International theories and Copenhagen Climate Treaty

Introduction One week conference was held in Copenhagen in Denmark for two weeks; in December 2009 to fight against global warming, an effect of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The participants included countries all over the world.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International theories and Copenhagen Climate Treaty specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More President Obama of the U.S. was optimistic and had hoped that U.S. would be at the front line in the fight against global warming. However, expectations of the meeting failed even after about 45,000 people participation. This essay will discuss why the summit failed to accomplish its expectations. Two theories, neo-realism and neo-liberalism will be the basis of the discussion; with reference to the climate politics on the basis of international relations. International relations include law, economics, ethics, strategy, philosophy, culture, environment and policy an alysis (Relations 1). The theories of the approach, realism and neo-realism will also be discussed including their characteristics. Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change The Copenhagen summit was meant to create unity in reduction of greenhouse gases by involving countries all over the world. The inclusion was meant to allow all countries to play a role, whether big or small towards this event. This happened later after the introduction of the Kyoto protocol. Due to increased greenhouse gases emitted mostly by the developing countries, there was need to raise an alarm so as to reduce the influence of the gases to climate change and global warming; that had been seen to have negative impacts on the environment. The Copenhagen summit proposed for Copenhagen Green Climate Fund which would raise $100 billion annually to assist the developing countries; to protect themselves from global warming and to adapt to climate change (Wynn 1).Advertising Looking for essay on international rela tions? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The summit also emphasized on saving the tropical forests so as to stop depletion of carbon sinks. Farms and forest clearing contributed about 33% of the greenhouse gases. The Kyoto protocol seemed to omit some of the crucial areas that contribute to global warming. This is because it excludes green house emissions from shipping and aviation which emits about 5% of total GHG. Kyoto protocol had planned to reduce emissions by introduction of carbon trading in the markets. The emitting countries were supposed to be paying for the emissions they made (Wynn 1). Neo-realism and Neo-liberalism Theories These two international relations theories seek to explain different arguments but they apply some assumptions which are quite similar to each other. Neoliberals say, â€Å"International cooperation could be achieved gradually and with effort and facilitation from cross border institutions† (Ta ylor 1). Neo-liberalism accepts the fact that states are the key actors in international relations. However they do not underestimate the influence of the non states as well as the non governmental organizations. They argue that states can cooperate if they know they will benefit at the end of the deal. This theory also considers economic factors in relation to open, free markets and institutionalism. Neo-realism, â€Å"underestimates the ability of states to cooperate and overemphasize the inevitability of conflict† (Taylor 1). Neo-realism argues that nations are inclined to influence of external factors; and that there is usually domination of the powerful influencing decisions to their own interests. Climate politics showed that there was a great influence on relations between states. The result of the conference according to neo-realism was failure of cooperation and little achievement according to neo-realism. Role of International Actors The U.S. and China were the main actors in this conference. European Union, India, Australia, Japan and developing countries participated. They greatly affected the results of the summit. U.S is the greatest emitter of Green house gases. Its failure to ratify with the Kyoto Protocol was an excuse for China in this second proposal.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on International theories and Copenhagen Climate Treaty specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The U.S. president Barack Obama had great goals to change and contribute towards reduction of GHG emissions. The proposed draft prospects were to reduce emissions by 17% below 2005 emissions by 2020. The new solution was an agreement of many countries with a removal of Kyoto protocol and commitment of China, India and other countries with high economic growth (The New York times, 1). China, being one of the fast growing economies eliminated about 1.6 billion tons of Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere by the year 2010. It was also committed to reduce its emissions. China wanted a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2020. They also needed support to the developing countries from the developed countries. India believed that the global warming was mainly caused by the developed countries and thus it is their responsibility to deal with the problem. Being the forth highest country to emit carbon dioxide in the world, India looked onto the west to solve the problem. India had only their domestic interest other than cooperating to solve a global problem. European Union was a major participant in the Copenhagen talks (The New York times, 1). The European Union was committed to reduce GHG emissions but there was also a conflict between it, the wealthier and poor nations. The problem of funding its efforts has also been problematic. The target of European Union was to reduce emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2020. Australia was also supporting the idea of emissions trading. Their target was to cut emissions by 5% below those of year 2000 in a period of ten years. Japan was also committing to cut down their emissions by 7% of year 1990 (The New York times, 2). Developing countries also participated because global warming had adverse effects on their economy. Though they did not have large emissions, they were mostly affected by the effects of global warming. They faced drought, floods and storms. They needed developed countries to apply better technology in their equipment. They also needed aid to help in protection of their countries (The New York times 2).Advertising Looking for essay on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The international Copenhagen convention was thus more of Neo-realism. Most decisions were influenced by the powerful economically. The conflict between the U.S A and other rising economies including China brought a disagreement. In this case United States was not able to control the outcome. Constructivism was evident because according to social politics, the superior always affect the final decision. Thus, the greater the economic growth of a country, the more the influence it had on the final decision. However, at that time, U.S. did not make it to the final decision, because their opinion was opposed though it was thought to be a superior. President Obama had been committed to the great task and included all nations, developing and developed. The conference was said to be chaotic President Obama injected himself into a multilayered negotiation that was far more chaotic and contentious than anticipated – frozen by longstanding divisions between rich and poor nations and a l egacy of mistrust of the United States, which has long refused to accept binding limits on its greenhouse emissions. (New York Times 1) This shows that the conflict was brought by disagreements which were brought up by U.S and other powerful countries that did not want to be influenced or to be controlled. Reasons for Failure of Copenhagen Summit The political influence and individual country instability posed a great challenge in achieving the expected goals which were meant to stop climate change. This was a great idea but the problem was that the proposed solutions had a connection with many economical activities in different countries. Neo- liberalism was the approach of this conference since climate change problems could only be solved by having participants from all over the world. This was because it was a global challenge. Its assumption of cooperation between all countries failed and was therefore challenged by the Neo-realism theory (Thomas 1). This was clear because most countries were expecting good results and agreement between countries. However the turn up was positive and supported the Neo-liberalism. Neo-realism dominated because, most of the developing countries were relying on industries for their economic growth. Most of them had a negative impact on the environment, the control measures would perhaps mean closure of their industries because they would become subject to paying high bills for their emissions (Thomas 1). Failure of cooperation because of domestic interests caused failure of the Copenhagen summit objectives. Major countries were India and China. These together with other rising countries opposed the proposed solutions, since they would have had a great effect on their economy. Domestic instability caused some countries to feel insecure about the decisions made to overcome negative effects of climate Change. The conflict came as a result of rich countries failing to take their respective responsibilities. The agreement was supp osed to be made after the meeting where treaties of every country would be signed by their respective representative to show their support and agreement by the year 2010. The Chinese said they turned down the offer because United States had previously refused to cooperate in the Kyoto protocol (Thomas 1). The Kyoto protocol controls Green House Gases (GHG): â€Å"Kyoto protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations framework convention on climate change† (Kyoto Protocol 1). It works towards reduction of Green House gases emissions through Carbon trading, clean development mechanism and joint mechanism. Kyoto protocol committed those involved to control the GHG while the convention at Copenhagen was encouraging to decrease the emissions of GHG (Kyoto Protocol 1). Kyoto protocol controls almost 40 rich nations emissions from 2008-2012. Decision of whether the Copenhagen treaty would have been to sign a new or sign both treaties was a challenge to reach to a comprehensive decision. Failure of U.S to ratify the Kyoto protocol was one of the contentious issues since the Chinese blamed them for then emissions of the past years and argued they were supposed to first take responsibility of their emissions (Kyoto Protocol 1). Rich countries were supporting the signing of a common treaty including all countries. On the other hand developing countries were looking for a way to bind the United States on the decisions they were about to make in a way they could benefit from them. Time duration of how long the treaty was supposed to take was another problem the Copenhagen encountered. Conclusion Global warming and climate change are global issues which need participation from countries all over the world. The Copenhagen conference was mainly supported by the U.S. but opposed by other fast economically growing countries including China and India. Australia, Japan and most countries were optimistic about this event but their expectations were cut s hort after they were opposed. For a positive impact to occur, better planning involving all countries should be done. Each country should not focus on their domestic issues but approach the problem as global issue. Power and domestic issues only sabotaged the process. Works Cited Kyoto Protocol. United Nations Framework convention on climate change. Kyoto Protocol, 2011. Web. New York Times. Copenhagen Climate Talks. New York Times, 2011. Web. Relations. International Relations. Sage Publishers, 2011. Web. Taylor, Nicholus. The Neo debate in international relations Theory. Tayylormckeler, 2010. Web. The New York Times. Energy and Environment. New York Times, 2011. Web. Thomas, Alex. Why the United Nations Climate Change Conference Failed. Word Press, 2010. Web. Wynn, Gerard. What was agreed and left unfinished in U.N climate change. Reuters, 2011. Web. This essay on International theories and Copenhagen Climate Treaty was written and submitted by user Elise Walker to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Effects of Abuse essays

The Effects of Abuse essays There is no substitute for blood. Volunteer donors are the only source of blood for patients in need of lifesaving transfusions. Donating blood is a safe, simple way to make a difference for people in your community. In this way, each blood donation provided by a donor can help to save several people's lives. The Blood Donor Benefit ProgramThe Blood Donor Benefit Program is one of the ways that LifeSouth Community Blood Centers gives back to our donors and donor groups. Under this program, LifeSouth helps defray the cost of blood components for patients covered under our plan. When a patient covered by our plan receives a blood transfusion, LifeSouth pays for the non-insured portion of the 'processing fee' (covers cost of recruiting, drawing, testing, storing and distributing the blood) that is charged to the patient for all units of blood components. LifeSouth's coverage extends to transfusions at any hospital in the United States. For more information on the Blood Donor Benefit Program, please call your local branch of LifeSouth Community Blood Centers. Find details and contact information on your local branch at Regions and Donor Centers. Donating blood is believed to aid the rejuvenation of red blood cells and can help reduce the risk of heart disease, especially in men. It also helps to control blood iron levels, which is important for older men. There may be a little sting when the needle is inserted, but there should be no pain during the donation. Donors are served refreshments and encouraged to stay in the donor chair for a short time after donating. Occasional light-headedness may occur, especially if a donor leaves the chair before having a short rest, or uses alcohol or tobacco products soon after the donation. Giving blood is one of the best gifts you can give to another human being. But, you may not know that it's good for you too. Not only will you feel good knowing you'v ...

Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Art - Essay Example He was recognized for his outstanding work in art and had won numerous awards and honors. Among these honors he had won the Master Artist Award (2000) from Artists of America. Description The painting I have chosen from the William Hook’s collection of art is the â€Å"Autumn Road† which is a 24† by 18 inch painting depicting a long road with trees and bushes on either side during the Autumn season. The colors used on this canvas are browns, orange, yellow and dark green that clearly portrays the autumn season. Commenting on the use of acrylic paint, Hook states – â€Å"Make the shortcomings of acrylic the benefits.† (William Hook) He makes use of the minimalist technique in this art work while communicating the grandeur of the landscape. Hook holds the opinion that any finished painting is an amalgamation of different techniques but, ‘impasto is achieved through light strokes of paint with no additives.’ (William Hook) Meaning The meani ng depicted in ‘Autumn Road’ is one of calmness and spirituality. The artist portrays his serenity through his work. The landscape shown is silent and calm and conveys the message of peace of the artist.

The legal issues that housekeeping department forced to confront Essay

The legal issues that housekeeping department forced to confront - Essay Example Some rooms are also interconnected rooms to serve an efficient accommodation purpose to many guests and big families. Other hotels also offer suits to the guest (Winter, Doris & Hatfield, 1989). Hotel offers laundry, dry cleaning facilities, and shoe polishing services among many others in an attempt to make the business environment comfortable through offering these special services. Some restaurants are connected with a bar that sells liquors to guests and this act as a good source of revenue. There are also banqueting, meeting and private party facilities in some big hotels that generate revenue when conferences, meetings or even seminars are held there. Resort hotels have recreational facilities like swimming pool and spa and try to make their place as pleasant as possible through using nice colors, attractive furnishing and most importantly a well kept and efficient staff (Alan & Wortman, 2005). The department of housekeeping determines largely whether the guests are satisfied when they visit the hotels. This is achieved through fine accommodation and quality service provision to the guests so that they are exited with their visit and stay in the respective hotel. The guest satisfaction and the hygiene factor are the primarily objectives that should be present in any given hotel ( Sudhir, 1985). The major revenue in hotels is generated by the rooms and the rooms that are not sold in any given night result to lose of revenue for ever. Loosing guests in the rooms can be attributed to poor hygiene factor, poor cleanliness, lack of modernization etc. A guest spends more time in the room alone than any other part of the hotel and hence a clean and hygiene environment will be of great significance. The guest may check whether the place is dusted off, whether the room is clean and may lose confidence of the place if this is not the case. Dirty and disorderly draws may deter him from putting his/her clothes down. The guest will be pleased when the

Walt Disney Theme Parks Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Walt Disney Theme Parks - Case Study Example Over the years, the company has not only grown to great heights in achieving major market share in the entertainment industry but it has also defined the American entertainment culture. The financial stability of the theme park division have served as a critical counterweight to the volatility to the media and studio entertainment divisions (Thomas, 29). The aim of this paper is to analyze how a successful 'old economy' company has adapted to changing technologies and has used the internet to further expand its business. Although the company is now a diversified one that encompasses almost all aspects of the entertainment business (film production and distribution, cable television, publishing) as well as merchandise retailing, I will focus on its main division in which it has developed a niche market, that is theme parks. This paper is divided into two parts: 1) Part I will discuss the company's business strategy in the theme parks division and will undertake a SWOT analysis for the division and 2) part II will discuss the internet business strategy for theme parks in detail, including those for customer segmentation, acquisition, integration with overall marketing strategy, technical infrastructure and handling of data acquisition, management and use as well as social and regulatory issues. When the concept of Disneyland was thoug... Over the years, it has taken the shape of carnivals and amusement parks, offering joy rides, games, inexpensive food and even vacation stay. The Disneyland was initially an extension of the already established Disney brand but now the brand has become synonymous to the theme parks. Disneylands now house restaurants and hotels and are major tourist destinations, complete with campsites, deluxe villas and even a cruise line. Disney earned revenues of $25.4bn in 2000 from its various business - film production (Walt Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood, Miramax, Merchant-Ivory), film distribution (Walt Disney Theatrical Productions Buena Vista International), video/ DVD (Buena Vista Home Entertainment), theme parks (Caifornia Disneyland, California Adventure, Walt Disney World in Florida, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, Disney Vacation Club, Hong Kong Disneyland), television networks (ABC with 10 stations and 3,400 affiliates, ESPN, Walt Disney, Buena Vista, Touchstone, radio (ABC Network, with 21 stations and 21,000 affliliates), cable television (ESPN network, Disney chcannel, The History Channel, Toon Disney), magazines (Discover, Disney Adventure, FamilyFun, FamilyPC and ESPN The Magazine Media Networks), children's books and a number of licensees and 728 Disney stores selling merchandises. The Internet business of Disney includes GO Network (which wound up after the dot com bust), disney.com, espn.com, abcnews.com, family.com, abc.com, The Disney Catalog (Wasko, 2001). Yet, the business that comes to mind the most when one thinks of Walt Disney Company is its theme parks. The Disney parks have become the most visited vacation spots in the world.

Accountability for Reasonableness for Priority Setting

Accountability for Reasonableness for Priority Setting Essay Accountability for Reasonableness, for priority setting and resource allocation. INTRODUCTION Pakistan as a developing country has very limited health care resources when  considering a huge population of over 170 million. We have very few tertiary care  hospitals and they are providing services to the whole country. Majority of people in  our country are poor and they are unable to afford the expenses of private hospitals,  though private hospitals are also very few. Thousands of doctors are unemployed  and still we have shortage of doctors. Majority of BHU (Basic Health Units) are  closed as majority of doctors belong to urban areas and they don’t want to work in  remote village areas. In all these situations, it is very difficult to maintain health  care throughout country. In this essay, I will take into account four conditions of  accountability for reasonableness for priority setting and resource allocation. I will  take into account these four conditions by Norman Daniels and I will consider a  tertiary care hospital scenario where I did my house job in medicine ward last year. There were majority of patients suffering from chronic liver diseases (CLD). I will  further continue this essay in discussion. DISCUSSION Before discussing the four conditions of accountability for reasonableness, I will  briefly discuss the case scenario. In my medicine ward as I earlier said majority of  patients were of chronic liver diseases (CLD) and it includes Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C  and cirrhosis of liver. Cirrhosis is the end result of hepatocellular injury that leads  to both fibrosis and nodular regeneration throughout the liver. The clinical features  result from hepatic cell dysfunction, portosystemic shunting, and portal  hypertension. Cirrhosis may cause no symptoms for long periods. One of the major  complications is uppergastrointestinal tract bleeding which may occur from varices,  portal hypertensive gastropathy, or gastroduodenal ulcer. Hemorrhage may be  massive, resulting in fatal exsanguinations or enencephalopathy. Esophageal varices  are found in 50 % of patients with cirrhosis. There are several treatment and  management options available for esophageal varices includin g acute resuscitation  as initial management, pharmacologic therapy, balloon tube tamponade, portal  decompressive procedures and emergent endoscopy. Endoscopic techniques are also  used for prevention of Rebleeding. 1. Now, I will discuss my case scenario. In our  hospital there is one associate professor who is trained in doing endoscopy and  Wednesday is fixed for performing endoscopies. Emergent endoscopy is performed  after the patient’s hemodynamic status has been appropriately stabilized (usually  within 2-12 hours). Majority of poor patients come to hospital in end stage liver  diseases. I have taken this case series as it is a perfect example of scarce resources. Many patients faced problems as their endoscopies were not performed on time as  there was only one day fixed in a week. Now I will apply the four conditions of  accountability for reasonableness for priority setting and resource allocation. These  four conditions are publicity condition, relevance condition, revisions and appeals  condition and regulative condition. Accountability for reasonableness makes it  possible to educate all stakeholders about the substance of deliberation about fair  decisions under resource constraints. It facilitates social learning about limits. It  connects decision making in healthcare institutions to broader, more fundamental  democratic deliberative processes. 2. In my case scenario I will apply the four  conditions as follows. The first one is publicity condition. It states that decisions  regarding limits to care and their rationales must be publicly accessible to clinicians,  patients, and citizens in a publicly administered system. When the patients suffer  the complication of esophageal varices, they are informed about the limited capacity  of the ward to arrange endoscopy as it is done on only Wednesdays and surgical  ward have their own burden of patients to be done endoscopies, due to this reason  we were unable to send patients to surgical wards and the patients and their  relatives mostly agrees on this setup and if their was any emergency only then we  take help from surgical ward or send the patients to any other hospital, so the first  condition is fulfilled. In above scenario second condition is also fulfilled which isrelevance condition. It states that the reasons for limit-setting decisions will be  reasonable if it appeals to evidence, reason, and principles that are accepted as  relevant by fair-minded people who are disposed to finding mutually justifiable  terms of cooperation. In my case scenario the decision making is according to the  framework. The rationales w ere reasonable as it is evident that we had limited  facility of endoscopy and it was fairly accepted by patients and their relatives and  also by doctors and other hospital staff. In our setup priority was given to those  patients who needed emergency endoscopy rather than those who requires  endoscopy for diagnostic procedures. The third condition is revisions and appeals  condition. This condition is a very common problem in government hospitals and in  our scenario we request consultants from surgical ward to do emergency endoscopy  if we think patient is serious and he or she may die if the endoscopy is not  performed on time or in other case the other hospital is very far so that it will be late  if we send the patient to other setup and here comes the function of oncall  consultants also, the oncall consultants plays huge role in these emergency  situations. This third condition is a mechanism for challenge and dispute resolution regarding limit setting decisions, including the opportunity for revising decisions in  light of further evidence or arguments. 3. Thus we fulfill the third condition also by  revising our decisions as I explained above. The fourth and last condition is  regulative condition or enforcement. There is either voluntary or public regulation  of the process to ensure that conditions 1-3 are met. This condition is also fulfilled in  our setup as we communicate with the patient and their relatives about our limited  resources. We are able to convince patients in our case scenario. The hospital  leadership is constantly making efforts to meet the conditions of ‘accountability for  reasonableness’. 4. CONCLUSION In this essay I have discussed all four conditions of accountability for  reasonableness, for priority setting and resource allocation. ‘Accountability for  reasonableness’ is a framework that can be used to guide legitimate and fair priority  setting in health care organizations, such as hospitals. In our beloved country  Pakistan we have few government civil hospitals bearing the burden of millions of  population. We try our best to server the humanity. Iam not claiming this system a  perfect one, it needs a lot of improvement and the example is my case scenario in  which we have very limited resources. Government should establish civil hospitals in  small cities also and should increase their budget; they should recruit more doctors  and nurses as we have shortage. They should train doctors with latest equipments  and provide hospitals appropriate medicines. In addition to this all the hospitals  should be provided with computers and also be made online so that a data system  can be established and it can help the patients and also hospitals for future  reference. I will conclude by saying that in such scarce resources, government sector  hospitals are doing excellent job. REFERENCES Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2004. 43rd edition. Norman Daniels. (2000). Accountability for reasonableness. BMJ; 321; 1300-  1301. D K Martin, P A Singer and M Bernstein. (2003). Access to intensive care  unit beds for neurosurgery patients: a qualitative case study. J. Neurol.  Neurosurg. Psychiatry; 74; 1299-1303. Jennifer AH Bell, Sylvia Hyland, Tania DePellegrin, Ross EG Upshur, Mark  Bernstein and Douglas K Martin. (2004). SARS and hospital priority setting:  a qualitative case study and evaluation. BMC Health Services Research, 4:36

Internal Combustion Engines :: physics internal combustion engine

Most motor vehicles today use an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to give them power to drive down the road; ICEs are a form of a heat engine. Gasoline is burned to push a piston, which in return forces the car down the road. As the gas in the cylinder is ignited and expanded it forces the piston down the shaft. The force is carried through piston, which is connected to a crankshaft. The force moves through the transmission, down the driveshaft, and out the tires. The Otto Cycle is used to turn as much heat into the driving force as possible. â€Å"A heat engine is a machine that converts heat into work† (Heat Engines). A heat engine absorbs a quantity of energy from a hot reservoir, does work, and then gives up a quantity of energy to the cold reservoir. In the example of an ICE, gasoline is burned, creating heat and expanding the gasses. This expansion pushes the piston down the cylinder and the excess heat is carried out through the coolant system or exhaust. The work done by the engine can be determined using the equation: W=Q(hot) - Q(cold) The efficiency of a heat engine can be determined using the equation: e=W/Q(hot) Gasoline engines have four strokes and six processes in each cycle. During the intake stroke, air and fuel are drawn into the cylinder; the volume and potential energy increase. Next, the compression stroke adiabatically compresses the gases; the volume decreases and the temperature increases. The spark does not occur during a stroke but when the piston is fully raised, this causes the gases to ignite keeping relatively the same volume. In the power stroke, the gas adiabatically expands; the temperature decreases and the volume increases. Finally, the exhaust valve is opened so in the exhaust stroke when the piston moves up the gasses are released causing the volume to decrease. A hemi engine refers to the way the pistons, heads and block are designed. This style of engine claims to provide a better flow of air inside the cylinder by creating more room for larger valves in turn providing more power. The chamber on a hemi is hemispherical instead of being flat like traditional engines. This shape provides more surface area on the block allowing room for the larger valves. When the engine can breath better there is less friction and more clean air / fuel mixture providing more power.

Summer Reading Assignment: About a Boy

Mr. Wilson English 11 5 September 2012 Summer Reading Assignment: About a Boy Insensible Will, who lives comfortably off of the money from a popular Christmas song his father wrote, comes up with the idea to join a Single Parents Alone Together, (SPAT), group in order to pick up single moms. What he chooses to overlook however, is the fact that he does not have any children. This sparks a chain of events beginning with him meeting Marcus, an awkward young teenage boy who is being raised by a depressed, single mother.Marcus is constantly tormented at school and feels as though he has no one to turn to. He becomes very fond of Will who is tolerant with him at first and begins to grow attached to his high strung personality. Marcus begins to gain confidence, learn how to deal with his mother, and win the affection of an older punk rocker girl named Ellie at his school. However spending time with Marcus begins to show Will just how empty his life really is. Marcus and Will cross paths at a SPAT get together when Marcus’s mom asks her friend Susie to bring him.That day is the when both Marcus and Wills’ life change forever. When arriving home from the SPAT party Susie, Marcus, and Will walk into Marcus’s mom Fiona passed out in her own vomit. In the mix of it all Marcus doesn’t even see that his mom had tried to overdose on pills. From that day forward Marcus constantly worried about his mother’s depression instead of worrying about himself, and how he gets picked on everyday at his school. It wasn’t until he met Will that Marcus realized why he was getting picked on.Fiona, Marcus’s mom, was in denial and believed that Marcus was just fine wearing ugly shoes, and listening to Mozart. Will helps him to find himself, and to shed his nerdy and dorky skin. As the months passed Marcus began to change and he started hanging out with this punk rocker girl Ellie. At first Marcus believed that he was in love with Ellie and tha t he could spend the rest of his life with her but after taking her to go see his father Marcus realizes she is just too different and crazy. At the end of the novel Will knows for sure that Marcus will be ok when he complains about Will askingFiona to take out sheet music of Marcus’s old favorite nerdy singer. He knows the days of Marcus letting kids bully him, steal his shoes, and mock him for his old haircut are gone. Will did not only help Marcus, but Marcus helped him. Before he was ever involved with Marcus, Will was a pot smoking, lazy, self centered person. However after everything he went through with Marcus, Will changed, and for the better. At the end of the novel Will had found love with this beautiful single mother, Rachel. Even Will realized that himself.He had lost his shell and his cool and his distance, and he felt scared and vulnerable, but he got to be with Rachel, and that’s all that mattered. Fiona at the beginning of the novel was a suicidal, depr essed, and horrible mother. Even after trying to kill herself she was still horrible. She didn’t even notice how hard of a time Marcus was having at school and she wanted to take away Will from Marcus when he was the only thing making her son happy. But as Marcus changed so did Fiona. She was longer so depressed and no longer hated Marcus as her son.Even though she has lost a big part of Marcus, she got to stay away from the hospital because she was no longer depressed. Change makes you flexible, and helps go with the flow. Change makes you smarter. If things never changed, you’d never learn anything new. And every time you learn something new its makes you smarter than you were yesterday. Change reminds us that anything is possible. It’s easy to think that anything that’s stuck will always be that way. Marcus, Fiona and Will all learned how to improve their lives and it was all because of each other.

The eNotes Blog RELAX. The World Ended in 634BCE

RELAX. The World Ended in 634BCE If you are stressing because there is not a single bed-and-breakfast in  Bugarach, France (purportedly the only place in the world safe from the predicted Mayan apocalypse of 2012), relax.   For a variety of reasons, the world is NOT going to end tomorrow. December 21, 2012, has been ballyhooed for years as the date the world will end. Fin. Finito. Thats all folks. And Im not paying that cable bill either. Except that it wont be. The list of Yep-thats-it. The-world-has-become-as-evil-as-it-possibly-can-be-and-____________(your god here)-has-HAD-ENOUGH is a loooooooooooooooooooong one, folks. Better get crackin on buying that gift for your aunt, because no one is gonna give you an eternal excuse.   Here is a brief list of the various We Are DOOMED! scenarios, all come and gone: 634 BCE and Some Pissed-Off Eagles Many Romans feared that the city would be destroyed in the 120th year of its founding. There was a myth that 12 eagles had revealed to  Romulus  a mystical number representing the lifetime of Rome, and some early Romans hypothesized that each eagle represented 10 years. 1st Century, Early Christians Some first-century Christians expected Jesus  to return within one generation of his death. According to some scholars,  Paul the Apostle was one of these. 375-400 CE,  Martin of Tours Stated that the world would end before 400. Writing There is no doubt that the Antichrist has already been born. Firmly established already in his early years, he will, after reaching maturity, achieve supreme power. 500 CE,  Hippolytus of Rome,Sextus Julius Africanus,Irenaeus All three predicted Jesus would return in the year 500. January 1, 1000:  Pope Sylvester II The  Millenium Apocalypse. Various Christians predicted the end of the world on this date, including  Pope Sylvester II. Riots in Europe. Panicky Europeans, 1346-51 The  black plague  spreading across Europe was interpreted by many as the sign of the end of times. 1656,  Various Christians   Theres always been a lot of monkeying around with numbers, with sects swearing that they have figured out the secret formula (yeahriiiight. we still dont know what, precisely, the secret spices are in KFC). Anyhoo. [s]ome Christians believed the world would end this year, as 1656 was the number of years between Creation and the Great Flood in the Bible. 1697,  Cotton Mather Well-known for his love of a good prank (kidding), [t]his Puritan minister predicted the world would end this year. After the prediction failed, he revised the date of the End two more times. (Okay.. this is getting tedious. There are literally dozens more but in the interest of time, and of course, our imminent demise, lets fast forward to the twentieth century). Feb. 4, 1962: Psychic Jeane Dixon Predicted a planetary alignment on this day was to bring destruction to the world. 1975, Jehovahs Witnesses In 1966, Jehovahs Witnesses estimated it had been 6000 years since mans creation; therefore, in the fall of 1975   it would be appropriate for Christs thousand-year reign to begin. These claims were repeated throughout the late 1960. In 1974, they reaffirmed their belief that there was just a short time remaining before the wicked worlds end. Oct/Nov 1982:   Pat Robertson, Evangelical Pastor In late 1976, Robertson predicted that the end of the world was coming in October or November 1982. (Well, that  was  the year of my first date, an event many wouldve predicted would bring the world to an end so perhaps a little leeway for ol Pat). April 29, 1987:   Leland Jensen, Halleys Comet Jensen predicted that Halleys Comet would be pulled into Earths orbit on April 29, 1988, causing widespread destruction. July, 1999: Nostradamus   A prediction attributed to Nostradamus stating the King of Terror would come from the sky in 1999 and seven months led to fears of the end. Annnnnnnnnnnd Presenting Despite All Historical Evidence and Obvious Fallacies to the Contrary! THE MAYANS! The so-called  Mayan apocalypse  at the start of the  14th baktun. The Earth is destroyed by an  asteroid,  Nibiru, or some other interplanetary object; an  alien invasion; or a  supernova. Good night, all. Unless I am destroyed by aliens or burned to a crisp by a supernova, Ill see you next week with some elegant toasts for the New Year, in which, surely, there will be predictions that all of us will become toast.

How to Ask Politely Where the Bathroom Is in French

How to Ask Politely Where the Bathroom Is in French Ah la la, this is always a difficult question. Because on top of possibly sounding impolite in French,  you could also end up sounding  totally ridiculous. If you want to ask, Where is the bathroom, and you  go for a literal translation, youd ask,  Oà ¹ est la salle de bains? The problem is la salle de bains  is the room where the bath or shower is. Often the toilet  is  in a separate room. Imagine the puzzled look on your French hosts when they try to figure out why on earth you want to take a shower in their home. Ideally, if things are done properly, your hosts should have discreetly pointed out the bathroom after they took your coat and guided you into the house. Oà ¹ Sont  les Toilettes, S’il te  Plaà ®t? But if that didnt happen, the correct question would be,  Oà ¹ sont  les toilettes, s’il te  plaà ®t? if you are saying tu to your host. Note that the term les toilettes  referring to the bathroom is  always plural. You may also use the word les cabinets.  If you do, youd say, Oà ¹ sont les cabinets, sil te plaà ®t, but its a bit old-fashioned. If the evening is  super formal, you may say something like, Oà ¹ puis-je me rafraà ®chir? (Where may I freshen up?), but talking like that is quite snobbish. And anyway, everybody knows where youre going and what youll be doing once you get there. Also remember that we never say, â€Å"Take your time† in this kind of situation, which always makes me laugh.   At a Dinner Party, Be Discreet If youve gone to this house for a dinner party, keep in mind that you are not supposed to leave the dinner table...and dinner may last for hours. If you absolutely have to use the bathroom, time your exit well, for example, not just before a new course is brought in. It could be at the end of a course since the French dont remove the empty plates right away; just leave the table as discreetly as you can. You may say a soft, â€Å"Veuillez m’excuser† (Please excuse me), but its not at all necessary. And by all means, don’t say where youre going. Everybody knows. At a Restaurant or Cafà ©, Be Polite and Use Vous If youre in a restaurant or a cafà ©, its the same question. You will, of course, be using vous: Oà ¹ sont les toilettes, sil vous plaà ®t? In big cities, you often need to be a customer to use the restroom. If its a big Parisian cafà © with a terrace, walk in, look for the signs, and just go in. If its a smaller place, smile a lot and politely say: Excusez moi. Je suis vraiment dà ©solà ©e, mais est-ce que je peux utiliser vos toilettes, sil vous plaà ®t? Only in a very touristic place would you have a problem. Then, either order and pay for a coffee at the bar (even if you dont drink it) or go to the nearest public toilets. To navigate the niceties of French toilets youll need to learn how French toilets work. For instance, do you know what those weird buttons are on a French toilet?  And make sure you learn all you can about using a public toilet in France  to  avoid a nasty surprise!

DBR LAB Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

DBR - Lab Report Example e such that sections of the pavement are not subjected to excessive deformation that would otherwise result in settlement of the section or localized deformation. One of the empirical methods used in the design of pavements is the California bearing ratio test abbreviated as CBR test. CBR value is determined by carrying out a CBR test on the subgrade soil. The CBR value depicts an index that shows the soil bearing capacity and the soil strength. Using the CBR value, sub – base and base material of a pavement to be constructed can be easily designed (Knapton). Using the CBR value, evaluations of the strengths of the soils can be established by using CBR value as an indicator. The CBR value typically represents a percentage of the soil with a standard crushed soil from California. Ultimately, the CBR value is mainly used in the quantification of the response of the subgrade and pavement to loading (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur). There are various factors that affect the CBR test. These include the soil density, the soil texture and the soil moisture. Thus, the testing procedure to be used for a specific CBR test is completely dependent on the material type being tested. A drawback to the CBR test is that it gives the total thickness of material to be applied above the subgrade. The thickness is constant for a particular pavement irrespective of the materials that are used in the construction of the layers (Yoder and Witczak). In the California bearing Ration test, the objectives are the determination of the CBR value of the soil that is being considered to be used as a foundation of a pavements. This is mainly done to facilitate the evaluation of the subgrade soil strength (Purushothama). It should be noted that CBR does not provide information about the soil properties such as cohesion shearing resistance etc. 4.5 Kg of the sample to be tested was collected from the field. A soil sample was then taken from this sample a compacted in a CBR mould in 3

Community Needs Assessment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Community Needs Assessment - Research Paper Example The work of Maninno et al. (2002) has recognized that asthma is a major cause of school and work days losses in America since the 1980s. Maninno et al. (2002) found that between 1980 and 1996, the prevalence of lifetime asthma has increased in the United States. Related with this, the study of Manino et al. (2002) reported that school days and work man-days losses due to asthma have also increased. This needs assessment focused on the problem of asthma in South Bronx because this analyst believe that asthma is most likely a serious problem in the community given the reputation of South Bronx with regard to the family income of its residents. In addition to the usual objectives of needs assessment, the needs assessment was designed to develop insights on how a health program focused on asthma can best be developed for South Bronx. Thus, the author was keen on drawing data helpful to producing insights in that direction. To produce the community needs assessment, the author reviewed do cuments, news reports, and gathered a documented testimony from at least one community leader. South Bronx is a community populated by low-income minority families in New York City. Figure 1 shows New York City on the left panel and South Bronx on the right panel. South Bronx is composed of localities labeled with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9 on the right panel and colored yellow. The entire Bronx (colored as peach and yellow) on the right panel is the peach colored area in left panel. According to the Lehman College that is located in the Bronx area, census data indicate that the Bronx had a population of 1.4 million people as of 2008. A significant part of this population resides in South Bronx. Unfortunately, according to the college, around 30% of the South Bronx population refuse to categorize themselves into a racial category. The Lehman College pointed out that although South Bronx is described as a low-income community, there is a section