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WORK, WELFARE, AND SINGLE MOTHERS If you want to know a big problem in our country today it is single mothers and welfare. If you look at all the money that we throw away each and every year, you wouldn=t think this would be a problem. With all the rich giving to the poor, some should go to single parents trying their best to take care of their children. This could be easy, if they would just go and get a job they would be off welfare very quickly. But it isn=t that easy, study=s show that most welfare mothers have bad or no schooling at all, they are the woman that has been lay off of work, and the one=s that are young and don=t have enough to pay for their child=s living conditions. A lot of things changed in 1996 as federal lawmakers dramatically changed the rules poor people live by and made states responsible for implementing these rules. Twenty-five percent of the mothers on each state=s welfare caseload must be working by the end of 1997. By 2002, fifty percent must be working. Studies show that mothers that leave the welfare to quickly are the one=s that will not make it far in life, not far in life but the one=s that will be the least likely to succeed in getting off welfare and taking care of their families. Their main problem is making the transaction from welfare to work. They have problems making ends meat. They sometimes receive extra money from community groups, local charities, working extra jobs, obtaining cash from network members. They have to hid most of their income from their caseworkers so they could keep their welfare benefits. It was also hard for working mothers as they faced larger budget deficits than welfare mothers because they often didn=t Medicaid and had considerable work-related expenses. Working mothers had less time to work a side job or even get extra money from community groups and charities. It is a known fact that is harder to make ends meet when working than collecting welfare. All the studies are from four main cities which are Boston, Chicago, Charleston, and San Antonio. These were the cities picked to represent the study. The cost of living was different in all these places. They took into consideration different races, age, education, work experiences, and the background they came from. All these differed in all areas due to these things.

Electronic media Essay

Man has a nature of curiosity. He always engages with doing something unique. In the past century they explored in many field. It was a time when a man could hardly think about the unbelievable development that is within reach now. Media is a mean of transmitting the message, thought, opinion and view point. In the beginning, man used horse and other animal to send the message to the receiver. It took time to deliver the message and the probability of spoiling the message was on the top. Now man has entered the age of science and technology. They have explored . They have got a tremendous achievement in many field as well as Electronic Media. We are living in the era of electronic media. None can avoid and escape from it. It is prevailing profound effects on advertisement, education, information, politics and other social activities. Electronic media has revolutionized the information system. Now everyone can be aware himself with current information and updates. So many TV channels in the country and internet websites justify the importance and advantages of electronic media where everyone has a freedom to exchange his view point freely. The electronic media has both effects, positive and negative. If it is playing a negative role, on the other hand it is educating, informing and entertaining the societies too. Today people are getting aware of their rights through the media. Many social programs on TV are presented to set the minds of the masses. Today’s youths try to find the answers to their questions and demand the authorities to account for because media has disclosed all that the new generation has to be aware of. As Pakistani media is pointing out crimes, ministers holding fake degrees, terrorism and inflation etc, it is appreciable because the responsible people can be brought to book in this way. Thus, the media, whatever– be print or the electronic media– its importance at least in the modern world cannot be denigrated. While we are sitting in our drawing rooms at home, we can get all the information of all happenings around the world. We get a sea of knowledge and all the information, relaxing at home. So much so good, but, what we notice today, with the freedom of the press taking new proportions, the media is becoming slightly out of control and also partial. The latest trend in the media is that it has become tainted with signs of extreme partiality. I personally feel that, the media is at times overstepping its limits and to some extent misusing its freedom. The job of the media is just to give information of what happens and not to add its own partial views to the information. The job of the media should remain restricted only to reporting facts as to when and how they occur, and leave the readers to form their own opinions. However, this is no truer of the modern trends of the media. They get news and paint them as per their own personal leanings and beliefs. This I’d say is not correct reporting as, it is likely to colour the views of the readers/ viewers. The task of the media is just to report and not colour the views of the people. It would be good if the media restricts itself only to passing On correct and exact information only, without any comments for or against any political party it would be doing its job correctly and sincerely.

Beneath the Hunger Games

Kate Raffety 22nd of May, 2012 BENEATH THE HUNGER GAMES The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is an insightful allegory set in a post-apocalyptic future. Through a gripping plot and intriguing characters along with rich intertextuality, symbolism and themes, she raises concerns and gives her opinion on issues in our communities and governments, taking many to the extreme to reinforce her message, while keeping it a fast passed fictional story. Government control of people is the most prominent theme in The Hunger Games, as it is featured throughout the novel in a variety of ways.Propaganda, censorship, inequitable distribution of wealth, and manipulation are some of the many ways in which the Capitol controls people. All the wealth and resources flow to the Capitol and it is in control of everything. It uses propaganda and censorship to influence and direct public opinion, and the only information the districts receive is from the Capitol. The government broadcasts are compulsory viewi ng and all of it is extremely biased and misleading.Sometimes half the truth is just as effective as a lie, with the capitol only selecting parts of the information to release, in this way it is easy to guide people’s opinions. This technique is used on the districts, with all of the information they receive, and on the people from the Capitol, with the information they receive about the districts. Together the districts could easily overthrow the Capitol, so it is important that they be kept weak and separated. The most important of the Capitol’s strategies for gaining and maintaining power, however, is the age-old technique of divide and conquer.It involves breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually are isolated and weak. The Capitol has absolute power over the districts, which is ultimately demonstrated by the games themselves. â€Å"Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch- this is the Capito l’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. [ ] To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. (pg 22) The districts are battling starvation, while the capitol lives in luxury with anything they want at their disposal. At first glance the novel and our society seem quite different, but in reality there are many similarities. Whereas extreme inequity and class separation are noticeable in the novel, they are also prominent throughout the world, with great disparity in standards of living among and within countries. The Games are enjoyed as reality television for the people of the Capitol.Their acceptance of it as entertainment, and their lack of compassion towards the tributes is an example of voyeurism and desensitisation. These are two challenges that younger generations face with technology giving them access to television, the internet, video games and movies. They are becoming faster paced and increasingly violent and explicit and emotional responses can become dampened. Reality television is becoming common with people living vicariously through the drama and becoming detached from reality. The standards of humanity in this novel are quite low.There are key aspects of the novel, however, that show that human beings are essentially good when left to their own devices. After her father died, Katniss had to provide for her mother and younger sister. Katniss was searching for any morsel of sustenance to bring home to her family one night around the bakery when Peeta’s mother yelled at her to move on. Peeta, seeing her situation, let two loaves fall onto the coals of the oven and was punished for his carelessness. When he was told to feed them to the pigs, he instead slipped them to Katniss.The next day they caught each other’s eyes and when she looked away her eyes fell on a dandelion, which reminded h er of how her father taught her to live off the land and thus she realised how she would support her family. Peeta saved Katniss and she felt this was a debt she owed him that may never be repaid. He wasn’t obligated to help her, in fact he could have been penalized for it; he did simply because it was the right thing to do. Katniss cares about her family more than anything, especially her little sister.But against all odds her sister is chosen for reaping, and Katniss, driven wild with fear, volunteers to take her place. â€Å"In District 12, where the word tribute is pretty much synonymous where the word corpse, volunteers are all but extinct† (pg 27). Katniss believes certain death now awaits her in the arena, but knows that the loss of her sister would be far worse. While in the arena, Katniss meets Rue, the tribute from district 11 and the two form an alliance. Katniss protects and helps her as best she can, giving her food and her precious sleeping bag while she carries the majority of the responsibility.Rue can give little to Katniss for her to truly benefit from their partnership, however Katniss sees that Rue, the youngest of all the tributes, is vulnerable and does her best to keep her safe from harm, even if it means putting herself in danger. When Rue dies Katniss shows great respect for her and district 11. Katniss then finds Peeta, who has been severely injured and begins to nurse him back to health. He is too weak to sustain himself so Katniss takes on the full responsibility of providing for him, dressing his wounds and taking the majority of the night watches.It would have been much easier for Katniss to leave Peeta and escape up a tree where she feels secure, but despite this she does all she can to help him. She risks her life to save his when she goes to get the medicine and would have died if Thresh, the male tribute from district 11 hadn’t felt the need to repay the debt of helping Rue. Thus, both Thresh and Katniss s aved someone in a last-man-standing battle. This shows that they see themselves as more than just a pawn in the Capitol’s games, they never loose touch with their humanity.Inhumanity is portrayed in many ways in the novel including the Capitol making minors fight to the death, making previous victors mentor them, and inequitable distribution of wealth. In selecting minors as tributes, the Capitol’s message was plain, â€Å"look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you† (pg 22). Taking children who are hardly considered old enough to fend for themselves and putting them in this position is inhumane on many levels.The Capitol sustains power by fear, granting minimal rights to district citizens, no freedom of speech, and harsh punishments for disobeying their many strict rules. They treat their people as chattels who exist only for their benefit. Whereas this them e has been exaggerated in the novel, it still has parallels to our society. There are many ways in which governments treat their people and how the people treat one another that Collins has commented on with The Hunger Games. The novel teaches us that the tyranny of a cruel and powerful government is a threat for which we must always remain vigilant.Collins raises concerns about the path that society is travelling down with her novel. In some ways The Hunger Games is a warning, the message simply being that society should never end up like the one in the novel. Throughout her novel Collins comments on government control, inequity, class separation, reality television, humanity, inhumanity and the path that society has taken. She has taken many of the themes in her novel to the extreme, but this only makes what she has to say stronger. Collins, S. 2009. The Hunger Games, Scholastic, London. 454 pg.

The arguments put forth by Camille Pecastaing

The arguments put forth by Camille Pecastaing, in her article named â€Å"A Brief History of the Next War,† are mainly based on the international system. While analyzing the book ‘Iran, The Choice of Arms?’ an international security analysis by Franà §ois Heisbourg, she exposes the major chinks in the author’s arguments. She draws a clear distinction between fact and speculation.Franà §ois Heisbourg, in his theory which is in fact speculation interlaced with facts, argues that a nuclear Iran will be the most serious threat to the world peace. Camille Pecastaing has rightly called his bluff when she points out that such a scenario simply does not exist.Instead she emphasizes on the unforeseen economical fallout on the world economy in the wake of any unilateral strike by the US. Iran’s capability to block the straits of Hormuz is real and if the tactics employed by Iran in the Afghanistan and Iraq are any indication, the strike will only damage Amer ica’s own economy and the international standing than that of Iran. So she stresses that it is in America’s interest not to think of such a misadventure.The arguments of Camille Pecastaing in this article reflect a realist thought process. It examines the international security scenario analysis and possible remedial actions proposed by another author who takes inferences from the actions and imaginary intentions of certain countries.Ambition of Iran to acquire nuclear deterrent is seen by the West as a threat to world peace, fearing regional proliferation and irresponsible posturing. But she sees no imminent danger to the world peace by the actions of Iran and on the contrary, as she understands it, will lead only to a more mature behavior on the part of Iran and Israel as in the case of India and Pakistan.The question of proliferation does not arise as the neighboring countries are too dependent on US military know how and support that they cannot think of acquiring a nuclear weapon.I am in complete agreement with the arguments of Camille Pecastaing. In order to prove Heisbourg’s arguments wrong in saying that the Iranian bomb is ‘apocalyptic’, and it needs to be stopped at any cost, she depicts the futility of strike without a ground invasion, the prospect of failure similar to the one America now faces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the possible negative fallout on America’s already troubled economy and the weakening clout of the dollar. Iran is in a position to cause more damage to the world economy in general and the US economy in specific than the damage the US action can cause to the Iranian economy.The argument of Heisbourg that Iran will slip into anarchy and the nuclear arsenal will fall into the hands of Hezbollahis is only a wishful thinking. As she rightly points out, in all probability, an Iranian nuclear weapon will make both Iran and the nuclear Israel more responsible and the chances of further confrontation s between these two countries and the related chaos that may ensue, will only decline.It is evident from the above paragraph that I am in complete agreement with Camille Pecastaing and it is needless to say that my opinions belong to the realist school of thoughts. To further my arguments in that favor, I can point out some of the past events that led to the invasion of Iraq.American intelligence and spy agencies had manufactured false evidences to strengthen their claim that Iraq is in the process of building weapons of mass destruction which will threaten the world peace and this was believed by the other countries without any doubt who in turn lend their support for an American invasion.Later, when it was found out that it was only a fear psychosis created by the US, it was too late to rectify the damage and the difficulties it caused in Iraq. Moreover, the monumental expenditure for the Iraq war has only put the US economy in undue trouble.

Journal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Journal - Research Paper Example I know what it is when I encounter it through common sense, interpretation and history. Furthermore, I know what it is when I encounter it if I presume that the source of information can be reliable or trusted. This is because I do not judge to know the truth otherwise, and also I do not want to entrust neither to the reality nor to the invalidity of that which I come across. In particular, since the environment can only be viewed through our brain, the things we come across can only be known or interpreted subjectively. Plato’s Myth of the Cave I hold the view that if we as human beings did not have reason then we would not be proficient to live better.   As Plato noted, inside man dwells two very powerful aspects, that is an appetitive aspect and the spirit aspect (Reale 231).   For that reason, the world of ideas was always there, that is why the only approach we can truly make sense of it all involves uncovering by our self. Knowledge cannot be affected any more than i ndividuals can and it is only reason which can help a person to decide. Without reason we take steps in a manner which pay no attention to rational sense. Therefore, the initial step is to recognize that knowledge goes beyond what is simply present in experience, and then recognize that there exist notions which can only be acquired through hard thinking. An example in my life is the Goldfish in my tank, since the Goldfish cannot reason, I usually feed it what it ought to eat and if I give it more food than what it is required, it will continue feeding until it eats a lot than it can withstand and finally die.  Thus, the goldfish does not possess the capability to think, or to reason, and this supports Plato view that the ability for enlightenment rests within the soul and knowledge or education are not issues of native capacity but they are of moving from the cave or generating things to focusing on eternally ideal nature or real things or knowledge . Reason Human nature is defin ed by reason since human beings are not merely in steady interaction with the environment, but also under constant interaction with their inner reality. Therefore, reason entails individual’s reactions to life stresses arising from diverse nature (Velasquez 53). Reason possess higher stature in determining human nature, since it is something that people share with nature itself, even as it connects the apparently immortal aspect humans mind with the universal order. Reason is the natural sovereign which presides over other human parts like spiritedness or emotions. As Aristotle put it, the highest level of human happiness lived consistently, exceptionally and wholly is in agreement with reason. The source of reason is the environment since the human environment offers certain callous demands or incentives, and when their concentration and occurrence are inside the confines of human tolerance, then they can stimulate a person motivation and improve the capacity to make sense o f things (Reale 30). This is because reason is the capability to

The design of health and safety control system Assignment - 1

The design of health and safety control system - Assignment Example The levels of oxygen in confined spaces can be depleted when there is reaction between some soils and oxygen in the atmosphere; or release of gas such as carbon dioxide that can displace ambient air. Poisonous gases, fumes or vapours can built up in the sewer; enter from connecting pipes; or leak from other areas. Residues left on surface of walls can give off gas, fume, or vapour. Scraping before painting can give rise to particulates that can contaminate the ambient air. Spray painting can give rise to volatile organic compounds depending on the composition of the paint. Volatile organic compounds can have adverse health effects including cancer. The person conducting the operation is at major risk for adverse effects described above. Since the sewer is located below a field where cattle and sheep graze, an open sewer could be a fall hazard for these animals. The control system for this operation includes barricades and procedures for confined space work. According to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 hazards must be identified; risks assessed and precautions determined. According to the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 presence of risks of serious injury as in the operation requires following a safe system of work, and putting in place adequate emergency measures before the start of work. The safe system of work is based on the operation described above. A supervisor should be given responsibility for ensuring that necessary precautions are observed for checking the safety at each stage and being present when the work is in execution. The operator must have sufficient experience in conducting painting work in confined spaces. A determination has to be made if there is the need to isolate the sewer, and it must be checked if the isolation is effective. Before entry cleaning is required to determine whether fume s do not develop from residues while work is

Ruby & Millie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ruby & Millie - Essay Example Although neither of the entrepreneurs has any managerial background, they are extensively experienced in their respective fields. Firstly, Ruby has immense practice as a make-up artist having worked with celebrated supermodels, for instance, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford. On the other hand, Millie Kendall has a lot of experience as a high-powered beauty specialist. Both entrepreneurs gifted in the performance of their duties within their distinct professionals. Part of the skills that enable the two professionals to become formidable entrepreneurs is creativity and effective decision making based on good ideas (Begoun 2003, p. 16). The professionals are high achievers who think of good ideas and establish viable goals to achieve their objectives. Through their confidence, the entrepreneurs have the capacity to counter challenges, which come their way. Creativity and enthusiasm are perhaps the most pertinent skills held by both professionals. Millie and Ruby have substa ntial enthusiasm and creative energy, which supplements their experience within the beauty industry. Having worked in the industry for a while, both entrepreneurs are knowledgeable of market’s needs and the gap that necessitates the development of appropriate products. Competition in the Cosmetics Industry The cosmetics industry in Britain is quite competitive consisting of nearly 250 manufacturers and 695 retailers who either manufacture or sell cosmetic products at retail stores. However, most premium cosmetics in the UK are selectively distributed and are confined to a few renowned retailers and manufacturers. Ruby & Millie’s strongest competitors include Selective Beauty SAS, which manufactures and distributes cosmetics through a global network. Selective Beauty SAS entered an exclusive 10-year licensing agreement with Jimmy Choo, the famous accessories and shoes brand (Hillgren & Cheatham 2000, p. 139). Other key competitors include high street stores such as Supe r drugs and Body shop, which sell cosmetics on a large scale. Departmental stores such as Harrods, Debenhams and Nichols, are also some of Ruby & Millie’s primary competitors. Other competitors include supermarkets such as ASDA and Waitrose and specialist websites such as Mac.com, which specialize in direct selling (Roese 2005, p. 154). In order to differentiate their products and brand, Ruby & Millie embarked on a personality-driven make-up strategy (Daniels 1999, p. 78). Ruby & Millie’s brand’s uniqueness stems from the entrepreneurs’ gifted personal profiles. The association of Ruby & Millie with Boots continues to impact the brand’s positioning within the competitive cosmetics market. Cooperation with Boots When small businesses cooperate with greater manufacturers, the former benefit from both the large organization’s exposure and market experience (Hammer & Kendall, p. 108). Ruby & Millie’s cooperation with Boots, which is a mas sive and globally renowned company, allows the former to benefit from Boot’s immense knowledge of the cosmetics market. Since Boots is a massive company, it enjoys economies of trade such as effective and easy research and development, particularly with regard to product positioning and assessment of market needs (Schippmann 1999, p. 97). Consequently, Ruby & Millie’s small business gains pertinent information regarding the cosmetics market enabling the organization position its products and