Edouard Manet Essays - French Intervention In Mexico, Douard Manet

Edouard Manet Edouard Manet To artists, Edouard Manet was seen as a revolutionary who revealed his inner self to radically change the style of painting in the 1900s. Born on January 23, 1832, Manet was forced into studying law by his father, who was a high government official. As the eldest of 3 sons, the famous artist was expected to take up the tradition of work in the field of justice, which had been in the family for generations. However, Manet had a burning desire in his heart as a child, which told him law was not where he should be. When Manet was sixteen, his uncle, a passionate lover of art, noticed his nephews similar interest and got Manet into an art school in Paris called College Rollin. Unfortunately, Manets father was strongly against this idea because he wished Manet to continue studying law. After much feuding, the father and son came to a compromise that Manet would go into the Navy. Yet after only a year at sea Manet was completely miserable and reported back home to continue his education in art despite his fathers wishes. At the age of 18 he entered instruction under Thomas Couture. Manet continued under Coutures instruction but soon became bored with the conventionalism of his teachings and sought something more exciting. That led to travels to Italy where he began creating his masterpieces that changed the history of art. As the style of art began to radically change Manet became the founding father of the impressionistic era. He began taking everyday objects and pulling out of those objects new feelings and creations which provoke thought. With broad strokes Manet used a vivid summary technique. Manet adopted bold brush strokes, and emphasized certain characteristics considered unorthodox realism by the church. Pre-Manet paintings had flat and static qualities. He created a new type of painting that made people think, and made art reviewers and members of society angry and confused. 1 2 Manet painted what he saw as he saw it, not at all the common view. This concept forced onlookers to take new perspectives on things that had been so solid in their minds. Furthermore, Manet introduced astonishing brightness in his paintings and he used stark contrast. Fellow artists picked up on many of Manets styles and he in turn adopted the use of lighter colors and added more emphasis on the effects of light. Manets risk taking paintings created a new modern style for future artists to follow. Among the many Edouard Manet paintings are two rather interesting pieces. One of these is The Absinthe Drinker. Created in 1858-59, the 71-? X 41 ? canvas painting features a drunken man leaning against a wall in a dark corner. As one of the first controversial paintings Manet created, it served as a lead-in into his career that was shunned by the public eye. The painting made no effort to sentimentalize the subject of drinking. The painting is enjoyable because of its simplicity and soft contrast. Manet blends the objects well to create a dark tone that also shades light in the right places. This work now stands in the NY Carlsberg Glypotetek in Copenhagen. Another painting that drew attention to Manets skill is Argenteuil. In this bright depiction of a day at the harbor, one might enjoy Manets bold bright contrast of colors. In his painting, which was created in 1874, Manet uses bold, sharp strokes to make the central objects project more. This piece, noticeably smaller then the previous one, being 57 7/8 X 44 ?, uses a magnificent blend of colors in oil on canvas. His use of new and different techniques and colors that stand out make this picture notable to the development of the artistic style of the impressionist period. This painting, a pillar of change, hangs in the Bayerische National Gallery in Munich. 3 Manets works inspired the impressionist style, influenced French panting and the general development of modern art. Hailed by young painters as their leader, Manet became the central figure in the dispute between the academic and rebellious art factions of his time. Furthermore, he influenced artists to try and open up new paths for themselves and for all painting. Not only

A Sample of Expository Essay Free Help from Top Writers

A Sample of Expository Essay Free Help from Top Writers Here is a good expository essay sample to help you understand the rules of expository writing. An expository essay is meant to describe, explain and inform the reader. The sample expository essay below explains the correlation between the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and gas prices in the USA. While this essay by far exceeds the five paragraph standard,  this essay  was written to conduct a  deep analysis of the situation with gas  prices  within the USA after the 9/11 attacks. Please note the structure of the essay despite exceeding the five paragraph format, it still consists of the introduction, body, and conclusion. If you are looking for a top quality, a  custom-written expository  essay with a proper language and formatting, feel free to visit our order page.  Our experienced writers will come up with a tailor-made solution  that fully matches your requirements and will help you to master expository writing. Gas Prices pre and post 9/11/2001 and Its Effect on U.S. Economy Petrol, or commonly known as gasoline in North America, is a liquid mixture that is obtained from petroleum or can be considered as one of the main products obtained from refining crude oil. Gasoline is mainly made up of aliphatic hydrocarbons and is usually improved through the addition of aromatic hydrocarbons toluene, isooctane or even benzene to further raise its octane ratings. Primarily, gasoline is used as a fuel in internal combustion engines such as in automobiles and light trucks and accounts for almost 17 percent of United States’ energy consumption. Gasoline, or â€Å"gas† as its colloquial term, is also used to fuel recreational vehicles, boats and most of the  equipment  that is used  on  farms and in construction. Though the production of gasoline occurs year-round, there are still extra volumes of gasoline that are made to meet the gasoline requirements during the summer driving seasons. Gasoline has three main grades and these are premium, regul ar, and mid-grade, which is all derived from oil refineries. Several pipelines that are linked to a massive distribution chain are used to serve 168, 987 retail gasoline stations. The three main grades have different octane level, and their prices also vary according to the grade of the gasoline. Though usually, the price differential that is present between the grades is constant. Generally, gas prices have been increasing before the 9/11 incident, and it affects the economy of US and other countries either directly or indirectly through the consumers, especially their buying power. The cost that is included in the production and the transportation of gasoline from the source to the consumers is the cost of crude oil to refiners. Furthermore, the marketing and distribution costs, the refinery processing costs and the retail station costs along with the imposed taxes of that state on gasoline  are also included in the costs of production and manufacture of gasoline. All of these costs are mainly reflected in  the amount that the consumers pay in the gasoline stations. A large component that is included in the retail price of gasoline is the taxes imposed in it, either it may be Federal, State or local. The taxes account for more or less 19 percent of what the consumers pay for  every gallon of gasoline. Almost 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline is from the Federal tax and more or less 21 cents per gallon of gasoline is due to the State tax. Furthermore, the implementation of eleven States levy added State sales and other taxes and the additional local county and city taxes that is applied on gasoline, imposes a significant effect or impact on the price of gasoline. The difference in the price of gasoline that is observed from one state or town to the other is due to the varying taxes imposed and due to the varied formulations implemented in the different parts of the state, county or region. Only 19 percent of the amount paid by consumers is due to refining costs and profits while only 9 percent of the retail cost paid by consumers per gallon of gasoline is due to marketing, distribution, and retail dealer costs. Gasoline prices normally increase or decrease even if the price of crude oil that is used in the production of gasoline is stable, generally because of factors such as changes in crude oil prices, seasonality in the gasoline supply and demand balance, and unusual events or trends affecting the supply and demand balance. Also, local retail station competition could affect the prices of gasoline. Domestic problems that could disrupt the crude oil supply may include refinery outages and pipeline outages or demand, which includes differences in the specifications set by a particular region, area or season on the product. The effect of unusual events or trends had always influenced the price of gasoline and these includes a weakening economy, an increase  in the production of gasoline from refineries but a decrease in the demand for gasoline for jet fuels and automobiles and the September 11,  2001, terrorist attacks. These factors account for almost, but not greater than, 30 cents pe r gallon of gasoline. September 9, 2001, commonly known as 9/11, includes a series of coordinated terrorist attacks by a nineteen terrorists who were said to be affiliated with the Al-Qaeda, whose also hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners and committed suicide attacks, crashing the each of the planes into four different targets. The World Trade Center in New York City is one of the terrorists’ targets, resulting  in  the collapse of the two buildings. Due to the 9/11 incident, rumors on the increase of the gasoline price had spread onto consumers like a forest fire. Panic buying had occurred, and the demand for gasoline increased. The 9/11 incident does not have any impact on the gas supply, therefore, should not have any impact on the gasoline price and their effects on the economy are not directly connected. Crude oil and gasoline prices constantly increase  before the September 9, 2001  terrorist attacks.  Ã‚  On January 1, 1999, the average retail regular price for crude oil and gasoline was almost 39 dollars per barrel. This price increased up to 40 dollars per barrel then decreased to 36 dollars per barrel in March 1999. But this decrease in the crude oil and gasoline price was not continuous. In May 1999, the crude oil and gasoline prices increased tremendously to 48 dollars per barrel. Since then on, the prices kept increasing and decreasing, then again increasing at a higher price (dollars per barrel) every month in the year 1999 up to July in the year 2000 almost equal to 70 dollars per barrel. By August and September 2000, the prices of crude oil and gasoline decreased greatly up to almost 59 dollars per barrel and increased slightly in October 2000 to 65 dollars per barrel. The prices of crude oil and gasoline no longer increased any higher than this but decreased up to 58.80 dollars per barrel in January and April 2001. The prices of crude oil and gasoline started to increase rapidly by the second week of May 2001. The average retail regular price of crude oil and gasoline was at its peak in the second week of May 2001, with almost 72 dollars per barrel. The price ranged from 70 to 72 dollars per barrel from May up to the end of July 2001. Then it had rapidly decreased up to almost 57 dollars per barrel in August 2001. The decreased in the price of crude oil and gasoline was not continuous. Due to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the prices increased due to panic buying from the consumers. Rumors of a tremendous increase in the crude oil and gasoline prices struck fear among the consumers. The scarcity of gasoline and crude oil supply also added to the consumers’ fear of having to avail gas at an unimaginable price. Lines to gasoline stations in the days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were really long, where customers had to wait hours just to get gasoline. The sudden increase in the demand for gasoline made gasoline stations and dealers hungry for more profit, led to an increase in the price of gasoline, higher than the price in August 2001. From almost 57 dollars per barrel in August 2001, prices increased to almost 66 dollars per barrel in the second week of September 2001. The prices of gasoline and crude oil continued to be sold at a range of 64 to 66 dollars per barrel up to October 2001 (Burdette, 2001). The prices of crude oil and gasoline because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were alarming, especially to the regulatory board on the prices of crude oil and gasoline. The government started to place penalties and fines to gasoline stations, dealers, and suppliers who would impose gasoline prices that are above or higher than 2 dollars per gallon. Information dissemination was also done by the government to inform consumers of the actual price of crude oil and gasoline. The supply of crude oil and gasoline was also shown to the consumers in order to avoid further panic buying. The action of stabilizing the price of crude oil and gasoline made by the government resulted in a decrease in the gasoline price back to 58.80 dollars per barrel in October 2001. According to Michael Burdette, a consultant to the Energy Information Administration, â€Å"as of October 29, 2001, the national average retail price of regular gasoline was 1.235 dollars per gallon, its lowest level sinc e November 8, 1999† (2001). Since September 17, the average price of gasoline had already fallen up to 29 cents in just six weeks. In Midwest,   the average retail price of regular gasoline had reached a very sharp decline of 33-cents drop. This drop occurred in the national average in of 10 weeks during the Memorial Day up to the first week of August and it was only interrupted by a brief 17-cent rise in the second week of August. All in all, a decrease of almost 48 cents of the national average retail price of the gasoline was achieved from its peak in May and it is considered to be the widest one-year range in retail prices since 1990, especially considering the time frame of just five months. Economically, the sudden increase in the demand for gasoline had boosted the amount or barrels of gasoline sold in the market within a short period of time. The prices at first seemed to be a burden for consumers, but due to government regulations on the price of gasoline, the burden was lifted. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks had a large impact, not only in the prices of gasoline but in the economy (especially in the world markets) as a whole. A temporary reduction or decrease in the contract with banks was done by the Federal Reserve whereas, by September 11, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ were all closed and remain as it is until September 17. When the stock market re-opened, the U.S. stocks lost $1.2 trillion in value for the week. The 9/11 incident also has extended effects to other states. Supply of gas fuels ran out in other states the next morning after the terrorist attack. In Iowa, prices were said to reach 4.65 dollars per gallon, in Michigan, it is almost over 5 dollars a gallon. A convenient store under the Casey’s Inc. in Illinois was investigated and would be penalized $50,000 if found guilty of price gouging. The company initiated customer refunds immediately. Another effect of increasing fuel prices is th e reduced productivity growth in the general economy (National Research Council (U.S.), 1988, p.124) The gasoline prices before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have been observed generally to increase, with some small decrease in gasoline price on months between intervals of an increase. The gasoline price had reached its peak of 72 dollars per barrel in May 2001. The price increase at its highest has been attained even before the 9/11 incident. Before the terrorist attack, the gasoline price had already decreased largely and the price gouging and consumer panics on September 11 and the day after that had increased the gasoline price, but not to a level that is greater than the price of gasoline in May 2001. It can also be noted that after a week or month after the 9/11 incident, gasoline price reached its lowest price of 1.235 dollars per gallon, its lowest price since November 8, 1999. This is due to the strict implementation and immediate action done by the government and regulatory boards on the price of gasoline. The gasoline prices had affected consumers greatly for they are the ones who suffer any price gouging done by dealers or retailers. Economically, gasoline price, after its regulations and stabilization, had increased the buying power of the consumers specifically on gasoline since no additional or reduced prices on other commodities were reported. The huge decrease in the world markets and stocks can be greatly attributed to the 9/11 terrorist attack, but not on the gasoline price. Therefore, any increase or decrease in the price of commodities is not due to gasoline prices but due to the incident. Furthermore, the 9/11 incident should not have had any impact on the gasoline supply.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 46

Assignment Example 30). Many advantages accrue from accessing data and all the information from the cloud. Such advantages are reduced hardware and software requirements for the users. With a user interface software in place on the users’ computer, they can fully access all the requirements from the cloud. Most information and technology experts agree that, there lacks a single comprehensive definition to what cloud computing is. Each definition offered for the cloud compound may be right but does not fully exhaust the integral components that make up cloud computing. As far as the definition of cloud computing may be right, they may leave out important aspects that characterize cloud computing (Armbrust et al. 20). Due to lack of well-defined standards for connecting computer systems (hardware and software) needed to make a working cloud computing, many companies offering the services define it in their way. Despite the varying interpretation of cloud computing, they all have the following basi c components (Friedman 45-50); Cloud computing is always off-premise. The services are hosted away from the clients’ premises of the service provider’s location. The services are delivered over the public internet with all processing taking place outside the company network (this includes physical and securities barriers). Cloud computing is characterized by elasticity dictated by the service provider. It defines the extent to which resources can be scaled up or down rapidly depending on the end-users requirements for a given organization. Flexible billing plans characterize cloud computing of any platform. The billing of services rendered to the client for cloud computing is based on a variety of factors such as on-demand services and other forms of charging customers. Billing customers may take the form of subscription or consumption

The Turkish invasion in Cyprus at 1974 Research Paper

The Turkish invasion in Cyprus at 1974 - Research Paper Example All these were taking place in the knowledge of three guarantor powers which reacted three days after the Turkish invasion in Cyprus. The guarantor powers that included the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey decided to agree upon the fate of the invaded island. Seemingly, Turkish had a lot of interest in having the most of the island, and, in fact, it ended up acquiring more than a third of the island illegally (Freedman 402). This came as a result of their Attila II pre-planned physical attack which saw them through their acquisition of the island disregarding opinions of other guarantor powers. The above actions were devastative in nature as many things were destroyed ranging from property in the island to individual lives that were claimed in the process of the attack. As a consequence of their brutality, more than 5000 individuals lost their lives. In addition, there resulted a fate unknown, and nobody could account for 1,614 missing Cypriots as well as 4 citizens from the US duri ng the invasion period, Congregation Record (18108). Before the attack on Cyprus by the Turkey, Greece had come up and led a coup whose intention was made known all. As Freedman (402) noted in his book, the Greek-led coup was to unite Cyprus Island with Greece. This is the sole reason why the Turkish military launched an operation to invade the same island to respond and resist the Greek dominion over the same island (Freedman 402). It is a clear fact that Greece was involved in the fight with Turkey over the Cyprus Island which led to atrocious consequences as the one that had previously mentioned. They tried various means of acquisition of the island including military approaches just to win it over Turkey, but it did not succeed as its expectation was. This fight between Greece, and Turkey over Cyprus made them differ over the Aegean territories. As a result, Greece itself tried to apply a diplomacy involvement in solving the issue at hand by then. This included their withdrawal from active participation in the NATO military command from the year that they experienced the fight between them and the Turkey (Freedman 402). This was s due to their partly protest over the issue regarding Cyprus Island that dominated largely by the Turkey. Huth, (136) brings an important aspect of Greek operations which are regarded to be full of diplomacy. For instance, the Greece itself was not willing to confront Turkey by counter attacking them using their available military to continue fighting over Cyprus Island. They avoided this kind of confrontation but rather withdrew and stayed calm over the issue. According to Huth (136), there have been three main crises that rank nationally between Turkey and Greece over Cyprus. The earlier ones, which happened before the 1974 Turkish attack like the 1964 and the 1967 ones, the government of Greece gave in to diplomatic intervention and resolutions. These diplomatic settlements were as a result of threats of using military for inte rvention posed by the Turkish government. Indeed, the 1974 confrontation did not see Greece use any military confrontation to contest against the Turkish invasion and domination upon Cyprus Island. There was a great challenge to international democratic peace in 1974when Turkey and Greece had the conflict over Cyprus Island, as Diez (169) has realized. It is important to note that, before this confrontation, Greece

Environmental sustainable development

Environmental sustainable development Introduction Sustainability can be described as a state in which humankind is living within the carrying capacity of the earth. This means that the earth has the capacity to accommodate the needs of existing populations in a sustainable way and is therefore also able to provide for future generations. Humankind is nowadays facing the fact that, with its intensive industrial activities, pollution, and resource exploitation has exceeded the earths carrying capacity. This means we must make strong and concerted shift of development in direction where earth can sustain humankind needs. This concerted and integrated action and change of direction can be referred to as sustainable development. Changes and integrated action can be first applied on micro level sectors like mining industries, where cumulative effects of such small changes can give very good results, in terms of sustainable development, (B. Clayton et al, 2002). The Brundtland Commissions (1987) vision of sustainable development is to mee t the needs of the present generation without undermining the capacity of future generations to meet their needs. . Sustainable development can be looked at as a process; this process involves the economic, social and cultural aspects of mankind as well as the environmental health of the planet, (Brundtland, 1987). This report is to elaborate on the Mining and Minerals sector how Sustainable development can be applied to the sector to confront present challenges. Jonathon Porritt puts it: Sustainable development is the only intellectually coherent, sufficiently inclusive potentially mind-changing concept that gets even half-way close to capturing the true nature and urgency of the challenge that now confronts the world and there is really no alternative, (D.Clayton et al., 2002). In the past decade, the mining and minerals industry has come under tremendous pressure to improve its social, developmental, and environmental performance, (http://ccsenet.org/jsd). Like other parts of the corporate world, companies are more routinely expected to perform to ever higher standards of behaviour, going well beyond achieving the best rate of return for shareholders. They are also increasingly being asked to be more transparent and subject to third-party audit or review. In response, a number of companies, either independently or with other actors, is establishing voluntary standards that often go beyond any law. But even so, some observers remain suspect that many businesses are merely engaging in public relations exercises and doubt their sincerity. In particular, the industry has been failing to convince some of its constituencies and stakeholders that it necessarily has the social licence to operate in many areas of the world. Despite the industrys undoubted importance in meeting the need for minerals and its significant contributions to economic and social development, concerns about aspects of its performance prevail. Mining, refining, and the u se and disposal of minerals have in some instances led to significant local environmental and social damage. It is not always clear that mining brings economic and social benefits to the host countries, as the minerals sector sometimes operates where there is poor governance, including corruption, and is thus associated with it, (G.J. Coakley, 1999). In some cases, communities and indigenous groups near or around mines allege human rights abuses. Many countries and communities depend on minerals production as a source of income and a means of development. And with growing trade liberalization and privatization, much of the investment in minerals exploration and production has turned to developing and transition countries. Mining is important in 51 developing countries accounting for 15-50% of exports in 30 countries and 5-15% of exports in a further 18 countries, and being important domestically in 3 other countries. About 3.5 billion people live in these countries, with about 1.5 billion living on less than US$2 per day, (World Bank, 2002). Minerals development can create many opportunities, including jobs, a transfer of skills and technology, and the development of local infrastructure and services. However, there is sometimes a lack of capacity, knowledge, and incentives to turn investment into development. The industry has generated wealth in direct and indirect ways but, it is alleged, there is a mismatch of opportunities and problems the wealth often being enjoyed far from the communities and environments that feel the adverse impacts. Sustainable development objectives A review of literature on sustainability suggests that sustainability can be described in terms of social, economic and environmental states that are required in order for overall sustainability to be achieved. The World Summit on Sustainable Development Plan of Implementation provides range of sustainable development objectives that should be aimed in order to achieve sustainability. Environmental Sustainable Development Objectives: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Size, productivity and biodiversity: Ensure that development conserves or increased the size, biodiversity and productivity of the biophysical environment. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Resource management: Ensure that development supports the management of the biophysical environment. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Resource extraction and processing: Ensure that development minimizes the use of support of environmentally damaging resource extraction and processing practices. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Waste and pollution: Ensure that development manages the production of waste to ensure that this does not cause environmental damage. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Water: Ensure that development manages extraction, consumption and disposal of water in order not to adversely affect the biophysical environment. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Energy: Ensure that development manages the extraction and consumption of resources in order not to adversely affect natural systems (Gibberd, 2005). Economic Sustainable Development Objectives: Vol. 3, No. 1 Journal of Sustainable Development, (http://ccsenet.org/jsd). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Employment and self-employment: Ensure that development supports increased access to employment and supports self-employment and the development of small enterprises. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Efficiency and effectiveness: Ensure that development (including technology specified) is designed and managed to be highly efficient and effective, achieving high productivity level with few resources and limited waste and pollution. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Indigenous knowledge and technology: Ensure that development takes into account and draws on, where appropriate, indigenous knowledge and technology. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sustainable accounting: Ensure that development is based on a scientific approach that takes in to account, and is formed by, social, environmental and economic impacts. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ An enabling environment: Develop an enabling environment for sustainable development including the development of transparent, equitable, supportive policies, processes and forward planning. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Small-scale, local and diverse economies: Ensure that development supports development of small-scale, local and diverse economies, (Gibberd, 2005). Social Sustainable Development Objectives: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Access: Ensures that development supports increased access to land, adequate shelter, finance, information, public service, technology and communications where this is needed. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Education: Ensure that development improves levels of education and awareness, including awareness of sustainable development. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Inclusive: Ensure that development processes, and benefits, are inclusive. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Health, Safety and Security: Ensure that development considers human rights and supports improved health, safety and security. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Participation: Ensure that development supports interaction, partnerships and involves and is influenced by the people that it affects. This description provides simple definitions for sustainability and sustainable development. A useful aspect of the definition is that it provides both an ultimate state that must be strived for a swell set of actions or objectives, which if addressed and implemented, will lead towards sustainable development, (Gibberd, 2005). Sustainable Development Framework for the Minerals Sector Applying the concept of sustainable development to the minerals sector does not mean making one mine after another sustainable. The challenge of the sustainable development framework is to see that the minerals sector as a whole contributes to human welfare and well-being today without reducing the potential for future generations to do the same. Thus the approach has to be both comprehensive taking into account the whole minerals system and forward looking, setting out long-term as well as short term objectives, (D. Clayton et al, 2002). Moving from the concept of sustainable development to action requires: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ a robust framework based on an agreed set of broad principles; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ an understanding of the key challenges and constraints facing the sector at different levels and in different regions and the actions needed to meet or overcome them, along with the respective roles and responsibilities of actors in the sector; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ a process for responding to these challenges that respects the rights and interests of all those involved, is able to set priorities, and ensures that action is taken at the appropriate level à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ an integrated set of institutions and policy instruments to ensure minimum standards of compliance as well as responsible voluntary actions; and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ verifiable measures to evaluate progress and foster consistent improvement. If the minerals sector is to contribute positively to sustainable development, it needs to demonstrate continuous improvement of its social, economic, and environmental contribution, with new and evolving governance systems. The sector needs a framework within which it should judge and pursue any development. The Challenges of Implementation One of the key challenges for minerals sector is implementation. I n other to facilitate putting sustainable development into practice in the mining and minerals sector, policy makers will need to select a mixture of the principles of sustainable development outlined above. Putting sustainable development into practice also requires actors in the minerals sector to be publicly committed to explicit and well-understood goals and objectives. Leadership from the top is a must, as is the need to ensure that all employees understand what sustainable development entails. This is necessary not only for companies but also for government ministries and departments at all levels, as well as labour, civil society organizations, and communities. Capacity building is also a key to moving forward, (D.clayton et al, 2002). Conclusion The concept of sustainable development is not new for it brings together ideas from a long history of human development into one common framework. This is becoming an increasingly important guide and judge for many actors whether from government, industry, or civil society. There is little disagreement about the broad principles contained in the framework, although different groups and individuals accord different priorities to the various spheres economic, environmental, social, and governance depending on their interests and their level of understanding and implementation. These priorities will determine the paths of action for implementation of the principles. The differences do not detract from the high level vision of sustainable development, which allows for different iterative and ever improving approaches. For improvement this actions have to be enforced: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Consistency with the sustainable development framework; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Continuous and clearly defined objectives and incentives to change towards better practice; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ SMART specific, monitorable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound approach; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Enforcing higher levels of trust and cooperation; and, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Where possible, built on existing structures and institutions. In many ways the picture today is already more positive than it was some decades ago. There remains much to be done in improving the sectors contribution to all aspects of sustainable development. But the largest companies and their newest operations at least are now being held to higher standards. Indeed, the best mining operations are now in the sustainable development vanguard not merely ahead of what local regulations demand, but achieving higher social and environmental standards than many other industrial enterprises. Reference:  · Brundtland: World Commission on environment and Development (1987). (pp.43).  · Dalal-Cayton.D.B and Bass.S (2002). The Nature of Sustainable Development Strategies.(pp.66-77,115,261).  · George J. Coakley, 1999. The minerals industry of Ghana in the US Department of the interior, US Geological survey, minerals yearbook. Area Reports: International 1997, Africa and the Middle East. Volume III  · Gibberd J. T., (2005). Developing a Sustainable Development Approach for Buildings and Construction Processes Smart Sustainable Built Environments. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Chapter 27. (pp 300-310).  · Maja Mitich : Sustainable Approach to A Reform of Coal Mining Industry in Serbia. University of Singidunum, Belgrade, Serbia. http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jsd/article/viewFile/4797/4461 (Accessed: 06/05/2010).  · Vol. 3, No. 1 Journal of Sustainable Development, http://www.ccsenet.org/jsd (Accessed: 07/05/2010).  · World Bank International Finance Corporation (2002) Treasure or trouble? Mining in developing countries. Draft.

Illegal Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in the Olympics Essay

Illegal Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in the Olympics Since the original Olympic Games in ancient Greece, athletes have struggled to find a way to gain the competitive edge. Early rituals included consuming wine and brandy before an event, eating potent mushrooms, and even concocting magic potions thought to give the athlete improved performance ability (Phillips, 2000, p.53). A constant battle has been fought as the International Olympic Committee struggles to keep drug testing up-to-date and effective. We have come to associate drug use with a few famous names of fallen heroes, such as Ben Johnson and the most recent, C.J. Hunter, but few people realize just how widespread drug use is in Olympic sports and how small a percentage of offenders ever get caught. This presents the International Olympic Committee with one of its greatest challenges: trying to keep its drug testing procedures at a par with the technology of today’s pharmacists. Should the International Olympic Committee just face the facts and realize that athletes wi ll continue to try and use performance-enhancing drugs, and hence turn their backs and act as though nothing is happening? I feel as though they should become more stern toward athletes that are caught, and let the world know that they are going to do whatever they can to catch those who use these drugs. Certain sports quickly come to mind when we think of performance-enhancing drug use. We think of bodybuilders and weightlifters when drug use is mentioned. But not many would list track and field as a sport in which performance enhancing drug use is prominent. "What seems clear, however, is that the use of performance enhancing drugs is a problem mainly for the athletes of track, field and swi... ...ive. Sources Alesia, M. (2000). Performance enhancing? In some events, even drugs can’t trump skill. CBS Sportsline. Retrieved March 15, 2001 http://www.sportsline.com/u/ce/multi/0,1329,2773853_15,00.html Begley, S., & Gordon, D. (2000). Under the shadow of drugs.Newsweek, 136(15), 56. Kowalski, K.M. (1999). Steer clear of steroid abuse. Current Health 2, 25(7), 13-16. Looney, D.S. (2000). No easy answers ahead on Olympics doping. Christian Science Monitor, 92(221), 12. Mishra, R. (1995). Steroids and sports are a losing combination. US Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved March 14, 2001 http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/CONSUMER/CON00107.html Phillips, A. (2000). The Olympic drug cloud. Maclean’s, 113(41), 52-54. Superhuman heroes. (1998). Economist, 347(8071), 10-13. Toward dope-free games. (2000). Christian Science Monitor, 92(202), 8. Â   Â  

Pride of Baghdad

Saddam Hussein: The Power is down Pride of Baghdad, drawn by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon, tells a story of group of lions escaping from the zoo after the U. S. army starts invading Baghdad. In order to show how cruel consequences that the war brings, the authors try to portray humans by drawing the lions, the bear, and other animals. Due to its gorgeous drawing style and its concise dialogues, the novel only has 100 pages but contains various meanings.In 2003, the Iraq war was triggered because of Hussein's violent suppression on the people, who have their own political views, but also his possession of the large amount of illegal weapons. The novel not only presents the consequence of dictatorship, but also satirizes the interference of U. S. army because the public opinion says that the reason of U. S. involving the war is impure since no evidence has been found to prove that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. The main purpose of U. S. army invading is the oil resources in Iraq; however, by coincidence, Hussein is on the reign, which causes the U.S. ’s excuse to invade. In this book, the authors stand at Bagdad’s civilians’ point of view to tell the story until they get shot by the U. S. army. More specifically, a fighting scene between the lions and the bear is not interpreted as the surface meaning but is created because the authors want to embody that even though the civilians overthrown the power of Hussein, the U. S. army is the one who eventually takes over their government power and causes the war. The lions and the bear both represent the civilians and Saddam Hussein.Towards almost the end of the story, referring to a specific page, a bear who shows up trying to block the lions’ way to freedom says â€Å"Don’t get up†(where the page’s background is the huge bear standing up with Noor and Safa looking up). The authors purposely creates a giant black bear when the story almost reaches the end t o show the power that Hussein holds during the his presidency. By looking at the expression on the bear’s face, readers can clearly see the anger through its bloody eyes and sharp teeth with opening mouth.The shrewdest part of this graphic novel is its drawing style, using animals to portray humans. Throughout the idea of visual images, when readers first look at the bear, a sense of fear is emitted from its giant black body; however, the lions, comparing the size with the bear, are much weaker. The authors apply not only the visualized details, but also the literal ones in every single character. For instance, the names of the bear and the lions who is prisoned, Fajer and Rashid are both originated from Arabic language, which is also the official language in Iraq.Fajer means wicked and Rashid means rightly guided, which are opposite to each other; however, the justice can’t beat down the evil since Fajer already kills Rashid. According to the previous page, the author s purposely use special-effects lettering, a method of drawing attention to text of highlighting the words, on some of the words while the bear is speaking, â€Å"PET†, â€Å"HIS†, â€Å"FAJER†, and â€Å"MAN†(the page where the bear first shows up with only its eyes and mouth).The â€Å"PET† represents the weakness of the justice under Hussein’s dictatorship, and oppositely, the â€Å"MAN of the house† implies the formidable power that Hussein holds. In addition, in order to describe the difference between good and evil, the authors use graphic weight to focus on the drawing of colors between the bear and lions, which are black and white.Even thought this particular page only contains one panel, it really embodies the representations between the civilians who are under suppressed and Saddam Hussein. Nonetheless, as the story reaches the end, the lions successfully kill the bear, but the U. S. army shot all of the lions. The authors a re trying to indicate the idea of how the civilians play the most important role during the war. Millions of lives are lost because of the war, and most of them are innocent civilians.