Free Essays on Pop Culture Vs. Religion

The conflict between pop culture and religious values is an extremely popular and often overlooked bicultural bind. In many women’s lives not recognizing this bind could be emotionally damaging and lead to living double lives. Many girls that are raised in Christian homes are not exposed to true pop culture until they reach high school. They are often sheltered from the world by their blood family and their church family. Once they are exposed to pop culture and they can start making their own decisions the line between right and wrong becomes gray to them and they fall into a trap of living one life to please their parents and then another life to fit in with their friends. When this happens they tend to lose sight of who they really are and what really makes them happy. I discovered this bicultural bind in my own life when I was a freshman in high school. For me I began modeling at the age of fourteen and I was exposed to all sorts of things that were accepted as normal in that environment, but looked upon as a sin in my home. I began to become confused and I remained confused about whom I really was and what I believed was right and wrong until only about a year ago. When I finally decided to gain control of my life and determine my own set of beliefs I began to wonder if other women have gone through the same thing. Through research I found that many women have gone through this and some are still involved in this bind. In Paula Gunn Allen’s article, â€Å"Where I Come from is Like This† she describes how Native American women are looked upon differently by American society than they are by their Native American tribe.(Allen, Course Packet) This is her bicultural bind. The bicultural bind I have researched is similar in that women are looked upon in the Christian church as being very submissive to her husband. She is there to serve him and her family and must be a classy lady, yet also conservative. This idea... Free Essays on Pop Culture Vs. Religion Free Essays on Pop Culture Vs. Religion The conflict between pop culture and religious values is an extremely popular and often overlooked bicultural bind. In many women’s lives not recognizing this bind could be emotionally damaging and lead to living double lives. Many girls that are raised in Christian homes are not exposed to true pop culture until they reach high school. They are often sheltered from the world by their blood family and their church family. Once they are exposed to pop culture and they can start making their own decisions the line between right and wrong becomes gray to them and they fall into a trap of living one life to please their parents and then another life to fit in with their friends. When this happens they tend to lose sight of who they really are and what really makes them happy. I discovered this bicultural bind in my own life when I was a freshman in high school. For me I began modeling at the age of fourteen and I was exposed to all sorts of things that were accepted as normal in that environment, but looked upon as a sin in my home. I began to become confused and I remained confused about whom I really was and what I believed was right and wrong until only about a year ago. When I finally decided to gain control of my life and determine my own set of beliefs I began to wonder if other women have gone through the same thing. Through research I found that many women have gone through this and some are still involved in this bind. In Paula Gunn Allen’s article, â€Å"Where I Come from is Like This† she describes how Native American women are looked upon differently by American society than they are by their Native American tribe.(Allen, Course Packet) This is her bicultural bind. The bicultural bind I have researched is similar in that women are looked upon in the Christian church as being very submissive to her husband. She is there to serve him and her family and must be a classy lady, yet also conservative. This idea...

The Proud and the Prudish

The Proud and the Prudish The Proud and the Prudish The Proud and the Prudish By Mark Nichol This post discusses two words that because of their disparate meanings are not easily recognized as cognates, as well as a couple of others that are, as a result of disguised spelling, perhaps equally unlikely to be associated. The words detailed here derive ultimately from the Latin verb prodesse, meaning â€Å"useful,† by way of prode (â€Å"advantageous†). The descendant French adjective prud, meaning â€Å"valiant,† was borrowed into English as proud but came to refer not only to esteem of oneself or another but also arrogance. It also pertains to exultation or spirited behavior or to magnificent display. (By extension, it also refers to a raised or swollen prominence, such as when referring to a scar.) The state of feeling proud in the senses of both reasonable and excessive esteem is called pride, and one considered to have too much pride is called prideful and suffers from pridefulness. (In addition, inspired by the regal bearing of lions, a group of these animals is called a pride.) Meanwhile, prowess, meaning sometimes â€Å"bravery† but usually â€Å"skill† (generally in physical feats), derives from prud. Prude, referring to a person of excessive modesty, also stems from prud. In that word’s sense in French of â€Å"brave,† it became part of the compound prudhomme, or â€Å"brave man.† The feminine equivalent, prudefemme, referred to noblewomen, who were expected to demonstrate propriety, but the first element came to pertain to an excess of that quality to the point of priggishness. The quality of being a prude is prudery or prudishness, and such behavior is described as prudish. A related word not easily recognized as such is improve, stemming from prode and meaning â€Å"make better† or â€Å"make good use of.† An act of improving, or something improved, is an improvement, and something that can be improved is improvable. Self-improvement, meanwhile, is an act or process of attempting to improve one’s circumstances in life. 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About TalkingYay, Hooray, Woo-hoo and Other Acclamations20 Classic Novels You Can Read in One Sitting

Living in the Digital World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Living in the Digital World - Essay Example It is therefore evident that this evaluation may be subject to distortion and give incorrect data. Self-reported data may be subject to an individual’s aspirations, circumstances and comparison with others. Hence, an individual may intentionally give invalid information in regards to his or her happiness. The article accepts this shortcoming in measuring happiness but does not come up with strategies to overcome the possibility of collecting data (Blanchflower, 2003, p. 3). The author suggests that human happiness cannot be understood without listening to what people say about themselves. However, it is possible to collect accurate data given the fact the world has become more digital. Accurate data can be recorded to evaluate a person’s level of happiness by analyzing his or her activities both online and offline. It is necessary to take precaution when collecting data online as people may give information that cannot be substantiated. Boerro and Pascoe (2007) also not ed that the lack of real-life interaction in social networking sites can make respondents feel less obliged to give real information. The study â€Å"Money, Sex and Happiness† does not explore the possibility of alternative ways of collecting reliable data from the responds. The author stresses the significance of sex in relation to a person’s happiness by pointing out that almost all adults engage in sex quite often in their lives. According to Magnet (2007), sex was rated as the activity that produced the single largest amount of happiness. Thus, the study indicates that sex is an empirical determinant of happiness in the society. The authors are not clear on how the information on the sexual activity of individuals will be collected and substantiated. The article notes that, â€Å"[a]lthough, for the sake of persuasive identification, it would be desirable to have instrumental variables for sexual activity, in this paper we follow the simpler route of providing sin gle-equation estimates with no adjustment for possible endogeneity† (Blanchflower, 2003, p. 4).  

Life on Mars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Life on Mars - Essay Example Mars is the fourth planet of the solar system. It is in direct contrast to Venus with its hot and opaque atmosphere (Chambers 1999). Mars is a barren desert. It is covered with red dust that is why Mars is also called the Red Planet. There is no water on Mars. It is 1,524 A.U away from the sun (McKay, et. al 1996). Mars orbits the sun once after every 687 days (Baucom 2006). Its equatorial diameter is 6,787 km. In terms of radius, Mars as compared to Earth is nearly half of the Earth. Mars has two moons, called Phobos and Deimos (Chambers 1999). In terms of climate, Mars resembles Earth. The seasons of the planet Mars are nearly double as compared to the Earth’s seasons (Tosca, et. al 2008). In winter season, the temperature falls to -140 degree centigrade and in the summer season, the temperature reaches maximum at 20 degree centigrade (Krasnopolskya, et.al 2004). The atmosphere of Mars is unable to store solar heat because it is thin as compared to Earth’s atmosphere (Sagan 1980). The water that is present on the surface of Mars is in forms of water ice. Dry ice (carbon dioxide) is also present on the surface of Mars due to which, the ratio of carbon dioxide is maximum of the surface of Mars (Chambers 1999). There are no seas on Mars. Mount Olympus, the highest mountain of the whole solar system is located on Mars. As compared to Mount Everest, it is three times higher. It has many volcanoes in it. The atmosphere of Mars is able to protect the planet from the meteorites that try to enter its atmosphere (McKay, et. al 1996). Viking conducted several experiments for discovery of presence of life on Mars. Martian soil was accessed by means of experiments in order to evaluate the existence of microorganisms (Krasnopolskya, et.al 2004). After analyzing the results of the experiments, no organic molecules were found from the conducted experiments. In the year 2003, there were traces of

Human Rights and World Wide Web Essay Example for Free

Human Rights and World Wide Web Essay These findings lend support to research showing a negative correlation between corporate social responsibility and profitability. Introduction We are witness to the metamorphosis of late capitalism, the interpenetration of postindustrialism with postmodern culture. Spectators (consumers and investors) are given only narrative fragments to construct worker and ecological stories from the vantage points of entry authored by corporate public relations. Corporate authorial-power becomes hegemonic as narrative plots script actions and perception in ways unseen or taken for granted. Consumers in the first world cannot see the ecological or work conditions because these locations are kept as strategic secrets. All one ever hears are stories directly authored by corporate interests acting as gatekeeper, authoring ventriloquist stories on behalf of workers and ecology. What is the relevance of this to Tamara? The play, Tamara, written by John Krizanc (1981, 1989) entraps us as spectators in a maze of story and character choices where our own complicity in civic responsibility stares back at us. Some characters have a voice and access to any spectators; others have either a weak voice or limited access. In Tamara Manifesto (Boje, 2001), there was a call to heed the interpenetration of postindustrialism and postmodern culture, the intertextuality of production, distribution, and consumption. Manguel (1988:1-2) gives us a starting definition of traditional theatrics: Theater, the representation of events as if they happened before your eyes begins with the convention of all spectacle: a division of reality. One space allotted to the audience, the passive viewer, seated to observe; another to the play, the actors, moving to perform. In one space theater, spectators and performers must follow the linear storyline of authorial authority and view the performance from the viewpoint the playwright has determined will be seen by the spectators. In Tamara, the barrier between spectator and actor spaces has been breeched; the spaces co-mingle and spectators become actors on many stages. My theory is that there are three divided spaces with narrators telling stories that connect them operating in a kind of Tamara interconnecting three theatrical spaces: 1. First, a consumptive space of spectators, the consumers and investors from the first world; 2. Second, a distributive space is reserved for performing executives, PR managers, and consultants, who mediate stories performed to the first space on behalf of those in a third space; 3. Third, a productive and ecological space, of the Third World where mostly young women toil and where environmental laws are more lax; workers and forests can not be seen or heard by those in the first space (and maybe not the second). We will look to see how in one industry (athletic apparel) spectators are given a few more choices, in what we call the Athletic Apparel Industry Tamara, to accompany whatever character and story they choose, masters or servants from country to country (or factory to showroom), knowing that there are simultaneous performances and they can not be in every place at one time. In short, consumers and investors rely upon the sharing of stories to construct their image of what is going on. Past examinations of the connection of storytelling and corporate strategy have focused on content analysis and a recent call has been to examine events or texts from a storytelling perspective (Barry Elmes, 1997). Some recent research recognizes that strategic orientations change over time (Black Farias, 2000) and/or may be simultaneously present (Ashmos, Duchan, McDaniel, 2000) and/or may be emergent (Mintzberg, 1987, 1990,1994; Mintzberg McHugh, 1985; Mintzberg Waters, 1985). Ways to determine changes in strategic orientation have included inference from actions (Grimm Smith, 1997) and the examination of archival documents, such as letters to shareholders (Landrum, 2000). We suggest that a more inclusive or Tamara approach is needed to show the complexity of forces that cause the ground to move. We assume there is something about the movement from a divided space in modern theater to the interpenetrating one of postmodern theater that makes Tamara a fit metaphor to analyze the Athletic Apparel Industry. In the past decades, the corporate forte was to sustain the modernist barrier between spaces, as in contemporary theater the spectators sat in their respective spaces and did not question the veracity of the performed narratives. In the last decade, as consumers and investors (first space) visited the stage themselves and entered the third space, or when the workers of the Third World were transported to the first one, then a more democratic theatrics of story production, distribution, and consumption became enacted on the global stage. The power of the corporate gatekeeper was dissolved. This study presumes that storytelling is useful in revealing corporate strategic orientation and in revealing when complexity forces changes and disrupts their orientations and postures. Stories are particularly useful in showing how individuals or corporations make sense of the world. Stories are sensemaking narratives of an organization (Boje, 1991, 1995; Czarniawska, 1998; Frye, 1957; Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, Zilber, 1998; Riessman, 1993; White, 1973). To explore storytelling and strategy intertextuality, we review an industry context that has been changing drastically over the past decade. The athletic shoe industry was chosen because it is a mature industry and has undergone many changes since the 1980s, such as the movement toward overseas production, increasing globalization, and involvement of activists over labor and environmental issues (Choe, 1999; Shetty, 1996). But it is the decade of the 1990s that has seen the most turbulent and complex changes, and its two most active players have been Nike and Reebok. For example, in 1998 Corporate Watch decided to turn their Greenwash Award into a Sweatwash Award and gave the prize to the Fair Labor Association, newly created by the White House Apparel Industry Partnership. They stated that, The Association will have the power to grant companies the right to sew no sweat labels in their clothing in return for what labor activists fear will amount to cosmetic improvements in sweatshop conditions. (Light, 1998:1) Corporations led by Nike, Reebok, Liz Claiborne and Phillips-Van Heusen (then L. L. Bean and Patagonia) joined with some unknown human rights groups on the taskforce to propose the creation of the Fair Labor Association (FLA). The more radical contingent, UNITE, (the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees), the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility-were taskforce members who resigned their White House Apparel Partnership positions to protest the weak monitoring practices, no living wage and no right to organize provisions of the FLA. Sweatwash was a reaction to watching two decades of corporate environmentalism become a full court PR press with slick advertising to present a green corporate image to the global stage while co-opting both the human and environmental rights movements. UNITE (1998) argues the FLA was created by a subgroup of the White House task force, consisting mostly of industry representatives from companies such as Nike, Reebok and Liz Claiborne and a few human rights groups. The FLA Clean Clothes/ No Sweat tag was the next industry strategy to mollify consumer and investors who were hearing more stories of exploitation; corporations feared their public image was tarnished by increased activism. In 1998, Nike announced plans to phase out PVC plastics in its shoes and other products and painted its web sites with plans to certify all of its 600 subcontract factories in IS014000 environmental standards. (This followed the 1997 release of the Ernst Young audit showing violations of Vietnamese environmental laws. Reebok, on the other hand, uses part of its advertising budget to give out Human Rights Awards (since 1992), while pretending to consumers and investors its products are `Made in the USA rather than being mostly made in China. Both firms did not just become enlightened one day to environmentalism and human rights, they are responding to public opinion and to amateur actors who are taking the global stage, entering the board room and shareh older meeting asking for independent monitoring of corporate claims (Introductory Guide To Unplugging Corporations, 2001). This study will examine the letters to shareholders of the top two firms in this industry, Nike and Reebok, to trace their environmental and social responsibility rhetoric (Landrum, 2000). To focus exclusively on the environmental and social responsibility narratives, we review Bojes (1999) model and classify the rhetoric in the letters to shareholders following his classification system. We follow with examples of Nike and Reeboks use of each type of rhetoric in their letters, showing the frequency of use of each type of rhetoric, and making some observations regarding Nike and Reeboks environmental and social responsibility rhetoric. Rhetoric in Use Boje (1999) offers a model to classify the environmental and social responsibility rhetoric of corporations. He identifies classifications ranging from a denial of responsibility for environmental and social problems to the embracing of green goals as central to the mission of the organization. These levels of response are: Denial Response One, the first response, is Denial. In Denial, the company denies accusations and ignores problems in their environmental and labor practices. Our hypothesis is that this can work when the three theatrical spaces remain bounded and divided, so that only the corporate executive or PR staff mediates what is going on to the other two spaces. In the Nike (1990-1999) and Reebok (1990-1999) letters, we looked for evidence of denial of problems or for evidence of ignoring problems related to environmental and labor practices. Nike Denial This section will provide some examples of passages coded within the Denial genre of environmental and social responsibility rhetoric. We offer our rationale for coding the passage within this genre. In the following 1994 passage, Nike chooses to criticize the media for their coverage of Nike problems. I coded this passage as denial since Nike refuses to acknowledge the problems that have been exposed by the media. 118: The blinder mentality is bad enough when judging the business world, but 119: it is characteristic of a more serious virus that is affecting the 120: coverage (or non-coverage) of significant cultural and political 121: stories. The sad truth is, as television news in general, and CNN in 122: particular, becomes ncreasingly invested in our lives, the print media 123: are pushed to greater extremes, forced to choose survival over 124: integrity, the most entertaining story over the real story, until we 125: come to this: The New York Times reduced to Vecsey on NIKE. The following passage from the 1995 Nike letter shows Nike again criticizing the media and Wall Street for failing to recognize Nike as a sound investment. Nike neglects to make any mention of the parti cular media exposes that have uncovered Nikes poor labor practices; thus, I have coded the passage as denial. 8: This brings us back to my frustration and, I am sad to say, the 89: futility of this document. It simply does not matter what we say in 90: words or put in numbers in the annual report. This poor little binder 91: is simply overwhelmed by electronic and print sound bites, or ignored 92: by the show biz-oriented media who convey a point of view in conflict 93: with sound investment. 94: 95: As Director John Jaqua says, This has reached the point of 96: ridicularity. 97: 98: So how, in that world, can you understand the who, what, when, where 99: and why of any company, especially one as controversial as NIKE? 00: 101: The sad answer: Cant really. It would be easy if we could bring 102: everybody to the NIKE Campus, or take everybody to 103: the Final Four, or the Olympic Trials, or the World Cup, or a Nebraska 104: high school football game, or a pick-up game on 125th Str eet. Thats 105: the world NIKE lives in. But, we cant do that. 106: 107: Instead, well send our managers back to do what they do: develop and 108: grow the best global company possible, and let the hurricane of media 109: hype blow on around us. The following Nike 1996 passage blames the media for blasting their overseas practices. Even though they have finally acknowledged this particular problem exposed by the media, they choose not to discuss it within the letter to shareholders or within the body of the annual report. Still, Nike did publish a 10-page supplement defending Nikes position; however, it only further exemplifies their denial of the problem. 9: Yet no sooner had the great year ended than we were hit by a series of 10: blasts from the media about our practices overseas. 11: 12: So I sat with a dilemma: Use this space to answer our critics 13: isrepresentations, which would leave little room for anything else, or 14: try to give our owners the bigger picture of their company. 15: 16: I decided to do the latter with, like Roger Maris home run record, an 17: asterisk. We answer the overseas questions in a supplement that is 18: included in the annual report mailing. The following 1997 Nike passage continues to suggest that Nike is failing to acknowledge the problems associated with their overseas lab or practices despite the fact that they have been repeatedly detailed in the media. 3: To do that, I first have to take a second to talk about the filter 34: obstacle, that haze we have to fight through to explain what goes on 35: around this company. 36: 37: NIKE (and the entire industry) tends to be a bit misunderstood. The 38: media prefer to treat us all as the entertainment portion of the 39: business world. So, they feel free to exaggerate, to interpret, to 40: extrapolate. To say they are prone to hyperbole would be an 41: understatement. To say that is how they make their living would not. Reebok Denial No Reebok letters were coded in this category. Green Gloss/Green Wash Response Two is Green Gloss or Green Wash. During this phase, the company launches public relations campaigns to counteract negative publicity or accusations of activists. Nike Green Gloss/Green Wash In the following 1998 Nike excerpt, the company finally begins to acknowledge that labor practices are affecting their bottom line; however, I view this acknowledgment as more of an effort to discontinue denial and patronize the public rather than to make a meaningful effort to change the situation. 24: So, what knocked us down in 1998? 25: 26: Asia brown shoes labor practices resignations ayoffs 27: boring ads. Also, we have been criticized for our headquarters 28: expansion. But understand this: We need a much bigger place to house 29: all our troubles. I have also coded the 1997 Nike passage, mentioned previously (lines 33-41), as another example of green gloss/green wash. The companys defense of themselves in a 10-page supplement not only represented a denial of the problem, but also a public relations effort to justify their practices. Reebok Green Gloss/Green Wash No Reebok letters were coded in this category. Strategic Awareness Response Three is Strategic Awareness. During this phase, there is minimal compliance yet awareness exists of the need for change. Nike Strategic Awareness In the following 1998 Nike passage, the company suggests that the media is slowly becoming more knowledgeable of its questionable overseas labor practices. However, this ostensible change in media attitude is due to the fact that Nike has put forth a good-faith effort to improve their labor practices, and in turn, the media has simply begun to report these changes. 93: On our labor practices: Our friends in the media are slowly becoming 94: more knowledgeable. This is good. It means that consumers are 95: actually getting informed rather than just alarmed. This, too, will 96: take time. Meanwhile, the contrasts between us and our competitors and 97: other companies in the needle trade will show more each year. The following 1998 Nike passage suggests that it realizes that Americans are aware of their overseas practices, and accordingly, that Nike should be credited for this shift in public consciousness. 99: There is an interesting relationship going on between the Asia economic 100: crisis and the labor practices issue, which would take many chairmans [sic] 101: letters to cover. Instead, let me cut straight to the moral of the 102: story: It is simply not acceptable for America to continue to be 103: moated Reebok Strategic Awareness No Reebok letters were in this category. Strategic Acquisition Response Four is Strategic Acquisition, or a voluntary move toward environmental audits and social responsibility. Although Nike makes no mention of their environmental audits, 1997 marked their first voluntary, environmental audit and was conducted by Ernst ; Young. Nike Strategic Acquisition No Nike letters were coded in this category. Reebok Strategic Acquisition Throughout their letters, Reebok makes reference to the fact that they seek to help make a better world and to make a difference. This is evidenced by the following passages from 1990 (lines 47-48) and 1991 (lines 59-60). The company has made a voluntary movement toward being socially responsible. 47: a high level of consciousness and a sense of responsibility to help 48: make a better world. 59: to make a difference for our consumers 60: and ourselves. Flagship Implementation Response Five is Flagship Implementation, in which the firm makes proactive moves to change their core mission and to include green goals. Nike Flagship Implementation No Nike letters were in this category. Reebok Flagship Implementation In the following passages, Reebok makes mention of the various programs and initiatives they started in order to become a socially responsible company. 1992 60: Our push for success, however, has not lessened our desire to make a 61: difference in the larger world. Reebok is unique in its dedication to 62: human rights. Through our Human Rights Awards Program, which just com 63: pleted its fifth year, we strive to bring attention to young people 64: around the world who advance the cause of human rights. This year, 65: through a grant from The Reebok Foundation, a new human rights program 66: began. WITNESS, a program providing video cameras, facsimile machines 67: and computers to human rights organizations, allows human rights acti 68: vists to document abuses of justice for the world to see. 1993 61: Finally, let us note that the aspirations of Reebok extend beyond the 62: bottom line. Our commitment to the pursuit of human rights continues. 3: Once again, we recognized brave young people for their stand on human 64: rights one each from Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, and the United States. 65: Our Reebok Foundation helped inner city young people in United States 66: urban areas. Our Human Rights Production Standards, in place throughout 67: the world, helped assure that workers manufacturing Reebok pr oducts 68: benefited from quality conditions and fair labor practices. 1994 117: Another dimension of Reebok that enhances our global brand image is our 118: goal to be in the forefront of the corporate movement toward social 19: responsibility. We are the acknowledged corporate leader in promoting 120: human rights. Young people around the world, we believe look to 121: companies that stand for more than their great products. We 122: established the Reebok Human Rights Awards program in 1988, and we 123: continue to support it. This commitment led us to establish the Reebok 124: Human Rights Production Standards, through which we strive to improve 125: labor practices in overseas factories that make our products. This 126: commitment also is why we are working to make products that are 127: environmentally sound. We believe that companies should stand for 128: something. We believe our brand should stand for something. Personal 129: athletic achievement is a powerful message, but it is not enough on its 130: own. Reebok does stand for something, and as a result a new generation 131: of young people are able to see that a company can be a source not only 132: of exciting products, but of social good. 1996 55: Our Company continued its long-held commitment to human rights with the 56: Ninth Annual Human Rights Awards in 1996, honoring young activists in 57: their struggle for human rights around the world. Our efforts in this 58: area extend beyond this recognition program and include our 59: establishment in 1992 of human rights production standards that we hold 60: our factories accountable to follow. Most recently, in 1996 in 61: response to the problem of child labor widely utilized in the stitching 62: of soccer balls, we entered into an agreement with our supplier to 63: build a soccer ball manufacturing facility in Pakistan that will allow 64: us to guarantee that all Reebok soccer balls will be made without the 65: rise of child labor. 148: we will continue to focus our efforts 49: on making a difference to our customers to our employees and to our 150: shareholders. 1998 42: I believe that the values that Reebok International stands for 43: as a company are precisely those values that consumers are looking for in todays marketplace. 84: One of the crucial elements of this plan is the repositioning of Reebok Unlimited based on the 85: concept of humanity. Actually, this is not so much of a repositioning as a rediscovery of the 86: values of creativity, free-spiritedness and individualism that we have always represented as a 87: company, but have deviated from recently in our advertising and marketing. Based on a return 88: to these universal human values, we believe Reebok Unlimited is in a unique position to appeal 89: to both the authentic performance and casual lifestyle markets at the same time. Table 1 Table 2: Figure One: Frequency of the use of environmental narratives by Nike and Reebok over the tenyear period, 1990 to 1999 134: WE STAND FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING. 135: 136: Over the past year, a lot has been written about our industry and the issue of human rights. 137: We have been a leader in this area for more than a decade. Running a company involves a lot 138: more than crunching numbers and whatever else gets in your way. It involves a commitment 139: of equal respect and fair treatment for all people. Simply put, this is the Reebok way. It will 140: always be the Reebok way. As concern for human rights issues grows among consumers 141: particularly younger consumers we believe our leadership and reputation will translate into 142: greater preference for our brands and products. Although Nike makes little mention of their environmental practices, labor practices, or social responsibility, those passages included in the letters primarily engage in denial, green gloss, and strategic awareness rhetorical styles. Nikes main response mode during the 1990s was denial. Reebok, on the other hand, mentioned their social responsibility efforts in many of their letters and were primarily engaged in strategic acquisition and flagship implementation rhetoric. Reeboks main response mode was flagship implementation. The companies were at opposite ends of the spectrum in their primary response mode during the 1990s. Both companies, however, were engaged in poor labor practices in their overseas operations (Baskin, 1996; Ernst Young, 1997; Fireman, 1999; Manning, 1997a-g; Nguyen, 1997; Reebok, 1999). The difference is that Nike was denying the problems while Reebok was trying to be open about the problems and address them. Interestingly, we can conclude that being socially responsible and environmentally aware did not result in increased market share or profitability for Reebok. They continued to lose sales and market share throughout the 1990s (Figures 4 and 5). Reebok expected that their social responsibility stance would differentiate them from the competition. Rather, research and development and marketing are key success factors for this industry and Nike outperforms Reebok in both areas. Conclusion Boje (1999) puts forth a model of stages of environmental and social responsibility rhetoric. He suggests that rhetoric falls somewhere in a continuum ranging from Denial to Flagship Implementation. On one end of this continuum, companies may deny any responsibility for or ownership of their negative actions. The next stage of this continuum reflects rhetoric that glosses over issues and uses public relations campaigns in response to negative publicity. The third stage of Bojes (1999) continuum is rhetoric that acknowledges a need for change and puts forth gestures of minimal compliance. The fourth stage on this continuum is rhetoric that shows voluntary movement toward social responsibility and the last stage on the continuum is flagship implementation of environmental practices and embracing social responsibility. This article has shown that rhetoric is a useful way in which to understand and interpret a companys strategy. We have shown a more penetrating, or Tamara, view of the rhetoric of the athletic apparel industry leaders. Through analysis of letters to shareholders of Nike and Reebok over a ten-year period, we have shown Nike and Reeboks use of environmental and social responsibility rhetoric. The results show that Nike has engaged in Denial as their primary rhetorical style and Reebok has engaged in Flagship Implementation as their primary rhetorical style. The companies are at opposite extremes of this continuum. In spite of Nikes denial and Reeboks engagement of social responsibility, Nike revenues have skyrocketed and Reebok sales have plummeted (Figure 4). Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. If rhetoric indeed reveals strategy, these findings suggest that social responsibility and profits are negatively correlated for these two companies. In both Figures 2 and 3, we see the frequency of nvironmental and social responsibility rhetoric used by both companies increased. Nike engaged in rhetoric on the negative end of the continuum, suggesting denial of social responsibility; Reebok engaged in rhetoric on the positive end of the continuum, suggesting implementation of social responsibility. Also near this time, revenues and market share of both companies began to move in a dire ction negatively correlated with the level of social responsibility (Figures 4 and 5). The empirical evidence has been mixed on the relationship between corporate financial performance and social performance. Some researchers (Preston ; OBannon, 1997; Roman, Hayibor, Agle, 1999) have found a positive relationship between corporate social performance and financial performance and other researchers (Ingram and Frazier, 1983; Freedman and Jaggi, 1982) have found a negative relationship. In the case of negative correlations between financial performance and social performance, it is argued that the costs associated with social responsibility put the firm in an unfavorable financial position compared to firms that are not socially responsible (Aupperle, Carroll, Hatfield, 1985). Clearly the relationship between corporate financial performance and social performance is not fully understood. Nonetheless, rhetorical analysis is a useful postmodern tool in revealing a companys strategy and in revealing when changes or shifts in strategy occur. Figure 5 [Reference] REFERENCES Retrieved May 28, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http:// www. netadvantage. standardpoor. com/netahtml/ IndSur/apf/apf_0999. htm Czarniawska, B. (1998). A narrative approach to organization studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. [Reference] Ernst ; Young (1997, January 6). Environmental and labor practice audit. Retrieved May 28, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http:/ www. corpwatch. org/trac/nike/ernst/audit. html Fireman, Paul (1999, October 17). Steps we must take on third-world labor. The Washington Post, p. B7. Freedman, M. ; Jaggi, B. (1982). Pollution disclosures, pollution performance and economic performance. Omega, 10, 167-176 Frye, N. (1957). Anatomy of criticism: Four essay . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [Reference] Grimm, C. M. ; Smith, K. G. (1997). Strategy as action: Industry rivalry and coordination. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing. Ingram, R. ;Frazier, K. (1980). Environmental performance and corporate disclosure. Journal of Accounting Research, 18, 614-622. Introductory Guide to Unplugging Corporations (2001) Retrieved March 3, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http:// www. georgiastrait. org/Unplugging%20Corps. 3. pdf [Reference] Landrum, N. (2000). A Quantitative and Qualitative Examination of the Dynamics of Nike and Reebok Storytelling as Strategy. Doctoral dissertation: New Mexico State University. Lieblich, A. , Tuval-Mashiach, R. ; Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative research: Read analysis. and intc=tation.

Internet, a network that revolutionized how information technology is s

Internet, a network that revolutionized how information technology is seen, is a medium for marketing that changed the way marketers and consumers think. Marketing as a concept has existed long before the Internet. Abstract Internet, a network that revolutionized how information technology is seen, is a medium for marketing that changed the way marketers and consumers think. Marketing as a concept has existed long before the Internet. The four Ps of marketing are well known: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Approaching the consumer through the Internet is very different than through common media. Marketers had to think twice, now they must think trice. Marketers, however, have a wider audience and in some cases, they may have the whole world as an audience. Consumers have many more choices and they are free to convince themselves before they buy. Consumers actively go to the location of their interest, and they are not passive anymore. Internet is a medium that offers many tools for the marketers and a wide range of choices for the consumers. 1 Introduction ============== The way of marketing changed because the Internet is used as a medium. In the past, the way of marketing had to adjust to new media in several cases. For example, when the radio appeared or even better when the TV became a domestic must. Internet, however, is a medium different from the common ones. For the first time, the consumer is not passive and is seen as the "end user". This has changed the way marketers must work in order to succeed using the Internet to promote products. This change however did not happen in one day. Internet exists for more than two decades. Its use as a marketing media, however, started recently. The purpose of this report is to investigate how marketing using the Internet is different from using other media. This investigation is separated in two views: (1) the merchants scope, and (2) the consumers scope. Merchants do not have an easy job as it is thought by many people. Marketing using the Internet is not an easy task. One can loose its severity very easily. Nevertheless, there are many benefits if used properly. Consumers can use their free will in order to choose where they want to go and not where they are told to go. There are of course the search engines that may impose the sites they want, but... ...12/1999 WWW4 Welcome to internet.com's Marketing Channel http://www.internet.com/sections/marketing.html Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW5 The E-Commerce Advisor Internet marketing newsletter-e-zine http://www.sotkin.com/nl/ Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW6 Netcommerce Magazine http://www.netcommercemag.com/ Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW7 Marketing - WebMaster Article Index http://www.cio.com/archive/wm_index_marketing.html Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW8 InternetDay - Web Site Promotion, Internet Advertising, and Web Marketing Newsletter http://www.internetday.com/archives/111899.html Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW9 Internet Marketing Center http://www.marketingtips.com/ Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW10 Free E-mail and Web Newsletter - Web Marketing Today http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt/ Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW11 E-Commerce Times Front Page Everything You Need to Know About Doing Business Online http://www.ecommercetimes.com/ Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW12 Internet Market Programs http://www.internetmarketprogram.com/img.htm Site visited: 12/12/1999 WWW13 InternetNews.com E-Commerce News http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/ Site visited: 12/12/1999

Global Positioning System (Gps) Research Paper

The  Global Positioning System  With the proliferation of satellite-based defense systems and their continuing presence in the media it makes us more aware of our national defense. The United States is large, economically strong and a sometimes tumultuous presence in the global community. Although we may feel secure because of our superior technology and defense capabilities, our size and position in world affairs can make us a target for some countries. We can no longer be concerned with just our borders and now what comes from the skies and the sea is more of a threat than ever before. The United States government had to develop a way to counter these possible attacks and the Global Positioning System (GPS) was conceived. The Global Positioning System was initiated in 1973 by the Department of Defense (DOD). It was developed by the the DOD because at a cost of over twelve billion dollars the government had the monetary resources to achieve these idealistic goals. Since that time it has grown from one satellite used strictly by the military to twenty-six satellites that can be used by civilians also. This satellite system is used to determine the speed and position of an object anywhere in the world within one hundred meters to mere millimeters depending on the size and quality of user equipment. (GPS JOINT PROGRAM OFFICE. ICD-GPS-200:GPS INTERFACE CONTROL DOCUMENT. ) The original purpose of GPS was to maintain a strategic military advantage over our enemies. Toward the end of the arms race the targeting of ballistic missiles became so exact they could land directly on an enemy missile silo and destroy any missiles inside of it. The ability to take out your enemies missiles from great distances had a major effect on the balance of power. To maintain the balance of power the United States government had to develop a way to locate surfacing submarines in a matter of minutes anywhere in the world. With the use of satellites in orbit the Global Positioning System was created. GPS uses twenty-six satellites and ground tracking stations around the world to compute distances using time. This is done by finding the difference between the time a signal is sent and the time it is received. The satellites have atomic clocks so the time is extremely accurate. The receivers position is determined by using three satellites, this is called triangulation. (kAPLAN,eLLIOTT. UNDERSTANDING GPS:PRINCPLES AND APPLICATIONS) GPS is made up of three segments: space, control and user. The space segment includes the satellites and the rockets that launch them from Cape Canaveral. The satellites are powered by solar cells and continuously point their  solar panels  toward the sun and their antennae toward earth. The control segment includes the master control station in Colorado and monitor stations around the world. This segment makes sure orbits and clocks operate within acceptable limits. The user segment includes the equipment used by the military and civilians who receive GPS signals. Kaplan, Elliott. UNDERSTANDING GPS:PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS) The military applications of GPS are used in fighters, bombers, helicopters, submarines and soldier's gear. Wartime defense is now more accurate and dependable than ever. While still the most important aspect of this technology, GPS is not used strictly for navigation anymore. Other uses include but are not lim ited to: target designation, air support, soldier rendezvous and â€Å"smart† weapons. â€Å"Smart† bombs use GPS to receive location information so they can guide themselves to a preset target. This technology is a great asset in battle as it basically casts a net over a battlefield and can locate tanks, vehicles or even soldiers who may be in immediate danger. In the everyday world, GPS has also made life easier and safer. Hikers and hunters can carry hand held receivers in case they should get lost in the wilderness. On-board navi destinations through voice-activated user equipment. Drivers can also make cellular calls using these GPS computers should something happen to them in transit. Other aspects of this technology are used in farming. Maps can be created of the fields during harvest and used the next season to plant and fertilize areas that need more attention. This increases crop production while reducing the use and expense of fertilizers, pesticides and fuel which also helps our environment. This process is called â€Å"Precision Farming'. Another very important use of GPS is the avoidance of in-flight collisions. Airlines are in the process of equipping their airplanes with GPS receivers. This will enable each aircraft to detect other planes in the vicinity and make sure they don't cross paths in the air. This is much more accurate and reliable system than is currently available and is sure to make the people flying in these planes more comfortable and secure. The Global Positioning System has grown into a resource that goes far beyond the initial design goals. These days scientists, farmers, soldiers, pilots and delivery drivers are using GPS in ways that make their jobs safer and more productive. The benefits of GPS are not limited to job related aspects alone. The future of this technology is limitless and will change and develop rapidly as new and varied applications are introduced. Works Cited Bibliography Kaplan, Elliott. Understanding GPS: Principles and Applications. Boston: Artech house Publishers, 1996 Thompson, Steven D. An Introduction to GPS, (Everyman's Guide To Satellite Navigation. ARINC Research Corporation, 1994 â€Å"The Untold Story of CALCM: The Secret Weapon Used in the Gulf War†. GPS World January 1995 page 16 GPS Joint Program Office. ICD-GPS-200:GPS Interface Control Document. ARINC Research Corporation. Available On-line from United States Coast Guard Navigation Center. Dana, Peter H. GPS User's Overview. Available on-line at www. utexas. edu/depts/grg/gcraft/notes/gps/gps. h tml

Review of “Berger Queen” by Erin Sharp

In her essay, â€Å"Berger Queen†, freelance writer Erin Sharp expounds on her experience working at McDonald’s. Sometimes seen as a less than desirable occupation, Sharp defers and states that this has been the most enjoyable job that she’s had. She opens her essay this way, in paragraph one, in narrative fashion. The rest of the essay is narrative with use of illustration by examples. The paragraphs that show illustration are three, four, five, six, and seven (all of the body paragraphs).Paragraph three uses the example of children passing notes to McDonald’s employees to pass on to Ronald McDonald, proving her point that McDonald’s is a favorite spot for most children. Paragraph four and five support the point that most adults lack respect for McDonald’s employees, going so far as to try to get free food from them, arguing over ten cent increases, and just acting absolutely ridiculous by doing things such as complaining about cold food an hour after it was served and demanding that accommodations be made for an item that was not on the menu (ie†¦lunch item during breakfast).Paragraph six goes on to further explain how adults treat McDonald’s employees with such a lack of respect and just how foolish people can really by. Sharp recalls a woman sitting in the drive thru eating her pancakes and sausage at the drive thru window while several vehicles sat behind her honking during a 90 second or less guarantee day. The essay ends on a brighter note, with the reassurance that all of McDonald’s customers do not treat the employees with a lack of respect; there are groups who look forward to coming to McDonalds every day to have their coffee and social time.

Mein Kampf the Book Written by Adolf Hitler

Mein Kampf the Book Written by Adolf Hitler By 1925, 35-year-old Adolf Hitler was already a war veteran, leader of a political party, orchestrator of a failed coup, and a prisoner in a German prison. In July 1925, he also became a published book author with the release of the first volume of his work,  Mein Kampf (My Struggle). The book, whose first volume was largely written during his eight-month imprisonment for his leadership in the failed coup, is a rambling discourse on Hitler’s ideology and goals for the future German state.  The second volume was published in December 1926 (however, the books themselves were printed with a 1927 publication date). The text initially suffered from slow sales but, like its author would soon become a fixture in German society. Hitler’s Early Years in the Nazi Party At the end of World War I, Hitler, like so many other German veterans, found himself unemployed. So when he was offered a position to work as an informant for the newly established Weimar government, he seized the opportunity. Hitlers duties were simple; he was to attend the meetings of newly formed political organizations and report upon their activities to government officials who were monitoring these parties. One of the parties, the German Workers’ Party (DAP), captivated Hitler so much during his attendance that the following spring he left his government position and decided to dedicate himself to the DAP. That same year (1920), the party changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), or Nazi Party. Hitler quickly gained renown as a powerful speaker. Within the party’s early years, Hitler is credited with helping the party greatly increase membership through his powerful speeches against the government and the Treaty of Versailles.  Hitler is also credited with helping to design the main tenets of the party’s platform. In July 1921, a shake-up occurred within the party and Hitler found himself in the position to replace party co-founder Anton Drexler as the chairperson of the Nazi Party. Hitler's Failed Coup: The Beer Hall Putsch In the fall of 1923, Hitler decided it was time to seize upon the public’s discontent with the Weimar government and organize a putsch (coup) against both the Bavarian state government and the German federal government. With assistance from the SA, SA leader Ernst Roehm, Herman Gà ¶ring, and famous World War I General Erich von Ludendorff, Hitler and Nazi Party members stormed a Munich beer hall where members of the local Bavarian government were gathered for an event. Hitler and his men quickly brought the event to a standstill by setting up machine guns at the entrances and falsely announcing that the Nazis had seized both the Bavarian state government and the German federal government. After a short period of perceived success, several missteps led to the putsch quickly falling apart. After being shot at in the street by the German military, Hitler fled and hid for two days in the attic of a party supporter. He was then caught, arrested, and placed in Landsberg prison to await his trial for his role in the attempted Beer Hall Putsch. On Trial for Treason In March 1924, Hitler and the other leaders of the putsch were put on trial for high treason. Hitler, himself, faced possible deportation from Germany (due to his status as a non-citizen) or a life sentence in prison. He took advantage of the media coverage of the trial to paint himself as an ardent supporter of the German people and the German state, wearing his Iron Cross for Bravery in WWI and speaking out against the â€Å"injustices† perpetrated by the Weimar government and their collusion with the Treaty of Versailles. Instead of projecting himself as a man guilty of treason, Hitler came across during his 24-day trial as an individual who had the best interests of Germany in mind. He was sentenced to five years in Landsberg prison but would serve only eight months. The others on trial received lesser sentences and some were released without any penalty. The Writing of Mein Kampf Life in Landsberg prison was far from difficult for Hitler. He was permitted to walk freely throughout the grounds, wear his own clothing, and entertain visitors as he chose. He was also permitted to mingle with other prisoners, including his personal secretary, Rudolf Hess, who was imprisoned for his own part in the failed putsch. During their time together in Landsberg, Hess served as Hitler’s personal typist while Hitler dictated some of the work that would become known as the  first volume of Mein Kampf. Hitler decided to write Mein Kampf for a two-fold purpose: to share his ideology with his followers and also to help recoup some of the legal expenses from his trial. Interestingly, Hitler originally proposed the title, Four-and-a-Half Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice; it was his publisher who shortened it to My Struggle or Mein Kampf. Volume 1 The first volume of Mein Kampf, subtitled â€Å"Eine Abrechnung† or â€Å"A Reckoning,† was written mostly during Hitler’s stay in Landsberg and ultimately consisted of 12 chapters when it was published in July 1925. This first volume covered Hitler’s childhood through the initial development of the Nazi Party. Although many of the book’s readers thought it would be autobiographical in nature, the text itself only uses Hitler’s life events as a springboard for long-winded diatribes against those he viewed as inferior, particularly the Jewish people. Hitler also frequently wrote against the political scourges of Communism, which he purported was directly linked to the Jews, whom he believed were attempting to take over the world. Hitler also wrote that the present German government and its democracy was failing the German people and that his plan to remove the German parliament and instate the Nazi Party as the leadership would save Germany from future ruin. Volume 2 Volume two of Mein Kampf, subtitled â€Å"Die Nationalsozialistische Bewegung,† or â€Å"The National Socialist Movement,† consisted of 15 chapters and was published in December 1926. This volume was intended to cover how the Nazi Party was founded; however, it was more of a rambling discourse of Hitler’s political ideology. In this second volume, Hitler laid out his goals for future German success. Crucial to the success of Germany, Hitler believed, was gaining more â€Å"living space†. He wrote that this gain should be made by first spreading the German empire to the East, into the land of the inferior Slavic peoples who should be enslaved and their natural resources confiscated for the better, more racially pure, German people. Hitler also discussed the methods he would employ to gain the support of the German populace, including a massive propaganda campaign and the rebuilding of the German military. Reception for Mein Kampf The initial reception for Mein Kampf was not particularly impressive; the book sold roughly 10,000 copies in its first year. Most of the book’s initial purchasers were either Nazi Party faithful or members of the general public who were wrongly anticipating a scandalous autobiography. By the time Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, approximately 250,000 copies of the book’s two volumes had been sold. Hitler’s ascension to the chancellorship breathed new life into sales of Mein Kampf. For the first time, in 1933, sales of the full edition eclipsed the one million mark. Several special editions were also created and distributed to the German people. For instance, it became customary for every newlywed couple in Germany to receive a special newlywed’s edition of the work. By 1939, 5.2 million copies had been sold. At the outset of World War II, additional copies were distributed to each soldier. Copies of the work were also customary gifts for other life milestones such as graduations and births of children. By the war’s end in 1945, the number of copies sold rose to 10 million. However, despite its popularity on the printing presses, most Germans would later admit that they had not read the 700-page, two-volume text to any great extent. Mein Kampf Today With Hitler’s suicide and the conclusion of World War II, the property rights of Mein Kampf went to the Bavarian state government (since Munich was Hitler’s last official address before the Nazi seizure of power). Leaders in the Allied-occupied portion of Germany, which contained Bavaria, worked with Bavarian authorities to institute a ban on the publication of Mein Kampf within Germany. Upheld by the reunified German government, that ban  continued until 2015. In 2015, the copyright on Mein Kampf expired and the work became part of the public domain, thus negating the ban. In an effort to prevent the book from further becoming a tool of neo-Nazi hatred, the Bavarian state government has begun a campaign to publish annotated editions in several languages with hopes that these educational editions will become more popular than editions published for other, less noble, purposes. Mein Kampf still remains one of the most widely published and known books in the world. This work of racial hatred was a blueprint for the plans of one of the most destructive governments in world history. Once a fixture in German society, there is hope that today it can serve as a learning tool to prevent such tragedies in future generations.

Practice in Correcting Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement

Practice in Correcting Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement Complete the editing exercise below after you have reviewed how to correct errors in subject-verb agreement, including tricky cases. Instructions Several (but not all) of the following sentences contain errors in subject-verb agreement. When you spot an error, correct it. If a sentence is free of errors, identify it as correct. When youre done, compare your responses with the answers below. Example Sentences Music soothe me.Billy bake brownies every Halloween.Peggy and Grace is arguing again.Elsie never takes the bus to work.The people who own that house has no insurance.One of these mechanics have a set of jumper cables.Felix and his brother is mending the wings of butterflies.Both of my essays is brilliant.The pulses emitted by a neutron star recurs at precise intervals.One of my uncles dances at the Rainbow Cafe.Phil and Jeremy has gone to the concert.Both of my daughters are professional dancers.Every one of the workers receive the same benefits.There is two gerbils in my bathroom.This box of toys belong in the attic. Answers Here are the answers below, with the corrected words in bold. Music  soothes  me.Billy  bakes  brownies every Halloween.Peggy and Grace  are  arguing again.CorrectThe people who own that house  have  no insurance.One of these mechanics  has  a set of jumper cables.Felix and his brother  are  mending the wings of butterflies.Both of my essays  are  brilliant.The pulses emitted by a neutron star  recur  at precise intervals.CorrectPhil and Jeremy  have  gone to the concert.CorrectEvery one of the workers  receives  the same benefits.There  are  two gerbils in my bathroom.This box of toys  belongs  in the attic.

The Vietnam War's impact on the United States both economically and Essay

The Vietnam War's impact on the United States both economically and politically - Essay Example It takes money to fund wars but neither financial nor military dominance guarantees victory. The political dynamics that result from war, particularly the Vietnam War, produce a myriad of varying effects. The U.S. lost political capital from within South Vietnam when it continuously bombed North Vietnam, a surprising development that was harmful to the war effort. The ‘hawkish’ neo-conservative ideology was born in this era. Those of this political philosophy did not believe the U.S. should withdraw from Vietnam and are the ones who took control of the White House in 2000. The ‘neo-cons’ are the group that, a quarter century after the fall of Saigon in 1975, involved the U.S. in the Iraq war debacle and refuse to withdraw. Many parallels can be drawn between these two conflicts that are separated by a generation. The generation of people who lived through the Vietnam period evidently did not learn the lessons from that war. Congress made what they believed w ould be a lasting political statement following the Vietnam war by passing the War Powers Act in hopes of preserving the separation of powers as guaranteed by the Constitution. The most evident and memorable political fallout during the Vietnam War was student protestors who, through great sacrifice and courage, were instrumental in ending U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. The U.S., because of its involvement in ‘nation building’ that began in Korea and continued during the Vietnam era and is in full effect today, has lost political credibility throughout the international community. From the end of the Cold War in 1989, as symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the U.S. was undoubtedly the world’s greatest power militarily, economically and therefore politically. However, this time in which the U.S. operates as the only superpower and therefore the world’s dominant force, known as the ‘unipolar

Global Warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 5

Global Warming - Essay Example Various reasons have been given to justify their disbelief. The sceptics reason that contrary to allegations by advocates, the increase in carbon monoxide in the atmosphere has enhanced wheat production by 50 to 75 percent, vegetables by 51%, and increased vitamin and antioxidant concentration in the produce. According to these detractors, the present increase in global temperatures is due to natural causes such as solar activity, volcanic activity, and so on, and that car and industrial emissions are too insignificant to cause climate change. Other reasons are given mostly in terms of dollars and cents. For instance, one website entitled Global Warming Lies (2010), manned by a webmaster who chose to remain anonymous, cites the $400 billion yearly cause as the major reason for not joining the Kyoto Protocol (the worldwide agreement to significantly reduce carbon emissions). So far the United States is the only country in the world that has continually refused to affix its signature o n the agreement (UNFCCC, 2010). Recently, the spate of cold weather was also cited as proof that global warming did not exist, because the weather was so cold, not warm (Charisse, 2010). To this, advocates have responded soundly, According to Fitzpatrick (2010), the present extended period of cold and snowy weather over North America is actually confirmation that global warming is still happening. Global warming does not mean that the world is getting warmer, but that weather extremes are being experienced in different parts of the globe. Presently, there is an El Nino weather disturbance, the warmer than usual sea surface temperatures over the East Pacific. The phenomenon causes many more storm systems to develop over North America, and energizes the jet stream. Furthermore, the negative North Atlantic Oscillation has created a