Basic principals of the constitution Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Basic principals of the constitution - Assignment Example It therefore becomes pertinent to select the principle that best guarantees the effectiveness of the American democratic structure. This paper would also seek to establish the extent at which this principle has been used effectively to defend the core American values. Federalism is a system of government in which governmental powers are shared among the different tiers of  government in which each tier  is coordinate, independent, and exclusive in its own sphere of authority (O’Connor, & Sabato, 2001). Separation of powers is a doctrine propounded by Baron de Montesquieu which stipulates that in order to avoid arbitrary use of state power, power should be separated and shared among the organs of government such that no organ becomes stronger than the other(O’Connor, & Sabato, 2001). But over the years it has been discovered that this principles has not lived up to its expectation because America had presidents who were overwhelming and dominates the legislature. A vivid example is President George Bush, after the September 11 Al-Qaeda masterminded terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre, the president presented a bill to the congress to invade Iraq. Before the house could pass the bill he had sent troops to wage war in Iraq. This was contrary to the constitutional provisions which states that before the United States would engage in a war, it must be ratified by the congress in a joint session. The overwhelming influence of the president has this principle ineffective. In the light of this,  is the principle of checks and balances which states that an organ of government should act as a watchdog on the other organs of government so as to curb their excesses. In America, checks and balances has shown the relationship and interaction between the executive and other arms of government (O’Connor, & Sabato, 2001). As the executive rely on the legislature to pass a bill  he wants to become law, the legislature

Recession in the economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recession in the economy - Essay Example Hence, countries are expected to come up with various macro and microeconomic policies that spur positive growth so that their economies can recover from the menace. Such is the case in Poland if they want to redeem the situation. Consumption forms a critical development criterion in any economy and the state must find measures to spur the vice. The government should first reduce taxes on the basic goods and services as it would reduce the prices of the commodities. Consumers will increase the number of consumption bundles and have an extra income that they can spend on other goods. As a result, the consumption patterns increases that bring more money to manufacturers that they can invest and spur growth in the country. Another measure is by the Poland government to provide subsidies to the producers. The manufacturer's cost of operations will be reduced hence making cheaper commodities (Auerbach, Alan and Yuriy, pg 15). This policy will translate into low prices of goods and service s in the market that will reduce inflation. High consumption results in more sales that lead to high revenues. The firms can hence invest the excess income making them expand and, as a result, hire more workers that reduce unemployment in the economy. Through the central bank of the country, the benchmark lending interest for loans should be reduced to commercial banks. The reduced mortgage rates would be passed to consumers and investments in the form of reduced lending by the commercial bank. More persons and firms would acquire the loan services that they invest in major parts of the country. The policy is necessary because the interest rate is inversely related to investments levels. The higher the interest rate, the lower the investment and the opposite are right (Auerbach, Alan and Yuriy, pg 18). Therefore, due to low rates, investors will expand their production that increases the level of output within the economy. The increased production makes the gross domestic products t o raise that makes the country have a favorable trade balance with her business partners increasing economic growth in the country.

Air Pollution Essay Example for Free

Air Pollution Essay Air Pollution, addition of harmful substances to the atmosphere resulting in damage to the environment, human health, and quality of life. One of many forms of pollution, air pollution occurs inside homes, schools, and offices; in cities; across continents; and even globally. Air pollution makes people sick—it causes breathing problems and promotes cancer—and it harms plants, animals, and the ecosystems in which they live. Some air pollutants return to Earth in the form of acid rain and snow, which corrode statues and buildings, damage crops and forests, and make lakes and streams unsuitable for fish and other plant and animal life. Pollution is changing Earth’s atmosphere so that it lets in more harmful radiation from the Sun. At the same time, our polluted atmosphere is becoming a better insulator, preventing heat from escaping back into space and leading to a rise in global average temperatures. Scientists predict that the temperature increase, referred to as global warming, will affect world food supply, alter sea level, make weather more extreme, and increase the spread of tropical disease. Most air pollution comes from one human activity: burning fossil fuels—natural gas, coal, and oil—to power industrial processes and motor vehicles. Among the harmful chemical compounds this burning puts into the atmosphere are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and tiny solid particles—including lead from gasoline additives—called particulates. Between 1900 and 1970, motor vehicle use rapidly expanded, and emissions of nitrogen oxides, some of the most damaging pollutants in vehicle exhaust, increased 690 percent. When fuels are incompletely burned, various chemicals called volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) also enter the air. Pollutants also come from other sources. For instance, decomposing garbage in landfills and solid waste disposal sites emits methane gas, and many household products give off VOCs. Some of these pollutants also come from natural sources. For example, forest fires emit particulates and VOCs into the atmosphere. Ultrafine dust particles, dislodged by soil erosion when water and weather loosen layers of soil, increase airborne particulate levels. Volcanoes spew out sulfur dioxide and large amounts of pulverized lava rock known as volcanic ash. A big volcanic eruption can darken the sky over a wide region and affect the Earth’s entire atmosphere. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, for example, dumped enough volcanic ash into the upper atmosphere to lower global temperatures for the next two years. Unlike pollutants from human activity, however, naturally occurring pollutants tend to remain in the atmosphere for a short time and do not lead to permanent atmospheric change. Once in the atmosphere, pollutants often undergo chemical reactions that produce additional harmful compounds. Air pollution is subject to weather patterns that can trap it in valleys or blow it across the globe to damage pristine environments far from the original sources. Local and regional pollution take place in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, which at its widest extends from Earths surface to about 16 km (about 10 mi). The troposphere is the region in which most weather occurs. If the load of pollutants added to the troposphere were equally distributed, the pollutants would be spread over vast areas and the air pollution might almost escape our notice. Pollution sources tend to be concentrated, however, especially in cities. In the weather phenomenon known as thermal inversion, a layer of cooler air is trapped near the ground by a layer of warmer air above. When this occurs, normal air mixing almost ceases and pollutants are trapped in the lower layer. Local topography, or the shape of the land, can worsen this effect—an area ringed by mountains, for example, can become a pollution trap. Smog is intense local pollution usually trapped by a thermal inversion. Before the age of the automobile, most smog came from burning coal. In 19th-century London, smog was so severe that street lights were turned on by noon because soot and smog darkened the midday sky. Burning gasoline in motor vehicles is the main source of smog in most regions today. Powered by sunlight, oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds react in the atmosphere to produce photochemical smog. Smog contains ozone, a form of oxygen gas made up of molecules with three oxygen atoms rather than the normal two. Ozone in the lower atmosphere is a poison—it damages vegetation, kills trees, irritates lung tissues, and attacks rubber. Environmental officials measure ozone to determine the severity of smog. When the ozone level is high, other pollutants, including carbon monoxide, are usually present at high levels as well (see Air Quality). In the presence of atmospheric moisture, sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen turn into droplets of pure acid floating in smog. These airborne acids are bad for the lungs and attack anything made of limestone, marble, or metal. In cities around the world, smog acids are eroding precious artifacts, including the Parthenon temple in Athens, Greece, and the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Oxides of nitrogen and sulfur dioxide pollute places far from the points where they are released into the air. Carried by winds in the troposphere, they can reach distant regions where they descend in acid form, usually as rain or snow. Such acid precipitation can burn the leaves of plants and make lakes too acidic to support fish and other living things. Because of acidification, sensitive species such as the popular brook trout can no longer survive in many lakes and streams in the eastern United States. Smog spoils views and makes outdoor activity unpleasant. For the very young, the very old, and people who suffer from asthma or heart disease, the effects of smog are even worse: It may cause headaches or dizziness and can cause breathing difficulties. In extreme cases, smog can lead to mass illness and death, mainly from carbon monoxide poisoning. In 1948 in the steel-mill town of Donora, Pennsylvania, intense local smog killed 19 people. In 1952 in London about 4,000 people died in one of the notorious smog events known as London Fogs; in 1962 another 700 Londoners died. With stronger pollution controls and less reliance on coal for heat, today’s chronic smog is rarely so obviously deadly. However, under adverse weather conditions, accidental releases of toxic substances can be equally disastrous. The worst such accident occurred in 1984 in Bhopal, India, when methyl isocyanate released from an American-owned factory during a thermal inversion caused more than 3,800 deaths. Air pollution can expand beyond a regional area to cause global effects. The stratosphere is the layer of the atmosphere between 16 km (10 mi) and 50 km (30 mi) above sea level. It is rich in ozone, the same molecule that acts as a pollutant when found at lower levels of the atmosphere in urban smog. Up at the stratospheric level, however, ozone forms a protective layer that serves a vital function: It absorbs the wavelength of solar radiation known as ultraviolet-B (UV-B). UV-B damages deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the genetic molecule found in every living cell, increasing the risk of such problems as cancer in humans. Because of its protective function, the ozone layer is essential to life on Earth. Several pollutants attack the ozone layer. Chief among them is the class of chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), formerly used as refrigerants (notably in air conditioners), as agents in several manufacturing processes, and as propellants in spray cans. CFC molecules are virtually indestructible until they reach the stratosphere. Here, intense ultraviolet radiation breaks the CFC molecules apart, releasing the chlorine atoms they contain. These chlorine atoms begin reacting with ozone, breaking it down into ordinary oxygen molecules that do not absorb UV-B. The chlorine acts as a catalyst—that is, it takes part in several chemical reactions—yet at the end emerges unchanged and able to react again. A single chlorine atom can destroy up to 100,000 ozone molecules in the stratosphere. Other pollutants, including nitrous oxide from fertilizers and the pesticide methyl bromide, also attack atmospheric ozone. Scientists are finding that under this assault the protective ozone layer in the stratosphere is thinning. In the Antarctic region, it vanishes almost entirely for a few weeks every year. Although CFC use has been greatly reduced in recent years and will soon be prohibited worldwide, CFC molecules already released into the lower atmosphere will be making their way to the stratosphere for decades, and further ozone loss is expected. As a result, experts anticipate an increase in skin cancers, more cataracts (clouding of the lens of the eye), and reduced yields of some food crops. Humans are bringing about another global-scale change in the atmosphere: the increase in what are called greenhouse gases. Like glass in a greenhouse, these gases admit the Sun’s light but tend to reflect back downward the heat that is radiated from the ground below, trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. This process is known as the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is the most significant of these gases—there is 31 percent more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than there was in 1750, the result of our burning coal and fuels derived from oil. Methane, nitrous oxide, and CFCs are greenhouse gases as well. Scientists predict that increases in these gases in the atmosphere will make the Earth a warmer place. They expect a global rise in average temperature of 1. 4 to 5. 8 Celsius degrees (2. 5 to 10. 4 Fahrenheit degrees) in the next century. Average temperatures have in fact been rising, and the 1990s were the warmest decade on record. Some scientists are reluctant to say that global warming has actually begun because climate naturally varies from year to year and decade to decade, and it takes many years of records to be sure of a fundamental change. There is little disagreement, though, that global warming is on its way. Global warming will have different effects in ifferent regions. A warmed world is expected to have more extreme weather, with more rain during wet periods, longer droughts, and more powerful storms. Although the effects of future climate change are unknown, some predict that exaggerated weather conditions may translate into better agricultural yields in areas such as the western United States, where temperature and rainfall are expected to increase, while dramatic decreases in rainfall may lead to severe drought and plunging agricultural yields in parts of Africa, for example. Warmer temperatures are expected to partially melt the polar ice caps, leading to a projected sea level rise of 9 to 100 cm (4 to 40 in) by the year 2100. A sea level rise at the upper end of this range would flood coastal cities, force people to abandon low-lying islands, and completely inundate coastal wetlands. If sea levels rise at projected rates, the Florida Everglades could be completely under salt water in the next century. Diseases like malaria, which at present are primarily found in the tropics, may become more common in the regions of the globe between the tropics and the polar regions, called the temperate zones. For many of the world’s plant species, and for animal species that are not easily able to shift their territories as their habitat grows warmer, climate change may bring extinction. Pollution is perhaps most harmful at an often unrecognized site—inside the homes and buildings where we spend most of our time. Indoor pollutants include tobacco smoke; radon, an invisible radioactive gas that enters homes from the ground in some regions; and chemicals released from synthetic carpets and furniture, pesticides, and household cleaners. When disturbed, asbestos, a nonflammable material once commonly used in insulation, sheds airborne fibers that can produce a lung disease called asbestosis. Pollutants may accumulate to reach much higher levels than they do outside, where natural air currents disperse them. Indoor air levels of many pollutants may be 2 to 5 times, and occasionally more than 100 times, higher than outdoor levels. These levels of indoor air pollutants are especially harmful because people spend as much as 90 percent of their time living, working, and playing indoors. Inefficient or improperly vented heaters are particularly dangerous. In the United States, the serious effort against local and regional air pollution began with the Clean Air Act of 1970, which was amended in 1977 and 1990. This law requires that the air contain no more than specified levels of particulate matter, lead, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, ozone, and various toxic substances. To avoid the mere shifting of pollution from dirty areas to clean ones, stricter standards apply where the air is comparatively clean. In national parks, for instance, the air is supposed to remain as clean as it was when the law was passed. The act sets deadlines by which standards must be met. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in charge of refining and enforcing these standards, but the day-to-day work of fighting pollution falls to the state governments and to local air pollution control districts. Some states, notably California, have imposed tougher air pollution standards of their own. In an effort to enforce pollution standards, pollution control authorities measure both the amounts of pollutants present in the atmosphere and the amounts entering it from certain sources. The usual approach is to sample the open, or ambient, air and test it for the presence of specified pollutants. The amount of each pollutant is counted in parts per million or, in some cases, milligrams or micrograms per cubic meter. To learn how much pollution is coming from specific sources, measurements are also taken at industrial smokestacks and automobile tailpipes. Pollution is controlled in two ways: with end-of-the-pipe devices that capture pollutants already created and by limiting the quantity of pollutants produced in the first place. End-of-the-pipe devices include catalytic converters in automobiles and various kinds of filters and scrubbers in industrial plants. In a catalytic converter, exhaust gases pass over small beads coated with metals that promote reactions changing harmful substances into less harmful ones. When end-of-the-pipe devices first began to be used, they dramatically reduced pollution at a relatively low cost. As air pollution standards become stricter, it becomes more and more expensive to further clean the air. In order to lower pollution overall, industrial polluters are sometimes allowed to make cooperative deals. For instance, a power company may fulfill its pollution control requirements by investing in pollution control at another plant or factory, where more effective pollution control can be accomplished at a lower cost. End-of-the-pipe controls, however sophisticated, can only do so much. As pollution efforts evolve, keeping the air clean will depend much more on preventing pollution than on curing it. Gasoline, for instance, has been reformulated several times to achieve cleaner burning. Various manufacturing processes have been redesigned so that less waste is produced. Car manufacturers are experimenting with automobiles that run on electricity or on cleaner-burning fuels. Buildings are being designed to take advantage of sun in winter and shade and breezes in summer to reduce the need for artificial heating and cooling, which are usually powered by the burning of fossil fuels. The choices people make in their daily lives can have a significant impact on the state of the air. Using public transportation instead of driving, for instance, reduces pollution by limiting the number of pollution-emitting automobiles on the road. During periods of particularly intense smog, pollution control authorities often urge people to avoid trips by car. To encourage transit use during bad-air periods, authorities in Paris, France, make bus and subway travel temporarily free. Indoor pollution control must be accomplished building by building or even room by room. Proper ventilation mimics natural outdoor air currents, reducing levels of indoor air pollutants by continually circulating fresh air. After improving ventilation, the most effective single step is probably banning smoking in public rooms. Where asbestos has been used in insulation, it can be removed or sealed behind sheathes so that it won’t be shredded and get into the air. Sealing foundations and installing special pipes and pumps can prevent radon from seeping into buildings. On the global scale, pollution control standards are the result of complex negotiations among nations. Typically, developed countries, having already gone through a period of rapid (and dirty) industrialization, are ready to demand cleaner technologies. Less developed nations, hoping for rapid economic growth, are less enthusiastic about pollution controls. They seek lenient deadlines and financial help from developed countries to make the expensive changes necessary to reduce pollutant emissions in their industrial processes. Nonetheless, several important international accords have been reached. In 1988 the United States and 24 other nations agreed in the Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution Agreement to hold their production of nitrogen oxides, a key contributor to acid rain, to current levels. In the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, adopted in 1987 and strengthened in 1990 and 1992, most nations agreed to stop or reduce the manufacture of CFCs. In 1992 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiated a treaty outlining cooperative efforts to curb global warming. The treaty, which took effect in March 1994, has been legally accepted by 160 of the 165 participating countries. In December 1997 at the Third Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Japan, more than 160 nations formally adopted the Kyoto Protocol. This agreement calls for industrialized nations to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to levels 5 percent below 1990 emission levels between 2008 and 2012. Negotiators have met regularly since 1995 to iron out the details of how this treaty could be enforced in ways that are agreeable for industrialized countries such as the United States, which releases more greenhouse gases than any other nation, and developing countries that are struggling to become industrialized and often cannot afford the expense that restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions would require. Antipollution measures have helped stem the increase of global pollution emission levels. Between 1970, when the Clean Air Act was passed, and 1995, total emissions of the major air pollutants in the United States decreased by nearly 30 percent. During the same 25-year period, the U. S. population increased 28 percent and vehicle miles traveled increased 116 percent. Air pollution control is a race between the reduction of pollution from each source, such as a factory or a car, and the rapid multiplication of sources. Smog in cities in the United States is expected to increase again as the number of cars and miles driven continues to rise. Meanwhile, developing countries are building up their own industries, and their citizens are buying cars as soon as they can afford them. Ominous changes continue in the global atmosphere. New efforts to control air pollution will be necessary as long as these trends continue.

Social Context in the Poetry of John Donne Essay -- Biography Biograph

Social Context in the Poetry of John Donne Contemporary literary theory has thoroughly debunked the traditional view of the artist as a divinely inspired, completely original and creative individual. This view has been replaced with the more apt view of the author as a product of his or her environment and the existing discourses of the society in which he or she lives. In this new attitude toward the writer as a product of society, the author is considered, according to Dr. James E. Porter, as somewhat of a quiltmaker who takes various traces of the existing cultural intertext (the collected writing and debate of a society) and combines them in new ways to create new discourse (34). Differences in these new discourses of various authors are the result of existing debates concerning the dominant ideology of a particular society. While this theory of writing may be recent, it applies to the literature and the writers of all historical periods, including the Seventeenth century. By looking at two poems by John Donne, namely "Th e Canonization" and "The Flea," we can see how existing societal debates and beliefs create literature. At the time of the writing of "The Canonization" and "The Flea," around the turn of the seventeenth century, one of the biggest debates in English society concerned who was responsible for the choice of a mate and what the criteria should be the basis for marriage. Until the beginning of the seventeenth century, it had been traditional for the parents in the upper classes to be the sole source of marital decisions with their child having no say in the selection process and little if any say in the approval of a proposed match (Stone 70). These arranged marriages tended to be based solely on the accu... ...e historical and social context of a poem can one truly see all of the dynamics at work within a poem. These analytical methods may not simplify the process of reading and interpreting literature, but they provide a greater depth of understanding and appreciation that should be of interest to students of literature. Works Cited Donne, John. "The Canonization." The Literature of Renaissance England. Ed. John Hollander and Frank Kermode. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. 526-27. Donne, John. "The Flea." The Literature of Renaissance England. Ed. John Hollander and Frank Kermode. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973. 534-35. Porter, James. "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community." Rhetoric Review Fall 1986: 34-47. Stone, Lawrence. The Family, Sex and Marriage In England 1500- 1800. Abr. Ed. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1979.

A Child Labour Problem In India

After independence Child labour is a major problem in India. The major determinate child labour is Poverty. Even though children are paid less then adults, what ever income they earn is of benefit to poor families. India has the largest number of children employed than any other country in the world. According to the statistics provided by the Govt. f India around 90 million out of 179 million children in the six to 14 age groups do not go to school and are engaged in some occupation or other works. This means 50% of children are deprived of their right to a free and happy childhood. Unofficially, this figure exceeds 100 million but the fact that a large number of children are works without wages in field or in cottage alongside their parents, unreported by census, makes it very difficult to estimate accurately. However, it is estimated that if there working children constituted a country it would be the 11th largest country in the world. A large number of children work in a cottage industries, matches, firecrackers, bidis, brassware, diamond, aluminum industries, glass, hosiery, hand loomed cloth, embroidery, leather goods, plastic bangles, mica mines, coal mines, hotels, rickshaw puller, local liquor industry, auto shop, vegetable shop Brick in and sporting goods. The highest numbers of children are found in agricultural sector. Poverty has often been cited as the reason for child labour problem in India while it is true that the poorest, most disadvantaged sector of Indian Society supply the vast majority of child labourers, child labour actually creates an perpetuates poverty as it displaces adults from their jobs and also condemns the child to a life of unskilled badly paid work.

Renewable Energy Needs To Be Implemented Environmental Sciences Essay

The emerging scientific consensus is that we have little more than a decennary to brace planetary temperatures and forestall a rise of more thanA 2 °C ( compared to pre-industrial degrees ) in order to avoid ruinous and irreversible clime alteration ( UNFCCC 2009 ) . Fossil fuel-based energy – such as coal, crude oil and natural gas – is known to be the biggest cause of the clime alteration as it produces nursery gas emanations in the ambiance ( IPCC 2007 ) . Consequently, alternate beginnings of energy power with low C emanations are important to forestall worse effects of clime alteration. Several deductions are frequently attributed to fossil-fuel energy: environment debasement, wellness impacts, political struggles related to energy security, economic dependence for those states whose chief fiscal activity derives from the commercialization of oil or gas and mutuality on foreign energy, supply dazes. All these factors have made policy shapers, in developed and developing states, aware of the demand for a more diversified energy mix ( UNCTAD 2010, p.1 ) . However ; any option will non be free of deductions. All engineerings have impacts. In general, nevertheless, the deductions of the renewable engineerings are much smaller and more local than the normally big and planetary impacts of conventional energy engineerings. Alternative energy engineering refers to any beginning of energy intended to restrict or replace an environmentally harmful signifier of energy ( UNCTAD 2010 ) . These include renewables, such as air current, geothermic, solar, H2O, and biomass. Harmonizing to theA United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ( UNCTAD ) ( 2010, p.5 ) some of these are quickly going conventional beginnings of energy. At present, the low degree of technological development and high costs associated with most of them limit the extent to which they can be integrated into the planetary energy matrix on a important graduated table. However, states such as the United Kingdom and Brazil have proved leaders in the development of of import energy engineerings, accordingly heightening chances by diversifying the state ‘s energy mix with a low C option. This essay will discourse critically the societal, economic and political deductions of a social response to climate alteration based around non-fossil fuel energy engineering utilizing two different instances as illustrations: the air current energy used in the UnitedA Kingdom and sugar cane used in ethyl alcohol and cogeneration production in Brazil. Although the two states have air current and biomass as portion of their energy mix, this essay does non mean to compare both energy engineerings. Alternatively, it will foreground the strengths and failings of each alternate energy. Since the UK must cut down 34 % of its nursery gas emanations by 2020, harmonizing to 1990 degrees ( HM Treasury 2010 ) , the authorities has decided to increase the entire sum of renewable energy used in the UK, lifting from a low base of 2 % today to 15 % by 2020 ( RenewableUK 2010, p.9 ) . To accomplish this, weave energy will play a important function in the energy mix, lending approximatelyA 30GW by 2020 ( Ibid p. 9 ) . The UK is good placed, holding amongst the universe ‘s largest resources of air current, moving ridge and tidal energy. Harmonizing to theA RenewableUK ( 2010 ) there are more than 240 air current farms in the UK, with a sum of over 2,500A turbines, responsible for cut downing the state ‘s C emanations by about 4.5A million metric tons per twelvemonth. Since catching Denmark in 2008 as the universe leader, the UK has more seaward air current energy capacity than any other state ( Ibid, p.19 ) . Although air current power has been seen as an of import non-fossil fuel energy engineering, holding blessing from scientists andA well-known NGOs, there are writers, such as DrA Etherington ( 2009 ) , who argue that â€Å" the drawbacks of air current power far outweigh the advantages. Wind turbines can non bring forth adequate energy to cut down planetary CO2 degrees to a meaningful grade ; what ‘s more, wind power can non bring forth a steady end product, asking back-up coal and gas power workss that significantly negate the economy of nursery gas emanations † He besides mentions that it is being overly financed by consumers who have non been informed that their measures are lessening an industry that can non be cost-effective or, finally, favour the cause it purports to back up. However, similar critics could besides be perceived within general society – and this tendency will be further discussed subsequently. As Cottrell reminds us ( 1955, cited by Humphrey andA Buttel in 1982, p.148 ) , wind power was foremost harnessed with the canvas and was a significant power beginning for many societies. Yet, harmonizing toA Cowie ( 1998 ) , its usage, in theory, is rather simple. The air current turns a turbine that generates electricity ( Ibid p.152 ) without any toxic residue or radioactive waste. However, although the energy is merely generated when the air current blows, in the UK, where it is a countrywide engineering, while air current may drop at some sites, it really seldom stops blowing everyplace at one time, so it does non necessitate to be backed up, megawatt for megawatt. Harmonizing toA Milborrow ( cited by Friends of the Earth et al. , p.2 ) among the other energy options, air current power is the energy engineering with fewer leanings to sudden failure. Another of import point to be considered is that air current power besides generates proportionately more high quality skilled occupations than any other energy sectors. A study produced by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, WWF andA RSPB ( 2009, p.3 ) says that there are already 400,000 people working in the wind-energy sector worldwide and this could make one million by the terminal of 2010. The Department of Trade and Industry has estimated that Round Two of offshore air current developments entirely could convey a farther 20,000 occupations for Britain ( cited byA BWEA 2006, p.4 ) . Furthermore, through embedded coevals ( BWEA 2006, p.4 ) , wind energy can cut down the distance over which electricity has to go, intending less electrical losingss in transmittal and distribution, hence ensuing in energy nest eggs. The environing land can besides be used for conventional agribusiness, which is another benefit for the local community. Environmental deductions related to bird migration, air force per unit area on chiropterans or harm to home grounds and wildlife in the country where windmills are built, have frequently been discussed on web logs and cyberspace web sites ( BBC News 2008, SBWT, Country Guardian ) as a concern of the local community. Similarly, noise, landscape pollution, telecasting response intervention and jobs with radio detection and rangings are repeatedly identified ( BWEA 2006, Jones and Eiser 2010 ) by local populations ‘ society as caused by air current farms. Overall, surveies ( Blanco and Rodrigues 2005 ; Friends of the Earth et Al. 2009 ; A UNCTAD 2010 ) have shown that the impacts of air current energy on local communities is positive. This is particularly true in footings of diversifying the economic base, offering higher income to the local population through the rent received by the proprietors of the land where the turbines are located – frequently public land – and a general encouragement to the economic system through the multiplier consequence ( DTI 2005, p.5 ) . As Devine-Wright ( 2007 ) has claimed, air current power has been by far the most socially combative renewable energy engineering to day of the month. The DTI ( 2005, p.30 ) has besides acknowledged that since the early yearss of air current power in the UK, be aftering permission has been cited as a barrier to development. In fact, several research undertakings ( Walsink 2005 ; Devine-Wright 2007 and 2009 ; Jones and Eiser 2010 ) into public perceptual experiences have been taken as a consequence of society ‘s opposition to weave engineerings – and all of them seem to hold similar findings. In drumhead, public attitudes converge between a ‘not in my back yard experiencing ‘ ( NIMBY ) to concern about noise and ocular impact in the landscape ( Ibid ) . Furthermore, A Kolonas ( 2007 ) analysed 35 surveies on public perceptual experiences of air current power in the EU and, harmonizing to his findings, â€Å" there is the deficiency of a holistic and thorough attack, based on a common theoretical model † . He argues that such public attitudes are a consequence of ‘already decided ‘ undertakings being presented to the host community without deliberative planning schemes, which, in his sentiment, opens the door to resistance. Yet, inA Wolsink ‘s ( 2007, p.1192 ) words: â€Å" the fact that a minority does non back up air current power is non surprising because there is barely anything in life that is universally supported. † The 2nd illustration, Brazil, was identified by Cowie ( 1998, p.156 ) , as the state that has benefitted most from biomass transition since its authorities launched the National Alcohol Programme ( ProAlcohol ) in 1975. TheA ProAlcool was created to promote ethanol production from the agitation of sugar cane as a response to surging oil monetary values and a crisis in the international sugar market ( Rothkopf, 2007 ) . During the first twelvemonth of the programme, Brazil produced 600,000A M3 of ethyl alcohol, of which a tierce was dehydrated for gasolene blending, and the balance used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries ( Cowie, 1998, p.156 ) . The 20 % petrol blend known as gasohol shortly played an of import portion in the Brazilian economic system, so that by 1985 10.5 billion liters were being produced for motor fuel with a farther 2 billion liters for other intents. All together this created 500,000 new occupations in agribusiness every bit good as industry ( Ibid ) . While Brazilian ethyl alcohol produced from sugar cane provides energy that is renewable and less carbon-intensive than oil, American ethyl alcohol is chiefly produced from maize and its production relies on fossil energy. In add-on, the production of ethyl alcohol from maize has far-reaching effects on nutrient security. Harmonizing to theA UNCTAD ( 2010, p.10 ) , it is estimated that a particular public-service corporation vehicle requires 660 lbs of maize or nutrient to make full is its armored combat vehicle, plenty to feed two people in a underdeveloped state for the whole twelvemonth. Thus, subsidies forA biofuel production in developed states have encouraged husbandmans to switch from turning wheat and other grains to bring forth maize, lending to a deficit of nutrient and monetary value deformations on universe nutrient markets ( Pimentel 2009 cited by UNCTAD 2010, p.10 ) . The cardinal point to observe is that despite the sugar and ethyl alcohol produced from the sugar cane, theA bagasse ( byproduct of sugar cane oppressing ) can besides be used as a fuel for cogeneration systems. Harmonizing to the IAEA ( 2006, p.70 ) about all bing sugar cane Millss in Brazil are energy-self-sufficient ( thermic, mechanical and electric ) ; what makes BrazilianA biofuel an of import engineering is the fact that it mitigates climate alteration by cut downing nursery gas emanations non merely from the ethyl alcohol and gasohol use, but besides as an illustration of sustainable production. As Cowie ( 1998, p.156 ) highlighted, the Brazilian experience revealed that the benefits of national or regional biomass transition programmes could include: the aforementioned nursery benefits ; foreign exchange nest eggs on oil imports ; security of energy supply ; increased demand and variegation of agricultural merchandises ; environmental and wellness benefits as ethanol production reduces the CO2 emanations on conveyance sector ; spin-off benefits to equipment makers and providers in forestry, agribusiness and chemical industries ; increased research in biotechnology, microbiology, scientific agriculture, forestry, genetic sciences, technology, metallurgy and chemical science. Conversely, even though the debut of sugar cane into Brazil by the Portuguese was an early deforestation factor, this is no longer the instance. Although outputs have increased over clip, making 70 t/ha by 2001, sugar cane plantations still represent less than 2 % of the agricultural country in the state ( IAEA 2006, p. 114 ) , which besides has a big extension of land available for enlargement of deep-rooted woods and cultivation of energy harvests, with a limited impact on nutrient production ( Ibid, p.5 ) . However, there are several deductions of sugar cane and ethyl alcohol production.A Guarnieri andA Jannuzzi ( 1992 ) identified the followers: a ) increased eroding during and after the crop season ; B ) reduced H2O quality and handiness due to increased overflow ; c ) increased chemical pollution due to fertiliser and pesticide usage ; vitamin D ) debasement of dirt quality/productivity ; e ) reduced biodiversity ; degree Fahrenheit ) air emanations, A stillage and wash-up Waterss ensuing from industrialised intoxicant production ; g ) usage of land for big scale monocultures ; and H ) menaces of blackouts due to plantation-burning patterns impacting electricity transmittal lines. However, emanations straight related to sugarcane production have fallen drastically with the usage of itsA bagasse as a fuel and the research and development on efficient engineerings and pesticides ( IAEA 2006, p.115 ) . Finally, from the societal position, the sugar cane sector is the beginning ofA support for over 45 million husbandmans and their dependants, consisting 7.5 % of the rural population ( IEA 2010, p.143 ) . Compared to oil production, the job-creation per unit of energy is three times higher for hydropower and 150 times higher for ethanol production ( IAEA 2010, p.145 ) . However, the figure of harvest workers was reduced in the past decennary and is likely to cut down even further due to the addition in mechanization[ 1 ]. As a effect, contract workers who used to cut cane manually in the Fieldss have now received preparation and some of them are runing reaping machines. Although this may non be plenty to absorb all old workers, it is expected that over the long term this alteration will convey better working conditions and higher wage ( IEA 2010, p.107 ) . This essay has attempted to discourse the societal, economic and political deductions of a social response to climate alteration based around alternate energy engineerings, utilizing two different instances as illustrations: the air current energy used in the UnitedA Kingdom and sugar cane used in ethyl alcohol and cogeneration production in Brazil. From the first illustration, it emerged that although the air current energy has an of import function to play on the energy mix in the UK, there is still important opposition in society to windmill building across the state. Furthermore, harmonizing to the literature reappraisal, it seems that this place is related to the absence of a planning policy where the populace could hold a more participatory function in taking the sites where air current turbines should be built. With respect to the economic and societal deductions, wind energy represents a valuable engineering for the UK, once it is able to supply fiscal benefits either on the figure of occupations created, or other environing economic activity that may besides be developed. Looking to the Brazilian scenario, on the other manus, it was observed that despite of environmental and societal impacts from the beginning of theA sugar cane factory activities, the state has successfully improvedA substantialA ordinance and engineerings for both ethyl alcohol and sugar production, ensuing in the cogeneration of energy from sugarcaneA bagasse and the recent success of flex-fuel vehicles. Sustainable energy has besides proved an chance for occupation creative activity in the energy sector, and the betterment inA efficiency has meant an addition in productiveness while cut downing energy usage and nursery gas emanations. Surely, both alternate energy engineerings developed in these two states still have several impacts which still have to be managed, such as market stableness, grid entree, accomplishments deficits and authorities policies. However, from parametric quantities of what could be studied in this essay, the advantages of alternate energy engineering far outweigh the disadvantages of the fossil-fuel energy response. As this essay concentrated merely on air current and sugar cane biomass, it would be interesting to set about farther research into the societal, economic and political deductions of other alternate energies or possibly even the deductions of air current and biomass in other states. Wordcount: 2.479

The Courtship and Marriage Customs of the Waray Essays

The Courtship and Marriage Customs of the Waray Essays The Courtship and Marriage Customs of the Waray Paper The Courtship and Marriage Customs of the Waray Paper THE COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE CUSTOM OF THE WARAY J. Colima Bajado The Philippines as a whole abounds in quaint marriage customs and traditions. Written literatures from Fr. Pedro Chirino (1590s), Blair and Robertson, to Gregorio Zaide describe the pre-Spanish marriage customs of the Philippines. More writers like Fay Cooper Cole, John Finley, C. R. Moss and John Garvan have written on the courtship and marriage rituals of the various tribes in the country. On the marriage customs of the Warays, some vernacular writers like Iluminado Lucente and Juan Ricacho have written plays portraying the marriage customs and practices of the region. Younger generations in the Samar-Leyte region may not even know how their great grandfathers won the hands of their great grannies, in relation to the present  Ã¢â‚¬Å"wer na u, dito na me†Ã‚  trend. The Illiterate Way of Courtship This kind of courtship has been practiced until the early 1900s. According to the narrations of Msgr. Alberto Almarines (1960s), illiterate young men in the rural areas, particularly in the hinterland sitios, observe this way of courtship passed to them by their great grandparents. Since they cannot read and write, actions, signs, signals, and even mimicries are flashed as costumarily understood to mean love. The man takes out an  inarmidol (crisply starched) white handkerchief and waves it to the woman, who could only give concealed glances. Then the man will kiss the handkerchief and put it over his chest. This is done when the young man does not have the chance to talk to the girl. If the girl accepts the love offered, she smiles and nods. When she frowns, she declines the offered affection. And when her face is expressionless, she does not yet know the answer. When she accepts, the man will then ask her hand for marriage. When she shows indifference, he will either wait for the ight time or simply forget her. The Kulalisi Courtship This type of courtship commences as a game, and concludes for real. Kulalisi  (sometimes spelledculalisi), is a game played after the nightly prayer for nine days of  lamay  (wake). Unmarried men and women gather in the house of the deceased to say the prayers, after which, the kulasisi game follows to console the bereaved family. The kulalisi game is a battle of wits between men and women. One of the elders in the house will act as  Hadi  (king) that will pair a man and a woman suspected or teased as sweethearts. The challenge to a  luwa  (verse) is cast by one who wins the draw using a shell called  buskay. Then the â€Å"luwa† or battle of words (somewhat like Balagtasan), and rhymes, and debates starts. If the challenger is a man and the challenged woman fails to outwit him, the reward is a â€Å"make-believe† marriage solemnized by the Hadi. If the man is outwitted by the woman, he becomes the woman’s slave and will do whatever the woman desires to let him do, for that night. Most of the â€Å"married† pairs in  culalisi  games become real partners for life. This kind of courtship has been commonly practiced up to the early 1900s. Tthe courtship through Panharana (Serenading) Wooing a woman by  panharana  is commonly practiced in the whole region up to the late 1990s; some even still practice this in other parts of the region, like Maydolong, Eastern Samar, up today. Serenading is a time-honored way of expressing one’s love and adoration to the accompaniment of a guitar, violin or other string and wind instruments. Moonlight nights are the perfect time for serenade. A man sings  kundiman  (love song) that is rich in lyrical beauty, appreciation of nature and profound sentiment of affection. A suitor who knows how to play a guitar serenades his admired woman by himself, for this is a rapport in his singing of love songs. A group of men serenades when the suitor cannot accompany himself in singing his love songs. The song  Mituo Ako  (I Believe) is once a popular serenade song in the Cebuano speaking part of the region, while Iluminado Lucente’s  Gihilom Ko  (I Secretly Bear) in the Waray speaking parts. While  panharana  is still practiced today, the town of Dagami in the province of Leyte once regulated its practice in the 1960s due to some stealing events resulted from serenading. While some were singing, others were stealing chickens, and other things. Serenading was then allowed from ten to twelve in the evening only. The Balata Courtship This type of courtship is one of the queer ways of wooing. This traditional practice is resorted to by the rich families. This is very common especially in the â€Å"capital† of the different provinces of the region such as Tacloban, Carigara, Palo, Biliran, Ormoc, Catarman, Calbayog, Catbalogan, Maasin and Borongan. In  balata, the parents of the bride and the groom agree to have their children married in accordance with their arrangement. It is the custom of the upperclass families through their exclusive formed groups. They hold week-end parties among themselves by turns. In the midst of the merry making, especially when they are already a bit tipsy, the betrothal of their children takes place. Although often started as a joke, the  balata  eventually becomes a serious matter involving  amor propio  and  palabra de honor. Usually, it is the parents of the male child who makes the proposal to the parents of the girl to have their children married when they reach the marriageable age. They mutually plan and finance the wedding of their children, give equal dowries of property such as land, livestock, jewelry, and cash with which their children will start their married life. They also agree with the kind of wedding, the grandeur, and the bands to play music, and all other things to make the wedding memorable. The day of the wedding is usually scheduled on the day the boy reaches his sixteenth year. Not all  balata  betrothal are negotiated and agreed upon during drinking sprees. Most of â€Å"balatas† results from the desire of both parties to insure the economic and financial stability of their children. The parents keep the betrothal of their children to themselves until the time comes when it is necessary to reveal it to their children. The betrothed are warned that refusal to comply with their pledge will bring their families dishonor and disgrace and the wrath of heaven will fall on them. Choice by parents This kind of courtship deprives young lovers from their right to choose their partners. The parents select their children’s life partners. Wealth and character or â€Å"urbanidad† as the parents fondly stress are the factors their prospective sons and daughters-in-law should possess. The boy’s parents look around for the girls who meet their criteria. Their search for girls extends to other towns and places where their friends and acquaintances live. They mark their choices for observation and preliminary selection. The girls’ parents base their selection on the same grounds. Their children are simply informed of their plans and tell them to abide to it. Usually, three possible candidates are chosen, the other two are reserves or alternatives. When they arrive at a choice, the courting begins. Courting through the Parents Courting a woman through her parents is another way of wooing. In this type of courting, the young man picks the girl and enlists the help of her parents. This is often resorted to when the girl does not reciprocate the boy’s feeling, or when her parents are very jealous. The young man and his parents will befriend the girl’s parents. The young man do manual works in the house of the girl, serves the girl’s parents, and do everything to please them. He put his best foot forward to impress, and eventually, gain their admiration and sympathy. A Back to Back Overview Perchance, it is not really the type of courtship that matters, after all. It is the sound of love that makes two lovers dance in harmony to its tune. As Rachel Gordo Maravilla’s  siday  says: Bis’ anu pa iton nga kaporma, Bis’ pa it yinaknan nagkakairiba, Kay iton karuyag boot sidngon, Amo manta gihapon. Bisan hin-o ha bug-os nga kalibutan, Tanan masayaw, Kon tukran na an kasing-kasing Han sonata Han Gugma. J. Colima Bajado graduated from University of the Philippines Tacloban with the degree in Political Science. He writes more on the revival of Waray history and culture, and has been bestowed various awards in his writings. He is currently the Cultural Editor of Gahum Weekly.