Euthanasia Essays (1192 words) - Kowloon, Lin Zexu, First Opium War

Euthanasia Opium- an addictive drug originally used as a painkiller. It is obtained from the unripe seeds of the opium poppy and can be made into substances that a person can smoke causing relaxation, alleviated anxiety, and a state of euphoria. Continued use of the drug also induces deterioration to the mind and body of a person eventually causing death. The substance was therefore stated illegal in China during the late 18th Century yet consistently smuggled into the country via British merchant ships. As the Chinese placed more restrictions on trade in an effort to abolish the importation of opium, the battle against the drug raged on until war was unavoidable between England and China. It is this war that lasted from 1839-1842 which eventually led to the British reign over Hong Kong and legalization of opium trade in China as well as the opening of many trade routes along the Chinese coast. The British success of the war is unarguable, however, the extent to which they devastated China coul d have possibly been avoided if the Chinese emperor had received accurate information regarding his countrys failure during the first battles. If the emperor had known of his navys lack of success against British warships a compromise could have been met however, due to inaccurate reports to and from commissioner Lin Tse-hsu the emperor was unaware of Englands inevitable victory. With Lin in charge, Chinese success over the opium trade was going well and followed through to an extreme degree. The presence of soldiers in Canton, the main trading port between them and the British, and the threat of potential execution to any person found using or selling the drug illustrated the extent to which Lin would proceed. (So then) The opium crisis began in 1837 when Chinese officials disrupted the smuggling by burning the boats used to carry the opium ashore from the floating warehouses. It was such threats that prompted Palmerston of England to dispatch a warship to China to protect British property in 1837. Despite this, China still raged on against the narcotic and in March of 1839 convinced the head of the British trade commission at Canton, Captain Charles Elliot, to hand over more than 20,000 chests of opium. However, after the killing of a Chinese by drunken seamen and the lack of punishment put forth on them by the British, Lin suppressed all trade with England and proceeded with other measures as well. Lin ordered that delivery of all rice, tea, meat and fresh vegetables to the anchored ships at Macao to be intercepted and cut off. Freshwater springs that were known to be used by the British at various points along the coast were poisoned. Large banners were posted to warn Chinese villagers not to drink from the streams. Lin then pressured the Portuguese authorities at Macao to evict the British from their harbor, under penalty of severe trade restrictions. These drastic measures forced all of the British ships to retreat from Macao to Hong Kong by the middle o f August. However, such trade limitations would not go well with England and a severe response was in order. On August 31, Commissioner Lin learned that the merchant ships anchored off Hong Kong had been joined by a twenty-eight gun British frigate. Although this news was not good, Lin, who had the use of a fleet of Chinese war junks at his disposal, was not frightened by the arrival of a single British warship. Finally the first confrontation between the two navies occurred and it was the barbarians, as thought by the Chinese, that were victorious. Although the Chinese warships returned the British fire, they did no damage to the British ships, and were forced to retreat after being badly shot up by cannonballs. The captains of the defeated Chinese junks feared that their failure would be viewed by higher authorities as a disgraceful act of cowardice. The captains therefore reported to Commissioner Lin that they had won a victory and had sunk a British ship. This incident also repr esents the first of inaccurate messages passed to Chinese officials providing the government with a false sense of security. The British response was not one intended for violence however.

Canadas Emergence As A Stronger Nation After World War Two essays

Canadas Emergence As A Stronger Nation After World War Two essays In the years following World War Two, Canada displayed its newfound role as one of the leading nations of the world. The conclusion of the Second World War created a time of remarkable economic prosperity throughout the country. Canadas economy boomed as it shifted from being primarily resource based to becoming a significantly service based economy. Also, the end of the war brought a noteworthy political alteration. Canada became increasingly independent from Britain as well as becoming an internationally accepted political power on a world front. Cultural transformations were also clear after World War Two. It became apparent to the Canadian Government that it would have to work to preserve and protect a distinctive Canadian culture and also incorporate the increasing immigrant population. With these changes, Canada emerged from the Second World War as a stronger nation, not only economically, but also in a political and cultural sense. Firstly, the 1950s were a time of enormous growth in the industries of Canada. Prior to the end of the Second World War; Canadas economy was for the most part resourced based. However, with the conclusion of World War Two, Canada shifted to a more service based economy. By 1955, service industries accounted for 50 per cent of the countrys income, with the remaining 50 per cent coming from manufacturing and construction, and the extraction and processing of primary products . Agriculture was still dominant in the primary industries, but forest and mineral products displayed increasing expansion at the time. With the increase of the service and manufacturing industries came an overall boost in the economy. As a result of the success of the service based economy, the gross national product grew from $12 billion in 1946 to something over $30 billion in the first half of 1957 . These statistics show an average increase of 25 per cent per year while the average increase per year in Can. ..

Obama was right to call for national conversation on race Essay - 1

Obama was right to call for national conversation on race - Essay Example The situation is openly apparent, but it is manifested in sections of society and governance structures that are bias towards some races and ethnicities. The most apparent cases of racial discrimination are exhibited by systems within existing governance structures and the implementation of policy. An example is during the hurricane Katrina incident where government intervention and response was criticized for being below par. This is attributed to the fact that the area that was adversely affected by the devastating hurricane comprised of minority African Americans thus; the governments illustrated prejudice in its reaction to the plight of these affected people. This paper seeks to present an analysis on whether Americans need a national conversation on race. The race issue in the US is exacerbated by the fact that slavery was an already established societal norm that permeated the American culture and traditions. Racism in the US is manifested through various aspects, and it is an apparent phenomenon that those who suffer racism belong to a certain racial background. African Americans have suffered the most severe manifestation of racism because they represent the foundation upon which the issue of race is founded in the US. Majority of slaves in the slavery days were of African origin who were considered second class human beings wherever they went in almost every part of the world where slavery was practiced. Advocacy and campaigning for an end to slavery was met with a lot of resistance because the white enslavers saw this as a threat to their source of cheap labor. African Americans have carried this adage of being second class citizens into the 21st century albeit a bit subdued, but the existence of these should not be ignored. The accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement have worked to establish African Americans as equal members of the US society. Open racism against African Americans is rarely seen or experienced, but it still does exist in vario us aspects of American society and life. The recent Trayvon Martin incident and case in an American court serves to depict that racism is still an emotive issue in American society. This issue comes to the fore every time an African American is involved in an altercation of the law alongside an individual of another race especially a white person. The ruling on Trayvon Martin’s case brought the race issue to the fore especially after president Obama commented on the issue. Obama’s direct reference to the race issue with regard to the Trayvon Martin case illustrated his unique position as bi-racial president to address the race issue and introduce a dialogue in America concerning race. Obama’s prose about race in America elicited diverse views with some citing it as an appropriate moment in his presidency for him to address the issue. Other people saw Obama’s foray into the race during Trayvon Martin’s murder trial as an attempt to boost his approva l ratings amongst the minority groups. The negative criticism Obama received for introducing the race angel in the case should not been. This is because it is his place as an African American president to address the race issue which is in his docket as other before him addressed issues that had affected them personally. According to Gerson, previous presidents had addressed issues t

Inquiring Minds want to know Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Inquiring Minds want to know - Case Study Example The information being sought touches on the private lives of the individuals participating in the study and this is a great challenge to the study as this is likely to raise many ethical issues. In the modern information age, protecting the personal and private information of an individual is extremely important. Yet, as is seen in this case, there are a number of issues which must be looked at in order to ensure that the privacy of the individual is well protected. Confidentiality Confidentiality refers to the fact that the information of the individuals will not be revealed to other people. It also loosely refers to the fact that the information collected for one purpose will not be used for other purposes. This is extremely important in order to help in protecting the privacy as well as other interests of the individual. In this particular study, there is the risk of the confidentiality of the individuals in at least two ways. First, the data used in the background research is dat a that was collected many years ago and for different purposes. For instance, according to Schindler (2011), data from the early 90s which was collected using reader service cards was used to determine how the technology had affected the way the people were using information. This may be a violation to confidentiality of the people to whom this information belongs. Secondly, the information being collected through the questionnaires may also bring about the issue of confidentiality if it is used in the wrong way and this must be looked at in a critical way. Confidentiality is very important and any research carrying out a research where individuals are involved will have to only assure the participants that their confidentiality will be protected but also do also everything that they can in order to guarantee that the confidentiality of the study will be guaranteed. In this case, there are a number of issues which must be looked at in order to protect the participants. Informed cons ent Informed consent refers to the fact that the participants of the study are clearly informed about the study, its purposes and how the information they will provide will be used. It also refers to the fact that the participants have wilfully agreed to participate in the study even after knowing exactly what the study will be used for. In this particular study, it is necessary for the participants to know exactly how the data they are providing will be used and how this will affect them. After this, they will need to give their informed consent and agree to participate in the study. This is especially important with regard to the privacy of the participants especially due to the fact that the individuals will be providing information which is quite personal with regard to their private life or their professional life. In this regard, it will be necessary for the person carrying this study to make sure that apart from guaranteeing confidentiality of the study, they will also help t he participants to understand clearly what the study is about and that the participants will willingly agree to participate in the study. Protecting the interests of the participants This has to do with the first three issues discussed above, that is, privacy, informed consent, and confidentiality which are all geared towards protecting the inte

Pidgins and Creoles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pidgins and Creoles - Essay Example One important point raised is the language age. The creole language which can be termed as the mother of languages as that is where language originated from has been in existence for centuries and hence it is considered as old language. The rest of the languages have recently been created and they keep on evolving as time goes by. They can therefore not be categorized the same as the Creole language. The more recent the language evolved, the younger it is. The other issue raised is about the evolution of languages from simple to more complicated ones. The creole language was very simple in terms of grammar and writing but as it evolved, it became much more complicated as well as organized. This is an indication that evolution of language can be equated to evolution of organisms which as they evolve become much more organized and less simple to understand as well as write (DeGraff, 2001). The article was indeed an education lesson for me. I had very little prior knowledge of the creol es and more so their huge input in language. My understanding was based on the literature that their language has simple grammar and issue that still remained under debate from linguists but none offered elaborate explanations about them. I am now in a better position having understood about the how the Creoles’ language simplicity and its maintenance of origin has made it a highly researched and subject of reference in as far as evolution of language is concerned. I am able to understand that the fact that their language has not undergone.

Lagrange Multipliers in Mathematics

Lagrange Multipliers in Mathematics Lagrange multipliers arise as a method for maximising (or minimising) a function that is subject to one or more constraints. It was invented by Lagrange as a method of solving problems, in particular a problem about the moons apparent motion relative to the earth. He wrote his work in a paper called Mechanique analitique (1788) (Bussotti, 2003) This appendix will only sketch the technique and is based upon information in an appendix of (Barnett, 2009). Suppose that we have a function which is constrained by . This problem could be solved by rearranging the function for x (or possibly y), and substituting this into . At which point we could then treat as a normal maximisation or minimisation problem to find the maxima and minima. One of the advantages of this method is that if there are several constraint functions we can deal with them all in the same manner rather than having to do lots or rearrangements. Considering only f as a function of two variables (and ignoring the constraints) we know that the points where the derivative vanish are: Now g can also be minimised and this will allow us to express the equation above in terms of the dxs Since these are linear functions we can add them to find another solution, and traditionally is used to get Which is 0 only when both We can generalise this easily to any number of variables and constraints as follows: We can then solve the various equations for the s. The process boils down to finding the extrema of this function:   Ã‚   As an example imagine that we have a fair 8 sided die. If the die were fair we would expect an average roll of . Let us imagine that in a large number of trials we keep getting an average of 6, we would start to suspect that the die was not fair. We can now estimate the relative probabilities of each outcome from the entropy since we know: We can use Lagranges method to solve this equation subject to the constraints that the total probability sums to one and the expected mean (in this case) is 6. The method tells us to minimise the function: Where the first part is the entropy and the other two parts are our constraints on the probability and the mean of the rolls. Differentiating this and setting it equal to 0 we get: Now if we do an integration we know that this value must be a constant function of since the derivative is 0, also since each of the terms in the summation is 0 we must also have a solution of the form: Or We know that the probabilities sum to 1 giving: Which can be put into (A2.1) to get Which doesnt look too much better (perhaps even worse!). We still have one final constraint to use which is the mean value: We can use (A2.2) and re-arrange this to find Which also doesnt seem to be an improvement until we realise this is just a polynomial in : If a root, exists we can then use it to find . I did not do it that way by hand, I used maple to find the solution   to the polynomial. (the script is below) I also calculated the probabilities for a fair dice as a comparison and test. fair dice mu = 4.5 unfair dice mu = 6 p1 0.125 p1 0.32364 p2 0.125 p2 0.04436 p3 0.125 p3 0.06079 p4 0.125 p4 0.08332 p5 0.125 p5 0.11419 p6 0.125 p6 0.15650 p7 0.125 p7 0.21450 p8 0.125 p8 0.29398 lambda = 0 lambda = -0.31521 Table A2. 1: comparison of probabilities for a fair and biased 8sided dice. The bias dice has a mean of 6. > > > > > > Equation also appears in the thermodynamics section. Because can be used to generate the probabilities of the source symbols I think that it would be possible to use this value to characterise the alphabet i.e. take a message from an unknown source and classify the language by finding the closest matching from a list (assuming that the alphabets are the same size). I havent done that but think that the same approach as the dice example above would work (the mean would be calculated from the message and we would need more sides!). When we have a totally random source, and in this case the probability of each character is the same. This is easily seen from (A2.2) as all the exponentials contribute a 1 and we are left with   Ã‚   Where m is the size of the alphabet all the symbols are equally probable in this case.

Metals and Water Essay example -- Iron, steel, Corrosion, Alkalinity

Certain metals could be affected by the pH of water. This, however, could reflect on real life situations that could affect us, the environment, and also our pipe system as well. Some metals such as iron and steel oxidize when they are exposed to humidity and water thus forming corrosion known as ferric oxides (Roy, 2009). Corrosion has destructive potential if left untreated (Stahl, 2005). Knowing what metals are prone to corrosion is an important issue to take notice about because corrosion happens all around us including possessions that belong to us. It is necessary for industrialized cities to estimate the cost of such devastating nature of corrosion (Newman, 1994). Much of money are spend each year to replace equipment that are corroded, in the United States alone, corrosion causes about $276 billion each year. By using specific metals or methods such as alloying, metallic coating or organic coating can prevent or minimizing corrosion (Drigel, 2008). A specific type of corro sion is rust. Rusts are produced when iron converts to Fe 2+ ions and subsequently reacts with hydroxide ions within the water (Roy, 2009 and N/A, 2006). The physical characteristics of rust are coating of powder, scaly reddish-brown and reddish-yellow hydrated ferric oxides (Roy, 2009). The types of corrosion can be used in evaluating the performance of engineered structures (A reservoir to reduce rust, 2006). Metals are easily corroded in the sea because the salt makes the water a better conductor from the electrochemical cells (N/A, 2006). The ever-changing pH of the ocean due to planktic forminiferal abundance and other variables (Saraswat, 2007), and this could affect the rate of corrosion in metals. The pH is a measurement of the acidity or alkal... ...ltimately save many problems and health risks. It is important to note which metals to use to prevent corrosion because some may post health risks such as Chromium. Prolonged contact with Chromium may lead to lung cancer, ulcers, liver necrosis, and allergic dermatitis, so improper metals used in water distribution system could lead to a high extension in terms of risks because it could also affect the ocean and the wild lives (Chandra and Kulshreshtha, 2004). The world is changing and new technologies are emerging. Some of these technologies include micro-sized chips that are able to run a computer, and if corrosion is one of the problems, then it will post many more complications. Humans rely on technologies and equipment that are sometimes created with metals and they sometimes fail simply because they are exposed to salt water or high humidity (N/A, 2006).

The Sudden Blow

Her head was pounding from the sudden blow. Blood was running down the side her face as she began to remember. He had tormented her, degraded her feelings, and took away her financial stability. She felt forever trapped as she was the only one to witness such vile acts. â€Å"There is no one here to see this. There is no one here to save me from what happens inside these walls† she whispered, voice cracking. Victims like this must go through the injustice of not being able to feel safe in their own home or even their own skin. Whether it be inflicting harm for the victim through physical abuse, toying with their emotions through emotional abuse, or financially controlling them through financial abuse, abusers find ways for many women to suffer from domestic abuse in their daily lives. Physical abuse is one of the many aspects of domestic abuse. This type of abuse is most known as it can be seen with one's own eyes. However, physical abuse doesn't always have to happen on the victim. In many cases, physical abuse can happen somewhere near the victim. It shows that â€Å"When a partner is violent near or around you, doing things like punching a hole in the wall, the message is ‘Next time this could be your head'† (Carlson 146). Numerous amounts of people will brush off the incident and believe that it will not mean anything in the future but this sort of act can escalate quickly and leave the victim in shambles. If this message is given, the abuser is releasing their anger on an object physically and it will not be long before the abuser directs their anger on their victim – the one who caused their distress. Once they direct their anger on the victim, it can lead to extreme violence that the victim is not capable of keeping under control. Sam is a victim who had been physically abused herself. She speaks out about one of the stories of her journey with physical abuse:I was at home and I cooked his dinner†¦he came home when the food was on the table. He was like ‘Oh, it's too cold,' so I put it in the microwave and warmed it up. I gave it to him and he said it was too hot†¦and you start to get this worried feeling like ‘It's going to happen. He's going to hurt me.' He threw the plate and smashed it against my head and he started beating me up and kicking me on the floor and punching. (Sam?)This is an example of severe physical abuse. Here, the abuser takes a typical, simple misunderstanding and exaggerates it until it reaches its full capacity. In most cases, those who are in healthy relationships would be able to work this out without it becoming physical. The victim shows that she has the constant worry of not wanting to go against the abuser's needs. Thus, they are always tip toeing around the abuser and the second they do something even the slightest bit wrong, it becomes another heated fight. This instance is just one glimpse of what a day in the life of a physically abused partner must go through. There are always other cases. Some outcomes of physical abuse could even be fatal. This is one of the more extreme cases of physical abuse. It should be known that â€Å"One woman is fatally shot by a spouse, ex-spouse, or dating partner every 14 hours† (â€Å"NCADV†). Many do not understand the significance of homicide in physical abuse and do not link this importance to the fact that it still happens. This statistic shows that those who are in domestic abuse relationships are at a very high risk of being killed by their significant other.

Constantine essays

Constantine essays Constantine was not a religious man. In fact, most of his cares rest upon his power over the Roman Empire and the Roman Empires power over the rest of the world. He stood by any god or force that would gain him victory in the battlefield or prosperity at home. (Sayers 280) He did not look at anything religious with an inner reflection to his own feelings or ideas but with a goal or a need with which the religious scheme could provide him. He would back any person of any religion for loyalty and cooperation. Reasons such as these lead to the belief that Constantine converted and encouraged Christianity in the Roman Empire as a means of propagating power, rather than because of strong religious belief on his part. (Sayers 281) According to Eusebius, Constantines personal biographer and close friend, Constantine was born between AD 273 and 275 in the city of Naissus (a city in the Balkan Islands). (Varner 1) He was enrolled in the military at an early age and thus lacked a formal education. As a teenager he was enrolled in a military group known as the Protectors. (Varner 21) Protectors were used to guard high-ranking officials and including the emperor himself. He was not religious as a young man, concerned only with politics and military strategies. His father was Flavius Valerius Constantius, an army officer, and his mother, who he loved dearly throughout his life, was Helena. His father was promoted to the rank of Caesar, or deputy emperor, in AD 293, thus Constantine was destined to be emperor. (Varner 2) After his fathers promotion Constantine served in Augustus Maximians court in the west. He became Emperor of this western area in AD 306. (Varner 20-24) Constantine knew that Christian people were numerous in places all over the empire and that the persecutions of these people only made the empire weaker. He disliked their persecution as they were good people, smart and very down to earth but most importantly...

Defining the Symbol1 essays

Defining the Symbol1 essays ?Human beings exist and interact in a reality which they define themselves. Inside of this reality they make use of social objects, that is, anything used between to actors in social situations that have meaning and function in that social environment (Charon 46). Many social objects are used to represent something else and are interpreted to convey more meaning. These social objects are known as symbols and it is the core of the symbolic interactionist perspective. Simply defined, a symbol is something that stands for something else. In Sociology, a symbol is classified as a social object that the members of a society have agreed represents a concept, an object, or an ideal that is not present. They are used to communicate, express intentions, represent objects and groups and define the reality that surrounds us (Charon 46-48). They can be separated into the categories of referential, expressive, and mixed symbols which can be interrupted as both of the previous mentioned types. Referential symbols are used to define and classify parts of reality. They can be used to represent an object in its absence. The wordpencil? is immediately interpreted a shaft of wood with a graphite core used for writing or a mechanical device with the same purpose. Now while the pencil itself is just a social object with a simple function, the wordpencil? acts as a symbol in that it represents the physical object. On a larger scale referential symbols are used to represent entire groups. A red star can be used to represent a political party or philosophy (Charon 50). Referential symbols can also be used to classify groups such as gender. Diana Kendall gives the example of dressing infants in certain colours, blue and red for males and pink and yellow for females, to convey immediately communicate the sex of the child (Kendall 70). These symbols are used as labels and divisions in society. Expressive symbols are used...

What are the factors which affect the propensity of firms to innovate Essay

What are the factors which affect the propensity of firms to innovate through collaboration with other firms and which affect the outcomes of such interaction - Essay Example Various factors that are perceived to be beneficial to partnering firms cause them to come together and innovate together. Some of the factors that cause firms to collaborate in innovation include reducing the cost of development of the technology, reducing the potential risks that are involved in technological development or entering the market, to achieve the economies of scale, which reduce the cost of production, promoting shared learning between the firms involved, and reducing the time taken to produce and market new products (Tidd, Bessant and Pavitt, 2005, p25-78). The results of the collaborative invention vary significantly according to different companies, and these factors may be beyond or within the abilities of the partnering firms. Some factors that influence the results of a collaborative interaction between firms include: the competitiveness of the partners, the transparency issues, receptivity of ideas, the rate of learning and bargaining power of partners, the intention of the firms when they accepted to enter into collaboration, and sustainability of the deal (Hamel, 1991, p.83-101). These factors determine whether or not the collaboration will continue in order to develop technologies together. If the factors are favourable to the collaborating firms, they continue to develop technologies together. Different companies collaborate in innovation according to different interaction policies. These interactions are determined by conditions that are set by those partners, when joining together as well as those that are related to sustai nability. In order to understand the issues that are related to the collaborative innovation, there is need to explore the factors that influence firms to come together as well as those that influence the sustainability of collaborative innovation interactions. In events where firms collaborate to innovate, they need to put into consideration all the issues that can arise

Expansion Through Franchising Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 7

Expansion Through Franchising - Case Study Example With the expansion and maturity of the franchise, the chain management often buys them or became interested in opening own stores for themselves which help in gaining a better understanding and controlling of the operations. And with increasing control and understanding the franchising fees get supplemented by profits. Secondly, the decision to choose the town, the neighborhood and even which side of the street as the region of the location is an important key factor of success. A difference in the location of the store can make a huge difference between the success and the failure. Thus the importance of ‘scale economies’ is to be recognized at the store level because the fixed cost of the outlets are very high and so to meet the cost, the small returns per unit cell and the traffic volume is very crucial. Efficiency in store management is also an important factor of profitability within the industry. Since the opportunities of waste, inefficiency, and shrinkage are man y there is a requirement of an efficient management system. Thirdly the efficiency of the store managers in building relations with the local public, developing goodwill with the customers, maintenance of the morality of the employees and keeping an eye on the competing chains are important for ensuring the short-term profits. Fourthly with the development of the industry, a clear overall market image of the chain is very important. There is a need for maintaining consistency and reliability of the product line throughout the chain. Introducing more innovative recipes often becomes risky as it may deviate from the basic and core theme of the industry. (Bartlett and Rangan, 2) Dick Mayer emphasizes on Strategic planning. According to him strategic planning can bring effective changes in the way of marketing and brings accountability in the function. Every product and their pricing proposals require analysis and review by the management to evaluate their ability to meet long-term strategies. He focused mainly on the subsidiary in Japan as it was one of the fastest  growing units with the highest potentiality also a challenge for the entire international operations.