Free Essays on Embraced By The Light

Embraced By The Light By, Betty J. Eadie Embraced By The Light is a wonderful book based on Betty Eadie’s experience with life after death. It starts off with her in the hospital waiting to get a hysterectomy. After her husband Joe leaves the hospital to go home and tend to their 7 children she starts to reminisce on her past as a young child. She talks about her parents and how her mother was an American Indian and how her father was a white man. Her parents divorced and her mother had to work full time just to make ends meat. Since her mother didn’t have enough money for a babysitter, Betty had to go to an Indian boarding school and was taught to fear God. One day she asked one of the nuns about God’s existence and was beat severely for it and had to go to the hospital. While in the hospital she had her first near death experience and talked about how she was cradled in a man’s arms that had a bright glow to him and had a long flowing beard. Then she enters back into her body and continues on with her life. At age fifteen Betty got married and had 4 kids with their youngest dying of SIDS at only three months of age. After six years of marriage Betty and her husband divorced. The Christmas following her divorce she met her soon to be husband, Joe. The two of them ended up having three kids together. There youngest was expected to be retarded even deformed if given birth to. They thought about having an abortion but decided to have the baby anyway. On June 19, 1968 Betty went into labor and had the baby. After thinking for nine months what the baby would like, a healthy baby boy was born, nothing wrong with it what so ever. She went into surgery the next morning. That night after surgery she was laying in bed and fell asleep, she woke up to feel her spirit drifting up off her body. As she rose from her body she looked down to see someone, she couldn’t tell at first that the body was hers until she d... Free Essays on Embraced By The Light Free Essays on Embraced By The Light Embraced By The Light By, Betty J. Eadie Embraced By The Light is a wonderful book based on Betty Eadie’s experience with life after death. It starts off with her in the hospital waiting to get a hysterectomy. After her husband Joe leaves the hospital to go home and tend to their 7 children she starts to reminisce on her past as a young child. She talks about her parents and how her mother was an American Indian and how her father was a white man. Her parents divorced and her mother had to work full time just to make ends meat. Since her mother didn’t have enough money for a babysitter, Betty had to go to an Indian boarding school and was taught to fear God. One day she asked one of the nuns about God’s existence and was beat severely for it and had to go to the hospital. While in the hospital she had her first near death experience and talked about how she was cradled in a man’s arms that had a bright glow to him and had a long flowing beard. Then she enters back into her body and continues on with her life. At age fifteen Betty got married and had 4 kids with their youngest dying of SIDS at only three months of age. After six years of marriage Betty and her husband divorced. The Christmas following her divorce she met her soon to be husband, Joe. The two of them ended up having three kids together. There youngest was expected to be retarded even deformed if given birth to. They thought about having an abortion but decided to have the baby anyway. On June 19, 1968 Betty went into labor and had the baby. After thinking for nine months what the baby would like, a healthy baby boy was born, nothing wrong with it what so ever. She went into surgery the next morning. That night after surgery she was laying in bed and fell asleep, she woke up to feel her spirit drifting up off her body. As she rose from her body she looked down to see someone, she couldn’t tell at first that the body was hers until she d...

Pyramids - Enormous Ancient Symbols of Power

Pyramids - Enormous Ancient Symbols of Power A pyramid is a type of huge ancient building  that is a member of the class of structures known as public or monumental architecture. The archetypal pyramid like those at Giza in Egypt is a mass of stone or earth with a rectangular base and four steeply sloping sides that meet in a point at the top. But pyramids come in many different forms- some are round or oval or rectangular at the base, and they can be smooth-sided, or stepped, or truncated with a flat platform topped by a temple. Pyramids, more or less, are not buildings that people walk into, but rather huge monolithic structures meant to make people awestruck. Did You Know? The oldest pyramid is Djosers Step Pyramid in Egypt, built about 2600 BCEThe largest pyramid is Cholula in Puebla, Mexico, covering an area about four times as large as the Giza pyramids in Egypt Who Built the Pyramids? Pyramids are found in several cultures around the world. The most famous are those in Egypt, where the tradition of the construction of masonry pyramids as tombs began in the Old Kingdom (2686–2160 BCE). In the Americas, monumental earthen structures called pyramids by archaeologists were constructed as early as the Caral-Supe society (2600–2000 BCE) in Peru, similar in age to those of the ancient Egyptian, but, of course, totally separate cultural innovations. The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site preserves the burial mounds of an Indian civilization which inhabited the area from 900 to 1500 AD. | Location: Collinsville, Illinois, USA. Michael S. Lewis / Getty Images Later American societies who built pointy- or platform-topped, slope-sided stone or earthen pyramids include the Olmec, Moche, and Maya; theres also an argument to be made that the earthen Mississippian mounds such as Cahokia of southeastern North America should be classed as pyramids. Etymology While scholars are not in total agreement, the word pyramid is apparently from the Latin pyramis, a word which refers specifically to the Egyptian pyramids. Pyramis (which is apparently unrelated to the old Mesopotamian tragic myth of Pyramus and Thisbe) in turn is derived from the original Greek word puramid. Interestingly, puramid means cake made out of roasted wheat. One theory for why the Greeks used the word puramid to refer to the Egyptian pyramids is that they were making a joke, that the cake had a pyramid shape and calling the Egyptian structures pyramids was slighting the Egyptian technological capabilities. Another possibility is that the shape of the cakes was (more or less) a marketing device, the cakes made to look like the pyramids. Another possibility is that pyramid is an alteration of the original Egyptian hieroglyph for pyramid- MR, sometimes written as mer, mir, or pimar. See the discussions in Swartzman, Romer, and Harper, among lots of others. In any case, the word pyramid was at some point also assigned to the pyramid geometric shape (or possibly vice versa), which is basically a polyhedron made up of connected polygons, such that the sloping sides of a pyramid are triangles. Why Build a Pyramid? Close Up View of Casing Stones of the Bent Pyramid. MedioImages / Photodisc / Getty Images While we dont have any way of knowing for sure why the pyramids were built, we have lots of educated guesses. The most basic is as a form of propaganda. Pyramids can be seen as a visual expression of the political power of a ruler, one who at a minimum had the ability to arrange to have an extremely skilled architect plan such a massive monument  and to have laborers mine the stone and construct it to specifications. Pyramids are often explicit references to mountains, the elite person reconstructing and reconfiguring the natural landscape in a way that no other monumental architecture really can. Pyramids may have been built to impress the citizenry  or the political enemies inside or outside the society. They may even have fulfilled a role empowering non-elites, who may have seen the structures as proof that their leaders were able to protect them. Pyramids as burial places- not all pyramids had burials- may also have been commemorative constructions that brought continuity to a society in the form of ancestor worship: the king is always with us. Pyramids may also have been the stage on which social drama could occur. As the visual focus of large numbers of people, pyramids may have been designed to define, separate, include, or exclude segments of the society. What are Pyramids? Like other forms of monumental architecture, pyramid construction holds clues to what the purpose might be. Pyramids are of a size and quality of construction that greatly exceeds what is required by practical needsafter all, who needs a pyramid? Societies which build pyramids invariably are those based on ranked classes, orders or estates; the pyramids are often not built just on a lavish scale, they are carefully planned to suit a particular astronomical orientation and geometrical perfection. They are symbols of permanence in a world where lives are short; they are a visual symbol of power in a world where power is transitory. Egyptian Pyramids Step Pyramid of Djoser and Associated Shrines. Print Collector / Hulton Archive / Getty Images The best-known pyramids in the world are those of the Old Kingdom in Egypt. The precursors of the pyramids were called mastaba, rectangular mudbrick burial structures built as tombs for the rulers of the predynastic period. Eventually, those rulers wanted larger and larger burial facilities, and the oldest pyramid in Egypt was the Step Pyramid of Djoser, built about 2700 BCE. Most of the Giza pyramids are pyramid-shaped, four flat smooth sides rising to a point.   The largest of the pyramids is the Great Pyramid of Giza, built for the 4th dynasty Old Kingdom Pharaoh Khufu (Greek Cheops), in the 26th century BCE. It is massive, covers an area of 13 acres, made from 2,300,000 limestone blocks each weighing an average of 2.5 tons, and rising to a height of 481 feet.   Great Pyramid at Giza (Old Kingdom Egypt)Step Pyramid of Djoser (Old Kingdom Egypt)Menkaures Pyramid (Old Kingdom Egypt)Khafres Pyramid (Old Kingdom Egypt)Bent Pyramid (Old Kingdom Egypt) Mesopotamia Elamite complex in the Khuzestan province of Iran, it is one of the few existing ziggurats outside Mesopotamia. Kaveh Kazemi / Getty Images The ancient Mesopotamians also built pyramids, known as ziggurats, stepped and built of sun-dried brick at its core, then veneered with a protective layer of fire-baked brick. Some of the brick was glazed in colors. The earliest known is located at Tepe Sialk in Iran, constructed in the early 3rd millennium BCE; not much is left but part of the foundations; precursor mastaba-like structures date to the Ubaid period. Each of the Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Elamite cities in Mesopotamia had a ziggurat, and each ziggurat had a flat top where the temple or house of the citys deity. The one in Babylon likely inspired the Tower of Babylon verses in the bible. The best preserved of the 20 or so known ziggurats is that at Chogha Zanbil in Khuzestan, Iran, built about 1250 BCE for the Elamite king Untash-Huban. Several levels are missing today, but it once stood about 175 feet tall, with a square base measuring about 346 feet on a side.   Central America Lava Field at Cuicuilco (Mexico). Flowers bloom on the 50 BC eruption at Cuicuilco, they pyramid in the background. vladimix Pyramids in Central America were made by several different cultural groups, the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Toltec, and Zapotec societies. Almost all of the Central American pyramids have square or rectangular bases, stepped sides, and flat tops. They are made of stone or earth or a mixture of both.   The oldest pyramid in central America was built during the early 4th century BCE, the Great Pyramid of Complex C at the Olmec site of La Venta. It is massive, 110 feet high and was a rectangular pyramid with stepped sides, made from adobe brick. It has been severely eroded into its current conical shape.   The largest pyramid in Central America is at the Teotihuacano site of Cholula., known as the Great Pyramid, La Gran Pirmide, or Tlachihualtepetl. Construction began in the 3rd century BCE, and it eventually grew to have a square base of 1,500 x 1,500 feet, or about four times that of the Giza pyramid, rising to a height of 217 feet. It is the largest pyramid on earth (just not the tallest).  It features a core of adobe brick covered over by a veneer of mortared stone which in turn was covered by a plaster surface.   The pyramid at the site of Cuicuilco near Mexico City is in the form of a truncated cone.  Pyramid A at the site of Cuicuilco was built about 150–50 BCE, but buried by the eruption of Xitli volcano in 450 CE.   ï » ¿Teotihuacan, Mexico Monte Alban, MexicoChichà ©n Itz, Mexico (Maya)Copan, Honduras (Maya)Palenque, Mexico (Maya)Tenochtitlan, Mexico (Aztec)Tikal, Belize (Maya) South America Sipan Pyramid, Peru (Moche)Huaca del Sol, Peru (Moche) North America Cahokia, Illinois (Mississippian)Etowah, Alabama (Mississippian)Aztalan, Wisconsin (Mississippian) Sources Harper D. 2001-2016. Pyramid: Online Etymology Dictionary. Accessed 25 December 2016.Moore JD. 1996. Architecture and Power in the Ancient Andes: The Archaeology of Public Buildings. New York: Cambridge University Press.Osborne JF. 2014. Approaching Monumentality in Archaeology. Albany: SUNY Press.Pluckhahn TJ, Thompson VD, and Rink WJ. 2016. Evidence for Stepped Pyramids of Shell in the Woodland Period of Eastern North America. American Antiquity 81(2):345-363.Romer J. 2007. The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited. New York: Cambridge University Press.Swartzman S. 1994. The Words of Mathematics: An Etymological Dictionary of Mathematical Terms. Washington DC: Mathematical Association of America.Trigger BG. 1990. Monumental architecture: . World Archaeology 22(2):119-132.behavioursymbolicofexplanationthermodynamicA Uziel J. 2010. Middle Bronze Age Ramparts: Functional and Symbolic Structures. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 142(1):24-30.Wicke CR. 1965. Pyramids and Temple Mounds: Mesoamerican Ceremonial Architecture in Eastern North America. American Antiquity 30(4):409-420.

Strategic Plan Part 1 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Strategic Plan Part 1 - Research Paper Example The company will be known under the name and style of Mangoamla Juice Centers LLC and juices will have 4-5 variances such as pure amla juice mixed with ginger and turmeric, pure mangosteen with ginger and turmeric, mangosteen-amla mix and so on. The products that the company aims to serve are different than any available product in the market as nowhere fresh juices prepared from amla and mangosteen are served that are full of antioxidants. Antioxidants protect cells of the human body from cancer causing free radicals. Mangoamla Juice Centers aims at not only building awareness about antioxidant rich fruits but also make them available to the masses in their vicinity (Carlsen, 2013). Amla Mangosteen Vision Statement Mangoamla Juice Centers’ vision statement is to enrich the people’s health with naturally occurring antioxidants and become a champion in protecting people’s health. Mission Statement Mangoamla Juice Centers’ mission statement is to satisfy hea lth-conscious masses with the organically grown antioxidant-rich fruits and herbs derived from the Mother Nature and help people build strong immune power to keep from deadly diseases. Our Values Integrity: We always offer what we convey. Transparency: We are transparent in what we offer. Fairness: We are always fair to our customers. Responsibility: We consider ourselves responsible and accountable to the community where we live and operate. Defining Values Talking about transparency, the company will specify all ingredients and its proportion clearly in its all typical servings. Whatever specified will be offered with full integrity and honesty. The company will take social responsibility and delve into the issues that the farming community faces in growing amla and mangosteen crops in their countries, vital for the company’s continuance and business growth. The company will advise them on increasing crop yields while farming organically; for sustainable ways of farming and the ways to reduce labor in plucking the crop thus, helping them to increase their earnings. The company will be most diligent in following all applicable laws and regulations following ethical business practices at all levels. All activities will be done in line with the best environmental practices and sustainability growth. Strategic Direction The vision, mission and values as described above will guide the organization’s overall business and marketing strategy. The company will continue to find innovative ways and introduce new products and flavors to retain customers and attract new ones. The product quality will be of highest standard and will never be compromised at any given time. The thrust will be on quicker and fast paced services with minimal waiting period in the center. The customers will be provided with pleasant and cozy environment that they can always cherish with. Understanding Customer Needs Arthritis, gout, cancer ailments, asthma and many chronic ailmen ts have been plaguing the US society since long (CDC, 2012). Traditional medicines suppress these ailments for some time but cannot treat them fully. Moreover, perennial consumption of these medicines causes huge side effects. Obama initiative is aimed at not only to provide proper treatment opportunities to all in the society but it also aims at preventive measures and raising general health standards of the people. A large number of the people in the US

Barbara Ehrenreichs Pathologies of Hope Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Barbara Ehrenreichs Pathologies of Hope - Essay Example The purpose of  Ehrenreich's essay is to convince her readers that hope is being marketed as a glorified cure-all for every trouble in contemporary society. She aims to destroy the myth that hope is the key to happiness. Ehrenreich argues that hope has negative effects and advocates a more realistic attitude towards life. Ehrenreich’s criticism of hope as a universal remedy for life is valid, but her stand may not be applicable to every individual. Ehrenreich categorically declares, â€Å"I hate hope.† She regrets that the marketing of hope has become a major â€Å"self-improvement industry† in America, with self-help books, life-improvement coaches and motivational speakers establishing an increasing â€Å"Cult of Positivity.† Positive psychology takes on academic credentials with the emergence of courses in reputed college campuses. Ehrenreich concedes that the maintenance of an overtly positive attitude is all for the good of social interaction. However, she objects to the irrationality of clinging on to optimistic thinking, irrespective of the actual gravity of the situation. She equates such unwarranted hope as being out of touch with reality. She criticizes the pressure to hold on to a positive attitude â€Å"whether or not it is justified by the actual circumstances† (Ehrenreich). Ehrenreich points out that even the academically credentialed positive psychologists admit that â€Å"a healthy dose of negative thinking† is necessary for some situations, such as piloting an airplane. They also concede that their rules do not apply to people living under extreme conditions of stress, such as poverty of war. Ehrenreich extends these examples to other instances, such as car driving and child rearing. She disputes the validity of studies which claim to prove â€Å"the health-enhancing effects of positivity† and its contribution to happiness or success at the workplace.

Film and Photographic Equipment Essay Example for Free

Film and Photographic Equipment Essay As of the time of the case, 2007, although IMAX was involved in three different industries, the case suggests that it was primarily in Photographic Equipment and Supplier industry primarily because about 51 per cent of its total revenue of IMAX was system sale. Therefore, the following analysis will focus on that industry. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Major suppliers of photographic equipment and supplier industry may include manufacturers producing relevant components of any kind of equipment, contractors making the complete equipment, and so forth. From my viewpoint, the suppliers’ bargaining power is low because of several reasons. First, along with the development of photographically relevant equipment, although the products firms provide are technically concentrated, there are certain standards recognized and adopted, such as film size of 35 mm or certain sizes of lens filter, in the industry. Therefore, the switching cost for their buyers is low. Second, photographic equipment and supplier industry is an important customer to its supplier group. Specifically, the usage of the products that the supplier group provides is limited to machinery or equipment in other industries. Besides, although there are few substitute products, which situation generally increases supplier group’s bargaining power, firms in photographic equipment and supplier industry still can easily find other manufacturers with lower cost. Bargaining Power of Buyers The buyer group of photographic equipment and supplier industry is enormous, ranging from B2B buyers like motion picture production firms to B2C buyers like customers who purchase digital single lens cameras. Considering the difference of consuming difference of buyers and following reasons, the bargaining power of buyers is medium. First, sales volume varies among different segments. For example, motion movie production studios or chain multiplexes may have high bargaining power because of high purchasing volumes; on the other hand, customers who go to Staple to purchase a copy machine have little or no bargaining power. Second, the products in photographic equipment and supplier industry are generally undifferentiated because of aforementioned regular standard existing, and therefore bargaining power increases. However, exception could be that once new products are launched with attracting feature and highly accepted by buyers, such as IMAX format, the bargaining power decreases. Moreover, because of the great scope of photographic equipment, switching cost varies extremely, taking the difference between cameras shooting in IMAX digital format and little digital cameras from all brands in the market as example. Besides, backward integrations are less likely to happen compared to forward integrations from supplier group. Threat of Substitute Products In photographic equipment and supplier industry, treat of substitute is low primarily because products from this industry has been evolving for decades and has become essential goods. For instance, copy machine, also provided from the industry, has become essential equipment in firms and institutions. Although the substitute products to this example could be pens and paper, few people really would do that for efficiency concern, and therefore the switching cost is high. Intensity of Rivalry Competition in photographic equipment and supplier industry is intense for reasons. Because of the specialized nature of the products, generally exist barrier is high for big companies like Cannon, Nikon, and Xerox, and those major competitors are highly committed to the industry by providing products with advanced technology and competing against each other intensively. Although some products in the industry can differentiate themselves from others and protected by patents for a period of time, new film format from IMAX for example, once competitors foresee the great potential profitability, it is not difficult for them to produce products with similar features to split the market share. Threat of Entry From my viewpoint, the threat of entry in the industry is medium. Take multi-business electronics suppliers such as Sony and Samsung as example, they supply various lines of products and compete against each other. Even photographic equipment is not their primary selling product, supported by strong capital and experienced RD departments, those companies are able to enter photographic equipment and supplier industry and split a piece of market share, primarily because of their existing reputation from relevant electronics industry. To deal with new coming competitors, current suppliers are less likely to have continuous price cutting battles because of high fixed costs; instead, it is more likely to increase investments, like RD, and product lines to keep market share in every targeted segment. An obvious example is that when Sony entered digital single lens camera market with cheaper price, other major suppliers like Nikon and Cannon did not cut price on existing premium products but expanded product lines to launch cheaper products competing directly to Sony. In short, the barrier is not so high for certain new competitors to come into the industry, but because of the intense reaction from existing players, the impact and threat new comings bring in is moderate. Competitive Advantages Advanced Technology One of the competitive advantages of IMAX and the most distinguishing characteristics that differentiate the company from its competitors is its advanced and unique technology that brings new formats, and other associated system equipment like screen and projector into the industry. The key element contributes to this advantage is that the company was committed to invest in RD. In return, the company was granted many patents that would keep the company in a unique position and from direct competition in the industry. Products Quality Control and Relationship Another IMAX’s competitive advantage is its quality control of products and system implementation. With its distinguishing technology, IMAX had been implementing the system into multiple locations, including multiplexes and education institutions, and because of its strict quality control and maintenance service, the company could maintain good relationship with diverse customers. The agreement of theatrical system implementation and service is an advantage for IMX to generate revenue not only from one-time transactions but long term profit splitting. Brand image and Product Distribution Diversity IMAX has built a unique brand image both from hardware and software perspectives and that also remains the company competitive. First, people would recognize IMAX as a prestigious theatrical system supplier based on their experience from multiple locations. Especially when major multiplex brands and education institutions carry its system, it’s very likely that people would naturally feel IMAX credible. The consequence is beneficial for IMX to expand business later, such as entering home theater system market. From the software perspective, especially the company’s educational entertainment production, not only create revenue other than just from commercial production but catch the trend of increased consumption of educational entertainment. The situation help IMAX build up a unique brand image that its production is not only commercial but educational so that people would have more trust in the company’s future motion picture production. To sum up, although IMAX has several competitive advantages, not all of them will last for too long. For instance, competitors could match up with its advances technology by inventing other formats and once they are accepted by end consumers, it will become a big threat for the company; On the other hand, some advantages could last for a long time once IMAX take good care of them. For example, the brand image being as a well motion picture production supplier is one that can remain in consumers’ minds for a long time and that’s not what new competitors can achieve in a short time. Corporate Advantages From my viewpoint, IMAX has corporate advantages because of its diverse productions from equipment supplier, motion picture production, and distribution industry. However, the most important issue is how to leverage those segments to increase the company’s growth. Business Resources  IMAX’s core business, photographic equipment and supplier, provides capabilities to enhance all its business. The company has created competitive advantages as mentioned and those advantages enhance the company’s business across industries. For instance, for its motion picture production business, all the films are shot in new IMAX formats, film or digital, by the equipment its own supplier segment produces, it reduce huge cost for format conversion compared to other films shot in different formats y other studios. Organization Because of the narrow scope of the business, coordination among different sectors in the organization is critical for IMX. For instance, the vertical integration of the business allows the company to share resources such as instant feedbacks for its RD department from motion picture production sector. By sharing these experience and information, the company will have the ability to forecast and adapt to new opportunities sh ortly in the future for every sectors in its value chain. In short, IMAX’s corporate advantages come from its competitive advantages and vertical integration. Because its business is based on unique technology and coordinated the whole value chain, it is not easy for competitors to imitate and therefore time for its corporate advantages is expected to last. Recommendations Keep Diversity of Production To answer the question that if IMAX would lose its differentiation because of numerous Hollywood films, my recommendation is that IMAX should keep doing converting Hollywood films and at the same time producing educational films. One reason is that format conversion brings good revenue for IMAX and people would be able to tell the difference between Hollywood movies in IMAX format and its own production. On the other hand, IMAX should keep catching on the trend of the increasing consumption of educational entertainment, because the company has been building up a good image distributing films in educational institutions and such would also prevent the erosion of its brand image. Not Sold to Larger Studios  Another recommendation for IMAX is that it should not be sold to a larger studio, and the main reason is that IMAX has already created its own competitive and corporate advantages and they are not easy to imitate. What IMAX should do is properly exploiting its assets, both tangible and intangible. Although the company in motion picture production industry is small and face competitors like Pixar, it should still stay on the track catching the trend by coordination and support from its other business ectors. Expanding Market Production Diversity IMAX’s new technology is standing in a niche market without sustainable growth. Even though the company is able to keep generate great revenue from equipment sales, saturation in USA will become an issue someday. To deal with that, IMAX has to make a short term strategy doing business in USA and expand to global market, because from Exhibit 11, we can see that films generated revenue approximately two time s overseas more as those in USA. However, for long term strategy, IMAX has to find a way to expand its business in a slow-growing market. For instance, the company can expand its product lines into home theater system because the case indicates a high usage rate of DVD, and the system is still highly relevant equipment to the current product lines. By doing so, IMAX can benefit from creating potential revenue from new sources and from keeping its brand image as a innovating company in the equipment supplier industry.

Admissions Essay - My Long Route to Medical School -- Medicine College

Admissions Essay - My Long Route to Medical School    I have always loved science and had planned a science career from an early age. However, life circumstances required me to follow a longer, less traditional route toward my goal, learning useful skills and gaining valuable experience along the way.    From the time of my parents' divorce, when I was eleven, I have had heavy family responsibilities. Initially, these responsibilities included caring for my three younger brothers and sister, and maintaining our home, while my mother worked.    I began to work as soon as I was able, as my income was required to help support my family. I was fortunate to find work in a picture framing shop, where I was allowed the flexibility to schedule my nearly full-time work hours around my classes in high school, and later, in college.    In 1977, I entered Arizona State University with the goal of pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. However, I found it difficult to achieve good grades, work nearly full-time, and attend to my responsibilities at home. After two years, it wa... ...ese skills include performing tasks efficiently, managing my time well, coping with stressful situations, being flexible, and working hard for long hours. Evidence of this is my 3.84 GPA since returning to ASU in 1991, and achieved while maintaining a parenting role with my nephew and working as many as 70 hours per week. In addition, my years of meeting the public in the workplace have allowed me to develop good interpersonal skills. I believe that these qualities, along with my love of science, will enable me to become a competent and humane physician.

The Driving Force Behind Macbeth Essay

Throughout the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth takes part in many self-destructing acts driven by many external forces, among which the witches’ prophecies are most influential. The three weird sisters initially led him to believe he is soon to be the king of Scotland. The idea the witches planted in Macbeth’s head, â€Å"all hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!† (I, iii, 50), began his conceded way of thinking. With this new false knowledge, Macbeth’s conscience begins to disintegrate and he decides that he must do anything to fulfill his destiny to be king. Ironically, this highly respected warrior who once was the king’s most loyal knight, suddenly is becoming a malicious animal willing to rip away the life of any person or thing impeding him from achieving his potential greatness. One main contribution to this change in priorities is the knowledge gained from the witches of Banquo’s sons becoming heir to the throne. T his is viewed as a threat to his success, providing an incentive to carry out the murder of Banquo and Fleance, which was the goal of the witches. When thinking of ridding of Banquo, Macbeth declares to himself, â€Å" Which in his death were perfect† (III, i, 115). This gives him a false sense of security knowing that he no longer has to compete for the throne. To complete this act all morals are put aside, parallel to his original decision to promote his self desires above all else. Of the three apparitions presented by the witches, one concerned with the disloyalty of Macduff seals Macbeth’s fate; leading him to take drastic measures against Macduff and his family. When going to carry out this act, Macbeth states, â€Å" This deed I’ll do before this purpose cool† (IV, I, 161). This shows that he feels urgency to commit the murder in a timely matter, before he has the chance to think twice. Although murdering an entire family would seem absurd to an average person, Macbeth finds no wrong in it, as he can only focus on becoming king. The predictions that the witches have led the naà ¯ve Macbeth to believe are the main influences that lead him deeper into his inevitable, corrupted future of self-destruction and denial.

A Soldier Literary Analysis Essay

We are kept on this earth to make a difference, but we do not know what for. The poem â€Å"A Soldier† by Robert Frost tells the story of a fallen soldier. A soldier has fallen on the battle field. We do not know why the soldier fell; only that fallen soldier knew why. In this poem Frost uses metaphor and personification to compare a soldier to a lance. First, Frost uses personification to compare a soldier to a lance. By doing this you do not know if the soldier is the lance or if he comes in to the story later. It also means that the soldier has fallen in battle, but we do not know why. In the poem it says â€Å"He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled† (â€Å"A Soldier† 1). Therefore, Frost uses personification to compare a soldier to a lance. Second, Frost uses simile to compare our knowledge of what happened to just being men. It is so because sometimes we look too closely at something, and we miss the big picture. Or, we look at the big picture and miss the little things. Like, we see the soldier’s death as insignificant. We only look at the big picture, and what someone else did. For example â€Å"If we who sight along it round the world, see nothing worthy to have been its mark, it is because like men we look to near, forgetting that as fitted to the sphere† (â€Å"A Soldier† 3-6). Although we sometimes don’t understand why someone’s life was significant, we always have honored the brave men that have fallen for our country. Finally, Frost uses personification to give human qualities to a missile. He does this by explaining what the missiles do. They fall, and rip the grass. Just like when a soldier is shot; they fall and rip the grass. In the poem it says â€Å"They make us cringe for metal-point on stone† (â€Å"A Soldier† 11). By saying this Frost has compared a soldier to a missile because when a missile makes impact on something it makes us cringe. When a soldier falls, it makes us cringe at the horror of it. Therefore, Frost used personification to compare a soldier to a missile. In conclusion Frost uses personification and simile to compare a soldier to a fallen lance and a missile. He also compares our carelessness to just being men. We are kept on this earth to make a difference, but we do not know what for. I believe that Frost is urging you to find your calling in the world. A soldier has fallen on the battle field. We do not know why the soldier fell; only that fallen soldier knew why. This is similar to the theme, we are on this planet for a reason, and it is up to us to find out why that is. Therefore, Frost unites personification and simile to help urge us find out our reason to be on this planet.

The Dictionary of Concise Writing

The Dictionary of Concise Writing The Dictionary of Concise Writing The Dictionary of Concise Writing By Maeve Maddox Serious bloggers understand the importance of concise writing. Unfortunately, great writing tips on brevity are scattered among many resources. Fortunately, a book called The Dictionary of Concise Writing crossed my desk. Written by Robert Fiske, The Dictionary of Concise Writing is the definitive guide to fat-free writing. This book literally contains its subtitle more than 10,000 alternatives to wordy phrases. For example, I wanted to lead this sentence with the phrase as an example. Instead I referenced the book and found the alternatives for example and for instance. Other great entries I use on a daily basis: as a result consequently; hence; so; then; therefor; thus past (previous; prior) experience experience is inclined to think (that) asserts; believes; claims; contends; feels; holds; maintains; says; thinks Each time you reference the book, you are training yourself to recognize wordy or redundant phrases. Definitely a good exercise! You can find the book on Amazon.com Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Book Reviews category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, WhetherDeck the Halls30 Words for Small Amounts

The Wounded Knee Massacre

The Wounded Knee Massacre   The massacre of hundreds of Native Americans at Wounded Knee in South Dakota on December 29, 1890, marked a particularly tragic milestone American history. The killing of mostly unarmed men, women, and children, was the last major encounter between the Sioux and U.S. Army troops, and it could be viewed as the end of the Plains Wars. The violence at Wounded Knee was rooted in the federal governments reaction to the ghost dance movement, in which a religious ritual centered around dancing became a potent symbol of defiance to white rule. As the ghost dance spread to Indian reservations throughout the West, the federal government began to regard it as a major threat and sought to suppress it. The tensions between white and Indians greatly increased, especially as federal authorities began to fear that the legendary Sioux medicine man Sitting Bull was about to become involved in the ghost dance movement. When Sitting Bull was killed while being arrested on December 15, 1890, the Sioux in South Dakota became fearful. Overshadowing the events of late 1890 were decades of conflicts between whites and Indians in the West. But one event, the massacre at the Little Bighorn of Col. George Armstrong Custer and his troops in June 1876 resonated most deeply. The Sioux in 1890 suspected that commanders in the U.S. Army felt a need to avenge Custer. And that made the Sioux especially suspicious of actions taken by soldiers who came to confront them over the ghost dance movement. Against that backdrop of mistrust, the eventual massacre at Wounded Knee arose out of a series of misunderstandings. On the morning of the massacre, it was unclear who fired the first shot. But once the shooting began, the U.S. Army troops cut down unarmed Indians with no restraint. Even artillery shells were fired at Sioux women and children who were seeking safety and running from the soldiers. In the aftermath of the massacre, the Army commander on the scene, Col. James Forsyth, was relieved of his command. However, an Army inquiry cleared him within two months, and he was restored to his command. The massacre, and the forcible rounding up of Indians following it, crushed any resistance to white rule in the West. Any hope the Sioux or other tribes had of being able to restore their way of life was obliterated. And life on the detested reservations became the plight of the American Indian. The Wounded Knee massacre faded into history. However, a book published in 1971, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, became a surprise best seller and brought the name of the massacre back to public awareness. The book by Dee Brown, a narrative history of the West told from the Indian point of view, struck a chord in America at a time of national skepticism and is widely considered a classic. And Wounded Knee came back in the news in 1973, when American Indian activists, as an act of civil disobedience, took over the site in a standoff with federal agents. Roots of the Conflict The ultimate confrontation at Wounded Knee was rooted in the movement of the 1880s to force Indians in the West onto government reservations. Following the defeat of Custer, the U.S. military was fixated on defeating any Indian resistance to forced resettlement. Sitting Bull, one of the most respected Sioux leaders, led a band of followers across the international border into Canada. The British government of Queen Victoria allowed them to live there and did not persecute them in any way. Yet conditions were very difficult, and Sitting Bull and his people eventually returned to South Dakota. In the 1880s, Buffalo Bill Cody, whose exploits in the West had become famous through dime novels, recruited Sitting Bull to join his famous Wild West Show. The show traveled extensively, and Sitting Bull was a huge attraction. After a few years of enjoying fame in the white world, Sitting Bull returned to South Dakota and life on a reservation. He was regarded with considerable respect by the Sioux. The Ghost Dance The ghost dance movement began with a member of the Paiute tribe in Nevada. Wovoka, who claimed to have religious visions, began preaching after recovering from a serious illness in early 1889. He claimed that God had revealed to him that a new age was about to dawn on earth. According to Wovoka’s prophecies, game which had been hunted to extinction would return, and Indians would restore their culture, which had been essentially destroyed during the decades of conflict with white settlers and soldiers. Part of Wovoka’s teaching involved the practice of ritual dancing. Based on older round dances performed by Indians, the ghost dance had some special characteristics. It was generally performed over a series of days. And special attire, which became known as ghost dance shirts, would be worn. It was believed that those wearing the ghost dance would be protected against harm, including bullets fired by U.S. Army soldiers. As the ghost dance spread throughout western Indian reservations, officials in the federal government became alarmed. Some white Americans argued that the ghost dance was essentially harmless and was a legitimate exercise of religious freedom. Others in the government saw malicious intent behind the ghost dancing. The practice was seen as a way to energize Indians to resist white rule. And by late 1890 the authorities in Washington began giving orders for the U.S. Army to be ready to take action to suppress the ghost dance. Sitting Bull Targeted In 1890 Sitting Bull was living, along with a few hundred other Hunkpapa Sioux, at the Standing Rock reservation in South Dakota. He had spent time in a military prison, and had also toured with Buffalo Bill, but he seemed to have settled down as a farmer. Still, he always seemed in rebellion to the rules of the reservation and was perceived by some white administrators as a potential source of trouble. The U.S. Army began sending troops into South Dakota in November 1890, planning to suppress the ghost dance and the rebellious movement it seemed to represent. The man in charge of the Army in the area, General Nelson Miles, came up with a plan to get Sitting Bull to surrender peacefully, at which point he could be sent back to prison. Miles wanted Buffalo Bill Cody to approach Sitting Bull and essentially lure him into surrendering. Cody apparently traveled to South Dakota, but the plan fell apart and Cody left and returned to Chicago. Army officers decided to use Indians who were working as policemen on the reservation to arrest Sitting Bull. A detachment of 43 tribal police officers arrived at Sitting Bull’s log cabin on the morning of December 15, 1890. Sitting Bull agreed to go with the officers, but some of his followers, who were generally described as ghost dancers, tried to intervene. An Indian shot the commander of the police, who raised his own weapon to return fire and accidentally wounded Sitting Bull. In the confusion, Sitting Bull was then fatally shot by another officer. The outbreak of gunfire brought a charge by a detachment of soldiers who had been positioned nearby in case of trouble. Witnesses to the violent incident recalled a peculiar spectacle: a show horse which had been presented to Sitting Bull years earlier by Buffalo Bill heard the gunfire and must have thought it was back in the Wild West Show. The horse began performing intricate dance moves as the violent scene unfolded. The Massacre The killing of Sitting Bull was national news. The New York Times, on December 16, 1890, published a story at the top of the front page headlined â€Å"The Last of Sitting Bull.† The sub-headlines said he had been killed while resisting arrest. In South Dakota, the death of Sitting Bull stoked fear and distrust. Hundreds of his followers departed the Hunkpapa Sioux camps and began to scatter. One band, led by the chief Big Foot, began traveling to meet up with one of the old chiefs of the Sioux, Red Cloud. It was hoped Red Cloud should protect them from the soldiers. As the group, a few hundred men, women, and children, moved through the harsh winter conditions, Big Foot became quite ill. On December 28, 1890, Big Foot and his people were intercepted by cavalry troopers. An officer in the Seventh Cavalry, Major Samuel Whitside, met with Big Foot under a flag of truce. Whitside assured Big Foot his people would not be harmed. And he made arrangements for Big Foot to travel in an Army wagon, as he was suffering from pneumonia. The cavalry was going to escort the Indians with Big Foot to a reservation. That night the Indians set up camp, and the soldiers set up their bivouacs nearby. At some point in the evening another cavalry force, commanded by Col. James Forsyth, arrived on the scene. The new group of soldiers were accompanied by an artillery unit. On the morning of December 29, 1890, the U.S. Army troops told the Indians to gather in a group. They were ordered to surrender their weapons. The Indians stacked up their guns, but the soldiers suspected they were hiding more weapons. Soldiers began searching the Sioux tepees. Two rifles were found, one of which belonged to an Indian named Black Coyote, who was probably deaf. Black Coyote refused to give up his Winchester, and in a confrontation with him a shot was fired. The situation quickly accelerated as soldiers began shooting at the Indians. Some of the male Indians drew knives and faced the soldiers, believing that the ghost dance shirts they were wearing would protect them from bullets. They were shot down. As Indians, including many women and children, tried to flee, the soldiers continued firing. Several artillery pieces, which had been positioned on a nearby hill, began to rake the fleeing Indians. The shells and shrapnel killed and wounded scores of people. The entire massacre lasted for less than an hour. It was estimated that about 300 to 350 Indians were killed. Casualties among the cavalry amounted to 25 dead and 34 wounded. It was believed most of the killed and wounded among the U.S. Army troops had been caused by friendly fire. Wounded Indians were taken on wagons to the Pine Ridge reservation, where Dr. Charles Eastman, who had been born a Sioux and educated at schools in the East, sought to treat them. Within days, Eastman traveled with a group to the massacre site to search for survivors. They did find some Indians who were miraculously still alive. But they also discovered hundreds of frozen corpses, some as many as two miles away. Most of the bodies were gathered by soldiers and buried in a mass grave. Reaction to the Massacre In the East, the massacre at Wounded Knee was portrayed as a battle between â€Å"hostiles† and soldiers. Stories on the front page of the New York Times in the final days of 1890 gave the Army version of events. Though the number of people killed, and the fact that many were women and children, created interest in official circles. Accounts told by Indian witnesses were reported and appeared in newspapers. On February 12, 1890, an article in the New York Times was headlined â€Å"Indians Tell Their Story.† The sub-headline read, â€Å"A Pathetic Recital of the Killing of Women and Children.† The article gave witness accounts, and ended with a chilling anecdote. According to a minister at one of the churches at the Pine Ridge reservation, one of the Army scouts told him he had heard an officer say, after the massacre, â€Å"Now we have avenged Custer’s death.† The Army launched an investigation of what happened, and Col. Forsyth was relieved of his command. But he was quickly cleared. A story in the New York Times on February 13, 1891, was headlined â€Å"Col. Forsyth Exonerated.† The sub-headlines read â€Å"His Action at Wounded Knee Justified† and â€Å"The Colonel Restored to Command of His Gallant Regiment.† Legacy of Wounded Knee After the massacre at Wounded Knee, the Sioux came to accept that resistance to white rule was futile. The Indians came to live on the reservations. The massacre itself faded into history. However, in the early 1970s, the name of Wounded Knee came to take on resonance, largely due to Dee Brown’s book. A native American resistance movement put a new focus on the massacre as a symbol of broken promises and betrayals by white America.

The European Community Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The European Community Law - Essay Example The Maastricht Treaty transformed the EC into the EU. The total number of EU member countries is 25. The EU has a number of objectives, chief among them being to promote and expand cooperation among member states in economics, trade, social issues, foreign policy, security, defense and judicial matters. Under the Maastricht Treaty, European citizenship was granted to citizens of each member state, border controls were relaxed and suitable modifications in the customs and immigration agreements were brought about in order to allow European citizens greater freedom to live, work, and study in any of the member states2. The European Court of Justice developed constitutional principles in order to ensure the effective and uniform application of Community law within the Member States.The distinction between the EC and national legal systems and the maintenance of the supremacy of the Community law, direct and indirect effects, loyalty and subsidiarity are important factors of the European legal order. However, the development of these principles has not been uniformly well received by the Member States, because of the adverse effect that they have had on the balance of the relationship between Community law and Member States national law. In EC law the constitutional principles have been linked with the judicial review principles. Many constitutional courts, including those of Germany and Italy, refused to accept these constitutional principles in the absence of the acceptance by the ECJ of specific judicial review principles, such as human rights protection. While the judicial review principles have been developed to ensure the effective and uniform application of Community administrative law, it has been argued that the manner of their development is the clearest demonstration that the ECJ has taken on a role larger than that originally envisaged for  it in the Treaty3.

The Future of Policing in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Future of Policing in America - Essay Example By way of example, the rate of kids joining gangs has increased. Where Hispanic and Asian girls were once satisfied being the girlfriend of a gang member, now they are starting their own gangs. (Felton, 2008) Additionally, as technology becomes more sophisticated, so does the crimes associated with it. Thus, it can reasonably inferred that with an increase in technology, will come an increase in crime. There are various forms of police technology constantly being developed. The Moller M400 Skycar is perhaps the most impressive. With FAA certification expected before 2009, according to Moller International (n.d.), the first deliveries are expected to take place shortly thereafter. As with all new technologies, the first units will not be cheap. The first 500 production models are currently listed between $1,000,000, and $500,000 depending on the delivery position. After that, if production continues and accelerates, Moller is currently estimating that the M400 will sell for between $50,000 and $80,000. This is far cheaper than current private airplanes, and with much improved performance and safety. But, it has been a long time in coming. With the US military currently interested in its development, a successful production vehicle is viable in the near future. Harman (2000). The information contained in Electronic Crime Scene Investigation-A Guide for First Responders (available free of charge and downloadable from the Department of Justice) helps line cops solve crimes that are computer related. Step by step it explains the basic workings of the computer and provides the names of the various parts that make it work. It does not try to go into the technical aspects of this medium, but keeps it simple for the layman to understand. Not only does it talk about just computers, but really as the title suggests, anything that deals with electronic communication. Criminals are certainly using pagers, cell phones, cordless phones, answering machines, digital cameras and the like to commit there criminal acts. Clearly the whole range of electronic communication and information storing, has got to be looked at by law enforcement as a method that can be used by criminals, to exploit as a tool to victimize. The book explains and identifies the various parts of the computer that should be identified by law enforcement as possible evidence of various electronic criminal acts. The Central Processing Unit, keyboard, mouse and monitor are but a few of the main components of the computer that must be identified by law enforcement officers when engaged in the preliminary investigation of electronic crime. Modems, speakers, fax machines and printers are also additional pieces of equipment that must be identified. The fact that most of these electronic devices have the ability to store information must be part of the knowledge that the preliminary crime scene responder possesses. How to access that information has got to be one of the most important aspects of the investigation. Moreover, knowing that you do not have the expertise to access the information is critical.What role will technology play in crime scene