Substance Abuse in Modern Times Professor Ramos Blog

Substance Abuse in Modern Times Substance abuse is a huge problem today, yet, many people don’t know how big of a problem it is in the States. According to a study conducted in 2005, â€Å"22 million Americans had a problem or struggled with drugs and alcohol. 95 percent of these people were unaware they had a legitimate problem, and many were unsuccessful in finding help or assistance with this problem† (HealthyPeople.gov, 2020 Topics and Adjectives, par.1). Also as Psychology Today states, â€Å"Both substance use disorders and gambling behaviors have an increased likelihood of being accompanied by mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety or other pre-existing problems. Substance use and gambling disorders not only engage the same brain mechanisms of compulsivity, they respond to many of the same approaches to treatment† (Psychology Today, What is Addiction?). This is particularly true today where there are many cases of mental health being tied to substance abuse. Now, imagine a world where this problem was eliminated. Many families would be saved, lives wouldnt be in jeopardy, and there would be a new sense of cleanliness. Most of the human race obtain alcohol or drugs by purchasing these things at the local supermarket, pharmacy, or even the nearby corner store. However, since these two things are so readily available, it can be easy to get carried away with purchasing such goods. There’s really no way of tracking how much one has bought and consumed except at public bars. If a record system was implemented, there would be better control over these substances. A record system would be relatively easy to maintain and control. Once an American Citizen turns 21, he/she would automatically be enrolled into a system that tracks the amount of drugs or alcohol purchased by the individual. There would be different algorithms for each person, based on their background, in-house family members over 21, and financial stability. In simpler terms, if one was to purchase absurd amounts of alcohol in a short amount of time, a red flag would pop up on the persons record. This would cause a caretaker or someone of the sort to go check up on that individual. They would make sure they are okay and doing well. There would also be some slack for those who are medically prescribed a medication and need to order or purchase it consistently. This would prove beneficial because as time goes on, â€Å"eventually drug abuse can consume your life, stopping social and intellectual development. This only reinforces feelings of isolation† (Laurence Robinson, Melinda Smith and Jeanne Segal. Drug Abuse and Addiction. Par. 9). So basically when a person is going through any type of substance abuse, whether it be drugs or alcohol, or both, the desires and feelings of isolation can start to cultivate. This would cause people to start resisting help a lot more than usual. Thus, making resources for help useless. This record system would also help people see an actual visual representation of how much they are consuming. When many today buy alcohol, they arent aware how much they are actually putting into their bodies. However, with this new record. It would show them face to face how much they are buying and consuming as well. The other nice thing about this system would be that everything on the persons record or account, would be private. Only the person whom the account is tied to would be able to access all the information on the record. They wouldn’t have to feel guilty or nervous that other people would be viewing their activity. The only people that would be able to see it would be authorized professionals that only seek out to help those that raise a couple red flags. So there would really be no shame factor in this system. As was mentioned earlier, substance abuse is a very real problem that needs to be known. There are families, mental health, physical health, communities, and lives at stake every day with this tragic problem. Many try to turn to rehab and last there for years. Yet, that is often after the fact, when it’s too late. When people already realize there is a problem within them. So why not stop it sooner? This record system would open the eyes of many before problems arise. It would encourage people to think twice before purchasing drugs or alcohol. Don’t we all want a world free of addiction?  Ã‚   Laurence Robinson, Melinda Smith, Jeanne Segal. Drug Abuse and Addiction, June 2019. Help Guide HealthyPeople.org. 2020 Topics and Objectives, Substance abuse, 2014. Psychology Today, What is addiction?, 2019.

What the President Does on the Last Day in Office

What the President Does on the Last Day in Office The peaceful transition of power from one United States president and his administration to another is one of the hallmarks of American democracy. And much of the publics and medias attention on January 20th every four years rightly focuses on the incoming president taking the Oath of Office and the challenges that lie ahead. But what does the outgoing president do on his last day in office? Heres a look at five things almost every president does just before leaving the White House. 1. Issues a Pardon or Two   Some presidents show up at the White House bright and early for a ceremonial last walk through the historic building and to wish their staff well. Others show up and get to work issuing pardons. President Bill Clinton used his last day in office, for example, to pardon 141 people including Marc Rich, a billionaire who had been indicted on charges of defrauding the Internal Revenue Service, mail fraud, tax evasion, racketeering, defrauding the U.S. Treasury and trading with the enemy. President George W. Bush also issued a couple  of pardons in the last hours of his presidency. They  erased the prison sentences of two border patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug suspect. 2. Welcomes the Incoming President Recent presidents have hosted their eventual successors on the last day in office. On Jan. 20, 2009, President Bush and  First Lady Laura Bush hosted President-Elect Barack Obama and his wife, as well as Vice President-Elect Joe Biden, for coffee in the Blue Room of the White House  before  the noon  inauguration. The president and his successor then traveled together to the Capitol in a limousine for the inauguration. 3. Leaves a Note for the New President Its become a ritual for the outgoing president to leave a note for the incoming president. In January 2009, for example, outgoing President George W. Bush wished incoming President Barack Obama well on the fabulous new chapter he was about to begin in his life, Bush aides told The Associated Press at the time. The note was tucked into a drawer of Obamas Oval Office desk. 4. Attends the Inauguration of the Incoming President The outgoing president and vice president attend the swearing-in and inauguration of the new president and then are escorted from the Capitol by their successors. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies describes the outgoing presidents department as being relatively anti-climatic and unceremonious. The 1889 Handbook of Official and Social Etiquette and Public Ceremonies at Washington described the event this way:   His departure from the Capital is attended with no ceremony, other than the presence of the members of his late Cabinet and a few officials and personal friends. The President leaves the Capital as soon as practicable after the inauguration of his successor. 5. Takes a Helicopter Ride Out of Washington Its been customary since 1977, when Gerald Ford was leaving office,  for the president to be flown from the Capitol grounds via Marine One to Andrews Air Force Base for a flight back to his hometown. One of the most memorable anecdotes about such a trip came from Ronald Reagans ceremonial flight around Washington on Jan. 20, 1989, after he left office. Ken Duberstein, Reagans chief of staff, told a newspaper reporter years later: As we hovered for a second over the White House, Reagan looked down through the window, patted Nancy on her knee and said, Look, dear, theres our little bungalow.  Everybody broke down in tears, sobbing.

Critical analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Critical analysis - Essay Example The major effect of global warming is the increase in the carbon dioxide emissions leading to a hotter environment. The long-term effects of the increased carbon emissions include mass extinctions, famine, floods, hurricanes and drought. The film An Inconvenient Truth aims at educating the masses on the need to have environmental friendly investments and sources of energy. This includes developing new generation vehicles. This essay seeks to present an argument whose aim is to find out whether global warming is a swindle or an inconvenient truth. The essay intends to point out the cause of and solutions to global warming. Thesis Global warming has been attributed to human activities or natural phenomena such as changes in the sun. It is imperative to consider the actual cause of global warming and solutions based on the opposing arguments. Strong point for global warming According to Davis, in the movie An Inconvenient Truth, the melting of glaciers parks and ice shelves is bound to have a profound effect. Some of these ice shelves include Mount Kilimanjaro, the Himalayas, Glacier National Park, Italian Alps and Colombia Glacier. Research shows that some of these glaciers have melted halfway. As a result, many polar bears are drowning as a result of swimming longer distances in search of glaciers. These are facts that can be quantified statistically. Continued global warming is likely to result in increased devastation. It is estimated that the melting of Greenland or Antarctica will eventually result in the rise of sea levels (An Inconvenient Truth). This rise is expected to reach twenty feet. In effect, the twenty feet rise in the sea level would leave one hundred million people homeless. This is especially so if places such as Florida, Netherlands, Bangladesh, Shanghai, San Francisco, and Calcutta become affected. In the United States, some of the economic sectors are expected to be impacted more than the others. The agricultural societies are expected to be profoundly affected by the impact of global warming. This is as a result of the loss of soil moisture. In the United States, the frequent wildfires are said to be a direct consequence of this phenomenon. However, an increasing number of scientists have been attempting to debunk the concept of global warming. They argue that human activities cannot be the cause of global warming (The Great Global Warming Swindle). The

MBTI Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MBTI Analysis - Research Paper Example For instance, extraversion versus intraversion determines the level to which a person is predicted to be more social or withdrawn. Each of these traits have an opposite personality trait and the strength of each is determined by a higher score for each type on the MBTI. RESULTS OF MBTI The results of the MBTI indicated my personality type was ESFJ, with a moderate expression of extraversion, a moderate score in judging, a moderate expression of feeling, and a very slight expression of sensing as part of my personality dynamics. The highest scores were extraversion with 56 and judging also with 56. These were my most significant scores of the four types. I am currently studying nursing, a job role that requires direct intervention with diverse and culturally-different patients, therefore extraversion is a desired trait in the role of nurse practitioner. Nurses are considered the primary source of information for patients and must serve as an advocate based on a trusting foundation of sociability (Morrison, 4). Extraverts â€Å"are keenly interested in other people and external events, and venture forth with confidence into the unknown† (Ewen, 1998, p.127). This suggests a higher level of sociability than an intraverted personality type, meaning that it is a predictor of a well-adjusted ability to function well in group environments. The extravert enjoys social environments and often takes a leadership role when exploring discussion in the group concept. In the role of nurse practitioner, there must be the ability to work directly with patients in order to explore their needs and concerns. Especially when dealing with patients that are battling difficult illnesses, they rely on the competence and social knowledge of the nurse in order to find quality and dimension in effective treatment programs. An introverted individual would not be able to serve the patient needs effectively and it is likely that the quality of treatment would suffer in the long-term. T his is why the MBTI index results reinforced that nursing is a quality profession for my unique personality type. I also maintain a moderate judging personality versus the opposite, which is feeling. Judging is the tendency to prefer a structured and orderly environment that is based on factual data, rather than in feeling where intuition and hunches are preferred over logical information. It is â€Å"the preferred method of managing the outer world† (Lucas, 2007, p.14). This, too, is important in the role of a nurse where orderly scheduling and statistical information must be considered when developing an appropriate treatment plan. It serves the role of the nurse practitioner well to be able to use logical analyses rather than acting on instinctive information so that the quality of patient care is top-notch. When working directly with physicians, there must be structure both in management and in the management of data to ensure zero errors and be able to coordinate treatme nt-based activities effectively. This is a field that would not be served well with an instinctive philosophy as is associated with perceiving and does not afford much in terms of spontaneity. Feeling also maintained a moderate score of 44, based on the results of the MBTI. This is how a certain personality type prefers to make decisions, either based on empathy, such as with feeling or as associated with thinking methodology. Feeling is a more personal type

The Brethren Book Report Essay Example for Free

The Brethren Book Report Essay The Brethren, written by John Grisham, takes places at Trumble, a minimum-security federal prison in Florida. The Brethren is a group of three judges in the prison that started meeting together to settle disputes among the other inmates. Meeting in the library at Trumble, their section of the prison, the three plan a scam to earn a little money while serving time. Their plan for earning the money is the Angola scam. The Angola scam works by putting an advertisement in a gay magazine saying they are searching for a pen-pal. Writing as a young gay male named Ricky living in a rehab facility; the Brethren try to pick out rich closeted gay males, who have a lot to lose if this information were to be revealed. In order for the closeted male’s homosexuality not to be revealed to the public, the group demands large sums of money to be wired into their bank account. The Brethren’s lawyer, Trevor, also plays a crucial part in the scam. He is the one who brings the mail in and out of Trumble, and he also runs the offshore bank accounts in the Bahamas where the scam money is wired into. Helping with the scam, Trevor receives thirty-three percent of all the earnings. While the Brethren are running their scam in Trumble, Presidential campaigns begin to kick in high gear as the Presidential election nears. Teddy Maynard, the director of the CIA, believes that future Russian attacks are inevitable and maybe even a third world war. With military cuts continuing to happen, he believes that the United States need to increase the size and strength of their military. His goal is to get a presidential candidate into the White House that will increase the military budget. Teddy finds his answer with Aaron Lake, a Congressman from Arizona. Seeming to have a clean background, Teddy proposes what he believes will happen in the future and promises to get Lake into the White House as long as he increases the military’s budget once president. Lake agrees to the terms and jumps into the election as an independent. Though Lake is now in the presidential race, he is at an extreme disadvantage from the rest of the field as no one in the country knows who he is. Luckily though he has an incredible supporting cast surrounding him and what seems to be an endless supply of money. Aaron Lake looks as if he has an excellent shot at winning the presidency as long as nothing comes to jeopardize him as a candidate. Repeatedly checking the background of Aaron Lake many times before backing him with his presidential campaign, Teddy Maynard and the CIA thought they had not missed anything. Aaron Lake had been a man living the later part of his life in mostly solitary. His wife had died a few years before and he did not have the motive for much of social life anymore. Aside from his job he would occasionally attend socials and parties but this was only to keep his face familiar with people. Though he did not go out on a limb much, Lake did write two letters to Ricky, both of which the CIA did not know about. Not knowing that Aaron Lake was Teddy’s presidential candidate, the Brethren try to hook and obtain money from Lake with their Angola scam. Trying to stop what the Brethren had managed to do, the CIA works hard trying to cease the damage. Unfortunately it is to late though, as a leak of the situation has gotten out. In order for Aaron Lake not to be exposed to the public, Teddy uses all of his experience in illegal maneuvering to save Lake, his candidate. Sensing as they cannot trust Trevor anymore, the Brethren decides to fire him. Through a series of unfortunate events, Trevor ends up being killed by people from the CIA while he was in the Caribbean. Eager to find out the masterminds behind the scam, the CIA traces the scam to Trumble where they place man inside of the federal prison. The Brethren is finally caught for their running of the Angola scam. After working out a deal, the group is pardoned by Lake and only lose their money in the process. Once the Brethren gets off the hook for their scam they decide to leave the country. They begin to travel in Europe until ultimately re-starting their work with the Angola scam.

Economics of Marriage :: essays research papers

Economics of Marriage Nowadays, marriage is hardly a new subject of discussion and is found in every human society. Any marriage involves two individuals each of whom has their own experience of that marriage. Nowadays, the roles and expectations that the families have to fulfill are distributed evenly among the members of the family. What this means is that mothers, who were identified in the past as household wives (since they were responsible with cleaning, cooking and raising children) are granted with more rights such as the right to participate in a voting process or the right to get a job. As oppose to mothers, fathers have always been mainly responsible with working hard to support their families because in most of the situations, they were the main financial providers. As a result, they had to bring money to their families by any means even if that meant getting more than one job. This situation became much more problematic when children appeared in the families. As we all know, children had and will always play an extremely important role and raising them is a big responsibility for thei r parents. Having children and only one member of the family (for instance the father) working is a familiar situation for most families. In this case, the father has to be more realistic than ever that his family relies on his financial support. He has to make sure that his family has the necessary supplies to survive. If this situation is not being resolved due to various reasons such as the husband does not earn enough money or just simply refuses to contribute financially, conflicts and issues may arise which often lead to family separations, and thus, poor living conditions and even death from malnutrition. This is exactly the situation that parents have to avoid. They have to be more responsible and realistic of their own actions, and take the decisions that are in the best interest of the family, the right decisions. These types of marriages are called emotional and financial support marriages. Another type of marriages that are very common nowadays and very numerous on a wide scale are the economic marriages. Economic marriages are essentially those kind of marriages in which money play a tremendous role in the lives of one or more couples. This is often a situation in which one or even both individuals involved in marriage have an unconditional desire and hunger for money.

Monkey in the mirror

Monkey in the mirror is a book written by Ian Tattersall and it was published by the oxford university press in the year 2002 with 203 pages and the serial number is ISBN 0-19-851569-3. Tattersall a curator by profession is a PhD holder From Yale University,Tattersall, a Briton, is a curator in the Division of Anthropology of the American Museum of Natural History â€Å"Dr. Tattersall is currently working with Research Associate Jeffrey Schwartz on a multi-volume project to document the major fossils in the human fossil record. The literature as it stands is not a good resource for comparing human fossils, because standards of description and terminology vary widely. Because it employs a consistent descriptive and photographic protocol, this new work will make it possible for the first time for colleagues, students, and others to make the necessary comparisons without the extensive travel needed to consult the originals, which are in institutions all over the world. It will thus be a unique resource for pale anthropology that will spur future research† by D.S.G. POLLOCK â€Å"According to tattersall this is a great book having researched on it well and pointing to a lot of essays and as we all know human history or geology is a difficult topic and needs much research before one tries to defend his/her argument and as tattersall explain in his preface, â€Å"this is a somewhat unusual book, being â€Å"a series of loosely connected essays on evolution and related subjects† rather than a tightly constructed argument. Presumably because of this, it lacks both an index and any references or even a suggested reading list, which is a rather unfortunate limitation, especially in view of its author's somewhat contentious views† Campbell. Copyright  © Anthony Campbell (2002) The book in all has eight in which tattersall has discussed different issues brings out Where the man came from that is according to evolution theory which he has stated different parts of the world. The first two paragraphs are of general information about what science and evolution is. He firstly discuss what science is and theory and its findings and what it helps us in modern day to understand The first chapter of the book, titled What's So Special about Science?, provides a surprising insight into the cultural context in which Tattersall works. at the American museum In these, Tattersall sets the scene for what follows. He is particularly keen to counter the idea that adaptation in evolution is â€Å"for† anything. Novelty arises on a haphazard basis and it is purely a matter of luck if it turns out to have a beneficial effect on survival and reproduction. About novelty in evolution, tattersall supports the view that radial innovations can appear in select few the rest of the book is concerned in one way or another â€Å"with aspects of human evolution. In a chapter called â€Å"The Monkey in the Mirror†, which is also the title of the whole connection, Tattersall considers the question of which animals are capable of recognizing their own reflection (only humans and some though not all apes), and considers the connection, or lack of connection, between brain size and intelligence. Although we often think that a large brain is what mainly distinguishes us from other species, pre-human hominids were not chiefly remarkable for the size of their brains. Instead, Tattersall identifies three features that he thinks are important in this regard: upright stance, the use of stone tools, and a â€Å"modern† body form.† Anthony Campbell. â€Å"Tattersall devotes a full chapter to Homo erectus and the Australopithecenes who preceded him; and he is emphatic that the transition from one to the other was abrupt. Another of the evolutionary themes that Tattersall is keen to emphasize is denoted by the inelegant neologism of exaptation† pollok Neanderthals has a complete topic dedicated by tattersall and adopts the view that they were not ancestral to us but are of different species he holds a view that they were killed by our own ancestors and has a believe that the they could have interbred. Chapter Seven consist of a sustained attack on evolutionary psychology and sociobiology. Tattersall is scornful of the idea that our present-day behavior is conditioned by our long evolutionary background as hunter-gatherers or that our psychology is dependent on our genes. â€Å"However, I think there is a better case to be made out for such ideas than he allows, and his inevitably rather brief discussion of it is one-sided† Kevin N. Laland and Gillian R. Brown. â€Å"Tattersall's account of man's evolution conveys a modern message. As far as the science of paleoanthropology is concerned, it is up to the minute in the way that it reports the tenor of current thinking. It has been written with such facility and in such affluent prose that, sometimes, its cutting edge is too well concealed. It can take an effort of concentration, far beyond what the book ostensibly requires of the reader, to anatomize its rich and complex message. But, any reader who is prepared to devote time and thought to this brief book will be abundantly rewarded† Stephen Pollock. The final chapter forecast the future. in his essay he says, I quote: â€Å"It is fairly pessimistic about our chances of survival. As a consolation prize, however, if humanity is reduced to scattered pockets of survivors in relative isolation from one another there will be a chance for evolution to take off again; a large and unified population like ours today does not afford the fragmentation and isolation that is needed for selection to act.† tattersall Conclusion To conclude and in short, tattersal is a profound writer and this book is exceptional and will interest anyone who envies evolution of the current day. And as we see the book has no references and this is a set back because readers will not have an alternative incase they want an alternative view. Works cited; Monkey in the mirror-Ian tattersall Anthony Campbell- Essays on the scienc

Conflicts of Globalization and Restructuring of Education Essay

The September 11 terrorist attacks have generated a wealth of theoretical reflection as well as regressive political responses by the Bush administration and other governments (Kellner, 2003b). The 9/11 attacks and subsequent Bush administration military response have dramatized once again the centrality of globalization in contemporary experience and the need for adequate conceptualizations and responses to it for critical theory and pedagogy to maintain their relevance in the present age. In this article, I want to argue that critical educators need to comprehend the conflicts of globalization, terrorism, and the prospects and obstacles to democratization in order to develop pedagogies adequate to the challenges of the present age. Accordingly, I begin with some comments on how the September 11 terror attacks call attention to key aspects of globalization, and then provide a critical theory of globalization, after which I suggest some pedagogical initiatives to aid in the democratic reconstruction of education after 9/11.1 September 11 and Globalization The terrorist acts on the United States on September 11 and the subsequent Terror War throughout the world dramatically disclose the downside of globalization, and the ways that global flows of technology, goods, information, ideologies, and people can have destructive as well as productive effects.2 The disclosure of powerful anti-Western terrorist networks shows that globalization divides the world just as it unifies, that it produces enemies as it incorporates participants. The events reveal explosive contradictions and conflicts at the heart of globalization and that the technologies of information, communication, and transportation that facilitate globaliz ation can also be used to undermine and attack it, and generate instruments of destruction as well as production. The experience of September 11 points to the objective ambiguity of globalization, that positive and negative sides are interconnected, that the institutions of the open society unlock the possibilities of destruction and violence, as well as democracy, free trade, and cultural and social exchange. Once again, the interconnection and interdependency of the networked world was dramatically demonstrated as terrorists from the Middle East brought local grievances from their region to attack key symbols of US military power and the very infrastructure of Wall Street. Some see terrorism as an expression of â€Å"the dark side of globalization,† while I would conceive it as part of the objective ambiguity of globalization that simultaneously creates friends and enemies, wealth and poverty, and growing divisions between the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have nots.† Yet, the downturn in the global economy, intensification of local and global political conflicts, repression of human rights and civil liberties, and general increase in fear and anxiety have certainly undermined the naà ¯ve optimism of globophiles who perceived globalization as a purely positive instrument of progress and well-being. The use of powerful technologies as weapons of destruction also discloses current asymmetries of power and emergent forms of terrorism and war, as the new millennium exploded into dangerous conflicts and military interventions. As technologies of mass destruction become more available and dispersed, perilous instabilities have emerged that have elicited policing measures to stem the flow of movements of people and goods across borders and internally. In particular, the U.S. â€Å"Patriot Act† has led to repressive measures that are replacing the spaces of the open and free information society with new forms of surveillance, policing, and restrictions of civil liberties, thus significantly undermining U.S. democracy (see Kellner, 2003b). Ultimately, however, the abhorrent terror acts by the bin Laden network and the violent military response by the Bush administration may be an anomalous paroxysm whereby a highly regressive premodern Islamic fundamentalism has clashed with an old-fashioned patriarchal and unilateralist Wild West militarism. It could be that such forms of terrorism, militarism, and state repression will be superseded by more rational forms of politics that globalize and criminalize terrorism, and that do not sacrifice the benefits of the open society and economy in the name of security. Yet the events of September 11 may open a new era of Terror War that will lead to the kind of apocalyptic futurist world depicted by cyberpunk fiction (see Kellner 2003b). In any case, the events of September 11 have promoted a fury of reflection, theoretical debates, and political conflicts and upheaval that put the complex dynamics of globalization at the center of contemporary theory and politics. To those skeptical of the centrality of globalization to contemporary experience, it is now clear that we are living in a global world that is highly interconnected and vulnerable to passions and crises that can cross borders and can affect anyone or any region at any time. The events of September 11 and their aftermath also provide a test case to evaluate various theories of globalization in the contemporary era. In addition, they highlight some of the contradictions of globalization and the need to develop a highly complex and dialectical model to capture its conflicts, ambiguities, and contradictory effects. Consequently, I argue that in order to properly theorize globalization one needs to conceptualize several sets of contradictions generated by globalization’s combination of technological revolution and restructuring of capital, which, in turn, generate tensions between capitalism and democracy, and â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have nots.† Within the world economy, globalization involves the proliferation of the logic of capital, but also the spread of democracy in information, finance, investing, and the diffusion of technology (see Friedman, 1999 and Hardt and Negri, 2000). Globalization is thus a contradictory amalgam of capital ism and democracy, in which the logic of capital and the market system enter ever more arenas of global life, even as democracy spreads and more political regions and spaces of everyday life are being contested by democratic demands and forces. But the overall process is contradictory. Sometimes globalizing forces promote democracy and sometimes inhibit it, thus either equating capitalism and democracy, or simply opposing them, are problematical. The processes of globalization are highly turbulent and have generated intense conflicts throughout the world. Benjamin Barber (1996) describes the strife between McWorld and Jihad, contrasting the homogenizing, commercialized, Americanized tendencies of the global economy and culture with anti-modernizing Jihadist movements that affirm traditional cultures and are resistant to aspects of neoliberal globalization. Thomas Friedman (1999) makes a more benign distinction between what he calls the â€Å"Lexus† and the â€Å"Olive Tree.† The former is a symbol of modernization, of affluence and luxury, and of Westernized consumption, contrasted with the Olive Tree that is a symbol of roots, tradition, place, and stable community. Barber (1996), however, is too negative toward McWorld and Jihad, failing to adequately describe the democratic and progressive forces within both. Although Barber recognizes a dialectic of McWorld and Jihad, he opposes both to democracy, failing to perceive how they generate their own democratic forces and tendencies, as well as opposing and undermining democratization. Within Western democracies, for instance, there is not just top-down homogenization and corporate domination, but also globalization-from-below and oppositional social movements that desire alternatives to capitalist globalization. Thus, it is not only traditionalist, non-Western forces of Jihad that oppose McWorld. Likewise, Jihad has its democratizing forces as well as the reactionary Islamic fundamentalists who are now the most demonized elements of the contemporary era, as I discuss below. Jihad, like McWorld, has its contradictions and its potential for democratization, as well as elements of domination and destruction.3 Friedman, by contrast, is too uncritical of globalization, caught up in his own Lexus highconsumption life-style, failing to perceive the depth of the oppressive features of globalization and breadth and extent of resistance and opposition to it. In particular, he fails to articulate the contradictions between capitalism and democracy, and the ways that globalization and its economic logic undermine democracy as well as encouraging it. Likewise, he does not grasp the virulence of the premodern and Jihadist tendencies that he blithely identifies with the Olive tree, and the reasons why globalization and the West are so strongly resisted in many parts of the world. Hence, it is important to present globalization as a strange amalgam of both homogenizing forces of sameness and uniformity, and heterogeneity, difference, and hybridity, as well as a contradictory mixture of democratizing and anti-democratizing tendencies. On one hand, globalization unfolds a process of standardization in which a globalized mass culture circulates the globe creating sameness and homogeneity everywhere. But globalized culture makes possible unique appropriations and developments all over the world, thus proliferating hybrids, difference, and heterogeneity.4 Every local context involves its own appropriation and reworking of global products and signifiers, thus proliferating difference, otherness, diversity, and variety (Luke and Luke, 2000 ). Grasping that globalization embodies these contradictory tendencies at once, that it can be both a force of homogenization and heterogeneity, is crucial to articulating the contradictions of globalization and avoiding one-sided and reductive conceptions. My intention is to present globalization as conflictual, contradictory and open to resistance and democratic intervention and transformation and not just as a monolithic juggernaut of progress or domination as in many other discourses. This goal is advanced by distinguishing between â€Å"globalization from below† and â€Å"globalization from above† of corporate capitalism and the capitalist state, a distinction that should help us to get a better sense of how globalization does or does not promote democratization. â€Å"Globalization from below† refers to the ways in which marginalized individuals and social movements and critical pedagogues resist globalization and/or use its institutions and instruments to further democratization and social justice. Yet, one needs to avoid binary normative articulations, since globalization from below can have highly conservative and destructive effects, as well as positive ones, while globalization from above can help produce global solutions to problems like terrorism or the environment. Moreover, on one hand, as Michael Peters argues (forthcoming), globalization itself is a kind of war and much militarism has been expansive and globalizing in many historical situations. On the other hand, antiwar and peace movements are also increasingly global, hence globalization itself is marked by tensions and contradictions. Thus, while on one level, globalization significantly increases the supremacy of big corporations and big government, it can also give power to groups and individuals that were previously left out of the democratic dialogue and terrain of political struggle. Such potentially positive effects of globalization include increased access to education for individuals excluded from sharing culture and knowledge and the possibility of oppositional individuals and groups to participate in global culture and politics through gaining access to global communication and media networks and to circulate local struggles and oppositional ideas through these media. The role of information technologies in social movements, political struggle, and everyday life forces social movements and critical theorists to reconsider their political strategies and goals and democratic theory to appraise how new technologies do and do not promote democratization (Kellner, 1995b, 1997 and 1999b; Best and Kellner 2001; Kahn and Kellner 2003). In their book Empire, Hardt and Negri (2000) present contradictions within globalization in terms of an imperializing logic of â€Å"Empire† and an assortment of struggles by the multitude, creating a contradictory and tension-full situation. As in my conception, Hardt and Negri present globalization as a complex process that involves a multidimensional mixture of expansions of the global economy and capitalist market system, information technologies and media, expanded judicial and legal modes of governance, and emergent modes of power, sovereignty, and resistance.5 Combining poststructuralism with â€Å"autonomous Marxism,† Hardt and Negri stress political openings and possibilities of struggle within Empire in an optimistic and buoyant text that envisages progressive democratization and self-valorization in the turbulent process of the restructuring of capital. Many theorists, by contrast, have argued that one of the trends of globalization is depoliticization of publics, the decline of the nation-state, and the end of traditional politics (Boggs, 2000). While I would agree that globalization is promoted by extremely powerful economic forces and that it often undermines democratic movements and decision-making, one should also note that there are openings and possibilities for a globalization from below that inflects globalization for positive and progressive ends, and that globalization can thus help promote as well as destabilize democracy.6 Globalization involves both a disorganization and reorganization of capitalism, a turbulent restructuring process, which creates openings for progressive social change and intervention as well as highly destructive transformative effects. On the positive ledger, in a more fluid and open economic and political system, oppositional forces can gain concessions, win victories, and effect progressive changes. During the 1970s, new social movements, new nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and new forms of struggle and solidarity emerged that have been expanding to the present day (Hardt and Negri, 2000; Burbach, 2001; Best and Kellner, 2001; and Foran, 2003). The anti-corporate globalization of the 1990s emerged as a form of globalization from below, but so too did Al Qaeda and various global terror networks, which intensified their attacks and helped generate an era of Terror War. This made it difficult simply to affirm globalization from below while denigrating globalization from above, as clearly terrorism was an emergent and dangerous form of globalization from below that was a threat to peace, security, and democracy. Moreover, in the face of Bush administration unilateralism and militarism, multilateral approaches to the problems of terrorism called for global responses and alliances to a wide range of global problems (see Kellner 2003b and Barber 2003), thus demanding a progressive and cosmopolitan globalization to deal with contemporary challenges. Moreover, the present conjuncture is marked by a conflict between growing centralization and organization of power and wealth in the hands of the few contrasted with opposing processes exhibiting a fragmentation of power that is more plural, multiple, and open to contestation. As the following analysis will suggest, both tendencies are observable and it is up to individuals and groups to find openings for progressive political intervention, social transformation, and the democratization of education that pursue positive values such as democracy, human rights, literacy, equality, ecological preservation and restoration, and social justice, while figh ting poverty, ignorance, terror, and injustice. Thus, rather than just denouncing globalization, or engaging in celebration and legitimation, a critical theory of globalization reproaches those aspects that are oppressive, while seizing upon opportunities to fight domination and exploitation and to promote democratization, justice, and a forward looking reconstruction of the polity, society, and culture. Against capitalist globalization from above, there has been a significant eruption of forces and subcultures of resistance that have attempted to preserve specific forms of culture and society against globalization and homogenization, and to create alternative forces of society and culture, thus exhibiting resistance and globalization from below. Most dramatically, peasant and guerrilla movements in Latin America, labor unions, students, and environmentalists throughout the world, and a variety of other groups and movements have resisted capitalist globalization and attacks on previous rights and benefits. 7 Several dozen people’s organizations from around the world have protested World Trade Organization (WTO) policies and a backlash against globalization is visible everywhere. Politicians who once championed trade agreements like GATT and NAFTA are now often quiet about these arrangements or example, at the 1996 annual Davos World Economic Forum its founder and managing director published a warning entitled: â€Å"Start Taking the Backlash Against Globalization Seriously.† Reports surfaced that major representatives of the capitalist system expressed fear that capitalism was getting too mean and predatory, that it needs a kinder and gentler state to ensure order and harmony, and that the welfare state may make a come-back (see the article in New York Times, February 7, 1996: A15).8 One should take such reports with the proverbial grain of salt, but they express fissures and openings in the system for critical discourse and intervention. Indeed, by 1999, the theme of the annual Davos conference was making globalization work for poor countries and minimizing the differences between the â€Å"haves† and â€Å"have nots.† The growing divisions between rich and poor were worrying some globalizers, as were the wave of crises in Asian, Latin American, and other â€Å"developing countries†. In James Flanigan’s report in the Los Angeles Times (Febr. 19, 1999), the â€Å"main theme† is to â€Å"spread the wealth. In a world frightened by glaring imbalances and the weakness of economies from Indonesia to Russia, the talk is no longer of a new world economy getting stronger but of ways to ‘keep the engine going.'† In particular, the globalizers were attempting to keep economies growing in the more developed countries and capital flowing to developing nations. U.S. Vice-President Al Gore called on all countries to spur economic growth, and he proposed a new U.S.-led initiative to eliminate the debt burdens of developing countries. South African President Nelson Mandela asked: â€Å"Is globalization only for the powerful? Does it offer nothing to the men, women and children who are ravaged by the violence of poverty?† As the new millennium opened, there was no clear answer to Mandela’s question. In the 2000s, there have been ritual proclamations of the need to make globalization work for the developing nations at all major meetings of global institutions like the WTO or G-8 convenings. For instance, at the September 2003 WTO meeting at Cancun, organizers claimed that its goal was to fashion a new trade agreement that would reduce poverty and boost development in poorer nations. But critics pointed out that in the past years the richer nations of the U.S., Japan, and Europe continued to enforce trade tariffs and provide subsidies for national producers of goods such as agriculture, while forcing poorer nations to open their markets to â€Å"free trade,† thus bankrupting agricultural sectors in these countries that could not compete. Significantly, the September 2003 WTO trade talks in Cancun collapsed as leaders of the developing world concurred with protestors and blocked expansion of a â€Å"free trade zone† that would mainly benefit the US and overdeveloped countries. Likewise, in Miami in November 2003 the â€Å"Free-Trade Summit† collapsed without an agreement as the police violently suppressed protestors.9 Moreover, major economists like Joseph Stiglitz (2002), as well as anti-corporate globalization protestors and critics, argued that the developing countries were not adequately benefiting under current corporate globalization policies and that divisions between the rich and poor nations were growing. Under these conditions, critics of globalization were calling for radically new policies that would help the developing countries, regulate the rich and overdeveloped countries, and provide more power to working people and local groups. The Global Movement Against Capitalist Globalization With the global economic recession and the Terror War erupting in 2001, the situation of many developing countries has worsened. As part of the backlash against globalization in recent years, a wide range of theorists have argued that the proliferation of difference and the shift to more local discourses and practices best define the contemporary scene. In this view, theory and politics should shift from the level of globalization (and its accompanying often totalizing and macro dimensions) in order to focus on the local, the specific, the particular, the heterogeneous, and the micro level of everyday experience. An array of theories associated with poststructuralism, postmodernism, feminism, and multiculturalism focus on difference, otherness, marginality, the personal, the particular, and the concrete in contrast to more general theory and politics that aim at more global or universal conditions. 10 Likewise, a broad spectrum of subcultures of resistance have focused their attention on the local level, organizing struggles around identity issues such as gender, race, sexual preference, or youth subculture (see Kahn and Kellner, 2003). It can be argued that such dichotomies as those between the global and the local express contradictions and tensions between crucial constitutive forces on the present scene. It may be a mistake to focus on one side of the global/local polarity in favor of exclusive concern with the other side (Cvetkovitch and Kellner, 1997). Hence, an important challenge for a critical theory of globalization is to think through the relationships between the global and the local by observing how global forces influence and even structure an increasing number of local situations.

32 Patriotic Independence Day Quotes

32 Patriotic Independence Day Quotes It was a historic moment when Thomas Jefferson, along with other members of the Continental Congress, drafted the Declaration of Independence. The Continental Congress declared the people of America independent from the British colonies. It was the moment of truth all Americans had waited for. If the effort of severing ties from the British succeeded, the leaders of the movement would be hailed as true American heroes. However, if the effort failed, the leaders would be guilty of treason and face death. It was the clever wording of the Declaration of Independence, followed by some smart strategies employed by the leaders that sparked the Independence movement. What followed was a relentless power struggle to gain absolute independence from the British monarchy. July 4, 1776, was the historic day when the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. Every year, Americans rejoice and celebrate Independence Day, or the 4th of July, with great fanfare. Amidst colorful parades, flag hoisting ceremonies, and barbecue parties, Americans remember the suffering their forefathers endured to win them precious freedom. Patriotic Quotes for Independence Day Erma Bombeck: You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.Adlai Stevenson: America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a political and moral fact the first community in which men set out in principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human equality.Elmer Davis: This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.Joseph Addison: Let freedom never perish in your hands.Dwight D. Eisenhower: Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.George Bernard Shaw: Liberty is the breath of life to nations. Woodrow Wilson: The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation.Harry Emerson Fosdick: Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have.Ralph Waldo Emerson: For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?Daniel Webster: May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!John Dickinson: Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all!By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.Hamilton Fish: If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace.Benjamin Franklin: Where liberty dwells, there is my country.Thomas Paine: Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.-  Thomas Paine: In a chariot of light from the region of the day,The Goddess of Liberty cameShe brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,The plant she named Liberty Tree.He that would make his own liberty  Ã¢â‚ ¬â€¹secure,  must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself. Franklin D. Roosevelt: The winds that blow through the wide sky in these mounts, the winds that sweep from Canada to Mexico, from the Pacific to the Atlantic - have always blown on free men.James G. Blaine: The United States is the only country with a known birthday.Paul Sweeney: How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy.Hubert H. Humphrey: We need an America with the wisdom of experience. But we must not let America grow old in spirit.George Santayana: A mans feet must be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.Bill Vaughan: A real patriot is the fellow who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works.John Quincy Adams: All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse.Aurora Raigne: America, for me, has been the pursuit and catching of happiness.Gerald Stanley Lee: America is a tune. It must be sung tog ether. Lee Greenwood: And Im proud to be an American, where at least I know Im free. And I wont forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.John F. Kennedy: And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.John F. Kennedy: Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.Oliver Wendell Holmes: One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore!Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!Let freedom ring from the curva ceous peaks of California!But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi.From every mountainside, let freedom ring. Abraham Lincoln, The  Gettysburg Address, 1863: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Setting and Characters in Act Two of the Play Clybourne Park

Setting and Characters in Act Two of the Play Clybourne Park During the intermission of Bruce Norris play Clybourne Park, the stage undergoes a significant transformation. The former home of Bev and Russ (from Act One) ages fifty years. In the process, it erodes from a quaint, well-kept home into a residence that features, in the words of the playwright, an overall shabbiness. Act Two takes place in September of 2009. The stage directions describe the altered environment: The wooden staircase has been replaced with a cheaper metal one. ( . . . ) The fireplace opening is bricked in, linoleum covers large areas of wooden floor and plaster has crumbled from the lath in places. The kitchen door is now missing. During Act One, Karl Lindner predicted that the community would irrevocably change, and he implied that the neighborhood would decline in prosperity. Based on the description of the house, it seems at least part of Lindners forecast has come true. Meet the Characters In this act, we meet an entirely new set of characters. Six people sit in a semi-circle, looking over real estate/legal documents. Set in 2009, the neighborhood is now a predominantly African-American community.   The black married couple, Kevin and Lena, maintain strong ties to the house in question. Not only is Lena a member of the Home Owners Association, hoping to preserve the architectural integrity of the neighborhood, she is the niece of the original owners, the Youngers from Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun. The white married couple, Steve and Lindsey, have recently purchased the house, and they have plans to tear down most of the original structure and created a larger, taller, and more modern home. Lindsey is pregnant and makes every attempt to be friendly and politically correct during Act Two. Steve, on the other hand, is eager to tell offensive jokes and engage in discussions about race and class. Like Karl Lindner in the previous act, Steve is the most obnoxious member of the group, serving as a catalyst that exposes not only his prejudice but the prejudice of others. The remaining characters (each one Caucasian) include: Tom, the real estate lawyer representing the interests of Kevin and Lenas Home Owners Association. Tom continually tries (but usually fails) to keep the conversation on track.Kathy, the lawyer for  Steve and Lindsey, also tries to keep the proverbial ball rolling. However, she does go on brief tangents, such as when she mentions that her family (the Lindners from Act One!) once lived in the neighborhood.Dan, a contractor who interrupts the debate when he discovers a mysterious box buried in the yard. Tension Builds The first fifteen minutes seem to be about the minutiae of real estate law. Steve and Lindsey want to change the house significantly. Kevin and Lena want certain aspects of the property to remain intact. The lawyers want to make certain that all parties are following the rules established by the lengthy legalese they page through. The mood begins with casual, friendly conversation. Its the sort of small talk one might expect from newly acquainted strangers working towards a common goal. For example, Kevin discusses various travel destinations including ski trips, a clever call back to Act One. Lindsey talks happily about her pregnancy, insisting that she doesnt want to know the sex of their child. However, because of many delays and interruptions, tensions increase. Several times Lena hopes to say something meaningful about the neighborhood, but her speech is constantly put on hold until she finally loses patience. In Lenas speech, she says: No one, myself included, likes having to dictate what you can or cant do with your own home, but theres just a lot of pride, and a lot of memories in these houses, and for some of us, that connection still has value. Steve latches onto the word value, wondering if she means monetary value or historic value. From there, Lindsey becomes very sensitive and at times defensive. When she talks about how the neighborhood has changed, and Lena asks her for specifics, Lindsey uses the words historically and demographically. We can tell she doesnt want to directly bring up the subject of race. Her aversion becomes even more prominent when she scolds Steve for using the word ghetto. The History of the House Tensions ease a bit when the conversation removes itself from the politics of property, and Lena recounts her personal connection to the home. Steve and Lindsey are surprised to learn that Lena played in this very room as a child and climbed the tree in the backyard. She also mentions the owners before the Younger family (Bev and Russ, though she doesnt mention them by name.) Assuming that the new owners already know the sad details, Lena touches upon the suicide that took place over fifty years ago. Lindsey freaks out: LINDSEY: Im sorry, but that is just something that, from a legal standpoint, you should have to tell people! Just as Lindsey vents about the suicide (and its lack of disclosure) a construction worker named Dan enters the scene, bringing in the trunk that has recently been dug up from the yard. By coincidence (or perhaps fate?) the suicide note of Bev and Russ son lies in the box, waiting to be read. However, the people of 2009 are too concerned with their own daily conflicts to bother opening up the trunk.

What is academic freedom What is the role of universities in Term Paper

What is academic freedom What is the role of universities in protecting and promoting freedom for faculty and students - Term Paper Example ccordance with the US 1940 statement regarding academic freedom, lecturers ought to be categorically careful to avoid, in their capacity, controversial or contending matters that are unrelated to this practice. These teachers have full freedom to write and talk in the public and put their opinions forward without institutional fears of discipline and censorship (Provenzo, 2010). However, they ought to indicate restraint that they are not all representing their educational institution in any way whatsoever. In addition, academic occupancy protects this kind of freedom through ensuring that all teachers can only be sacked for grave reasons of gross misdemeanours and conduct drawbacks (Walvoord, 2010). This can also apply in the case of incompetence in professional occupancy. Additionally, behaviours that underplay professional respect and those that induce condemnation from the general virtual academic community may be punished. Proponents that side with academic freedom purport that the apparent freedom to enquire by scholars and educational affiliation members is overtly pertinent to the realization of the vision and the general mission of the academy. Additionally, the argue that most academic societies are occasionally targeted for alleged repression due to their apparent capability to control, influence and shape the resultant flow of information in the society (West, 2008). As potential scholars try their best to extend and communicate their notions and purported truths that are apparently non-convenient to most political dispensations and authorities, they may get into risk of repression or vilification, imprisonment and possible loss of jobs. For instance, a North African professor lost his employment after discovering and addressing the fact that his nation’s infant death rate was actually higher than the government’s records (Assefa, 2008). Moreover, the contemporary society scholars have come to form a world affiliation, dubbed academic for the