebrities feature PROMINENTLY in this collection, and not just as guest narrators. Tony Robbins gets a story (narrated by Julianne Moore!), as does Chris Hansen, John Grisham, Elvis, Johnny Depp, Kate Moss (Carey Mulligan narrates that ish) and as much as I want to give Novak a slap on the wrist for TOO MANY CELEBRITY NARRATORS AND TOO MANY CELEBRITY CHARACTERS, they were mostly enjoyable and this was my favorite of the celebrity stories (though Johnny Depp came pretty close). B+ THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE CALENDAR The diary of the man who invented the calendar in its first year of use. Boy meets girl, loses girl, meets another girl, theres a human sacrifice, and all the while the inventor is trying to perfect the calendar while working on his new invention, the clock. A comedic and melancholy (comedicholy?) look at the passage of time, one of my favorites in the collection. A+ WIKIPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING BICYCLE One of the rare stories in the collection where the title is MUCH better than the actual story, this was a sketch, and a one-note sketch at that. Its not a bad story (its an even less bad sketch) Wikipedia Brown just doesnt measure up to the sex robots and calendar inventors that populate the rest of the collection. B- THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD AWARDS Love always handily wins these televised awards (hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, the twenty-gajillion-billionth celebrity to be a character in this collection) until the year that Nothing is a contender. This one had weird Harrison Bergeron undertones, I was into it. A- J.C. AUDETAT, TRANSLATOR OF DON QUIXOTE Another one of my favorites in the collection, a poet who becomes a super-famous translator, his translations of Cervantes and Proust populating the bookshelves of Urban Outfitters. Novak writes fake reviews of these translations by famous book reviewers and its super insider baseball and awesome. But this is just a really thoughtful and awesome story about art and commerce and how much and how little they Venn Diagram and how confusing this is to artists. And a KILLER last sentence. Anyone else read this collection? How do your grades compare and contrast? _________________________ Sign up for our newsletter to have the best of Book Riot delivered straight to your inbox every week. No spam. We promise. To keep up with Book Riot on a daily basis, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, , and subscribe to the Book Riot podcast in iTunes or via RSS. So much bookish goodnessall day, every day. Sign up to Unusual Suspects to receive news and recommendations for mystery/thriller readers. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Should Marijuana Be Legalized For Medical Purposes

According to government surveys, about 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year. More than 14 million do it regularly. (NORML: Working to Reform Marijuana Laws, 2015) Marijuana has been the topic of much discussion these past decades. The main factor of discussion is whether or not to legalize it and the outcome it would have on the states. Some states have already legalized but for medicinal purposes only. Much research has come out in this decade that marijuana just isn’t for your average drug junkie but it can be for someone who is going through cancer treatment, has anxiety, or has constant seizures. While there are some people who believe that marijuana is a gateway drug and if it is legalized for medical purposes†¦show more content†¦Marijuana has been used by humans for at least five thousand years and govern or band for the last seventy years. Hemp fibers have been found in cave dwelling excavations throughout Asia. Marijuana’s popul arity grew from India, to Europe, and then to the New World, where it was used by the early settlers as an economically useful fiber crop. Early drafts of the Declaration of Independence were even written on hemp paper. (Stewart, 2009) With marijuana being a much discussed topic these past few decades; medical journals are not the only thing that has been affective by its sudden popularity but also pop culture has taken its fair share of influences from this mind altering drug. Music, literature, news and even Hollywood have had their fair share of prominence of this drug feature within itself. Musicians have either featured cannabis in their music videos, have made entire songs about smoking it, talked about it in interviews, or have been seen smoking it. Some actors and actresses of Hollywood have become advocates of legalizing marijuana. There are scenes in TV shows and movies where the characters are smoking cannabis or talking about getting high. There was even a whole TV seri es about marijuana called Weeds with an entire plot about marijuana. (Zelizer, 2014) Literature has even taken hit from the oh so popular hypnoticShow MoreRelatedMarijuana Should Be Legalized for Medical Purposes2770 Words   |  11 Pagestold that she might benefit from marijuana. After much difficulty they were finally able to get it for her in oil form. After taking the medical marijuana for just one day, the seizures basically stopped. Now she only experiences one to two seizures a month! She was on the brink of dying and now she is living a relatively healthy normal life. Medical marijuana literally saved this little girl’s life. (Gupta). Marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes because it is saving lives and improvingRead MoreEssay on Should Marijuana Be Legalized for Medical Purposes?2342 Words   |  10 PagesShould Marijuana be Legalized for Medical Purposes? Marijuana has been used extensively as a medical remedy for more than five thousand years. In the early 1900s, medical usage of marijuana began to decline with the advent of alternative drugs. Injectable opiates and synthetic drugs such as aspirin and barbiturates began to replace marijuana as the physicians drug of choice in the twentieth-century, as their results proved to be more consistent than the sometimes erratic effects of theRead MoreMedical Marijuana Should Be Legalized For Pure Medical Purposes2532 Words   |  11 Pageshave not tried is medical cannabis. I am an in home caretaker for Holly, and after interviewing her mother I feel that everyone should understand why medical cannabis should be legalized for pure medical purposes. Unfortunately the drug has been abused by recreational users, and now has a bad reputation of being a gateway drug. Some Doctor’s also believe that medical cannabis has no medicinal value. Holly’s mother is a Registered Nurse, and feels that Holly would benefit from medical cannabis; unfortunatelyRead MoreMarijuana Should Be Legalized for Medical Purposes Essay1203 Words   |  5 Pagesoccurring in many children with refractory epilepsy are radiating from Colorado, a state where a strain of medical marijuana has been used to treat these children. The results are astonishing, yet there is a controversy preventing many children from receiving this treatment that could very well save their lives. Should medical marijuana be legalized? Though Charlottes Web, the strain of marijuana concocted to treat these sick children, could save lives, others will argue against it. Look past theRead MoreLegalization of medical marijuana at the federal law Essay1653 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Why should marijuana be legalized? Marijuana can be argued for different reasons. In my case I will be arguing the medical purposes for legalizing marijuana. Marijuana has positive features, and how people prefer using marijuana. Marijuana helps individuals get through a variety of things that they suffer. Marijuana provides relief from pain, rather than other medications out there. Many individuals prefer marijuana over anything else to relax. An argument on why people using marijuana spend moreRead MoreThe Legalization of Marijuana Essay1083 Words   |  5 Pagesbeen debating among themselves whether or not marijuana should be legalized in America. Marijuana is a drug that can be smoked or eaten. It is grown from the ground and gives the user a sense of a hallucinogenic high. It goes by many names such as Mary Jane, kush, grass, weed, pot, green, cannabis, hemp, or chronic. Some say that marijuana is not as bad as alcohol. Some say that marijuana is safe. Some hippies say that marijuana is natural and should be spread throughout the world. It is debatedRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?893 Words   |  4 Pagesthe Marijuana Tax Act OF 1973. Nevertheless, today, some countries have legalized cannabis while other countries have not. Moreover, in the United States, some states such as Washington and Colorado have also legalized the possession and usage of marijuana for medical purposes. On the other hand, various penalties are imposed for use or possession of cannabis in most states. Marijuana should be legalize because of the medical and economical adavnages it possesses. Primarily, cannabis should be legalizedRead MoreMarijuana Should Not Be Beneficial For Medical Purposes1080 Words   |  5 PagesMarijuana has proven to be beneficial for medical purposes. It has therapeutic effects that will ultimately allow patients with adverse health conditions to improve their quality of life. Legalizing marijuana can also improve the state of the United States’ economy through taxation and creation of job opportunities. Additionally, it can reduce the crime rate in the United States and save the United States tons of money. Contrarily, marijuana should not be legalized for recreational usage. ExtensiveRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?958 Words   |  4 Pagesand use of cannabis, also commonly known as marijuana is considered illegal. Nevertheless, today, some countries have legalized cannabis while other countries have not. In particular, small quantities of cannabis have been allowed in regions such as Europe, North America and South America (Ga rdner and Anderson,2012). Moreover, in the United States, states such as Washington or Colorado have also legalized the possession and usage of marijuana for medical reasons ( Siegel and Worrall, 2014). As inRead MoreLegalization Of Marijuan The Time For Change1359 Words   |  6 PagesLegalization of Marijuana: The Time for Change Marijuana has been an ongoing controversial issue for quite some time now. According to the national institution on drug abuse, â€Å"Marijuana—also called weed, herb, pot, grass, bud, ganja, Mary Jane, and a vast number of other slang terms—is a greenish-gray mixture of the dried, shredded leaves and flowers of Cannabis sativa— the hemp plant.† (National Institution on Drug Abuse). Today twenty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Ernest Hemingway A Brief Biography - 1210 Words

Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1899. He was a writer who started his career with a newspaper office in Kansas City when he was seventeen. When the United States got involved in the First World War, Hemingway joined with a volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian army. During his service, he was wounded, and was decorated by the Italian Government. Upon his return to the United States, he was employed by Canadian and American newspapers as a reporter, and sent back to Europe to cover the Greek Revolution. In the 1920’s, Hemingway was a member of expatriate Americans in Paris. In one writing of Hemingway, it reads, â€Å"In the nearly sixty two years of his life that followed he forged a literary reputation unsurpassed in†¦show more content†¦The Snows of Kilimanjaro is a great example of Hemingway’s overall theme of nature. Another work of Hemingway’s that goes along with his reoccurring theme of nature is, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. It also takes place on an African safari. The main character Francis Macomber is accompanied by his wife, Margot, and the safari guide Richard Wilson. They partake in hunting adventures all throughout the story, while Francis Macomber battles an internal conflict of a lack of self-confidence and self-assurance. Francis Macomber makes the following remark in the story when discussing his reaction when he faces a lion, I bolted like a rabbit (Hemingway). At the end of the story, Francis Macomber is shot and killed accidentally as a buffalo he wounded is charging him head on. Macomber was standing his ground against the buffalo, in order to show he has gotten over his lack of bravery. This story relates to the theme first off through its setting. It was set on an African safari, where the characters hunted a number of different types of game throughout the story. This relates to the theme and the author, because Hemingway himself enjoyed hunting. It also relat es through the symbolism it uses throughout the story. It symbolizes Francis Macomber’s hatred through the lion by saying his big yellow eyes, narrowed with hate, looked straight ahead,Show MoreRelatedThe Life of Ernest Hemingway Essay1191 Words   |  5 PagesErnest Hemingway â€Å"But man is not made for defeat, he said. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.† (Hemingway, 29). This is one of the lines that Ernest Hemingway uses in one of his books, titled, â€Å"The Old Man and The Sea.† It was published in 1952, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize the following year. The story of an old fishermans journey, his long and lonely struggle with a fish and the sea, was considered to be the most popular of all his works. Fortunately for this well-known author, heRead MoreErnest Hemingway And Frederick Henry1754 Words   |  8 PagesErnest Hemingway and Frederick Henry: Author and Fictional Character, Alike yet Different It can be said that all fiction is autobiographical in that no matter how different from the author’s life experience it may be, marks of their life can be found in any of their works and characters. One such example is Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, which is largely based on Hemingway’s own personal life experiences. Frederick Henry, the main character in the story, experiences many of the same situationsRead MoreSilvia Parra Dela Longa. Professor: Leslie Richardson.1404 Words   |  6 PagesProfessor: Leslie Richardson ENGL 2342 26 February 2017 The Style of Ernest Hemingway According to critic Robert McCrum, associate literary editor of The Observer, and writer of six novels (theguardian.com) The Sun also Rises ranks number 53 on the list of the 100 best novels of 20th century American Literature. Why does The Sun Also Rises is respected as landmark in the world of words? One of the reasons is about the writing style of Hemingway, which transformed the path of American and English literatureRead MoreTaking a Look at the Jazz Age1600 Words   |  6 Pages(A Brief Life of Fitzgerald) Fitzgerald’s experiences in war, were shown through his literature. Another piece of literature affected by the times of the Jazz Age, was Ernest Hemingways The Sun Also Rises. The novel is about a young soldier, who returned from the War, and went to work as a journalist in Paris. â€Å"Less than ten years after the end of World War I, the novel helped define his generation: disillusioned young people whose lives were profoundly affected by the war.† (Hemin gway) TheRead MoreA Days Wait1204 Words   |  5 PagesWAIT LITERARY ANALYSIS Author: Ernest Hemingway, an American writer. His writing celebrates heroes and explores the nature of courage in this story. In much of his writing he dramatizes the importance of bravery in the face of death and of life’s everyday problems. This story deals with the quiet courage needed to face fear. Looking at Hemingway ´s biography we can find parallels between the story A Day ´s Wait and the author ´s real life. When Hemingway took part in World War I he was woundedRead MoreErnest Hemingway Essay2077 Words   |  9 Pages Ernest Hemingway pulled from his past present experiences to develop his own thoughts concerning death, relationships, and lies. He then mixed these ideas, along with a familiar setting, to create a masterpiece. One such masterpiece written early in Hemingways career is the short story, quot;Indian Camp.quot; quot;Indian Campquot; was originally published in the collection of quot;in Our Timequot; in 1925. A brief summary reveals that the main character, a teenager by the name of Nick, travelsRead MoreAn Analysis Of William Faulkner And Ernest Hemingway1387 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway were both wonderfully gifted and talented writers in their time. In As I Lay Dying and A Farewell to Arms, one can see the similarities a nd differences between Faulkner and Hemingway through their ability to draw from personal experiences to inspire their work, their narrative styles, and their use of language. William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi and trained as a pilot in the first Royal Canadian Air Force during World War 1. After the warRead MoreThe Struggle of Life and War in Ernest Hemingway’s Writing 1071 Words   |  5 PagesErnest Hemingway was one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. His simple style, lucid depictions, and relatable narratives propelled him into a world of literary fame. These unique attributes are inimitable; Hemingway relates to the reader on a deeper level that even the best imitators cannot achieve. For this and many other reasons, critics praise Hemingway for the indefinable work of an exceptional writer. One of his most well-known novels, A Farewell to Arms, is notorious for itsRead MoreA Hero And I Will Write You A Tragedy Essay1651 Words   |  7 Pageshelped make the genuineness of his characters seem so real. As Kenneth Eble, author of a biography on F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, ‘Their sameness explains itself th ere; the variations are explained in Fitzgerald’s remark:’ â€Å"There never was a good biography of a good novelist. There couldn’t be. He’s too many people if he’s any good.† Eble says, â€Å"What comes through most of all in these early stories written in that brief glorious time of â€Å"early success† are the attractive men and the dazzling women, gloriouslyRead More Biography of Ernest Miller Hemingway Essay3798 Words   |  16 PagesBiography of Ernest Miller Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, journalist, writer of short stories, and winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize for literature. He created a distinguished body of prose fiction, much of it based on adventurous life. He was born on July 21, 1899, the second of six children, in Oak Park, Ill., in a house built by his widowed grandfather, Ernest Hall. Oak Park was a Protestant, upper middle class suburb of Chicago. He died on July 2, 1961. Early

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Financial markets Free Essays

string(29) " stocks from start up firms\." Financial assets are made up of securities, stocks and derivatives. These are claims to the cash flow generated by real, tangible assets which are the lands, buildings and machineries we use. These pieces of paper are how citizens of highly developed countries increase their wealth. We will write a custom essay sample on Financial markets or any similar topic only for you Order Now Wealth generation involves risk, for no business activity is certain to provide returns. Financial markets allow investors to participate in money-making ventures without being physically present in the project site. Most risk tolerant individuals prefer stocks, for it has the potential to yield very high returns, while conservative ones go for bonds which provides a steady, fixed income. In this activity, stock trading is the main focus. Objectives Just like any investor, generating cash flow was the primary goal. The amount of cash to be gained from trading should compensate the risk undertaken. The goal was to achieve steady growth. The expected was return is 40%. After setting the required return, a portfolio strategy was chosen. Assets were then selected which would comprise the efficient portfolio– provides the highest return for a given level of risk. Fundamental analysis was the method used to pick the stocks. Diversification was another tactic used to maximize return while spreading the risk. Construct a portfolio Portfolio construction was a tedious task. I had to weigh the risk and returns, and sometimes, to trust my gut feel. Stock prices, as studies have shown follow a random walk movement. The approach used was a top-down portfolio construction. A portfolio is basically a collection of investment assets. The type of assets to be held was first determined. It was then followed by security analysis to pick out the stocks deemed profitable. Diversification was one principle used in choosing the stocks. It simply meant that equities from different industries were held in the portfolio so that risk exposure was limited. Shares from the software industry (RIMM, JAVA), arms(SWHC), pharmaceutical (GERN), computer (PALM), insurance (HUM), health care(HMA), power (FL), SAM, metals and mining(AUY, AA) ,oil and gas(IEO), index fund(SWPIX), cement(CX),AXP Asset Analysis Fundamental analysis was mainly used in the decisions undertaken. This approach uses earnings and dividend prospects of the firm, expectations of future interest rates, and risk evaluation of the firm to determine proper stock prices. It relies on the company’s financial health indicators. The stocks’ annual growth rate, quarterly earnings records, and P/E (price-to-earnings) ratios were measured. Historical data was also used. One such statistic is the EPS, or earnings-per-share ranking. PALM stocks were bought since the firm’s return on investment was stated at 2470. 70%. Also, on the day that it was traded, it was lower priced. Smith and Weson, SWHC had a P/E ratio of 5. 50%, an ROE of 19. 7%. Thus, a total of 4000 shares of SWCH were bought. Alcoa, or AA’s ROE was 16. 20%. Its EBITDA was 5. 45 B. Meanwhile, its P/E ratio was 11. 60 and its annual dividend was at . 68 per share. Alcoa looks financially healthy, but was expensive, so only 1000 shares were purchased. Similarly, FPL’s ROE was 14. 6%. Its P/E ratio was 12. 7%. Its EBITDA was 4. 47 B. The market values FPL shares highly. But, I found it unsmart to invest in highly valued stocks, because market perceptions fluctuate wildly. Thus, I only acquired 700 shares of FPL. RIMM had an ROE of 30. 60%. Its P/E ratio was 50%. For me, RIMM shares were really costly. In fact, it was has the highest cost per share in my portfolio. But I was attracted to its financial forecast. Furthermore, its 52 week high was at $148 so I found the $80 per share enticing. I thus bought 1000 shares from RIMM. HUM had an ROE of 19. 9% and a P/E ratio of 18. 00. It was quite overpriced, so I only bought 1000 shares. HMA was the lowest priced stock in my portfolio. But, I decided to purchase it believing that demand for health care services will increase in the near future. CX, compared with its competitor, Heidelberg cement had higher earnings and historically displayed returns higher than the market average. I bought 1000 shares. I also bought SWPIX, an index fund as a comparison for the return of my trading activities. Event Selection One of the most remarkable news was the launching of PALM’s Pre. With the belief that the Pre will be hot in the market, just like Apple’s I-pod, I bought 4,000 shares from PALM. I deem that the future value of PALM will increase more than two-fold once the Pre is introduced. The hype will push the price of its stock. Thereafter, I can sold my shares at a profit. In addition, the popularity of smart phones, or phones which serve more than just talking devices was forecasted to increase steadily in the near future. Aside from purchasing PALM stocks, I decided to buy shares from BlackBerry’s maker, RIMM. News of the global swine flu outbreak prompted me to purchase HMA shares. HMA , a healthcare provider would have more profits if the flu would become widespread. In addition, Citigroup upgraded HMA shares from hold to buy. Meanwhile, the news on the pending sale of JAVA drove me to sell my 1000 shares. Monster stocks which were identified two weeks in a row included AUY. The information urged me to buy 3000 shares of AUY. Behavioral Finance Even if information processing were perfect, it seemed that investors tend towards irrational decisions. In hindsight, these behavioral biases largely affected how I framed questions of risk versus return. Psychologists have found that individuals blame themselves more when an unconventional decision turned out poorly. Based on regret aversion theory, buying a blue-chip portfolio that declines in value is not as painful as experiencing similar losses on an unknown start-up firm. Losses on the blue-chip stock can be more easily attributed to grim luck rather than bad decision. To avoid future remorse, I did not include stocks from start up firms. You read "Financial markets" in category "Papers" I considered less-well-known firms to be more risky. Even if potential gains can be realized from new firms due to their tremendous growth capacity and often undervalued stocks, I steered clear from such path. Instead, I trudged towards the tried and tested road and concentrated on well-established companies like Alcoa, Smith and Weson and Cemex, and popular companies like JAVA and RIMM. Availability bias is rooted on the concept that people base their decisions on the most recent and meaningful events. The more current or up-to-date the information, the more profound would be its effect on the investor. In the late 1990’s, investors got caught up in the internet mania, which caused them to disregard the risks. I suppose that people naturally get lost in the moment. In fact, I purchased HUM stocks based mainly on the news that Humana was named top payer of pay claims. With the positive publicity of Humana, I projected that its value would also increase in the market, making it an insurance of choice of the public. According to behavioral finance theories, people are overconfident, especially when they experience success. One main source of overconfidence pointed was that, most individuals consider themselves to be above average in terms of skills. This behavior was apparent when even greenhorn investors experienced exceptional growth in technology stocks of the 1990’s. As the stocks continued to climb, investors began to ascribe much of their triumph to their ability to make shrewd investment decisions. Personally, I thought that my projections on the oil and mining industries were more accurate than the foresight of other investors. I thus bought a total of 2000 IEO shares in two different occasions. My rationale was that, oil prices would rise, because it already dipped this year. The same level of smug overconfidence applied to my AUY stock acquisition. In times of crisis, I reasoned, people would splurge on objects which have economic value. In my mind, a woman with money will likely choose a Louis Vuitton bag due to its resale value, than a Prada, even if the former were more expensive. Gold jewelry too, will have high demand, since it can be pawned. Thus, AUY, a gold mining firm was a reasonable buy. Humans have a tendency to seek or interpret information in a way that would confirm one’s preconceptions. Conversely, information which contradict prior beliefs would be avoided. This type of selective thinking is called the confirmation bias. With the positive financial data I had gathered about SWHC, I already had a mental picture of its performance. However, since it is mainly an arms company, an industry which I am not well aware of, and less publicized as compared to energy firms, I still had to substantiate my expectations. True enough, the earnings of SWHC grew consistently. The information I needed to verify my previous opinion was made available. I decided to purchase 1000 shares at two different occasions. I bought the first share at $5. 68 and the next 500 at $5. 46. My decision turned out bad, since I decided to sell half of my SWHC shares days later, at a lower price of $5. 29. This action of mine is reflective of the loss aversion theory. It refers to the propensity of people to lean towards avoidance of losing a certain amount than gaining the same value. Losses are considered to have heavier emotional impact than do gains. Observing that the price of SWHC is quite going down, I disposed half my shares. I would rather sell at a marginal loss of . 27 per share than wait for the SWHC stock to plunge deeper than lose much more. However, I decided to keep half the shares. Why? Because I wanted to at least break even with my losses, just in case the price goes up, a behavior quite related to gambler’s fallacy. According to the gambler’s fallacy, investors liquidate a position after it has consistently gone up. It is also called the Monte Carlo fallacy. It rests on the belief that deviations from expected behavior which occur repeatedly will eventually be countered by opposite movements. For instance, a huge increase in stock price will eventually be corrected by the market, thus the difference should be exploited right away. This belief that high prices are temporary was illustrated in my trading of GERN shares. I bought 4000 shares from GERN at 6. 37 per share. Since the price to book ratio is 2. 02, the stock appeared to be highly valued by the market. But, the return on investment, and EBITDA of GERN is negative, indicating that it is not good for medium term investments. I wanted simply to buy and sell the shares. To take advantage of its high market value, the 1000 shares of the 4000 GERN stocks were sold at $6. 61. In addition, the news regarding the probability of Oracle selling Sun Microsystems prompted me to sell my shares in JAVA. Oracle’s move would mean that JAVA is not performing well. Thus, I had no desire to be part of the lowering of its market value When the news was announced that Palm and Dell lead the technological race,I decided to purchase its stocks. In addition, Palm was about to launch its Pre, a handheld technological device. Palm was a company with huge potential growth, I surmised. I wanted to take advantage of the boom it will undergo once its new product floods the market. Given such information, I bought 4000 shares of the company. Apparently, I wasn’t the only investor clamoring for PALM’s shares. The market over reacted to the statement that Pre is predicted to be the next It thing. This kind of behavior is called overreaction. According to market efficiency, new information should be reflected almost immediately in a security’s price. For instance, positive reviews should raise a business’ share price. The new share price should not decline even if no fresh information has been released since. Reality, however, tends to challenge this concept. Usually, stock market participants predictably overreact to the most recent information, creating a larger-than-expected effect on the price. In addition, it also appears that this price surge erodes over time. The herding or bandwagon effect simply states that investors move in a certain popular direction. They tend to mimic one another. The huge volume of PALM shares traded enticed me to join in the trend. I had the same mindset with my purchase of IEO shares. The number of subscribers has been increasing since December 2008. Thus, I decided to buy in. Furthermore, on June 1, 2008, IEO was at its 6 month high at more than 900,000 shares. I decided to purchase an additional 1000 shares at $47. 55 . The same theory applied with my purchase of the AUY shares. It was considered hotstock due to its increasing volume in the market. Lastly, the news on CX’s reorganization did not entice me to buy its stocks. It announced that it would restructure its top management effective May 15. But, I only decided to buy 1000 shares two weeks after. I did underreact to new information Expected Return I expected a 40% return for my portfolio. But, I was largely disappointed. The portfolio return was a mere 3%. Since the current risk free rate is at 5%, the asset return is 3% and the standard deviation is . 00334, the Sharpe ratio is -5988. 024 . Based on this calculation, I was not successful as an active portfolio manager. I would have done better if I bought an index fund. My trading performance was largely disappointing. I relied too much on fundamental analysis. I could have used technical data more, to incur larger profits. For starters, I depended heavily on P/E ratios. P/E ratios, it turned out are simply market forecasts, but not highly reliable. Also, I should have taken the risk with undervalued, high growth stocks. These start-up firms could have provided me with returns I could have also used the CAPM, where Re=Rf+(Rm-Rf)B. By comparing a stock’s return relative to the market average and risk free rate, I would have a more precise gauge of whether the asset has high yields. Lastly, I wasn’t able to observe the market closely for I only traded at night. How to cite Financial markets, Papers

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Uncle Toms Children ( Richard Wright ) Notes Of A Native Son ( James Baldwin ) free essay sample

Examines pessimistic portrayal of racism in Wrights collection (stories essay), compared to Baldwins more hopeful assessment. Richard Wright, in Uncle Toms Children, and James Baldwin, in Notes of a Native Son, explore a number of themes related to violent racism in the United States. Both Wright and Baldwin deal with the relentless racism of whites and the destructiveness of such racism on blacks. This study will focus on Wrights collection (four stories and an autobiographical essay) in terms of its exposure of this violent racism, with reference to Baldwins essays where appropriate. The argument of the study will be that while racist violence is an integral part of both books, Baldwin sees in blacks position much more power than does Wright. Wrights pieces show blacks as almost inevitable victims of white violence, with no hope for blacks to do anything but strike out in futile rage before their own destruction. We will write a custom essay sample on Uncle Toms Children ( Richard Wright ) Notes Of A Native Son ( James Baldwin ) or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Baldwin, on the other hand, argues that blacks do have power, great power..

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Queen Music History free essay sample

Queen became one of the most well known Rock and Pop groups for the next 18 years and had a host of number one successes written by every member Of the group. Although still touring with original members Brian May and Roger Taylor, the Queen most recognized by its extravagant stage shows and music videos came to an end with the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991. Queen were responsible for fourteen albums covering a varied array of genres such as Rock, Progressive Rock, Rock and Roll, pop, Classical, Disco and Funk. Queens first album Queen featured a wide mixture of musical styles.The penning song Keep Yourself Alive, also the bands first single, written by Brian May was a rock song featuring the standard l, V, V chord progression but also marking several sounds that would become some of Queens trademarks for years to come. For example the intro and solo section involves Brian May using his trademark delay effect with the production feature of layered guitar. We will write a custom essay sample on Queen Music History or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Also the song My Fairy King by Freddie Mercury which featured the same guitar production but also operatic vocal arrangement with the use of layered vocals by the band.The lyrical theme varies over these songs such as Liar by Freddie Mercury, a standard rock song with a love theme. Modern Times Rock and Roll a heavy metal song by Roger Taylor written simply about the music and My Fairy King, by Freddie Mercury written about a mythical world. The mythical theme and folklore would feature heavily in Queens earlier works through Ogre Battle on the Queen II album, In The Lap of The Gods On Sheer Heart attack and The Prophets Song on A Night At The Opera.Many songs such as these could be called progressive rock in the use of production techniques such as layered vocals, guitars and long musical interludes during the music. At the same time, these albums featured an array of songs written by other members of the band such as Father to Son by Brian May which appeared on the Queen II album which lyrically was about a father explaining life to his son and Youre My Best Friend by John Deacon, a love song written when he was married in 1975. The release of the album A Day at the Races saw a turning point in the musical development of Queen. Where previously many songs had featured a prop rock and operatic arrangement, My Fairy King, Bohemian Rhapsody, and lyrically had little meaning or were merely based on folklore, the songs n A Day at the Races focused mainly on a love theme. This album featured songs such as Tie Your Mother Down by Brian May which was a rock and roll standard and The Millionaire Waltz a waltz time and again operatic rock song by Freddie Mercury it did not however feature any of the more mythically based songs from previous albums and focused more on a love theme throughout.The songs also had more standard solo section lengths rather than long drawn out layered guitar solos or piano interludes. Queens next album, News of The World would see some of the bands most well known songs and the transition into writing much more anthem based ones such as We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. Similarly with the next two albums Jazz (1980) and The Game (1978) whose tracks contain due on the rock trend for Queen with songs such as Dont Stop Me Now and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.In 1 982 however Queen would attempt to write an album with a Disco and Pop theme throughout with a large usage of synthesized instruments such as a drum machine. Although Hot Space was seen as a failure for the band musically it did show the bands understanding and ability to write other genres of music and produced one of their greatest hits, Under Pressure. The song Body language for example was recorded without any guitar on the track and The Bass line of Dancer was played on a keyboard synthesizer by Brian May.The album was not received well by the Queen fans or the critics, Hot Space takes all the things that Queen were known for and either removes them or treats them to ridiculous subversion. So that means drum machines instead of booming tom-toms, ludicrous brass arrangements instead of opulent guitar histrionics and, more than ever before, an obsession with sex. You know, rather than ogres and dragons and flouncing about Dont Talk! In defense of Queens Hot Space, Daniel Ross.It can be argued however that the attempt to write a full album in a genre of music with growing popularity showed Queens ability to follow the trends of the time l hate doing the same thing again and again and again. I like to see whats happening now in music, film and theatre and incorporate all of those things. Interview David Wig 1986 After the release o f Hot Space the members of Queen took a 2 year break from the band to work on solo projects although none reached any real success. Queens next two albums would see a return to their rock based albums with a mixture of Pop and Disco instrumentation. The Works and A Kind of Magic albums contained heavy rock tracks such as Hammer to Fall and Dont Lose Your Head, pop and disco such as Radio Gaga as well as softer ballads such as One Year of Love and Is This The World We Created. These albums were two of the bands most successful and also the Magic album would be the last the band would tour with as Freddie Mercury was diagnosed with HIVE and could no longer tour due to ill health.Although seen as much as a live performance band as an album band, Queen would release woo more successful studio albums, The Miracle and Innuendo which again featured a variety of songs and instrumentation from the rock song l Want it All, the progressive rock instrumental Chinese Torture, The Disco Scandal and the Pop song Im Going Slightly Mad. On the whole it is difficult to explain any real lyrical meaning to Queens songs.The songs w ere usually written by an individual and as shown by an interview with Brian May, strangely in those days we didnt really talk about what the songs where about, in retrospect it may have been quite interesting. Brian May (2002) We are the Champions: The Politics of Sports ND Popular Music by Ken McLeod. We do however know that some songs were relevant to the bands success and media relations for example the song Scandal is about the media attention surrounding Freddie Mercury s failing health and Brian Mays divorce and remarriage at the time.Lyrical similarities can be found between Queens early progressive rock lyrics which leaned towards folklore and works of fiction to other bands of the time such as T-Rexes with the song Ride a White Swan Wear a tall hat like a Druid in the old days, Wear a tall hat and a tattooed gown, Ride a white swan like the people of the Belton, Wear your hair long babe, you cant go wrong. And She Was Born To Be My Unicorn Darkly ghosting host, Haggard vizier of the moats, Seeks the candled shores of Gods. One salient feature of the music by Queen is the use of layered vocal harmonies shown in songs such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Somebody to Love The use of vocals by the band gave the impression of a choir singing when in fact only the four members of que en are. This effect was relatively new at the time of these songs especially Bohemian Rhapsody and was achieved by many different harmonies being sung into a multi track recorder ND constantly overdubbing one another. Once the track was mixed and panned correctly the effect of a large choral vocal ensemble can be heard.This is a technique which Queen would use for the rest of their albums with songs such as Bicycle (1978) and Need Your Loving Tonight (1979). Another salient feature of Queen is the use of the delay effect by guitarist Brian May. The effect appears on many solos of Queens work but can be most prominently heard during the Brighton Rock instrumental and the solo to Killer Queen. Digital delay units were not available at the time of the cording of these songs and May used twin tape delays often overdubbed with a third recording to give the effect of three guitars playing at the same time.Tape or Analogue delay systems worked by taking the one note played by the guitar then the tape deck playing that note back at a set time from the original note and so on. May, especially in long instrumentals, would often play the first note of a chord then as the tape played that delay he would play the second note of a chord and so on. By the time third delay was played back, a full chord was being sounded by a single guitar which he could then sustain and play over the top of. Http://map. Questions. Info/the-book/ queen-the-four -of-them-as-musicians/Brian-may. HTML Queen have influenced many artists since their last studio album in 1991. Bands of varied genres are known to have covered Queens work or given them credited for their own musical creations. The Heavy Metal band Metallic covered the queen song Stone Cold Crazy, and Wesley Jeans made a remix of Another One Bites The Dust. Some people to offer credit to Queen as one of their key musical influences are The Killers, Green Day, Lady Gaga, OFF Fighters, Guns Roses and many more. One key feature of Queen was their flamboyant live shows and performances by lead sing Freddie Mercury. Mercury wore striking and sensational clothing on stage from leotards to studded arm bands as well as using a trademark half microphone stand which he often used as a prop for his on stage actions. This idea of a visual performance as well as musical is a staple for most contemporary commercial music with extravagant shows from artists such as Lady Gaga or Robbie Williams. The lack of meaning surrounding many of Queens lyrics throughout their career is also something which has been noting due into contemporary music.The song One Vision ends simply with the words Fried Chicken also it is commonly believed that the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody were merely written to fit the music and hold no meaning. Other songs by Queen such as Somebody to Love were although meaningful to the listener where relevant, the lyrics were very much generic and standard to that genre. This is still the case with most contemporary commercial music and to those who have credited Queen with being one of their k ey influences with songs such as Micas Grace Kelly and Lady Sagas DO What you want.Queen released a wide array of albums covering varied genres from their rock, classical and progressive rock roots of the Albums Queen and A Day At The Races and the Rock themed News of The World. A disco album Hot Space and the pop and rock based The Miracle and Innuendo. Uniquely each member of queen wrote at least one number one song which is testament to their commercial knowledge and musical abilities as individuals as well as a group. Queens flamboyant portrayal of themselves mainly shown through lead singer Freddie Mercurys larger than life stage performances ND vocal style also added to their commercial success.

Thursday, March 5, 2020

Understanding Kuznets Curve

Understanding Kuznets Curve The Kuznets curve is a hypothetical curve that graphs economic inequality against income per capita over the course of economic development (which was presumed to correlate with time). This curve is meant to illustrate economist Simon Kuznets’ (1901-1985) hypothesis about the behavior and relationship of these two variables as an economy develops from a primarily rural agricultural society to an industrialized urban economy. Kuznets’ Hypothesis In the 1950s and 1960s, Simon Kuznets hypothesized that as an economy develops, market forces first increase then decrease the overall economic inequality of the society, which is illustrated by the inverted U-shape of the Kuznets curve. For instance, the hypothesis holds that in the early development of an economy, new investment opportunities increase for those who already have the capital to invest. These new investment opportunities mean that those who already hold the wealth have the opportunity to increase that wealth. Conversely, the influx of inexpensive rural labor to the cities keeps wages down for the working class thus widening the income gap and escalating economic inequality. The Kuznets curve implies that as a society industrializes, the center of the economy shifts from rural areas to the cities as rural laborers, such as farmers,  begin to migrate seeking better-paying jobs. This migration, however, results in a large rural-urban income gap and rural populations decrease as urban populations increase. But according to Kuznets’ hypothesis, that same economic inequality is expected to decrease when a certain level of average income is reached and the processes associated with industrialization, such as democratization and the development of a welfare state, take hold. It is at this point in economic development that society is meant to benefit from trickle-down effect and an increase in per-capita income that effectively decreases economic inequality.   Graph The inverted U-shape of Kuznets curve illustrates the basic elements of the Kuznets’ hypothesis with income per capita graphed on the horizontal x-axis and economic inequality on the vertical y-axis. The graph shows income inequality following the curve, first increasing before decreasing after hitting a peak as per-capita income increases over the course of economic development. Criticism Kuznets’ curve has not survived without its share of critics. In fact, Kuznets himself emphasized the â€Å"fragility of [his] data† among other caveats in his paper. The primary argument of critics of Kuznets’ hypothesis and its resulting graphical representation is based on the countries used in Kuznets’ data set. Critics say that the Kuznets curve does not reflect an average progression of economic development for an individual country, but rather it is a representation of historical differences in economic development and inequality between countries in the dataset. The middle-income countries used in the data set are used as evidence for this claim as Kuznets primarily used countries in Latin America, which have had histories of high levels of economic inequality as compared to their counterparts in terms of similar economic development. The critics hold that when controlling for this variable, the inverted U-shape of the Kuznets curve begins to dimin ish. Other criticisms have come to light over time as more economists have developed hypotheses with more dimensions and more countries had undergone rapid economic growth that did not necessarily follow Kuznets’ hypothesized pattern. Today, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)- a variation on the Kuznets curve- has become standard in environmental policy and technical literature.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Strategic Financial Management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Financial Management - Coursework Example In the recent past, Wetherspoons plc has become famous in converting the large and unconventional residential premises into pubs. According to the set pub standards in Britain, premises often tend to be large, using open plan layouts, which Wetherspoons has devoted to follow. The success of the company has seen it being quoted on the Stock Exchange in London becoming an active component of FTSE 250 index on the stock exchange. In the recent past, Wetherspoons has started giving support to cask ale at the time it has deemed it unfashionable to do it, something that has established it as the largest in terms being the single purchaser from the microbreweries in the United Kingdom (Martin 2012, 8). This paper examines the financial performance of Wetherspoons Company, analyzing its rations from the perspective of the investor. One of the things that make most companies successful is the fact that they have effective and successful financial management platform. Proper financial management is very important to companies and other kinds of business organisations as it helps to illustrate the accountability plans that the business soften has. It is this kind of accountability which financiers and other investors use in determining the net worth of the business for additional investments. For this reason, any business that is determined to make profits and expand its boundaries has to ensure that it creates sound financial management systems. This is actually one of the things that have Wetherspoons Company manage its growth and expansion, reaching its current form, having almost a thousand outlets with plans to increase its market share (Woodger 2010, 9). Investors are the most important people in the growth and success of any business; they always give their money and resources to the business in the expectation that the business will be profitable for them to get their expected returns in

Monday, February 3, 2020

Popular Culture (Paraphrase) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Popular Culture (Paraphrase) - Essay Example Myths can be generally categorized dualistically: myths of history, which represent the accumulated knowledge and superstition of generations and tend to be from more ancient cultures, and myths of example, which speculate about the future and are usually more recent. The first of these is intended to teach certain behaviors, the second to encourage, reassure, or warn. This essay will analyze the modern oral tradition of the American dream, expressed through drama and pop culture, to discern its status as 'myth' and show some responses to it. The ‘American dream’ is the somewhat fanciful idea that in the US (and only in the US) a person can achieve wealth and success through hard work, regardless of their other qualities. It suggests that the US socio-economic system is scrupulously fair and completely devoid of corruption or favoritism, and (more disturbingly) that those who do not succeed are personally to blame for their failures. It comes across as a little dated to the cynics of the twenty-first century, and it is true that the dream was not as solid as it may have seemed to its contemporaries. The playwright Arthur Miller recognized this, and made it the topic of his 1949 play Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman, is one of the victims of the American dream.

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Ancient China: Politics, Social Structure and Culture

Ancient China: Politics, Social Structure and Culture The ancient Chinese had lived in primitive villages, and were mainly farmers or hunters. Many villages were surrounded by a strong wall to protect the village from enemy attacks. The land in which the farmers worked was owned by the emperor and the nobility. The farmers, who were also called peasants, rented the land paying for its use by various services such as working on the nobles land or entering war. Many ancient Chinese never let left the village they were born in. there were public wells for drawing water and a local meeting place would be held in a courtyard. There were markets in each village in which farmers sold their livestock, vegetables and fruit. Family life was the heart of society in Ancient China. Events such as births and weddings were widely celebrated by the entire village. The men and women in each village worked together farming. An important and crucial task the villagers shared were digging ditches, so the water would run from the canals to the field and crops in which they would be watered. Farmers used oxen and water buffalo to pull ploughs wagons and carts. The common farm animals in that time were pigs and chickens. This is because there werent enough large â€Å"farm† animals to provide manure, instead human faeces were used to fertilise the crops. Leadership and politics: Ancient China was ruled by emperors. According to historical evidence, it was thought that the emperors authority to rule was granted from heaven, in which each emperor was called the â€Å"son of heaven† when an emperor lost power/authority, it was believed that he had committed something wrong according to the heavens. The emperors generally lived a different life than the ordinary people. They owned all the land, in which great parts of it were given to the nobles. They lived in abundant wealth, surrounded by their many wivess, servants and cooks. A constant stream of entertainment consisting of artists, singers, musicians and dancers were at his command. No one was permitted to approach or speak first to the emperor. People had to bow and kneel in his presence, showing the upmost respect. Although it was a luxurious lifestyle, it was an isolated existence as well. Emperors rarely left their places. On very rare occasions, the emperor would leave his palace grounds, although the roads were blocked and the emperor was carried in a enclosed carriage. Governors and officials assisted the emperor in the smooth running of Ancient China. Governors were based in diverse regions throughout Ancient China where they administered and imposed laws of the emperor of the day. They collected taxes. Governors were also involved in management of farming and they supported the development of new farming methods. Some officials were based in the palaces of the emperors, assisting in simple chores such as cleaning and even keeping the emperor informed on what is going on. The most important officials for the emperor were his eunuchs. Eunuchs were men who had been castrated when they were small boys. This is because as they were brought up in the palace and worked with the emperor, they posed no sexual threat to him. In which allowing the emperors bloodline to continue. Eunuchs worked as the emperors cooks, tailors and cleaners.   They also looked after the emperors children. Sometimes eunuchs became powerful within the palace, they became entrusted by the emperor. Social structure: The social structure of China was divided into five social classes; Rulers: this would be the emperor and governor officials. These are people with high authority and of great wealth. Nobles: the nobles were also a wealthy class. They owned large areas of land and lent it to the farming peasants.   In which the farmers pay was often high. Nobles wore silk clothing, and lived a life of utter luxury. Although they were constantly aware of having to please the emperor. If the emperor was displeased, he could in an instant wipe out a nobles land and wealth. Merchants: merchants may have been quite wealthy, but they were not respected in Ancient China. In fact they were often treated badly under the rule of various dynasties. They were forced to pay much higher taxes than others. Despite this, they played an important role in Ancient China. Merchants produced businesses which were essential for day -to -day life. Peasants: peasants were the farmers. They were the largest part of the population in Ancient China, making up approximately 90% of the entire population. The peasants were generally very poor and lacked of education. Sometime peasants were forced to sell their children into slavery in order to pay off their debts. They had to grow enough crops to feed their family and pay large amounts of money to the nobles for the rent of land. Slaves: slavery was not as committed in Ancient China than other ancient civilizations. Slave in China were forced to do strenuous hours of labour, and were treated in terrible conditions. Culture: Painting: Ancient Chinese artists painted amazing works on silk and on paper. Often flowers and animals were depicted. Landscapes were also very common. Animals were used in their art to represent human aspects. Ancient Chinese artists portrayed works that mainly emphasised on â€Å"nature† Poetry: Poetry was very popular in Ancient China. Many poets wrote about love and sadness; in their poets they also make comments on war and social upheaval. Chinese writing: Chinese writing is very different from English. English is a phonetic language. Meaning the letters represent sounds but not meaning. Chinese writing system developed with pictographs. These are simple drawings when combined represent/express an idea. E.g. the pictures of ‘sun and ‘moon when drawn together mean ‘bright Music and dance: Music and dance were part of everyday life in Ancient China. Drums, gongs and pipes were common instruments used in that time. Chinese music is based on a five-tone scale, as western music is based on an eight-tone scale. This is why it sounds so different. Architecture: Most people in Ancient China could not afford to live in fancy houses. They lived in small houses made of mud brick. The house would generally contain one room and a dirt floor. In northern China, the doors of these houses would generally face south, in order to keep out the cold ‘north wind Of course, rich people had larger and fancier houses. All ancient Chinese architecture was built according to strict rules of design that made Chinese buildings follow the ideas of Taoism or other Chinese philosophies. The first design idea was that buildings should be long and low. Roofs would be held up by large columns. The second idea was inspired by Taoism, the idea was symmetry. Both sides of a building should be the same, balanced, just like Taoism emphasised balance. During the different dynasties, ideas of architecture changed. The biggest architectural change in Ancient China was during the Han dynasty (around 200 B.C.) this is when the new reign of Buddhism was bought into Ancient China. Chinese Buddhists began to build pagodas. Religion In the Shang dynasty, people in Ancient China worshipped many gods. Such as weather gods and sky gods. Including a higher god who ruled among the other gods, this god is called Shang-Ti. People living in the Shang dynasty also believed that their ancestors -their grandparents and parents became like gods when they died. As well the ancestors wanted to be worshipped, like gods. Each family worshipped  

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Deception Point Page 46

Delta-One had now finished packing snow down the woman's throat. Before turning his attention to the others, Delta-One unhooked the woman's belay harness. He could reconnect it later, but at the moment, he did not want the two people behind the sled getting ideas about pulling his victim to safety. Michael Tolland had just witnessed a murderous act more bizarre than his darkest mind could imagine. Having cut Norah Mangor free, the three attackers were turning their attention to Corky. I've got to do something! Corky had come to and was moaning, trying to sit up, but one of the soldiers pushed him back down on his back, straddled him, and pinned Corky's arms to the ice by kneeling on them. Corky let out a cry of pain that was instantly swallowed up by the raging wind. In a kind of demented terror, Tolland tore through the scattered contents of the overturned sled. There must be something here! A weapon! Something! All he saw was diagnostic ice gear, most of it smashed beyond recognition by the ice pellets. Beside him, Rachel groggily tried to sit up, using her ice ax to prop herself up. â€Å"Run†¦ Mike†¦ â€Å" Tolland eyed the ax that was strapped to Rachel's wrist. It could be a weapon. Sort of. Tolland wondered what his chances were attacking three armed men with a tiny ax. Suicide. As Rachel rolled and sat up, Tolland spied something behind her. A bulky vinyl bag. Praying against fate that it contained a flare gun or radio, he clambered past her and grabbed the bag. Inside he found a large, neatly folded sheet of Mylar fabric. Worthless. Tolland had something similar on his research ship. It was a small weather balloon, designed to carry payloads of observational weather gear not much heavier than a personal computer. Norah's balloon would be no help here, particularly without a helium tank. With the growing sounds of Corky's struggle, Tolland felt a helpless sensation he had not felt in years. Total despair. Total loss. Like the cliche of one's life passing before one's eyes before death, Tolland's mind flashed unexpectedly through long forgotten childhood images. For an instant he was sailing in San Pedro, learning the age-old sailor's pastime of spinnaker-flying-hanging on a knotted rope, suspended over the ocean, plunging laughing into the water, rising and falling like a kid hanging on a belfry rope, his fate determined by a billowing spinnaker sail and the whim of the ocean breeze. Tolland's eyes instantly snapped back to the Mylar balloon in his hand, realizing that his mind had not been surrendering, but rather it had been trying to remind him of a solution! Spinnaker flying. Corky was still struggling against his captor as Tolland yanked open the protective bag around the balloon. Tolland had no illusions that this plan was anything other than a long shot, but he knew remaining here was certain death for all of them. He clutched the folded mass of Mylar. The payload clip warned: CAUTION: NOT FOR USE IN WINDS OVER 10 KNOTS. The hell with that! Gripping it hard to keep it from unfurling, Tolland clambered over to Rachel, who was propped on her side. He could see the confusion in her eyes as he nestled close, yelling, â€Å"Hold this!† Tolland handed Rachel the folded pad of fabric and then used his free hands to slip the balloon's payload clasp through one of the carabiners on his harness. Then, rolling on his side, he slipped the clasp through one of Rachel's carabiners as well. Tolland and Rachel were now one. Joined at the hip. From between them, the loose tether trailed off across the snow to the struggling Corky†¦ and ten yards farther to the empty clip beside Norah Mangor. Norah is already gone, Tolland told himself. Nothing you can do. The attackers were crouched over Corky's writhing body now, packing a handful of snow, and preparing to stuff it down Corky's throat. Tolland knew they were almost out of time. Tolland grabbed the folded balloon from Rachel. The fabric was as light as tissue paper-and virtually indestructible. Here goes nothing. â€Å"Hold on!† â€Å"Mike?† Rachel said. â€Å"What-â€Å" Tolland hurled the pad of wadded Mylar into the air over their heads. The howling wind snatched it up and spread it out like a parachute in a hurricane. The sheath filled instantly, billowing open with a loud snap. Tolland felt a wrenching yank on his harness, and he knew in an instant he had grossly underestimated the power of the katabatic wind. Within a fraction of a second, he and Rachel were half airborne, being dragged down the glacier. A moment later, Tolland felt a jerk as his tether drew taut on Corky Marlinson. Twenty yards back, his terrified friend was yanked out from under his stunned attackers, sending one of them tumbling backward. Corky let out a blood-curdling scream as he too accelerated across the ice, barely missing the overturned sled, then fishtailing inward. A second rope trailed limp beside Corky†¦ the rope that had been connected to Norah Mangor. Nothing you can do, Tolland told himself. Like a tangled mass of human marionettes, the three bodies skimmed down the glacier. Ice pellets went sailing by, but Tolland knew the attackers had missed their chance. Behind him, the white-clad soldiers faded away, shrinking to illuminated specks in the glow of the flares. Tolland now felt the ice ripping beneath his padded suit with relentless acceleration, and the relief at having escaped faded fast. Less than two miles directly ahead of them, the Milne Ice Shelf came to an abrupt end at a precipitous cliff-and beyond it†¦ a hundred-foot drop to the lethal pounding surf of the Arctic Ocean. 52 Marjorie Tench was smiling as she made her way downstairs toward the White House Communications Office, the computerized broadcast facility that disseminated press releases formulated upstairs in the Communications Bullpen. The meeting with Gabrielle Ashe had gone well. Whether or not Gabrielle was scared enough to turn over an affidavit admitting the affair was uncertain, but it sure as hell was worth a try. Gabrielle would be smart to bail out on him, Tench thought. The poor girl had no idea just how hard Sexton was about to fall. In a few hours, the President's meteoric press conference was going to cut Sexton down at the knees. That was in the bank. Gabrielle Ashe, if she cooperated, would be the death blow that sent Sexton crawling off in shame. In the morning, Tench could release Gabrielle's affidavit to the press along with footage of Sexton denying it. One-two punch. After all, politics was not just about winning the election, it was about winning decisively-having the momentum to carry out one's vision. Historically, any president who squeaked into office on a narrow margin accomplished much less; he was weakened right out of the gate, and Congress never seemed to let him forget it. Ideally, the destruction of Senator Sexton's campaign would be comprehensive-a two-pronged attack sacking both his politics and his ethics. This strategy, known in Washington as the â€Å"high-low,† was stolen from the art of military warfare. Force the enemy to battle on two fronts. When a candidate possessed a piece of negative information about his opponent, he often waited until he had a second piece and went public with both simultaneously. A double-edged attack was always more effective than a single shot, particularly when the dual attack incorporated separate aspects of his campaign-the first against his politics, the second against his character. Rebuttal of a political attack took logic, while rebuttal of a character attack took passion; disputing both simultaneously was an almost impossible balancing act. Tonight, Senator Sexton would find himself scrambling to extract himself from the political nightmare of an astounding NASA triumph, and yet his plight would deepen considerably if he were forced to defend his NASA position while being called a liar by a prominent female member of his staff.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Kant and the Categorical Imperative Essay

The possibility of the existence of right and wrong has been a subject of discussion among philosophers for centuries and many theories have been presented to answer the question of whether morals exist. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the great German philosopher is one who has contributed profoundly to the world of philosophy and especially in regards to his thought on the subject of morality. Kant disagreed with Hume that morality is objective and not subjective. Kant wanted to propose a pure moral philosophy, one of absolute necessity and independent of all human feelings, because if it not so, it will not be absolute and binding upon every person. The purpose of morality is to affect our behaviour and that it is reason that makes humans moral and not feelings or preferences. We shall explore some of the a priori foundations of morality paying special attention to Kant’s ‘categorical imperative’ and what exactly this was designed to solve in moral theory. To have moral worth, an act must be done in the name of one’s duty, the moral worth of this act is taken from the principle from which it’s determined, not from what it aims to accomplish and that duty is necessary when one is acting out of respect for the law. A shopkeeper giving the buyer the right amount of change because the law states one must not steal, this is an example of a legal action because rules are being followed but for the wrong reasons. A shopkeeper returning the correct amount of change because it belongs to the customer is an example of a moral action because the action is being done for the right reasons. Kant adopts the view of morality as an ‘unconditional ought’, as opposed to a ‘conditional ought’ By this he means that one should perform an act without considerations of the merits that that act may produce, in comparison with acting in order for something else to happen. This implies that acts that are moral are those t hat are done without being done for the sake of the merit or reward that they may bring to the person. Kant claimed that moral behaviour does not guarantee the attainment of happiness; rather that good will is crucial for actually deserving happiness. â€Å"Nothing in the world–indeed nothing even beyond the world–can possibly be conceived which could be called good without qualification  except a good will† (Kant 1964 p.27). By the ‘good will’ Kant means that a good will is not good because what it performs or what it effects but that it is simply good in itself. The good will is the will which acts out of respect for the moral law and from freedom, but actions such as these, if motivated by selfish or emotional factors, will then have no moral worth. There is a great deal of stress placed on the intention behind the act, consider giving money to charity for the sake of helping out, without any need for any ego gratification or such self-serving purposes, this is an instance of â€Å"good will†. Kant’s most well known contribution to ethical discussion is the categorical imperative. There are three key propositions that form the basis of Kant’s ethics. They are: act only on that maxim (principle) through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law, act in a way that you never treat humanity as a means to an end and that you act as if you were a lawmaker member of a kingdom of ends. These three principles form the categorical imperative. For Kant the source of moral justification is the categorical imperative. It presents a method to determine whether or not an act may be considered to be morally correct. An imperative is either categorical or hypothetical. Kant writes, â€Å"If now the action is good only as a means to something else, then the imperative is hypothetical; if it is conceived as good in itself and consequently as being necessarily the principle of a will which of itself conforms to reason, then it is categorical . . . .† (Kant 1989 p.31) As humans we all have subjective impulses – desires and inclinations that may contradict the dictates of reason. These desires, whether they are material objects or gratify us in a sexual or psychological way, may in fact contradict the dictates of reason. Therefore we experience the claim of reason as an imperative, a command to act in a particular way. Kant views a person to be most free when they can overcome their temptations and it is this freedom that helps us make sense of morality. The categorical imperative emphasises the means for completing an action and places little meaning on the end result of an action, whereas the hypothetical imperative places much emphasis on the end result of an action. It is an imperative because it dictates what we should do, disregarding our desires. As rational beings we are guided through life by  laws and principles, in the form of an imperative which simply orders us â€Å"you must do this† regardless of any desires which we may have. Hypothetical imperatives apply to us if we have a particular desire, â€Å"go to university if you want to become a philosopher†. An act becomes imperative when it ought to be applied to everyone, hence the basic statement of the categorical imperative being to act only on maxims that you could will to become universal laws of human nature (Kant). A categorical imperative would command you to do X inasmuch as X is  intrinsically right, that is, right in and of itself, aside from any other considerations–no â€Å"ifs,† no conditions, no strings attached . . . a categorical imperative is  unconditional (no â€Å"ifs†) and independent of any things, circumstances, goals, or desires.  It is for this reason that only a categorical imperative can be a universal and binding  law, that is, a moral law, valid for all rational beings at all times. (Miller 1984 p.462) Immorality then would be to make exceptions for ourselves by acting only on maxims that we cannot universalize out of our own will. It is those who act in such a way and then expect others to act different to our way, who are immoral. The categorical imperative acts as a formula for universal law; by stating the prerequisites that an act must have to be considered moral, it presents a comparison for people to be able to see if they are acting morally, this being to act only on principles that you could will to become universal laws by which all who wish to act morally must comply with. It determines whether any act is right or wrong, so to do the opposite would be contradictory and this would then be an act that is not morally correct. An example that Kant puts forward in â€Å"Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative,† (1989) to depict this is of a man who is in extreme despair and contemplating suicide. By taking his own life he would be universalizing the principle that in order to love himself he should end his life (by doing this he is trying to improve his life by ending the despair he is feeling). Killing himself would in fact do nothing to improve his life because he would have no life at all! So you see how these contradictory acts undermine those that may be classified as morally right. Although Kant’s categorical imperative has been widely read and accepted by some it has had criticism. Some philosophers have thought of it as absolutist, being too ‘black and white.’ But when thinking of humanity and society in which we reside, looking at morality according to the categorical imperative allows a standard rule for everyone to follow. If it was alright for some people to steal and not others this we could not call a moral and fair society. There needs to be a rule or comparison so that what acts are right and what are wrong may be differentiated from each other and the wrong acts then dealt with accordingly. Some have asked how only an action which one had no desire to do could ever have any moral worth. This to me does not seem to be what is trying to be expressed in Kantian ethics. It is not the desire per se that makes an act immoral, I think it seems that it is more the fact of this desire being the reason the act is conducted in the first place. If the act is done to fulfil a personal desire or attain that which one desires, then the act is immoral, but if the act is done for the good of the act in itself, for example donating money to an orphanage because one desires to help, then this is still what Kant would regard as a morally right act. Although Kantianism has had a profound effect on some people, producing many elaborations, translations and thought, for some it is not feasible once placed together as a whole. Kant had some very profound ideas but looking at society tody I would think he was definitely on the right thought pattern. Society and we as humans, with our impulses whether good or bad, need a  clarified ethics to follow to help us separate what may be considered right and wrong in a moral sense, and it must be fair and the same for everyone, this is what Kant’s categorical imperative has done by creating a universal law or ‘rule of thumb’ for morality. References: Kant, I. 1989 â€Å"Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative.† ed. Serafini, A. Ethics and Social Concern, the categorical imperative. New York: Paragon House Publishers Kant, I. 1964 Groundwork and the Metaphysics of Morals, ed. Herbert J. Paton, New York: HarperCollins. Miller, Ed. L. 1984 Questions that Matter: An Invitation to Philosophy, 3rd ed. Colorado: McGraw-Hill, Inc. http://sguthrie.net/kant.htm (accessed on 12/10/04)