Political and Social Turmoil in Venezuela - 1475 Words

Venezuela officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a country on the northern coast of South America. It is known widely for its petroleum industry but it is now its roughest situations of all times. Milton Friedman once said that, if you put the government in charge of the Sahara desert, there’ll eventually be a shortage of sand. No wonder that, after 14 years of socialist government, Venezuela the country with the world’s largest oil reserves is currently importing gasoline. This fact highlights Venezuela’s agonizing dive into chaos as the economy crumbles and the nation’s social fabric unravels. Venezuela is now witnessing its largest protests in a decade. President Nicolas Maduro who is a affiliate and follows the socialist norms took power almost a year ago and has cracked down on demonstrations with unprecedented force, using the National Guard and armed paramilitary gangs. There is a considerable portion of the population that is fed up with the country’s rapidly weakening financial system. The government has run out of cash and now relies on printing money to finance itself. As a result this country has the highest inflation rate in the world. The Venezuelan population lives with a social anxiety day to day. They have a discomfort and fear when a figure from a higher social group proclaims a new norm to follow. As it is for now they are living imposed to price controls and there is shortage of food and medicines in the entire country. One outShow MoreRelatedLatin America Revolutions Essay775 Words   |  4 PagesPortugal lost control of Brazil, and Spain was forced to withdraw from all its American empire except for Cuba and Puerto Rico. Colonial government in South America came to an end. Three countries where revolts were successfully established were Haiti, Venezuela, and Brazil. The countries in Latin America benefited from the revolts because they became free from colonial rule, but, except for Brazil, they were left with many consequences. One of the first countries to achieve independence in Latin AmericaRead MoreVenezuel A Powerful Member State1378 Words   |  6 PagesNevertheless, Venezuela is â€Å"a very powerful member state because of its size, its highly industrialized society, and a GPD comparable to that of Argentina and Brazil.† It also has the â€Å"second largest export sector of all Latin American countries and the largest oil and gas reserves in Latin America.† These factors equip Venezuela with sufficient power to affect the Mercosur agenda and rival the influence of Argentina and Brazil. The Argentinian government, led by President Cristina KirchnerRead MorePresident Nicolas Maduros President Hugo Chavez1455 Words   |  6 PagesRepublic Bolivarian de Venezuela, have adopted a federal system with at least two levels of sub-national government† (p.167). Former president Hugo Chà ¡vez, who dealt with Cuba often, was slowly turning Venezuela into a dictatorship. A government’s antics, such as using coercion and fear tactics against opposition leads it towards a dictatorship. In fact, LaMassa (2015) even indicated â€Å"the influx of Soviet Marxist ideas that Cuba transferred to Venezuela have perverted the political culture of the countryRead MoreRussian Economic Overview1278 Words   |  5 PagesConclusion: Due to the political uncertainty combined with the weak economy that Russia is presenting for a forging investors, we conclude that better options of the BRIC’s countries would be suggested to BFSI invest its money instead investing in the Russia market. Latin America: Venezuela: Political overview for forging companies: Since the adoption of a bilateral government and the differences in a variety of polices, made the political relationship between the United States and Venezuela become tenseRead MoreWhat’s Venezuela Crisis Really About? Essay984 Words   |  4 PagesVenezuela is a country located on the northern coast of South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, Brazil and Colombia. Venezuela is a country full of beauties and contrasts where people can find beautiful beaches, plains, mountains, and even the majestic highest waterfall of the world (Angel Falls). Also, oil rich nation, one of the upper 10 exporting countries worldwide. During more than four decades, this country lived in full democracy until 1999, when a former military officer, who was involvedRead MoreBolivar, By Simon Bolivar1356 Words   |  6 Pages When Hugo Chà ¡vez was seventeen years of age, he joined the military in Venezuela and embraced his country. When we speak of Chà ¡vez, there were many before him who influenced the man he wanted to be and became. Chà ¡vez and most of Venezuela admired greatly Simà ³n Bolà ­var, â€Å"Simà ³n Bolà ­var was a South American soldier who was instrumental in the continent s revolutions against the Spanish empire. –After France invaded Spain in 1808, he became involved in the resistance movement and played a keyRead MoreThe Washington Consensus And Related Structural Adjustment Provisions ( Saps )1101 Words   |  5 Pagesto foster developments. Naim (1993) informs Williamson’s (2000) propositions, but his Venezuelan example, El Gran Viraje (the Reform), demonstrates these neoliberal policies are problematic. This paper thus encapsulates that such economic, social and political upheavals subsequent the Consensus and related SAP implementation are reasoned with the discrepancy between the idealistic or narrow interpretation and implementation of the Consensus, and the nuanced reality of a nation. The provision of aRead MoreThe Venezuelan Economy And Immigration1468 Words   |  6 Pages The Venezuelan Economy and Immigration Florida Atlantic University Michà ¨le Silva Monsant September 25, 2014 In a brief summary of what Venezuela s economy has been in recent years, we must first introduce Venezuela s economic model throughout the twentieth century, to understand perhaps, the anomalies that exist today. The mix between different economic systems and proposals approaches a socialism similar to the absence of private ownership of the means of production and the stateRead MoreVenezuela’s Economy: Oil, Political Instability, and Social Challenges1860 Words   |  8 Pagesdominated by the production of oil, Venezuela has enjoyed the highest standard of living in Latin America. In spite of its success in the oil industry, agriculture and manufacturing also play important roles in Venezuela’s economy. With this in mind, it would seem as though Venezuela’s economic state has flourished. Rather, it has suffered from the effects of political influence, corruption, and poor economic management. The distribution of wealth across Venezuela has caused the elite to benefitRead MoreEssay about The Independence of Spainish Colonies in America1174 Words   |  5 PagesThe Spanish empire in the Americas faced huge political, social and economic problems in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The empire was stretched to its limit politically and socially with the threat of an uprising from the slave population in its empire. The economy also played a major role and the outlook was just as bleak for Spain with the American colonies drifting towards independence. Spain did not seem able to cope with its empire and had found itself in trouble with regards to

Why A Property Should Be Protected Or Not Originality...

In China, there are two criteria in determining whether a property should be protected or not: originality and reproducibility. We must first understand the different nature of Chinese characters. Different calligraphers used different techniques and styles to produce great works of art in many different literary or artistic forms. Because of the more intricate nature of characters and the more number of strokes than in any other character system, Chinese character fonts are very unique for its complex structures. Advanced complexity left more space for artistic creations and variations, which is one of the beauties of the character system, to ancient calligraphers and also requires much â€Å"independent and original effort† for typographers that create new Chinese typeface. It is quite obvious that forgery was a tremendous problem in the past and is still is, and many calligraphers and collectors of calligraphy pieces tried to find ways to figure out original pieces and to f ind methods to show that they really created a piece (QiaoSharon). Common ways to detecting forgeries are: tracing, copying, imitating, hacking, altering, and fabricating (The Palace Museum). I believe that this is analogous to how typeface creators or those who have the right to certain typeface want their typeface to be protected under the Chinese judicial system because of the originality and reproducibility nature of the art. In an era of an overflow of information and easy access to technology, it is

Microsoft Essay Summary Example For Students

Microsoft Essay Summary In the early 80s the world so the initial boom of the computer era. The firstpersonal computers were sold and the main players of the business were sortedout. Two of the prominent figures were Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Eachpioneering their own front, the two entered the 90s as the computer worldcelebrities. By the mid 90s each of these tycoons life had taken many turns andtwists, albeit for the better usually. Bill Gates 1995 was a bit hectic, thiswas the year of the huge unveiling of windows 95. After many delayed attempts toget it out Gates released windows 95 in August without Microsoft Plus, as hadbeen earlier said, this was due to time restrictions as changing windows 95 to96 would be a waste of money and probably more seriously the worst movecommercially any company would ever make. With the release of Windows 95 theworld saw the largest over media onslaught to sell a product. Also with therelease of Windows came Microsofts foray into the Internet market share. Inhindsight thi s perhaps may not have been the best move to make. 1996 passed withmuch criticism of Gates operating system, people said it was unstable, hard tofigure out and anything else possible. 1997 came around with rumours of a newoperating system in the works dubbed Chicago. This was perhaps a rumour but morelikely the beginning of Windows 98. In 1998 Gates released this newer version ofWindows 95, which made the world Gates subject for the biggest beta test ever. Windows 98 was just an upgrade of 95. Upgrade may be an understatement, but onthe surface it is almost identical, underneath they are worlds apart. RecentlyMicrosofts ghosts have come to haunt them. Netscape, their main rival in theInternet division, had started an Anti-trust case in the federal supreme court. The accusations spawned from a dispute where Netscapes browser were beingloaded onto pre made Compaq computers and Microsoft did not approve of this. This case has recently come to the end of its first stage with Microsoft fallingguilty. The consequences have yet to come, but are foreseen in the comingmonths. This most likely will not spell the end of Gates empire rather actuallymay boost his worth by making him CEO of 4 giant specialised companies. SteveJobs, a cofounder of Apple Computers Inc., has also had good fortune with thecomputer world, but also had his fair share of hiccups. In 1985 after theMacintosh had had troubles selling as much as wished Steve Jobs was forced outof Apple. From here he went on to try and rebuild a new frontier in media, 3Danimation. After leaving Apple he formed a new company, Next Inc. this was ahardware/software development company. He then went on in 1986 to purchase acontrolling share in Pixar, a LucasFilm branch that dealt with 3D animation. In1989 Next released its first computer at $10,000 which was incompatible and didnot sell well, 4 years later they shut down their hardware division. In 19 96Apple bought out Next. Inc. and uses Jobs as a part time consultant. This aidsApple to become one of the top players in the world of computers in 1998. Someof Pixars achievements are; Toy Story, the first full length film created soleyby computers. A Bugs Life released and is a hit. And February 1999,Technical Academy Award to Pixars David DiFrancesco for pioneeringefforts in the development of laser film recording technology. Theseachievements of both these men have helped to fuel the second wave of thecomputer revolution. The third is on the horizon as the informationsuperhighways potential will be seen in the next couple of years.

Jewel Pieces Of A Shattered Dream Essay Example For Students

Jewel: Pieces Of A Shattered Dream Essay My opinion of the book mentioned above is that it is extremely well written and inhibits several unique characteristics. The typical biography or autobiography is written in a sober manner, such that the reader is completely bored by the events of the life of the subject. The author Kristen Kemp, wrote this book so that the audience is excited and anxious to discover what happens in the next chapter in the life of the specified individual. An example of the authors exciting style of writing is evident in this quote referring to Jewels acceptance to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan; Just like that, Jewel set out for, possible, her most life changing journey of all. That statement could have been written so that it simply stated that Jewel was going to attend that academy, however, due to Kristen Kemps writing style, the statement kept me excited to read another chapter. I think that Jewels life was full of outstanding events that were interesting to read about. Im glad that I chos e this book as compared to other biographies based upon a less eventful life. There were extreme high points in her life, It was like overnight that Jewel discovered happiness while riding around in a VW van. These times incorporated happiness into the reading, while the low ones Despite her efforts to make herself feel better, she couldnt escape some of her problems established sympathy. A variety of mixed emotions are the key ingredient in making a making a reader become involved in the story line.Jewel Kilcher was born on May 23, 1974, and grew up in Homer, Alaska. She lived with her parents and two brothers in a house on an extremely large plot of land. Their house had no TV or running water. Having no running water meant no shower and no indoor plumbing, just an outhouse in the yard. Growing up, Jewel helped take care of the horses that her family raised. She also hayed and worked in the familys garden with her father. Both, her father and mother, were extremely musically incli ned and performed all over Alaska. When Jewel was six, she was singing and traveling with them. She acquired an amazing ability to yodel at this age, and soon this became a regular accompaniment with her parents. A few years later, Jewels parents divorced. She still traveled with her father every once in a while for seven more years. They sang in bars and restaurants, or wherever they could get a gig. Jewel still kept ties open with her mother also. Her mother taught her to write poetry. Jewel found this to be an effective way of releasing her anger towards her parents divorce. Jewel then, after earning some money, headed to Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan for her junior and senior years of high school. She won a singing scholarship to go there, but it didnt pay for all of the tuition. Most of the other money was raised at a solo concert she put on, and by donations from people that lived in Homer, Alaska. After finishing school, Jewel moved to San Diego where her mother now lived. She didnt want to go to college, and she wasnt happy just surfing or traveling around, so she took several jobs to make a little extra money. She didnt like them though, so she decided to live in her van and strive for her goal of a singing career. Pretty soon, she landed a regular Thursday-night gig at the Innerchange Coffeehouse in Pacific Beach. It was there that she became well known and liked. Word of her singing ability spread to other big cities, and in March, Jewel signed a deal with Atlantic Records. During the last half of 1994, she did small tours to a few other c ities, in hopes of spreading her popularity. In February of 1995, her first CD was composed. It was thought to be a very popular style of music, however it did not bring in a lot of profit, Despite this appearing to be a failure, Atlantic Records kept trying. The first CD, Who Will Save Your Soul, was released again and in late 1996, it was then that Jewel begin receiving an increasingly higher profit. She even appeared on some of the nations most known talk shows such as, Late Night with Conan OBrien and Tonight show with Jay Leno. Jewels CD, Who Will Save Your Soul was an extremely large building block for her career in music. Her popularity began to grow and 1997, she received two Grammy Award nominations. They were for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal. This was the point in which she finally acknowledged that she had made it. She had achieved her dream of a singing career, but like most things in life, the fame and merriment that she had found would soon prove to vanish as quickly as it arrived. .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f , .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .postImageUrl , .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f , .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f:hover , .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f:visited , .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f:active { border:0!important; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f:active , .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .udca14ceacc4b83fa350d47ecb2f3f78f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Artificial Intelligence EssayBiographies

Mahatma Gandhi Research Paper Example

Mahatma Gandhi Paper Essay on Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu (Father of Nation), was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights, and freedom across the The son of a senior government official, Gandhi was born and raised in a Bania[4] community In coastal Gujarat, and trained In law In London. Gandhi became famous by fighting for the clvll rights of Muslim and Hindu Indians In South Africa, using new techniques of non-violent clvll disobedience that he developed. Returning to India In 191 5, he set about organlslng peasants to protest excessive land-taxes. A lifelong opponent of â€Å"communalism† (I. e. basing polltlcs on rellglon) he reached out widely to all rellglous groups. He became a leader of Muslims protesting the declining status of the Caliphate. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women’s rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ndinguntouchability, increasing economic self-reliance, and above all for achieving Swaraj †the independence of India from British domination. Gandhi led Indians in protesting the national salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1 930, and later in demanding the British to immediately Quit India in 1942, during World War II. We will write a custom essay sample on Mahatma Gandhi specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Mahatma Gandhi specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Mahatma Gandhi specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer He was imprisoned for that and for numerous other political offences over the years. Gandhi sought to practice non-violence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. He saw the villages as the core of the true India and promoted self-sufficiency; he did not support the industrialisation programs of his discipleJawaharlal Nehru. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. His chief political enemy in Britain was Winston who ridiculed him as a â€Å"half-naked fakir†. 6] He was a dedicated vegetarian, and undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and political mobilisation. In his last year, unhappy at the partition of India, Gandhi worked to stop the carnage between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs that raged in the border area between India and Pakistan. He was assassinated on 30 January 1948 by Nathuram Godse who thought Gandhi was too sympathetic to India’s Muslims. 30 January Is observed as Martyrs’ Day in India. The honorific Mahatma (â€Å"Great Soul†) was applied to him by 1914. [7] In India he was also called Bapu (â€Å"Father†). He Is known In India as the Father of the his birthday, 2 October, Is commemorated there s Gandhi Jayantl, a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Non- Violence. Gandhi’s philosophy was not theoretical but one of pragmatism, that Is, practlslng his principles In the moment. Asked to give a message to the people, he would respond, â€Å"My life is my message BY vjshalRaJ1 freedom across the world. The son of a senior government official, Gandhi was born and raised in a Bania[4] community in coastal Gujarat, and trained in law in London. Gandhi became famous by fghting for the civil rights of Muslim and Hindu Indians in South Africa, using new techniques of non-violent civil disobedience that he developed. Returning to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants to protest excessive land-taxes. A lifelong opponent of â€Å"communalism† (i. e. basing politics on religion) he reached out widely to all religious groups. He became a leader of achieving SwaraJ †the independence of India from British domination. Gandhi led March in 1930, and later in demanding the British to immediately Quit India in 1942, Churchill,[5] who ridiculed him as a â€Å"half-naked fakir†. ] He was a dedicated Godse who thought Gandhi was too sympathetic to India’s Muslims. 30 January is to him by 1914. [7] In India he was also called Bapu (â€Å"Father†). He is known in India as the Father of the Nation;[8] his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Non- Violence.

How to Start Paying Students for Good Grades Effectively

How to Start Paying Students for Good Grades Effectively SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Paying students for good grades is a controversial practice, and many would argue that it cheapens the learning experience (pun intended). However, it appears that sometimes monetary incentives can be a positive motivation for struggling students if they are applied wisely. I'll go through some scientific findings onthe success of incentive programs in schools and then give you ideas for how you can responsibly implement a reward policy for your student. Cash Incentives for Students: Who Pays? Parents or Schools? Some schools have experimented with payment programs (as I’ll discuss in the next couple of sections), and the results from these studies can helpparents decide if and how to use monetary incentives for good grades.Since it is unlikely that your high school is or will be a part of these types of studies, in the last section of this article I will discuss how parents can implement payment systems to reward students for good grades. Small incentives are likely within the reach of most parents. Fun low-cost experiences can also be substituted for money!In considering the successes and failures of experimental school-based payment plans, we can make inferences about how parents can successfully use monetary rewards to help students get better grades. The studies I describe in the next section will provideinformation that can be applied to the more specific circumstances surrounding you and your family. What Do Studies Say About Paying Studentsfor Good Grades? There have been a few studies over the years that have experimented with paying students for attending and doing well in school. At Chelsea High School in Chelsea, MA, students were given $25 if they had a perfect attendancerecord during a school term. This study ran from 2004-2008 but didn't seem to yield any improvements in academic performance or attendance at the school. Schools have also experimented with giving students prizes for attendance. In Georgia, at Stone Creek Elementary School, students were given incentives for attendance including video game consoles, ice cream, and other prizes. The rate of students missing 15 or more days of school during the year dropped by 10 percent. This study may have had more success than the one in Chelsea because the embodiment of incentives in the form of something like an Xbox is more exciting to kids than the prospect of earning $25 at the end of a semester. Seems like kind of a counterproductive reward, but whatever. The most wide-ranging studyon monetary incentives for good grades was organized by Harvard economist and founder of Harvard’s Education Innovation Laboratory, Roland Fryer, in the cities of Dallas, New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Over 38,000 students were given paychecks for performing well in school. Each city had a different incentive system to test the merits of various methods of paying students for good grades. The experimental group in Dallas was comprised of 3,718 second-grade students at21 different public schools in the Dallas Independent School District. These students were paid $2 every time they read a book, with a limit of 20 books per semester. To earn the reward, students had to take an AR (Accelerated Reader) quiz on the book and score at least an 80 percent. The average student received $13.81 in incentive payments, with a total of $42,800 distributed. In New York City, 63 schools were included in the experimental group with a total of 15,883 fourth and seventh-grade students. Incentives were given out based on students' performance on six computerized exams (three in reading and three in math) and four pencil and paper predictive assessments. Fourth graders earned $5 for completing a test and $25 for a perfect score. Incentives for seventh graders were set at double this amount, so they earned $10 for completing a test and $50 for a perfect score. In this case, the average fourth-grader earned $139.43, and the average seventh-grader earned $231.55. The portion of the study in Chicago was conducted in 20 low-performing public schools with 7,655 ninth-graders. In this case, students were simply given incentives for their grades in five core courses: English, math, science, social science, and gym. Students would earn $50 for each A, $35 for each B, $20 for each C, and no money for lower grades. The average student earned $695.61. In Washington, D.C., 17 schools were included in the experimental group. Sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students were given incentives based on attendance, behavior, and three other inputs chosen by each school individually. These mostly included things like wearing a school uniform and completing homework and classwork. Students were given one point for each of the five metrics they satisfied on a given school day. This meant that students could earn a maximum of 50 points during each two-week pay period. Each point was rewarded with a $2 monetary incentive. The average student earned about $40 every two weeks. Give kids the gift that keeps on giving: cold hard cash. From the data collected after these studies, there is very limited evidence to suggest that monetary incentives improve student performance. In Chicago, GPA and credits earned on average increased by a very small amount, but there were no changes in standardized test scores. In New York, no significant positive changes were noted in terms of either test scores or GPA. The portion of the study conducted in Dallas showed some potential. Reading achievement increased significantly on standardized English tests taken by the second graders after the study. The middle school students in Washington, D.C. schools also demonstrated improvement in reading and, to a lesser degree, math scores. In the next section, I'll go over what these results might mean in regards to the effectivenessof paying students for good grades. What Can We Learn From This Information? The success of these policies depended heavily on how and for what reasonthe money wasdistributed.Students were more likely to improve if they were given monetary rewards for concrete tasks like reading books (Dallas) or completing classwork (D.C.) rather than something more abstractlike earning a certain grade.If students don’t have an understanding of the tools and strategies they need to implement in order to improve, they won’t be able to change their grades or test scores. More specific directives help kids who may have never learned how to study properly get on the right track. Improvements in grades and scores may come later as a result. In general, the studies show that giving money to students for good grades only works if you also give them the strategies they need to get there and provide incentives for smaller milestones that are less intimidating.Inputs, rather than outputs, should be rewarded first. It's impossible to reach your destination if you don't have directions. Also, whoever took this picture should probably stop lying in the middle of roads for the sake of mediocre artsy photography. The Pros and Cons of Paying Kids for Good Grades If you’re thinking about rewarding your child with cash for good grades, you should take the arguments for and against itinto account.Some would say that, even if a child improves his or her grades as a result of a monetary incentive, it’s sending the wrong message.When you set up money as a motivator, it may cause a student to lose any appreciation for the intrinsic value of learning.If their only motivation is money, they may lose interest in the actual subjects and could suffer later on when rewards are less forthcoming.This won't happen with every kid, but it’s a risk that comes with the territory. However, if you have a student who’s very unmotivated and just feels like there’s no point to trying in school, money could be a good motivator.Even for students who don’t plan on going to college, it’s important to get a high school degree.Paying students who plan on going to trade schools or professions rather than a four-year college may be a productive strategy.Students who feel like they’re â€Å"not cut out for school† may respond well to concrete incentives for good academic performance. The privilegeof being able to wear a hideous hat is only one of the many perks of graduating from high school. What's the Most Effective Method ofPaying Your Child for Good Grades? If you’re hoping to see actual improvement, you should challenge your child to meet specific short-term goals first. Avoid saying something like â€Å"I’ll give you $100 if you get an A in this class.† If your child isdoing poorly in a class, shemight not know where to begin in terms of improving herperformance to an A level. Instead, you can try something like â€Å"If you finish every problem set you’re assigned in Algebra 2/read all the chapters you were assigned for English/work on your history project for three hours this week, I’ll give you $10.† These are concrete goals that any student can achieve with some persistence.You can still plan on giving your child a bonus if and when she reaches a certain letter grade, but in the meantime, taking baby steps towards that grade with short-term goals is important. To make it a little more fun, you could set up a system where, if a studentcompletes a certain number of small milestones, he or she earns a monetary reward.This might work if your child is struggling in more than one class and needs to do a significant amount of work in different areas to catch up. Another idea that could be even better than a cash reward is to reward your child with a fun experience for diligent study habits.This could be as simple as going out to a favorite restaurant or taking a day trip. It all depends on the temperament of your child and the types of incentives you think he or she will appreciate the most. There are also many other ways to encourage your child to do better in school without monetary incentives. Some kids need more structure than others, so setting up a homework schedule might help keep them on track. You may also be able to work with the school to organize low-cost tutoring from more advanced peers and extra help from teachers. These methods can yield more significant positive results than payment plans if they're implemented effectively, but it will take time and effort on the part of both you and your student. Gold stars might not work as actual incentives for high school students, but their symbolic value still stands. What's Next? If you're looking for tips on how to get good grades in high school, read this article to learn about academic strategies that can lead to major improvements. Unsure of where you stand with your current grades? Check out this article on what constitutes a good or bad GPA for college applications. If you're still in the process of planning out a high school schedule, take a look at our expert guide to which classes you should take in high school. Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Politics - Essay Example Thus, they could be distinguished in accordance to the effective number of parties that they have (Golosov, 2010). As mentioned, party systems come in various types. Two of the most popular are the two-party system and the multi-party system. A two-party system is a state by which democracies are dominated by only two parties. While there may be other parties existing in the sidelines, those are of no real threat to the two main ones and exercise no real political significance. In this system, either of the parties should be able to gain enough numbers of working majority post-election and obtain a position that will allow it to govern without the other party’s support. Expectedly, power will change rotationally in a two-party system (historylearningsite.co.uk, 2011). Moreover, in a two-party system, the voter is presented with a simple choice. Additionally, in this type of party system, political moderation is promoted since the incumbent party can appeal to the so-called â⠂¬Å"floating voters† in the concerned country. ... However, this is not good for two-party systems. Recent history would also show that the two houses of congress have always been rules by the Democrats up until the time the people voted for George W. Bush. Another country that makes use of the two-party system is Jamaica. This country’s two-party system started during the political rivalry of William Bustamante and Norman Manley. The system that Jamaica has is very similar to the two-party system in North America. The two parties fighting for positions in Jamaica are JLP and PNP. The system in Jamaica differs from the one in the US and Britain due to the following, (1) the wealthy in Jamaica, who are basically the ones that becomes the leaders in the country, are closely knit that of the 1st five prime ministers are related; and (2) the political frame of reference in Jamaica is not class or race but party identification. The members of each party are extremely loyal due mainly to their very strong family ties. At times, viol ence can be the result of antagonism against the other party. Other countries with two-party system of government are New Zealand, Great Britain, Canada (Conservatives and Liberals) and Australia (Liberal Party and Labour Party which has been affected by a third party, i.e., the Country Party) (eb.com, n.d.). On the other hand, the multi-party system is one that is made up of more than two political parties that impacts the country’s politics and are able to control government either separately or via a coalition with other parties. In this system, the effective number of parties is from 3 to 10. Under this system, numerous political parties, both major

The Development of the American Public School Essay

The Development of the American Public School - Essay Example During early colonial years several laws were passed in favor of making education more common in society. The Massachusetts Education Law of 1647 was amongst those laws passed, requiring towns of fifty families to hire a schoolmaster who would teach their children to read and write (History, 2004). Additionally, towns of a hundred families were required to have a grammar schoolmaster, which created consistency in quality of education (History, 2004). It was at this point in our nation's educational history that formal schooling as we know it became more valuable, as well as desirable. Author Robin Cook stated, "Education is more than a luxury; it is a responsibility that society owes to itself" (Inspirational, 2003). Education became more of a social responsibility and educators were formally hired for the sole purpose of teaching the youth of a budding nation. Perhaps even more surprising, considering previous practice, is that they were paid to do so, either by the government or in dividual families (History, 2004). Formal schooling was becoming more of a personal responsibility and a priority taken seriously (History, 2004). The years following the new legislative direction, some families sent their children to "Dame" Schools, which were set up in the homes of women in the community. Dame schools were widely popular for those who were unable to send their children to the one room schoolhouses. These women had both the time and inclination to teach students of all ages and levels and worked in exchange for a meager allowance, such as food, miniscule stipends, or practical supplies (History, 2004). Also, traveling Schoolmasters traversed across states to various towns to educate the children in an effort to contribute to the dream of social harmony via knowledge and literacy. Usually, families of the community would take turns housing and feeding their schoolmaster for the duration of his stay. During the late 1700s and early 1800s, Thomas Jefferson's influence on American public education was astronomical. Though Jefferson is well known for the Declaration of Independence and his presidency, he also played a very large role in laying the ground work for the Public Schools system that we are fortunate to have today (Conant, 1962). According to Jefferson, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and will never be" (Inspirational, 2003). In the late 1770s Jefferson served in the House of Delegates as part of the General Assembly of Virginia (History, 2004). While in the Assembly, he introduced a bill that would create a free system of tax-supported elementary education for all except slaves (History, 2004). He proposed the idea of free public education to take place over a period of at least 3 years for every white child. If parents wished to continue their child's education beyond 3 years time, they could then begin paying for it themselves (Conant, 1962). In September of 1817 Jefferson proposed the "Act for Establishing Elementary Schools". His plan was to have schools which were locally controlled and supported largely by local taxes. In a speech he gave Jefferson explained: At

Property law and trust question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Property law and trust question - Essay Example According to English, C. (2005, 211), â€Å"Personal property includes all property other than freehold estates and interests in land. Personal property was called chattels by the common law and often referred to as movable goods, which included such items as money, debts, clothing, household goods, food, and all other movables and the rights and profits related to them† (Halsbury, Laws of England, 1960) b) The Japanese-style summer house and pagoda Under the law, Sarah has the right to demand for the Japanese style summer house and pagoda  because they are considered as immovable properties and they follow the land. The deed of sale entered by Sarah and the couple, Matt and Jane, has for it object a parcel of land, which is considered a real property or otherwise known as an immovable property. English, C. (2005,211) defined â€Å"real property as land and whatever is attached to the land, fixtures, rights and profits annexed to or issuing out of the land†. Therefore , Sarah is allowed by law to the recover permanent fixtures attached to the land, after purchasing the cottage. Hence, if the structures on the land are by nature, fixed and cannot be moved from one place to another, they are considered part of the property which was newly purchased. ... â€Å"The statutory requirements for a valid contract for the sale and purchase of land are the following: Capacity, Offer and Acceptance, Consideration and Legality† (Cummins, 1997, p. 44). b) Explain whether there is a valid contract between Sarah and Peter for the sale and purchase of the London flat    Yes, there was a valid contract between Sarah and Peter for the sale and purchase of the London flat. All elements for a valid contract of sale are present, namely: Capacity, Offer and Acceptance, Consideration and Legality. In the case at bar, there was a meeting of the minds between Sarah and Peter the moment Peter agreed to sell his flat to Sarah for the consideration of ?180,000. The fact that Peter accepted the offer tendered by Sarah in the amount of ?180,000, there was already a perfected contract as she signed the letter that she is willing to buy the property. To consider an offer to be acknowledged, â€Å"a valid act of acceptance must be made by the offereeâ₠¬  (Gillies, 2004, p. 149). This was further clarified in the case of Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co., (1893) 1 QB 256. â€Å"The first requisite of a contract is that both parties have reached an agreement. There are three essential requisites to the creation of a contract, namely: agreement, contractual intention and consideration† (Oughton and Davis, 2000, p. 21). Here, all the essential requisites to make a contract perfected are present. Therefore, there was a valid contract entered by both parties, giving rise to the cause of action by Sarah against Peter for breach of contract and to compel him to fulfill his obligation to deliver the flat. 3.) Explain the nature of the rights if any, which peter has to keep his horse in the paddock Peter has

Effects of Technology on Behavior

Effects of Technology on Behavior Technology: Changing Our Behavior and Relationships for the Better or Worse? Most of us are familiar with this scenario: A group of friends out on a lunch outing, each with their cell phones or laptops out, busily texting, catching up on the latest news, and surfing the internet instead of conversing with the people in front of them. Today, we are living in the era of digital technology where it is difficult to not be encompassed by the realm of digital world. More than two billion people use the Internet, and about five billion people are cell phone users. Technology is growing at an increasingly fast pace. It seems like everywhere we go, we are constantly surrounded by the presence of technology. In compliance with the increasingly advanced technology, our lifestyles are adjusting to keep up with it. In the increasingly technological society with new gadgets in the market, acquiring technological devices seems like the only way to fit in with the crowd. However, have you ever thought about the effects that heavy technology usage might have on your behavior and personal relationships? Overusing technology, such as cell phones and the internet, can cause us to neglect the people around us, and, ultimately, cause our behaviors and relationships to change detrimentally. It is of no doubt that technology is pervasive throughout our lives. A 2014 study done by Nielson reveals that the average American is digitally connected for approximately 11 hours every day (in-text citation). Social networking sites, email, online games, are among the most  popular interests of the digital world. Although young adults are the dominant group of internet  users, a study done by the Pew Research Center reveals, â€Å"Over the past year, the biggest growth in usage was among older users. Nearly half of Americans ages 50-64-and a quarter of those 65  and older-now use SNSs† (Clemmitt 5). For years, the heated topic of debate centers upon whether technology changes our lives for the better or worse. With the rise of smartphone users in the recent years, many have complained about being neglected by their family and friends, who are constantly engaged by social media networks, text messaging, and taking pictures of themselves. There is discussion on how the rise of social media sites invades our privacy and create a thin line between our private and public lives. As of this year, Facebook membership skyrocketed to over 1.35 billion users. Mark Zuckenberg, the creator of Facebook, argues â€Å"People have gotten really comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people† (Clemmitt 3). Along with the rise of Facebook and other social networking sites, the number of people sharing more personal information about themselves, and the time they spend on these sites has escalated. A Facebook account can surely reveal a spouse’s infidelity, a suicidal teenager’s thoughts, and much more than we are aware of. The internet is tool that we use to communicate with family and friends, as well as to  publish information on mediums to a large audience. A study done by Nielson, a leading  global information company whose primary objective is to seek understanding of consumer behavior, reveals that Americans spend approximately 23% of their online time on social media networks (Kessler 1). This number is on the rise every year, as more people are becoming exposed to the digital world. For many of us, it is extremely difficult to ignore the impulse to check our cell phones for a new update or an incoming text message. Some experts worry that soon social media will dominate face-to-face interaction, resulting in increased narcissism, decreased relationship quality, and lead to serious issues like cyberbullying. Many analysts argue that technology pushes our society to become increasingly impersonal and causes people to spend less time having face-to-face interaction. Thanks to technology, our society is relying more and more on text messaging, video chatting, and social media sites as means of communication. A survey conducted to find the preferred modes of communication discovered that people born between 1990 to 1999 prefer texting and social networking above all other forms of communication. For this generation, face-to-face interaction is the least preferred form of communication. In contrast, all of the generational groups born between 1940 and 1989 chose face-to-face interaction as their most preferred form of communication, and none of these groups listed social networking as a mode of communication. (Clemmitt 2). Today, many people forgo face-to-face conversation in favor of digital communication because it encourages more brevity and openness. Katie E. Davis, a professor at the Uni versity of Washington, asserts, â€Å"It feels much safer to broach uncomfortable subjects when you don’t have to look someone in the eye† (Clemmitt 5). In other words, digital  communication allows us to delge into topics that we are normally uncomfortable conversing. However, there are several issues that arise when technology is used as the primary mode of communication. First and foremost, technology doesn’t always enable people to express their thoughts and emotions without being misunderstood. When people communicate by text messaging or through social media sites, several nonverbal communication cues, such as body language, tone of voice, and body gestures are unavailable. As a result, it is easy to misinterpret an unintended message. Furthermore, it is often difficult to interpret face-to-face conversations that do take place without an adequate understanding of these cues. Some people argue that technology is a valuable asset to people who have trouble having face-to-face interaction with others, such as those that suffer from autism or psychological  disorders. They maintain that these people find solace in the digital world, as well as a place  where they can socialize without being ostracized. However, I beg to differ. Social media  sites create the illusion of companionship, and does nothing to help these people develop proper social skills. Many of these people suffer from depression and loneliness in the first place, and by solely interacting with others online rather than in real life, these problems will worsen and they will be further detached from society. Another crucial aspect of technology is that it affects our attention span, thus causing us to become ignorant of our priorities. Several studies and researchers point out that students have difficulty focusing in class and adults have trouble concentrating at work when their cell phones are nearby. Michael Suman, a professor at the University of Southern California, asserts that even with their phones off, students are unable to fully concentrate on their education because they are under the influence of technology. Technology is one of the leading influences in our relationships with our families and friends. By delging into our personal lives, technology changes how we interact with our loved ones. Although the digital world can be an asset in many aspects, it can also destroy relationships and trust. Steve Tucker, a relationship counselor, claims that many of his clients have come to him after they discover a racy text message, exposing their partner’s infidelity. Some of these affairs begin in online chatrooms, which proceed to flirtatious text messages. He insists â€Å"People have actually jumped out of a marriage and filed for divorce and never met the person who’s the new object of their romantic interest† (Newsome 3). Although most of these affairs are not even sexual, they ruin the arguably most important aspect of a relationship, trust. In addition to infidelity, online games and pornography are equally distracting and detrimental to establishing healthy relationships. Alot of people are so enamored with online video games that they spend hours in front of their computer screen, forsaking their jobs, education, and relationships. However, it is critical to note that technology has also opened the doors to happiness for many couples, who have found love online. Although this is true, there are several possible issues that arise, such as the possibility of identity fraud when finding a romantic partner online. Furthermore, in some incidences, a suicidal individual’s life is saved when someone reports their provoking thoughts and messages. Yet, it is often difficult to tell whether the person is authentic, or just trying to seek attention. Furthermore, technology also impairs relationships with its distractions and interferences. Technology has made it difficult for us to ignore the impulse to check for updates. A study completed in 2011 discovered, â€Å"Smartphone users are developing checking habits-recurring 30-second glances at social media such as Facebook- as often as every 10 minutes† (Clemmitt 5). Consequently, it makes us oblivious of others around us. Clifford Nass, a professor at Stanford University, states, â€Å"Today, people think it’s okay to text in the middle of dinner, at a meeting, in class, wherever† (Greengard 18). As a result of the society that is becoming more interdependent on technology, it is now not unusual to see a father more intent on texting at his son’s football game, rather than on watching his son play. Accordingly, family members spend less quality time with each other when they succumb to the addiction of heavy technology usage. For instance, in a technology dominated household, the father might spend all his time watching television, the mother could spend hours shopping for the latest fashion trends, and the children may perhaps endlessly play online video games. Although some people claim that technology connects family and friends across the globe,  many studies have pointed that even if our loved ones are around us, we turn a blind eye and retreat to our technological devices. Moreover, technology gives us the delusion of  Technology gives us the illusion of intimacy.   â€Å"Constant connectively offers the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship.† Two educators at the University of Essex, Andrew K. Przybylski and Netta Weinstein, conducted an experiment that demonstrated cell phones do indeed affect relationship quality. The study divided the experimenters into two groups, one with their cell phones with them, and the other without. The participants were told to have a conversation. At the end of the experiment, the group with their cell phones nearby reported that they experienced a conversation with less empathy. which demonstrated that cell phones detrimentally affect relationship quality. Paragraph: Cyberbullying Cyberbullying is one of the few fundamental issues that arise from heavy technology usage. By definition, cyberbullying is the use of technology to threaten, defame, or harm someone. Every year, thousands of lives are claimed due to cyberbullying. According to a national study conducted by Jaana Juvonen, a psychology professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, â€Å"More than 70 percent of heavy Internet users ages 12 through 17 — mostly girls — said they had experienced at least one incident of online intimidation via e-mail, cell phones, chat rooms and other electronic media in the previous year† (Billitteri 2). Although  many cases are moderately harmless, some cases leave long-term effects. A study done by Justin W. Patchin, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, reports â€Å"Between 10 and 30 percent of children and teenagers report having been on one side or the other of an online bullying incident at some point† (Clemmitt 5). Works Cited Clemmitt, Marcia. Social Media Explosion.CQ Researcher. N.p. 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 25 Sept. 2014. http://mashable.com/2011/09/12/23-percent-online/

Following in the Ways of Zen Buddhism Essay -- Essays Papers

Following in the Ways of Zen Buddhism I fell in love with the first Buddhist I ever met. That is to say I fell in love with a man who is a Buddhist. I, however, am not a Buddhist. I have faith in what I find to be right rather than committing to a religion that I would not wholeheartedly believe in. It would seem that a difference in our spiritual practices may be a strain on our relationship, but in truth our faith lies in similar areas. The biggest difference between us is that I lack the knowledge and self discipline to be a practicing Buddhist. In loving Matthew I also want to gain understanding in what it is he believes. I have read through several texts in passing and find Buddhism more appealing as I continue to research it. In seeking to know more of Buddhism, I am promoting Buddhism as a beneficial practice. There are so many different kinds of Buddhism that it would be rather hard to write a definitive work on all of them. The type of Buddhism that Matt chooses to follow the most closely is Zen Buddhism, though there are also Tantric practices he engages in. Information from an affiliate of the University of Virginia named Jennifer Gruia states that Zen Buddhism is founded upon the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama . Achieving enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, he gained the status of Buddha (â€Å"One who is awake†) and came to the realization that everything is subject to change and that suffering and discontentment are the result of the attachment to circumstances and things which, by their nature, are not permanent. That is how Zen Buddhism found its beginning, but some say that Bodhidharma is its founder since he spread the teachings across India and China . ( Gruia ) ... ...oduce great deeds, great art and culture, and greater still, great men.†(Humphreys 98) I believe my fiancà © Matthew to be one of those great men, and I attribute at least part of that to his faith and following in the ways of Zen Buddhism. Works Cited â€Å"Essentials of Buddhism: Core Concepts.† Buddhaweb . 10 October 2004. Gruia , Jennifer. New Religious Movements: Zen Buddhism. U of Virginia . 10 October 2004. Humphreys, Christmas. Zen Buddhism . London : Novello & Co. Ltd., 1957. Kabik , Matthew. Personal interview. 17 October 2004 . â€Å"Meditation for Health: Home.† Meditation for Health. 17 October 2004 Suzuki, Daisetz T. The Essential of Zen Buddhism. New York : E.P. Dutton & Co. 1962.

Teacher and Confucius

Confucius What kind of person was Confucius in everyday life? Focus on the following: his clothing and diet, his possessions, his pastimes, the company he kept, and anything else that is relevant. In everyday life Confucius was a relaxed and cheerful man who was constantly in search of new knowledge. He studied the Chinese Classics mainly focusing on the Books of Odes, History and Rites. In his spare time, however, he liked to relax in his manor. He was very picky with the people he chose to keep around. They had to love strategy and the possible success you could get from it.He taught culture, conduct, conscientiousness and good faith and was also picky about who he let in to his school. They had to be modest and willing to listen because he didn’t repeat lessons. He loved music. He would sing in the company of those who were singing. When passing through Ch’I he heard their music and said, â€Å"I did not imagine that music had reached such perfection. † (Confu cius 35). This having been said he also traveled with his students and neglected his family duty. Once when his son saw him in passing and Confucius asked him if he had â€Å"Studied the Odes? (Confucius 102) His son said no so Confucius told him that he would have nothing to use in conversation. So his son left determined to study the book of Odes. On a different day his son saw him again and a similar thing happened only this time Confucius asked about the Rules of Ceremony. The result was exactly the same as the first time. This goes to prove that those who can teach don’t always put their own teachings in to practice. Why is Volume One, Book Two entitled â€Å"Concerning Government† but barely mentions government?Hint: the contents of Book Seven may assist you in answering this question. You can’t teach someone how to run a government but you can teach them how to be a better person in hope that they will be able to better govern the country. One must corre ct themselves before they try to correct others. This is exactly why Volume One, Book Two says little about government and a lot on how to be a better person. Confucius said â€Å"If a man put himself aright, what difficulty will he have in the public service; but if he cannot put himself aright, how is he going to put others right? (Confucius 75) This saying is basically saying one must correct themself first and others later, but if one can’t correct themself then they have no right to attempt at correcting others. In some senses Confucius was a very straight forward man and in others he was just plain confusing. This was one of the areas that he was straight forward with his teaching. It was very important to him that one knew how to act. Despite his reputation as a charismatic teacher, Confucius makes no claim to originality—in fact, it is hard to discern exactly what his teachings are.Why is this the case? He himself did not claim to be a teacher at all. It was h is disciples who made him so. He had people who followed him and listened to what he said and this was enough to make him a teacher, whether what he was saying was original or not made no difference. What mattered was that he had a group of students who were willing to listen to what he said and put it into practice. His teachings, however, were hard to understand. This was because he didn’t want just anyone to be able to follow and understand what he was saying.They had to be smart and make an effort to understand. This was also because sometimes he just spoke in riddles and didn’t give a simple answer. When he did this it would seem that what he was saying was completely unrelated to the question asked, but in some roundabout way it was actually the answer to the question all along. His students just had to think it over a lot before they understood. Confucius himself had no desire to be a teacher but because so many people liked his teachings, it just sort of happen ed that way.What contrasts does Confucius present with the religious figures of ancient Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, China, etc.? Does he strike you as a particularly â€Å"religious† figure? Why or why not? In contrast to the religions of the ancient world Confucianism is more about teaching someone how to live justly. Confucius teaches his students to respect their family and honor their ancestors not about the gods and the afterlife; this is probably the biggest difference. He teaches about what it means to live in this life and how one should go about doing so.In the religions of ancient Egypt, India and Mesopotamia there has always been a priest like figure who would perform religious and sacrificial ceremonies. This figure also had the task of letting everyone know about their religion and how to follow it properly. Sometimes these religious leaders were the head of their country/city/empire and if they weren’t, the leaders had almost always practiced the same or a very similar religion. Confucius was neither the king nor a particularly important person in society (or at least that’s what I gathered from the Confucius Analects).He was just an ordinary man who just so happened to know what he was talking about and how to teach others how to properly live their lives. One could do this by honoring their ancestors and by living a virtuous life. In these other religions, however, there has always been some form of afterlife, be it cheerful or gloomy, and most of these ancient civilizations buried their dead (especially those who were important) with luxury items for them to take to the afterlife. Confucius never taught about the afterlife though.Once a student of his asked about death and Confucius replied, â€Å"Not yet understanding life, how can you understand death? ’ (Confucius 61). Confucius does not seem like a religious figure at all. In fact, there is some debate about whether or not Confucianism can actually be considered a religion. What Confucius taught was how to live a moral life as a human being. He taught that one should study the Chinese Classics and follow a few basic rules of life. This is why he does not seem like a religious figure or to have been a religious man.

Zulu essays

Zulu essays The kinship system is bases upon two things the dynamic principles and the resultant social phenomena in three different categories. The categories are the territorial kinship, the descent group kinship, and the terminological kinship. For the territorial kinship the main goal was for exploitation of the land coalescence of houses. This formed the segmentation of kinship groups . The individual families which emerged as the basic kinship units were organized into descent groups, mainly of minor order. The determinants of the descant rank determined the rank , status, position, descent-group headship. This was together with the primogeniture which determined the succession, inheritance, settlement of disputes. Then there was the terminological aspect which was the classificatory principle that took care of the terminology and associated domestic rights and obligations. The rights and obligations of the terminological system were and are effective within the territorial framewo rk of the descent-group system. In this terminological aspect common reciprocal rights and obligations associated with the kinship class for similar positions. A man classifies not only his father, but all his fathers brothers by the same and different mothers, under the class-term BABA. In different positions He classifies not only his fathers brothers but also his mothers sisters husbands as BABA. The Zulus traditional religion was centered on ancestor worship. According to Zulu religion, the spirits of the ancestors (called Amadlozi) guided their daily lives and sacrifices therefore made to appease these spirits. They believed that the ancestors could only be seen in dreams and that soothsayers (called sangomas) which were generally females, were the only ones who had the power to communicate with them. People consulted the sangoma if their own sacrifice did not have the desired results. The sangomas were called to...

History of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope

History of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope The scanning tunneling microscope or STM is widely used in both industrial and fundamental research to obtain atomic scale images of metal surfaces. It provides a three-dimensional profile of the surface and provides useful information for characterizing surface roughness, observing surface defects and determining the size and conformation of molecules and aggregates.   Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer are the inventors of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM).  Invented in 1981, the device provided the first images of individual atoms on the surfaces of materials. Gerd Binning and  Heinrich Rohrer Binnig, along with colleague Rohrer, was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1986 for his work in scanning tunneling microscopy. Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1947, Dr. Binnig attended J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt and received a bachelors degree in 1973 as well as a doctorate five years later in 1978. He joined a physics research group at IBMs Zurich Research Laboratory that same year. Dr. Binnig was assigned to IBMs Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California from 1985 to 1986 and was a visiting professor at nearby Stanford University from 1987 to 1988. He was appointed an IBM Fellow in 1987 and remains a research staff member at IBMs Zurich Research Laboratory.   Born in Buchs, Switzerland in 1933, Dr. Rohrer was educated at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, where he received his bachelors degree in 1955 and his doctorate in 1960. After doing post-doctoral work at the Swiss Federal Institute and Rutgers University in the U.S., Dr. Rohrer joined IBMs newly formed Zurich Research Laboratory to study among other things Kondo materials and antiferromagnets. He then turned his attention to scanning tunneling microscopy. Dr. Rohrer was appointed an IBM Fellow in 1986 and was manager of the Physical Sciences Department at the Zurich Research Laboratory from 1986 to 1988. He retired from IBM in July 1997 and passed away on  May 16, 2013. Binnig and Rohrer were recognized for developing the powerful microscopy technique that  forms an image of individual atoms on a metal or semiconductor surface by scanning the tip of a needle over the surface at a height of only a few atomic diameters. They shared the award with German scientist Ernst Ruska, the  designer of the first electron microscope. Several  scanning microscopies use the scanning technology developed for the STM. Russell Young and the Topografiner A similar microscope called the Topografiner was invented by Russell Young and his  colleagues between 1965 and 1971 at the National Bureau of Standards, currently known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology.  This microscope works on the principle  that the left and right piezo drivers scan the tip over and slightly above the specimen surface. The center piezo is controlled by a servo system to maintain a constant voltage, which results in a consistent  vertical separation between the tip and the surface. An electron multiplier detects the tiny fraction of the tunneling current which is scattered by the specimen surface.

Environmental issues to International security Essay

Environmental issues to International security - Essay Example ..7 The Kyoto Protocol†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 Climate Stress And Change†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...8 Pollution And Persistent Pollutants †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.10 Deforestation And Desertification†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.11 Invasive Species†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 Military Security Implications†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 Nuclear Issues†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..13 The Japan Earthquake†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...13 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦17 Introduction Environmental security is a broad term which does not have a universally acknowledged definition. There are at least four major definition of the term environmental security. The first definition defines environmental security from the standpoint of how one can protect the resources which are available in a particular area. From the perspective of natural resources and ecosystem, the natural resource should be free of contamination, depletion, pollution or other forms of deprivations which are external in nature. The second definition of the term is related to the onus that the security communities of nations have in implementing the standardized environmental norms for its governmental and military operations. There are certain threats such as terrorism and war, which lead to the increase of weapons of mass destruction. Although these can potentially harm the environment greatly, it pales in front of natural disasters, which can have a detrimental effect on environmental security. The Greenhouse Gas proliferation, the destructiveness of Hurricane Katrina, the devastating tsunami which ravaged islands in the Indian Ocean are just a few examples of the effect natural disasters can have on the environment. The third environmental security definition concerns the dynamics between manmade stresses which are exerted on the environment and the eventual conflict these stress causes between the s tates and the individuals. This generally pertains to the governmental interventions with neighboring states in order to prevent the spread of environmental pollutants. Finally the fourth definition of environmental security concerns the amalgamation of the three aforementioned definitions of environmental security into one combined concept which can integrate the essence of environmental security perfectly. Therefore, environmental security is the term which takes in to account the military and governmental threats to environmental protection, the quality of environmental protection policies implemented by the country, and the effective use of resources and collaboration with other states in order to safeguard the environment. UN and Its Role In Environmental Security The United Nations

Summary of 3 articles , comparison and discussion Essay

Summary of 3 articles , comparison and discussion - Essay Example Big data is viewed as an effective tool to deliver projecting likelihood of an event and analyze patterns. The long run success of an organization is determined by additional of organizational asset with data and information. The topic provides vivid explanation about the broader application of big data in society and management research. It is believed that experiential study in management can often deduces relationships such as two companies can link through customer-supplier relations, or collaborates in production or compete in same market. In the era of globalization and technological advancement, it has become imperative for organization to manage its data and information in an effective way. The additional use of big data is crucial to exemplify the significance of the topic to organization like NHS trust and data management community. The survey conducted by American Management Association in the year 2013 reveals that the need of building analytical skills within the organization is critical for development (AMA, 2014, p.1). The organization selected for analyzing and researching is the drawback of data management is National Health Service trust. The trust serves either on specialized service or geographical area. The NHS trust provides varied range of specialist and general services to patients. The new sy stem is being introduced to serve patients and maintain GP records. The use of powerful technology and massive influx of data are two reasons to increase the future use of big data in NHS trust. The three literature sources provide vivid explanation about big problems, opportunity and harness of big data. These articles discusses that firms enjoying success are able to implement big data to create new businesses and improve their existing trades. This rapid alteration results in authority shifting to decisions and analytics experts are

Education by Computer - A Better Way Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Education by Computer - A Better Way - Essay Example It is easy for a student in America to take lectures from an Indian teacher now with the help of videoconferencing like computer technologies. Moreover, no other resources can provide the same referencing facilities as computer does. Instead of academic libraries, students now started to access online libraries in order to get more insights into a particular topic. Even though the utility of computer in education is unquestionable, some people argue that education by computers should not be encouraged beyond certain limits. This paper analyses whether education with the help of computers is good or bad or up to what extent we can rely on computers to provide better education to children. To be able to put the computer in an adequate perspective in education or in individual or social life it is necessary to understand very well what it is. Its main characteristic is that it is an abstract and not concrete machine (as, e.g. a power lathe or a bicycle): it acts in a virtual space, the space of the thoughts we may insert into the machine. So any use of it forces some abstract thinking (Setzer). Many people have the false belief that computers can bring wonders in educational circle. However, it should be noted that computers are working on artificial intelligence and it do not possess any natural intelligence as man possesses. In other words, computers are working based manmade instructions or programs. Since computers do not have the thinking ability, it cannot answer a question which is unfamiliar to it. On the other hand, human intelligence can try to solve all problems because of its independent thinking ability. According to Roger J. Desmond, a professor in the School of Communication at the University of Hartford, who specializes in kids and interactive media "computer games can increase reaction time, which can help with doing stuff that school requires†(Wood). Majority of the computer games encourage children to think in multiple ways to solve a part icular problem created by the computers. For example, Prince of Persia is a multilevel computer game popular among kids. This game presents so many puzzles in front of the kids. It is impossible for children to go to a higher level if they fail to solve the puzzle in the present level. Thus, they will be encouraged to think too much while playing Prince of Persia like computer games which is good for them to solve problems in their studies. Some people believe that over exposure to computer related education may damage the thinking abilities of the children. Learning is actually occurs through problem solving method. In other words, when a student tries to solve a problem, he will think about various ways to solve it. Thus he may develop so many hypotheses initially and test all of them with the help of trial and error method before arriving at the right solution. In short, self-solving of problems may help a student to open up many of his hidden faculties of mind which is good for the brain development. On the other hand, when a student tries to solve a problem with the help of computers, he is getting ready made answers at once and therefore he may not get an opportunity to give some kind of exercises to his brain. In short, over reliance on computers for solving problems can affect the thinking abilities of the students. It is a fact that many of the modern students are struggling while they are forced to take some critical decisions in their lives.

American Housing and Global Financial Essay Example for Free

American Housing and Global Financial Essay To do this, lawmakers needed to understand what had happened, particularly because housing had until then seemed like such a bright spot in the US economy. The US housing â€Å"bubble† in the early 21st century In his 2001 letter to shareholders, Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines wrote, â€Å"Housing is a safe, leveraged investment – the only leveraged investment available to most families – and it is one of the best returning investment to make. Home will continue to appreciate in value. Home values are expected to rise even faster in this decade than in the 1990’s. His optimism was due in part to the importance Americans attributed to owning a home. The importance was reflected in Fannie Mae’s motto, which was â€Å"Our Business in the American Dream. † Raines was not alone in touting the advantages of housing as an investment. While house prices in particular region had suffered temporary declines at various points, average housing prices across the United States had risen fairly steadily since at least 1975 (see Exhibit 1). This trend accelerated in 1996, and reached about 12 percent per annum in late 2005 and early 2006. Many observers felt that this rise in prices was due in part to the Federal Reserve’s policy of maintaining low interest rates after the 2001 recession. In the period from 1980 to 2001, the Federal Funds rate (an overnight interest rate that bank charged each other and which the Federal Reserve targeted) had generally tracked economic conditions (see Exhibit 2). After 2001 and until July 2004, however, the Fed kept interest rates low in spite of signs of growth in output and prices. Perhaps fearing a recession that did not materialize, the Federal Funds rate was set to only 1 percent from July 2003 to July 2004. After this, anxiety about inflation seemed to gain the upper hand and interest rates were increased steadily, with the Federal Funds rate reaching 5. 25% in September 2006. A debate over house prices started around 2004. Some economists, such as Dean Baker, the co-director of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research claimed at the time that house prices were like a bubble ready to burst, and that the economy needed to brace itself for a loss of $2 to $3 trillion in housing wealth. Others felt that, even though increases in housing prices had far outstripped increase in residential rents, this was reasonable in light of the low interest rates. Even in October 2005, when it was common to hear mentions of a housing bubble, developer Bob Toll disagreed and complained â€Å"Why can’t real estate just have a boom like every other industry? Why do we have to have a bubble and then a pop? † Meanwhile, several economists pointed out that house price increases were concentrated in particular areas such as San Francisco and New York, where zoning restriction made it difficult to expand the housing stock. Professor Chris Mayer of Columbia University saw the attraction of these areas coupled with the inability to increase supply as allowing house prices in these areas to remain high â€Å"basically forever†. Nothing that Tokyo real estate was still more expensive than real estate in Manhattan, he stated: â€Å"There’s no natural law that says US housing prices have to stop here. None. † While house prices reached eye-popping levels in what Chris Mayer called â€Å"superstar cities,† construction was booming elsewhere. Cities like Phoenix, as well as many communities in Florida and around Los Angeles, saw such a torrid pace of construction that builders had difficulty even procuring the cement they needed. New houses in these areas were often snapped up by eager investors and newspapers relished reporting on individuals who managed to resell houses at a gain even before they took possession of them. According to Loan Performance Inc, more than 12% of Phoenix-area mortgages were obtained by investors in 2004, as compared to just 5. 8% nationwide in 2000. Home finance before the 1990’s In the United States, it was common to talk about the â€Å"Traditional† fixed 30 year mortgage. This instrument required the borrower to make a constant stream of monthly payments during the 30 year term of the loan. These payments were specified in advance; so the interest rate on this loan was fixed. Many of these traditional loans allowed borrowers to ‘pre-pay† their mortgages without penalty. When interest rates declined, borrowers often took advantage of this feature and refinanced their homes at lower rates. Savings and Loan Associations (Samp;Ls) already offered mortgages with constant payments before the Great Depression, though they were typically less than 12 years long. At the time, other lenders mostly offered short-term mortgages that needed to be refinanced because they had â€Å"balloon† payments at the end. During the Great Depression, many households went into default in part because this refinancing became difficult. One government response was to create the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC), which made simultaneous offers to borrowers and lenders. If they both agreed, lenders received HOLC obligations in exchange for their claims against households, although this exchange required bank to recognize a loss on their assets. Households, meanwhile, freed themselves of their previous obligation by accepting new ‘self-amortizing’ mortgages with fixed payments whose terms were based on new assessments of their home’s worth. After WWII, banks and Samp;Ls originated many fixed 30 year mortgages and held them to maturity. The results were not always happy. When short-term interest rates rose in the early 1980’s, the yield on mortgage assets fell below the cost of paying depositors for their funds. This mismatch was one of the causes for the failure of about half of the 32,234 Samp;L’s that existed in 1986. Because the government insured the Samp;L’s depositors, it incurred considerable losses and had to set up a special institution to dispose of the failed Samp;L’s assets. The Samp;L crisis also boosted the securitization of mortgages by two governments sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae was originally created in 1938 as a government agency. Like Freddie Mac, a twin that Congress chartered in 1970, Fannie Mae eventually became a privately owned publicly traded company. Starting with bundles of mortgages purchased from mortgage originators, the GSEs created and sold mortgage-backed securities (MBSs), which delivered to holders the payments made on these mortgages. In exchange for a fee, the GSEs guaranteed the interest and principal on these loans. This meant that, assuming the GSEs remained solvent (or that the government came to their rescue if they found themselves in financial trouble), the only payment risk faced by the holders of these MBSs was the risk that the underlying mortgages would be repaid before they were due (Known as prepayment risk). Congress capped the size of the loans that GSEs could accept. In 2006, for example, the maximum loan for single-family homes was $417,000. To limit their credit risk, the GSEs used standards that were similar to those of traditional originators. To secure sufficient collateral, they took only senior mortgage and generally required the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) to be below 80 %. The LTV was computed as the ratio of the mortgage to the property’s market value at the time of origination. Before underwriting loans, the GSEs also looked at the borrower’s income and employment status, level of other assets, and history of foreclosures and bankruptcies. Consistent with the rules of GSEs, home lenders before the 1990s only lent to borrowers they deemed credit worthy, and generally required documentary evidence on these variables. Until the practice was penalized by a 1977 law, most lenders also denied mortgages to people living in certain â€Å"redlined† communities, where these were predominantly inner city neighborhoods with large black populations. An avenue that remained open to borrowers with problematic credit histories was to apply through conventional lenders for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The lenders then had to verify that the loan met FHA requirements and the process for doing so was somewhat more time-consuming than in the case non-FHA mortgages. In spite of these standards, about 8 % of FHA loans were past-due in 1993, while the delinquency rate on standard mortgages was only 3 %. FHA loans were packaged into mortgage-backed securities by Ginnie Mae, a government owned corporation that dealt exclusively with federally guaranteed mortgages. Innovation in the mortgage In the 1990s new firms started to lend money to borrowers that did not qualify for ‘prime’ mortgages. Rather than lending directly, many of these firms sought the help of mortgage brokers to whom they paid commissions. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s list of lenders who specialized in such ‘subprime’ loans increased from 63 lenders in 1993 to 209 in 2005. Wall Street firms Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley all acquired such lenders, though all but Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns did so only in 2006. One obvious difference between ‘subprime’ and ‘prime’ loans was that the former had higher interest rates and fees. There was, however, no precise dividing line between the two, so that there was no consensus on how to measure the fraction of subprime loans. According to one definition, the value of these loans grew from about 1% of new mortgages in 1993 to 20% in 2006. At the same time, the FHA share dropped from 11% to 1. 9%. An independent analysis by the Wall Street Journal concluded that 29% of the home loans made in 2006 had high interest rates. A large fraction of these loans refinanced existing loans. In many cases, these refinancing loans increased the borrowers’ mortgage debt and thereby made it possible for households to keep some cash for other purposes. From being virtually unknown in the 1980s, Countrywide Financial became the largest mortgage lender in 2005. A 2003 government report showed that it was also the leading mortgage lender to minority homeowners, as well as one of the largest providers of home loans in low-income communities. When this report was released, Countrywide’s CEO Angelo Mozilo said: ‘We’re extremely proud of our accomplishments, as they clearly demonstrate our long-standing commitment to provide all Americans with the opportunity to achieve the dream of homeownership. These results underscore our ongoing efforts to discover new approaches to turn individuals and families into homeowners, to develop new loan products that reduce or eliminate the obstacles to homeownership and to make it easier for families to qualify for loans. Contrary to what had been standard practice in the past, lenders such as Countrywide did not offer the same interest rate to all borrowers. This customization was facilitated by the use of automated statistical models that predicted the likelihood of default on the basis of borrower characteristics. Interestingly, the first statistical tools that came into wide use were those developed by Freddie Mac (called Loan Prospector) and Fannie Mae (called Desktop Underwriter). These were introduced to make it easy for mortgage originators to know whether their loans would be acceptable to the GSEs, though their use expanded well beyond this purpose. One variable that played a key role in these models, and which had apparently been absent from previous methods of qualifying borrowers for mortgage, was the borrower’s credit score. While there were several approved commercial credit score formulas (regulators did not allow scores to depend on race, gender, marital status or national origin), the most popular one was the FICO score invented by the Fair Isaac Corporation. This score, which ranged from about 300 for poor credit risks to about 850, appeared to give considerable weight to the punctuality with which borrowers had paid their previous obligations. One reason these scores became important in mortgage applications was that studies by Freddie Mac had shown a strong correlation between FICO scores and defaults on mortgages in the pre-1995 period. One type of mortgage that became popular among subprime lenders was known as 2/28 because its rate was fixed for 2 years and then became variable for the remaining 28 years. This mortgage was quite different from adjustable rate mortgage (ARMs) offered to prime borrowers. The introductory rate on 2/28 was above the typical rate offered on 30-year fixed mortgages, whereas ARMs for prime borrowers had initial rates below those on fixed mortgage. Also, rates on 2/28s rose considerably when they were ‘reset’ after 2 years. According to the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Eric Rosengren, the average initial rate for subprime mortgages issued in 2006 was 8. 5% (when the conventional 30-year mortgage rate was below 6. 4%) and reset to 610 basis points above the 6-month LIBOR rate (which averaged about 5% in 2006) after 2 years. In the case of reasonable 2/28 mortgages, there were pre-payment penalties if the mortgage was pre-paid in the first two years but there was no cost associated with pre-paying right before the interest rate was reset. From the point of view of mortgage brokers, this arrangement was attractive because it ensured that many borrowers would refinance after two years, allowing brokers to collect new origination fees. Borrowers were also told that this arrangement was good for them because, if they made timely payments, their FICO score would improve and they would be able to refinance at a lower rate. There were widespread allegations that some borrowers in this period received home loans on terms that were substantially less favorable than those of conventional or FHA loans for which these borrowers would have qualified. It was also claimed that unsophisticated borrowers had been duped into signing mortgage that continued to have severe pre-payment penalties even after interest rates had been reset to high levels. A lawsuit in Michigan claimed that a mortgage broker working for a unit of Lehman Brothers ‘confused and pressured’ an elderly couple so that they would sign a loan whose interest rate would reach 17. 5%. Several borrowers told Federal officials that they had simply been laid to regarding their future monthly payments. What is certain is that some borrowers agreed to make payments that were impossible for them to keep up with over time. A 79-year old retired engineer named Robert Pyle, for example, moved from a $265,000 to a $352,000 mortgage in 2005 and cleared his credit card debts in the process. Almost immediately after signing the mortgage, which involved over $33,000 in fees, he found himself unable to cover the $2200 monthly payment. Terry Dyer, the broker who issued Robert Pyle’s mortgage said, â€Å"It’s clear he was living beyond his means, and he might not be able to afford this loan. But legally, we don’t have a responsibility to tell him this probably isn’t going to work out. It’s not our obligation to tell them how they should live their lives. † Some subprime loans required less documentation than was traditionally demanded. Instead of requiring proof of income of independent appraisals of the value of the home, some subprime mortgages were based only on â€Å"stated income† or â€Å"stated value†. Stated income loans were very convenient for borrowers who had casual jobs that were difficult to document, though they opened the door to fraud by both borrowers and brokers. Another dimension in which some subprime loans departed from traditional ones was in their down-payments requirements.

Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein ABSTRACT: Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to an empirical-verifiability criterion of mental or linguistic meaning. The acceptance of this criterion confronted them with the same problem: how to understand the Other as a subject with his own experience, if the existence and nature of the Other's experiences cannot be verified. Husserl tackled this problem in the Cartesian Meditations, but he could not reconcile the verifiability criterion with understanding the Other's feelings and sensations. Carnap's solution was to embrace behaviorism and eliminate the idea of private sensations, but behaviorism has well-known difficulties. Heidegger broke this impasse by suggesting that each person's being included being-with, an innate capacity for understanding the Other. To be human is to be "hard-wired" to make sense of the Other without having to verify the Other's private sensations. I suggest that being-with emerged from an evolutionary imperative for conspecific animal s to recognize each other and to coordinate their activities. Wittgenstein also rejected the verifiability criterion. He theorized that the meaning of a term is its usage and that terms about private sensations were meaningful because they have functions in our language-games. For example, "I'm in pain," like a cry of pain, functions to get the attention of others and motivate others to help. Wittgenstein's theory shows how Dasein's being-with includes "primitive" adaptive behavior such as cries, smiles, and threatening or playful gesture. As Dasein is acculturated, these behaviors are partially superseded by functionally equivalent linguistic expressions. I. Introduction There are obvious and important ways in which analytic and continental philosophy differ, but this should not make us overlook their thematic and historical similarities. Both traditions had their roots in phenomenalistic theories that attempted to reduce all meaning to the immediately given. Even though phenomenology was more generous in construing what was immediately given, neither phenomenology nor logical positivism could do justice to our understanding of the subjectivity of other people. Heidegger and Wittgenstein each dealt with this problem in unique but complementary ways. Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to the verifiability criterion for meaning ('verificationism' for short). Logical positivists emphasized linguistic meaning, and in their most antimetaphysical stage asserted that a synthetic sentence is meaningful for a person only if that person could use experience to discover the sentence's truth-value. Husserl was more interested in thoughts about the existence and nature of phenomena and believed that they gained meaning only through acts of verification. Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers Husserl, Carnap, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein ABSTRACT: Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to an empirical-verifiability criterion of mental or linguistic meaning. The acceptance of this criterion confronted them with the same problem: how to understand the Other as a subject with his own experience, if the existence and nature of the Other's experiences cannot be verified. Husserl tackled this problem in the Cartesian Meditations, but he could not reconcile the verifiability criterion with understanding the Other's feelings and sensations. Carnap's solution was to embrace behaviorism and eliminate the idea of private sensations, but behaviorism has well-known difficulties. Heidegger broke this impasse by suggesting that each person's being included being-with, an innate capacity for understanding the Other. To be human is to be "hard-wired" to make sense of the Other without having to verify the Other's private sensations. I suggest that being-with emerged from an evolutionary imperative for conspecific animal s to recognize each other and to coordinate their activities. Wittgenstein also rejected the verifiability criterion. He theorized that the meaning of a term is its usage and that terms about private sensations were meaningful because they have functions in our language-games. For example, "I'm in pain," like a cry of pain, functions to get the attention of others and motivate others to help. Wittgenstein's theory shows how Dasein's being-with includes "primitive" adaptive behavior such as cries, smiles, and threatening or playful gesture. As Dasein is acculturated, these behaviors are partially superseded by functionally equivalent linguistic expressions. I. Introduction There are obvious and important ways in which analytic and continental philosophy differ, but this should not make us overlook their thematic and historical similarities. Both traditions had their roots in phenomenalistic theories that attempted to reduce all meaning to the immediately given. Even though phenomenology was more generous in construing what was immediately given, neither phenomenology nor logical positivism could do justice to our understanding of the subjectivity of other people. Heidegger and Wittgenstein each dealt with this problem in unique but complementary ways. Phenomenology and logical positivism both subscribed to the verifiability criterion for meaning ('verificationism' for short). Logical positivists emphasized linguistic meaning, and in their most antimetaphysical stage asserted that a synthetic sentence is meaningful for a person only if that person could use experience to discover the sentence's truth-value. Husserl was more interested in thoughts about the existence and nature of phenomena and believed that they gained meaning only through acts of verification.