THE DESTRUCTION OF MAN KIND Essays - Forest Conservation

THE DESTRUCTION OF MAN KIND "We know there will be problems in environmental terms, many serious problems, but it is a matter of economics. There won't be any complete disaster, and what we cannot solve, well, that's the price we have to pay." - Eduardo Albuquerque Barbosa There is a constant war that is being fought in the rainforests of South America. The death toll is one that far surpasses any other war in history. Vietnam and World War II had minimal loss of life compared to this never ending battle. It is predicted that by the year 2020, the casualties will reach 150 per day. This total does not even include the loss of human life due to the lack of oxygen and the unsuitable living conditions. This horrible scenario would be the result of mankind's failure to cooperate and live in harmony with the environment, especially the rainforest of South America. In the end, the destruction of the rainforests will mean the destruction of mankind. The devastation of the rainforest may be compared to playing a game of Russian Roulette. One-forth of existing medicines are derived from tropical plants whose homes are in the rainforests of South America. For every acre that is lost in the burning season, there is one acre less that we have for possible life saving medicines. About 70 percent of plants used in anti-cancer drugs come from the rain forest. We are slowly destroying ourselves and the environment. Whether we realize it or not, the world could quickly come to an ecological halt. Every day 144,000 acres of the rainforests are cut down, slashed and/or put up in flames. In 1974, Brazil started a forest fire of 20.6 million square feet (3,900 square miles). The fire ragged out of control and was later marked the largest forest fire in Brazilian history. This 1974 fire is now considered small to others in the past recent years. On average the burning season lasts up to four months out of the whole year. During this period of time, it is not uncommon for the majority of South America to be covered in a thick blanket of smoke. The bulk of these fires, when combined, are equivalent to the great inferno of 1988 at Yellow Stone National Park. Emitted from these devastating fires every year are billions of carcinogens and poisonous gases that end up in the atmosphere. The gases and pollution have been building for many years, and scientists believe that the atmosphere is due to reach its saturation point very soon. The greed for money and lust for land are just two flames at the heart of the fire. At the expense of innocent lives of rainforest dwelling animals and local environmentalists, large corporations can some how justify there murderous means. Rainforests cover only a mere seven percent of the earth's land surface, yet they contain 50 percent of the world's species. Along with the thousands of animals in these century old forests, there are many tribes of Indians who are subjected to torment and usually death from the large companies. Heartless Corporations such as Endesa, Arboriente and PICOP ignore the blockades of the FPA, "Forest Peoples' Alliance", and the perpetual pleas of the Scientist's who predict, "tropical species are disappearing at a rate that could conceivably reach as high as 150 species a day by the year 2020" Landry, (5). Unfortunately this battle comes down to economics versus environment, and so far the environment is losing the war. Chico Mendes' death finally brought the much needed world wide attention to the rainforests. Until 1988 the astonishing figures produced by environmentalist and scientists never had much weight on the conscience of countries outside of the Amazon Rain Forest. The death of Mendes was the second death of a NCRT, National Council of Rubber Tappers, member in recent times. The fight, " at first, was only about ecology, and defending the fishes, the animals, the forest, and the river. They didn't realize that humans were also in the forest" Rodrigues, Revkin (1). Though Chico was a rubber tapper in the town of Xapuri, he spent most of the year traveling around the world trying to gain support in his fight against the destruction of the rainforest . Chico's non-violent approach won him much favor from the United States and all of the other rubber tappers. Chico Mendes once said, "If a messenger came down from heaven and guaranteed that my death would strengthen our struggle, it would even be worth it. But experience teaches us the opposite. Public rallies and lots of

Social groups Essay Example

Social groups Essay Example Social groups Essay Social groups Essay Belonging to a social group is one of the fulfilling things that can happen in a man’s life. Such membership creates an opportunity to create new and modify existing schemata about life and human interactions on a large scale. An effective contribution to and adherence to the shared values of a social group has a way of changing one’s attitude personally. In a situation where the social group has a link with a particular career, such affords increased awareness of information in this line, and forestalls greater career pursuit. The fact is that an active social group affects lives in several ways. THE GROUP: THE COMPASSIONATE FOUNDATION This is the non-profit no-governmental organization that I belong to; it has been created a s a way of pooling resources together to improve all aspects of rural dwelling. It also encourages the religious activities and missionary works of Christianity with a large emphasis of improved academic standard in sub-urban regions. Its activities and arms are organized in such a way that a life is touched positively on the long run, and somebody can point to the banners of the group and say, ‘Thanks a million’ with a large smile on the face. The ideas implemented are not esoteric; they are contemporary ideas that improve academic performance among students in primary and high schools across the country, and in the continent. It is an evolving social group with a view of reaching the whole world not just in s smile train but with the air of rest and comfort. The vision is to see a world of uniform education such that unnecessary unrests can be reduced, environmental degradation can be assuaged and other social vices stemming from the poverty and ignorance can be adequately dwelt with. This way, the society is better and the world becomes an easier to live. Community Reports Community reports are obtained through the following means: à ¼Ã‚   Visitation to Sites of Impact à ¼Ã‚   Obtaining information from stakeholders à ¼Ã‚   Information from similar bodies and other relevant organizations. This forms the basis of all the trips and activities done including major projects and proposals. Community services The community services embarked upon are targeted at the following groups: à ¼Ã‚   The young people directly at all levels of institutions, Hospital patients, Prisoners, Market women, Missionary houses, rural dwellers. These services include 1. Programs 2. Provision Small Scale à ¼Ã‚   Provision of educational aids for the young people à ¼Ã‚   Organizing Interschool interactions among students and rewarding excellence à ¼Ã‚   Organizing profitable programs aimed at increasing interest in Education à ¼Ã‚   Career talks à ¼Ã‚   Provision of fund for major Christian programs à ¼Ã‚   Rehabilitation and Restoration programs à ¼Ã‚   Provision of useful materials and information for hospitalized patients à ¼Ã‚   Health awareness programs à ¼Ã‚   Educating rural dwellers on the need for education, health and other relevant matters à ¼Ã‚   Provision of fund and other useful items for missionary work à ¼Ã‚   Mini-Job creation for young unemployed people à ¼Ã‚   Skill Acquisition and Training program Large Scale: this includes à ¼Ã‚   Peace Talks and Conflict negotiations à ¼Ã‚   Education on Emergency response and service provision SOCIAL IMPACT It is interesting to get feedbacks from lives that have been touched by these activities, detailing their ordeal before the Foundation’s intervention and the impact our programs and services have had on their environment and perspective on life issues. Really, in assisting people who you are not familiar with, there is the added responsibility of geographical, language, and even religious differences. This has made it a paramount agenda for me to inculcate skills of communication that can easily penetrate any culture and make the required impact with the limited time available. This, combined with the advantage of seeing real changes to lives, has made me reconsider my values for living; that life is best lived when it is dedicated to make someone else happy. I have come to learn that fulfillment in life is a product of fulfilling the needs of other people. What is then more important than diverting all efforts, knowledge, belief and even career to such cause: that someoneâ₠¬â„¢s needing be met within your very eyes, even when there would be no direct reward for such devotion. This is really a substantial impact on my life, and the meaning of life. This change can obviously be attributed to just one source: my commitment to the values of the Foundation. This has indeed contributed to my success in the family and at work. CONCLUSION The changes are enormous; they have created a major turn from frivolous extravagance to meaningful expenditure. They have set the pace for investing selflessly in others rather than concentrating a whole life on ‘me’, ‘myself’ and ‘mine’. Lives are changing positively, society is benefiting tremendously and the ecosystem is becoming easier to inhabit. Isn’t that a wonderful social change just because of belonging to a social group?

Meanings, Examples and Observations of the Word Lexicon

Meanings, Examples and Observations of the Word Lexicon A lexicon is the collection of words- or the internalized dictionary- that every speaker of a  language has. It is also called lexis. Lexicon may also refer to a  stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject or style. The word itself is the Anglicized version of the Greek word lexis (which means word in Greek). It basically means dictionary. Lexicology describes the study of lexis and lexicon. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: JargonLanguage AcquisitionLexemeLexical CompetenceLexical DiffusionLexical-Functional Grammar (LFG)Lexical IntegrityLexicalizationLexical SetLexicogrammarLexicographerLexicographicolatryLexicograpyLexicologyLexisListemeMental LexiconMorphologyVocabularyVocabulary Acquisition Examples and Observations The lexicon of soccer (called football outside of the United States) includes terms such as linesman, friendly match, yellow card, penalty shootout, pitch, result, and draw.The lexicon of a stock trader includes terms such as delayed quotes, futures contract, limit order, margin account, short selling, stop order, trend line and watch list. Words by the Numbers [T]here are currently about 600,000 words in the English language, with educated adults using about 2,000 words in daily conversation. For the 500 most-frequently used words, there are some 14,000 dictionary meanings. (Wallace V. Schmidt, et al., Communicating Globally. Sage, 2007)  The English lexicon grew by 70 percent from 1950 to 2000, with roughly 8,500 new words entering the language each year. Dictionaries dont reflect a lot of those words. (Marc Parry, Scholars Elicit a Cultural Genome From 5.2 Million Google-Digitized Books. The Chronicle of Higher Education. December 16, 2010) Myths of Word Learning If you attend a class on language acquisition, or read any good introductory chapter on the subject, you are likely to learn the following facts about word learning. Childrens first words are odd; they have funny meanings that violate certain semantic principles that hold for adult language and are learned in a slow and haphazard way. Then, at about 16 months, or after learning about fifty words, there is a sudden acceleration in the rate of word learning- a word spurt or vocabulary explosion. From this point on, children learn words at the rate of five, ten, or even fifteen new words a day. I will suggest here that none of these claims are true. They are myths of word learning. There is no reason to believe that childrens first words are learned and understood in an immature fashion- and there is considerable evidence to the contrary. There is no such thing as word spurt, and two-year-olds are not learning anywhere near five words per day. (Paul Bloom, Myths of Word Learning. Weavin g a Lexicon, ed. by D. Geoffrey Hall and Sandra R. Waxman. MIT Press, 2004) Language Acquisition: Grammar and Lexicon In a review of findings from language development, language breakdown and real-time processing, we conclude that the case for a modular distinction between grammar and the lexicon has been overstated, and that the evidence to date is compatible with a unified lexicalist account. Studies of normal children show that the emergence of grammar is highly dependent upon vocabulary size, a finding confirmed and extended in atypical populations. Studies of language breakdown in older children and adults provide no evidence for a modular dissociation between grammar and the lexicon; some structures are especially vulnerable to brain damage (e.g., function words, non-canonical word orders), but this vulnerability is also observed in neurologically intact individuals under perceptual degradation or cognitive overload. Finally, online studies provide evidence for early and intricate interactions between lexical and grammatical information in normal adults. (Elizabeth Bates and Judith C. Goodman, On the Inseparability of Grammar and the Lexicon: Evidence from Acquisition, Aphasia and Real-time Processing. Language and Cognitive Processes. The Chronicles of Higher Education. December 1997) Acquisition of the lexicon and acquisition of the grammar are ... parts of a single underlying process. (Jesse Snedeker and Lila R. Gleitman, Why It Is Hard to Label Our Concepts. Weaving a Lexicon, ed. by D. Geoffrey Hall and Sandra R. Waxman. MIT Press, 2004)

Industrial Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Industrial Music - Essay Example Otherwise, their target audience would not be reached and knowledge, as well as existence of new compositions, musical scores, and songs would not even be able to reach the intended listeners. The uses of various media (television, radio, online sites) are traditional media for promotion and commercialization of popular music. Thus, appropriate funds and resources are invested to do this with the objective of generating profits in the end. Yes, one believes that a group, artist, or singers could be too commercial; and at the same time, not commercial enough. There are contemporary singers who could be considered overexposed as listeners tend to hear their songs in all media at almost all possible times. When hearing a particular song is perceived as way too much that audience perceives that their ears are already aching from hearing the same sounds again and again, then, this could be considered an evident proof of being too commercial. On the other hand, there could be very good musical compositions that are not effectively managed and promoted due to factors such as lack of funds, lack of competencies of the managers or promoters, wrong use of media to promote, and reaching only a limited audience. As such, these are examples of a group or singers whose songs and musical compositions are not commercial enough. If the focus is no longer on the music itself (maybe creating promotional products that promote the singer more than the songs), then somehow, there are possibilities of audience losing their interests and appeal; especially if the songs do not reach the quality expected from the music. It could initially be productive for the promoters for having served their commercial interests; but eventually, not being able to sustain a good quality of music would be detrimental to the singer, manager and promoters in the long run. Rock fans may have rebelled against the popularity

Describe the Human Nature & Physical Aspects Essay

Describe the Human Nature & Physical Aspects - Essay Example MeurSault who is the protagonist of The Stranger performs such activities for which, he finds no reason for remorse and sorrow. At his mother’s death, he is emotionless and has no sense of loss. When he murders an Arab man, he is again remorseless. He takes actions without any rationality and reason behind them. He shoots the Arab man without any specific reason. The trial that is held for the judgment of Meursault’s crime also circulates around absurd causes of his reasonless act. With the passage of time, Meursault realizes that human existence is worthless and has no meaning behind it. After gaining awareness about this fact, he feels no problem in his way of dying and realizes that death will come to all who have taken birth. Meursault shows more desirability for physical aspects of life such as Marie, weather, his environment and other aspects of life, he is not persuaded by his spiritual or emotional existence due to which, he is alienated from society. For killing the Arab man, he identifies the torment because of sun as a reason for his killing which is quite absurd and ridiculous. He attaches everything with the physical aspect of life. Raskolnikov, the protagonist of the book, Crime and Punishment, shows an alienated attitude in the work. He is alienated from the society on the basis of his consideration that is he is superior to other social figures around him. He plans a murder of an old lady for profit based reasons and while murdering, murders another lady because of being seen. He continuously rejects any support from his friends and relatives due to which, he is left alone. Like Meursault, Raskolnikov also shows attraction towards physical aspects of life and has no concern with his spiritual aspects. He kills the old lady for her wealth. Like Meursault, Raskolnikov is also an unemotional being and shows no emotional concerns to anything in his life. He shows no guilt for his

And the mountains echoed by khaled hossieni Essay Example for Free

And the mountains echoed by khaled hossieni Essay This line of the text conveys the central idea of the novel in which the idea of sacrifice has been beautifully portrayed. The author tries to draw our attention towards the agony and misery of the father and brother of Pari who send her away for her better future and also the better future of their family. The story that is told by Abdullah’s father holds a very big significance and is symbolic of the love and affection coupled with deep sense of separation and helplessness. Abdullah’s father makes him aware of the striking reality of their lives through the story and the central idea of the whole story finds its place here. Abdullah who shares a tight bond of love and affection with his sister sacrifices her belongingness for her better future and life of prosperity. Just like Baba Ayub in the story gets separated from his beloved son, Abdullah was also to part with his sister. The journey of Abdullah from Shadbagh to Kabul holds upon him a test; a test to make him strong enough to leave Pari at his Uncle’s place. The Div of the story signifies the difficulties that one has to face in one’s life and once these difficulties are surpassed, there exists satisfaction and peace in one’s mind believing that his loved ones are happy and enjoying their lives to the fullest. Parwana in the story once says â€Å"It had to be her. I am sorry, Abdullah. She had to be the one. † And soon after this the author doesn’t fails to mention â€Å"The finger cut, to save the hand. † Abdullah tries very hard to bring a smile on Pari’s face and feels pleased in even exchanging his shoes for the peacock feather for her sister’s collection. The story in the beginning of the chapter is symbolic of pain and suffering that one experiences, when he has to part with his beloved ones and also signifies that the need of basic amenities is fundamental to the existence of humans. If the much adored ones are to be separated from one self so as to ensure these fundamentals to them then the pain and suffering is nothing at their cost. Journeys depicted in the novel:- The novel involves a lot of journeys that are symbolic of time which passes on covering the darker and the lighter shades of one’s life. This is evident from a line of the story that Baba Ayub tells to both his children â€Å"He walked until the sun was a faint red glow in the distance. Nights he slept in caves as the winds whistled outside. Or else he slept beside rivers and beneath trees and among the cover of boulders. He ate his bread, and then he ate what he could find ¬- wild berries, mushrooms, fish that he caught with his bare hands from streams- and some days he didn’t eat at all. But still he walked† . This he says in context with the fact that one has to face a lot of hardships and difficulties to find his loved ones back and in the end everything is fine to Baba Ayub as he accomplishes his goals and finds his son safe and sound with the Div. Abdullah travels from Shadbagh to Kabul to drop his sister at his uncle’s place and this gives hint to the readers that someday, the time will bridge all the gaps between him and his sister and also the pain and misery will go away. Pari goes away with her ‘Mamman’ and travels a long distance to reach France but the memories of her father fade away gradually with time. Pari loves her brother very much and shares an inseparable bond with him but with the passage of time, she leaves him behind and feels it difficult to remember the lullaby that was sung by him. These journeys also signify the changes that take place in one’s life that makes the individual develop new relationships with people surrounding him and leaves the older ones. NILA: THE SYMBOL OF DYNAMISM Nila or Pari’s ‘Mamman’ is a symbol of dynamism. The author very clearly depicts a contrast between her and the other women of Afghanistan. On one hand he shows Parvana, who wore clothes that cover her body completely and then on the other hand he describes Nila who exposes her legs and hands. For the society Nila is not an ideal woman as her ways are carefree and she is confident and self centered. But the author never fails to point out that she was admired and loved by the Afghani people at the Wahadati’s house because of her poems that were about love, lust and passion. In Nabi’s words â€Å"Nila’s poems defied tradition. They followed no preset meter or rhythmic pattern. † Nabi used to be pleased to spend time with her and this, the author mentions in the line â€Å"I was happy enough to be the vessel into which she poured her stories. † Nila was such a charming lady that no one could remove their eyes from her and she was always talked about in public. This shows the development and change in the mindset of the people in Afghanistan. Desires Couples with Suffering: The story of Roshi depicts a clear example of desired coupled with suffering. At one point the character of Chacha Idris is brought about as a savior but the author never drifts away from the realities of life and explicitly explains how desires of Roshi later turn into suffering. The bond of love between them though is never shaken. The promise that he makes to her is out of the bond of love but when he moves to his own life, he couldn’t keep his promise as the situations of his personal life coil up around him. THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED:- They are symbolic of the give and take relationships prevalent in the present world. The echoing in the mountains signifies that whatever may any individual does or receives is an outcome of his deeds that he has already done in the past. The echoing mountains also signify the nature of love and hatred that is; the more you give the exponential you receive. The echo from the mountains also signifies the memories of man that are lost in the conditions of life and as the time passes they become fainter and fainter. THE MUD HOUSES:- These are symbolic of the hard work and toil of people in Afghanistan, who in order to earn their daily ‘Naan’ have to do a lot of work. In winters the mud houses are the only shelter to poor and in the summers they are the only medium of defense from the scorching sunrays. People at Shadbagh were very laborious and so was Abdullah’s father who once said to Mullah Shekib â€Å"If I had been born an animal, Mullah Sahib, I swear I would have come out a mule† . Abdullah’s father had taught him how to make bricks and they had made bricks for a mosque in other town. The author has very well brought the idea of presence of a web of right and wrong in which every individual is coiled. He has very aptly explained the fact that mere existence of humans is based on the society and this society is the one which recognizes the powerful people as their leaders and the poor as the ones who strive for their livelihood. The helpless have to do away with their loved ones and ensure their safety and this is the fault of the society that it overlooks such sufferings of the people. Why a father had to leave her daughter at her uncle’s house? This was because he knew that his daughter would be safe with those rich people who were respected by the society and had a position. But the author is concerned about the emotions of the children who are parted at a very young age, also he is concerned about the inner voice of the father who wants to find his child, also the affection of Roshi with Chacha Idris and Pari with her father and mother; and so the author gives a small Rumi poem at the starting of the novel: â€Å"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. † With this poem the author conveys the emotions of every individual of the society who sometime or the other wants to leave all the complexities of his life and reach the level where no situations of helplessness and sorrow would bind him and he would not have to make any sacrifices to live his life. The author through the stories of Parwana and Masooma brings about the idea of complexity and jealousy that come in the lives of two twin sisters who were treated differently by the society due to their behavior that the society has divided into good or bad. Parwana also wanted to share the pure feeling of love with her sister but could not do so because the society had created a rift between the two. Gholam and Adel who belonged to strikingly different backgrounds used to meet secretly because the friendship between the rich and poor or high status people with low status people was not recognized as good by the society and this poem by Rumi fits in here as well.

Adam smith :: Essays Papers

Adam smith Adam Smith, (1776), of the division of labor According to Adam Smith, economic growth is rooted in the increasing division of labor and the specialization of the labor force by the breaking down of large jobs into many little ones. Under this regime, each worker becomes an expert in one area of production and workers do not have to switch tasks during the day. This will increase efficiency by saving time and money. Smith illustrates his theory very well with an example of the production pins. He says that an individual could not make as many pins as he or she could produce concentrating on a single operation of its manufacture. Smith tells us that there are three reasons for this: First, the individual has improved dexterity in concentrating on a single task; Second, there is a disadvantage of expanding time changing from one task to another and third, the machines used are designed in a way to perform their task quickly and efficiently for that particular function. Adam smith's division of labor theory was very useful and was introduced into the factories of the 19th century with the assembly line technology. Almost any factory in our days considers the division of labor as a key element for efficiency and for increasing productivity. In the assembly lines of car factories for example, one worker or robot is specialized in assembling the interior, another is responsible for placing the engine, and a third is specialized with the installation of the gear box. However, one should not ignore the disadvantages of this theory. Adam Smith's theory considers men as robots and expects them to do the same task for their whole life. Adam smith :: Essays Papers Adam smith Adam Smith, (1776), of the division of labor According to Adam Smith, economic growth is rooted in the increasing division of labor and the specialization of the labor force by the breaking down of large jobs into many little ones. Under this regime, each worker becomes an expert in one area of production and workers do not have to switch tasks during the day. This will increase efficiency by saving time and money. Smith illustrates his theory very well with an example of the production pins. He says that an individual could not make as many pins as he or she could produce concentrating on a single operation of its manufacture. Smith tells us that there are three reasons for this: First, the individual has improved dexterity in concentrating on a single task; Second, there is a disadvantage of expanding time changing from one task to another and third, the machines used are designed in a way to perform their task quickly and efficiently for that particular function. Adam smith's division of labor theory was very useful and was introduced into the factories of the 19th century with the assembly line technology. Almost any factory in our days considers the division of labor as a key element for efficiency and for increasing productivity. In the assembly lines of car factories for example, one worker or robot is specialized in assembling the interior, another is responsible for placing the engine, and a third is specialized with the installation of the gear box. However, one should not ignore the disadvantages of this theory. Adam Smith's theory considers men as robots and expects them to do the same task for their whole life.