The Hunchback in the Park

The Hunchback in the Park My life makes me want to run away. I’ve got no place to go. No family, no house, no anything. All wiped out by a fire in 2001. I did not get any money paid out by the insurance company because they said the fire was an â€Å"act of God† caused by a lightning strike, which my insurance did not cover. Since then, I’ve been walking this park, alone and joked about by everyone who walks past me. Now I guess you’re wondering, why don’t I get a job? Why does everyone joke about me? Why do I not ask my family for help?Well, I have been applying for jobs, it’s just that no-one accepts me. I studied hard at school and I got decent grades, but no jobs are available to me. The answer to the second question is something that I just have to live with. During the fire, My face was horribly burned. This, added to the fact that I am short and have a hunchback, makes people fear me and run away or just shout abuse at me. Finally, the answer to the third question is that I simply do not have any. My parents died when I was two years old. I have no aunties, no uncles, nobody.There is one person in my life though. If there is anyone who could be â€Å"that special someone†, it’s her. She’s beautiful. Despite never talking to her, our eyes have met many times and it’s love at first sight. I just wish I could gather up the courage to finally talk to her. It has been a while since I’ve approached a woman without being slapped or ran away from. In fact, it has been a while since I have approached anyone. Any social interaction with the world feels awkward and scary because it has been so long.The only interaction I have with the outside world is through the local children who torment me each day. Each day, I sit on this bench starving. The only meals I eat are leftovers I manage to find in the bin. It is a miracle how I survive. How I have not died from dehydration, starvation or hyp othermia is a miracle. I have not had a shower in months. I just wish someone would take me home. Look – there's the woman! The woman which takes my breath away every time I see her. Maybe she could be the one to take me off the streets.Only if I could gather up the courage to approach her my life would not be as much of a mess and I could get my life moving in the right direction. OK, I'm going to do it this time. I'm going to talk to her! As I get off the bench, I spot the local children! Quick, hide! Those pesky local children are coming. Look at them, with their hoods up; with their phones playing out their angry music; with their hands in the shape of a gun. They make my life hell – even though I don’t provoke them.I can't run very fast due to my disability (which is my hunchback) so when the children chase me I can not get away. They circle me and torment me. One day, they pushed me over. It hurt and many people seen this, but no-one came to help me. I was shocked that no-one asked me if I was OK, this is one of the reasons I give up on the world. People are selfish and do not care about anyone else. Eventually, the children grew tiresome of mocking me and left – either that or they left because it was getting dark. So, here I am once again.Another lonely night, propped up against a tree, with no-one to hold. No family to wish goodnight. Oh, what I would give to feel loved again. Each day is a recurring nightmare, except I can't wake up. I'm going to make a promise to myself now, and it is that tomorrow I'm going to try turn my life around. I'm going to apply for a job and I'm going to ask the girl of my dreams to dinner. Oh, how wonderful life could become with those two simple things. â€Å"You! †, the park keeper says, as he pokes me with his pointed stick used for picking up leaves, â€Å"Time to move along. †.So my day begins, and I'm feeling slightly optimistic for once – knowing that today I will be once again attempting to sort out my life. You may be thinking, â€Å"Why do you think this attempt will be any different to your others? †, well I'm not too sure myself. All I know is that today I'm going to come across as a confident individual. I think this is what I have been lacking, but it is hard for me to be confident when I have the likes of those pesky children always tormenting me, insulting me and abusing me. Anyway, the first step in getting back on my feet is to get a job. The Hunchback in the Park The Hunchback in the Park My life makes me want to run away. I’ve got no place to go. No family, no house, no anything. All wiped out by a fire in 2001. I did not get any money paid out by the insurance company because they said the fire was an â€Å"act of God† caused by a lightning strike, which my insurance did not cover. Since then, I’ve been walking this park, alone and joked about by everyone who walks past me. Now I guess you’re wondering, why don’t I get a job? Why does everyone joke about me? Why do I not ask my family for help?Well, I have been applying for jobs, it’s just that no-one accepts me. I studied hard at school and I got decent grades, but no jobs are available to me. The answer to the second question is something that I just have to live with. During the fire, My face was horribly burned. This, added to the fact that I am short and have a hunchback, makes people fear me and run away or just shout abuse at me. Finally, the answer to the third question is that I simply do not have any. My parents died when I was two years old. I have no aunties, no uncles, nobody.There is one person in my life though. If there is anyone who could be â€Å"that special someone†, it’s her. She’s beautiful. Despite never talking to her, our eyes have met many times and it’s love at first sight. I just wish I could gather up the courage to finally talk to her. It has been a while since I’ve approached a woman without being slapped or ran away from. In fact, it has been a while since I have approached anyone. Any social interaction with the world feels awkward and scary because it has been so long.The only interaction I have with the outside world is through the local children who torment me each day. Each day, I sit on this bench starving. The only meals I eat are leftovers I manage to find in the bin. It is a miracle how I survive. How I have not died from dehydration, starvation or hyp othermia is a miracle. I have not had a shower in months. I just wish someone would take me home. Look – there's the woman! The woman which takes my breath away every time I see her. Maybe she could be the one to take me off the streets.Only if I could gather up the courage to approach her my life would not be as much of a mess and I could get my life moving in the right direction. OK, I'm going to do it this time. I'm going to talk to her! As I get off the bench, I spot the local children! Quick, hide! Those pesky local children are coming. Look at them, with their hoods up; with their phones playing out their angry music; with their hands in the shape of a gun. They make my life hell – even though I don’t provoke them.I can't run very fast due to my disability (which is my hunchback) so when the children chase me I can not get away. They circle me and torment me. One day, they pushed me over. It hurt and many people seen this, but no-one came to help me. I was shocked that no-one asked me if I was OK, this is one of the reasons I give up on the world. People are selfish and do not care about anyone else. Eventually, the children grew tiresome of mocking me and left – either that or they left because it was getting dark. So, here I am once again.Another lonely night, propped up against a tree, with no-one to hold. No family to wish goodnight. Oh, what I would give to feel loved again. Each day is a recurring nightmare, except I can't wake up. I'm going to make a promise to myself now, and it is that tomorrow I'm going to try turn my life around. I'm going to apply for a job and I'm going to ask the girl of my dreams to dinner. Oh, how wonderful life could become with those two simple things. â€Å"You! †, the park keeper says, as he pokes me with his pointed stick used for picking up leaves, â€Å"Time to move along. †.So my day begins, and I'm feeling slightly optimistic for once – knowing that today I will be once again attempting to sort out my life. You may be thinking, â€Å"Why do you think this attempt will be any different to your others? †, well I'm not too sure myself. All I know is that today I'm going to come across as a confident individual. I think this is what I have been lacking, but it is hard for me to be confident when I have the likes of those pesky children always tormenting me, insulting me and abusing me. Anyway, the first step in getting back on my feet is to get a job.

Hong Kong

What about Hong Kong? If we explore the culture of Hong Kong through the lens of the 5-D Model, we can get a good overview of the deep drivers of its culture relative to other world cultures. Power distance This dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.At 68 Hong Kong has a high score on PDI – i. e. a society that believes that inequalities amongst people are acceptable. The subordinate-superior relationship tends to be polarized and there is no defense against power abuse by superiors. Individuals are influenced by formal authority and sanctions and are in general optimistic about people’s capacity for leadership and initiative. Individualism The fundamental issue addr essed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members.It has to do with whether people? s self-image is defined in terms of â€Å"I† or â€Å"We†. In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty. At a score of 25 Hong Kong is a collectivist culture where people act in the interests of the group and not necessarily of themselves. In-group considerations affect hiring and promotions with closer in-groups (such as family) are getting preferential treatment.Whereas relationships with colleagues are cooperative for in-groups they are cold or even hostile to out-groups. Personal relationships prevail over task and company. Communication is indirect and the harmony of the group has to be maintained, open conflicts are avoided. Masculinity / Femininity A high score (masc uline) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational behaviour.A low score (feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. A feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. The fundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine). At 57 Hong Kong is a somewhat masculine society –success oriented and driven. The need to ensure success can be exemplified by the fact that many will spend many hours at work.Service people (such as hairdressers) will provide services until very late at night. Another example is that students care very much about their exam scores and ranking as this is the main criteria to achieve success or not. Uncertainty avoidance The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? This ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in different ways.The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these is reflected in the UAI score. At 29 Hong Kong has a low score on uncertainty avoidance. Adherence to laws and rules may be flexible to suit the actual situation and pragmatism is a fact of life. The people in Hong Kong are comfortable with ambiguity; the Chinese language is full of ambiguous meanings that can be difficult for Western people to follow. They are adaptable and entrepreneurial. Long term orientationThe long term orientation dimension is closely rel ated to the teachings of Confucius and can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue, the extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view. With a score of 96 Hong Kong is a highly long term oriented society in which persistence and perseverance are normal. Relationships are ordered by status and the order is observed. People are thrifty and sparing with resources and investment tends to be in long term projects such as real estate. Traditions can be adapted to suit new conditions.

An Argument Against Breed-Specific Legislation Essay -- Argumentative,

To say â€Å"pit bull,† however, is a vague reference to several pit bull types, which are considered separate breeds by registries like the American Kennel Club (AKC). Each type has a slightly different breeding history; many began with the breeding of bulldogs with terriers to produce a loyal, compact and tenacious breed (â€Å"American Pit Bull Terrier†). The standard three pit bull types most often mentioned by name in breed-specific legislation include the American Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier, and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. That is not the extent of the legislation, however, which also includes dogs that â€Å"substantially conform to the breed standards established by the American Ken e 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. Cohen, Judy, and John Richardson. â€Å"Pit Bull Panic.† Journal of Popular Culture 36.2 (2002): 297. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Nov. 2010. â€Å"Dog Bite: Fact Sheet.† Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC, 1 Apr. 2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. â€Å"Dogfighting Fact Sheet.† The Humane Society of the United States. 2 Nov. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. Melvindale, Mich., Municipal Code art. II,  § 4-137 (1990). Perry, April M. â€Å"Guilt by Saturation: Media Liability for Third-party Violence and the Availability Heuristic.† Northwestern University Law Review 97.2 (2003): 1045. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. â€Å"The Truth About Pit Bulls.† ASPCA. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. â€Å"U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities January 2006 to December 2008.† DogsBite. 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

Weight Watchers and their Benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Weight Watchers and their Benefits - Essay Example Weight watchers have a comprehensive move in a right direction with the best possible options listed below: These e tools enable you to keep a check on your food choices, help you see regular updates on your weight loss progress with a graphical representation, give you a BMI calculator to let you know how much you need to lose, facilitates you to have fitness sessions, salsa dance, yoga, aerobics etc through videos. Weight watchers offer a choice in the food plan. With the flexible food plan you can choose amongst the various options available with the food points. You just need to maintain the total day points and keep having various combinations. The core plan though does not give this option; it has a list of various low calorie food choices to keep you healthy and filled throughout. Through the rich experience of weight watchers, they have a clear understanding that men have women have different needs for weight loss. Moreover, the frequency of loss and the tendency also vary. Weight watchers have designed specific tools for men keeping in mind the specifics attached to their needs. It is of course understand to have dietary measures while weight loss, but one cannot keep starving when he is hungry or just feels like eating. Weight watchers keep your food needs in mind and give you various recipes which would let you keep your taste buds satisfied and the calorie intake intact. There are different options for different kinds of meals and the choice is enormous to let you have nice lunch, dinner and snacks. Weight Watchers have meetings for its members where there is a leader who has lost weight in such sessions. Here, there are discussions about the best ways of losing weight, acting in a healthy way in a particular situation. These 40-45 minutes meetings also let you learn through the experience of others. Moreover, this is more a platform of learning with regular guidance. You can

Ethics in Flatliners Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethics in Flatliners - Essay Example Flatliners is one of the movies that depict the theme of ethics among other themes. Flatliners explores the issue of life and death in an articulate and ingenious way. The characters in the movie, led by Nelson seek to experience life after death by â€Å"flatlining.† The whole experience by Nelson and his medical students is centered on ethics. At one instance, Rachel Manus told Julia Roberts that she is doing much better. This paper briefly discusses why it was ethical for Rachel Manus to say that.The scenario happened when Manus was treating Julia as one of her patients. Manus, a medical student with Nelson, was mandated to oversee the recovery of patients. It happened that one of the patients, Julia, was struggling with recovery. In their conversation, Manus told Julia that she was doing much better in recovery. Although Julia was not on the best route to recovery, Manus encouraged her. This was an ethical approach. It is undeniable that telling the truth is one of the pri mary codes of ethics, especially in the professional field. However, there are times when the truth will do more harm than good. For instance, telling patients that they are not likely to recover from an illness will surely jeopardize their recovery. Therefore, it is ethical to give them encouraging words that would stimulate recovery even when there is little hope. In this context, Manus was ethically justified to tell Julia Roberts that she was doing much better. This is because she had good intentions when she was saying the words.

Thinkers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thinkers - Assignment Example Marx is considered to be is one of the founders of the International Working Men’s Association. The philosophy of George Friedrich Hegel is one of his most important intellectual influences and Karl Marx remains incomplete without the study of Hegel. He died at London, United Kingdom on March 14, 1883 (Engels, 1869). Karl Marx identified and shed light on the ills of capitalism and explained how it could be challenged. People of the world took his ideas as a guide towards changing the system of the world despite the regular efforts by the supporters of Capitalism to bury his ideas. He, along with Frederick Engels, identified the inevitable fault of a capitalist society that is class struggle; therefore, his dialectic holds Communism as the perfect and final form of the State that makes possible the appropriate use of human abilities. He believed that in the end socialism will replace capitalism and this world will be a classless society ensuring the rise of working class. Abov e all, Marx was a revolutionist whose main aim was to put an end to capitalism and contribute towards the liberation of the modern proletariat. As far as the influence of Marx’s ideas and beliefs on the world, as a whole, is concerned, most of the Americans have already accepted his main ideas unconsciously and uncritically despite the otherwise claims of the anti-Marxists. American and western businessmen who claim to be against the whole concept of communism are frequently found to be the ones who are convinced of the truthfulness of Marx’s ideas. They seem to have very little or no ideological defense against his Communist ideas when they encounter them under another name or are introduced to them without being labeled. Marx’s ideas have seemed to open the minds of American to their own propaganda. However, on the other hand, to label the ideas brewing in their minds as Marx’s might lighten some of their effective and successful talking points. At the same time, they are under the influence that depression cannot be solved by capitalism. He is one of the influential people whose ideas have such a strong impact even on those who think they abhor Marx and his beliefs. These ideas have an injurious influence on capitalist economy, clear political thinking and democratic action. The more politically radical European intellectuals have been influenced greatly by the ideologies of communism as well as socialism. Apart from economics and politics, he has a great influence on the way people think about culture despite the fact that he is not a pure cultural theorist (Rose, 1951). Marx’s hostility towards Europe, sometimes, resulted in strange extremes. For instance, he criticized the opposition to the Crimean war by calling the British Prime minister, Lord Palmerstone, a traitor and a paid agent of Russia. In the same way, Marx’s hatred for the Prussian monarchy can be observed his struggle with his Russian competitor Mikha il Bakunin for control of the International Working Men’s Association (Sperber, 2013). It is beyond doubt that Marx’s ideas about the commodity nature of Capitalist production plays an important role in describing the exploitation of working class under the system of profit. For Marx, class struggle was the major fault line of the Capitalist society which, indeed, is true even in the modern world for this

Apply Critical Thinking Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Apply Critical Thinking - Article Example For example, the fact that most cats love milk does not automatically conclude that some cats have tails and neither does it  conclude  that David Hume was the biggest philosopher of all times. This is the  fallacy  in which an argument  is based  on  misleading,  superficial  and  implausible  comparisons.  For example  the statement "seven windows are given to animals in the head domicile; two eyes, a mouth, two ears, and two nostrils"  (Hegel, 2010). However, from this  statement  we cannot conclude that there are many other similarities in nature, which are difficult to  put  in words. The arguments and comparisons are  misleading  and  superficial. Hasty generalization is another type of logical fallacy which emanates from faulty generalization (Hegel, 2010).  In this type of generalization, conclusion comes through without keeping in  perspective  all the variables.  For instance: Take the  example  of someone travelling through a town for the first time. He comes across 10 people all of whom are children. The  person  eventually concludes that there are no adult residents in the town. Equivocation is a form of logical fallacy that represents the same  word  stated to  provide  two  unlike meanings. For example, a  sign  indicating â€Å"fine  for parking  here† as observed by Hengel (2010, p. 34), essentially has two different meanings. The first one being that it is  acceptable  to  park  a vehicle within that yard and the second one being that parking a vehicle within such a yard will incur

Conflict as a Team Tool-Terence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Conflict as a Team Tool-Terence - Essay Example Task interdependence can be referred to as where actions by one team in an organization or under project influences the outcome of other members. To this extent, all team members must collaborate and work together for the benefit of the organization. Management must decide on the level of acceptance that can be allowed between teams if they are to achieve a better result. The following outlined discussions can be used to illustrate the degree of interdependence between groups in an organization. Task independence in most of the organizations is the link between the team commitments and team performance. In situations where the independence levels are high, teams will work together and contribute interactively to achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. On the contrary, where moderate task independence exists, team members are most likely work discretely for the accomplishment of their target (Fransen, Kirschner & Erkens, 2011). The connection between goal commitment and performance will only occur if the level of interdependence is high. It is because team commitment influences the outcome since the results are due to the collective responsibility of the entire members. The impacts that are then generated on performance are greater on the performance than if the interdependence levels were low. Due to the relationship between team goal commitment and team performance, interdependence between teams should be allowed to a greater extent as both members require one another (Halevy, Chou & Galinsky, 2011). Where the goal commitments do not relate to the performance, team members can concentrate on individual outcomes than a collective responsibility and team independence will be low. Assume two IT firms in apple and dell with both aspiring to be market leaders in technology sectors. The two organizations will become

Cultural Significance Of The Reformation During The Renaissance Research Paper

Cultural Significance Of The Reformation During The Renaissance - Research Paper Example This was simply a cultural movement that occurred around the 14th -17th century in Europe. The most remarkable feature about this period is artistic developments. However, there were also some significant cultural reformations that will be discussed in this paper. Initially, Europe had conservative traditions but vital cultural reformations in the renaissance were stimulated by the reformation in music and religious teachings, and the emergence of new artistic ideas. This new culture entailed a lot of freedom and individualism as sparked by the creative works of several musicians and artists during the period. The emergent creativity led to artists abandoning artistic ways of the medieval era which were strict in nature. This led to the development of artistic improvements for example, realism in art. Giottto di Bondone was the first artist in the renaissance period to treat a painting as a widow into space (Bainton, 1952). Renaissance led to renewal of the desire to bring out the be auty of nature and explore the axioms of aesthetics. This motivated artists to come up with new painting techniques which included studying human anatomy, and light and shadow. Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Liza Painting is a good demonstration of the study of the human anatomy. The artistic culture during the renaissance period can therefore be described as being vibrant and this led to development of naturalism in painting. The renaissance period led to reformations in the music industry for example, secular music gained more popularity. This was stimulated by the development of the printing press which enabled music to be printed and spread faster. These songs mainly dealt with military and romantic themes. The form of the madrigal which was developed in Italy spread fast to Netherlands, England France and Germany (Estep, 1986). The shift to secularism was not only seen in the music industry but the general society as well. This was mainly brought about by the changes that occu rred in religion and humanism. For example, a reformation in humanism led to a shift in the focus of life to individualism. This is where each person was supposed to be his or her own priest with the Bible being the only true authority (Smith, 1920). According to Hillerbrand (1973), renaissance led to a shift in religious inclinations from Catholism to Protestantism. This is because people like Erasmus held to and campaigned on the view that a true religion was an act of inward devotion to God rather than mere outward symbols of ritual and ceremony. The changes were also a result of protest against the evil that people saw in the Catholic Church for example rampant corruption. The people realized that there was a big contrast in the practical lives of the church clergy and the doctrines and teachings they were giving to the people. The result of criticism against the Catholic Church was a loss in its authority and the emergence of new protestant churches and sects. This led to relig ious wars and divisions whose driving force was expressions by the people on the need for freedom of expression and tolerance. The renaissance was therefore a successful weapon for countering the fight against pagan civilization by the Catholic Church. The consequence of the criticisms, new religious focus and stand was secularization of fanatical Catholics and the general society (Euan, 1991). A change in the culture of Christians led to a change in lifestyle from having the church as the center of activity into a materialistic kind of life. In this secular life, the material world became an important part of the life of a person and this encouraged capitalism. People become more concerned with money, worldly pleasures and a general comfort in life. At the same time, religion remained an important part

The significance of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Essay Example for Free

The significance of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Essay The significance of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The class action Brown v. Board of Education is recognized as one of the greatest decision in the twentieth century by the Supreme Court. This court held unanimously that racial discrimination of kids in public schools desecrated the Equal protection clause in the constitution. Even though the decision was not successful in United States in completely desegregating public education, it incited the civil rights movement which was emerging into a popular revolution and also succeeded in putting constitution on the side of the racial equality. Many regions of United States had numerous segregated schools in 1954 and this was made legal in plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 where it was held that isolated public facilities were constitutional provided that white and black facilities were â€Å"equal† to each other. But, by mid-twentieth century the civil rights groups established political and legal challenges to racial discrimination. In early 1950’s some class lawsuits were initiated as a way of seeking court orders to oblige school districts to allow black students to attend white public schools. Brown v. Board of education case was one of the class actions which were initiated against the Topeka. In this case Brown argued that Topeka’s racial discrimination violated the clause of equal protection of United States constitution. This decision by the Supreme Court declared discrimination in the educational facilities was unconstitutional. Supreme Court through this decision ended the notion that â€Å"separa te† could be termed as being â€Å"equal† (Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_brown.html). How did the Tet Offensive change American public opinion about the war in Vietnam?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Tet offensive which was televised in the United States nightly surprised a lot of Americans who had the idea previously of United States easily taking care of the enemy. United States forces pushed the Vietnamese forces back where they eventually caused huge casualties on them however the effect of fighting on United States public opinion was very huge(Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/history/how-did-the-tet-offensive-affect-public-opinion-about-the-vietnam-war). Briefly describe the factors that brought an end to the Cold War.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The cold war came to an end since a reformist faction of the communist party came to power in the USSR with Andropov, and then again with Gorbachev, since the old-guard, and just plain old, soviet leaders kept dying. Gorbachev from a younger generation had a much more critical attitude towards the UUSR and was much more educated, intelligent, worldly and open-minded than any other previous leader who is more than Reagan too. There was, however, one other group responsible for the end of the cold war: the individuals of the USSR and Eastern Europe who protests and organized at great personal risks. Their protests and Gorbachev’s acceptance of their roles brought about the end of the cold war not United States arms deployment which may have delayed the whole process (Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_events_started_and_ended_the_Cold_War?#slide=28). Briefly describe the reason the Clinton administration embraced NAFTA and the WTO and why the WTO was such a controversial organization.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Clinton’s administration was aimed at curbing international and domestic terrorism. Clinton administration efforts were aimed at rewarding those who worked. WTO is a basic international body which is aimed at assisting in the free trade. Controversy has faced WTO where it has been hijacked through county interests therefore worsening the lot of poor, intense criticism and inviting protest (Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/42/the-wto-and-free-trade). References How did the Tet Offensive affect public opinion about the Vietnam War?. (n.d.). How did the Tet Offensive affect public opinion about the Vietnam War?. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/history/how-did-the-tet-offensive-affect-public-opinion-about-the-vietnam-war The WTO and Free Trade. (n.d.). Global Issues. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/42/the-wto-and-free-trade What events started and ended the Cold War?. (n.d.). WikiAnswers. Retrieved May 6, 2014, fromhttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_events_started_and_ended_the_Cold_War?#slide=28 supreme court. (n.d.). PBS. Retrieved May 5, 2014, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_brown.html Source document

Video Games Cause Violence And Behavior Problems Psychology Essay

Video Games Cause Violence And Behavior Problems Psychology Essay One of the major concerns is that they increase the nature of violence among the youth. The Harvard medical school or the Journal of adolescent health, as well as the British medical journal have concluded that there is a huge link between video game and violence. Studies have pointed towards a typical pattern between video game and negative behavioral/attitude problems associated with them. A research by the University of Indiana in the US, involving a brain scanning of some those who were involved in playing violent video games positively indicates a correlation between the violent behavior and the game they played. The research confirmed a substantial increase in the negative emotions of those who played some violent game as compared to those who either did not play any games or those who played a non-violent game. According to author Vince Mathews, parents should look more closely at the types of games their children are playing. Third paragraph Second argument Video games cause addiction and induce children to remain glued to the console for substantially longer period of time which often results in their giving up other activities. Perhaps excess of anything is bad and video games are no exception. In his article Video Games Addiction, Media literacy specialist, Dr. Charles Ungerleider states that if a youngster becomes addicted to video games it can be a problem. According to him practicing or making effort to achieve excellence in playing might not be an issue by itself, but it certainly becomes worrying if video games create hindrance in youngsters other tasks. He recommends parents or guardians intervention to create a balance in all their wards activities. According to Mary Schlimme in a 2002 article titled: Do We Need a Video Gamers Anonymous? Video game addicts are often described by clinicians in the field as displaying many symptoms characteristic of other addictions. According to her article, Addiction includes such behavior as failure to stop playing games, difficulties in work or school, telling lies to loved ones, decreased attention to personal hygiene, decreased attention to family and friends, and disturbances in the sleep cycle. Schlimme quotes Dr Orzack that many game addicts have struggled with finding their place in society and as a result play video games in order to become part of a crowd. She emphatically states excessive video game playing may not only cause behavioral and social changes in a person, but it may also result in neurological changes. Fourth paragraph third argument Even if video games and videos do not directly create killers and murderers out of the young people they may tend to contribute towards insensitivity and indifference towards violence. This is worrying because it may change the profile of the society in the longer run. In an article published in the Time Magazine on 10th May 1999 author and editors Joshua Quittner, Maryanne Buechner and Jay Ehrlich say The question isnt whether games make children kill, because it isnt that simple. The concerns are subtler yet no less worrisome. Do graphically violent games desensitize children to violence? Do such games teach kids to take pleasure in the suffering and death of others? Nicholas Carnagey, an Iowa State psychology instructor and Iowa State University Professor of Psychology Craig Anderson and Brad Bushman published an article The Effects of Video Game Violence on Physiological Desensitization to Real-Life Violence in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. In this paper, the aut hors explain the state of insensitivity towards violence a reduction in emotion-related physiological reactivity to real violence. Their latest study involves testing of college students. According to the study The results demonstrate that playing violent video games, even for just 20 minutes, can cause people to become less physiologically aroused by real violence. According to the article It appears that individuals who play violent video games habituate or get used to all the violence and eventually become physiologically numb to it. Fifth paragraph Transition Paragraph Supporter of the video games do not seem to take the issues seriously. Despite this overwhelming evidence that video game causes violence and problems in many children and among the youth, there are supporters who believe that there are advantages to video games in todays society. Key finding states in a research titled Internet Fantasy Violence: A Test of Aggression in an Online Games carried out in 2005 by Williams, D. Skoric, M there was no effect on levels of aggressiveness or in belief and behaviors of the gamers who were engaged in a violent massive multiplayer online role-playing game. Cheryl K. Olson, professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical Schools Center for Mental Health and Media, in her 2004 article in the Journal Academic Psychiatry Media Violence Research and Youth Violence Data: Why Do TheyConflict? e carries out a comparison about between violence contained in various modern-day video games and in day to day real-life. She states there is no evidence that targ eted violence has increased in Americas schools. While such attacks have occurred in the past, they were and are extremely rare events. She goes on to write that, Theres no indication that violence rose in lockstep with the spread of violent games. In 2002 Dr. Van Eeenwyk of the Washington State Department of Health presented information indicating that after controlling for psychosocial factors, association between aggression and playing video games was not statistically significant. Massachusetts Institute of Techonology professor Hennery Jenkins says, 90 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls play video games. The overwhelming majority of kids who play do NOT commit antisocial acts. And, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the strongest risk factor for school shootings centered on mental stability and quality of home life, not media exposure. Critics claim that video games are addictive has also been refuted by some supporters of the video games. In a response to a proposal in 2007 to brand video g ame addiction as a mental health issue similar to the addiction to alcohol, doctors and supporters of video games opposed the proposal. The supporters say that there is no evidence to indicate a proper basis for any such theory. These same supporters of video games argue that video game, computer and television are not only an excellent medium of imparting knowledge to and education to children, but also they assist the pupils with their studies at home as well as in the educational institutions. According to psychologists video games are a good means of mental exercise for the children who play these games. In many video games, in order to win, the player needs to have a good strategic thinking.   This is something that is generally not available at the school in the form of an academic subject.   Some of the mental exercise and knowledge obtained through using video games include the art of coordination between a childs eye and his/her hand.  Some supporters of video games s ay that video games teach children to plan and build their strategic thinking. Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good For You: How Todays Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, calls this telescoping. Gamers must deal with immediate problems while keeping their long-term goals on their horizon. Sixth paragraph Refutation of opponents counter- argument While there are researchers and supporters who claim that the video games do not have an effect on the increase in aggression and violence in the behavior of the gamers, yet those researches and studies are not based on modern scientific lines. Those studies are not as comprehensive and as scientific as those carried out by Craig Anderson, David Grossman or others. The supporters studies are generalized and are based more on hypothetical basis rather than actual scientific methodology. As proved by the various researches quoted above, their findings are flawed. Seventh paragraph Refutation of opponents counter- argument Supporters of the video games say that video games are healthy and educational. They claim video games provide children with quality mental exercise.   In several games, in order to win, the player must possess good strategic thinking and be swift with his skills. However, the fact is that addiction to video games causes not only health and other problems, including social ones, but also results in poor school results and grades, lack of concentration to academics and class activities. The critics have always disputed this claim about video games contributing to health and education. Dr. Louis Kraus of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and a psychiatrist at Rush University Medical Center, has stated The more time kids spend on video games, the less time they will have socializing, the less time they will have with their families, the less time they will have exercising. They can make up academic deficits, but they cant make up the social ones, he said. As a re sult of this, one in ten youths, may be suffering from family, social, school or psychological damage. In several studies it has been clearly proved that the youth under examination had problems concentrating on academics and their school routine, as a result of which not only they lost grades at the school but also were subject to some severe health issues including depression. Final paragraph Conclusion. Based on the above research it is clearly evident that violent video games contribute to the aggressive and violent behavior and addiction to video games. However, considering some of the advantages of the video games, their use must not be prohibited. Parents and guardians should do the following to reduce the effect of violence. Monitor video game play the same way one needs to monitor television and other media. Parents are responsible to be kind, loving but at the same time attentive and firm to properly discipline their wards. An aggressive child is more a product of dysfunctional parenting than anything else, including violent games and TV.   To avoid possibilities of addiction, parents should attempt to provide a variety of entertainment to their children. It would be a good idea to make sure that children read quality books, involve themselves in sports and interact with other children and their friends.