Declaration of Independence :: essays papers

Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most masterfully written document of Western civilization. This essay seeks to illuminate that artistry by probing the discourse microscopically at the level of the sentence, phrase, word, and syllable. By approaching the Declaration in this way, we can shed light both on its literary qualities and on its rhetorical power as a work designed to convince the American colonies they were justified in seeking to establish them as an independent nation. The introduction consists of the first paragraph a single, lengthy, periodic sentence: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Taken out of context, this sentence is general it could be used as the introduction to a declaration by anyone. Seen within its original context, however, it is a model of refinement, and suggestion that worked on several levels of meaning and allusion. This orients readers toward a favorable view of America and prepares them for the rest of the Declaration. It dignifies the Revolution as a challenge of principle. The introduction identifies the purpose of the Declaration as simply to ^declare^ to announce publicly in explicit terms the ^causes^ impelling America to leave the British Empire. Rather than presenting one side in a public controversy on which good and decent people could differ, the Declaration claims to do no more than a natural philosopher would do in reporting the causes of any physical event. The issue, it implies, is not one of interpretation, but one of observation. The most important word in the introduction is ^necessary.^ To say an act was necessary implied that it was impelled by fate or determined by the operation of foolproof natural laws. The Revolution was not merely preferable, defensible, or justifiable. It was as inescapable, as inevitable, and as unavoidable within the course of human events as the motions of the tides or the changing of the seasons within the course of natural events. The Revolution, with connotations of necessity, was particularly important because, according to the law of nations, recourse to war was lawful only when it became ^necessary.^ The notion of necessity was important that, in addition to appearing in the introduction of the Declaration, it was invoked twice more at crucial junctures in the rest of the text.

Alternative Medicine :: essays research papers fc

Throughout the last few years alternative medicine has drawn a ton of attention towards itself. New ideas and new styles of this medicine are introduced into the media everyday. Despite all the attention to this new trend what do we actually know about it? Is it safe? What studies have been done? In a time when people are looking for a change and living life to the fullest these new methods of medicine seem to be just the answer we’re looking for. Conventional medical practitioners say that this new style of medicine is bogus and is dangerous because there is no solid evidence it actually works. Although alternative medical doctors say this kind of medicine cures even better without using the pills, drugs, and shots that conventional medicine uses. Despite the argument between these two sides the best possible cure for ones self should be instead of choosing a specific method to help yourself use a combination of the two to help heal. This subject of alternative medicine relates to many people in today’s world. The media, the government, and even parents and children have something to do with this vast new form of medicine. Alternative medicine continues to grow every year, which makes it a very important issue in our society, in fact 40% of American use some form of herbal or other alternative medicine in the world today (Jonas). This fact just shows how widely used this method is. According to a survey of 1,539 adults in 1990 and 2,055 in 1997, use of at least one type of alternative therapy during the previous year jumped from 33.8 percent in 1990 to 42.1 percent in 1997 (Mann). These facts show just how fast alternative medicine is growing. The option to ignore the use of alternative medicine is gone. For how much this new method of medicine is growing it is almost impossible to overlook. The subject of alternative medicine is a two-sided argument. On one side you have the conventional or western medical practitioners and on the other side you have the alternative medical doctors. Both sides have a strong argument towards the other. Is it that conventional physicians are not informed regarding alternative techniques, or is it that alternative physicians don’t know how the body actually works (Lin)? What my question is, is why can’t both these medicines be used together? Dr. Joseph Jacobs, a former director of the NIH office of Alternative Medicine and a Yale trained physician believe that if used properly these two styles of medicine combined together can work far better than one alone (Langone).

Joseph :: essays research papers

Joseph Joseph was born in the royal line of King David, but in his time the descendents of David no longer held power or wealth. He left his ancestral home of Bethlehem in Judea to become a builder and carpenter in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. There he met Mary and became engaged to her. When she became pregnant before their marriage, he was uncertain as to what he should do. He finally decided to break off the engagement in accordance to the Law; but do to so quietly, so that she would not be subjected to charges of adultery and quite possibly a death sentence. However, an angel appeared to him in a dream and explained to him that God Himself was the father of Mary's child, and that Joseph should not be afraid to marry her. Joseph accepted the angel's message and the will of God and married Mary. After Mary's son was born, Joseph named him Jesus, as he and Mary had been told by the angel. He raised Jesus as his own son, and likely trained him in carpentry. The Gospels make no mention of Joseph during Jesus' adulthood, and so it is likely that he died before Jesus' ministry began. By marrying Mary, despite her pregnancy, and by accepting and naming Jesus, Joseph became Jesus' father in the eyes of the Law; and by raising Jesus and caring for Him, he became his father in all ways but one. Therefore, while God is truly the Father of Jesus, Joseph can also be called His father. The Gospels call Joseph a "just" and "righteous" man, and his righteousness can be shown in his acceptance of God's will, despite inconvenience and public scandal; the care he showed to his wife and Son; and his

Amazing Grace Review

In the 18th century millions of men, women and children were taken from their homes in Africa and sold into slavery. Few survived the slave ships, and even fewer lived through their slave labors. Some people thought the slave trade was wrong, but to find someone who had the courage to stand-up to make a stop was hard. â€Å"Amazing Grace†, is a movie based on a true story. Written by Steven Knight and directed by Michael Apted, it is about William Wilberforce and his quest to abolish the slave trade in the United Kingdom, and his battle against the British parliament of the 18th century. The film narrates William Wilberforce’s journey through time with many flashbacks. William, the son of a rich merchant, studied at Cambridge; this is where he met his close friend and future priminister, William Pitt. Pitt encourages Wilberforce to outlaw the slavetrade and fight against parliament. With his support and advice on how to conquer the government, they get over 3,000 signatures wanting to abolish the slave trade. Without his connections it would have taken Wilberforce much longer to achieve these goals and to see progress. Wilberforce committed many years, so many that he neglects his health, and becomes very ill. Wilberforce then meets Barbara Spooner, who pushes him to keep on going and fight for what he believes and gets him back on his feet. â€Å"Amazing Grace† is a portrait of faith and persistence. These themes are very evident as Wilberforce’s devotion to abolish the slave trade is number one priority- even over his own health. Wilberforce and Pitt also must have faith and believe that they will win the battle. This also leads into another theme, fighting for what you believe, and the theme of racism The theme that occurs continuously and ties all the above themes together is monstrosity. This theme is also shown throughout the novels of To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) and Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), when racist acts are made in To Kill A Mockingbird, and the real monster is revealed today’s society in Frankenstein. Throughout the movie, William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) shows the characteristics of a hero, and people around the world look up at him for his effort. Since the beginning of the movie, William Wilberforce shows signs of sympathy and care. When passing by a suffering horse, he stops and makes sure the abusing stops. Small details like this already give the viewer an instant idea of what sort character he is. As well as the amazing in-role acting the sound and lighting are the finishing touch. The lighting increases many aspects of the movie. When Wilberforce had flashbacks and was thinking of the slavery and the slave ships, the lighting became darker and the music also adjusted. To the viewer it isn’t that obvious until you specifically look for lighting and other technical edits. But without these things the movie the impact the movie gives wouldn’t be as great. As well as lighting, the camera angles where also very specific. There would always be close up shots when difference of facial expressions were shown, this emphases more emotion in the movie and also attracting the viewer. Amazing Grace, is a extremely intense and an instructive movie, as well as interesting and exciting. The viewers really feel pulled into the story and really get motivated to stand up for what they believe. William Wilberforce really was a role model sending out positive messages and leaving the audience with a winning smile on their face.

Alcohol Policy Report

The WEOC management deems it necessary to establish a set of stringent guidelines for serving alcohol at all of its events, since the company does not support completely banning alcohol consumption. A single alcohol management policy would help enforce a standard practice free of bias and conflicts. This would ensure that all individuals attending the event have a good time without any disturbance from individuals intoxicated with alcohol. Since the company hosts a fair share of late night parties, it would help prevent accidents resulting from drunken driving.Moreover, limiting alcohol consumption at events such training programs and conferences would ensure that business productivity is not affected due to overconsumption of alcohol. Enforcing a policy restricting alcohol consumption is essential to exercise control over large crowds at WEOC sponsored sports events. Since WEOC hosts events such as picnics involving attendees of all ages, it is the company’s responsibility to ensure that such events are suitable for all members of a family including children and elderly people.It is has been proven that individuals under the influence of alcohol may act in a boisterous manner and may even exhibit hostile tendencies. Avoiding individuals from alcohol overdose would help prevent damage to any property in the event premises. It is in the company’s best interest to follow this uniform policy would ensure that none of the employees suffer from alcohol intoxication and behave inappropriately towards a client.This policy is generally good for business and helps in building a positive brand image, since embarrassing scenarios leading to bad press could be avoided by maintaining a certain degree of civility and orderliness. All employees attending an event serving alcohol would be made aware of this policy and expected to conduct themselves in a socially acceptable manner. It should be duly noted that the following ten-point policy will followed in its en tirety by all employees under all circumstances at WEOC events.1) All WEOC events where alcohol is served shall be mandatorily required to use the services of a bartender certified through a state-recognized training program on responsible alcohol service. 2) All event attendees and other staff members with the exception of the certified bartender shall be prohibited from dispensing alcohol. 3) Underage drinkers will not be entertained and the bartender would have the authority to demand valid identification to authenticate one’s age (Grapevine Bar Catering 2007). 4) The bartender shall be given the authority to restrict the number of drinks served to all attendees to prevent alcohol intoxication.5) Bartenders will have the right to refuse serving certain drinks that can lead to quick and high levels of intoxication. 6) Any attendee of a WEOC event can be refused alcohol service at anytime if the bartender deems him/her unfit for consuming alcohol. 7) The bar shall be manned by the bartender at all times and alcohol containers shall remain behind the bar. 8) Attendees of the event shall not be allowed to carry alcohol out of the facility where the event is taking place. 9) The bartender shall stop serving drinks 30 minutes prior to the end of any WEOC event.10) Bartenders will be prohibited from accepting any form of tips, in order to avoid biased treatment. Reference: Grapevine Bar Catering. (2007). Alcohol Serving Policy. RossCo Innovations LLC. Retrieved 1August 2008, http://www. cateredsolution. com/servingPolicies. htm Retailers- Alcohol Service Policy. 2young2drink. Retrieved 1 August 2008, http://www. 2young2drink. com/retailers/alcohol_policy. asp RMIT University. (2001). RMIT – Health and Safety Manual. Retrieved 1 August 2008, http://mams. rmit. edu. au/9bxvxdqlamedz. pdf

The Automotive Industry and Green Awareness

After suffering massive market losses to foreign cars which were considered to be fuel efficient, American automotive industry has reawakened to the green awareness campaign advocated by consumers, which is represent the future of the industry.There has been increased call by the consumers for the American auto industry to develop cars which emits less green house gases to save the environment.The industry has responded by putting efforts on development of electric cars and hybrid plug-in in vehicles to adapt to the market needs and to sustain the growth of the economy.Green technology presents the future and the American automotive industry must grow along this line to compete effectively in the market.With a large segment of their market lost to foreign automakers, the American auto industry and the government in general responded by taking measures to enforce a green auto industry. For example California passed a law which required 2% all the cars sold in the state to have zero em ission which led to the development of the electric cars (Kilkenny, 2006). However, conspiracy between leading auto makers like Ford and the oil industry led to the mysteriously death of the car (Shnayerson, 2006).Realizing that the future of the auto industry is green, the industry has responded by investing in research and design which has seen the development of hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars, electric cars, lithium batteries which will support the future green auto industry, and various innovations in auto components. These inventions are likely to see the end of the use of gasoline powered engines which have been the leading environmental polluter. (Kaho, 2008)The future of the auto industry is green. In order to compete effectively with other auto makers in the world, and ensure the contribution to the industry to economic growth and sustainability American auto industry must continue with their efforts in the development of a green auto industry. (Globe, 2008)The auto industr y green awareness is an important topic of concern to all Americans and the rest of the world. Our country is still the leading emitter of green house gases to the atmosphere and the auto industry has been one of the leading contributors to this emission.Reference:Globe, (2008): Future auto motive industry. Globe Foundation, March 2008Kaho, T. (2008):Â   2008 Washington Auto Show: Technology and green future. GREENCAR.comKilkenny, N. (2006): Who killed Electric Car? Accessed from http://www.reformation.org/who-killed-electric-car.pdf on 4th August 2008Shnayerson, M. (2006): The Inside Story of GM's Revolutionary Electric Vehicle. Random House publishers

Amadou Diallo Essay

Social cognition is the study of how people form attribution or judgments about themselves and the social world from the social information they received from their environment (Chapter Review, 2010). However, it was discovered often marked by apparent errors and biases. People make quick judgment based on their past experiences, hence at times leading to tragic endings. The Amadou Diallo case study was an example of the tragic error which was made by four New York City Police officers. The police shooting of an unarmed man was an act of automatic inferences which happens when people use mental shortcuts to simplify the amount of information they receive from the environment. Automatic thinking is known as the thinking that is unconscious, unintentional, involuntary and effortless (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). While, schemas are mental structure people use to arrange their information regarding the social world around themes or subjects: schemas affect what information we notice, think about, and remember (Chapter Review, 2010). During the incident February 4, 1999, Carroll had made a low-effort automatic thinking with schemas when Diallo reached into his jacket to get his wallet by assuming that Diallo was reaching for a gun in his pocket, and shouted â€Å"Gun! † to alert his colleagues. Officer Carroll’s action was due to his natural instinct or response as most criminal would reach into their pocket for gun during the detection of police officers. He had use schemas to form an expectation of the event in which made him to expect a gun pulling out of Diallo’s jacket rather than his wallet. As he attends to his schema-consistent knowledge: criminals would pull out guns from their jacket when they spotted police officers; his schemas filtered out any inconsistent information: Diallo reached in his jacket to get his wallet; had caused the NYPD officers to fire at Diallo. Besides that, there are also a few theories or concept under automatic thinking with schemas that had shown relevance to the Amadou Diallo case study, such as, accessibility. Accessibility is the ease with which schemas can be brought to one’s mind (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). The four police officers had practiced accessibility when they saw Diallo ran up the outside steps toward his apartment house doorway at their approach, ignoring their orders to stop and â€Å"show his hands†. When they saw Diallo ran after they claimed to have identified themselves as NYPD officers, they might assume that Diallo was the serial rapist they were searching for, as logically a serial rapist or a criminal would ran when approached by police officers to avoid getting caught. The ease of the thought that criminals would run when they spotted police officers, had made the four police officers to identified Diallo as a criminal, although that was not the truth in Diallo’s case. As a result, a firestorm had unfortunately occurred. Furthermore, the four police officers had practice priming in this case study. Priming is the process which related to recent experience that made schemas or concept to come to one’s mind more readily (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). For example, when Officer MeMellon fell down the steps, appearing to be spot, the other three officers might assume that Diallow had fire a gunshot towards Officer McMellon hence causing him to fell down those steps because they had linked it to their recent experiences of gunshot and thought that Officer McMellon had been spot and that Diallo had shot him with his gun. As one would logically fall back when shot. Perseverance effect was also shown in this case study. Perseverance effect is known as the tendency for people’s beliefs about themselves and their world to persist even when those beliefs are discredited (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). When the four NYDP officers thought Diallo matched the description of a (since-captured) serial rapist, it might be due to the fact that Amadou Diallo was an immigrant to the United States and the four police officers could have the belief that immigrants are the major causal crime increment in the Unites States. Hence resulting the police officers to think the worse out of Diallo when he ran and even though he was reaching into his jacket to get his wallet, the police officers had persisted that the square object had been of a firearm although in logical terms both wallet and gun do not share the same shape and size. On the other hand,people also tend to use mental strategies and shortcuts to organize and make sense of their social world, especially when they are lack of full processing time, lack of solid information to use for decision making, information overload, or when the issues are not important to them (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). Mental strategies and shortcuts help people to make decisions easier and allow them to get on with their lives and not turn every decision into a major hurdle. Four NYDP officers had practise judgmental heuristics when they made judgments about Diallo. Police officers thought Diallo had matched the description of a (since-captured) serial rapist. This might be because that Diallo was a dark skin immigrant which had logically matched the description of the serial rapist leading officers to made a quick decision so that they do not need analyse in detailed and make a major hold-up over the matter. Furthermore, the four police officers also did performed availability heuristic in this case. Availability heuristic is a mental rule of thumb whereby people base a judgment on the ease with which they can bring something to their mind (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). During the incident, Diallo had been mistaken that he was reaching into his jacket to get his firearm whereas he was actually reaching to get his wallet. Officer Carroll had shouted â€Å"Gun! † to his colleagues. His judgment might be due to his ease with which he can bring to his mind, which in this case, was automatically thinking that Diallo’s wallet was a gun, hence warned his colleagues about the matter. Attitude heuristic is the determination of what is â€Å"true† based upon an individual’s feelings towards or for a matter (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). The four police officers also had carried out attitude heuristic towards Amadou Diallo. For example, these police officers might dislike Diallo because he was an immigrant or ‘black’ person therefore assuming that Diallo’s intention, plan, or doings would also be bad too. This caused Diallo to be misinterpreted to be a criminal trying to escape from police detention rather than his true intention, which was believed to initially intend to show the NYPD officers his identification card in his wallet before he wrongly shot. Besides theories and concept of automatic thinking with schemas, the Amadou Diallo case had also displayed a few relevant theories of social perception. During the incident, the four police officers had displayed the attribution theory. Attribution theory is a description of the way which people explain the causes of their own and other people’s behavior (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). It is because that Diallo had run up the outside steps of his apartment after they claimed to identified themselves as NYPD officers, and that he had reached into his jacket, the police officers have made a cause and effect explanation towards Diallo’s behavior hence assuming that he was a criminal or the serial rapist they were searching for, therefore Diallo had run up in the attempt to escape and when he reached into his jacket for his wallet, they thought that he was reaching for his gun to defend himself. Due to this theory, it made sense of he reason four police officers have assumed that Diallo was a criminal and they had to fire back Diallo. All this might be due to the attachment of meaning they decode from Diallo’s nonverbal behavior. In addition, the fundamental attribution error was also shown in the incident when the four police officers have focus on Diallo’s action to run and reached into his jacket, rather than the situation causes of his action, which was intending to reached into his jacket to get his wallet to show the police officers that he was innocent when he was approached by the police officers and asked to â€Å"show his hands†. Fundamental attribution error is known as the tendency to overestimate the extent to which a person’s behavior is due to internal, dispositional factors and to underestimate the role of situational factors, one reason people make fundamental attribution error is because the observer only put their attention on the actor, while ignoring the situational causes of the actor’s behavior (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). Furthermore, Diallo had also displayed the spotlight effect in this case study. The spotlight effect is the tendency to overestimate the extent to which our actions and appearance are salient or clear to others (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). When Diallo had reached into his jacket to get his wallet, he might had assumed that the NYPD officers know or understand what he was doing, which in his case, was the probability to take out his wallet and show them he was not the criminal or man they were searching for. However, the four police officers were not aware of his action hence assumed that he has a gun, hence fired at Diallo. Moreover, police officers had also displayed the aggression objects as cues concept during the shooting event. Aggression objects as cue is an aggressive stimulus that act as an object that is associated with aggressive response, and whose mere presence can increase the probability of aggression (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). The aggressive stimulus in this Diallo case is the guns that the police officers possessed. When the police officers had encountered a threatening or violent stimulus, they were more likely to â€Å"shoot† regardless of what stimulus actually appeared (Baumann & Desteno, 2010). Due to the possession of firearms, the four police officers had the higher possibilities to response aggressively towards Diallo, hence the gun act as the object that associated with their aggressive response. Without the firearms that the four police officers possessed, the act of aggression towards Diallo would decrease therefore the firestorm would not have happened. According to Correll et al. (2002), it was found that participants’ performance shown difference regarding race of the targeted person. When a decision making process was time limited, participants had made more errors shooting unarmed African American targets than unarmed White targets. Whereas, participants had made more errors not shooting armed White targets than armed African American targets. In other words, participants were more likely made errors evaluating African American targets as threatening compared to White targets. This means that because Diallo was a ‘black’ immigrant, it increases his rate of being shot. This is an act of stereotype as because Diallo was a ‘black’ immigrant, they assumed that he might be a criminal, hence the police officers thereby increasing the likelihoods for certain interpretations and ensuing actions during the crucial moment, resulting them to mistaken Diallo’s wallet as a gun, hence shot him. In another words, it is like the Arabs possess guns, resulting in more frequent mistaken â€Å"shootings† of Arab men within the context of the shooter bias paradigm (Unkelbach, Forgas, & Denson, 2008). There are also group prejudices that had been displayed in the Amadou Diallo case study. The four police officers had shown prejudice against Diallo because he was a dark-skin immigrant, hence they have ordered him to stop and â€Å"show his hands† without confirming whether he was the serial rapist they were searching for. Seeing the suspect holding a small square object, Officer Carroll yelled â€Å"Gun! † to alert his colleagues, believing thatDiallo had aimed a gun at them at close range, the officers opened fire on Diallo. Diallo was a West African immigrant with no criminal record (Cooper, 1999). It was clearly shown the act of prejudice towards Diallo, whom was misunderstood or misinterpreted just because of his race. Furthermore, discrimination was shown in the Amadou Diallo case when the four NYPD officers had opened fire to shoot Diallo without proper investigation on his identity and the square object that he was holding during the incident. The action carried out by the four police officers was unjustified and harmful towards Diallo because he was a West American immigrant in the United States. Finally, illusory correlation was also shown in the Amadou Diallo case. An illusory correlation is the tendency to see relationships, or correlations, between events that are actually unrelated (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). When Diallo ran up the outside steps of his apartment and pulled out his wallet, the police officers had correlated his action to a criminal’s doing hence leading them to assume that he was a criminal ready to open fire at them in short range. These two events are distinctive and hardly correlated. Because Diallo was a West African immigrant, therefore the police officers correlated the two events together, causing Diallo his innocent life.