U.S. Economic Crisis Essay - 870 Words

The United States is currently experiencing the biggest financial crisis after the Great Depression, in this paper we will discuss what caused the current economic crisis and why? Two What is the relationship between mortgages, the housing crisis and Wall Street? Third, how has this crisis affected fiscal policy and what are some of the drawbacks of government intervention. Four, what is the recession doing to GDP, economic growth and inflation and how are other countries faring. Five, discuss the different types of unemployment and why is underemployment becoming an economic issue and lastly, what should be done to get the economy back into expansion mode. One main factor that caused the current economic crisis†¦show more content†¦These loans were result of large acquisitions or lack of due diligence on loan purchases by these large firms according to Muolo, P (2007). Fiscal policy is the government expenditure and revenue collection to influence the economy before the current economic crisis the government policy was increasing home ownership. This crisis has affected fiscal policy and the government has intervened by providing simultaneous packets to companies that have been affected by the economic crisis. In February 2008 President Bush signed into law a $168 Billion economic stimulus packet, which was intended for the consumer to simply spend their rebates to cover higher food and fuel prices. Then in February 2009 President Obama signed the American Recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, a $787 billion stimulus package that was allocated to help struggling homeowners. Some other programs the U.S Government passed was the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 or Bailouts of Major financial institutions. There were some drawbacks by government intervening pose risks to price, financial, and fiscal stability. According to the economy of United States are the worlds largest it’s normal GDP was estimated to be $14.2 trillion in 2009. The total U.S Federal debt was $10.62 trillion, while the U.S public debt is the world’s largest in absolute size. This debt as aShow MoreRelatedThe Economic Crisis Is the Greate r Challenge than Pandemics to U.S. National Interest535 Words   |  2 Pagestransform interconnectivity between sovereign nations’ political, social and economic cultures. For centuries, globalized improvements in infrastructure (communication, economies, trade, and ideas) have allowed sovereigns to improve interdependence with others. This essay will present why the economic crisis, a global issue, is the greater challenge than pandemics to U.S. national interest. Regarding pandemic challenges, the U.S. has among the world’s best health care. The ability of the Center for DiseaseRead MoreInternational Monetary Fund Role : Imf1275 Words   |  6 Pagestheir website (www.imf.org), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. The organization was created in 1945 and is governed by and accountable to the 188 that make up its near-global membership. Some notable countries that are part of the IMF are the United States, JapanRead MoreCauses Of The Mexican Peso Crisis965 Words   |  4 Pageslittle mistakes to bring Mexico’s economy down. The Mexican peso crisis started because of the U.S. influence towards Mexico’s currency. The U.S. dollar has a significant value, and after the huge increased it h ad during the end of the year of 1994, the Mexican economy went down. People were choked and panicking, and investors were flying out of the country, making things even worse. What is the Peso Crisis? To begin with, the peso crisis started in December 1994 because of the sudden devaluationRead MoreSocioeconomic Aftermath Of The Crisis1883 Words   |  8 PagesSOCIOECONOMIC AFTERMATH OF THE CRISIS Despite the overall success of the International Monetary Fund and the United States to prevent additional contagion from the Mexican peso crisis throughout the broader global financial systems, the crisis nevertheless proved devastating to the Mexican economy and its population. The devaluation of the peso and capital flight plunged the Mexican economy into a deep recession, national GDP dropped by 6.2% throughout 1995, and multiple banks collapsed as poorRead More1994 Mexican Currency Crisis4565 Words   |  19 Pages and the measures taken in response to the Mexican currency crisis of 1994-1995. The first objective is to assess the reasons for the crisis. Why did Mexico, a once immensely desirable investment destination become the bain of the international financial community following December 1994? The second and chief objective is to assess the impact of the crisis on the foreign exchange and stock markets. The report answers why the crisis adversely affected the Latin American market indices while theRead MoreThe Procter Gamble Company3911 Words   |  16 Pagesname: GRA 6544 – Multinational Corporate Finance Hand out date: 11.09.2012 Hand in date: 25.09.2012 Study place: BI Oslo Table of Contents Abstract: ii 1. Mexican economic conditions 1 a. Change in Mexican economic and political conditions during the 1970s and 1980s 1 b. Mexico’s economic and political climate in 1991 2 2. Financing options 2 3. Financing risk, foreign exchange risk and business risk 8 4. Attractiveness of Mexico’s capital market 9 5. Conclusion:Read MoreThe Global Financial Crisis Of Broward College920 Words   |  4 PagesResearch Paper: The Global Financial Crisis Michelle Beira Broward College There have been few financial crises in the United States. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 to 2009 was the most recent and before that was The Great Depression of the 1930s. The Global Financial Crisis actually began in 2007 when prices of homes tanked. It not only affected the U.S. but it also affected economies overseas. The entire investment banking industry, some of the biggest insurance companies, enterprisesRead MoreThe European Crisis Of Greece, Spain, And The United States1587 Words   |  7 PagesDifficult economic situations often create international conflict and human rights abuses. Recently, the European economy experienced an enormous debt crisis. The crisis created unstable economic and social situations in many countries. The Eurozone crisis negatively affects Greece, Spain, and the United States. First, the European Union crisis elicited a health crisis in Greece. Second, the European Union crisis caused unemployment and stress in Spain. Third, the EU crisis ge nerates negative implicationsRead MoreThe Great Depression Of The 1930s Essay1689 Words   |  7 PagesGlobal Crisis of 2008 in Comparison to the Great Depression of the 1930s Introduction The economic crisis’ of the 1930s and 2000s greatly impacted the United Sates (U.S) and the world. The Great Depression and Global Crisis were both major economic crisis’s the originated in the United States and spread to foreign markets around the world. The Great Depression is regarded as the biggest economic downturn, due to many factors like the stock market crash. The Global Crisis on the other hand, was aRead MoreThe Great Recession Of 2008 Was A Worldwide Economic Downturn1673 Words   |  7 PagesThe Great Recession of 2008 was a worldwide economic downturn that impacted the global economy. Economists consider the economic decline as one of the most damaging recessions that occurred since the Great Depression of 1930’s. Several documentations and research regarding the recession have been made to make a better understanding of the economic downturn in 2008 as well as the global economy as a whole. The book used as reference in this essay, the Diary Of A Very Bad Year: Confessions of an Anonymous

The Minds Of Humans Are Imperfect - 1121 Words

The minds of humans are imperfect. It is for this reason that it is often easy to mistake fantasies and reality. Fantasies can be described as wishful thinking, as imagining something perfect and they may or may not have their roots based on reality. Therefore, reality is what we can deduce from the fives senses and experience. In Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, many different kinds of women are encountered throughout the adventures of Don Quixote. There are poor peasants, rich vassals, prostitutes, and even shepherdess. Women in this novel seem to fall under either women of fantasy or as a women of reality. There is a stark difference between the two groups of women, but sometimes they are so sublime that they may even jump between women of fantasy and those of reality. Dorotea, the rich peasant and wife of the nobleman Don Fernando, and Luscinda, a very wealthy women and wife to Cardenio, would fall explicitly into the category of sublime women which can transcend from reality to fantasy and work their way between either realm. Dulcinea and Aldonza Lorenza fall into categories the very contrasting categories of fantasy and reality, respectively. Therefore, Luscinda, Dorotea, and Dulcinea serve as the fantastical ideals that men desire women to be, but truth of the matter is that most women of the time were what Aldonza Lorenzo was a women of reality. As far as the most ordinary woman of the three fantastical women of part I, Luscinda is the one that most fits thatShow MoreRelatedDeception Is Incompatible With God1451 Words   |  6 Pagesthere is a relationship between God and this untruthful behavior, an individual is also claiming that there is a flaw (or â€Å"imperfection†) in God. However, He can t be perfect and imperfect at the same time. So, God cannot be deceptive in any sense, because it would be saying that God is malicious, weak, and imperfect. 2. p. 82, paragraph beginning Still this is not. In the prior paragraph Descartes argued that God did not give him a faculty expressly for the purpose of making errors. But nowRead MoreDescartes Argument of God1540 Words   |  7 Pagesbelieves that there are properties that are inherently perfect. For example, being good is a perfection while being bad is an imperfection. A perfect being has all the perfections as properties. We have an idea of such a being as God. Premise 2: â€Å"Our minds are not infinite.† To begin this argument, Descartes entertains the idea that he cannot be certain of anything in the world, that everything known to him could be the result of an evil spirit’s deception. The only assurance he finds is â€Å"Cogito ErgoRead MoreOn the Essence of God Essay936 Words   |  4 PagesThe existence of God has been questioned and asked by many human beings since they were given revelations. A clear answer to the question has not yet been verified nor proven to be true by anyone and philosophers trying to prove so have failed too. Regardless of the disappointing search for God’s existence people still have hope and believe in God. Humans never stop seeking for a supreme being other than themselves, and when they prove God’s existence similar to how Descartes does, it opens up aRead MoreEvil : Evil And Evil1300 Words   |  6 PagesIf we are living in a world that was created by a perfect being, why are there imperfect aspects? If this ultimate being or creator (I will say God for purpose of this paper) is fundamentally good and moral, and is even unable to create evil, then how did evil come to be in the life we are living? According to the problem of evil, if there is a God, there is no evil. But because there is evil in the world, the conclusion can be drawn that there is no God (Sober). At first glance, this argument isRead MoreDescartes: Proofs of God/Deception and Error Essay1093 Words   |  5 Pagesevaluate the two proofs of Gods existence. How are they different? Is one more convincing than the other? Why did Descartes think he needed two proofs? Do they do different work for him? And secondly: Does Descartes give a satisfactory account of human error, given a perfect and divine creator? Are Descartes arguments convincing, or does it still seem unnecessary and less than perfect that God created us with flaws? Attachments Submission: Name: Augustina Ossimetha Danny Brown Phil 1301 Read More The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay1289 Words   |  6 PagesFirst Paper - The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne As human beings, we are NOT perfect! It is part of our nature to be flawed one way or another. But there are some who choose to believe the opposing view. The theme of Nathaniel Hawthornes short story The Birthmark is how humans fight forcefully against Nature for perfection. It is those humans who, eventually, learn that Nature cannot be changed or revised. Aylmer was a famous scientist and philosopher who achieved great wonders.Read More Humans Senses and Perceptions Essay examples1418 Words   |  6 Pagesthing is what he thinks it is -- in other words, not a thing, but a think.† The combination of imperfect sensory organs, selective perception and varying interpretations of the sense data we receive accounts for this â€Å"err.† To begin with, our eyes do not â€Å"see† as clearly as we think they do. The actual raw image coming from our eyes is upside down, blurry and interlaced with blood vessels. Then, our mind corrects this image and fills in the gaps with whatever it presumes to be correct. However, ourRead MoreDescartes : The Existence Of God1682 Words   |  7 Pagesreality from the highest to the lowest level of reality: infinite substances, finite substances and modes. An infinite substance (God) consists of a higher level of formal reality and exists independently from everything else, whereas finite substances (human) exists independently of everything but God, followed by modes which consists of even less formal reality. After classifying the ideas and distinguishing the two types of realities, Descartes can make the progression to the sub-conclusion as follows:Read MoreExplain the Relationship Between Plato’s Form of the Good and the Other Forms.994 Words   |  4 PagesExplain the relationship between Plato’s Form of the Good and the other Forms. Plato was a dualist and so believed that human beings consisted of two parts- body and soul. This view is portrayed throughout Plato’s famous theory of the Forms of which he suggests that true substances are not physical bodies, but are the eternal Forms that our bodies are merely the imperfect copy. In his Theory he tells of a World of Forms representing knowledge, which he also names the ‘real’ world and the worldRead MoreSocrates s Quest Of Truth1337 Words   |  6 Pagesfor every particular and imperfect thing in the world of becoming (appearance), there is a corresponding reality, which is its absolute and perfect form in the world of being. For instance, the material world we live in is a poor imitation of the â€Å"real† world. Plato states that the material world is always changing and imperfect because he believed that there is a difference between that which we perceive with our senses and that which we understand innately with our minds. Therefo re, we rely in our

Straight Line Depreciation Method free essay sample

Where does Lila get the information on the useful life of Stans bake oven and the estimate for its residual value? Why do you think she gets the information from this particular source? Lila got the information by going through the old worksheets filled by Stan. Lila insinuated this by asking Stan if he had started entering the worksheet into the Peachtree program. Lila asked Stan to join her in doing the adjustment on the worksheet so as to determine the actual shelf life of the Oven. 3. Why is a clear worksheet helpful even after the months statements have been prepared? For proper records, the worksheet would make it easier to recall figures of past transactions. It is important to have a good record this might help in projecting future forecasts regarding profits and losses. It would also be useful in determining the values of their various equipments, which obviously wear out over time. We will write a custom essay sample on Straight Line Depreciation Method or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Pro Animal Testing Essay Example For Students

Pro Animal Testing Essay This theme song to a popular cartoon is a farce dealing with experiments carried out on animals. In the cartoon one mouse is made very smart and wants to take over the world while the other is clearly not as smart. While the cartoon makes jokes, the reality is that mice and other animals re being used for medical tests every day. For some people this testing brings up ethical questions. One of the biggest questions: is it really necessary to take the lives of animals in the name of science and for the betterment of humanity? For animal rights activists, like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the answer is no. PETA pressures labs into halting experiments because they believe that animals are not to be used by humans for food, clothing, entertainment, or to experiment on (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 1). Its stance is that any testing is painful, inhumane, and unnecessary when alternatives are available. The PETA website says that animals, like humans, have interests that cannot be sacrificed or traded away simply because it might benefit others. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals 2-3). Essentially, PETA is of the opinion that animals and humans should have identical rights. In their press releases PETA puts out pictures of rabbits with open flesh wounds and dogs with rashes on their skinsall in an attempt to disgust people into sympathy for their cause. In actuality the number of lab animals used has been cut in half in the last 25 years (James-Enger 254). Of the animals used, 90 percent are rats and mice (James-Enger 1). Moreover, 11 million animals die each year in animal shelters (Americans for Medical Progress 2) and an astounding 95 percent of the animals that die in America do so from human consumption (James-Enger 254). The reason that animal testing is appropriate is that there are regulations in place to minimize testing and pain, the alternatives are insufficient for now, and most importantly the information obtained from experimentation is irreplaceable. While animal rights groups such as PETA advocate abolishing all animal testing that inflicts pain on animals, proponents of testing cite laws and regulations which minimize pain and discomfort. PETAs position is based on the belief that humans are not superior to animals (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). The vice president of the Humans Society of the United States (HSUS), an animal rights group that is nearly as extreme as PETA, has been quoted as saying the life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal consideration (Americans for Medical Progress 2). If, as PETA and HSUS say, animal and human life is equal, then putting an animal through any pain is immoral. However, there are laws in place to minimize discomfort and inhumane treatment. The laws limit the amount of distress and pain an animal is subjected to. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the body that governs animal testing, must approve all tests (United States Department of Agriculture 2). The USDA must also authorize the numbers and types of animals experimented on (United States Department of Agriculture 2). Tests can no longer be performed if conclusive data is already available. In 1991 it was discovered that Procter and Gamble had performed experiments on 300 guinea pigs when the data the tests was to obtain was already available (Animal Testing by the Cosmetic Industry 2). This is just one of the situations that newer animal testing legislation would have prevented or at least deterred. A fifty-point criterion for assessing pain is in place (United States Department of Agriculture 3). These points include everything from vocalization of pain to apparent depression. If there is no clear criteria then it is assumed that procedures that cause pain in humans also cause pain in animals (United States Department of Agriculture 50). A Lesson Before Dying Essay Murray, M.D. said, Animal experimentation has been essential to the development of all cardiac surgery, transplantation surgery, joint replacements and all vaccinations (Americans for Medical Progress 1). The numbers to back up this claim are that over 440,000 open-heart surgeries are performed and 11,000 kidneys are transplanted every year, not to mention that animal experimentation has made possible the salvation of 20,000 kidney dialysis patients each year (Botting 1). Also, the ability to test on animals has made possible the relatively safe and successful use of dangerous chemotherapy drugs to treat cancer (Americans for Medical Progress 1). Drugs such as this cannot be tested on humans because of their strength and potential for killing in inappropriate doses. If the proper dosage were not known, the results would be inaccurate and could be lethal. Many antibiotics and vaccines used today were developed and tested through animal research, as were insulin to control diabetes and nearly all modern anesthetics (Botting 1). It is hard to imagine life without some of these lifesaving drugs, or even the ones that do not save lives, just make life a little more bearable. It is likewise significant to note that animal testing has benefited animals as well. When a pet owner takes his or her animal to the veterinarian to receive shots, chances are that those shots are available because of animal experimentation. Heartworm, feline leukemia, rabies, anthrax, and tetanus are all preventable because of animal testing. PETA and HSUS are honorable institutions with admirable goals, but they are over idealistic and overzealous. That fact can best be described by the following quote: Animal rights activists blocked for two years research aimed at stopping transmission of HIV from mother to child. That research ultimately demonstrated how AZT can prevent babies from getting AIDS (Americans for Medical Progress). Sometimes the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. This does not mean that animal testing should go unchecked. Suffering is kept to a minimum by legislation and advancements in testing alternatives. As these alternatives progress, the number of live animals needed for testing will gradually decrease and eventually the need for them will hopefully be eliminated. But in the meantime, animal testing is too important to stop. The benefits waiting to be had are too important and any possible drawbacks are too insignificant to allow a halt in animal research. BibliographyBibliographyAnimal Testing by the Cosmetic Industry. (20 March 1999). Animal Research Saves Human and Animal Lives. Americans for Medical Progress. (20 March 1999). Animal Research Holds the Key to Saving Human Lives. Americans for Medical Progress. (20 March 1999). Ball, Matt and Anne Green, and Jack Norris. Veganism as the Path to Animal Liberation. The Animals Agenda Sep/Oct 1998: 44-45. Botting, Jack H. and Adrian R. Morrison. Animal Research is Vital to Medicine. Scientific American. 187 February 1997: 83-85. D. E. Skin Stand-Ins. Scientific American. September 1990: 168. James-Enger, Kelly. Beyond Animal Testing. Vegetarian Times. October 1998: 254. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. (20 March 1999). 21 Things You May Not Know About the Animal Rights Movement. Americans for Medical Progress. (20 March 1999). U.S. Department of Agriculture: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Animal Welfare Report Fiscal Year 1997.

Affirmative Action Essays (2733 words) - Social Inequality

Affirmative Action Affirmative action works. There are thousands of examples of situations where people of color, white women, and working class women and men of all races who were previously excluded from jobs or educational opportunities, or were denied opportunities once admitted, have gained access through affirmative action. When these policies received executive branch and judicial support, vast numbers of people of color, white women and men have gained access they would not otherwise have had. These gains have led to very real changes. Affirmative action programs have not eliminated racism, nor have they always been implemented without problems. However, there would be no struggle to roll back the gains achieved if affirmative action policies were ineffective. The implementation of affirmative action was America's first honest attempt at solving a problem, it had previously chosen to ignore. In a variety of areas, from the quality of health care to the rate of employment, blacks still remain far behind whites. Their representation in the more prestigious professions is still almost insignificant. Comparable imbalances exist for other racial and ethnic minorities as well as for women. Yet, to truly understand the importance of affirmative action, one must look at America's past discrimination to see why, at this point in history, we must become more "color conscious". History Of Discrimination In America: Events Leading To Affirmative Action. The Declaration of Independence asserts that "all men are created equal." Yet America is scarred by a long history of legally imposed inequality. Snatched from their native land, transported thousands of miles-in a nightmare of disease and death-and sold into slavery, blacks in America were reduced to the legal status of farm animals. A Supreme Court opinion, Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), made this official by classifying slaves as a species of "private property." Even after slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, American blacks, other minorities, and women continued to be deprived of some of the most elementary right of citizenship. During the Reconstruction, after the end of the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868, making blacks citizens and promised them the "equal protection of the laws." In 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment was passed, which gave blacks the right to vote. Congress also passed a number of civil rights laws barring discrimination against blacks in hotels, theaters, and other places. However, the South reacted by passing the "Black Codes, " which severely limited the rights of the newly freed slaves, preventing them in most states from testifying in courts against whites, limiting their opportunities to find work, and generally assigning them to the status of second or third class citizen. White vigilante groups like the Klu Klux Klan began to appear, by murdering and terrorizing blacks who tried to exercise their new rights. "Legal" ways were also found for circumventing the new laws; these included "grandfather clauses", poll taxes, white only primary elections, and constant social discrimination against and intimidation of blacks, who were excluded form education and from any job except the most menial. In 1883, the Supreme Court declared a key civil rights statute, one that prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, unconstitutional. And in 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson (163 U.S. 537 [1896]), the Court declared that the state of Louisiana had the right to segregate their races in every public facility. Thus began the heyday of "Jim Crow" legislation. In Justice John Marshall Harlan's lone dissent, he realized it was a mockery. He wrote, " We boast of the freedom enjoyed by our peoples above all other peoples. But it is difficult to reconcile that boast with a state of the law which, practically, puts a brand of servitude and degregation upon a large class of our fellow citizens, our equals before the law. This thin disguise of 'equal' accommodations for passengers in railroad coaches will not mislead anyone, or atone for the wrong this day done." Not until sixty years later, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (347 U.S. 483 [1954]), was Plessy overturned. Chief Justice earl Warren declared the unanimous opinion of the court by saying: "We cannot turn the clock back to 1868, when the Amendment was adopted, or even to 1896, when Plessy v. Ferguson was written." In today's world, "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." This decision sparked racial tensions all across America. in 1957, President Eisenhower had to call federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, after the state's governor forcibly barred black children from entering white schools. In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested and fined, for not moving to the back of a public bus, Affirmative Action Essays (2733 words) - Social Inequality Affirmative Action Affirmative action works. There are thousands of examples of situations where people of color, white women, and working class women and men of all races who were previously excluded from jobs or educational opportunities, or were denied opportunities once admitted, have gained access through affirmative action. When these policies received executive branch and judicial support, vast numbers of people of color, white women and men have gained access they would not otherwise have had. These gains have led to very real changes. Affirmative action programs have not eliminated racism, nor have they always been implemented without problems. However, there would be no struggle to roll back the gains achieved if affirmative action policies were ineffective. The implementation of affirmative action was America's first honest attempt at solving a problem, it had previously chosen to ignore. In a variety of areas, from the quality of health care to the rate of employment, blacks still remain far behind whites. Their representation in the more prestigious professions is still almost insignificant. Comparable imbalances exist for other racial and ethnic minorities as well as for women. Yet, to truly understand the importance of affirmative action, one must look at America's past discrimination to see why, at this point in history, we must become more "color conscious". History Of Discrimination In America: Events Leading To Affirmative Action. The Declaration of Independence asserts that "all men are created equal." Yet America is scarred by a long history of legally imposed inequality. Snatched from their native land, transported thousands of miles-in a nightmare of disease and death-and sold into slavery, blacks in America were reduced to the legal status of farm animals. A Supreme Court opinion, Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), made this official by classifying slaves as a species of "private property." Even after slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, American blacks, other minorities, and women continued to be deprived of some of the most elementary right of citizenship. During the Reconstruction, after the end of the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868, making blacks citizens and promised them the "equal protection of the laws." In 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment was passed, which gave blacks the right to vote. Congress also passed a number of civil rights laws barring discrimination against blacks in hotels, theaters, and other places. However, the South reacted by passing the "Black Codes, " which severely limited the rights of the newly freed slaves, preventing them in most states from testifying in courts against whites, limiting their opportunities to find work, and generally assigning them to the status of second or third class citizen. White vigilante groups like the Klu Klux Klan began to appear, by murdering and terrorizing blacks who tried to exercise their new rights. "Legal" ways were also found for circumventing the new laws; these included "grandfather clauses", poll taxes, white only primary elections, and constant social discrimination against and intimidation of blacks, who were excluded form education and from any job except the most menial. In 1883, the Supreme Court declared a key civil rights statute, one that prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, unconstitutional. And in 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson (163 U.S. 537 [1896]), the Court declared that the state of Louisiana had the right to segregate their races in every public facility. Thus began the heyday of "Jim Crow" legislation. In Justice John Marshall Harlan's lone dissent, he realized it was a mockery. He wrote, " We boast of the freedom enjoyed by our peoples above all other peoples. But it is difficult to reconcile that boast with a state of the law which, practically, puts a brand of servitude and degregation upon a large class of our fellow citizens, our equals before the law. This thin disguise of 'equal' accommodations for passengers in railroad coaches will not mislead anyone, or atone for the wrong this day done." Not until sixty years later, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (347 U.S. 483 [1954]), was Plessy overturned. Chief Justice earl Warren declared the unanimous opinion of the court by saying: "We cannot turn the clock back to 1868, when the Amendment was adopted, or even to 1896, when Plessy v. Ferguson was written." In today's world, "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." This decision sparked racial tensions all across America. in 1957, President Eisenhower had to call federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, after the state's governor forcibly barred black children from entering white schools. In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested and fined, for not moving to the back of a public bus,

Water Pollution Explained

Water Pollution Explained Water pollution is when water contains contaminants. In the context of environmental science, a contaminant is usually a substance which can be harmful to living things like plants or animals. Environmental contaminants can be the result of human activity, for example a by-product of manufacturing. However, they can also occur naturally, like radioactive isotopes, sediment, or animal waste. Because of how general the concept of pollution is, we can assume that polluted waters have been around even before humans were here. For example, a spring might have high sulfur levels, or a stream with a carcass in it would have been unfit for other animals to drink from. However, the number of polluted streams, rivers, and lakes multiplied rapidly as the human population increased, agricultural practices intensified, and industrial development spread. Important Sources of Pollution A number of human activities lead to water pollution harmful to aquatic life, aesthetics, recreation, and human health. The main sources of pollution can be organized in a few categories:   Land use. We have a heavy impact on the land: we cut forests, plow grasslands, build homes, pave roads. Land use activities intercept the water cycle during precipitation events and snowmelt. As water flows over the land and into streams, it picks up anything small enough to be carried away. Vegetation does an important job of holding back organic and mineral components of the soil, but clearing that vegetation means a lot of substances make it into streams, rivers, wetlands, and lakes, where they become contaminants.Impervious surfaces. Most man-made surfaces cannot absorb water like soil and roots would. Rooftops, parking lots, and paved roads allow rain and snowmelt runoff to flow with great speed and volume, picking up along the way heavy metals, oils, road salt, and other contaminants. The pollutants would otherwise have been absorbed by the soil and vegetation, where they would have been naturally broken down. Instead, they concentrate in runoff water, overwhelming the streamsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ capacity to process them. Agriculture. Common agricultural practices, like exposing soils to the elements, using fertilizers and pesticides, and concentrating livestock, routinely contribute to water pollution. Nutrient runoff, mostly phosphorus and nitrates, leads to algae blooms and other problems. Mismanagement of farm soils and livestock can also lead to significant soil erosion. Soil picked up by rain makes its way into streams where it becomes sediment pollution, with harmful consequences on aquatic life.Mining. Mine tailings are the piles of rock discarded after the valuable portion of the ore has been removed. Tailings can leach to surface and ground waters large amounts of contaminants, some occurring naturally in the waste rocks, others a product of the ore processing methods. Mining by-products are sometimes stored in impoundments as a slurry or sludge (for example, coal ash), and failure of the dams holding back these artificial ponds can lead to environmental disaster. Abandoned coal mines are a notorious source of acid mine drainage: water in flooded mines and in contact with mine tailings sometimes oxidizes sulfur-bearing rocks, and turns extremely acidic. Manufacturing. Industrial activities are a major source of water pollution. In the past, liquid waste was dumped directly into rivers, or put into toxic waste barrels which were then buried somewhere. Those barrels then deteriorated and leaked, resulting in heavily contaminated sites we are still dealing with today. In the United States, regulations now severely limit these practices, notably the 1972 Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation Recovery Act of 1976, and the Superfund Act of 1980. The release of toxic materials at industrial sites continues, either at levels below regulatory thresholds, or simply illegally. In addition, accidental spills occur all too frequently – for example with the recent West Virginia MCHM spill. In developing countries, pollution from industrial sources is still widespread and dangerous to human and ecosystem health.Energy sector. The extraction and transportation of fossil fuels, notably oil, is prone to spills that can have long lasting e ffects on aquatic systems. In addition, coal-fired power plants release large amounts of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the air. When those contaminants dissolved in rain water and enter waterways, they significantly acidify rivers and lakes. Coal plants also emit mercury, a very toxic heavy metal, polluting lakes throughout the world and making fish unsafe to eat. The production of electricity through hydropower produces much less pollution, but still has some deleterious effects on aquatic ecosystems. Household practices. There are numerous actions we can take every day to prevent water pollution: avoid lawn pesticides, slow rainwater runoff, collect pet waste, properly dispose of household chemicals and medicine, avoid products with microbeads, attend to oil leaks on the mower or car, have the septic tank maintained and inspected.Thrash. A lot of trash persists in the environment, and plastic matter breaks down into harmful microplastics. Are Contaminants Always a Substance? Not always. For example, nuclear power plants use vast amounts of water to cool down the steam generator by the reactor and used to spin the turbines. The warm water is then released back into the river it was pumped from, creating a warm plume that affects downstream aquatic life.

Physics134 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Physics134 - Coursework Example The Ministry in charge of energy conservation established standards of energy consumption for the sector. The Chinese government has also established fees and tax rebate system for low energy buildings to encourage constructions. Under the feebate system, one either pays a fee or receives a rebate when one connects to electric system or gas. The amount received or paid relies on the size of the subscription of the efficiency of the building. Efficient buildings receive a rebate while inefficient buildings pay a fee. The system is politically attractive and cost neutral. This model is workable for the United States, and can help in conserving energy in the construction sector. it is a desirable approach for the United States due to the energy conservation benefits, its political desirability, and cost neutrality. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) improves cars’ average fuel economy. It has been a successful program to a greater extent because some of its auto manufacturing set goals has been met. CAF has managed to regulate fuel economy with its strict fuel economy standards. The major purpose of CAF is to reduce consumption of energy through increasing the cars’ fuel economy. CAF in collaboration with NHTSA improves the country’s energy security. Compared to a tax added gasoline purchased at the pump, CAF standards are still effective. This is because the fuel economy rises as CAF standards increase. However, using tax added gasoline purchased at the pump would mean that the prices of gasoline increase. This will, in the long-run, increase the average fuel economy of the passenger car fleet. Due to the energy consumption, the increasing fuel economy would drive the gasoline price down. Therefore, CAF standards prevail over tax added gasoline purchased at the pumps. CAFÉ standards, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/business/energy-environment/04mileage.html