Proof of haven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proof of haven - Essay Example As he gives his narration, he tries to prove that what he experienced through the journey was purposeful, an experience never witnessed before. Taking a stance on whether the account given is true or not, it is important to consider the kind of evidence presented in the book. Nobody has ever been to heaven, and as such, it is difficult to deduce the reality of what heaven is like. While the bible explains how heaven is likely to be, the fact remains that neither of the bible accounts describes vividly of what heaven is like. Jesus himself gave insights of what life in heaven would be like. As he warned sinners of eternal suffering, he promised non-sinners eternal happiness, one that would never end. Jesus, being the son of God was the best source of such information; he lived in heaven with his father God before coming down to rescue God’s children from the evil one, he sat at the throne and was part of the trinity. Therefore, when he promises of peace, joy and unending happin ess, he means of exactly what he witnessed in heaven. Other accounts are through prophets, who prophesied of the events that would characterize the second coming of the son of God (Mawungwa, 15). At the time of his second coming, prophesies say, all dead will resurrect, and will ascend to heaven (Royalty 48). In heaven, the road is narrow; it is times narrower than the highway of hell. The road will not be an easy one, as biblical accounts hold. It will be rocky and thorny; it will be full of challenges, contrary to the road leading to hell, which will be full of happiness. However, in heaven, the joy that the faithful will have has no comparison with any worldly happiness (Royalty 49). People will bow down in front of his majesty. He will be sitting at the throne, in his white robe, and Jesus on his side. With the promise of heaven being a hot topic among Christians, different people try to visualize what it would be like in heaven (Mawungwa 15). It is a place we long to be, an exp erience we would like all to have. With every person having hopes of ever stepping into heaven, different people have come up with claims of having been to heave. The recent case is Dr. Eben Alexander’s account of his journey to heaven and his near death experience. Many people, especially the medical practitioners and physicians have strongly refuted his claims, terming them as baseless and false. In fact, some believe that during the entire coma, he was hallucinating, something they doubtfully have proven. Others believe that he actually was not in a coma as he alleges, but was rather faking it. The credibility of his professionalism have also come up, with different professionals accusing him of having tried to forge documents to cover up flaws and messes he had committed in his medical career. Personally, I do not base my assertions on the credibility of his medical career or whether the coma was self-induced or not. I base my arguments on the fact that he cannot prove be yond reasonable doubt that he was in heaven. Additionally, his account is flawed with things that do not add up, regardless of the chronology of events as he highlights them. Dr. Eben Alexander, in his account explains what happens when a person dies. After his death, he first went to the underworld before his ascension to the sky. In his description of the underworld, he gives what appears to happen in horror movies,

Arabic writing system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Arabic writing system - Essay Example 800 B.C.), whence came the letters of the ancient Roman alphabet, and ultimately all Western alphabets. The North Arabic script, which eventually prevailed and became the Arabic script of the Quran, relates most substantially and directly to the Nabatian script, which was derived from the Aramaic script. Old Aramaic, the language of Jesus and the Apostles, dates from the 2nd millennium B.C., and some dialects of which are still spoken by tiny groups in the Middle East. Arabic script still shares with Aramaic the names of the alphabet letters (Alef, Jeem, Dal, Zai, Sheen, etc.); similar graphic representation for phonetically similar letters (Sad and Dad, Ta and Tha, etc.); connections of letters in the same word and several forms of each letter depending on its location in the word, except for letters that cannot be connected to the letters which come after them (Alef, Dal/Dthal, Raa/Zai, Waw). The Arabic alphabet contains 18 letter shapes, by adding one, two, or three dots to letters with similar phonetic characteristics a total of 28 letters is obtained. These contain three long vow els, while diacritics can be added to indicate short vowels. With the spread of Islam, the Arabic alphabet was adapted by several non-Arab nations for writing their own languages. In Iran Arabic letters were used to write Farsi, with the addition of four letters to represent the phonetics that did not exist in Arabic: p, ch, zh, and g. The Ottoman Turks used the Arabic alphabet until 1929 and added still another letter. This alphabet was also used to write other Turkish languages and dialects, such as Kazakh, Uzbek, etc. Several other languages used the Arabic alphabet at one time or another, including Urdu, Malay, Swahili, Hausa, Algerian Tribal, and others. Arabic script is not used solely for writing Arabic, but for a variety of languages. In each language, it has been modified to fit the language's sound system. There are sounds not found in Arabic, but found in, for instance, Persian, Malay and Urdu: such sounds don't correspond to any sound from the Arabic system of sounds for which the Arabic alphabet can be used. For example, the Arabic language lacks a [p] sounding letter, so many languages add their own letter for [p] in the script, though the symbol used may differ between languages. These modifications tend to fall into groups: all the Indian and Turkic languages written in Arabic tend to use the Persian modified letters (and those are the languages that are "geographically closer" to Persia), whereas West African languages tend to imitate those of Ajami, and Indonesian ones those of Jawi. A writing system in which the Persian modified letters are used is called Perso-Arabic script by the scholars. Generally, in countries wher e national education is effective and where the national language is written in Arabic script, Arabic script is also used to write the other languages used in that country (Coulmas 20). The Arabic alphabet is written from right to left and is composed of 28 basic letters. Adaptations of the script for other languages such as Persian and Urdu have additional letters. There is no difference between written and printed letters; the writing is unicase (i.e. the concept of upper and lower case letters does not exist). On the other hand, most of the letters are attached to one another, even when printed, and their appearance changes as a function of whether they connect to preceding or following letters. Some

Gunshot Residue Aanalysis Essay Example for Free

Gunshot Residue Aanalysis Essay When a firearm is discharged, residues from the bullet’s force, the primer, cartridge case, firearm itself and the powder from the propellant are expelled from gaps in the guns working parts (Pepper, 2005: 118). These particles are known as gunshot residue (GSR) or firearm discharge residue (FDR) and are composed of partially burnt and un-burnt propellant powder, particles from the ammunition primer, smoke, lubricants, grease and metals from the cartridge. GSR’s are mainly deposited on skin, the hand in which the weapon was fired, on clothing, the entrance wound of victim or any other local target materials present at the crime scene. The major primer elements are lead (Pb), barium (Ba) and antimony (Sb) usually all three elements are present on the hand after firing. Less common elements include aluminium, zinc, copper, silicon and potassium. Organic and inorganic compounds are also present in GSR’s. Organic compounds are found in propellant powder and primer mixtures whereas inorganic compounds derive from primer mixtures. GSR particles are formed when the pin strikes, the primer cap and mixture is ignited creating high levels of temperature and pressure within the cartridge. The increase of temperature melts the primer mixture and the three elements are produced by vaporisation. As the primer mix ignites the propellant powder, an increase in pressure and temperature occurs and the bullet is released from the firearm barrel. The particles involved in this process form as liquid droplets which instantly solidify due to the quick increase of temperature followed by instant cooling. The discharge of firearm can deposit residues on all persons present and not just the person that fired the gun, the analysis as to who fired the weapon must be made with precaution because any hand or body part that was close to the fired weapon may have residue appearing consistent with having fired the weapon. The cartridge case, bullet and bullet coating contain specific elements that can also be detected such as zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu). There are three classifications of GSR particles which take on characteristic morphologies of GSR, regular spheroids, irregular particles and particles that form a layer of lead surrounding an inner core. The collection of GSR should be carried out instantly because GSR evidence can easily be destroyed just by washing your hands and once examined it is generally spherical in shape. Strong evidential value of all three elements must be found by specialised equipment to confirm a gun had been fired by specific suspect(s). Electron microscope (EM) is a type of microscope that uses a beam of electrons to create an image of the specimen being analysed, it is capable of much higher magnifications and is able to see much smaller objects in detail. They are large, expensive pieces of equipment, and require a lot of skill and training to operate EM. All electron microscopes use electromagnetic and electrostatic lenses to control the path of electrons. The design of an electromagnetic lens is a coil of wire around the outside of a tube through which one can pass a current, creating an electromagnetic field. The electron beam passes through the centre of the coil of wire and down the column of the EM towards the sample. Electrons are very sensitive to magnetic fields and are controlled by changing the current through the lenses. There are two types of EM, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Transmission electron microscopy involves a high voltage electron beam emitted by a cathode and formed by magnetic lenses. The electron beam that has been partially transmitted through the thin specimen carries information about the structure of the specimen.This information is then magnified by a chain of magnetic lenses until it is recorded by hitting a fluorescent screen, photographic plate, or light sensitive sensor such as a camera. The image detected is displayed on a computer. SEM is a technique that uses a beam of electrons to produce magnified images of sample by detecting secondary electrons which are emitted from the surface due to excitation by a primary electron beam. The electron beam is scanned across the surface of the sample with detectors building up an image by mapping the detected signals.The beam that impacts with the sample produces 3-dimensional (3D) images of the surfaces at high levels of magnification. SEM can also reveal the actual surface details of the particles with known examples of GSR, the large particles of partially burnt powder and spheres of residues analysed can appear to be from contaminated materials and not just from the specimen. In SEM, backscattered electrons (BSE) form due to collisions between incoming electron and the nucleus of the target atom where electrons are being knocked off. BSE are used to detect contrast between areas with different chemical compositions where heavy metal elements appear brighter in the ima ges formed and lighter metal elements appear darker. SEM has the ability to be coupled with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS or EDX) to provide information about the elemental composition of the sample being analysed. To date the most successful technique is SEM/EDX, which concentrates on the inorganic particles of GSR. This technique not only allows much of the elemental composition of individual particles to be produced but to also enable images that show morphology and the characteristics of GSR (Jackson et al, 2011: 317) . This is important because these two techniques allow GSR particles to be uniquely identified and the discovery of a suspect may appear to be guilty of a crime. Particles will either be identified as possibly being GSR or shown not to have fired the weapon. The advantage of using this technique has the ability to analyse individual particles of GSR typically the three elements lead, barium and antimony can be identified easily using this technique.(Jackson et al, 2011: 315) The EDX technique detects x-rays emitted from the sample during bombardment by an electron beam to characterize the elemental composition of the analysis, features as small as 1 ÃŽ ¼m or less can be analys ed. When the sample is bombarded by the SEMs electron beam, electrons are knocked off from the atoms to the samples surface. The electrons from the ground state are filled by electrons from a higher state which creates an electron hole so that an x-ray is emitted to balance the energy difference between the two electron states. The number and energy of the x-rays emitted from a specimen can be measured by an energy dispersive spectrometer; this gives information direct to the energy difference. The data can be interpreted in various forms from its composition to the x-ray spectrum. SEM/EDX cannot determine whether a person discharged a weapon on any occasion.Thedisadvantages of using this technique are that it’s cost effective, limited availability and a significant amount of training is required to operate the machine as it’s considered to be a specialised piece of equipment (Bell, 2006: 447). SEM examines specific particulates under high magnification whereas EDX allows elemental analysis of samples. SEM/EDX is the preferred method of GSR analysis as it shows in current study that the use o f this technique has increased from 21% to 26% (Ronald et al, 1996: 195) this shows how reliable and accurate it is to use. Positive results are always produced and when providing evidence in court it is less frequently challenged by the judge. Over 72% of laboratories that analyse GSR use SEM/EDX and search more than 50% of the stub; this is composed of aluminium and is an electrically charged conducting tab which is directly placed into the SEM/EDX machine without sample pre-treatment (Ronald et al, 1996: 197) to start the analysis.EDX extends the usefulness of SEM in that elemental analysis which can be performed within regions as small as a few cubic micrometres. All elements from the periodic table can be detected with this type of method. There are many other methods that have been applied to identify both organic and inorganic GSR analysis but it depends on which method you use. Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), x-ray micro-fluorescence, colour/spot testing, inductively coupled plasma (ICP), neutron activation analysis (NAA), gas chromatography (GC) and atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). TOF-SIMS was determined to have many advantages over SEM/EDX but because of its lack of high resolution imaging it could not reach its level of expectation. TOF-SIMS analyses smokeless black powders because of the high vacuum conditions inside the instrument but was reported to be unsuitable for volatile components such as nitro-glycerine (NG), which is a liquid substance made from glycerol, nitric and sulphuric acid.(Oliver et al, 2010) References Books 1. Suzanne Bell (2006). Forensic Chemistry. USA: Pearson Education Inc. 447. 2. Andrew R.W Jackson and Julie M. Jackson (2011). Forensic Science. 3rd ed. London: Pearson Education Inc. 311-317. 3. Ian K. Pepper (2005). Crime Scene Investigation: Methods and Procedures. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: McGraw-Hill Company. 118. Journals 4. Ronald L. Singer, 1 M.S.; Dusty Davis, 2 B.S.; and Max M. Houck, 3 M.A. (1996). Journal of Forensic Science. A Survey of Gunshot Residue Analysis Methods. 41 (2), 195-198. 5. Oliver Dalby, B.Sc, David Butler, MSc and Jason W. Birkett Ph.D. (2010). Analysis of Gunshot Residue and Associated Materials-A Review. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 55 (4), 924-926 930-931. Websites 6. http://www.jic.ac.uk/microscopy/intro_em.html accessed Thursday 13th December 2012 at 11.12pm 7. http://mee-inc.com/eds.html accessed Wednesday 19th December 2012 at 3.09pm

Brand Identity Prism Kapferer For Nike Running Shoes Marketing Essay

Brand Identity Prism Kapferer For Nike Running Shoes Marketing Essay According to Kapferers model, the brand identity prism for Nike running shoes has six dimensions which are physique, relationship, reflection, personality, culture and self-image. First, physique is the physical aspects and the main purpose of the brand; tell consumers what the product is, what the product actually does and what the product carries value in the eye of customers (Krishnamurthi 2007). The physique of Nike running shoes is sport- running because that is what the running shoes being made for. It includes all the tangible things of Nike running shoes including Nike running shoes feature, look, color, design and quality which these add values to buyers as it wears for running. The second dimension is relationship. Customers can have a relationship with the brand because the brand often involve with transaction and exchange between people, particularly in the service and retail sector (Garg 2008). According Kapferer (2008), brands exist in the market because of communication, such as advertising and direct consumers communication. For our Nike running shoes prism, Nike maintains a good relationship with customers by creating memorable award-winning campaign such as Nike running marathon. Furthermore, Nike sponsors the athletes (focusing on individual athlete and their success) as well as sponsors the game, such as the Olympic game. The third dimension is reflection which means how the individual in the intended group of customers identify himself as a person in relation to the brand (Kochhar 2007). Therefore, every brand tries to design the product to meet the need for the targeted customer group as customer reflection is a good factor for being a strong brand image, so brands should control their customer reflection (Kapferer 2008). In this case, customers will be reflected Nike running shoes for dynamic lifestyle, for winning with cool fashion. Over time, Nike will use advertising to continue address our customer reflection, so as a result of buying Nike running shoes, customers will perceive their own identity to be dynamic and fashionable and certainly to win. The fourth dimension is personality which refers to when brands talks about its product and what kind of person it would be if it were a human being (Krishnamurthi 2007). Brand personality is described by using the features of customer personality which are directly related to the brand and is closely linked with self-image (Slideshare 2009). For our Nike prism, Nike brand personality may be that of confident, arrogant, aggressive and energetic. Examples of person it could be are Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer since these two tennis players have the personality of confident, arrogant, aggressive and energetic which these character can represent the Nike brand. Nike gives the attention to a specific sport, such as tennis, basketball and golf (Slideshare 2009). The fifth dimension is culture which is a set of values that the brand is inspired or originated from (Kapferer 2008). It can be said that brand is representative of its culture, including communication (Krishnamurthi 2007). For our Nike prism, Nike takes its culture from the American culture. Nike is a global brand that reveals its culture by which symbolizes the American way which is being individual and aggressive like Michael Jordan (Garg 2008). Nike has aggressive winner attitude that can be related to the American sport attitude. This culture will help Nike in the way to differentiate Nike from other competing brands, such as Adidas, as the brand culture indicates what values are included in the Nike products and services. In addition, Nike communicates with their people by relating it with cultural values by creating a provocative attitude by encouraging them to let loose (Just do it) (Slideshare 2009). Finally, the sixth dimension is self-image which means how the individual in the targeted group identify the brand in relation to himself and it is the internal version of reflection (Kapferer 2008). It is a certain attitude toward a certain brand. Customer self-image is important as customers are attracted to the brand in which they see their own traits (Kochhar 2007). For Nike prism, the person who identifies himself/herself as fun, smart and sport person will buy our Nike running shoes since customers buy shoes corresponding to their self-image. Nike shoes now have more fashionable running shoes rather than being only traditional running shoes, buyers of Nike running will try to prove themselves too that they are in-fashion, having their own style, as well as they are fit and sport person and feel fun and cool. When they wear Nike running shoes, they belong to a fashionable sport society. In conclusion, brand identity of Nike running shoes can be described by six dimensions of brand identity prism by Kapferer. Nike running shoes physique is sport (running) and Nikes relationships are campaign and sponsorship. Customer reflection for Nike are dynamic, winning and fashion, whereas, Nikes cultures are American and Just do it. Nikes brand personality can be represented by Maria Sharapova or Roger Federer and finally Nikes brand images are fun, smart and sport person. All of these six elements of brand identity prism help to understand the perceptions of the brand, Nike running shoes, in the customer minds which thus help to build a better brand image and position of the Nike running shoes at a better level. Word count: 1028

FLQ Crisis Essay -- essays research papers

On October 5, 1970, British trade commissioner James Cross was kidnapped in his Westmount home by members of the terrorist group Front de liberation du Quebec. The FLQ Manifesto called for non-democratic separation to be brought about by acts of terror. From 1963 to 1967, the FLQ planted 35 bombs; from 1968 to 1970 they planted over 50 bombs. By the fall of 1970 the terrorist acts of the FLQ cells had claimed 6 lives. The kidnappers' demands included the release of a number of convicted or detained FLQ members and the broadcasting of the FLQ Manifesto. The Manifesto was read on Radio-Canada. Then, on October 10th, the Quebec minister of justice guaranteed safe passage to anywhere in the world for the kidnappers in exchange for the safe release of Cross. That same day Pierre Laporte, a famed Quebec reporter, author of The True Face of Duplessis, and the minister of immigration and labour in the Quebec government, was kidnapped by a different FLQ cell on the lawn of his suburban home. Laporte's kidnapping triggered a phone call from Liberal Premier Robert Bourassa asking Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to prepare the Canadian Armed Forces for action in Quebec and to declare War Measures. Two days later, October 12, Trudeau summoned armed troops to guard potential targets in Ottawa and Montreal such as cabinet ministers, John Diefenbaker, who was on the FLQ hit list, and federal buildings. On the following day, October 13, Peter Reilly of CJOH and I were at the west door of the Centre Block of the House of Commons. Reilly was asking Trudeau some basic questions in a laconic, unemotional style about the army and tanks being in Ottawa. Suddenly we were joined by CBC reporter Tim Ralfe who asked Trudeau a very emotional question about his decision to invoke the War Measures Act. Pierre Trudeau interview An angry Trudeau replied: "There's a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go on and bleed." "How far are you going to go?" Ralfe insisted."Just watch me!" said Trudeau. And Canadians across the country watched as, at 3 o'clock in the morning, Friday, October 16, Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. The Press Gallery was packed. Trudeau was careful, cold, analytic - and brilliant. The invocation of the War Measures Act meant the suspension of traditional Canadian civil l... ...erre LaPorte, the Quebec Minister of Labour, and James Cross, The British Trade Commissioner to Canada, were kidnapped by the FLQ. Prime Minister Trudeau put into effect the War Measures Act for the first time in Canadian history during peace time. He did this without consulting parliament. However, parliament voted three days later to approve the use of the act. The civil liberties of the citizens of Canada were suspended while the act was in force. In a few cities, officials used the WMA to clean up the streets, picking up "undesirables" and throwing them into jail. More than 450 people were jailed in Quebec for suspected connections to the FLQ. Most were later released without any charges being laid. After the War Measures Act was put into effect, no other public figures in Canada were kidnapped. Eventually Pierre Laporte was murdered by his captors and Cross was released unharmed after his kidnappers were flown to exile in Cuba. But for many in Quebec, the question was raised : what might the federal government do if Quebec ever did decide to leave Canada... the use of the army in the streets and t he loss of civil liberties left a bad taste in many people's mouths.

Pediatric Ethics and the Surgical Assignment of Sex Essay -- Medical G

Pediatric Ethics and the Surgical Assignment of Sex One in every 2,000 babies born every year are neither male nor female, they are what is known as hermaphrodites. These children and their families are forced into a life of hardship and encounter many conflicts, which need to be addressed. Should the parents choose the assignment of the sex to a newborn child and subject them to a life of surgery and doctor visits? There are 100 to 200 pediatric surgical reassignments every year. Many of these children are subjected to doctor visits for the rest of their childhood. Worst of all, many of these children find themselves resembling or identifying with the gender opposite of that which their parents chose for them. Conditions That Qualify for Gender Reassignment: Over the past five decades, surgical interventions have been recommended as standard procedure for infants who are born with either ambiguous genitalia or who suffer from traumatic genital injury. Surgical advances in this century have made it possible for physicians to choose a gender for the child and then sculpt the appropriate genitalia. Some of the conditions that demand gender reassignment for children can be a result of chromosomal or hormonal defects. Typically males have XY chromosomes, and women have XX chromosomes; however, hermaphrodites are neither male nor female. One reason comes from Turner's Disease where the chromosomes are XO, and there is a sex chromosome missing. Another mutation is the XXY chromosomes, known as Klinefelter's Disease, which occurs in an average of one out of every 1000 births. There is also, Mosaicism, where different cells split into different parts, making up XY and XO chromosomes. Hormonal complications can change the gender... ... who believe the same. Surgery may never even be needed. Conclusion: To protect the lives of intersexed children, it is in their best interest if the parents wait until after the child reaches puberty before going through with the surgery. Surgery should only be done if the child suffers from further health risks. References 1) J. Money and A. Ehrhardt, Man and Woman, Boy and Girl (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1972) 2) P.K. Donahoe, and J.J. Schnitzer, "Evaluation of the infant who has ambiguous genitalia, and principles of operative management," Seminars in Pediatric Surgery 5 (1996) 3) http://www.ukia.co.uk/diamond/ped_eth.htm 4) http://mind.phil.vt.edu/sex/emma.html 5) http://www.afn.org/~sfcommed/pedethics.htm 6) http://www.isna.org/library/recommendations.html 7) http://bmei.org/jbem/volume4/num2/scipione.htm

Movie Essays - Romanticism in the Film Version of The Big Sleep

Romanticism in the Film Version of The Big Sleep      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Raymond Chandler's novel The Big Sleep, he presents two sisters, Vivian and Carmen. These women become the central characters, aside from Philip Marlowe, and they control much of the action in the novel. The 1946 film version of The Big Sleep, however, manipulates Chandler's characters considerably. Aside from playing with the dialogue of the novel, the screen-writers change the very essences of Vivian and Carmen. Perhaps it is the casting of the film which forces changes from the novel, or perhaps the Production Code keeps the writers from developing the women in the way that Chandler does; either way, the film version of The Big Sleep makes the story romantic and often cliche.    Vivian and Carmen, sisters, are presented by Chandler as psychotic and dangerous women. Vivian, is described in detective Philip Marlowe's thoughts as "tall and rangy and strong-looking...Her hair was black and wiry and parted in the middle and she had the hot black eyes of the portrait in the hall"(Chandler 17). She is cool and manipulative, instantly suspicious of Marlowe's presence in her world, and she plays her suspicions off as insults. When she meets Marlowe, she says, "So you're a private detective,...I didn't know they really existed, except in books. Or else they were greasy little men snooping around hotels"(Chandler 18). Marlowe plays right back at her, countering every snide remark with one of his own. When Vivian tells Marlowe she doesn't like his manners, his response is,    I'm not crazy about yours...I didn't ask to see you. You sent for me. I don't mind your ritzing me or drinking your lunch out of a Scotch bottle...I don't mind if you ... ...ynamic together, the script is allowed to be less than what the novel created. This is exactly what happened with The Big Sleep. Marlowe and Vivian took a backseat to Bogart and Bacall. The sisters, Vivian and Carmen, had to be altered to create the effect of romance and intrigue. There was really no other way to go within the restrictions of the Production Code, as Carmen couldn't be played up to her full potential, so the director took Vivian and made her the leading lady. The essences that Chandler created for these two women were dynamically altered for the film in order to create two women without the demons or psychoses that he had intended.    Works Cited    Chandler, Raymond. The Big Sleep. New York: Random House, 1939. "Memorable Quotes from Big Sleep, The (1946)." IMDB. Internet. Accessed: April 1999. Address: http://us.imdb.com/

Natural disasters

December 28th 1908 barely three days after Christmas, the Messing earthquake would rock and forever change Italy. The earthquake registered a 7. 2 on the Richter scale. This by far has been one of the deadliest earthquakes In Europe, and for obvious reasons Is recorded as one of the most destructive. Given Italy's history of earthquakes, it's said to be one of the most prone areas In Europe. During that last 2,000 years, more than 400 destructive earthquakes have been documented in Italy and seismic activity varies considerably across the country due o the complex tectonics of the & Lead's). The fact that Italy sits on top of the plate boundary off the African Continental plate, leaves those to believe this was a true cause of the devastating earthquake. The plate Italy is sitting on is actually to this day continuing to push against the ocean floor and causing vertical displacement, in return causing earthquakes.The current population of Messing is somewhere around 242,000. At the t ime of the devastating earthquake the population was around 180,000. The earthquake claimed the lives of over 123,000 people that day and left over 59,000 homeless. A estimation of population for 2050 would be In the area of 279,000. The fact that after the earthquake hit and last for a duration of about seconds, a 12 meter tsunami struck the nearby coastlines which added to the destruction already experienced by Messing. The amount of debris and rubble left behind almost totally engulfed the area.There was no power or running water which as a result required evacuation processes to start. The fact that much of the city was unable to survive in these conditions lead to relief efforts from other countries. Russian sailors stepped in and ultimately some cost their lives due to the aftershocks which buried them amongst the rubble. The British sent two battleships and five cruisers along with a destroyer to the site. The US also was able to step In an support humanitarian efforts by bri ng in food off the Navy ships, and by making make shift hospitals for the Injured.Many residents at this point didn't have to means or funds to pay for all the major repairs needed, so they turned to the government to help. The ending result for Messing was that the ability to bounce back from such a terrible tragedy was not easy when the economy along with uninsured properties were at risk. As a consequence, very few homes and businesses had sufficient enough funds to cover the loss from the earthquake. This definitely but a strain on the rebuilding process for Messing. It was an estimated 60 million Euro for repair cost and rebuilding of Messing, however the true amount is still unknown.With little funding to be had, it was only possible at the time for the government to rebuild a much smaller city. The city as we know it today has fully recovered, but will forever be tragically impacted by the lasting effects. In the aftermath, and In the following year to come, Messing took reci tation to reconstruction and built architecture that would withstand earthquakes of various magnitudes. During this lengthy process of rebuilding, many of the survivors were taken to various parts of Italy until the building process was cargo ship Florida, which were brought into the New York Harbor to start a new life.In the year of 1887 a disastrous flood of the Yellow River in China became one of the world most devastating natural disasters. â€Å"Originating at the Banyan Hard Mountains in Western China, the famous Yellow River runs through several provinces before pouring into the Boohoo Sea†(The). The Yellow River is very prone to flooding based on the fact the river itself is elevated and runs between dyke's above the broad plains around it. The flooding that occurred in September of 1887 was so demoralizing and killed more than an estimated 900,000 people. Thus making it one of the world's most recorded deadliest natural disasters to date.Much of the flooding that occ urred in the 1887 floods, was said to be record spring rains and the melting of snow that allowed the river to topple of the 60 foot levees that had been set in place to help this type of disaster from happening. The heavy water flowing eventually eroded the levees and allowed for the mile wide river to then pour out in the floodplain areas. This barrage is what resulted in over 900,000 deaths. It was also said that the in ability for crops to grow due to flooding also played a huge role to many of these deaths as well. Since there is no international unit which to measure a flood's strength it is usually classified by the extent of the damage done, depth of water left and number of casualties†(Worlds Worst Disaster). The city hardest hit by the flood was said to be the Squeezing in Henna province. Due to the waters of the Yellow River potentially breaking through the dyke's in Handouts which flowed into Squeezing, the flood water spread very quickly throughout Northern China at an estimated 50,000 square mile area.Much of this area was said to be that of swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. The population in 1887 was estimated to be a little over 3 million. Today's population is that of 8 million. The projected population for 2050 is said to be around 11 million. With the flood claiming so many lives it is also to be known that there causes were contributing factors as well. Pandemics and lack of basic needs for survival was also a major factor to the death toll. China has since taken measure to secure the river in hopes that the floods never happen again.By this the government have built three damns that control the river and in return is also a source of hydroelectricity for the cities. On the afternoon of November 13th, 1985 the Volcano Nevada del Uric erupted in the city of Rammer, Columbia. The Volcanic eruption itself caused a massive mudflow that would practically whippet the entire city. When the Volcano became active and mo lten lava began to melt the snow and ice a chain reaction started to take place. This formed showers of ash in the air.This specific volcano is located some 5,389 meters above sea level, which puts it to be one of the tallest in Columbia. â€Å"All of these mountains are ice-capped extraneousness and are vulnerable to seismic activity due to lying at the intersection of four fault lines†(Suite). There were several precursors noticed before the eruption in 1985. Pumice fragments were seen at the beginning of the onset of eruption along with the ash. By several hours later the town had started an evacuation and the first signs of the molten rock had begun.When the Lars finally hit the city that dreadful night, the whole town was asleep. This resulted in over 23,000 deaths. The mudflow was rushing down at speeds of 30 help predict their eruptions. Special tools and equipment used are that of seismographs, tilt meters, and geometers and correlation spectrometers. All these tools are able to help find small earthquakes and possible swelling of volcanoes. The population of Rammer during this time was 27,300 which meant that less than one- .NET of the population survived. The population today is zero, as the town never rebuilt.The town today is considered a cemetery for all the people buried among the mud. As the town of Rammer never rebuilt, the efforts taken at the time of the disaster by the government and by the United Nations were of great help. Many people and family of the deceased were extremely upset at the government as the evacuation was not taken seriously. As relief efforts took place a great deal was to be held off till daylight in order to look for the live under buried rubble and mud. Relief efforts eased for well over three months lingering into February of 1986.Much of the deaths were blamed on the government for the cancellation of the evacuation, poor planning, human error and simple a lack of experience. † In fact, $1 billion of the Colombian Gross National Product was used for the recovery†. Though the city of Rammer was a good 74 kilometers away from the volcano Nevada del Uric, it only took a mere two and half hours before the city was completely covered. Since this deadly eruption , the volcano has had very little volcanic activity, however, the lasting effects f Nevada del Uric can still be seen today. Natural Disasters Why do Natural disaster occur : here you can include the reasons why natural disaster occurs. the reasons could be both man made and natural. i said man made because there is a theory called â€Å"Population theory of Malthus † where its stated that if the balance of population exceeds that of food supply many natural disaster would occur. you can google â€Å"Population theory of Malthus† for more details. and the natural ones could be earthquakes on which humans have no control. here you can give examples of earthquakes that frequently hits japan. Advantages of natural disaster: there are some advantages of natural disaster as well. for example with flood comes lots of silts which in turn makes the soil fertile. apart from that any population that faces natural disaster frequently builds a strong survival mentality. for example some countries in the Indian subcontinent gets hit by hurricane, tornadoes etc yet the destruction rate is very low due to their adoption of the environment. Disadvantages; There are psychological, social, economical disadvantages of natural disasters. Psychological could be that people might loose their loved ones, their hard earned property. social disadvantages could be after effects of the event like you know looting, robbery due to want of basic necessities etc. Economic disadvantages could be the spending to reconstruct the damaged infrastructures, damage of crops, damage of properties etc then you can include precautionary measures to better deal with natural disaster. So far thats all I can come up with. if anything else comes in my mind I will edit this answer further Natural disasters December 28th 1908 barely three days after Christmas, the Messing earthquake would rock and forever change Italy. The earthquake registered a 7. 2 on the Richter scale. This by far has been one of the deadliest earthquakes In Europe, and for obvious reasons Is recorded as one of the most destructive. Given Italy's history of earthquakes, it's said to be one of the most prone areas In Europe. During that last 2,000 years, more than 400 destructive earthquakes have been documented in Italy and seismic activity varies considerably across the country due o the complex tectonics of the & Lead's). The fact that Italy sits on top of the plate boundary off the African Continental plate, leaves those to believe this was a true cause of the devastating earthquake. The plate Italy is sitting on is actually to this day continuing to push against the ocean floor and causing vertical displacement, in return causing earthquakes.The current population of Messing is somewhere around 242,000. At the t ime of the devastating earthquake the population was around 180,000. The earthquake claimed the lives of over 123,000 people that day and left over 59,000 homeless. A estimation of population for 2050 would be In the area of 279,000. The fact that after the earthquake hit and last for a duration of about seconds, a 12 meter tsunami struck the nearby coastlines which added to the destruction already experienced by Messing. The amount of debris and rubble left behind almost totally engulfed the area.There was no power or running water which as a result required evacuation processes to start. The fact that much of the city was unable to survive in these conditions lead to relief efforts from other countries. Russian sailors stepped in and ultimately some cost their lives due to the aftershocks which buried them amongst the rubble. The British sent two battleships and five cruisers along with a destroyer to the site. The US also was able to step In an support humanitarian efforts by bri ng in food off the Navy ships, and by making make shift hospitals for the Injured.Many residents at this point didn't have to means or funds to pay for all the major repairs needed, so they turned to the government to help. The ending result for Messing was that the ability to bounce back from such a terrible tragedy was not easy when the economy along with uninsured properties were at risk. As a consequence, very few homes and businesses had sufficient enough funds to cover the loss from the earthquake. This definitely but a strain on the rebuilding process for Messing. It was an estimated 60 million Euro for repair cost and rebuilding of Messing, however the true amount is still unknown.With little funding to be had, it was only possible at the time for the government to rebuild a much smaller city. The city as we know it today has fully recovered, but will forever be tragically impacted by the lasting effects. In the aftermath, and In the following year to come, Messing took reci tation to reconstruction and built architecture that would withstand earthquakes of various magnitudes. During this lengthy process of rebuilding, many of the survivors were taken to various parts of Italy until the building process was cargo ship Florida, which were brought into the New York Harbor to start a new life.In the year of 1887 a disastrous flood of the Yellow River in China became one of the world most devastating natural disasters. â€Å"Originating at the Banyan Hard Mountains in Western China, the famous Yellow River runs through several provinces before pouring into the Boohoo Sea†(The). The Yellow River is very prone to flooding based on the fact the river itself is elevated and runs between dyke's above the broad plains around it. The flooding that occurred in September of 1887 was so demoralizing and killed more than an estimated 900,000 people. Thus making it one of the world's most recorded deadliest natural disasters to date.Much of the flooding that occ urred in the 1887 floods, was said to be record spring rains and the melting of snow that allowed the river to topple of the 60 foot levees that had been set in place to help this type of disaster from happening. The heavy water flowing eventually eroded the levees and allowed for the mile wide river to then pour out in the floodplain areas. This barrage is what resulted in over 900,000 deaths. It was also said that the in ability for crops to grow due to flooding also played a huge role to many of these deaths as well. Since there is no international unit which to measure a flood's strength it is usually classified by the extent of the damage done, depth of water left and number of casualties†(Worlds Worst Disaster). The city hardest hit by the flood was said to be the Squeezing in Henna province. Due to the waters of the Yellow River potentially breaking through the dyke's in Handouts which flowed into Squeezing, the flood water spread very quickly throughout Northern China at an estimated 50,000 square mile area.Much of this area was said to be that of swamping agricultural settlements and commercial centers. The population in 1887 was estimated to be a little over 3 million. Today's population is that of 8 million. The projected population for 2050 is said to be around 11 million. With the flood claiming so many lives it is also to be known that there causes were contributing factors as well. Pandemics and lack of basic needs for survival was also a major factor to the death toll. China has since taken measure to secure the river in hopes that the floods never happen again.By this the government have built three damns that control the river and in return is also a source of hydroelectricity for the cities. On the afternoon of November 13th, 1985 the Volcano Nevada del Uric erupted in the city of Rammer, Columbia. The Volcanic eruption itself caused a massive mudflow that would practically whippet the entire city. When the Volcano became active and mo lten lava began to melt the snow and ice a chain reaction started to take place. This formed showers of ash in the air.This specific volcano is located some 5,389 meters above sea level, which puts it to be one of the tallest in Columbia. â€Å"All of these mountains are ice-capped extraneousness and are vulnerable to seismic activity due to lying at the intersection of four fault lines†(Suite). There were several precursors noticed before the eruption in 1985. Pumice fragments were seen at the beginning of the onset of eruption along with the ash. By several hours later the town had started an evacuation and the first signs of the molten rock had begun.When the Lars finally hit the city that dreadful night, the whole town was asleep. This resulted in over 23,000 deaths. The mudflow was rushing down at speeds of 30 help predict their eruptions. Special tools and equipment used are that of seismographs, tilt meters, and geometers and correlation spectrometers. All these tools are able to help find small earthquakes and possible swelling of volcanoes. The population of Rammer during this time was 27,300 which meant that less than one- .NET of the population survived. The population today is zero, as the town never rebuilt.The town today is considered a cemetery for all the people buried among the mud. As the town of Rammer never rebuilt, the efforts taken at the time of the disaster by the government and by the United Nations were of great help. Many people and family of the deceased were extremely upset at the government as the evacuation was not taken seriously. As relief efforts took place a great deal was to be held off till daylight in order to look for the live under buried rubble and mud. Relief efforts eased for well over three months lingering into February of 1986.Much of the deaths were blamed on the government for the cancellation of the evacuation, poor planning, human error and simple a lack of experience. † In fact, $1 billion of the Colombian Gross National Product was used for the recovery†. Though the city of Rammer was a good 74 kilometers away from the volcano Nevada del Uric, it only took a mere two and half hours before the city was completely covered. Since this deadly eruption , the volcano has had very little volcanic activity, however, the lasting effects f Nevada del Uric can still be seen today.

Adversity Bringing the Best or Worst in People

Adversity Bringing Out The Best or Good? Recently a tragedy has occurred in New York and many other states being known as â€Å"Hurricane Sandy† leaving a mark on our lives. Sometimes in life when natural disasters occur or in general when unfortunate cases occur adversity can truly bring out the real person whether for good or bad. I personally believe adversity brings out the best because in most cases you see people helping by any means and actually some have sacrificed their lives just for the safety of others.I mean if this doesn’t bring out the best, what does it bring out? It can be officers, firefighters, public and many more trying to help out and make a difference showing that they care. The Hurricane had hit us pretty bad causing schools, public transportation and many other services come to a temporary suspension. Fire fighters, officers and ambulate drivers were all over NYC helping and people who were off duty left their homes and came to help as well. Tha t’s true dedication and people should definitely recognize and appreciate them more often.There were shortages of food and clothing for many people because unfortunately in some cases people have lost their homes and are currently living in shelters. Its so generous for Collages to provide their gym for the people who have lost their homes and have no place to go to com and temporarily stay at the collage where they provide everything for them their. Speaking of generosity people have came to the colleges and provided any assistances they could. This show how much people care. They took time out of their own lives and were there to help society.Unfortunately Officer Artur Kasprzak was one of the few people who died because of Hurricane Sandy. He was trying to help his family get out of the mess in the house and quickly brought them to the attic. Once he brought them to the attic he went downstairs for something and unfortunately never made it back to the attic. This shows he cared for his family and put them first. Also, companies, corporations and celebrities have donated to the American Red Cross in the amount of millions to the Hurricane Sandy relief.People are donating money and clothes and really whatever is necessary and are in their limits of what they could do. Our very own MTA service had announced free transportation from them. I mean that’s shocking because it’s the MTA and all they want is money from the passengers. In this case them helping out in their way really shows support and generosity which had helped many people get around because of shortages of gas. In Conclusion, society really helps and cares in situations like these and don’t suddenly become selfish, worrying about themselves.Of course there are is a percentage of selfish people out there but that cant and shouldn’t provoke us from showing who we really are. I salute all the people that have helped and are currently helping in any way because even s omething very little means a lot to someone else. At the end of the day it all comes down to does adversity bring the best or worst in people? I believe best because in situations like these many people open up their hearts and really just help out any way possible. Hurricane Sandy has left a permanent mark in history and won’t be forgotten.

Psychology of Love

of Triangular Love Theory and The Effects on Our Brain Merry Alijoski College of New Rochelle Author Note This paper was prepared for Psychology 101, taught by Professor Hertler. Abstract This paper presents the classification of love in Robert Sternberg’s triangular love theory and how the brain falls in love within the three components of love. The research findings hold significance to people who are or have been in love and have interest in classifying their love and understanding how they love.In this paper, research is cited to attempt and solve the biological mystery behind love and how love can be broken down into components. The brain plays a major role in loving other people and the components help define our relationships with the opposite sex. To gather information and results on this topic, I analyzed several books and articles on the psychology, evolution, and brain reactions of love. As a result of completing the above procedure, studies show how dopamine create s happy feelings. Sternberg’s triangular love theory provides components that have scores which increase and decrease over time.The larger implication of my findings reveals how love is complex and so is the biological process of it. Keywords: love, brain, components Introduction What is love? The definition is infinite. In history, scholars have primarily studied the nature of love. For instance, in 1886, the German pioneering sexologist and physician Richard von Krafft-Ebing classified five types of love. These types were known as true love, sentimental love, platonic love, friendship, and sensual love. Albert Ellis (1954) suggested further love varieties: â€Å"Love itself . . . ncludes many different types and degrees of affection, such as conjugal love, parental love, familial love, religious love, love of humanity, love of animals, love of things, self-love, sexual love, obsessive-compulsive love, etc. † (p. 101). Love is very complex and has been broken down int o many theories such as the triangular love theory, types of love, and styles of love by Robert Sternberg. In terms of the biological aspect of love, it is extremely difficult to explain. Discoveries show how the brain processes though the body when a man or woman selects a mate.Results suggest that the â€Å"chemistry† of attraction between people comes from chemical processes within the brain. Components of Triangular Love Theory Robert Sternberg (1986, 1998) identified three terms of three basic components that create the vertices of the love triangle, known as intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment. The intimacy component refers to close, connected, and bonded feelings in loving relationships (Sternberg, 1989, p. 120). The passionate component has the motivational drive that can lead to such romantic and physical attraction, sexual consummation, and related wonders.Many factors contribute to passion such as the need for sexual arousal, self-esteem, association with pe ople, power over others, obedience to others, and to achieve one’s potential. The decision and commitment component consists of two aspects, one short term and one long term. In a short term relationship, the decision one loves someone. Long term relationships consist of commitment to maintain that love. In most cases, decision will encourage commitment. If the love components begin to combine, then eight subsets that represent the classification of love are created.These eight types are extremes for reality. On occasion, someone would have an instance in which there is passion with no intimacy at all. The following represents the triangular love theory including the eight subsets. Figure 1. 1 Sternberg’s triangular theory of love represents the three components of love and they are shown in the vertices of the triangle. The different types of love formed through various combinations of the components are in the brackets of the triangle. _______________________________ ______________________________________________________ SOURCE: From Sternberg, R.J. (1988). Triangulating love. In R. J. Sternberg & M. L. Barnes (Eds. ), The psychology of love (pp. 119-138). Each component of love has feelings that we experience when meeting a person who can be a potential long term mate. With the use of different chemicals, the brain regulates these feelings. To stimulate long term commitment all sections must be involved. However, this often does not happen. â€Å"While these brain circuits and emotions work with each other in a safe and fulfilling love relationship, they can and do function independently of one another.You can be bonded with one person, infatuated with another and have sex with yet a third person† (Schaeffer, pg 27). Schaeffer’s statement connects to the three-brain system theory. The main idea of the theory is that there are three sections of the brains of humans have developed along with the brain of previous animal ancestors. O ur brains are not too different from animals because the main difference is that our brain functions on three different levels. Such aspects of the human brain are reasons for diverse attraction cues and how they vary based on the person when choosing a mate. IntimacyIn detail, the intimacy component alone, which is identified as liking, occurs in certain instances. Such liking occurs when someone experiences only the intimacy component of love during the absence of the passion and decision/commitment components. The person often feels closeness, a bond, and warmth toward each other, without intense passion or long term commitment. The passion component, unlike the intimacy component, has passion without commitment and intimacy. Intimacy or liking, associates with attraction and how the sense of sight allows one to see the image of an attraction person, creating an effect on the brain. The chemical that results from physical attraction (or lust) is phenyl ethylamine or PEA. It is a naturally occurring amphetamine substance from within the brain that stimulates and increases physical and emotional energy. The initial attraction between two individuals causes one to produce more PEA which results in those dizzying feelings associated with romantic love. Another substance that is released by PEA is dopamine. This chemical increases a desire to be physically close and intimately connected. When these chemicals are being secreted in larger doses, they send signals from the brain to the other organs of the body.If you wonder why you or someone is attracted to the â€Å"wrong† person, it may be because you are high on the physical response to these substances, which overwhelm your ability to use your head and exercise â€Å"good judgment and common sense† (True Love and Chemistry). Attraction is extremely powerful and it can be the source of a long lasting relationship. Research shows that signals that come from the body can have an effect of a personâ €™s feelings of attraction for another. Psychologists Donald G. Dutton and Arthur P. Aron created three experiments which show a relationship between strong levels of anxiety and attraction.Male passersby’s were communicated either on a fear-arousing suspension bridge or a non-fear arousing bridge by a beautiful female evaluator who asked them to fill out questionnaires. Aside from the control group, there were results proving that more anxiety was produced during the experimental bridge. In other words, attraction caused anxiety. Passion The passion component alone, classified as infatuated, is commonly phrased as being â€Å"love at first sight†. In this particular component, love is changed into obsession by treating the partner as an idealized object rather than as him or himself.There is a cure for infatuation and one must get to know the object of one’s infatuation very well. An alternative solution is to become convinced that one has absolutely no hop e of attaining the object of one’s infatuation. Infatuations major problem is that it tends to be obsessive. People experiencing infatuation tend to steadily focus on the love, which causes one to waste time, energy, and motivation from other significant things in one’s life. On Robert’s triangle, infatuated love relationships form in an asymmetrical figure.In research (Sternberg & Barnes 1985) reveals that the higher the degree of asymmetry, the increasing chance that a relationship is prone to distress. The passion component, or infatuation stage, is correlated with being intoxicated. These feelings originate from chemical of dopamine. PEA is a substance that discharges dopamine and when we fall in love our brain directs signals for additional dopamine. People are in a happy state of mind due to dopamine’s effects on us. These feelings are common when we have â€Å"butterflies† or we are â€Å"weak in the knees† during the time we are arou nd the person we love.A study created in 2002 by an anthropologist named Helen Fisher, revealed these feelings due to the distribution of dopamine. Fisher gathered 40 young participants who were madly in love. Half were loved in return, while the other half was experiencing love rejection. Each participant was placed in a MRI with a picture of their beloved and one of an acquaintance. They all stared at the photo of their sweetheart for 30 seconds, then after a distraction, they would look at the acquaintance photo for another 30 seconds. Everyone was switching back and forth for approximately 12 minutes.This study discovered that the photos of the participant’s sweetheart’s created the distribution of dopamine into various sections of the brain including the posterior dorsal caudate and its tail, which are the main parts of the brains system for reward and motivation. In cases where dopamine levels are high the feeling of falling in love is rapid and powerful, causing an obsession to occur with the person who gives them that feeling. The increasing levels of dopamine explain why people long for the feeling that loved one give them. Decision/commitmentOne of the most meaningless components has to be the decision/commitment component alone, known as empty love. The empty love forms as a result from someone simply making a decision to love one another without intimacy or passion being present. Usually this type of love is found in motionless relationships and marriages that have lost the attraction and emotional support for one another. Lazarus (1985) identifies that when marriage is solely based on commitment, the other missing components are very difficult to restore in the marriage.Empty love is known for being one-sided in the triangle. After Sternberg explained the components in an individual manner, he began combining the components and created different forms of love. Commitment is connected to how the human brain correlates with reproductio n. We are biologically made to reproduce and carry on genes. â€Å"As far as your genes are concerned, your principal job while you're alive is to conceive offspring, bring them to adulthood and then obligingly die so you don't consume resources better spent on the young. Anything that encourages you to reed now and breed plenty gets that job done† (The Science of Romance). These drives are contributed to the process of selecting a partner with the help of biological cues. Today’s society refers this process to â€Å"romance† and a feeling of â€Å"love†. Our society has changed the drives for commitment with others. There is an excess amount of time devoted to the process of love instead of reproducing children. Commitment is a significant factor for having healthier babies but the societies today are focusing on how and why people have decided to commit to one spouse. Kinds of LoveRomantic love is formed through the combination of intimacy and passion. People who experience romantic love have a physical attraction and emotions for one another. For example, a summer love can demonstrate romantic love, but there is not a real chance for it to last beyond the summer. Such lovers feel an intense passion for one another and feel that they can bare their souls to one another as well. A counter argument is given by Hartfield and Walster (1981) by stating that romantic love does not differ from infatuation. Many possibilities may occur in such a love.Romantic lovers can realize that they may or may not have many things in common. In some cases, a friendship can easily change into a romantic love, due to the admiration for one another and the passion that draws them together. Companionable love results from the combination of intimacy and decision/commitment components of love. Companionate love is identified as a long-term committed friendship. The passion goes away although the intimacy remains. Most people are happy with this type of lo ve. However, some people find it difficult living without some kind of romance going on.As a solution, people might have affairs to feed their hunger for such romance. Fatuous love requires the combination of passion and the decision/commitment components of love. Hollywood courtships experience fatuous love most of time. Once the passion wears out, commitment is left. However, commitment requires a lot of time and energy to develop. People involved in fatuous love think that marriage is heaven and a solution to all their worries and concerns. They are not aware of what is required to maintain a marriage. These people sacrifice a lot for passion and lack intimacy.The combination of intimacy, passion, and commitment forms consummate love. All components being present in consummate love allow people to strive for this type of love, especially those in romantic relationships. Having this love can be extremely difficult, but maintaining this love is far more challenging. We do not seek consummate love because we have the tendency to reserve it for those that have much more meaning for us. The following chart shows Sternberg’s typology of the love relationships. ————————————————- Table 1. Sternberg’s Typology of Love Relationships Love Component ___________________________ Kind of Love Relationship Intimacy Passion Decision/Commitment Nonlove Low Low Low Liking High Low Low Infatuation Low High Low Empty love Low Low High Romantic love High High Low Companionate love High Low High Fatuous love Low High High Consummate love High High High ______________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: According to Sternberg (e. . , 1986), the three basic components of love—intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment—combine to produce eight different types of love relationship. For example, infatuation-based relationships are characterized by relatively high levels of passion but relatively low levels of intimacy and commitment. Evidence for Sternberg’s Triangular Love Theory Sternberg designed a questionnaire, the Sternberg Triangular Love SCALE (STLS), in order to measure the components of love in his theory. Few studies were done on the scale alone (e. g. Sternberg, 191987, 1997; Whitley, 1993). The scale has proven to have good measures of the components, particularly of passion and commitment. Scores were stable for up to two months for the same relationship. Sternberg made assumptions that over time the scores will change. In one study, there were 204 adult participants between the ages 18 to 68; 65 percent were married (Acker & Davis, 1992). On average, the relationships were going for 9. 5 years. As Sternberg predicted, the scores of commitment raised within relationships that shifted from dating to marriage.Robert’s prediction of intimacy decreasing over time was also proven in the study. However, two different measures of intimacy increased over time. A different study assessed German adults for their relationship between the three components, sexual activity, and satisfaction (Grau & Kimpf, 1993). In the theory, it is predicted that the measurement of passion should be strongly correlated to sexual activity, but the results prove that intimacy is closely related to sexual behavior and sexual satisfaction. Conclusions and Future StudyThe preceding information matters because love is hard to define and varies for others, which makes Sternberg’s theory an informative model of all types of relationships. An addition to all the components, information on how the brain works while falling in love, allows people to understand the biological process of love. Love can be classified in many forms and the brain helps select our mates based on the innate genetics of needing to reproduce. Arguments in the paper fit together and prove the thesis statement, such as dopamine creating happy feelings when in love and gene’s principle job is to reproduce.Further steps that need to be taken in the area of the papers research, is researching the purpose of love. There can be a study done on participants and how they view of the purpose of love. Objective information should come from science and religion. Then the subjective and objective findings can be compared and contrasted to form a conclusion. | ReferencesFisher, H. , Aron, A. , & Brown, L. (2005). Dr Helen Fisher – Biological Anthropologist – Home Page. Retrieved from http://www. helenfisher. com/downloads/articles/13JourCompNeur. pdfFisher, H. E. (1992).Anatomy of love: The natural history of monogamy, adultery, and divorce. New York: Norton. Franzoi, S. L. (2009). Social psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Regan (2002, October 30). General Theories of Love. SAGE – the natural home for authors, editors and societies. SAGE is a lea ding international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media for academic, educational, and professional markets: Welcome to Sage. Retrieved from http://www. sagepub. com/upm-data/3222_ReganChapter1_Final. pdfSchaeffer, B. (2009). Is it love or is it addiction? The book that changed the way we think about romance and intimacy. Center City, Minn: Hazelden. Sternberg, R. J. , & Barnes, M. L. (1988). The Psychology of love. New Haven: Yale University Press. The Science of Romance: Why We Love – TIME. (2009, November 6). Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews – TIME. com. Retrieved from http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704672,00. htmlTrue Love and Chemistry: Exploring Myth and Reality. (2009, November 6). Retrieved from http://www. enotalone. com/article/2946. html| |

Free Essays on An American Tragedy

An American Tragedy: Comparing "The Crucible" and "The Scarlet Letter" by: Jamie Newlands Two American authors, of two distinctly different time periods had one very similar task, to turn a piece of American History into a believable tragedy. Arthur Miller with The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne with The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps one might wonder which author did a better job in doing so, but with such different pieces of work, this is hardly a question that can be answered. Miller's the Crucible was written in the nineteen-fifties, with a definite purpose, to remind Americans of the horrible witch trials that took place in Salem, even before the American Revolution was a thought. It served as a tool to warn against the same thing happening with the Communist hearings going on in our country at the time it was written. Miller wrote a play, which was not well received by the first audiences to witness it, but none the less is now recognized as one the finest pieces of literature written by an American. Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter was written in the eighteen hundreds, with no other purpose but for Hawthorne to write a novel. Hawthorne perhaps chose this dark subject to convey his contempt for Puritanism. He was a man preoccupied with the hidden sin which is illustrated in not only the Scarlet Letter, but also in The Minister's Black Veil. One might even say that Hawthorne's ancestry (Hathorne) is what he might consider his own "Pearl", and this is why he changed his name. Like Miller's the Crucible, The Scarlet Letter takes place in Puritan Salem and has a tragic hero, but these are the only similarities between the two great works. In Miller's play, the tragic hero is John Proctor, a man whose pride causes the demise of many women, tried as witches. Had Proctor chosen to reveal his sin of lechery with Abigail Williams before the problem got out of hand, he would've saved seve... Free Essays on An American Tragedy Free Essays on An American Tragedy An American Tragedy: Comparing "The Crucible" and "The Scarlet Letter" by: Jamie Newlands Two American authors, of two distinctly different time periods had one very similar task, to turn a piece of American History into a believable tragedy. Arthur Miller with The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne with The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps one might wonder which author did a better job in doing so, but with such different pieces of work, this is hardly a question that can be answered. Miller's the Crucible was written in the nineteen-fifties, with a definite purpose, to remind Americans of the horrible witch trials that took place in Salem, even before the American Revolution was a thought. It served as a tool to warn against the same thing happening with the Communist hearings going on in our country at the time it was written. Miller wrote a play, which was not well received by the first audiences to witness it, but none the less is now recognized as one the finest pieces of literature written by an American. Hawthorne's the Scarlet Letter was written in the eighteen hundreds, with no other purpose but for Hawthorne to write a novel. Hawthorne perhaps chose this dark subject to convey his contempt for Puritanism. He was a man preoccupied with the hidden sin which is illustrated in not only the Scarlet Letter, but also in The Minister's Black Veil. One might even say that Hawthorne's ancestry (Hathorne) is what he might consider his own "Pearl", and this is why he changed his name. Like Miller's the Crucible, The Scarlet Letter takes place in Puritan Salem and has a tragic hero, but these are the only similarities between the two great works. In Miller's play, the tragic hero is John Proctor, a man whose pride causes the demise of many women, tried as witches. Had Proctor chosen to reveal his sin of lechery with Abigail Williams before the problem got out of hand, he would've saved seve...

Living Conditions in Kenya Essays

Living Conditions in Kenya Essays Living Conditions in Kenya Essay Living Conditions in Kenya Essay Life CONDITIONS IN KENYA 1 This paper analyzes the life conditions in Kenya. Kenya is the biggest economic system in East Africa, and it has contributed greatly into the stabilisation of East African states. This includes Somalia, where the state has sent military personnels to assist in reconstructing order and security within the part. In explicating the life conditions in Kenya, this paper uses the societal justness theory, and the moralss of virtuousness theory. The moralss of virtuousness theory lays an accent on the function of an individual’s character, for intents of measuring and analysing the ethical behaviour of a individual ( Clayton and Williams, 2004 ) . Social justness theory on the other manus develops the rules that govern the societal order of a society. Social Justice refers to the ability that people have, for intents of recognizing their potencies, within the society in which they live ( Clayton and Williams, 2004 ) . On this footing, there is a demand of set uping establishments th at would assist the society to take a better and fulfilling life. The rules established by the theory of societal justness are, personal and political autonomies, equal chances, etc. This paper argues that the life conditions in Kenya are hapless, and bulk of people are unable to acquire better services because of inefficiency in the mode in which the national authorities distributes resources to the grassroots degree. Before December 2007, Kenya was categorized as one of the success narratives in Africa. This is because the state was sing a fledging democracy, and an unprecedented economic growing, which was characterized by a flourishing touristry industry ( Williams, 2012 ) . It is of import to understand that the population of the state is approximated at 35.5 million people, with about 10 million people populating in the urban countries ( Oppong and Oppong, 2012 ) . The capital metropolis is in Nairobi, with over three million people shacking in it. The 2007 elections in Kenya culminated into an electoral force that was so terrible and lifelessly. This force shocked the full universe, and this is because Kenya has been regarded as a symbol of peace and stableness within a part that was infested with civil wars and armed struggles. Kenya faces a series of jobs, such as corruptness, HIV/AIDS, higher criterions of life, poorness, malnutrition and hungriness, a hapless wellness sector, tribalism, and hapless leading and administration ( Oppong and Oppong, 2012 ) . These mentioned jobs are the chief causes that make the life conditions in Kenya to be hapless and substandard. For case, it is estimated that kids below 15 old ages of age signifier 50 % of the entire population of the state ( Campbell, Gray and Radak, 2011 ) . On this footing, the state faces a high dependence load, which is responsible for making a competition for the chief intent accessing quality instruction, wellness attention services, and other societal services. It is of import to understand that in every bit much as the economic system of the state usually see some growing, more than half of the population of the state live in poorness ( Williams, 2012 ) . That is they live in less than a dollar per twenty-four hours. The most vulnerable people are kids and adult females populating in rural countries, and in slums ( Oppong and Oppong, 2012 ) . Poverty in the state is attributed to inefficient administration construction that does non guarantee the just distribution of resources to the grassroots degree. Poverty is besides attributed to the widespread corruptness within the state ( Williams, 2012 ) . In fact, in an one-year study of the states that is the most corrupt in the universe. Kenya ranks amongst the most corrupt states in t he universe. Corruptness is widespread within the state, and it is really hard for an person to acquire services from the authorities without corrupting a authorities functionary ( Oppong and Oppong, 2012 ) . Amongst the establishments where corruptness thrives, are the constabulary forces, the military units, the bench, and sections responsible for supplying in-migration services. Harmonizing to the societal justness theory, it is the function of the authorities to supply a conducive ambiance that can assist people to do wealth, and live in prosperity. Eradication of poorness should be one of the major concerns of the authorities, and hence establishments must be put in topographic point, for intents of assisting the authorities to contend poorness, and its causes ( Williams, 2012 ) . It is of import to understand that there have been attempts and schemes developed for intents of contending corruptness within the state, which is one of the major, causes of poorness. Institutions such as the Kenya Anti Corruption Authority were established. However, these establishments have failed to undertake the jobs of corruptness, because of deficiency of authorities will. For case, there have been major dirts affecting the larceny of public money, and this includes the Goldenberg saga, whereby a concern adult male, with the aid of top authorities functionaries decided to steal revenue enhancement payer’s money by feigning that they could provide gold, to the state militias in the 1990s ( Oppong and Oppong, 2012 ) . Billions of shillings were lost in this procedure. Another state of affairs is the Anglo leasing dirt, which came to come up in 2005 whereby top authorities functionaries were able to steal one million millions of shillings from the authorities. It is of import to denote that failure by authorities anti-corruption establishments to forestall these dirts was an unfairness to the Kenyan society ( Williams, 2012 ) . This is every bit harmonizing to the societal justness theory, which lays accent on establishments to assist in advancing societal justness, and this includes equality of chance, and personal and political freedom. For illus tration, due to corruptness, the province is unable to raise financess that can assist it to develop roads, better on the instruction and wellness attention system, etc. On this footing, the authorities is forced to utilize the limited resources it has to develop certain countries, go forthing other parts in their development docket. This is clearly against the societal justness theory which advocates for just distribution of resources ( Hooft, 2006 ) . To cut down the jobs of corruptness in Kenya, there is a demand of utilizing the rules contained in the virtuousness theories of moralss for intents of commanding the behaviour of its senior authorities functionaries. This theory focuses on methods of bettering the morality of people, by set uping the regulations and processs that the people under consideration should follow. For illustration, corruptness is a negative phenomenon in the state, and there is a demand of set uping constabularies and mechanisms of contending corruptness. On this footing, the Kenyan authorities demands to ordain assorted Torahs and processs aimed at contending corruptness, and detering the frailty ( Williams, 2012 ) . These processs could include demonising this facet of corruptness, by taking civil retainers to developing seminars with the purpose of sensitising them on the dangers of corruptness. Through these actions, opportunities are high that the authorities might transfuse the moral virtuousnesss of honestness, and the demand to function amongst its senior civil retainers ( Hooft, 2006 ) . This will hold an consequence of minimising corruptness, taking to the decrease of poorness within the state ( Gifford, 2009 ) . Another factor that leads to hapless life criterions in the state is the country’s wellness sector, which is inefficient, and lacks adept medical practicians to work in these sectors. It is of import to understand that Kenya lacks adequate physicians and nurses to work in its wellness sector. The chief ground of this deficit is that the state does non hold equal preparation installations and resources that can ease the preparation of more medical practicians, and later en gaging these people ( Hornsby, 2012 ) . However, it is of import to understand that the country that is affected largely by this deficit of physicians is in rural countries. This is because most practicians do non like working in these countries because the wage is small, and they have small chances of progressing in their callings. Doctors in rural countries are ever employed by the authorities, and the wage offered by the authorities is non ever moneymaking ( Hooft, 2006 ) . On this footing, these physicians would instead remain in urban countries, where they can acquire better occupations, with honoring wage. On this footing, there is unjust distribution of service, with the rural countries being at a disadvantage. In the position of the societal justness theory, this is injustice, because people are unable to get services, which they have a right to ( Hooft, 2006 ) . This is because they are revenue enhancement remunerators, and therefore the authorities needs to supply the wellness attention services that they need. The instruction system in Kenya is besides hapless, and it favors kids from the rich background. In every bit much as the authorities introduced a cosmopolitan free primary instruction in the state, the educative services provided are non up to the criterion. This is because schoolrooms are congested, and there are cases whereby two kids are forced to portion a desk ( Haustein, 2011 ) . There is besides a deficit of instructors, and the authorities is loath to engage more instructors because it lacks the necessary financess to transport out the exercising. On this footing, the quality of instruction provided in authorities schools is low, and this is ever reflected in national test, where pupils from authorities schools do non execute better than pupils at private schools ( Haustein, 2011 ) . It is hence of import to understand that parents prefer taking their kids to private schools, for them to entree quality and good instruction. However, these schools are ever really expensive, a nd out of range of bulk of Kenyans. It is hence accurate to understand that the instruction system in Kenya is prefering the rich, and this goes against the rules established by the societal justness theory ( Clayton and Williams, 2004 ) . Harmonizing to this rule, there must be equity in the sharing of authorities resources, and on this footing, the Government failed in this sphere ( Hooft, 2006 ) . All that the authorities needs to make is to better the construction of free primary instruction, engage more instructors, construct more schools and schoolroom, and better on the accomplishments that its instructors have. By making this, opportunities are high that the authorities would better the quality of free primary instruction. From the position of the societal justness theory, it is the establishment of administration that plays a great function in guaranting whether there is just or unjust distribution of educational resources ( Williams, 2012 ) . This is because it is the authorities that has the duty of supplying instruction to the citizens of the state. Tribalism is besides a factor that leads to unjust distribution of resources. This is because senior authorities functionaries are acute at developing countries where their folks come from, at the disbursal of the full state. Loyalty is to the folk, as opposed to the whole state. In decision, the hapless life conditions in Kenya are chiefly caused by corruptness, and unjust distribution of resources. The societal justness theory and the virtuousness of moralss theory can be used to efficaciously explicate and supply a solution to these jobs. For case, the societal justness theory advocators for the publicity of just distribution of resources, and personal every bit good as political freedoms. In the position of this theory, establishments play a great function in guaranting that there is an just distribution of resources and the personal and political freedoms of people are guaranteed. On this footing, when these societal immoralities are depicted in a society, so the establishments of the society under consideration have failed. The same can be applied in the Kenyan state of affairs, whereby the establishments formed by the authorities to contend poorness, corruptness, tribalism and other ailments in the society have failed. The virtuousness moralss theory o n the other manus emphasizes on morality and the demand of holding a good character. Corruptness is an illustration a character that is non good, and this will take to the outgrowth of other societal ailments such as poorness, and in just distribution of wealth. On this footing, the authorities needs to engage people of unity and moral character for intents of keeping senior authorities offices. Bibliography: Campbell, B. C. , Gray, P. B. , A ; Radak, J. ( 2011 ) . In the Company of Work force: Quality of Life and Social Support Among the Ariaal of Northern Kenya.Journal of Cross-Cultural Geriatrics,26( 3 ) , 221-237. Clayton, M. , A ; Williams, A. ( 2004 ) .Social justness. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.. Gifford, P. ( 2009 ) .Christianity, political relations and public life in Kenya. New York: Columbia University Press. Haustein, J. ( 2011 ) .Christianity, Politics and Public Life in Kenya.Pneuma,33( 1 ) , 134-135. Hooft, S. v. ( 2006 ) .Understanding virtuousness moralss. Chesham [ U.K. : Acumens. Hornsby, C. ( 2012 ) .Kenya a history since independency. New York: I. B. Tauris. Oppong, J. R. , A ; Oppong, E. D. ( 2004 ) .Kenya. Philadelphia: Chelsea House. Williams, L. ( 2012 ) .Kenya enchiridion( 3rd ed. ) . Bath: Footprint.

Postwar Women Essays - Gender Studies, Counterculture Of The 1960s

Postwar Women Essays - Gender Studies, Counterculture Of The 1960s Postwar Women Postwar Women World War Two has often been described as a turning point in the battle for equality between men and women. From the beginning, women were always struggling to gain status, respect, and rights in their society. Prior to World War Two, a woman's role in society was seen as someone who cooked, cleaned, and gave birth. The years during and following the war marked a turning point in the battle for equality. Women, for once, were being seen as individuals with capabilities outside the kitchen, and we're for the first time given a chance to prove themselves. On December 7, 1942, Pearl Harbor was bombed and FDR declared war. This marked the entry of the US into World War Two, a war which has been going on in Europe for almost 2 years prior. The start of World War II opened a new chapter in the lives of women living in America. From coast to coast, husbands, fathers, sons and brothers shipped out to fight in Europe. With the entry of the US and the absence of large quantities of men, the demand for supplies increased, and women were called out of the kitchen and into the workforce. Posters, banners, and jingles were all aspects that helped encourage women's entrance into the workforce. Millions marched into factories, offices, and military bases. The demand for labor was so great, that a poll taken that year showed that only 13% of the population opposed females entering the workforce. Women's occupations varied from war nurses and cooking for the army, to making bombs and making weapons. Other occupations flourished, as well. Women photographers, writers, and reports were for once given a chance. The war offered women opportunity never given to them before. The war has given women a chance to show what they can do in the world, and they have done well.(Craig,4). Women were given freedom and a chance to live the American dream. In 1910 till about 1940, women's employment rate was as low as only 13%. By June of 1942, females held 55% of all jobs. Nineteen million women were all employed by 1945. Women worked in fields that prior to the war seemed only suitable for men. They held positions such as manufactures of heavy machinery, to welders in a shipyard. This new employment opening also, for the first time, gave women a salary of their own. Women received better pay, improved and new skills, and the self-esteem that comes with receiving income, freedom, and opportunity. Women were given a chance to make their own decisions, without the advice of their husbands, brothers, or fathers. The financial situation was entirely up to them. They made and managed their monthly budgets, and decided where and how to spend their money. The war changed everybody's lives. You just bought everything. I was buying these fox furs and all of these things. I could just buy anything.(Craig,4) Also during the war, women were being admitted into Unions. They protected a women's wages and was the cause of it rising. Previously, a Union never protected female employees. Once they were admitted, the War Labor Board helped many of the changes to occur. Unions helped abolish an employers incentive to hire a female over a male, with the Equal pay for equal work. In addition, Unions helped provide protection and benefits of a job, and helped increase salaries. A documentary entitled The Life and Times of Rosie the Riverter, focused on five women whose lives changed due to the war. Lola Weixel, Margaret Wright, Lyn Childs, Gladys Belcher, and Wanita Allen, were women who were employed before the war, and then after. The document told of how prior to the war, they were employed at low paying, low skilled jobs, and were excluded from heavy industries. They were receiving such a small income, that they were all forced to rely on men for financial support. With the entrance of the war, their salaries, and their positions in the workforce all rose dramatically. The Allies' final push in the summer of 1945 brought World War II to a close. With the end of the war, came the pressure for females to return to where

Australian Tax System

Australian Tax System Executive Summary Cigarettes fall among commodities that are classified under the Australian tax system as luxuries. As such, they are charged a levy known as GST (Goods and Services Tax) which normally stands at 10% of the value of the commodity so charged and a further excise tax[1].Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Australian Tax System specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The GST system provides a lot of revenue for the Australian government due to the fact that most of the goods normally consumed in the due course of everyday life have to be charged GST. However, the government has zero-rated basic necessities such as food items, education, childcare and health care. It is notable that not all food items are GST-free and for one to know what is taxable and what is not, he or she must consult a list of products produced by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) that details the classification of goods for tax purposes. Appa rently, only registered businesses get a tax credit for GST and consumers are not entitled to a refund. For non-residents (international persons) they are eligible for a GST refund when they purchase goods in Australia exceeding the value of $300 dollars payable prior to departure and on presentation of current passport and airline tickets. Background The GST is a form of sales tax that is levied on transactions involving goods and services in Australia. It is a value added tax (VAT) and not a general sales tax in the sense that all parties in the supply chain get a refund except the end user who is usually the consumer. Interestingly, the GST was only introduced in Australia on July 1st 2000 during the premiership of John Howard. It replaced the cumbersome sales tax system that levied a ‘wholesale tax’ on a whole horde of goods which would also be taxed under state and territorial governments. The tax therefore brought some form of uniformity across the Australian tax system[2]. Initially, there had been much opposition to the introduction of the GST. The idea for a consumption tax that could be levied across the board was first proposed in 1985 by federal treasurer Paul Keating. However, the proposal was dropped after businesses, welfare groups and the ACTU opposed it due to its association with fringe benefits and capital gains taxes.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nevertheless, the idea resurfaced in 1991 when the then opposition party Liberal-National Coalition (LNC) used it as a campaign item. The public’s distrust of the proposed GST eventually led to the re-election of Keating as Prime Minister and the surprise loss of what had been termed as the ‘unloseable election’ by the opposition in 1993. In 1996, John Howard led the LNC to a major victory in the elections after making a pledge to ‘neverà ¢â‚¬â„¢ introduce the GST. However, in 1998, he backtracked on the promise and instead proposed that the GST be introduced to replace the wholesale sales tax system. In the elections that year, the LNC lost to Labour by a narrow 4.61 % but won the majority of seats in the lower house. Howard felt that the win indicated that the public was now comfortable with the GST and thus he turned to the minority parties such as the Democrats to whip up support for its introduction since Labour could not accept the GST and the party lacked a senate majority[3]. The proposal for the introduction of the GST was marketed along with the promise that all revenues raised through the GST would eventually be distributed across Australian states and territories. Additionally, there was the promise that state and territorial taxes levied on consumption would be removed gradually and replaced with GST through the Commonwealth Grants Commission. However, the Democrats were opposed to the package unless it included exemptions on food, offshore tourism packages and books. After much back and forth, a deal was struck with the Democrats which saw the introduction of these exemptions which included; 8% refund on textbooks for school use, purchases of library books, greater powers extended to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and increased welfare payouts. The agreement between the parties led to the passage of the legislation dubbed A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 on June 28th 1999. The Act was assented to on July 8th 1999 and it acquired full operation on July 1st 2000.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Australian Tax System specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More List of Objectives This research paper shall look into the following; Does the GST system provide exemptions for international persons (non-residents)? What is the impact of double taxation agreements on the GST application? Do international persons qualify for tax refunds for cigarette purchases? Research methodology This research paper mostly relies on secondary data for information. Much of the information used here was acquired from publications by the Australian Tax Office (ATO), tax specialists and other experts on matters concerning the Australian tax system. Most of the material is in the form of online journal articles, publications, magazines, newspapers and tax seminar speeches. Results/Findings As earlier stated, the subject of international persons being susceptible to the GST was an issue of consideration in the passing of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act of 1999. Prior to the introduction of the GST, international persons, who for the purposes of this research refer to non-residents of Australia living temporarily in Australia, were allowed to purchased goods from ‘duty free’ shops as long as they had a current passport and showed evidence that they intended to leave soonest i.e. by presenting airline tickets. The system allowed such purchase on the premise that such goods would be sealed until the person had passed the customs area. With the introduction of the GST, much seems to have changed when it comes to the handling of international persons. Since tourism is a major foreign exchange earner, the tax regime has had to be lax on the taxation of international persons especially on consumables. Unlike in the previous sales tax system, the GST system allows the tourist or international person to purchase goods â€Å"GST free† a month before departure. The exemption from GST is allowed where the purchase made is for goods worth more than $300 Australian dollars and that the goods have to be carried as hand luggage and presented when making the refund claim at a Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) counter during the departure. However, the construction of what makes up an international person for taxation persons is difficult. The GST sy stem has often been criticized for being unclear and difficult to understand[4].Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In most cases, the term non-resident is preferred as defined for income tax purposes. Where the international person in question comes into the country through any other visa except a travel visa, he or she is treated as a resident when it comes to taxation save for a few modifications. This would mean that GST would be levied on the person as long as he or she is keen to stay in Australia for more than six months. Even where the person intends to leave sooner, the only GST extension available is for one month and it only applies for hand luggage goods worth over $300 dollars[5]. Additionally, double tax agreements entered into between Australia and other countries seem to be only focused on income tax and customs duty. The implication is that international persons should pay for goods consumed in Australia irrespective of their citizenship or duration of stay. Consequently, most international persons do not receive a tax refund for purchase of goods levied GST. Ideally, the purpose of taxation is to collect revenue for offering services to Australians. Since international persons would most likely not benefit from these services due to their short stay, it is reasonable that they receive a tax refund for goods purchased that have been charged GST. Cigarettes fall within the bracket of goods that have to be charged GST. In addition, they are also charged a further excise tax. This would mean that international persons who purchase cigarettes from â€Å"non duty-free† shops have paid GST. Since it is not logical that they would purchase cigarettes worth $300 dollars or even expect that they would produce evidence of cigarettes smoked, it is apparent that international persons do not receive any tax return for cigarettes purchased. In addition, cigarettes are not a necessity and they have harmful effects on the environment and so it’s my opinion that the government should not make tax refunds for cigarettes purchased by international persons. Concl usion It is quite apparent that international persons enjoy certain tax benefits in the name of tourism. However, where they get into the country through any other visa other than a travel visa, the taxation system treats them the same way as ordinary residents save for a few modifications. While it would be prudent to extend some of these favours to these persons for tourism purposes, there are no benefits that will accrue to the country when cigarettes are allowed to be GST-free to non-citizens. Additionally, there are no tax exemptions available for goods that are charged excise tax. Bibliography Australian Tax History. Australian Tax Office. Last modified 3 August, 2009. ato.gov.au/corporate/content.asp?doc=/content/tax_history.htm Gittins, Ross. A light on the hill for our future tax reformers. The Age. Last modified 15 June, 2009. http://business.theage.com.au/business/a-light-on-the-hill-for-our-future-tax-reformers-20090614-c7dt.html Goods and Services Tax (GST) 7.1.4 Risk s. Queensland University of Technology. James, S., Murphy, K. Reinhart, M. â€Å"Taxpayers beliefs and views: Two new surveys.† Australian Tax Forum 20(2) 2005: 157-188. Labor says GST has king hit economy. ABC 7.30 Report. Last modified 20 May, 2006. abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s256437.htm Footnotes â€Å"Australian Tax History, Australian Tax Office, Last modified 3 August, 2009, ato.gov.au/corporate/content.asp?doc=/content/tax_history.htm. Ross Gittins, A light on the hill for our future tax reformers, The Age, Last modified 15 June, 2009, http://business.theage.com.au/business/a-light-on-the-hill-for-our-future-tax-reformers-20090614-c7dt.html. â€Å"Labor says GST has king hit economy, ABC 7.30 Report, Last modified 20 May, 2006, abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s256437.htm. â€Å"Goods and Services Tax (GST) 7.1.4 Risks, Queensland University of Technology James, S., Murphy, K. Reinhart, M, â€Å"Taxpayers beliefs and views: Two new surveys†, Australian Tax Forum 20( 2) 2005: 157-188.