Climate Essays (3901 words) - Climate History, Demographic Economics

Climate Change Over the past years most individuals have become acutely aware that the intensity of human and economic development enjoyed over the 20th century cannot be sustained. Material consumption and ever increasing populations are already stressing the earth's ecosystems. How much more the earth can take remains a very heated issue. Here a look at the facts sheds some very dark light. In 1950, there were 2.5 billion people, while today there are 5.8 billion. There may well be 10 billion people on earth before the middle of the next century. Even more significant, on an ecological level, is the rise in per capita energy and material consumption which, in the last 40 years, has soared faster than the human population. "An irresistible economy seems to be on a collision course with an immovable ecosphere." Based on these facts alone, there is grave reason for concern. Taken further, it is even more frightening to note that, while man has affected the environment throughout his stay on earth, the impact has been most intense in the relatively short industrial era. Since the industrial revolution, and over the past century in particular, man's ecological footprint on the earth has quickly grown from that of a child to one of a giant. True, this period is heralded as an economic success story, which it certainly has been. However, many argue that it seems increasingly likely that the path to man's success will soon slope downward to his demise. The climate is changing, and so must we. This paper will look at the coin of climate change, where on the one side the human impact on the earth will be shown, and on the other, the impact of earth on man. Such a study is inevitably somewhat polemical, as it is still open to debate what the precise effects of man have and will be on climate change, and also what climate change will mean to man. It will also be quite general in analysis, as a paper of this scope can allow no more. What will be made clear, nevertheless, is that the relationship between man and earth is clearly changing. More specifically, man is outgrowing the earth. If the relationship is to continue?indeed prosper?then a new balance needs to be found. The issue of climate change holds one important key to this balance. Man and the Environment Thomas Malthus is well remembered for his position as a doomsayer. When looking at the rates of population growth in Victorian England, he saw unchecked growth as leading to a rapid decline in the living standards of man. He blamed this decline on three main factors: the overproduction of offspring; the inability of natural resources to sustain rising human population; and the irresponsibility of the lower classes to prevent their overpopulation. Very generally, Malthus suggested that this trend could be controlled only if the family size of the lower classes was regulated so that poor families would not produce more children than they could support. He predicted that the demand for food would inevitably become far greater than the available supply of it. This prediction was rooted in the thought that population, when unchecked, increased geometrically; i.e., 2,4,8,16,32... while food products, or as he called it ?subsistence', only grew at an arithmetic rate; i.e, 1,2,3,4,5,...... He provided only a basic economic reason for this however, and generally attributed famine, poverty and other catastrophic occurrences to divine intervention (he was a very religious man, a clergyman, in fact). He believed that such natural outcomes were essentially God's way of preventing man from being lazy. The point here is not to provide an evaluation of Malthus, and one might well argue that he was wrong in many of his predictions; but rather to highlight the posit that man has long been living beyond his means. Sooner or later, this will have its consequences. As a species, our success has certainly been impressive, but it has come by turning a blind-eye to our surroundings. "A prime reason for our success is our flexibility as a switcher predator and scavenger. We are consummately adaptable, able to switch form one resource base?grasslands, forests or estuaries?to another, as each is exploited to its maximum tolerance or use up. Like other successful species we have learned to adapt ourselves to new environments. But, unlike other animals, we made a jump from being successful to being a runaway success. We have made this jump because of our ability to adapt environments for our own uses in ways that no other animal can match."

Art is less important than life but what a poor life without essays

Art is less important than life but what a poor life without essays Since ancient times philosophers and artists struggle to discuss about what, in fact, art is. According to Websters Online Dictionary, art are the products of human creativity. [1] To such wide definition we can class anything as art that comes out of imagination of individuals. Everything that exist has its origins in human mind. That is why art is crucial part of our lives, because it is some piece of us, and as Robert Motherwell once said what a poor life without it. Firstly, art is necessary in life, as it helps us to deal with everyday ordinariness. George Bernard Shaw once said, Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.[2] Many people would probably agree with him. Coming home after hard work we would like to take some rest. Therefore we go to cinema, theatre, some exhibitions, or simply stay home and read some book. All these are art; they have come out of ones imagination. While doing such things we can relax, escape from harsh and so cruel everyday life. Secondly, people need art as they have a want for aesthetics. We often seek for opportunity to do something. Some of us write poetry, paint, create fashion in spare time. For example, cooks learn to add a pinch of a favourite spice to enhance flavour[3], decorate around food by making our table pleasure for eyes. Also the way we dress our body is an art, like decorating our room. Thirdly, we do not even realize that art, actually, is all around. What we eat, wear, see, hear, everything is art. For instance, pieces of furniture in our homes are art. As well as the chair we sit in, the movies we watch and the comics they read. Also paintings on our walls, jewellery we have, our favourite kind of music. Someone had to design all of this. We do not notice that, but people who created all that put a lot of effort to make it exist. So we should sometimes stop for a while and thin ...

Governmental Structure of Canada. Is the Canadian Prime Minister Too Research Paper

Governmental Structure of Canada. Is the Canadian Prime Minister Too Powerful - Research Paper Example Majority of the evidences sighted in various literary works point towards the fact that the Canadian prime minister has a lot of power and can influence the decisions of the government and the country of Canada. The fact that cannot be ignored is that the Canadian prime minister exercises a great deal of power especially when in the parliament his party enjoys the majority (Dickerson, Flanaganand O’Neill, 2009). There are obvious evidences of the Canadian prime minister not being too powerful but the majority facts are in the favor of him being powerful and dictating the rules and regulations governing the state resulting in the favor of prime-ministerial power. Governmental Structure of Canada Canada’s parliament is divided into three levels. The main governing body is the Queen of Elizabeth II and the Governor General (David Johnston currently) who acts on the behalf of the Queen to perform official functions as the Queen is not physically present in Canada. The secon d level is of the senate that is appointed on the prime minister’s recommendation and the third being the House of Commons consisting of the government members and the Opposition members. Queen Elizabeth II performs the ceremonial functions in Canada. All the political, executive and legislative powers are directed from the Queen .The Governor in General acts on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, he performs functions such as General elections declaration, closing and opening the Parliament and reads speeches from The Throne. The role of the Prime Minister who is the first amongst the parliament members and is the head of the government is to make and implement decisions pertaining to the policy of the government. He is designated to choose cabinet and its members for carrying out the various tasks of the country. No one person can handle all the tasks therefore cabinets are formed but the supreme authority is the prime minister himself. He can shuffle the cabinet members from one po rtfolio to another, can delete the cabinets and can add cabinets for whatever reason he thinks is right. This statement is strong evidence in favor of the Canadian President being a powerful governing body. The Cabinet and the Canadian prime minister speaks as one voice because conflicts amongst them can result in Cabinet members being demoted or dropped from the Parliament (Mallory, 1984). The legislature is a part of the government and has the duty of making the laws. It consists of the appointed as well as elected members, the Senate is appointed and the House of Commons is elected. Drawn from the House of Commons, the executive (the prime minister and the cabinet members) control the agenda in the House of Commons and they have the right to vote in order to turn the legislative that is proposed into practice (Malcolmson and Myers, 2009). Concluding the structure it could be said that there are three levels and the prime minister is the part of the second level and governs the th ird level that is the legislature. He is an important figure and works under the supervision of the Governor General who is acting figure in lieu of the Queen. Power in the Hands of the Canadian Prime Minister The Canadian Prime minister is the central figure in the Canadian politics and the law governing the state of Canada. He is behind all the progress that is currently under process

The impact of Chinese Communist Party leaders' legitimacy to rule on Essay

The impact of Chinese Communist Party leaders' legitimacy to rule on Chinese Security and foreign policy decision making - Essay Example During his regime, the initiatives he undertook include land reform, the collectivization of agriculture, and the spread of medical services; this leader of the revolution remained alert to what he saw to be new forms of oppression and sensitive to the interests of the oppressed in the era that the country had major reforms. In 1958 he advocated a self-reliant Great Leap Forward campaign in rural development and the failure of the Leap led Mao to turn many responsibilities over to other leaders as well as to withdraw from active decision making and make it include majority opinions. During the early 1960s, Mao continued his restless challenge of what he perceived as new forms of domination where in foreign policy he led China's divorce from the Soviet Union. Domestically, he became increasingly wary of his subordinates' approach to development, fearing that it was fostering deep social and political inequalities; when Liu, Deng, and others seemed to be ignoring his call to remember c lass struggles Mao in 1966 initiated the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, exploiting discontent among some students and others. The Cultural Revolution was successful in eliminating many who opposed his policies but led to serious disorder, forcing Mao to call in the military to restore order in the late 1960s, the result of which was not favorable to the country at large. For decades, Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) was one of the most prominent and respected leader of the communist movement who reached out to otherwise hostile political forces; he played an important role in securing Chiang Kaishek's release during the Xian (Sian) Incident of December 1936 and he headed the CCP liaison team to oppose Japanese imperialism and similarly, Zhou represented the CCP in negotiations with the Nationalists during the mediation effort of U.S. General George Marshall. The history of the country talks of another of the first generation Chinese Communist Party leaders Deng Xiaoping, who held prom inent positions in the government in the 1950s and 1960s, but was eliminated from office, imprisoned during the years of the Cultural Revolution, 1966-76 and his family persecuted. His goal in 1976 was to set China back on the course of economic development that had been badly interrupted during the final years of Mao's leadership as his rallying cry became the Four Modernization articulated by Zhou Enlai in 1975, which entailed the development of industry, agriculture, defense as well as science and technology. Chinese Foreign Policies in the Global Order China has placed particular emphasis on the development of good-neighborly relations and partnership with border countries in order to prevent external threats from exacerbating internal frictions and as well has emphasized non-military aspects of its comprehensive national power. It has developed approaches such as setting aside areas of disagreement with neighboring states, focusing on confidence-building measures to promote tie s; and engaging in economic integration and multilateral cooperation to address shared concerns, (Bergsten,

The Marine Industry

The Marine Industry Introduction Purpose This report aims to educate readers about the safety of seafarers going to sea and the possible dangers that they face. The report will also elaborate about the ongoing issues and measures taken to ensure the safety of the seafarers. Background Marine Industry has been a major platform for investment and income since the ancient times. Seafarers face possible dangers from collision of ships, fire and weather conditions. Therefore, the casualties onboard a ship have been increasing due to lack of awareness towards safety on board the ship. The International Maritime Organisation( IMO) took steps to prevent such disasters from happening. Rules have been set up to make sure the equipments onboard the ship are up to date, certified and are regularly inspected. Workers onboard must be well trained in the safety aspects. According to the International Maritime Organisation(2009),ship safety is a subject that is currently receiving high attention by most countries. The International Maritime Organisation(2009) said that this was due to a number of serious vessel casualties that have occurred in recent years. Methodology The information for this report was obtained from the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 1974 edition, reference books, research about shipping companies and the internet. Case studies were taken from online news articles. Scope As there are many possibilities that could happen onboard a ship, this report will investigate solely about the possible cause of fire at sea, preventive measures, consequences of fire, actual events that took place due to fire, types of fire and much more. Fire Hazards onboard the Ship Causes of Fire According to John G. Antherson (2000),the causes of fire on a ship arent a lot different than the causes of fires in any urban setting. As there are electrical circuits onboard the ship, there is a chance for an electrical fire is to occur. Machinery onboard a ship can get hot when its operating. An overheating bearing could cause a fire.(John G. Antherson 2000) Ships uses combustion systems to generating steam, and internal combustion engines are used generate electricity. These combustion system will get very hot and can cause a fire.(John G. Antherson 2000) Closed machinery spaces and the volatility of fuel, lubricants and hydraulic fluids around the hot machinery can lead to a fire or an explosion. A collision at sea could initiate a fire. The galley where food is prepared is another fire hazard on board a ship.(John G. Antherson 2000) During ship repairing, metal cutting and welding equipment is carried and used to faulty equipment. Sparks from this equipments could also start a fire. There are some more possible ways fires could be started. Fire hazards in the cabin could also cause fire to occur. An article (Anon: Fires In Ships 2002) states that careless smoking is the main cause of fires in ships. In one case scenario, sixteen Chinese nationals have been taken to the hospital after a fire broke out in their ship(APL Columbia) at port Botany on 5 January 2010.A crew member onboard the 45,000 tonne APL Columbia(IMO:9252242) noticed a fire in his cabin about 1.30am.The man tried to put out the fire but was unsuccessful.The crew members had suffered from smoke inhalation and the fire was put out about 5.30 am using the ships own firefighting equipment. In another case scenario, a fire broke out in the engine room. A Maersk container ship (Maersk Duffield) crossed Brisbanes Moreton Bay with its engine room on fire and the Emergency Management Queensland helicopter is en route to assist. One crew member required treatment. Shipping Database,2009-2010[Online] Available from: http://www.shippingdatabase.com/ [Accessed 31 January 2010] According to the chart ( figure 1) made by the Maritime Institute in Gdansk(2007), most fire accidents occur during ship repairs. Fire caused from ship repairs take up 79.3% of most fire accidents in their case study. Meanwhile, figure 2 showed that 24.11% of fire occurring on board a ship is located at the Cargo holds and tanks. Classes of Fire There are 4 types of fire that might occur onboard a ship. There are Class A , Class B , Class C and Class D fires. The U.S Department of Agriculture, Forest Service(2007) said that Ordinary combustible fires are the most common type of fire, and are designated under Class A fire . These occur when a solid, organic material such as wood, cloth, rubber, or plastic become heated to their flash point and ignite. This class of fire is fairly simple to combat and contain .According to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 2008),the most common way to do this is by spraying the burning material with water, oxygen can also be removed by smothering the fire with foam from a fire extinguisher. Meanwhile, flammable liquid are categorized under Class B fire. The National Fire Protection Association(2008) reports that this fire follow the same basic fire tetrahedron (heat, fuel, oxygen, chemical reaction) as ordinary combustible fires, except that the fuel in question is a flammable liquid such as gasoline, or gas such as natural gas. An efficient way to extinguish a liquid or gas fueled fire is to disrupt the chemical chain reaction of the fire, which is done by dry chemical and Halon extinguishing agents. According to an extract from Industrial Hygiene and Information Management (2008): ESH Manual Chapter 40, Hazardous Materials, class D fire are fires that are caused by flammable or combustible metals. Examples given by the ESH manual Chapter 40, Hazardous Materials, of such metals are titanium , sodium ,magnesium, potassium, uranium and calcium. Generally, metal fire risks occur when sawdust, machine shavings and other metal are present. These fires can be ignited by the same types of ignition sources that would start other common fires. Wikipedia, Fire Classes [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_classes [Accessed 1 February 2010] A crew onboard a fishing vessel said that If a fire was to start onboard a ship, crew members onboard must know what type of fire it is. If a wrong extinguisher or method is being used, the fire might spread even more. ( Florida Sport Fishing Crew 2002) Consequences of fire Loss of Revenue and Marine Environment The International Maritime Organisation (2009) said that most accidents onboard a ship will result in a loss of revenue. Cargos onboard a ship might be damaged and millions of dollars worth of cargos and resources will be affected. Fire onboard a tanker ship will have a high chance of causing an explosion and fuel leaked into the sea will cause water pollution and that will affect the marine environment. Thousands of dollar will be used to clean up the oil spill. A case study given by the Port State Information exchange (2006) was that of Hyundai Fortune where an accidental fire broke out on 21st March 2006. The combined cost of the ship and damaged cargo is estimated at over 300 million US dollars. According to an online article by Brisbane Times, oil spill clean-up can be rather costly. In a case study by the article, an insurer of a Hong Kong-based cargo ship had to foot the bill for a 20 tonnes of diesel fuel into waters off Stradbroke Island. Authorities announced that the estimated cost of the clean-up will reach about $100,000 a day and take seven days to complete. Daniel Hurst 2009 , Oil spill clean-up to cost $100,000 a day[Online] Brisbane times Available from: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/oil-spill-cleanup-to-cost-100000-a-day/2009/03/12/1236447368184.html [Accessed on 7th February 2010] Political Fallout Political fallout might also occur if swift action is not taken. Political fallout will cause the reputation of the government or authority to be at stake.(M.Masellis and S.W.A.Gunn 1992) The disasters that occur within the Maritime Industries can be used as an example for opposition parties to blame the government and this might change the mindset of the society towards the government. According to an online article by BBC news, an oil well in the Timor Sea off the north-west coast of Australia caught fire. The oil rig had been leaking oil and marine fire fighters were struggling for ten weeks to stop the leak. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help combat the fire and other teams such as the Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby. However, an opposition spokesman accused the Environment Minister of Australia of doing nothing to stop the oil leak. BBC News 2009 , Australia well catches fire [Online] Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8336564.stm Human Casualties Accidents onboard a ship will also cause human casualties to occur. Fire especially will be life threatening onboard a passenger ship and it will cause chaos and panic among passengers. ( L.M. Collins 1999) A good way to ensure that human life is not lost is for the crew and passengers to follow instructions given by the Captain. If the passengers follow the instructions swiftly, they will be able to escape from the ship safely.( L.M. Collins 1999) One of the major events that had many human casualties was that of RMS Titanic. According to David G , Titanic was struck by an iceberg and sank in two hours and forty minutes on 15 April 1912. The sinking of the Titanic resulted in 1517 deaths out of the 2223 people on board. The high casualty rate was due to the fact that the ship was not carrying enough lifeboats for everyone onboard. Brown, David G. (2000). The Last Log of the Titanic. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0071364471. Most fire cases are quickly dealt with and the only losses that the crew face are the cargos or raw materials onboard. Up to this day, passenger ship have not faced any fire incidents that resulted in major human casualties. Fire Safety Measures Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS) M.Masellis and S.W.A.Gunn(1992) said that fire casualties on ships lead almost certainly to disastrous results because of the limited and isolated areas of the vessels and the lack of immediate and easy access for the rescue team. Preventive measures are therefore much more effective in the effort to avoid such casualties than rescue and fire-extinguishing procedures or devices. [Marine fire casualties in merchant ships: the Greek statistics 1992 Available from: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h8362077847j9127/] In 1914, The International Maritime Organisation had a convention among international leaders and maritime leaders to talk about maritime safety. Of all the international conventions dealing with maritime safety, the most important is the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS). There have been many versions of SOLAS adopted by the International Maritime Organisation but the present version was adopted in 1974 and entered into force in 1980.The SOLAS conventions have all covered many aspects of safety at sea. The convention in 1914 included chapters on safety of navigation, construction, fire protection and life-saving appliances.(International Maritime Organisation 2009) This shows that the International Maritime Organisation is constantly trying to find ways to improve the aspects of safety at sea to ensure the safety of seafarers life by introducing the Safety Of Life at Sea(SOLAS) and updating it. Fire Safety Test and Safety Equipment One of the fire safety measures is to conduct fire safety test for the ship. Fire safety of ships is an extremely important area. Before any material can be used onboard a ship, it must have successfully passed strict tests and have been certified for use. This is to ensure that the material or equipment does not pose a fire hazard onboard the ship. (SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden 2008) Another safety measure is to install safety equipments on the ship. Equipments such as fire extinguisher, sprinkler system , gas monitor and other safety equipments are being implemented. The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) is taking steps to introduce new and more sophisticated equipments onboard the ships. IMO hope to reduce the amount of accidents from occurring onboard the ship and will rely on this new equipments to combat the problem more efficiently. Service of ships and Equipments According to The Safety of Life At Sea 1974 edition, the ship and its safety equipments have to undergo service once every few years. Safety equipments include components that can deteriorate over time. Therefore, this can decrease the effectiveness of the equipment. Examples of such equipments stated in the Safety Of Life At Sea 1974 edition (SOLAS) are fire extinguishers, EPIRBs, flares, life jackets, life rafts and smoke signals. Servicing of the equipment must be done by the manufacturer or an authorised agent by the expiry date. The expiry date must be clearly marked on the equipment. Most life raft needs to be serviced every two or three years. Equipment that cannot be serviced or no longer works must be replaced if it is to be carried as part of the safety equipment onboard the ship.(The International Maritime Organisation 2009) In the event that an emergency were to occur and the safety equipments were to be faulty as they were not sent for servicing, the manufacturer should not be blamed as the expiry date have been stated clearly on the equipment. It is the duty of the crew onboard and its owner to send the equipments for servicing once the expiry date is over. According to the IMO 2009, maintenance and inspections of equipments must be recorded to provide objective evidence that these work have been carried out according to the manufacturers instructions. Proper training for the crew According to the Maritime Port Authority Singapore(MPA) 2010, Seafarers working on board a ship must have the valid certification or endorsements. In Singapore, these are issued by the Training Standards Department of MPA. Seafarers working on board a ship are required to have a valid Certificate of Competency (CoC) or endorsement, which comply with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). The crew must also be well trained in fire fighting and First Aid. Those who wish to work onboard a ship must have an Advance Fire Fighting Course certificate and Elementary First Aid certificate as well before they are qualified to work onboard (Maritime Port Authority Singapore 2010). The crew will also conduct regular safety drills after each departure from port. The crew are to follow their duty that had been assigned on the Muster List. By having proper trained crews onboard a ship, this will minimise the chance of human error and accidents from occurring. Furthermore, the crew are well trained to handle any emergencies such as fire . The International Maritime Organisation(IMO) 2009 once said that the quality and familiarisation are directly affected by the frequency and quality of the drills carried out. IMO added that a crew debrief after each drill is essential to emphasise lessons learned and to give additional training where necessary. Conclusion Further Improvements Every year, the International Maritime Organisation and other Maritime Body are working hand in hand to improve a seafarers life in terms of their living condition and to ensure that they are working in a safe environment. The organisation are trying to find constant improvement to reduce marine casualties, loss in revenue due to unwanted accidents. One improvement that can be introduce to the ship is the All-in-One fire extinguisher. This extinguisher would be able to combat any types of fire such as Class A , Class B, Class C or Class D fires. By having this fire extinguisher onboard the ship, the crew will not need to waste time to find different methods to combat different types of fire. Another improvement that could be introduced is the fire isolating system. This system will isolate the fire from spreading to other rooms and this will reduce the damage caused towards the ship. The Maritime Port Authority said that this new inventions will further improve the safety aspects but it still needs to undergo more tests before it can be implemented towards the ships. Human Error is still the Main Cause The International Maritime Organisation have taken steps to ensure that the technology and safety equipments being implemented are up to date. Even thought this is so, nothing can be done if the accident caused is by human error. Even if the crew had gone for proper training, human error will still occur. An article by B.S Dhillon(2007), human error costs the Maritime Industry $541 million per year and a study of 6091 major accident claims revealed that 62% of the claims were attributed to human error. B.S Dhillion(2007) added that human error contributes to 84% to 88% of tanker accidents. [B.S Dhillon 2007. Human Reliability and Error in Transportation Systems, Springer Series in Reliability Engineering . Page 1.] These incidents will result in crew injuries or death and the ship will be delayed or damaged. Even if there is mechanical failure, human error can play a role in terms of lack of maintenance , monitoring or a breakdown in communication. The Bahamas Maritime Authority added that crew fatigue and complacency can be a major factor in this incident. The Bahamas Maritime Authority said that Good equipment can cost more, but safety should be accorded a higher priority because a ship cannot be operated safely without the seafarer. References http://www.cruisebruise.com/princess_cruise_star_princess_fire_march_23_2006.html http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Marine-Fire-Fighting-EquipmentSecuring-Ship-Safety-And-Damage-Control-Against-Fire/1252660 http://www.unols.org/publications/manuals/safe_man.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8336564.stm http://www.mpa.gov.sg/sites/port_and_shipping/for_seafarers/seafarer_certification/seafarer_certification.page http://www.springerlink.com/content/h8362077847j9127 http://www.mapreport.com/subtopics/d/n.html http://www.bahamasmaritime.com/Documents/Bulletins/72bulltn.pdf Summary In brief, the report describes about the various reasons why fire safety is an important factor for the maritime Industry. It also goes into the detail on the causes of fire onboard the ship. The consequences of fire is also gone into detail in this report to show the importance of safety at sea.

The Life of Tupac Shakur Essay examples -- Tubac Biography Shakur Essa

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born on June 16, 1971. Named after an Inca Chief, Tupac Amaru means â€Å"Shining Serpent† referring to wisdom and courage and Shakur meaning â€Å"thankful to God†. Shakurs mother, Afeni Shakur, was a leading member of the Black Panthers, a radical wing of the civil rights movement, with support for hardcore ghettos as well as white patronage. When Tupac’s mother was pregnant with Tupac she was spending time in the Woman’s House of Detention in Greenwich Village for conspiring to bomb several public places in New York City. All growing up his family lived in homeless shelters and run down town houses. Many times his family could not even afford lighting in the house. The only fond member he ever told of his childhood was of a diary he kept. In this diary he recorded his first attempts at poetry, this is where it began. A big moment in Tupac’s intellectual life occurred when he was twelve. At the age of twelve his mot her enrolled him in 127th Street Ensemble, a theater group in Harlem. Even at an early age his mothers political views where confusing, and intriguing him. As he told the January issue of VIBE magazine in 1994, â€Å" She was trying to make me live in the white picket fence lifestyle, but yet we ain’t got no money and no good food and no lights. You want me to go to school? They tellin me all this stuff about fighting the system but they pushin me in the system.† Meanwhile Tupac’s father was serving time in prison, when released Tupac and his mother had moved to Baltimore. Before Afeni Shakur could contact him, he had died of a crack induced hart attack. While in Baltimore, Tupac auditioned for, and was accepted into, the Baltimore School of Arts. This success gave Tupac a goal and ambition. It also exposed him to white people who cared about his life. However, before Tupac could finish high school at this school of arts, his family moved to Marin City, California.. Because of this move, Tupac never did finish highschool. Marin City, at the time, was nicknamed â€Å"the jungle† because it was mainly project housing and had high crime rates. This is the point in Tupacs life where he claimed he â€Å"got off track†. Tupac began selling crack to all the ghetto inhabitants and was soon thrown out of his house. During this time, however, he did receive a positive brake, he was hired as a roadie/dancer for the hip-hop group Digital U... ...f all his problems are â€Å"knawing at my sanity† as if it where a rat or other animal. Hyperbole is an exaggeration, when something is embellished. Hyperbole is also used. At one point Tupac says that the children are â€Å"bred with ruthlessness† This exaggeration makes it sound like they are bred for certain traits, like animals, bred to be hartless and without feelings. This is an obvious exaggeration as that no person is actually bred to be without feelings. The final piece of figurative language is irony. Irony is almost a sort of mockery, or a satire. What I mean is, for example, if a person feared flying all their life, but finally decided to fly, and died in a plane crash. Irony in this poem is when he writes â€Å"scared of being outcast , afraid of common fate.† In this he says that people are afraid of being different than everybody, yet they also scared of being the same as everyone. This is irony. Theme The theme of this poem is that although things may be bad , if you keep your head up, and fight everyday for what you believe in, then you can achieve and make the future better. You must leave the past behind you, and you will achieve what you want in the future.

Japan CCOT Essay

In 1853, Western imperialism was at its height. It was spreading to several countries. British colonized India, the dutch colonized Indonesia, the United States colonized the philippines, and the french colonized vietnam. In 1929, the crash of the stock market brought a worldwide depression, known as the Great Depression. The depression caused instability in many countries. International commerce declined and tax revenues, profits, and personal income decreased. The great depression especially impacted countries that were in need of raw materials. Between the time of 1853 to 1941, Japan’s culture and political structure changed in the hopes of becoming more westernized because they wanted to be seen as equals to the Western countries. Japan also became more militaristic in hopes of not being a victim of imperialism. Although Japan experienced some changes, Japan continued the ideology of kokutai as a method for imperial advancement. Japan’s cultural and political structure changed from being a weak isolated nation to a modern imperialist country. Before Japan westernized, it was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. This was an agricultural economy with a population of 13 billion. Japan did not associate with any other country because they believed foreign influence was a destabilizing factor. This resulted in overcrowded farms and scarce minerals. In 1853, Commodore Perry came to japan with his big black ships. The technological advancements of the ships shocked the japanese. They ended isolationism and opened trade ports in order to avoid destruction. Failure of success, in 1868 the Tokugawa shogun was overthrown and emperor Meiji had complete power. During this time, Japan was very decentralized. There were several semi-independent feudal lords. The emperor saw how Japan was at a great disadvantage from being in isolation for so many years. He knew that in order to strengthen Japan, change was need ed. This resulted in the Meiji Restoration. By 1912 Japan had a highly centralized government. There was a constitution establishing under an elected parliament. Japan had a well developed transport and communication system. Japan also increased their knowledge. There were no more feudal class restrictions in Japan. Japan was no longer weak, instead they were powerful. Japan changed from being a militarily weak country to having a powerful army  and navy. During the Tokugawa Shogunate, samurai were the soldiers of Japan. However, due to the long period of isolationism, samurais were losing their military function. Sumaris were used more for symbolism rather than support. In 1853, Commodore Perry came to Japan and threatened to destroy them if Japan did not open ports for trade. Japan’s army was to weak at that time to ignore this threat. Due to this, the Meiji reformers eliminated the outdated samurais and built a fresh new imperial army. The Meiji reforms did not want to be the target of the West, and to do that they needed to have a strong and superior army. The japanese believed a strong army was the key to imperialist success. A strong army can allow expansion. During the Great Depression, it was difficult for countries to trade. Japan was reliant on imports of resources from other countries such as the United States. The lack of impor ts resulted in Japanese expansion to China. The Japanese thought if they colonized China, they could be a non reliant country. They could support themselves with supplies. Japan were able to use military strategies in order to expand. In 1931, the Japanese blamed the Chinese for putting an unknown bomb in a railway near Shenyang. They used this as an excuse to completely occupy Manchuria. Manchuria had all the necessities that were needed by the Japanese such as coal, iron, and other minerals. This resulted in the colonization of Manchuria. Japan invaded Manchuria so that they no longer had to depend on foreign trade for resources. In 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. This act of aggression showed that Japan believed they were strong enough to fight the militant strong United States. In 1853 the United States had sent a threat to weak Japan, however throughout the years Japan trained its army and back fired at the United States. THis showed how Japan had changed it’s military drastically since 1853. Despite all these changes, Japan continued the belief of Kokutai. Kokutai was strong Japanese identification. Kokutai gave the Japanese one common identity. This related every Japanese to another. Despite the weak military, economy, and culture during the Tokugawa Shogunate Period, it was still a period of advocation for kokutai. According to the Japanese, they believed that the emperor was a descendant of god and so were the Japanese people. This belief made the Japanese think that their race was superior. This nationalism was a uniting factor. The tokugawa Shogunate period used kokutai as means of maintaining the Japanese culture. After the Meiji Restoration, the emperor wanted to maintain this uniting factor so he established a Shinto-oriented state. Shinto teachers would advocate kokutai ideology to children. This resulted in a rise of nationalism. IN 1853, when Japan opened their ports, they ended isolationism. The end of isolationism imported several Western ideas, however the Japanese did not use this as a weakness. Instead they integrated their Japanese beliefs of kokutai with western ideas. They adopted the western culture and used it with national polity. In the 1930’s, Japan saw that imperialism was necessary in order to get the resources they needed. The idea of racial superiority made the Japanese they are better than any other country and they can invade any country they want. In 1937, the Japanese captured Nanking and harmed thousands of civilians because the Japanese believed they were better than the Chinese. This was known as the Nanking Massacre. There was mass murder and mass rape done by the Japanese troops. Since the Japanese were â€Å"superior,† they believed it was okay to treat the Chinese this way. They were inferior because they were not descendants of God. Between the time of 1853 to 1941, Japan’s culture and political structure became more Westernized so that they can be an equal power to the Western imperialistic nations. Japan also became a strong militaristic country, so that they could defend themselves from any hindering imperialistic power. In spite of all these changes, kokutai advocated extreme nationalism and racial superiority throughout Japan. The end of isolationism made Japan rise as an imperialist power. The Great Depression was the main driving factor for imperialistic views in Japan. Japan was able to accomplish their goal of westernizing while still maintaining Japanese distinct ideologies such as kokutai. Through Japan’s progression from 1853 to 1941, it can be seen how significantly the Western nations impacted Pacific nations.