https://www.echeat.com/ GLOBAL WARMING cause essay Global warming is considered to be one of the biggest issues that us, as humans are facing right now. The causes of global warming are mainly from us, the human race, and the effects on us will be severe. It’s effects on animals and on agriculture are frightening , and the effects on the population as it was mentioned before are even scarier. The three main causes of global warming are carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-burning-power-plants and gasoline for transportation, methane emissions from animals and ultimately the increase in usage of chemical fertilizers on croplands. Everyday, more electric gadgets flood the market, and without wide spread alternative energy sources, we are highly dependent on burning coal for personal and commercial supply. The increasing addiction to electricity from coal burning plants releases enourmous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As well our modern cars are responsible for the emissions of carbon dioxide, this is happening because the demand for more cars and consumer goods are increasing the use of fossil fuels for transportation and manufacturing. Methane emissions are another potent greenhouse gas. This gas is the result of organic matter brokne down by bacteria under oxygen-starved conditions. This process also takes place in the intestines of herbivorous animals, and with the increase in the amount of livestock production, the levels of methane released into the atmosphere is increasing. Arctic ice is metling and it speeds up the climate change by releasing methane gas from the Arctic seabed. As a result the rate of global warming is increasing significantly . The increase in the use of chemical fertilizers grew dramatically in the last half of 20th century. Excessive use of nitrogen based fertilizers in agriculture is contributing to nitrous oxide emissions. The plants absorb just a certain quantity of nitrogen and the leftover nitrogen reacts with the soil and the result is a dangerous greenhouse gas. The researchers found that agriculture’s use of chemical fertilizers is responsible for about 80% of all nitrous oxide caused by humans. Global warming 2019-01-11T15:24:46.833-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/CAUSE-ESSAY-FOR-GLOBAL-WARMING-45465.aspx A Review of Contemporary Urban Planning Theories and the use of Radical Planning in Practice Approximately 3,300 words What is planning and how do we plan are similar yet distinctly different questions. In defining planning, we begin to recognize that we are planning for a variety of different clients, in varying situations, each with their own needs, experiences and values. How do you develop a process to review and implement solutions that will complement all aspects of those that are impacted by the plan, what impacts take priority over others? Over the course of this paper we will revisit the question of what is planning and build upon this understanding of what is to plan in developing a fuller appreciation of how to plan. What is Planning? Thomas Adams, through Hodge & Gordon, describes that communities do not simply grow, but “their form and functions are the result of countless decisions made over the generations of their life” (p. 1). Hodge continues to describe that the needs, experiences, values and aspirations of the builders are inherent in the architectural design of the landscapes they are constructing but more importantly in the inter-relationships between their built form and the environment; social, economic, physical, and natural; around them. Although not formalized, looking back at any human use of the landscape has resulted in some form of planning, for example, the proximity of village to a water source, the design and location of a medieval castle overlooking a break in a ridge of a hill set, or simply the foresight to include the environment around you. The key to understanding our role as a Professional Planner, and the purpose of this paper, is to dissect this inter-relationship between built form and the environment and more importantly how our specialties interact and influence this inter-relationship in the context of the 21st century. We call ourselves planners, and in doing so it is important to recognize what it means to plan. Jill Grant best describes planning as the “means by which we transpose cultural values onto our townscapes and landscapes: its strengths and weaknesses mirror those of society that employs it” (2000, p. 443). Although this definition does not describe the systematic process of planning, Grant’s definition of planning helps capsulate the fundamental caveat that Adams describes, that planning is representative of the cultural values and expectation of today. More importantly, it helps us understand the motivation inherent in the 2019-01-04T09:01:06.667-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/A-Review-of-Contemporary-Urban-Planning-Theories-and-the-use-of-Radical-Planning-in-Practice-Word-Version-45464.aspx Name Course Instructor Date How Can the Society Address Climate Change? In the current, evolving world, the issue of sustainability now lends itself as one of the critical issues more than ever. It is arguably one of the outstanding subjects that policymakers are discussing. This issue is hinged on the view that the growing global populations, the high rates of depletion of natural resources and the various emerging social, health and economic challenges call for a rethink on ways that the current generation will be able to continue sustaining itself, considering the effectiveness of existing approaches have been questioned. Many of the discussions have acknowledged the role of the environment as particularly imperative to sustainable development. The primary premise for this position is that if the global community does not protect or conserve the environment, the adverse environmental challenges such as famine, natural calamities, and diseases will be experienced, and these results will subvert the efforts aimed at achieving the social and economic development goals (Gille, 5). However, the path to environmental sustainability has not seemed to be a straightforward one. Indeed, several views have been offered as strategies for sustainable development, some of which have elicited the questions concerning their appropriateness. Some suggestions have always been characterized by heated debate contests. In fall 2008, the head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, called upon the global society to eat less meat in a bid to conserve the environment. His view has been perhaps the most interesting of insights that have attracted sharp reactions. This paper explores the question of eating meat as a way of supporting environmental protection, focusing on the implications of Hamilton's argument on Dr. Pachauris viewpoint. A Look at Dr. Pachauris Opposing Viewpoint Dr. Pachauris acknowledges that the state of the rising global temperatures cannot be ignored — it calls for drastic interventions. The most appropriate approach for this intervention is by narrowing on some of the anthropogenic activities responsible for the emission of most of the greenhouse gasses. Animal farming happens to be one of the most notable causes of greenhouse gasses and, therefore, one way of addressing the issue is by avoiding eating meat. Dr. Pachauris viewpoint rests on the startling statistics that the meat production processes account for about 25 percent of the greenhouse gas volume emitted from the globe. These amounts of pollutant gasses are produced during processing of animals feeds, while others, especially 2017-06-14T03:31:03.213-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/How-Can-the-Society-Address-Climate-Change-45347.aspx Name Course Instructor Date How Can the Society Address Climate Change? In the current, evolving world, the issue of sustainability now lends itself as one of the critical issues more than ever. It is arguably one of the outstanding subjects that policymakers are discussing. This issue is hinged on the view that the growing global populations, the high rates of depletion of natural resources and the various emerging social, health and economic challenges call for a rethink on ways that the current generation will be able to continue sustaining itself, considering the effectiveness of existing approaches have been questioned. Many of the discussions have acknowledged the role of the environment as particularly imperative to sustainable development. The primary premise for this position is that if the global community does not protect or conserve the environment, the adverse environmental challenges such as famine, natural calamities, and diseases will be experienced, and these results will subvert the efforts aimed at achieving the social and economic development goals (Gille, 5). However, the path to environmental sustainability has not seemed to be a straightforward one. Indeed, several views have been offered as strategies for sustainable development, some of which have elicited the questions concerning their appropriateness. Some suggestions have always been characterized by heated debate contests. In fall 2008, the head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, called upon the global society to eat less meat in a bid to conserve the environment. His view has been perhaps the most interesting of insights that have attracted sharp reactions. This paper explores the question of eating meat as a way of supporting environmental protection, focusing on the implications of Hamilton's argument on Dr. Pachauris viewpoint. A Look at Dr. Pachauris Opposing Viewpoint Dr. Pachauris acknowledges that the state of the rising global temperatures cannot be ignored — it calls for drastic interventions. The most appropriate approach for this intervention is by narrowing on some of the anthropogenic activities responsible for the emission of most of the greenhouse gasses. Animal farming happens to be one of the most notable causes of greenhouse gasses and, therefore, one way of addressing the issue is by avoiding eating meat. Dr. Pachauris viewpoint rests on the startling statistics that the meat production processes account for about 25 percent of the greenhouse gas volume emitted from the globe. These amounts of pollutant gasses are produced during processing of animals feeds, while others, especially 2017-06-14T03:19:11.24-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/How-Can-the-Society-Address-Climate-Change-In-the-current,-evolving-world,-the-issue-of-sustainability-now-lends-itself-as-one-of-the-critical-issues-more-than-ever_-It-is-arguably-one-of-the-outstanding-subjects-that-policymakers-are-discussing_-This-is-45346.aspx Deforestation is hazardous to the environment, for a multitude of reasons. Deforestation exposes the soil and earth to wind and water erosion. Soil is the world’s largest carbon store (McKeon et al., 2004), and as it erodes it releases its carbon into the atmosphere. Logging also causes carbon emissions. Removing the vegetation removes roots, causing the water table to rise, and as it rises it carries salts with it (ANZECC, 2001; Brough, 2007), causing land degradation by making it more saline (McKeon et al., 2004). The incidence of floods and droughts changes significantly as a result of the loss of vegetation (Deo et al., 2009; McAlpine et al., 2009), which further damages certain environments. Removing forests alters local and regional climates (Deo et al., 2009; McAlpine et al., 2009) by affecting rainfall patterns (Deo et al., 2009), which can in turn lead to an increase in wild fires (Connor, 2009) and dust storms. The loss of forests also creates a loss of biodiversity (DEWHA, 2009), not just in vegetation species, but also in vertebrates and other animals, by removing their homes and food sources. Rainfall variability makes it harder to conserve and preserve the remnants of natural environments (Deo et al., 2009). In Australia, the continent that has seen the largest losses in biodiversity in the past 200 years (NRM, 2010), the majority of the land opened up by deforestation is turned over to pasture to feed livestock. Surveys have showed that 64% of the land currently used in Australia is used for grazing (ACLUMP, 2009). Between 1998 and 2008, 8.6 million hectares were cleared Queensland, which amounts to 80% of the total for this period (DERM, 2009). 91% of this clearing was purely for livestock (McKeon et al., 2004). There is a growing threat to Queensland’s biodiversity as a result of the pressures of animal grazing and the changes in land use that accompany it (Assessment of Australia’s Terrestrial Biodiversity, 2008). New vegetation laws were brought in to reduce this clearing in 2006, but in 2007-2008, 123,000 ha/year were cleared, 12,500 ha/year illegally without a permit (DERM, 2009). This level of clearance cannot be maintained, and it is causing severe impacts on the environment. This study seeks to show the impact of the clearance of rainforests in Queensland, and offers a few suggestions for how to stop it and to reverse some of the damage it has caused. 2016-05-23T11:17:52.837-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Deforestation-in-Australia-35197.aspx The very rapid growth of the service sector in the United States since 1970 has transformed the physical and social landscapes of American metropolitan areas. Metropolitan America is constantly changing. The cities, the people that live in the cities, and the processes that form them are in a constant state of flux. Many of the changes in recent decades have occurred as a result of the constantly growing service sector. The development of the service sector may have taken jobs away from the primary and secondary sectors, but it has also created new jobs and industries that just did not exist before the rise of the service sector. Pioneers have seen niches in the market and opened them up, like the pioneers of the eighteenth and nineteenth century, opening up new parts of the Frontier. One example is the development of computers and computer-based services. Between 1974 and 1985, employment in computer and data processing grew by 247%, whilst management and public relations grew by 189% (Hartshorn 1992, pg 403). Much of the jobs created by the growth of the service sector require space that is unavailable in the Central Business Districts. As many industries became dependent on computers, office complexes with large floor areas needed to be built to accommodate them (Knox 1992, pg 29). Large retail units and shopping malls have been developing since the 1930s, which encouraged shoppers to shop in several stores with cheaper prices, greater ranges and entertainment facilities all under one roof (Hartshorn 1992, pg 372). As the space was not available in the city center for these developments, they had to be built outside the city, within the suburbs. Parking lots were needed so that the then city center population, where the workforce and shoppers lived, could drive to work or to shopping centers. This created a landscape of concrete islands in seas of parking lots (Ghent Urban Studies Team 1999, pg 41). Following their move out of the old CBDs, residential areas were constructed surrounding them, for ease of access and to reduce commuting time. As a result, new urban forms have developed in metropolitan America – such as Edge Cities and Donut Cities. Edge Cities (Garreau 1992) and Donut Cities have developed in pretty much the same way, and in fact some scholars fail to see the difference between the two. It could be argued that Donut Cities are in fact Edge Cities 2016-05-23T11:08:15.34-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-very-rapid-growth-of-the-service-sector-in-the-United-States-since-1970-has-transformed-the-physical-and-social-landscapes-of-American-metropolitan-areas_-35196.aspx Explain key differences between the ‘quantitative revolution’, Marxism and the ‘cultural turn’ and assess the way these approaches have influenced geographical research Geography as a discipline had been dominated by regional geography for much of the first half of the twentieth century. Geographers picked out regions to study, and then analyzed the physical and cultural processes that made those regions unique. “A region contains… a special, unique, and in some ways uniform combination of kinds or categories of phenomena” (Schaefer 1953) and the uniqueness of every region was such that the only generalization that could be made about these regions was that they were unique (Peet 1998). But Schaefer was unhappy with geography being classified in this way. He felt that there were regularities between the relative unique positions of phenomena, and thus spatial patterns and morphological laws existed (Bennet 1985). This led to the birth of the ‘quantitative revolution’, where geographers focused their studies in researching these patterns and laws, and sought to explain them using science. John Marshall argues that geography had always been a science “by virtue of the fact it is a truth-seeking discipline whose raw materials consist of empirical observations” (Marshall 1985). When the ‘revolution’ began in the 1950s, examples already existed of “empirical observations” being used to explain phenomena in human geography. Christaller used mathematical models in his central place theory (1933) to explain the way people laid out the inhabited landscape because he had observed that similarly sized settlements were equidistant from each other. An example of such a study from the time of the ‘revolution’ would be MacArthur and Wilson’s Theory of Island Biogeography (1969) which seeks to explain how islands and other habitat islands are colonized by flora and fauna. It is based on the observation that islands far from the mainland usually have different and sometimes completely unique biogeographies, and the authors use some very complex mathematical equations to show how this phenomenon occurs. Many people were however very critical of this approach to geography, particularly the positivist (scientific) side to it. The critics’ arguments are based on the fact that the positivist approach was supposed to be value free, but as human geography is a social science, and the geographers doing the research are part of society, they have their own values which unavoidably influence their studies (Cloke et al 1991). Another criticism came from Gould (1970) who argued that, with the exception 2016-05-23T10:57:07.417-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Explain-key-differences-between-the-‘quantitative-revolution’,-Marxism-and-the-‘cultural-turn’-and-assess-the-way-these-approaches-have-influenced-geographical-research-35195.aspx Assignment On Greenhouse-Effect Course Name: Basic Science and Environment Course No: 125 SUBMITTED TO : Dr. Mohammed Almujaddade Alfasane Professor Department of Botany Faculty of Biological Science University of Dhaka SUBMITTED BY: Sultan Mahmud Roll:07, Section:A Batch:20th 2016-05-18T14:00:37.97-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/green-house-effects-35190.aspx For just over 100 years people have been travelling to Antarctica and in that short time most parts have been visited. But we have left more than just footprints. Some of the main threats include: 1. Climate change / Global warming These are resulting in a warming sea and loss of ice. This is a great long-term threat to the region. Already some ice shelves have collapsed and ice slopes and glaciers have retreated. Oceanic acidification (from dissolved carbon dioxide) is already leading to the loss of some 2016-02-08T12:23:59.403-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Human-s-Impact-on-Antartica-35173.aspx URBAN GEOGRAPHY: RESEARCH PAPER ON NORTH AMERICA Geographical Qualities of Denver, Colorado, United States of America This paper covers the Geographical qualities and connections within Denver City, recent technological advancements their connection to the model covered in the module. The origins of Denver City can be dated back to the 19th century when it had vast deposits of gold and silver that led to trade in the commodity. The 1870s railroad created a boom that made it the capital of Colorado. Gamblers and traders often visited it making it a major western commercial center having one of the biggest CBDs in USA hosting the offices of the largest companies in the US. It is touted as the largest city within a 600-mile stretch. The City is located close to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The latitude and longitude of the city are 39 degrees North 66’104 degrees 83m’ West while the altitude is 1.6 Km/ 5280 ft above sea level. The cities that surround Denver include Englewood, Cherry Hills Village, Edgewater, Sheridan, Lakewood, and Commerce City Greenwood Village. The town has a population of 600000 residents mostly whites at over 85% followed by blacks at 12% with the rest being of other ethnicities. It covers an area of roughly 153.3 sqr. Miles. Descriptively it lies between the Mountains surrounding North Colorado at the intersection of the South Platte River and the Cherry Creek close to the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains and the continental divide. Although many people deem the city to be a western, it’s only about 300 miles from the midpoint of the US continent. The town is accessed mainly by the Highways, Bus and railroad service and the Airports. Denver supplies the other mountain states with stores due to its centrality and topography that favor’s ground transportation. An excess of 30 million people receives goods transported through the city by airplanes, trains or trucks annually. The city’s layout is in a grid with Colfax on the southern side and eastwards through Broadway extending north and south. The regional transportation district bus with its central station at Colfax also operates a light train service. Major innovations in Denver City The B- Cycle Despite being technologically advanced, the B- cycle system is very easy to implement with few setbacks. Its main facilities include bicycles and solar-powered facilities in designated area within a city. Users purchase an annual membership or 24 hr 2015-09-23T07:05:39.607-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Denver-City-35137.aspx Introduction Time-space compression is the notion that assorted societies have lessened the friction of distance, and are now more in contact than ever before, thanks to advances in transportation and telecommunications (Leyshon 1995; Warf 2011; Mackinnon & Cumbers 2007). Although society has benefited positively in many aspects from time-space compression, it has also undoubtedly created new uneven economic geographies of development or the tendency for wealth, growth, and investment to become clustered in certain geographic locations over others (Coe, Kelly, & Yeung 2007; Mackinnon & Cumbers 2007). This essay will highlight how time-space compression has produced new uneven economic geographies of development by explaining how capitalism drives time-space compression, and the resulting uneven economic development consequences including technology and economic restructuring. How Capitalism drives Time-Space Compression To understand how time space compression has produced new uneven economic geographies of development it is key to look at capitalism principles, and how it practices in our modern society. Fundamentally and most importantly capitalism relies on the exploitation of someone, somewhere, to earn a profit, therefore it can be stated that unevenness in economic geographies is a necessity of capitalism (Coe, Kelly, & Yeung 2007; Mackinnon & Cumbers 2007). For example for global retailers to maximise profit, sweatshops are established in developing nations instead of developed nations, because less cost is spent on producing the product and more profit is gained because of lack of legal rights (child labour, poor working conditions, limited unions/or none, and poor wages) (Robbins 2010). Harvey (1989) (quoted in Leyshon (1995) & Warf (2011)), suggests that this necessity for uneven development is created and continued by time-space compression. Harvey (1989) (quoted in Leyshon (1995) & Warf (2011)) states that it is the dynamics of capitalist production, namely capitalist’s endless quest to reduce turnover of capital and the search for new technologies and markets that generates geographical expansion or time-space compression. It is within Harvey’s (1989) explanation of why time-space compression happens ( quoted in Leyshon 1995 & Warf 2011)that one can begin to unravel how capitalism induced time-space compression has brought about new uneven economics of geographies, this is especially seen in capitalists need to be highly creative and innovative, in developing new technologies. Time-space compression Technologies The continuing capitalist search and survival for profits means that time-space compression technologies are being produced at a terrific speed. With the advent of the commercial jet liner and a communications 2013-04-10T23:12:30.767-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/How-has-time-space-compression-produced-new-uneven-economic-geographies-of-development-Illustrate-your-answer-with-examples_-34854.aspx Greenhouse effect refers to an atmospheric process by which short wavelengths of the visible light from the sun pass through the atmosphere where they are absorbed or trapped. However, part of light emitted from the sun in form of long wave is re-radiated from heated objects on the earth’s surface in to the atmosphere. Presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere does not allow the radiations to pass through. The greenhouse gas molecules are more complex than any air molecule and their structure has high heat absorption capacity. The heat radiated back to the earth’s surface to modulate its temperature (Davis, 9). According to Parsons (23), this process is essential in order to support life. if this does not occur, the temperatures on the earth surface would be below freezing point and plant or animal life would be supported. however, human activtities in the past centuries have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which inturn have increased the average temperature on the earth’s surface. Greenhouse gases include water vapor, caborndixoide, nitrous oxide and methane. Acording to a report released by IPCC in 2007, there was a significant increase in production of greenhouse gases between the 19th and 20th century (Davis, 11). Causes of greenhouse Gases and their impact Increase in population has led to increased transportation and manufacturing. This implies rise in the combustion of fossil fuels including oil, gas and coal. Combustion of fossil fuels leads to emission of, among others, carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and this account for over 80% of the Carbon dioxide emission (Alastair, 77). Parsons (25) notes that the gases produced are more stable that stay very long in the atmosphere. Deforestation is a human activity which involves cutting down of trees. Major causes of deforestation include human settlement and wood for industrial use. It is important to note that trees and other vegetative cover play an important role in atmospheric balancing process by consuming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Reduced absorption of carbon dioxide leads to its accumulation in the atmosphere. Electrical appliances and chemicals are also sources of greenhouse gases. Refrigerators, fire extinguishers chemicals, aerosols and some industrial packages are major sources of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). This chemical compound is also very strong and can stay in the atmosphere for a very long period of time. Chlorofluorocarbons are seemingly environmentally safe, non-toxic and stable chemical 2013-03-12T15:35:55.67-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Greenhouse-Effect-and-its-Implication-on-Global-Warming-34832.aspx Introduction Public spaces are defined as places where there is inclusion, open mindedness, equality, and acceptance, no matter where an individual stands in the rank of society (Iveson 2003; Iveson 2007; Nolan 2003) But public spaces are often not always what they should be and this is because dominant groups, politics, culture, and power dictates who is in and out of place and the appropriate uses of these spaces (Valentine 2007) This highly critical and political view of public spaces means that identities are constantly changing to adapt to different spaces and different contexts, they’re never fixed (Valentine 2007). This essay will explore how public spaces are not always places where everyone is welcome and are free to express their identity through the key points of identity constructed through norms of belonging, power and status determining inclusion/exclusion in public spaces and influence of politics on belonging in public spaces. Identity Constructed Through Norms of Belonging Identity in public spaces as addressed above, are fluid and ever changing in different spatial contexts (Valentine 2007). One of the reasons for this is because different public spaces are governed by different norms that deem what is acceptable and what is not (Nolan 2003). It can be suggested then that, in many public spaces individuals adhere to the socially accepted norms, and don’t freely express their identity. For example young women attending night clubs detailed how you must ‘dress up’ and adhere to certain feminine stereotypes (showing cleavage) to gain entry from bouncers (Waitt, Jessop, & Gorman-Murray 2011). For the girls studied in this article, norms about clubs/pubs spaces dictated their identities when they went out and ‘dressed up’, thus they were conforming to the objective male gazes and not freely expressing identity (Waitt, Jessop, & Gorman-Murray 2011). Power and Status Determining Inclusion/Exclusion in Public Spaces Public spaces are not always a place where everyone is welcome and free to express their identity, and this is partially due to social powers and their locations within our society. The locations of power concerns the way groups and individuals are viewed within society (Iveson 2007, Dunn 2001). Many groups are excluded, not tolerated, frowned upon and feared, simply because they do not fit the conventional use of space decided by a general majority (Iveson 2007, Nolan 2003, Dunn 2001). As discussed by Iveson (2007) public spaces are becoming more neo-liberalised as a result of globalisation and capitalist underpinnings. These 2012-05-21T02:00:01.837-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Social-Geography-discussing-public-spaces-as-places-where-everyone-is-welcome-and-is-free-to-express-their-identity_-34573.aspx We have arrived in Pompeii and I am surprised to see that the city is filled with people, despite the threat of a volcano that erupted just 2000 years ago. The city has approximately 3.5 million people now, in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. Now, we’re going to investigate a room that’s just been uncovered from the eruption! We’re in the room now. As far as I can see, there were four people present in the room on the day of the eruption, and there are also a few remains: someone’s bracelet, an old broken jug, and some money from that time. The pyroclastic surge that smothered the people preserved their bodies, so it is clear how they died. The room is covered in pumice stones, which fell from the sky 2000 years ago. A huge cloud of smoke and ash rose 15km into the sky, and then it cooled and solidified, and fell like rain upon the people. The roofs weren’t very stable, and they were only able to withstand rain, so the weight of pumice on the roof brought them crashing down. Some houses experienced that fate. Others were choked by the pumice, because pumice soaks up moisture in the air, therefore parching the throat. Some people were hit by the pumice and died as well. In this room, a man is crouched down on the floor, and looks like he was crying into his hands, or maybe he was praying to the gods. At the time many people did the same, but some believed that there were no gods left, or the gods decided to kill them all. This man was probably doing so, until the pumice soaked up all the moisture and left him suffocating to death. There is also a woman and a child, buried beneath the pumice. It took us a while to brush the pumice off. They are both lying face-down on the floor, with the child curled up near the woman. Some of us thought that the child was the woman’s, but according to facts, at the time slaves were supposed to protect their masters and their belongings, and also their children. We found the bracelet attached to the woman’s arm, and found 2011-11-03T04:32:57.553-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Pompeii-Mount-Vesuvius-34300.aspx Cuba and U.S Relations Although there are many aspects of Cuba that are interesting, Cuba es muy interesante. I chose to focus my report on the relationship between the U.S and Cuba. Cuba and the U.S. haven't had a very good relationship for a very long time. Americanos no visitan a la Cuba. Mostly because of the fact that the U.S has a very big influence on Cuba. In terms of the influence, the immigration into the U.S. from Cuba, Immgraciὸn de Cuba, and the embargo against Cuba. One of the reasons for the bad relationship between the U.S. and Cuba are the influence that the U.S might have on Cuba. El relaciὸn entre la Cuba y Los Estados Unidos es muy mal. Fidel Castro the former ruler of Cuba believe that if U.S citizens travel to Cuba they will start to think low of Cuba and their culture. La Cuba tiene un cultura no mal. Fidel Castro recently allowed computers in few hotels, libraries and in homes in Cuba but many U.S sites are restricted. He also allowed cellular phones to be imported from the U.S to Cuban families that have been born or immigrated to the U.S to keep close contact. Cubanos puedan usan teléfonos celulares. He also allowed DVD’s from America that have been approved. Fidel Castro also believes that the Americans will show the Cubans that living conditions in the U.S are much better than that of Cuba which might urge them emigrate out of Cuba. Ellos quieren a emigran. Fidel also believes that Americans that travel to Cuba might show them that the U.S government is better than that of Cuba because of the communistic-like government that exists in Cuba today. Another one of the reasons that there isn’t a very good relationship between Cuba and the U.S is because of the immigration into America from Cuba. When Cubans immigrate to America, once they touch American soil they are allowed to stay in America. No trabajan hasta ellos tienen la carta de verde. But they may not work until they get a green card and apply for American citizenship to be able to work in America and file their taxes. Cubanos necesitan la carta verde. Cubanos necesitan trabajar en los Estados Unidos. Many Cubans have been deported because of criminal convictions. The last reason for the bad relationship between the 2009-04-06T21:09:18-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Cuba-and-U_S-Relations-34051.aspx Global Warming: A Crisis ready to Strike Global warming is an increase in the earth's temperature due to fossil fuels, industry, and agricultural processes caused by human, natural, and other gas emissions. This results in an increased evacuation of greenhouse gases. “Short-wave solar radiation sinks into the Earth's atmosphere and warms its surface while long-wave infrared radiation emitted by earth's surface is absorbed, and then re-emitted by trace gases.” (Wikipedia) Climate changes occur in our earth's atmosphere due to a buildup of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases can occur naturally as well as a result of human activities. The greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide; “Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels, and wood are burned.” (Wikipedia) The gases help to warm the surface of the Earth. Each greenhouse gas absorbs heat differently. If natural gases did not occur, the temperature of the earth would be considerably cooler. Problems can occur when higher concentrations of greenhouse gases are present in our atmosphere because they have enhanced our earth's heat trapping capability. Human activities add to the levels of these gasses, causing more problems, “automobiles, heat from homes and businesses, and factories are responsible for about 80% of today's carbon dioxide emissions, 25% of methane emissions, and 20% of the nitrous oxide emissions.” (Wikipedia) The increase in agriculture, deforestation, landfills, industrial production, and mining contribute a significant share of emissions also. These gases that are released into the atmosphere are tracked by emission inventories. An emission inventory counts the amount of air pollutants discharged into the atmosphere. These inventories are important in studying the affects of global warming on the Earth. The Centers for Disease Control have been involved in studying global warming's effect on human health. Its affect on the climate can adversely affect humans. Plagues have been attributed to global warming. An increase in temperature can result in a longer life cycle for diseases or the agents spreading them. Global warming will lead to more precipitation, which enables infectious diseases to be more easily contracted and spread. Effects of global warming on human health might not be immediately detected but it is slowly and surely becoming evident. Birds are a species that will be affected by a change in the climate. Global warming might result in birds finding a more permanent home in 2008-12-17T01:43:14-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Global-Warming--33919.aspx After analyzing my work thoroughly, I have found that some improvements could be made to further improve the sustainability of this house. The house plan was of good quality as it has a unique shape that allowed for better ventilation and capturing of summer breezes. The plan was quite detail as it had a key that explained all the symbols used. The house can easily face up with Brisbane’s climate because it has insulation that can block out the unwanted heat as well as being positioned to cool down easily. The house however had to compromise some of the view with the use of the northern trees but those northern trees were originally there and could not be removed. If there were no restrictions to this house, the northern trees would definitely be removed to maximize the capturing of the winter sun and also open up the 2007-07-19T10:51:07-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Sustainable-Housing-Self-Reflection-33294.aspx B. The Justification of my design 2.0 Introduction This sustainable house has been built to comply with the Brisbane climate and weather throughout the year to increase the comfort of the home. The overall design has been aimed to maximise both indoor and outdoor areas so that both can be equally enjoyed. The house’s design will be further discussed through the follow eight criteria. 2.1 Aspect and Site Aspect and site are one of the most important criteria to a sustainable house because they are the foundation for the efficient design of a house. In this house, the facing of north has been maximised to let the sun penetrate through in winter and block the sun in summer. This is followed out through the positioning of the living room. The living room is exposed to maximum sunlight from the north side through the bi-fold doors so that it can be kept warm in winter but also cool in summer because it is away from east and westerly sun. There is also very little obstruction to the northerly sun because the house is design in an L shape which clears most of the northern block of the land. This can help the sun pass into the house with ease. However, there are tall trees to the north of the land. This can pose a problem to the capturing of the sunlight. Therefore, these trees are made into deciduous trees. This can reduce the problem by up to 25% as the leaves of the trees will disappear in winter allowing the sun to pass through. As a result, the aspect and site of the house has been modified to best suit the climate of Australia. 2.2 Building Materials Building materials can be hard to choose from but if done correctly, insulation and temperature control can benefit from it. This house is built with lightweight external material being termite-resistant timber framed construction so that it can cool down quickly in summer. These walls are 2007-07-19T10:40:55-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Sustainable-Housing-33287.aspx Feliz Navidad or Merry Christmas?: A Comparison of Christmas Traditions Kristen Santos 3rd Block- Sp. I Both the people of the United States and most of Mexico celebrate the holiday Christmas. Although this holiday is celebrated by both countries, each of their cultures have created their own traditions, making Christmas celebrations in the United States very different than Christmas celebrations in Mexico. The United States, like Mexico, tends to grace their homes with Christmas spirited decor. While many in the U.S. like to show their spirit with a highly traditional Christmas pine tree, Mexicans tend to focus on the true meaning, adorning their dining rooms with nativity sets. They ussually set these up so they can take time to remember the reason in which christians celebrate the day. In order to prepare for the day of symbolic commemoration of Christmas night, we have the Posadas. These celebrations are a Novena or nine days before the 24th which is the Noche Buena or Holy Night . (In America, they call this night, Christmas Eve.) The nine days, starting on the 16th represent Mary’s nine months of pregnancy with the baby Jesus. The Posada begins with the procession of the pilgrims. At the beginning is Joseph holding Mary’s hand as she ride on the donkey. Each family, in every neighborhood, will plan for a Posada to be held around the 16th. The Peregrinos, or neighborhood adults and children, will ask for lodging in three different houses but only the third one will allow them in. This represents the struggle Mary and Joseph went through to find an innkeeper on the birth of Jesus Christ. The third house will be the house that is supposed to have the Posada for that evening. Once the innkeepers let them in, the group of guests comes into the home and they all kneel around the Nativity scene. They often say a prayer or count their blessings. Th comedic versions of Posadas are called Pastorelas, which are set up like theatrical representations of the shepherds on their way to see baby Jesus. They must follow the star in the East to get there, but there will be many obstacles, set by the other actors beforehand, for them to overcome. Many people enjoy taking part in the re-enactment of the birth of Christ, but for people 2006-12-22T22:31:04-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Christmas-Traditions-in-Mexico-32129.aspx Unique Characteristics about Australia There are many factors that contribute to Australia being the unique land that it is. These factors include its size, shape, location, plant and animal life, its exclusive landforms and its natural and aboriginal heritage areas. The main reasons that Australia’s size and shape are considered to be so exceptional are quite astonishing. These reasons include things such as Australia being the largest island country on earth having an area of 7,682,300 km squared This making it the largest country in the southern hemisphere and the sixth largest country in the world. Australia is situated in between three of the earth’s major oceans, the Pacific, the Indian and the southern ocean. This inimitable location is the foundation for the immense fluctuation of Australia’s climate, causing us to experience weather ranging from large seas, cyclones and powerful storms generated from low pressure systems to long periods of calm weather even droughts. Australia is also frequently affected by El Nino and el-nina, further contributing to its ever-changing climate. Australia is home to a variety of diverse and distinctive plants and animals. What makes Australian plants and animals stand out from the rest is their amazing adoptions to the Australian climate. Plant and animal life has learned to cope with the harsh conditions of the Australian outback by evolving into creatures that can cope with high temperatures and lack of water. In Australia there are many astounding landforms that help to contribute to its identity. Landforms such as airs rock, the Great Dividing Range and the great Australian desert all are world-renowned, each one being a natural phenomenon in its self. Another thing that Australia is distinguished for is its natural and aboriginal heritage areas. There are many regions across the country that are protected for their natural beauty or historical significance, examples of these areas are places such as the Great Barrier Reef (the largest known coral reef on the planet) the Kimberley Plateau in north western Australia and Airs rock in central Australia. Although these areas are some of Australia’s finest there is still much controversy surrounding them, for instance the Kimberly Plateau is rich with minerals and politicians are debating whether to use it as a mining resource or to leave it as a natural, aboriginal heritage area. The 2006-12-19T02:40:19-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Unique-Characteristics-about-Australia-32051.aspx An Introduction to Tectonics The earth, from its deep majestic oceans to its breathtaking mountains, is our home. But what goes undetected to humans is the violent cycle that is going on underneath our earth at this very moment. Volcanoes are spouting hot magma. Earthquakes are destroying cities and the continents we live on are moving around the ocean. But why do these phenomenon occur and what causes them to happen? From space the earth may look like one large floating mass. But underneath all of the oceans and continents there lies many large. These plates were once all formed together in one large continent called Pangaea. Over the millions of centuries the plates have shifted and formed the continents that we now see today. Scientists first discovered this theory when they noticed that the Northeastern part of South America seemed to fit into the Southwestern part of Africa. These plates have been very instrumental in the forming of our planet. They form the high mountains and the deep oceans. They form volcanoes and cause earthquakes. The plates underneath our earth are very important to us and I believe we need to pay more attention to them. The plates themselves are very large, the largest being the Pacific and Antarctic plates. There are two types of plates on the earth. The first, oceanic is made up of a heavy rock called basalt. This causes the plate to sink deeper into the earth’s mantle causing our oceans to appear. The other type of plate is continental. These plates are made up of granite, which is much lighter than the basalt that makes up the oceanic plates. Oceanic plates are not as thick as continental plates. Oceanic plates average 5 kilometers in thickness while continental plates can be up to 100 kilometers thick. This allows the formations of mountains to occur. The plates were first outlined by charting where the major earthquakes were occurring and drawing a line, more or less down the center of them to show a line of best fit. This was first done in 1961 and it outlined the main plates of the world. 500 million years ago the earth was not made up of the seven continents we see today. It was made up of one giant continent called Pangaea(see figure C). Around 200 million years ago the continent Pangaea broke into smaller continents called Gondwanaland and 2006-12-18T22:28:06-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/An-Introduction-to-Tectonics-32039.aspx Essay On the Yucatan Peninsula The Yucatan Peninsula in Central America separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea. Covering about 73,000 square miles, and mostly in southeastern Mexico. It comprises the states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo, Mexico; Belize; and part of Peten, Guatemala. Merida and Campeche, Mexico and Belize City, Belize are the chief cities of the Yucatan. The peninsula is largely a low, flat, limestone tableland rising to 150 meters in the south. To the north and west the plain continues as the Campeche Bank, stretching under shallow water 150 miles from the low, sandy shoreline. The eastern coast rises in low cliffs in the north and is indented by bays and paralleled by islands and cays in the south. Cozumel is the largest island. Short ranges of hills cross the peninsula at scattered intervals. The only rivers are those flowing east and northwest from Peten. In the northern half of the tableland, rainfall is light and is absorbed by the porous limestone. The land has tropical dry and rainy seasons, but generally in the north the climate is hot the dry, and in the south hot and humid. The north and west are arid grasslands dotted with cacti. In the south are swamps and dense rain forests. Water for people and livestock comes from a maze of underground rivers and wells (cenotes) from which it is often pumped by traditional Mayan windmills, and from surface pools (aguadas). The main crop is sisal (henequen); fishing is also economically important. Tropical beaches, inlets, peninsulas, and offshore islands (the largest of which is Cozumel) are popular tourist resorts. Most of the northern half, although covered with only a few inches of subsoil, is one of the most important henequen-raising regions of the world; the uncultivated area is under a dense growth of scrub, cactus, sapote wood, and mangrove thickets. Subsistence crops, tobacco, and cotton also are grown. Magnificent forests of tropical hardwoods in southwestern Campeche, Peten, and Belize provide the basis for a lumber industry. This area teems with tropical life, including the jaguar, the armadillo, the iguana, and the Yucatan turkey. Fishing is important along the Yucatan coast. Many of the peninsula’s fine beaches and archaeological sites have been developed for tourism, which is a significant part of the peninsula’s 2006-12-07T19:35:57-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Essay-On-the-Yucatan-Peninsula-31937.aspx INDIA IS A LAND of ancient civilization, with cities and villages, cultivated fields, and great works of art dating back 4,000 years. India's high population density and variety of social, economic, and cultural configurations are the products of a long process of regional expansion. In the last decade of the twentieth century, such expansion has led to the rapid erosion of India's forest and wilderness areas in the face of ever-increasing demands for resources and gigantic population pressures--India's population is projected to exceed 1 billion by the 21st century. The country's past serves as a reminder that India today, with its overcrowding and scramble for material gain, its poverty and outstanding intellectual accomplishments, is a society in constant change. Human beings, mostly humble folk, have within a period of 200 generations turned the wilderness into one of the most complicated societies in the world. The process began in the northwest in the third millennium B.C., with the Indus Valley, or Harappan, civilization, when an agricultural economy gave rise to extensive urbanization and long-distance trade. The second stage occurred during the first millennium B.C., when the Ganga-Yamuna river basin and several southern river deltas experienced extensive agricultural expansion and population growth, leading to the rebirth of cities, trade, and a sophisticated urban culture. By the seventh century A.D., a dozen core regions based on access to irrigation-supported kingdoms became tied to a pan-Indian cultural tradition and participated in increasing cross-cultural ties with other parts of Asia and the Middle East. India's inclusion within a global trading economy after the thirteenth century culminated in the arrival of Portuguese explorers, traders, and missionaries, beginning in 1498. By the twentieth century, most such tribal groups, although constituting a substantial minority within India, lived in restricted areas under severe pressure from the caste-based agricultural and trading societies pressing from the plains. Because this evolution took place over more than forty centuries and encompassed a wide range of ecological niches and peoples, the resulting social pattern is extremely complicated and alters constantly. India had its share of conquerors who moved in from the northwest and overran the north or central parts of the country. These migrations began with the Aryan peoples of the second millennium B.C. and culminated in the unification of the entire country for the first time in the seventeenth century under the Mughals. Mostly these conquerors were nomadic or seminomadic people who adopted or expanded the 2006-11-29T20:50:01-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/India-A-Great-Land--31844.aspx Theories on the Lost City of Atlantis Atlantis does it really existed? Is it really out there? If it is will we ever find it? These are all frequently asked questions when it comes to the lost continent of Atlantis. Many scientists have many theories on where Atlantis could be. Some ideas that are raised, are; Atlantis is in the South China see. Atlantis is in the Bahamas, and Atlantis is in the Atlantic Ocean. These are just a few ideas on where Atlantis could be, There are many other theories on Atlantis’s location. Many scientists believe that the lost city of Atlantis is in the South China See. They believe Atlantis was once here but was destroyed by one of two theories. One theory scientists have is that Atlantis was destroyed by an asteroid crashing into the earth. The other theory is Atlantis was built on or by a volcano. When this volcano erupted it buried Atlantis in think molten lava. This is an interesting theory but I don’t believe there is enough evidence to prove this theory. Another idea on where Atlantis could be is somewhere in the islands of Bimmini Bahamas. Scientists believe that Atlantis was built on a volcano and when it erupted it buried Atlantis in the Bahamas. If this is the case, it raises another interesting subject. If Atlantis were in the Bahamas, that would make Atlantis inside the Bermuda triangle. This brings up other ideas such as; maybe Atlantis disappeared like other things that have gone through the triangle. There are a few things of evidence that may prove Atlantis was once here. From in the air you can see roads under the water that lead to a spot that is covered in old volcanic ash. Scrapings from the ash tell us that the volcano erupted the same time Atlantis was supposed to have existed. They have also found many artifacts in this area. I think the most famous theory of where and how Atlantis was destroyed, is the one by Plato. Plato believes that Atlantis is in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1200-km SW of Europe. Plato writes about Atlantis being found through the Pillars of Hercules. Plato believes if you go through the Pillars of Hercules and continue straight out you would have found Atlantis. He believes that Atlantis was a continent made up of many islands. He also writes, 2006-11-02T14:52:50-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Theories-on-the-Lost-City-of-Atlantis-31658.aspx Most waves on the surface of the ocean are generated by the wind. The wind blows along the surface of the ocean and the friction between the particles on the sea surface and the air particles cause the sea to unsettle and form small, irregular waves. These waves cause rapidly increasing friction and the waves become greater in size as the energy from the wind is transferred to the sea. Not all waves in the ocean are formed in the same way though; there are many different types of waves including Storm Waves, Swell Waves and Sea Waves. Storm Waves are produced in a similar way to the method as described above. They are high energy, irregular, steep and often break due to them exceeding the critical steepness. They are produced when a local storm produces winds that affect the surface of the ocean in the same way as described above. They are high energy because the storm means there is a lot more energy to be transferred to the sea from the winds. One form of sea wave that occurs is known as a rogue wave. These rogue waves, or freak waves, are large, spontaneous storm waves. Storm Waves are frequent in environments known as ‘regions of cyclonic frontal activity’ which are in the higher mid latitudes of both hemispheres Swell Waves move out from a storm, the further these waves travel, the weaker, the less energy, these waves have. These waves have a relatively low height compared to their large wavelength. Swell waves are far more regular than Strom Waves and have a lower frequency. They are released from the storm in all directions and can travel for hundreds of miles. Sea Waves are locally generated in relatively sheltered area of sea. They are formed by light winds, no more than force two or three, they are also irregular and can often break. These do not break by exceeding the critical steepness, the wind simply blows the top off the wave causing white water to be formed on the top of the waves, these are known as ‘White Horses’. Sea Waves are high frequency and can be destructive. There is another form of wave that is not formed by anything to do with the wind, these waves are called Tsunamis. They are formed by tectonic action. An oceanic plate sub-ducts under a continental plate, or another oceanic plate, the plate 2006-10-16T19:06:11-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Waves-and-How-They-are-Affected-as-they-Approach-the-Shore-31529.aspx The Beauty of Hilton Head, South Carolina Being a South Carolinian, and having frequented Hilton Head Island, I am familiar with the intense commercialization that has engulfed the seaboard-city in the closing half of the twentieth century. You can’t blame the city for capitalizing on its advantageous geographic location aside the Atlantic Ocean, but many cities tend to lose their quaintness and familiarity as they tip-toe along the line between attraction and hedonism. Hedonism is the exact word that Lisle Mitchell threw around so loosely, like a drunken sailor throws around obscenities, in his article, “Is Hilton Head Island a Hedonist’s Haunt or Hermitage or Hospice?” Mitchell’s work is a straightforward inquisition of modern America’s insatiable appetite for sensual pleasure using Hilton Head Island, South Carolina as a prime example. I have mixed emotions about Mitchell’s article. I spent a week in Hilton Head this summer and agree with Mitchell when he characterizes the island as somewhat of a hermitage for the privileged class or classes. The residential areas of the seaside-city are predominantly cloistered behind various barriers like protected fences and guard-gates. Moreover, the private residences greatly resemble segregated, solitary upper class communities where the wealthy can separate themselves from the rest of the island. However, when He attempts to depict Hilton Head as an all-out hedonist’s hospice, I only partly agree. Yes, I agree that the island is somewhat of a sanctuary for many migrant travelers, but for the most part it successfully intimidates away many vacationers with its upstanding refinement and high societal atmosphere. From my visits it seemed the majority of the population when I was present consisted of Hilton Head residents, businessmen attending conventions, and those who owned a home there, and spent time there in large intervals. In other words, its no Myrtle Beach, and you’re not gonna run into the Clampett family from Scranton, Arkansas, who brought the camper down for some hard drinkin’ and easy eatin’. One thing that Hilton Head definitely is, is a hedonist’s haunt. The island is practically a playground for the well-off, and is overflowing with up-scale golf courses and boat marinas to interest even the most selective of the wealthy class. The city is also very conducive to many other high-class activities for the financially prosperous like, walking, jogging, and looking at things. The only real mistake that 2006-08-27T23:55:16-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Beauty-of-Hilton-Head,-South-Carolina-31352.aspx Antarctica: Conservation versus Exploitation INTRODUCTION Antarctica, the last virgin spot of land on earth. It takes 20 days on a ship to get to Antarctica but only half as many hours in an airplane. Size: It is twice the size of Australia at 14 million sq km (est.) land area, its coastline is17,968 km. Climate: severe low temperatures Change depending on your latitude, elevation, and how far away from the ocean you are; Eastern Antarctica is colder than Western Antarctica because it is higher; The Antarctic Peninsula has the most moderate climate; higher temperatures occur in January along the coastline and are normally just below freezing. Terrain: About 98% thick is continental ice sheet and 2% of it is barren rock, with average height between 2 000 and 4 000 meters. Mountain ranges go up to up to 4 897 meters high; ice-free coastal areas include parts of southern Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, the Antarctic Peninsula area, and parts of Ross Island on McMurdo Sound. Glaciers form ice shelves along half of the coastline, and floating ice shelves make up 11% of the area of the continent. This huge island is at the centre of one big and very important argument. Whether it should be exploited for its possible rich mineral content. Or whether it should just be left alone and made a world park. In this barren desert for half the year it is light and the other half it is dark. The Ownership of Antarctica. Many country's claim to own Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty of 1961 does not deny of accept any of these claims and so has avoided disputes over the matter. The Argument for Development Antarctica is very rich in minerals and has hidden in it gold, silver, nickel, tin and many other things. It has a commercial amount of coal so coal miners are attracted come and mess up Antarctica. Antarctica exists today in an ice age. Future economic development of the ice-covered land mass is not very likely. Resource exploitation on the continental shelf is possible but certainly not for many years to come, sea life in the waters surrounding Antarctica is currently being developed economically. This sea life includes whales and a tiny shrimp look-alike animal called krill. The Russian Expedition survey predicted that the scale of diamond in the huge continent was similar to the amount found in South Africa and Yakutia, in Russia’s far east. So 2006-06-20T14:49:55-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Antarctica-Conservation-Vs_-Exploitation-29680.aspx History, Geography and Politics of Jamaica Jamaica is one of the three islands in the Northern Caribbean forming the Greater Antilles. It's the largest English-speaking country in the Caribbean Sea, stretching 146 miles from east to west. Lying 550 miles north of the Panama-Canal and and 700 miles south of Miami. In the northern part of Jamaica lays popular tourist resorts such as Montego Bay and Runaway Bay. Both Montego Bay and Runaway Bay has very fine coral beaches with crystal white sand. In this northern part of the island there's also large sugar- and citrusfruit plantages. On the western tip lays Negril, once a remote swampy but now all beachcombers paradise. The southern region of the island has a rugged coastline where big and majestetic mountains crush sea weavs. The center part of the island is to bigger part a mountain range. This central mountain which is dominated by the 2,200 meter Blue Mountain, divides the south coast from the north and stretches from Half Moon Bay to Portland. Christopher Columbus "discovered" Jamaica on his voyage to the "New World" on May the fifth, 1492, the island was colonised by the Spanish, and the natives were exterminated. The native settlers had long before Christopher Columbus discovered the counrty. This people wich were the Arawak Indians, had sailed from the south in their dugout canoes about 650 AD. The Arawaks had an estimated population about 100,000 at their peak. They were a brown-skinned, short and slightly built peolpe with straight black hair, broad faces and wide flat noses. Todays population of Jamaica is about 2,1 million and 625,000 live in Kingston, the capital city. In 1655 the land was conquered by the Englishmen and came under the Britsh crown. The Englishmen imported loads of negro slaves to country, hereby the country is mainly black. Jamaica's independence from GB was on August the 6 , 1962, and land became an independent state and a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, with the Queen of England as the titular head of state, or represented locally by the Governor-General. Jamiaca has it's own parliament with democratic selected representives. TOURISM AND INCOMES Since the turn of century , sugar, banana, citrus and coffee have become the main crops for export and the sourcee of income and work for thousands. Beginning in the early 1950's the mining of aluminia and bauxite - the raw ore 2006-06-13T19:26:02-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/History-Geography-and-Politics-of-Jamaica-29475.aspx What is Montauk Point When first posed with the question of where to venture for my historical visit I immediately thought of Montauk Point, Long Island. Although I have been there several times before now I knew, with my new found knowledge of Long Islands beginnings, I would gain a whole new perspective on the true essence of Long Islands Southern Fork. When I first arrived I took in everything. The dirt roads made me wonder who once may have walked upon them. With a better understanding of how Montauk became what is today, I approached “The End”. After a 7-mile drive of winding roads you enter the village of Montauk. Just before you enter the village you are in awe of the quaint cottages that can be spotted from the road. Not truly knowing how long they have stood or who may live in them, you are sure of only one thing; they must hold a world of history in there walls. The village of Montauk is small. In the center is a beautiful town green with a gazebo, which is the site of many activities during the summer when Montauk truly comes alive. The village is right on the ocean, with countless restaurants, shops and hotels right on the beach. As you travel further east out of the village to the end of the island you come to the legendary Montauk Lighthouse. It is truly amazing when you think that since the late 1700’s this lighthouse has been shining its beacons to warn ships from all over the world to avoid the rocks in the waters off the shore, and still continues to do so to this day. As you peer out on the ocean you are overwhelmed with the thought of generations of immigrants catching their very first view of America from this very spot. From the lighthouse you see, to your right, the vast Atlantic Ocean, and to left you can spot Block Island and the distinguished Gardiner’s Island. Montauk has truly become a grand part of Long Island’s history. To this day, in Montauk, all of the business remains local, all the dunes remain in their nature state, all beaches remain public and breathtaking views are in every direction you turn. It is obvious even 2006-06-13T19:08:31-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/What-is-Montauk-Point-29465.aspx Global Significance of Tawain Welcome to Taiwan! In this report you will find out more than you already know about Taiwan, or at least you should. You see, to tell you the truth , before I did this report I couldn’t have told you Whether or not Taiwan was part of Japan or China! Now I know very well that it is part of China, and many other very impotent facts about this country, as you will now here in this report. Taiwan, like the rest of China, is unique. It has languages that are a result of different dialects or languages such as the Chinese dialects spoken in Beijing, or the Fujian dialect of Amoy, which is spoken as a majority by the Taiwanese. Other dialects that are spoken as a majority are the Hakka dialects. Altogether though, none of these dialects are totally the “offiial” language of Taiwan. Some of the older Taiwanese do not speak any Mandarin at all, but they speak Japanese because the Japanese occupied Taiwan from 1895-1945. Most mainlanders speak Mandarin along with the dialects of their home province. The younger Taiwanese are now more familiar with English because of it being taught from the jr. high schools. There are several aborigine dialects that resemble Malay, but even most aborigines speak Mandarin and Taiwanese as well. There isn’t much known about the early history of Taiwan. We have proved that life goes back in Taiwan 10,000 years. Whether or not the first inhabitants were the ancestors of the present-day aboriginies is not clear. Many of the anthropologists, pointing to the similarities in language and culture, think that the aborigines came from the Southeastern part of Asia and are related to the contemporary Malays. Other scholars say that the aborigines are related to Miao, a non-Chinese people in southern China. According to this view, the earliest visitors to northern Taiwan were from China, crossing the sea at a very remote time. The to major denominations of religion in Taiwan are Buddhism and Taoism. However, it might be more correct or exact to say that the religion in Taiwan is a mix of many beliefs. The Confucian religion serves as a code of ethnic and propriety or the state of being proper as far as the recognized principles go, Buddhism helps with corperating the religious concepts, and Taoism provides a philosophy for the foundations. Buddhism and Taoism claim some of the same gods, like Kuanyin and Lu Tung-pin. The refugees from China migrated to Taiwan 30 years ago. When they came they brought the unique styles of every mainland province. Taipei is were the widest range of great Chinese food is accessible to the Western tourists. 2006-06-12T19:11:48-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Global-Significance-of-Tawain-29360.aspx Similarities between Mexico and Latin America Though not really considered to be a Latin American country, Mexico does share a similar history with other Latin American countries. Looking back over the last century, it would be fair to say that Mexico has been a typical Latin American country in the sense that it has had a history of corruption, instability, and has beholden more to foreigners than the will of its people. Like many other Latin American countries, corruption was an aspect in Mexico’s history as well. The Diaz era, which lasted for 35 years long (1876-1911), indicates that corruption was indeed present in the government. Diaz’s only way to stay in power for such a long time was through corruption, of course, as he shrewdly appealed to the privileged and kept them loyal to him. He also rigged the ballots so that he could stay in power specifically during the 1910 election against Madero. Madero, who ran under the “anti-reelectionist” party, represented the sentiment of the many Mexicans who were tired of Diaz’s corrupted tactics to remain in power. This helped to start the Mexican Revolution which was a response to the corruptness of Diaz’s regime. Throughout the entirety of the Mexican Revolution, not only was corruption a present factor, but instability in addition. During this period, there was instability in the government as current presidents were constantly replaced by new ones in only a short duration of time. First, Madero becomes president of Mexico in 1911. In 1913 however, Madero is murdered by General Victoriano Huerta, who then becomes president. A year later, Huerta decides to resign and leaves Mexico. A couple of months later, Carranza occupies Mexico but the revolutionary leaders reject Carranza as Mexico’s President and force him to leave the country. That same year, Zapata occupies Mexico City and between then and 1919, all these leaders run into conflict with one another. Later that year, Zapata is murdered in an ambush arranged by Carranza. Finally, instability seems to have dwindled, if not put to a halt for a while in 1920 when Alvaro Obregon along with the Zapatistas, Villistas, and other revolutionary groups overthrow and kill Carranza and then becomes president of Mexico. With him as a stable leader, the corruption and instability ceases. Such instability in Mexico though, can have 2006-06-12T18:57:21-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Similarities-between-Mexico-and-Latin-America-29352.aspx Current United States Drought Conditions Most, if not all of the United States of America is under drought conditions currently. A strip of northeast Maine is experiencing incomparable category D4 drought conditions stretching almost into New Hampshire. All of New Jersey stretching down to southeast Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland, and even northern Virginia are also experiencing category D4 drought conditions. “The overall effected area stretches from Maine to Georgia, with extreme levels in Maine and North Carolina (NOAA, 2002).” Texas is experiencing category D4 drought situations as well. Most if not all of southwestern Texas is experiencing heavy drought conditions with the seasonal drought outlook predicting that this 2006-06-02T03:29:35-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Current-United-States-Drought-Conditions-29019.aspx Introduction. Atlantis was a continent of the Atlantic Ocean where, according to Plato, an advanced civilization developed some 11,600 years ago. Plato affirms that, as the result of a huge volcanic cataclysm of worldwide extent, this continent sunk away underseas, disappearing forever. Official Science - the one you learn at school - rejects the actual existence of Atlantis, as it has so far been unable to find any traces of its reality. But the reason for that is simple to explain. Everybody has been looking in the wrong locations, as Atlantis indeed lies in the opposite side of the world. So been told, of course… What does the name Atlantis actualy means? The first thing to keep in mind is that mythical terms have a number of different etymologies, and are often interpretable in different languages, into which they were adapted when the myths were introduced locally. For instance, Atlas means, in Greek, "the one who could not withstand." Atlas was known as the "Pillar of Heaven", that is, its support. When Atlas became overburdened, the skies fell down, burying Atlantis. The names of Atlas and Atlantis originally came from the Sanskrit, which is the Holy Language of India, name of their Hell called Atala. This word means "Deprived of its Pillar" or, conversely "Bottomless" or, rather, "Sunken to the Bottom". Many further derivations are yet possible. Atlas is the personification of the Holy Mountain that is the support of heaven. He is the god that the Hindus equate with Shiva, also called Sthanu, meaning "Pillar of Heaven" in Sanskrit. The problem of Atlantis. Believers… Actually most of the scientists, scholars and researchers who have been studying the problem of Atlantis build up a lot of theories that are quite different from each other. If we have to report a survey about the possible existence of Atlantis we can know that the 60% of scholars believe in Atlantis and the 40% of them point out the mid Atlantic as the reliable site of Atlantis itself. Study… Disbelieve… Unfortunately the study and research of Atlantis is really difficult and ambiguous because a lot of authors put their own country as the place where old ruins of the ancient empire lie, by showing a useless nationalism, while esoteric fonts describe atlanteans as the first inhabitants of the world, who were firstly only souls and later become the principal race of the Earth. 2006-04-15T22:51:24-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Atlantis-The-Lost-Continent-28714.aspx The Yanomamo People The Yanomamo people are an indigenous people of northwest Brazil and southern Venezuela in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The Yanomamo use their environment to there best advantage and exploit almost every part of it. The two main variations in the yanomamo culture are in the placement of their tribes the highland tribes and the lowland tribes. The highland tribes usually number fewer per tribe and are less hostile toward other tribes due to the lower population density and less struggle for food and resources. These people have adapted perfectly to their environment they have a sense of 2006-02-16T03:19:03-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Yanomamo-People-28494.aspx Korea Death, destruction, loved ones lost, and separation are all phrases commonly heard in North and South Korea for over the last fifty years. The division of this Asian peninsula into the independent nations of North Korea and South Korea brought terror and torment to the people living there. But now in a new era, words like hope, peace, and reunification can be heard from these same people. Reunification seems to be the most logical course of action to heal the rift at the 38th parallel. The healing process will take time, but it has begun. However knowing the process of how it may be resolved will do no good without knowing how it all went wrong. Japan’s interest in Korea led them to attack the Russians at Port Arthur on February 8th, 1904. This was the start of the Russo-Japanese War. Russia lost the war in 1905. Japans victory over Russia proved to the world that Japan was a world power and allowed them to gain control of Korea in 1910 (www.russojapan.com). The Japanese “began exploiting its resources, while also attempting to eliminate the Korean language, names and national identity” (www.cnn.com). The treatment of the Koreans by the Japanese was comparable to the treatment of African Americans during the pre-Civil War era. In 1919 Japan’s abuse of the Koreans led to the “March First Movement”, a demonstration that ended with the death of thousands of innocent Koreans. During World War II, Koreans were forced into labor by their Japanese oppressors. Japan’s downfall in WWII allowed the United States of America and the U.S.S.R. to occupy Korea (www.cnn.com). The US located troops in the south and U.S.S.R. did so in the north. The cold war split the peninsula of Korea in two, with the U.S.S.R. establishing a communist government in the north, and the United States establishing a capitalistic democratic government in the south. On August 15th 1945 Korea was divided at the 38th parallel of north latitude (Loyd). This caused the separation of many families. In 1947 The UN General Assembly declared that a single government would be elected for the entire nation. The Soviet Union would not allow elections in the north, but the south elected to have somewhat democratic national assembly and became 2006-01-15T20:18:01-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/In-Depth-Look-at-Korea-28439.aspx Two Sides Of A Story: Hawaiian And Western By completing a total of three voyages into the Pacific, Cook was able to chart and discover many Islands, among them Hawaii, where he laid the groundwork for the many travelers and fortune seekers. Among the many new arrivals in Hawaii were the missionaries, who came to save the heathens and to spread Christianity on all the islands. Determined to bring about change, the first arrivals from New England saw with dismay the half-naked people who would entertain themselves with songs and dance and would frolic on the beach with complete disregard to "proper" moral. Seeing their Protestant-Calvinist views as ultimately superior, the missionaries took every step possible to alter the Hawaiian custom, prohibiting the wearing of flowers and performance of the hula dance and chant, which were the most important elements of keeping this culture alive. The contact with the Western world has not only diminished the Hawaiian population, but also altered its culture into a stage of near extinction. It was during the last few decades that the Hawaiians became more aware of their heritage and culture and began to revive the language and reinstate life styles that were almost forgotten. Among the areas of the Hawaiian culture that are being reborn, is the field of education. Those who believe in the revival of the Native Hawaiian Epistemology are determined to change the current “western” educational system back into the way ancient Hawaiians have taught and learned. Turning the clock of cultural evolution back and reinstating the Hawaiian ways of learning is a helpful tool that insures the survival of the Hawaiian culture, but to substitute the western educational structure with it will lead to an intellectual and economic downfall of the Hawaiian Islands. A combination of both will not only help Hawaii’s future, but also bring back a part of its culture. In order to determine whether or not the reinstatement of the Hawaiian Epistemology as the sole carrier of educational development would be helpful for the overall picture of Hawaii’s future, both systems – Hawaiian and Western – need to be closely evaluated and taken into consideration. Kimberly Helm’s lecture at the Moloka`i Education Center on January 18, 2001 gave an insight on the field of education. Helm’s lecture is based on Manulani Aluli-Meyer’s publications that handle Native Hawaiian Epistemology as a tool of empowerment for the Hawaiian culture. In 2006-01-15T20:11:26-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Two-Sides-Of-A-Story-Hawaiian-And-Western-28438.aspx The Presence of an Urban Heat Island in Indianapolis Abstract: It is thought that urban areas in almost any area affect the environmental conditions in a manner that when compared to the surrounding areas the “urban” area is noticeable warmer. Indianapolis, Indiana is not exception and is also thought to produce an “urban heat island”. Introduction: The city of Indianapolis is located within Marion County. Marion County is an almost perfect square in central Indiana. The streets that dissect Indianapolis form a rough grid through the county square. Two major streets can be identified as the horizontal and vertical “main veins” which cross in downtown Indianapolis. These streets are Meridian St., which runs directly north and south and Washington St., which runs east and west through the city. Recording the temperatures on the streets relative to their surrounding areas will result in measurements revealing an “urban heat island”. I hypothesized that running a measurement of temperatures along these streets will show the occurrence of the downtown area being an “urban heat island” as compared to the surrounding residential areas. Measurements of Temperature: These temperatures should be taken either late fall (September & November) or in the early spring (March & April). Hopefully, the selection of these months will reduce the amount of humidity in the air and produce an equal climate throughout the entire city. It is ideal to record the different temps. on days where the wind is no greater than five to ten miles per hour and the amount of cloud cover in the sky is considered as minimal. Taking these measurements of temperatures can be archived by attaching an YSI Model 43 SC tele-thermometer with thermistor probe to the front of an automobile. Measurements along the two streets should only be taken when the automobile is in motion. The more temperatures recorded add to the scientific confidence in the experiment and should help to eliminate error. Discussion: From the sampled temperatures taken from both cross section running across and through the city of Indianapolis and its surrounding areas it should be apparent that a heat island is formed in the downtown area. This heat island may be the resulting environmental state due to the concentration of buildings, increased infrastructure, or a combination of downtown elements. The exact cause would call for 2006-01-07T07:33:59-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Presence-of-an-Urban-Heat-Island-in-Indianapolis-28413.aspx Estonia Estonia was found in 3500 BC when the ancient ancestors settled on the Baltic Sea in Northestern Europe. It is surrounded by the Gulf of Finland on the North, Russia on the east, Latvia on the South, the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Rica on the the west. Tallinn is the capital city, the largest city and most important port. Estonia covers an area of 45 227 square kilometers and has more than 1 500 small and large islands. The biggest islands are Saaremaa Island and Hiiumaa Island. These islands separate the Gulf of Riga and the Baltic Sea. The mainland has a large coastline of 1 393 kilometers long. Estonia is mostly flat with some hills in the center of the country and in the southern regions. The wetlands and marshes cover more 20 percent of the land in Estonia. Also the lakes and rivers cover about 5 percent. Altogether there are about 1 400 natural and manmade lakes. The two largest lakes are Lake Peipus on the eastern boarder and Vortsjarv in the south central part of the country. The longest river in Estonia is the Parnu River. Amazingly 50 percent of Estonia's land is covered by trees and forest. The trees that can be found here are pine, birch, aspen and fir. As for the wildlife goes, there are mainly deer and elk. Although, several animals are protected bu laws such as the beaver, red deer, and willow grouse because they are endangered of becoming extinct. Estonia's natural resources are shale oil, peat, phosphorite, amber, cambrian blue clay, limestone, and dolomite. These resources are very rich and produce a lot of income every year. Estonia usually has cool summers and cold winters. Temperatures barely go up to 18 degrees celcius in the summer time. In the winter it usually stays below freezing from the middle of December to the late end of February. The rain and melting snow in the spring usually cause flooding and rivers that can sometimes be dangerous to people and houses. Industries produce very harmful pollution into the air, and water which is a major problem in Estonia. Almost 100 percent of the electricity people use is made thermal plants which burn fossil fuels. These fuels have been proven by scientist to be one of the biggest and most 2006-01-05T06:16:24-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Estonia-History-and-Overview-28398.aspx Thorough Essay on Brazil The name Brazil comes from Pau Brasil. There are around 145 million people living in Brazil, most of them near the coast. The population is growing rapidly and half of all Brazilians are under the age of 20. By the end of the century, it is estimated that Brazil's population will have reached 180 million. Brazil borders on ten other Latin American countries. Most of the northern part of Brazil is low-lying and veined by the mighty Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon is the largest river in the world. The native peoples of Brazil lived in the forests and along the rivers, hunting, fishing, and gathering fruits and nuts. When the Portuguese arrived early in the 16th century, it is estimated that there were between 1 and 2 million native Amerindian people. They were used as slaves, and many thousands died from diseases brought by the Europeans. Recently Amerindians have been exploited and killed as land speculators and highways go farther into the rain forest. There are probably less than 150,000 Indians now. Portuguese settlers developed vast sugarcane estates in the Bahia region, and for 150 years these estates were in the world's main source of sugar. To work the estates, the owners used salves from Africa. Today there is still an African tradition in Brazil. Modern immigration began early in the 19th century. Only about 4.5 million foreigners, mostly from Europe, settled in Brazil after then. Most were Italians and Portuguese, but there were also Spaniards and Germans, and later Slavs from Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine, and Arabs from the Middle East. In this century the most significant immigrants have been Japanese. They have become the most prosperous ethnic group in Brazil, growing a fifth of the coffee, a third of the cotton, and all the tea. Traditionally the majority of Brazilians settled near the coast, but in the last 30 years the rapid movement from rural areas to urban centers has led to a very uneven distribution of the population. In parts of the interior there is an average of just two people per square mile. More than 75 percent of the people live in towns. Half of these are in just two cities. Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. People have moved from rural areas to the towns to seek work and better medical and educational facilities for their families. But the 2005-12-31T03:40:33-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Thorough-Essay-on-Brazil-28337.aspx Following the introduction of Doi Moi more than 10 years ago, Viet Nam opened its doors to foreign investment. It was expected that this would bring much needed capital, new knowledge, and new technologies. This has happened to an extent, but in recent years foreign investment has fallen, and this has been accompanied by a decline in the importation of technology. Broadly speaking, two approaches are taken to technology development. One is the technological development pushed by new discoveries and breakthroughs. This involves new technologies created initially by technology push. In advanced countries, numerous examples can be given of successful economic advance resulting from technology push. The industrial market sectors of developing countries, however, are often formed almost overnight with the introduction of imported products or services. Many examples can be given of East Asian economies where success in modernization and industrialization has derived from S&T policies based on a demand-pull approach, as well as disappointing experiences resulting from S&T policies focused on the technology-push approach. During our interviews with policymakers and researchers in Viet Nam, we noticed in many cases a search for policy instruments of the technology-push variety. Inadequate attention appears to have been given the expected evolution of technology demand in the fast-changing national, regional, and international markets. For example, the decision to establish the four focus areas — IT, biotechnology, new materials, and automation — seemed to be based on observations of general trends elsewhere, rather than on an in-depth analysis of current Vietnamese economic structure and markets. The starting point is also important in this context. According to MOSTE (Thu 1997, p. 3), Viet Nam's technology is 50 to 100 years behind that of the most modern countries in the world. Viet Nam's equipment is backward from two to three generations (20 to 30 years) or from four to five generations, depending on each specialised sector, compared with [the] modern level in the world. The coefficient of value decreases because of technical backwardness and the standard of production organisation is commonly from 0.5–0.7. Some further factors that emerged during our interviews and bear on the acquisition and assimilation of technology are the following: • Some significant efforts have been made to adapt imported technology to local conditions, and electronic and software firms perform adaptive research activities continuously. For example, one company adapted the technology acquired through a joint-venture agreement to manufacture refrigerators in accordance with Vietnamese conditions 2005-11-03T20:51:09-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Acquisition-and-Assimilation-of-Technology-28082.aspx Taiwan Taiwan is a small island bordering the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. With a population of 22,191, 087 (from July, 2000) Taiwan is about the size of Maryland and Delaware combined. Eighty four percent of Taiwan’s people are of Taiwanese and Hakka decent. Fourteen percent of the people are made up of main land Chinese and two percent of the people are aborigine. Since these people are so homogenous, religion is very important to the people of this island. In fact, ninety three percent of the people believe in Buddhism, Confucianism or Taoism. A 2005-09-18T06:05:00-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Taiwan--27995.aspx Environmentalism Critique Evaluation: Environmentalism is an ideology that is spreading throughout the world. Promoting conservation of nature and its resources it has captured the attention of the political spectrum. In Wendell Berry’s “Getting Along with Nature”, he suggests that one of the great flaws in our human interaction with nature is that we as a culture tend to establish a kind of partisanship, those who ignorantly exploit nature and those who seek to separate from nature as a means of saving it from exploitation. William Ophuls feels that given the interaction of ecological, economic, and social factors, the disruption of ecosystems will have economic and social consequences. Also, fundamental changes in the economic and social subsystems will lead to changes in the ecosystem. In Dolbeare and Medcalf’s American Ideologies Today, they speak of the impact environmentalism has brought into the American life than any other set of beliefs. Both authors provide an insight into the distinctions ecology and the environment; they introduce different belief systems such as the Gaians, Ecofeminists, and the most noted Greens; and provide the different strategies and tactics enacted by the environmentalist movement. Explanation: In Wendell Berry's "Getting Along with Nature" people cannot live apart from nature … And yet, people cannot live in nature without changing it’. He speaks of preserving wildness, if it is to survive, but this preservation may not be enough. If our cities cannot be preserved than wildness cannot be preserved either. Berry states that nature and human nature are interdependent. If humans want wildness to be possible they must make it possible. Berry emphasizes that we can be true to nature only by being true to human nature. However, the work by which good humans and natural possibilities are preserved is complex and difficult, and it probably cannot be accomplished by raw intelligence and information. Berry concludes by saying that to achieve continuity between the natural and the human, we have only two sources of instruction. The first being nature herself, and the second being our cultural tradition. Berry also states that no good thing is destroyed by goodness. However, good things are destroyed by wickedness. William Ophuls applied himself to the question whether our current political institutions, or the liberal democratic basis for our social order as a whole, are tenable in an age of ecological scarcity. In essence, he concluded that many of the basic principles of modern 2005-09-07T02:32:08-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Environmentalism-Critique-27936.aspx Mexico at its Best Mexican history boasts of long and advanced civilizations that make most European civilizations seem primitive. The first inhabitants were said to have arrived at about 2000B.C. With the Mayan Empire being constructed in about the 12th century. However within the last two centuries Mexico has had relatively little success, consistent victims of imperialist powers the culture has suffered a great deal. The largest blow occurring when America annexed California by force. This last act of aggression would affect the Mexican economy and social structure for years, if not forever. The population of Mexico has been increasing at a rate of 1.5% to 101, 879,171 as of July 2001. Of this number 33% are between the ages of 0-14, 62% are between 15- 64, and the rest are over 65. The average life expectancy is 71 years. The current birth rate is 22.7 births per 1000 people, while the death rate is 5 deaths per 1000 people. The infant mortality rate is 25.36 deaths per 1000 births. Most women have 2.5 kids during their life. The Mexican population is for the most part homogenous with 60% being Meztizo, 30% Indian, 9% white, and 1 percent other. This lack of diversity and multiculturalism makes political socialization easier because there are not many factions to rebel against the majority. In addition to the homogenous ethnic make up, there are also not a myriad of religions with 89% of the country adhering to Catholicism. Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. The number of state-owned enterprises in Mexico has fallen from more than 1,000 in 1982 to fewer than 200 in 2000. This happened during the Zedillo administration when they privatized and expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity, natural gas distribution, and airports. A strong export sector helped to cushion the economy's decline in 1995 and led the recovery in 1996-2000. Private consumption became the leading driver of growth in 2000, accompanied by increased employment and higher wages. Mexico still needs to overcome many structural problems as it strives to modernize its economy and raise living standards. Income distribution is very unequal, with the top 20% of income earners accounting for 55% of income. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since NAFTA was implemented in 2005-08-31T21:54:40-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Mexico-at-its-Best--27847.aspx Belize Underdevelopment And Shifting Identity Belize is currently an underdeveloped country—underdevelopment due to the negative effects of the British colonial rule over Belize. In order to understand the causes and effects of Belize’s current situation, a definition of development in necessary. The term “sustainable development” was introduced in a 1987 report, Our Common Future, where the World Commission on Environment and Development defined it as “development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Nagpal 1995). Therefore, it makes sense to define a developed country as a country whose citizens’ needs are met. Belizeans’ needs are unfulfilled as evidenced by deficiencies in Belize’s health and welfare, education, political dependency, economic status, and emigration patterns. Belize is a country the size of Massachusetts and is located on the Yucatan Peninsula of Central America. It is home to over 240,000 people of Creole, Mestizo, Garifuna and Mayan descent, and is by far the least densely populated country in the Central American realm (Famighetti 1997). The country’s Gross National Product is $2,700, just $155 below the realm’s average but $2000 below world averages (Muller 1999). One other important fact is that 50% of the population is rural—a statistic that has remained steady since 1921 (Woods 1996). These are just one of the many indicators of Belize’s lack of development. The country’s official language is English, an anomaly on the Central American mainland where all other countries are Spanish-speaking. The major economies of Belize are tourism, international banking and agriculture crops of citrus, wood and sugar. The Belizean government has taken great strides in improving the health and welfare of its citizens since independence in 1981. According to U.S. researcher Tim Merrill, life expectancy rose, and the death rate dropped considerably. Yet, many hurdles remain before healthcare meets the comprehensive needs of the society. Merrill reports of statistics that indicate at least 40 percent of infants suffered from moderate malnutrition, while at least 61 percent of children under three suffered from some form of malnutrition. He suggests than more accurate surveying would reveal even worse malnutrition of the children in Belize. This significant problem indicates Belize’s lack of development—as adequate nutrition is a need of any society. The country also lacks central sewer systems in all areas 2005-08-29T04:47:56-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Belize-Underdevelopment-And-Shifting-Identity-27822.aspx Norway Country Profile, History, Music, Lifestyle Overall History of Norway The Kingdom of Norway is located on the west part of the Scandinavian peninsula. Geographically, it extends northward from the North Sea over 1,000 miles along the Norwegian Sea into the Arctic Circle, farther north than any other European land. Sweden, Finland, and the U.S.S.R. all share borders with Norway on the east and the northeast. With an area of over 125,000 square miles, Norway is slightly larger than New Mexico. The Kingdom of Norway is located on the west part of the Scandinavian peninsula. Over 70% of Norway has very little vegetation, is covered by mountains, glaciers, and rivers, and is uninhabitable. Its numerous and deep fjords give Norway over 12,000 miles of oceanfront and tens of thousands of islands off the cost from a sheltered coastal shipping channel. Norway also has sovereignty over five islands, the largest being Spitsbergen in the Arctic Ocean. Norway north of Bodo experiences the midnight sun for a few weeks on either side of the summer solstice (June 21). Norse Vikings raided the northwestern coast of Europe repeatedly from the 8th to the 11th century. More than just pillagers, the Vikings explored Iceland, Greenland, and the New World extensively. This time period and its myths are chronicled in the Icelandic Sagas. There are various open-air and Viking museums throughout Scandinavia to see how people used to live in this rugged land. In 872 the first ruler of a united Norway, Harold the Fairhaired, came to power. Norway was part of the Danish kingdom for almost 500 years until Sweden won control in 1814. The country became officially independent in 1905 with a Danish prince on the Norwegian throne (King Olav V). Norway was committed to neutrality in World War I. The country was occupied by the Germans for five years during World War II. Abandoning its neutrality, Norway joined the N.A.T.O. alliance in 1949. However Norway does have good relations with its neighbor, the Old Soviet Union. After a referendum in 1972, which divided the country, Norway decided not to join the European Common Market (EC). This was again a major debate in 1995, but Norway surprised the world by again voting not to join the EC. Norway's government is a constitutional monarchy, with King Harald as its head. The monarch shares executive power with a Cabinet composed of a Prime Minister and seven other 2005-08-26T09:45:43-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Norway-Country-Profile,-History,-Music,-Lifestyle-27787.aspx Pyramids Of Egypt In my report, I will discuss how the pyramids were built, what purpose they served, the three pyramids at Giza, some messages found on the stones that were used to build pyramids, and what a mastabas is. Pyramids are tombs built for Egypt's pharaohs. Pyramids are large structures with four sides that are the shape of a triangle, that meet at the top to form a point. The ancient Egyptians used the pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs and temples for their gods. The pyramids have one or two little temples attached to them, which holds their relatives and servants. A few pyramids still stand today, and are great attractions for tourists. The pyramids were built by taking blocks of granite to the workshop, measuring the blocks down to size, shaping the blocks, and placing the blocks into the body of the pyramid. The core of the structure is now completed. Then, you place the limestone blocks on the top of the structure (they started putting the blocks on top and then worked their way down). They left two empty rooms to place the pharaoh and his belongings in. They sealed the pyramids so well, it took four hundred years for two robbers to figure out how to get in. The pyramids were built by free citizens, drafted for public work, not by slaves of any sort. The pyramids were built by four thousand expert stone sculptors all year round. An extra work group of about ninety-five thousand men worked on the pyramids during the four month period of the inundation (the time of enforced idleness for farmers, since the field were covered with the Nile water flood ). The pyramids were built between the year 1600 B.C. and the year 2700. Many scholars believe that the reason why the pyramids were built in a triangular form is because it has a religious meaning to the Egyptians. The slanting side might have reminded the Egyptians of the slanting rays of the sun, that the pharaoh's soul could climb to the sky and join the gods. In the pyramids they buried the pharaoh's body. There was a chamber for the body. There was also a chamber for treasures of gold and other priceless items for the pharaoh's afterlife. Sometimes a boat 2005-08-19T07:46:42-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Pyramids-Of-Egypt--27737.aspx The Eiffel Tower The Eiffel tower is the trademark of Paris, France. With the tower being 984ft, it’s kind of hard not to notice it. The tower has a restaurant, radio and television transmitter and more. Gustave A. Eiffel created the tower to enter it in the worlds fair. It was made with wrought iron and had medium wind resistance. Gustave started in 1889 and completed in 1910. Gustave A. Eiffel created the Eiffel Tower. Eiffel oversaw the construction with such success that in 1866 he founded his own company and soon became known for his wrought iron structures. Starting in 1872 he attracted foreign contracts, and in 1877 he created over the Douro River in Porto, Portugal, a steel arch bridge 525 ft in height. The Eiffel Tower is a landmark and an early example of wrought-iron construction on a gigantic scale. It was designed and built by the French civil engineer Gustave Alexandre Eiffel for the Paris World's Fair of 1889. The tower, without its modern broadcasting antennae, is 984 ft high. The lower section consists of four immense arched legs set on masonry piers. The legs curve inward until they unite in a single tapered tower. Platforms, each with an observation deck, are at three levels; on the first is also a restaurant. The tower, constructed of about 7000 tons of iron, has stairs and elevators. A meteorological station, a radio communications station, and a television transmission antenna, as well as a suite of rooms that were used by Eiffel are located near the top of the tower. Eiffel's work combined expert craftsmanship and graceful design. Completed in 1884, it was for a time the highest bridge in the world, winning Eiffel's factory a worldwide reputation for excellence. Eiffel cast Frederic Auguste Bartholdi's colossal statue Liberty Enlightening the World, which was dedicated in New York in 1886. Soon after, he began work on his greatest project, the building of the Eiffel Tower. It was completed in 1889 for the celebration of the centennial of the French Revolution (1789-1799). Eiffel was not a popular man when he started building the huge steel-frame tower that would overlook Paris. The structure was just too different and the critics didn't like it at all. In 1887, the leading artists of Paris signed a petition to have what they regarded 2005-08-18T07:01:27-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Eiffel-Tower-Prize-of-Paris-27709.aspx Germany - A Much of Europe as Pie is to America Germany is the seventh largest country in Europe. The country has a varied terrain that is ranged from low- lying coastal flats along the North and Balic seas. Germany also has heavy forested mountains and snow covered Alps in the south.The part of southern German is drained by many rivers. The Bavarian Alps, is the highest point in Germany, consisting of plateaus and forested mountains. Some of the forest are the Black Forest, the highlands of Swabia, and the Bohemian Forest. Lake Constanc, in the Alps, is a popular tourist area. The largest city and the capital is Berlin, although Bonn is still home to some government offices. Germany has a mostly moderate climate, having cool winters and warm summers. The Rhine river valley tends to humid and somewhat warmer in both the winter and summer, whereas mountain areas can be much colder. The average precipitation in much heavier in the south, along the Alpine slopes.Manufactoring and service industies are the dominant economic activities. Germany is a leading producer of products such as iron and steel, machinery and machine tools, and atomobiles. Overall, the principal german agricultural products are potatoes, wheat, barley, rye, surgar beets, cabbage, fruit, and dairy products. A large number of cattle, hogs, and other poultry are raised. Germany is an economic powerhouse in the European Union, and its currancy, deatsche mark is the strongest in the world. Germans have made numerous contributions to culture. There are many out standing authors, artist, architects, musicians, and pilosophers. The two coposers, Johann Sebatian Bach and Ludwigvan Beethoven are most likley the best known all over the world. Being overwelmingly urban, most of the people live a comfortable lifestyle. Germans also have plentiful leisure time (three or more weeks of mandatory paid vacation), and social welfare benefits distinguishing the German society. Mant Germans enjoy hiking,camping, skiing, and other outdoor activities. Soccer is the most popular sport in the nation. They are also known for their love of food, especially rich pastries, veal and pork dishes, and various types of sausages and cheeses. German-made wine and beer are famous all over the world. Another popular ritual is social gatherings at outdoor beer ar wine gardens or cellar resturants. Religion in Germany plays a fairly small role in society. Church attendance in Germany is much lower than theUnited States. Under German law, all 2005-08-16T09:06:03-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Germany-A-Much-of-Europe-as-Pie-is-to-America-27698.aspx South Korea Essay Korea is known as the “Land of the Morning Calm.” This expression comes from the beginning of the modern history of Korea. Koryo means “high” and “clear.” This word symbolizes the clear blue sky of Korea. The beautiful nature of Korea is expressed through this ancient name. The beginning of Korean history started from 2333 B.C. The Korean peninsular adjoins China and Japan. Korea was conquered by Japan and divided into South and North Korea at the end of World War II. The Korean War caused devastating damage to Korea. However, it should be noticed that despite frequent foreign invasions, the Korean Peninsula has been under a single government while maintaining its political independence, culture and ethnic heritage. Not that long ago, South Korea was one of Asia’s economic success stories – one of the region’s hungry “tigers” looking around for new markets to conquer. Seoul, its capital, modernized in a very rapid amount of time to accommodate the needs of business travelers and has brought the country’s colorful traditions and trademark tranquility. The unique elements of culture The population of the Korean Peninsula, sharing a common language, ethnic identity, and culture, was one of the world’s most homogeneous. Although there were significant regional differences even within the relatively small land area of South Korea, neither the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) nor South Korea had significant non-Korean ethnic minorities. This homogeneity, and the sense of a shared historical experience that it promoted, gave the people of South Korea a strong sense of national purpose. The division of the peninsula after World Ward II, the establishment of two antagonistic states in the north and south, and the profound changes in the economy and society caused by industrialization and urbanization since the 1950’s led many South Koreans to search for their national identity and place in the world. Many modernized; urban-dwelling South Koreans embark on a search for the “essence” of their culture, which commonly expresses itself as hostility to foreign influences. Basically the family is a body of relations, which is first formed by marriage. In Korea, the family often has a habit of living under one roof. The family member is related by blood. However, the family based on blood relatives has changed over time. However, to ensure the continuance of 2005-07-30T09:43:20-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/South-Korea-Essay--27452.aspx Romania Essay Cultural analysis Harlequin was founded in 1949. In its early years the company published a wide range of American and British paperbacks, including mysteries, Westerns, and cookbooks. It was not until 1957 that Harlequin began buying rights from Mills & Boon, a British publisher of romance fiction that started in 1909. Mary Bonnycastle, wife of the founder, noticed the enormous popularity of "these nice little books with happy endings," and suggested the company concentrate on them. By 1964 Harlequin was publishing romance fiction exclusively¡¨ (Eharlequin history). The company wants to export the Harlequin Romance Stories to Eastern Europe, Romania being the first country Harlequin chose to trade their products with. Romania ¡§became independent following the 1878 Berlin Congress. It gained territory after World War I, but lost some to the Soviet Union and Bulgaria in 1940. When Soviet troops entered the country in 1944, King Michael dismissed the pro-German regime and backed the Allies¡¨ (Freedom house 1-3). In 1945, he was forced to accept a Communist-led coalition government. The autarkic economics and repressive governance of Communist strongman Nicolae Ceausescu devastated Romania during his rule from 1965 to 1989. On December 25, 1989, Ceausescu was tried and executed following a popular uprising and palace coup by disgruntled Communists. A provisional government was formed under President Ion Iliescu, a high-ranking Communist and leader of the National Salvation Front (NSF). The 1992 parliamentary elections saw the NSF split between neo-Communist and more reformist members. ¡§In November 1996, the reformer, Emil Constantinescu, of the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR), defeated Iliescu with 54.41 percent of the votes while Ion Iliescu scored 45.59 percent in the presidential elections. The CDR won 122 seats in the chamber of deputies (lower house) and 53 seats in the senate. Iliescu¡¦s Party of Social Democracy of Romania (PDSR) won 91 seats in the lower house and 41 seats in the senate¡¨ (Freedom 1-3). Victor Ciorbea, a lawyer, former labor leader, and ex-mayor of Bucharest, was chosen prime minister to lead the coalition government. In March 1998, Ciorbea resigned and Radu Vasile, secretary general of the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic became prime minister. ¡§Romania¡¦s frustration about its economic position has created a lack of confidence and support for Constantinescu¡¦s 2005-07-30T09:37:20-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Romania-Essay-27450.aspx Iran is not Barbaric! The American people, though they strive on equality, human rights and democracy are uneducated and ignorant of other cultures. All they know is their own life and some are not even interested in learning about other cultures. Many people don’t even know what Iran is or where it is. They have formed stereotypical views of what Iran is about. In the movie “Not Without My Daughter” portrays Iran and its people in a negative way. They just formed and idea from stereotypical views that already existed and made a movie about it. In the essay I will illustrate what Iran is and who the people are. Iran is a country in the Middle East. It was formally known as Persia. After the revolution in 1979, it became a fanatical Muslim country. One third of the nation is deserts. There are big cities and cars and computers and other forms of technology. Iran is also know for their beautiful hand made rugs which are famous around the world. Some stereotypical views on Iran held by Americans are they are terrorists, everyone rides on camels, there are only deserts there, we don’t have technology, and women don’t have rights and are physically abused. The movie “Not Without My Daughter” portrays Iran barbaric in a way. The movie adds to the stereotypical views already held by Americans. It illustrates in the movie that women have no rights and are physically abused. The men are abusive and superior to women. The movie demonstrates that Iran has a male dominated culture, however that is not the case. The social message of this movie is that Iran is not westernized and the people are barbaric. The women have no say in the family and the men are abusive and superior of the women. The social relevance is that some people are uneducated about Iran and instead of educating people about Iran in this movie, it adds to the stereotypes that already exist. They portrayed Iran in a negative way and that’s not how the people of Iran want to be seen as. The cultural perspective is that this movie is made form an Americans point of view that used existing stereotypes and made them facts through this movie. They didn’t get a true analysis on what Iran is and who the people really are, Though this movie might have been a true story, it only to the already 2005-07-25T06:41:53-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Iran-is-not-Barbaric-27371.aspx Colombia Columbia is a country wrought with poverty, corruption, and violence. It has gained notoriety for its drug trafficking and the scandalous dealings by the military. Five percent of Columbia (1.9 million people, 1.1 million of them children) have been displaced due to the fighting in a four decade old civil war. Columbia will need some serious rearranging politically, socially, and overall to get back on their feet. Columbia is located in the very northern part of South America, it borders the Caribbean Sea between Panama and Venezuela, and it borders the North Pacific Ocean between Ecuador and Panama. The capital city is Bogota. The population, as of July 1999, was estimated to be 39,309,422. As of 1999, their birthrate was estimated at 24.45 per 1,000 people, and their death rate is estimated at 5.59 per 1,000 people. The life expectancy for males is 66.54 years, and for females it's 74.54 years. Women live longer because we have to suffer more during everyday life. Columbia has a high literacy rate; (91.3% of those aged fifteen and above can read ad write, compared to the United States 97%). Columbia government is very similar to ours; in fact the recently enacted criminal code was modeled after U.S. procedures. The original legal system was based on old Spanish law. The New criminal code was set up in 1992- 1993. Elections are open to be on voted by all citizens aged eighteen and above, and there is universal suffrage (capability to vote) for both genders. They elect a president and also a vice president. Unlike the U.S. where a vice president is nominated by the president who is running, the citizens elect vice presidents also? The present president of Columbia was elected August 7th. His name Is Andres Pastana. He will serve a four-year term, as all presidents in Colombia do. The United States is the now has the largest number of corporations involved with trade and with overall investments in Columbia. The most things exported to the United States are oil, coffee, and cut flowers. Illegally, all the real money comes from drug trafficking of copious amounts of cocaine and heroin. Columbia currently supplies the United States with eighty percent of the cocaine consumed in the United States. The cultivation of coca in 1997 was equal to79, 500 hectares. All that coca could potentially produce 125 metric tons of cocaine. Narcotics traffickers sponsored assassinations of numerous 2005-06-21T22:12:22-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Colombia--27102.aspx History of The Grand Canyon About 3,000 to 4,000 years ago archaeologists believe that the Desert Archaic people lived in the Grand Canyon. Evidence of this are small willow-twig effigies called “split- twig figurines.” These are animal figurines made from a single twig. Many pictographs were made in the Grand Canyon. Made from a crude paint made of minerals mixed with plant juice and animal oils. Most of these pictures are to faded to tell what they were. Archaeologists believe they were used to communicate. The Anasazi who had been occupying the lands east of the Canyon drifted in to the rim of the Canyon around 500A.D. At about 800A.D. the Anasazi entered the phase known as the Pueblo. Adobe house ruins in the Canyon show that Pueblo Indians lived in this area. Spaniards from Francisco Vasquez de Coronado’s expedition were the first white men to discover the canyon in 1540. In the early 1800’s the only humans that went by the canyon were trappers and Indians. Settlement along the Canyon didn’t happen until about the mid-1800’s.A Mormon missionary group led by Jacob Hamblin. this group was looking for arable land to settle. In 1864 Hamblin and men used a raft to cross the Colorado River. in the south end. Despite this the Canyon was still very much unexplored. Major John Wesley(1834-1902) a Civil War veteran along with ten other men set forth to explore the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. They came back a year later to explore the North Plateau. They made a second expedition through the Canyon 1872. In the 1880’s there was a lot of live stock companies developing around the Canyon. In the 1890’s.There was an estimate of 100’000 head of cattle more than 250,000 sheep grazing the land. Kaibab Nation Forest was established on the Kaibab Plateau in 1883. By 1906 when Grand Canyon National Preserve was founded most of the ranches were out of business. The grass the cattle and sheep ate was all gone. James T. Owen was appointed the warden of the Grand Canyon National Preserve. He started a mountain lion hunting business. After about 12 years and around 600 mountain lions later began to buffalo ranch. By this 2005-06-21T02:50:02-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/History-of-The-Grand-Canyon-27044.aspx Regional Analysis of the Arctic Introduction. The Arctic is located in the uppermost region of the northern hemisphere. The region consists of of the area around Greenland, USSR, Canada and Alaska (refer to appendices Fig.1). The Arctic is mostly covered by frozen ice all year long. This region also surrounds the Arctic Ocean. So far the Artic is a naive environment, humans have not yet fully explored the region. But as people search for the resource, more and more people will move into to the area to take what they can, this can tip the balance of the environment, resulting in pollution and destruction of this once perfect environment if the proper management steps are not in place ahead of the rush. Physical Geography The Arctic region is located across seven countries and covers an area of 10.4 million square miles, in which Siberia covers eight million square miles, which is bigger than Canada and the United States combined. One third of Canada is within the Arctic, among it over 1.2 million square miles are taiga and tundra, and 0.7 million of it is the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Greenland covers 0.8 million square miles. Alaska covers 0.6 million square miles. Sapmi is the region where the indigenous people in Scandinavia lives, it occupies the smallest area with approximately 0.3 million square miles. Polar climate describes the Arctic, which means much of this area has a freezing cold climate and covered with ice all year. Harsh winters, low temperatures, and little snow or rainfall characterizes the arctic climate. In winter the days are shorter because the North Pole faces away from the sun, the sun does not set till midsummer and it is only strong enough to warm the top layer of the earth. Three feet below the surface the ground stays frozen. Frozen ground, called permafrost, covers most of this region. The shallow layer is called the active layer, because this layer freezes and thaws throughout the year. In the summer the active layer can thaw just long enough for plants and microorganisms to grow. The thickness of the frozen ground below this active layer varies from a few feet to hundreds of feet. The Arctic Circle is the border of a zone where the sun doesn’t rise at least one day in winter and never sets during at least one day in summer. The North Pole is not 2005-05-21T09:17:15-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Regional-Analysis-of-the-Arctic-26699.aspx Vacation to Haiti The Caribbean Islands are one of the most traveled to place in the world. One of these islands in the Caribbean Sea is the island of Hispano, which is both the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This country has a recorded history of about 552 years. They also have special culture. The general facts, past history, and culture all effect the ways of this country. The country of Haiti is located in the Caribbean Sea, which is just south of the Gulf of Mexico. The Caribbean Sea is home to a lot of the world's island. The capital is Port-au-Prince, which is located in the middle of the country right next to Golfe de la Gonave. The whole county is about 10,700 square miles. It contains an estimated 6,867,995 people, this is about 642 people per square mile. This is actually quite dense considering that the United States has about 76 people per square mile. The country of Haiti culture is very much like the French. In fact Haiti is the only Latin American country where the culture is French. The first language is French, but another common language that is spoken there is Creole. Many of the people speak Creole because the French settlers introduced it. Creole is a mix of French and the native language that was spoken on the island. Ninety-five percent of the people of Haiti come from an African decent. The religion consists of eighty percent Roman Catholic, sixteen percent Protestant, and ninety five percent Voodoo. Between the years of 1492 to the present day a lot of historical events have occurred. The first time the country of Haiti fell under European rule was when Christopher Columbus first set foot on it putting it under the rule of the Spanish. Then after, many revolts, in 1804 Haiti successfully became an independent country by passing a law stating its freedom. It was very much like when the United States of America declared its independence from Great Britain with the Declaration of Independence. From 1915-1934 US Marines occupied the country. This resulted in the population to go up which also made the country more dense. In 1949 the democratic rule was turned into a dictatorship. Then in 1991 there was the first elected chief brought into office. His name was Jean-Bertrand Aristide; he won 67% of the votes. Then his close friend and former 2005-05-20T09:51:05-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Haiti-Vacation--26691.aspx Is Hawaiian Sovereignty Something That Can Be Afforded? "If all of this seems long ago and far away, it is worth remembering that the past is never past." (Faulkner cited in Ellison, P.274) Many different groups today are seeking the sovereignty of Hawaii. The reason being that these mostly Native Hawaiian groups feel that they suffered a severe injustice when they were annexed into the United States against their own free will. They feel that since they were treated like objects rather than human beings with rights and emotions, they now deserve reparations. The intentions of the different groups vary. Some only want reparations in the form of money and acknowledgements of the inhuman acts that were committed against them and others want it in the form of independence for the island. However, restoring sovereignty to Hawaii would cause great injustices toward the non-natives living on the island today. So these groups should not be granted the sovereignty they are seeking. "When we have pleaded for understanding our character has been distorted, when we have asked for simple caring, we have been handed empty inspirational appellations, then stuck in the farthest corner."(Walker, p. 698). When the United States managed to annex Hawaii in 1898, they did break the law and the human code of conduct. A joint resolution of Congress produced the annexation rather than a two-thirds majority vote, which is required under the United States Constitution. (MacKenzie, p.24) Also, the Native Hawaiians were vastly opposed to the annexation because it violated a treaty the U.S. had with Hawaii stating that they would not interfere with Hawaii's right to self-government. (Castanha, p.2) So when the U.S. held a vote on whether or not Hawaii should become a state, many Hawaiians did not vote because their only choices were statehood or staying a territory of the U.S. and they did not want either of these. Many people today question the validity of the statehood because of the legal violations of long ago. Also, as human beings there is a naturally agreed upon law that we share with one another and that is to treat people with respect and dignity. The U.S. did not do this when they disregarded the treaty and the law to annex Hawaii. These are the reasons that Native Hawaiians are presently seeking reparations. Prior to 1778, about 600,000 people, 2005-05-17T06:58:17-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Is-Hawaiian-Sovereignty-Something-that-can-be-Afforded-26653.aspx The Pantanal Wetlands Geographical Study The Pantanal wetlands are the largest wetlands in the world, spanning an area of 210, 000 km2, a region the size of South Dakota and over ten times the current size of the Everglades in Florida (Silveria). The vast area contains over 600 bird and about 300 fish species and provides homeland to over 1.8 million people (“The waterway” 40). In 1993 only forty wood stork pairs nested in the Everglades compared to over one hundred times that in the Pantanal (Eckstrom 54). This majestic wetland area, ruled by a seasonal pulse, acts like a large sponge throughout the year. During the wet season it collects water from an area of 1.75 million km2 (Eckstrom 54). Rising water levels in the Pantanal can exceed seven feet. In the spring and summer months, it slowly releases it down the Paraguay River, aided by a large rock formation at the base of the Pantanal that acts like a large water valve (Silveria). This release helps control the flood peaks of both the Paraná and the Paraguay Rivers. Despite the majestic depiction of this area, environmental degradation has started to take its toll. Due to the manganese, iron ore, lime vein, and gold in the northern section, which reside in the hills of the Pantanal, mining has been present for years (“The waterway” 40). Careless use of mercury by gold miners has critically and habitually destroyed the ecosystem (Gottgens, et al. 301). The fertile soil north of the Pantanal has contributed to a growing number of soy farmers, who are loosely regulated in regard to the types and amounts of chemicals used on crops. Habitual dredging, not related to Hidrovía, and floodplain conversion to crop fields has impacted the flood cycles of the Paraguay and the Paraná Rivers. In 1993 flooding caused numerous deaths, displaced over 200,000 people, and triggered considerable damage (Silveria). During 1998 one of the largest recorded floods in the history of the Paraná caused the evacuation of more than 100,000 people in Santa Fe, Argentina alone. Portuguese for “waterway,” the Hidrovía project was first planned in the late 1980s by the La Plata Basin countries (Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay), who set up the Intergovernmental Committee on the Hidrovía (CIH) to supervise and advance the development of this project (Gottgens, et al. 302). The planned channel will 2005-04-24T08:33:40-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Pantanal-Wetlands-Geographical-Study-26567.aspx GDP GROWTH Ireland - the Celtic Tiger (This is my section) I’ll obviously focus on Ireland. The Celtic Tiger, Ireland has benefited incredibly from its membership in the European Union, both through financial aid and through inward investment by companies opening factories in the country to gain access to European markets and take advantage of the country’s low rate of corporation tax. As you can see, Ireland has been growing a remarkable rate, due mainly to a pro- business stance, low corporate taxes and its ability to woo foreign investors by securing union agreement to wage restraint in exchange for tax cuts. INFLATION Ireland - once a problem, now steady As you can see from the graph, Ireland, much like the other coutries, dealt with increased inflation in the mid 1970s and early 1980s. However, Ireland experienced a sharp inflationary increase due mainly to rapidly increasing unemployment rates coupled with globally stagnant economic development. However, with the turnaround of Ireland in the mid 1980s, the country has been enjoying relatively low inflation rates. Recently, however, analysts feel Ireland’s EU membership could damage its low inflationary trend because of future plans on the part of the Economic Policy Committee of the European Union. INTEREST RATES Ireland - hand-in-hand with economic development While moving relatively in sync with the other countries, Ireland most notably shows a significant difference from the countries’ trend around 1997 when Ireland really began to come into its own as an economic power within the European Union. However, it’s important to note that the European Central Bank (ECB) sets Ireland's interest rate. Germany's sluggish growth limits the extent to which the ECB can hike rates. This creates a bizarre situation whereby Ireland's monetary policy is more closely linked closer to the anemic Germany than to its own booming economy. Irish growth has fed off the structural rigidities of continental Europe. GDP per CAPITA Ireland - steadily increasing labor force Ireland’s GDP per capita is an interesting economic indicator, particularly when graphed. While Ireland experienced no spectacular GDP per capita growth in the earlier half of the twentieth century, 1985 marked the beginning a turning point economically. The growth rate of the Irish economy began to far surpass a spectacular trend of population growth, due to increased demand for domestic labor. However, GDP per capita seems to be leveling off in 2002, which would be explained by a satisfaction of labor demand 2005-04-20T04:41:57-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Ireland-Economic-Data-26523.aspx Saudi Arabia Geographical Information Saudi Arabia, monarchy in southwestern Asia, occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia is bounded on the north by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait; on the east by the Persian Gulf and Qatar; on the southeast by the United Arab Emirates and Oman; on the south by the Republic of Yemen; and on the west by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. The country's border with the United Arab Emirates is not precisely defined. Saudi Arabia has an area of about 2,240,000 sq km (about 864,900 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Riyadh. Land and Resources Considerably more than half the area of Saudi Arabia is desert. Rub' al Khali, known in English as the Great Sandy Desert and as the Empty Quarter, extends over much of the southeast and beyond the southern frontier. Partially unexplored, Rub' al Khali has an estimated area of about 650,000 sq km (about 250,000 sq mi). An extension of the Syrian Desert projects into northern Saudi Arabia, and extending southeast from this region is An Nafûd, an upland desert of red sand covering an area of about 57,000 sq km (about 22,000 sq mi). Ad Dhan', a narrow extension of this desert, links An Nafûd and Rub' al Khali. A central plateau region, broken in the east by a series of uplifts, extends south from An Nafûd. Several wadis (watercourses), dry except in the rainy season, traverse the plateau region. Its western limits are delineated by a mountain range extending generally northwest and southeast along the eastern edge of the regions of Al Ḩijz (Hejaz) and 'Asîr. The highest point in Saudi Arabia, Jabal Sawd' (3,207 m/10,522 ft), is located in the southwestern portion of the country. Between the range, which has an average elevation of about 1,200 m (about 4,000 ft), and the Red Sea is a narrow coastal plain. In the east, along the Persian Gulf, is a low-lying region known as Al Aḩs'. It is underlain by great petroleum deposits. Climate Extreme heat and aridity are characteristic of most of Saudi Arabia. The average temperature range in January is 8° to 20°C (47° to 68°F) in Riyadh and 19° to 29°C (66° to 83°F) in Jiddah. The average range in July is 27° to 43°C (81° to 109°F) in Riyadh and 27°to 38°C (80°to 100°F) in Jiddah. The Arabian Peninsula is one of the few places in the 2005-03-29T02:06:35-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Geography-of-Saudia-Arabia--26459.aspx Why Visit Hong Kong Hong Kong is a city like no other in the world. For a century and a half West and East have joined here, sometimes blending, sometimes clashing, but always producing many dazzling contrasts that make it unique. 2005-03-29T01:20:24-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Why-Visit-Hong-Kong-26435.aspx Spartans and Athenians Mountains, valleys, and water isolate Greece. Hundreds of islands are scattered along its coast. As a result of this type of geography, Greece could never become a large unified empire, so instead, small city-states were created. A city-state was known as a "polis". A polis was made up of a two different parts; the lower ground was the main city, which was housed within a large wall. The upper ground was the hilltop acropolis. These acropolis' were used as military posts, and for religious practices, for each acropolis was for a different Greek god. The two most powerful city-states were Athens and Sparta. Both of these cities differed greatly from each other. Athens had a direct democracy, in which a large number of male citizens took part in the daily running of the government. Athenian democracy is not like the one we have today, it was very limited and biased towards women. Women could not participate in the Athenian democracy, as they were believed to be inferior to men. Slaves became another group that was completely restricted from taking part in the government. They could not participate in the democracy, nor did they have any personal freedom. Even through the unusually cruel democracy, the Athenian democracy gave a greater number of people a voice in government than did any other civilization at the time. The assembly, a high group of select members in the government, made laws. Athenian economy was based solely on trade with other city-states. Athenian's shipped whines, olives, oil, and marble to other countries as well. This trading led to more ideas that were influenced by other cultures. The Greeks took what the others knew about and always made it better, some say. Education in Athens was only available to boys. It was morally correct 2005-03-27T10:19:31-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Spartans-and-Athenians-26403.aspx Melbourne, one of the most beautiful city's in the world. I have traveled through the USA, Canada & the Bahamas, and still, I find Melbourne is the greatest. In 1981 I was born in a New South Wales mid-coast town of Port Macquarie. I lived there until I was the age of four, and that's when we made the move to Victoria. I grew up in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, not far from the actual city. Most of my family lived there, and was the main cause for the move. I went to school and met lots of friends. Nearly every night my friends and I would get together and go to the local car park and roller-blade for a few hours before going to 7-11 for a Slurpee. I look back at those days, and see how Melbourne was in the 80's and early 90's. Old buildings and great friendly people. Still, Melbourne has all of this, as well as new developments, such as new multi-million dollar entertainment complex's. Over the past 5 years, Melbourne have brought us the all new Exhibition Building and of course, the Crown Casino. This was a great move for the Kennett government, as it proved to be successful with the un-employment problem. It didn't stop the problem, but it sure did help it. The casino complex is not only for gambling, it is also a great place for teenager's to go the movies or even the special area for arcade games, sort of a side show alley. Crown also contains 2 nightclubs and is host to many international bands. In 1997, the decision was made to start construction of the Docklands stadium, for football and cricket, much bigger then the MCG. Construction is underway and it should be complete in the year 2000. As well as all these new constructions, Melbourne is home to a lot of well known events. The Ford Australian Tennis Open, is one of the biggest with thousands of international visitors annually. Biggest of them all, has got to be the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix. It was only a few years ago that Melbourne got this wonderful event, as it used to be held in the streets of Adelaide. It is now located along the banks of Albert Park Lake. Moomba is an event which every Victorian, cant wait for. Its an annual event, held at the same time as 2005-02-02T05:36:48-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Melbourne,-Australia-One-of-the-Most-Beautiful-City-s-in-the-World-26219.aspx It’s Time to Clean Up What’s the deal with recycling? It is such an important environmental issue, and yet it seems as though there isn’t much done about it as a community. If you ask a random person on the street what they think about recycling, nine times out of ten they’ll smirk and tell you “It’s good for the environment.” But, really, they don’t understand the significance of recycling. Although the concept of recycling and reusing is preached in the schools, on the television set, and on billboards, people don’t take it seriously enough. Recycling is plainly returning an item back to its original condition so that it can be reused. As astonishing as it may seem, the average San Diego citizen disposes of 4.6 pounds of waste per day, which would equate to more than a thousand six hundred pounds per year. Surprising, half of this outlandish total of waste dump could easily be recycled. Recycling is so important to the welfare of our community that California passed a law that required all of its counties and cities to cut the amount of waste going to their landfills in half. Most people already know that recycling helps conserve natural resources, and San Diegan’s of course know that recycling saves space in our landfills. On the other hand, few know that recycling waste products conserves water, energy, trees, and helps reduce pollution in our drinking water and air. With the recent budget deficits in California, energy must be conserved to save money. Conserving energy by way of recycling is a crucial environmental benefit. It takes far less energy to make new products and put them into working order using recycled waste than it does to make them from entirely new materials. Every pound of steel that you recycle will save enough energy to light a 60-watt bulb for more than a day! A recycled pound of plastic will keep the same bulb aglow for 48 hours straight. Even that empty Sprite bottle that you so thoughtlessly recycled will store more than enough energy to keep your television set running for hours on end. San Diego will benefit greatly from the extra energy they will save just by putting their recyclables in the big blue bin. For example, the citizens of Pennsylvania came together as a community and made a valiant effort at improving the amount of waste they recycle. They in 2005-02-02T03:27:25-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Recycling-It-s-Time-to-Clean-Up-26204.aspx Global Warming Long ago the earth was conceived in a fiery blast of volcanoes and molten lava. The earth cooled and life was spawned. From the first bacterium that swam in a new ocean thru just before the industrial revolution climate, lacking any external factors, has steadily changed. But since the industrialization of civilization, the climate of the earth has faced an ever growing foreign factor. This factor is the emissions of the so called “greenhouse gases” that have caused the rapid increase in world temperatures. This phenomena has been given the title global warming, and has sparked a new debate in local, state, national, and world policy. Since the end of WWII the United States has played the role of international policeman. As one of the strongest economic, political, and economic powers in the world the United Nations Special committee on Global warming research has also made us the leading emissions releaser in the world, with approximately one fifth of all global emissions coming from our country. As of March 13, 2001 President Bush has refused to honor the Kyoto Protocol which promised to reduce emissions by 5% in ten years. He labeled the agreement to be overly ambiguous and not not plausible because it would cause, “serious harm to the US economy”, “the incomplete state of scientific knowledge” on global warning and “the lack of commercially available technologies” as his biased reasoning for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol. On all Accounts President bush is wrong. To begin with there is no serious harm to our economy. The heavy majority of America's industrial complex is owned by less the six large corporations. The cost to further filter the the industrial outpouring of these toxins is averaging less than 3% of the average yearly profit of these large corporations. It would have a very opposite effect on the economy, by creating clean company images these corporations would gain, but since they don't tarnish their reputations with private lobbyists they have nothing to lose. On the other hand the public has much to lose. Our President once again has factitiously stated that scientific knowledge is inadequate in reference to global warming and the accompanying greenhouse effect. Not only is the greenhouse effect and an accepted scientific fact, but it is in science textbooks around the nation. He chooses to fault the lack of similar estimates across the board. The reasons for discrepancy is al the factor 2004-12-21T06:49:00-05:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Global-Warming-Investigation-25934.aspx Throughout history the Irish have always faced many hardships. They are people who have faced poverty, war and not many high points. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Irish slowly lost more and more power in their own country. The Irish had always had an English influence within the country. Kildare had been for a long time the head of this influence. When King Henry declared himself the leader of the Catholic Church, Kildare opposed his decision. King Henry felt threatened by Kildare because he was afraid that Kildare would become allies with England’s Catholic enemies and he sent for him to come to London. Kildare’s son, “Silken Thomas” arrived in Dublin on June 11, 1954 and declared Ireland’s revolt against England. After Sir William and his army knocked down the walls of Maynooth Castle and killed those who survived, “Silken Thomas” was defeated. “Silken Thomas” was murdered and the power that the Kildares had for many years was put to an end. An English governor succeeded Kildares and once again there was an English influence in Ireland. Henry started a lot of the fighting that went on between the Catholics and the Protestants. He was afraid that the Catholics would one day gain to much control in Ireland and therefore set up programs to deprive the Catholics of some of their basic freedoms. It was his daughter, however, who set up the system of “plantation.” Plantation was a system where the Irish would have their land taken away from them and then the English would be planted on the land. This land was often ancestral land that was past down from generation to generation. Although Mary I did give the Irish a choice, she allowed them to either give up their land or become tenant farmers on their own land. This was not much of a choice considering that the land had belonged to them. A lot of the Irish who were very attached to their land stayed to work for low wages on their own property and become prisoners in their own homes. In 1571 Mary I’s sister Elizabeth I decided to allot even more land to the Irish and to take away more rights from them. She outlawed Catholic services and even ordered the execution of many 2004-10-30T02:14:48-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Ireland--25622.aspx The Nile, is the longest river in the world, and is located in northeastern Africa. Its principal source is Lake Victoria, in east central Africa. The Nile flows north through Uganda, Sudan, and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, with a total distance of 5584 km. From its remotest headstream in Burundi, the river is 6671 km long. The river basin covers an area of more than 3,349,000 sq km. Not only is the Nile considered a wonder by Herodotus, but by people all over the world, due to its impotance to the growth of a civilization. The first great African civilization developed in the northern Nile Valley in about 5000 BC. Dependent on agriculture, this state, called Egypt, relied on the flooding of the Nile for irrigation and new soils. It dominated vast areas of northeastern Africa for millennia. Ruled by Egypt for about 1800 years, the Kush region of northern Sudan subjugated Egypt in the 8th century BC. Pyramids, temples, and other monuments of these civilizations blanket the river valley in Egypt and northern Sudan. To Egypt, the Nile is seen as the fountain of life. Every year, between the months of June and October, the great rivers of the Nile rush north, and flood the highlands of Etiopia. The flooding surges of the land, and leaves behind water for the people, and fertile land, which can be used for agriculture. The impact the Nile has on Egypt during the ancient times and present are consierably apparent. The influence the Nile has is so extensive, that even the speech is transposed. For example, "To go north" in the Egyption language is the same as, "to go down stream"; "to go south" the same as "to go upstream." Also, the term for a "foreign country" in Egypt would be used as "highland" or "desert", because the only mountains or deserts would be far away, and foreign to them. The Nile certainly had an exceptional influence on Egypts, both lifestyle and thinking. The Nile also forced a change on the political system and ruling in Egypt. Because of the vast floods every year, the country needed a ruler that was capable of enforcing of the farmings and methods used. Such as the hoarding of the water and the stocking of the food harvested. Second, only a stongly cetralized administration could manafe the economy properly. To Egypts benefit, they lived in a fairly isolated area, 2004-07-05T09:28:01-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/The-Nile-River-in-Shaping-Egyptian-Life-25336.aspx The name Brazil comes from Pau Brasil. There are around 145 million people living in Brazil, most of them near the coast. The population is growing rapidly and half of all Brazilians are under the age of 20. By the end of the century, it is estimated that Brazil's population will have reached 180 million. Brazil borders on ten other Latin American countries. Most of the northern part of Brazil is low-lying and veined by the mighty Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon is the largest river in the world. The native peoples of Brazil lived in the forests and along the rivers, hunting, fishing, and gathering fruits and nuts. When the Portuguese arrived early in the 16th century, it is estimated that there were between 1 and 2 million native Amerindian people. They were used as slaves, and many thousands died from diseases brought by the Europeans. Recently Amerindians have been exploited and killed as land speculators and highways go farther into the rain forest. There are probably less than 150,000 Indians now. Portuguese settlers developed vast sugarcane estates in the Bahia region, and for 150 years these estates were in the world's main source of sugar. To work the estates, the owners used salves from Africa. Today there is still an African tradition in Brazil. Modern immigration began early in the 19th century. Only about 4.5 million foreigners, mostly from Europe, settled in Brazil after then. Most were Italians and Portuguese, but there were also Spaniards and Germans, and later Slavs from Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine, and Arabs from the Middle East. In this century the most significant immigrants have been Japanese. They have become the most prosperous ethnic group in Brazil, growing a fifth of the coffee, a third of the cotton, and all the tea. Traditionally the majority of Brazilians settled near the coast, but in the last 30 years the rapid movement from rural areas to urban centers has led to a very uneven distribution of the population. In parts of the interior there is an average of just two people per square mile. More than 75 percent of the people live in towns. Half of these are in just two cities. Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. People have moved from rural areas to the towns to seek work and better medical and educational facilities for their families. But the reality has been very different. 2004-07-05T09:27:21-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Brazil-Country-Profile-Essay-25335.aspx Sigurd the Volsung, a legendary hero from Northern Europe, shares many similarities and also has several differences with Theseus, a hero of Greek origin. The two different cultures are also alike and different in a glut of ways. The heroic tales of Sigurd the Volsung, and Theseus contain many similarities culturally as well as physically. Sigurd is destined for greatness at a young age, for his veins swam with the blood of Sigmund, the noble and courageous King of Hunland. Similarly, when Theseus lifts an enormous boulder to retrieve his father’s sword, at the young age of sixteen, he is quickly labeled a hero. Sigurd and Theseus also share a preeminent desire to gain fame, treasure, and heroism through great deeds. Immediately after learning of Fafnir the dragon, and the hoard of gold he posses, Sigurd is determined to attain this wealth, no matter how ferocious and powerful the beast is. Theseus too shares this determination for success and immortality. During his stay with his father, Aegeus, in the city of Athens, Theseus offers to accompany those who must be sacrificed to the Minotaur of Crete; for he believes he can defeat the terrorizing monster. The cultures in Northern Europe and Greece tend to involve supernatural creatures that must be overcome by a dauntless hero. Sigurd was a towering man, with unbeatable strength, astuteness, and agility; he defeats Fafnir to obtain his notoriety. In Theseus’ quest for glory, he overcomes the Minotaur of Crete, using his wit and strength. The cultures from which Sigurd and Theseus originate from differ in several ways, and their character qualities are unlike as well. Theseus demonstrates greater courage, for he seeks danger by volunteering to travel to Crete, in hopes of slaying the vicious Minotaur to attain fame. Sigurd, on the other hand, needs decisive convincing by Regin, before he dares confront Fafnir. In several instances, the omnipotent god Odin advises Sigurd. Odin saves Sigurd from his sure to be demise, by telling him that he should dig several holes to contain Fafnir’s blood rather than a single hole; for if he doesn’t, he will drown from the dragon’s immense dispersion of blood. On the contrary, Ariadne, a simple human being, guides Theseus during his mission to rid the world of the Minotaur of Crete. She helped him by giving him a magic sword and a ball of thread so that he could 2004-06-19T01:57:36-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Sigurd-the-Volsung-Northern-Europe-Hero-25177.aspx Argentina Essay Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world. "The first people in Argentina were the Indians of the Americas. They were thought to have descended from Asia, crossing the Bering Strait from Siberia in prehistoric times" (Gofen, p.17). "The first Spaniard to land in Argentina was explorer Juan Diaz de Solis in 1516. He sailed into the Rio de la Plata estuary and claimed the land for Spain"(Argentina, p.1). Argentineans enjoy a climate that favors outdoor activities throughout the year. They camp, hunt, fish, hike, rock climb, ski, sail, windsurf, cycle, tennis, and golf. They take seaside vacations on the Atlantic coast and inland vacations in resort areas such as Bariloche. They also like all team sports, there most favorite being soccer, known as futbol. The English brought this game to Argentina in the last century. Among national teams, a passionate rivalry exists between Argentina and Brazil. More than 100,000 fans will turn to watch a game between the two countries. Vegetation varies greatly throughout the country. The scrublands produce mainly dwarf shrubs, while the rainforests support giant cedar and laurel trees. Quebracho trees, from which tannin extracted, are native to Mesopotamia. The wildlife is typically South American, with llamas, monkeys, jaguars, armadillos and many snakes. Bird life includes toucans, hummingbirds, parrots and the ostrich-like rheas. Fish, including piranhas, abound in the many streams, and there are sea lions off the coast. Pigs, introduced by European settlers, are to be found wild in Patagonia. Argentina is alive with festivals, or fiestas. Their colorful processions brighten the landscape from one end of the country to the other. Many different groups of people express their artistic, musical, and culinary creativity through festival celebrations. Argentinean festivals reflect the spiritual traditions of both native Indian religions and Christianity. Festivals and holidays may involve religious pilgrimages, feasts, parades, dancing and even gaucho competitions on horseback. Most of the competitors in gaucho events are descendants of gauchos. They use traditional old costumes and saddles for the contest. Carnival occurs at the same time as similar celebrations among Roman Catholics all over the world, including the Mardi Gras in the United States. The celebration of Carnival in Argentina is especially vigorous in the northern part of the country. Business comes to a halt as costumed Argentineans dance in the streets. Carnival festivities usually begin on the weekend before Ash Wednesday, which most often falls in February. The 2004-06-10T05:10:40-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Argentina-Essay--25111.aspx Barbados is an independent country, formerly a British colony, and the most easterly island of the West Indies. Its capital and only port of entry is Bridgetown. The island is underlain with folded sedimentary deposits, and a surface layer of coral attains 90 m (300 ft) in thickness. In the northeastern parts, erosion has exposed rugged ridges and ravines. The climate is warm and pleasant. The average annual temperature is about 27¡ C (80¡ F), and little daily or annual variation occurs. A dry season (from December to May) alternates with a wet season. The average annual rainfall is about 1,500 mm (60 in). Barbados is one of the world's most densely populated countries. Nearly 90% of the island's population is black. The production of sugarcane and its by-products, molasses and rum, long a mainstay of the Barbadian economy, has been replaced by tourism as the chief industry. The development of light industry, offshore banking, and fishing and the diversification of agriculture have been encouraged by the government. Barbados was settled by English colonists in 1627. To work the sugarcane plantations, slaves were brought from Africa, a practice abolished throughout the British Empire in 1834. Dominance by a small group of British landowners continued, and a political rights movement began, resulting in the founding of the Barbados Labour party (BLP) in 1938 and an offshoot, the Democratic Labour party (DLP), in 1955. Barbados became independent on Nov. 30, 1966. Errol Barrow of the DLP, the first premier, was succeeded by Tom Adams of the BLP, who held office from 1976 until his death in 1985. The DLP returned to power under Barrow (1986Ð87) and Lloyd Erskine Sandiford (1987Ð94). Owen Arthur of the BLP became premier after elections in 1994 and was returned to office in a landslide victory in 1999. In 1997, Barbados hosted a regional summit attended by the leaders of the English-speaking Caribbean nations and U.S. president Bill Clinton. Late the following year, a constitutional commission recommended that Barbados become a republic and replace the British monarch with an elected president as head of state. Bibliography: Beckles, H. M., A History of Barbados (1990); Butler, K. M., The Economics of Emancipation: Jamaica and Barbados, 1823Ð1843 (1995); Davis, K., Cross and Crown in Barbados (1983); Levy, C., Emancipation, Sugar, and Federalism (1980); Payne, A. J., and Sutton, P. K., eds., Dependency under Challenge: The Political Economy of the Commonwealth Caribbean (1984); Richardson, B. C., and 2004-06-10T04:56:34-04:00 http://75.150.148.189/free-essay/Barbados--25106.aspx