The Golden Girls Essay -- essays research papers

The Golden Girls   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I am going to be writing about the lifetime television show, â€Å" The Golden Girls†. There are many different episodes and I have probably seen them all, at least twice. I first started watching the show with my mom. My curfew when I was in high school was 11:00 or 11:30. While I was going into detail about the many things that had happened that night, â€Å"The Golden Girls† would be on. At first I did not enjoy them, but as I got to know the characters I was addicted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, and most important there is Blanch Devereaux, played by Rue McClananan, born 1935, in Healdton, Oklahoma. She is the Southern Belle, and also, the homeowner. Blanch worries very much about her looks and how people think of her. She has the reputation of a â€Å"Slut†, but in a few episodes she claims that some (or most) of her sexual stories are more of a fantasy than actual life. Blanch never tells anyone her real age, she always wants people to think of her as young. For example, Blanch has her granddaughter come to stay with her for a week, and when they go to the dock she had her tell the sailors that Blanch is her sister. Blanch also works part-time in a museum.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, there is Rose Nylund, Played by Betty White. Betty White was born 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois; she is the oldest of all the girls (in real life). Personally, Rose is my favorite character. She always finds a way to make the audience, and her roommates laugh. There is something you need to understand about Rose; she comes from St. Olive, Minnesota. In the television show St. Olive is considered an idiot town. She always has a pointless story to tell about people from her hometown with weird names. Nobody ever pays any attention to Rose and they always seem to be annoyed by her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Thirdly, there is Dorothy Zbornak, she is played by Beatrice Arthur, â€Å"Bea† was born 1923, in New York City. Dorothy is the intelligent one of the bunch; she is a substitute history teacher. She never has a date, and she is the one that seems to keep everyone on track. She has a very firm outlook on life, and tries to keep the â€Å"girls† in order. But even Dorothy screws up sometimes. When she first got married, years ago to another character, Dorothy’s ex-husband, Stan, she got pregnant. Her mother always harasses her... ..., including Best Comedy Series each year, winning ten Emmys, three Golden Globe Awards and many other prestigious honors. On top of a successful series and an exceptional cast, â€Å"The Golden Girls† attracted very talented and popular guest stars, including Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, Julio Iglesias, Debbie Reynolds, Brenda Vaccaro, Jack Gilford, and Burt Reynolds.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"The Golden Girls† is a Witt-Thomas-Harris Production in associations with Touchstone Television, and was created by Susan Harris. Paul Witt, Tony Thomas, and Susan Harris served as executive producers. The show was distributed by Buena Vista Television, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As you can see, this television show is about four old ladies, and situation that arise in any home; jealousy, love, compassion, deceit, forgiveness, etc. But, most important friendship. I am not quite sure what audience the producers were trying to reach or attract, but I know that I love the show and I am only 18. So, in conclusion, I think .everyone should sit down and watch an episode of the Golden Girls, you never know, you might like it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

World Oil Economy

Energy has been the main concern of nations looking for progress and development throughout history, oil has always been one such means of energy that is capable of sustaining the large scale development projects many nations have undertaken, the utility generated by oil cannot be substituted with the same efficiency by any other energy generation means, oil today is used in transportation, manufacturing, infrastructure development, power generation etc. All the uses of oil are so vital and important in nature that any hindrance in the supply of oil can wreck havoc in the world economic system. In recent years, we have seen the prices of oil reach to new heights and it’s an accepted fact that oil prices fluctuating always deal a blow to the economic system on a global level. Whenever there is uncertainty about oil supply due to violence in the Niger delta or political turmoil in Iran or Venezuela or due to the Iraq war. The world markets always react to it and we see a negative impact on the overall economy the prices of oil surge to record heights, such is the case we witnessed in 2008 and early 2009 until recession came into full force and due to dropping demand the prices of oil lowered considerable. But the fundamental question remained energy and the quest for energy and how the global oil economy is working having a direct and immediate impact on the economy of the world. (IEA, 2008) The reason for this issue to come to the forefront are the oil shocks and their negative effects the world has witnessed in the last few decades, it all started with the Arab-Israeli war in 1973, then came the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, then was the attack on Iran by Iraq and later the attack on Kuwait in 1980 and 1990, then was the operation desert storm for liberation of Kuwait in 1991, further down the line was the War in Iraq after the allegations of weapons of mass destruction being in possession of Iraq, the war in Lebanon with Israel and in recent times the Iran issue threatens to jeopardize the supply of oil to other countries of the world. Right before the recession started effecting the economies in the year 2008, the world was experiencing a very healthy growth rate, countries like China and India were booming giving a rise to demand of oil and related products which naturally played a role in the rise of oil prices In recent years due to the economic crisis we see that the price of oil experienced a massive drop from the record heights it had managed to reach, and that prompted OPEC which is a organization of oil producing and exporting countries to undertake supply cuts in hopes of controlling the price and stopping it from dropping below and acceptable level. In the last few years, OPEC has made sure that it controls the supply of oil to the market in a tight manner and the recent surge in prices gave them a windfall of profit but it should be kept in mind that the global inventory of oil is low as well and it should not be forgotten that concerns do exist about a shortage of oil in the future which will effective ly jam the growth of all countries of the world. The fact that is most interesting that the prices of oil start depicting the effects of news and speculation even before anything actually happens which is also a reason that speculation plays a very big role in oil pricing mechanisms, since the whole game is about the supply and oil deliveries reaching their intended destinations that’s the core reason that prices get effected by the news and expected events or incidents. (Jesse et al, 2008) The market does possess certain complaints with the oil producing and exporting countries as well, it has been seen time and time again that whenever there is fear that the oil prices are going to experience a big drop OPEC immediately introduces production cuts to balance the effect but on the other hand when the prices of oil hit the ceiling there is very little or almost no effort done by the OPEC countries to control the situation and hence it creates a negative feeling about these countries in the non-OPEC nations. It wont be wrong to suggest that the entire world economy is more dependent on oil and its resulting impacts then any other single factor, countries like China and India have been going through massive development and they supply their products to markets in the west as well as the east and hence the prices and fluctuations in oil prices and supply have a deep impact on these economies, on the other hand poor nations emerge as the biggest losers in case of major turmoil in oil markets. The rise in oil prices has a fundamental contribution to the increase in inflation and trade imbalances in various countries and the prices of oil start a chain effect hindering the abilities of a country to economically strengthen or at times even sustain the current economic strength. On a long term basis we witness that nations are increasingly taking interest in resources that can be used as substitute to oil, development of ethanol is one such example of work being done in alternate energy sources, another interesting observation is that most oil exporting countries are eager to maintain national control over the oil resources but such a strategy also logically leads to less investment in the sector and that’s subsequently leads to maintenance of higher prices in the near future. (Jesse et al, 2008) â€Å"In an elegant and influential paper, it was shown that oil price spikes might lead to a high degree of subsequent uncertainty that causes firms to hold up their investment projects, thereby leading to a dip in overall output. In theory, this effect could be important, though there is not yet much corroborating empirical evidence. â€Å"(Ben Bernanke, 1983) Some studies done by the IMF in 2003 suggest that a 5$ a barrel increase in oil price would lower the global output by 0. 3%, with Europe and Africa being the most effected areas since Asia, and Latin American does consist of oil exporting countries. The problem here is that the effect on fast paced developing countries is much more then as compared to other countries and secondly if we consider situation of a poor nation which is already facing a heavy import bill, the oil shock can end up being a back breaker for them with the impact being at least 4 times more intense. What makes oil products different from other commodities based on the demand and supply principle is that fact that it is used for energy purposes and the price effects for the oil producers and people who consumer oil are more difficult to be adjusted to in the short run then on the long run. Over a long run the factors induced by oil price uncertainty and the political uncertainties surrounding it can definitely be managed as societies are known to evolve over a period of time, needs and ways of getting the job done change from time to time, already we see that the world has become wary of the Oil weapon in the hands of a particular cartel which gives them an edge and a negotiating slip for their interests as they are fully aware that the dependence of the world is on the recourses provided by them. (IEA, 2008) In relation to the countries which are heavily dependent on oil to meet their energy requirements the picture is not so good, as they are so dependent on oil even short run fluctuations have a major impact on the position of their revenues, Oil industry requires massive investments to setup and a long lead time is involved in making the ventures profitable this situation further complicated by oil price fluctuations make it a risky venture. One option for them is to try and diversify the risk they are taking by the sharing of the costs involved with countries they are allied with or the private sector, the existence of oil stabilization funds in countries like Norway can be made of use to stabilize the shocks arising from volatile fluctuations. (Rogoff, 2006) Another good measure will be for other countries to exercise much more flexible monetary policies, countries that are into commodity manufacturing export like South Africa, New Zealand, Australia allow their exchange rates too adjust accordingly with the fluctuations in the prices for the commodities they export. Similarly oil producing countries will be able to induce exchange rate flexibility helping to avoid the sudden deflation that normally occurs. Another question that comes in every individuals mind is how long will the oil reserves last, every now and then we get estimates providing deadlines like oil will run out in about 50 years time or 100 years time but the fact is we just cant be sure about it, there is another circle of thought that believes that with the developing technology and sophisticated methods it will be possible to discover more oil reserves which may last for a very long time. Recently questions did arise about the size of reserves of particular countries or large corporate entities like Royal Dutch Shell but the point to be understood is the oil industry is covered with various complexities like the large scale work involved in identifying potential spots for oil reserves, undertaking massive investment to explore the marked areas and then judging the size of underlying reserves due to all these factors the experts tend to prefer taking a conservative approach instead of going full board and then coming up with disappointing revisions knowing perfectly that the prices of oil are directly effected by the discovery of new reserves. (Jesse et al, 2008) The Political side of the Oil game can never be ignored or downplayed since it’s a major factor, for countless years the world oil industry was being ruled by a limited number of corporate giants operating in collaboration and keeping away from each others territories all over the world. The companies h ad been able to obtain large number of areas in oil rich countries as their turf and were allowed to operate freely. These corporate entities were operating like state’s functioning within state’s, their roles and ways of functioning have been documented on various occasions by investigative studies and new findings continue to arise on a more regular basis. These companies were allowed to use their massive budgets and resources to influence the elected officials in many of the countries and at certain points even gain outcomes in the political and legal arenas as per their wishes. What resulted from this strong influence were the fantastic terms of agreement and other concessions these companies were able to obtain with ease furthermore they were also able to protect the industry from nationalization policies which were attempted in various countries as well. (Mitchell et al, 2001) Although today the situation is different from what it used to be as many countries have preferred to operate in the oil industry only with their nationally run entities, but there are other countries which seem to be opening up to international entities and the need to tight regulation and control arises from this situation if the mistakes of the past are to be avoided. It can also be said that the roles of the past have been somewhat reversed in current times, these days companies face far stringent regulations and terms to be met with by some of the countries. On other hand we can also see the example of sanctions imposed by the US on certain oil rich countries which directly hinders the American oil companies from undertaking any research and development of oil reserves in the territories being blocked by the American sanctions. It is important to understand that in recent times the situation in the World oil industry has experienced a significant shift from what it used to be, the companies have started taking a more professional and business oriented approach, negotiations are done on the basis of mutual benefits. (Borenstein, 2008) Concerns about the future supply and availability of oil due to political reasons arise every now and then but it is very important to understand that the countries producing and exporting oil cannot hold it and disrupt supply for long periods as they themselves are significantly dependent on revenues generated from oil they sell in the world markets so any disruption can only be of a very small amount of time and not something very substantial to be a matter of great concern. (Jesse et al, 2008) In relation to the growing demand of oil, it is predicted by many researchers that the oil prices will remain high but the high prices should be considered a permanent change in fact the growing awareness of substituting oil and energy based resources should be kept in mind as we know today that large amounts of coal reserves do exist which have not been discovered or are not being utilized at present, such alternative energy resources if brought into action in the future in large scale projects will definitely make the prices of oil dip significantly knowing that the current dip in prices is only because of the recession and demand drops being experienced all over the world, but the recession is temporary and it will pass but the situation will definitely become much more interesting when the alternative energy resources are brought into the market scenario. Obviously the level of oil supplies cannot be sustained indefinitely and some data obtained form research on this topic comes very handy here. (Kate et al, 2008) In the month of November 2007, the World Economic Outlook 2007 of the international energy agency came up with a finding that was alarming for everyone, stated that a â€Å"supply side crunch leading in the period to 2015 involving an abrupt escalation of prices cannot be ruled out , the findings further suggested that due to short term inelasticity a demand supply gap could open up a gap of about 13. 5 million barrels per day in the span of coming seven years, we also saw similar warnings coming from the CEO’s of Chevron, Total and the royal Dutch shell† Interestingly the paper attributed these findings to be more related to the economic and political circumstances around the world that could hinder the exploration and development of new reserves which are fundamental to the world oil economy. Furthermore the paper goes on to state that the methods being used to calculate the current oil reserves in the world are variable and have the tendency to be incorrect which creates confusion since no comprehensive and accurate system exists till this point, most of the figures being quoted are nothing more then reasonable guesses. (IEA, 2004) In terms of the future outlook looking at the world political and economic situation it seems unlikely that a positive platform may get developed for wide scale exploratory and development work in potential spots around the world in search for oil reserves which basically advocates to the fact that the world maybe heading towards another oil price shock. The paper sums it up as that although oil reserves may not run out any time soon and it wont be an abrupt affair as well, the reserves may last for quite some time before the crisis is at our doors but the it is important to develop a system to foresee any undesirable development and take steps to neutralize it before it triggers a crisis which could be one of the worst ones the world is going to see, and like it was suggested that the OPEC countries seem to be taking a lethargic approach towards development of new reserves for the future generation and this needs to be corrected and a more active approach is required from all the parties involved. (Jesse et al, 2008) A study done in the Netherlands also came up with some very interesting findings which are mentioned below: The study suggests that if the world economy was not hit by the recession then at this point in time the prices of oil could have reached a whooping 200$ a barrel due to supply constraints, it is also suggested that after the recession such a situation of supply constraint and high prices could last well for a decade at least. (Barry, 2005) According to this paper, â€Å"Due to the supply strain the oil prices will oscillate between two variables: a) The cost of the marginal barrel of supply as determined by the most expensive barrel plus a margin for supply/demand fundamentals and geopolitical risks, driven by open markets in an OECD economic framework, and ) The real User Value of oil – determined by increasingly closed markets (for new reserve exploitation; for bilateral oil trade flows; for refined products), as supported by several of the major OPEC countries and Russia. â€Å" The two options above are distinctive price regimes and as mentioned in the paper the prices wont follow one single regime entirely in fact with changing trends an conditions each of the two regimes will come in play time and time again. Some other factors in relation to it are about the oil futures market as it is the indicator and signaling mechanism of the future prices of oil in the international market. From a traditional point of view high prices of oil should encourage producers to develop and supply more expensive oil and benefit from the high prices but we have not seen any such scenario developing instead the prices are just a test of the consumer behavior towards the changes and the resulting demand. Due to the political and social situation an uncertainty lingers and when such times of great uncertainty are in effect either the price really shoots up or shoots down depending on the conditions. We have already seen the prices shoot up drastically in the last year 2008. It should be understood that although in the short term the actions and reactions of speculators may have an impact on the oil prices but they have no impact in the long run and in the case of current oil prices it is the long run which is the driver behind the volatility. (Kate et al, 2008) In a period of less the 15 years the consumer base for oil has doubled, the situation has changed rapidly from what it was in the early 1990’s, Countries like China and India plus the other developing nations have substantial energy requirements which is naturally dependent on oil, further more the increase in the demand for oil was not exactly being matched by new discoveries of oil reserves resulting in a scenario where we have an extreme strain on the oil industry and the struggle of the industry to provide sustained supply can be understood. Although high oil prices do have an impact on the growth globally but the rate of responsiveness to high prices has not been as substantial till now, at present oil has become a necessity to meet fundamental energy requirements and the absence of substitute resources on a mass level is mainly responsible for the situation. In any given scenario we see that oil will remain the fundamental and the most basic resource for meeting the glob al energy requirements at least for a few decades. The recently revised figures by the international energy agency show that over the next 22 years the supply of oil will only increase at half the pace then it was originally anticipated to which will be about 13 to 18 million barrels per day as compared to previously anticipated 29 million barrels per day. The figures further suggest that the development and discovery pace of new oil reserves and supply of new oil to the market will require serious efforts if the world demand for oil has to be met and a global energy crisis has to be averted. The scenario suggests that if some drastic discoveries are not made, oil rationing will be done in countries to accommodate the need for growing and developing countries, further more countries will have to take effective steps in withdrawing oil products subsidies without triggering massive inflation so as to curb the growing demand for oil. A fierce battle will also begin for domination over scare resources, this can range from tough price wars to even geo political tensions and ultimately even leading to wars. A deep and prolonged recession can be one of the likely outcomes if an energy crisis takes the world in its grip. Quickly shooting up oil prices may not be the only fate the world may face if countries which are non-OPEC but they do possess significant oil reserves step up to the plate and in collaboration with major oil consuming countries make the oil available in the international market, currently these resources are not being developed and made use of due to the massive investment needed in developing them and the uncertainty relating to demand, not to forget the economic crisis the world has been gripped by. If these countries are able to collaborate and make use of the idle resources then the predictions of massive rise in oil prices in the next decade will fade, although the prices of oil will rise in the future but in a more orderly and controlled fashion without causing any economic turmoil or crisis. (Kate et al, 2008) Steps and measures will be required to change the scenario from an Oil supply constrained condition to a more energy sustainable globe. It is a fact that the world needs time to adapt itself to new measures and steps to reduce the dependence on oil and use the latest technology to develop renewable energy resources and supplement oil with the alternative fuels so that the strain on the oil supply be relieved. Iraq is one of the major producers of oil in the world but the Iraqi oil producing and exporting capacity has been negatively affected by the constant turmoil and violence in the country, if the conflict is resolved and the violence subsides then the capacity development and supply by Iraq can play a big role in calming the international oil market. (Kate et al, 2008) What needs to be understood that the size of the world oil economy is huge, it produces about 84 million barrels a day which is a huge size by any metrics. A resource being generated and utilized on such a large scale cannot be substituted over night, it will take a very long time for any viable alternative to be developed and for it to be available in a mass quantity. Only suitable alternatives being developed by using latest technology are the 1st generation bio fuels and by the estimates it becomes clear that although the supply and size of this option will increase but there will be no dramatic and significant rise in the bio fuels to have a big impact on the strain being experienced by the oil supply side. In recent years we have seen attempts made by geo-economic layers to secure access to oil reserves by getting into understanding with oil producing countries not just by business to business contact anymore but by a government to government contact. The importance of geo-politics and international relations can not be ignored In this scenario when the challenges to transform the world into an energy sustainable entity are mammoth and the complexity is expected to increase we set forth on the path to reforming the world oil economy. We see that the world is in the grip of a credit crisis, very high rates of inflation, imbalances in the balance of trade and a weak dollar, many economies are suffering from the resulting recession and they will find it very difficult to incorporate new measures to adapt themselves to the new situation that has arisen today. The recent windfall earnings made by the oil producing and exporting countries is also something that brings them to the forefront in the global arena, it remains to see whether these funds are used to develop new oil reserves so that the strain on the current reserves is reduced or these funds are withheld and used for other purposes. (Kate et al, 2008) The geographical and political tensions are already on the rise in the quest for energy and resources, specially since these recourses are in the hands of a small number countries with high concentration, the question that arises is whether the oil exporting countries and the oil consuming countries will be able to collaborate and co-operate with each other to turn the situation towards an energy sustainable environment or will things take a turn towards the worse resulting in conflict and competition for the dominance over resources by all means necessary. The situation will of course be dependent on the condition of the gap in supply and demand the level of growth being experienced in the world. Confrontations can be expected between these countries as one group will be of the countries holding the keys to al the resources and the other group will be the one in need of these resources. In recent times we have also seen threats by countries like Iran to not only halt petroleum supplies but also block the channel through which oil is supplied to the rest of the world from the middle east, this is one scenario which we are likely to witness incase there is war in Iran. In recent times King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia invited oil consuming and producing countries to the Jeddah summit to discuss the developing situation in the oil markets and the impact of oil prices on the world economy. Hopefully this can be the start of the collaboration and co-operation hoped for between the countries to a better tomorrow.

Consciousness In “To The Lighthouse” Essay

Stream of consciousness is a modernist narrative technique that attempts to create the illusion that the reader is experiencing the unstructured flow of observations, ideas, memories, and associations that occur in the mind of the fictional character. The stream is often illogical and puzzling in its apparent disorganization, but some patterns of association, habits of thought or recurrent images begin to emerge, providing indications of the overriding fears, preoccupations and interests of the character. The stream of consciousness tries to portray the elemental, emotional life, and the hidden psychological life of the character. In To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf develops the stream of consciousness technique as a means of exploring the inner lives of her characters, and she displays life as an aspect and function of the mind. In To the Lighthouse, we find ourselves in a small community of people who are expected to have individual interests and experiences. The Ramsays and their eight children are on holiday on the north coast of Scotland. In addition to the Ramsay family, included on this holiday are friends and acquaintances. Mr. Ramsay is a professional author and philosopher and the characters that Woolf has placed with him all seem to be of the intellectual set; Lily Briscoe is an artist, Augustus Carmichael is a poet, William Bankes is a botanist, and Charles Tansley is a scholar. Part One of To the Lighthouse, The Window, shows us the basic personalities of Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey and the intricacies of their relationship with one another, as well as the mind set of other characters presented by Woolf. As the plot progresses, it appears to move on normal constructional lines from scene to scene. However, it must be remembered that Woolf uses the stream of consciousness technique, so that the change of scene is more a change of aspect, as we move from the consciousness of one character to the other. Woolf has developed her characters to be of similar intellect. Because of the closely knit, homogeneous world in which we find ourselves, Woolf has taken great care to make the movement from one consciousness to another easy and natural. To the Lighthouse is divided into three parts. Woolf marks both the change of scene, as well as the passage of time, ten years, by numerical heading. This does not interfere with the flow of the steam of consciousness, and actually fastens the reader in the plot securely, one knows where one is. The middle part entitled Time Passes, contains the facts that Mrs. Ramsay has died, Andrew has been killed in the war, and Prue has died in childbirth, as well as the decay of the neglected house. Time Passes acts as a connection between the first part, The Window, and the third part the ?The Lighthouse. Since the characters in The Lighthouse, find themselves set in the same environment as The Window it is easy for the reader to find his position in each of the characters consciousness. When I first sat down to read To the Lighthouse, I was a little confused. But as I continued reading, I recognized that through the stream of consciousness technique, Woolf made it possible for me to experience the Ramsays home and the lighthouse, as well as see and feel the characters personal reflections. Virginia Woolf successfully transported me back into a period long gone. As I finished reading To the Lighthouse, I actually visualized the green lawns, the blue ocean and the lighthouse in the distance.

Free Essays on Viola Pallens

Viola pallens â€Å"Northern White Violet† This beautiful flower is a member of the Plantae Kingdom. Its Subkingdom is Tracheobionta. Division: Magnoliophyta, Class: Magnoliopsida, Subclass: Dilleniidae, Order: Violales, Family: Violaceae, Genus: Viola, and species: pallens. Viola pallens, the Northern White Violet, is a North American native perennial herb. It is an autotroph with five white petals, the lower ones veined in a deep shade of purple. The fragrant petals are under one inch long are not radially symmetrical, therefore the flower is an irregular shape. The leaves are bluntly heart-shaped, alternate, basal, simple, and pinnate. The leaves and flowers are on separate stalks, and there is a wide indentation at the junction of the leaf blade and the leaf petiole. The plant is a dicotyledon with adventitious rhizomes that run across the ground forming a network of flowers. The seeds are explosively ejected from the (fruit) capsule and then further distributed by ants. Viola pallens also plays host to caterpillars who like to eat the leaves. The leaves and flowers of the Northern White Violet are edible for humans as well. In fact, they are delicious and healthy. They contain a significant amount of Vitamin C and A. The flowers (and leaves) can be made into jelly, put in salads, boiled (for cooked greens), or dried for use as tea, among other applications. Early European settlers used violets for medicinal purposes. The settlers made poultices out of the seeds and leaves and applied them to treat swelling and inflammation of the skin. The violets were also used as children’s laxatives. There is no reason why this therapy cannot still be applied today for the modern hiker or naturalist. The Viola pallens blooms in March, April, and May. It can be found throughout most of North America except for the south central and southwestern United States. Its habitat is in moist woods, thickets, wetland, ma... Free Essays on Viola Pallens Free Essays on Viola Pallens Viola pallens â€Å"Northern White Violet† This beautiful flower is a member of the Plantae Kingdom. Its Subkingdom is Tracheobionta. Division: Magnoliophyta, Class: Magnoliopsida, Subclass: Dilleniidae, Order: Violales, Family: Violaceae, Genus: Viola, and species: pallens. Viola pallens, the Northern White Violet, is a North American native perennial herb. It is an autotroph with five white petals, the lower ones veined in a deep shade of purple. The fragrant petals are under one inch long are not radially symmetrical, therefore the flower is an irregular shape. The leaves are bluntly heart-shaped, alternate, basal, simple, and pinnate. The leaves and flowers are on separate stalks, and there is a wide indentation at the junction of the leaf blade and the leaf petiole. The plant is a dicotyledon with adventitious rhizomes that run across the ground forming a network of flowers. The seeds are explosively ejected from the (fruit) capsule and then further distributed by ants. Viola pallens also plays host to caterpillars who like to eat the leaves. The leaves and flowers of the Northern White Violet are edible for humans as well. In fact, they are delicious and healthy. They contain a significant amount of Vitamin C and A. The flowers (and leaves) can be made into jelly, put in salads, boiled (for cooked greens), or dried for use as tea, among other applications. Early European settlers used violets for medicinal purposes. The settlers made poultices out of the seeds and leaves and applied them to treat swelling and inflammation of the skin. The violets were also used as children’s laxatives. There is no reason why this therapy cannot still be applied today for the modern hiker or naturalist. The Viola pallens blooms in March, April, and May. It can be found throughout most of North America except for the south central and southwestern United States. Its habitat is in moist woods, thickets, wetland, ma...

Anne Essay about Environmental Collapse Essays

Anne Essay about Environmental Collapse Essays Anne Essay about Environmental Collapse Paper Anne Essay about Environmental Collapse Paper The world today is encountering a lot of environmental problems. One of these problems that is evidently seen everywhere is pollution. Pollution is the addition of chemical or physical agents to the air, water, or land in an amount that can threaten human health, plants, and wildlife. It also lessens the human enjoyment of the environment. Pollution is mainly caused by the people, and this results in natural disasters, dirty and contaminated environment, and diseases. The primary cause of pollution is the people. As we all know, our country is overpopulated and consequently, it adds up to the pollution. Since there are many people, a lot of space is being occupied. The place gets crowded, thus not having room for air, noise, and garbage disposal. The lack of discipline and selfishness of people also worsen pollution. Undisciplined people throw their trash anywhere they want to while selfish people do not care about what is happening around their environment. Instead of the people helping diminish pollution, they become the ones aggravating it even more. Lack of dumpsites also increases pollution because people don’t have enough space to throw out their garbage. Pollution also has its adverse effects such as natural disasters, diseases, dirty and unpleasant environment. Natural disasters such as flood and erosion occur because of pollution. Floods take place because trash that is not thrown in the proper place clog the sewers and drainage. Erosion, on the other hand, takes place because of the rubbish buried under the soil. The soil could not hold anymore because of abundant trash buried under, thus causing soil to erode. Another consequence of pollution is diseases. People get diseases such as cholera and amoebiasis from contaminated water, which is again due to the garbage thrown in rivers or other bodies of water. These diseases could also lead to death sooner or later. Pollution also makes the environment dirty, messy, and unpleasant to look at. We can see that pollution causes diseases, natural disasters, and dirty environment. In order to lessen these things, we must act responsibly, take care and be more conscious of our environment.

Sexual Content on TV Has a Negative Impact on Teenagers

Sexual Content on TV Has a Negative Impact on Teenagers TV Is Bad for Sex-Driven Teens – But There’s More to It People Like To See Sex One thing a person learns as they begin to mature is, things are never black and white, more like robins-egg blue and dark purple, all at once, mixed with little green and black dots in there. It’s a little bit of this, a little bit of that, rarely how we pictured it. The same applies to arguments and points made about certain things – especially when it comes to sex. No one argues there is quite a bit of sexual content on TV, but it is certainly not the only component negatively affecting today’s teens: content on the Internet and films also leave quite a negative impression on teens in terms of how popular culture affects one’s use and understanding of sexuality. TV May Encourage Teens To Embrace a Hyper-Sexualized Lifestyle For one, it’s true: TV is ravaged with sex. Sex sells. Accept it. But the secret is out – people like and like to see sex. It’s on television for sure. Even if it’s not hazy sex scenes, there is a lot of low cleavage and big bosoms – like in the hit show Modern Family. It’s a fantastic show without the sex appeal, but its ample shots of a woman’s low-cut top emphasizing her large chest are just sickening. Young people, especially impressionable teens, see this and it gives them the idea that they are only valued for their sexual offerings. That is not the case. This is clearly the wrong message we want to send to our vulnerable, near-sighted teens. People, biologically, yes, are meant to copulate and spread the species. But the sex on TV clearly negatively impacts teens, and it may encourage them to embrace a hyper-sexualized lifestyle. We don’t want our future voters growing up believing this to be the standard. Sex Is Overtaking Our Culture There is another factor negatively impacting teens today – it’s not just TV that is sexualizing our youth, it’s also the Internet. MTV used to sensor music videos; now you can hear any song with explicit lyrics played as recorded in the studio – bad language and adult content in all. YouTube and other social media play and shares millions of videos with its users, and you can’t discuss sexual content on the Internet without saying how easy you write in Google some description like â€Å"girls in bikinis† and get slammed my pornographic images. And unless a parent enacts a Google adult-supervision app, any impressionable teen can scan the Internet and see despicable images of sex, some entirely too graphic for young eyes to see. On top of that, Porn is so easy to find. Just a quick search and boom: there are porn websites much like that of YouTube. It’s disgusting how sex is overtaking our culture and brainwashing our teens into believi ng promiscuity is a normal, respectable way to live one’s life. On top of TV and the Internet, films also comprise a crucial element in conditioning the over-sexualized youth of our country. Porn is everywhere, especially where it started to become a mainstream part of our culture: film. The film most certainly is another mode of pornography, which has a negative impact on teenagers if viewed at too young an age; this may often be the case, however. Many of our young people are having sex at 14-17 years old, thinking it’s the norm to engage in sex-only relationships and one-nighters. But it’s not okay. That’s how people get sick with disease or get pregnant too young. And one factor to blame for the mentality is the sexual content of film and video as well, not just on TV. In conclusion, sexual content on TV does have a negative impact on teenagers. But there is more to the picture, the overall recipe: images and pornographic content on the Internet and in Film certainly also play a major role in the story. But we have to ask ourselves about the consequences of this overload of sexuality – could we see a country, a world of, perverts and sex addicts, a disease-ridden place with too many abortions and Plan-B encounters and one-night stands? We have to encourage people to seek responsible, considerate, meaningful relationships – of course, these do not go without sexual intercourse. Sex is a part of life as it is, and it’s in the classroom in many school districts, and though sex is one of the most natural activities we do in life, many abuse it and don’t revere it is as  something special.

Republic of Angola - Prospects and Opportunities Essay

Republic of Angola - Prospects and Opportunities - Essay Example epublic of Angola started to work its way towards becoming a regional player in Africa after the war was through the collaboration with some of the developed countries that include the United States. There was the formation of the U.S-Angola Chamber of commerce that made attempts to sponsor a wide array of the companies in Angola as well as a number of the international companies. Partnership with the United States by Angola has created particular forms of opportunities that arise as a result of international cooperation, the presence of private investment and the increase of trade between the two countries and many others (Renato 2006, par. 1-10). Since the end of the war, Angola has been able to reflect a lot of social, political and economic progress over a period of five years. For instance, there has been an ambitious program that has been created in relation to the provision of rehabilitation services following the massive destruction that took place in the country following the war period. It is related to the development and improvement of the social infrastructure, the provision of a steady economic growth, the stabilization of political institutions as well as the improvement of the security conditions (Roque 2014, par. 1-8). There are therefore a lot of prospects and opportunities presented to the Republic of Angola in its efforts to become among the leading regional players in Africa. Being the second largest producer of oil in the Sub Saharan Africa, after Nigeria, the country has been able to experience a boom in oil production between the years 2002 and 2008 since the production of oil state at several fields in deep water. The Republic of Angola has taken a great step towards ensuring that it maintains its rate of production and export by being a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC) (Birmingham 2006, p. 92). Oil production and export in Angola is another major prospect and opportunity that is likely to place the