Double Indemnity Essays - English-language Films, Film Noir

Double Indemnity If Double Indemnity is short on any aspect which defines a good film-noir, tension is certainly not one of them. Director Billy Wilder manages to keep the tension as thick as syrup through the duration of the movie, despite the fact that the audience is, from the start, already aware of the murder that has taken place, as well as the main protagonist Walter Neffs role in it and his impending doom. Wilder makes this clear, as Neff, obviously mortally wounded in the opening scene, tells the entire tale in flashback after his confession I killed Dietrichson me, Walter Neff. One of the more interesting manners in which he does this is through Neffs relationship with his friend and the firms Claim Manager Burton Keyes. The relationship between the two men is key to creating and maintaining the tension and suspense throughout the movie. While Neff was sure he knew the system inside out, well enough to be able to pull off the deed without getting caught, the only man he was afraid of was none other than Keyes, whose inner man unerringly sniffed out false claims. The most obvious device that Wilder uses between Neff and Keyes is the lighting of cigarettes/cigars. In key points throughout the film where Keyes appears to be close to cracking the case but comes up short, he always has trouble lighting up his cigar, and Neff lights it up with a wooden match. In the final scene, however, when Neff no longer has things under control, Keyes reciprocates the favor. Films and Cinema

Heart Attacks essays

Heart Attacks essays A heart attack is also known as Myocardial Infarction (M.I.). A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to a portion of the heart muscle is severely reduced or stopped. This happens when one of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle is blocked by an obstruction. This blockage can be due to a condition called atherosclerosis (a build up of fatty like substance along the wall of the artery), a blood clot or a coronary vessel spasm along with a total obstruction. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart stops, that area of the heart will no longer receive the oxygen or nutrients needed to carry out its function and will die. If it is a very small part of the heart involved, it will be able to work without it. If a large portion is damaged, irreversible damage will happen which can lead to death. Damage to the heart muscle may be so severe that it may cause abnormal heart rhythm. Most people who are of a myocardial infraction or a heart attack do so within a few hours due to this type of heart rhythm. The heart attack victim will complain of pressure, discomfort or a squeezing sensation in the center of the chest. There may be pain radiating to the arms or the neck. There may also be shortness of breath, weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and or indigestion. The pain that occurs is the result of heart tissue schema (decreased blood supply). The area that is not receiving enough blood is literally crying out for help. When a person complains of any of the symptoms mentioned, they should be transported to the nearest hospital. The diagnosis of an M.I. is made for the patient's history, from special tests on E.C.G. and measurement of certain enzymes released into the bloodstream from damaged heart muscle. Once an M.I. has occurred and a portion of the heart muscle has died, something has to be done to prevent a piece of the obstruction from breaking off and blocking another artery somewhere else ...

Vatican II Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Vatican II - Research Paper Example n.p.). The council was formed with the purpose of undertaking the review of the position of the church and its spiritual renewal in the contemporary world. It was on Oct. 11, 1962 that the most impressive improvement of the Vatican II was convened, by extending the invitation to the Orthodox Eastern and Protestant churches for sending their observers. The representatives from many churches attended these meetings. Then, the variety of cultural and national origins was another characteristic that was depicted to people who had attended the meeting from around the world (Bokenkotter, Thomas, 2005). It is not clear from the mission of Vatican II that unlike the former councils, this council was distinctive doe the reason that no new dogmas were issues, anathemas declared, nor was there any settlement for the serious profanation that prevailed during this time. The council, rather, became known ideally for its purpose of renewing the Catholic doctrine in the modern perspective and timeline. the council resulted in various institutional changes, which concluded the idea of the Catholic Church that the ultimate salvation for the humanity is brought by it alone, the revised charisma and renewing of the consecrated life, along with the ecumenical struggle towards various other religions through dialogue, and the communicative contribution of laity in many other activities of the religion (Alberigo, Giuseppe; Sherry, Matthew, 69). Besides this, the widespread use of vernacular language instead of the Latin language in Holy Mass was the most conspicuous change brought by the council, the revision of Eucharistic prayers, the disarticulation of the tabernacle of Church from central aisle, along with many other alteration including the abbreviation of the liturgical calendar, replacement of Ad Orientem by Versus Populum, and many other advanced artistic changes that enclosed the modern

Contract law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Contract law - Essay Example In the formation f contracts two elements are vital. Firstly, the "offer," an indication by one person prepared to contract with another, on certain terms, which are fixed, or capable f being fixed at the time the offer is made. Secondly, there must be an "acceptance", an unconditional assent to a definite offer.[2] These two combine to create certainty that a contract has been formed, for, as in Scammell v Ouston (1941),[3] "if an agreement is uncertain on some important issue.the courts will hold there is no contract."[4] Following this, the elements f consideration and intent provide the contract's "body and substance"[5]So, what is meant by "consideration" and "the intention to create legal relations" English law usually requires prof that the parties have made a bargain, or agreement, [6] this is known as the benefit and detriment test. (Currie v Misa (1875) [7] or "a benefit to one party or a detriment to another."[8] So, in practical terms consideration can be defined as what one party in an agreement is giving, or promising, in exchange for what is being given, or promised, by the other side. [9] This provides mutuality, making the contract enforceable. The Oxford Dictionary f Law definition states, "Consideration is essential to the validity f any contract other than one made by deed. Without consideration an agreement not made by deed is not binding; it is a nudum pactum (naked agreement) governed by the maxim ex nudo pacto non oritur action (a right f action does not arise out f a naked agreement.)"[10] English law does not rely on formalities as a way f identifying intention to create a legally binding contract. Instead it focuses on offer, acceptance and consideration. [11] If these are present, and unless rebutted by contrary evidence, courts operate on the basis f two legal presumptions, that there is no intention to be bound in domestic or social arrangements, but there is intention to be bound in commercial agreements. [12] Professor B.A.Hepple claims that there is no need f a separate requirement f intention, and that a bargain, involving mutuality is sufficient. These views are not generally accepted as it is widely agreed that identifying the parties' intentions is essential to the role f the courts when establishing if a contract was made. [13] It is useful to look at why English law has become so reliant on the consideration element f a contract, and why it has frequently been used as the "badge f enforceability,"[14] Professor Atiyah argues that "consideration" originally meant a "reason for enforcing an agreement."[15] Early forms f contract law mainly involved agreements regarding debt, covenant, or detinue ie., wrongful detention f property, and were only binding if under seal. This method, which required a degree f form such as writing or a deed, was used to prevent fraud and proved that there was an intention to create legal relations. Consideration was first used in the sixteenth century when, in order to enforce informal agreements, the law f assumsit was developed.[16] So, while that the law would, "...still not enforce merely gratuitous promises, ... the law had to develop an element that could distinguish between a proper contractual agreement, and something less that would not."[17] Due to the Law f Property Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1989, form is still required for contracts involving the sale f land. It is also used to offer consumers protection in hire purchase and consumer credit agreements. In the English Common law system, a promise is not legally binding as part f a contract except if it is made in a deed or supported by some consideration. [18] Sir Guenter Treitel Q.C.,

The Difference Between Morals and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Difference Between Morals and Ethics - Essay Example It is a systematic evaluation and reasoning of how we ought to perform depending on various contexts. As Desnoyers defines, â€Å"ethics is the body of principles that decide what behaviors are right, good, and proper.† (Desnoyers). Such attitudes do not always state a single â€Å"moral† course of action, but facilitate measures to evaluate and decide among competing options. It is all about putting these principles into action. It is a matter of honesty to observe uniformity between what we say, we value, and what our deeds say we value. Ethics motivates a person to follow certain standards or codes of behavior desired by the society in which the individual is a part. Ethics in its wider sense can be national ethics, social ethics, company ethics, or professional ethics. On the other hand, morals promote a demanding set of duties that requires a person to overcome his natural desires, in way to follow his moral law. On comparing the differences between ethics and mora ls, we find that ethics is the guidelines, for choosing proper conduct, while morality is the parameters for behavior that exist at some point of time. The ethical principles undergo very little changes while on the other hand, morality endures more changes repeatedly. Morality can be depicted as a snapshot taken of an unstable object. However, since ethics has got more essential and established principles, it is bigger than morality in its function. An example of a criminal defense lawyer may be apt to understand the terms of moral and ethics in its practical sense. The lawyer’s personal moral code may consider the murder immoral and culpable. On the other hand, the ethics demands the lawyer to defend his client as strongly as possible, even when he is aware of the fact that the accused is guilty and freeing the defendant would eventually lead to more crimes. In such case, the legal ethics as well as his professional ethics must override personal morals in order to uphold th e justice system where the accused is given a fair chance. In the same way, ethics and morals may clash at the workplace where the company ethics supersede personal morality. Corporate insatiability that often crosses its own ethical lines fastened with perverse demands on time may force employee to select from a traumatic, challenging, and unbearable work ethics considering his/her family responsibilities as moral commitment to next of kin. Ethical decision making is carried out by the logical and systematical application of one’s ethical principles and does not take place by random likelihood. An individual often feels lost at sea when facing with a situation where he needs to apply ethical principles. In a critical decision making condition, an individual can apply ethical principles by choosing a course of action. George Desnoyers brings out a set of clear rules that can be applied in advance to enhance an individual to lead an ethical life. They are; I will think before I act; will clarify and constantly review my goals. I will try to consider the consequences of my actins and omissions. I will monitor and review the results of my actions. I will be honest in all my business dealing. (Source: Desnoyers, n.d). Moral certainty can be referred to as a concept of instinctive probability, where a high degree of probability occurs that is adequate for the action but not sufficient for absolute certainty.

Democracy in Egypt

Democracy in Egypt Introduction: Democracy in Egypt In 2009, countries of the Arabian descent took to the streets in rebellion to the aristocratic leadership they have been subdued under for years. The wave of demonstrations and coup dà ©tats spread over North Africa with Egypt being among the countries that were affected. Two years later, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by the government through a military coup. Egyptians sought to the streets proclaiming victory over the aristocratic leader’s exit from the palace. The President was acquitted with several violations of the human rights and other atrocities under his reign. (Bukay2007) It is purported that the struggle for democracy was fostered by the Western country of the United States with the primary aim to westernize the Arabian country. Some reports indicate that the dynamo effect of the revolution was because of the consequent subsequent revolutions in other countries. Nonetheless, the question remains whether democracy will prevail in the Arabian c ountry. Considering the cultural and the media factors, will Egypt’s struggle for democracy actually bear fruit? To this effect, the purpose of the paper is to analyze sources of information on the particular topic. The main purpose of the paper is to delineate the United States involvement in the democratic struggle in Egypt with reference to Putnam’s work on the Arabian countries’ revolution. Moreover, the paper will discuss why democracy will not prevail in the country provided that the cultural, historical, religious and ideological views still held firmly in the country. The democratic revolution It is purported that the United States has been at the forefront in the struggle or the support for the revolution in the North African countries. The U.S. supports a strong, affluent and democratic Egypt that responds to the aspirations of its peoples. It believes that the outcomes of elections and the shape of Egypt’s new democracy are for the Egyptian people to decide. The U.S.’s support for the transition to civilization is aimed at aiding the citizens in building democratic institutions as well as fair processes that offer greater opportunity. Moreover, provide for accountability plus the participation in political life. However, the United States does not support or fund any candidates or political parties. (Embassy of the US2015) The United States funded the after revolution events worth sixty million dollars for the programs supporting the revolution. The United States supports such endeavors in the name of partnerships. Therefore, the nation is focused solely o n the immediate priorities that the Egyptians had identified including holding of free and fair elections, empowering citizens to play a role in their country’s future and the protection and expansion of the universal rights. Moreover, the United States sought to expand in the civil society and the building democratic institutions that are transparent and accountable. The main agenda of the United States is to provide the support of the independent Egypt that represent the rights and the interests of the people. Nevertheless, are the good will intentions of the super power possible to relegate the democratic revolutions of the nation? Are the actions of the United States credible with the medieval factors that still govern the society such as religion and culture? There have been former studies conducted by political scientists on the success of such western countries in forging for the move to democracy in Arabian countries. Among them is Putnam whose main life’s work is to address the issue in the Middle East. Putnam’s view on Democracy and the Arab nations Putnam is a political scientist whose main interests were on the ideology of democracy and revolution. He performed a study on the equality of the Arabian countries and its significance to the development of the nations. In his studies, he argues that most students of the novel democracies, which have emerged over the previous decade and beyond, have emphasized the significance of a robust and active civil society in relation to the Alliance of democracy. This is especially in relation to the post-communist nations, scholars, as well as democratic activists who have also complained about the obliteration of norms of independent civic engagement, as well as a broad tendency toward reflexive reliance on the state. He purports that for the people who are concerned about civil societies’ weakness, within the post-communist and developing world, the developed Western democracies and particularly the UDS have generally been considered as models to be emulated. Nevertheless, over the previous several decades, it has emerged that the vibrancy associated with the American Civil society has declined. (Shafick2013) It is clear that democracy will never work in Egypt because of many reasons. The situation in the Middle East is now more dangerous and chaotic as compared to how it was years ago. The enthusiasm that was linked to yesteryear has now proved to be entirely misguided. Moreover, it has contributed to the chaos is Egypt, as well as anarchy in Libya. The people who are interested in being on the appropriate side of history, realize that they are on the erroneous face as far as the argument is concerned. This means that democracy is precisely not the solution for societies that are extremely involved and the fact that the Western keeps on meddling. That only makes matters immensely worse. The main arguments that democracy as it is understood simply cannot work within the Middle East nations where tribe, family, sect and personal friendships outplay the device of the state. Democracy cannot work in Egypt because all the Middle East nations have proved beyond reasonable doubt that they are s ocieties, which can never be controlled by the decree of law. Thus, some scholars have defined them as â€Å"favor for favor† cultures. This suggests that in Egypt what usually happens that whenever individuals face particular problems, they often seek help from relatives or people of their own tribe or who live within the same locality as them. Furthermore, such requests of seeking assistance are rarely refused because those people tend to have very strong ties. Moreover, in states where social security is ineffective, people’s future security only depends on the usual extensive family. Democracy will remain to be a dream in Egypt because is that state behind the chaotic structure lies the secret police, as well as the armed forces. They are known to hold the nation together under the protection of the president who rules. The leader maintains the various elements of society whole holding concessions to every group, but the leaders also possess authority,which can be exercised in relation to how the public can understand. Democracy has also failed to work in Middle East countries such as Egypt because the West has abjectly failed in understanding the inner workings of such nations, and that has brought about some disastrous impacts. Iraq can be used as a classic example. For instance, the invasion that occurred in Iraq only made matters worse in spite of the negative e deeds of Saddam. The fact that the US invaded that nation, the stability of the Gulf was destroyed, and it was an enormous impact since the Gulf had since 1979, depended on a tripod consisting of Iraq , Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Consequently, the Iranians now have the ability to govern the Gulf region. (Orttung Walker 2012) The term democracy can be defined as the system of governance where the people vote for their representatives in direct democracy or indirect democracy. It is explained that he Islamic culture is in line with the term democratic. Nonetheless, how is democratic if a large portion of the world’s political system is in opposition to the Islamic culture and laws? First, the law and the culture do not permit commoners or people of lower classes to hold any political positions in the government or any other post? Islamists argue that the parliamentary democracy and representative elections are not only compatible with the Islamic law, but it also encourages freedom. It is mostly done in two ways: either they twist the definitions to suit the apparatus of the Islamic governance such as the term democracy or they bend the reality of life in Muslim countries to f it their theories. (Amid2015) It is arguable that the term democracy has a myriad of meanings and a variety at that. Every culture molds its own democratic government and, therefore, a religious freedom can ensue. There is the argument that Islamic movements have internalized the democratic discourse through the concepts of shura –consultation- and ijma-consensus-. It is, therefore, implied that the ideology of democracy already exists in the Muslim nations. It is consequently, reaffirmed through the minority revolutions where the move to overthrow the Egyptian president was due to his dictatorial leadership and not due to westernization. The strong argument will be that he other Arabian nations that still follow the Islamic laws will not let the influence of the Western world become apparent. In addition, how will democracy be reached if issues such as women rights and freedom are far from being realized? Years and years of protests in the western world on the stringent Muslim laws and the forceful submission of the woman on the expense of the male superiority and liberties have been practiced. If the argument that the Arab nations are democratic, then the struggle and the support that the United States is offering is a waste of tax payers money at the expense of ‘democratization’ in Egypt. The idea of Islamic democracy in the relativism theory on Islamic culture and religion is accommodated in the Arab nations whose sole purpose is to avoid westernization. However, the ideology is not complete but the struggle by America is accommodative as well since change is a gradual process. Hence, the cultural aspect of the Islamic nations will be a barrier to the democratic revolution of the Islamic nations. (Zunes2011) Freedom of speech and the media Conversely, the media channels were at the forefront of the struggle for the democracy in the Arabian country. It was a breakthrough for the Egyptian country with the reports from the neighboring countries’ revolution and Libya’s anarchy. It brought about the wave of riot, and the military used the media primarily to enforce revolutions. From bloggers to media personalities the country was manipulated by the military to engage in the violent engagements around the country and mostly in the capital city, Cairo. The effect of the social media has deepened the imprint on the Egyptian society and politics despite the fact that most bloggers and media officials suffer from the freedom to air information on the country’s current issues. (Clay, 2011) Three years along the procession, there are still revolutions on the freedom of speech in the media docket. In February 2011, the highest commission of the Armed military directed a harsh order to the civil society routinel y portraying the democracy activists as foreign-backed troublemakers. It had also restricted the discussion of assorted views on the news along with analysis programs, and more generally blocked the pathway for improvement in key areas of the media division. In the mass to the centennial of Mubarak’s acquiescence, state media have presaged activists against insulting steps while asserting that the military would provide to protect the state. A recent example of this backsliding is the creation of the so-called National Military Media Committee, a body of eleven generals that will be accountable for as long as information about the martial to journalists and offsetting what it considers â€Å"biased coverage.† (El-Sherif2014) Such retrospective actions have been all the more unsatisfactory given the ciphers early last year that real development ought to be in the offing. Among the first steps in use after Mubarak’s upheaval was the abolition of the point of information executive official on February 22nd, 2011. The move made Egypt become one of the three nations in the Middle East and North Africa, together with Qatar and Lebanon that became short of an information official, a post that is characteristically associate d with restriction and cant. In July, though, the position was restored, and all through the subsequent half of 2011, the taboo on the debate of individual subject was reestablished in state media. At least five national televisions plus radio presenters have been taken off the air or confronted with prosecution difficult for the limits of permitted speech. Therefore, the issue of the democratic revolution of the state will be hindered with the military governance that seeks to guide the move of the nation to the next step. In addition, it is clear why the military and the country at whole are in retaliation to the revolutionary democratic move. The incidences where their fellow citizens have been mistreated and live cruelly in the western worlds. For instance after the terrorist attacks in the United States and the United Kingdom in London would soon prove to be difficult for the Democratic support to be futile. Americans and the Europeans were upset after the twin attacks in both continents with sentiments towards the attackers mostly being Arabians and Muslims origins discriminating those living in the areas. Therefore, the struggle by the United States to support the countr y especially will be futile with recognition by the citizens in this country being affected with the awful comments from the nations. It will, therefore, be difficult to endorse the democratic movement if such wounds are still new in the wits of the populace of the Islamic countries considering that the effect is still felt to date. â€Å"The Youth of January 25. In the wake of the revolution, the youth was at the forefront of the struggle of the democratic incidences. However, since the revolution culminated the youth have gone underground with no intentions of surfacing to enable the revolution. In fact, the crisis is not the standard radical problem of influential running out of steam. If something, the exact conflicting has happened: they had too much steam that has reserved them operating around in circles. That they were authentically stunned to observe the degree of the democratic system breakdown rising in the years after Mubarak’s subtraction is no news: it is gener ally familiar and acknowledged. Their mistrust of all sorts of authority, whether they are politicians, intellectual experts, or even elder people, persuaded them that they had to suspend onto their grounds of Utopian revolt, and not pay attention to the warning voices of unattractive understanding. Except these childlike leaders were thunderstruck on the several junctures when they instituted themselves on behalf of a losing preponderance in the face of a prearranged alternative. It is argued that the youth in Egypt have less to look forward to in terms of democracy if there is any hope of the western world. The ideology of the unstructured government is among the issues that will lead to the democratic movement’s culmination. The military is independent of other institutions of the government that enabled it to act solely without the remission of the other institutions. Moreover, the parliamentary community and the government operate differently without the involvement of the other subsidiary meaning there is no constitutional application for the transition of power if there is no president. Hence, it was able for the military to succeed the former President Hosni Mubarak. In addition, the division of the diverse political groups may be the reason why the devolvement of the political system will not digress to the democratic revolution. The Muslim Brotherhood is among the groups that constitute for the remission of the ruling ‘government’ in democratic ways of governance. The reason is because the ideology on the former management system was not efficient then and would never be efficient in the new Egypt. Egypt is becoming increasingly ungovernable. (Fadel2014) The realm cannot change its re asserted supremacy into legality, and as intrastate rivalry and unruly complaint political affairs overwhelm the following arena, the nation faces a political void with no clear resolution. Egypt desires an absolute reinvention of its biased sphere. In spite of the development of a controversial public liberty since 2011, Egypt still requires a proficient political division, without which it will be powerless to deal with entrenched institutional obstructions to democracy. The alliance that supports the July 2013 overthrow that conquered then-President Mohamed Morsi is portioning. A split is increasing amid groups that want to replicate Mubarak’s totalitarianism and those that bear a more self-governing future for Egypt. No one collection has monopolized the debate. List of references David bulky â€Å"can there be an Islamic democracy?† (2007) pp71-79 the Middle East Quarterly http://www.meforum.org/1680/can-there-be-an-islamic-democracy Embassy of the US â€Å"supporting Egypt’s Democratic transition† (2015) http://egypt.usembassy.gov/democracy.html S tephen zunes â€Å"Egypt’s pre-democratic movement: the struggle continues† (2011) open democracy https://www.opendemocracy.net/stephen-zunes/egypt’s-pro-democracy-movement-struggle-continues Christopher Walker Robert Orttung â€Å"For Egypt’s State media, the Revolution has yet to arrive† (2012) https://freedomhouse.org/blog/egypt’s-state-media-revolution-has-yet-arrive#.VUoMx5MYF_M Hesham shafick :Egypt’s January 25 revolutionary youth: where have they gone† (2013). https://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/hesham-shafick/egypt’s-january-25-revolutionary-youth-where-have-they-gone Rebecca A. Clay â€Å"Muslims in America post 9/11† American Psychology Association (2011) vol 42 no.8 pp 72. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/09/muslims.aspx Ashraf El-Sherif â€Å"Egypt’s post-Mubarak Predicament† (2014) http://carnegieendowment.org/2014/01/29/egypt-s-post-mubarak-predicament Shadi Hamid â€Å"The struggle for Middle East Democracy† the American University in Cairo (2015) http://www.aucegypt.edu/gapp/cairoreview/pages/articledetails.aspx?aid=20 Mohammed Fadel â€Å"what killed the Egyptian democracy† (2014) http://bostonreview.net/forum/mohammad-fadel-what-killed-egyptian-democracy

Critique of The Darling Essay -- essays research papers

For centuries, women have turned and have entrusted in men for advice to fulfill their lives with romance. Some women, even though they had difficulty establishing a satisfactory bond with their spouse, still had a tendency to have a dependency on the male spouse for identity. For a woman to become a "wife" was a defining role in women's lives back then, especially within the eastern European cultures. Sadly, marriage is not always shown to be flowery and romantic as expected. Although Anton Chekov portrays his protagonist character Olga as kind hearted and attractive and favored, she often longs for â€Å"love† from the male gender, and serves as the embodiment of female disempowerment. From Olga’s perspective as the story is told, â€Å"she cannot exist without being love† (Literature and its Writers, 109) and her life only takes on a meaning through a relationship to the men she attaches herself to. In this story â€Å"The Darling,† Olga explores and molds herself into many personalities and interests of the men in her life. For instance, After her father’s death, Olga is left with only material wealth, and again there is an absence of â€Å"love,† that Olga wants. So, Olga first marries a theater owner-Kukin. When married to him, she thinks and speaks only of the theater and â€Å"repeating Kukin’s words to the actors and theater† (Literature and its Writers, 110) also saying â€Å"theater is the most important thing in life.† Her parroting of her husband’s wo...

Lab: the Bacteria Around You

Lab: The Bacteria Around You James Brunet Ms Owen October 14th, 2012 Part 1 Purpose To culture and observe the various types of bacteria found around Canterbury High School. Materials and Methods Refer to pages 422-425 of Biology 11 McGraw-Hill Ryerson and the handout â€Å"Gram Staining Procedure†. Observations Table 1: Locations of Bacteria Samples Quadrant| Location of Sample Obtained| 1| Floor| 2| Water fountain head| 3| Auditorium Chair| 4| Inside of Boys’ Bathroom Door Handle|Table 2: Growth of Bacteria from Various Locations Around CHS after 48h in Incubator Quadrant| Total Number of Colonies| Description of Colonies| Number of Colonies| 1| 1| Irregular, flat, and lobate. Occupies entire quadrant. | 1 | 2| About 8| Milky-white coloured, punctiform, and entire. | 6| | | Milky-white coloured, punctiform, and curled. | 2| 3| 10| Milky, punctiform, and entire. | 8| | | Yellow, punctiform, and entire. | 2| 4| 8| Milky, irregular, lobate, and raised. | 1| | | Milky, pu nctiform, and entire. | 4| | Milky, punctiform, and curled. | 2| | | Clear, flat, circular, and undulate. | 1| Discussion What areas around the school appeared to have the most bacteria? The least? Suggest reasons for these findings. The area around the school that appeared to have the most bacteria was the inside of the boy’s bathroom door handle. Not only did it have the most diverse range of bacteria (four different types), it also had the 2nd highest number of colonies! The area around the school with the least bacteria was, in my opinion, the floor.Although the single colony there grew very large, this was probably due to lack of competition, as there were no other colonies present. This seems to indicate that there is actually less diversity of bacteria on the floor than on a door handle. I think that the door handle appears to have more bacteria for two main reasons. Firstly, the door handle is gripped by students exiting the bathroom. Some of these students may not ha ve washed their hands, leading to bacteria being transferred from person to handle constantly. Secondly, these handles are rarely, if ever cleaned, while the floors are cleaned on a daily basis.Describe the conditions necessary for bacterial growth. Bacteria need food, moisture, warmth, and time to grow. The agar plate provides the food and some moisture, the incubator provides growth, and if it is an expensive unit, moisture as well, and you as the student provides the time. Describe two factors that may limit bacterial growth. A lack of moisture may limit bacterial growth. Instead of multiplying, the bacteria may die. As well, a less than optimal temperature may limit, and perhaps completely stop, bacterial growth.Temperatures outside of the range of 4 °C-60 °C (The bacterial â€Å"danger zone†) will stop most bacterial reproduction and kill many species of bacteria. However, some bacteria can survive with very little moisture for extended periods of time and thrive out side these temperature ranges. Did this experiment have a control? If not, suggest what control you could set up and why? This experiment did not have a control. If I was to set up a control for this experiment, I would leave one of the quadrants clear of any specimen, and use it as a control quadrant.If I did that, I could tell if bacteria was already present in the agar if the control quadrant grew colonies. Discuss some aspect relating to your samples or the procedure. I would like to retest the floor sample, because the single colony left me thinking that the data was incomplete. I just don’t think there is only one type of bacteria living on the floor. I think I would like to change the procedure, as a control quadrant is vital to the integrity of the experiment! As well, I am definitely not going to open the boy’s bathroom door and then proceed to touch my eyes immediately after. ConclusionIn conclusion, the bacteria from the floor, water fountain, chair, and doo r handle flourished because of the warmth of the incubator, the food/moisture present in the agar, and the time we gave it. We identified multiple colonies of bacteria by their colours, sizes, shapes, and thicknesses, and also by staining them with Crystal Violet and Safranin. All of these things combined gave our group insight into the conditions necessary for bacterial growth, how to identify colonies, and where bacteria grow most. Part 2 Purpose To test the effectiveness of various disinfectants and antibiotics on limiting bacterial growth.Materials and Methods Refer to pages 428-429 of Biology 11 McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Observations Quadrant| Type of antibiotic/disinfectant| Size of zone of inhibition| 1| Soap| Huge zone-extends into quadrant 3. | 2| Organic disinfectant| Midsize zone| 3| Bleach+Comet| None| 4| Hand sanitizer| None| Discussion How was the effectiveness of each antibiotic/disinfectant measured? The effectiveness of each antibiotic/disinfectant was measured by lookin g at the zone of inhibition, the size of the area immediately surrounding the antibiotic that is colony-free.Which inhibitor was the most effective? Explain. The soap was by far the most effective inhibitor. Its zone of inhibition extended so far that it even reached into a neighbouring quadrant! This means that the soap was extremely effective at stopping bacterial growth. Rank the inhibitors you used by their effectiveness. Explain your reasoning. I found soap to be the most effective inhibitor, and the organic disinfectant to be the second most effective inhibitor, with respect to their zones of inhibition.I ranked hand sanitizer and bleach+comet as a tie for last place, because they did literally nothing to stop the growth of bacteria. I ranked these inhibitors in this order because I believe that effectiveness can easily be measured by the size of the zone of inhibition. Why is it important for a physician to know the exact identity of the bacteria involved in an infection? It is important for a physician to know the exact identity of the bacteria involved in an infection because different inhibitors work for different bacteria.If the physician incorrectly identified the bacteria, his prescribed antibiotics may do nothing against the bacterial infection, and the patient’s sickness would actually worsen. This is easily shown by our zone of inhibition experiment, where of the four chosen antibiotics, two of them did absolutely nothing against the bacteria. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to know how to both identify bacteria using morphological clues as well as it is important to know how to treat said bacteria. Not all bacteria are the same, and not all antibiotics are on the same footing either.

The 10 Most Bizarre Easter Traditions

The 10 Most Bizarre Easter Traditions Whips, water, and fire – not exactly the things you might think of when you think of Easter traditions. In a few days, the U.S. will be filled with children dyeing eggs, eating chocolate bunnies, and making trails out of jellybeans. Still, Easter is one of the few holidays that is celebrated worldwide. Because of this, there are some very unique ways of celebrating Easter that may shock you. 1. Knock-knock, Who’s There? Louisiana Egg Knocking Even though it’s a part of the U.S., parts of Louisiana are more foreign that countries outside of our borders. In some of the deepest parts of the bayou, Easter celebrations begin with an egg-knocking ceremony. Teams of competitors tie their eggs with strings and knock them together. The person whose egg cracks first loses, and the game is played until there is an â€Å"Egg King.† 2. Go Fly A Kite In Bermuda, the weeks leading up to Easter are marked by building kites which are only flown on Easter Day. These kites are made of anything that local kite-makers can find, from crates to ties and old clothing. One of the most important elements of the Bermuda Easter kites is the â€Å"hummer,† which makes a loud buzzing sound when the kite is in flight. 3. Whips and Water? In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, whipping and water are just normal parts of the Easter festivities. On the Monday after Easter, men craft colorful whips from Willow branches and give the women in their lives playful lashes. The whipping is supposed to keep women beautiful and fertile for another year, and also acts as a flirtation device. But, the women aren’t without recourse. The next day, they retaliate by throwing water on the heads of their attackers. 4. A Fair Egg Exchange In places where Hungarian is spoken (Translyvania, Southern Slovakia, and parts of Serbia), there is also a tradition of pouring water. In these countries, the day after Easter is called â€Å"Watering Monday.† Men will traditionally visit families with women and girls and sprinkle them with perfume in exchange for the Easter eggs. 5. Trick or Easter In Finland and Sweden, the one tradition most Americans think of as Halloween-ish are celebrated at Easter. Children in these countries often carry pussy willows on Palm Sunday instead of palms. Then, the day after Easter, they decorate the pussy willows in colorful paint and knock on doors. The community gives children candy in exchange for the beautiful decorations. 6. Light it Up In a number of countries, Easter is celebrated by huge bonfires. Often, children (especially teenage boys) run through town gathering any scrapwood that they can find. These fires act as a competition, with the boy who has the largest fire as the winner. In Italy, the Scoppio del carro lights a fire from shards from the Holy Sepulchre which in turn sets off a huge fireworks display. 7. Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’ In England, Ireland, and Scotland, children participate in egg rolling as a part of their Easter fun. The goal is to roll an egg the farthest which makes the owner of the egg the Easter victor. There is also a superstition that eggs that don’t make it down the hill intact must be crushed completely, or the egg may be used by witches to do evil magic. 8. Pace Egg Plays Although this particular tradition fell out of style for a while, in recent years the Pace Egg Plays have become a fun part of Easter for many English, Irish, and Scots. These plays date back to the Crusades and revolve around the fictitious antics of St. George and a troublemaker named Old Tosspot. Watchers are encouraged to give Easter eggs to the two characters in exchange to see their traveling show. 9. A Man-Made Holiday In Russia, men aren’t allowed to cook, clean, or otherwise work on Easter. In fact, there is a tradition that says men shouldn’t even be allowed in the kitchen at all. If a man does, it’s said that his beard and moustache will immediately turn grey and he will age before his time. 10. Egg-Zellent In Bessieres, France, there is a tradition of feeding the whole town with a single omelet. According to legend, Napoleon stopped in the little village one night and ordered and omelet. He was so pleased with his meal that he asked all the villagers to bring their eggs so that the chef could create a meal for the whole town. Now, the feast is made from 15,000 eggs and 25,000 kilos of oil each year. Easter doesnt seem so boring now, right? This year you can try something new, celebrating Easter abroad or at least trying the weird Easter traditions with your friends in US. Have the Happy Easter, and tell us your stories!

Gulf Oil Spill Essay Example

Gulf Oil Spill Essay Example Gulf Oil Spill Essay Gulf Oil Spill Essay Seunghwan Lee Professor Poe En 102 11/08/2010 Causes and Effects of Gulf Oil Disaster As the situation of environment is becoming worse than ever these days, the explosion of Deepwater Horizon ship has been making things the worst with the enormous damages since this incident happened on April 20th 2010. This disastrous accident happened under the 2nd biggest oil company BP’s poor responsibility. According to this accident, about 30 laborers died or got deadly hurt then the ship started to sink down couple days after the exploding. As an unofficial said that it was spilling out 35,000 to 60,000 gallons of oil for a day from the borehole in deep sea. (â€Å"Oil estimate raised to 35,000-60,000 barrels a day†) In fact, however, it was hard to estimate how speedy the oil was spilling since it started to spill out from too deep. This problem brought controversy nowadays since the police were not even sure how big this trouble was. This disaster is still causing the end of marine animals, fishing industries, tourism and even wild animals’ place to live by marine pollutions. Although the situation is not easy to bear, if people know what exact causes and effects of this accident, there must be the way to be closed for solution. The BP’s efforts to resolve is not actually seemed that it’s able to cover the seriousness of this accident any soon since it’s like uncountable costs would be charged to clean up the oil and restore the damage. Furthermore, some experts predict that more than 100 years will be needed to make it up. However, these days, BP is putting efforts to burn up the oil on the sea. That indicates they try to cover their fault step by step. Figure 1. : This is how the BP is burning up the oil which is flowing on the sea. now all holes are blocked but 560millions of oil already spilled out (Bourne). Nevertheless the BP’s efforts, there still are many reasons that lead this problem stuck. One case of it is the â€Å"Not Me† Blame-shifting between BP and Halliburton. Since BP is claiming that what Halliburton did was too unstable and Halliburton is claiming that they have tested enough times to make sure that it is safe, both companies are teasing themselves to shift the responsibilities to each other without knowing that it makes the progress of resolving slower than they planned. Halliburton is an oil company that has failed few times to block the holes with cement then it caused more spilled oil than BP expected. After all, BP became to be responsible for the most of cleaning up cost under the law. Also some contractors had to face the rest of costs; those contractors include Transocean, the rigs operator; Halliburton, the company responsible for cementing the well; and Cameron International, the maker of the blowout preventer, a device designed to shut off a well. Krauss and Elisabeth) (â€Å"The Latest Gulf Outrage†) Although many people cancelled their vacations due to the spill, hotels close to the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama reported dramatic increases in business during the first half of May 2010. However, the increase was likely due to the influx of people who had come to work with oil removal efforts. Jim Hutchinson, assistant secretary for the Louisiana Office of Tourism, called the occupancy numbers misleading, but not surpr ising. Because of the oil slick, the hotels are completely full of people dealing with that problem, he said. Then added Theyre certainly not coming here as tourists. People arent sport fishing, they arent buying fuel at the marinas, and they arent staying at the little hotels on the coast and eating at the restaurants. (Reed) As it sounds like, this disaster took the beauty of nature which helps people to rest. It is also caused of health consequences. As of May 29, ten oil spill clean-up workers had been admitted to West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, Louisiana. Two of the cleanup workers had to have hard time suffering from symptoms of dehydration. At a press briefing about the May 26 medical evacuation of seven crewmembers from Vessels of Opportunity working in the Breton Sound area, Coast Guard Captain Meredith Austin, Unified Command Deputy Incident Commander in Houma, LA, said that air monitoring done in advance of beginning work showed no volatile organic compounds above limits of concern. No respiratory protection was issued, Austin said because air ratings were taken and there were no values found to be at an unsafe level, prior to us sending them in there. (Elizabeth) Figure 2. This is the Picture of damaged bird which shows how serious the situation is (Witt). The Political Buzz Examiner Ryan Witt reports that even though 70% of spilled oil has burned, the remaining 30% of oil left on the sea still 5 times larger than the last biggest oil spill Exxon Valdez. As the picture shows that what the animals go through is not any kind of game for the companies that are responsible on it. No one can even sure that how hugely people have been destroying the environment according to Witt’s comment of â€Å"There may be much less environmental damage that was previously anticipated, or there may be much more, that we simply do not know yet. All the scientists agree that more studies and research will have to be done to see what the long-term environmental impacts of the spill are. † (Witt) Same happens for the fishes. For instance, six months into the BP oil spill, satellite data from the European Space Agency says that 20 percent of juvenile bluefin tuna have been killed by BP’s oil spill and more than half of blue fin tuna is died by the sea pollution in the past 30 years. Blue fin tuna has been banned fishing since it has been declining too much but this once people’s mistake reduced the 20% of valuable lives. This can be described as tragedy. Including oiled blue fin tuna, for polluted fishing industry harm estimated cost about $2. 5 billion. McDermott) BP has done unforgivable tragedy way too far. No matter how hard they try to clean the ocean up, it’s mostly like impossible to make things right at this point. In the other word, BP has become a terrible murderer that killed uncountable lives and environments. Unfortunately, furthermore, they were harmed more than ever by themselves either. There actually is no way to fix this situation up. However, to think positively, if they turn their mind as it was big lesson to not make the same happen again, it could be the big opportunity to step up. It might be too cruel to give the BP lessons from this incident but, no matter how huge the fault is, it’s always better to get a moral after the error. â€Å"Oil estimate raised to 35,000-60,000 barrels a day† CNN 16 June. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. Bourne, Joel K. Jr. †Is Another Deepwater Disaster Inevitable? † National Geographic, Oct. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. The Latest Gulf Outrage. New York Times 29 Oct. 2010: A30(L). The New York Times. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. Reed, Travis. Spill hasnt yet emptied hotels on Gulf Coast. The Sun News. Associated Press. 5 May. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. Elizabeth, Grossman. BP Lies about Air Toxicity as Gulf Workers Are Hospitalized. The Faster Times. 1 June. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. Witt, Ryan. â€Å"NOAA Report on Gulf Oil Spill Draws Criticism for Many Assumptions. † Examiner. com. 5 Oct. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. McDermott, Matthew. â€Å"One-Fifth Of Juvenile Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Killed by BP Oil Spill† Treehugger. 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010 Krauss, Clifford, and Elisabeth, Rosenthal. The price and who pays: updates from the Gulf. New York Times 13 May 2010: A18(L). The New York Times. Web. 8 Nov. 2010.

DiaoYu Islands Problems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DiaoYu Islands Problems - Research Paper Example Japanese regime despite numerous negotiations, which China has initiated to resolve the wrangle amicably and effectively, it has disregarded these efforts (Xinhua, 2012a). Hence, resulting in other ways meant to trigger more conflicts by being uncooperative and not adhering to the already established treaties. Primarily, this is evident from the Japanese regime deploying patrol boats in the waters close to the islands and interfering with fishing activities in the area (Hui & Dan, 2010). This is regardless of the clear prove evident from the numerous regions having Chinese names both near and in the Islands; hence implying the islands did not belong to them as they are currently claiming. Japan’s interfering has somehow affected economic activities that ought to have started in the area beside fishing (Lee, 2011). For instance, petroleum exploits, which according to some studies the area seems to have underground reserves lying idle. In addition, this unjustified wrangle fuele d by Japan with the aid of US behind the scenes has interfered with the necessary cohesion amid the two states (Xinhua, 2012b). Chinese after realizing Japan is not ready for peaceful negotiations; recently has started declining to import merchandise from them, hence weakening the then strong trade ties (Hui & Dan, 2010). Judging from my opinion, the inception of DiaoYu Islands has led to the weakening of Japan-China trade ties (Xinhua, 2012). Mainly, this is evident from the recent Chinese’ demonstrations where they boycotted using Japanese products citing their trading partner’s malicious decision to purchase DiaoYu Islands (Zhongqi, 2007). Consequently, yielding to the decline of exports to China, this acts as the Japanese greatest exporting destinations besides EU, US and the ASEAN (Xinhua, 2012).  

Implications of Naval Power in the American Civil War Essay

Implications of Naval Power in the American Civil War - Essay Example It was one of the most dramatically one sided battles in Naval history on that day in March, 1862 – when the CSS Virginia defeated two federal warships, the Congress and Cumberland. The battle yielded the destruction of both ships and the deaths of at least 240 of their crew, making headway towards breaking the Union blockade of the lower Chesapeake bay. This victory over the blockade would yield any number of consequences for the war, upon which the fortunes of the slaveholding Confederacy Would rise or fall. An evacuation took place on April 20, 1861 of the Naval yards at Gosport, Virginia. The Merrimac and the Pennsylvania launched a barrage against the port with heavy batteries in addition to Marines units. The United States Navy was attempting to abandon port, within hostile Virginia even as the Confederates attempted to obstruct the channel to blockade them. The Merrimac this time being a mere wooden hulled ship as navies have used since time immemorial. The Confederates succeeded in destroying or damaging the Pennsylvania, the Delaware, the Columbus, the Columbia, the Raritan, three sloops of war, while the steam frigate Merrimac was scuttled and burned. Yet almost immediately steps were taken to raise the Merrimac and convert it into an ironclad vessel as the Confederate secretary of the Navy recommended in a letter in which he described the creation of such a vessel as "a matter of the first necessity."2 The ship was raised, and what had once been her berth deck became a gun deck, with a wooden encasement of oak and pine 2 feet thick was built first. A 20 foot wide ruled was covered with iron gratings to create four hatch ways. This wooden encasement was used as the foundation for two sheathes of iron plating 2 inches thick each. The resulting ship floated very low in the water with the 800 tons of pig iron used in total to get the ship the weight needed to allow a vessel to rest at the desired depth. The metal behemoth lay mostl y under the water line and looked perhaps not unlike the roof of a house-boat. 10 guns, including four rifles as well as 6 inchers. The engines, being essentially the same design as the steam frigate have used prior tended to be dangerous and unreliable with the new configuration but initially performed quite well before several failures. 2 SCOPE OF THE WAR On 9 March, the situation was destined to become far more complicated, as the Confederate crew observed a vessel remarkably heavy, floating low within the waters. It had to be the USS Monitor, the North's answer to the challenge of an ironclad ship, soon to render every other Naval force on the planet obsolete. The first battle began with the objective of the defense of the grounded steam frigate the Minnesota, but the implications were far greater than the fate of a single steamship. It would spark a naval arms/armor race that would reach well into the 20th century. There were more Naval actions between the years of 1861 and 186 5 on the North American Continent than the rest of the world combined throughout the 19th century. Actions ranged from the Bering Sea to the Indian Ocean, including skirmishes in the English channel, and numerous actions up and down the American coastlines and rivers, 3 including a violent naval raid in Oklahoma, as will be described below. It was the definitive, technical innovations that might be labeled 'secret weapons' that spurred the armaments that would later define the first world war. Various other aquatic contrivances besides ironclad ships had their first expression during this conflict, including submarines and torpedoes. 4, 5 The monitor itself was the New York brainchild of Swedish engineer John Ericsson. The first of many in her ship class. However it should be noted that Congress ordered an investigation on the possibility of ironclad warships in July of 1861 when it became clear that a massive struggle had begun, not simply the 'peace in 60 days' naive optimism some officials had promulgated. It was believed in most circles of military intelligence that the