Worker`s Injuries Essays - Employment Compensation,

Worker`s Injuries One million times a year, California workers seek help from their employers for an on-the-job injury. Most believe the state's workers compensation laws -- created at the turn of the century and overhauled four years ago -- will be a safety net. Instead, many will step into a world where, at perhaps one of the most vulnerable times in their lives, they will wander for years with little help. This is a world where doctors can earn $500 an hour writing reports, lawyers can earn $100 an hour arguing about benefits that are set by law, judges can make $85,000 a year and insurance chief executive officers can be paid $2 million a year. All while hundreds of thousands of injured workers -- among them school teachers, laborers and office workers -- face years of frustration and delays to get medical care and $39 to $490 a week. That's the California workers compensation system. And it is damaging lives. ''This system chews people up, and I don't like it,'' said Edward C. Woodward, president of the California Workers' Compensation Institute, the research arm of the insurance industry. ''This would be a scandal anyplace else in the world.'' After 1993 legislation made the most sweeping changes in workers compensation in 20 years, The Press Democrat conducted a 12-month investigation to see how well the reorganized system is serving California workers injured on the job. It found a system that serves the powerful voices of employers, insurance companies, doctors and lawyers, while workers remain unheard. Among the findings: * Benefits are the lowest in the nation for six out of 10 workers with a permanent injury. Overall, benefits are so low that California ranks 45th out of 50 states. * Injured California workers must go to court to get benefits 20 percent of the time, double the rate 12 years ago and more than four times the national average. * Insurers mishandle half their claims. In one of every five cases, the insurer won't properly notify workers of benefits, and in one of every six cases workers won't be paid all the money they're owed, according to state audits. * Fraud is overstated. While some insurance companies claim one out of three workers lie about their injuries, or 33 percent, the actual number of fraud cases sent to prosecutors is less than 1 out of 100, or less than 1 percent. * The state has one information counselor for every 20,000 workers comp cases, symptomatic of a bureaucracy that greets half of worker calls with a busy signal and can't even say how many claims are filed each year. * No state agency regularly monitors claims to see, for instance, whether insurance payments are received on time or whether injured workers are receiving appropriate medical care. Conflict and confusion To assess how claims are handled, The Press Democrat conducted the first-ever media analysis of state computer data, analyzing 26,400 North Coast workers compensation claims covering six years, as well as another 77,800 cases in central and southern California at the Santa Barbara and Long Beach appeals boards. It found that conflict and confusion are imbedded in a system that is taking longer to resolve disputed cases every year, while the number of disputed claims is increasing faster than the growth in the work force. One out of five injured workers will spend almost three years struggling with claims adjusters and doctors and lawyers to get the benefits they are guaranteed by law. The nature of claims is changing as well, moving from warehouse to office with a growing number of cumulative strain injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, which are more difficult to assess and harder to quantify. ''I wouldn't want to be an injured worker in this system, due in huge part to the inherent complexity, subjectivity and inefficiency,'' said Doug Widtfeldt, vice president of the Association of California Insurance Companies. ''Delays and disputes are an endemic problem.'' The California program -- funded by employers and run by insurance companies, or employers who self-insure -- covers 13 million workers, almost twice New York or Texas. Every year, it costs employers roughly $8 billion, pays insurance companies about $1 billion in profits, pays doctors and medical providers $2 billion for medical care, pays workers $2 billion, and spends the rest on administration. And it makes everyone unhappy. Worker's comp in California is an equal-opportunity headache. Employers worry about costs. They resent workers who take advantage of the system. They resent insurance companies that make generous profits. They wonder how they

Comparing and Contrast the Chemical Disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Essays

Comparing and Contrast the Chemical Disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Essays Comparing and Contrast the Chemical Disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Essay Comparing and Contrast the Chemical Disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Essay In today’s modern society, as many countries have been developing very fast, the technologies are reaching high standards of level, for example, the high qualities weed killers and the liquid cleaner. However, as the big invention occurring, the more and more mistakes will be going on, because some technologies, such as weed killer and liquid cleaners are chemicals. With no doubt, chemicals are really harmful for human beings. As people all know that, toxic chemicals are used in the industries, which have to be safely covered and provide very serious use instruction, such as wearing long gloves, safety shoes or masks. However, even the chemicals are under several instructions, but people may have made some serious mistakes which caused a huge damage and large amount of death to people. In this essay, I am going to write about the two disasters that caused a lot of injures by the explosion of poisonous chemicals, which located in India and Italy. According to Shrivastava (1996), on the night of 2/3 December 1984, an enormous accident happened in Bhopal, India, the highly poisonous and unbalanced chemical gas was escaped from the factory and continue to spread over the city which caused by the lack of the attention and care ness. Apart from that, Marchi and Funtowicz and Ravetz (1996) states that in the 10 July 1976, a powerful weed killer which named 245T was exploded in a small town which located near Milan, the 245T contained the most powerful and toxic chemicals, it can kill any live stocks and human very easily, the accident was caused by man made unmanaged instructions and the toxic dioxin was spilled to the atmosphere. Between these two accidents, they were all caused by people not nature. Unlikely, these two took places in different period and locations. Luke (1984) believed that the Bhopal accident was caused by the ignorance of experts. This factory was built in a crowded population environment, and because they against the rule of US safety standard, too much amount of MIC was contained in the store and due to the huge quantity of it, the tank was not strong enough to hold the chemical, as the safety manual required at o degree, the safety system was broken down and water leaking in to it and set off the reaction. The chemicals were released into the air. Bhopal and Seveso were similar in that, according to Marchi Funtowicz Ravetz (1996) because of the unmanaged instructions and the ignorance, the disasters had a substantial damage and effect. According to Gail (2003), the Indian Government made a great effort in trying to manipulate the situation, yet all their attempts failed to provide the sufficient supply of medical services and food supply. There was not enough place for all the injured people to get medical treatment. That is because of the large number of injuries and the lack of doctors and medicine. Added to this, doctors at Bhopal had no idea of what kind of affection they were dealing with. Unfortunately, most people arrived at the hospital when it was too late, others died while waiting for their tern to see a doctor. Similar to Bhopal, Seveso suffered from lack of immediate responses and from ignorance of what exactly happened and what gases were released. Late decisions of evacuation and other responses were made, after the government first move of realizing and defining the accident and its possible consequences. B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravetz (1996), believe that Seveso had a better response than Bhopal, when a comparison between the two disasters were made. The Italian Government had more ability to absorb the affects in a shorter period of time. Unlike Bhopal, the process of recovery was reasonably good, due to the smaller affects, less damage and the high financial capability. There were compensations to victims, redeployment to people lost their jobs and there was some control on health long-term effects by monitoring them through a practical planned program. The main difference between the effects of the accidents at Bhopal and Seveso is that many people died at Bhopal, whereas there was no any death cases reported in any article at Seveso. Death is considered a short-term effect. David (2002) believes they were roughly 7000 death cases at Bhopal. Baines (1993) mentioned other short-term effects at Bhopal such as difficulty and eye irritation. Similar symptoms appeared on Seveso survivors. Added to this, Shrivastava (1996) points out that people exposed to the released gas had some other short-effects such as cough, vomiting and chest pains. Long-term effects at Bhopal mainly were eye-sight weakness and high possibility of getting different kinds of Cancer. No long-term effects are in detail in â€Å"The long road to recovery†, (B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravetz 1996), neither in â€Å"Environmental Disasters†, (Baines 1993). These disasters had involved so many people, some were dead, and some were seriously injured . Also, some people may have a great risk of getting the negative effect in their rest of lives. Due to these happened , there must be someone stand up and taking the responsibility for the huge damages and waste . In the disaster of Bhopal , the company which involved in was union Carbide , this company in USA was decreased their value of stocks by this failure. Furthermore, the Union Carbide in India has to accept to pay the funding for the patients and for the damages. Even though, the American company against to accept the legal responsibility which done by themselves. But, the local government and a lot of lawyers have sued the company, and they won the beat, so they got the funding for the injured families and hospitals. (â€Å"Bhopal India† DIS Covering Science). In contrast, according to â€Å"The long road to recovery†, by B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravetz (1996), the company of the Seveso had paid for the hospitals and government and any hurt, and they will be more concern about how to do the securities very carefully and reasonable. To avoiding these things happen again, every people and individuals have done something to prevent these kinds of disasters. First of all, according to the articles, local government had legislate some issues for caring the chemicals and warning people who were working with the chemicals must pay a lot of attentions on it. Also, the companies which producing the chemicals have to be located far from the high proportions of people in the neighborhoods and providing the knowledge for hospitals about how to cure the chemical disease. In conclusion, every one and society have to do something to avoid the disaster happen, because no one wants to die or wants to see other people dead. So, from these two disasters, People have studied how to prevent the disaster happen, and not just blame some one to take responsibility after the disasters. Even though these two serious events had happened years ago, it still named the one of the worst industrial disaster in the world, because many innocent people were died for it, and too many people had to injure the painful during their rest of lives. Essay Foundation 001 Academic writing Comparing and contrast the chemical disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Student full name: Li Fei Lu (Lulu) Teacher: Chris Beard Essay length: 1190 words Reference A chronology of events at Seveso and Seveso adapted from B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravertz (1996) Seveso: A paradoxical classic in The long road discovery: Community responses to industrial disaster Edited by James K. Mitchell: United nations University Press. â€Å"Bhopal, India. † DISCovering Science. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in student Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2004. http://galenet. galegroup. com/servlet/SRC downloaded 26 November 2004 Cancer fears haunt survivors of Italian chemical disaster (1997) Cancer Weekly Plus Retrieved January 23, 2005, from the Expanded Academic Database David, L (2002) Night of the Gas New Internationalist p34 (2) p9 Retrieved January 23, 2005, from the Expanded Academic Database Shrivastava, P (1996) Long-term recovery from the Bhopal crisis in The long road to recovery: Community responses to industrial disaster Edited by James K. Mitchell: United Nations University Press (adapted)

7 Reasons to Enroll a Child in an Online Elementary School

7 Reasons to Enroll a Child in an Online Elementary School Every year, hundreds of parents pull their kids out of traditional schools and enroll them in virtual programs. How do online elementary schools benefit children and their families? Why are parents so eager to remove their kids from the system that has worked for decades? Here are some of the most common reasons: 1. An online school gives kids the freedom to work on developing their passions. Two decades ago, primary school children were given little no homework. Now, students often return from school with hours of worksheets, drills, and assignments to complete. Many parents complain that students aren’t given the opportunity to focus on their own talents: learning an instrument, experimenting with science, or mastering a sport. Parents of online students often find that students are able to complete their assignments faster when they don’t have the distraction of peers to hold them back. Many online students are able to finish their coursework in the early afternoon, leaving many hours for kids to develop their own passions.​ 2. Online schools allow kids to get away from bad situations. Difficult situations with bullying, bad teaching, or a questionable curriculum may make school a struggle. Parents certainly don’t want to teach their kids to run away from a bad situation. However, some parents find that enrolling their child in an online school can be good for both their learning and their emotional health. 3. Families are able to spend more time together after enrolling their kids in online school. Hours of class, after-school tutoring, and extracurricular activities are leaving many families with no time to spend together (aside from homework tantrums). Online schooling lets kids complete their studies and still spend quality time with their loved ones. 4. Many online schools help kids work at their own pace. One of the drawbacks of traditional classrooms is that teachers must design their instruction to meet the needs of the students in the center. If your child is struggling to understand a concept, he may be left behind. Likewise, if your child is unchallenged, he may have to sit bored and uninspired for hours while the rest of the class catches up. Not all online schools let students work at their own pace, but a growing number provide students with the flexibility to get extra help when they need it or move ahead when they don’t. 5. Online schools help students to develop independence. By their nature, online schools require students to develop the independence to work on their own and the responsibility to complete assignments by the deadline. Not all students are up for the challenge, but kids that develop these skills will be better prepared for completing further education and joining the workforce. 6. Online schools help students develop technology skills. Technology skills are essential in almost every field and there’s no way for students to learn online without developing at least some of these essential abilities. Online learners tend to become proficient with internet communication, learning management programs, word processors, and online conferencing. 7. Families have a greater educational choice when they are able to consider online schools. Many families feel like they are stuck with few educational options. There may be only a handful of public and private schools within driving distance (or, for rural families, there may only be a single school). Online schools open up an entirely new set of choices for concerned parents. Families can choose from state-run online schools, more independent virtual charter schools, and online private schools. There are schools designed for young actors, gifted learners, struggling students, and more. Not all schools will break the bank, either. Publicly-funded online schools allow students to learn without charge. They may even provide resources like laptop computers, learning supplies, and internet access.

The Financial Crises and The Collapse of the Lehman Brothers - ABD Essay

The Financial Crises and The Collapse of the Lehman Brothers - ABD - Essay Example The role of governments and that of economic theories had an equal amount of role to play in the control and monitoring function and the predictive ability and risk measurement respectively. The study of such indicators helps to understand and appreciate the importance of non financial factors as a cause of the recent financial crisis that shook the entire world (Kotz, 2009). The aftermath of the great financial crisis helps us to reflect upon the shocks experienced by the policy landscape and government policies and greed of bankers and the plight of the taxpayers. This has brought to focus, the need for enhancement of the role of the government in regulating and controlling the systems of the market from the inadequacies and the excesses. Also linked with these issues is the problem with moral hazards. The role of moral hazard has been identified to be central to the causes of the recent crisis and the learning from the controversy that can be drawn (Engelen et al., 2008). A moral hazard can be clearly defined as the responsibility of one party towards the interest of the other but where the interests of the former attain priority. For example, a person sells a financial product to the other but chooses only those funds for sale which provide him with the highest bonuses but might not hold any interest of the buyer. The risks associated with it are mutually borne by the seller and the buyer. The subprime was a typical example for the moral hazard theory where gains and social losses were privatized (Godechot, 2008). Financial risk management failures were caused primarily due to the ignorance of the systematic interaction between the different risk elements of the process. There were modeling errors that were based on the assumption of normal markets and ignored abnormal market situations. Such practice made the financial risk management system more prone to crisis rather than being less exposed. Credit default swaps and collateralized debt

Google Internship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Google Internship - Essay Example Although this statement is in and of itself idyllic and rather broad, it is my understanding that Google represents just such a firm. As such, even a cursory analysis of the past reveals the fact that Google has consistently sought out means of developing solutions, engineering new approaches, and helping to connect the world to share the information that exists in a more fluid and complete manner. As such, seeking to be a part of a firm that prizes these aspects above merely making money, is a dream that can only be realized with regards to an internship at Google. Therefore, it is my distinct hope and wish that my application for this position will be given consideration; not only due to the fact that I possess valuable skills and traits that could benefit Google, but due to the fact that I have a desire to be a part of this entity and promote the values that it seeks to underscore within our

Death Penalty in India Essay Example for Free

Death Penalty in India Essay Short Essay on the Capital Punishment in India – Capital punishment has been a matter of debate for long now, and across the world public opinion is, by and large, in favour of abolishing it, as it is increasingly seen as a barbaric measure to check crime. Modern abolitionist jurists are of the view that if killing is wrong, no amount of legal or social sanction can make it right. If it is wrong for a man to kill another man, so it is even for the State to do. Besides, citing statistics, they argue that capital punishment has had no visible effect as a deterrent and has utterly failed to bring in a dip in the number of murders, which, according to them, makes capital punishment completely useless. Why kill the killers when it helps none and nothing, seems to be the belief. To them, capital punishment is a barbarous measure of no avail that has its place in the annals of history and not in modern statute books. Abolition of death penalty is largely seen as a step in the interest of human dignity in line with Article 5 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 and its protocol in 1989, besides, of course, Article 3 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on December 10, 1948 and Article 21 of our own Constitution. The arguments on the side of the retentionists are equally strong. However, in India the Supreme Court has made death penalty applicable only to the rarest of rare cases – the cases where the act is no less than shocking to human conscience. The landmark cases where the death sentences were awarded in India are Ranga Billa case, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case, Laxman Nayak case and most recently in 2004 Hatab case of West Bengal where accused Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged on 14 August, 2004, on his birthday, after Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence awarded by the lower courts. The President also declined his plea for pardon. In the year 2003 government laid a Bill in the Parliament, which proposed to add a provision of death penalty in Drugs and Cosmetics Act. After the new government came in power in June 2004, President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam suggested that Parliament should consider the abolition of death sentence altogether.

An Analysis of Shakespeares Sonnet 73 Essays -- Sonnet essays

An Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73      Ã‚   Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare is widely read and studied. But what is Shakespeare   trying to say? Though it seems there will not be a simple answer, for a better understanding of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73, this essay offers an explication of the sonnet from The Norton Anthology of English Literature:      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That time of year thou mayst in me behold   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In me thou seest the twilight of such day   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As after sunset fadeth in the west;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Which by and by black night doth take away,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Death's second self that seals up all in rest.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In me thou seest the growing of such fire,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the deathbed whereon it must expire,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Consumed with that it was nourished by.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.  Ã‚   (879)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This sonnet rhymed abab cdcd efef gg form. Most of his sonnets were written in the 1590s at the height of the vogue, but they were not published until 1609. The first 126 are addressed to a young man; the remainder (with the exception of the last two, which are conventional sonnets on Cupid) are addressed to an unknown "Dark Lady." Whether or not Shakespeare laid bare his heart in his sonnets, as many critics have contended, they are his most personal poems.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For understandi... ...ine 14). "Leave" in line 14 does not mean more than "leave behind."      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 well fills and fits the three quatrains and single couplet of the Elizabethan sonnet. We can be sure there is no doubt to believe that some of Shakespeare's sonnets, like Sonnet 73, were well known and he was surely placed at the head of the dramatists and high among the non-dramatic poets. As Bender and Squier claimed (75), in the sixteenth century, Shakespeare is England's greatest playwright and the best of the Elizabethan sonneteers.    Works Cited Abrams, M. H., et al., The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Norton, 1986. Bender, Robert M., and Charles L. Squier, eds. The Sonnet: An Anthology. New York: Washington Square P, 1987. McAuley, James. Versification: A Short Introduction. Michigan: Michigan UP, 1985.  

History of computing Essay

Way back in early history, when people relied mainly on their brains to perform calculations, people used their fingers, pebbles, and tally sticks for computing purposes. Various attempts were made to build general-purpose programmable computers from the same mechanical devices used in calculators. But the problems posed by the lack of technology at the time were not satisfactorily solved until the introduction of electronic computing techniques in the mid-20th century. Between Pascal’s invention and around 1820 there were about 25 manufacturers of calculating machines; most of them were the work of one man. Few of them worked correctly and even less actually reached the manufacturing line. In the mid-19th century Charles Babbage, a visionary British mathematician at Cambridge University, designed the first computers to perform multistep operations automatically. The technologies were entirely mechanical. He called this first computing machine the Difference Engine, and it was intended to compute and print mathematical tables automatically. The Difference Engine performed only one arithmetic operation: addition. Babbage constructed a small portion of his first Difference Engine in 1832, which served as a demonstration prototype. The first widely known general-purpose electronic computer was the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) that John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert built at the University of Pennsylvania. The primary motivation for the ENIAC was the need to construct ballistic tables for the U. S. Army. Work began on the ENIAC in 1943 and in 1946 it was completed. It was an enormous machine weighing about 30 tons and filling a 30 by 50 foot room. It contained 1,500 electromechanical relays and over 18,000 vacuum tubes and when it was switched on it consumed 150,000 watts of energy. Despite its enormous size it stored only the equivalent of 80 characters of information. However, it was substantially faster than any previous computer. The idea of storing programs and their data in the same high-speed memory – the stored-program concept – was first put forth by von Neumann in a publication entitled, â€Å"First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC† (Electronic Discrete Variable Computer). The IAS machine in its overall design is quite modern, and can be regarded as the prototype of most subsequent general-purpose computers. It had the general structure depicted in Figure 4. It had a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for executing instructions, a main memory for storing active programs, a secondary memory for backup storage, and miscellaneous input-output equipment. The IBM PC series was introduced in 1981 and quickly became the de facto standard for this class of machine. IBM made a smart decision by making the architecture of the PC open, meaning its design specifications were available to other manufacturers of computers and software. As a result of this decision the IBM PC became very popular and many versions of it, PC clones, were produced by others. Many other significant achievements have occurred in the PC era and continue to occur with the widespread use of the Internet and networked computers. Here are a few other notable historical achievements having to do with PC’s: o 1976 – The Cray 1 Supercomputer was the first commercially developed supercomputer. It contained 200,000 IC’s and was cooled by Freon. o 1977 – Apple II computer introduced. o 1979 – Commodore Pet released, with 1 MHz computing power, 8K RAM, cassette deck, and 9†³ monitor displaying monochrome text. o 1979 – The compact disk was invented. o 1982 – The TCP/IP network communications protocol was established and the â€Å"Internet† was formed as a connected set of networks using TCP/IP. o 1982 – Commodore 64 released, costing just i 595. o 1982 – Compaq releases their IBM PC compatible, the Compaq Portable. o 1983 – The IBM XT is released. This machine had a 10MB hard disk, 128KB of RAM, one floppy drive, a mono monitor, and a printer, all for i5000. What a bargain! o 1984 – Apple Macintosh released. o 1985 – Microsoft Windows launched, but not really widely used until version 3 in 1990. o 1987 – IBM introduced its PS/2 System which was very successful, selling over 2 million machines in less than 2 years. o 1989 – The World Wide Web (WWW) is invented by Tim Berners-Lee who saw the need for global information exchange that would allow physicists to collaborate on research. The Web was a result of the integration of hypertext and the Internet. Hyperlinked pages could not only provide information but could provide transparent access to other pages of information as well as other Internet facilities such as ftp, telnet, Gopher, WAIS, and USENET. The Web started out as a text-only interface but NCSA Mosaic, an early browser, later presented a graphical interface for it and its popularity exploded as it became accessible to the novice user. The explosion of the Web started in earnest during 1993 and in a single year Web traffic increased by 300,000%. o 1990 – Windows 3. 0 introduced by Microsoft. This graphical user interface OS offered true multi-tasking, meaning you could run multiple programs at the same time. o 1993 – The Pentium microprocessor released by Intel. It was only available at that time in 60 and 66 MHz versions. o 1995 – Windows 95 operating system released by Microsoft. o 1995 – Pentium Pro microprocessor released. o 1997 – Pentium MMX (166 and 200 MHz) released. o 1997 – Pentium II (233, 266, and 300 MHz) released. o 1998 – Windows 98 released. o 1999 – Linux, a free alternative operating system to Microsoft’s Windows, is estimated to be running on over 10 million computers worldwide.

Is “Sredni Vashtar” a Horror Short Story? Essay

â€Å"Sredni Vashtar† Takes a close look into the life and interactions of and between Conradin; his cousin and mentor, Mrs. de Ropp and Conradin’s Ferret and God: Sredni Vashtar. It can be described as a horror story because of its character’s description, themes and setting. It shows the religious downfall of the protagonist, the death of the antagonist and the lack of coherence in society. Saki emphasises the horror in the main characters, including both the protagonists and antagonists. â€Å"Conradin† is described as a â€Å"ten years old† boy, skinny and sick who â€Å"will not live for another 5 years†. It is not a nice image for a boy, and it can either cause sympathy or apathy. However, the fact that he has a â€Å"rampant† imagination and he uses it to evade reality, intimidates the reader. The antagonist is Mrs. De Ropp, a high-class elder woman, which is Conradin’s â€Å"guardian and cousin†. Even if she does not admit it â€Å"she disliked Conradin†, which becomes obvious with some actions and details she has with Conradin, such as killing his hen and friend. Sredni Vashtar is a ferret, a God and a religion, all at the same time. It’s difficult for a reader, especially if we took into account the social and religious contex, to not feel uncomfortable or intimidated with/by this character. It symbolises Conradin’s religious fail, it kills Mrs. De Ropp and is described as a fierce beast. Also it has complete control over Conradin, even that it’s not a thinking individual. The maid is the other human character described. She is the contact point with society and ordinary lifestyles, in other words reality. She is described as a clumsy and â€Å"foolish† person, who lacked importance. This shows the author’s and protagonist’s opinion of society. Despite the fact that is not described in detail, the setting has a lot of impact on the reader. First of all, the story is set during fall, the horror season in most cultures. It’s also the time when nature begins to die. The Edwardian mansion is described to have â€Å"many windows†, which commonly in literature symbolise eyes. This creates a feeling of constant vigilance, as if Conradin and the reader could not do anything without Mrs. De Ropp knowing. The lack of detail pushes the reader to use his own imagination to recreate the old Edwardian mansion, which can either create more fear or reduce it, depending on the reader. The â€Å"cheerless† garden with â€Å"few trees† represents Mrs. De Ropp arid personality and decrepit physical appearance, which emphasises the regret and fear felt for the antagonist. The two main places Conradin spends most time on are his room and the toolshed. The first one is described as been â€Å"dark† and the second been at â€Å"dusk†. Light represents hope, so Sredni Vashtar, who lives in the tool shed, also represents hope. The main themes are the children role in the high class society, how the protagonists fails to fulfil them and the consecuences. The reader can easily see the closed social and religious views Saki is trying to criticise: The edwardian high class social standards, based on pride, severe rules and inhuman punishments and the lack of everyday devotion for religion, despite which one. The protagonist contrast and completely break these rules: Conradin hated his cousin, lost and changed his faith, did not had manners and rejected society. As we can observe â€Å"Sredni Vashta† represents divinity/God’s fail, in a social context where religion was extremely strong and important in everyday life; This obviously drags reader’s attention. Saki also explores the importance of a close family, which he lacked because, just as the protagonist, he was raised in Burma by hated relatives. In the story Conradin did not have a close and loving family so become into a troubled kid , with psychological, health and social problems. The language used to describe the protagonist includes a series of techniques Saki uses to emphasise specific characteristics or cause a certain effect on the reader. For example the religious downfall: Saki describes how Conradin thinks â€Å"church service was an alien rite† and instead his god was a ferret. Saki foreshadows Mrs, De Ropp’s death with Conradin’s hen death and with the prayers Conradin says to Sredni Vashtar: â€Å"Do one thing for me, Sredi Vashtar† This makes the readers pay attention to any details and do not loose interest, as well as creating a horror and suspense atmosphere. The contrast between the â€Å"cold afternoon† and the â€Å"warming daylight† is a pathetic fallacy which represents Mrs. De Ropp’s hope fading, anticipating her death. The toast is a symbolism for the pleasure death can cause. This is shown when Mrs. De Ropp tells Conradin about his friend’s death and she offers him a toast, and when Mrs. De Ropp is killed, Conradin prepares himself a toast. The fact that is his favourite meal shows the sick mentality of the character, who celebrates his freedom but also death. Humor, sarcasm and dramatic irony are commonly used by Saki in â€Å"Sredni Vashtar†, which develop a creepiness sensation on the reader. For example the maid says after Mrs. De Ropp’s death â€Å"Whoever will break it to the poor child?†, this dramatic irony is used to emphasise the fact that society did not understood Conradin, and it’s humorous because the maid was described as a stupid character.

religion new kingdom essays

religion new kingdom essays Egypt had a polytheistic religion, meaning that they believed in many gods, each of which played a role of its own for example Hapi the god of the nile. He was depicted in statues and praised as the one who came to nourish Egypt and create all good things. The people of Egypt prayed to him asking for a good flood. Religion had a great impact on NKE society through the social hierarchy, from the ordinary people to the pharaoh himself. The pharaoh was believed to be the incarnation of god who had created Egyptian universe and to whom he would return upon death. In other words the people believed the Phoraoh to be god on earth. Although the ordinary people where not allowed into the temple, religion still had an impact on their lives. Ears were carved outside important temples, into which the ordinary people whispered their longings and prayers believing that the gods leaned close to hear every word. Evidence of personal peity (meaning direct communication of people with the gods) have been found in the village of Medina, where the villagers wrote messages to the gods. Throughout Egypt, the Egyptians believed the gods took a personal interest in their lives. They believed the gods would punished and forgiven them, this is illustrated by the draughtsman, Nebre, prayers for his sick son (he believed he was sick as a punishment to him) to Amun, the god who listened to prayers. Another Example is the sculptor, Ken, put up a stela for a to read confessing that he had deceived his wife my swearing a false oath to her. These examples illustrate the role of religion in the lives of the ordinary Egyptians. The religion was closely integrated with the economy. The Egyptians believed that the temple was not only the house or the mansion of the god but symbolised the conditions that existed at the time of the creation. The temple was central to all economic activity. Every temple receive ...

Ap Us History Dbq

APUSH DBQ 6 All throughout the 1800s, slavery was a very controversial topic. During the 1860 election, Abraham Lincoln was asked about his views on slavery. He simply stated that he would do anything with slavery to preserve the union. A few months later, Lincoln issued the Emancipation and this went slightly against what he had said earlier. Once this was issued, the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery became the main goal in the war. I believe that Lincolns main goal was to preserve the Union and although he felt that slavery was morally wrong, he was willing to do anything to keep it together. There were many instances where Lincoln made his beliefs on slavery very clear. Although he believed that it was morally wrong, he still did not believe that blacks should have the same rights as an american. He wanted them to be free. Just free somewhere else. During his presidency he tried very hard to do whatever needed to be done to preserve the Union. Lincoln restated this again in August of 1863 when he reminded people of the democratic party that the civil war was being fought in an effort to put the Union back together. Feelings on slavery did not matter but freeing slaves would make things easier because Confederate war effort would become more difficult. I march of 1862, Lincoln decided that it would be best to award states that freed their slaves with money. With this, people were not able to say that they didnt receive money for getting rid of slavery. This was simply a bribe though. He was not forcing anyone to abolish slavery and it was completely the states decision. Although that made the thought of abolition seem less awful to the confederates, they were still unsure. When speaking to a Committee of Religious Denominations of Chicago in September of that same year, Lincoln admitted that slavery was a big part of rebellion. He also stated that emancipation would prove to Europe that the U. S. had morals (image of strong ally). Emancipation would then also weaken the rebels by taking their laborers. Although this was a good plan, people were also still curious as to what would happen to all of the freed black people because they are uneducated and not smart enough to do the average white persons work. Fredrick Douglas, brought up the idea of letting black people fight in the war, and Lincoln felt that it was a good thing for blacks to do. 54th Massachusetts was famous because it was the first all black regiment. All black people fought for free until they were seen as equal. At first, Lincoln was scared that they would not be good soldiers and they would not be loyal to the fellow troops. Another fear he had was that White regiments would be angry and refuse to fight. 54th Massachusetts did the assault on fort Wagner and although there were many casualties, they continued to fight. This impressed both Sherman and Grant. That concern was put aside when all the focus was pointed towards Lincoln during his famous Gettysburg address in July of 1863. During the historic speech, he stated that all men were created equal and pointed out that during the revolution, they fought for equality of all men. This meant that by having slavery, they were lying about the revolution. Lincoln made it a point to say that were an example to all other countries that wanted democracy. He called the United States a â€Å"test case† with slavery. They had to keep fighting for those who already died or they might as well have a monarchy. Everything was going smoothly until there was a race riot later that year. White people were beating up black people because they felt that they were stealing their jobs. Buckner was confused because these northern people were treating blacks like southerners. Abusing them and refusing to draft. He pointed out that the black people were fighting for a country that didnt even appreciate them. The memorable statement of his speech was that the freed men were braver than all the men in that room combined. As people argued about whether slavery should be abolished or not, Lincoln always made it clear that the one thing he cared about the most was the preservation of the Union. The southern states mainly insisted on keeping slaver for economic needs and the North was more open to the idea of abolition because they did not need slave help. With such a controversial topic, it was hard to compromise but with Lincolns will to do anything, the Union was once again united.

Humanistic Era Reflection Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Humanistic Era Reflection Paper - Assignment Example With the rise of workers unrest several acts were legislated to cater for the needs of the workers. Some of the acts enacted include the Labor-Management Relations Act and National Labor Relations Act. The period was also characterized with the rise of some management theories. Although these theories were formulated to ease the working environment, majority continued to work in deplorable conditions making it difficult to apply participatory approach towards management (Huston and Marquis, 2008). The act is also known as the Taft-Hartley Act. The act was legislated in the 1930s and it was meant to discourage unfair practices by employers. As union membership and power increased, the US federal government began to look into some of the labor practices. This was prompted by long and bitter strikes by workers especially coal mining and truck industry workers. Workers unrest in the 1940s led to a demand for legislation to restrict some of the activities of the labor unions. The aim of the Taft-Hartley Act is to bring cohesion between the union power and the management authority. Some of the unfair labor practices listed in the act includes; harassment of non-union members, charging excessive membership fees, refusal to bargain with management in good faith and employing various means of oppression against employers. The Taft-Hartley Act gives management the right in organizing union campaigns. The management is allowed to highlight for the employee the advantages and disadvantages of certain union memberships as long as the information given is correct. The act gives the President of the United States of America the power to prevent or call off a strike through a temporary court injunction, if the strike endangers the national health and safety. The act also allows the states to enact laws that ensure employees work in unionized firms without the need to join the unions (Hughes, Kapoor and Pride, 2009). It