Reducing Oil Consumption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reducing Oil Consumption - Essay Example While much effort has been directed towards this cause, it is imperative to note that the challenge is still eminent and this calls for even greater effort considering that the United States is the largest consumer of oil in the world (Butts, 58). Higher taxes One economically efficient way of reducing oil consumption across the United States is to increases the tax on oil products. Indeed, there are always many opportunities for oil conservation by the public such as reducing mileage. However, many people do not care to follow such strategies since they can easily afford the oil. This strategy will help in reducing industrial consumption of oil and forcing people to be more economical with oil. Higher taxes would translate into higher prices for the oil and people would therefore strive to limit their consumption of oil as much as possible. This would even call for the use of oil alternatives in situations where it is possible. Efficient Transportation Transportation is one sector t hat consumes a great amount of oil in the United States. Considering that many people drive their own cars, it is expected that oil consumption is indeed high. Unlike Europe, the public transportation system in the United States is not well developed. Many people own cars and this greatly increases gasoline consumption in the country. In this regard, the public transportation system should be redesigned effectively. High-speed trains are an effective ways of reducing the use of gasoline in the country. These trains are powered by electricity and travel and very fast speeds. In the same way, the development of hybrid cars should be fast-tracked. Cars that use electric propulsion should be developed and mass produced. In this case, much of the road and air transport would be substituted by high-speed rails. These trends can further be used in freight transportation and this would greatly reduce the consumption of oil in the country (Woodside, 98). Oil Alternatives There has been much ongoing research on the use of biofuels as an option to the crude oil. Indeed, biofuels have been successful in countries like Brazil which placed much focus on its production. Considering that the transportation sector is a very large consumer of oil, biofuels would come in handy as an option to oil. The major challenge in this respect is the fact that vehicles that use biofuels are still few in the country. It is estimated that a combined use of biofuels and electricity in internal combustion engines can reduce the importation of oil by more than half. In the same way, other forms of renewable energy like solar and wind have not fully been exploited in the United States. The installation of more windmills and solar panels would provide much power that would reduce the demand for oil. The focus of these programs is therefore to provide cheaper energy options and educate the people on the need to use these options as opposed to oil (Woodside, 78). Research on renewable energy source s should be the major concern for policy makers as they would facilitate the reduction of oil consumption. Recycling While it might not seem much obvious, recycling is an important way of reducing the consumption o

Language and Culture Essay Example for Free

Language and Culture Essay Language and culture reciprocate a fluid relationship. They both interact and shape the structure through which individuals can mediate their lives within a social context. Language and culture are immanent forces that help to define and open up the way we understand various dimensions of our lives, whether through the mass media and advertising, science and technology, slang, diverse vocabulary, changes of meanings. This essay will aim to break down the specific forums through which language is useful to culture and how culture forms the mechanisms and strategies through which we use language. I will begin with a discussion of the relationship between language and culture and then move on to the different paradigms that contain specific uses of language. To begin, it will be helpful to lay a framework upon which to build a working definition of language. According to the University of Princeton’s online dictionary, language is â€Å"a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols† (Language). This is straightforward enough for us to understand that language acts as a medium for communicating. The key terms to highlight here are systematic as well symbols because they stretch the function of the definition to include the power that institutions have over language as well as the way that language can shift and change through semiotics. As a system, language relies upon a specific and formal set of rules in order to function. Grammar, syntax, slang, and meaning are all elicited from the rules of language. The institution of a particular language also varies greatly depending on socio-economic factors as well as through educational strategies. For example, with the rise of information technology and the internet as well as through global capitalism, the English language has taken center stage as a pseudo-global language due to its far reaching capacity and its prevalence in scientific and technological innovations. It will be interesting to see how the role of English changes as the world becomes smaller through interconnectivity and the rise of other global languages such as Chinese. Different cultures, through different languages, create different modes of expression and understanding that give rise to cultural diversity. Cultural diversity relies upon the comparing and contrasting mechanisms through which meaning is ingrained. Semiotics is the realm of language that is concerned with signs and signification. Language is the tool through which we identify particular signs and accord them a meaning, or a signification. This is important because through the sign, or symbol, a culture places specific connotations beyond the traditional denotative structure of language. Language both identifies and distinguishes. This is where varying mediums play a significant role on the way cultures digest and create their lives through language. To illustrate how this works, I will next discuss the role that the mass media has on both the language of culture and the culture of language. The dominance of mass media and advertising over the realms of cross cultural communication cannot be underestimated. Through advertisements, newspapers, television, radio, and the internet, people across the world have instant access to a constant stream of information that shapes the way we live our lives. This can have both positive and negative impacts. On the positive side, mass media acts a vehicle for cross cultural dialogue. It provides people with a common language and a common set of terms through which to discuss the pressing issues of the day. The information presented is current and has a specific point of focus. Depending on a person’s cultural condition and through which avenue of mass media they travel on the information highway, the meaning of the information changes dramatically. In this way, two people from different cultures can watch the same news clip and come away from the experience with two completely different understandings from the same language and information. On the negative side of mass media we can point to what cultural theorists beginning with Antonio Gramsci have termed cultural hegemony. This names a dual process through which competing ideologies are struggled out on the stage of culture and through which subversive or outsider paradigms are brought into the dominant arena of culture in order to assimilate and therefore neutralize the conflict of interests (Chandler). This applies to our discussion of language and culture because it helps explain how the role of the media frames certain issues in order to parlay a particular point of view. For example, here in America hegemony can be witnessed through the way Fox News presents its conservative political agenda against the way that Comedy Central portrays its progressive politics through shows like the Daily Show. The language presented and used in media relies upon subtle ideological functioning in order to suggest at an agenda or viewpoint instead of simply communicating said purpose. As mentioned before, language both identifies and distinguishes. As in the previous example of news presentation, we can see how Fox News identifies its audience through its conservative ideology. By identifying as they do, they also distinguish themselves from the liberal-leaning Daily Show audience. It will be interesting to see how much, if any, influence Fox News can have during the Obama presidency and the rise of liberalism after relying so heavily upon Republican and conservative politics through the Bush administration. The shift in the power of balance in American politics will sway the tide of public opinion in the arena of culture that hegemony frames. We can also witness the way science and technologies rely upon specific uses of language in order to elucidate communication and meaning. Perhaps this arena of culture illustrates the example best. Science and technology create paradigms of knowledge. By this, we can see how biochemists almost literally speak another language than nuclear physicists in their professional lives. Again, this is not a positive or a negative situation; it is a cultural practice that plays itself out through particular frameworks of understanding the world. Another interesting example of how science and technology play out in the realm of language is to consider the macro level. As hinted at earlier, science and technology, with their innovations originating largely from the United States and Japan, have consisted and evolved through the language of not just professional jargon, but specifically and nearly exclusively through English. In his innovative essay, Translingual Travel: The Discourse Practice of Cultural Hegemony, Chinese cultural theorist Dai Xun writes of the impact this phenomenon has in China, â€Å"The primary premise in the rise of cultural hegemony is the advantages and control western countries enjoy over science, technology and information (Xun). This is another form of cultural hegemony that phases out periphery languages at the cost of integrating English into the global vocabulary as well as forming the unbalanced socio-economic relationships of our age. Language is utilized for specific purposes through systematic controls and symbolic gestures. That being said, language is not a monolithic and static entity. Although language relies on specific grammatical and syntactical rules, cultures have always innovated and bent the rules of grammar in an effort to assert their unique cultural conditions. The rise of slang is one of the most important and culturally reinforcing tactics that marginal groups use to coalesce and self-identify. Slang is a part of language, and it follows that it serves again to identify as well as to distinguish. One of the most striking examples of slang can be witnessed in hip-hop music. Hip-hop is rapidly becoming a global phenomena and it goes beyond just the music to include fashion, dancing, music making and lifestyle. In this way, the slang the hip-hop community uses separates them from other groups while also helping them to identify with like-minded people. Hegemony in the realm of hip-hop can help explain how power relations work themselves out through culture. In its infancy, hip-hop was a culture unique to African-Americans in inner-city America. With its popularity and rise through mass media, white, middle-class teenagers are adopting hip-hop into their lifestyles and trying to identify with the conditions that gave rise to it. This is how dominant culture integrates what was previously a subversive and politically threatening subculture into the mainstream. Now we see hip-hop artists in children’s cartoons, at suburban schools and in the malls. In conclusion, language and culture maintain mutually reinforcing relationship. Both dominant and subversive forms of communication are played out on the arena of cultural hegemony. This condition goes beyond the traditional positive/negative paradigm of culture. What is important to some cultures can have very little significance to others. Works Cited Chandler, Daniel. (2000). Gramsci and Hegemony. Marxist Media Theory. Retrieved December 22, 2008 from http://www. aber. ac. uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism10. html Language. (2008). Wordnet. Princeton University. Retrieved December 22, 2008 from http://wordnetweb. princeton. edu/perl/webwn? s=language Xun, Dai. (2008). Translingual Travel: The Discourse Practice of Cultural Hegemony. Southwest Normal University. Retrieved December 22, 2008 from www. ln. edu. hk/eng/staff/eoyang/icla/Translingual%20Travel

Students Metacognitive Abilities Essay -- Education, Researchers and T

Literature Review Research on the Problem Researchers and theorists have sought the key behind getting students to learn for decades. For every theory placed on the table, there is another waiting to clear it off and replace it. This dichotomy can be challenging for teachers who are searching for the answers to help them reach their students especially when these students are asked to do mundane tasks like memorize. In addition, many teachers struggle to identify the root cause of their student’s struggles with material, and once pin pointed, they often find it difficult to address these causes. What are the exact challenges the students are struggling with? In her research, Nancy Joseph, believes the answer to this question lies in a lack of metacognitive ability in the students. â€Å"Your ability to plan, monitor, and evaluate your performance reveals sophisticated cognitive activity.† (Joseph, 2006) If the students are not capable of reaching this level of cognitive ability, they will not be able to grow with the difficulty of the class material. Each student learns best in his or her own way, and by understanding this â€Å"learners are able to use their academic strengths to develop additional skills and understanding, moving toward greater intellectual maturity.† (Joseph, 2006) Students cannot develop critical thinking skills as it relates to content if they do not possess the skill to think critically at all. The pathway to metacognitive ability begins with self-reflection. At the junior high level, students are unaware that the ability to be reflective is a skill that will carry them through life; not just in their current Language Arts Classroom (Joseph, 2006). Teachers are told almost daily about how important ... ...is difficult, and that they must be creative in finding ways to make easier for the students to understand. If they do not, then they will keep doing what they have always done, and continue getting the same results. I hope to examine parts of the studies that have already been conducted on these issues. I will be looking at the result of connecting games, social interaction, practice, direct instruction, indirect instruction, and to what extent a student’s metacognitive level has on their ability to memorize material such as prepositions. As Ellis noted, â€Å"the results of the research do not afford conclusions that can be readily applied to language pedagogy.† (Ellis, 2011) My attempts will be focused on a more general scope of application in the classroom, and I will try to bridge the gap between the research, theorists, and practical application.

On Dumpster Diving Essay

Quite by accident, I found the essay On Dumpster Diving by Lars Eighner on the pages of Seagull magazine. The first lines of it captured my interest considerably, for as I had never read about dumpster diving or scavenging before. On Dumpster Diving is a piece of large Eighner’s work called Travels with Lizbeth (1993), which was based on his own experience of homelessness. The author engages me by telling the origin and meaning of the term Dumpster Diver, presenting his survival guide with specified rules and regulations. Dumpster is a trademark of garbage loading onto trucks system. Dumpster diving involves persons voluntarily climbing into rubbish bins (dumpsters) to find valuables or simply useful items, including food and used clothing. Eighner writes that the life of a beggar traveling without any money opened his eyes to the fact that all those containers with waste are real â€Å"supermarkets† for the poor, and they are not only a source of survival, but also a d epositary of high-quality and diverse food. Anyhow, there is a risk in eating such findings. According to Eighner’s experience, taking food out of dumpsters should involve three simple principles: â€Å"using the senses and common sense to evaluate the condition of the found materials, knowing the Dumpsters of a given area and checking them regularly, and seeking always to answer the question, â€Å"Why was this discarded?† Narrator advises to avoid such foods as game, poultry, pork, and egg-based meals. Soft drinks testing should be based on their fizzing vigorously. Being a scavenger, one has to notice the least signs of visible contaminates. Notwithstanding the scavenger has no indemnity of self- intoxication. Later on Lars tells about â€Å"a predictable series of stages a person goes through in learning to scavenge,† in which disgust at the beginning gives way to indiscriminate acquiring of the things. The story also includes information about the â€Å"can-divers† and their way of diving featured as unethical and impudent. The plot of it is neither compound nor rich in events and characters. However, it is thought provoking. The author gives us detailed guidance how to survive being a dumpster diver. Reading the essay, I asked myself right along whether it was the only aim of Eighner to teach us those rules. As the story progressed, I picked up the writer’s conception gradually. His essay exemplifies the wasteful nature of American society and implies that it is the result of materialistic values but also ignorance and lack of understanding. People unreasonably throw out even food that is appropriate for using: â€Å"Students throw out many good things including food†¦the item was thrown out through carelessness, ignorance, or wastefulness.†(Eighner) The scavenger can acquire â€Å"boom boxes, candles, bedding, toilet paper, medicine, books, a typewriter, a virgin male love doll, change sometimes amounting to many dollars† in the dumpsters. I suppose the purpose of the article is also to show how immoral is to throw out good food and things, knowing that thousands are starving and suffering from poverty. However, exactly that garbage helps him to survive at difficult times. Eighner’s reasoning for why people are materialistic derives from the concept that they are lost and unsure of what they want. In a way, his short essay On Dumpster Diving, suggests to his readers that to achieve the state of satisfaction, they need to know what they want. He states, â€Å"Almost everything I have now has already been cast at least once, proving that what I own is valueless to someone.† The author himself collects only things that are of benefit to him and leaves the rest for the benefit of others. The article shows that the writer being homeless still keeps his intelligent, clever, and sentimental way of thinking. He emphasises the transience of material being and says, â€Å"Once I was the sort of person who invests material objects with sentimental value. Now I no longer have those things, but I have the sentiments yet.†(Eighner) I think, describing all the rules of dumpster diving Lars Eighner represents us the necessity of keeping the etiquette even in adversity. The breakers of that common law are the â€Å"can-divers.† They, as contrasted with the true scavengers, look only for the money there and mix the contents of the dumpster making it more difficult to find the truly good things, the author explains. The worst in can scroungers’ actions is their audacity to go through individual containers in front of peoples homes, something a true diver would never do. Doing that the can diver finds different prescriptions, diaries and things the owner throws out. It is clear that privacy disclosing would embarrass us. Eighner exclaims against private invasion, thus demonstrating his culture and humanism. The last paragraph where Lars compares himself to ultra-wealthy is the most interesting point of the essay, to my mind. The rich people can acquire anything they like and the money does not stand in the way of doing that. The dumpster diver gets the things from dumpsters free too. Author’s analysis is that the truly rich or the truly poor are those who do not want or need. In his comparison, Lars means that he and the super-rich do not need the items the rest of us do. He can just go out and find them. The narrator tries to show the positives of his profession, but does not overlook the negatives as well, following it with the words: â€Å"Dumpster diving has serious drawbacks as a way of life.† The main idea of Lars Eighner in his essay is to assure us that any hopeless situation has its way out. The life goes on even if you meet difficulties†¦ He calls us for keeping our cultural and ethical talents even when being in the lowest state of life. We may not forget that having materialistic values over moral ones destroys and vitiates us from inside. In the unique voice – dry, disciplined, poignant, comic- Eighner celebrates the triumph of the artistic spirit in the face of enormous adversity, thus, inspiring me for true respect.

Action Research On Milwaukee Flooding Environmental Sciences Essay

Floods are inevitable natural phenomena that cause terrible harm in footings of lives, natural resources, the economic system, and wellness. On the international degree, deluging histories for 40 per centum of catastrophes worldwide and causes 26 per centum of disaster-related mortalities ( Whiteman, 2004 ) . Aside from environmental impacts, the societal impacts of deluging in communities around the universe are common among several states such as economic impacts, impacts on physical wellness, psychological wellness, impacts related to emptying and impermanent resettlement, and community and vicinity alterations ( International Association for Impact Assessment [ IAIA ] , 2003 ; Genovese et al. , 2006 ) . The biggest challenge in countries considered as high-risk for implosion therapy is extenuation ( FEMA, 2010 ) . This action research intends to utilize the Milwaukee implosion therapy in July 2010 to show the themic jobs in catastrophe direction and extenuation attempts. This lit erature reappraisal will continue to demo that inundation extenuation requires a comprehensive, integrated, and multi-stakeholder attack toward inundation hazard direction. It will try to demo and show this thesis based on research and instance surveies in the United States and best pattern catastrophe extenuation attempts in other countries worldwide. In a study by The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction [ UN/ISDR ] ( 2008 ) , it was postulated that communities which create its ain thoughts and work programmes to turn to their demands and exposures have better opportunities of long-run solutions. Due to the increasing urbanisation, increasing demand for infinite, and climate alteration concerns practically everyplace in the universe, the demand to switch from conventional inundation direction attacks to an integrated attack has been recommended ( UNESCO, 2001 ; FEMA, 2010 ) . Integrated attack to deluge direction means that there are pre- and post-disaster steps planned and implemented in a vicinity which are linked to other communities, authorities bureaus, and organisations in order to turn to exposures which communities are unable to work out on their ain ( UN/ISDR, 2008 ) . Multi-sectoral attacks to deluge direction have been utilized by vicinities in order to extenuate flood harm. In a instance s urvey performed by the Tearfund International ( 2005 ) , two communities in Africa came up with a comprehensive and multi-sectoral program which required 1 ) a comprehensive hazard appraisal 2 ) protagonism and linkage with authorities, private sector, and the Districts concerned and acceptance of Torahs to deter agribusiness 20 metres from the watercourse 3 ) networking with other authorities bureaus to procure expertness and 4 ) community mobilisation. The same multi-sectoral attacks have been undertaken in other states as good ( Petrov et al. , 2005 ; Genovese et al. , 2006 ) . In the United States, communities work hand-in-hand with the federal authorities and the private sector in order to cut down hazard and harm caused by deluging ( FEMA, 2010 ) . Based on a survey by Petrov, et Al. ( 2005 ) , an incorporate theoretical account of flood direction is quantifiable in footings of sustainable development and inundation defence. The survey focused on two communities in Italy which used the incorporate mold attack to supplement structural steps with non-structural steps such as land direction and planning, land usage planning and development limitations. The determination that a comprehensive scheme using both structural and non-structural extenuation steps toward inundation direction is the most effectual scheme is consistent with other state studies ( Lin, De Guzman, & A ; Cuevas, 2007 ; Genovese, et al. , 2006 ; Zevenbergen et al. , 2008 ) . Furthermore, ‘best pattern ‘ surveies have besides pointed to the increasing importance of a multi-stakeholder attack in inundation hazard direction ( FEMA, 2008 ; Galloway, 2005 ) . This attack means that all the stakeholders in a community have functions to play from be aftering to the execution stage. When planning is done unsuitably and without a stakeholder analysis, any inundation hazard direction scheme may worsen the negative effects of utmost hydrological procedures ( Petrov, et al. , 2005 ) . Hence, concerns from assorted sectors must be heard and considered, and local cognition and resources should be evaluated with support from exterior ( Genoese, et al. , 2006 ) . These surveies point out that a co-ordinated attempt is necessary to protect everyone ‘s involvement in the event of implosion therapy. The dominant scheme in inundation direction every bit far as the U.S. is concerned has been structural in nature. Flood extenuation attempts in the state go around around the demand to cut down the cost of harm brought approximately by the devastation of belongings. However, due to increasing financial load caused by structural steps, urban contrivers and exigency direction experts look to the usage of non-structural steps to cut down the harm caused by deluging. Between 1960 and 1985, FEMA estimated that the federal authorities used $ 38 billion of taxpayers ‘ money on structural inundation direction steps ( FEMA, 2010 ) . A chief step used to cut down inundation hazard is the building of levees which were subsequently augmented by channel work to rush floodwaters to their ultimate finishs ( Lin, De Guzman, & A ; Cuevas, 2007 ) . Elsewhere, particularly in the underdeveloped universe, the most common structural step utilized in order to cut down implosion therapy is the buildi ng of dikes. Structures to pin down dust flows in canons upriver from alluvial fans include permeable dikes that stop bowlders but permit H2O to run out, that is, grid dikes dwelling of cross-linked steel pipes, horizontal beams, perpendicular steel pipes, or reinforced columns. Widely used in Canada and the US, they suddenly slow the advancement of dust flows by run outing the H2O ( Hyndman & A ; Hyndman, 2010 ) . The biggest challenge with such structural steps in the U.S. experience has been the financial load shouldered by the federal authorities. The addition in deposit along with the development brought approximately by urbanisation has required more investing in extra constructions. Elsewhere in the universe, in a survey commissioned by the World Commission on Dams ( WCD ) , 54 % of dikes constructed sustained cost overproductions ( Whiteman, 2004 ) . Structural inundation direction steps have besides come under onslaught for their alleged inauspicious impacts on the wellness and environment. In a study by the International Rivers Network, the building of dikes and constructions to slake implosion therapy has led to massive and nonvoluntary relocation, loss of support for those dependent on flood plains, and forced evictions ( Lin, De Guzman, & A ; Cuevas, 2007 ) . Another concern with dike is its part to climate alteration gases as they release over 104 million MT of methane yearly. Land usage planning and direction is another scheme used in order to cut down inundation amendss by curtailing development on inundation fields. The displacement from structural to set down usage planning was triggered by the monolithic harm sustained during the 1993 Mississippi River inundation. FEMA started to purchase floodplain land in order to deter other people from reconstructing on flood-prone land and being flooded out once more. Alternatively of lodging and development undertakings, land was used for agribusiness, Parkss, and other related utilizations. Some counties have resisted application for development undertakings by corporations in order to extenuate deluging but many instances have been petitioned by developers in tribunals ( Hyndman & A ; Hyndman, 2010 ) . A common place is that modulating edifice and building of inundation fields infringement upon single rights to belongings while FEMA maintains that in flood-prone countries, the right of persons to construct bel ongings infringed upon the rights of other persons. Furthermore, one million millions of public revenue enhancement dollars have been coursed out to supply alleviation from deluging and construct flood-management constructions. Buyout and resettlement strategies have worked in some counties. For case, in Iowa, over 46 resettlement undertakings and buyouts have been initiated by the province to extenuate flood harm. There have been more than 1,000 belongingss removed from flood-prone countries which have protected critical installations such as infirmaries. FEMA has invested $ 54 million for these resettlement and buyout undertakings and catastrophe alleviation financess were given merely More than 1,000 belongingss have been removed from flood-hazard countries in the province. Over 20 critical installations, such as infirmaries, have been protected. At least 66 undertakings have been funded, with a entire investing of $ 54 million in FEMA ( Earthquake Engineering Research Institute [ EERI ] , 2008 ) . Flood insurance is another non-structural inundation direction step that has been progressively used by authoritiess because of the financial loads of structural steps ( Genovese, 2006 ) . Flood case mitigates the cost of flood harm while and at the same clip influences behavior to further cut down future harm. The inundation insurance scheme is basically a cost-sharing agreement among belongings and concern proprietors, insurance and re-insurance industry, and authorities. Under the authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program ( NFIP ) , flood insurance is available to people populating in flood plains ( Hyndman & A ; Hyndman, 2010 ) . The federal authorities provides insurance while its purchase is delegated to private insurance companies. There are two chief advantages of inundation insurance. First, it eases financial load on authorities for inundation bar and alleviation. Second, it allows for drum sander and automated transportation of payments to individuals ( nonaffe cted or victims ) covered by a similar insurance plan ( Larson & A ; Plasencia, 2005 ) . Despite the purported benefits of inundation insurance, merely 20-30 % of those eligible participate in the insurance plan ( Galloway, 2005 ) . Before people can be eligible to claim insurance, FEMA requires the community, to finish the needed surveies to demarcate flood plain zones and enforce ordinances. To be eligible for inundation insurance, the community must finish the needed surveies to denominate flood plain zones and implement its ordinances ( FEMA, 2010 ) . A hurdle in inundation insurance is conflict over civil wrong claims. The NFIP can pre-empt civil wrong claims made by landholder utilizing province jurisprudence against independent contractors hired by FEMA under the obstruction preemption rule where â€Å" province jurisprudence stands as an obstruction to the achievement and executing of the full intents and aims of Congress † ( Freightliner Corp. v. Myrick, 514 U.S. 280 , 287, 1995 ) . Taken together, the reviewed instance surveies and studies indicate that experience in inundation direction support the usage of a comprehensive and incorporate attack to cut down economic harm brought approximately by deluging ( Simonovic, 2005 ; Global Water Partnership, 2006 ; Genovese, et al. , 2006 ) . This means that while structural steps have been found to ease the impact of floodwater and dust flows, the federal authorities has looked to non-structural steps because of the load its shoulders from building levees, dikes, and other flood-control constructions. Measures such as land usage planning and direction, buyouts, and inundation insurance have shown promise but brush opposition and challenges. Community engagement and multi-stakeholder attacks are necessary in explicating sustainable inundation direction programs to construct more resilient communities.

Lawrence of Arabia essays

Lawrence of Arabia essays The story opens with a large symphonic overture, which leads into the death of Thomas Edward Lawrence (Peter OToole) in a motorcycle crash. When a reporter asks questions at the memorial service at St. Paul's a flashback to the desert campaigns of the legendary figure begins. In 1916, Lawrence is a disgruntled young lieutenant with the British H.Q. staff in Cairo. Discontent with a desk job, he persuades Mr. Dryden (Claude Rains) of the Arab Bureau to let him seek out the Bedouin Chief, Prince Feisal (Alec Guiness), to check on the progress of the Arab Revolt. Lawrence suggests the possibility of helping Feisal unite the Arab tribes against their common enemy, the Turks, with whom the British are also at war. Having received permission to try, Lawrence journeys to the desert. There his first encounter with tribal rivalries occurs when Sherif Ali (Omar Sharif), who is later to become one of Lawrence's strongest allies, shoots Lawrence's guide for drinking from a water hole which belongs to Ali. With the help of Ali, Prince Feisal is convinced into allowing his own guerilla army to cooperate with the British. Lawrence soon becomes a charismatic Leader to the Arab hordes. Sustaining the independent spirit of the Arab revolt, Lawrence leads a miraculous crossing of the Nefud Desert, making it possible to capture the Turkish port of Aqaba. The Victorious Arab Warriors triumphantly proclaim him El Aurens. However, when Lawrence and Ali go on a scouting expedition into Deraa, which the Turks are holding, Lawrence is captured by the Turks, tortured and then released. This incident breaks the illusion of invincibility that Lawrence has of himself and which the hero-worship of the Arab tribes has created. Again he is tempted to resign his command, but once again General Allency (Jack Hawkins) sends him back to the desert. ...

There and back again essays

There and back again essays Shakespeare uses symbols to describe the setting as well as give insight into what is going on behind the scenes. Upon first sighting, Horatio dismisses the ghost as fantasy. The Kings ghost symbolizes betrayal and injustice, which Hamlet must rectify in order to put his father at peace. The Kings ghost symbolizes a form of Catholic purgatory and a Protestant daemon (1). Horatios companion Bernardo exclaims, Though art a scholar speak to it, Horatio. In the time of Shakespeare, it was customary for the educated to speak with the dead as well as make the dead reply. This symbolism gives the audience a greater understanding of the setting of time in which Shakespeare creates. The death of the King contains another symbol important when mentioning the setting. Normally when a king dies, his first-born son inherits the kingdom; Hamlet did not inherit his fathers kingdom. One reason why Shakespeare did not mention the details is that the Nobles, of whom the play was writ for, o f the Shakespearean period, knew the current political processes. The pre-Shakespearean period dictated if the King were to die the surviving first born would inherit the kingdom; the current practice in Denmark was to have the noble council vote who would take over the kingdom. Yet, another symbol was the Queenss hasty marriage to Claudius, the dead Kings brother, and Hamlets uncle. The mourning Queen, who has influence over the nobles, would undoubtedly have some say when the noble council would vote for the superceding King. Without the existence of a previous relationship between Claudius and the Queen, the audience would be led to believe that the Queen fell in love almost instantaneously following the Kings passing. Shakespeare exhibits many themes in Hamlet; love and hate the fear of death, and a play within a play. Hamlet is a man who detects corruption and tries to set h ...