Thursday, October 31, 2019

Cyberlaw Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Cyberlaw Research - Essay Example From the essay's analysis, it may be seen that new legislation does indeed impact upon individual liberties. In cases such as that of Jose Padilla discussed in the essay, the actions of the Government have been dismissed by the Courts as violative of constitutional rights to freedom. Terrorists now have access to Cyber weapons such as TEDs, RF munitions, TEMPEST monitoring devices and electromagnetic bombs in addition to the uploading of malicious viruses. By hacking into the access codes for control of weapons and missile systems of the United States of America, or locations such as the World Trade Center, terrorists can create havoc – long distance and unidentified. The purpose of a terrorist attack is to generate fear in the mind of the victim. Serious cyber attacks can be conceived and planned without detectable logistic preparation. They can be invisibly reconnoitered, clandestinely rehearsed, and then mounted in a matter of minutes or even seconds without revealing the i dentity and location of the attacker. Through manipulation of cyberspace architecture and increased surveillance in the US today, online activity is being regulated today. The restrictive immigration laws have ensured that the likelihood of a large scale attack is defused. But this cannot be equated to a victory for terrorists. The researcher states that there must be more emphasis on preserving individual liberties but it is not of a magnitude that justifies the conclusion that the terrorists have won the war.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Law - Assignment Example It may seem as a case of bad faith coming from Michael, who has attempted to take advantage of the good will that has been associated with the trademark of â€Å"Facebook†. According to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995 this fact may conduct to dilution.1Moreover, the U.S. Trademark Act of 1946 stipulated as illegal the action of registering or using a domain name that is identical or very similar to a trademark previously registered. Also, Michael’s â€Å"casebook† may be qualified by ACPA as â€Å"typo squatting† – the registration of domain names similar to registered trademarks, but which differ by one or two letters. This is obvious as the words â€Å"facebook† and â€Å"casebook† are similar, the only difference being the first letter. This fact would give Facebook the right to make a claim according to the URDP rules. Another important factor in Michael’s case is the geographical location of the host of his website – which is Ukraine and the location of the end-user – which is Canada. It is obvious that the location of the end-user is of a bigger importance than the location of the host, since the Copyright Act is meant to protect the copyright in Canada. Nevertheless, the location of the host is determinative and its importance should not be minimized. The fact that Michael’s help – Carrie did not provide casebook.ca with an original appearance, but copied it from facebook.com is another illegal action. In U&R Tax, a set of requirements were made in order for a reproduction to be proved. These factors are: Analyzing the above criteria, it is obvious that the user interface design of â€Å"casebook.ca† was literally copied from the website â€Å"facebook.com† by Carrie. Through this action, the web site casebook.ca diminishes the value of Facebook’s copyright, and the material taken is used in an identical way as the facebook.com website – as a user interface design. Moreover, none of the Facebook codes were mentioned, the design

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

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

Apple Store - Research Paper Example In this avenue, the techniques applicable are a web server hosting the web address, content, and software that may mediate communications for the two parties. Remarkably, communication through this system is efficient as customers make orders for the goods they need directly to the supplier. Moreover, this technique requires provision of an internet address, which is useful to the supplier as they may use the email address to communicate to the consumer about new products on sale in future. Essentially, the use of mobile phone verbal communication also helps in the creation of dialogue with the two transacting entities. It creates trust and dialogue, which enhances customer service and satisfaction because consumers are able to make verbal communication on the specifics of the product they are buying (Ahrens 31). As for Apple store, the preferred technique for marketing communication is website communication because of the large customer base hence making it difficult to make one on one phone dialogue. Offline interactive communication In this form of traditional marketing communication, retailers make direct approach to the consumer in order to create product awareness and encourage buying. The techniques involved include direct marketing, personal selling, and sales promotions. However, the products on sale are not as per individual customer specifications, but are as per the supplier’s ideas. However, the application of this concept still applies to many businesses despite the available one to one marketing techniques. In this regard, Apple store uses sales promotions and direct marketing to market products on sale in order to attract customers to buy their products. Online passive communication techniques These are one-way progressive communication techniques where the supplier informs customers about the goods on sale without expecting any feedback from them (Kurtz 536). For instance, these techniques include television, radio gadgets, and any form of printed media. In essence, any concerns that a consumer might have does not get to the supplier hence facilitating difficulties for them in decision-making. Given the option, television is the most suited technique for apple store as it helps persuade consumers to visit the store and buy from them b ecause televisions show the images of the products available at the store. Offline passive communication techniques In the past, marketing communication was a traditional concept where communication only focused on the target population and not on individual customers. This concept is still relevant in today’s marketing strategies despite the fact that communication is not specific. For instance, this form of marketing communication uses public relations and product advertising to ensure that the message on the products reaches the potential customers. Therefore, Apple store uses product advertising as a way of reaching wider markets because of the ability to create awareness towards many. Recommendations First, the progressive technique of internet and website communication forms a vital aspect of marketing. However, Apple store should

Monday, October 28, 2019

Translation & Antigone Essay Example for Free

Translation Antigone Essay Transmittance of Interpretation and Intention in Translation Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, although written long ago in a linguistic form foreign to the modern English speaker, finds new and relatable life by the whims and wits of Robert Fagles and Anne Carson’s translations, Antigone and Antigo nick respectively. After reading either translation and recognizing the great variation between them, the expedient question to ask encroaches as â€Å"Which is the more accurate version of the Grecian tale, or which adheres more wholesomely to the intentions and meanings of the original author? † However, this becomes glaringly evident not to be the correct, nor even significantly relevant question one should ask when extricating meaning from the residual texts. Indeed no such judgment materializes as humanly possible. Rather, a question gives way to an investigation equipped with a determined process of translation, and in fact literature itself, to ultimately reach the deductible answer of how the apparent style and meaning influence the reader’s understanding of the text; a product of the translator as much, if not more so, than the original text. That this aim might be achieved requires identifying certain driving purposes attributed to the texts as being birthed by the particular intentions of the translators. Translation comprises a difficult task. In her book Why Translation Matters, Edith Grossman lists these difficulties on behalf of translators in general, â€Å"Our purpose is to re-create as far as possible, within the alien system of a second language, all the characteristics, vagaries, quirks, and stylistic peculiarities of the work we are translating† (Grossman 2010). Such an endeavor complicates given the intricacy of working merely in a single language, let alone taking it a step further to transform them for not only compatibility but functionality in another. Reading literature in but one language represents an entire process in and of itself. Essentially originating with the thoughts of one (probably in part inspired by those before it, though undoubtedly motivated by whatever it is about the human spirit that demands of itself to share aspects of itself ), these thoughts fall through the sieve of language further until wrought into the written word. However, after having passed into language and especially into literature, by comparison somewhat sterilized to its spoken originator, these thoughts takes on a form of potential meaning of their own. In this conveyed form, although partially isolated from the originator, the opportunity for its grand purpose of reaching another human being for interpretation and extracted importance realizes. Although the author had an intended meaning for and in the communicated, the realized significance of the reader cannot be identical to the original, as no individual can formulate and feel the exact same meaning as another in the exact same way. Translation adds further convolution to this process with addition of another interpretive entity and step, in essence altering the transfer of intention and meaning from the original to the end reader into two conjunctive, but nonetheless separate forms. Proof of this step is evident in â€Å"good translations† as Grossman describes, â€Å"We will perceive the text, emotionally and artistically, in a manner that parallels and corresponds to the esthetic experience of its first readers. This is the translator’s grand ambition. Good translations approach that purpose† (Grossman 2010). In order to achieve this, Grossman goes on to say, â€Å"We do this by analogy—that is, by finding comparable, not identical, characteristics in the second language† (Grossman, 2010). Joe Sachs, in the introduction to his translation of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, echoes Grossman, asserting â€Å"If one regards the virtue of a translation as smoothness, and its greatest fault as awkwardness, then all writing †¦ must be lost in translation, reduced to those ordinary choices of words that fit without a hitch into the thinking we have already done† (Sachs VIII). Sachs goes on to provide an excellent example of these necessary analogies, and possible irregularity associated with them, by linking the true definition of the Greek work â€Å"energia,† fundamental to Aristotle’s philosophy, not simply and smoothly with â€Å"activity† unless contextually â€Å"its special and emphatic meaning is established for the reader† (Sachs VIII). Rather the central idea of â€Å"being at work† approaches â€Å"energia,† both in the sense of a â€Å"being† as an entity and â€Å"being† as an action or inherent condition of that entity (Sachs VIII). In the face of such a daunting task, in fact one technically impossible in entirety, a translator invariably infuses personal interest into the resultant work. Admitting to the notion of personal infusion, Grossman states, â€Å"The undeniable reality is that the work becomes the translator’s (while simultaneously and mysteriously somehow remaining the work of the original author) as we transmute it into a second language† (Grossman, 2010). Rachel Galvin also attests to this notion in her essay â€Å"Looting† as she cites Horaldo De Campos utilizing the reminiscent verb regarding Carson’s text a â€Å"transcreation   a critical reading and transformation or re-creation of the original† ( Galvin, 2013). As it pertains to Anne Carson’s Antigo nick and Robert Fagles’ Antigone, differences in overall style and meaning are evident in almost every aspect aside from a few necessary commonalities that still unite them as English translations of Sophocles’ Antigone. Either story contains the necessary background and the ensuing problem and plot of Antigone’s rebellion against Creon for the sake of her disgraced dead brother, leading to her internment and suicide. To be sure, to translate they must, and do anyway, habitually, as Joe Sachs in his introduction to his translation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, â€Å"bypass the accumulated baggage of a tradition that cannot accomplish that task† (Sachs VII). This accumulated baggage may be anything detracting from their determined necessary subject of transference. First and foremost among matching efforts directed toward this end entail both being direct Greek to English translations. To do so avoids any further diluting or complicating of the resultant text, and perhaps more importantly side steps historically influencing thought inherent in, for example, a Greek to Latin to English translation. Written in comparably straightforward dialogue, the translations also shake off â€Å"baggage† in their more direct and thereby relatable language. Though sometimes similar, the two seem to never actually match, such as when Antigone speaks to her sister about their mutual uncertainty to the future as to why she has summoned her to the gate, Fagles’ translation stating, â€Å"I thought so, that’s why I brought you out here† (60). And Carson’s translation similarly stating, â€Å"That’s what I thought that’s why I called you out here† (1). Yet outside ordinary necessities either translator’s take on the tragedy differs on most of the other major points. If they generate from the same story, how is it possible to have such essential variation between the translations? Plainly, Carson and Fagles, being two different human beings, inevitably interpreted the play differently. The translations principally diverge in the literal replication of his and her individual interpretations, and further how these interpretations perceptibly dominate the translations. These differing strengths produce different styles and highlight differing meanings of the texts as congruent with the intentions for the works. The overall style of each text takes the predominant role of establishing the standard of â€Å"displaying reverence for a beloved text,† but also â€Å"tak[ing] ownership of it† (Galvin, 2013). This desire most strongly permeates the reader’s attention by the very style in which either translation is written and presented on the page. Carson’s text is handwritten, in all capital letters, and of either black or red ink (red ink denoting extra emphasis). Furthermore, the writing itself emphasizes the artistic value as choppy yet punctually important. Fagles’ holds fast to what is normally expected of a book and simply appears as type of paper, separating characters’ dialogue in neat organization, all the while in iambic pentameter. This translation prefers a more verbally aesthetic approach, and by comparison to Antigo nick appreciates more of a prolonged beauty. The evidence of Fagles’ translation as adhering to a more traditional approach regarding translation, in addition to storytelling in general, attempting to deal accurately with the original text bleeds through with the simplicity and smoothness, yet elegance of his language; such as the dialogue of Haemon trying to convince his father to bend: You’ve seen trees by a raging winter torrent, how many sway with the flood and salvage every twig, but not the stubborn – they’re ripped out, roots and all. Bend or break. The same when a main is sailing: haul your sheets too taut, never give an inch, you’ll capsize †¦ Oh give way, relax your anger (96). Whereas Carson’s version instead attempts to break new ground in the field of translation. The very same instance in Carson’s version instead recounts riding a bicycle and condenses the assumed original into, â€Å"Trees bend ships loosen the rigging no single human being has perfect knowledge† (26). Both translators are attempting to â€Å"recast the language in a new age,† but Carson’s intention aligns more so than Fagles with the â€Å"goal of rendering these works in [her] own idioms† (Galvin, 2010). Take for example the first page of Antigo nick, as Antigone speaks to Ismene she says: We begin in the dark and birth is the death of us Ismene: Who said that Antigone: Hegel Ismene: sounds more like Beckett Antigone: He was paraphrasing Hegel (1). Fagles has no equivalent to this. Including these thoughts and thinkers, moreover, seems intuitively counteractive to good translating, considering Sophocles’ tragedy existed thousands of years before these thinkers. But preeminently establishing this precedent identifies the very purpose of Carson’s translation: to make something relatable to the individual human and historically meaningful human thought. The emphasis of death and darkness as timelessly uniting factors takes precedence over the development and presentation of the tragedy of specifically Antigone. Most notable, and indeed basic amongst the intentions of Carson blatantly occupies the front cover: simply the title Antigo Nick, beginning with Antigone but ending as Carson dictates it, with the name Nick (an added character and subject of fatalistic time in and of himself) not only portends another discrepancy, but lessens the weight of Antigone herself. Furthermore, Antigo nick more adequately presents itself as a vehicle characterized by and celebratory of these meaningful connections, exemplified by Carson’s handwritten text as it artistically dances amid illustrator Bianca Stone’s cryptic imagery. Though the images impart an account of their own, â€Å"the rhythm between text and images is often surprising and their relationship mysterious† (Galvin, 2013). These images often speak to the desired immensity of Carson’s translation, complementing the text rather than the story with enormous â€Å"dreamscapes. † Conversely, Fagles’ translation dwells on the specificity of this story; the utmost evidence being the long introduction of historical and cultural context. In doing so Fagles makes his translation able to understandably stand alone with inclusive significance. For example, with the provided historical and cultural lens, the meaning of Antigone’s rebellion amplifies by its subversion of these historical and cultural factors, namely her being a woman as well as the daughter of Oedipus, etc. Her rebellion in Antigo nick does not in specific mean anything, rather rebellion against authority in general means something. Moreover generalized, passionate rebellion once again proves more relatable to the universal human as well as holistic history. Carson intentionally requires both modern and prior knowledge to both know the story and understand its allusions, such as â€Å"here comes Kreon rowing his powerboat† (5). Or: Your Clumsy Its TrueClumsy as your FatherRemember how Brecht Had you do the whole play with a door strapped To your back (35). The reader is left at the mercy of this language and its allusions and inherent emphases, all of which are completely based in the interpretation of meaning by Carson as she, although creating new meanings, embraces an avant-garde tradition. The reader is dependent on former knowledge to understand the text, and is thereby led to different connections personal to Carson, though alien to Fagles’ translation. Originating from the same story, the reader acquaints with differing constructions of importance. The themes of Sophocles’ play are themselves altered by the translated language in alignment with Fagles and Carson’s intentions for their translations. The translators differing purposes for what their texts are attempting to accomplish cultivate a differing sense most notably of tragedy. When presented with the actual Greek, Fagles presumably understood it going in through the lens of a classical Grecian tragedy, and consistently depicted it as such. Therefore, characters carry themselves and are motivated heroically with artfulness; in other words not very relatable. Carson’s stressed theme strays away from the emphasized sense of tragedy, and instead, through the strong and often piecemeal dialogue emphasizes the less glorious reality of blunt death overlooked in usual tragedy. Characters therefore come across as impulsive and somewhat unaware: relatable. These differences are evident from the beginning of the play, as Carson’s Antigone relates to Ismene regarding their dead brother, â€Å"Dear sister my dead are mine and yours as well† (2). Fagles’ translation more nobly depicts the body as brother, saying instead â€Å"he is my brother – and deny it as you will – your brother too† (61). This notion goes on to be further reinforced as Ismene attempts to share in hers sister’s fate, as in the Fagles version, â€Å"I did it, yes – if only she consents – I share the guilt, the consequences too,† while Antigone responds, â€Å"No, Justice will never suffer that – not you, you were unwilling. I never brought you in† (87). Yet Ismene in the equivalent line of Antigo nick states, â€Å"I did the deed I share the blame Antigone: You did nothing you shared nothing leave my death alone† (18-19). Fagles’s smooth language and invocation of justice and guilt dignifies both parties, while Carson’s fast and choppy language: blame, nothing, and death diminish graciousness. Furthermore, this wanting of an inglorious death undermines the sense of tragedy in that portraying it in such a fashion weakens purposefulness, or the ‘beauty / art’ of it. The massive tragic  void in Antigo nick compared to Antigone illustrates most profoundly in the suicidal end, as Fagles’s messenger describes: And there we found her hanged by the neck in a fine linen noose, strangled in her veils – and the boy, his arms flung around her waist, clinging to her †¦ and then doomed and desperate with himself, suddenly leaning his full weight on the blade, he buried it in his body, haldway to the hilt. And still in his senses, pouring his arms around her, he embraced the girl, realeased a quick rush of blood bright red on her cheek glistening white. And there he lies body enfolding body (122-123). Antigo nick, true to form, forbears from such a tragically moving finale, with the messenger instead explaining the scene â€Å"The girl hanging the boy a bloody lung †¦ the sword sinking up to its own mouth† (34). A greater distinction cannot be made, concerning the language of tragedy, as recounting something as an enfolding crimson kiss vs. a â€Å"bloody lung. † Fagles’ melodrama and Carson’s understatement engineer discrepant intensities of admirability for their characters: in their beliefs, actions, and ends. The management and development of tragedy or considerable lack thereof, via these characters, aligns with the intentions of the translators to relate not only their interpretation of the initial text, but also their intentions in translating it true to their forms. Discrepancies among translations come from discrepancies among translators. The differing versions of style and tragedy ultimately adhere to the grand intention of either translator for either translation. Galvin quotes Osip Mandelstam, when speaking of Dante, though she believes the statement to be â€Å"equally rue of Sophocles,† as saying, â€Å"It is inconceivable to read [these texts] without directing them towards contemporaneity. They were created for that purpose. They are missiles for capturing the future. They demand commentary in the futurum. † (Galvin, 2013). Both Antigone and Antigo Nick achieve this end. Fagles’s succeeds in producing an understandable and straightforward look at the original play. Fagles importantly also succeeds in manufacturing a stand alone, most probably accurate version of Sophocles’ original Antigone, customarily emphasizing tragedy. Carson succeeds in bringing a new, futuristic, or rather modern spin to an old story. Her fabrication of a relatable piece, both in terms of relevance to the lay man as well as its self-proclaimed correspondence to historical thought and an avant-garde tradition, reserve it its place in this necessary ongoing â€Å"commentary. † Creative literature and translation by means of personal infusion enriches language with diverse meaning, because, â€Å"The more a language embraces infusions and transfusions of new elements and foreign turns of phrase, the larger, more forceful, and more flexible it becomes as an expressive medium† (Grossman). The preservation of art as well as the exemplification of translational truths unite both texts just as their mutual origins in the Greek of Sophocles do. The crucial conclusion regarding the derivation and understanding of meaning among these two translations, and translation as well as literature overall, depends upon the author’s (or translator’s) literal adaptation of his or her interpretations arousing an analogous notion in the reader. It constitutes a personal process reliant upon the ability to transmit specific significance through style and emphasized meanings. Or simply: the reader is never free from the author (perhaps gladly so). Works Cited  Aristotle. Nichomachean Ethics. Trans. Sachs, Joe. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing, 2002. Print. Galvin, Rachel. Looting. Boston Review. Boston Review, 1 Mar 2013. Web. 12 Nov 2013. . Grossman, Edith. From Why Translation Matters. Why Translation Matters Yale University Press. (2010): n. pag. Words Without Borders. Web. 12 Nov 2013. . Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. Carson, Anne. New York: New Directions, 2012. Print. Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Group, 1984. Print.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Effects of Emotion in Eyewitness Recall and Recognition

Effects of Emotion in Eyewitness Recall and Recognition Aaron Glogowski Houston, K. A., et al. (2013). The Emotional Eyewitness: The Effects  of Emotion on Specific Aspects of Eyewitness Recall and Recognition Performance. Emotion, 13  (1), 118-128. doi: 10.1037/a0029220 In the world of criminal science, there are several factors that can interfere with the accuracy of eyewitness reports. This article, by Kate Houston and her team, delves into the effects of emotion on eyewitness encounters. The main argument that they are looking at focuses on negative emotion enhancing central memory while impairing the peripheral memory, where central memories are the main details that occurred, likely relating specifically to the action of the crime, and peripheral memories are the smaller details that were happening around the crime. Houston notes that in spite of all of the writings on eyewitness memory, very few studies attempt to show a correlation between it and memory. She goes on to hypothesize that negative correlations will indeed enhance the central memory of the event, further exploring details like the crime itself. In her observations of other studies however, she does note that high stress scenarios tended to cause subjects to forget details about the perpetrator of the situation, at least in the case of a previous study on soldier’s interrogations. In order to test their hypotheses, Houston and her team set up two different experiments designed to test recall memory performance, as well as the participant’s ability to identify the perpetrator of the crime, both associated with negative emotional response. In their first experiment, the team hypothesized that a negative emotional response would allow the participants to more easily describe details about the perpetrator. They gathered a participation group of 101 students from the University of Aberdeen (30 males; 71 females) to engage in the study. They divided the group into two subgroups. The group of 51 was shown a video that was meant to induce an emotional response, and the group of 50 was shown a video intended to illicit a neutral response from the participants. Both videos used the same actors and scenarios up to the point in which the story deviates to the emotional induction. Once the participants had watched their respective videos, they were asked to answer a brief survey about how the video made them feel. They were given several different emotions, as well as a neutral â€Å"I feel nothing† option, and were asked to rank all of these emotions on a scale of 0-3 (0 being not at all, and 3 being very much). After they rated what they were feeling, the results were collected and the participants were given a 20 minute wait period in which they had to fill out a questionnaire on likes and dislikes, though this questionnaire was truly only present to provide a distraction for the next part of the experiment. The participants were then asked to write down as many details about the video that they could remember. In the results of the experiment, Houston’s team discovered that the emotion-inducing video tended to cause much higher responses to negative emotions than the neutral video did. They also noticed that the group viewing the emotional video recalled the events of the emotional moment in much more clarity and complete detail than the neutral video control group, however, they could not recall details about the perpetrator as well. Their data also shows that there is not a significant correlation between the negative emotional responses and the amount of information given about the perpetrator and the critical moment. This data concludes that those experiencing negative emotions tended to focus their attention directly on the perpetrator, however, there was no significant difference in their ability to describe the perpetrator when compared to the results from the neutral video control group. While the idea that focus is altered in a critical moment coincided with the evidence, t he data could not identify any significant difference in memory and recall. The second experiment was designed to test whether or not negative emotions and stress impair the individual’s ability to identify a perpetrator when they are presented with a series of options (in this case, a photo line-up). Houston’s team used two separate photo line-ups for the experiment: one in which the perpetrator’s photo was present, and another where the perpetrator’s photo had been replaced by one that looked very similar to them. The team made sure to select alternates for the replacement photo based on resemblance to the perpetrator according to a method recommended by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act used to identify criminals in the United Kingdom. They split up a group of 233 participants into relatively even subgroups at the beginning of the study. They began the study in the same way as the first experiment: two separate videos were shown, one emotional, one neutral, then the participants were asked about their emotional responses to the videos, and given time after the emotional response portion. Once the period after the emotional response survey had passed, the participants completed a recall survey about the videos, then they divided the groups again into two separate subgroups. One subgroup was shown the picture line-up containing the perpetrator’s image, while the other was shown the line-up with the face double’s image. The results of the second experiment confirmed the team’s previous theories that the video was successful in eliciting an emotional response, and that emotional responses were similar to the previous experiment, based on their initial observations. The second set of findings turned out to be in accordance with the initial hypothesis of the second experiment. Participants who watched the emotional video were much more likely than those who watched the neutral video to incorrectly identify an innocent target as the perpetrator. Around 25% of the time, participants in the group in which the perpetrator’s photo was included would claim that the perpetrator’s picture was not among those in the line-up. Those who saw the neutral video were much more likely to identify the real perpetrator (40.4% as opposed to 27.1% from the emotional video group). In the group in which the perpetrator’s photo was absent however, there appeared to be no significant correlation between emotional response and the answers given. The recall results for this experiment were very similar to the recall results for the first experiment. In collecting their results from the second experiment, Houston’s team arrived at several conclusions based on the data that had been collected. Their data further supported the idea that people exposed to negative emotional experiences focused more on the perpetrator, but less on the rest of the situation, but they no longer had any sense of improved environmental detail. They both however showed the same level of accuracy in describing the target. The photo line-up tests show very different results however, showing that those exposed to negative emotional experiences would more likely identify the wrong target when the target’s picture appears along with others similar in appearance and features to them. When the target was not shown however, the emotional video groups tended to have similar results to those in the neutral video group. In the team’s conclusion to their article, they discussed the probable reasoning behind the discrepancies in their experimental results. They note that the environmental results differ between the experiments, showing that it may be unreliable. The data as a whole shows that negative emotional responses may have different results on eyewitness testimony, depending on the situation.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Influence of the Protestant Religion on the American Revolution Ess

The origins, aims and course of the American Revolution were influenced by a number of factors. The causes of the American Revolution have been put down to economic, social and political factors, which have then continued to influence the course and finally the outcome of America's conflict with Britain. Economic factors concerning trade and slavery have been put down to being part of the cause of the American Revolution. Yet historians have often debated the influence that Protestantism had on the revolution. The majority of the population of the colonies were Puritan but there were various diverse angles of religion. The two largest churches were the Presbyterians and the Congregationalists, but the colonies were also made up of many other faiths such as Anglicans, Baptists or pacifist groups such as Quakers. Religion was a very important part of colonial life and the colonists were much more concerned with religious aspects than political controversy. Yet although religion played a major part of the colonists' lives, it actual affect on the American Revolution itself is debatable: "Religion was present in the revolution, considered in a restricted framework; it was thoroughly engaged by it and multi-faceted. It is difficult to make the case, however, that religious ingredients - even broadly defined- played a definitive or even markedly innovative role."[1] John F. Wilson acknowledges that religion did have an affect on the revolution but also argues that perhaps Protestantism had a lesser affect on the revolution as a whole than other factors such as economic aspects. Some historians have attributed the Great Awakening to be on... ...0. Edward Countryman, The American Revolution (Penguin Books Ltd) 1985. Jack P. Green and J. R. Pole, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, (Blackwell Publishers) 1991. J.C.D Clark, The Language of Liberty 1660-1832 (University of Cambridge) 1994. Alfred F. Young, The American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism, (Northern Illinois University Press) 1976. Robert A. Gross, The Minutemen and their World, (Hill and Wang) 1976. Websites and Journals Jerald C. Brauer, Protestantism in America: A Narrative History (Chapter 4- "Religion and Revolution) http://www.religion-online.org/cgi-bin/relsearchd.dll/showchapter?chapter_id=1968 John F. Wilson, Religion and Revolution in American History, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History," Vol. 23, No. 3, Religion and History. (Winter, 1993), pp. 597-613.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Skyscrapers Essay -- essays research papers

skyscraper architecture "http://www.coshe.com/search/" The architectural design of the 20th century skyscrapers has been redefined due to the advancement of our modern technology. Benny Louie Humanity 450 Dr. Maureen Schmid 17 May 1999 The architectural design of the 20th century skyscrapers has been redefined due to the advancement of our modern technology. In our modern society, the architectural design of skyscrapers is changing the downtown landscape of metropolitan areas. Due to the change of technologies, it has changed the architectural design of skyscraper dramatically in terms of the its function, design structures, heating and cooling systems and it social status in society. The basic function of the architecture is to provide a roof over peoples’ head. The main purpose of architecture is to act as a shelter for people to protect themselves against Mother Nature. As civilization development advances, we increased our knowledge and became more creative. Peo ple start to design buildings for means of displaying wealth and social status. The skyscraper fits the criteria to show the social status of such building with great height and elegance to the society. According to O’Gorman, â€Å"architecture is a form language, of communication.† (P.89) This communication is represented in the forms of texture, shape and style that reflects certain period of time. In the early period, architectures were associated with style and culture. â€Å"The Greeks built marble temples with Doric, Ionic or Corinthian columns. Egyptian architecture used heavy lotus columns, massive battered walls and pyramidal forms. The Gothic style used point arch, vast areas of stained glasses, pointed rib-vault construction.† (P. 92) Each had its unique characteristic feature to express its message. In the 20th century architectural design, architecture is no longer viewed as simple shelter to provide a roof over peoples’ head. Architectures a re designed with a more environmental conscious issue like cost, energy conservation and practicality of the structure. The interior environment is designed according to the space function of the structures. For example, â€Å"a dance hall, needs a large open-space with sufficient room for the band and a bar and maybe for tables and chairs around the edge so that people can sit and chat.† (Conway & Rowan) This concept always applies to real life s... ...e is a sense of prestige for having offices or shops in these skyscrapers. Modern skyscrapers are being redefined by the use of advance technologies. Due to the advancement in technology, skyscrapers are able to reach new height easily. It changes the way architects design the structure of these buildings. The new function of the skyscraper is to provide great views, house antennas for communications, telebroadcasting and for entertainment purpose. The use of computer climate control system made the building a more comfortable environment for everyone. The great height of the skyscraper like the Sears Tower, it associates itself with the prestige of being the tallest of all. With the rapid advancement of technology and the influence of fame and wealth, sky is limit for the next generation of skyscrapers. Work cited Bennett, David. Skyscrapers Form & Function New York 1995 Conway, Hazel and Rowan, Roenisch. Understanding Architecture: An introduction to Architecture and archit ectural History. London and New York: Routledge 1994. O’Gorman, James. ABC of Architecture Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998 Online www.infoplease.com May 15, 1999 Word Count: 1429

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Lab #3 Report. Isolation of bacteria from environment

LAB Report #3 Introduction: In this lab we have focus on Isolation of bacteria from environment. Microorganisms are found throughout the environment: in the air and water; on the surface of any object such as clothes, walls, furniture; in soil and dust; and on and in our own bodies (skin and mucous membranes). In order to demonstrate the ubiquity and diversity of microbes in the environment, samples from immediate areas of the environment and/or from your body will be obtained and cultured. Materials: 4 sterile cotton swab, sterile water in test tube, 4 agar plates and 2 blood agar plates, wax pencil and labels.Procedure: Appropriately label the cover of each plate as indicated in lab. 1. Determine 2 sampling sources, one from your body and one from the surrounding environment. 2. For the first agar plate, for sampling from air, remove the lids from the plate and allow it to sit uncovered for 15 minutes. 1. For second agar plate, open the â€Å"stick† end of the sterile cotton swabs to avoid contamination of the swab. Deep the swab in to the sterile water and collect a dust form the corner of the table by swab and rub the swab over the entire surface of the Petri dish without going back over areas you have already swabbed. . For the third agar plate, divide the plate in two different parts like washed and unwashed finger tip and swipe on each side of plate, see the difference between them. 4. For the forth agar plate, divide it into the four equal part and tested four different place for bacterial grow. In first part, remove the sterile cotton swab from the package and immerse it in the sterile water and take the bacteria from forearm and swipe the swab on first part.For second part, again take the sterile cotton swab and immerse it in sterile water, and take the bacteria from back of ear and rub on the second part. For third part, again take the sterile cotton swab and immerse it in sterile water, and take the bacteria from handle of microscope and swip e on the third part. For last part, again take the sterile cotton swab and deep in to the sterile water, and take the bacteria from toilet sit and swipe on the forth part. 5. For the fifth slide, we take blood agar plate and drawing line in central part of the plate.For one part used for kiss on that part and second part used for licked on that part for bacteria grow. 6. For last, we take another blood agar plate and we had to cough on this agar plate. Leave all agar plates in the incubator for 1 week to grow bacteria. Discussion: After one week, I was able to observe my Petri plates, which were filled with bacteria. The first plate had few yellow color colonies. That shows bacterial growth. Air was contaminant. For second plate, it had huge yellowish and few brownish color colonies and clear halos around them.Dust also had bactria. For third plate, on unwashed part had more yellowish color tiny spots and on washed part had few whitish color tiny spot. Washed had few bacteria that m ay be from the water while unwashed hand had more bacterial contamination. For forth agar plate, first part had more yellowish color spots, second part had more brownish color spot, third part had no bacterial colonies and forth part had only three yellowish color colonies. That show microscope handle is not bacterial contaminant while all other object is contaminant with bacteria.For the first blood agar plate, for the side that was kissed had huge brownish color spot and there were clear halos around it, and on other side that was licked had brownish color line. Bacteria also present in both sample. For the second blood agar plate, there is no discoloration in the plate so I think there have not bacterial growth in the Petri dish. Conclusion: In this lab we have focus on mainly â€Å" Isolation of bacteria from environment â€Å" and to observe the growth of bacteria in favorable condition and observation of the color and shape of the bacterial colony.Bacteria are found in a wid e variety of environments—in or on animals and plants, in water, in soil, in air, or on rock. Generally, they are contributors to the environment, decaying nutrients and recycling the minerals (for use by plants and other organisms). Bacteria are both metabolically diverse as well as structurally diverse. As I have learned we carry bacteria when we are in perfect health as well when we are sick. From this lab we have learned that bacteria are present everywhere but we can achieve healthy life by hygiene.

Stalin: Movie Review

Yousef Khalil Modern World History Research Paper Stalin Hollywood seems to portray most of the historical movies it produces inaccurately in order for them to sell. Movie producers twist the original story and make up some facts, translated into scenes, which would attract the audience to a particular movie. But should we blame Hollywood, or the audience for being less aware of our history, and just pay to watch movies for the sake of entertainment, not caring on how historically inaccurate it is?The idea of historical events literally being rewritten for the sake of an almost fictional retelling is something that can be regarded as controversial, but the fact of the matter is that Hollywood and film writers will always be able to take a historical story and spice it up simply for the sake of creating drama and subsequent revenue as a result. These films often contain the â€Å"based on a true story† message, but as long as it is not actually classed as a factual film, there is essentially nothing wrong with taking a historical event an re-telling it for the sake of a film.Not every event in history contained enough drama to be made into a film, but as long as the general basis of the event had the potential to create drama. Hollywood will always be able to take the story and make it into a blockbuster masterpiece just as they have done in the past and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. As long as they continue to do so, the concept is something that will continue to be shrouded in controversy from both historical enthusiasts and film critics alike. Stalin (1992) was the movie of my choice that I think has the closest historically accurate content than any other movie.Narrated by Stalin's daughter Svetlana, this begins with Stalin joining Lenin and the Bolsheviks in their fight against the government, eventually setting up their own government themselves. Most of his biography is well known to us, however this movie brings out the chara cter of Stalin as a psycho villain who did not trust a single person, not even his associates, and took extreme measures to exterminate all of them. His ego and paranoia alienated him from his friends and his family, even to the point where his wife Nadya (Julia Ormond) commits suicide and young Svetlana hates him.But in the end, he does not change, and this leads to his downfall and death. This movie really wasn’t a cinema film, but a television movie that wasn’t going to play neither in theaters nor around the world, which might count for something. This film would have been ruined by a big studio production. There is no way to â€Å"Hollywoodize† Josef Stalin. He was perhaps the worst and most brutal tyrant of the 20th century. Estimates range from 20-40 million deaths he was responsible for (Rummel, 2006) He was in no way a nice man. In him there was not an ounce of decency, only a vast void of feeling that Robert Duvall conveyed very well.The film itself al most seemed hollow or lifeless at times, and generally moved slowly. Passer's meticulous method pays off, however, with powerful performances from Plowright, Schell, and Ormond complimenting Duvall's brilliance. My whole point is Duvall is â€Å"Stalin’s† embodiment. This film is historically excellent. What most reviewers seem hung up on are accents, make-up and costumes. Most comment that it is historically inaccurate but give nothing very specific. The film is a broad overview of the life of Stalin and could never include every element of his life.All the important historical is there: the Revolution, the power struggle between Trotsky and Stalin, Stalin's rise to power, The great famines, The Great Purges and WWII. The film gives great insight into Stalin and the paranoia that he experienced and how that paranoia influenced the way he ruled over the Soviet Union. Many of the other characters were somewhat glossed over, but the film is essentially about Stalin and w hat made him tick, not about the intricate backgrounds of other revolutionaries and supporters. If the viewers don't come away from the film thinking what a bastard Stalin was, then they simply missed the point.The way that he treated his family, friends and so-called counterrevolutionaries is illustrated correctly in this film. The end of the film brings up a very important question that I think many previous reviewers had difficulty with. Fact: under Stalin the Soviet Union industrialized to levels never seen before. With industrialization, this could enable the USSR to compete in the world on par with the US. It would also lead to the development of a nuclear and hydrogen bomb, on par with the US (Brainerd, 2002). The film brings up the critical question of whether or not Stalin was necessary for the USSR.That is a powerful and thought provoking question that one carries away from this film. Any film that lingers in the viewers mind and makes them think has merit. Is it a perfect film? No. Is it historically inaccurate to merit throwing it away? Absolutely not. Robert Duvall does an excellent and convincing job of portraying a monster. But this is one of the rare biopics that offers fewer opinions and more facts. Over three hours long, the movie covers the dictator's life from his exile in Siberia, when he took the name Stalin, up to his death in 1953.It does not try to feature the then world politics and even contemporary Russia as a whole, nor does it waste further screen time on the social reaction to Stalin's policies too much. It features Stalin and only Stalin. It focuses exclusively on his personal life (naturally, since the movie is narrated by his daughter Svetlana) and his take on the fellow comrades of the party. The filmmakers remain more-or-less true to the facts, giving neither imaginative shock moments nor just plain history. Stalin’s wife committed suicide, which made me think whether that affected him psychologically later on.It is h ard to know what effect did the death of Stalin’s wife had on him. Clearly the film needed an overarching plot structure to attempt an explanation of a complex man. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get inside Stalin's head. If anything, the man was driven by hatred and little else, a hatred that is difficult to articulate, but which was at least admirably displayed in the film. The portrayals of Stalin's wife and some of his associates were less convincing. This is the fault of the script or the direction or both, not the actors.For example, Stalin's second wife Nadya was not quite the principled heroine seen here who apparently took her own life because she saw no other escape from the evil that her husband was bringing to the country. The real Nadya brought some of her own problems to her marriage and these contributed to her death. (Marsolais, 2010) Bukharin, wretched in his final weeks, may have been the best of them but that was saying little. He was not quite the nobl e, tragic ‘swan' portrayed. He was prone to hysterics, about his own problems primarily. The suffering millions could suffer as long as he was approved of.During his final imprisonment, Bukharin wrote to Stalin offering to do anything, put his name to anything, if only Stalin would be his â€Å"friend† again. (Marsolais, 2010) Stalin takes all the heat and deserves plenty, but many of the rest of the people around him seem like innocents, fooled by him, finding out too late that they were caught up in his evil and were either corrupted or destroyed by it. But Stalin, like Hitler and any other dictator, was only possible because those around him saw advantage for themselves in supporting him. If there's a problem with this film it's that it lets some of Stalin's minions off the hook.It settles for extremes: Stalin and his chiefs of secret police on the one hand, and the good or loyal but naive on the other. But the only innocents were the people of the former Soviet Unio n, those far from power whose lives were destroyed according to the requirements of a command economy. So many deaths and so many slaves were required from every walk of life, like so many tons of iron, to meet quotas. They are acknowledged in the film's dedication. Those around Stalin, however, were all up to their elbows in blood just as he was, obsessed with their own positions, Bukharin, Zinoviev, and Kamenev included.This is perhaps something to bear in mind in watching a generally excellent and historically accurate film. When evaluating Stalin, I think of it in comparison to Nixon, another biopic with similar scope and ambition. And, quite honestly, this film comes out streets ahead, for one single reason: it tries to explain what Stalin was, but not ‘why’ he was like it. There is no feeble psychoanalysis, no looking inside his mind, and no needless and questionable reconstructions of his own self-reflections. What you see in this movie is the director's interpre tation of what you might have seen if you'd followed Stalin around.He gives you the dots. You can then join them by drawing your own conclusions. It works because Duvall is fantastic at Stalin, both in terms of appearance, voice characterization, and his general manner. Having read about Stalin for some years, I had no trouble accepting that the man on the screen was the ‘Man of Steel'. The film is essentially reconstructed from the diaries of Stalin's daughter, Nadya, and therefore some aspects are historically questionable. But as historic epics go it follows the research and convention thinking quite closely; it doesn't digress into wild peculation like Stone, and doesn't propagandize either. It does make the error of dichotomizing characters into ‘good' and ‘bad' – Bukharin, for example, is portrayed as something of a great man in this film, then again, that seems to be the standard modus operandi of historical films these days. The biggest problem anyon e making a film about a tyrant will face, is exactly how much they know (or don't know) about the atrocities their regimes commit, and to what extent do they get involved: do they sit, aloof, like Hitler at Bertchesgarten. Or do they lead slaughter brigades like Amin?Stalin seems to be quite detached from it all, even when on a train travelling through the freezing, starving villages of the steppes. A rabid paranoia about being overthrown, a distrust of others, and a fierce, almost inhumane determination to meet goals were at the core of Stalin's despotism. People meant little to Stalin: they were expendable, disposable and unreliable, even his wife and children, and this idea comes through loud and clear in this well put together and quite entertaining biographical epic. Stalin appeals as a protagonist in the first years of his Soviet leadership.The film portrays him as an outcast, but one who is a firm follower of Lenin and communism. One event after another pushes him up the Sovi et leadership ladder, until he becomes the â€Å"feared leader of Russia. † What truly stirs the emotions of the viewer is how he betrays his friends and family in his fight for leadership. He purges the nation of anti-Stalinist politicians, executing many of his best friends cold-heartedly in the process. In the end, Stalin is a monumental device of terror, the funeral scene at the conclusion of the film drips with irony.Stalin appeals as a protagonist in the first years of his Soviet leadership. The film portrays him as an outcast, but one who is a firm follower of Lenin and communism. One event after another pushes him up the Soviet leadership ladder, until he becomes the â€Å"feared leader of Russia. † What truly stirs the emotions of the viewer is how he betrays his friends and family in his fight for leadership. He purges the nation of anti-Stalinistic politicians, executing many of his best friends cold-heartedly in the process. In the end, Stalin is a monument al device of terror.Works Cited: Brainerd, Elizabeth. Reassessing the standard of living in the Soviet Union: an analysis using archival and anthropometric data. London: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 2006. â€Å"How Many Did Stalin Really Murder? † The Distributed Republic. 09 Dec. 2010 ;lt;http://www. distributedrepublic. net/archives/2006/05/01/how-many-did-stalin-really-murder/;gt;. Marsolais, By Jesse. â€Å"Facing Up to Stalin – Magazine – The Atlantic. † The Atlantic — News and analysis on politics, business, culture, technology, national, international, and food – TheAtlantic. com. 09 Dec. 2010 ;lt;http://www. theatlantic. com/magazine/archive/2004/07/facing-up-to-stalin/3390/;gt;. Stalin: Movie Review Yousef Khalil Modern World History Research Paper Stalin Hollywood seems to portray most of the historical movies it produces inaccurately in order for them to sell. Movie producers twist the original story and make up some facts, translated into scenes, which would attract the audience to a particular movie. But should we blame Hollywood, or the audience for being less aware of our history, and just pay to watch movies for the sake of entertainment, not caring on how historically inaccurate it is?The idea of historical events literally being rewritten for the sake of an almost fictional retelling is something that can be regarded as controversial, but the fact of the matter is that Hollywood and film writers will always be able to take a historical story and spice it up simply for the sake of creating drama and subsequent revenue as a result. These films often contain the â€Å"based on a true story† message, but as long as it is not actually classed as a factual film, there is essentially nothing wrong with taking a historical event an re-telling it for the sake of a film.Not every event in history contained enough drama to be made into a film, but as long as the general basis of the event had the potential to create drama. Hollywood will always be able to take the story and make it into a blockbuster masterpiece just as they have done in the past and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. As long as they continue to do so, the concept is something that will continue to be shrouded in controversy from both historical enthusiasts and film critics alike. Stalin (1992) was the movie of my choice that I think has the closest historically accurate content than any other movie.Narrated by Stalin's daughter Svetlana, this begins with Stalin joining Lenin and the Bolsheviks in their fight against the government, eventually setting up their own government themselves. Most of his biography is well known to us, however this movie brings out the chara cter of Stalin as a psycho villain who did not trust a single person, not even his associates, and took extreme measures to exterminate all of them. His ego and paranoia alienated him from his friends and his family, even to the point where his wife Nadya (Julia Ormond) commits suicide and young Svetlana hates him.But in the end, he does not change, and this leads to his downfall and death. This movie really wasn’t a cinema film, but a television movie that wasn’t going to play neither in theaters nor around the world, which might count for something. This film would have been ruined by a big studio production. There is no way to â€Å"Hollywoodize† Josef Stalin. He was perhaps the worst and most brutal tyrant of the 20th century. Estimates range from 20-40 million deaths he was responsible for (Rummel, 2006) He was in no way a nice man. In him there was not an ounce of decency, only a vast void of feeling that Robert Duvall conveyed very well.The film itself al most seemed hollow or lifeless at times, and generally moved slowly. Passer's meticulous method pays off, however, with powerful performances from Plowright, Schell, and Ormond complimenting Duvall's brilliance. My whole point is Duvall is â€Å"Stalin’s† embodiment. This film is historically excellent. What most reviewers seem hung up on are accents, make-up and costumes. Most comment that it is historically inaccurate but give nothing very specific. The film is a broad overview of the life of Stalin and could never include every element of his life.All the important historical is there: the Revolution, the power struggle between Trotsky and Stalin, Stalin's rise to power, The great famines, The Great Purges and WWII. The film gives great insight into Stalin and the paranoia that he experienced and how that paranoia influenced the way he ruled over the Soviet Union. Many of the other characters were somewhat glossed over, but the film is essentially about Stalin and w hat made him tick, not about the intricate backgrounds of other revolutionaries and supporters. If the viewers don't come away from the film thinking what a bastard Stalin was, then they simply missed the point.The way that he treated his family, friends and so-called counterrevolutionaries is illustrated correctly in this film. The end of the film brings up a very important question that I think many previous reviewers had difficulty with. Fact: under Stalin the Soviet Union industrialized to levels never seen before. With industrialization, this could enable the USSR to compete in the world on par with the US. It would also lead to the development of a nuclear and hydrogen bomb, on par with the US (Brainerd, 2002). The film brings up the critical question of whether or not Stalin was necessary for the USSR.That is a powerful and thought provoking question that one carries away from this film. Any film that lingers in the viewers mind and makes them think has merit. Is it a perfect film? No. Is it historically inaccurate to merit throwing it away? Absolutely not. Robert Duvall does an excellent and convincing job of portraying a monster. But this is one of the rare biopics that offers fewer opinions and more facts. Over three hours long, the movie covers the dictator's life from his exile in Siberia, when he took the name Stalin, up to his death in 1953.It does not try to feature the then world politics and even contemporary Russia as a whole, nor does it waste further screen time on the social reaction to Stalin's policies too much. It features Stalin and only Stalin. It focuses exclusively on his personal life (naturally, since the movie is narrated by his daughter Svetlana) and his take on the fellow comrades of the party. The filmmakers remain more-or-less true to the facts, giving neither imaginative shock moments nor just plain history. Stalin’s wife committed suicide, which made me think whether that affected him psychologically later on.It is h ard to know what effect did the death of Stalin’s wife had on him. Clearly the film needed an overarching plot structure to attempt an explanation of a complex man. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get inside Stalin's head. If anything, the man was driven by hatred and little else, a hatred that is difficult to articulate, but which was at least admirably displayed in the film. The portrayals of Stalin's wife and some of his associates were less convincing. This is the fault of the script or the direction or both, not the actors.For example, Stalin's second wife Nadya was not quite the principled heroine seen here who apparently took her own life because she saw no other escape from the evil that her husband was bringing to the country. The real Nadya brought some of her own problems to her marriage and these contributed to her death. (Marsolais, 2010) Bukharin, wretched in his final weeks, may have been the best of them but that was saying little. He was not quite the nobl e, tragic ‘swan' portrayed. He was prone to hysterics, about his own problems primarily. The suffering millions could suffer as long as he was approved of.During his final imprisonment, Bukharin wrote to Stalin offering to do anything, put his name to anything, if only Stalin would be his â€Å"friend† again. (Marsolais, 2010) Stalin takes all the heat and deserves plenty, but many of the rest of the people around him seem like innocents, fooled by him, finding out too late that they were caught up in his evil and were either corrupted or destroyed by it. But Stalin, like Hitler and any other dictator, was only possible because those around him saw advantage for themselves in supporting him. If there's a problem with this film it's that it lets some of Stalin's minions off the hook.It settles for extremes: Stalin and his chiefs of secret police on the one hand, and the good or loyal but naive on the other. But the only innocents were the people of the former Soviet Unio n, those far from power whose lives were destroyed according to the requirements of a command economy. So many deaths and so many slaves were required from every walk of life, like so many tons of iron, to meet quotas. They are acknowledged in the film's dedication. Those around Stalin, however, were all up to their elbows in blood just as he was, obsessed with their own positions, Bukharin, Zinoviev, and Kamenev included.This is perhaps something to bear in mind in watching a generally excellent and historically accurate film. When evaluating Stalin, I think of it in comparison to Nixon, another biopic with similar scope and ambition. And, quite honestly, this film comes out streets ahead, for one single reason: it tries to explain what Stalin was, but not ‘why’ he was like it. There is no feeble psychoanalysis, no looking inside his mind, and no needless and questionable reconstructions of his own self-reflections. What you see in this movie is the director's interpre tation of what you might have seen if you'd followed Stalin around.He gives you the dots. You can then join them by drawing your own conclusions. It works because Duvall is fantastic at Stalin, both in terms of appearance, voice characterization, and his general manner. Having read about Stalin for some years, I had no trouble accepting that the man on the screen was the ‘Man of Steel'. The film is essentially reconstructed from the diaries of Stalin's daughter, Nadya, and therefore some aspects are historically questionable. But as historic epics go it follows the research and convention thinking quite closely; it doesn't digress into wild peculation like Stone, and doesn't propagandize either. It does make the error of dichotomizing characters into ‘good' and ‘bad' – Bukharin, for example, is portrayed as something of a great man in this film, then again, that seems to be the standard modus operandi of historical films these days. The biggest problem anyon e making a film about a tyrant will face, is exactly how much they know (or don't know) about the atrocities their regimes commit, and to what extent do they get involved: do they sit, aloof, like Hitler at Bertchesgarten. Or do they lead slaughter brigades like Amin?Stalin seems to be quite detached from it all, even when on a train travelling through the freezing, starving villages of the steppes. A rabid paranoia about being overthrown, a distrust of others, and a fierce, almost inhumane determination to meet goals were at the core of Stalin's despotism. People meant little to Stalin: they were expendable, disposable and unreliable, even his wife and children, and this idea comes through loud and clear in this well put together and quite entertaining biographical epic. Stalin appeals as a protagonist in the first years of his Soviet leadership.The film portrays him as an outcast, but one who is a firm follower of Lenin and communism. One event after another pushes him up the Sovi et leadership ladder, until he becomes the â€Å"feared leader of Russia. † What truly stirs the emotions of the viewer is how he betrays his friends and family in his fight for leadership. He purges the nation of anti-Stalinist politicians, executing many of his best friends cold-heartedly in the process. In the end, Stalin is a monumental device of terror, the funeral scene at the conclusion of the film drips with irony.Stalin appeals as a protagonist in the first years of his Soviet leadership. The film portrays him as an outcast, but one who is a firm follower of Lenin and communism. One event after another pushes him up the Soviet leadership ladder, until he becomes the â€Å"feared leader of Russia. † What truly stirs the emotions of the viewer is how he betrays his friends and family in his fight for leadership. He purges the nation of anti-Stalinistic politicians, executing many of his best friends cold-heartedly in the process. In the end, Stalin is a monument al device of terror.Works Cited: Brainerd, Elizabeth. Reassessing the standard of living in the Soviet Union: an analysis using archival and anthropometric data. London: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 2006. â€Å"How Many Did Stalin Really Murder? † The Distributed Republic. 09 Dec. 2010 ;lt;http://www. distributedrepublic. net/archives/2006/05/01/how-many-did-stalin-really-murder/;gt;. Marsolais, By Jesse. â€Å"Facing Up to Stalin – Magazine – The Atlantic. † The Atlantic — News and analysis on politics, business, culture, technology, national, international, and food – TheAtlantic. com. 09 Dec. 2010 ;lt;http://www. theatlantic. com/magazine/archive/2004/07/facing-up-to-stalin/3390/;gt;.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

What Problems Did Hispanics Blacks Women Face 1940-60

What problems did Hispanics, Native Americans and women face in 1945 and how far had these been overcome by 1968 World War Two has often been described as a turning point in the battle for equality between men and women. From the beginning, women were always struggling to gain status, respect, and rights in their society. Prior to World War Two, a woman's role in society was seen as someone who cooked, cleaned, and gave birth. The years during and following the war marked a turning point in the battle for equality.Women, for once, were being seen as individuals with capabilities outside the kitchen, and we're for the first time given a chance to prove themselves. On December 7, 1942, Pearl Harbour was bombed and FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt) declared war. This marked the entry of the US into World War Two, a war which has been going on in Europe for almost 2 years prior. The start of World War II opened a new chapter in the lives of women living in America. From coast to coast, husband s, fathers, sons and brothers were shipped out to fight in Europe.With the entry of the US and the absence of large quantities of men, the demand for supplies increased, and women were called out of the kitchen and into the workforce. Posters, banners, and jingles were all aspects that helped encourage women's entrance into the workforce. Millions marched into factories, offices, and military bases. The demand for labour was so great, that a poll taken that year showed that only 13% of the population opposed females entering the workforce. Women's occupations varied from war nurses and cooking for the army, to making bombs and making weapons.Other occupations flourished, as well. Women photographers, writers, and reports were for once given a chance. The war offered women opportunity never given to them before. The war has given women a chance to show what they can do in the world, and they have done well. Women were given freedom and a chance to live the American dream. However the Allies' final push in the summer of 1945 brought World War II to a close. With the end of the war, came the pressure for females to return to where they belong. All the women who took jobs during the war were now all expected to make room for the returning men.The returning veterans were all unemployed and in need of work. The government's solution to the problem was to force women out of their jobs in order to make room for the men. The same as they were encouraged into the labour force, they were encouraged out of it. Posters, movies, and articles were posted to help push females to leave their jobs and return to their homes. Despite the pressure, women were not so quick to return to the kitchen. They were for the first time, given freedom, and allowed a chance. Women across the nation were less than willing to give it back and return to their old way of life.Women began questioning the role they played in society, and began demanding equal opportunities. The 1960s was a major pe riod of gaining equality for women. Various acts were passed in order to help the woman’s cause. Through various struggles and battles, the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, which prohibited wage discrimination based on one’s sex. In addition, the Civil Rights Act was passed the following year, which further extended the laws prohibiting one’s occupation due to sex, by also prohibiting wage discrimination, job classification, promotion, and training.Women’s battle for equality also existed outside the workforce. During the late 1960s, women fought for equal rights anyway they knew how. They wanted to end discrimination not only at work, but at home, and in every part of their society. To accomplish this, women began to take place in marches and spoke out against inequality. Individual women worked hard to achieve their goal. Esther Peterson, director of the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, with the help of President John F. Kennedy, helpe d approve the Equal Rights Amendment.Also, other activities helped the fight for equality. Betty Friedan, the first President of NOW (National Organisation for Women), became one of the most influential activists of her time. She led a highly publicized campaign in order to pass an amendment to guarantee equal rights for both men and women. In addition, Friedan was the author of The Feminine Mystique, a book that spoke of the idea that women could find happiness outside their homes, and within their careers. By the 1970s, women achieved some victories, but the fight was far from over.Today, almost 64 million women, almost 16 and over, and about 46% of the workforce is composed of women. Hispanics came home from World War II to a different struggle. A Medal of Honour for bravery didn’t guarantee service in certain restaurants and a soldier’s body in a coffin with an American flag for his widow didn’t merit admission to some funeral homes. Hispanics weren’t segregated in the service, as African Americans were. The Hispanics earned 13 of the 301 medals of honour awarded. But still Hispanics did face discrimination.Back home in Texas, two of those medal recipients were denied service in restaurants. Returning veterans also found public swimming pools, schools and housing segregated in some communities, especially in the Southwest and California. They did not face as harsh a living as African Americans but still fought substantial racism. Fast-forward to 1965, since the end of the war Hispanic children fail to gain as good an education as your average white boy, many grew up in extreme poverty with parents working in the Californian farming industry.The California farming business was worth over $4 billion at the time. Hispanics working in this field were only able to work around 134 day every year during the harvest period and when they weren’t working they weren’t getting paid. They gained a false reputation for being laz y from white Californians, when the actually worked very hard making the best out of what they had. The problem was farming unions had no legal protection at the time and so their fight against injustice was at a standstill.The National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) was formed in 1962 by Cesar Chavez, this union became very popular and it organise ‘La Huelga;’ this was a mass walk out from the farms that involved 10000 Hispanics. Unfortunately it took 5 years (1970) to achieve anything, but it was a start. Some 44,000 Native Americans served in the United States military during World War II. American Indian veterans encountered varying degrees of success in re-entering civilian life after World War II. Some returned to the reservation, where economic opportunities were bleak. World War II changed both the Indians and the reservation.Following the war, veterans returned unwilling to accept the secondary status assigned to them by the larger society. They faced discrimi nation in housing, employment, education, land rights, water rights, and voting. In many states, it was illegal for Indians to purchase or consume alcohol. Yet many of the veterans had found that while in the military they were able to purchase and consume alcohol with no legal difficulties both on the bases and while on furlough in foreign countries. Many returned home wanting this same freedom as civilians in the United States.Veterans received readjustment checks of $20 a week for 52 weeks while unemployed, and were eligible for G. I. Bill benefits, including free high school and college education, and low-cost mortgages. Veterans moved to cities; the Indian population in urban centers more than doubled (from 24,000 to 56,000) from 1941 to 1950. Some veterans, like Abel in the novel House Made of Dawn, moved to California cities only to experience little success there. More than three thousand Indians each lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles after the war; fewer than five hund red, or a sixth of them, were able to find steady jobs.Tellingly, the median income for urban male Indians was $1,198 a year, in contrast to $3,780 for the white male population. Native Americans joined the United States' call to fight Communism and participated in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Between 10,000 to 15,000 Native Americans served in the Korean War, while approximately 14,500 Native Americans served in the Vietnam War. Once again Native Americans returned from these wars to find discrimination with regards to finding a job and trying to earn a fair wage.In conclusion both Women, Hispanics and Native Americans had made strides towards overcoming their post-war problems by 1968, but some were more successful than others. Women were more common place in the work place by 1968 but nothing like today, they still faced discrimination with regards to wages and opportunity’s. Even though they were helped by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banning discrimination in the work pl ace, there were loopholes and statistically you were still more likely to get a job if you were male. An act to guarantee equal rights for women was not passed until 1972, it was called ‘The Equal Rights Amendment. The Feminine Mystique is a nonfiction book by Betty Friedan first published in 1963. It is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States. This phenomenally popular book may have been the inspiration for Women all over America to leave their kitchen and become more independent. Hispanics and Native Americans were helped massively with the civil Rights Act of 1964 which ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public.Unfortunately there was still a learned racist attitude towards ethnic groups in America, however it cannot be measured how many years this attitude took to wear off. In 1968 we saw America learning i ts newer more modern stance on different ethnicities and women which we can see today. This was Mainly due to the approval of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 witch was probably the most important act passed in American history with regard to equality.

AP Environmental Science Q

1 . The environment is the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates; the natural world affected by human activity. 2. Environmental science Is the study of the Interaction between living and nonliving, physical, chemical, and biological components of the environment including their effects on all types of organisms but most often the Impact humans have on the environment. Ecology, conservation biology, forestry, sol science, forest technology and physics are related to environmental science. . Environmentalism is a theory that views environment rather than heredity as the important factor in the placement and especially the cultural and intellectual development of an individual or group; advocacy of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment; especially the movement to control pollution. 4. Natural capital is the air, land, water, living organisms and all the formations of the Earth's biosphere that provides us wit h ecosystems goods and services imperative for survival and well- being. . A natural resource occurs naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by humanity; in a natural form; anything that people can use which comes from nature; we gather them from nature. EX: air, water, wood, 011, Iron, wind energy, coal, hydroelectric energy. A natural/ecosystem service are regularly Involved In the provisions of clean drinking water and the decomposition of waste.Natural ecosystem services is split into four categories: provisioning, such as the production of food and water; regulating, such as the control of climate and disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination; and cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits. 6. An environmentally sustainable society is a community that is in balance with nature; people in the society do actions that are DOD for the environment. 7. A developing country is a nation with lower living standards, underdevelop ed industrial base, and low human development index relative to other countries.A developed country Is a nation that has a highly developed economy and advanced technological Infrastructure in comparison to other less developed countries. 8. A developing country has lower life expectancy, less education, lower population, lower resource level usage and less money(lonesome). A developed country has a higher life expectancy, more education, higher population, higher resource level usage and more money(income). . A resource is a source of supply, support or aid that can be readily drawn upon when needed.Conservation is the prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss; the careful preservation of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion. 10. A renewable resource is a natural resource which can replenish with the passage of time, either through biological reproduction or other naturally reoccurring processes. EX: geothermal energy, hydrophone, corn starch, manure. A nonrenewable r esource is a resource that does not renew Itself at a sufficient rate for sustainable economic extraction in meaningful unman time-frames. EX: coal, petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear energy. 1. The difference between the concept of reuse and recycle Is that reusing Is when a product that Is newly purchased Is put to another use after the first use Is completed. Recycling is processing of used materials (waste) into new products to prevent waste resource which does not exceed the growth; the amount of renewable resources taken should not exceed the amount at which it can be replaced. 13. An ecological footprint is an accounting system that tracks how much land and water area a human being uses to provide all it takes from nature. . Pollution is the presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance or thing that has harmful or poisonous effects. Point source pollution is a single identifiable source of air, water, thermal, noise or light pollution coming from a single location. EX: A certain factory is producing chemicals. As part of the manufacturing process, certain poisonous chemicals and toxic gases result, such as benzene. The chemical company permits these toxins to be released from the stack at the factory without treating them.The untreated, toxic chemicals are released directly into the air. Nonprofit pollution is when contaminants are introduced into the environment over a large, widespread area. EX: Acid rain from the air can enter the water cycle. The result is that it enters the environment. The acid is harmful to fish and other creatures in freshwater lakes and streams. Whenever there is snow or ice on the roads in winter, the salt trucks come out and spread salt. The salt dissolves the snow and ice and makes the roads safe. But it also washes off the roads into lakes and streams and makes them salty.The salt is also carried down into the groundwater where it enters the groundwater apply. 15. Biodegradable: capable of decaying throu gh the action of living organisms. Orange peels: 6 months, paper 2-5 months; Non-biodegradable: cannot be changed to a harmless natural state by the action of bacteria and may damage the environment. Ceramics(fleer glass, carbon fiber), plastics(legal, irony), metals(iron, tin). 16. Five environmental problems the world faces today are population growth, poverty, wasting resources, poor environmental accounting, and ecological ignorance.Population growth is one of the biggest problems because humans consume so much energy, space and resources. With the rising population the Earth is unable to keep reproducing enough to accommodate the world. Poverty is another big problem because people/nations begin to take land resources to â€Å"pay off their debts† or survive. Wasting resources is the practice of wasting valuable resources by human beings for unnecessary motives. Poor environmental accounting is when business do not take the environmental impact into account when using th e resources to make their products.Ecological ignorance is the failure to understand the effects of human behavior on the relationship between the environment and living things. 7. When someone says that the price of goods does not include the value of natural capital they mean that they do not take into account the loss of biodiversity and puts economic concern in a way that the government and institutions can deal with. People often think of conservation in terms of its cost rather than its value, and think of manufactured goods in terms of value rather than their environmental costs. 18.A government subsidy is a benefit given by the government to the groups or individuals usually in the form of cash payment or tax reduction; usually given to remove some type of burden. A harmful effect they cause is environmental degradation like exploitation of resources, pollution, loss of landscape, misuse and overuse of supplies. A benefit example is that the U. S. Government makes goods more easily attainable for citizens such as gasoline prices are subsidized so that they are what they think their role in the world should be, and what they believe is right and wrong environmental behavior.Environmental ethics is the discipline is philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and the value and moral status of the environment and its nonhuman contents. 0. Planetary management worldview beliefs that as the planets most important species, we are in charge of the Earth; we will not run out of resources because of our ability to develop and find new ones; the potential for economic growth is especially unlimited; and our success depends on how well we manage the Earth's life support systems mostly for our own benefit.Stewardship worldview beliefs that we are the planets most important species but we have an ethical responsibility to care for the rest of nature; we will probably run out of resources but they should not be wasted; we should encourage envi ronmentally harmful forms of economic growth; and our success depends on how well we can manage the earth's life-support systems for our benefit and the rest of nature.Environmental wisdom worldview beliefs that nature exists for all the earths species and we are not in charge of the earth; resources are limited, should not be wasted, and are not all for us, we should encourage earth sustaining life forms of economic growth and discourage earth-degrading forms of economic growth; and our success depends on learning how the earth sustains itself and integrating such lessons from nature into the ways we think and act. 21 . The four scientific principles of sustainability are reliance of solar energy, biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and population control.The reliance of solar energy is how and how much of the sun energy we reuse. Biodiversity is the amount of variation and variety there is in the population. Nutrient cycling is how one population can benefit from another population. P opulation control is when one type of species population is too large and what we do to control and handle that. 22. A. Nutrient Cycling b. Nutrient Cycling c. Population Control, Biodiversity d. Nutrient Cycling e. Nutrient Cycling f. Nutrient Cycling g. Reliance on Solar Energy

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Comparison of the films Psycho and Scream Essay Example

Comparison of the films Psycho and Scream Essay Example Comparison of the films Psycho and Scream Paper Comparison of the films Psycho and Scream Paper Essay Topic: Film The film Psycho would have shocked the audience when the film was first released in 1960, and due to the well thought out story line and unpredictable ending, still would have the audience captivated in the year 2002. Hitchcock kept pushing the boundaries as to how far a horror film could go. This kept the audience in shock and excitement as this kind of imagery had never before been seen at this time. The nudity shown on screen would also have shocked the audience because normally at the time, (1960) the viewer would not be used to such graphic imagery, however mild it may appear to be today. Hitchcock used many taboo subjects in his films and also graphic scenes. I believe that these scenes were very good at creating publicity and giving a very unique out-look on his work, as it seperates him from other directors. Hitchcock succeeds in creating suspense through-out the film Psycho, especially the shower scene. This would have to be one of Hitchcocks most famous scenes. Hitchcock wanted the audience to believe that Marion Crane was actually getting stabbed, but had to use limited effects due to censors and budget. Hitchcock uses many filming and sound techniques to get the best sequence across to the audience, without making it too violent. Hitchcock used around seventy-eight different camera angles to achieve the best possible murder shot. He also used many different types of camera shots to add to the effect of the scene. Hitchcock varied the lengths of the shots, to give a more frantic feel to the scene, such as a close-up, closely followed by a medium close-up. Another interesting aspect of the stabbing is the way the audience never actually views the knife penetrating the skin. I feel that the scene was more effective without the actual stabbing as it made the viewer imagine what was happening. I believe that Hitchcock had a lot of dedication to his films, as he was willing to go through so many different stages and shots to get his point across, and create suspense and tention with not only the visuals but also the sound. Another part of the film which a modern day viewer may not think was very unusual, was the first scene, which showed Marion sleeping with Sam, despite not being married to him. Normally in the 1960s it would be considered as wrong for a woman to sleep with a man who she is not married to. This showed more evidence of Hitchcock taking risks and going against usual old fashioned morals. I strongly believe that this began mordernising the film industry. I have chosen to compare Psycho to,Scream, as I believe that both directors where trying to break out of the predictable horror movie cycle, which had been rampant during thses times. Scream had a much larger budget than Psycho, and was released many years later in 1996. Since it was released in October of 1996, it has made over $86 million dollars, and two sequels have been released. Wes Craven (The director of Scream), is also famous for other blosckbuster movies such as, I know what you did last summer, I still know what you did last summer and The mind ripper. Craven has in each maintained a gripping dedication to the genre that he was made famous for, horror. Craven is a modern day director and is therefore able to use things like sex, nudity and graphic scenes of violence, freely and without as many restrictions as Hitchcock. Who had to work around these problems. Craven also uses many unpredictable story lines and plots in his films to create suspense, just as though Hitchcock did in many of his films. Cravens films mainly consist of a killer, victims, a motive and without a doubt, fear. Horror movies in the past may have seemed to be very predictable, so an avid or experienced horror film viewer, would have some preconseptions of a teen horror movie. As most modern teen horror films are usually predictable and have identical or similar story lines as those made previously. Many modern day teen horror films usually contain basic survival rules. Such as the main character remaining a virgin, and not drinking or taking drugs. These types of characters are mainly portraid as strong minded individuals, who only end up being killed if they take part in any of the previously mentioned activities. A lot of modern teen horror films contain phrases like, whos there? or Ill be right back, coincidentally if a person says them, they will inevitably be murdered. Craven abandons these predictable out comes in Scream when the main character, Sydney Prescott, loses her virginity, drinks and actually lives to be in the two sequals. These new ideas and abandoning old ways whilst bringing in new convention, create more suspense and leave the film very unpredictable to the audience. Just as though Hitchcocks Psycho did. In conclusion I believe that without Hitchcock starting, what I would call a revolution in the film industry; by pushing the limits and using low cost effects to create a more realistic cinematic experience. The film industry would not be as decensortised as it is today. I also believe that Wes Craven plays a big part in modern day films as he is, like Hitchcock, inventing new and less predictable ideas, therefore challenging directors to come up with more inavative films.

Initialisms and Acronyms

Initialisms and Acronyms Initialisms and Acronyms Initialisms and Acronyms By Mark Nichol Most people know what an acronym is. But few are as familiar with term initialism, or of an important distinction between the two. An acronym is an initial abbreviation that can be pronounced as a word, such as NASA or WASP. This term is also used to refer to a series of initials pronounced individually, such as FBI or TGIF, but the technical term is initialism. What’s the BFD (â€Å"big, fat deal,† though another word starting with f is sometimes used)? The answer is the. Because acronyms like NASA are pronounced as words (â€Å"na-suh,† in this case), there’s no need to precede them with the definite article: You wouldn’t write â€Å"Budget cutbacks hit the NASA hard.† (Though the is essential if NASA is used as an adjective, as in â€Å"Budget cutbacks hit the NASA project hard.†) But initialisms require the: â€Å"The FBI announced his capture several hours later.† That’s because the term is pronounced letter by letter: â€Å"eff-bee-eye.† (The only usage that omits the definite article is in a headline: â€Å"FBI Announces Suspect’s Capture.†) And when do you use an acronym or an initialism, when do you spell it out, and when do you do both? In more formal writing, the standard approach is to introduce an agency, organization, or some other entity that uses such an abbreviation, or abbreviations of terminology, by spelling out the name on first reference. If a subsequent reference (called, in publishing, the second reference, no matter how many times it is repeated) appears in proximity say, the same paragraph and few, if any, other abbreviations appear in the interim, simply use the abbreviation thereafter. However, if the next usage is farther away, it’s best to insert the abbreviation in parentheses immediately after the spelled-out reference to establish an association in the reader’s mind when it’s not supported by proximal use of the abbreviation. If the abbreviation is not mentioned again for some time, or it appears only up to a handful of times, spelling it out again (perhaps every time) is a good idea. Depending on the term and the publication, however, the hand-holding parenthesis may be unnecessary. Many specialized publishers maintain a list of abbreviations familiar to readers of their publications that specifies whether each one requires abbreviation accompanying the spelled-out first reference, or needs to be spelled out at all. For example, an astronomy magazine is likely to note in its house style guide that NASA does not need to be spelled out, and many other publications do likewise because of the familiarity of the agency’s name in our society. By contrast, less common abbreviations like OEM (original equipment manufacturer) should be spelled out except in a manufacturing-industry publication. As with many usage prescriptions, it’s all about the context. Oh, and one more point, so to speak: Notice that no acronym or initialism in this post includes periods. They’re generally considered outdated and superfluous. Even two-letter forms like AM and PM, MD and RN, and BC and AD go without, though US stubbornly retains them in many publications. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Greek Words You Should Know8 Proofreading Tips And Techniques5 Ways to Reduce Use of Prepositions