Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Adobe Frames Interface Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Adobe Frames Interface - Essay Example Executable files that can be played from a compact disc can also be created using Flash without the need for any additional software.Flash has the capability of capturing user input through the keyboard, mouse, camera or even the microphone.In order to use flash, one does not need to know any programming language even though flash itself contains a scripting language called ActionScript which is object-oriented and offers support for automation through JFL (JavaScript Flash Language). Overview of Action script ActionScript is an object-oriented scripting language which looks much more like JavaScript that is used by Flash to control objects within its movies. It’s based on ECMA-262 specification just like JavaScript. ActionScript enables interactive design in Flash by allowing execution of different actions within a movie (Waldron, 2006). It was initially referred to just as ‘actions’ and was introduced in Flash Player 4. It enabled simple interactivity in Flash a nd it was not as such a complicated language since its semantics and syntax was not anywhere close to ECMAScript. ECMAScript-based syntax was although later applied and thus ActionScript 1.0 was born and introduced in Flash Player 5. ActionScript evolved and its semantics tweaked with the release of Flash Player 6 and 7. In 2003, ActionScript 2.0 was introduced in Flex 1.0 and Flash MX 2004 but it could still work in Flash Player 6 and 7 since it was using an object model similar to that of ActionScript 1.0 (Waldron, 2006). In Flash Player 9, ActionScript 3.0 was introduced as result of a new ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM2) which is now the main virtual machine for execution of ActionScript code although support for AVM1 is still provided in order to accommodate earlier versions of ActionScript. ActionScript 2.0 and ActionScript 3.0 ActionScript 2.0 was introduced in Flash MX 2004. Although it still utilized the same object model as ActionScript 1.0, it is well equipped for comp lex and larger applications. It adds some few new runtime capability and functionality by improving object-oriented programming in Flash through the introduction of syntax and semantics that is object-oriented. ActionScript 1.0 lacked an official vocabulary for the creation of objects and classes even though it was considered to be object-oriented. In ActionScript 1.0, prototypical objects were used as classes since there was no provision of class keyword for class creation and extend keyword for establishing inheritance which ActionScript 2.0 now provides thus making the language more familiar to those programmers with OOP backgrounds. ActionScript 2.0 has also made it possible for the creation of Java-like interfaces via the use of the interface statement. ActionScript 1.0 did not offer support for user interfaces. In ActionScript 1.0, the file extension for class files was .as which could be defined in in-line code or external files. ActionScript 2.0 now introduces a .class exten sion for class files and requires them to be defined in external class files. This enables editing class files in Flash MX professional 2004 editor or in any other external editor.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Analysis of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Analysis of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill The world witnessed the largest oil spill in its history in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion occurred in an oil well of British Petroleum and it is estimated that almost 4.9 billion barrels of oil was leaked to the Atlantic Ocean during the first three months since the incident. The oil spill had devastating effects of the economy and environment of America and the company had to face severe criticism from across the world community. Macro-environmental factors affecting BP Political Environment British Petroleum has held back its dividend payout to its prime stakeholders as they had been under pressure from the United States government regarding the oil spill that had occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. The company had agreed to sell of 30 billion worth of assets to pay off its clean-up bills. The company will resume its prime stakeholder dividend payout at 7 cents/share. British Petroleum is looking forward to sell two of its key refineries in the United States. United States have threatened to replace BP from the project to seal the exploded well in the deepwater horizon. Obama acknowledged that the Gulf of Mexico contributes a major of its domestic production; he added that offshore oil drilling can be pursued only with an assurance that devastating incidents like the British Petroleum oil spill will not occur in future. Economic Environment British Petroleum oil spill has resulted in huge lose in terms of Share price fall and it is estimated to be around $25 bn. Out of this huge amount almost 15 bn is account under facilitating hygienic water supply for the needy people around. To understand the size of amount brought in it is essential to look at what exactly the global online giant Google makes annually ($20 bn). Apart from this an additional cost is likely to incur, BP will be forced to spend an approx amount of $300 mn to cap the pill and one more thing this does not count the cleanup cost. This would be equivalent to cost of buying fuel to drive a SUV around the globe for 60,237 times British Petroleum has seen a value erosion of  £8 billion following the announcement made by the president himself that the company has to pay the cleanup costs of the massive oil spill. The company saw a fall of 11 % since the blast. British Petroleum has ended with a loss of $4.9bn ( £3.1bn) during 2010, this is for the first time the company is incurring loss since 1992. Social Environment British Petroleum was condemned for not being a socially responsible. Pax World, who is considered to be a smart investor, sold out its 8,000 shares of British Petroleum to show its response toward the disaster. Many other investors already sold their shares even before the oil spill because they were sure that the company is not following proper safety regulations as well as social responsibility. After the spill large number of shareholders especially corporate investors sold off their shares as holding back their shares in BP would affect their image also. Thousands of people who lived along the coastline lost their livelihoods due to the spill. Death of aquatic life left the fishermen families with no earnings. Similarly many people who worked in sea food industries also lost their jobs. The spill also causes severe health issues among the people who are associated with removing the chemical dispersants. The most prominent issue is that it causes internal hemorrhage which results in gradual death. This way the oil spill can also prove fatal for human beings. Technological Environment The oil spill made the company to come up with many technological innovations that could help it to solve or at least neutralize some of the effects. The company invented a number of devices for stopping the oil flow. The capping stack was the most prominent device which served this purpose. BP developed a radio repeater system which extends from Florida Panhandle to Louisiana. This system is useful for workers within the network to communicate among themselves and solve the queries quickly. This will improve the efficiency of problem handling system thereby reducing the chances of error. The company also designed specialized tools that are capable of working beneath water surface even at a depth of 5000 feet. Many un-experimented techniques were used after the oil spill. The Macondo prospect tried to shear the damaged riser pipes which had inch-thick walls even at depth of 50,000 feet. Environmental Effects The most devastating effect of the oil spill was on the environment. The company heard severe criticism for the ecological impacts of the oil spill. The environment of Gulf of Mexico was completely damaged from the spill. Tons of species are being affected by the spill out of which ten are in the verge of extinction. Some of them include dolphins, pelicans, planktons, oysters etc. Since oysters and shrimps form an important part of the sea food industry, the spill in large way affects the American sea food market also. The American state of Louisiana which is nearest to the oil well is the most affected by the incident. As per the state officials, around 400 km long coastline of Louisiana is polluted by the oil leaked from the oil wells. In the first six weeks after the explosion, around 491 birds, 227 turtles and 27 mammals, including dolphins, have been found dead along the US Gulf coast. Most of them in this list were already in the endangered species list. Since most of the sea animals belong to the primary level of food chain, any effect on them would affect the complete food chain. This way it could bring genetic effects even to human beings. The undersea aquatic life is not the only area which is being affected. The oil leaked from the wells washed up the coastal wetlands which were already facing devastation from the overdevelopment, pollution and remaining effects of hurricane Katrina. Strategic Decisions for Future British Petroleum had to devise a strategic plan that would help them to solve the issues that were caused by the oil spill as well as increase the company image. As a part of this process, the company will have to introduce a number of strategies in different areas. The first strategy must be in sealing the oil well and preventing any further leak. The cleaning up of the oil slick must also be done perfectly so that critics cannot come up with any more blames. The company had already performed well sealing in a good way and as per BP officials; this issue was tackled by July 2010. BP also must take extra care in order to avoid any such issue in the future because even a small error would put all the pain taken till now in vain. The greatest concern after the oil spill was on the effect it had on environment. It is a herculean task for the company to solve the effects on environment as many of them are irreparable. But as a part of the process, the company must focus on different areas related to environment that were severely affected. The beaches and the shorelines that were besieged by oil must be cleaned as an initial step since public can witness the condition of these places. So any flaw in their cleaning would bring in wide spread criticism from the public. Similarly measures must be taken to reduce the damage caused to environment, wildlife as well as ecological system. The claims and complaints of people who were directly or indirectly affected by the oil spill must also be dealt with. This will be quite helpful in reducing the public anger towards the company. The investors will also be satisfied by this measure. The livelihoods of many people like the fishermen and those who worked in the sea food factories were lost due to the spill. The company must take measures to restore their lives back by providing them with employment opportunities or other means of living. These ways the company must come closer to the society and rebuild their image. Entering into social initiatives would keep up their name as a socially responsible company which will bring in more investors also. Marketing plan to recover from the disaster and to regain people confidence It is essential that the company pursue a more customer centric marketing plan because company need restore it brand value. British Petroleum response toward the environmental issue comes to a point just below fatuous. It is time to go beyond and find an alternative solution to the environmental issues faced by the British Petroleum Sharing Concern British Petroleums Chief Executives are making frequent media appearances not to show his individual apprehension but to convey the message that the company is actively responding to the environmental issue. It will help the company to portrait itself to be more cautiously responding to the environmental issue. The company understands the impact of tragic shock on customers and that on high priority Casualty aid The company had taken measure to support the families of the despaired and injured. Financial aids are in place for the people who lost their job because of this disaster. It takes leadership in encouraging other companies in the same sector to flow new safety measures and policies to avoid further incidents like this. BP should also create more employment opportunity to help the local residents who relied on marine sources to earn their daily bread. Restoring the loss British Petroleum should join hand with NFWF (National Fish and Wild Life Foundation) by providing assistance to preserve the species mostly affected by the oil spill in the deepwater incident and because of this incident some of these species like shorebirds, water fowls, marsh birds, sea turtles and other marine vertebrates living at this part of ocean got merely extinct. Taking this point into consideration, British Petroleum should liaison with marine and wild life conservative organizations to replenish the lost population of those marine species. The company should also appreciate other external bodies and volunteers who wish to be a part of this restoration program. Combined Effort BP should take steps to make customer aware, through there retail outlets to the extent of companys efforts in restoration from the environmental disaster and encourage the customer to share their valuable feedback in developing new safety procedures or to promote the willing customers to render their share of inputs in mitigating the time involved to restore things back to their normal state. Online Measures An online discussion on this matter will give everyone around the world to talk about their opinion into it. While creating an online blog or community on this issue asking for valuable suggestion would definitely bring up some serious feed back from people related to this field and also of the general public. When public gets aware of the fact that BP is using such a polite way to ask for suggestions from even a common man, there is a mere chance of regaining the goodwill of the general public. Forming Research foundation Bp could exploit this situation to bring in more industrial support, and corroborate with other organization in the same field and with the government to device custom made solutions which could fit in with the situational requirements. BP could bring up a research foundation mostly oriented to solve future incidents like the one happened in the Gulf of Mexico, the best solutions can be shared with the government authorities and the environmental regulators to bring up new safety norms which can be put into action in the near future. Recovery strategy British Petroleum is now in a midst of a critical situation where it is losing its brand value in terms of market share and people support. It has made a severe impact on its macro environment, so it needs to deal with all economical, social, political and technological failures. Hence one single solution cannot address all these issues and an open strategy need to be adopted that provides custom solutions to every aspect of its macro environment. Thus it should be an integrated approach that adds more value to it at each point of recovery attempt. Here is some recovery methodology which could be implemented by the British Petroleum: Safety measures: BP needs to come up with better safety techniques that could prevent future incidents like this. They could spend more money on procuring good quality equipments and proper equipments maintenance. They could also develop a way to improve communication by creating better response team, who shall be trained for generating a quick reaction to any future adversities, by mitigating the impact of a huge event like what has occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. Eco friendly Drilling Techniques and waste disposal BP needs to do a bit research in developing a Eco Friendly Drilling Methods (EFDM) that address: Least impacting drilling technology that reduces the mark of drilling activities Less heavier driller rigs that has low carbon emission system On-Spot waste disposal techniques The prime goal behind this initiative would be to recognize, build and test inventive technologies which could eliminate the environmental effects on oil and gas which could result adversely on sensitive environmental locations. BP can look forward in building its global tie-ups in developing partnership programs that enable technology transfer and develop fresh attempt that would deals with environmental worries. Highly trained and qualified professionals BP needs to recruit better trained and highly skilled professional who are capable to handle adverse situations effectively and efficiently. The advantage of employing trained ones could help in detecting the problem prone areas in the earlier stages so that preventive measures could be adopted. Charitable initiatives Oil spill has destroyed the goodwill holdings and company should do the needful to restore it in a very short duration to avoid further loss. The focus should be placed on more social engagements that would keep the brand close to public. More charitable endeavors need to given priority to calm down the agitated groups that raise voice against and tamper the recovery moves that the company undertakes. Celebrity endorsement and ad campaigns Company could also use media to have celebrity endorsements and creative ad campaign to keep the customer focus on to the final product quality. More importance should be given toward product differentiation and product placement. Tourism and Seafood Promotion Oil spill has impact the lively hood of the local fisherman community and the regional tourism adversely. Hence it the added responsibility of the company to restore everything back in place. Either they should make necessary arrangement to compensate the loss or make provisions to boost the morale and join hand with the people in bringing things back to normal. Company could initiate adventure sports activities/organize international seafood festival that stands out with high quality tested seafoods.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Comparing Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World :: comparison compare contrast essays

Comparing Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World Ray Bradbury's book, Fahrenheit 451, is a futuristic look at a man and his role in society. Bradbury utilizes the luxuries of life in America today, in addition to various occupations and technological advances, to show what life could be like if the future takes a drastic turn for the worse. He turns man's best friend, the dog, against man, changes the role of public servants and changes the value of a person. Aldous Huxley also uses the concept, of society out of control, in his science fiction novel Brave New World, WHICH deals with man in a changed society. Huxley asks his readers to look at the role of science and literature in the future world, scared that it may be rendered useless and discarded. Unlike Bradbury, Huxley includes in his book a group of people unaffected by the changes in society, a group that still has religious beliefs and marriage, things no longer part of the changed society, to compare and contrast today's culture with his proposed futuristic culture.(THIS IS A RUN-ON WHICH NEEDS FIXING!) But one theme that both Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 HAVE IN COMMON is of individual discovery BY refusing to accept a passive approach to life and refusing to conform. In addition, the refusal of various methods of escape from reality is shown AS a path to discovery. In Brave New World the main characters Bernard Marx and the "Savage" boy John come to realize the faults WITHIN their own cultures. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag begins to discover things could be better in his society, but DUE to some uncontrollable events his discovery happens much faster than it would have. He is forced out on his own, away from society, to live with others like himself who think differently that the society does. Marx, from the civilized culture, seriously questions the lack of history that his society has. He also wonders as to the lack of books, banned because they were old and did not encourage the new culture. By visiting a reservation, home of an "uncivilized" culture of savages, he is able to see first hand something of what life and society use to be like. Afterwards he returns and attempts to incorporate some of what he saw into his work as an advertising agent.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Japanese Language

8 Tips to learn to speak Japanese effectively Tip 1: Attend Japanese classes If you are just starting out learning Japanese, I suggest that it is best you attend some basic Japanese courses at a local language school in your country. That is because the foundation of the language is so important that if you screw up in the beginning, it will drag you down when you move forward to the intermediate or advanced classes. You will always have to refer back the materials in the basic classes.I have seen many people suffered from their weak foundation and have to give up learning eventually because they couldn't cope with the progress of the lessons. Conclusion? At least build a strong foundation by attending basic classes at a school. The native Japanese teacher there can help to correct your mistakes. You will appreciate a lot when you advance to higher levels. Tip 2: Japanese Learning Software I understand many people cannot commit to attend a regular class.Maybe because they have irregu lar working hours, need to travel overseas frequently due to works, unable to pay the school fees for long terms due to financial issues, or many other personal reasons. In that case, the best alternative is to learn through Japanese learning software like theRocket Japanese, where you can learn to speak Japanese at your own pace and time. This is because it is an online course and therefore you can plan to learn according to your own schedule, anytime, anywhere, so long you have an internet connection.The single reason that I recommend this online software is because it provides one great feature (Rocket Record) that you can use to match your voice to that of the Japanese native's voice in order to perfect your Japanese pronunciation. While your pronunciation can be corrected by a teacher in a classroom, it's impossible to know whether your pronunciation is correct if you were to study by yourself. With this recording feature, now you can simply practise speaking Japanese until you r pronunciation is perfect, all at your own pace. This is the greatest benefit of using Rocket Japanese.I have also done a review on Rocket Japanese. Do check out the page. Tip 3: Stay in Japan I will say this is by far the most effective way if you really want to accelerate the learning progress. â€Å"Immerse† yourself in the total Japanese environment and you will have a big boost to your speaking ability. You are not only learning Japanese in Japan, you are in fact living and blending in the everyday life of Japan. In such environment, you will be forced to speak Japanese, write Japanese, and even think in Japanese if you need to react fast.If you can stay in this environment for at least a year, your Japanese proficiency will be greatly improved. And that is much faster than study the language in your own country, which doesn't provide such conducive environment. There are 2 ways, in my opinion, that enable you to move to Japan. 1. Find a job in Japan so that you can sta y there for a longer term, say 1 to 2 years. One good option is to join the JET program (The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) and teach your local language (such as English, etc) in Japan. . If you cannot commit to work in Japan, try enrol and study in a short term language course for at least 3 months. However this is also the most expensive way as the living standard in Japan is considerably high as compare to most countries. Tip 4: Work in a Japanese company This is a great way to learn to speak Japanese for free in your own country while you are working. It might be the next best way if you are unable to go to Japan. The key here is to surround yourself with Japanese-speaking people, natives or non-natives.And a Japanese-speaking environment is the best you can get to improve your language. Depending on your position, if you are lucky, you might get the chance to go to Japan for trainings. Make full use of the opportunity, know some Japanese colleagues and friends over the re. Keep in contact with them when you are back home by exchanging emails, communicating using skype or msn, in Japanese of course. If your colleagues or friends want to learn your native language, both parties can then teach each other your own languages, which is beneficial to both of you.This is a more economical way to learn to speak Japanese. Tip 5: Make more Japanese friends If you cannot afford to go to Japan, another way is to know some native Japanese friends in your own country. Check out if there is a Japanese community in the place where you reside in. Get to know the people in the community and learn to speak Japanese with them. These people come to your country due to work or other reasons, so there is a high chance they can speak your native language.Tip 6: Join the activities organized by Japanese Association If there is a Japanese Association near your place, it is wise to join the activities that are organized by the association. The association normally holds many activities to help the locals to learn to speak Japanese. These activities include dialogue sessions with native Japanese, speech contests, Japanese language courses and other cultural activities, aiming to foster the relationship with the local people, as well as helping the locals to appreciate the beauty of the language.Tip 7: Watch Japanese News â€Å"If you cannot listen well, you cannot speak well†. This is the golden rule when learning a new language. Listening is always the â€Å"killing† subject in many languages, especially true in the case of Japanese. I am no exception. Listening has always been my weakest field. In order to overcome this, I make it a point to listen to the news in Japanese everyday. One of the online news sites that I often visit is the TBS News. Over there you can watch the videos and listen to the short summaries of news in Japan.Choose the topic that interest you most, listen to it without first looking at the written script to test ho w much you can understand. It is very important not to look at the script first so that it will force you to get used to listening the language without reading the content. Another reason is to make you concentrate on the listening part. Repeat listening to the same piece of news for a few times until you are sure that you cannot get anything more from it. You then look at the script and listen to the audio again for another few times to clarify those that you don't understand.If you can do this continuously for a few months, you will realize that your listening skill improves tremendously. While this is a good method to improve your listening skill, I only recommend you to do this when you reach the advanced level, or at least intermediate level as the scripts are all written in kanji, hiragana and katakana. If not you will have problem understanding the scripts and get overwhelmed and feel demoralized. Tip 8: Watch Japanese Drama Listening to the news trains you on the formal Japa nese speaking but you may get bored on the topics.Listening to the drama may be much more relevant because dramas are more related to our everyday life as the actors/actresses speak in more casual way. Similar to watching the news, don't look at the subtitles while watching the drama because it not only distracts you from listening to the dialogues in the drama, you will grow more dependent on the subtitles and that will do you more harm than good. Conclusion If you can follow some of the tips I mentioned above, I believe they will help you a lot on learning to speak Japanese in a more effective way

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Rhetorical Analysis of Frederick Douglass’s “Learning To Read and Write” Skill Essay

In the excerpt â€Å"Learning to Read and Write,† Frederick Douglass uses an empathic tone, elevated diction, imagery, and telling details to convince a white American audience from the 1850s of the humanity and intelligence of enslaved Africans and the evils of slavery. Warrants: 1 Frederick Douglass’s strongest strategy in his â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† passage is his empathic and compassionate tone that convinces a white 1850s audience of the kindness and humanity of enslaved Africans. 2 Frederick Douglass’s strongest strategy in his â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† passage is his elevated diction that convinces a white 1850s audience of the intelligence of enslaved Africans. 3 Frederick Douglass’s strongest strategy in his â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† passage is the imagery of his mistress’s shift from a â€Å"lamb-like disposition† to a â€Å"tiger-like fierceness† that convinces a white 1850s audience of the evils of slavery. 4 Frederick Douglass’s strongest strategy in his â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† passage is the details he includes about his mistress’s actions that convinces a white 1850s audience of the evils of slavery. Procedure Standard Choosing the Best Warrant Writing Exercise Timing/Pacing 1 This lesson comes after students have been completed work on Moby Dick. Students have read excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, including an excerpt in which he resists and defies his master. Students have written their own stories of â€Å"resistance,† a time when they mentally or physically resisted someone’s attempt to control them and how they grew as a result. Students have shared their â€Å"resistance† stories in  read-around in groups or as a whole class and have reflected on in writing and then discussed the patterns found among their classmates’ stories and their messages. Students have also read Douglass’s excerpt â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† and completed a DIDST (Details, Imagery, Diction, Syntax, Tone) chart on the passage. Some background knowledge/familiarity with the American slavery system and â€Å"slave narratives† is helpful. After this lesson, students will write a rhetorical analysi s essay of the â€Å"Learning to Read and Write† passage. 2 This activity is approximately 25 minutes 3 This activity comes after the Do Now. Notes The rationale for this activity is to analyze the strength of a speaker’s arguments and warrants, and what makes an argument and warrant strong. This activity helps prepare students to write a rhetorical analysis of this passage. Follow-up Activities To include an oral activity, follow up with a choosing the best warrant mini debate. Text Reading: Frederick Douglass- excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (These excerpts, the DIDST chart, and related lessons are available online by Googling â€Å"Frederick Douglass AP Lang.†) Name:_____________________________________ Class:__________________Date:______________ Choosing the Best Warrant Writing Exercise In the excerpt â€Å"Learning to Read and Write,† Frederick Douglass uses an empathic tone, elevated diction, imagery, and telling details to convince a white American audience from the 1850s of the humanity and intelligence of enslaved Africans and the evils of slavery. Warrants: 1. His empathic and compassionate tone convinces a white 1850s audience of  the kindness and humanity of enslaved Africans. 2. His elevated diction convinces a white 1850s audience of the intelligence of enslaved Africans. 3. The imagery of his mistress’s shift from a â€Å"lamb-like disposition† to a â€Å"tiger-like fierceness† convinces a white 1850s audience of the evils of slavery. 4. The details he includes about his mistress’s actions convinces a white 1850s audience of the evils of slavery. Preparing to Write Step 1 – Select the strongest warrant. Warrant #___. Step 2 – Provide 2 reasons why the warrant you choose is the strongest Reason 1: Reason 2: Step 3 – Provide 2 reasons, 1 for each of the 2 weaker warrants why they are not as strong of an argument. Warrant #__ is weaker because†¦ Warrant #__ is also weaker because†¦ Paragraph Set-up The strongest reason for believing [claim] is true is the fact that [the warrant you chose]. One reason why this warrant is best is [reason why the warrant is best]. Additionally, [2nd reason why the warrant is best]. Some would argue that [1st opposing warrant] is a better reason to believe [claim], but that is not the case. Specifically, [reason why 1st opposing warrant is weaker]. In addition, others would argue that [2nd opposing warrant] is a better reason to believe [claim], but that is not the case. In fact, [reason why 2nd opposing warrant is weaker]. Thus, [the chosen best warrant] is clearly the best reason to believe [claim].

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Women And Aids Essays - HIVAIDS, HIV-positive People, Free Essays

Women And Aids Essays - HIVAIDS, HIV-positive People, Free Essays Women And Aids Understanding the Issues of Women and HIV/AIDS Rachel Seldin, Colgate University, Hamilton NY 13346 ABTRACT: Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) had emerged as a major health problem for women in the United States. Family physicians can play an important role in the detection and care of HIV-infected women. The epidemiology and natural history of HIV infection in women were reviewed. HIV infection is now a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among young women in the United States, particularly women of racial and ethnic minorities. Most cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in women occur as a result of injection-drug use or heterosexual transmission. Based on limited information, women and men appear to have similar AIDS-defining conditions. Gynecological problems are common n HIV-infected women. Pregnancy does not seem to be affected by early HIV infection, but women with advanced disease might be at increased risk for obstetric complications. More women need to be included in natural history studies and clinical drug trials. Early awareness of HIV infe ction and better access to health care services are required to improve the treatment and survival of HIV-infected women. KEYWORDS: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Pregnancy, Zidovudine (AZT), Vaginal Candidasis, Transmission Methods of HIV/AIDS, Perinatal Transmission, Women and HIV INTRODUCTION: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has been declared the public health threat of the century (1 cited in 2). The US Surgeon General has designated it as the nations number one health priority (2). AIDS is a disease that affects the immune system. The term immunodeficiency refers to the inability of the immune system to function properly, thus making the individual susceptible to a variety of infections not typically found in a healthy immune system (3). A syndrome is a group of symptoms or illnesses originating from one cause. The main agent causing AIDS is a retrovirus known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV is the agent of a sexually transmitted disease that can also be contracted through blood transfusions or IV drug use; the disease can also be passed on to a fetus during pregnancy. When people are infected with HIV, they are not necessarily also infected with AIDS. A person is not infected with AIDS until HIV reduces immune function to a certain level or when one or more serious illnesses related to HIV occurs. (4) Everyone is at risk of contracting the HIV virus, although women with HIV/AIDS face more difficulties living with this disease than do men. HIV/AIDS women are of special interest because they are the major source of infection of infants. Not only do they have to think about the effects on their own lives, but also they must think about their infants if they choose to conceive. In my paper, I will review the ways in which HIV/AIDS affects women differently than men, through clinical issues and gynecological manifestations. I will also discuss the virus itself and issues concerning HIV positive women who are planning to conceive. WHAT IS AIDS? In early 1983, a team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France led by Dr. Luc Montagnier first announced the discovery of HIV (5). They originally named it LAV, or lymphadenopathy-associated virus. However, it was not until the American team, led by Dr. Robert Gallo, called the virus HTLV-3 or human T-cell lymphotrophic virus that both teams collaborated and simplified it to just HIV (5). HIV can cause a range of conditions, of which AIDS is the worst. For example, it can lead to persistent swelling of the lymph nodes (5). Other people may have more serious symptoms but still show no sign of AIDS. This condition is known as AIDS related-complex ( ARC) (5). Some of the symptoms of ARC include swollen glands, severe or chronic diarrhea, severe fatigue, rapid unexplained weight loss, drenching night sweats, fevers, and yeast infections, Although it can be serious, ARC is not fatal (5). The cause of AIDS is not fully understood. There are other factors are involved in the development of AIDS. Once a person tests positive to HIV, alcohol or drug use, poor nutrition, high stress levels, frequent exposure to other disease (especially sexually transmitted disease), have all been suggested to increase the risk of developing full blown AIDS (5). HIV

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on Ideas Of Success

or take the first steps. With hard work, focus, and effort a toddler achieves this obstacles and â€Å"succeeds†. That is one example and as the toddler grows older, obtaining knowledge by learning what they are taught in school is the next step. Success can also be thought of in a broader aspect. It can be one higher goal of life. Perhas smaller achievement and accomplishments will lead to that final success in life at the old age in life. Did you get all the knowledge you wanted? Did that knowledge help you in surviving obstacles in life? Is success linked to the â€Å"survival of the fittest† theory? That is what is success, surviving life healthy. In conclusion, success is achieving all the goals you had in life starting from birth until the final end. Success is a lifetime process. It can be achieved by all classes in society and is certainly relative to the individuals. There is always an obstacle in each stage of a lifetime and to be able to overcome those obstacles as well as achieve the dreams set at the same time, is an accomplishment.... Free Essays on Ideas Of Success Free Essays on Ideas Of Success Ideas of Success Is success a measure of how much wealth one obtains as a result of their career? Or is success a measure of one’s personal growth regardless of the material goods obtained? According to Michael Korda, success seems to be a materialistic definition. The true definition of success within the dictionary is: favorable outcome, accomplishment of what was aimed at, attainment of wealth or fame or position. Personally, I think success is an accomplishment and not specifically aimed at obtaining money. Success is self satisfaction. Success has different meaning for the individual throughout their life. It is an accomplishment that creates self satisfying feelings for the person. According to Korda, success is a journey a process, this is true. One of the first obstacles beginning of life is to say the first few words or take the first steps. With hard work, focus, and effort a toddler achieves this obstacles and â€Å"succeeds†. That is one example and as the toddler grows older, obtaining knowledge by learning what they are taught in school is the next step. Success can also be thought of in a broader aspect. It can be one higher goal of life. Perhas smaller achievement and accomplishments will lead to that final success in life at the old age in life. Did you get all the knowledge you wanted? Did that knowledge help you in surviving obstacles in life? Is success linked to the â€Å"survival of the fittest† theory? That is what is success, surviving life healthy. In conclusion, success is achieving all the goals you had in life starting from birth until the final end. Success is a lifetime process. It can be achieved by all classes in society and is certainly relative to the individuals. There is always an obstacle in each stage of a lifetime and to be able to overcome those obstacles as well as achieve the dreams set at the same time, is an accomplishment....

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The Large, Meat-Eating Dinosaurs

The Large, Meat-Eating Dinosaurs Few issues in paleontology are as confusing as the classification of theropodsthe bipedal, mostly carnivorous dinosaurs that evolved from archosaurs during the late Triassic period and persisted until the end of the Cretaceous (when the dinosaurs went extinct). The problem is, theropods were extremely numerous, and at a distance of 100 million years, it can be hard to distinguish one genus from another based on fossil evidence, much less to determine their evolutionary relationships.   For this reason, the way paleontologists classify theropods is in a state of constant flux. So, Im going to add fuel to the Jurassic fire by creating my own informal sorting system. Ive already addressed tyrannosaurs, raptors, therizinosaurs, ornithomimids and dino-birdsthe more evolved theropods of the Cretaceous periodin separate articles on this site. This piece will mostly discuss the big theropods (excluding tyrannosaurs and raptors) that Ive dubbed the saurs: allosaurs, ceratosaurs, carnosaurs, and abelisaurs, to name just four sub-classifications. Here are brief descriptions of the classifications of large theropods currently in (or out of) vogue: Abelisaurs. Sometimes included under the ceratosaur umbrella (see below), abelisaurs were characterized by their large sizes, short arms, and (in a few genera) horned and crested heads. What makes the abelisaurs a useful group is that they all lived on the southern supercontinent of Gondwana, hence the numerous fossil remains found in South America and Africa. The most notable abelisaurs were Abelisaurus (of course), Majungatholus and Carnotaurus. Allosaurs. It probably wont seem very helpful, but paleontologists define an allosaur as any theropod more closely related to Allosaurus than to any other dinosaur (a system that applies equally well to all the theropod groups listed below; just substitute Ceratosaurus, Megalosaurus, etc.) In general, allosaurs had large, ornate heads, threes of allosaurs include Carcharodontosaurus, Giganotosaurus, and the huge Spinosaurus. Carnosaurs. Confusingly, the carnosaurs (Greek for flesh-eating lizards) includes the allosaurs, above, and is sometimes taken to embrace the megalosaurs (below) as well. The definition of an allosaur pretty much applies to a carnosaur, though this broader group includes such relatively small (and sometimes feathered) predators as Sinraptor, Fukuiraptor, and Monolophosaurus. (Oddly enough, as yet theres no genus of dinosaur named Carnosaurus!) Ceratosaurs. This designation of theropods is in even greater flux than the others on this list. Today, the ceratosaurs are defined as early, horned theropods related to (but not ancestral to) later, more evolved theropods like tyrannosaurs. The two most famous ceratosaurs are Dilophosaurus and, you guessed it, Ceratosaurus. Megalosaurs. Of all the groups on this list, megalosaurs are the oldest and least respected. This is because, early in the 19th century, pretty much every new carnivorous dinosaur was assumed to be a megalosaur, Megalosaurus being the first theropod ever officially named (before the word theropod was even coined). Today, megalosaurs are rarely invoked, and when they are, its usually as a subgroup of carnosaurs alongside the allosaurs. Tetanurans. This is one of those groups thats so all-inclusive as to be practically meaningless; taken literally, it includes everything from carnosaurs to tyrannosaurs to modern birds. Some paleontologists consider the first tetanuran (the word means stiff tail) to have been Cryolophosaurus, one of the few dinosaurs to be discovered in modern Antarctica. The Behavior of Large Theropods As with all carnivores, the main consideration driving the behavior of large theropods like allosaurs and abelisaurs was the availability of prey. As a rule, carnivorous dinosaurs were much less common than herbivorous dinosaurs (since it requires a large population of herbivores to feed a smaller population of carnivores). Since some of the  hadrosaurs  and  sauropods  of the  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous  periods grew to extreme sizes, its reasonable to conclude that even the bigger theropods learned to hunt in packs of at least two or three members. One major topic of debate is whether large theropods actively hunted their prey, or feasted on already dead carcasses. Although this debate has crystallized around  Tyrannosaurus Rex, it has ramifications for smaller predators like  Allosaurus  and  Carcharodontosaurus  as well. Today, the weight of the evidence appears to be that theropod dinosaurs (like most carnivores) were opportunistic: they chased down juvenile sauropods when they had the chance, but wouldnt turn up their noses at a huge  Diplodocus  that died of old age. Hunting in packs was one form of theropod socialization, at least for some genera; another may have been  raising young. The evidence is sparse at best, but its possible that larger theropods protected their newborns for the first couple of years, until they were big enough not to attract the attention of other hungry carnivores. (However, its also possible that some theropod kids were left to fend for themselves from birth!). Finally, one aspect of theropod behavior that has received a lot of attention in the popular media is cannibalism. Based on the discovery of the bones of some carnivores (such as  Majungasaurus) bearing the tooth marks of adults of the same genus, its believed that some theropods may have cannibalized their own kind. Despite what youve seen on TV, though, its much more likely that the average allosaur ate its already-dead family members rather than actively hunting them down for an easy meal!

Saturday, October 19, 2019

King Corn Movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

King Corn Movie - Essay Example The film presents the revolution that has occurred in the process of farming, whereby the tractor has replaced the use of horses to pull the plow. In this case, the tractor is one of the equipments that have been introduced in the process of farming. Some of the other aspects in farming, which are discussed in this documentary, regards the decision by the government to subsidies the corn in order to keep their price low. Essentially, the small farmers were offered a low chance of expanding, thereby leading to significant changes u the quality of corn over the years. Besides, most of the production of corn had been used as for feeding animals and production of corn syrup, which has nutritional quality in the manufacture of foods high in a variety of starch. Therefore, the new variety of corn that was introduced could not be consumed before being possessed; thus farmers were no longer able to consume the products that they were growing. Some of major problems presented in film involved the growing and production of crops that are not consumable by farmers until they processed. In this case, there was a large area in Iowa, where corn was grown on a large track of land, and this was longer there by the time Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis were undertaking their experiment. Apparently, as the farmers continued to understand the problem of growing corn for being inedible until processing; hence, they decided stop growing the crop. On the other hand, there was another problem, which involved the crop being stripped of vital nutrients as a result of genetic engineering in order to facilitate increased populations of the crop. In this case, there... The paper tells about the story in which two college graduates Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis argues that they have identified the significance of consuming corn. This leads to curiosity of travelling in search for a way they could grow corn. However, they both trace their ancestry at a small town of Iowa, and they made a decision to lease an acre of land, which could enable them undertake their experiment. In this case, the movie explains that some families had the same piece of land, and there was an aspect of chance from the crop size due to the establishment of merchandise farming and degradation of product quality. Therefore, their experiment and documentary portrayed an aspect of change and the perception towards corn. Some of major problems presented in film involved the growing and production of crops that are not consumable by farmers until they processed. In this case, there was a large area in Iowa, where corn was grown on a large track of land, and this was longer there by the time Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis were undertaking their experiment. The film presents ideas that corn is the process into various products such as a sweetener and ethanol, animal feeds, and the corn syrup, which is consumed by most of the Americans in the present days. Finally, Cheney and Ellis realized that their acre was untraceable due to the magnitude of the corn industry; in fact, this proofed that government subsidies play a significant role in ensuring that corn production remains profitable.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Strategic Marketing Plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Strategic Marketing Plan - Term Paper Example Budget is tight for the first year and as such, management shall be more than careful in its decision making for the business. Employees shall carefully be chosen and the owner shall make sure that each personnel are oriented towards achieving its corporate goal which is to start gaining profit by the end of the first year. Competition would be very stiff with the presence of various coffee shops that have already established their presence in various parts of Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates. Aviano Coffee is also confident in being able to make gains through its Internet channel. Its Marketing efforts shall be intensified to ensure that the corporate message is brought across the target market. To cap this off, Aviano Coffee Shop wants to achieve two things with the business: to share excellent coffee experience through its quality products and to gain profits to ensure presence in the market for a long period of time. II. BACKGROUND Coffee remains to be one of the mo st preferred beverages anywhere in the world. In the US, it is estimated that 50% of the total population or approximately 150 Million Americans drink coffee in any form, be it espresso, cappuccino, latte or cold coffee. Moreover, among these coffee aficionados, the average consumption is 3.1 cups per day (Coffee Business Statistics Report 2010). As such, it is expected that more and more Coffee shops open and thrive serving the tastes of these coffee lovers. Despite the presence of numerous Coffee shops in the country, there is yet room for more entrepreneurs who want to serve the needs of the Coffee lovers. While some may opt to go traditional, others diversify to create concept shops that do not only serve ordinary coffee, but also the fast growing industry of specialty coffee. It is with these premises that the author proposes to bring into local franchise the Colorado based brand Aviano Coffee. Aviano Coffee is popularly known in Colorado, with its market reach extending to oth er cities in Denver. Its product line highlights Latte Art, where baristas manually extract espresso. The key to competition is the manner by which specialty coffee drink is done, focusing on aesthetics of the coffee products and the ambience within the coffee shop, which focuses on the 18th and 19th century. Management wants to bring its clients into the specialty coffee experience capturing olden moments through appropriate interior design and shop structure. The thrust is to bring into the shop people who intend to have a good coffee experience (Aviano Coffee 2011). Bringing the concept store in Dubai will prove to be a challenging but exciting experience for the owners. Promoting the business within a unique culture, there will be little tweaks into the concept to ensure that the target market will feel most welcome when entering the concept store. This business plan discusses the strategies by which the concept is introduced to the target market in Dubai, and hopefully to other cities in the United Arab Emirates. III. SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS The United Arab Emirates is considered to be one of the most liberal Middle East Countries in the world, according to the State of World Liberty Index It is also considered to be the 5th highest in the whole world basing on GDP per capita, and is the fastest growing economy globally (Top 5 Most Liberal Muslim Countries 2011). The presence of bars, clubs, movie theatres and commercial

Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Memo - Essay Example The insurer has a duty to defense before a court of law. Insurance companies lose the right to defense only when there is conflict of interest. Insurance companies do not compensate the insured automatically before thorough analysis of the real cause of the losses which call for compensation. According to Devine (2006), the insurance company has a duty and a right to defend itself basing this on the principles governing the insurance contracts as stipulated in insurance law. Mr. and Mrs. Turner entered into an insurance contract with Youngston Company when they took a cover against any liability that arises other than injuries resulting from discharge, release, dispersal or escape from pollutants. These clauses specified the kind and extent of losses to be compensated whenever such specific liability arises. The policy language excluded losses suffered due to discharge, dispersal, release, or escape of pollutants. From the excerpt, we noted that the child became ill because of too mu ch lead in the body system. Insurance company should defend itself basing this on the language of the cover i.e. the cover would not cover any liabilities resulting from losses suffered due to escape of pollutants. In addition, the company is not liable for the losses suffered by a third party. During inception of the insurance contract, neither Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh nor any other person who rented the apartment, was mention in the contract. Since, the child belongs to the third party; the insurance company has a duty to defense based on this. However, the insurance policy issued by the company did not specify exactly the boundaries of compensation. The exclusion language did not mention the specific pollutants which will be covered by the policy. In addition, the policy cover did not specify whether the company should compensate any damages suffered by the third party. It is therefore the decision of the court to

Philosophy and nature of science class (PhD level)- about Critical Essay

Philosophy and nature of science class (PhD level)- about Critical Analysis of historical Science Example (DNA) - Essay Example The discovery of the DNA in the 19th century is regarded as one of the most significant biological discoveries of all time. The understanding of the structure and functions of DNA has impacted considerably in the science and medicine fields, with the most noteworthy impact being illustrated in the evolution of man. The discovery of the DNA has since made possible the identification of genes, which in turn permits scientists to acquire more knowledge and perception about the nature of diseases. Consecutively, this has made it permissible for the scientists to be able to diagnosis diseases easily, and by so doing makes it possible to the create drugs to treat these diseases, a quest which is regarded as a fundamental element in the evolution of mankind. In biology, Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic factor found in human beings and other life forms and the DNA elements that support this matter are referred to as genes. Nearly all the cells in a creature have similar DNA, the majority of it being centralized in the cell nucleus where it is referred to as nuclear DNA (Neale, 2006). Conversely, we note that trace amounts of DNA are found in the mitochondria which are termed as mitochondrial DNA or basically mtDNA. In DNA data is stored in codes comprising of four chemical elements, namely: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine(C) and thymine (T) (Watson, 2004). Nevertheless, we comprehend that, in human beings, DNA comprises of more than a billions elements, which are more often than not similar in all humans. The orders in which these elements appear establish the availability of elements to build and sustain a being which can be likened to the order of letters that form different words and sentences. The four DNA elements merge in a predetermined sequence, in that, A binds with T while C binds with G which results in the arrangement of elements termed as base

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Inventor Nikola Tesla Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Inventor Nikola Tesla - Essay Example Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia in 1856 to an orthodox Serbian family. His father was a clergyman. After his initial education at Croatia, he studied at the Polytechnic School at Austria and at the University of Prague. After immigrating to the USA in 1884, he was employed briefly by Thomas Edison at the Edison Machine Works, New Jersey. He left the job to fully devote his time for research works and inventions. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1891 and spent the creative period of his life at Manhattan where he died in 1943. He suffered bankruptcy and died destitute. Tesla did most of his experiments at his laboratory in New York City. The patent right of his system of getting electric power from AC was purchased by George Westinghouse, an American inventor. Of this inventive genius, John J. O'Neill says "This spark of intellectual incandescence, in the form of a rare creative genius, shot like a meteor into the midst of human society". Mechanical engineer by training, most of his inventions related to electrical field. The world believed that Marconi was the inventor of radio till the US Supreme Court resolved the dispute in favor of Tesla in 1944 after his death.

Supply chain management in new zealand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Supply chain management in new zealand - Essay Example This fundamental approach particularly in the food management in New Zealand is characterized by the integration of research in the actual Supply Chain Management. This is evident how the consumers have become integral parts of climate or consumer survey in order to ensure awareness of their increasing demand. Not only that. The systematic trainings and programs given to producers in line with food safety solutions and biosecurity solutions are moves that are paving the way for sustainability. In other words, the current state of supply chain management in New Zealand with the aid of individual entities like AgriChain Centre is helping the nation towards the achievement of sustainability that could integrate safety and quality in food production. It is clear that sustainability in food production is the bottom line of this, which further takes New Zealand to unite the concept of supply chain management in a most efficient and systematic manner. The significant proof concerning this claim, as already stated, is visible from how research has become fundamental component in the entire process of obtaining sustainability in the food production. Supply chain management is a broad area of concern, but one important point in doing this is to ensure that the external relationships between the players in the entire supply chain are in good shape and under control for optimum achievement of target goals and objectives. In fact, the processes across the supply chain and the development of supply chain relationships are characteristics of supply chain management (Jespersen & Larsen, 2005, p.14). All of these characteristics are able to take place in New Zealand if we based it on how AgriChain Centre involves itself into the actual agricultural production in participation with private and public sectors and the consumers. In this process, there

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Inventor Nikola Tesla Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Inventor Nikola Tesla - Essay Example Nikola Tesla was born in Croatia in 1856 to an orthodox Serbian family. His father was a clergyman. After his initial education at Croatia, he studied at the Polytechnic School at Austria and at the University of Prague. After immigrating to the USA in 1884, he was employed briefly by Thomas Edison at the Edison Machine Works, New Jersey. He left the job to fully devote his time for research works and inventions. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1891 and spent the creative period of his life at Manhattan where he died in 1943. He suffered bankruptcy and died destitute. Tesla did most of his experiments at his laboratory in New York City. The patent right of his system of getting electric power from AC was purchased by George Westinghouse, an American inventor. Of this inventive genius, John J. O'Neill says "This spark of intellectual incandescence, in the form of a rare creative genius, shot like a meteor into the midst of human society". Mechanical engineer by training, most of his inventions related to electrical field. The world believed that Marconi was the inventor of radio till the US Supreme Court resolved the dispute in favor of Tesla in 1944 after his death.

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

My Vision for holistic nutrition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

My Vision for holistic nutrition - Essay Example While holistic nutrition does not make any claims that a certain food, or a vitamin or mineral contained therein, will cure any degenerative disease, for instance cancer, adequately giving the body what it needs will help the body to heal itself. In holistic nutrition every person is viewed as an individual with different nutritional needs. The Holistic community believes that many variables play a role in establishing what may be a normal nutritional requirement, resulting in a â€Å"tailored† nutritional chart for individuals based on their needs. In contrast, Allopathic medicine looks at the population as a whole; it determines the norm based on an average requirement and applies that calculation to the individual, regardless of biochemical, environmental and physical differences. Holistic nutrition, as mentioned earlier, looks at the person as a whole, keeping the differences in body systems (neurological, structural, immune, reproductive, etc.) in view, and helps deal with the various challenges facing the body for optimal nutritional functionality. For example, instead of approaching depression, skeletal pain, and fatigue as three separate issues, thus calling for three separate prescriptions, a holistic nutriti onist will look at these three different weaknesses on the whole: what do they have in common and what systemic condition could be causing it. Such an approach treats the systems of the body as being interconnected and seeks to improve the health of the person on the whole. Holistic nutrition teaches that food is the best medicine. Dietary intake and supplements are important considerations when seeking to prevent illnesses or to strengthen a body already in crisis. Prescriptions medication may quiet or silence the symptoms of illness, but may not be able to identify and correct the root cause of the illness, which, in turn, will continue to weaken the body. A holistic

Monday, October 14, 2019

Analysis of TV Show “Friends”

Analysis of TV Show â€Å"Friends† Deep Analysis of the show â€Å"Friends† in terms of Television Pluralism First Section: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW: Creation: In American television history, a sitcom â€Å"Friends† was added by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which initially aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 and ended on May 6, 2004. It had 10 seasons in total. The casting for the television show â€Å"Friends† was miraculous. The story revolves around six friends living in Manhattan. The balanced chemistry between all the six brilliant actors justified the casting. Not to forget the legendary director and the writers, who with their words gave all the young and single, something to relate to. In a place where recession is normal, you have to fail a couple of times in order to win. It was a thought about those who work and struggle in their mid twenties, looking for jobs, at the basic stage of building and exploring a life they want. The director wanted to reach those particular people that are the targeted audience. Imagining about those young ones struggling in big cities, it is very expensive to live on their own, they all almost face same kind of difficulties, it’s a tough physical as well as emotional journey. Now, with a friend, it’s a lot easier, this general idea influenced director to transform it into development and so we had this show, its name reflecting the idea itself as knows as â€Å"Friends†. Six friends having six different characters as following: Chandler Bing (an executive in statistical analysis), Monica Geller (a chef), Rachel Green (fashion enthusiast), Ross Geller (paleontologist) and Joey Tribbiani (struggling actor). The writers had to modify the script in order to suit it with the casted actors. The actors very well played their respective roles and they became friends off air as well which really paid off well. Reception: It gained a lot of popularity and awards throughout its run. The show â€Å"Friends† became the first long running sitcom, when it got the highest rating for it on US television. Friends won an Emmy, award for the Best Comedy Series category, which was another first. The show was praised for lack of violent content. Although, there were few critical responses over some contents, it did not stop celebrities to play and guest appearance role in this show which includes: Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Helen Hunt, Elliot Gould, Charlie sheen and others. Despite other competitive sitcoms Friends managed to remain at its place that is for both social phenomenon and hugely entertaining television show. According to one of the experts Friends is one of those show which marked a change in American culture. The portrayal of youth and the roles they play are well defined and represents a lifestyle that focuses around creating and maintaining relationship between a group of friends running their own lives and seeking support from each other In audience appeal, Friends was undoubtedly stayed in the nineties and as well as in the early years of twentieth century. As with time, the reviews got more positive than negative, it progressed and Friends become a most popular hit sitcom. It is still ranked as among time best TV shows (Cosgrove) Critics praised the series for having persistently spiky dialogue script and the chemistry among the most important actors was extra ordinary. Some praised the finale for being more touching and more satisfying as reflecting to the closure it gave. (Parish) Critical Reaction: Early reviews for the show were mixed (Friends Season 1). The producers always tried to match the right stories to location; it’s funny that it was never filmed in New York. They decided that filming outside would make the show less funny. The series was criticized for portraying New York the wrong way, by showing a group of friends which are struggling they are weak financially and they are not able to afford large apartments. With this being a minor criticism over the location, it also faced some serious accusations. The major criticism which it faced was focused on the use of sexuality charged themes specially the time for the show was when the kids usually watch television. Parents Television Council called it raciest sitcom, they claimed that all six characters were shown sexually on the go and the dialogues also contained vulgarity, and more sexual content. Monica’s approval on Chandler fondness for porn and that Joey’s several sexual par tners became the target. The PTC, in fact, called the show as one of the worst in US television as referring to its sexual content and vulgar language used by the characters in the show. Section Two: Full Examination in relation to Cultural Pluralism: The show was no doubt progressive. It started with negative responses and gained itself positive and best appreciation afterward which is still associated with it. As talking about the stereotypical conformity it represented in terms of race, gender, sexuality, or ethnicity. Race; The show did not support racism in particular all the characters were given balanced roles and there was not seen any hatred in terms of racism as it was shown that Joey belonged to some Spanish family. But Ross’s second wife Emily was British and they did make fun of her accent but there was no hatred seen as it was part of the humor being created at that instant. Looking into this matter more critically, the cast is always seen in a coffee shop called â€Å"Central Perk† and on the same sofa every day, it seems as if they are depicting the dominance and everyone else was not important and not worthy enough to be a part of their i.e. main characters’ conversation. When Ross dates Julie, a girl from chine, Rachel shows jealousy so she acts rude to her. This episode, where Julie is with all the other characters together in a group and she is being really nice to everyone including Rachel but Rachel, in spite of her kindness, abuses Julie and calls her names. Rachel is portrayed as a typical white woman perfect hair and all beautiful. Minorities even if dated do not last longer in the series. Whereas, white people managed to break the circle and they get accepted by everyone. Take example of Mike, Phoebe’s husband. The show does seem to enforce their typical, white, middle-class lifestyle status, from beginning to end, and it is because of these examples that this show â€Å"Friends† can be considered as racist, well just a little I would say. Sexuality; As far as sexuality is concerned there were many sexual contents, well I would say an appropriate amount of sexual context, there was however no nudity shown. There was this naked guy in their neighbors who they used to look pout from their window and describe what he’s doing in a funny manner but there was no nudity shown. Another aspect where sexuality was depicted in the show â€Å"Friends† was the fact that everybody used to think that Chandler was gay, Joey because of his several sleep around, they used to consider him womanizer. While lesbians, bisexual and transgender characters did not appear in television until 1970s now television sitcoms are seen featuring an entire genre for gays. Ross’s ex wife is shown Lesbian and Chandler’s father is shown transsexual. The show can be considered as conveying heterosexual values toward a younger audience. Gender; Analyzing the sitcom Friends in terms of gender equality or sexism, it seems like the overall show is perhaps written in conflict to the so called male dominated society; gender binaries that are traditionally known to keep down women. This show is about six friends , three males and three females, again showing the balanced equality in numbers, all in their mid twenties as the series starts, they are living in Manhattan, struggling to develop and manage satisfying careers and as well as romantic relationships. (Spangler) The show has conveyed an improvement in the depiction of women in television, through Rachel’s character. Here sexual freedom exhibits a liberated woman, free from the dominated stereotypes of male dominating society and also the traditional stereotypes that come with the women who sleep around. The way they showed Rachel’s character, at first she was dependent on her father’s money but then she started working as a waitress initially an d then progressing finally she succeeded in building an exceptional career for herself, she became an inspiration to all women. Ethnicity; this genre, situation comedy, has become an integral part of American culture. This show presented a window meant to show us the homes of our favorite characters to know more about their ethnic background and lifestyles like we came to know about Chandlers indifferent behavior towards Christmas and Thanksgiving. Another positive aspect would be the common national portrayal of group of friends who functioned as family units where rather than parents or siblings; they relied on each other for support. While if critically observe this, they failed to include minorities in the depiction of common national or cultural tradition. With the all-American lifestyle depiction, six Americans, unmarried, young people living and struggling totally depicting that today’s society is biased in choosing friends. Whites go for whites. It can be said that audience would not have watched the show with this fan following if it was about six minority friends. This show might have present ed a wrong conclusion about different ethnic groups. People do not want their children to be racist; they want them to be diverse. All of the six characters were never seen with a minority; they were shown hanging out in a cafà © or bar that too in a large city. Closely, I saw African-American or Mexican in the background. There was this episode where Joey went for this part in a play; after the scene was finished I had seen three minorities’ heads in the background there were countless of whites though. Later, Rachel find a new boy friend that is white as well, they do not show any coupling with black people. The show which I chose is a product of its time because of the positive responses it received, not to forget the targeted audiences was satisfied with the show it had given them something to relate to and enjoy watching. As the show shown a casual latter day sequence of shots, for example the friends always gathered at the coffee shop to discuss their issues and breakups. Television critics highly praised the run as having constantly sharp script and chemistry linking the foremost actors (Friends climax watched by 51m) few other scholarly and TV critics gave their reviews: the jokes could make you laugh a couple of time each episode and the stories written were innovative and very original (Havrilesky) one of the brightest series in comedy (Richmond) the show was successful in making a comeback to their viewer’s heat and marking their territory (Carter) Cultural Significance: There are very few of the sitcoms in the history of television which have had long-term Cultural impact. It does not matter how much you categorize the TV programs or how much influence the novel reality trend has on it; it is a fact that will remain that television sitcoms are not realistic. It’s impossible for it to be 100% real because TV is not reality. The stories included are however chunks of the maker’s perception. Which they always edit, filter, and script it to manipulate the audiences to drag hug amount of attention and fan following. Rachel’s hairstyle was noticed a lot tit was even nicknamed as â€Å"The Rachel† (Jicha) and adopted by many. Joe’s catchphrase â€Å"How you doin’?† also became popular and imitated by many as a pickup line or when greeting or making new friends. Chandler’s sarcasm and jokes also influenced viewers it also developed an alternative lifestyle where young people live unconventional domesti c lives, it brings to a close way that all you need is some good friends and you can put up family of your choice. This new way of living and developing relationships is not normally seen in conventional society. Pluralism: Today pluralism has become a basic value of public communication. Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, with other factor including pluralism, cultural variety, and acceptance toward other views and value systems has become a need for trend in society. (Gladkova) Television is a type of medium that makes it easy to carry on a conversation or to convey a message; it is a reference point to the culture for most of us. People who watch TV more often tend to compare themselves with those people in the TV and imitate their behavior, their way of talking, their way of dressing, and adopting their catchphrases or specific dialogues. Now take Friends in this scenario, it is reviewed that people consider that this is the most realistic sitcom as far as todays generation is concerned. Observe closely, the story is about three male and three female, all singles, struggling and surviving in New York on their salaries, job and part time jobs, they switch partners just as they change clothes. This is certainly not reality, maybe it is for the writers and the producers, but it is not for the rest of the world. As per the reality is concerned, makers of this show breathe high class lifestyles in town coastal big cities, they don’t look up to religious services and they don’t even know anyone who does, so through depiction of these television shows they end up reflecting the distorted reality of those who make the shows. And the sexual contents were there in excess which do not really set a good tradition, everybody has slept with everyone. Big changes sometimes happen with sitcoms, in Friends the characters ask out, date, and breakup. If, fortunately they get married, they have babies, or go to London. Writers use this in order to maintain the surprise factor, they couldn’t think of something new and something that can convey a message something useful let say they could have family that adopted a homeless kid. The show do not follow the ever changing context of real line, in contrast the viewer just tune in to see what’s next in the line which is systematically created; what happens next in a plotline. Like what would be the Ross’s reaction when he would see Rachel’s at the airport. Will Emily dump Ross after he took Rachel’s name on the wedding altar? Friends, nevertheless, depict postmodernism, and the absolute value of small community in which individual find his/her identity and safety. There was however no religion involved much, apart from occasions like Christmas. The characte rs weren’t shown visiting churches apart from only weddings. The other activities like drinking and smoking were however seen as often as it may get which was real enough. Works Cited Carter, Bill. Plot Twists Paid Off For Friends. The New York Times (2002 ). Cosgrove, Mather. TV Guide Names Top 50 Shows. CBS News (2002). Friends climax watched by 51m. BBC News (2004). Friends Season 1. CBS Interactive Inc. (2004). Gladkova, Anna A. The role of television in cultivating the values of pluralism and cultural diversity in children. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art 6.1 (2013). Havrilesky, Heather. Never forget your â€Å"Friends†. SALON (2004). Jicha, Tom. They leave as they began: With a buzz. The Baltimore Sun. (2004). Parish, Ken. Farewell to Friends The finale to the 10-year series wraps up all the loose ends. Fort Worth Star-Telegram (2004 ). Richmond, Ray. Season Premiere of Friends Leaves Room to Grow. Daily News of Los Angeles (CA) (1994). Spangler, Lynn C. Television Women from Lucy to Friends: Fifty Years of Sitcoms and Feminism. United States of America: Greenword Publishing Group, 2003.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Can I know what another person is thinking or feeling? If so, how? :: essays papers

Can I know what another person is thinking or feeling? If so, how? The problem of Other Minds is a true philosophical enigma. It is apt to strike children with no philosophical education whatsoever, yet remains intractable to many academics. Broadly speaking, the problem can be divided into three questions. Firstly, how do I come to believe that there are minds in the world other than my own? Secondly, how can I justify my belief that there are minds in the world other than my own? Thirdly, what can I state about the mental states of minds other than my own?. The question we are dealing with here falls largely into the third category, although of course issues relating to the other two will also be involved. Firstly, it is imperative to assert that, in looking for 'knowledge', we are not aiming for logical certainties - we are not aiming to show that any propositions about other minds can be demonstrated with absolute certainty equivalent to that of mathematical truths. Philosophy ever since Descartes has tended to be defined by scepticism: either it aims to produce sceptical theories or it aims to refute them. And sceptics tend towards extremity in their doubts. It must be stated here and now that there are not, and never can be, any theories that prove demonstratively that other minds exist, or that I know others' mental states. This is not what should be aimed at in attempting to solve the problem. As Austin puts it "To suppose that the question 'How do I know that Tom is angry?' is meant to mean 'How do I introspect Tom's feelings?' is simply barking up the wrong gum-tree." Most philosophers agree that their theories only bestow a greater or lesser amount of probability onto statements about other minds (although there are exceptions, e.g. Peter Strawson's attempt to argue transcendentally for the existence of other minds through our own self-consciousness). There have been a number of different attempts to do this. J.S. Mill, who produced the first known formulation of the Other Minds problem, used the so-called 'Argument from Analogy' both to explain how we come to believe in other minds and to justify this belief. Briefly, the argument holds that I am directly aware of mental states in myself, and I am aware of the behaviour of mine that results from and is caused by these mental states. As I can observe similar physical behaviour in others, I draw the analogy that it is caused by the same (or at least similar) mental states to my own.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Researching the World of Plastic Surgery Essay -- Beauty Plastic Surge

Researching the World of Plastic Surgery In the creation of our beings, we are blessed, and sometimes cursed with features we, as freethinkers, might not otherwise have chosen for ourselves. Certain circumstances however, may arise on the journey known as life, forcing us to reconstruct these features in an effort to construct normal, healthy, lives. Often, we are compelled to reconstruct these features in an effort to enhance an otherwise normal, healthy life. For the individual unaware of the pros and cons, in regards to the acquisition of cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery; I produce this composition in an attempt to inform you, the reader; as well as to expand upon my limited knowledge of this field. In researching the world of â€Å"Plastic Surgery†, we approach a dividing factor. There are two categories into which most operations are labeled. Cosmetic surgeries occur when an individual takes notice of a particular feature on his/her body and makes the decision to alter the imperfection. In humans, it is impossible to find a â€Å"flawless† being. Our bodies, in their own right, are not created equal. A certain degree of asymmetry exists within each of us. Symmetry is not a dominant trait in the human race. Take a picture of your face, photographing each side individually. Place each photo side by side. Notice the difference? Each feature, your eyes, your nose, and even your lips take on their own sense of symmetry, or asymmetry if you will. Reconstructive surgery takes place when an individual is blessed with features that hinder his/her ability to lead a normal, healthy, life. Breast augmentation is one of the most frequently requested cosmetic surgeries. Implants are inserted behind the breast tissue of each breast or behind the â€Å"pectoralis† a major muscle, helping to increase the size of the breast. Silicone implants are made of thick material and filled with either saline or an antibiotic solution during the operation. Women are classically partial to this type of operation. However, in recent years, males have exhibited an interest in cosmetic operations pertaining to the enhancement of the male physique, thus leading to the procurement of â€Å"pectoral implants†. Each sex concludes this course of action for similar reasons. Increased sex appeal, heightened sexual pleasure, as well as a new found sense of confidence, infl... ... some of us are pleased with the features we are blessed with, upon entrance into the world. I am not content with the results, time, and gravity, will eventually afford me. Natural occurrences are, at times, the fault of our deformities; proving detrimental to ones emotional, and physical, well being. In those moments, I approve the operations in search of self-preservation, along with the desire and/or immediate need to correct the aesthetic defaults nature has blessed us with. Bibliography http://www.plasticsurgery.org/ http://www.plasticsurgery.org/public_education/Breast-Reconstruction-Resources-Home.cfm http://www.knowledgestation.com/ov/plastic-surgery.htm http://www.1800beyourbest.com/sub_procedures_lipo.html http://www.1800beyourbest.com/sub_procedures_tummy.html http://www.1800beyourbest.com/sub_procedures_nose.html http://www.1800beyourbest.com/sub_procedures_face.html http://www.yourmakeovers.com/breast_lift.htm http://www.yourmakeovers.com/breast_reduction.htm http://www.yourmakeovers.com/laserskin_resurfacing.htm http://www.yourmakeovers.com/liposuction.htm

Friday, October 11, 2019

An Analysis of Macbeth’s Ambition Essay

â€Å"Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principals which direct them.† – Napoleon Bonaparte. Ambition can be defined as the desire and willingness to strive towards achievement or distinction, the motivation in one’s life, it is one of the key sources to success but ambition can blind one from determining what’s right and what’s wrong. On the contrary, driving ambition is the outright desire to achieve a certain goal, regardless of any possible consequences. When ambition goes unhindered by a sense of morality and, humanity it can be a corrupting influence destroying people and, nations. In â€Å"Macbeth† by William Shakespeare Macbeth’s ambition led to destruction of himself. Through the use of dramatic elements such imagery and characterization Shakespeare conveys an important theme about ambition in Macbeth. If a picture can tell a thousand words, than imagine the importance of an image upon a play such as Macbeth. I was thought that in any literary work it is exceedingly important that the author can effectively manipulate a reader’s feelings towards a character from the inside out. In Macbeth, that achievement is accomplished beautifully by Shakespeare. Through his practical use of imagery, Shakespeare shows us a deeper look into how ambition can destroy man when unchecked by moral values. The use of imagery is widespread throughout â€Å"Macbeth†; it is most dominant in clothing imagery, light and darkness imagery, and blood imagery. Through these images, Shakespeare shows the development of Macbeth’s ambition. Using clothing imagery, Shakespeare develops Macbeth’s ambition. This is seen, as, imagery of clothing which shows us Macbeth’s ambition and the consequences thereof. We see this ambition, through Banquo, when he says, â€Å"New honours come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould but with the aid of use.† ( I, iii ) what this quote is representing is that new clothes do not fit our bodies, until we are accustomed to them just like a new pair of shoes they must be broken in to comfort. Throughout the entire play, Macbeth is constantly wearing new clothes that can one can interpret as  titles, that are not rightfully his, and do not fit. Hence, his ambition. This ambition, as we see, is what leads to his demise. When Macbeth first hears the prophecy that he will be King, he does not see how it can be so, â€Å"to be king stands not within the prospect of belief† (I, iii,) However, Macbeth’s ambitious nature becomes more visible when he considers murdering King Duncan to claim the throne, â€Å"If it were done, when ’tis done, then ’twere well It were done quickly† (I, vii,). His ambition is extremely influenced by Lady Macbeth from questioning his mind hood to manipulating with his mind, she convenes him to commit this crime, and lay his claim to the throne. He is hesitant Macbeth states, â€Å"I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, who would be worn now in their newest gloss, not cast aside so soon† (I, vii,). Macbeth puts two things in comparison with one another; being recently named the Thane of Cawdor to a new set of clothes. His has doubt on whether or not he is ready to be king; hence he isn’t ready for a new set of clothes that do not lawfully belong to him. He believes that the â€Å"clothes† they have should be worn for a little while longer. Lady Macbeth doesn’t necessarily support that idea convincing Macbeth otherwise, and he process carrying out the murder of King Duncan. This is the start of his ambitious nature. As Macbeth first had beliefs of not being ready to be king drastically differs when he becomes king from the Macbeth that defeated the invading armies in the beginning of the play to a tyrant drunk in power due to his ambition. This is evident when Angus says â€Å"his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe upon a dwarfish thief.† (V, ii,). His ambition drove him to attain new honours that do not fit him, as they belong to other people, through the use of imagery Macbeth is being pictured as a little, a deceitful and, dishonorable man, depraved and inhibited by garments. His paths of ambition that he took to become king lead him into being a vain, vicious, and pitiless man; climbing over the dead bodies of his trusted friends and kinsmen to a power he is unfit to hold and grasp With Shakespeare’s use of dark and, light imagery, we see an evolvement in Macbeth’s ambition becoming deeper and deeper. The imagery of light and darkness is associated to the conflict between good and evil, also connecting with symbolism in the play light represents good and darkness correlates with evil. The use of light and dark is seen all throughout the play; the witches, who symbolize evil as well, these three  witches are the embodiment of evil itself, they set their first meeting with Macbeth for the â€Å"set if sun† (I, i). In every scene the witches appear in there is a reality of darkness from lightning and, thunder to the natural darkness around them. In Act five scenes one, Macbeth refers to the witches as â€Å"black and midnight hags.† Banquo warns Macbeth against trusting the words of the witches, whom to Banquo are â€Å"The instruments of darkness.† (I, iii) In announcing Malcolm as the next hire to the thrown; his successor Duncan equalizes nobleness with the stars Macbeth, in an aside calls on the stars to â€Å"hide their fires† so that light will not be able to see his â€Å"black and deep desires.† (I, iv) this is when he starts to have the mind set and schema of what it is that must be done for him to attain kingship, his ambition is starting to drive him and fuel him to take on the indispensable actions needed. Ambition starts to take over and fill his mind, body and, soul and asking for the darkness of night to hide the evil thoughts that are infusing his min d. In act one scene four, Lady Macbeth calls on â€Å"thick night† to wrap itself in a thick blanket of darkness so that she will not be seen in the act of a dirty deed, for the night to make her stronger and for her womanly features to be thrown aside in order for her to purse the crown by evil means. Before Banquo is murdered, Macbeth calls on the â€Å"sealing night† to â€Å"Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day† (III, ii). He says, â€Å"Good things of day begin to droop and drowse while nights black agents to their prey do rouse† darkness convers his evil deeds. After Duncan’s murder Ross ask the old man why â€Å"darkness does the face of earth entomb, when living light should kiss it† implying that evil temporarily dominates good but not in the long run. In act five sense five Macbeth equates light as a â€Å"brief candle† and of life as â€Å"a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage†¦ i t is a tale† he also makes a statement that can be viewed as his reflection of his awareness that the sun or light will always gain the upper hand in its clash with darkness and evil, Macbeths ambidextrousness and, ambition are the agents of darkness that lead him to his ruin. Evil and darkness are written all over this play, Macbeth no longer needs something to be of inspiration to him to further his ambition he keeps on going and going until he gets tired and morning comes again, not for him he keeps lady Macbeth in the dark hiding secrets and his plans from her she soon begins to look like that innocent flower without the serpent  underneath who wishes to go back in time to tame that ambition both her and her husband hand to control it, to have saved Duncan’s life the darkness in Lady Macbeths soul is replaced with regret. In act five, scene one, Lady Macbeth’s guilt starts to prey on her causing her to sleep walk, her gentlewoman says â€Å"Why, it stood by her: she has light by her continually, tis her command.† Lady Macbeth needs the light by her as she is sleeping because she fears the consequences of the evil she has done, the darkness is what she fears, the darkness from her dirty deeds puts her state of mind in a dark place she tries to use the candle as this false light to keep her stigma, and culpability away from destroying her. The light is a representation of the peace, and truth she wants back into her life. Macbeth was innocent at first, however when act three, scene two comes around the block; he is no longer dependent on his wife’s pushiness to lead him on, but on the darkness of his own driving ambition Shakespeare uses an abundant amount of brutal imagery in correlation to blood to develop Macbeth as a character and his growing ambition from start to finish as Macbeth is in a deep battle with himself; his innate prestige fighting with his ambition. All humans know that blood is closely associated to violence, however in Macbeth blood comes to symbolize something greater; guilt and ambition. Deaths and brutal killings happen very fast, the bodies are discarded but the blood of the innocent do not wash away, instead the blood remains on the hands of evil, it stains. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can never wash the blood; guilt of their evil deeds from their hands it is impossible. The imagery of blood in Macbeth is important because it signifies what the innocent victim’s life has left behind, also symbolizing how true humanity and morality in Macbeth has been lost. In shedding the pure blood of the â€Å"God† like Duncan and the loyal Banquo, Macbeth’s hands have become stained with the sins of his bloody dirty deeds. Macbeths ambition lead him to transform in to humane that lacks a clean heart, with a dark soul, no compassions, it leads him to go from wanting power to deepening on it and needing it, his vaulting ambition drives him to places where no human with a good soul would ever want to go. A deep, dark, and, scary place full of killing, blood, pain, and guilt. As consequence of all their evil doings through their guilt Macbeth sees ghosts of Banquo and Lady  Macbeth envisions spots of Duncan’s blood that will not wash away â€Å"Out, damned spot! Out, I say†¦ Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him† (IV, iii). With the use of blood imagery we see how Macbeth through his ambition goes from a loyal and noble man whom was well respected at the beginning of the play, to an ominous, disreputable man in the end. Macbeth went from a thane to a king very quickly as a thane he was very respected and honorable as Duncan said â€Å"O valiant cousin, worthy gentlemen!† (I, ii), but with his kingship came change â€Å"Devilish Macbeth, by many of these trains hath sought to win me into his power† (IV, iii) through blood the transformation is clear†¦ Macbeth bleeds blood honorably in war defending his country; Scotland â€Å"For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name— Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like velour’s minion carved out his passage till he faced the slave;† (I,ii) Macbeth’s next encounter with blood is when it is upon the dagger that he hallucinates of, while contemplating on killing Duncan, through this imagery of blood Macbeth convinces his mind to commit the deed right after the heinous murder of Duncan through blood we see the great change in Macbeth that has occurred, when he kills two innocent souls. â€Å"O yet I do repent me of my fury, that I did kill them.† (II, iii). He slays the guards with no hesitation or empathy showing us that Macbeth has lost control over himself, his is drunk in his ambition and will not stop no matter what no longer he can be controlled by Lady Macbeth or anybody else for that matter. Through the imagery of blood one can infer that ambition is the driving force of this play, Macbeth presents ambition as a dangerous quality for any human to have, and ambition goes hand and hand with morality and humanity which Macbeth lost over the course of the play through his multiple evil doings. Havi ng a moral code and humanity is needed and very valuable in positions of power than sightless, dark ambition.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Nuclear Energy as an Alternative Source of Energy in Malaysia

Zaim Afiq Zaki Morad Public Utilities 325 – Prof. Rodney Stevenson Public Utility Paper Nuclear Power plant as a new alternative source of energy in Malaysia The first time the world was exposed the enormous potential power of nuclear was when the United States of America dropped two atomic bombs into Japan which effectively ended World War 2. Almost every country stood by and watched as the bombs made by the simple process of fission of two atomic particles produced enough power to destroy two big cities.The understanding of nuclear was not at a high level during the time but there have been experiments done by scientists all over the world and after witnessing the aftermath of nuclear bombs, along came the idea of applying the potential energy of nuclear for a better use. In 1954, the Soviet Union managed to produce the world first operating nuclear power plant in Obninsk and the plant was able to produce enough electricity to support a power grid. Two years after that, the British opened the world’s first commercial power station and the United States followed up with one of its own in Pennsylvania.As of the end of 2010, there are a total of 442 nuclear power plants spread over 30 countries, with the bulk of the nuclear reactors operating in United States, France, Japan and Russia. Although there have been many demonstrations and court cases asking for the proliferation of nuclear power plant and nuclear energy as a whole, a report done by the European Nuclear Society mentions that 65 new nuclear power plants are under construction in 16 countries. In Malaysia, the main source of energy comes in the form of natural gas and Malaysia has one of the biggest petroleum companies in Asia in the form of the Petronas company.The Petronas company is owned by the Malaysian government but is under the management and supervision of a private board with little interference by the Malaysia government. Other sources of energy in Malaysia comes from coal and f uel and Malaysia also depends on renewable energy sources through hydroelectric and solar powered energy. In recent years however, the supply of natural gas has been depleting and the government has been to find a better option in the form on renewable energy resources to try to spread the imminent case of osing fuel and gas as the main source of energy in the country. History of Public Utilities In Malaysia Before we move on to the main issue context of the article regarding the production of nuclear power plants in Malaysia as the best renewable energy option, we can get a bit more background to the history of public utilities in Malaysia and the current state of public utilities in the country. As of my knowledge, a large number of industries in the country are regulated by the government and can be out under the public utilities category.Most of these industries have monopolistic traits and are fully or partially controlled by the government of Malaysia. The reason why a large n umber of industries are under the monitoring of the government is probably due to the fact that Malaysia is a developing country and lack the experience to just allow some of the main public utility industries to float in the market. Some of the most common utility companies in Malaysia include Telekom Malaysia in the telecommunication industry, Tenaga Nasional in the electricity industry, Astro in the cable industry and Syabas in the water industry.Almost all of these companies are monopolistic and are partially or fully controlled by the government. The government subsidizes almost all the operational cost in these companies but regulates important matters such as pricing and coverage. The main concern with public utilities in Malaysia is the influence of politics in the industry. Since the government plays an important role in managing utilities, it is common for people to accuse the government of abusing its powers through the use of utilities.Some of the cases that have been br ought forward include bribing in some of the utility industries, government giving away contracts to cronies in order to get money for political campaigns, and also using public utility companies to try and influence elections. While some of these allegations might be true, I personally it is best for the government of Malaysia to keep being in charge of most of the utility companies because Malaysia is still lacking not just in terms of infrastructure but also in terms of education and thinking.Allowing for an industry such as electricity to just follow the market will probably result in catastrophe since the public will have no say at all to the way a company operates and are open to abuses by a small but influential number of executives in that company. While there are still a lot of improvements to be made by the Malaysian government, the way utilities are being handled regulated now works best for a developing country like Malaysia.Building Nuclear Power Plants in Malaysia Last year, the Malaysian government announced that two nuclear reactors will be built and is projected to be up and running by the year 2022 and that finalization on the project should be completed by 2015. The government said that the reason behind this decision is due to the lack of diversity in the country’s energy sources and the realization that natural gas and fuel will ultimately run out within the next few decades.No details have been given out as to how the project is going to be done with the most pressing question from the public being whether the government will hire outside help or use local minds to build nuclear power plants. Other issues being raised by the public include the factor of expense and safety, the latter coming from highly regarded leaders in the country who fear that Malaysia’s lack of experience and knowledge in the nuclear industry would mean that the government is taking a very huge risk in building nuclear power plants.Ever since the announ cement by the government to build two nuclear power plants in Malaysia, the public have been sporadically protesting the decision and not that many have come out to support the plan. This is perfectly understandable since Malaysia has no experience with nuclear materials, be it nuclear weapons or even nuclear experiments, and add to that the nearest country with nuclear power plant is Japan, which happened to suffer a nuclear meltdown just a few months ago.All the concerns being put forward by various are legitimate concerns but in my opinion the whole project would actually be good for the country and if takes a step back and just try to get different perspective to the case, a majority of the public would see that having nuclear power plant in our own backyard would be perfectly safe and this project could help propel Malaysia into joining the elite group that call themselves modern developed countries. Safety of Nuclear Power Plants To start off, many critics are leading with the argument that nuclear power plants are dangerous and could pose serious problems for Malaysia.It is a fact that nuclear power plants are open to accidents due to human error or even worse to natural disasters. We can point out to various incidents like the Chernobyl accident, the Three Mile Island disaster, and in recent memories the Fukushima accident. But these can be counted as isolated incidents due to unforeseen circumstances and given the fact that we have more than four hundred power plants running all over the world, these accidents represent little of the total amount of nuclear power plants that we have.The weak argument on the pro nuclear side is that accidents can happen anywhere and with anything. Some try to point out the BP oil spill disaster and the Exxon Valdez oil disaster as proof that accidents can happen to anything but what most people are worried about is that the effect of a nuclear disaster are definitely more costly in terms of human life and also in the e conomic perspective. However, while we cannot say for certain that we can ensure the safety of our nuclear power plants, we can set up regulations and laws that would make an accident less likely to happen.And since Malaysia is new in the industry, we stand to have the best chance of making solid regulations and laws. Given the fact that Malaysia has no prior experience in building and operating nuclear power plants, we can take this opportunity to choose the best of regulations that we can find from nuclear powerhouse like Japan or the United States. We can use the experiences of these countries in handling accidents and draw up our own safety plan that would bode well with the infrastructure and size of Malaysia.It will be expensive for us to gather information from other countries since the professionals of the nuclear industry will charge highly for the knowledge that they have attained but if the Malaysian government can show that it is serious in its plan to build nuclear plan ts and that the government is willing to pay for vital security information on nuclear technology, this will help to deflect most of the fears that the public has on nuclear power plants and maybe even instill some confidence as to the idea of Malaysia having her own nuclear power plants.Another main concern in terms of safety is terrorist threats. Nuclear power plants have been known by some as some sort of a pre-position weapons of mass destruction. Targeting missiles or jetliners on these power plants can definitely inflict unimaginable harm to any country. Some nuclear power plant engineers have pointed out that these nuclear facilities are built to withstand the impact of jetliners with the thick walls and various other measurements.But any decent educated person could guess that a fully loaded jetliner would at least crack some of the walls on the power plant and any explosion from the plane could cause fire and heat up the whole power plant. That is why countries have regulat ions regarding flying over nuclear power plant and if Malaysia is concern about it, we should start drawing up our own regulations regarding air traffic and making sure we put this regulation in place before we even start to think about building nuclear power plants. One other concern regarding the safety of nuclear power plant is on radiation and leaking of radiated nuclear materials.While studies done on radiation surrounding power plants have been inconclusive, with some suggesting that those surrounding nuclear will definitely get exposed to some sort of nuclear radiation while other studies suggest that no such effect is taking place, we can take precaution by installing the power plant at a strategic location that would ensure the safety of the public with or without any possibility of radiation. It is not reasonable to put a power plant in a place far from generators or cities but the government has found a few places of which are sparsely populated but are also safely locate d within range of electricity generators.Leaking of radiated materials is a topic that I did not get much chance to learn about but from what I hear, the public is worried that the lack of government supervision might result in radioactive waste being stolen by terrorist or even worse if they are accidentally lost by untrained employees. That might have sounded funny but only a few years back the government of Malaysia suffered a public embarrassment when the engines of two fighter jets were lost for a year before the engines were found in Uruguay of all places.But while this particular concern is perfectly legitimate and something that we should all ponder about, I am sure that the government can put certain procedures into place to ensure proper removal of radioactive waste are in place and we could even hire professionals from Japan or the United States to help out for a few years in order to gain the trust of the public before we go local with the handling of nuclear materials. Cost As A Major Concern Moving on, another major opposition of the power plant centers on the cost of trying to build a new power plant.The government of Malaysia has not put a specific cost on the table yet but approximate figures to build one power plant in the country would be at around 3. 2 billion U. S dollars with the cost of managing the plant coming up to a couple more billions of U. S dollars. It is definitely a costly amount especially for such a small country like Malaysia but the public has to remember that the product of nuclear energy could give us a return of more than five billion dollars.To add to that, the public will probably have to incur a lesser cost when it comes to paying electricity bills and the construction of two nuclear power plants would open up job opportunities for local employees. The accounting benefit of the project might be hard to be seen by the public but the total economic cost of building two new nuclear power plants will be massive to the Mal aysian economy. Another benefit that most of the Malaysian public cannot see is the fact that having nuclear power plant can actually propel Malaysia to become a leading industrialized nation in the region of Asia.One thing about nuclear power plants is that is symbolizes power. Similar to having an aircraft carrier demonstrates a country’s military prowess, having nuclear energy can demonstrate that a country is successful in the production section and that the economy of the country will continue to generate positive results in the future. Malaysia is still considered a developing country even with our massive economic growth and quality infrastructure but having nuclear power plant in our own backyard might give the impression that we are serious about moving forward and trying to be on par with nations such as China and France.Being the first country in South East Asia to have nuclear power plants will help Malaysia to move ahead of the group and put us under the impressi on that we have moved forward and not tagged along by some of the poor countries in that region. While some might argue that Malaysia can still move forward with the option of using hydroelectricity as a main source of renewable energy, they must also consider the strategic planning of building hydro electrical dams. Malaysia consists of two peninsular, one surrounded by natural habitat and rainforest and the other filled with cities containing high rise buildings.Malaysia has already built one of the largest concrete dams in the world to generate electricity through hydro-electric technology but what the public is not aware of is the fact that we do not have the spaces to build another large dam, especially since the peninsula most people are talking about is bustled with buildings. When the government made that policy decision to expand the country’s renewable energy to include nuclear energy, it did so at the consideration of the public. he decision made by the Malaysian g overnment can be considered as a social policy because in a way, they had to factor in all the needs of the public in terms of cost, location, distribution and many other factors and the decision they made was in the best interest of the public. Politics And Social Policies What the government has to worry about right now is trying to convince the public that there will be no politics when the nuclear power plant project starts and that massive regulation will be in order when the nuclear plants are up and running.One way of disseminating the problem is making sure due diligent is done before we even start to open bids to companies. When Malaysia announced that it was going to build two new nuclear power plants, companies from Russia, Japan and even China rushed to try and lobby the government of Malaysia into choosing their company as the preferred choice because they are well aware that Malaysia has no prior experience in building nuclear power plants and that the Malaysian govern ment will surely look for foreign help in the process of building those nuclear power plants.Since the public will have no knowledge of these foreign companies, what the government must do is ensure that highly qualified local companies must go through the process of thoroughly checking over foreign companies so that we will not get deceived in any way. This is an important issue because Malaysia has already suffered an unpleasant experience when trying to get their hands on navy submarines. It was a similar case of lacking experience in the industry and being lackadaisical when looking for companies to build us our first ever submarines.The cost was also in the billions and the government really got into trouble with the public when the first arriving submarine was not able to function and properly and had to be shipped back to France to be repaired at additional cost. While there was no evidence that the French company was trying to deceive anyone, it was clear that the company wa s not good at doing its job and that the Malaysian government could have saved a lot of money if it had gone through the proper process of picking out the best available company to do the job.With this experience in hand, the government should be more careful when doing business in uncommon territory and take all the precaution necessary in order to make sure it does not waste tax payers money again. Still on the social policy of the topic, one thing the government has to worry about is on who will get the most out of having nuclear power plant in the country. While the board in charge of overlooking the project has already identified some of the most strategic locations to be the bases of two huge nuclear power plants, what they did not mention was on who will be getting the most of the supply.The options given out by the government did not mention that some of the locations were nearer to residency areas, providing massive amount of electricity to some of the residential areas wou ld be a major boost to the real estate industry and will help increase the support from the public since they will be getting the most of having nuclear power plants. Another part of the option was located nearer to the industrial complex of the country, near enough to generate a large amount of power to help support factories and will probably help to increase production from those factories.This will generate the economy but the public will not get to see this even if the government can then create more jobs and reduce unemployment rate in the country. The government will be in a dilemma since both options differ in terms of public support and in terms of economic growth. But I mentioned before that having nuclear power plants will help boost Malaysia to join the developed countries category and if we really want to see that happen than the best option is for the government to locate the power plants near the industrial complex.Apart from the effects it will have on the Malaysian economy, this will also prove that Malaysia is serious in its efforts to become a major industrialized nation and that having nuclear power plant to support its efforts. The public might not see directly the effects of putting nuclear power plants near factories instead of residential areas which would be more beneficial for the public but if everybody can take a step back and really look at the larger picture, they will clearly see that having nuclear power plants will be a major boost to Malaysia’s effort of becoming an industrialized nation. Regulation and PricingA part of production commonalities mention on natural monopoly and capital intensity and it would be good for the government to approach this matter and inform the public of it. In the case of building two new nuclear power plants in Malaysia, it would probably not be in the best interest of the public for the government to make it a natural monopoly. This will be a new thing for the whole nation and these two nuc lear power plants will be some sort of a highly looked upon experiment and the best thing the government can do is to appoint two different companies to handle those two separate plants, be it local or foreign companies.Having two different companies handling two different nuclear power plants in the country will help in getting some sort of a check and balanced system. It will prevent one company from overcharging the government since the other company will also try to set a good standard and having two companies will help to ensure that there will be less political ploys and decrease the possibility of corruption.Having a small competition between these two companies will also help make sure that good service is going to be provided to the public and since the Malaysian public have no prior experience on nuclear energies, having two competitive companies will surely lead to more information being put out on the table for the public to see. Still with regards to competition, the go vernment should set up a structure to ensure that we have an effective competition in play.While it is best for a government not to get involved in an effective competition market, in this case, the public would benefit if the government can play some influence as to regulating the structure of the market. The government should regulate as to the entry and exit of firms in the industry and the government can always keep track of the market price to ensure no overcharging in terms of rate is occurring since the Malaysian public will have no idea on what the normal rate for nuclear energy would be.In terms of product differentiation, there is nothing much since the main function of nuclear power plants are to produce energy but the firms involved in handling these plants should not be allowed to expand and diversify their businesses for the first few years. The reason would be because Malaysia will be new to this industry and we are already taking a huge risk by building these power p lants and we cannot afford to spread our capital and attention as to diversifying products but stay focus to the main focus of having nuclear power plants which are to create renewable energy to support the growth of our economy.As for capital intensity, it is hard for me to delve into the matter since I lack the knowledge on the infrastructure needed to run a nuclear power plant but I think the policy the government should be going for here would be to ensure there is enough capital to support the nuclear power plants during the first few years since there will be a lot of mistakes and errors at the start of the process.The government should make a policy to ensure they have enough budget to support the capital needed to ensure the nuclear power plants are going to run smoothly. Revenues will probably be low during the first few years as we try to figure out the best rate and how we can effectively use all of the resources we have but it is of the most important for the government and the public for that matter to keep being optimistic regarding the project and to provide full support the original policies and not to alter anything halfway.Another important policy is to make sure that we get local engineers and other important players in the industry to get properly trained so that they will be well equipped to handle all the technical and logistical problems that we might have when running the two power plants. Since the government plans to get the two nuclear power plants up and running before 2022, the government should start implementing new policies that would create more opportunities for students in Malaysia to pursue degrees in nuclear technology or any other field related to running a nuclear power plant for that matter.The government should also start identifying workers for the nuclear power plants and start sending them to other countries like Japan and the United States for specific training. Working at a nuclear power plant will definitely requi re certain level of knowledge and skill and these workers should be immersed with all the experience they can get so that when the power plants in Malaysia are up and running, this group of people will be more than able to handle any sort of problems that might arise at the nuclear power plants.The issue mentioned above might be viewed as unimportant as compared to the issue of safety and cost but having locals to work on Malaysia’s very own nuclear power plants would be a matter of utmost priority for me. The main reason is that having nuclear power plants will definitely generate the economy but if we want to maximize our revenues from this nuclear power plants, we cannot expect to continue to get foreign help for free and that foreign expertise will definitely cost a lot especially in the niche field of nuclear technology. The government will have to seek out help from foreign sectors to help start f the program but the government should also set a dateline on when we can start to fully employ local contractors and local companies to manage our products because that will be the time when we are fully maximizing our use of building two nuclear power plants. Making this policy will help set the tone that the government are interested in not just finding out a new renewable source of energy but are also keen to delve into the nuclear technology world and put our own bright young talents to the test by teaching and letting local Malaysians to handle our own nuclear plants.Another question that should be raised is if building nuclear power plants in Malaysia is a necessity or if it is just a political ploy or maybe even an investment into the future. This would fall under the concept of demand commonalities. The fact is Malaysia needs a new alternative source of energy and even though we have many other options such as hydroelectricity or expanding our solar power abilities, we actually can consider building the nuclear power plants as a necessity because of various reasons.There is no need to repeat previous arguments on how having nuclear power plant would proper Malaysia forward so a fresh new idea would be that having nuclear power plants would actually help label Malaysia as a green country. Everyone knows nuclear power plants are considered to be green an environmentally friendly despite all the radioactive toxic waste they produce.While hydroelectricity can also be considered green, the vast amount of land needed to build a hydroelectric dam would cause disturbance to the natural habitat of various animals and plants because the only large land areas that can accommodate building a dam in Malaysia would be the rainforest and jungles. Nuclear power plants are definitely a better option when we put the environment into play and since all major countries are going green, building our own nuclear power plants would help put Malaysia on the map as a green country. Nuclear Power Plants as a â€Å"Green† Way ForwardThere are many doubts that nuclear power plants are truly green as the radioactive waste they produce are harmful to the environment and Chernobyl is an easy case in point where there are no living beings in the area due to continuing leak of radiation. However, with nuclear energy getting the attention of top scientists all over the world and getting the focus from premier academic institutions, there will be new technologies that can help to better secure radioactive nuclear waste. And while it may be expensive for the Malaysian government to acquire those technologies, it will definitely be a positive way to ease to worries of the public.The Malaysian government needs to make it a regulation to ensure we get the latest of technologies no matter how costly it could be because Malaysia has no experience in handling nuclear materials and we cannot accept the possibility of suffering a nuclear accident at the expense of a fraction of the country’s budget. In the context of legal foundat ion or constitutional foundation, there is not much to go on with. This will be a totally new path for Malaysia and there are no legal precedence for this matter.While there have been cases which directly or indirectly involved the utility industry, none have or will be similar as to the legal matters surrounding the nuclear industry. And this is a good reason why the Malaysian government will have to thread very carefully because any policies or regulations they set can be challenged by the public and even after the government announced its intention to build nuclear power plants, there were advocacy groups getting ready to challenge the decision under the legal context that it would harm the public and that a referendum should be held to find out the consensus on this issue.Legal and Constitutional Issues The constitutional powers of Malaysia is not as strong and tight as the U. S constitution because Malaysia is a relatively new country, gaining independence just over 50 years ag o. Any solid constitution will take hundreds of years of amendments and challenges in order to be a solid constitution and the loopholes in the Malaysian Constitution will ensure that there will be many groups ready to take action if the government slips up in any way.The Malaysian government will have to start drawing up legal process to add fundamentals into the constitution that would ensure the nuclear power plant project would not be halted by court processes. That might sound extremely harsh especially in this democratic world but sometimes tough decisions have to be made on order to get something started and since Malaysia is lagging 50 years behind other countries in the nuclear industry, we need to make sure we get through the project as smoothly as we can.One main concern regarding the judicial process that can be discussed now is will the state governments be given authority to regulate or even monitor the nuclear power plants or are the federal government going to take f ull control over the authority of the plants. Given that these power plants are going to be public utilities, this issue would be important to address and if a situation comes up within the nuclear power plants, which government is going to be held responsible for it.The most logical answer would be to put the federal government in charge of the whole thing and leave state authorities totally out of it. This would simplify the bureaucratic process that has been pretty common with Malaysia and it will also make it easier to oversee the project with just one authority on deck. The federal government should take full responsibility for anything that happens to the plants and this will help because the federal government would then need to do a better job since it will not have anybody to blame for if anything goes wrong with the project.Pricing would be difficult to touch upon now since we do not know how much the project will cost and how much of taxpayers money are going to be used. One thing for sure is that the government should make sure the cost of the nuclear power plant project should be distributed equally among all parties involved including the public. To add to that, the government should also make sure that it uses resources from Petronas, a large petroleum company owned by the federal government to try and subsidize as much as possible as to the cost of the project.This seems ironic since a petroleum firm would have to pay to help build another source of energy that would eventually take over the petroleum industry but the Petronas firm has been really successful with the support of the public, being one of the highest revenue making firm in Asia. Making sure that Petronas plays a huge role in the nuclear power plant building project would be like an effective social policy since Petronas have been playing a huge role for the Malaysian public in many other issues.Rate Structuring and Utility Commissions In terms of rate structures, it will depend he avily on the type of customers the power plant will be going for. If the government decides to generate power from the nuclear power plants for the residential areas, they are going to have to keep the rates low since the main consumer base would be the working class who probably will not be able to afford a high rate on electricity.If the government decides to go for supplying energy to the industrial complex, they can then probably charge a higher rate since their main consumer will consist of firms who can probably afford high rates in terms of electricity. Rate design elements do not really apply in the case of nuclear power plants since they are going to be producing energy day in and day out and also the fact that Malaysia does not have 4 different weather seasons, providing the opportunity for the power plant to function all the time.Since Malaysia does not have a public utility commissions with regard to nuclear energy, there should be foundations to start making plans to se t up a public utility commissions for nuclear energy. And as far as my knowledge goes, Malaysia does not that many public utilities commissions with regards to other industries as well, given that most prices and regulations are actually being done by the firms involved and the public has not had much to say about how most of the utilities in Malaysia are being priced.However, with nuclear industry it is going to be a whole new world and since Malaysia will be joining an elite group of countries in the world with nuclear power plants, the public will want to understand more on this particular issue and having a nuclear commission on the ready would help to strengthen the support from the public. The decision to start building Malaysia’s own nuclear power plant is a big decision, the kind of decision that will have a lasting impact on Malaysia’s social and economic policy.In order to make sure that the public will be along the same line, the government needs to appoint people who are highly respected and have some knowledge on this particular area to lead the project. The government cannot afford to choose base on political affections or even factor in cronyism because a project of this caliber will require the trust of the public and one of the most important aspects the public is going to look for is on who will be in charge for the project. If the government can play its cards right this time, it can also mark a change in a policy that has been known for so long to involve corruption, politics and cronyism.While the paper has discussed a lot on how much the cost of the nuclear power plant project, the regulations and policies that we need to put in place and even the environmental effect of nuclear power plants, we did not touch on the industry itself and how Malaysia is going to fit in into an industry worth billions. Getting foreign expertise during the first few years of operation is perfectly understandable and we already mentioned on getti ng the locals to come in so that the power plants can be totally domestic but what the government should consider is to try to delve into the industry while we are in it.We lack the experience necessary to just join the industry but while we start to get foreign help, what we can do is build contacts and start to expand our networking in the nuclear industry. It will definitely take decades for Malaysia to even be considered a player in the nuclear industry but since we are going to spend billions of dollars on building nuclear power plants, why not add a couple more and make it a long standing policy to push us into the nuclear arena.The government can start giving out subsidies to help support companies that are interested in field and make sure we are in constant supply of nuclear engineers and scientists. It might take us 30 to 40 years to start building our name in the industry but nuclear power plants have a life cycle of 40-60 years and there will be ample time for the govern ment to set and amend policies that will help to get Malaysia into the nuclear technology field. The most dangerous yet seemingly reasonable fear that we could have on the issue of building power plants in Malaysia was never put on the table by anyone.While we mentioned that we fear of terrorist threats and how we can protect nuclear radioactive waste, we never mentioned that setting policies on learning more about the nuclear weapon might lead to increase interest in building interest in acquiring our own nuclear weapon. Even worse, some of our future nuclear scientists might run of with whatever knowledge and materials they can get on nuclear and start building their own nuclear bombs. It might sound ludicrous but these cases have happened before and Malaysia is also located next to Indonesia, a country that has long been affiliated with terrorist groups in the Middle East.A small country like Malaysia getting its own nuclear material and located next to a known terrorist hub will likely make Malaysia a soft and viable target for major terrorist organizations who would want to acquire nuclear materials and knowledge. If this were to happen, it would a major disaster to Malaysia, and probably to the world for that matter and we do not want to put ourselves on the map for all the wrong reasons. What the government needs to start preparing is stringent laws that would scare off potential threats and the government also needs to start beefing up its police and military power in order for the country to be able o protect itself from terrorist threats. The bigger picture would be to toughen up our laws on the borders and start changing our policies with neighboring countries but that should fall under a completely different category under foreign policy and immigration. Securing our country should be a major policy before we start to worry about making it in the nuclear industry or what rate we are going to charge for our nuclear energy products because these terr orist threats are real and the government should be aware of that.In conclusion, the decision made by the Malaysian government to build nuclear power plants in the country by 2022 was a good decision but we need to make sure we cover all the important aspects before we start to step up our gears in the nuclear plant project. The government needs to win the support of the public and we cannot get it if we do not start to change our policies with regards to the safety of nuclear power plants.Our educational policy should be amended in order to equip ourselves with bright young minds and we need to start doing so as early as possible because the process does not just include education but training and working experience as well. Getting nuclear power plants of our own will make Malaysia a force in the industrialized country and we need to prepare to make changes in our social and economic policies as this will be a big transition for the country. Malaysia will also need to make some ch anges in its environmental policies since having nuclear power plants provides Malaysia with the opportunity to display that we are a green nation.It will be hard to change the mentality of Malaysians who are not as interested about the environment as people in other countries but we need this change and this will be the perfect time to do it. Getting Malaysia’s very own nuclear power plants will definitely mark a change in our history and if we want to make it a success, we need to make sure we get it right every step of the way and enjoy the interesting journey of building our own nuclear power plants at the same time.