Questions in a Little Dark Corner Free Essays

â€Å"Who are you? Is this me? Why can’t I recognize myself?† those questions have always been around me in the pass few years that I have hided myself in a little dark corner. I have asked the same questions to myself over and over again, but when can I get an answer? I’ve only got more and more questions come out through my mind. I don’t know where they came from, I don’t what to say, and I don’t know what to do, but cry, in a little dark corner. We will write a custom essay sample on Questions in a Little Dark Corner or any similar topic only for you Order Now I started to ask those questions when I came to America. I don’t know why, but I do know this have never happened to me before. Back in Taiwan, I was known as a cute little girl that likes to play a lot, many adult loves me by make them happy. I know I have come from a beautiful little island, which we all called Taiwan. I never thought about going anywhere outside of this country, until my father has already decided to start a new adventure at America. He thinks this is a good opportunity for us to see outside of the world, and learn something new form the out side world. But are you sure this is a right thing to do? Nobody knows, not even myself. Socratic Seminar Questions I have no idea what’s like to be apart from my country, I just know I’m following my dad’s order, and go on to the airplane just as he tell me to. I only know few words in English, like â€Å"hello† and â€Å"good bye†, or the most important one â€Å"bathroom†. I still remember when we came down from the airplane, we were lost in the airport, since my older sister have the best English out of all of us, my father tried to convince her to ask direction for us, but still she is also have never talk to any American before, therefore we are all dislike to talk to anyone. But we still need direction for our way out, and then we have the idea to use paper-rock-scissor to decide who will be the one asking direction for us. This â€Å"paper-rock-scissor† thing has happen through out the whole first year that we came to America. Even we have already been practiced talking to native speakers, I don’t know why I still didn’t see any improvement of my English skill, and I’m the only one still on the same spot as I came to America. I have never liked to talk to any American; I know if I don’t talk my English skill will never get better, but what can I do? I can’t, just can’t, I’m afraid to make any mistakes or see other people make joke out of me, I don’t want to make fun of myself and let people laugh at my face. I don’t know what to do, what can I do? At the school, because of my â€Å"afraid†, I didn’t talk to any other students; therefore I didn’t have any friend. Everyone think I’m weird, no one likes to talk to me, and there are even have some classmate thought I’m one of the â€Å"special kid†; they don’t like me, and I don’t like them, I’m all alone. But is this what I really want? No, I do not want my life continue like this. I want to make some friends, be part of them, have some laugh with, and be happy. Don’t walk away from me, don’t turn your face away, look at me and talk to me, be friend with me, but how? I keep asking myself to speak, to talk, just open my mouth, but why can’t I do it? Why? I ask myself in a dark corner. After one year, when I know we are moving, and I was going to transfer to another school, I was so happy; I thought I can make up my stupid mistake, and make some friends this time. By the time before the first day to my new school, I was teaching myself how to introduce myself to other classmates in front of my bathroom mirror, think that I can actually make some friend on my own. I was very happy; I thought I don’t need my little corner any more. But I was wrong. I didn’t make up any of my mistakes, I have done it again. When I saw other students came to me, my mouth immediately closed up, and I only stand there and watch them walk pass through me one by one. I hate myself, hate that couldn’t speak, hate why can’t I just do it, and make some friends. I’m back in the little dark corner, I said to myself everyday, to talk, to speak, to make friend, but I never did it, I can’t, not even I wanted to, my mouth just won’t work. What can I do? I keep asking myself the same question again and again. Two years have passed my sister and my brother has getting better and butter in English, and they have make all kinds of friends, only I haven’t change much, and still no friend for me. High school is getting closer and closer, only few mouth left, I know what I need to do, I know what I should do, but can I do it? I keep practicing my little speech to myself, will I make friends? Will I open my mouth? I don’t know, but I will try. I will try anything to get out of the little dark corner. Now I’m a high school student, the little dark corner is getting smaller and smaller; I have friends now, and I even have by â€Å"BFF†, and I’ll continue to make more friends. I do not need my corner anymore. But still, I will like to become more open like what I use to be, the happy little girl who always have a nice smile on the face, and make everyone laugh all the time. Even I’m not a little girl anymore, to be happy or sad, I’m still me, I may change over time, but I am still here. This is the new me, to get stronger and stronger, to help other get out of the little dark corner. How to cite Questions in a Little Dark Corner, Papers

Determination of Water Hardness free essay sample

When neutral molecules or anion gives an electron pair and attaches itself to a metal ion center the atoms become a single complex ion, thus forming covalent bonds. These complex ions are called ligands. Some of these polyatomic ligands have lone pairs available for bonding to the central metal ion. When a ligand forms with a metal ion it is called chelation and the ligand is called a chelating agent. In this experiment we used a chelating agent called ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). When rain falls the water picks up impurities from dissolving the salts that are present in the soil. The water’s hardness comes from the water dissolving these salts. Water with a hardness value of less than 60 ppm is considered â€Å"soft†water and water with more than 200 ppm CaCO3 is considered â€Å"hard† water. Using the EDTA and an indicator called Eriochrome Black T we are able to calculate the hardness of water. We will write a custom essay sample on Determination of Water Hardness or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the presence of a metal cation, Eriochrome Black T forms a pink color. But as the EDTA solution is added from the buret, the metal ions are attracted to the EDTA leaving the indicator solvated. As it looks in this equation. In this lab we are trying to find out what the water hardness of an unknown water sample is and compare it to the range of municipal water hardness in our area. Methods We used our 500ml plastic bottle and weighed out 0. 7999g of (on the scale with a serial number 12321601), and placed it in our plastic bottle then filled the bottle with deionized water and shook until dissolved. This became our standardized EDTA solution. Then using a Grade A 10ml transfer pipet and added 10ml of a 1. 000g (Prepared by BTJ, Jan 13, 2014) into a 250ml Erlenmeyer flask mixed with 30ml of D. I. water. We than added 3ml of ammonia chloride buffer inside the fume hood added 4 drops of Erichrome Black T Indicator and slowly stirred while titrating the solution with the EDTA solution until it turned from pink to blue. Then repeated two more times calculating the Molarity and average molarity. We then did the same exact thing but this time instead of using 10ml of the 1. 000g we used an unknown water sample, my unknown sample was #6. Then we used the information to calculate the hardnes of the water. We needed to make sure that we did not over titrate or under titrate, so paying close attention to the color change was a must. That is why we made sure to do each titration 3 times so we could get the averages of all the attempts. Recording all the data to the smallest possible number value was a must. We were able to learn a few things from our experiment on Water Hardness. For the first half of the experiment we see that our relative precision (parts per thousand) was 9.6 ppt. That is really high compared to what we expecting in precision. For this experiment we were expecting a precision of five parts per thousand at the most. Some reasoning why it was so high could because I did not employ careful volumetric technique and I may have been trying to titrate too long and got a different shade of blue each time. If I was to do this experiment again I would do my best to pay careful attention to the amount of liquid put in and also titrate slower and pay closer attention to the shades of the color. When it came time for the unknown water sample #6 I feel like my calculations and titrations where all well done. For each of the three trials I was at 400.0 mg / L . I was able to compare this to the city of Tempe’s water hardness range. According to their websitei they say that the range is from 150-400 mg/L. So my water sample fits on the upper end of the range. So it is possible that my unknown sample came from a City of Tempe water source.

Air Water and Land Pollution Essay Example

Air Water and Land Pollution Paper Workbook, audio, more! Www. Lugubriousnesss. Com Air pollution is a general term that covers a broad range of contaminants in the atmosphere. Elution can occur from natural causes or from human activities. Discussions about the effects of air pollution have focused mainly on human health but attention is being directed to environmental quality and amenity as well. Air pollutants are found as gases or particles, and on a restricted scale they can be trapped inside buildings as indoor air pollutants. Urban air pollution has long been an important concern for civic administrators, but increasingly, air pollution has become an international problem. The most characteristic sources of air pollution have always been ambition processes. Here the most obvious pollutant is smoke. However, the widespread use of fossil fuels has made sulfur and nitrogen oxides pollutants of great concern. With increasing use of petroleum-based fuels, a range of organic compounds have become widespread in the atmosphere. In urban areas, air pollution has been a matter of concern since historical times. Indeed, there were complaints about smoke in ancient Rome. The use of coal throughout the centuries has caused cities to be very smoky places. Along with smoke, large concentrations of sulfur dioxide were produced. It was this suture of smoke and sulfur dioxide that typified the foggy streets of Victorian London, paced by such figures as Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper, whose images remain linked with smoke and fog. Such situations are far less common in the cities Of North America and Europe today. We will write a custom essay sample on Air Water and Land Pollution specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Air Water and Land Pollution specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Air Water and Land Pollution specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer However, until recently, they have been evident in other cities, such as Ankara, Turkey, and Shanghai, China, that rely heavily on coal. Coal is still burned in large quantities to produce electricity or to refine metals, but these processes are frequently undertaken outside cities. Within urban areas, fuel use has shifted award liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons (petroleum and natural gas). These fuels typically have a lower concentration of sulfur, so the presence of sulfur dioxide has declined in many urban areas. However, the widespread use of liquid fuels in automobiles has meant increased production of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. Primary pollutants such as sulfur dioxide or smoke are the direct emission products of the combustion process. Today, many of the key pollutants in the urban atmospheres are secondary pollutants, produced by processes initiated through photochemical reactions. The Los Angles, California-type, photochemical smog is now characteristic of urban atmospheres dominated by secondary pollutants. Although the automobile is the main source of air pollution in contemporary cities, there are other equally significant sources. Stationary sources are still important and the oil-burning furnaces that have replaced the older coal-burning ones are still responsible for a range of gaseous emissions and fly ash. Incineration is also an important source of complex combustion products, especially where this incineration burns a wide range of refuse. These emissions can include chlorinated hydrocarbons such as dioxin. When plastics, which often contain chlorine, are incinerated, hydrochloric acid is found in the waste gas stream. Metals, especially since they are volatile at high temperatures, can migrate to smaller, resalable particles. The accumulation of toxic metals, such as cadmium, on fly ash gives rise to concern over harmful effects from incinerator emissions. In specialized incinerators designed to destroy toxic compounds such as polycarbonate phenols (BPCS), many questions have been raised about the completeness of this destruction process. Even under optimum conditions when the urinate operation has been properly maintained, great care needs to be taken to control leaks and losses during transfer operations (fugitive emissions). The enormous range of compounds used in modern manufacturing processes has also meant that there is an ever-widening range of emissions from both the industrial processes and the combustion of their wastes. Although the amounts of these toxic compounds are often rather small, they add to the complex range of compounds found in the urban atmosphere. Again, it is not only the deliberate loss of effluents through discharge from pipes and chimneys that needs attention. Fugitive emissions of volatile substances that leak from valves and seals often warrant careful control. Air pollution control procedures are increasingly an important part of civic administration, although their goals are far from easy to achieve. It is also noticeable that although many urban concentrations of primary pollutants, for example, smoke and sulfur dioxide, are on the decline in developed countries, this is not always true in developing countries. Here the desire for rapid industrial growth has often lowered urban air quality. Secondary air pollutants are generally proving a more difficult problem to eliminate than primary pollutants like smoke. Smog covers the Los Angles basin. (Photo by Walter A. Lyons, AVIVA Productions. Reproduced by permission. ) AIR POLLUTION AND HEALTH PROBLEMS urban air pollutants have a wide range of effects, With health problems being the most enduring concern. In the classical polluted atmospheres filled with smoke and Suffer dioxide, a range of bronchial diseases was enhanced. While respiratory diseases are still the principal problem, the issues are somewhat more subtle in atmospheres where the air pollutants are not so obvious. In photo-chemical smog, eye irritation from a secondary pollutant, approximately titrate (PAN), is one of the most characteristic direct effects of the smog. High concentrations of carbon monoxide in cities where automobiles operate at high density mean that the human heart has to work harder to make up for the oxygen displaced from the bloods hemoglobin by carbon monoxide. This extra stress appears to reveal itself through increased incidence of complaints among people with heart problems. There is a widespread belief that contemporary air pollutants are involved in the increases in asthma, but the links between asthma and air pollution are probably rather complex and related to a whole range of factors. Lead, from automotive exhausts, is thought by many to be a factor in lowering the IIS of urban children. Air pollution also affects materials in the urban environment. Soiling has long been regarded as a problem, originally the result of the smoke from wood or coal fires, but now increasingly the result of fine black soot from diesel exhausts. The acid gases, particularly sulfur dioxide, increase the rate of destruction of building materials. This is most noticeable with calcareous stones, which are the predominant building material of many important historic structures. Metals also suffer from atmospheric acidity. In todays photochemical smog, natural rubbers crack and deteriorate rapidly. Health problems relating to indoor air pollution are extremely ancient. Anthracnose, or black lung disease, has been found in mummified lung tissue. Recent decades have witnessed a shift from the predominance of concern about outdoor air pollution into a widening interest in indoor air quality. The production of energy from combustion and the release of solvents is so large in the contemporary world that it causes air pollution problems of regional and global nature. Acid rain is now widely observed throughout the world. The sheer quantity of carbon dioxide emitted in combustion processes is increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and enhancing the greenhouse effect. Courtesy of IS . S. Government publication. ) Solvents, such as carbon tetrachloride and the aerosol propellants chlorofluorocarbons (CIFS) are now detectable all over the globe and responsible for problems such as ozone layer depletion. At the other end of the scale, we need to remember that gases leak indoors from the polluted outdoor environment, but more often th e serious pollutants arise from processes that take place indoors. Here there has been particular concern with regards to the generation of nitrogen oxides by sources such as gas stoves. Similarly, formaldehyde from insulating foams causes illnesses and adds to concerns about our exposure to a substance that may induce cancer in the long run. In the last decade it has become clear that radon leaks from the ground can expose some members of the public to high levels of this radioactive gas within their own homes. Cancers may also result from the emanation of solvents from consumer products?glues, paints, and mineral fibers (asbestos). More generally these compounds and a range of biological trials?animal hair, skin, pollen spores, and dusts?can cause allergic reactions in some people. At one end of the spectrum these simply cause annoyance, but in extreme cases, such as found with the bacterium Legionary , a large number of deaths can occur. There are also important issues surrounding the effects of indoor air pollutants on materials. Many industries, especially the electronics industry, must take great care over the purity of indoor air where a speck of dust can destroy a microchip or low concentrations of air pollutants change the composition of surface films in component design. Museums must care for objects over long periods of time, so precautions must be taken to protect delicate dyes from the effects of photochemical smog, paper and books from sulfur dioxide, and metals from sulfide gases. AIR QUALITY Air quality is determined with respect to the total air pollution in a given area as it interacts with meteorological conditions such as humidity, temperature, and wind to produce an overall atmospheric condition. Poor air quality can manifest itself aesthetically (as a displeasing odor, for example), and can also result in harm to plants, animals, and people, and even damage to objects. As early as 1 881, cities such as Chicago, Illinois, and Cincinnati, Ohio, passed laws to control some types of pollution, but it was not until several air pollution catastrophes occurred in the twentieth century that governments began to give more attention to air-quality problems. For instance, in 1930, smog trapped in the Mouse River Valley in Belgium caused 60 deaths. Similarly, in 1948, smog was blamed for 20 deaths in Donors, Pennsylvania. Most dramatically, in 1 952, a sulfur-laden fog enshrouded London for five days and caused as many as 4,000 deaths over two weeks. Disasters such as these romped governments in a number of industrial countries to initiate programs to protect air quality. The year of the London tragedy, the United States passed the Air Pollution Control Act granting funds to assist the states in controlling airborne pollutants. In 1963, the Clean Air Act, which began to place authority for air quality into the hands of the federal government, was established. Today the Clean Air Act, with its 1 970 and 1 990 amendments, remains the principal air quality law in the United States. The act established a National Ambient Air Quality Standard under which federal, state, and local monitoring stations at thousands of locations, together with temporary stations set up by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal agencies, directly measure pollutant concentrations in the air and compare those concentrations with national standards for six major pollutants: ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, lead, particulates, and sulfur dioxide. When the air we breathe contains amounts of these pollutants in excess of EPA standards, it is deemed unhealthy, and regulatory action is taken to reduce the pollution levels. A December 1998 EPA report indicates hat while air quality continues to improve, approximately 1 07 million Americans in 1997 lived in areas that did not meet the ambient air quality standards for at least one of the six major pollutants noted above. In general, though, improvements in air quality have been significant: carbon monoxide concentrations have decreased 38%; lead concentrations have decreased by 67%; nitrogen dioxide concentrations are down by 14%; ozone (smog) concentrations have been reduced by 1 9%; particulate matter concentrations decreased 26%; and sulfur dioxide concentrations decreased 39%. At the name time that air pollution has been decreasing significantly (1970-97), gross domestic product increased 114%, U. S. Population increased 31 %, and vehicle miles traveled increased 127%. In addition, urban and industrial areas maintain an air pollution index. This scale, a composite of several pollutant levels recorded from a particular monitoring site or sites, yields an overall air quality value. Public warnings are given if the index exceeds certain values; in severe instances residents might be asked to stay indoors and factories might even be closed down. While such air quality emergencies seem increasingly are in the United States, developing countries, as well as Eastern European nations, continue to suffer poor air quality, especially in urban areas such as Bangkok, Thailand and Mexico City, Mexico. In Mexico City, for example, seven out of ten newborns have higher lead levels in their blood than the World Health Organization (WHO) considers acceptable. At present, many Third World countries place national economic development ahead of pollution control?and in many countries with rapid industrialization, high population growth, or increasing per capita income, the best efforts of overspent to maintain air quality are outstripped by rapid proliferation of automobiles, escalating factory emissions, and runaway arbitration. For all the progress the United States has made in reducing ambient air pollution, indoor air pollution may pose even greater risks than all of the pollutants we breathe outdoors. The Radon Gas and Indoor Air Quality Act of 1986 directed the EPA to research and implement a public information and technical assistance program on indoor air quality. From this program has come monitoring equipment to measure an individuals total exposure to Laotians both in indoor and outdoor air. Studies done using this equipment have shown indoor exposures to toxic air pollutants far exceed outdoor exposures for the simple reason that most people spend 90% of their time in office buildings, homes, and other enclosed spaces. Moreover, nationwide energy conservation efforts following the oil crisis of the sass led to building designs that trap pollutants indoors, thereby exacerbating the problem. AIR POLLUTION CONTROL The need to control air pollution was recognized in the earliest cities. In the Mediterranean at the time of Christ, laws were developed to place objectionable sources of odor and smoke downwind or outside city walls. The adoption of fossil fuels in thirteenth-century England focused particular concern on the effect of coal smoke on health, with a number of attempts at regulation with regard to fuel type, chimney heights, and time of use. Given the complexity of the air pollution problem it is not surprising that these early attempts at control met with only limited success. The nineteenth century was typified by a growing interest in urban public health. This developed against a background of continuing industrialization, which saw smoke abatement clauses incorporated into the growing body of sanitary legislation in both Europe and North America. However, a lack of both technology and political will doomed these early efforts to failure, except in the most blatantly destructive situations (for example, industrial settings such as those around alkali works in England). The rise Of environmental awareness in the current century has reminded us that air pollution ought not to be seen as a necessary product of industrialization. This has redirected responsibility for air pollution towards those who create it. The notion of making the polluter ay is seen as a central feature of air pollution control. The century has also seen the development of a range of broad air pollution control strategies, among them: 1. Air quality management strategies that set ambient air quality standards so that emissions from various sources can be monitored and controlled. . Emission standards strategy that sets limits for the amount of a pollutant that can be emitted from a given source. These may be set to meet air quality standards, but the strategy is optimally seen as one of adopting best available technology not entailing excessive costs (BATTENED). 3. Economic strategies that involve charging the party responsible for the pollution. If the level of charge is set corr ectly, some polluters will find it more economical to install air pollution control equipment than continue to pollute. Other methods utilize a system of traceable pollution rights. . Cost-benefit analysis, which attempts to balance economic benefits with environmental costs. This is an appealing strategy but difficult to implement because of its controversial and imprecise nature. In general, air pollution strategies have either been air quality or emission based. In the United Kingdom, emission tragedy is frequently used; for example, the Alkali and Works Act of 1 863 specifies permissible emissions of hydrochloric acid. By contrast, the United States has aimed to achieve air quality standards, as evidenced by the Clean Air Act. One criticism of using air quality strategy has been that while it improves air in poor areas it leads to degradation in areas with high air quality. Although the emission standards approach is relatively simple, it is criticized for failing to make explicit judgments about air quality and assumes that good practice will lead to an acceptable atmosphere. Until the mid- whiniest century, legislation was primarily directed towards industrial sources, but the passage of the United Kingdom Clean Air Act (1956), which followed the disastrous smog of December 1952, directed attention towards domestic sources of smoke. While this particular act may have reinforced the improvements already under way, rather than initiating improvements, it has served as a catalyst for much subsequent legislative thinking. Its mode of operation was to initiate a change in fuel, perhaps one of the oldest methods of control. The other well-tried aspects were the creation of smokeless zones ND an emphasis on tall chimneys to disperse the pollutants. As simplistic as such passive control measures seem, they remain at the heart of much contemporary thinking. Changes from coal and oil to the less-polluting gas or electricity have contributed to the reduction in smoke and sulfur dioxide concentrations in cities all around the world. Industrial zoning has often kept power and large manufacturing plants away from centers of human population, and superstars, chimneys of enormous height, are now quite common. Successive changes in automotive fuels?lead-free gasoline, low- Latinity gas, methanol, or even the interest in the electric automobile?are further indications of continued use of these methods of control. There are more active forms of air pollution control that seek to clean up the exhaust gases. The earliest of these were smoke and grit arresters that came into increasing use in large electrical stations during the twentieth century. Notable here were the cyclone collectors that removed large particles by driving the exhaust through a tight spiral that threw the grit outward where it could be collected. Finer particles could be removed by electrostatic reciprocation. These methods were an important part of the development of the modern pulverize fuel power station. However, they failed to address the problem of gaseous emissions. Here it has been necessary to look at burning fuel in ways that reduce the production of nitrogen oxides. Control of sulfur dioxide emissions from large industrial plants can be achieved by desertification of the flue gases. This can be quite successful by passing the gas through towers of solid absorbers or spraying solutions through the exhaust gas stream. However, these are not necessarily cheap options. The Atlantic converter is also an important element of active attempts to control air pollutants. Although these can considerably reduce emissions, they have to be offset against the increasing use Of the automobile. There is much talk of the development of zero pollution vehicles that do not emit any pollutants. Legislation and control methods are often associated with monitoring networks that assess the effectiveness of the strategies and inform the general public about air quality where they live. A balanced approach to the control of air pollution in the future may have to look far more broadly than simply at technological controls. It will become necessary to examine the way we structure our lives in order to find more effective solutions to air pollution. AIR POLLUTION INDEX The air pollution index is a value derived from an air quality scale that uses the measured or predicted concentrations of several criteria pollutants and other air-quality indicators, such as coefficient of haze (COHO) or visibility. The best-known index of air pollution is the pollutant standard index (SSI). The SSI has a scale that spans from O to 500. The index represents the highest value of several subsidence; there is a subsided for each pollutant, or in some cases, or a product of pollutant concentrations and a product of pollutant concentrations and COB. If a pollutant is not monitored, its subsided is not used in deriving the AS. The subsided of each pollutant or pollutant product is derived from a SSI monogram that matches concentrations with subsided values. The highest subsided value becomes the SSI. The SSI has five health- related categories: good (0-50); moderate (50-100); unhealthy (100-200); very unhealthy (200-300) hazardous (300-500). CLEAN AIR ACT (1 963, 1 970, 1990) The 1970 Clean Air Act and major amendments to the act in 1 977 and 1990 river as the backbone of efforts to control air pollution in the United States. This law established one Of the most complex regulatory programs in the country. Efforts to control air pollution in the United States date back to 1 881 , when Chicago and Cincinnati passed laws to control smoke and soot from factories in the cities. Other municipalities followed suit and the momentum continued to build. In 1952, Oregon became the first state to adopt a significant program to control air pollution, and three years later, the federal government became involved for the first time, when the Air Pollution Control Act was passed. This law granted funds to assist the states in their air pollution control activities. In 1 963, the first Clean Air Act was passed. This act provided permanent federal aid for research, support for the development of state pollution control agencies, and federal involvement in cross-boundary air pollution cases. An amendment to the act in 1965 directed the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to establish federal emission standards for motor vehicles. (At that time, HEW administered air pollution laws. The EPA was not created until 1970. ) This represented a significant move by the federal government from a supportive to an active role in setting air-pollution policy. The 1967 Air Quality Act provided additional funding to the states, required the states to establish Air Quality Control Regions, and directed HEW to obtain and make available information on the health effects Of air pollutants and to identify pollution control techniques. All of these components of the law were designed to assist the states, but they further demonstrated increasing federal involvement in the issue. The Clean Air Act of 1970 marked a dramatic change in air pollution logic in the United States. Following the passage of this law, the federal government, not the states, would be the focal point for air pollution policy. This act established the framework that continues to be the foundation for air pollution control policy. The impetus for this change was the belief that the current state-based approach was not working. Public sentiment was growing so significantly that environmental issues demanded the attention of high- ranking officials. In fact, the leading policy entrepreneurs on the issue were president Richard Nixon and Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine. These men ND other leaders devised a plan with four key components. First, National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NANAS) were established for six major pollutants: carbon monoxide, le ad (in 1977), nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone (a key component of smog), particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide. For each of these pollutants, sometimes referred to as criteria pollutants, primary and secondary standards were set. The primary standards were designed to protect human health; the secondary standards were based on protecting crops, forests, and buildings if the primary standards were not capable of doing so. The act stipulated that these standards must apply to the entire country and be established by the EPA based on the best available scientific information. Related, the EPA was to establish standards for less common toxic air pollutants. Second, New Source Performance Standards (NSP) would be established by the EPA- These standards would determine how much air pollution would be allowed by new plants in the various industrial sectors. The standards are to be based on the best affordable technology available for the control of pollutants at sources such as power plants, steel factories, and chemical plants. Third, mobile source emission standards were established to control automobile emissions. These standards were specified in the statute (rather than left to the EPA), and schedules for meeting these standards were also written into the law. It was thought that such an approach was crucial in having success with the powerful auto industry. The pollutants regulated were carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides, with goals of reducing the first two pollutants by 90% by 1 975, and nitrogen oxides by 82% by 1975. The final component of the air quality protection framework involved the implementation of the above procedures. Each state would be encouraged to devise a state implementation plan (SIP), which would indicate how the state would achieve the national standards. This gave each state some flexibility while still maintaining national standards. These plans had to be approved by the ERA; if a state did not have an approved SIP, the EPA would administer the Clean Air Act in that state. However, since the federal government is in charge of establishing pollution standards for new mobile and stationary sources, even the States with an SIP have limited flexibility. The main focal point for the states was the control of existing stationary sources, and if necessary, mobile sources.

We Still Have a Lot to Learn from Marx

We Still Have a Lot to Learn from Marx The global economic downturn stimulates a resurgence of enthusiasm for the philosophical works of Karl Marx, particularly Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on We Still Have a Lot to Learn from Marx specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Marx remains one of the world’s few modern philosophers able to integrate weighty theoretical concepts into a practical form applicable to both intellectual and non-intellectual society. What, precisely, do we still need to learn from Marx? In a word: revolution. Said revolution will be quite quiet, and distinctly personal, and so will occur mainly within the confines of individual skulls. This revolution requires no weapons; no bloodshed or violence ensues. The only death, per se, will be the death of delusion. We need to adopt a revolutionary mindset in order to grasp the one salient truth that may prove to be the emancipation of all humans, not simply one select class. The Truth Revolution involves the comprehension that ownership itself is a myth, a myth which in turn shapes a dangerous and destructive delusion that forms the beating heart of capitalism: the illusion of control. Critical speculation abounds as to how Marx would characterize the current financial crisis, characterized by â€Å"frantic efforts by merchants to unload onto the consumer, at almost any price, the vast surplus of unsold commodities that have accumulated since the credit crisis began to take hold† (Hitchens 2009, 89). Certainly, several of Marx’s key theories, namely â€Å"the bitter struggle between finance capital and industrial capital,† prophesized the global economic meltdown, as Hitchens reflects, in a manner that borders on downright eerie (Hitchens 2009, 89): â€Å"[T]he pride of American capitalism has seized up and begun to rust, and†¦automobiles may cease even to be made in Detroit as a consequence of insane speculation in worthless paper derivatives. The lines of jobless and hungry begin to lengthen, and what more potent image of those lines do we possess than that of the reserve army of the unemployed – capitals finest weapon in beating down the minimum wage and increasing the hours of the working week?† (Hitchens 2009, 89). Marx did not grasp the whole picture, however, as Hitchens carefully notes. Perhaps the philosopher’s own pride or arrogance swayed him to underestimate the tenacity and creativity of capitalist imagination, particularly in regards to the former stalwarts of communism, Russia and China.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More â€Å"Who was predicting even 30 years ago that Russia and China would today be turbocharged capitalist systems, however discrepant in type? (Hitchens 2009, 89). While Marx may have felt in his time that he was soun ding the death knell of capitalism, Hitchens highlights the philosopher’s â€Å"failure, in Das Kapital, to grasp quite how revolutionary capitalist innovation really was. The chapter on new industrial machinery opens with a snobbish quotation from John Stuart Mills Principles of Political Economy: It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the days toil of any human being. This must have seemed absurd even at the time, and it appears preposterous after the third wave of technological revolution and rationalization that modern capitalism has brought in its train† (Hitchens 2009, 95). However, what Hitchens misses from Das Kapital is Marx’s vital clarification of the social role of money and capital. â€Å"The value of commodities more and more expands into an embodiment of human labour in the abstract†¦one function of money, namely, [is] to serve as the form of manifestation of the value of commodities, or as the material i n which the magnitudes of their values are socially expressed† (Marx 1996, 69). The Truth Revolution stems from this concept – the idea that both money and value are social agreements. Marx understood that â€Å"man is not an abstract being, squatting outside the world. Man is the human world, the state, society† (Marx 1990, 79). Just as â€Å"man makes religion; religion does not make man,† humans created money, the idea of value, the economy, capitalism, the markets, and, most definitely, the crash itself (Marx 1990, 79). This may seem obvious and simplistic, but upon reflection, we can see tremendous power in the simple but profound understanding that what is, has been made, and can just as easily be unmade. This understanding is the root of revolution: the only absolute in life is death. Leo Panitch expounds on this speculation of Marx’s reaction, were he alive today, to the crash. â€Å"Marx would certainly relish pointing out how flaws inhere nt in capitalism led to the current crisis. He would see how modern developments in finance, such as securitization and derivatives, have allowed markets to spread the risks of global economic integration† (Panitch 2009, 142). The deep penetration of finance into all strata of society, according to Panitch, means that â€Å"consumer demand (and hence, prosperity) in recent years has depended more and more on credit cards and mortgage debt at the same time that the weakened power of trade unions and cutbacks in social welfare have made people more vulnerable to market shocks† (Panitch 2009, 142). This increasingly unstable and volatile global system of finance has â€Å"contributed to overall economic growth in recent decades.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on We Still Have a Lot to Learn from Marx specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More But it also produced a series of inevitable financial bubbles, the most dan gerous of which emerged in the U.S. housing sector. That bubbles subsequent bursting had†¦profound impact around the globe precisely because of its centrality to sustaining both U.S. consumer demand and international financial markets† (Panitch 2009, 142). In global capitalism, in other words, the snake eats its own tail. Panitch loses the thread, however, when he asserts that â€Å"capitalism, by its nature, breeds and fosters social isolation† (Panitch 2009, 142). It is not capitalism that creates social isolation. Instead, the myth of ownership and the delusion of control manufacture a false world wherein those with material possessions believe that through said â€Å"ownership,† they are somehow better off – more in control of their lives – than those who lack material possessions. Nicholas Capaldi, in his religiously themed polemic Spiritual Capitalism: Envy and Social Engineering, Not the Market, are to Blame for our Malaise, attacks Marx ’s philosophy on the grounds that â€Å"the use of social science to explain human relations has blinded scholars to the true sources of this philosophy. Having abandoned Weber for Marx, Durkheim, Freud, and deconstruction, social scientists totally miss the spiritual roots of the liberal order. They presume a secular outlook in which religious belief is just another misguided epiphenomenon† (Capaldi 2010, 13). Conversely, Capaldi argues, â€Å"political individualism and free markets relate to social cohesion† (Capaldi 2010, 13). Amazingly, Capaldi lays blame for the current global economic crisis on the shoulders of insecure members of the society, specifically, envious Americans: [T]he most serious problem within modern liberal societies is the presence of failed or incomplete individuals. Either unaware of or lacking faith in their ability to exercise self-discipline, incomplete individuals seek escape into the collective identity of communities insulated fr om the challenge of opportunity. These are people focused on avoiding failure rather than on achieving success. Incomplete individuals identify themselves by feelings of envy, resentment, self-distrust, victimization, and self-pity – in short, an inferiority complex. Anti-Americanism abroad and lack of faith in American Exceptionalism at home are the clearest manifestations (Capaldi 2010, 14). Self-discipline and faithlessness aside, the Truth Revolution transcends envy. Envy, in itself, is a product of the collective delusion maintained by capitalism, that ownership equates to control.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Kornai lauds Marx’s scholarship and lucidity of thought, and credits this with the continued vitality of his philosophy. Similarly, Kornai points to a sense of security that Marx’s teachings instill in his followers: â€Å"[Marxists] possess†¦an analytical apparatus and a conceptual framework with a universal explanatory force. Whatever the historical event, the economic problem, or the stage performance to be considered, there†¦[is] an instrument in a Marxists hands that perform[s]the task of analysis. This†¦[gives] the Marxist a sense of superiority† (Kornai 2009, 969). Certainly, Marx’s arrogance led him, and perhaps his followers also, to assume that capitalism would simply die out. Capitalism, however, remains tenacious due to the attraction of the illusion it represents. â€Å"Theory is only realized in a people so far as it fulfills the needs of the people,† and the theory of capitalism fulfills the needs of consumer society t o feel in charge and in control (Marx 1990, 87). The terms equality and inequality often appear in a Marxist context. Capaldi hypothesizes that â€Å"Marx†¦stresses equality and†¦posits that far from satisfying genuine human needs, the arts and sciences are expressions of pride†¦and have led to consumerism and the loss of community. The†¦social contract is characterized as one in which the rich and powerful coerce the less fortunate into institutionalizing inequality† (Capaldi 2010, 14). Journalist Nicholas Kristof delineates figures that underscore the wide gap between the haves and have nots in the U.S. as of 2010: â€Å"the top 1 percent of Americans owns 34 percent of America’s private net worth, according to figures compiled by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. The bottom 90 percent owns just 29 percent. That also means that the top 10 percent controls more than 70 percent of Americans’ total net worth† (Kristof 2010, A 37). This unequal distribution of â€Å"ownership†, according to Kristof, leads to the disbanding of society as a whole. â€Å"[W]hat happens in dysfunctional countries where the rich just don’t care about those below the decks[is] nations without a social fabric or sense of national unity. Huge concentrations of wealth corrode the soul of any nation† (Kristof 2010, A37). The Truth Revolution transcends the state of Equality and Inequality described herein. In the Truth Revolution, all are equal. What, precisely, do we still need to learn from Marx? And what, precisely, is the Truth Revolution? The global economic crisis, according to Hitchens, was â€Å"actually triggered by a subprime attempt to transform low-income people into property owners, albeit indebted ones† (Hitchens 2009, 89). The question to ask then, remains, why was the desire to own so strong in individuals who held no real means of traditional ownership? Why were low income people so driv en to acquire private property, when they knew they could not sustain it? Marx called for the â€Å"dissolution of society,† embodied and spearheaded by â€Å"a particular class†¦the proletariat† (Marx 1990, 90). The proletariat â€Å"form[s] a sphere of society which claims no traditional status but only a human status† (Marx 1990, 90). However, we do not need to learn to somehow physically divest ourselves of private property. We do need dissolution of private property, but only in the figurative sense. What we really need to divest ourselves of is the illusion of ownership itself. Ownership does not equate to control; control cannot be had. The Truth Revolution demands a hard look at the reality of life as a human. Ownership as a means to control remains the single most debilitating delusion pervasive to humanity. Why? Truth be told, we as human beings own nothing, not even our own bodies. We do not control our inner workings. We can neither stop ourselv es from aging nor dying. Our cells multiply and attack each other without our knowledge or consent. As far as material ownership goes, our stocks liquefy in our hands, our lands get wiped out by tsunamis and hurricanes, our children die or disown us, and our minds succumb to Alzheimer’s, wherein we forget that we ever owned anything in the first place, and our material possessions pass along into other hands. No amount of money guarantees control. No human made instrument prevents catastrophic loss. To be human is by definition to be a custodian. Therefore, we control nothing. Marx’s philosophy teaches that â€Å"the arm of criticism cannot replace the criticism of arms. Material force can only be overthrown by material force; but theory itself becomes a material force when it has seized the masses† (Marx 1990, 86). While the Truth Revolution surpasses theory, as it must, being truth, Marx correctly identifies the galvanizing social effect that a sound theory cr eates in a populace. If we choose to learn from Marx, we learn that if â€Å"in the course of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, the public power will lose it political character. Political power†¦is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another. If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled†¦by means of a revolution†¦to make itself the ruling class†¦it will†¦have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and of classes generally† (Marx 2003,15). This state, this dissolution of class is the natural state, and has always existed. The illusion of ownership as a means to control, maintained through the guiding ethos of capitalist society, falsifies the true nature of life – unstable, dynamic, and entirely outside the purview of human control. In the same way that the prole tariat revolution imagined and engineered by Marx does, the Truth Revolution sweeps away all delusion, and creates the dual experience of waking the human race up while simultaneously forcing the human race to grow up. Once we accept that it’s all made up, and that no human made financial product insulates us from the random, unpredictable, uncontrollable nature of life that we are all subject to, being of life and not outside of it, the Truth Revolution creates a human race capable of feeling secure in its own insecurity. Reference List Capaldi, Nicholas. 2010. Spiritual Capitalism: Envy and Social Engineering, Not the Market, are to Blame for our Malaise. The American Conservative 9.6: 13-14. Hitchens, Christopher. 2009. Hes Back: The Current Financial Crisis and the Enduring Relevance of Marx. The Atlantic (April): 88-93. Kornai, Janos. 2009. Marx Through the Eyes of an East European Intellectual. Social Research 76.3: 965-987. Kristof, Nicholas D. 2010. â€Å"A Hedge Fun d Republic?† New York Times. Web. Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, and Serge L. Levitsky. 1996. Das Kapital: A Critique of Political Economy. Friedrich Engels, ed. Washington: Regnery Gateway. Marx, Karl. 1990. â€Å"Religion, the Opiate of the People.† The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought. Jaroslav Pelikan, ed. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Marx, Karl. 2003. The Communist Manifesto. BompaCrazy.com. Web. Panitch, Leo. 2009. Thoroughly Modern Marx: Lights. Camera. Action. Das Kapital. Now. Foreign Policy 172: 140-143.

Final global business plan paper for company in Brazil Essay

Final global business plan paper for company in Brazil - Essay Example Whenever a company reaches out to new markets where there are always many factors that determine how well the company’s product is going to perform once it has been launched. As far as the energy drink Jackie O is concerned, factors look very favorable and suitable for a product launch in Brazil where political, economical, social and financial options are very healthy and growing. As already indicated by the case study, the political scenario is quite stable and favorable for a foreign investment, Brazilian government and few other countries are trying to form an alliance among Latin American countries which would significantly create a positive impact on the political stability in the region. Furthermore, economic conditions of Brazil are likely to favor any foreign investment where economy of Brazil comes under top ten economies of the world with most gross domestic product (GDP) which is an indicator of their economic stability. Their government and policies have worked well with the macroeconomic indicators to keep the economy growing even in the times of recession when the entire world was crumpling. (Baer, 2007). Also, one of the most crucial factors that influence the launch of a product in a new market is the availability of finances and financial institutions. Company A does not only have the option of taking funds from US accounts but they can also f inance their projects from the funds available at fully developed financial institutions like Banks in Brazil. For a product like energy drink, social factors will play an important role in determining the sales volume of the product (Grewal and Levy, 2009). There are some areas where problems might arise which include high inequality in the region, hunger and poverty with a high rate of epidemics including life threatening HIV, along with environmental issues like pollution and deforestation brought about by the recent development in the region particularly in urban areas. Brazil has a culture which includes people from many different ethnicities which would create a diversified market demand for the Company A, here is one important factor that Company A has to decide once they execute the plan for the launch of their product that whether to go with a generic product focusing all the strata of society or would they differentiating with respect to different taste according to the pr eference of different classes of people (Baer, 2007). Moreover, a plus factor for Company A is the use of eco friendly raw materials in the production process since many of the energy or carbonated drinks are not healthy or recommended by health experts as they provide a temporary uplift in the energy level and when the impact starts to decrease, the energy level falls way below the level it would have fallen had there been no intake of energy drink. The use of organic raw materials by Company A would make a healthy energy drink for the consumers and hence will give more energy without the crashing feeling (Brainard and Diaz, 2009). Apart from the socio and macro economic indicators, there are many other things that Company a needs to take into account which includes competitor analysis, exchange rate depreciation, taxation and regulatory laws. Company A must investigate the market to find out how many competitors are operating with their respective prices, they have to evaluate the expected fluctuation in the exchange rate which can either increase or decrease their profits. Also, a thorough and in depth analysis of taxation and regulatory laws are imperative since they vary from country to country and high depend on the

Identity, Authority and Freedom; The Potentate and the Traveler by Essay

Identity, Authority and Freedom; The Potentate and the Traveler by Said Edward W - Essay Example He believes that the missing element of criticism which is lacking in academies or educational institutes in most parts of the world is something that needs to be added to academic life to resolve issues of politics which include race, gender, religion, national identity and culture. The fact is, that most people are convicted of stereotyping, being ethnocentric, geocentric or faced with a national superiority or a supremacy over other cultures (Said, 2005). Analysis and Evaluation The problem highlighted by the author here relates to identity, authority and freedom of speech and expression in the world in general. The fact that, nothing in this world is seen in isolation but is relative to other things or dependent on other elements such as culture, religion, geographic similarity, religion, nationality or politics. In light of social sciences and humanities, the author considers race, gender, ethnicity and religion as political factors that hinder learning and knowledge at all leve ls especially in the academia which is suffering from a lack of academic freedom as the author terms it. He believes that academics forms a basis of what the students would later be like once they leave the academic institute and the social, political and general environment is what defines their future and how they deal with adversities.

Critical Reflection of Writing the Research Action Essay on Why High

Critical Reflection of Writing the Research Action on Why High School Athletics Are Important - Essay Example In my essay, I addressed; how hard it is to be as well as to become a student-athlete, and the importance of the student element of being a student-athlete is. In addition, I reviewed the criticism from teachers, parents, and other students towards athletes is a problem that is overlooked, also being part of a team is the best way for a student to meet friends in a disciplined, healthy environment. I wanted to emphasize my topic towards teachers and parents that are against athletics in schools. In my essay, I wanted to prove athletics is beneficial in school, because of how important grades are when trying to become a college athlete as well as competing in games or tournaments. For example, coaches make their players miss games if they have not met the minimum grade requirements set by the institution until the grade is brought up to expectation. In addition, once a student becomes a part of a team, they make everlasting friendships with teammates. Even more influential athletics is a great way for students to stay healthy and be around a safe, positive and constructive atmosphere. When establishing my audience, I wanted to appoint the value of discipline, along with extending on how sports do help with students’ educational and social needs. As I was writing the essay, I was guided by the stasis theory of conjecture, definition, quality, and policy. The theory assisted me in identifying the real concern of teachers and parents against athletics and sports in schools. In the conjecture part, I identified the facts that support and oppose my stance on school sports. These facts formed the basis of my essay and finally guided me on the importance of sports in schools. The definition bit, using the stasis theory, helped me in defining the meaning and importance of sports in schools. This part strengthened my conviction about the contribution athletics and sports have on the life of a student.