American Culture of Pop Music free essay sample

Young Americans found British fashions as appealing as the music crossing the ocean. American publications carried advertisements that promoted British products or American products that fit the cool image. The London Look was epitomized by the most famous British model of the era, Twiggy (Leslie Horns, b. 1949). Along with fashion, British television shows such as The Avengers and James Bond films furthered the Swinging Britain image.Rock And Roll Music In the 1 adds American rock and roll music dominated the British popular music scene more completely than jazz and the blues had done in the 1 sass. The first rock and roll tunes to make a major impact in Britain were Bill Yales (1925-1981 ) Shake, Rattle and Roll and Rock Around the Clock, both released in 1954. Other pop singers and groups who quickly obtained wide popularity and inspired numerous British imitators were Little Richard (b. 1932), Chuck Berry (b. 1926), Jerry Lee Lewis (b. We will write a custom essay sample on American Culture of Pop Music or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 935), daddy Holly (1936-1959) and the Crickets, the Overly Brother (Don, b. 1937; Phil, b. 1939), and Elvis Presley (1935-1977). The influence of American music is shown by British teenagers dancing on the rock n roll railroad car, a youth club run y the Reverend John Dates, who played the bass in his clerical robes. Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Beetles stand for the era of the beginning of Rock. In my opinion, rock music reflect the character of America, which is unique. Why only the rock appeared in America in sass, while we Chinese didnt even know it until 1 sass? That is because of the different culture and situation. I think that Chinese culture would never breed music such as rockroll. America is young, open, and full of passion, which is just like the rock music. . Rap, Black Rage, and Racial Difference My music is a product of who I am and where I came from. Im made in America. Im not from Mars or nowhere else. Rap music has emerged as one of the most distinctive and controversial music genres of the past decade.A significant part Of hip hop culture, rap articulates the experiences and conditions of African-Americans living in a spectrum of normalized situations ranging from racial stereotyping and systematizing to struggle for survival in violent ghetto conditions. We can find that in this cultural context, rap provides a voice to the voiceless, a form of protest to the oppressed, and a mode of alternative ultra style and identity to the normalized. Rap is thus not only music to dance and party to, but a potent form of cultural identity. It has become a powerful vehicle for cultural political expression.It is an informational medium to tune into, one that describes the rage of African-Americans facing growing oppression, declining opportunities for advancement, changing moods on the streets, and everyday life as a matter of sheer survival. In turn, it has become a cultural virus, circula ting its images, sounds, and attitude throughout the culture and body politic. And this low-class national music is coming globally popular, which unexpectedly tells us that things that are based on real life and nature are the most acceptable all over the world.Ill. Hip-hop Music mixes with memory. As we think back over the 20th century, every decade has a melody, a rhythm, a sound track. The century starts Off blue: Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads. Then the jazz age: Louis Armstrong, Duke Elongating and, later on, Benny Goodman and Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Indictment, things start to rock with Chuck Berry, Hop-bop-a-lo-bop a-lop bam boom! The Beetles, Retreat Franklin, a hard rains a-goanna fall, Bob Marled, Steve Wonder.

The History of Root Beer and Inventor Charles Hires

The History of Root Beer and Inventor Charles Hires According to his biography, Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires discovered a recipe for a delicious tisane- a form of herbal tea- while on his honeymoon in New Jersey. Not long after, he began selling a dry version of the tea blend but it had to be mixed with water, sugar, and yeast and left to ferment for the carbonation process to take place. On the suggestion of his friend Russell Conwell (founder of Temple University), Hires began working on a liquid formulation for a carbonated root beer beverage that would be more appealing to the masses. The result was a combination of more than 25 herbs, berries, and roots that Hires used to flavor carbonated soda water. At Conwells urging, Hires introduced his version of root beer to the public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial exhibition. Hires Root Beer was a hit. In 1893, the Hires family first sold and distributed bottled root beer. The History of Root Beer While Charles Hires and his family contributed greatly to the popularity of modern root beer, its origins can be traced to pre-colonial times during which indigenous tribes commonly created beverages and medicinal remedies from sassafras roots. Root beer as we know it today is descended from small beers, a collection of beverages (some alcoholic, some not) concocted by American colonists using what they had at hand. The brews varied by region and were flavored by locally grown herbs, barks, and roots. Traditional small beers included birch beer, sarsaparilla, ginger beer, and root beer. Root beer recipes of the era contained different combinations of ingredients such as allspice, birch bark, coriander, juniper, ginger, wintergreen, hops, burdock root, dandelion root, spikenard, pipsissewa, guaiacum chips, sarsaparilla, spicewood, wild cherry bark, yellow dock, prickly ash bark, sassafras root, vanilla beans, hops, dog grass, molasses, and licorice. Many of these ingredients are still used in root beer today, along with added carbonation. There is no single recipe for root beer. Fast Facts: Top Root Beer Brands If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Charles Hires would have a lot to feel flattered about. The success of his commercial root beer sales soon inspired competition. Here are some of the most notable root beer brands.A W: In 1919, Roy Allen bought a root beer recipe and began marketing his beverage in Lodi, California. A year later, Allen partnered with Frank Wright to form AW Root Beer. In 1924, Allen bought his partner out and obtained a trademark for the brand that is now the top-selling root beer in the world.Barqs: Barqs Root Beer debuted in 1898. It was the creation of Edward Barq, who along with his brother Gaston were the principals of the  Barqs Brothers Bottling Company founded in the New Orleans French Quarter in 1890. The brand is still owned by the Barqs family but is currently manufactured and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company.Dads: The recipe for Dads Root Beer was created by Ely Klapman and Barney Berns in the basement of Klapmans Chicago-area ho me in the late 1930s. It was the first product to make use of the six-pack packaging  format invented by the Atlanta Paper Company in the 1940s.Mug Root Beer: Mug Root Beer was originally marketed as â€Å"Belfast Root Beer† during the 1940s by the Belfast Beverage Company. The product name was later changed to Mug Old Fashioned Root Beer, which was then shortened to Mug Root Beer. Currently manufactured and distributed by PepsiCo, Mugs brand mascot is a bulldog named â€Å"Dog.† Root Beer and Health Concerns In 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of sassafras as a potential carcinogen. Sassafras is one of the main flavoring ingredients in root beer. However, it was determined that the potentially dangerous element of the plant was found only in the oil. Once a method to extract the harmful oil from the sassafras was found, sassafras could continue to be used without harmful repercussions. As with other soft drinks, classic root beer is classified by the scientific community as a sugar-sweetened beverage or SSB. Studies have linked SSBs to a number of health concerns including obesity, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, and tooth decay. Even non-sweetened beverages, if consumed in too great a quantity, have the potential for negatively impacting health.

Obstructions to culturally competent medical care Research Paper

Obstructions to culturally competent medical care - Research Paper Example According to the study conducted the discrepancy in the existing health system and admittance to medical care facilities that subsist amid the minority sections of the population of United States has been accepted as a familiar problem by the government since the early 1970s. Due to its effect, there has been a lot of research done on this issue and it has been documented in reports that the American minority section is suffering from poorer health due to lack of cultural competency in medical care. For a majority of the ethnic groups, the debate on the cultural equation of health care cannot take place without giving ample consideration to the variety of ways in which traditions crisscross with matters of poverty and impartiality, access to health care, individual and community discrimination, and a deficit of cultural proficiency on the part of health care providers. Even though some system-wide obstructions to a proper health care system are well thought-out elsewhere, they also r equire extraordinary thoughtfulness with the majority of the ethnic minority sections because the concerns are elevated by the cultural dynamics. The urgent requirement to reflect on the cultural and traditional factors that impediment the medical care of the minorities has been identified by many countries around the globe. Yet most of these governments are not at all close to solving the problem of cultural incompetency of medical providers. , (Shortell, Hull, 1996) The main reason is that most of the time, a patient’s tradition is habitually perceived as a setback, which ultimately creates a barricade to providing effective medical care. Marginalization of traditions and culture of the minority groups of the ethnic patients diminishes the accountability of the medical care providers. The medical care could be more efficient in dealing with this; the problem should be seen in a different light and screening the obstructions as ensuing not from the cultures of the minority g roups but from the values that exist in the medical community, inadequate proficient training, and other barriers. Some experts of the field also argue that the medical community has been highly unsuccessful in this case, and has not been able to identify their own responsibilities of effectively attending to providing competent service to their ethic and other minority clients and patients, (Gordon, 1995). 2. OBSTRUCTIONS TO CULTURALLY COMPETENT MEDICAL CARE This section of the paper identifies some known barriers amid the patients and the medical care providers that have made a high influence on the quality of the service provided and at the same time supplement to added racial and ethnic disparities in the medical health care system. 1. Lack of Diversity amongst the Medical Care Providers and Workforce Experts on the issue concerning lack of a culturally competent medical care have often stated their worries about the lack of a diverse leadership potential in the health care sect or. The minority population holds up an effectual 29% of the total population percentage of United States but fare poorer in the employment sector. Not more than 3 percent of the minority communities hold positions in medical school faculties; approximately only 12 percent hold positions in a community health school, and 18 percent in all metropolis and province health executives. Moreover, 98 percent of the senior executives in health care management belong to the white community. These figures exercise major concern because if there would have been a higher percentage of minority health care professional in the system, they would be able to identify, recognize and take into account the socio-cultural factors that adversely affect the medical acre treatment being given to the minorities and could have better organized health care delivery decisions to meet the requirements of minority populations, (Reese, Ahern, Nair, et al., 1999). 2. Poor and inefficient medical care systems for Ethnically Diverse Patients Many experts have pointed out on the lack of proper medical care syst

Stress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Stress - Essay Example After the re-structuring there is no real motivation to inspire the employees because they fear that they could lose their jobs just like their past colleagues.   Part of the stress suffered by the employees has to do with the rapid transformation that the company has undertaken. This may be unavoidable because the company either has a limited budget or must make the transition by a deadline. This extra work load has required every employee to contribute more to the organization as a whole. Although not a perfect option, one method could be to give a raise to employees who choose to work longer hours. If finances are out of the question, then the company could introduce more work breaks so that employees do not feel tired as much. Another cause of stress can often be job security. The only way to remedy this is to make sure that every employee has a defined set of work responsibilities and no one else is trying to take over their job. Finally, the last cause of stress can be insufficient skills for the job. If an employee is unsure about how to complete their job tasks, then they will likely stress over it. This can be prevented by encouragin g open communication channels between employees and management and transfer employees who do not feel that they are capable of performing their job. Other co-workers can be located or new staff can be hired to help fill the

Ethics in Book IV of Platos Republic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics in Book IV of Platos Republic - Essay Example Book IV of Plato’s Republic presents an excellent selection of ideas with respect to morality and behaviour of a human being with regard to his soul. Through Plato’s dialogues, the idea of justice has been presented very well as justice has been written as â€Å"A political arrangement in which each person plays the appropriate role.† Every man within society has been given a role or a part to play as per what he can do best. Each individual has a duty to serve society and he has been given the role of doing so in the best manner possible by way of the contribution that he can make. Doing good deeds is the moral birthright of each and every person residing within society. This is because each man is dependent on others around him and is able to live because of the relationships that he creates. However, there are certain actions that each man must be able to carry out like keeping a good and sound moral character. According to a number of philosophers, it has been pointed out that it does not only pay enough to have a moral or sound character on the outside; in fact it is very important to have a clean and pure soul. Many people tend to be ‘good’ on the outside and forget what is true to them within themselves. Certain terms like justice, morality and soundness are very important for people to exist in coherence and peace with each other within society. Sometimes, having an â€Å"outward behaviour† in order to portray a moral character is not plausible because it might turn people against an individual. In Plato’s Republic, justice has been spoken about in various aspects. ‘Civic courage’ is one term that has been talked about that the various auxiliaries possess. Justice has been depicted as a set of actions that must be carried out. â€Å"Mankind censure injustice fearing that they may be the victims of it, and not because they shrink from committing it.† Each person must be able to carry out actions that lead the rest of the city to believe that he is just and morally sound and is well equipped to be able to protect his kinsmen. Through the actions and thoughts of Socrates justice has further been depicted as parts of the soul and not just of outward cha racter that a man might possess. He has termed them as sources of desire namely, ‘a rational part of the soul lusting after truth, a spirited portion of the soul seeking honour and an appetitive part of the soul that searches for everything else after these two objects of desire have been met, like food, drink, shelter, sex and wealth in terms of financial and monetary terms. According to him all these three aspects must be fulfilled for a man to be truly satiated from within his soul and to help him understand that he has achieved all his desires. Socrates thus has been successful in identifying the kind of desires that each man wants to have within himself. However, the question still remains, is it enough for a man to fulfil such soul related desires or pleasures? Socrates claims that justice is actually not just a set of actions but an imprint of what the soul of a man is like, and if he is able to gather and satiate himself with respect to the above mentioned three desire s, then the same will reflect on his notions of justice on the outside and help others see the man as an honest and honourable man. Socrates finally mentions how it is healthy for a person’s soul to be just and how justice amounts to health. By attaining this stature, a man will never cheat, lie or steal for according to Socrates, he has been able to feel the love and affection of his own soul and has been able to comprehend the need to live a just lifestyle with respect to the society that he lives in. It thus pays to be just because it helps to keep a man healthy, and

Why Smes Sometimes Face Difficulties In Raising Finance Finance Essay

Why Smes Sometimes Face Difficulties In Raising Finance Finance Essay Due to the establish of modern enterprise system and thoroughly in structural reforms of market economy, there are lot of opportunities contained in the market, but it is also existing many unexpected risks, particularly for the small to medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) which has limited resources to resist in this treacherous environment. To survive and adapts to the environment for a SME is to maintain its advantage in meticulous daily management and even more important is to have a long-term view strategic thinking especially in financial strategy. A good finance strategy can help SME to set up and expand their operations, development and also investment (OECD, 2006), further to get funds which make them competitively and can get well results they desired (Park, 2010). Making a finance strategy is very significant to a company; company has to consider both of internal condition and external environment problem and even more factors which are related to company. However, the SME has its particular characteristic, it is not suitable to adopt the same action with a large company; they better to create a strategy which fits to the company according to its demand. Finding a proper financial strategy for a developing SME, not only can help SME to reinforce its essence, the more important is the sustainability of its development. Define company There is no accurate definition for small to medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) and most of countries define it according to specific condition by their way. Nevertheless, there are some particular characteristics (Bank of England, 2001 Brookfield, 2001) about SMEs and they are: The enterprises are not quoted Ownership is often connected between family and shareholder and the business is typically restricted to few individuals. Most of SMEs are small groups business and always achieve self-employment effectively. In the past, the definition for SMEs from European Commission was unequivocal, it was defined by individual country, for instance, Germany regulated the amount of employee under 250 was part of SME, but in Belgium, the number was became 100. However, in the recent years, the data from European Commission shows that the definition has adjusted and is qualified as a SME by some criteria (see figure 1-1) (European Commission, 2010) in headcount, turnover and balance sheet total. definition of SME.JPG Figure 1-1 the definition of a small firm from European Commission Importance of finance Nowadays, the enterprises finance is facing a dynamic, diversification and complicated managing environment. Managing finance is not only to provide a specific method or device for a firm; it is to assimilate the principle and manner from strategic management. Start from the view of adapting to the environment and using the vantage, to pay much attention in financial long-term problem and strategic problem. In the situation of lacking of the resources for SME, to create a suitable financial strategic and well dominate the limited resource is significant since a better financial systems can help to improve the probability of successful innovation and bring accelerate economic growth. (King, et al., 1993) The focus of enterprises financial strategy is the basic path on future development, goal and goal accomplishment for the financial action; this is the difference between financial strategy and other strategies. The master objective of enterprises financial strategy is reasonably to assemble, dominate and use its resources, tend to balance and flow enterprises capital, also to build the core competitive strength and to achieve the maximization of enterprise value in the end. Some aspects of this goal are related/ connected to each other; from the view of a long-term performance, to seek the enterprises sustainability growth in financial resource and capability, and furthermore to accomplish the rising of enterprises capital value and make enterprises financial capability can sustained, quick and healthily increase, conduce to maintain and develop enterprises competitive advantage. While enterprise building the core competitive strength for their strategic management, they need the support from financial management. The financial management which treats capital management as a significant content, it needs to express the requirement for enterprises strategy and to guarantee its practice. The value of practicing the financial strategy is to retain a health condition in enterprises finance and also effectively in controlling the financial risk. There are twelve types of financing and growth in SMEs and it can be very usefully and provided a great help if it is supplied properly according to SMEs particular requirement (Brookfield, 2001). Initial owner financing (Equity finance) Business angel financing Trade credit Leasing Factoring Venture capital Short-term bank loans (Debt finance) Medium term bank loans Mezzanine finance Private placements Public equity Public debt A company should manage its financing structure in a way that its debt and equity are in balanced manner. This fact helps company to avoid insolvency. Excess of either debt or finance could result in loss of wealth. I will be explaining some of the important methods of financing in following section. Equity finance Equity financing is that the shareholder sells the part of corporate control to introduce the new shareholder by raising the capital (Watson, et al., 2007). The enterprise does not need to pay the interest on principal if the capital is received from equity financing and the new shareholder can share the profit from enterprise as well. Equity financing includes stock issuance, allotment and debt for equity swap. Some features of equity financing, are: Stock equity is firms first right of its property, it is the base for enterprise to absorb the civil liability and to responsibility for firms own profits and losses; furthermore, it is also the base for investor to control the enterprise and to distribute the profit. Equity financing is the base of deciding an enterprise to the outward debt. Certainly, there are some advantages of equity financing that help enterprise in investment and management. Equity financing builds a good system in corporate governance structure, which consists of shareholders meeting, board of directors, Board of supervisors and executives. It is effectively in decreasing the risk of management. In the modern finance theory, stock market is also called open market; it means that the standardization financial products are dealing in a trading area with an extensively institutionalization. It has its criterion and processes it in the condition of information revelation and fare dealing. In financial translation, the more important is publicity and availability of information; and that is why the stock market is better than loan market in both competitiveness of capital price and publicity of information. Venture capital Venture capital is the fund which is collected by private placement and set as the type of organization; invest to unlisted small and medium-sized newly emerging enterprises and in the capital type of both high risk and high reciprocation. Venture capital is different from mutual fund, unit trust and securities investment fund; it has its features in operating of investment and collection, such as, Venture capital absorbs the venture with enterprise; the venture capitalist needs to cooperate closely with entrepreneur and help the firm to make a plan. Management is part of investment. Venture capital is an investment in long-term and poor flowability; venture capitalist and entrepreneur become a common destiny once they invest. Venture capital is high risk and requires the venture capitalist with specialized skill, and need to achieve specialization and programmed in choosing the project, tend to avoid the risk. Before inspect the financial index, the venture capitalist pays more attention in market prospect, development strategy and managing quality. Sharing the bonus from enterprise is not the purpose of venture capital, they make it as a return by increasing the capital when they are exiting; the time for exiting is always when go on public or sell it. Debt finance Debt financing is also called bond financing, it is the way which the firm can raise money for enterprises external finance; and debt can also be conducted and fitted to the requirement of issuing companies and investors (Watson, et al., 2007). It is included long-term bank loans, short-term financing (such as bills, debt receivable, and letter of credit), enterprise Bond and short-term financial bonds, also long-term bond financing, finance lease, discount government loans, government loan, Loans from international financial organizations and private bond fund. The first expense enterprise needs to pay is the interest of capital which receives from debt financing and the principal on the debt will be paid to creditor at maturity (Davis, et al., 1994). The feature of purpose for debt financing is to solve the problem of deficiency in working capital rather than the expenditure under the capital account. Debt financing can be described by two features, The received capital from debt financing is only for using, it is not the property of the enterprise, and the firm needs to pay interest and the principal is repayable. Compare to equity financing, except some specific situations that debt financing may bring creditor the problem of intervention or controlling, otherwise it is barely to have the problem of corporate control. However, debt financing has its advantage for helping the firm in investment and management, The lenders have ability to collect and analyze the states of investment, also can have long-term investigate and oversee the enterprise to avoid the moral hazard. The function of the creditors right is when firm can pay off the debt, the firm will hold the corporate control, whereas of the enterprise cannot offer the debt, the corporate control will be turned to lender. Why do SMEs find financing a problem? Due to SMEs small size capital, the capability for defending the market risk is not as strong as a large firm, plus a faulty finance system, it causes the problem into SMEs finance management (Pissarides, 1999). The main reasons and problem are: No criterion in SMEs finance accounting system In application of finance system in SME exist some problems, which make loose financial control. A loose inventory control can lead to the stagnation of capital and excessive final inventory; the capital of final inventory always in a high proportion if compare to sale revenue. The firm usually loses a large number of assets due to focus on capital much more than assets and even wastes it seriously; moreover, to control the finished products, semi-manufactured goods and low-value expendable without a faultless system. It is negligent in managing the cash and weakness in debt receivable Some of enterprises think that it is good to hold cash (including bank deposit), and better to have more; the proportion of reserve is too high, it makes lot of capital cannot really run in operation, and also causes the capital idleness. In addition, some firms invest too much in real estate and lead to finance difficulty due to could not handle the emergent need of management. Also deficiency in managing working capital creates problems problem capital withdrawal. Difficulty in funding, the capital is insufficient It is not easy to run the SME in a practically environment, especially the unequal treatment in funding between SME and larger enterprise. The banks are not willing to loan to them, particularly the difficulty in guarantee and lack of the specialized agency to offer the assurance service is still the main problem for SME and it obviously happens in some huge investments. Unrestraint in investment The SME is lacking of the ability to analyze the investment accurately and to evaluate the effectiveness of operating the capital. The majority of investment in SME is from banking, due to the respectability of a SME is not as high as a large company, it is an obstacle in attracting the banking to invest or loan to the SME. The mode of management is backward Most of SME is running the business as a family workshop; they are operation the management in a backward way and an old-fashioned thinking way, do not understand and even not willing to understand or learn the modern financial management. The proprietor always treats the enterprise as an extension of familys property; in order to control the business entirely without decentralize the ownership, it causes the lost of the opportunities in growing. Conclusion SMEs play an important role in the general macroeconomic environment, and provide the enormous opportunities for employment. However, due to the small size and limited source, usually SMEs has to face to the challenge in financing problem. For solving the problem, the major impact is from government and the law (Industrial Systems Research). In existing policy has to be adjusted by government; the government needs to reinforce the related law and regulation to implement SMEs development strategy and preferential clause. Furthermore, have to set up the institution for managing and supporting SMEs development. To increase the method for financing; SMEs need to respect the debt from bank and to pay back the debt on time; then to healthy the internal system and raise the handling of material. Lastly, to improve accountants structure and criterion of financial management; enhance the punishment for the illegality to makes they pay attention in financial system.

Interview a Manager Essays -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The manager interviewed for this assignment was Chief Warrant 3 Linwood Bowers, the Chief of the Personnel Support Directorate of the White House Communications Agency (WHCA). Chief Bowers has held his present position for four years. The focus of the interview was the unique challenges of good communication.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the unique challenges Chief Bowers has had to face is the different language that permeates throughout the organizational culture of the Agency. WHCA is a joint command with individuals of all DOD services present. This joint environment is fraught with communication stumbling blocks like learning service unique terms. The importance of common terminology has been highlighted most recently in the Agency’s manpower review. Terms used to describe job functions are not clearly understood across service lines. The example given was one service uses executive officer to describe a junior officer assigned administrative duties in support of the unit commander and another uses the same term to mean the second person in the chain of command. In addition, the operational focus of the Agency tends to create an environment of we/they. Where â€Å"we† is associated with the personnel in the agency that travel in support of the President, Vice President and First Lady. And â€Å"they† is associated with the support functions. The operational focus was used as a re-organizational decision point and consciously divided the Agen...

Descartes Argument for the Existence of Corporeal Things Essay

Methods and Meditations on First Philosophy is a discourse by Rene Descartes, which largely focuses on the nature of humanity and divinity. This essay is a discussion of this discourse, and will summarize, explain and object to various parts of his work. The majority of this essay focuses on Descartes Sixth Meditation, which includes his argument that corporeal things do exist. 1. There clearly exists a passive faculty of sensing and I use it involuntarily. 2. If there exists a passive faculty of sensing within me and I use it, then there exists an active faculty of producing sense ideas, either in me, or in something else. 3. Therefore, there exists an active faculty of producing sense ideas, either in me, or in something else. 4. God has given me a great propensity to believe that the active faculty of producing sense ideas is in corporeal things. 5. If the active faculty of producing sense ideas is not in corporeal things then God is a deceiver. 6. God is not a deceiver 7. Therefore the active faculty of producing sense ideas is in corporeal things. 8. If the active faculty of producing sense ideas is in corporeal things then corporeal things exist. 9. The active faculty of producing sense ideas is in corporeal things. 10. Therefore corporeal things do exist. Descartes’ argument that corporeal things exist exemplifies his use of, and basis in epistemological foundationalism. To clearly understand how Descartes argument reflects this, we must first explain what epistemological foundationalism is. In his essay, Epistemology, Richard Feldman explains that foundationalism is when, â€Å"The argument is sound. There are basic justified beliefs, and they are the foundation upon which all our other justified beliefs rest† (Feldman 51). He continues this line of thought by saying further, â€Å"All justified nonbasic beliefs are justified in virtue of their relation to justified basic beliefs. † (Feldman 52). In other words, basic justified beliefs allow for other nonbasic beliefs to be justified through their own justification. And it is only through these basic justified beliefs that one can make sound arguments while using a fundamentalist mentality. The nonbasic justified beliefs that are used for argumentation are true only to the point that their supplemental basic justified beliefs are true. With this understanding of foundationalism through Feldman’s work it can be said that Descartes meditations exhibit these features. The argument that Descartes gives for the existence of corporeal things certainly exhibits the features of foundationalism. The method that Descartes used in his meditations was to clearly ground all of his arguments upon basic justified beliefs. This foundation on basic justified beliefs provides Descartes with the ability to come up with further nonbasic justified beliefs, all of which are based upon one of his basic justified beliefs. This is evident throughout Descartes’ argument for corporeal beliefs as he believes that the entirety of his argument lies upon basic justified beliefs. Without the existence of God, Descartes would not be able to justify his beliefs for the existence of corporeal things. The premises that involve God in this argument are all nonbasic justified beliefs, because they all rest upon the foundation that God exits. The justified belief of Gods certain existence that Descartes holds depends upon an argument that does not use any other beliefs. Therefore his conclusion that God exists becomes a basic justified belief for Descartes, and he bases many of his nonbasic justified beliefs upon its foundation. Some of Descartes premises in his argument for the existence of corporeal things clearly rely upon his basic justified belief that God exists. For God to have given Descartes any type of inclination, as Descartes believes is justified in premise four, it is clear that his existence must first be justified. Through his argument for the existence of God, Descartes is able to use his basic justified belief that God exists to affirm his nonbasic justified beliefs through their relation to God’s existence. This implication that Descartes uses for his reasoning is exemplary of foundationalism. Descartes does not use any beliefs that he does not justify through their dependence upon a basic justified belief. For his sixth premise that God is not a deceiver also depends upon this same basic justified belief for it also to be justified. Descartes criteria for what can constitute a basic justified belief must  also be relevant if the justification of his argument lies upon such beliefs. It seems that the goal of Descartes’ meditations was to begin with a clean slate, and from there, distinguish only things that are certain. Descartes method required him to only accept things as true if they are certain. Through Feldman’s definition of foundationalism it is apparent that Descartes method can be considered as such. Descartes primary focus was to find only what is basic, clear, distinct, and justified before further building upon those beliefs. For a belief to be basic for Descartes, it must rely upon no other beliefs. It must then be reliant upon self-evident, completely provable truths to be able to describe which beliefs can be justified through deduction. This is a very basic foundation to begin from and is truly foundationalism at its roots. For Decartes’ meditations the beliefs that he is a thinking thing and therefore he exists is used from the beginning as his first basic justified belief. The first premise in Descartes argument is a basic justified belief. He believes that there clearly exists a passive faculty of sensing and I use it involuntarily. The second premise of the argument raises questions about how this can be a justified belief. Descartes believe that if there exists a passive faculty of sensing within me and I use it, then there must exist an active faculty of producing sense ideas, either in myself or in something else. Descartes is able to justify this belief that there exists two different faculties of sensing, by using the basic justified beliefs about imagination and understanding and the difference between the two. Namely that understanding goes beyond our ability to imagine something, and Imagination seems to depend upon extended bodies. Through these beliefs Descartes is able to conclude that there must be two different faculties of sense ideas. A passive faculty of perceiving sense ideas within me that I use and an active faculty of producing these sense ideas. There is a problem with Descartes’ foundationalism, however. The problem, for Descartes is that, while everything is based upon each other, if one of the beliefs that provides justification to other beliefs is not clearly justified then none of these beliefs can be taken as truths. This not only shakes these beliefs, but, can question the soundness of his whole  argument and any further nonbasic justified beliefs that may arise from the questioned belief. While his argument is valid and seems to be sound, upon further questioning, it may be possible to find that the argument may not be sound. If enough of a doubt can be provided so that one premise seems doubtful, I believe we can call into question the soundness of his whole argument. For Descartes’ fourth premise, it seems as though his only justification for the belief is an inclination supposedly given from God, who supposedly exists. This inclination is that the active faculty of producing sense ideas is in corporeal things. For Descartes, as a foundationalist, to base his premise off of a natural inclination that he has should seem suspicious enough. Descartes supplements his inclination by stating that it comes from God. This is an opportunity to question the base of this premise. How does Descartes reason that this inclination is given from God. â€Å"For God has given me no faculty at all for recognizing any such source for these ideas; on the contrary, he has given me a great propensity to believe that they are produced by corporeal things. â€Å"Through this statement Descartes attempts to justify his premise for this active faculty existing in corporeal things. While I must agree that as humans, we are born with a propensity to believe that the active faculty of producing sense ideas is in corporeal things, it is possible to see that there could be other ways that we have gotten this propensity. Is it possible that we have received this inclination as a disillusion from a source other than God. At the time, Descartes may have seen this as irrational. But, today it is easier to imagine that this is possible through either superior technology, or through some type of force of mental control. The idea that superior technology is able to supply humans with the active faculty for producing sense ideas can be exemplified through the movie â€Å"The Matrix†. In the movie it is a superior technology that controls mankind and projects into their mind that corporeal things are real, when in fact it is just images being projected into their minds that supplies them with what they believe is reality. Not only does Descartes assume that it is God who put this propensity to believe in our minds, but this follows Descartes assumption that God exists. While Descartes has an argument that proves the existence of God, it is possible to argue against the existence of God. If that argument can be objected to, this also would provide more than enough doubt to discount the soundness of Descartes’ argument that corporal things exist. The debate upon the existence of God is not necessary for my objection, however, as I have already provided doubt to the premise even if God does exist. The ability to fathom a different idea than God putting this active faculty in corporal things provides enough doubt that it is possible to question the soundness of Descartes foundationalist argument. How would Descartes defend his view against this objection? I think that the possibility of this, provides a similar problem to that of our dreams. If that would be projected upon us, we still are thinking, and therefore still continue to exist. So there must be some type of reality in which we are centered in. This would lead us to believe that either this â€Å"matrix† is reality, or there is some other kind of reality. Since we know that this â€Å"matrix† is not reality, there must be some other kind of reality. This makes it difficult for us to understand what reality truly is. The possibility of this makes me think Renee Descartes would have to submit that what he believed as justified truths, can not be so. This thought would not only shake this premise, but would compromise the rest of his argument for the belief that corporeal things exist. With the inability to clearly justify statements he previously believed to be true, I believe that Descartes would have a more difficult time trying to prove that corporeal things exist. I also believe that without this premise, this whole argument looses it’s soundness because of the dependency upon God being the supplier of our propensity to believe that corporeal things exist. This one belief being no longer justified, in the nature of foundationalism, would necessarily effect the nonbasic justified beliefs of Descartes which previously were believed to be justified. The more beliefs which are no longer justified, work only to further the process and dejustify beliefs dependent upon the previous ones.

Guanlong Tyrannosaur Facts and Figures

Guanlong Tyrannosaur Facts and Figures Name: Guanlong (Chinese for crown dragon); pronounced GWON-long Habitat: Woodlands of Asia Historical Period: Late Jurassic (160 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and 100-200 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Small size; large crest on head; possibly feathers About Guanlong One of the earliest tyrannosaurs yet to be discovered, Guanlong (the name, crown dragon, alludes to this meat-eaters prominent crest) roamed eastern Asia during the late Jurassic period. Like other early theropods - such as Eoraptor and Dilong - Guanlong was nothing special in terms of size, only a fraction as large as Tyrannosaurus Rex (which lived about 90 million years later). This points to a common theme in evolution, the development of plus-sized animals from small progenitors. How do paleontologists know that Guanlong was a tyrannosaur? Clearly, this dinosaurs crest - not to mention its fairly long arms and (possibly) its coat of feathers - make it an ill-fitting match with the classic tyrannosaurs of the late Cretaceous period. The giveaway is the characteristic shape of Guanlongs teeth and pelvis, which point to its being a basal (i.e., early) member of the tyrannosaur family. Guanlong itself appears to have descended from earlier, smaller theropods known as coelurosaurs, the most prominent genus of which was Coelurus. Oddly, when Guanlong was discovered, in Chinas Shishugou formation, the paleontologists from George Washington University found two specimens lying on top of one another - one surmised to be about 12 years old, and the other about 7. Whats weird is that, as far as researchers can tell, the dinosaurs didn’t die at the same time, and theres no sign of a struggle - so how did they wind up buried together? Its still a tantalizing paleontological mystery.

Geographic Information About Morocco

Geographic Information About Morocco Population: 31,627,428 (July 2010 estimate)Capital: RabatArea: 172,414 square miles (446,550 sq km)Bordering Countries: Algeria, Western Sahara and Spain (Cueta and Melilla)Coastline: 1,140 miles (1,835 km)Highest Point: Jebel Toubkal at 13,665 feet (4,165 m)Lowest Point: Sebkha Tah at -180 feet (-55 m)Morocco is a country located in Northern Africa along the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is officially called the Kingdom of Morocco and it is known for its long history, rich culture and diverse cuisine. Moroccos capital city is Rabat but its largest city is Casablanca. History of Morocco Morocco has a long history that has been shaped over decades by its geographic location on both the  Atlantic Ocean  and the Mediterranean Sea. The Phoenicians were the first people to control the area, but the Romans, Visigoths, Vandals and Byzantine Greeks also controlled it. In the 7th century B.C.E, Arabic peoples entered the region and their civilization, as well as  Islam  thrived there.In the 15th century, the Portuguese controlled the Atlantic coast of Morocco. By the 1800s, though, several other European countries were interested in the region because of its strategic location. France was one of the first of these and in 1904, the United Kingdom officially recognized Morocco as part of Frances sphere of influence. In 1906, the Algeciras Conference established policing duties in Morocco for France and Spain, and then in 1912, Morocco became a protectorate of France with the Treaty of Fes.Following the end of World War II, Moroccans began to push for independence and i n 1944, Istiqlal or Independence Party was created to lead the movement for independence. According to the United States Department of State in 1953, the popular Sultan Mohammed V was exiled by France. He was replaced by Mohammed Ben Aarafa, which caused Moroccans to push for independence even more. In 1955, Mohammed V was able to return to Morocco and on March 2, 1956, the country gained its independence.Following its independence, Morocco grew as it took over control of some Spanish-controlled areas in 1956 and 1958. In 1969, Morocco expanded again when it took control of the Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south. Today, however, Spain still controls Ceuta and Melilla, two coastal enclaves in northern Morocco. Government of Morocco Today the government of Morocco is considered a constitutional monarchy. It has an executive branch with a chief of state (a position that is filled by the king) and a head of government (the prime minister). Morocco also has a bicameral Parliament which consists of the Chamber of Counselors and the Chamber of Representatives for its legislative branch. The judicial branch of government in Morocco is made up of the Supreme Court. Morocco is divided into 15 regions for local administration and it has a legal system that is based on Islamic law as well as that of the French and Spanish. Economics and Land Use of Morocco Recently Morocco has undergone several changes in its economic policies that have allowed it to become more stable and grow. It is currently working to develop its service and industrial sectors. The main industries in Morocco today are phosphate rock mining and processing, food processing, the making of leather goods, textiles, construction, energy,  and tourism. Since tourism is a major industry in the country, services are as well. In addition, agriculture also plays a role in Moroccos economy and the main products in this sector include barley, wheat, citrus, grapes, vegetables, olives, livestock,  and wine. Geography and Climate of Morocco Morocco is geographically located in Northern Africa along the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered by Algeria and Western Sahara. It also still shares borders with two enclaves that are considered a part of Spain - Ceuta and Melilla. The topography of Morocco varies as its northern coast and interior regions are mountainous, while its coast features fertile plains where much of the countrys agriculture takes place. There are also valleys interspersed between Moroccos mountainous areas. The highest point in Morocco is Jebel Toubkal which rises to 13,665 feet (4,165 m), while its lowest point is Sebkha Tah which is -180 feet (-55 m) below sea level.The climate of Morocco, like its topography, also varies with location. Along the coast, it is Mediterranean with warm, dry summers and mild winters. Farther inland, the climate is more extreme and the closer one gets to the Sahara Desert, the hotter and more extreme it gets. For example Moroccos capital, Rabat is locat ed on the coast and it has an average January low temperature of 46ËšF (8ËšC) and an average July high temperature of 82ËšF (28ËšC). By contrast, Marrakesh, which is located farther inland, has an average July high temperature of 98ËšF (37ËšC) and a January average low of 43ËšF (6ËšC). Sources: Central Intelligence Agency. (20 December 2010). CIA - The World Factbook - Morocco.  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html Infoplease.com. (n.d.). Morocco: History, Geography, Government, and Culture - Infoplease.com.  infoplease.com/country/morocco.html United States  Department of State. (26 January 2010). Morocco.   state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5431.htm Wikipedia.org. (28 December 2010). Morocco- Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morocco.

How Colors Affect Us Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

How Colors Affect Us - Research Paper Example Colors have the abilities to affect human beings in many ways such as individual’s life, psychological state, and health. one of the reasons why colors have the ability to influence people’s lifestyle is because we naturally react on multi-level of association with colors. She further explains that there exists social, culture and personal relationships with certain colors,† Colour continues to play an important role in the world today and people, corporations and institutions are using it as a powerful tool of communication. Some colors send universal messages and these colors can used for a product, web site, business card, or logo to cause powerful reactions. We cannot ignore the significance of color in our today’s world. The four psychological primary colors include red, yellow, blue, and green. They relate to the body, mind, and emotions while essentially balancing the three. Red elevates excitement levels, and can speed up our decision making process. This is why we considered Las Vegas the city of red neon. Students subjected to red light before exams are more likely to perform dismally. Blue color demonstrates many positive attributes such as intelligence, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, understanding, logic, calm, and reflection. Its can sometimes be interpreted as cold, aloof, unfriendliness, and lacking emotion. Yellow color is often associated with optimism, self-esteem, confidence, emotional strength, extraversion /friendliness and creativity. It can also come out negative as irrational, fearful, emotionally fragile, depressing, anxiety or suicidal.Green stimulates a general feeling of balance accompanied by positive attribute such as harmony, refreshment, universal affection, peace, restoration reassurance, environmental consciousness, equity, and tranquillity. On the other hand, it demonstrates boredom, blandness, Violet is stimulus for spiritual awareness, vision,

Understanding project contractors and contracting businesses Essay

Understanding project contractors and contracting businesses - Essay Example Understanding project contractors and contracting businesses Analysis of such parameters will help us with an understanding about how the companies have performed over the seven years and whether they were able to add value to the company. One of the companies chosen above has a high total asset usage and the other one has a low total asset usage. The underlying rationale behind choosing this ratio as the primary differentiating parameter between these two companies is because this ratio is very useful in determining the financial performance of the company. It gives us an indication of the pricing strategy that the companies have adopted. Moreover, the firms have been chosen as a case of high and low values of a ratio that appears in the Du Pont system, which will make it easy for us to explore relationships and trade-offs between that and other ratios. The following sections will involve the analysis of key financial ratios that the firms have been able to achieve over the seven years. 2. Midas Retail Limited Midas construction is the larges t company that belongs to the Midas group of companies. The primary line of work that the company is engaged in is to serve the design and construction needs of all its customers from a network of local offices. The company works in close partnership with its local partners who specialise in supply chain, thereby utilizing their local expertise and knowledge. Each of the regional business under the Midas group offers highly personalised services which are designed to suit the needs and requirements of every individual customer and project (Midas, 2013) 3. Rock Fall Company Limited This company specilises in drilling, explosives engineering and blasting, particularly in the marine environment. The company has been able to complete more than 200 contracts in about 35 countries. The line of work that the company is engaged in ranges from the removal of small boulder outcrops to massive port development schemes. The activities are generally related to harbor deepening, clearance of navi gation channels and quay well construction. Another activity that can be include in the company's list of underwater expertise is foreshore trenching (Rock Fall, 2013). 4. Ratio Analysis Ratio analysis is an attempt to reduce accounting information in to more usable understandable figures and look at relationships between the figures. It can be used to ‘help interpret trends in performance year on year and by benchmarking to industry averages or to the performance of individual competitors or against a pre-determined target’ (Collier, 2009, p.104). Firstly, we can compare ratios for two or more accounting periods and look at the change. However, external factors may have influenced activity levels. For example, public awareness of environmental issues may have necessitated a change in manufacturing process leading to increased costs. Secondly, we can compare this to another company in the same industry. However, in some case, businesses may not be truly comparable with regard to size and type. For example, bases on which accounting information is prepared, may be different (inventory valuations and depreciation). Thirdly, we can compare this to an industry average, these can be compiled using data bases such as â€Å"Data Stream†. However, these have to be comparable as reflect as closely as possible the various characteristics of the company (McLane & Atrill, 2009, p.224-225). 4.1 Efficiency Ratios 4.1.1 Asset turnover This ratio measures the amount of sales that a company generates for every dollar’