Islamic Terrorism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Islamic Terrorism - Research Paper Example But the attacks reveal more hatred for Western culture and intolerance towards other religion than any such religious preaching. Moreover misinterpretations of Islam, particularly the word jihad have been the root cause of terrorism. The Islamic terrorists and extremists have preached false religious beliefs to capture young minds. This has been proved by the review of literature of other research works as well as appropriate findings and analysis. The intensity of terrorism has risen to such a level that it has become a global issue. The Western countries like United States have been the major victims of such attacks. Thousands of people lost their lives in the 9/11 terror attacks. The killers have been Islamic terrorist who have made it a religious issue. They follow militant Islam which has a lot of deviations from the original teachings of Islam. Islam has assumed a violent image due to such terrorists which is not really the case. Clearly the Islamic terrorists have vastly misin terpreted the religion contributing towards its violent image (Emerson). Islam has always taught maintenance of peace. But some unscrupulous religious fanatics have been molding the religion as to their desire and giving lessons of violence to millions of Muslims. That is why it has been seen that Islamic nations do not give freedom of religion to its people (Richardson, Foreword). Even if the violenc

Develop a stock market Essay Example for Free

Develop a stock market Essay (a) Dependable law and regulations The existence of dependable laws and regulations, not only from the government but also from the enterprises themselves is a necessary conditions since these all the organizations to compete and cooperate with the oversea and worldwide companies. (b) Resolution of policy risk Investor confidence in reliable property right and stable, market-oriented policies are a necessary condition for financial integration and the development of emerging stock markets. Announced market-oriented policies may be reversed, however, and are initially not fully credible. We argue that sustained privatization and liberalization programmes represent a major test of political commitment to safer private property rights, successful privatization has a significant effect on emerging stock market development through the resolution of policy risk, i.e. the risk of ex post policy changes with redistributive impact on investment returns. The evidence showed the progress in privatization gradually leads to increased confidence. (c) Promoting healthy financial institutions Healthy financial institutions especially banks, is a crucial prerequisite for financial stability. The largest number of crises still arise, be it in emerging market economies or industrial countries, from financial institutions overextending themselves when times seem good and then retrenching violently afterwards. Governance would first benefit from a greater internal focus on risk-adjusted rates of return, particularly when rewarding traders and credit officers. The relentless pursuit of shareholder value, without this crucial adjustment, could prove a very dangerous strategy. (d) Developing worldwide acceptable accounting and audit standard It is recommended profession should be is self-regulated through accounting  standard board instead of regulate by government, improve the credible of accounting and auditing report up to international accounting system (IAS) standards.

Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King Essay -- Why We Crave Horror

Stephen King wrote a very brief essay titled "Why we Crave Horror Movies", in which he explained some of the reasons that people choose to go to horror movies to be entertained. In his essay, King goes on to explain that we as a people need horror movies as a sort of release; to feed the darker elements within all of us without having to sacrifice our humanity (also, civility). King does this by comparing people based on their levels of sanity whereas some societal "eccentricities" are completely acceptable, while some will get you thrown right into the loony bin. It’s summed up pretty well in this quote: "The mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized ...and it all happens, fittingly enough, in the dark." I don’t disagree with King in his opinion at all, but I feel that maybe this was a bit of a simple answer to a very loaded question. I mean can we really say this about all horror fans? Horror fans have all kinds of different occupations, personalities, and backgrounds so obviously this theory can’t apply to everyone, so in this case, I can only really say why I watch horror movies, and ask you to do some kind of self reflection on your own. First of all, why do I watch horror movies? That is actually a really good and very heavy question. I often times try to understand why I watch films tha...

Fleas Essays -- essays research papers

Fleas are very small insects. They are all flightless and do not have eyes, although two ocelli may be present. Their antennaes are short and their mouthparts are adapted for piercing and sucking. The female flea lays a few eggs daily that total up to 300 to 400 in its lifetime. The eggs are laid usually on animals and most drop off where they spend most of their time. Bedding, floor crevices, carpeting, along baseboards and areas near their favorite sleeping and napping sites are especially likely places where eggs will be found. These eggs hatch into larvae, which are baby fleas. The larvae spin a cocoon and, depending on environmental conditions, emerge as adults in as few as five days. The adult fleas then mate after a blood meal and then lay eggs. The life cycle is then repeated--until control measures break the cycle. The total life cycle can last from 25 days to several months. The bodies of both adults and young fleas have many backward pointing hairs and powerful leg muscle s. Fleas can jump 80 times their own height and 150 times their body length. Fleas have many mites and parasites and can have up to 150 living in them at one time. Adult fleas can cause medical problems including flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), tapeworms, secondary skin irritations and, in extreme cases, anemia. Some people may have a severe reaction, such as a general rash or inflammation, which can result in secondary infections caused by scratching the irritated skin area. Fleas may transmit bu...

Evaluate own role in life long learning Essay

Evaluating My own Role and Responsibilities in Lifelong Learning To evaluate my own role and responsibilities as an assessor I need to be honest with myself as well as brave. I have a good understanding of my role and responsibilities, but to improve I need to become a reflective practitioner which can only be achieved if I am prepared to evaluate my own performance [ Petty.G pg 527]. By using Kolb’s learning style model, I realise it’s useful concepts can help me understand how my learning behaviour can help others to learn. My role is to communicate effectively with the learners, but do I? Recently I was helping a learner prepare for his functional skills writing assessment. I explained to him how to layout a letter, which side your address goes on which side the recipient’s goes on etc. After the assessment I was informed he had put his address on the wrong side at the top of the page. Did he not hear what I said? Did he forget? Easy to blame the learner, but did I explain well enough and what did I do to confirm his understanding? Poor performance is sensitive subject, but if I’m not prepared to face up to my failures then I can’t expect my successes to be acknowledged either.[Petty.G Pg518] So I have concrete experience of contributing to a learner loosing marks on his assessment. Now I need to reflect on the experience and think how effective was my teaching, obviously not good in some areas but his greetings, layout, structure and ending were good so I was effective in other areas. At this stage of abstract conceptualisation, I ask myself why was I good and effective in some areas, and not in others. Here I think about the methods I used, and do I need more question to confirm understanding, maybe some fun activities. This is when the final stage of the cycle kicks in, it’s when I plan active experimentation. Here I decide how I can do things differently, what new methods shall I try that will produce improved results, and maybe take that brave step into the unknown with new material. Being self critical is not enough though, it’s my responsibility to get direct and indirect feedback when I can, learner questionnaires, college observations also indirect feedback can be just as effective, this can be collected during training or assessment through observation. Maybe learners are not engaged, making no eye contact, separate conversations carrying on the classroom, all good  feedback. I use my CPD records to detail my development. Today I was observed and my folders were quality checked by our Internal Quality Assurer, who also spoke with learners and gave me verbal and written feedback. IQA records I keep a long with minutes and details from our standardisation meetings, where we have the opportunity to liaise with other trainers, teachers and lean practitioners. I keep all Individual Learner Plan where records of initial assessment are recorded, where any needed support has been identified and details of planned and actual reviews are written. Reference List Petty.G. (2009) Teaching Today Fourth Edition, Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes LTD www.cardiff.ac.uk/isru/educationalandtraining/infolit/hilt/section8.1.doc 23/03/14

Absolute Beginner English Basic Adjectives

Absolute Beginner English Basic Adjectives When absolute beginner students are able to identify a number of basic objects, that is a good time to introduce some basic adjectives to describe those objects. You will need to have some illustrations of similar objects that look slightly different. Its helpful to have them mounted on the same size of cardstock and have them big enough to show to everyone in the classroom. For Part III of this lesson, you will want to have, at minimum, one image per student. Preparation Prepare the lesson by writing a number of adjectives on the board. Use adjectives that are paired in opposites, such as the following: beautiful- uglyold- newhot- coldold- youngbig- smallcheap- expensivethick- thinempty- full Notice that you should use adjectives that describe the outward appearance of things because students have learned only basic everyday object vocabulary prior to this. Part I: Introducing Adjectives Teacher: (Take two illustrations that show similar things in different states.) This is an old car. This is a new car. Teacher: (Take two illustrations that show similar things in different states.) This is an empty glass. This is a full glass. Continue pointing out the differences between the various things. Part II: Getting Students to Describe Illustrations After you feel comfortable that students are familiar with these new adjectives, begin to ask students questions. Stress that students should answer in complete sentences.   Teacher: What is this? Student(s): That is an old house. Teacher: What is this? Student(s): That is a cheap shirt. Continue choosing between the various objects. Besides the traditional  calling on individual students for answers, you can also make a circle game out of this activity. Turn  over the images onto a table and have students each choose one from the pile (or hand them out facedown).  Then each student flips over the image and describes it. After each student has had a turn, mix up the images and have everyone draw again. Part III: Students Ask Questions For this circle game, hand out the various images to the students. The first student, student A, asks the student to his/her left, student B, about the image. Student B responds and then asks the student to his/her left, student C, about Bs image, and so on around the room. For additional practice, reverse the circle so that every student gets to ask and respond about two images. If it will take too long to go around a circle because of the class size, have students pair off and discuss their images. They can then switch pairs with people near them or trade images. Teacher: (Student A name), ask (student B name) a question. Student A: Is this a new hat? OR What is this? Student B: Yes, that is a new hat. OR No, that isnt a new hat. It is an old hat. Questions continue around the room. Part III: Alternative If you want to create a mingle with this activity, deal an image to each student, facedown. Students cannot show anyone their image and instead need to find the opposite of the one they have, like an interactive Go-Fish game. If you have an odd number of students, include yourself in the mingle. Alternates are listed in case students have not had do or where yet.  For  example: Student A: Do you have an old house? OR Where is the old house? OR Are you the old house? I have the new house OR I am the new house.   Student B: I have an expensive bag. I am not the old house.

Censorship of Pornography

Censorship of Pornography The Ethical Case For and Against Censorship of Pornography The controversy surrounding pornography is complicated not only by a lack of agreement on whether pornography should be allowed in our society, but also by a basic disagreement over what is included in the definition of pornography. Emotions run high and scientific rigour falls aside where it comes to studies of the effect of pornography, the use of these studies in mass media and in academic debates. Sifting through mountains of rhetoric can be confusing, when few entering the debate can even agree on what pornography is, much less what are its corrosive effects. The first task of this paper, therefore, shall be to begin at the beginning, and clarify the differing definitions or idea about pornography that are at play in recent academic debates. Secondly, we will examine the arguments for and against pornography, be it by way of censorship or not. We will want to pay particular attention to the way in which one argument (that of American feminist Mackinnon and Dworkin) are mischarac terized and misunderstood, and why. Finally, we will look at the underlying assumptions of ethical systems that are being used here as points of reference; I will argue that much of the disagreement about this issue is due to the fact that the various sides (and there are far more than two) are appealing to wildly different (and perhaps incompatible) ethical systems. On the one hand, there are those that appeal to utilitarianism, while others appeal to an individualistic, existentialist ethics. Let us begin, then, with the very different ways that pornography is characterized and defined. In popular parlance (and many of the arguments depend on this commonly held conception) pornography means materials that are sexual in nature, usually in a way that is offensive to one self or the mainstream public. Proof of this position, as well as of its hypocrisy, lies with the fact that much of art in the Western tradition that which is displayed in museums – depicts sexually explicit material. There is no question that this is art, not pornography. The second common distinction is one that is drawn between pornography and erotica. As described by Nettie Pollard in her article, The Modern Pornography Debates, qualifying as erotica are representations of a sexually explicit nature, but which are not violent or degrading to women; pornography, on the other hand is harmful because it is violent or sexually degrading to women. This distinction is murky, however, because sometimes the distinction is mean to signal the difference between visual materials (pornography includes the Greek term graphe, or visual representation), whereas erotica is then used to refer to written materials describing erotic acts. This last way of delineating the matter appeals to the belief that whereas pornography appeals to men because their sexuality is more visual, erotica appeals to women’s more internal and intellectual connection to sexuality. However, any feminist worth her salt would refuse both distinctions as being false. Why? Because in either case, the division between erotica (good) and pornography (bad) is just a way of distinguishing the erotic and sexually explicit materials that you find acceptable with that which you do not find acceptable. The problem is that, in trying to censor pornography, no one wants to have to ban any and all erotically or sexually explicit materials (we all think Michelangelos David is beautiful), but only some. But then, that means that someone has to make a call, draw the line between good and bad sexualities (and their representations). That we should be more preoccupied with punishing bad representations, not what they represent, seems to escape the debate; why you should not get flogged for producing boring or canned pornography? It is specifically in order to capture only the morally reprehensible depictions of sex that McKinnon and Dworkin carefully re-defined pornography as a practice of sex discrimination which sexualizes the subordination of women and which eroticizes violence against women: as a political practice of power and powerlessness which eroticizes dominance and submission. (As quoted in Pollard, 2). This definition is important, first of all, because it re-describes pornography as a practice. McKinnon, who is both a feminist and an attorney, understood what she was doing when she did this. She sought, specifically, to bypass the debate over pornography in terms of censorship, and claims to first amendment rights (in America). Even though Mackinnon and Dworkin are often misrepresented as being in the pro-censorship camp (such as in the article by Avedon Carol entitled The Harm of Porn: Just Another Excuse to Censor), they were explicitly and firmly against censorship, and saw this as a dead end in their attempt to curtail violent or harmful pornography. Their ordinance (proposed, passed, then overturned in Minneapolis, MN) took pornography to be a practice that produced harms to women in particular, harms that individual women were not able to mitigate against; secondly, their ordinance sought to make it possible for women to gain the right to litigate against the harms of pornography in a court of law– that is, to sue the producers and distributors of violent pornography for inciting or causing violence against them in particular, or as a class of people, in the case of a class action suit. If those impacted by violent pornography (and not just women) could show, in a court a law, a link between th e consumption of pornography and a crime committed against them. (I suspect that Carol understands this, as she leaves the matter vague, only implying Mackinnon and Dworkins support of censorship). MacKinnon and Dworkins strategy had other strengths built in: it was meant to bi-pass a generation of faulty scientific research on the subject, as described by Carol in her previously mentioned article. It sought to not have to have feminists making the call between what is good and bad pornography, by waiting to make this call on the effects of particular representations. Finally, it was meant to put financial pressure on the producers of pornography to make pornography that was not violent nor degrading to women. But the beauty of the ordinance was that it did not rely on gender specificity – under the same ordinance, producers of pornography putting minors or even men at risk would be liable to a negative judgment and (hopefully) resulting in bankruptcy. In any case, as many feminists pointed out at the time, there are already laws against the rape, torture, mutilation, and un-consented to acts against women; censoring their representations does little to address these pro blems. As the Americans say, the proof would have to be found in the pudding. This is not to say that there where not feminists who were rallying against porn in the late seventies and early eighties, and that they did not become the voice that came to represent the feminist position in mainstream media representations of the debate, such as is described by Carol. Arguable, the misrepresentation of McKinnon and Dworkin as being in the censorship camp is as gross a misrepresentation (serving the same interests) as the misrepresentation of the feminist position as naturally anti-porn. Perhaps the reason for both distortions has to do with the fact that it was this conservative (and liberal in the traditional sense) group of feminist who most resonated with the puritanical American mainstream – what Pollard calls the moralist position, or the traditional, conservative critique of pornography (Pollard, 2) that has sought scientific evidence as grounds for suspending the first amendment rights of some through censorship. The attempt to find scientific grounds for making the call between good and bad representations of sex is well explained in Avedon Carol’s piece on The Harm of Porn. She explains how a generation of right-wing, moralist men, beginning with Dolf Zillman and not ending with Edward Donnerstien, attempted to find a connection between violence and anti-social behavior, and the consumption of pornographic images. The story of Donnerstein connecting the higher pulse rates and skin temperature of young men viewing pornography (and here the irony that in order to work against it, these poor moralists had to expose themselves repeatedly to the corrupting materials!) to a preparatory towards committing violence (Carol, 2-3). The studies would be humorous, had then not been taken so seriously and cast such a long shadow. But then the question becomes, why did these studies stick; why do so many even today believe there is a link between pornography and violence (the link often being made through representations of S/M)? People believe what they already want to believe, and the mainstream of America and British people are puritanical. But perhaps there is more to it†¦. There always have been, and always will be, women whose relation to sex and their own sexualities makes it inconceivable to accept what others might enjoy, represent, and respond to sexually. They are often posited as opposed to libertarians and sex radicals, but in reality there is no clear cut opposition between these groups and positions. That is, it is possible for a radical lesbian separatist who feels it is her duty to violate societal norms of decency by not only sleeping with women, but by sleeping regularly with more than one , who nonetheless finds pornography loathsome, and who acts much like the Christian church lady in her activism around censoring mainstream pornography. So, now, lets look at the moralist position that pornography threatens the moral order. In the extreme, this position is like a no avatars position – sex should not be seen, period. This could be based on the view that sex is dirty and shameful, and that sexuality should only be in the service of reproduction within the context of monogamous heterosexual marriage, and these are usually reasons given. Or, more plausible to this writer, it could be that explicit representations of sex never looks like what it feels, and so carries with it a necessary air of corruption and falsity. (It follows that in order to truly represent sex, desire, or ecstasis, the last thing that you would represent would be sex acts, which means that a ban on the representation of sex and sexuality would take us far and wide indeed.) Not unlike the argument that Plato gives in The Republic against artists and playwrights, this is also the reason why some religions forbid the representations of God, as necessary falsifying.) Unfortunately, there representations are often produced by an for men, and are often used as a stand in for sexual education; when young men learn to value sex for what it looks like, and by extension to value women by what they look like, then I cannot deny that we have a problem. Additionally, there is the larger problem that the representation of sex is itself a sexual practice that cannot help but habituate and homogenize sexual behaviors. So, the charge of corruption sticks, but not for the reasons that are usually given; it is worth mentioning, however, that the rote reason given (that it threatens the social order) is grounded in these latter reasons, even if these reasons are assumed and not made explicit by those who see themselves as living a morally upright existence. The moral right tends to get lazy when it comes to having to actually make an argument. Still, many of the more conservative arguments from feminist have to do not with how pornography may corrupt human sexuality – women and mens but with the alleged hard it does to women – the view that is attribute to the British government by Pollard (Pollard, 1). The effect and impact of pornography (violent or not, degrading of women or not) on women is different than it is on men, yet no feminist has tried to make these differences explicit. Furthermore, that this harm is like the concept of race – no such thing exists, but it continues to shape our beliefs and behaviors – seems not to destroy the case of those who seek to censor pornography – both in America and Britain recent efforts have been stepped up to crack down on the makers of sexually explicit materials. We may want to ask, why not? It could be that the moralists can afford to be lazy with their arguments because they seem to have the strong arm of the law, and the force of long custo m, on their side. Andrea Dworkin and Catherine McKinnon’s re-definition of pornography in terms of a practice that causes harm, ironically, opened a new avenue for those who sought to censor lewd materials. The argument addressed by Andrew Koppleman (Does Obscenity Cause Moral Harm?) and Rae Langton and Caroline West (Scorekeeping in a Pornographic Language Game) goes like this: if pornography is a practice, and to practice something entails action, then pornography is close to action. (There are also arguments about the performative aspect of language that get aligned with this argument, e.g., pornography as speech, and more specifically hate speech.) Actions have consequences and effect, and the effect of pornography is generally harm to women who are degraded in and by pornographic representations; it silences and subordinates women in the way that racially hateful or homophobic speech affects those marked racially or by way of perceived sexual preference. As Langton and Rae point out, neith er the older theory that pornography rationally conditions violence, not irrationally has the same effect; but what is the point of this distinction when the harm caused by pornography cannot be proved by the means that we usually accept – that is, by scientific means. The best chance of proving and establishing this link may have been with McKinnon’s ordinance (by legal precedence), but this attempt was turned back by the court. And, if we are to look at effect, the effect of all this talk of censoring pornography has only led to its growth and popularity. Maybe the best way to beat the probably real but improvable harms of porn is to beat it – to make better, less harmful, maybe even empowering representations. Let the marketplace decide this issue, as it decides everything else. Perhaps it will not be surprising that those on the opposite liberal, left, or radical edge of the debate over pornography rely on assumptions so similar as those on the right as to be indistinguishable. One line of reasoning goes like this: sex and sexuality is at the core of individual identity, and the attempt to foreclose its expression, irregardless of how much we like or dislike any given expression, is dehumanizing. Some women may be exploited in the sex industry, or by their husbands, or by their bosses at work. The law recognizes limits to women being exploited. Ironically, what developed from the attempt to censor pornography in modern times has been a rather large discourse on pornography and sexuality that has only helped the industry grow by leaps and bounds, become less taboo and more accepted, and diversify into pornography made by women and for women. There is now consensus that the voices that used to dominate in the feminist movement, voices against pornography and in favor of censorship, have become less powerful; the new feminists are pro-sex and for its representation. This does not mean that any and all sexualities should be protected from censorship. We can still, as a society, disallow materials that are harmful to minors, or which results in negligent hard done to anyone in the course of its being made. Other than this, if you don’t’ like S/M, then you should not expose yourself to these materials. This debate over pornography strikes me as a lot of smoke and mirror, with sides talking past each other because they dont agree on what they are talking about to begin with, not seeing how much grounds there is for agreement, and each relying on faulty evidence and lazy reasoning. But in the end, it may be that the real differences may lie with the basic ethical assumptions behind the impulse to deal with pornography through censorship or by other means: Those who want to make the harm argument rely on a universal utilitarian paradigm that shows that he harms of pornography outweighs the need to protect the first Amendment Rights of pornographers, or vice versa (that pornography should not be censored because it is not worth the sacrifice in restricting freedom of speech). IF this is the case, then the debate becomes about the perceived harms and goods, and the means of measuring and balancing these. Those who enter into the debate on these terms assume that society has the right an d responsibility to create balance. (The libertarian believes the free market naturally restores and maintains the balance.) But the debate is also being had under completely different assumptions and on another plain. The existentialist and individualistic tendencies (of Americans in particular) lead to the assumption that id sexuality is a core around which individuals can come to define their identities, then to limit the expression of such by any means is to do metaphysical harm to the individual, who is the seat of morality (and not the government or society at large). The existentialist would not grant government or the market any role in the debate, only good and bad faith. It is a matter of scale: do moral questions get made by individuals who chose to participate in the pornography industry (be it as consumers, models, filmmakers, artists, distributors, etc.) or is morality a matter of social convention – or, of a yet higher force. In the end, the ethical case for or against censorship of pornographic materials comes down to this: to the incompatibility not of positions pro or con, but of ethical systems.

To what extent can the tragedy of Eva Smith be blamed on the society in which she lived Essay Example

To what extent can the tragedy of Eva Smith be blamed on the society in which she lived Essay Example To what extent can the tragedy of Eva Smith be blamed on the society in which she lived Essay To what extent can the tragedy of Eva Smith be blamed on the society in which she lived Essay Essay Topic: Literature In this essay I will explain who I feel is most responsible for Eva Smiths death, by examining each characters contribution to the tragedy. I will also illustrate to what extent her death can be blamed on the society she lived in. In 1912 the society in which Eva Smith lived was very strict with a class system that split England up into wealthy and poor people with no classes dividing them. The sailing of the titanic was one of the feature points for that year. The navy was unchallenged and there were no help from the state to support the poor, no DHSS or NHS and the average life expectancy was around 46. There were advances in technology mass media being one, the developing of motorcars was introduced but only available for those who were rich enough to afford one. Trade unions had also started to gain power in the society, there were strikes from coal miners about work costs and conditions and the campaign for womens rights had begun. I will demonstrate what I think Mr Arthur Birling had to do with the death. He is a pompous, self-serving business man who seems to have a high opinion of himself. Mr Birling states for lower costs and higher prices. From this quote you can tell that all he is interested in is his business, money and himself and couldnt care less about anyone or anything. He also says I gather that there is a very good chance of knight hood this also tells us he is snobby and vain, and thinks his stature and class make him the best and his knighthood is what he really cares about. When the Inspector starts to ask him questions about Eva Smith he seems to remember her quite well and gives the Inspector a lot of information about her, he even said himself that she was a good worker. And was told by the leading operator in his factory that she was ready for promotion. He told the Inspector that it all started to go wrong for her when she came back from holiday in August, he said that her attitude had changed quite dramatically and she seemed rather restless within herself. Then out of no-where Eva and a group of girls asked Mr Birling for a pay rise of twelve and a half shillings, so that they could average twenty-five shillings a week. He had refused their demand and told them that it was a free country and if they wanted to go and work somewhere else they could. He basically was telling them they were sacked and to go and find another job. The women then decided to go on strike but as Mr Birling told us that the strike didnt last for long maybe a week or two, as they were all broke. At this time there were no work benefits so the workers had no help and just did what they were told to do. There was a class system and because the workers were lower class they had to respect their superiors i. e. their bosses. That was the last Mr Birling had seen or heard of Eva smith. I feel that Mr Birling is mainly to blame, as he had started a chain of reactions from sacking Eva. Sheila Birling. She is a pretty young girl in her early twenties; she is also well educated and has a rather pleasant and excited outlook on life. You can tell this from the beginning of the book, where the family are having dinner, Sheilas language and behaviour shows us that she was brought up in a high class way, the words she uses also state this like I should jolly well think not and she refers to her parents as mummy and daddy. Just from these two quotes it shows you that she has be taught proper English, she uses this throughout out the book. This also relates to class, as your upbringing depended on what class you where from. At first Sheila acts innocent and concerned as she is unaware of whom they are talking about. She thinks her dad is responsible for the girls death as he had taken her job away from her. Shelia is obviously concerned as she starts to ask the Inspector questions like what was she like, quite young? And when the Inspector tells her how old she was she asks the Inspector more questions like was she pretty? The name Eva Smith pops up again but still Sheila doesnt realise who it is, Sheila asks the Inspector what happened to the girl, after her Father had sacked her. The Inspector tells her that she had gone to work in a shop called Milwards a shop that Sheila had been going to of late. They carry on talking about Evas time at Milwards and then Sheila starts to realise that she might have met and had something to do with this girls death, so she asks the Inspector what she looked like. The Inspector took out a photograph from his pocket and showed it to Sheila, she noticed the face of this girl from one day at Milwards. Sheila then told the Inspector and the others what had happened between them. After Sheila tells the Inspector this she feels totally to blame and gets upset and if I could help her now I would this shows us that Sheila is sorry even though she is too late. But when the Inspector starts to ask more questions she then realises that her Father and her werent the only ones who had something to do with this girl. But out of all the characters she is the only person to show emotion towards Eva so I think that Sheila is still partly to blame but only due to her actions in Milwards. Now I will write about Gerald Croft, he is an attractive, well-bred chap about thirty and is the man-about-town. He met Eva when she had changed her name to Daisy Renton in the Stalls bar at the Palace Variety Theatre he said that I went down to the bar for a drink this shows he had no intentions of meeting anyone, only to have a nice quite drink he also claimed that Daisy looked young, fresh and charming and he saw that Alderman Meggarty had wedged her into a corner with his obscene fat carcass this girl had given him a look as though it was a cry for help, he decide to go and tell Alderman Meggarty that the manager had a message for him and him and girl then left. The night didnt end there though because they went onto the County Hotel a quieter place to drink, Eva didnt get drunk as it says she only had a port and lemonade which also shows that he never got her drunk and had no thought of to either. Heres where they arranged to meet again. Gerald allowed Daisy to survive a little longer. He was very generous to Daisy, providing her with enough money to survive and also free accommodation. Although he did eventually desert her, Daisy was prepared for this as their classes were very different Gerald was a wealthy upper class man and she was a lower class working women, in that time people were expected to know their place in society, so people from different classes were not allowed to get involved with each other as they would have been frowned upon by people in power due to the class system, and it was not as big a blow as her dismissal thanks to Sheila or the consequences of her later relationship with Eric. I believe that his initial intentions were good and he did not set out to have Daisy as his mistress, only wishing to free her from old Joe Meggarty A notorious womaniser. Gerald explains that after he had rescued her, he deliberately met Daisy a second time I discovered, not that night but Throughout this explanation Sheila seems relatively calm, considering the situation. She often adds sarcastic remarks such as Well we didnt think he meant Buckingham Palace. As already stated, I do not consider Gerald played a major part in Evas death but still contributed to it. When questioned by the Inspector, Mrs Sybil Birling immediately proclaims her innocence, denying she had anything to do with Eva Smith or Daisy Renton. The Inspector seems to carry out his duties in a most unusual manner and although the rest of the family seem quite aware of this, Mrs Birling seems totally unaware of his methods. Initially she is relaxed with an easy tone but after continual interruptions by Sheila with phrases like Mother, stop! she becomes very agitated wanting to prove her innocence. At one point she tries to intimidate the Inspector, in a similar manner to that of her husband, by commenting on the fact that they are upper class to get at the Inspector You know of course that my husband was Lord Mayor only two years ago this shows that she knows that she is going to have to explain what happened between her and Eva so she tries in every possible manner to o utwit the Inspector. Mrs Birling should have been less hasty in her judgement of Eva. Because she hadnt even met the girl and by giving her a second chance she could have saved the girls life. But Mrs Birling judged her on first impressions and I think that for a woman of her stature to do a thing like that is wrong. She should have know not to Judge a book by its cover but have at least talked to her before making a judgement on that note I think that this could have been the point that threw Eva over the edge and made her want to kill herself. Finally Eric, a man in his early twenties not a relaxed person half shy and half assertive. He is the person I believe to carry most of the blame; he could have been more honourable in many respects. (Like he could have ask her to marry him even though the class system wouldnt have allowed it, he shouldnt of stole money to give to her as this was the wrong way to give her some money, he shouldnt have got drunk and had a one night stand in the first place as this was frowned upon in the middle and upper classes. This was because the superiors thought that there shouldnt a mix in classes and they should be kept apart and to stay that way. When he comes in he knows that everybody knows about his relationship with Eva but still he asks who told his mother this and blames it on Sheila by saying you told her. Why you little sneak! This shows that he is trying to make out that what he had done with Eva had not come from his lips and so therefore wasnt one hundred percent true. I think that Eric is a sneaky person and the next quote shows this as his Father asks him where did you get fifty pounds from? This tells us that he had not told his Father about taking the money. He also thought that he could let Eva survive on the stolen money, but this soon changed when Eva found out and started to refuse it. When the Inspector questions him about the money he begins to try and cover his tracks as when the question you mean-you stole the money? gets asked he replies not really and tells the Inspector that he intended to pay it back This tells us that he has lied and is now trying to cover it up. Once everything about Erics and the others encounters with Eva had come out the Inspector decides to leave. Leaving them in a muddle blaming the girls death on each other. Although Eva was partly responsible for her own downfall, others were also to blame and to a certain extent, she was also a victim of circumstances in the society in which she lived. At the end of the day I cannot prove which character is most responsible for Eva Smiths death because they all have equally contributed to it. Arthur, Sheila, Gerald, Eric and Sybil are all as responsible as one another. Not at any point in Evas life did either of them take her feelings into consideration but continued to carry out their own lives, not caring for anyone except from themselves. In all Honesty I truly think that Mr Birling is the character to blame as if he never sacked Eva in the first place, then the chain of events that followed would have never happened and Eva would never have committed suicide. I feel that I have shown that everybody in the Birling household and Gerald Croft were partly to blame for Eva Smiths death. As well the society in which she lived plays a major part in her tragedy. I think that throughout the book the author is trying to put this idea across in his amazing portrayal of what could happen if we do not act as a community but as individuals. Her death was provoked by a chain of events that started with her getting sacked from two jobs then being deserted, used for sex, and then to be turned away from a helping charity. These events built up enough pressure to make her kill herself, as she did not have anything left to aim for, no job, money, turned away from help and no one to love. If Mr Birling hadnt of sacked her in the first place, then none of these other events would have happened.

Classification of Data Collection and Analysis Depending on the Assignment

Classification of Data Collection and Analysis Depending on the Research Methodology Employed - Assignment Example This research is significant because it is based on surveys, experimental and other various research methods. Therefore, the dissertation will utilize this research method in order to determine whether the leadership styles employed by both directors of nursing and social serves have a positive impact in the psychological well- being of nursing home residents. Experiments: The research will collect data through the use of experiments that may involve completing various tests for measuring the leadership abilities. The researcher will then compare and contrast various results obtained from different tests. The aim of the tests is to judge leadership styles employed by both directors or measure their so-called aptitude (Fulton, Lyon, and Goudreau, 2010). However, it will focus on the relations between their performance level and other factors. The researcher may be interested in observing  the way both directors reacts or behaves before or after the intervention programs such as training. This will enable the researcher to compare the leadership styles between the director of nursing and director of social services effectively. Sample surveys: The researcher will gather information from a fairly larger sample group of participants by use of questionnaires, interviews, observation and other techniques. The effective means of carrying out a survey is to sample the population at a time (Thomas, 2003). In this case, the researcher will survey the nursing home residents in order to determine the effective services they receive from both directors. Case studies: This usually involves detailed research analysis on a certain case or group of people (Bernard, 2000). Various data collection methodologies such as interviews, questionnaire, and observation, may be applied in this case. For instance, the researcher may interview both leaders about their personal records of leadership performance. He or she will narrow the results in descriptive data, in the environmental settings; thus challenging the existing theories or approaches of the domains.

Career Self-Efficacy Theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Career Self-Efficacy Theory - Research Paper Example A new part of my entrepreneurial careers commenced as I opened a daycare center at home so I could both earn a living and also be near my children. When they finally were old enough to go to school, I resumed my IT career but I realized that I had been out for too long, and I needed to hone my skills so as to catch up, I worked part-time in computer maintenance, until I got a realtors license and started a new career. I have so far managed to juggle family, education and my realtor job and am finally at a point where I am about to complete my degree; I could either look for a job in the computer sector again or use my IT skills to develop my realtor career and possible strike out on my own. From my career trajectory, I can examine myself through several theoretical viewpoints that are concerned with work and career, Donald Super’s theory of living space and lifespan is particularly applicable since it describes a career trajectory in stages of occupational preferences and comp etencies that change as one grows (Savickas, 1997). His theory is founded on the concept of vocational maturity which can correspond to one’s chronological age since people move through a variety of stages throughout their professional life. The first stage is growth which involved the development of a self-concept as one adjusts to their needs and figures out their environment, the stage is normally from self-awareness to when one is around 14. In my case, I had already decided I wanted to be independent which is why I started working at age 12.   The second step is exploration between 15 and 24 where one tries out various concepts before they decide which they will settle for; this was true in my case as I worked various jobs throughout high school and college before I decided to pursue computer studies.

Written Business Communication (Original Posting #1) Assignment

Written Business Communication (Original Posting #1) - Assignment Example I should try to resolve the conflict with my current employer by asserting the involved legal and ethical issues in the case for abolition of the intention to implement the technology. I should insist on a win-lose strategy in which I should be the winner because my position is right, as opposed to that of my employer (Singh, 2009). If the attempt fails then I should inform my previous employer of the case and at the same time seek legal protection for my job. While I recognize breach of my former employer’s intellectual property rights by using the software in my current organization, allowing the organization to proceed with the implementation undermines justice to my former employer. Virtue ethics, on this basis, requires my firm stand against implementation of the software by my current employer. My position against use of the software also does not justify my dismissal and this means injustice should I lose my job for doing the right thing. The situation therefore justifi es my right to seek legal intervention against my dismissal (Brooks and Dunn,

Answers For Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Answers For Final - Essay Example The freedom that they long for is bleak. However, the author (Luther Para 6) gives the hope through his dream that the situations will change in future across the entire nation. The sons of the oppressed and the oppressors will one day embrace each other. There is hope that racial segregation and discrimination will come to an end and freedom and justice will in turn reign across the nation. He hopefully asserts that freedom will prevail across all the races, religion, and every individual will embrace each other irrespective of the dynamics and differences between them. The author uses division and analysis method to illustrate his opinion and perception to the audience. For an instant, he has divided his all his dreams of the American population in reference to the injustices and practices after which he analyses the implications of the consequences of each dream. For example, he dreams on the day, the Mississippi state known for sweltering heat of injustice and oppression will be transformed into a state characterized by an oasis of justice inclusive of freedom. The other method the author employs is the use of argument and persuasion. Luther explains the predicaments of the oppressed black community and the tribulations that they are undergoing such as being exile in their mother country. However, despite these challenges, he provides hope to them and urges them to soldier on with the preemption that they are definition the future of their generation. Brady on her literature titled I want a wife attempts to explain the role of a women in the perspective of a man’s opinion. The character in the literature explains the reasons he wants a wife and he is he derives an encouragement from his recently divorced friend who despite his marriage predicament is also searching for a wife (Brad Para 3). The main character in need of a wife

Transformational Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Transformational Leadership - Essay Example Some of the factors were the rapid changes in technology, an increase in the circulation of products from recently industrialized nations, increased competitiveness among the competitors, pricing strategy in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) being volatile, and changing market structures led to a strong, volatile and competitive atmosphere in which important changes in the organization were crucial. Downsizing and adopting of new types of business agreement were the most common changes carried out. Therefore these changes took their toll on employee empowerment and satisfaction. This broke the old social agreement that had long term employment and in exchange get the employee's loyalty (Griffin 2003, p. 1). Secondly, in the 1970s, we had the contingency theory on leadership. The theory on leadership was established in research of behaviors, character, and circumstances and did not account for several untypical features in leaders (Simic 1998, p. 50). These are the fact tendencies that led to the realization of the theory of transformation.Odom and Green (2003), based on research and the analysis of a number of legal cases, claim that when the concept of transformational leadership is used in ethical dilemmas that managers face there is less litigation and better moral results than if the transactional approach to values that is common was used. Within academic surroundings, as a result of transformational leadership, instructors are more likely to work together and are perceived.

Answers For Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Answers For Final - Essay Example The freedom that they long for is bleak. However, the author (Luther Para 6) gives the hope through his dream that the situations will change in future across the entire nation. The sons of the oppressed and the oppressors will one day embrace each other. There is hope that racial segregation and discrimination will come to an end and freedom and justice will in turn reign across the nation. He hopefully asserts that freedom will prevail across all the races, religion, and every individual will embrace each other irrespective of the dynamics and differences between them. The author uses division and analysis method to illustrate his opinion and perception to the audience. For an instant, he has divided his all his dreams of the American population in reference to the injustices and practices after which he analyses the implications of the consequences of each dream. For example, he dreams on the day, the Mississippi state known for sweltering heat of injustice and oppression will be transformed into a state characterized by an oasis of justice inclusive of freedom. The other method the author employs is the use of argument and persuasion. Luther explains the predicaments of the oppressed black community and the tribulations that they are undergoing such as being exile in their mother country. However, despite these challenges, he provides hope to them and urges them to soldier on with the preemption that they are definition the future of their generation. Brady on her literature titled I want a wife attempts to explain the role of a women in the perspective of a man’s opinion. The character in the literature explains the reasons he wants a wife and he is he derives an encouragement from his recently divorced friend who despite his marriage predicament is also searching for a wife (Brad Para 3). The main character in need of a wife

Enrons corporate ethics policies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Enrons corporate ethics policies - Research Paper Example The ethical dilemma that faced Enron involved satisfying shareholders interests and the need to service all the corporate constituents. Satisfying shareholders would attract more investors and create a good public image for the company, but it would be difficult to meet fully the greedy needs of those who contribute to the company’s operations; hence, a point of equilibrium was desirable to balance the two parties’ requirements. The 64-page code of ethics for Enron was founded on respect, integrity, communication, and excellence. Critiques have described Enron as having the culture of arrogance (McLean & Elkind, 2003). This culture of arrogance lured people to believe that they had the potential for handling greater risks without encountering any danger of incurring losses. The culture of the company was characterized by laxity in promoting the values of respect and integrity. The undermining of these values is evidenced by the company’s emphasis on decentralization, employee performance appraisals, and the discriminatory compensation programs. The Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth were merged on 1985 to form Enron (Niskanen, 2005). During the early 1990s, Enron sold electricity at market prices, but soon after the United States approved the legislation to deregulate the sale of natural gas, the markets made it possible for companies such as Enron to sell energy at comparatively higher prices. The objective of Enron was to achieve further growth; the company, therefore, pursued a diversification strategy. This led to the company operating and operated a variety of businesses across the world, which allowed Enron for the proliferation of crony capitalism. The financial statements of Enron were characterized by complexity and confusing to both analysts and shareholders (Niskanen, 2005. Enron’s complex business model required the company to use accounting limitations in misrepresenting earnings and modifying the balance sheet to

How does Shakespeare present conflict at the start of Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

How does Shakespeare present conflict at the start of Romeo and Juliet Essay Explain how Shakespeare presents the theme of violence in this part of the play. The first thing to note about this scene is that it takes place right at the start of the play. I think that this scene exists to set up and highlight one of the key conflicts in the play as a whole. It takes place after a serious fight between the Montagues and Capulets. This fight’s prime instigator is Tybalt who when asked by Benvollio to help him keep the peace says: â€Å"What drawn and talk of peace. I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee: Have at thee, coward!† Clearly then this is a deep seated conflict that is responsible for disturbing the peace in Verona and it is the Prince’s job to restore order in this scene. Therefore right at the start of the scene he calls them ‘profaners’. This is very emotive language and helps to underline the Prince’s contempt for both of the families and their conflict. The audience when they hear language like this will then associate both families as being not being very religious and being opposed to God and His purposes. The contempt that the Prince and the audience is supposed to feel for both of the fighting families is further emphasised in the description of their swords as ‘neighbor-stained steel’. Clearly what the Prince is trying to highlight here is that both families are behaving in a very selfish immature way and are showing an unchristian regard for their neighbours. Therefore violence is shown in this scene as being something that is pointless, stupid and going against God. Following on from this the theme of violence is further emphasised through the Prince’s use of a rhetorical question: â€Å"Will they not hear?† I think that Shakespeare deliberately uses this technique here to demonstrate how unthinking both families are in their hatred for each other. It is clear that the hatred between them runs so deep that they cannot and will not listen to people who are trying to mediate between them and trying to keep the peace. This is further emphasised later on in the line by the Prince describing them as ‘beasts’. I think that Shakespeare deliberately uses this word to help emphasise just how nasty the violence between both families are. A beast is an animal. Therefore, to the Prince, the unthinking violence between them has gone so far as to take away their humanity. Again in the next line Shakespeare has further emphasised the Prince’s dislike and animosity towards both families and even how fed up he is with their constant quarrelling by using the emotive language of: â€Å"your pernicious rage’ This helps to underline that to the Prince it is both families’ actions that are having a harmful effect on his city and that they are gradually being very destructive through their actions. According to the Prince the only thing that will help to cool the men’s emotions down and will stop all the violence is: â€Å"purple fountains issuing from your veins† What the Prince means here is that only by the men’s spilt blood will they calm down. This does not seem like an effective way to keep the peace and helps to show that for some reason violence has become a way of life for the people involved the quarrel. What is the cause of all this violence the audience would naturally ask at this point in the speech? It is clear that, according to the Prince, that the cause of most of the violence is merely an ‘airy word’. The connotations of ‘airy’ are something that is unsubstantial, something that is barely even there. Therefore the portrayal of violence in this part of the play by Shakespeare is of actions that don’t have a cause, that are incre4dibly harmful and don’t seem to be about anything much in particular. Surely then we as the audience will slightly sympathise with the Prince and his role to help keep the peace. This can be seen later on in the play when Tybalt gets into a fight with Mercutio. One of the key moments in the play is when Tybalt says: â€Å"Mercutio thou consortst with Romeo† This could be seen as being just friendly ‘banter’ however to both families it is seemingly jokey things people say to each other take on huge significance. For me then these ‘airy words’ have a huge impact because the strong sense of pride these characters have and how they are unable to let things slide. I think this helps to underline what I think is the big lesson that Shakespeare is trying to teach us about violence in the play and that is that is that violence is often seen by people who are not taking part or who are innocent bystanders as being pointless and damaging.

Analysis of Water Quality | Experiment

Analysis of Water Quality | Experiment Teri Reed Water in Crisis Abstract Water filtration methods were examined by using vinegar, oil and laundry detergent. These products were used to determine how well the purification process of water works. The color, smell and consistency changed during testing which allowed the transformation to be visual. Different types of water was tested using chemical strips that evaluated the contamination between them. The data suggested that bottled water was none the less better for drinking than tap water. Fresh water is essential for all living things and contaminated water must be treated before released into the water supply (Bottcher Rex, 2012). Introduction In this lab, the study of water quality was performed which is imperative to our environment as it safeguards and protects all living things. Certain criteria can support and identify problems that may cause incorrect treatment of wastewater from agricultural areas contaminated with sediment, fertilizers, and chemicals. Principles and standards are put into action to attain and protect water quality (EPA, 2012). Poor water quality can negatively affect ecological developments such as healthy rivers, plant life, wetlands, and animals. If the quality of our water systems is not maintained it will negatively impact the environment and influence commercial and recreational values (NSW, 2012). The main objective of these labs was to determine the effects of contaminated water and the impact it has on the quality of living things. By examining the effectiveness of the filtration process, it signified the importance of the quality of drinking water. In these experiments there were different types of water used, tap water and two different brands of bottled water. These lab also required the use of test strips that measured the variety of levels of chemical components within our drinking water (Bottcher Rex, 2012). In the first experiment, there were three hypotheses on how vinegar, oil and laundry detergent contaminated groundwater. The hypotheses for vinegar was if it was mixed with soil it would contaminate the ground water with the acidity, which can lead to dissolving lead or copper in plumbing. The hypotheses for oil was that it would contaminate the ground water and kill plants and wildlife. It is also flammable which would lead to fires. The hypotheses for laundry detergent was it would contaminate the ground water with perfume and dyes, which can get into the drinking water, and this would cause people to get very sick. In the second experiment, the hypothesis of filtration techniques would get rid of all contaminants from the water supply. In the third experiment, the hypotheses was that tap water would have the most contaminants, while both bottled water(s) would have the least amount of contaminants. Materials and Methods This first experiment was conducted to test the effects of groundwater contamination. This test was conducted with eight beakers filled with tap water. In beaker one it had10 ml of tap water, in beaker two 10ml of oil was added to tap water, in beaker three 10ml of vinegar was added to tap water, in beaker four 10ml of laundry detergent was added to tap water and then the smell, color and contents of the water was observed. Next a piece of cheesecloth was used to line the funnel and 60ml of soil was poured into the flue. The first beaker with tap water was poured into the soil allowing it to drain for one minute. Then beaker two vinegar water was poured over new soil, allowing it to drain for one minute. The next step was to pour the oil water from beaker three over new soil with a cheesecloth filter, allowing it to drain for one minute. Beaker four with laundry detergent was then drained in the same manner. Once all the contents were drained into the beakers, the results were examin ed. The next study was the water treatment experiment, and a 250 ml beaker was filled with 100 ml of soil and 200 ml of tap water. Then the mixture was poured back and forth between the two beakers allowing the contaminated water to mix thoroughly. To determine the difference in the water contents from the beginning of the process to the end, 10 ml of the mixture was separated into 100 ml beaker and set aside. In the next step 10 grams of alum was added to the mixture in the original beaker, and then stirred for 2 minutes. Then the contents settled for 15 minutes. In order to create the filtration system a cheesecloth lining sat in the base of the funnel, and then 40ml of sand, 20ml of activated charcoal and 60ml of gravel filled the flue to the top. Next the filtration process began by running clean tap water through the content four times and allowing it to drain. Next the contaminated mixture was poured into the filter, allowing it to drain into the clean beaker. After the water made its way through the filtration process, it was ready to be treated with a few drops of bleach. When the lab was complete, the two beakers were compared to see how much the filtration process cleaned the water free from particles and smells. In the final study drinking water quality, tap water, Dasani bottled water, and Fiji bottled water were all tested with chemical strips for contaminants. The test strips were used to check for Ammonia, Chloride, pH balance, total Alkalinity, total Chlorine, total hardness, Phosphate, and Iron. Three beakers were used and each filled with the water contents and then tested with the chemical strips. After all the strips were used and the results were recorded, the lab was complete. Results Experiment 1: Effects of Groundwater Contamination Figure 1. Experiment 2: Water Treatment Figure 2. Experiment 3: Drinking Water Quality Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. Figure 7. Overall experiment 1 (Fig. 1) shows the results of vinegar, oil and laundry detergent with odors, dirty water, soil particles, and green / yellow water from the contaminants. When looking at Figure 1 the results of 1-8 are listed and it shows a significant difference between each observation. The results from experiment 2 (Fig.2) shows the filtration process is almost free of particles and odors. In experiment 3, (Fig. 3-7) the Ammonia and Chloride test results were 0 mg/L for all three water types. The 4 in 1 test strips showed a wide range of numbers, this may be caused by outside contamination. Phosphate test results shows a range of 0ppm, 10ppm, and 50ppm in table 5, and in table 6 the results from the tap water and Fiji ® Bottled Water was .15ppm and Dasani water was 0ppm. Discussion Based on the test results on the effects of contaminated ground water, the hypothesis was rejected because the oil stayed in the soil. The oil water was filtered through the soil using the funnel and cheesecloth. Once the water was filtered there was no visible oil particles. The hypothesis for vinegar was accepted based on the results from Table 1 where the vinegar seeped through the soil into the water. This test result showed that after the vinegar water was filtered through the soil using a cheesecloth, there was a certain smell of vinegar in the water. Finally, the hypothesis was accepted in experiment three, the laundry detergent seeped through the soil into the water and there was definitely a perfume odor with a soapy appearance. After the water was filtered through the soil using the funnel and cheesecloth, the water was soapy and had a noticeable smell of perfume. In the next experiment water treatment, the hypothesis was rejected because the water appeared to be less polluted with a lesser amount of odor. The water was filtered using a five step filtration process. The filter system was made with sand charcoal, and rocks. Tap water was filtered through the filtration system to clean the charcoal. The contaminated water was filtered. Lastly, there was a comparison of the contaminated water and treated water. The filtration method trapped soil and contaminated particles which allowed the odor to significantly decrease. When the bleach was added to the filtered water, the color of the contaminated water was darker than the filtered water and the odor in the soil was more robust than the contaminated water. In the final experiment drinking water quality, the hypothesis for tap water, Dasani water, and Fiji water was rejected. Based on the results from Tables 2-6, the three water samples were tested using chemical strips to determine if there was any Ammonia, Chloride, pH balance, total Alkalinity, total Chlorine, total hardness, Phosphate, and Iron present in the water examples. Tap water showed the least amounts of contaminates, Dasani water was mid range, and Fiji water had the highest number of existing contaminants. During the water quality experiment, it was important to study how the distribution of tap water traveled through the pipes. Although the tap water was run through a filtration system, it could become contaminated during the traveling process. Oxidization of pipes can cause pathogens to be present in water. Using high speed jets for cleaning can remove these types of contaminants from passing through the filtered water (Doelman, 2014). There are many other questions that can be asked about filters or a water filtration systems. There is Reverse Osmosis which seems like a multifaceted system when really it is a simple water filtration process. Reverse Osmosis is when water density forces molecules through a membrane which leaves contaminates behind and purified water is collected from a clean membrane. Any contaminated water is then flushed into a drain. Reverse Osmosis will remove salts and most inanimate materials. Reverse Osmosis will typically remove microscopic parasites, with th e exception of viruses. Although, reverse osmosis can be slower than a water filtration system, Reverse Osmosis will typically purify more water per day than most distillers (Kent Farahbakhsh, 2011). Conclusions In summary of water quality and contamination, it is critical to make consumers aware of the quality of tap water and bottled water and its contaminants. Three experiments were performed in this lab report, and although many of the hypotheses were accepted, it does show the amount of rejected claims. Doing these experiments allows the consumer to visualize how the filtration process works, and the effects of contamination on soil and groundwater. Further research should be done to prove accuracy and theories. References Bottcher, A., Rex, A. (2012). Environmental science student manual. Sheridan: eScience Labs. Doelman, J. D. (2014). Reducing fouling corrosion in pipelines. Pollution Engineering, 33-35. EPA. (2012, March 6). Why are water quality standards important. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from  http://water.epa.gov/scetech/swguidance/standards/imp.cfm Kent, F. C., Farahbakhsh, K. (2011). Addressing reverse osmosis fouling within water  reclamation-A side-by-side comparison of low-pressure membrane pretreatments.   Water Environment Research, 515-526. NSW. (2012, September 11). Water Quality. Retrieved from NSW Government:  Retrieved from  http:// www.environment.nsw.gov.au/water/waterqual.htm David Hume: Philosophy Analysis David Hume: Philosophy Analysis David Home was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in spring 1711. Hume originally studied law but then changed his mind and decided to focus only on philosophy and learning. He also had no interest in professors, saying there is nothing to be learnt from a Professor, which is not to be met with in Books. He traveled to France at age 23, and it was there that he wrote A Treatise of Human Nature, which is considered to be one of the most important books in Western philosophy. At the time of its publishing, though, it came under criticism for being unintelligible. It was then that he started writing The History of Great Britain. Shortly after, he wrote An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, which was more successful than the Treatise. He was convicted of heresy but because he was thought to be an atheist, he was considered to be outside the Churchs jurisdiction, so he got acquitted. Arguably, this is better than being hung. When Hume was a young boy attending the University of Edinburgh he devoured books written by Voet, Vinnius, Cicero and Virgil. David Hume was heavily influenced by both John Locke and George Berkeley. He was also influenced by French-speaking Pierre Bayle and many prominent figures on the English intellectual landscape such as Issac Newton, Samuel Clark, Francis Hutcheson, who served as his teacher, and Joseph Butler who provided him feedback on his first work. Hume belongs to the philosophical school of British Empiricism. Hume writes his Empiricism with a combination of both positive and negative aims. These aims are strongly cornered on the belief that simple ideas are combined to form complex ideas. The counter philosophical school during this time period were the Continental Rationalists. The British Empiricists put great value in experience whereas the Continental Rationalists worked to break down the views held during the Medieval Ages. Hume spent much of his time writing about religion, but it is difficult to discern his own religious views from the ones he writes about. He was living in a time where being an atheist could bring about harsh consequences in society. Hume never came out and declared himself an atheist and his writings showed nothing but ambiguity on the subject. In many of his writings he attacks many of the basic assumptions of religion and Christian beliefs, yet in other works he claims that, [t]he whole frame of nature bespeaks an intelligent author. It has been said by scholars that perhaps Hume was irreligious as opposed to atheist. Hume did not believe in the God of standard theismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ but he did not rule out all concepts of deity. The first half of the eighteenth century in Scotland was fraught with civil discontent, which was expressed in the form of the 1715 and 1745 Jacobite uprisings. When Charles Stuart, the Young Pretender, was chased out of Scotland after trying to conquer Britain, the Scottish were placed under an even tighter British rein and denied by proscription their traditional garb in 1747. In regards to John Locke, Humes philosophy does not explicitly have God as its foundation. This is evident in the chapter Of Refinement in the Arts, in which Hume argues for the value, both to society and the individual, of proper pursuit of luxury and refinement. His theory is not clearly tied to any belief in a deity, but neither does it reject deity. He instead argues from the perspective of whether or not innocent luxury is beneficial, not taking God into account. This difference between Locke and Hume relates to their views on reason and empirical observation. Both philosophers were empiricists, arguing that we arrive at knowledge through sensation. Yet Locke also believes in a law of reason and that certain things can be understood through the exercise of reason. Hume, however, is generally considered anti-rational. He argues that reason consists simply in the prescription of actions based on our passions which are in turn derived from our morals. Thus, reason can prescribe how we should act, what means we should employ, but it cannot prescribe the ends we pursue through those actions. This is fundamentally different from Locke, whose theory of society and government is grounded in the objective laws of nature and God. Again, this fundamental difference is reflected in Of Refinement in the Arts. Whereas Locke argues for a law of reason that prescribes the correct actions of a society and government, Hume argues that the best laws cannot be arrived at except through reason that has been refined by exercise. In other words, knowledge of the art of government does not come from an objective, external law of nature or reason, or from God, but from subjective human experience. Thus, for Locke, the best government is derived from the law of reason and has as its purpose the protection of everyones natural right to life, liberty, and property. Liberty, to Locke, is a natural right that government exists to protect. For Hume, a government that protects liberty is established from a society that is properly cultivated and refined, so that the people have acquired wealth and therefore has the power and the incentive to protect themselves from tyranny through good laws. Liberty and laws that protect it, to Hu me, are secured by motivated people, not established by God or by the law of reason. Another difference can be perceived in their views of education. Locke argues that the point of education is to allow one to understand the laws of nature or of society, and therefore to exercise liberty under those laws; Hume sees education as a major influence in allowing one to pursue those things that bring pleasure and enjoyment. Humes philosophy of the pursuit of pleasure and enjoyment, as the major theme in Of Refinement in the Arts, bears some similarities to Lockes philosophy, but also some important differences. Both philosophies are individualistic but are derived from fundamentally different bases. Locke argues that individuals, by nature, have a right to life, liberty, and property, the protection of which is the purpose of government. Hume argues that individuals should pursue innocent luxury, not as a God-given right, but as something that is beneficial both to individuals and to society.

Civil Rights Timeline: Jan. 15, 1929 - Dec. 21, 1956 :: American Civil Rights

Civil Rights Timeline: Jan. 15, 1929 - Dec. 21, 1956 Jan. 15, 1929 - Dr. King is born - Born on Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Ga., he was the second of three children of the Rev. Michael (later Martin) and Alberta Williams King. Sept. 1, 1954 - Dr. King becomes pastor - In 1954, King accepted his first pastorate--the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. He and his wife, Coretta Scott King, whom he had met and married (June 1953) while at Boston University. Dec. 1, 1955 - Rosa Parks defies city segregation - Often called "the mother of the civil rights movement," Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, b. Tuskegee, Ala., Feb. 4, 1913, sparked the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott that led to a 1956 Supreme Court order outlawing discriminatory practices on Montgomery buses. In December 1955, returning home from her assistant tailor job in Montgomery, Parks refused a bus driver's order to surrender her seat to a white man. She was jailed and fined $14. Dec. 5, 1955 - Montgomery bus boycott- Although precipitated by the arrest of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56 was actually a collective response to decades of intimidation, harassment and discrimination of Alabama's African American population. By 1955, judicial decisions were still the principal means of struggle for civil rights, even though picketing, marches and boycotts sometimes punctuated the litigation. The boycott, which lasted for more than a year, was almost 100 percent effective. Dec. 21, 1956 - Bus segregation declared illegal - The boycott's succeeded in desegregating public facilities in the South and also in obtaining civil rights legislation from Congress.  Civil Rights Timeline Sept. 24, 1957 - May 2, 1963 Sept. 24, 1957 - School integration - In September 1957 the state received national attention when Gov. Orval E. Faubus (in office 1955-67) tried to prevent the integration of Little Rock Central High School. President Dwight D. Eisenhower quickly intervened, in part by sending federal troops to Little Rock, and several black students were enrolled at Central High School. Aug. 19, 1958 - Student sit-ins - In spite of the events in Little Rock or Montgomery, or Supreme Court decisions, segregation still pervaded American society by 1960. While protests and boycotts achieved moderate successes in desegregating aspects of education and transportation, other facilities such as restaurants, theaters, libraries, amusement parks and churches either barred or limited access to African Americans, or maintained separate, invariably inferior, facilities for black patrons.

J. R. R. Tolkien Essay -- essays research papers

Three Rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky, Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone, Nine for mortal men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord in his dark throne. In the Land or Mordor where the shadow lies. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie†¦ (J.R.R. Tolkien, Rings)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These are the most famous recognized lines in The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkiens’ masterpiece. Strong, tall men, fun party loving hobbits, pointy eared elves, short, plump dwarves and slimy, icky, putrid orcs are just a few of the races in Lord of the Rings. (J.R.R. Tolkien, Rings)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is only a small sample of the information that J.R.R. Tolkien put into his books. Not to mention songs, maps, and plenty more background information. Tolkien created a whole new world for readers with his books. Why did J.R.R. Tolkien have such an interesting life and where did all of his information come from?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It all began when Arthur Reuel Tolkien and Mabel Suffield had their first-born son on January 3, 1982 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. (Darryl Friesen, Early) Tolkien’s early years and barely even memorable ones were spent divided between the city and a country farm. During this time, at school, Tolkien was bitten by a huge tarantula, which would later influence one of his stories in Lord of the Rings. (W.J. Rayment, A Bio)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On February 15th, 1896, Tolkien left South Africa with his mother and younger brother, Hilary to return to England. His father however was also suppose to return to England with them within the next few months, but while he waited in South Africa he caught rheumatic fever and soon died. This left the grieving family with a very limited income. (W. J. Rayment, A Bio)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By now Tolkien was showing great interest in languages and had developed remarkable skills with them. He had already mastered Latin and Greek, and was already making up languages on his own. So, naturally, when Tolkien and his family reached Birmingham, England his mother paid for Tolkien to attend King Edward VI School. (David McDonald, Bio Sketch)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1900, Tolkiens’ mother, along with her sister May were received in... ... that Tolkien had to change his address, telephone number, and eventually had to move to Bournmouth at a South Coast Resort. In 1955, The Return of the King, the final book of The Lord of the Rings was published.( Darryl Friesen, Timeline)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With his major book out of the way, Tolkien decided to retire from Oxford and looked back toward his wife. For the next few years Tolkien would work on his liturature and live with his wife peacefully. On November 29th, 1971 Tolkien lost his wife and soon returned to Oxford shortly after. On September 2, 1973, Tolkien died at the age of 81 from an pneumonia at a private hospitol in Bournemouth. (Darryl Friesen, Post)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tolkiens’ books still live on even after his death. In 1977, The Simarillion was published with the help of Tolkien’s son, Christopher. The Hobbit is recommended of most lists of childrens’ books. On December 19th, 2001, New Line Cinema released a live action movie of The Fellowship of the Ring earning a whopping 95.3 million in its first week. The Two Towers was released in December 2002 and The Return of the King will be released in December 2003. (Darryl Friesen, After)

Tsunami and Love Canal

A  tsunami  (‘harbor wave') or  tidal wave  is a series of water waves (called a  tsunami wave train) caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean, but can occur in  large lakes. Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have been recorded. Due to the immense volumes of water and energy involved, tsunamis can devastate coastal regions.Earthquakes,  volcanic eruptions  and other  underwater explosions  (including detonations of underwater  nuclear devices), landslides  and other  mass movements,  meteorite ocean impacts or similar impact events, and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The  Greek  historian  Thucydides  was the first to relate tsunami to  submarine earthquakes,  but understanding of tsunami's nature remained slim until the 20th century and is the subject of ongoing research. Many early  geological,  geograp hical, and oceanographic  texts refer to tsunamis as â€Å"seismic sea waves. CHARACTERISTICS: While everyday  wind waves  have a  wavelength  (from crest to crest) of about 100  meters (330 ft) and a height of roughly 2  meters (6. 6 ft), a tsunami in the deep ocean has a wavelength of about 200  kilometers (120 mi). Such a wave travels at well over 800  kilometers per hour (500 mph), but due to the enormous wavelength the wave oscillation at any given point takes 20 or 30 minutes to complete a cycle and has amplitude of only about 1  meter (3. 3 ft). This makes tsunamis difficult to detect over deep water. Ships rarely notice their passage.As the tsunami approaches the coast and the waters become shallow,  wave shoaling  compresses the wave and its velocity slows below 80  kilometers per hour (50 mph). Its wavelength diminishes to less than 20  kilometers (12 mi) and its amplitude grows enormously, producing a distinctly visible wave. Since the wave st ill has such a long wavelength, the tsunami may take minutes to reach full height. Except for the very largest tsunamis, the approaching wave does not break (like a  surf break), but rather appears like a fast moving  tidal bore.Open bays and coastlines adjacent to very deep water may shape the tsunami further into a step-like wave with a steep-breaking front. When the tsunami's wave peak reaches the shore, the resulting temporary rise in sea level is termed ‘run up'. Run up is measured in meters above a reference sea level. A large tsunami may feature multiple waves arriving over a period of hours, with significant time between the wave crests. The first wave to reach the shore may not have the highest run up. About 80% of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean, but are possible wherever there are large bodies of water, including lakes.They are caused by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic explosions, and  bolides. GENERATION MECHANISMS: The principal generation mechanism (o r cause) of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea. This displacement of water is usually attributed to earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests. The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity. It is important to note that  tides  do not play any part in the generation of tsunamis; hence referring to tsunamis as ‘tidal waves' is inaccurate.Seismicity generated tsunamis Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when  thrust faults  associated with  convergent  or destructive  plate boundaries  move abruptl y, resulting in water displacement, due to the vertical component of movement involved.Movement on normal faults will also cause displacement of the seabed, but the size of the largest of such events is normally too small to give rise to a significant tsunami. |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |Drawing of  tectonic plate |Overriding plate bulges under |Plate slips, causing |The energy released produces | |boundary  before earthquake. |strain, causing tectonic uplift. |subsidence  and releasing energy |tsunami waves. | | | |into water. | Tsunamis have a small  amplitude  (wave height) offshore, and a very long  wavelength  (often hundreds of kilometers long), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 300  millimeters (12 in) above the normal sea surface. They grow in height when they reach shallower water, in a  wave shoaling  process described below. A tsunami can occur in any tidal state and even at low tide can sti ll inundate coastal areas. On April 1, 1946, a magnitude-7. 8 (Richter scale)  earthquake  occurred near the  Aleutian Islands,  Alaska.It generated a tsunami which inundated  Hilo  on the island of Hawaii’s with a 14  meters (46 ft) high surge. The area where the  earthquake  occurred is where the  Pacific Ocean  floor is  subducting  (or being pushed downwards) under  Alaska. Examples of tsunami at locations away from  convergent boundaries  include  Storegga  about 8,000 years ago,  Grand Banks  1929,  Papua New Guinea  1998 (Tappin, 2001). The Grand Banks and Papua New Guinea tsunamis came from earthquakes which destabilized sediments, causing them to flow into the ocean and generate a tsunami. They dissipated before traveling transoceanic distances.The cause of the Storegga sediment failure is unknown. Possibilities include an overloading of the sediments, an earthquake or a release of gas hydrates (methane etc. ) The  1960 V aldivia earthquake  (Mw  9. 5) (19:11 hrs UTC),  1964 Alaska earthquake  (Mw  9. 2), and  2004 Indian Ocean earthquake  (Mw  9. 2) (00:58:53 UTC) are recent examples of powerful mega thrust  earthquakes that generated tsunamis (known as  teletsunamis) that can cross entire oceans. Smaller (Mw  4. 2) earthquakes in Japan can trigger tsunamis (called  local  and regional tsunamis) that can only devastate nearby coasts, but can do so in only a few minutes.In the 1950s, it was discovered that larger tsunamis than had previously been believed possible could be caused by giant  landslides. These phenomena rapidly displace large water volumes, as energy from falling debris or expansion transfers to the water at a rate faster than the water can absorb. Their existence was confirmed in 1958, when a giant landslide in Lituya Bay,  Alaska, caused the highest wave ever recorded, which had a height of 524 meters (over 1700 feet). The wave didn't travel far, as it st ruck land almost immediately. Two people fishing in the bay were killed, but another boat amazingly managed to ride the wave.Scientists named these waves  mega tsunami. Scientists discovered that extremely large landslides from volcanic island collapses can generate  mega tsunami that can travel trans-oceanic distances. SCALES OF INTENSITY AND MAGNITUDE: As with earthquakes, several attempts have been made to set up scales of tsunami intensity or magnitude to allow comparison between different events. Intensity scales The first scales used routinely to measure the intensity of tsunami were the  Sieberg-Ambraseys scale, used in the  Mediterranean Sea  and the  Imamura-Iida intensity scale, used in the Pacific Ocean.The latter scale was modified by Soloviev, who calculated the Tsunami intensity  I  according to the formula [pic] Where  Hav  is the average wave height along the nearest coast. This scale, known as the  Soloviev-Imamura tsunami intensity scale, is u sed in the global tsunami catalogues compiled by the  NGDC/NOAA  and the Novosibirsk Tsunami Laboratory as the main parameter for the size of the tsunami. Magnitude scales The first scale that genuinely calculated a magnitude for a tsunami, rather than an intensity at a particular location was the ML scale proposed by Murty & Loomis based on the potential energy.Difficulties in calculating the potential energy of the tsunami mean that this scale is rarely used. Abe introduced the  tsunami magnitude scale  Mt, calculated from, [pic] where  h  is the maximum tsunami-wave amplitude (in m) measured by a tide gauge at a distance  R  from the epicenter,  a,  b  &  D  are constants used to make the Mt  scale match as closely as possible with the moment magnitude scale. WARNINGS AND PREDICTIONS: Drawbacks can serve as a brief warning. People who observe drawback (many survivors report an accompanying sucking sound), can survive only if they immediately run for hi gh ground or seek the upper floors of nearby buildings.In 2004, ten-year old  Tilly Smith  of  Surrey,  England, was on  Maikhao beach  in  Phuket,  Thailand  with her parents and sister, and having learned about tsunamis recently in school, told her family that a tsunami might be imminent. Her parents warned others minutes before the wave arrived, saving dozens of lives. She credited her geography teacher, Andrew Kearney. In the  2004 Indian Ocean tsunami  drawback was not reported on the African coast or any other eastern coasts it reached. This was because the wave moved downwards on the eastern side of the fault line and upwards on the western side.The western pulse hit coastal Africa and other western areas. A tsunami cannot be precisely predicted, even if the magnitude and location of an earthquake is known. Geologists,  oceanographers, and seismologists  analyze each earthquake and based on many factors may or may not issue a tsunami warning. However , there are some warning signs of an impending tsunami, and automated systems can provide warnings immediately after an earthquake in time to save lives. One of the most successful systems uses bottom pressure sensors that are attached to buoys. The sensors constantly monitor the pressure of the overlying water column.This is deduced through the calculation: [pic] Where, P  = the overlying  pressure  in Newton per meter square, ? = the  density  of the  seawater = 1. 1 x 103  kg/m3, g  = the  acceleration due to gravity = 9. 8 m/s2  and h  = the height of the water column in meters. Hence for a water column of 5,000 m depth the overlying pressure is equal to [pic] Or about 5500  tonnes-force  per square meter. Regions with a high tsunami risk typically use  tsunami warning systems  to warn the population before the wave reaches land. On the west coast of the United States, which is prone to Pacific Ocean tsunami, warning signs indicate evacuation routes .In Japan, the community is well-educated about earthquakes and tsunamis, and along the Japanese shorelines the tsunami warning signs are reminders of the natural hazards together with a network of warning sirens, typically at the top of the cliff of surroundings hills. The  Pacific Tsunami Warning System  is based in  Honolulu,  Hawaii. It monitors Pacific Ocean seismic activity. A sufficiently large earthquake magnitude and other information trigger a tsunami warning. While the seduction zones around the Pacific are seismically active, not all earthquakes generate tsunami.Computers assist in analyzing the tsunami risk of every earthquake that occurs in the Pacific Ocean and the adjoining land masses. |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |Tsunami hazard sign |A tsunami warning sign on |The monument to the victims of |Tsunami memorial | |atBamfield,  British Columbia |a  seawall  in  Kamakura, Japan, |tsunami at Laupahoehoe,  Hawaii |inKanyakumari  beach | | |2004. | | |As a direct result of the Indian Ocean tsunami, a re-appraisal of the tsunami threat for all coastal areas is being undertaken by national governments and the United Nations Disaster Mitigation Committee. A tsunami warning system is being installed in the Indian Ocean. Computer models can predict tsunami arrival, usually within minutes of the arrival time. Bottom pressure sensors relay information in real time. Based on these pressure readings and other seismic information and the seafloor's shape and coastal  topography, the models estimate the amplitude and surge height of the approaching tsunami.All Pacific Rim countries collaborate in the Tsunami Warning System and most regularly practice evacuation and other procedures. In Japan, such preparation is mandatory for government, local authorities, emergency services and the population. Some zoologists hypothesize that some animal species have an ability to sense subsonic  Rayleigh waves  from an earthquake or a tsunami. If c orrect, monitoring their behavior could provide advance warning of earthquakes, tsunami etc. However, the evidence is controversial and is not widely accepted.There are unsubstantiated claims about the Lisbon quake that some animals escaped to higher ground, while many other animals in the same areas drowned. The phenomenon was also noted by media sources in  Sri Lanka  in the  2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. [21][22]  It is possible that certain animals (e. g. ,  elephants) may have heard the sounds of the tsunami as it approached the coast. The elephants' reaction was to move away from the approaching noise. By contrast, some humans went to the shore to investigate and many drowned as a result. It is not possible to prevent a tsunami.However, in some tsunami-prone countries some  earthquake engineering  measures have been taken to reduce the damage caused on shore. Japan  built many tsunami walls of up to 4. 5  metres (15 ft) to protect populated coastal areas. Oth er localities have built  floodgates  and channels to redirect the water from incoming tsunami. However, their effectiveness has been questioned, as tsunami often overtop the barriers. For instance, the  Okushiri, Hokkaido tsunami  which struck  Okushiri Island  of  Hokkaido  within two to five minutes of the  earthquake on July 12, 1993  created waves as much as 30  metres (100 ft) tall—as high as a 10-story building.The port town of Aonae was completely surrounded by a tsunami wall, but the waves washed right over the wall and destroyed all the wood-framed structures in the area. The wall may have succeeded in slowing down and moderating the height of the tsunami, but it did not prevent major destruction and loss of life. [23] Natural factors such as shoreline tree cover can mitigate tsunami effects. Some locations in the path of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami escaped almost unscathed because trees such as  coconut palms  and  mangroves  absorbe d the tsunami's energy.In one striking example, the village of  Naluvedapathy  in India's  Tamil Nadu  region suffered only minimal damage and few deaths because the wave broke against a forest of 80,244 trees planted along the shoreline in 2002 in a bid to enter the  Guinness Book of Records. [24]  Environmentalists have suggested tree planting along tsunami-prone seacoasts. Trees require years to grow to a useful size, but such plantations could offer a much cheaper and longer-lasting means of tsunami mitigation than artificial barriers. The Love Canal chemical waste dumpIn 1920 Hooker Chemical had turned an area in Niagara Falls into a municipal and chemical disposal site. In 1953 the site was filled and relatively modern methods were applied to cover it. A thick layer of impermeable red clay sealed the dump, preventing chemicals from leaking out of the landfill. A city near the dumpsite wanted to buy it for urban expansion. Despite the warnings of Hooker the city eve ntually bought the site for the meager amount of 1 dollar. Hooker could not sell for more, because they did not want to earn money off a project so clearly unwise.The city began to dig to develop a sewer, damaging the red clay cap that covered the dumpsite below. Blocks of homes and a school were built and the neighborhood was named Love Canal. Love Canal seemed like a regular neighborhood. The only thing that distinguished this neighborhood from other was the strange odors that often hung in the air and an unusual seepage noticed by inhabitants in their basements and yards. Children in the neighborhood often fell ill. Love Canal families regularly experienced miscarriages and birth defects.Lois Gibbs, an activist, noticed the high occurrence of illness and birth defects in the area and started documenting it. In 1978 newspapers revealed the existence of the chemical waste dump in the Love Canal area and Lois Gibbs started petitioning for closing the school. In August 1978, the clai m succeeded and the NYS Health Department ordered closing of the school when a child suffered from chemical poisoning. When Love Canal was researched over 130 pounds of the highly toxic carcinogenic TCDD, a form of dioxin, was discovered. The total of 20. 00 tons of waste present in the landfill appeared to contain more than 248 different species of chemicals. The waste mainly consisted of pesticide residues and chemical weapons research refuse. The chemicals had entered homes, sewers, yards and creeks and Gibbs decided it was time for the more than 900 families to be moved away from the location. Eventually President Carter provided funds to move all the families to a safer area. Hooker’s parent company was sued and settled for 20 million dollars. Despite protests by Gibbs’s organization some of the houses in Love Canal went up for sale some 20 years later.The majority of the houses are on the market now and the neighborhood may become inhabited again after 20 years o f abandonment. The houses in Love Canal are hard to sell, despite a renaming of the neighborhood. It suffered such a bad reputation after the incident that banks refused mortgages on the houses. None of the chemicals have been removed from the dumpsite. It has been resealed and the surrounding area was cleaned and declared safe. Hooker’s mother company paid an additional 230 million dollars to finance this cleanup. They are now responsible for the management of the dumpsite.Today, the Love Canal dumpsite is known as one of the major environmental disasters of the century. **** Love Canal is an abandoned canal in Niagara County, New York, where a huge amount of toxic waste was buried. The waste was composed of at least 300 different chemicals, totaling an estimated 20,000 metric tons. The existence of the waste was discovered in the 1970s when families living in homes subsequently built next to the site found chemical wastes seeping up through the ground into their basements, forcing them to eventually abandon their homes.Love Canal was used from the 1940s through the 1950s by the Hooker Chemical Company and the city of Niagara Falls, among others, to dispose of their hazardous and municipal wastes and other refuse. The canal was surrounded by clay and was thought at the time to be a safe place for disposal—and, in fact, burying chemicals in the canal was probably safer than many other methods and sites used for chemical disposal at the time. In 1953, the Niagara Falls Board of Education bought the land-fill for $1 and constructed an elementary school with playing fields on the site.Roads and sewer lines were added and, in the early 1970s, single-family homes were built adjacent to the site. Following a couple of heavy rains in the mid-1970s, the canal flooded and chemicals were observed on the surface of the site and in the basements of houses abutting the site. Newspaper coverage, investigations by the State of New York and by the U. S. Environm ental Protection Agency, combined with pressure from the district's U. S. congressional representative and outrage on the part of local residents, led to the declaration of a health emergency involving â€Å"great and imminent peril to the health of the general public. Ultimately, in August, 1978, a decision was made by Governor Hugh Carey, supported by the White House, to evacuate the residents and purchase 240 homes surrounding the site. Shortly thereafter, the residents of nearby homes that did not immediately abut the site also became concerned about their health and conducted a health survey that purported to show an increase in the occurrence of various diseases and problems such as birth defects and miscarriages, which were attributed to chemical exposures.A great controversy ensued over whether the observations were real or reflected normal rates of such problems, and whether chemical exposures had, in fact, occurred. Eventually, political pressure resulted in families bein g given an opportunity to leave and have their homes purchased by the State. About 70 homes remained occupied in 1989 by families who chose not to move. The controversy at Love Canal followed on the heels of the heightened awareness that occurred in the 1960s about environmental contamination, and it contributed to public and regulatory concern about hazardous wastes, waste disposal, and disclosure of such practices.Such concerns led Congress to pass the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 1976, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund bill, in 1980. When CERCLA was passed, few were aware of the extent of the problem potentially created by years of inappropriate or inadequate hazardous waste disposal practices. Since implementing CERCLA, the U. S.Environmental Protection Agency has identified more than 40,000 potentially contaminated â€Å"Superfundâ⠂¬  sites. The Gulf War In August 1990 Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, starting the Gulf War in which an allegiance of 34 nations worldwide was involved. In January  1991  of the Gulf War, Iraqi forces committed two environmental disasters. The first was a major oil spill 16 kilometers off the shore of Kuwait by dumping oil from several tankers and opening the valves of an offshore terminal. The second was the setting fire to 650 oil wells in Kuwait.The apparent strategic goal of the action was to prevent a potential landing by US Marines. American air strikes on January 26 destroyed pipelines to prevent further spillage into the Gulf. This however seemed to make little difference. Approximately one million tons of crude oil was already lost to the environment, making this the largest oil spill of human history. In the spring of 1991, as many as 500 oil wells were still burning and the last oil well was not extinguished until a few months later, in November.The oil spills did cons iderable damage to life in the Persian Gulf (see picture). Several months after the spill, the poisoned waters killed 20. 000 seabirds and had caused severe damage to local marine flora and fauna. The fires in the oil wells caused immense amounts of soot and toxic fumes to enter the atmosphere. This had great effects on the health of the local population and biota for several years. The pollution also had a possible impact on local weather patterns. Tsunami and Love Canal A  tsunami  (‘harbor wave') or  tidal wave  is a series of water waves (called a  tsunami wave train) caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean, but can occur in  large lakes. Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have been recorded. Due to the immense volumes of water and energy involved, tsunamis can devastate coastal regions.Earthquakes,  volcanic eruptions  and other  underwater explosions  (including detonations of underwater  nuclear devices), landslides  and other  mass movements,  meteorite ocean impacts or similar impact events, and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The  Greek  historian  Thucydides  was the first to relate tsunami to  submarine earthquakes,  but understanding of tsunami's nature remained slim until the 20th century and is the subject of ongoing research. Many early  geological,  geograp hical, and oceanographic  texts refer to tsunamis as â€Å"seismic sea waves. CHARACTERISTICS: While everyday  wind waves  have a  wavelength  (from crest to crest) of about 100  meters (330 ft) and a height of roughly 2  meters (6. 6 ft), a tsunami in the deep ocean has a wavelength of about 200  kilometers (120 mi). Such a wave travels at well over 800  kilometers per hour (500 mph), but due to the enormous wavelength the wave oscillation at any given point takes 20 or 30 minutes to complete a cycle and has amplitude of only about 1  meter (3. 3 ft). This makes tsunamis difficult to detect over deep water. Ships rarely notice their passage.As the tsunami approaches the coast and the waters become shallow,  wave shoaling  compresses the wave and its velocity slows below 80  kilometers per hour (50 mph). Its wavelength diminishes to less than 20  kilometers (12 mi) and its amplitude grows enormously, producing a distinctly visible wave. Since the wave st ill has such a long wavelength, the tsunami may take minutes to reach full height. Except for the very largest tsunamis, the approaching wave does not break (like a  surf break), but rather appears like a fast moving  tidal bore.Open bays and coastlines adjacent to very deep water may shape the tsunami further into a step-like wave with a steep-breaking front. When the tsunami's wave peak reaches the shore, the resulting temporary rise in sea level is termed ‘run up'. Run up is measured in meters above a reference sea level. A large tsunami may feature multiple waves arriving over a period of hours, with significant time between the wave crests. The first wave to reach the shore may not have the highest run up. About 80% of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean, but are possible wherever there are large bodies of water, including lakes.They are caused by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic explosions, and  bolides. GENERATION MECHANISMS: The principal generation mechanism (o r cause) of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea. This displacement of water is usually attributed to earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests. The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity. It is important to note that  tides  do not play any part in the generation of tsunamis; hence referring to tsunamis as ‘tidal waves' is inaccurate.Seismicity generated tsunamis Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when  thrust faults  associated with  convergent  or destructive  plate boundaries  move abruptl y, resulting in water displacement, due to the vertical component of movement involved.Movement on normal faults will also cause displacement of the seabed, but the size of the largest of such events is normally too small to give rise to a significant tsunami. |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |Drawing of  tectonic plate |Overriding plate bulges under |Plate slips, causing |The energy released produces | |boundary  before earthquake. |strain, causing tectonic uplift. |subsidence  and releasing energy |tsunami waves. | | | |into water. | Tsunamis have a small  amplitude  (wave height) offshore, and a very long  wavelength  (often hundreds of kilometers long), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 300  millimeters (12 in) above the normal sea surface. They grow in height when they reach shallower water, in a  wave shoaling  process described below. A tsunami can occur in any tidal state and even at low tide can sti ll inundate coastal areas. On April 1, 1946, a magnitude-7. 8 (Richter scale)  earthquake  occurred near the  Aleutian Islands,  Alaska.It generated a tsunami which inundated  Hilo  on the island of Hawaii’s with a 14  meters (46 ft) high surge. The area where the  earthquake  occurred is where the  Pacific Ocean  floor is  subducting  (or being pushed downwards) under  Alaska. Examples of tsunami at locations away from  convergent boundaries  include  Storegga  about 8,000 years ago,  Grand Banks  1929,  Papua New Guinea  1998 (Tappin, 2001). The Grand Banks and Papua New Guinea tsunamis came from earthquakes which destabilized sediments, causing them to flow into the ocean and generate a tsunami. They dissipated before traveling transoceanic distances.The cause of the Storegga sediment failure is unknown. Possibilities include an overloading of the sediments, an earthquake or a release of gas hydrates (methane etc. ) The  1960 V aldivia earthquake  (Mw  9. 5) (19:11 hrs UTC),  1964 Alaska earthquake  (Mw  9. 2), and  2004 Indian Ocean earthquake  (Mw  9. 2) (00:58:53 UTC) are recent examples of powerful mega thrust  earthquakes that generated tsunamis (known as  teletsunamis) that can cross entire oceans. Smaller (Mw  4. 2) earthquakes in Japan can trigger tsunamis (called  local  and regional tsunamis) that can only devastate nearby coasts, but can do so in only a few minutes.In the 1950s, it was discovered that larger tsunamis than had previously been believed possible could be caused by giant  landslides. These phenomena rapidly displace large water volumes, as energy from falling debris or expansion transfers to the water at a rate faster than the water can absorb. Their existence was confirmed in 1958, when a giant landslide in Lituya Bay,  Alaska, caused the highest wave ever recorded, which had a height of 524 meters (over 1700 feet). The wave didn't travel far, as it st ruck land almost immediately. Two people fishing in the bay were killed, but another boat amazingly managed to ride the wave.Scientists named these waves  mega tsunami. Scientists discovered that extremely large landslides from volcanic island collapses can generate  mega tsunami that can travel trans-oceanic distances. SCALES OF INTENSITY AND MAGNITUDE: As with earthquakes, several attempts have been made to set up scales of tsunami intensity or magnitude to allow comparison between different events. Intensity scales The first scales used routinely to measure the intensity of tsunami were the  Sieberg-Ambraseys scale, used in the  Mediterranean Sea  and the  Imamura-Iida intensity scale, used in the Pacific Ocean.The latter scale was modified by Soloviev, who calculated the Tsunami intensity  I  according to the formula [pic] Where  Hav  is the average wave height along the nearest coast. This scale, known as the  Soloviev-Imamura tsunami intensity scale, is u sed in the global tsunami catalogues compiled by the  NGDC/NOAA  and the Novosibirsk Tsunami Laboratory as the main parameter for the size of the tsunami. Magnitude scales The first scale that genuinely calculated a magnitude for a tsunami, rather than an intensity at a particular location was the ML scale proposed by Murty & Loomis based on the potential energy.Difficulties in calculating the potential energy of the tsunami mean that this scale is rarely used. Abe introduced the  tsunami magnitude scale  Mt, calculated from, [pic] where  h  is the maximum tsunami-wave amplitude (in m) measured by a tide gauge at a distance  R  from the epicenter,  a,  b  &  D  are constants used to make the Mt  scale match as closely as possible with the moment magnitude scale. WARNINGS AND PREDICTIONS: Drawbacks can serve as a brief warning. People who observe drawback (many survivors report an accompanying sucking sound), can survive only if they immediately run for hi gh ground or seek the upper floors of nearby buildings.In 2004, ten-year old  Tilly Smith  of  Surrey,  England, was on  Maikhao beach  in  Phuket,  Thailand  with her parents and sister, and having learned about tsunamis recently in school, told her family that a tsunami might be imminent. Her parents warned others minutes before the wave arrived, saving dozens of lives. She credited her geography teacher, Andrew Kearney. In the  2004 Indian Ocean tsunami  drawback was not reported on the African coast or any other eastern coasts it reached. This was because the wave moved downwards on the eastern side of the fault line and upwards on the western side.The western pulse hit coastal Africa and other western areas. A tsunami cannot be precisely predicted, even if the magnitude and location of an earthquake is known. Geologists,  oceanographers, and seismologists  analyze each earthquake and based on many factors may or may not issue a tsunami warning. However , there are some warning signs of an impending tsunami, and automated systems can provide warnings immediately after an earthquake in time to save lives. One of the most successful systems uses bottom pressure sensors that are attached to buoys. The sensors constantly monitor the pressure of the overlying water column.This is deduced through the calculation: [pic] Where, P  = the overlying  pressure  in Newton per meter square, ? = the  density  of the  seawater = 1. 1 x 103  kg/m3, g  = the  acceleration due to gravity = 9. 8 m/s2  and h  = the height of the water column in meters. Hence for a water column of 5,000 m depth the overlying pressure is equal to [pic] Or about 5500  tonnes-force  per square meter. Regions with a high tsunami risk typically use  tsunami warning systems  to warn the population before the wave reaches land. On the west coast of the United States, which is prone to Pacific Ocean tsunami, warning signs indicate evacuation routes .In Japan, the community is well-educated about earthquakes and tsunamis, and along the Japanese shorelines the tsunami warning signs are reminders of the natural hazards together with a network of warning sirens, typically at the top of the cliff of surroundings hills. The  Pacific Tsunami Warning System  is based in  Honolulu,  Hawaii. It monitors Pacific Ocean seismic activity. A sufficiently large earthquake magnitude and other information trigger a tsunami warning. While the seduction zones around the Pacific are seismically active, not all earthquakes generate tsunami.Computers assist in analyzing the tsunami risk of every earthquake that occurs in the Pacific Ocean and the adjoining land masses. |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |Tsunami hazard sign |A tsunami warning sign on |The monument to the victims of |Tsunami memorial | |atBamfield,  British Columbia |a  seawall  in  Kamakura, Japan, |tsunami at Laupahoehoe,  Hawaii |inKanyakumari  beach | | |2004. | | |As a direct result of the Indian Ocean tsunami, a re-appraisal of the tsunami threat for all coastal areas is being undertaken by national governments and the United Nations Disaster Mitigation Committee. A tsunami warning system is being installed in the Indian Ocean. Computer models can predict tsunami arrival, usually within minutes of the arrival time. Bottom pressure sensors relay information in real time. Based on these pressure readings and other seismic information and the seafloor's shape and coastal  topography, the models estimate the amplitude and surge height of the approaching tsunami.All Pacific Rim countries collaborate in the Tsunami Warning System and most regularly practice evacuation and other procedures. In Japan, such preparation is mandatory for government, local authorities, emergency services and the population. Some zoologists hypothesize that some animal species have an ability to sense subsonic  Rayleigh waves  from an earthquake or a tsunami. If c orrect, monitoring their behavior could provide advance warning of earthquakes, tsunami etc. However, the evidence is controversial and is not widely accepted.There are unsubstantiated claims about the Lisbon quake that some animals escaped to higher ground, while many other animals in the same areas drowned. The phenomenon was also noted by media sources in  Sri Lanka  in the  2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. [21][22]  It is possible that certain animals (e. g. ,  elephants) may have heard the sounds of the tsunami as it approached the coast. The elephants' reaction was to move away from the approaching noise. By contrast, some humans went to the shore to investigate and many drowned as a result. It is not possible to prevent a tsunami.However, in some tsunami-prone countries some  earthquake engineering  measures have been taken to reduce the damage caused on shore. Japan  built many tsunami walls of up to 4. 5  metres (15 ft) to protect populated coastal areas. Oth er localities have built  floodgates  and channels to redirect the water from incoming tsunami. However, their effectiveness has been questioned, as tsunami often overtop the barriers. For instance, the  Okushiri, Hokkaido tsunami  which struck  Okushiri Island  of  Hokkaido  within two to five minutes of the  earthquake on July 12, 1993  created waves as much as 30  metres (100 ft) tall—as high as a 10-story building.The port town of Aonae was completely surrounded by a tsunami wall, but the waves washed right over the wall and destroyed all the wood-framed structures in the area. The wall may have succeeded in slowing down and moderating the height of the tsunami, but it did not prevent major destruction and loss of life. [23] Natural factors such as shoreline tree cover can mitigate tsunami effects. Some locations in the path of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami escaped almost unscathed because trees such as  coconut palms  and  mangroves  absorbe d the tsunami's energy.In one striking example, the village of  Naluvedapathy  in India's  Tamil Nadu  region suffered only minimal damage and few deaths because the wave broke against a forest of 80,244 trees planted along the shoreline in 2002 in a bid to enter the  Guinness Book of Records. [24]  Environmentalists have suggested tree planting along tsunami-prone seacoasts. Trees require years to grow to a useful size, but such plantations could offer a much cheaper and longer-lasting means of tsunami mitigation than artificial barriers. The Love Canal chemical waste dumpIn 1920 Hooker Chemical had turned an area in Niagara Falls into a municipal and chemical disposal site. In 1953 the site was filled and relatively modern methods were applied to cover it. A thick layer of impermeable red clay sealed the dump, preventing chemicals from leaking out of the landfill. A city near the dumpsite wanted to buy it for urban expansion. Despite the warnings of Hooker the city eve ntually bought the site for the meager amount of 1 dollar. Hooker could not sell for more, because they did not want to earn money off a project so clearly unwise.The city began to dig to develop a sewer, damaging the red clay cap that covered the dumpsite below. Blocks of homes and a school were built and the neighborhood was named Love Canal. Love Canal seemed like a regular neighborhood. The only thing that distinguished this neighborhood from other was the strange odors that often hung in the air and an unusual seepage noticed by inhabitants in their basements and yards. Children in the neighborhood often fell ill. Love Canal families regularly experienced miscarriages and birth defects.Lois Gibbs, an activist, noticed the high occurrence of illness and birth defects in the area and started documenting it. In 1978 newspapers revealed the existence of the chemical waste dump in the Love Canal area and Lois Gibbs started petitioning for closing the school. In August 1978, the clai m succeeded and the NYS Health Department ordered closing of the school when a child suffered from chemical poisoning. When Love Canal was researched over 130 pounds of the highly toxic carcinogenic TCDD, a form of dioxin, was discovered. The total of 20. 00 tons of waste present in the landfill appeared to contain more than 248 different species of chemicals. The waste mainly consisted of pesticide residues and chemical weapons research refuse. The chemicals had entered homes, sewers, yards and creeks and Gibbs decided it was time for the more than 900 families to be moved away from the location. Eventually President Carter provided funds to move all the families to a safer area. Hooker’s parent company was sued and settled for 20 million dollars. Despite protests by Gibbs’s organization some of the houses in Love Canal went up for sale some 20 years later.The majority of the houses are on the market now and the neighborhood may become inhabited again after 20 years o f abandonment. The houses in Love Canal are hard to sell, despite a renaming of the neighborhood. It suffered such a bad reputation after the incident that banks refused mortgages on the houses. None of the chemicals have been removed from the dumpsite. It has been resealed and the surrounding area was cleaned and declared safe. Hooker’s mother company paid an additional 230 million dollars to finance this cleanup. They are now responsible for the management of the dumpsite.Today, the Love Canal dumpsite is known as one of the major environmental disasters of the century. **** Love Canal is an abandoned canal in Niagara County, New York, where a huge amount of toxic waste was buried. The waste was composed of at least 300 different chemicals, totaling an estimated 20,000 metric tons. The existence of the waste was discovered in the 1970s when families living in homes subsequently built next to the site found chemical wastes seeping up through the ground into their basements, forcing them to eventually abandon their homes.Love Canal was used from the 1940s through the 1950s by the Hooker Chemical Company and the city of Niagara Falls, among others, to dispose of their hazardous and municipal wastes and other refuse. The canal was surrounded by clay and was thought at the time to be a safe place for disposal—and, in fact, burying chemicals in the canal was probably safer than many other methods and sites used for chemical disposal at the time. In 1953, the Niagara Falls Board of Education bought the land-fill for $1 and constructed an elementary school with playing fields on the site.Roads and sewer lines were added and, in the early 1970s, single-family homes were built adjacent to the site. Following a couple of heavy rains in the mid-1970s, the canal flooded and chemicals were observed on the surface of the site and in the basements of houses abutting the site. Newspaper coverage, investigations by the State of New York and by the U. S. Environm ental Protection Agency, combined with pressure from the district's U. S. congressional representative and outrage on the part of local residents, led to the declaration of a health emergency involving â€Å"great and imminent peril to the health of the general public. Ultimately, in August, 1978, a decision was made by Governor Hugh Carey, supported by the White House, to evacuate the residents and purchase 240 homes surrounding the site. Shortly thereafter, the residents of nearby homes that did not immediately abut the site also became concerned about their health and conducted a health survey that purported to show an increase in the occurrence of various diseases and problems such as birth defects and miscarriages, which were attributed to chemical exposures.A great controversy ensued over whether the observations were real or reflected normal rates of such problems, and whether chemical exposures had, in fact, occurred. Eventually, political pressure resulted in families bein g given an opportunity to leave and have their homes purchased by the State. About 70 homes remained occupied in 1989 by families who chose not to move. The controversy at Love Canal followed on the heels of the heightened awareness that occurred in the 1960s about environmental contamination, and it contributed to public and regulatory concern about hazardous wastes, waste disposal, and disclosure of such practices.Such concerns led Congress to pass the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 1976, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as the Superfund bill, in 1980. When CERCLA was passed, few were aware of the extent of the problem potentially created by years of inappropriate or inadequate hazardous waste disposal practices. Since implementing CERCLA, the U. S.Environmental Protection Agency has identified more than 40,000 potentially contaminated â€Å"Superfundâ⠂¬  sites. The Gulf War In August 1990 Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait, starting the Gulf War in which an allegiance of 34 nations worldwide was involved. In January  1991  of the Gulf War, Iraqi forces committed two environmental disasters. The first was a major oil spill 16 kilometers off the shore of Kuwait by dumping oil from several tankers and opening the valves of an offshore terminal. The second was the setting fire to 650 oil wells in Kuwait.The apparent strategic goal of the action was to prevent a potential landing by US Marines. American air strikes on January 26 destroyed pipelines to prevent further spillage into the Gulf. This however seemed to make little difference. Approximately one million tons of crude oil was already lost to the environment, making this the largest oil spill of human history. In the spring of 1991, as many as 500 oil wells were still burning and the last oil well was not extinguished until a few months later, in November.The oil spills did cons iderable damage to life in the Persian Gulf (see picture). Several months after the spill, the poisoned waters killed 20. 000 seabirds and had caused severe damage to local marine flora and fauna. The fires in the oil wells caused immense amounts of soot and toxic fumes to enter the atmosphere. This had great effects on the health of the local population and biota for several years. The pollution also had a possible impact on local weather patterns.