Written by The Prophet Essay Example For Students

Written by: The Prophet Essay Edited by: The MetallianLebanon, a nation that once proudly called itself the Switzerland of theMiddle East, is today a country in name only. Its government controlslittle more than half of the nations capital, Beirut. Its once-vibranteconomy is a shambles. And its society is fragmented so fragmented, somebelieve, that it may be impossible to re-create a unified state responsiveto the needs of all its varied peoples. Lebanon lies on the eastern shore of the Mediterranea n Sea, in that partof southwestern Asia known as the Middle East. Because of its location at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa Lebanon has been the centerof commerce and trade for thousands of years. It has also been on theroute of numerous conquering armies. With an area of 4,015 square miles, Lebanon is one of the smallestcountries in the Middle East. It is smaller than every state in the UnitedStates except Delaware, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Lebanon issandwiched between Syria in the north and east and Israel in the south. We will write a custom essay on Written by: The Prophet specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The maximum distance from the nations northern border to the southern oneis only 130 miles. And the maximum distance from the Mediterranean Sea tothe Lebanon-Syria border is 50 miles. In the south, along the border withIsrael, Lebanons eastern border is only 20 miles from the sea. Although a tiny land, Lebanon boasts a great diversity in its landscapewhich makes it one of the most picturesque countries in the world. Thecoast line is br oken by many bays and inlets of varying size. At somepoints, the mountains wade silently right into the sea then climbsuddenly tier on tier away from the Mediterranean to the sky. Because ofthe limitation of flat agricultural land, all but the steepest hillsideshave been patiently and neatly terraced and planted with garlands oftwisted grapevines. The mountains lend a great variety of hues palepink, rosy red, forest green or deep purple to the landscape. Dependingon the time of day, they never appear the same twice, and from time to timewhipped white clouds hide all except their snow-capped peaks. Even on thedarkest night, the lights of the villages perched on the mountains shine insmall clusters as a reminder of their presence. On c loser view, themountains become a jumble of giant gorges, many of them over a thousandfeet de ep, with rocky cliffs, steep ravines and awesome valleys. Theseunassailable bastions have offered a secure hideaway, throughout history,for hermits and persecuted groups seeking refuge. Lebanon has four distinct geographical regions: a narrow but fertile coastal plain; two roughly parallel mountain ranges that run the fulllength of the country the Lebanon, which rises in the west to an alpinehei ght of 11,000 feet while the eastern range, the anti-Lebanon, iscrowned magestically by the snow-capped Mount Hermon at 9,232 feet. Thetwo chains of mountains shelter between them a well-cultivated plateauextending seventy miles in length and fifteen miles in width. Thistableland is called the Bekaa. This is a fertile strip of land 110 mileslong and six to ten miles wide. Zahle, the third largest city in thecountry, is in the valley. The countrys two most important rivers, theLitani and the Orontes, rise in the northern Bekaa near Baalbek, a citythat dates to Roman times. The Litani flows southwest through the BekaaValley and then empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre. Itswaters are used for irrigation, so it becomes a mere tr ickle by the timeit gets to the sea . The Orontes rises not far from the Litani, but itflows northward between the two mountain ranges, wending its way intoSyria. Beyond the Bekaa and the anti-Lebanon mountains, the Syrian desertonly stretches east f or about 800 miles to the valley of the Tigris andEuphrates rivers. This geography has been a determining factor formillenia in keeping Lebanon turned toward the West. The landscape cannot be described without mentioning the most celebratedtree o f Lebanon, the cedar. Called by the Lebanese Cedar of the Lord,this famed tree retains somewhat of a sacred aura this day. It has becomethe symbol of Lebanon and appears in the center of the flag, on the coins,and often on postage stamps. Since an cient times the cedar constituted avaluable export which provided King Solomon with timber for theconstruction of his Temple, the Phoenicians with wood for their seafaringgalleys , the Egyptians with lumber for their palaces. Unhappily only afew grov es of these stately trees have survived the ax of the builder, theseeker of fuel, or the hunger of goats. Cedars generally grow on thehighest mountain tops so it is not surprising to find an ancient grove of450 trees nestled under the highest peak. Th is grove, the only remaininglarge one, may be seen as small dark specks on the bare face of themountain side from a distance of many miles. A few of the existing treesm ay be 1,000 years old, and it is estimated that twenty of them have grownfor more than 400 years. The largest measure about twelve feet incircumference, eighty feet in height and their branches spread anunbelievable 100 feet. .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 , .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .postImageUrl , .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 , .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082:hover , .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082:visited , .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082:active { border:0!important; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082:active , .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082 .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ub47efb0739e4c051dd26d1e859b9d082:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Effects Of HIV Mutations On The Immune System EssayThe olive, another tree closely associated with Lebanon, is extensivelycultivated, and old gnarled oli ve groves cover many of the lower hills andvalleys. For centuries olives have been a staple in the diet while theiroil has taken the place of butter among the peasants who still firmlybelieve in the medicinal benefits of warm olive oil applied to stra ins,sprains and earaches. The diversity of soil and the elevation produce agreat variety of other trees including oaks, pines, junipers, firs, cyprus,sycamore, fig, banana, acacia and date palm. Orange, lemon, apple andother fruit trees have been ra ised commercially in recent years. Besidessupplying the local market with a great variety of delicious fresh fruit,the harvest is exported to neighboring countries and provides Lebanon witha main source of income. The narrow plain along the Medit erranean coast is the most denselypopulated part of Lebanon. Here and there the Lebanon Mountains push downto the sea, and thus there is no coastal plain. In other spots the plainis so narrow that there is barely enough room for a road. However, in anumber of places the coastal plain is wide enough to accommodate populationcenters, and it is here, between the foothills of the mountains and theMediterranean Sea, that two of Lebanons most important cities Beirut andTripoli- are located. Be irut Lebanons capital, largest city, and majorport is located at about the midpoint of the countrys coastline. Today,much of Beirut lies in ruins. It has been a battlefield on which thecontending forces of have warred to see who could cause the greatestdestruction. But before 1975, when the civil war erupted, Beirut was thenations cultural and commercial heart and on of the most beautiful andprosperous cities in the Middle East. Lebanons second largest city,Tripoli , is also on the c oast, some 40 miles north of Beirut. Because mostof the people in this city are Sunni Moslems, it had, until 1983, escapedthe destruction brought to Beirut by the Moslem- Christian fighting. But inlate 1983, warring factions of the Palestine Liberati on Organizationfought their battles in and around Tripoli. Hundreds of Lebanese werekilled, buildings were destroyed, and oil-storage tanks were set ablaze. Alarge part of Tripolis population fled the battle area, but returned inDecember 1983 after the PLO forces loyal to Yasir Arafat were evacuated. Other important cities on the coastal plain are Juniye, Sidon, and Tyre. Sidon and Tyre are south of Beirut and have been occupied by Israeli troopssince the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. In 1984, the population was estimated at 3,480,000 Lebanese (these areestimated because no poll has been officially taken since 1932). Almostall of these people, whether they are Christian or Moslem, are Arabs, andLebanon is an Arab country. Mo st of the people can speak French orEnglish or both, but Arabic is the national language. However, thenational unity that usually comes from a common language and heritage haseluded the Lebanese people. In many ways, the country is less a nationthan a collection of fuedal- like baronies based on religious lines. Eachreligious community has its own leaders and its own fighting force, ormilitia. It is reminiscent of China during the early years of thetwentieth century, when that nation had a weak central goverment and wasruled by various warlords scattered throughout the country, each seekingpolitical and economic dominance. The Moslems, who now constitute more than half the population, aredivided into three major sects: the Shiites, the S unnis, and the Druse. The Christians include the Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholics,Orthodox and Catholic Armenians, and Protestants. But neither theChristians nor the Moslems are truly unified; throughout their historyMoslem and Christian se cts have fought for political and economic gain. The Moslems, who in 1932 were in the minority, now make up 56 percent ofthe population in Lebanon. The Shiites, the poorest of the Moslem sects,number about 1 million. They are concentrated in West Beirut and in thecitys southern suburbs, as well as in southern Lebanon in and aroundBaalbek in the Bekaa Valley. The Sunnis number about 600,000 and are concentrated in West Beirut,Tripoli, Sidon, and Akkar, in the northernmost part of the count ry. Rashid Karami, a former Lebanese prime minister, is the leader of theSunnis in Tripoli and the most influential Sunni in the country. Themilitia, Morbitun, a force of 5,000 well-trained fighters, is stationed inWest Beirut, Tripoli, and other Su nni areas. The Druse, a secretive Moslem sect, number about 350,000, but theirinfluence is greater than these numbers would indicate. The Druse liveprimarily in the Shuf mountains and in other areas to the south and east ofBeirut. They now have close ties to Syria, where there is a large Drusecommunity. The Syrians have supplied the Druse with a large assortment ofweapons, including artillery and tanks. The Druse militia numbers about4,000 men and has joined forces with the Shiite militia i n and around WestBeirut to battle the Christian-dominated Lebanese army and the Christianmilitias. .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 , .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .postImageUrl , .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 , .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665:hover , .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665:visited , .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665:active { border:0!important; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665:active , .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665 .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ua2e4e1bc93e0a1ad0b652d2fdb011665:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Mary Rowlandson EssayAnother major Moslem force in the country and a constant threat to it are the 500,000 Palestinian refugees and the remnants of the PLO. Their leader, Yassir Arafat, and thousands of his troops were forced out of Beirutby the Israelis in 1982 and out of Tripoli by Syrian-backed PLO dissidentsin 1983. The dissident PLO forces no longer recognize Arafat as theirleader because of his lack of mili tancy in the fight with Israel. TheSyrians, in addition to controlling these dissident members of the PLO,also control the 3,500-man Palistine Liberation Army. The Christians, who in 1932 made up a majority of the Lebanesepopulation, are now only about 44 percent of the population. The largestChristian sect and thus far the dominant one in the nations politicaland economic life are the Maronites. They number about 580,000 and makeup 38 percent of the Christian population and 17 percent of the nationalpopulation. The Phalange party, headed by Pierre Gemayel, is the most importantMaronite political group. The Phalangist militia is the largest of theChristian militias. It controls East Beirut, the area along the coast justnorth of the capital, and some areas in southern and central Lebanon. Thismilitia has been heavily armed by the Israelis. Each of these peoples has played an important role in Lebanese history. Moslems and Christians have lived in harmony for long period s of time, butthey have frequently engaged in bitter warfare, much as we are seeingtoday. For nearly a decade this hapless nation has suffered continuous civil waramong its various religious and ethnic groups. It has been invaded twiceby Israel, which now controls all of southern Lebanon, and it has beenoccupied by Syria, which controls most of eastern and northern Lebanon. Nearly 500,000 Palestinians refugees from the Arab-Israeli wars live inLebanon, where they have formed a state with in a state. And a successionof peacekeeping forces Arab, United Nations, and Western have not onlyfailed to establish peace, but have exacerbated the already horrificsituation. Why havent the Lebanese people been able to put aside their sec tariandifferences to work toward a stable government that represents all of thepeople? The complete answer to this question lies deep within the uniquehistory of Lebanon. In 1943, the year that France, which ruled Lebanon asa League of Nations manda te, reluctantly gave the nation its independance. As independence approached, the nations two most populous and powerfulsects, the Maronites and the Sunnis, formulated what is known as theNational Pact an unwritten agreement that spelled out the cou ntryspolitical makeup as well as its general orientation in foreign affairs. The National Pact allocated political power to Lebanons religious sectson the basis of population. The census in 1932 showed that the Christianshad the majority with j ust over 50 percent of the population. As aresult, it was agreed that the President of Lebanon would always be aMaronite Christian and the prime minister would always be a Sunni Moslem. Other important positions were given to other sects. The Preside nt of theChamber of Deputies, for example, would always be a Shiite Moslem and thedefense minister would be a Druse. In addition, the Christians were tohave six seats in Parliment for every five seats held by Moslems. Thissystem guaranteed the Maron ite Christians control of Lebanon. This system worked well enough for fifteen years. From 1943 until 1958the nations economy boomed and Beirut was transformed into the showcasecity of the Mediterranean. The government seemed stable enough, but th erewere problems boiling beneath the surface and in the mid-1950s the systembegan to come apart. For one thing, the Moslems, especially the poorerShiites, had a substantially higher birthrate than the Christians; manypeople believed that the Shiites had surpassed the Maronites in population. But the Christians would not allow a new census to be taken, for this wouldhave meant a reallocation of the nations political power, with the Moslemsects gaining at the expense of the Christians. With their hopes forpolitical gains dampened, the Shiites became disenchanted. Why is this once prosperous nation on the verge of total collapse? Thereare a number of reasons, but the primary one is that the Lebanese peoplebelong to at least fifteen differe nt religious sects and their loyalty tothese sects is greater than their loyalty to a united Lebanon. Had thepeoples sense of nationhood been stronger, they would not have sufferedthe destruction of the past decade.

Sensory adaptation Essay Example

Sensory adaptation Essay Example Sensory adaptation Paper Sensory adaptation Paper Behavior rests on an understanding of the biological basis of the nervous system – the receptors. Efforts should be made to understand the relations between stimuli and sense organs and the processes associated with sense organs and their connectors, as well as the selective input called perception (Atkinson et al., 2000). While an individual gets his information about the world around him from his sense organs, his interpretation of these stimuli impinging on his senses will depend on his perception (Coren and Ward, 1989). Sensory adaptation is any reduction in sensitivity to stimulus as stimulation persists through time. Sense organs have the capacity to adapt to stimulus when such stimulus persists for quite a time (Coren and Ward, 1989; Atkinson et al., 2000). Sensory adaptation affects all of the individual’s sensing areas. For example in visual adaptation, this is due to the difference in the action between the rods and the cones. After five minutes in the dark, for instance, the sensitivity of the cones decreases. The rods continue to adapt and increasingly become more sensitive. Hence after about thirty minutes, one can distinguish things quite clearly in the dark. After coming from a dark movie theater, one may temporarily be blinded by the glare of the light from outside. Adaptation to light takes shorter than adaptation to the dark. Adaptation to light is called photopia while adaptation to dark is called scotopia (Andreassi, 1989; Atkinson et al., 2000). Theories of color vision include the Young Helmholtz theory which encompasses the Three-fiber theory and the theory of photo-chemical substances. Another is the Hering theory which is also called Opponent-colors theory, Wundt’s theory, the Von Kries theory and the Ladd-Franklin theory which help elucidate the visual phenomenon. The Young Helmholtz theory assumed that colors are but the result of combining three fundamental or primary colors – red, blue and green. Young assumed the existence of three different kinds of nervous fibers in the retina that react specifically to these colors with their corresponding preceptors in the brain center. This theory was further developed by Ludwig von Hemholtz. This was later revised to the theory of photo-chemical substances (Andreassi, 1989). On the other hand, in the auditory phenomena, several theories help explain how this occurs. Loudness for instance, according to the Place theory of pitch, is associated with spread of excitation – a more intense stimulus affecting more of the basilar membrane than a weaker one (Andreassi, 1989). In the olfactory sense aspect, not all gases react with the organ of smell to set up sensation of odor – hence, only those gases that do react are called odors or smells. The stronger the sensation of odor, the more odorous gases comes into contact with the organ of smell. Hence, one has to take a big sniff in order that the odors can penetrate up to the olfactory epithelium (Coren and Ward, 1989). While the sense of smell is highly developed in animals, it is relatively mildly developed in human beings (Coren and Ward, 1989).

Building a power base Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Building a power base - Essay Example This will happen if and only if I strictly follow the power-building plan that I have. Being a professional and team player tops the list of actions in the power-building plan. To become a supervisor, one needs to prove to the organization that they know their work and that they can work well with the other members of the staff. I am no exception to this and so I have to behave in a manner that shows that I understand what is expected of me. To achieve this, I need to have a decent dress code that will show that I am a nurse; I have to come to work on time and spend extra time socializing with my patients and knowing what is affecting them. To show my professionalism, I need to respect my supervisor and always ensure that I follow their instructions carefully. Every place has its set rules and the healthcare agency is not an exception. To show that I have the ability to become a supervisor, I have to ensure that I know the hospital rules and follow them effectively. This includes reporting time, the dressing code, the way to interact with the patients and the entire w orkforce (Yoder. 2011). Effective communication is one most important element in achieving the goals. This means that I have to effective communicate with all the players in the agency. I have to ensure that through my communication I am able to recognize ranks and ensure that I do not spoil things with my communication. Getting outside help is also important. I have to look at various supervisors and what they did to achieve their current positions. After this, I have to develop leadership qualities. There is no better way of doing this than following the rules of the agency. I also have to ensure that I always see problems in the agency and report them for fixture. Ensuring that the needs of the workforce are met is also an important tool as it allows one to be loved by other members of the workforce. Lastly, I have to get empowerment from other

Critically examine the role that technology can play in the Essay

Critically examine the role that technology can play in the recruitment and selection proces - Essay Example Many human resource practitioners spend a huge amount of time in handling activities related to recruitment and selection of new employees (Florea & Badea 2013). Most of these activities might include one-off recruitment episodes to grand recruitment campaigns launched to recruit and select replacement staff, trainees, staff with skills, graduates and many more (Martin,Whiting & Jackson 2010). Due to this engagement, the human resource managers find it easy or difficult to meet the required standards of an organization. It is because of this tedious work most human resource mangers undergo that has le d to the mass adoption of technology in the whole process of recruitment and selection. According to available literature studies, almost 98% of all organizations in the world have incorporated the use of technology and internet in carrying out the process of recruiting and selecting new employees into the workforce. With the ever increased advancement in technology, it is arguably true that recruitment is the most technologically influenced sector in any organizational setting. According to Aarhus (n.d), e-recruiting has taken centre stage and has fundamentally influenced the corporate recruiting process starting from the batch mode to the continuous mode, leading to a major change in the way the business is done. Ensher, Nielson and Vallone (2002) contend that most companies have adopted the most elaborative and creative methods to procure the services of the most qualified talents from the ever sinking pool of talent. More specifically, the human resource managers are currently using technology and the internet to enhance the process of recruitment and selection. As reported by the CMA, the use of technology and internet in the recruitment and selection increased from just 29% in 1998 to 88% by the year 2001. Ensher et al. (2002) further points out that the use of technology in the Human reso urce management is witnessed in three broad

Things Fall Apart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Things Fall Apart - Essay Example They knew that they would capture the natives in their trap which was in form of assistance (Okpewho 32). With respect to the coming of the white man in the village, the white religion started. The villagers thought that it was good to adapt, follow it and this caused them to continue changing with time. Could not withstand the forces of the changing people who could not stick to their traditional way of living Okonkwo followed the community’s traditions strictly all the times. For example, he beat his wife Ojiugo who failed to do her duty of preparing a meal for her husband and the entire family because she came late after plaiting her hair. The wife adapted the British lifestyle whereby women had the rights to do what they wished because they had power while the African culture, the role of a woman in the society was to make sure that she handled all the responsibilities assigned to her with great commitment. For example, according to the religion, during the peace week, no one was right to beat anyone. Okonkwo did it because according to his culture it was right to beat a woman any time when she wronged. Probably, he forgot that it was against the practices of the African culture to do it during the peace week. According to the beliefs, he committed an offence unacceptable to the gods. (33).The introduction of the white’s religion caused so many changes to the natives of t he Lbo society for it prevented them practice their culture and beliefs. In addition, the coming of the white man in the society caused confusion to Okonkwo’s traditions and ended committing suicide. This was an abomination in the African culture and beliefs. Ibo villagers’ way of living continued to show great diversity as by 1900’s because of the British who wanted their culture to dominate in the area and the villagers started absorbing it. Native values of the community went on diminishing. Okonkwo’s son, ‘Nwoye’ was always calm, cool,

Automated Diabetic Retinopathy Detection System

Automated Diabetic Retinopathy Detection System ABSTRACT DETECTION OF EXUDATES USING GUI Automated diabetic retinopathy detection system is an essential requirement due to developing diabetic retinopathy patients around the globe. The primary intention of the research is to detect exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. In this particular study, we provide an efficient method for identifying and classifying the exudates as soft exudates and hard exudates. Apart from these, this study compares three methods namely Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization, Histogram Equalization and Mahalanobis Distance for enhancing a digital fundus image to detect and choose the best one to classify exudates in Retinal images by adopting graphical user interface with the help of MATLAB. From the findings of the study, in the image enhancement application of blood vessels, Mahalanobis distance is recognized as the best algorithm. It was evident from the analysis that the monitoring and detecting exudates in the fundus of the eye are essential for diabetic patien ts. Moreover, it shows that hard and soft exudates are a primary tool of diabetic retinopathy that can be quantified automatically. In addition to these, it appears that drawbacks must be resolved to predict an appropriate detection method for exudates in digital fundus images. From the findings, it was evident that suitable algorithm has to be selected and verified on several images which provide likely and excellent outcomes. LIST OF TABLES Comparison of Histogram Equalization (HE), Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) and Mahalanobis Distance(MD)14 LIST OF FIGURE Image before enhancement Histogram before enhancement Image after histogram equalization Histogram after HE Image after CLAHE Histogram after CLAHE Image after Mahalanobis distance enhancement Histogram after Mahalanobis distance enhancement Flow chart of the method CIELab color space Input image K-means clustered image Morphological image Dilated image Eroded image Optic disc detection Exudates image   Hard and soft exudates Input DFI   Enhancement methods of DFI Step-1 of exudate detection Step-2 by giving input image Step-3 enhancing input image Step-4 exudates image of abnormal eye Normal eye output displaying no exudates LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AHE Adaptive Histogram Equalization CIE Commission Internationale de lEclairage CLAHE Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization CMYK Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key DRD iabetic Retinopathy DFI Digital Fundus Image HE Histogram Equalization MD Mahalanobis Distance MM Mathematical Morphology RGB Red, Green, Blue RRGS Recursive Region Growing Segmentation Chapter 1 Introduction Research Background: Diabetic retinopathy is a common disease nowadays that can prevail in anyone having type 1 or type-2 diabetes. The opportunity of being influenced by this disease relies on the time duration of a person having diabetes. Long-term diabetes leads to greater blood sugar level that causes harm by changing the flow of blood in retinal blood vessels. It is similar that in the previous stage DR shows no symptoms and hence without facing medical investigation it is not feasible to predict the existence of the disease. Exudative retinopathy is a condition referred by the occurrence of yellow or white mass that exists due to leakage of proteins and fats along with water from vessels of blood in the retina. It is important to predict the exudates occurrence in fundus oculi because the collection of these exudates may lead to complete loss of vision (Manpreetkaur, 2015). Walter et al. (2001) has mentioned that the disease of DR evolved exudates in eye fundus. The physicians regard exudates as on e of the primary indicators of DR severity. Exudates are yellow spot resided in fundus. This disease of diabetes causes leakage of fluid from vessels of blood. For a long time, uncontrolled diabetes may evolve as exudates in eye fundus. The exudates initiate to develop in little number and size. If the diabetes is not monitored or controlled for a long time the number and size of exudates will grow. The exudates growth in eye fundus may cause blindness. Tasman and Jaeger (2001) have stated that exudates seem as bright deposits of yellow-white on the retina due to lipid leakage from abnormal vessels. Their size and shape differ with various stages of retinopathy. These lesions are related to many diseases of retinal vascular involving DME (diabetic macular edema), DR (diabetic retinopathy), retinal venous obstruction, hypertensive retinopathy, radiation retinopathy and retinal arterial microaneurysms, capillary hemangioma of retina and disease of the coat. Welfera et al. (2010) have stated that exudation is a hazardous case because it can lead to a loss of vision when existing in the central macular area. Thus such lesions must be predicted, and appropriate medical intervention must be acquired to avoid damages to visual acuity of the patient. Automatic exudates detection in DR patients retinas could enhance early prediction of DR and could support doctors track the treatment progress over time. Thus it can be inferred that exudates detection by computer could provide a precise and rapid diagnosis to specialist examination and support the clinician to acquire timely decision to take proper treatment. Problem Statement: Diabetes is a rapidly developing common disease among people globally which causes various organs dysfunction. Diabetic retinopathy is the primary blindness cause in adults. Sometimes, due to long-term diabetes, the retinal blood vessels are harmed, this eye disease is known as diabetic retinopathy. It is essential to automatically predict the lesions of diabetic retinopathy at an early stage to hinder further loss of vision. Exudates are significant diabetic retinopathy symptoms. Exudates are bright lesions that are an important sign of this disease. It is the major signs of DR a major vision loss cause in diabetic patients. Primary concern of the research Aim: The primary goal of the study is to analyze an automated way for exudates in eyes. Objectives: To examine the causes of exudates in diabetic retinopathy patients. To analyze the types of exudates used in digital fund images. To evaluate the different enhancement methods used to predict the exudates in fundus images. To determine the drawbacks of enhancement methods of exudates in digital fundus images. To propose a promising algorithm to detect the exudates in digital fundus images. Limitations of the study: This study is limited to diabetic retinopathy patients. This study is restricted to exudates detection only. This study evaluates an automated way for exudates in eyes. The structure of the thesis This argument is made up of the following five chapters: Chapter 1: This is the introduction section that gives the necessary research background andconcepts related to the research. Chapter 2: This chapter is the review of literature that analyzes several existing worksrelated to finding an automated way for exudates in eyes. Chapter 3: This chapter describes the design of the system that explains in detailabout the enhancement methods applied in digital fundus image for detection of diabetic retinopathy. Chapter 4: This chapter discusses the implementation plan of digital fundus images and compares different researches done by authors and depicts the results of the proposed system. Chapter 5: This is the conclusion section that gives the outcome of the research byanswering the research questions and recommendations for future improvement. In addition to that, this thesis has bibliography containing the sources used in collecting secondary data in the study and an appendix that has tools like questionnaires are utilized in the gathering primary data for the research. Chapter-2 Literature Review Introduction: This chapter provides an overview on the detection of exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. This chapter discusses in detail about the digital fundus image. In addition to these, this chapter discusses in detail about the classification of exudates in retinal images. Apart from these, this study provides the comparison of Histogram equalization (HE), contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE) and Mahalanobis distance (MD) methods to enhance the digital fundus image for detection. Literature on Digital fundus images The benefits of digital imaging are rate of access to information (images), quick and accurate duplication, chronicling and transmission, and prompt access to the outcomes. The imaging technique can be rehashed if the nature of the underlying result is deficient. Despite the fact that film-based images can be digitized (to register macular color thickness conveyance from two different wavelength-based pictures or to evaluate the status of the optic nerve), quick access to the images is unrealistic, as it is important to build up the film first. This deferral keeps the picture from checking the outcomes and in this manner redressing any issue in the procurement procedure, which can be efficiently accomplished in digital imaging at no extra cost. The digitization of fundus photos was tended to by (Cideciyan et al., 1991) who proposed a nonlinear rebuilding model fusing four parts: the eye, the fundus camera, the film and the scanner. Scholl et al. (2004) observed digitized images to be valuable for evaluating age-connected maculopathy and age-connected macular degeneration. Comparison Table 1: Comparison of Histogram Equalization (HE), Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) and Mahalanobis Distance (MD) Histogram equalization Contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization Mahalanobis distance This technique is based on the specification of the histogram. CLAHE is considered as the necessary preprocessing step, and it has the tendency to generate the images for extracting the features of a pixel in the classification process. This method has carried out by identifying the pixels of the background images only by leaving the foreground images. HE is relatively straightforward technique and an invertible operator. Indiscrimination is one of the biggest disadvantages of this method. CLAHE is also denoted as the automatic and efficient method to detect the exudates effectively. The selective enhancement of MD has created the fewer artifacts for further processing than HE and CLAHE. HE has used the neighborhood-based approach on the pixels, and it has the tendency to operate based on the modification of histogram to obtain the new images efficiently. The technique of CLAHE has the capability to provide the green channel image enhancement with high quality. This method can produce the similar curve to the Gaussian-shaped curve ideally. HE has uniformly distributed the output histogram by using the cumulated histogram like the mapping function. CLAHE has limited the process of amplification by clipping the histogram at the predefined value. MD algorithm has given better histogram result when compared to HE and CLAHE Research gap: This study examines about the detection of exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. The research gap predicted in this study is that there are many studies on the detection of exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. But no studies have clearly determined the successful approaches towards the detection of diabetic retinopathy in fundus images. Detection and classification of diabetic retinopathy pathologies in fundus images have been investigated by Agurto (2012). He studied the effects of image compression and degradation on an automatic diabetic retinopathy screening algorithm. In addition to these, the Agurto et al. (2012) investigated the detection of hard exudates and red lesions in the macula using the multi-scale approach. Walter et al. (2002) carried out an investigation to contribute the image processing to the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. Authors also focused on automatic detection of diabetic retinopathy from eye fundus images (Man preetkaur, 2015). There are also studies that are focused on coarse-to-fine strategy for automatically identifying exudates in color eye fundus images. Chapter-3 Research Design Introduction: This part examines the design of the study to determine an automated way for finding exudates in eyes. This study compares three methods namely CLAHE (Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization), Histogram Equalization (HE) and Mahalanobis Distance (MD) for enhancing a digital fundus image to detect and choose the best one to classify exudates in Retinal images by adopting graphical user interface in MATLAB. Research design: The reason of the study is to detect exudates in digital fundus image for diabetic retinopathy. In this particular study, we provide an efficient method for identifying and classifying the exudates as soft exudates and hard exudates. The retinal image seen in the CIELab space of the color is pre-processed for eliminating noise. Further, a network of blood vessels is removed for facilitating detection and removing the optic disc. At the same time, optic disc is removed using the technique of Hough transform. Candidate exudates are identified using the method of k-means clustering. At last, exudates are categorized as the soft and hard one by their threshold and edge energy. Developed method has yielded better outcomes. Histogram Equalization: Histogram equalization is a technique for adjusting image intensities to enhance contrast. HE is an operation that is based on histogram specification or modification to obtain new pictures. The objective of this contrast enhancement technique is to get a new enhanced image that has a uniform histogram that only plots the frequency at each gray-level from 0 (black) to 255 (white). Each histogram represents the frequency of occurrence of all gray-level in the image. Figure 1: Image before enhancement Figure 2: Histogram before equalization Figure 3: Image after histogram equalization Figure 4: Histogram after histogram equalization Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization: CLAHE is considered as a locally adaptive method for contrast enhancement. CLAHE is an enhanced version of adaptive HE (AHE) method. The technique AHE has a realistic restriction that homogenous part in the image leads to over-amplification of noise due to thin series of pixels are plotted to a whole range of visualization. In the meantime, it was noticed that contrast limited AHE (CLAHE) was designed for preventing this noise over-amplification in homogenous regions. CLAHE restricts the sound amplification in the image in such a way that image looks like very real. Figure 5: Image after CLAHE Figure 6: Histogram after CLAHE Mahalanobis Distance: Image enhancement using the Mahalanobis distance method is performed by identifying the background image pixels and eliminating them, leaving only the foreground image. It is based on the assumption that in image neighborhood N, the background pixels has significantly different intensity value than those of the foreground pixels. For each pixel (x, y) in the picture, the mean  µn (x, y) and the standard deviation à Ã†â€™n (x, y) of the statistical distribution of intensities in N are estimated. The sample means;  µn is used as the estimator for  µn (x, y) and the e sample standard deviation; à Ã†â€™ n is the estimator for à Ã†â€™n (x, y). If the intensity of pixel (x, y) is close to the mean intensity in N, it is considered to belong to the background set ÃŽÂ ². As defined mathematically in Eq. 1, the expression implies that pixel (x, y) belongs to ÃŽÂ ² if the stated condition is satisfied. Those images would later be combined to evaluate the MD image, which can be segmented using the threshold t to identify the background pixels. Figure 7: Image after MD enhancement Figure 8: Histogram after MD enhancement Summary: This research compares three methods namely CLAHE, HE, MD to enhance a digital fundus image to detect and choose the best one to classify exudates in Retinal images by adopting graphical user interface in MATLAB. It was evident from the above findings that candidate exudates are identified using the technique of Mahalanobis Distance enhancement. Chapter 4 Implementation Plan, Discussion, and Results Introduction: This chapter presents the implementation plan of detection of exudates in digital fundus images by proposed technique. The results of proposed method are also shown. Implementation Plan: The proposed system is implemented using the digital fundus images. DFIs (digital fundus images) are essential in finding the pathological fact that would lead to different diseases. However, digital fundus images have many illumination and contrast issues which make enhancement an important factor. Subsequently, digital fundus images must be developed to permit for good visualization to satisfy ophthalmologists to undertake their diagnosis. The below figure shows the implementation plan of detection of exudates in digital fundus images: Figure 9: Flow chart of the method 4.3 Conversion from RGB color space to CIELab color space A Lab color space is a color-opponent space with dimension L* for lightness and a* and b* for the color-opponent dimensions, based on nonlinearly compressed CIE XYZ color space coordinates. The CIELab color scale is an approximately uniform color range. In a standard color scale, the differences between the points plotted in the color space correspond to the visual difference between the colors plotted. The CIELab color space is organized in a cube form. The L* runs from top to bottom. The maximum for L* is 100, which represents a perfect reflecting diffuser. The minimum for L* is zero, which represents black. The a* and b* axes have no specific numerical limits. Positive a* is red, Negative a* is green. Positive b* is yellow, Negative b* is blue. Figure 10: CIELab color space It is perceptual uniform color space. Perceptual uniformity means how two colors differ from seeing when human observe that two colors. Hence uniform color spaces were defined in such way that all the colors are arranged by the perceptual difference of the colors. The L component closely matches human perception of lightness, and by having it as an independent quantity to control, it can be used to make accurate color corrections without affecting the a* and b* color twins. RGB or CMYK color spaces are designed to model the output of physical devices rather than human visual perception. This color model is used in this work to identify even a small intensity variation. K-means Clustering K-means clustering is a method of vector quantization, originally from signal processing, that is accessible for cluster analysis in data mining. K-means clustering aims to partition n observations into k clusters in which each observation belongs to the cluster with the nearest mean, serving as a prototype of the cluster. This results in a partitioning of the data space into Voronoi cells. K-Means algorithm is chosen because of its simplicity. In this work, k-means clustering is used to partition the data into groups for identifying exudates locations. K-means Usage in our project: Because of the computational simplicity of the k-means algorithm over other clustering algorithms, we decided to use the k-mean clustering in the proposed work. The k-mean clustering algorithm is a particular case of the generalized hard clustering algorithms. It is applied when point representatives are used, and the squared Euclidean Distance is adopted to measure the dissimilarities between vectors and cluster representatives. The k-means algorithm is given below. The steps involved in K-Means algorithm are: Select an initial partition with k clusters Generate a new partition by assigning each pattern to its closest cluster center. Compute new cluster centers. Continue to do steps 2 and 3 until centroids do not change. Figure 11: Input image Figure 12: k-means clustered image Blood vessel detection To facilitate exudates extraction from the pre-processed image, blood vessel network is detected and then eliminated from the picture using Morphological operations. Morphological operations can readily be used in medical image analysis as it supports powerful tools to extract pathologies. The morphological operations employed in the proposed work are given below. An important part of applying morphological operations is to decide on the shape and size of structuring element. In the proposed work, a ball-shaped structuring element of size 8, was found to be optimal for eliminating the blood vessel network from the retinal images of local database Morphological Image Processing: Mathematical morphology (MM) is a theory and technique for the analysis and treatment of geometrical structures, based on set theory, lattice theory, topology, and random functions. MM is most commonly applied to digital images, but it can be employed as well on graphs, surface meshes, solids, and many other spatial structures. Topological and geometrical continuous-space concepts such as size, shape, convexity, connectivity, and geodesic distance, were introduced by MM on both continuous and discrete spaces. MM is also the foundation of morphological image processing, which consists of a set of operators that transform images according to the above characterizations. The basic morphological operators are erosion, dilation, opening, and closing. Dilation: Dilation is one of the two first operators in the area of mathematical morphology, the other being erosion. The primary effect of the operator on a binary image is to gradually enlarge the boundaries of regions of foreground pixels (i.e. white pixels, typically). Thus areas of foreground pixels grow while holes within those regions become smaller. The dilation operator takes two pieces of data as inputs. The first is the image which is to be dilated. The second is a (usually small) set of coordinate points known as a structuring element (also referred to as a kernel). It is this structuring element that determines the precise effect of the dilation on the input image. Figure 13: Dilated image Erosion: Erosion is one of the two first operators in the area of mathematical morphology, the other being dilation. The main effect of the operator on a binary image is to erode away the boundaries of regions of foreground pixels (i.e. white pixels, typically). Thus areas of foreground pixels shrink in size, and holes within those areas become larger. The erosion operator takes two pieces of data as inputs. The first is the image which is to be eroded. The second is a (usually  small) set of coordinate points known as a structuring element (also referred to as a kernel). It is this structuring element that determines the precise effect of the erosion of the input image. Figure 14: Eroded image Figure 15: Morphological image Hough Transform The Hough transform is a feature extraction technique used in image analysis, computer vision, and digital image processing. The purpose of the method is to find imperfect instances of objects within a particular class of shapes by a voting procedure. This voting process is carried out in a parameter space, from which object candidates are obtained as local maxima in a so-called accumulator space that is explicitly constructed by the algorithm for computing the Hough transform. In this project work, circular Hough transform is used to detect optic disk in a retinal image. Elimination of optic disk is necessary for detection of exudates. If the optic disk is not eliminated from a picture, there is a chance of identifying optic disk as exudates, which leads to the false result. Circular Hough Transform Algorithm works is presented below. Step1: Convert color retinal image into grayscale Step2: Create a 3D Hough array (accumulator) with the first two dimensions representing thecoordinates of the circle origin, and the third dimension represents the radii. Step3: Perform edge detection using the Canny edge detector. For each edge pixel, increment thecorresponding elements in the Hough array. Step4: Collect candidate circles, and then delete similar circles. Step5: Circle the object. Figure 16: Optic disc detection Classifying Hard and Soft exudates The final step is to classify the exudates as hard and soft based on the threshold value and edge energy. Edge power calculation is required to extract the exudates with sharp edges which are a characteristic feature of hard exudates. We preferred canny operator over Kirsch operator for edge energy detection. The hard exudates are extracted by combining this edge energy and a Threshold value. To obtain the soft exudates subtract the hard exudates image from the picture that contains both types of exudates. Hard exudates and soft exudates are classified by using reference sum value of white pixels in exudates image. Figure 17: Exudates image Figure 18: Hard and soft exudates Chapter 5 Results and Conclusion Introduction: This section presents the results and conclusion of the research by answering research questions and suggestions for future studies. Results: From the proposed system the results acquired are that the exudates are predicted, then it is categorized as hard, and soft exudates and the severity level is estimated. The first figure shows the input as an original image: Figure 19: Input image Source: Author In the next figure the enhancement methods are applied to digital fundus images for detection of diabetic retinopathy: Figure20: Enhancement methods of DFI Next, the exudates are detected which is depicted in the below set of figures: Figure 21: Step-1 of exudate detection Figure 22: Step-2 giving input image Figure 23: Step-3 enhancing the input image Figure 24: exudate image of abnormal eye Repeating the same procedure for normal eye and is shown in the following figure: Figure 25: Normal eye output displaying no exudates The results of the study reveal that Mahalanobis Distance is the best algorithm for the blood vessels image enhancement application. Throughout the experiment, we have found an average of 88% sensitivity and 60% accuracy. Conclusion Automated diabetic retinopathy detection has become an important research because of the severity of increase in cause of blindness among the diabetes patients. DR is caused mainly by the alterations in retinas blood vessels due to increased level of blood glucose. Exudates are one of the major signs of D

Leading With The Heart :: GCSE Business Management BTEC Essays

Leading With The Heart I. Preseason Ch. 1: Getting Organized Establish right away in the first meeting the only rule for the team: â€Å"Don’t do anything that’s detrimental to yourself. Because if it’s detrimental to you, it’ll be detrimental to our program...† (Krzyzewski, 2000, p.4). Don’t dwell on it, so it does not ruin the moment. Recruit individuals who want to be part of a team and who are cacheable. Use plural pronouns from the very first meeting on. Use the words â€Å"our† instead of â€Å"my,† â€Å"we† instead of â€Å"I,† and â€Å"us† instead of â€Å"me.† Leadership on a team is plural, not singular. Make sure you are not the only one speaking in meetings, especially the first one, to demonstrate the principal of â€Å"we’re all important† (Krzyzewski, 2000, p.7). Include players, assistants, trainers, and team managers. Time Management During the first meeting, hand out notebooks and pocket calendars with important dates listed, such as practice times, special events, and game schedule. â€Å"Teach time management, not only as it relates to individuals, but as it pertains to a group† (Krzyzewski, 2000, p.18). Academics Remind athletes to tell professors of their schedules, when they will be missing class, and their plans on what to do for getting the materials they missed. Encourage the athletes to get the total university life experience. That is why there are no athletic dorms, so there is no separation between the athletes and student body. Stress the honor in academics and all things. Rules The rule â€Å"don’t do anything detrimental to yourself† covers a wide variety of things. Establishing too many rules gets in the way of leadership. â€Å"Don’t be a team of ‘I got’chas† (Krzyzewski, 2000, p.10). Leadership is â€Å"ongoing, adjustable, flexible and dynamic,† and so it allows the leader to have discretion. No â€Å"hard and fast rule† gives the leader the flexibility in different situations and provides the â€Å"latitude to lead† (Krzyzewski, 2000, p.11). Support System â€Å"Set up a family support system for your team. It’s like getting a shot to keep away jealousy† (Krzyzewski, 2000, p.12). Distribute laminated cards to each individual with the phone numbers of staff and fellow players. Remind them to call somebody when they’re in harms way. A Handshake Deal Make handshake deals with players during the recruiting process, and tell them of the â€Å"fair but not equal† policy, which means be â€Å"fair† in everything that you do, but players

Political Advertising: Candidates for Sale Essay

The Internet has not diminished the importance of television advertisements in presidential elections. The latter remains to be one of the most effective means of obtaining votes. In as short as 30 seconds, a television advertisement can convince voters about the competence and integrity of a particular candidate. The advertisement â€Å"sells† the candidate with as much enthusiasm and gusto as when it is selling products and services (Elliot, n. pag. ). However, political advertisements are not without contention. Akin to all other forms of advertising, they are subjective. As they are geared towards â€Å"selling† specific candidates, it is inevitable for political advertisements to present a biased point of view. Their subjectivity is sometimes obscured by noble trappings that are bombarded with images of American flags, the White House and Mount Rushmore (Elliot, n. pag. ). Despite questions about their reliability, political advertisements will continue to be an indispensable part of presidential campaigns. Candidates in recent presidential elections have focused their television commercials on â€Å"battleground† states such as Ohio and Florida. This trend is expected to increase – there are already about 20 â€Å"battleground† states as of this year. In addition, presidential candidates Barack Obama (Democrat) and John McCain (Republican) are both running nationwide advertisements (Elliot, n. pag. ). Political advertising was first developed and used in the mid-19th century. In order to generate turnout, political parties during this period distributed buttons, banners and posters to voters at local candidate rallies and at polling places on Election Day. But it was not until the advent of mass media in the 20th century that political advertising was elevated to its current status. The first national campaign commercials were broadcasted through radio in 1928 for presidential contenders Herbert Hoover (Republican) and Al Smith (Democrat) (Elliot, n. pag. ). The arrival of television in 1952 increased the cardinality of political advertisements in presidential campaigns. In the same year, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (nicknamed Ike) was promoted in animated commercials that bannered the catchy slogan â€Å"I like Ike,† tuning him into the first presidential candidate to appear in television advertisements. These were followed with short commercials entitled Eisenhower Answers America, wherein Eisenhower was featured replying to questions from average voters about issues such as the rising cost of living and the Korean War. Eisenhower Answers America was frequently played during the commercial breaks of hit sitcoms like I Love Lucy, resulting in its instant popularity among voters. Succeeding presidential candidates followed suit, paying advertising firms millions of dollars to create catchier campaign advertisements for them (Elliot, n. pag. ). What makes political advertising effective is its ability to provide information to a wide audience within a short period of time. Furthermore, the manner in which they transmit information often appeals to the emotions rather than the intellect. Candidates are packaged as capable and trustworthy leaders who entered public office to serve the ordinary citizen. Candidates are also sometimes portrayed as the long-awaited â€Å"alternative† to a â€Å"useless† incumbent regime. As a result, the latter often makes political advertisements appear as smear campaigns against political opponents. These negative political advertisements, however, are the types of advertisements that have the greatest impact on people. They impart an overly-simplistic, â€Å"us-versus-them† philosophy, which, in the process, does the thinking for the voters. Consequently, negative political advertisements are very potent campaign materials. They reach everyone, including those who do not pay much attention to the campaign (Elliot, n. pag. ). This need for mobility is the reason for political advertising’s gradual shift from the television to the Internet. Websites such as YouTube. com (http://www. youtube. com) contain countless clips of political advertisements which people can access from virtually anywhere at any time. In addition, YouTube. om allows its members to post comments on the video clips that they viewed. In the context of political advertising, this can result in discussions that can help sharpen public opinion regarding politics and the electoral process. While negative political advertisements are effective in gaining votes, they are detrimental to American society and politics in the long run. According to Mike Hughes, president of an advertising agency in Richmond, Virginia, negative political advertisements are also untruthful. They often deceive voters by using stage effects and half-truths that make a candidate appear deserving of the position that he or she is aspiring for. Hughes was quick to add that this was not the fault of advertising agencies – most political advertisements nowadays are created by political consultants who specialize in campaign commercials. Unlike advertising agencies, which face criminal prosecution in the event that they produce inaccurate pitches, these consultants are allowed by the First Amendment to create political spots as part of their right to free speech (Elliot, n. pag. ). The deceitful usage of political advertisements is very dangerous, as it sends the people, particularly the youth, the message that the only way to get ahead in life is through lying. In addition, voters are tricked into voting leaders who will not think twice about resorting to dishonesty just to get what they want. A leader who got into power through dishonest means will most likely remain in power through dishonest means as well. Thus, there is a big possibility that lying in political advertisements will progress to violation of civil rights and liberties disguised as protection of national security.

Comparison of the sacrifices characters make in Ambrose Bearces An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge and John Updikes A P.

Comparison of the sacrifices characters make in Ambrose Bearces An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge and John Updikes A P. Often times in literature for the protagonist to make progress a sacrifice has to be made. This sacrifice can spark progress in the movement of the story or growth in the character themselves. The true development in the story comes not in the sacrifice but in the motives behind the characters actions. After we know the motivation of the characters within the story we can begin to analyze what they represent. In both "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "A P" the protagonist sacrifices something that has a profound impact on his life, but the results of their actions are vastly different.John Updike develops Sammy, from "A P" in such a way that the reader senses that his frustration will eventually consume his reason, and that all he is missing is the spark to set off his anger. The only thing we know for sure about Sammy's beliefs is that he hates the atmosphere of A P and as a result despises his job.Ambrose Bierce, American authorThe rest of his beliefs, as they pertain to t he story, are left to deduction. It is ironic that Sammy, who describes the customers in the store as being sheep, ultimately makes a sacrifice to defend the esteem of several young girls shopping in the market. Upon seeing the chastising of the attractive girls by the manager Sammy immediately protest but is not engaged by the manager and so he quits his post. Incase Sammy hadn't realized it the manager, who is a friend of the family, informs him that life will be hard for him if he quits. It is here that we learn that Sammy is a man of principle and he follows through with his action regardless of its consequences. Lengel, though, was right; because Sammy...

Free Essays on European Union

The political institution I have chosen for analysis is the European Union. My primary focus, area of research, and basic thesis is on the effect that the European Union has had on unity among its member states as well as Europe on the whole. It is my contention, supported by my research, that the inception of the European Union as an institutional system of collective governance of the region has led to a greater unity for member states and throughout Europe. By identifying certain trends I will show that there is reason to believe that the EU will gain a greater significance in both European and World politics, and that the current trends towards unity and integration will continue in the future. I will begin with some background information on the development of the European Union. The EU was established at the conclusion of the Second World War. The U.S. sponsored Marshall Plan of 1947 is commonly referred to as the precursor for the inter-state cooperation that led to the European Union. The plan was established as a financial aid in rebuilding Europe post World War II, and was also laced with U.S. hopes to create some element of cohesion between the nations of Europe to prevent future armed conflict. It was with this concept in mind that on May 9 1950 France officially proposed to create â€Å"the first concrete foundation of a European federation.† In response, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France formed the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, which resulted in a pool of Europe’s coal and steel industries. In my view, this is the first step toward European unity as a result of the forthcoming European Union. In 1957, the same six nations formed a joint atomic-energy group to create the European Economic Community (EEC) to remove tariff barriers between them-yet another example of early movements toward unity as a result of the soon to be European Union. Ten years later, in 1967, the E... Free Essays on European Union Free Essays on European Union The EU, Cultural Diversity, and the Death Penalth European Union The European Union’s influence in world affairs is on the increase. The process of integration, the launch of the euro and the progressive development of a common foreign policy are all providing the European Union with political and diplomatic status to match its undoubted economic and commercial clout. The European Union is currently engaged in its most ambitious enlargement ever. The aim is to reunite the European continent and thus to consolidate peace and democracy and enable its peoples to share benefits of progress and welfare generated by European integration. Pamphlet The European Union has many different cultures that are included under it’s name. Although there is much cultural diversity, the European Union tries to keep and maintain common goals and values while at the same time having each country keep it’s own distinct and personal identity. In Spring 1997 nearly 8 in 10 EU citizens held the view that it is a good thing for any society to be made up of people from different races, religions, and cultures. The idea of citizenship also implies a shared cultural identity. We often read or hear about how individualistic our society has become. Yet survey results indicate that Europeans are still very interested in their fellow citizens. More than 9 in 10 EU citizens feel that it is extremely or very important to help others and to value people for who they are. Furthermore, more than 8 in 10 Europeans believe it is important to be involved in creating a better society. These societal values are strong in each of the 15 member states. This concern for the respect of human rights worldwide is matched by renewed efforts to prevent any deterioration of standards inside the Union itself. This is partly being achieved through a charter of fundamental rights to provide a comprehensive code of common values with the ... Free Essays on European Union The political institution I have chosen for analysis is the European Union. My primary focus, area of research, and basic thesis is on the effect that the European Union has had on unity among its member states as well as Europe on the whole. It is my contention, supported by my research, that the inception of the European Union as an institutional system of collective governance of the region has led to a greater unity for member states and throughout Europe. By identifying certain trends I will show that there is reason to believe that the EU will gain a greater significance in both European and World politics, and that the current trends towards unity and integration will continue in the future. I will begin with some background information on the development of the European Union. The EU was established at the conclusion of the Second World War. The U.S. sponsored Marshall Plan of 1947 is commonly referred to as the precursor for the inter-state cooperation that led to the European Union. The plan was established as a financial aid in rebuilding Europe post World War II, and was also laced with U.S. hopes to create some element of cohesion between the nations of Europe to prevent future armed conflict. It was with this concept in mind that on May 9 1950 France officially proposed to create â€Å"the first concrete foundation of a European federation.† In response, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France formed the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, which resulted in a pool of Europe’s coal and steel industries. In my view, this is the first step toward European unity as a result of the forthcoming European Union. In 1957, the same six nations formed a joint atomic-energy group to create the European Economic Community (EEC) to remove tariff barriers between them-yet another example of early movements toward unity as a result of the soon to be European Union. Ten years later, in 1967, the E...

Analysis of the Theme for English B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Analysis of the Theme for English B - Essay Example In similar situation where blacks were discriminated to a great extent, Hughes kept his spirit high for studying in good academic institutes, and moving on, and presently is studying in a college where all his fellows are white, and he is the only black in his class. The poet describes a day where the instructor asked the class to write a page on what the inner feel of the students is, as stated in the stanza as below: This is a clear depiction of how open ended the question was from the instructor, trying to understand what the students felt, and thought and to see their insight on things. The writer always had strong feelings about the issues related to racism, and therefore, had no option but to write on the same topic; the discriminatory feeling and the thoughts, all came out on that single paper, where by the writer illustrated the ideas associated with discrimination, feelings, experience, grudges, and finally, realizing the fact of equality. In clear terms, the writer stated that America is about equality to all, and no matter how much is disliked by black and/or the white, they are a part of each other since they are part of America. Towards the end, in a sorrow tone, the writer states that yesno matter how harsh it is but the fact remains that whites do have an edge over the blacks as he states: I guess you learn from me--- although you're older---and white--- and somewhat more free. 3. Research Question The underlying research questions for this analysis are as follows: i. What tone has been used in the poem and how is it justified ii. What role does the persona's sense of his race play in what he has to say about his paper iii. How does this persona seem to feel about education in general 4. Methodology The methodology adapted for this research includes primary and secondary research. Primary research constitutes reading the original poem and coming up with analysis of what I feel the writer is stating. Secondary research, on the contrary, implies that the existing research about the subject matter is studied, like books and articles. 5. Analysis & Discussion This section presents in-depth analysis and discussion about the poem. 5.1 A Generic Analysis of the Poem In Hughes' poem under consideration for this research, i.e. Theme for English B. there is heavy weight-age assigned to elements of literature such as the characters, the plot, the tone, symbolic representations, themes, view points, and the scenario set-up. The plot seems highly structured as it provides in depth background details, and is seamlessly associated to the scenario described as stated by the poet: "I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem. I went to school there, then Durham, then here to this college on the hill above Harlem." This is a clear indication of the time period and the growing mode as the time moves on. The scenario setting initiates similar to the scenario whereby a student is direct to go

THe Crucible Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

THe Crucible - Article Example They begin dancing and performing their rituals but are surprised when Reverend Parris comes to them. Reverend Parris is the father of one of the girls, Betty, who is involved in witchcraft. The girls scream and run while Betty and one other girl fall into a mysterious maniac sleep. Soon begins the game, where allegations of witchcraft are being thrown around every which way by a group of girls led by Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder). The twist is that these girls have actually been dealing with the devil themselves. Reverend John Hale, an authority on witchcraft, is called by Reverend Parris to investigate what is going on. Abigails accusations take on a more personal agenda when she points her accusing finger at the wife (Joan Allen) of John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis), a farmer with whom Abigail had a torrid affair. John had confessed it to his wife Elizabeth, and their relationship has consequently suffered. Abigail is still in love with John, so she tells the court that Elizabeth Proctor is a witch. Of those accused are Rebecca’s Nurse and Martha Corey. Then the police come to arrest Elizabeth on the grounds of supernaturally sticking a needle in Abigails stomach. Everybody is fooled by the girls, including the judge Thomas Danforth. Proctor tries to counter the girls by producing Mary Warren, his servant, who is willing to admit the girls lied. However, all the girls accuse Mary of witchcraft, and she eventually accuses Proctor to save her skin. By this point, Reverend John Hale realizes the corruption and injustice of the court and endeavors to defend Proctor. However, the girls prevail and Proctor is promptly arrested for witchcraft. Hale who has lost all hopes of justice advices the prisoners to plead guilty to witchcraft, so that they can at least live. Proctor signs a confession, but retracts it when he realizes that judge Danforth intends to nail the confession to the church door. He fears that his name will be ruined along with