South Africas Historical Complexity Essay -- South Africa History His

South Africa's Historical Complexity After having studied Cape Town, South Africa for the past months, I have had the opportunity to come face to face with a place whose culture and history outdoes most other places in the world. Their respect for their historical past and their want to preserve it is remarkable. In 1948, the South African government began to limit the freedom of black Africans. In fact, it was at this point in history that the government officially launched a system of apartheid. Given the fact that Cape Town is at the tip of continent of Africa, not only is the climate is very mild, similar to that of San Diego in the United States but it is actually bordered by two Oceans. On the left side of the city the Atlantic Ocean rests, and on the left hand side, the Indian Ocean. The temperatures between the two differ noticeable and this is even more shocking to believe because the distance between both coasts is within 5 driving minutes. As a result of this new system, under the leadership of Albert Lutuli and Johannesburg law partners Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress organized a passive resistance campaign against the apartheid and issued the Freedom Charter. The government suppressed the movement and began to arrest the ANC leaders. In 1959 the parliament passed new laws extending racial segregation by creating separate homelands for South Africa ’s major black groups. With that being said, as a consequence, the two different Ocean coast catered to two different crowds. The Atlantic Ocean coast, with its perfect weather, beautifully white sandy beaches and sky blue water was available only to the white people. On the Indian Ocean side, even though the water was warmer, the bea... ...ica as a whole, we have been able to see the effects of change. The country has seen its share of troubles and yet they have come back on track and have improved as a country. What was once a racist divide within beaches has now become a safe haven for all people. And so in this case, climate and society work hand in hand. There was a time where the temperature of the air dictated who attended which beach. It is nice to see how time has the power to change all things and that despite the plateau of the weather in Cape Town, things change around it and set new perimeters with it. Websites The Weather Underground The Official Cape Town Website References http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html http://vlib.iue.it/history/africa/south_africa.html http://www.fyvie.net/photos/Travel/South%20Africa%20July%202004/content.html

I Love Yous Are for White People Essay

In the book â€Å"I Love Yous Are for White People† Lac’s quest for acceptance takes him through an intense journey to acquire self love and acceptance. The author Lac Su navigates through his childhood and adolescence seeking an extraordinary desire for love, acceptance and belonging he has been deprived from by his family. During his journey, Lac attempts to gain acceptance by friends and family, no matter what the consequences are. Lac Su’s upbringing was without much love and nurturing. His father was abusive, physically and mentally. For seemingly menial issues Lac would get a beating, one of those examples would be when he would get homework answers wrong. His father would grab anything that he could get his hands on to beat him. Lac stated that his father would grab â€Å"the plastic rod from the mini blinds, a spatula, a rice bowl, a fishing rod, my notebook, a radio antenna, a wooden yard stick, and a broom handle before settling on an extension cord as his weapon of choice. † (p62). Lac clearly was beaten often; his home life did not include any love, rather physical assaults and degradation. The impact of the blows grow dull and impersonal; I feel less of each new layer he adds to the wounds. † (113) Due to the horrid amount of beatings Lac Su would have to endure, he created a surreal world when it came to his home life. He learned to cope with the pain and impersonalize it in order for him to make it through the mental and physical abuses. Lac really had no other way to cope with the abuse be sides impersonalizing it. He disassociated himself from his pain both physically and internally due to the psychological absence from his family. Being a human being and needing some sort of approval, he sought after the love and attention he desperately craved for outside of his home. Outside of his home, Lac was able to exercise his other faculties which eventually made him feel more human, more loved and accepted.. He compensated the lack of feeling numb; therefore, he took the necessary consequences to feel more alive. Trying to gain a friend was one way to fulfill Lac’s need for acceptance and love. Lac’s desperate desire for a friend had him take drastic measures such as stealing. He would steal money from his parents’ piggy bank even though he knew that they were financially struggling. He was isolated from his family and the real world; therefore, he attempted to buy his way into a relationship: â€Å"I think I’m almost there. Last week, Javi brought me over to his house to show me his basketball card collection. His mother even made me a bean burrito and homemade horchata. I’m also hanging out with him at school every day. Javi lets me cut in line at lunch, and he always picks me to be on his team when we play socco – and his team always wins. After a long cold winter of solitude it feels like things are warming up – it feels like I belong. † (108) The acceptance of Lac from Javi gave Lac a sense of belonging. He felt belonging when he would be picked by Javi to be on his team and also due to Javi hanging out with Lac at school. Before Javi, Lac had no friends at all to hang out with, he felt like a looser. Javi provided Lac with his friendship; however, this came at a price. Lac could care less. â€Å"When I have money, we’re playing Spy Hunter. I don’t mind because Javi’s reliance on my money gives the impression that we’re tight. (94) The sense of belonging even if it pertained to Lac’s money was much more than the lack of love and respect Lac was receiving at home. To Lac the only important thing was gaining a friend who somehow portrayed a sense love and belonging. In this case, Javi would hang out with Lac at school, take Lac to his house, pick him to be on his team al l in return for Lac’s funding of his games. Lac also made friends with a boy whose street name is Frog. Frogs older brothers are in a gang called the Kingsley Street Gang. The Kingsley Street Gang intimidates Lac; however, their acknowledgement of Lac makes him feel accepted. Despite my insecurity, nothing bad ever happens to me when I’m around them, except for the occasional racist jokes aimed in my direction. But even the teasing makes me feel accepted. † (85) Lac’s insecurities came from not being able to adapt with the American norms. His family did not help him to adapt; instead, they made him feel isolated by not being there for him. His father did not validate Lac which caused Lac to have to deal with his insecurities on his own. Lac knows that the Kingsley Street Gang boys are intimidating for numerous reasons. Their tattoos, their macho ttitude and outfits; however, even being around these people does not stop Lac to be friends with them due to their acknowledgement of Lac. Since Lac was unable to get the acceptance of his father, he finds a substitute in the Kingsley Street Boys. Their acknowledgement gives Lac a sense of acceptance, love and fulfills some of his desires. The reason he also likes hanging out with the Kingsley Street Gang is because of some form of protection Lac is trying to have. The Kingsley Street Gang is consisted of boys who look tough and act as if they are not scared of anything; they somewhat resemble Lac’s father. Lac could be seeking protection from these boys in the gang due to the physical and mental abuse he has to go through on a daily bases. In some ways these boys gave Lac the opportunity to feel accepted; however, Lac was never able to open up to these boys and have a close relationship with them. This was because they did not have many commonalities culturally. They did not understand where Lac was coming from, instead of being there for him; they would make racist jokes due to not understanding what Lac was really going through. â€Å"I can’t believe it; Dragon Head is actually talking to me. He is approaching me because of the one thing I’ve never done in public—speak Vietnamese. † (139) Dragon Head is a leader of a gang called the Street Ratz. Lac immediately bonded with Dragon Head due to their similarities. They both are Vietnamese, speak the language and have the same background. It was only natural that Lac would try to be a part of the Street Ratz due to the commonalities he had with them and for the acceptance he desperately was searching for. â€Å"The Street Ratz have treated me like family, even though I’m not a member of their graffiti gang. It’s comforting to have peers with the same interests. (156) The Street Ratz understood where Lac was coming from culturally; therefore, the way they interacted with Lac was more common to Lac and this made him fit in. In some ways they knew what his family life was like and they too sought after love and acceptance, and the way they found it was by from forming a gang and being there for each other. Due to their commonalities the bond Lac shared with boys especially with Dragon Head was very strong. â€Å"I don’t even know where to begin telling Dragon Head what keeps me up at night. But I sense he understands me anyways. (162) Both Dragon Head and Lac understood each other clearly, no words needed to be said. They both were going through similar issues. Through the Street Ratz Lac was able to escape his physical and mental abuse. He felt like that for once he truly fits in and that others understand where he is coming from. This also came at a price, the Street Ratz had bad reputations. For the acceptance, Lac was battling between being a part of the gang or doing the right thing and getting out. He was unable to escape from the love and acceptances the Street Ratz were providing him with. This was the reason Lac was involved in a few vile crimes which he was unable to get out of due to his emotional connection and acceptance from the Street Ratz. Not only did Lac try to seek acceptance outside of his home but also, he tried to be accepted by his father. â€Å"The real poverty is inside my house – where I go to bed hungry most nights, where I’m starved for affection, and where my father’s unpredictable anger has us walking on eggshells. † (81) The lack of affection from Lac’s father was making Lac crave it even more. He needed the assurance of his father, the love and affection from him; however, he never got it. Instead he would get beatings due to his father’s unstable stage of mind and his unawareness on how to be a father. â€Å"I don’t know quite what being smart is in his eyes, but I want to be that for him. †(62) Lac clearly tried to be exactly what his father wanted him to be. Being abused by his father clearly had nothing to do with what Lac was doing. He tried to be a good boy, he tried because he wanted to fulfill the emptiness he was feeling due to the lack of emotional connection he had with his father. Lacs father’s physical and mental abuse was the root cause of Lac’s low self esteem and for his desire to belong and to be accepted by others. If Lac would have received the affection he deserved as a child, his intense journey to acquire self love and acceptance would not have led him to befriend people who were bad influences in his life. Lac would have thrived in school and in life without having to make painful mistakes. Like many abused children, Lac Su may live his life always trying to please others for acceptance and love which he was lacking in his childhood.

Origin of Eukaryotes

* The origin of eukaryotes is important to understand the origin of modern complex cells. There are three main separate theories that hypothesize the origins: the three-domain system, eocyte theory, and endosymbiosis. Each one have there own merits and evidence supporting. These theories suggest the evolution of cells from the most primitive prokaryotes, unicellular organism having cells lacking membrane-bound nuclei, to the most complex eukaryotes, single or multicellular organisms with a membrane enclosed nucleolus and organelles. The Three Domain Hypothesis refers to the proposal by Carl Woese in 1990 that; archaebacteria form a monophyletic group, this clade is sufficiently different from all other prokaryotes to deserve elevation to a separate Domain called Archaea (the other two Domains are Bacteria and Eukarya each arising from a progenote), eukaryotes are more closely related to archaebacteria than to other prokaryotes, and the root of the universal tree of life lies in the branch leading to Bacteria. The three-domain system met with some opposition on the differences between archaea and bacteria. Research of large subunits of RNA polymerase, some aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aspartyl, leucyl, tryptophanyl, and tyrosyl), and outer membrane molecules distinctions indicated that Woese was right in the classification and that these organisms were so genetically distinct (in the 165rRNA genes and differences in cell structures) that they needed their own domains. * In the 1984 James Lake theorized eukaryotes evolved from a specific group of ancestrial archea, the eocyte. The idea that eukaryotes could have arisen from a lineage of prokaryotes, using expanded molecular sequence datasets and phylogenetic approaches. Using a matrix of amino acid sites, traditional methods such as maximum parsimony resulted in the 3-domains topology, but an eocyte tree was obtained when maximum-likelihood and Bayesian analyses were performed. In sum this analyses provide support for the eocyte tree, rather than the 3-domains tree. This is supported by the concept that eukaryotic nucleo-cytoplasm evolved from within archaebacteria. Eukaryotes would have had to replace their old lipid synthesis with a eubacterial-type system since the operational genes of eukaryotes are primarily eubacterial, not archaebacterial (National Academy of Science of the United states 2008). Eukaryotes are seen as an evolutionary marvel for they can pack hundreds of energy-generating mitochondria into a single cell. Hundreds of millions of years ago, eukaryotes formed permanent colonies in which certain cells dedicated themselves to different tasks, such as nutrition or excretion, and whose behavior was well coordinated. This specialization allows them to grow, and evolving into new elaborate purposes. These cells have a true nucleus, bound by a double membrane. Prokaryotic cells have no nucleus. The purpose of the nucleus is to sequester the DNA- functions of the eukaryotic cell into chamber for increased efficiency. This function is unnecessary for the prokaryotic cell, because it is much smaller in size; materials within the cell are close together. There is an area of nuclear DNA unbound by a membrane called a nucleoid. Eukaryotic cells are larger, more advanced and have a higher output of energy in comparison to Prokaryotes. Lynn Margulis (1970) defined the hypothesis of Endosymbiosis as the engulfment of one cell by another larger cell, with the engulfed cell evolving into an organelle. Margulis claimed that as a result of communal and parasitic lives, bacterial cells turned into plants and animals through endosymbiosis. In this theory, plant cells developed when a cyanobacteria (chloroplast) was swallowed by another bacterial cell and animal cells were formed through mitochondria being engulfed by host cell. Another example is between a termite and microorganisms in its gut. The termite consumes wood, but it cannot digest it, the protozoan’s in the termite's gut break down the cellulose into simple sugars which both organisms can digest. When the protozoa digest the wood cellulose, they release acetic acid and other acids that the host termite is able to metabolize. Thus, the termite and the protozoan uniquely supply food for each other (Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2005). The origin of the eukaryotic cell was important, since they include all complex cells and almost all multi-cellular organisms. The timing these events is hard to determine, each hypothesis have there own evidence that support itself. Until further evidence can be found scientists can only speculate on the origins of Eukaryotes.

Knowledge and Understanding of the Confessions of Jeremiah Essay

Outline your knowledge and understanding of the Confessions of Jeremiah Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, and a member of a priestly family. He was a native of Judah and came from Anathoth, a small village in the north east of Jerusalem. His prophetic ministry lasted from approximately 626 to 580BC, and is one of the longest of all the writing prophets. The prophet Jeremiah began his long prophetic career in 626BC; â€Å"in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign† He was still a very young man at this time. The narrative of his call is in a dialogue between Jeremiah and Yahweh. From this we can see straight away that Jeremiah had a very intimate relationship with God from the outset. Unlike other prophets, Jeremiah seems to have been chosen to be a prophet before he was even born. â€Å"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I consecrated you, I appointed you a prophet to the nations.† It seemed it was the destiny of Jeremiah to be a prophet. According to Kidner, Jeremiah was â€Å"handmade for the task.† Similarly to Moses and Amos, at first Jeremiah was reluctant to consent to his mission, saying â€Å"Ah Lord God behold I do not know how to speak for I am only a youth†, but his faith in Yahweh gave him faith in himself, and he accepted the role God asked of him. Perhaps this teaches us the meaning of rising to face personal challenges. Yahweh said to Jeremiah â€Å"Be not afraid of them for I am with you to deliver you.† This is very much the faith of believers today, that in times of trouble, God is constant in our lives. In Jeremiahs call, Yahweh outlines the purpose of his ministry. He says â€Å"I have set you this day over nations and kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.† This summarizes the two main aspects of Jeremiahs mission. It was to be a twofold mission, having both a positive and negative mission, and promising reconstruction after destruction. Yahweh intended to punish the people for their sins and injustice, yet it would be this destruction that would create a new and holy people. In this aspect, we can see a similarity between Hosea and Jeremiah, in that Hosea also believed in Redemptive Judgement. Following the dialogue of Jeremiah’s call, there were two visions. The first of these visions is the vision of the almond rod, and the second vision is one of the boiling pot facing away from the north. These visions both contained a message of judgement. The mouth of the put is facing towards the south, away from the north, which implies that the danger that Judah will face will come from the north, and that these forces will destroy Judah. Yahweh says here â€Å"And I will utter my judgements against them, for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have made their offerings to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.† In his visions, God speaks very frankly of judgement, expressing that it is going to happen soon, and that the destruction is going to come from the North. After this, Yahweh encourages Jeremiah again with the divine power of his task. He is made aware that being young and experienced, he would be resisted and persecuted by many, but that he would be upheld and strengthened by God. Jeremiah understood â€Å"sin† in terms of the betrayal of love, and accused the people of being guilty of embracing pagan gods, and flirting with heathen empires. They succumbed to the corrupting influences of the nature cults. Jeremiah found their behaviour incredible, and failed to understand why after Yahweh had been so good to the people during the time of exodus, they would desert him. He accused the people of forsaking Yahweh saying â€Å"They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.† In other words, they had deserted Yahweh for gods which were useless to them. Jeremiah also outlined the futility of foreign alliances, and said that in times of political emergency, he left their true protector. They lost faith in Yahweh, and this led to Assyria losing their religion independence. Jeremiah felt this was stupidity on their part, and appealed to the people to return to the covenant, but they paid him no heed. The call from Jeremiah is a call for repentance. Kidner said â€Å"Judah had seen it all and followed suit, sinning with her eyes open. To make it worse she had put on a sanctimonious show of repentance and reform.† Jeremiah says that the Jews were guilty of syncretism and apostasy, but that they were so religiously complacent that they were ignorant of their own sin. There was evidence of paganism and the people of Judah were confused. The nation had sunk to a dangerously low level of religious impurity. They had become hardened, and unfeeling in relation to their conscience. Jeremiahs confessions are autobiographical. The book of Jeremiah is split into six different passages The passages in jeremiahs confessions have three things in common, they are in first person, they are directly addressed to God and not to the people or its rulers, and they express the deep suffering felt by the prophet in exercising his mission. These passages are what made Jeremiah unique amongst the Hebrew prophets. He is the only prophet to reveal the personal impact his role had on him. In the confessional passages we see a real, human being, whose frailty we can identify with and whose trauma we can understand. Rarely did other prophets give us a glimpse into their lives, but in the passages Jeremiah wrote, he revealed his soul. Throughout his ministry, Jeremiah was often in conflict with his own contemporaries. This conflict was not his choosing. We are reminded of Hosea, in the sense that Jeremiah was a man of intense sympathy and tenderness of the heart, and all he wanted was to feel the love and companionship of others. He despised the conflict that deprived him of warmth and conflict that he craved, and so he became a depressed and hostile man. Yahweh said to Jeremiah â€Å"You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons and daughters in this place.† This was due to the impending crisis. In the ancient near east, sterility was considered to be a terrible curse, so we know from this that Jeremiahs celibacy would not have been down to personal choice. This shows how Jeremiah endured personal suffering, as a result of the nation’s wickedness. The first two passages in Jeremiahs confessions reveal a plot against his life, instigated by immediate family and acquaintances. The people saw Jeremiah, son of a priest, as a traitor. He reacted fiercely to this plot, and asked for the death of these men. The incident caused Jeremiah to reflect on his mission, and on the very meaning of human existence. As Jeremiah asked for no more than justice, God upheld his fierce reaction saying â€Å"I am going to punish them†¦For I will bring disaster upon the people of Anathoth.† This punishment however is not for vengeance, it is for reform. It is here that Jeremiah shows us a different side of him. He exaggerates the gloom, and welcomes the thought of retribution. Yahweh tells him that he has to keep his faith and courage during his sufferings, because they are little compared to what is to come. God knows only too well the pain of ingratitude; desertion from a spouse; defiance of a son, a daughter. A parallel is evident between the family’s rejection of Jeremiah, and the nation’s rejection of Yahweh. In the third passage, we see a new outburst and pleading by Jeremiah as he describes the â€Å"inner crisis† he is facing. He believed that everything he did seemed to bring him into conflict with his fellow men. It is here that Jeremiah laments on his mother, saying â€Å"woe is me, my mother that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land.† As Jeremiah’s call predates his birth, to curse the day of his birth would mean a rejection of his mission. His persecution arises from the message he has to deliver. Jeremiah was depressed by his work and often wondered about its purpose. In his eyes, all it caused was contention with his fellow Jews, and made him considered a troublemaker. The reaction the people of Judah gave him meant he became bitter, and saw himself condemned to a life of loneliness. The people reacted in such a hostile way to Jeremiah because he told them what they didn’t want to hear. He foretold disaster and the people remained sceptical of what he was saying, which only caused Jeremiah to fall even further into depression. As a result of the personal persecution and enforced loneliness, Jeremiah became vindictive and actually prayed for vengeance on those who treated him so poorly. This desire for vengeance only further reveals the humanity of Jeremiah. The third confession also indicates that Jeremiah faced an inward struggle with Yahweh, as well as an outward struggle with men. He was torn between obligation and inclination. He felt obliged to work as a prophet, and continue to live the sort of life that would lead to conflict with others, but due to the stress his prophetic work caused him, he felt inclined to avoid it. In the beginning, the words of Yahweh brought Jeremiah joy. â€Å"Your words were found, and I ate them and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart†, but this has all changed now. Jeremiah has been left an object of ridicule, and God’s words no longer gave him joy. He felt God used him as instrument to announce pain and destruction on people he felt love for, and at times he was almost blasphemous, accusing Yahweh of overpowering and misleading him. â€Å"Oh Lord though hast deceived me, and I was deceived, thou art stronger than I and thou hast prevailed. Yahweh’s reply renews and confirms he prophet’s mission, using the very words from his call. â€Å"And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze.† It is made clear h owever, that this will only happen when Jeremiah has converted, and regained confidence within his mission. In the last of the confessional passages, Jeremiah tells us of his most dramatic inner crisis, firmly believing that Yahweh has tricked him. â€Å"Oh Lord you have enticed me and I was enticed; you have over powered me and you have prevailed.† He fears being classed as a false prophet, which would have been devastating because he is one of the biggest critics of them. These false prophets were Jeremiahs greatest competition, and promised a shortcut to divine restoration. They spoke of peace, and attempted to â€Å"heal the wound of the people lightly†, but their remedies failed to touch even the root of the problem. Jeremiah says the complete opposite to these false prophets. Jeremiah believed that Yahweh would intervene in human history to punish, where as the false prophets proclaimed that God was uninterested in human affairs, and therefore that he wouldn’t intervene in them. Jeremiah believes that they feed the Jews with false hope, whenever doom is inevitable, and without the destruction they cannot be rebuilt. According to Bright, these prophets are â€Å"nothing but wind.† The role of a true prophet was often to act as a contestant to the status quo. The people of Judah did not like the challenge that Jeremiah was presenting them with. Jeremiah remained insistent however, that in light of Judah’s perversity, she would be punished. Although here he is clearly presented as a Prophet of Doom, this is only one aspect to his mission, and like other prophets, he does have a message of hope. Similarly to Amos, Jeremiah is warning the people what is to come if they do not repent, he is giving them warning so change is a possibility. It is for this reason he is also known as the â€Å"Prophet of Repentance.† He feels doubtful in relation to his message, and feels he is crying wolf in regard to his mission, by proclaiming a message of judgement which has not yet come to pass. Once again we are reminded of the conflict with Jeremiah in relation to obligation and inclination. Here Jeremiah describes his obligation to speak in a prophetic voice as a fire burning within him, forcing him to go on with his prophetic work despite the feeling that his inclination was to stop. Jeremiah speaks of his struggle saying â€Å"If I saw I will not mention him, or speak anymore in his name, the n within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I am weary with holding it in and I cannot.† When Jeremiah says â€Å"But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble†, he seems to have come to realise that within him there was the potential to move forwards and cope with what he thought was impossible. He finally realised that he was not alone, and that God would always be with him. Although Jeremiah at times curses the day he was born, the one thing that lifted him out of his depression was the deep conviction that Yahweh would always be there for him. Kidner says on Jeremiah â€Å"He goes on to his worst ordeals with never a hesitation or a word of doubt.† In conclusions, the outpourings from Jeremiahs heart that we witness in his confessions could be said to reveal imperfections about his human character, such as vindictiveness towards his fellow men and irrelevance towards God. However as Jeremiah was aware of his own perfections, by repenting Yahweh would help him overcome all of his human imperfections. If only the Jews had have realised the need to repent, then Yahweh could have help them overcome their imperfections through prayer and dialogue.

DOCUMENTARY CINEMA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DOCUMENTARY CINEMA - Essay Example This essay will delve into various aspects of the film Dark Days by way of relating them to the broader social, cultural and political contexts. Firstly, homelessness in the United States can be traced back a long way. The direct and circumstancial evidence for this is available in literary and performing arts of the last one and half centuries. Prominent among the artists who dealt with this subject are Walt Whitman, Jack London, Charlie Chaplin, Woody Guthrie, John Dos Passos, Bill Mauldin, Jack Kerouac and John Steinbeck. In the early twentieth century slang, homeless people were casually referred to as hoboes, which is a term of denigration. These so-called hoboes had a reputation for being barbaric, wild, lazy and unscrupulous. The first detailed representation of these people living on the fringes of society started appearing after the end of the Civil War. We further learn that â€Å"following the Civil War, a legion of men traveled the country with no visible means of support. Some earned the sobriquet "hobo," which they embraced it as a nickname for a migrant laborer, that is, a "hoe boy." Whatever the origin, sociologists of the 1920s used the phrase "hobohemia" to describe a subaltern lifestyle embraced by white working-class males. When congregating in places such as Chicagos "main stem," they forged a swaggering counterculture that defied domesticity. They embraced the labor radicalism of the Wobblies, even while they were parodied by vaudeville and motion picture comics.† (Lookingbill, 2005, p.314) During these early days, homelessness in the United States was largely an issue of social class and was caused by the huge disparities in wealth distribution between the top ten percent of the population and the rest. But in the last century, the issue has grown to encompass factors of racial discrimination, drug abuse and homosexuality. Of the half a

Women in a patriarchal society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women in a patriarchal society - Essay Example In the epoch of Christianity the situation did not change much. Females have been viewed as an inferior sex, prone to sins and temptations. Women have been deprived of numerous rights, like those for education or voting. They have been considered good only for cooking, washing and raising children. Devoting their lives to their husbands, women have not been protected by the law in cases of divorces and abandonment. Having no education and profession, women have often been left below the line of poverty, being made to survive from hand to mouth. Feminist movement has partially changed the situation. However, gender discrimination continues being a reality even in the Western world. Women have fewer opportunities for promotion. They get smaller wages in comparison to males in the equal positions. Women, sacrificing their careers in the name of their families, often have no chance to restore their positions, notwithstanding better education and qualification. Many males express their co ntempt to females. Having more physical power and getting higher wages, husbands often humiliate their wives. Meanwhile, the official church is still against divorces. Women are usually counseled to be patient and continue caring of the men, who beat and taunt them. The Muslim world is even more conservative and cruel. Misinterpretations of the Quran also result in men feeling superior. Muslim women are often deprived even the rights and freedoms viewed as essential in the Christian world. Women can easily be killed by their fathers or husbands in case they are considered to bring ill-reputation on their family. Though is it forbidden by law nowadays, such cases are not rare. The Girls of Riyadh is a book revealing some truth of life of females in the modern Muslim world. Written by a woman and about women, the novel narrates of lives of five girls, studying in the capital of the Saudi Arabia. Almost each of the stories serves as an example

Octavan Construction Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Octavan Construction Inc - Case Study Example Octavans reporting policies are pretty acceptable and would be beneficial to the company in the long term so the only suggestion to make here is that they should stick with these policies even if they are trouble some at the beginning The working capital and the debt to equity ratio has been on the decline which shows that that company is not doing so good on the assets front, the debt to equity ratio has declined and that is not a good sign because the value of the assets has been on the decline and liabilities have grown considerably which is not a good sign for any company, even creditors such as Broadmoor County Bank have started to believe that the company is in trouble and are trying to secure there loans against securities that were not deemed necessary before. Since the company has changed its depreciation method the company will now experience a total change in the depreciation expense and accumulated depreciation, which would definitely have a good effect on the assets beca use the current method which was employed by the company was depreciating the assets too quickly and was unrealistic for the company to use and hence it is a good move to change the depreciation method of the company and this will reap positive out come for the company. The second change that is being implemented by the company is that they have changed the method of long term billing from absolute method to the percentage-of-completed project which initially increases costs but in the long term would help the company build on steadily because there would be a better matching of the costs and revenues which would lead to a better financial report in the bigger picture. Ans 2. Octavans reporting policies are pretty acceptable and would be beneficial to the company in the long term so the only suggestion to make here is that they should stick with these policies even if they are trouble some at the beginning because they would definitely lead to an improvement in the company's financial books. The company shouldn't have placed as collateral its current assets because these assets are the blood line of the company and since octavan is already facing a declining working capital and a debt to equity ratio it is not advisable that this step be taken. Ans 3, The Company has changed the depreciation method due to the non effectiveness of the previous (MACRS) method due to which the company had to face considerable reporting problems but now the company has switched to a more effective and a reporting friendly method, known as the double depreciation method. For long term contracts the company will now be using the percentage-of-completed work to match the expenses and revenues in a better manner. American Physical and Social Programs For Children Inc. Ans1. The implications of such a policy are very clear, because the operations of the company are focused primarily on children activities and as the case points out that the major business period for the company was from September to June it is a good policy to have a June 30th as the end of all financial activities because by then the company would have had completed one major cycle on the business front, plus all the major expenses and liabilities have been realized by that period and the company knows what exactly is expected of it since the major part of its revenue has been earned during that period it can easily match the expenses against the revenues using the matching principle, it is also an excellent policy to do so because companies need to make their financial statement when they consider they would come out the best and given the circumstances that the company operates in it has clearly realized what the best period for preparing financial statements is. Also, using Jun e the 30th as the basis for making the financial reports gives the advantage of having a summer camp during the summer vacations, but more importantly this gives them the time to incorporate the revenues of the summer into the financial books because people have to pay in advance (march) for the summer camp and this is an added advantage of havi