Essay --

Recently, the topic of oil consumption and production has been thrust onto the world stage. As demand for oil increases internationally, the role of major producers will change dramatically. As a representative of Saudi Arabia, I will offer my position on these topics, and I will represent the views of my nation as clearly as possible. The first topic I’d like to address is OPEC’s control on global oil production, supply, and pricing. Right now, OPEC member nations control nearly 81% of crude oil reserves, compared to 19% of non-OPEC member nations (EIA.gov). Because we control such a large percentage of the total amount oil reserves in the world, we can effectively control prices through production. If we decrease production, prices rise, and if we increase production, prices fall. As a representative of both Saudi Arabia and OPEC as a whole, I believe that our control over world oil production and supply is both justified and correct. My country in particular controls nearly 1/5 of total world oil reserves, and acts as the largest exporter and producer of petroleum (EIA.gov). Therefore, we should have a significant amount of control over world oil prices, because we control such a large percentage of world oil reserves. We should be able to essentially control international oil prices, and cut off supply to any country we see fit. On the topic of our cooperation with OPEC, the current member nations need to reorganize and reassess our goals. Although we have set oil production allocations for each nation to ensure price stability and adequate supply, nations like Iran and Iraq have skewed production due to their unstable oil output and refusal to adhere to production quotas. In terms of my country’s position on non-OPEC produ... ...my, because OPEC has such a large influence on world oil supplies. Therefore, although Iraq and Iran have, in the past, taken action contrary to OPEC policy, we have to continue cooperating with them. These points of opposition against my country, although they may be justified, do not take into account Saudi Arabia’s political and economic situation. Because of this, they are short-sighted and unreasonable. At this conference, we hope to resolve outstanding foreign relations issues with countries around the world to both ensure continued oil exports and stable oil prices. We will not, however, make any concessions in terms of oil production and greenhouse gas emission, as any decrease in production would stunt our economy growth. Hopefully, we will be able to achieve our goals of mending foreign relations issues while sustaining our control over world oil prices.

Judicial Activism and The Defense of Civil Rights :: American Government, Courts, Public Policies

Since its first appearance in 1947 in Fortune Magazine, the term Judicial Activism has promoted incandescent debates about the rule of courts in public policy, however to date there is not a consensus of what judicial activism really means. The term may denote a pejorative description of judicial behavior or in other instances the sophisticated elaboration of judicial concepts. (Roosevelt III 2006:1) Since 1947 the term have been used extensively in magazines, newspapers and law reviews, by 1990 was used in average 450 times a year, appeared in 3815 law review articles and several other publications (Kmiec, 2004). After the election of president Obama the term use of the term have been even more extensive, his two Supreme Court nominees have been labeled with the scarlet letter of activism by respected law gazettes like American Bar Association (ABA) journal and the Northwestern University Law Review. Yet the debate about the meaning of the term remains unclear. However the involvement of the courts in policy making is not a recent phenomenon as some media outlets aim to portrait. Since the first use of judicial review by the Supreme Court in Marbuty v Madison (1803) the Supreme Court have exercised judicial review to overthrow 160 federal status and more than a 1000 federal laws (Tarr 2009, p258). Some of the most these cases have important legal implication in the defense of fundamental rights such as freedom of speech, (United States vs Nixon 1973), due process (Brown vs Board of Education 1954) and prisoner’s rights (James v Wallace 1974). Courts are also involved in the defense of civil rights contesting majority ruled decision. Gamble (1997) illustrated this case clearly in her study of court’s rule against referendum mandates affecting minority rights. Gamble stated that between 1959 and 1993 there were 74 ballot measures that clearly targeted minority rights; most of these ballot initiatives deal with issues such as housing segregation, gay rights, school desegregation, English among others. From the 74 measures mentioned by Gambel, 53 (78 percent) generated a form of repression of exclusion against minority groups. Analyzing this results Gamble argued that â€Å"the record show[ed] that American voters readily repeal existing civil rights protections and enthusiastically enact laws that bar their elected representatives from passing new ones. By repeatedly striking down the latter, the judicial system has vigilantly protected the rights of minorities to participate in the political process† (Gambel 1997:262) Judges have been involved in policy making, not just protecting of civil rights, but in filling the gaps overlooked by the law.

Cultural Resource Management Essay

1. (2pts each) Utilizing the lecture notes from the first day of class, define the following terms: Cultural Resources – Are the sources of culture such as art, heritage, artifacts, and architecture Cultural Resource Management – The main form of archaeology in the USA. It is used mostly by archaeologists to refer to management of historic places based on their archaeological, architectural, and historical interests in compliance with the environmental and historic preservation laws. Mostly salvage or rescue archaeology is conducted. Historic Preservation – A way of preserving historic places, landmarks, and artifacts to protect them from destruction or any other means that may harm them. Historic Properties – Places of historic significance that are protected under the historic preservation act. These can include architecture, such as the Mount Vernon Estate, as well as specific pieces of land themselves, such as Gettysburg. Archeological Resources – Sources that can provide significant amounts of archaeological data such as artifacts and features. It is also something that may provided pertinent information to the archaeological record. 2. (2 pts) What is the function of cultural resource management, and what are the values of cultural resources? The function of cultural resource management (CRM) is to protect historic places based on their archaeological, architectural, and historic interests. A majority of the work done in CRM is salvage archaeology. To put it in better terms they try to salvage as much from a site as possible before construction or other forms of land development destroy it. Cultural resources provide a link to the significant knowledge that can be ascertained from archaeological and significant historical sites. 3. (5pts) The late 19th century witnessed a transformation in the way our nation viewed cultural resources. Provide an overview of private attempts at preservation during the late 19th century. There were many attempts at preservation during the late 19th century. A few that come to mind are that of Independence Hall, Gettysburg and the Mount Vernon Estate. The Mount Vernon Estate was bought by a group of people known as the Mount Vernon Ladies Association for preservation. They fully restored the Estate to its formal glory. A group of concerned citizens established the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association whose purpose was to preserve portions of the battlefield as a memorial to the Union Army that fought here. They eventually transferred their land holdings to the Federal government in 1895, which designated Gettysburg as a National Military Park. In 1872 the city of Philadelphia set aside Independence hall and forever declared it a significant landmark, which in turn led to its restoration. 4. The late 19th century witnessed a transformation in the way our nation viewed cultural resources, and this resulted in the 20th century with the passage of major state and federal legislation directed toward promoting cultural resource preservation. For each of the following provide the following information: Antiquities Act of 1906 (9pts) a. This was the first law passed by the United States government that attempted to protect cultural resources and antiquities, allow the president to decide which resources he deemed worthy of protection, and for excavations to be conducted only with authorized permits. b. This legislation was intended to deal with the protection of significant historic lands and sites, as well as establish rules to limit the destruction and looting of said sites and lands. It allowed the president to decide on the significance of a particular site so that he may allow for its protection through federal means. It allowed excavations to be conducted only by means of obtaining a permit. This was to prevent private excavations and looting. It also made anything that was found on the site to be turned into museum hands for the publics benefit. c. The central theme is the protection and procuration of historic landmarks and antiquities through legal means. Historic Sites Act of 1935 (9pts) a. This act was the first assertion of historic preservation as a governmental duty and helped establish rules and organization for the national parks, monuments and historic sites. b. It gives a wide range of powers and responsibilities to the National Park Service and the Secretary of Interior including: codification and institutionalization of Historic American Buildings Survey, authorization to note significant sites and buildings, and to actually be able to carry out and perform preservation work. It also established the National Park System Advisory Board to assist the Secretary of the Interior with administration. c. The central theme to this act was to formulate a means of organization and rules for the preservation and maintenance of historic sites. Missouri Basin Project (9pts) a. This project was conducted as a means of emergency or salvage archaeology at water resource development projects within the vast Missouri River Basin. b. The issue that the legislation faced here was the destruction of potential archaeological sites along the Missouri River Basin. c. The central theme is the ideal behind salvage archaeology and how it can benefit the archaeological record before it is destroyed by some form of major construction or other land development. Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (9pts) a. Before the interstate could be put in this law allowed for an archaeological survey and potential excavation to be conducted. b. This law was passed to help preserve archaeological data that might be damaged or destroyed by the construction of the interstate. c. The theme for this law is to allow archaeologists to salvage as much information as possible from potential sites before construction of the interstate could begin. Reservoir Salvage Act of 1960 (9pts) a. Provides a means for the recovery and preservation of historical and archaeological data that might be lost or destroyed in the construction of dams and reservoirs. b. With all the big damns and large-scale construction being done at this time, this law provided a means for archaeologists to excavate and salvage as much data as possible before the construction was to begin. c. The theme for this law is to provide a way of preserving as much data as possible from a site before construction or completion of a damn or reservoir destroys it. National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (9pts) a. This act was created to preserve historical and archaeological sites in the United States of America and created the National Register of Historic Places, the list of National Historic Landmarks, and the State Historic Preservation Offices. b. This legislation provided a means to not only protect significant historic places but also a means to help govern how to run them and how to decide which ones even make the cut to be placed on the list. c. The theme for this law is to provide a means of deciding which landmarks, architecture and significant sites should be included in federal protection as well as how to actually keep up with their restoration. 5. (5pts) Briefly summary the strengths and weaknesses of Works Progress Administration (WPA) Archaeology as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal Programs? This type of archaeology offered many new jobs for people to fill. It also provided a means of excavating sites that were potentially unreachable due to their location and how deep they were actually buried. It created a long lasting impression on archaeology and anthropology as well. It created museums and anthropology departments at universities across the nation. It also created many vast collections of artifacts. The bad with this type of archaeology was that people had to work all year round and often in terrible conditions. Since many of the workers were untrained they had potential to damage artifacts and sites that they came across. 6. (5pts) Provide an overview of the significance of Section 101 of the HPA? It formed the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). SHPO’s responsibilities include surveying and recognizing historic properties, reviewing properties to be placed on the National Register for Historic Places, reviewing undertakings for the impact of these properties and finally supporting federal, state and local governments as well as the private sector. States are responsible for setting up their own SHPO and thus each one varies in its rules and regulations. 7. (5pts) What is the National Register of Historic Places? What makes an historic property eligible for the National Register? Discuss the â€Å"Criteria of Significance† and the â€Å"Criteria of Integrity), etc†¦ The national register of historic places is a register that was invented to protect historic properties of significant value to the history of the United States. To be eligible for admission to the register a property must be go through a list called the Criteria of Significance. It has to have one of the following to be able to be on the list. A property must be associated with events that made a significant contribution to our nations history, be associated with a significant historical person of our nations history, have the ability to provide significant information about history or prehistory, and lastly embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. 8. (5pts) Provide an overview of Section 106 process of National Historic Preservation Act. Include the steps (that I talked about in class) of the Section 106 â€Å"Consultation† process. Discuss assessment and mitigation of adverse effect in your answer. Section 106 mandates federal agencies undergo a review process for all federally funded and permitted projects that will impact sites listed on, or eligible for listing on, the National Register of Historic Places. The steps for Consultation process include 1 – Initiation of the Section 106 Review; 2 – Identification of Historic Properties; 3 – Assessment of Adverse Effects; and 4 – Resolution of Adverse Effects. If an adverse effect is expected, the agency is required to work with the local State Historic Preservation Office to ensure that all interested parties are given an opportunity to review the proposed work and provide feedback. This allows for steps to be found avoiding having an adverse effect on historic properties. A Memorandum of Agreement is then reached between all consulting parties outlining agreed to mitigation or avoidance of historic properties. Without said process, historic sites or properties would lose out on significant protection. It provides a process to help decide different approaches or solutions to a project but does not mean that it prevents site destruction or alteration. 9. (6pts) Provide a one word definition for each of the follow (2pts each): Phase I- Identification Phase II- Evaluation Phase III- Mitigation 10. (5pts) YOUR OPINION†¦IS IT a duty of our society and as a community to protect and preserve our heritage? Are communities doing enough to protect their heritage, or are they doing too much, imposing their will too aggressively and infringing the property of others?

How Laughter Works Essay

The essay that I chose from the book was the one by Marshall Brain â€Å"How Laughter Works†. I chose to write about this essay because this one is more in depth of where laughter actually comes from how its more than just jokes that people laugh at every day. Start off with a dash of sarcasm and a dash of vulgarity. At least that’s what my friends and I do. Laughter is a form of enjoyment towards one another. Means we are remotely comfortable to be openly laughing at something. Laughter is defined as â€Å"A voluntary reaction to certain external or internal stimuli.† It is also most commonly considered a visual expression of a number of positive emotional states such as joy, mirth, happiness, relief etc. Laughter usually occurs when one is comfortable to be around another person. Researchers believe that the purpose of laughter is related to making and strengthening human connections. A psychological study showed that laughter has its own name – gelotolo gy. Gelotology is from the Greek word â€Å"gelos† meaning laughter. Brain mentions people that are ticklish often wonder â€Å"Why can’t I tickle myself?† In order for tickling to work the brain needs tension and surprise. Obviously when you try to tickle yourself you know its coming so the brain does not react to you tickling yourself. But if someone starts to tickle you, your brain has that surprise and then you tense up. This made sense to me but not completely. Laughter also benefits one’s health and fight disease. The purpose of laughter is to relieve ourselves from stress of everyday life and laughter also increases our white blood cells and our immune system. Laughter releases endorphin which is the body’s natural pain killer and so is a pleasant act, producing a general feeling of well-being. Mental health professionals are suggesting â€Å"laughter therapy†, which teaches the patients to laugh at things that are not usually funny. It also helps the patients cope with difficult situations. Laughter just in general makes anyone feel great about one ’s self. Laughter is considered one of the best medic ations. Laughter predates human speech by millions of years, scientists think. It likely evolved as an early form of communication to help people negotiate group dynamics and establish hierarchy. Laughter nowadays is a form of expression. We rarely laugh when we are by ourselves but when we are with other people we laugh more out loud. People usually laugh at anything that they find humorous, even other people for the most part. For instance, The Darwin awards are stories about people who Brain mentions people make careers based on laughter, like comedians. No matter where you go, what city you visit, more than likely there will be a comedy club somewhere in that town. Or you can just go to the local bar and find amusement there. Comedy is also found on television. You can watch your daily dose of Scrubs or Friends and get your endorphins flowing. Laughter always helps other people get people out of a funk that they are in, laughter is contagious. When someone laughs it triggers circuits in our brains then a grin appears which makes more laughter happen. Brain said that depending on age, we laugh about different things. Like if you were a pre-teen in your teenage years basically they laugh at anything mentioning sex, peers, and food and authority figures. As you mature our taste in what we think is funny changes. As we get into adulthood, they usually joke about something less judgmental and more on specific things like referring to movies or plays etc. Brain made me think hard about this. As I read about the pre-teens and teenage years I was thinking what I joked about during that time, and he’s right. Even as we mature we joke around but our jokes now are not like what we used to joke about as kids. I never really thought about it until I read it in this essay. Brain also mentions researchers say that people often store their negative emotions of anger and sadness and fear rather than talking about it someone. Laughter releases all of that built up stress of keeping all of those emotions in. If we start to laugh too much or too hard we start to burst out into tears. Not in a bad way but a good way. This triggers our emotions and the tears are just squeezed out because we scrunch our face when we laugh. When we laugh harder it makes our body want to release some hormones, which are found in tears. The higher the hormones in the tears means the more you have stress. In this essay I believe Brain gave a lot of detailed information and actually made it an easy read. Going through I noticed Brain categorized every section so you knew what you were reading about and not confused about jumping from one subject to another. I did do some more research to verify and find something new on the subjects. Like how laughter was a form of communication 10 million years ago and how laughter is contagious, but I think everyone knows about that one. In Brains’ essay I have learned pretty much everything there is to know on laughter. Where it comes from, what we laugh at, and how it affects our health. I know we laugh about more than just jokes but I had no idea it helps our health. Basically laughter is a cure for anything nowadays. References Brain, M.(2009). How laughter works In , W.H Thelin (Ed.), Writing without Formulas (pp.428-435 ). Mason,OH ; Cengage Learning. Reflective Letter The essay I chose to do a critique on was â€Å"How Laughter Works† by Marshall Brain. This essay grabbed my attention because as I just skimmed the pages deciding which one I was going to read, this essay was very well organized and just by the titles of the sections it was very in depth. This essay was a good read in my eyes. If readers want to know basically the history of laughter or where it comes from, then I would suggest this to any reader. My main point of my essay is basically highlighting all the sections that Brain had wrote about. Brain fascinated me with all the in depth information about the brain itself and the functions of laughter. I believe the audience that would be interested in reading my paper are people who might have thought Brains’ essay was too long for them to read or basically someone who enjoys information more than just reading something to get a laugh out of it. Brains’ essay was filled with information basically over flowing, and I just highlighted some of the main points that he talked about in each section. As I read Brains’ essay, I took notes but I typed them so I could start paragraphs from them. I also did research on some of his topics that interested me , like the section of the brain where laughter or emotion comes from. At the beginning of writing my paper basically I had all these paragraphs typed but not in order, I just type what comes to mind. I then would read over all the paragraphs and try and make sense of them and put them in order. I then went through and edited the paragraphs that needed to be edited.

History Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

History - Case Study Example Answer 2 First, there is dire need to clarify the meaning of this terminology ‘sizable’, which usually refers to a large religious or ethnic group (in terms of population). For example, Muslims in India have a considerable size (over 200 million), yet they are a minority in staggering 1.2 million Hindu majority nation. It should be highlighted that if any religious or ethnic group has been offered all legitimate basic needs and rights followed by protection of interests then they should not have a right to create an independent nation because this will lead to societal unrest. However, if a minority sizable group (example of Indonesia and East Timor) is suppressed by ruling majority then they do deserve an independent state where they could live according to their free will and practice their interests. Answer 3 The weaknesses in political structure were quite evident during 1920s across followed by poverty, unemployment and economic failures, thereby making it to govern China. For instance, it was an era of warlords, societal unrest and civil disobedience. In short, the Chinese Civil War between the ruling Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) was also a result of aforementioned factors, which led to China’s division into Taiwan and People's Republic of China.

Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Marketing plan - Essay Example Companies have also been able to take into consideration the comments left by different consumers and work with them to deliver brands which match their specific taste. Moreover, companies or manufactures have been able to design their products to match the different taste of their consumers, thus remaining on top of the market competition. b) Addressability as marketing issues can be said to be the ability of the company to share with their consumer details concerning their products or operations in a way that is easily understood. Interactivity on the other hand can be said to be the ability of the company to make their consumers participate in the production or manufacturing process. This may involve engaging the consumers to achieve response about their content or products. Accessibility is the ability of the company or producers to avail their products or services to the consumers without putting them through much hassle. Connectivity can be said to be the ability of a company or producers to reach their consumers by knowing such details like their profiles and designing their products or services to match their preferred taste. Control in relation to marketing mix can be said to be the ability of a company to accurately determine key consumer characteristics in order to make them loyal to the respective brands th eyre producing or manufacturing. c) The use of digital media has its pros and cons. Social media is a form of digital media that makes communication easier between parties involved. It also allows individuals, especially business men to expand their contact with their consumers. In addition, it improves the image of a business while also expanding market research for entrepreneurs in different markets. However, it may also decrease productivity of employees when they use for other purposes other than work. It has also led to scams as scrupulous individuals use it for fraudulent activities. Electronic media is

Theoretical Approaches to Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Theoretical Approaches to Leadership - Essay Example Fred Fiedler developed the first contingency model for leadership, known as The Fiedler contingency model. It is suggested the model is "the most comprehensive program of research ever conducted on leadership" (Fiedler, 1967, as cited in Elkin and Inkson, 2000, p. 212). Fiedler developed this theory by studying hundreds of groups and teams', ranging from basketball teams to military unit, to examine leadership style and its effectiveness in different situations (Forsyth, 1999, p.355; Elkin and Inkson, 2000, p. 212). The theory suggested "That successful group performance relies upon the appropriate match between the leader's approach to interacting with his or her followers as well as the extent to which the circumstances gives control and authority to the leader (Robbins, 1993, 372). In other words, leadership effectiveness is contingent or dependant upon the suitability of the leader's style and the favourability of the situation (Forsyth, 1999, p. 355). In Fiedler's model, he utilized a measure called the LPC (least preferred co-worker scale) to measure between task-orientated and people- orientated leadership. People who scored high on LPC were considered 'people- orientated' whereas people who scored low on the LPC was considered 'task-orientated'. Individuals' LPC scores would determine the type of situation for which they were best suited. Furthermore, the situation was defined and measured through 3 important variables, 1. Leader-member relations 2. Task- structure 3. Leader position power