Columbus Day Debate Essay -- Christopher Columbus Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The spirit and values of a nation are reflected in the nation’s heroes. Christopher Columbus has been regarded as an American hero since 1792. Every year Columbus Day is held on the second Monday in October to honor the man and his legacy. However, many people debate whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. I believe that Columbus Day should be celebrated in the United States because he opened up the New World to Europe, inspired a spirit of exploration and adventure that still lasts today, and he showed the importance of diversity and understanding of different cultures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Columbus landed on the beaches of the Watling Islands of the Bahamas in October, 1492, he had inadvertently opened up a whole new world for the Europeans, Asians, and other countries of the Eastern hemisphere. Although Columbus was not the first man to truly discover the Americas, he can be credited as the man who made their existence known worldwide. The discovery of the Americas launched an era of discovery and exploration, especially in Europe. Many new foods and animals were brought to the Old World from the Americas. This would not have been possible with out Christopher Columbus. In addition, Columbus’s explorations eventually led to a period of economical growth in Europe. It is important that we take time to remember Columbus’s achievements on Columbus Day.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Columbus must always be honored for his ...

Concert Essay -- essays research papers

CONCERT REPORT #2 Beatles Z320   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For my second concert report I thought that I would write about my only experience hearing songs of the Beatles live. The Rib America Festival was hosted by The Beatles Live Repertoire. The group dressed exactly like the Beatles, even had the same names, John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I had never heard any Beatles songs live before, so that was enough to get me off my butt. Not to mention, it was free entertainment, not a bad time at all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So the show starts, and I’m not sure what to expect. Paul comes out and introduces the band, ( very good English accent ) and then started out with â€Å"I want to hold your hand â€Å". He mentioned that their songs would for the most part go in chronological order. And after comparing notes to my book, they were on track for the most part. All of the songs played before their break, were songs on albums released before Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band. I wasn’t impressed with this song, however. No, it isn’t my favorite song, but I just wasn’t impressed by the playing of the song. The song, the beat, something was dead about the song, hard to put my finger on it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next song was â€Å"Please, Please me†. And I had never heard this song before that night, and I liked the song a lot. Then after hearing it in class, I remembered hearing it for the first time, good song. Hard Days night was their next song. And much like the first song, I do like this song, but the band didn’t do justice for the song. But this was the last song that I remembered not really liking. The rest of the songs I recall liking very much for one reason or another. The band must have just needed to warm up a little.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  So, now that the band had warmed up, messed up a few good songs, but at least they didn’t start out with my favorite songs, they were ready. Their next song was â€Å"Eight Days a Week†. I like this song. I just like the beat and how the lyrics go along with it. I don’t know if that is a legitimate reason to like a song, but it’s mine. They asked for some audience participation during this song. They wanted to us to clap with the instrument break when he sings, â€Å"Hold me†¦ Love me†¦ â€Å" The audience was very participative. It seemed like the audience was having a really good t... ... am assuming that he grew up around Penny Lane. Now an interesting thing about the next song â€Å" Strawberry Fields Forever†, was that â€Å"Paul† mentioned that John(Lennon ) had never performed this song live. Now, this was hard to believe, but I think that these dudes know that they are talking about, so I guess he didn’t.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Nowhere man†, â€Å"Day Tripper†, and â€Å"Imagine† were to follow â€Å"Strawberry Fields Forever†. â€Å"Nowhere Man† was written by Paul about Ringo according to â€Å"Paul†. â€Å"Imagine† was performed very well, and just a cool song all around. Good song to hear live.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I knew it was drawing towards the end of the show, and I hadn’t heard the song that I really wanted hear â€Å" Revolution†. It was about a quarter till, and still no â€Å"Revolution†. â€Å"Back in the USSR†, â€Å"Come Together†, and â€Å"OB-LA-DI, OB-LA-DA†, were their final songs. I was mad, but still a very good show, and I was glad that I went. The crown wasn’t satisfied enough, and chanted for more. They finally gave in like I knew they would, and what do you think that they busted out with, oh yeah, â€Å"Revolution†. A perfect ending to a good time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Argument Against Video Games

English 102 12 March, 2013 Argue in support of or against the statement that video games have â€Å"a redeeming social value. † Do violent video games have â€Å"a redeeming social value? † You could get many different answers to this question depending on who you ask. Is there any good that can come from video games? What harm can come to people and society from video games? Is modern culture being affected either negatively or positively by today’s video games and those that play them?Are young, impressionable, people affected by playing video games for hours and hours during their impressionable, developmental years? These are a few of the questions I will attempt to answer as I argue that video games are playing a big role in the downfall of modern society. It is now the law of the United States that video games are art. †It is now the law of the United States that video games are a creative, intellectual, emotional form of expression and engagement, as fundamentally human as any other† (Schiesel, NY Times, 2011, p. 1). Like the protected books, plays and movies that preceded them, video games communicate ideas – and even social messages – through many familiar literary devices (such as characters, dialogue, plot, and music) and through features distinctive to the medium (such as the player’s interaction with the virtual world),† Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the Supreme Court, in a case that arose from a California effort to ban the sale of violent video games to minors. â€Å"That suffices to confer First Amendment protection† (Schiesel, NY Times, 2011, p. 2). And now video games – as vulgar, crude, disgusting and thoroughly unredeeming as they often may be – have finally been fully recognized as a worthy element of our culture† (Schiesel, NY Times, 2011, p. 1). â€Å"There is statistically significant evidence from the studies within the fields of psychology and so ciology to indicate that violent video games have a negative impact on a child’s behavioral development as he or she matures into adulthood. These studies approach the issue from a variety of perspectives, some analyzing the effects of video game usage on academic achievement and others that focus on usage’s effects on violent tendencies.Regardless of how these effects are measured, evidence is accumulating in favor of the position that they are not good for childhood development. Short of recommending alternatives or ways of preventing the kind of excessive video game use targeted in these studies as adverse, what is conclusively known is the prevalence and results of violent video games. Nevertheless, there are valid objections and concerns about these conclusions that shall be addressed in turn; none of these counterarguments or critiques of the research literature hold much weight.The arguments from scientific findings can be supplemented with academic philosophy, specifically in the area of ethical philosophy where some argue a non-distinction in moral terms between killing an imaginary character and killing an actual person. From this broad base of studies and research into the effects of violent video games on maturing children, it is conclusive that the negative effects of violent video game usage far outweigh any alleged positive effects† (Meyer, Yahoo! Voices, 2011, p. 1).Modern culture is being affected negatively by today’s violent video games and those that play them. The people that have played these games and then gone out to commit violent acts have affected society in a very negative way. The impressionable, mentally disturbed, people that cannot distinguish between killing an imaginary character and killing an actual person have committed terrible acts of violence more often in recent years. When these young people are in their maturing years their minds are conditioned in a very negative way by playing violent vide o games.One cannot help but think that these people may not have done these violent things if they had never played the violent video games. â€Å"Whether you play video games on a portable unit, a television or the internet, excessive gaming can affect your personal and profession life. Video game addiction can be as problematic as gambling and affects players as young as eight years old, notes Kevin Baker, director of Smith and Jones Addiction Consultants, in an article for Brigham Young University’s NewsNet. Be aware of the effects of a video game compulsion to keep the hobby in check† (Drea, Livestrong. com, 2013. p. 1).If you spend all of your free time playing video games and skip meals or lose sleep because of your excessive game play, a video game addiction can negatively impact your health. â€Å"The Mayo Clinic notes that children who spend more than two hours a day in front of a television or video games in lieu of participating in physical activity may suf fer from childhood obesity. In addition, the University of Texas at Dallas notes that the addiction can lead to such medical issues as backaches, headaches, eyestrain and carpal tunnel syndrome – pain and numbness that you may feel in your wrist, hands, shoulders and elbows† (Drea, Livestrong. om, 2013. p. 1). Relationships with friends and family members may suffer if you’re spending more time gaming than you are talking to or going out with loved ones. â€Å"The On-Line Gamers Anonymous website notes that gaming may be negatively affecting your life if you only want to talk about video games, lie to cover up the amount of time you spend playing, forgo intimacy with your spouse in lieu of gaming or argue with loved ones over your excessive gaming† (Drea, Livestrong. com, 2013. p. 1).Video games that feature violent actions and scenarios may lead addicted players to be desensitized to the violence. â€Å"Richard Gallagher, director of the NYU Child Study Center’s Parenting Institute, states that players who become engrossed in first-person shooter-style video games, for example, may adopt a detached view of society or develop aggressive thoughts and tendencies† (Drea, Livestrong. com, 2013. p. 1). There are a few positive video games. Educational video games and video games that help to keep the mind or memory sharp are certainly excellent tools.Using video games as flight simulators for our pilots and soldiers are also very helpful and educational. The people that use educational video games are not the people that are going out and shooting up schools full of little children. There is no way that a young person, whose brain is still developing, can become a better member of society by playing violent video games for hours and hours every day. The negatives far outweigh the positives when these violent video games are played. The impressionable young people are fooled into thinking that these video games are, in some w ay, real life.The weak minded, young, impressionable, people that play these games can be very easily conditioned to become more violent members of society. No one ever played an educational video game and then went out and shot up a school. There have been people that played violent video games in excess and went out and did just that afterward. Nothing good can come from playing violent video games for hours and hours every day. Violent video games are a big part of the downfall of modern society. Violent video games have no redeeming social value.

Acquaint yourself with the characters in the story Essay

Read through the story and write down a few points that summarise the plotof the story. Acquaint yourself with the characters in the story. plot The structure of the storyline, the way in which the action develops. This will usually include the settings, the development of character, crisis or climax and resolution   The plot is about two young people, Sandra and Kerry, who belong to the Good Neighbours’ Club.   They go to do volunteer work at Mrs Rutter’s house. She is an elderly lady who lives past Packer’s End, a field that was said to be haunted. Sandra is not pleased that it is Kerry she is working with, as she had hoped it would be her friend, Susie.   After some time, Mrs Rutter tells them the story of what really happened at Packer’s End during the war.   An enemy plane was shot down over the field and she and her sister (Dot) went to investigate the crash.   They found the plane, but also found one of the soldiers in it still alive.   Because it was the enemy and because her own husband had been killed in the war, Mrs Rutter leaves the soldier to die overnight. When they arrive at the scene the next morning, he is still alive, but they don’t get any help for him. * The young people are shocked by what she tells them and Sandra suddenly sees Mrs Rutter in a new light, but she also sees Kerry in a new light. Sandra She is a young girl who is a volunteer at the Good Neighbour’s Club. She tells us that she is â€Å"nervy† and we see this when she walks past Packer’s End. She describes how when she was younger she had thought there were wolves and witches and tigers in the wood. This changed and when she was about twelve she heard that a German plane had gone down there, but had also heard stories about gypsies and rapists. She is a conventional young girl who would like to have a â€Å"bit of a giggle† with her friend, Susie, and is disappointed that Kerry Stevens with his â€Å"blacked licked-down hair and slitty eyes† was joining her at Mrs Rutter’s. Kerry is described in detail in lines 135 – 139. What does this description suggest to you? It is mostly about his appearance – acne, pale flesh – all that Sandra is concerned with is his appearance at first. This changes at the end of the story. She doesn’t know how Kerry can stand having dirt and grime under his nails from working on cars and â€Å"she thought of oily workshop floors, of the fetid underside of cars† (line 207). She thinks that Mrs Rutter will be old and kind and thinks that â€Å"old Mrs Rutter with her wonky leg would be ever so pleased to see them because they were really sweet, lots of the old people† (lines 93 – 94). Mrs Rutter She is seen at first to be a typical old lady who lives at Nether Cottage and is described as â€Å"a dear old thing, all on her own† (lines 4 – 5). Her behaviour and the setting of the cottage (see Setting) portray her as ordinary. She is described as â€Å"a cottage-loaf of a woman, with a face below which chins collapsed into one another, a creamy smiling pool of a face in which her eyes snapped and darted† (lines 97 – 99). This description of her appearance certainly doesn’t convey anything but a gentle old woman. Kerry Stevens He is a typical teenage boy with acne and â€Å"blacked licked-down hair† who is pleased when he gives Sandra a fright when they meet at Packer’s End. He is shocked by Mrs Rutter’s story and vows never to go â€Å"near that old bitch again† (line 364). Setting Packer’s End and Nether Cottage are where the story takes place. Packer’s End is described as a scary place where dreadful things have happened – â€Å"You didn’t go by yourself through Packer’s End if you could help it, not after teatime, anyway† (lines 30 – 31). Nether Cottage is described as being filled with sweet ornaments and pictures. Look at the description in lines 101 – 105 and try to imagine what the room looked like. Does this tell us anything about Mrs Rutter? The room is cluttered, but quite homely. The ornaments are all of rabbits and kittens and milkmaids and children – these are hardly sinister. She comes across as someone who likes collecting memorabilia Look at the description in lines 144 – 145 â€Å"a composite chintzy mass from which the cushions oozed and her voice flowed softly on. † This is a cosy description which portrays her as a nice old woman. The structure of this story relies on the reader ‘getting to know’ Mrs Rutter as a gentle woman who lives alone and is quite helpless because of her â€Å"wonky leg†. When she does tell us the horrific story of the plane going down and her and Dot’s failure to save the man who is still alive, it becomes all the more horrific and we realise, with Sandra, that people are not always what they seem and that there is definitely â€Å"darkness out there. † This makes the realisation that much more startling and effective. â€Å"Everything is not as it appears, oh no† (line 384). We are also then able to comprehend why Sandra sees such a change in Kerry. The change in Kerry is also well set up as in the beginning, from Sandra’s descriptions, we are led to believe that he is not special and yet at the end Sandra says things like â€Å"He had grown; he had got older and larger. His anger eclipsed his acne, the patches of grease on his jeans, his lardy midriff†¦ † (lines 373 – 375). Look at the last two paragraphs: pick out the images of darkness. How do these images link to the story and to the title? â€Å"You could get people wrong and there was a darkness that was not the darkness of tree shadows and murky undergrowth†¦ † (lines 375 – 377) â€Å"†¦and the next you glimpsed darkness, an inescapable darkness. The darkness was out there and it was a part of you and you would never be without it, ever. † (lines 380 – 382) These quotations refer to darkness, because the speaker in the story has just glimpsed inescapable darkness herself in the form of Mrs Rutter. This has changed the way she thinks about other people and the way in which she will view the world from now on. She says it will be with her for ever and she will never be without it now that she knows what it is. She will never be able to see a person, no matter how nice and innocent they look, as just that. This story deals with a young girl’s realisation about life. Her whole outlook on life changes at the end of the story. Choose one other story in the anthology that deals with this issue and show how the authors present this issue to us. Describe what the issue is and look at how their characters deal with it. (A good comparison would be Superman and Paula Brown’s Snowsuit. ) Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Joseph Conrad section.

On Dumpster Diving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

On Dumpster Diving - Essay Example In the end, this contributes to wastage. For example, in the article, Eighner states that college students would throw away good items at the end of a semester even when such items could have lasted until the start of the new semester. It is also clear that the consumption culture in America encourages people to focus on the wants and luxuries- things they do not need. The culture of consumerism is one that can affect the economy greatly since it encourages wastage of resources. Eighner’s article also brings to light the kind of foods people buy. In this article, he notes that rarely does he find fresh foods in the dumpster but instead find food such as yoghurt, chocolates among others. This shows that consumerism is a culture that encourages people to engage n unhealthy consumption habits where little consideration is given to the quality of foods eaten. This can further be extended to other items as well, such as electronic devices and clothing. The fact that people are interested in satisfying their demands, little attention to given to the nature of these products and the harm they cause to the consumer and the

Alternative Dispute Resolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Alternative Dispute Resolution - Essay Example According to the research findings, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) entails an independent third person termed as â€Å"neutral† whose function is to attempt to resolve or slim the areas of disagreement. Employment of ADR in early stages of the case can lead to a better-organized, cost-effective declaration of conflicts with intense contentment to the involved parties. A massive preponderance of the civil cases, encompassing marital divorces, filed in several courts across the nation is resolved using ADR. The effectiveness of ADR made it to be recommended in the Woolf Report 1996. Lord Woolf of Barnes who is professor and Chairperson of the UCL Council had an ancient interest in alternative dispute resolution and mediation. His report, admission to justice, 1996 was recognized to have been an accelerator for the growth of ADR in England. He had massive interest on the subject to extend of lecturing on ADR in both the United Kingdom and several countries overseas. He also presided over the system of the leaders of Supreme Trial Courts of the working group of European Union on its International Dispute Management Advisory Group, initiated in 2005. Therefore, Alternative Dispute Resolution is highly effective and cannot fail to be acknowledged by prominent people like Lord Woolf. That is the reason why it was recommended in the Woolf Report 1996. The paper presents three types of ADR and state where they are likely to be used.... That is the reason why it was recommended in the Woolf Report 1996 (Stephen and Marsh 2002). Give three types of ADR and state where they are likely to be used. Types of Alternative Dispute Resolution Conciliation This is the initial stage in the arbitration process particularly in consumer conflicts, and the conciliator is normally a member of the trade union. Both the consumer and the supplier have to issue written specifications of the complaint, encompassing any evidence whereby the conciliator provides a judgment on the best resolution (Totaro 2008). Any verdict is not obligatory and cannot stop the consumer from filling the case in a court for further action. If the consumer opposes the opinion issued, the consumer can then progress to the arbitration stage or consider going to court. The conciliation process does not involve any charges. Arbitration Arbitration is the process of resolving conflicts in which both the consumer and the supplier concur to accept the decision of th e arbitrator as legally obligatory (Schwartz 2005). This shows that the consumer can no longer take the case to court for further action, not unless the supplier fails to pay the award needed. Note that, unlike the conciliation stage where the conciliator is just a member of the trade union, the arbitrator mist be a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and mostly makes independent decisions that are not related to the trade. The arbitrator always comes to his or her only conclusion after going through the written evidence presented by both the consumer and supplier (Lynch 2001). The decision is private and cannot be publicized without the accord of the supplier. The consumer has to pay the registration fee, which may be reimbursement if the case favors him or her. Certain

Terrorism Attack in southern Beirut Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Terrorism Attack in southern Beirut - Essay Example The Muslim communities are out to attack Christians, and they believe that Christians are their number one enemy. Whenever a terror attack occurs, they claim responsibility and are happy about it. They refer to the fellow Muslims, who refuse to support their act as traitors and they purpose to kill them (Levitt 67). Of all the attack that are recorded, the Garissa killing of students, the Beirut killing and the Paris killing, the Muslim groups claims responsibility. They usually give warning before the attack but the governments have been so reluctant until the make it real. Most of the civil wars in Syria and Iran are just based on the Muslim belief. There are lots of advert taking the advantage of the situation, CCTV and car tracker are on the advert.The newspaper shows pictures of destroyed properties, and men and women are stranded about their business. It had not taken long since the ISIS claimed an attack of civilian during the Syrian war. The paper shows the emotional pictures of Muslim mourners who have lost their relatives in the attack. From the photos, it is clear to note that the incident left people in shock as it was never expected. The crime scene was protected with anti-terror officials some of whom were defeated on what to do. The news records a mixed reaction as some people feel that the incident that has just occurred for the first time is given much attention as compared to other attacks in other places (Levitt 67). The news shows that the government had already had the information about the attack.